Plasmonic Sensors Based on Funneling Light Through Nanophotonic Structures

We present a refractometric sensor realized as a stack of metallic gratings with subwavelength features and embedded within a low-index dielectric medium. Light is strongly confined through funneling mechanisms and excites resonances that sense the analyte medium. Two terminations of the structure are compared. One of them has a dielectric medium in contact with the analyte and exploits the selective spectral transmission of the structure. The other design has a metallic continuous layer that generates surface plasmon resonances at the metal/analyte interface. Both designs respond with narrow spectral features that are sensible to the change in the refractive index of the analyte and can be used for sensing biomedical samples.

     

Leishmania?braziliensis-Reactive T Cells Are Down-Regulated in Long-Term Cured Cutaneous Leishmaniasis,but the Renewal Capacity of T Effector Memory Compartments Is Preserved

Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis control and tissue damage relate to the effector immune response, which in turn affects clinical outcome. Leishmania reactive CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells are expanded in long-term healed cutaneous leishmaniasis (hCL) patients but their functional characteristics remain to be determined. This study investigates antigen-specific recall in long-term healed CL caused by L. braziliensis infection. Healed CL subjects were grouped according to the time elapsed since the end of therapy: less than two years and two to five years. Activation phenotype (CD69⁺ or CD25⁺) and subpopulations of memory T cell phenotypes [central memory (Tcm): CD45RO⁺ CCR7⁺ or effector memory (Tem): CD45RO⁺ CCR7^-] were quantified in ex vivo blood mononuclear cells and after Leishmania antigens stimuli. A reduction in the percentage of activated Leishmania-responder CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells in hCL was associated with the time elapsed since clinical cure. Percentage of CD69⁺ in TCD4⁺ and TCD8⁺ cells were negatively correlated with IL-10 levels. Ex vivo analyses showed contracted Tem CD4⁺ and Tem CD8⁺ compartments from hCL with long time elapsed since clinical cure, although renewal of these compartments was observed following in vitro exposure to leishmanial stimuli. Our results show that healed L. braziliensis infected patients exhibit a recall response to Leishmania antigens with evident expansion of effector memory T cells. Regulated leishmanial-specific response seems to emerge only about two years after initial contact with the parasite antigens.     

Wound infection by multiresistant Staphylococcus sciuri identified by molecular methods

We describe a case of wound infection by multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus sciuri in a patient admitted to hospital for injuries in Agreste Alagoas, Brazil, identified through broad-spectrum PCR and sequencing of 16S rDNA gene. Due to its high resistance profile, the infection was characterized as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus presenting sensitive only to vancomycin and chloramphenicol. The injury resulting from trauma associated with infection resulted in amputation of the infected limb.     

Anatomy of carbonate mounds from the Middle Anisian of Nakhlak (Central Iran): architecture and age of a subtidal microbial-bioclastic carbonate factory

The Anisian succession of Nakhlak (in Central Iran) is characterized by a siliciclastic succession with minor carbonate units, with massive carbonate mounds up to 50?m thick in its upper part. The mounds, constrained in age to the late Bithynian (Ismidicus Zone) by ammonoids and conodonts, are characterized by a flat top and a lateral pinch-out marked by clinostratified slopes (about 15° in dip). Stratigraphic and microfacies analyses document an inner part of the mound characterized by massive microbial carbonates with open-space structures (stromatactis) filled with fine-grained internal sediments and marine cements. Isolated sponges (up to 5?cm), serpulids and bryozoans are present, which grew on the calcimicrobial limestone. A narrow bioclastic margin (mainly with crinoids and brachiopods) produces most of the slope facies (consisting of bioclastic grainstone and packstone, with intraclasts from the inner part of the mounds) which interfinger basinward with volcaniclastic sandstones. The demise of carbonate productivity is marked on the top of the carbonate mounds by a condensed surface, rich in ammonoids, glaucony grains, and articulated crinoids, documenting a rapid drowning. Paleolatitude data support deposition in a tropical setting, and sedimentological constraints indicate deposition close to the fair-weather wave base, within the photic zone. The late Bithynian Nakhlak carbonate mounds developed before the appearance (documented since the Pelsonian in different parts of the world) of scleractinians which, despite the favorable environmental conditions, are absent at Nakhlak. The Nakhlak mounds thus represent one of the last occurrences of the microbial factories (which developed after the Permo-Triassic extinction event and persisted for most of the Middle Triassic, but with a gradually increasing role played by scleractinians) before the first appearance of the Mesozoic corals.     

Description of the female of Sciopemyia servulolimai (Damasceno & Causey) (Diptera: Psychodidae)

The female of Sciopemyia servulolimai (Damasceno & Causey), based on three specimens captured during an epidemiological research project in the state of Cear , Brazil, is described and illustrated for the first time.     

Description of a new phlebotomine species, Evandromyia gaucha sp. nov. (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae), from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

The present paper describes a new phlebotomine species, Evandromyia gaucha sp. nov., based on seven females found in the municipality of Ca?apava do Sul, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The new species belong to rupicola series and differs from other sand flies of the genus Evandromyia due to the presence of a rounded spermatheca head with its size very close to that of the spermatheca body.     

Intraspecific variation in biocontrol traits in Mastrus ridens (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) laboratory populations

Breeding natural enemies to generate populations with improved characteristics is an attractive idea, particularly nowadays with the increase in use of biological control and the availability of modern molecular and genetic tools. A first step in the process is to characterize traits which can be important for biological control and their intraspecific variation. In this study we characterized fecundity, longevity and dispersal-related traits of four endogamic and three exogamic laboratory populations (lines) of Mastrus ridens, an important parasitoid of the codling moth (Cydia pomonella (L.)). We found that several traits were positively correlated and that there was variability among lines and between endogamic and exogamic lines. Exogamic lines presented a better combination of trait values than endogamic lines. The absence of trade-offs among the traits studied in M. ridens would be advantageous for a breeding program. Nevertheless, it would be important not to lose genetic variability in the process, because of the presence of complementary sex determination (CSD) and negative effects of inbreeding on other traits. The results of this study could be useful for the selection of M. ridens lines with better traits and as preliminary information for breeding programs.