Identification des cercaires de Schistosoma africains émises par Bulinus umbilicatus,B. truncatus et B. forskalii

Résumé Trois indices chétotaxiques AD, AL et U, des cercaires de quatre espèces pré-identifiées de Schistosoma africains, émises par des Mollusques infestés naturellement ou expérimentalement, ont été calculés. AD et AL correspondant respectivement à la distance relative entre les papilles dorsales et les papilles latérales. U correspond au nombre total des papilles du tronc caudal. La simple comparaison des moyennes arithmétiques d'un ou deux de ces trois indices permet de distinguer les cercaires de Schistosoma haematobium et de S. curassoni émises par Bulinus umbilicatus; les cercaires de S. haematobium et S. bovis émises par B. truncatus; les cercaires de S. bovis et S. intercalatum émises par B. forskalii.

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Identification des cercaires de Schistosoma africains émises par Bulinus umbilicatus, B. truncatus et B. forskalii

Three chaetotaxic indices, AD, AL and U, of cercariae of four pre-identified African Schistosoma species, obtained from natural or experimental infections, were established. AD and AL correspond respectively to the relative distance between the dorsal and lateral papillae. U corresponds to the total number of tail stem papillae. The simple comparison of average values of one or two of these three indices facilitated identification of the cercariae of Schistosoma haematobium and S. curassoni emitted by Bulinus umbilicatus, cercariae of S. haematobium and S. bovis shed by B. truncatus, and cercariae of S. bovis and S. intercalatum emitted by B. forskalii.

     

Magnetic Alignment in Carps: Evidence from the Czech Christmas Fish Market

While magnetoreception in birds has been studied intensively, the literature on magnetoreception in bony fish, and particularly in non-migratory fish, is quite scarce. We examined alignment of common carps (Cyprinus carpio) at traditional Christmas sale in the Czech Republic. The sample comprised measurements of the directional bearings in 14,537 individual fish, distributed among 80 large circular plastic tubs, at 25 localities in the Czech Republic, during 817 sampling sessions, on seven subsequent days in December 2011. We found that carps displayed a statistically highly significant spontaneous preference to align their bodies along the North-South axis. In the absence of any other common orientation cues which could explain this directional preference, we attribute the alignment of the fish to the geomagnetic field lines. It is apparent that the display of magnetic alignment is a simple experimental paradigm of great heuristic potential.     

A red cell pyruvate kinase mutant with normal L-type PK in the liver

Summary The erythrocytic and liver pyruvate kinases (PK) from a patient with congenital nonspherocytic hemolytic anemia have been studied. In red blood cells, the residual activity, 28% of the normal control, presented normal kinetic properties, instability to heat and urea, and slow electrophoretic mobility. The L-type PK from the patient's liver was characterized by normal activity, kinetic properties, stability to heat and urea, and electrophoretic mobility. The fact that erythrocyte mutant PK may, as in previous reports, or may not be associated, as in the present observation, with molecular abnormalities of the liver PK provides support for the hypothesis of a gene rearrangement compatible with two different tissue-specific mRNAs.     

Direction of Temperature Control in the Thermal Biofeedback Treatment of Vascular Headache

In order to test for the specific therapeutic effects of thermal biofeedback (TBF) for hand warming on vascular headache (HA), 70 patients with chronic vascular HA were randomly assigned to TBF for hand warming, TBF for hand cooling, TBF for stabilization of hand temperature, or biofeedback to suppress alpha in the EEG. Patients in each condition initially had high levels of expectation of therapeutic benefit and found the treatment rationales highly credible. Participants in each condition received 12 treatment sessions on a twice-per-week basis. Based on daily HA diary data gathered for 4 weeks prior to treatment and 4 weeks after treatment, HA Index was significantly (p=.003) reduced as was HA medication consumption. There were no differential reducations in HA Index or Medication Index among the four conditions. Global self-reports of improvement gathered at the end of the post-treatment monitoring period also did not differ among the four conditions. We were unable to demonstrate a specific effect of TBF for hand warming on vascular HA activity.     

