Modelling the effect of forest cover on shallow landslides at the river basin scale

The potential for reducing the occurrence of shallow landslides through targeted reforestation of critical parts of a river basin is explored through mathematical modelling. Through the systematic investigation of land management options, modelling allows the optimum strategies to be selected ahead of any real intervention in the basin. Physically based models, for which the parameters can be evaluated using physical reasoning, offer particular advantages for predicting the effects of possible future changes in land use and climate. Typically a physically based landslide model consists of a coupled hydrological model (for soil moisture) and a geotechnical slope stability model, along with an impact model, such as basin sediment yield. An application of the SHETRAN model to the 65.8-km² Guabalcón basin in central Ecuador demonstrates a technique for identifying the areas of a basin most susceptible to shallow landsliding and for quantifying the effects of different vegetation covers on landslide incidence. Thus, for the modelled scenario, increasing root cohesion from 300 to 1500 Pa causes a two-thirds reduction in the number of landslides. Useful information can be obtained even on the basis of imperfect data availability but model output should be interpreted carefully in the light of parameter uncertainty.     

Application of immunoprecipitation techniques to the diagnosis of cutaneous and extracutaneous forms of sporotrichosis

Sporotrichosis is a mycosis which in our country has been described as only producing cutaneous and subcutaneous infections; in other countries it has been reported as causing pulmonary, bone, joint and meningeal infections.Possibly the systemic form also occurs in Venezuela since, along with the causative agent, all other factors considered as predisposing to systemic infection exist here.Through immunodiffusion (ID) and immunoelectrophoresis (IEP) and using a filamentous form metabolic antigen from Sporothrix schenckii, we were able to demonstrate precipitating antibodies against this fungus both in patients with cutaneous sporotrichosis, diagnosed by culture of the infecting agent, and in patients with pulmonary lesions. The IEP test showed the presence of an anodic arc which we have called the S arc, which could be one of the specific antigens of S. schenckii.

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Resumen En Venezuela, el diagnóstico de la esporotricosis solo se plantea ante lesiones cutáneas y subcutáneas, sin embargo, no deja de llamar la atención que siendo esta micosis la más frecuente en nuestro medio y existiendo concomitantemente en la población todos los factores predisponentes para que el S. schenckii invada órganos internos, estas localizaciones no han sido descritas.La incorporación del antígeno del S. schenckii para detectar anticuerpos circulantes en la ID en nuestros estudios serológicos de rutina, nos permitió observar la presencia de bandas de precipitación contra este antígeno en sueros de pacientes con lesiones pulmonares, igualmente fueron detectados anticuerpos en pacientes con esporotricosis cutáneas diagnosticadas por cultivo.El estudio de la estructura antigénica de este hongo, puso de manifiesto la presencia de un arco de localización anódica, que podría ser producido por uno de los antígenos específicos de este hongo; este arco que denominamos S fue visualizado en todos los casos positivos de esporotricosis cutáneas, al ser estudiados sus sueros en la IEF.Los estudios realizados en sueros de pacientes con lesiones pulmonares pusieron de manifiesto anticuerpos precipitantes en la ID e IEF, con las caractéristicas de evidenciar más de una línea de precipitación en la ID y un arco S más largo en la IEF, pudiendo ser esto originado por mayor producción de anticuerpos circulantes. Se plantea la necesidad de obtener el cultivo del S. schenckii de las posibles lesiones extracutáneas de esta micosis.

     

Disruption of Intrinsic Motions as a Mechanism for Enzyme Inhibition

Clostridium difficile (C. diff) is one of the most common and most severe hospital-acquired infections; its consequences range from lengthened hospital stay to outright lethality. C. diff causes cellular damage through the action of two large toxins TcdA and TcdB. Recently, there has been increased effort toward developing antitoxin therapies, rather than antibacterial treatments, in hopes of mitigating the acquisition of drug resistance. To date, no analysis of the recognition mechanism of TcdA or TcdB has been attempted. Here, we use small molecule flexible docking followed by unbiased molecular dynamics to obtain a more detailed perspective on how inhibitory peptides, exemplified by two species HQSPWHH and EGWHAHT function. Using principal component analysis and generalized masked Delaunay analysis, an examination of the conformational space of TcdB in its apo form as well as forms bound to the peptides and UDP-Glucose was performed. Although both species inhibit by binding in the active site, they do so in two very different ways. The simulations show that the conformational space occupied by TcdB bound to the two peptides are quite different and provide valuable insight for the future design of toxin inhibitors and other enzymes that interact with their substrates through conformational capture mechanisms and thus work by the disruption of the protein’s intrinsic motions.     

