The Duffy binding protein as a key target for a Plasmodium vivax vaccine: lessons from the Brazilian Amazon

Plasmodium vivax infects human erythrocytes through a major pathway that requires interaction between an apical parasite protein, the Duffy binding protein (PvDBP) and its receptor on reticulocytes, the Duffy antigen/receptor for chemokines (DARC). The importance of the interaction between PvDBP (region II, DBPII) and DARC to P. vivax infection has motivated our malaria research group at Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (state of Minas Gerais, Brazil) to conduct a number of immunoepidemiological studies to characterise the naturally acquired immunity to PvDBP in populations living in the Amazon rainforest. In this review, we provide an update on the immunology and molecular epidemiology of PvDBP in the Brazilian Amazon - an area of markedly unstable malaria transmission - and compare it with data from other parts of Latin America, as well as Asia and Oceania.     

Players’ physical performance in LaLiga across the season: insights for competition continuation after COVID-19

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, professional football players competing in LaLiga were confined at home for ~8 weeks and then they were allowed to train to prepare the first competitive match for 4 weeks. As the duration of summer break in the prior four seasons of LaLiga (from 2015-2016 to 2018-2019) was of similar length to the suspension of the championship due to COVID-19 (~12 weeks), we have analysed the running performance of teams competing in LaLiga in these four seasons to anticipate players’ physical performance after the resumption of the competition. The analysis includes the average running distance per game for each of the 38 matchdays that compose LaLiga. One-way ANOVA revealed that there was a main effect of the matchday on total running distance per match (p = 0.001), and in the distance covered between 14.0 and 20.9 km/h (p < 0.001), between 21.0 and 23.9 km/h (p < 0.001) and at above 24.0 km/h (p < 0.001). Overall, the post-hoc analysis revealed that the running patterns progressively increased during the first 8-10 matchdays and then reached a plateau which was significantly different to matchday-1 (p < 0.05). This analysis reveals that, in the prior four competitive seasons of LaLiga, players’ physical performance was lower at the beginning of the season and the teams needed approximately 8-10 matchdays to reach a steady state running performance. These data suggest that football players will progressively increase their performance across the 11 matchdays remaining to complete LaLiga.     

The crustaceans burrow Sinusichnus sinuosus from the Oligocene-Miocene carbonate deposits of eastern Amazonia

Abstract

Sinusichnus Gibert 1996 Gibert, J. M. d. 1996. “A New Decapod Burrow System from the NW Mediterranean Pliocene.” Revista Española de Paleontología 11: 251–254. [Google Scholar] is recorded for the first time in the Oligocene-Miocene Pirabas Formation of Northern Brazil. In these Oligocene-Miocene carbonate deposits, Sinusichnus sinuosus is characterized by horizontal, highly regular sinusoidal burrow systems with T- and H-shaped branching points. The main difference between the S. sinuosus described herein and other occurrences worldwide is the anomalous diameter of the burrows (4 to 10?cm). These trace fossils occur in organic matter-rich, wackestone/packstone and laminated mudstones interbedded with boundstones deposited in an inner carbonate platform paleoenvironment. The exceptional size of the studied S. sinuosus could have been associated to the producer’s size, which may be attributed to construction by large crustaceans, similar to fossils found within the Pirabas Formation. Also, the sinusoidal morphology and retrusive spreiten could be a result of the fodinichnial/domichnial behavior.