Susceptibility of different populations of ticks to entomopathogenic fungi

This study aimed to evaluate the in vitro effect of the entomopathogenic fungi Metarhizium anisopliae sensu lato (s.l.) and Beauveria bassiana sensu lato (s.l.) on two distinct populations of Rhipicephalus microplus, from two different experimental farms. Bioassays were performed with engorged females, eggs and larvae. Fungal infection was evaluated based on biological parameters of treated engorged females, percentage of hatch from treated eggs, and percentage of mortality and mean lethal time (LT90) of treated larvae. When the treatments were compared between the two populations, there were significant differences in the following parameters: pre-oviposition period, hatching period and egg production index. Moreover, the results showed that B. bassiana s.l., isolate Bb 986, was more virulent than M. anisopliae s.l., isolate 959, for engorged females, showing a control percentage of 49%. In the bioassay with eggs, the hatching percentage ranged from 3.1% to 49.5% in one population and from 3.4% to 42.7% in the other, with no significant difference between the two populations. In the bioassay with unfed larvae, the mortality percentage ranged from 91.8% to 98.7% in one population and from 71.0% to 94.0% in the other. The LT(90) varied from 19.52 to 27.51 days in one of the populations and 22.89 to 37.31 days in the other. These results suggest that populations of R. microplus show distinct variation in their susceptibility to B. bassiana s.l. and M. anisopliae s.l.     

Structural basis of the lisinopril-binding specificity in N- and C-domains of human somatic ACE

Angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) is a dipeptidyl carboxypeptidase which converts angiotensin I into the vasopressor peptide angiotensin II and also inactivates the hypotensive peptide bradykinin, playing an important role in blood pressure regulation. The present work describes the molecular modeling of the N-terminal human somatic ACE in complex with the inhibitor lisinopril, identifying the residues involved in the inhibitor-binding pocket. The obtained results identify differences in the lisinopril lysine moiety-binding residues for N- and C-terminals of sACE domains and an important carboxy-terminal proline hydrophobic accommodations mediated by the aromatic ring of Tyr532 and Tyr1128 residues, respectively. The present model will be useful for the development of a new inhibitor family based on the natural BPP peptides and derivatives, or even to improve the binding capacities and the domain specificity of the already known inhibitors.     

Update of AMmtDB: a database of multi-aligned Metazoa mitochondrial DNA sequences

The AMmtDB database (http://bighost.area.ba.cnr.it/mitochondriome) has been updated by collecting the multi-aligned sequences of Chordata and Invertebrata mitochondrial genes coding for proteins and tRNAs. Links to the multi-aligned mtDNA intraspecies variants, collected in VarMmtDB at the Mitochondriome web site, have been introduced. The genes coding for proteins are multi-aligned based on the translated sequences and both the nucleotide and amino acid multi-alignments are provided. AMmtDB data selected through SRS can be viewed and managed using GeneDoc or other programs for the management of multi-aligned data depending on the user’s operative system. The multiple alignments have been produced with CLUSTALW and PILEUP programs and then carefully optimized manually.     

A stapled chromogranin A-derived peptide homes in on tumors that express αvβ6 or αvβ8 integrins