Diversity of phenolic compounds and plant traits in coexisting Patagonian desert shrub species of Argentina

Desert shrubs often accumulate different types of phenolic compounds but what determines the amount and diversity of these compounds is an issue scarcely explored. The aim of this study was to assess differences in the amount and diversity of phenolic compounds in leaves among coexisting shrub species differing in rooting depth and leaf turnover. We hypothesized that the diversity and amount of phenolic compounds in leaves of desert shrubs are related to access to soil water through rooting depth, and to leaf turnover. The study was carried out in the Patagonian Monte of Argentina. We collected green leaves of six species representing the dominant shrub morphotypes (tall evergreen, tall deciduous, and medium evergreen shrubs) and assessed lignin concentration and groups of soluble phenols obtained by sequential extraction with ethyl ether, ethyl acetate, and amyl alcohol. We also assessed nitrogen concentration in leaves and leaf mass per unit area (LMA) as traits related to leaf lifespan. The diversity of phenolic compounds was higher in green leaves of tall shrubs with deep rooting depth than in those of medium evergreen shrubs with shallow rooting depth. Diversity of phenolic compounds in green leaves was negatively related to lignin concentration. Evergreen shrubs had higher amount of phenolic compounds in green leaves than deciduous ones and the total amount of phenolic compounds in green leaves was positively related to LMA. We concluded that access to soil water sources and leaf turnover were related to the amount and diversity of phenolic compounds in green leaves of desert shrub species and these results are consistent with those predicted by the resource availability theory for plants from resource-rich and resource-poor habitats.     

Tumor Selective Hyperthermia Induced by Short-Wave Capacitively-Coupled RF Electric-Fields

There is a renewed interest in developing high-intensity short wave capacitively-coupled radiofrequency (RF) electric-fields for nanoparticle-mediated tumor-targeted hyperthermia. However, the direct thermal effects of such high-intensity electric-fields (13.56 MHZ, 600 W) on normal and tumor tissues are not completely understood. In this study, we investigate the heating behavior and dielectric properties of normal mouse tissues and orthotopically-implanted human hepatocellular and pancreatic carcinoma xenografts. We note tumor-selective hyperthermia (relative to normal mouse tissues) in implanted xenografts that can be explained on the basis of differential dielectric properties. Furthermore, we demonstrate that repeated RF exposure of tumor-bearing mice can result in significant anti-tumor effects compared to control groups without detectable harm to normal mouse tissues.     

Sexual behavior and male volatile compounds in wild and mass‐reared strains of the Mexican fruit fly Anastrepha ludens (Diptera: Tephritidae) held under different colony management regimes

We compared the calling and mating behavior and volatile release of wild males Anastrepha ludens (Loew) with males from 4 mass‐reared strains: (i) a standard mass‐reared colony (control), (ii) a genetic sexing strain (Tap‐7), (iii) a colony started from males selected on their survival and mating competitiveness abilities (selected), and (iv) a hybrid colony started by crossing wild males with control females. Selected and wild males were more competitive, achieving more matings under field cage conditions. Mass‐reared strains showed higher percentages of pheromone calling males under field conditions except for Tap‐7 males, which showed the highest percentages of pheromone calling males under laboratory cage conditions. For mature males of all strains, field‐cage calling behavior increased during the last hour before sunset, with almost a 2 fold increase exhibited by wild males during the last half hour. The highest peak mating activity of the 4 mass‐reared strains occurred 30 min earlier than for wild males. By means of solid phase microextraction (SPME) plus gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS), the composition of volatiles released by males was analyzed and quantified. Wild males emitted significantly less amounts of (E,E)‐α‐farnesene but emitted significantly more amounts of (E,E)‐suspensolide as they aged than mass‐reared males. Within the 4 mass‐reared strains, Tap‐7 released significantly more amounts of (E,E)‐α‐farnesene and hybrid more of (E,E)‐suspensolide. Differences in chemical composition could be explained by the intrinsic characteristics of the strains and the colony management regimes. Characterization of calling behavior and age changes of volatile composition between wild and mass‐reared strains could explain the differences in mating competitiveness and may be useful for optimizing the sterile insect technique in A. ludens.     

Sterility of the coffee berry borer,Hypothenemus hampei (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), caused by the nematode Metaparasitylenchus hypothenemi (Tylenchidae: Allantonematidae)

Metaparasitylenchus hypothenemi is an endoparasitic nematode that causes partial or total sterility of coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei) females, although the causes are unknown. Fecundity and the average size of the common and lateral oviduct, vitellarium, and germarium in the four ovarioles (I, II, III and IV) were compared between parasitised and non-parasitised insects to determine the causes of sterility. The nematode significantly lowers the number of oocytes and 86% of parasitised insects (24 out of 28 insects) were sterile, while fecundity in the remaining 13% was non-significantly different to that in non-parasitised insects. No significant differences were recorded in the size of the common oviduct, lateral oviduct, vitellarium, and germarium between parasitised and non-parasitised insects and the nematode does not cause any apparent damage on the surface of the ovary.