Evolutionary History of Assassin Bugs (Insecta: Hemiptera: Reduviidae): Insights from Divergence Dating and Ancestral State Reconstruction

Assassin bugs are one of the most successful clades of predatory animals based on their species numbers (∼6,800 spp.) and wide distribution in terrestrial ecosystems. Various novel prey capture strategies and remarkable prey specializations contribute to their appeal as a model to study evolutionary pathways involved in predation. Here, we reconstruct the most comprehensive reduviid phylogeny (178 taxa, 18 subfamilies) to date based on molecular data (5 markers). This phylogeny tests current hypotheses on reduviid relationships emphasizing the polyphyletic Reduviinae and the blood-feeding, disease-vectoring Triatominae, and allows us, for the first time in assassin bugs, to reconstruct ancestral states of prey associations and microhabitats. Using a fossil-calibrated molecular tree, we estimated divergence times for key events in the evolutionary history of Reduviidae. Our results indicate that the polyphyletic Reduviinae fall into 11–14 separate clades. Triatominae are paraphyletic with respect to the reduviine genus Opisthacidius in the maximum likelihood analyses; this result is in contrast to prior hypotheses that found Triatominae to be monophyletic or polyphyletic and may be due to the more comprehensive taxon and character sampling in this study. The evolution of blood-feeding may thus have occurred once or twice independently among predatory assassin bugs. All prey specialists evolved from generalist ancestors, with multiple evolutionary origins of termite and ant specializations. A bark-associated life style on tree trunks is ancestral for most of the lineages of Higher Reduviidae; living on foliage has evolved at least six times independently. Reduviidae originated in the Middle Jurassic (178 Ma), but significant lineage diversification only began in the Late Cretaceous (97 Ma). The integration of molecular phylogenetics with fossil and life history data as presented in this paper provides insights into the evolutionary history of reduviids and clears the way for in-depth evolutionary hypothesis testing in one of the most speciose clades of predators.     

Antiviral Activity of a Small Molecule Deubiquitinase Inhibitor Occurs via Induction of the Unfolded Protein Response

Ubiquitin (Ub) is a vital regulatory component in various cellular processes, including cellular responses to viral infection. As obligate intracellular pathogens, viruses have the capacity to manipulate the ubiquitin (Ub) cycle to their advantage by encoding Ub-modifying proteins including deubiquitinases (DUBs). However, how cellular DUBs modulate specific viral infections, such as norovirus, is poorly understood. To examine the role of DUBs during norovirus infection, we used WP1130, a small molecule inhibitor of a subset of cellular DUBs. Replication of murine norovirus in murine macrophages and the human norovirus Norwalk virus in a replicon system were significantly inhibited by WP1130. Chemical proteomics identified the cellular DUB USP14 as a target of WP1130 in murine macrophages, and pharmacologic inhibition or siRNA-mediated knockdown of USP14 inhibited murine norovirus infection. USP14 is a proteasome-associated DUB that also binds to inositol-requiring enzyme 1 (IRE1), a critical mediator of the unfolded protein response (UPR). WP1130 treatment of murine macrophages did not alter proteasome activity but activated the X-box binding protein-1 (XBP-1) through an IRE1-dependent mechanism. In addition, WP1130 treatment or induction of the UPR also reduced infection of other RNA viruses including encephalomyocarditis virus, Sindbis virus, and La Crosse virus but not vesicular stomatitis virus. Pharmacologic inhibition of the IRE1 endonuclease activity partially rescued the antiviral effect of WP1130. Taken together, our studies support a model whereby induction of the UPR through cellular DUB inhibition blocks specific viral infections, and suggest that cellular DUBs and the UPR represent novel targets for future development of broad spectrum antiviral therapies.     

ABCG transporters export cutin precursors for the formation of the plant cuticle

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The Internet as a Mental Health Advisor in Germany—Results of a National Survey

The internet constitutes a popular source of health information. However, the use of the internet and other modern media in the domain of mental health remains widely unclear. This study aimed at exploring the readiness for seeking information online and making use of online counseling and media-assisted psychotherapy. A representative survey of N = 2411 Germans was conducted. Results indicated that more than one fourth of Germans would consider seeking help online in case of psychic strain. Participants reported that they would use the internet when needing to research about mental health topics and to communicate with persons concerned on internet forums. Only a small number of participants had already used psychological online-counseling. The majority of subjects reported not having known about the possibility of online counseling. However, the willingness to make use of this option in the future was in a medium range. Concerning the treatment of mental disorders, participants showed a clear preference toward conventional face-to-face treatment. Less than 10% of participants considered the use of treatment supported by mobile phones, the internet, or virtual realities as likely. Certainly, readiness was significantly higher in persons who were already using the relevant devices—mobile phones, computers, and the internet. In the future, there will presumably be an increasing demand for media-assisted psychological counseling and interventions. Members of the health care system should therefore prepare for current developments and help enlighten patients with regard to the possibilities, and also the potential risks of e-mental health.