Rationale: The αvβ6- and αvβ8-integrins, two cell-adhesion receptors upregulated in many tumors and involved in the activation of the latency associated peptide (LAP)/TGFβ complex, represent potential targets for tumor imaging and therapy. We investigated the tumor-homing properties of a chromogranin A-derived peptide containing an RGDL motif followed by a chemically stapled alpha-helix (called “5a”), which selectively recognizes the LAP/TGFβ complex-binding site of αvβ6 and αvβ8.Methods: Peptide 5a was labeled with IRDye 800CW (a near-infrared fluorescent dye) or with ¹⁸F-NOTA (a label for positron emission tomography (PET)); the integrin-binding properties of free peptide and conjugates were then investigated using purified αvβ6/αvβ8 integrins and various αvβ6/αvβ8 single - or double-positive cancer cells; tumor-homing, biodistribution and imaging properties of the conjugates were investigated in subcutaneous and orthotopic αvβ6-positive carcinomas of the pancreas, and in mice bearing subcutaneous αvβ8-positive prostate tumors.Results: In vitro studies showed that 5a can bind both integrins with high affinity and inhibits cell-mediated TGFβ activation. The 5a-IRDye and 5a-NOTA conjugates could bind purified αvβ6/αvβ8 integrins with no loss of affinity compared to free peptide, and selectively recognized various αvβ6/αvβ8 single- or double-positive cancer cells, including cells from pancreatic carcinoma, melanoma, oral mucosa, bladder and prostate cancer. In vivo static and dynamic optical near-infrared and PET/CT imaging and biodistribution studies, performed in mice with subcutaneous and orthotopic αvβ6-positive carcinomas of the pancreas, showed high target-specific uptake of fluorescence- and radio-labeled peptide by tumors and low non-specific uptake in other organs and tissues, except for excretory organs. Significant target-specific uptake of fluorescence-labeled peptide was also observed in mice bearing αvβ8-positive prostate tumors.Conclusions: The results indicate that 5a can home to αvβ6- and/or αvβ8-positive tumors, suggesting that this peptide can be exploited as a ligand for delivering imaging or anticancer agents to αvβ6/αvβ8 single- or double-positive tumors, or as a tumor-homing inhibitor of these TGFβ activators.     

Coexistencia de „Madurella Mycetomi” y de „Madurella Grisea” en una Misma Observacion de Maduromicosis Podal Negra

Summary The author reports on the clinical and mycological studies of a case of black-grain maduromycosis in a woman from Santa Maria (Province of Catamarca, Argentine).Cultures of black grains in Sabouraud medium have developed colonies ofMadurella mycetomi and also ofMadurella grisea Mackinnon, Ferrada &Montemayor, 1949.The author questioned, which of the two species is the etiological agent in the present case and he concluded that the microscopic aspect of the black grain permits to suppose thatMadurella mycetomi is the agent in this case.

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En homenaje al Prof. Tibor Benedek.     

Nueva observacion de histoplasmosis en la Republica Argentina

Summary The author make a clinical and parasitological study of one new observation of histoplasmosis, parasitical rethiculo-histiocitosis or Darling's disease byHistoplasma capsulatum Darling, 1906 in a man 59 year old with pulmonary tuberculouse.His lesions in the mucouse of the mouth and in the lymph-nodes would healed with sulphadiacine treatment.It is the 7th. observation in Argentina.     

Sleep Apnea-Hypopnea Quantification by Cardiovascular Data Analysis

Sleep disorders are a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Sleep apnea is the most common sleep disturbance and its detection relies on a polysomnography, i.e., a combination of several medical examinations performed during a monitored sleep night. In order to detect occurrences of sleep apnea without the need of combined recordings, we focus our efforts on extracting a quantifier related to the events of sleep apnea from a cardiovascular time series, namely systolic blood pressure (SBP). Physiologic time series are generally highly nonstationary and entrap the application of conventional tools that require a stationary condition. In our study, data nonstationarities are uncovered by a segmentation procedure which splits the signal into stationary patches, providing local quantities such as mean and variance of the SBP signal in each stationary patch, as well as its duration . We analysed the data of 26 apneic diagnosed individuals, divided into hypertensive and normotensive groups, and compared the results with those of a control group. From the segmentation procedure, we identified that the average duration , as well as the average variance , are correlated to the apnea-hypoapnea index (AHI), previously obtained by polysomnographic exams. Moreover, our results unveil an oscillatory pattern in apneic subjects, whose amplitude is also correlated with AHI. All these quantities allow to separate apneic individuals, with an accuracy of at least . Therefore, they provide alternative criteria to detect sleep apnea based on a single time series, the systolic blood pressure.     

Spatial modeling of techno‐economic potential of biojet fuel production in Brazil

It is expected that Brazil could play an important role in biojet fuel (BJF) production in the future due to the long experience in biofuel production and the good agro‐ecological conditions. However, it is difficult to quantify the techno‐economic potential of BJF because of the high spatiotemporal variability of available land, biomass yield, and infrastructure as well as the technological developments in BJF production pathways. The objective of this research is to assess the recent and future techno‐economic potential of BJF production in Brazil and to identify location‐specific optimal combinations of biomass crops and technological conversion pathways. In total, 13 production routes (supply chains) are assessed through the combination of various biomass crops and BJF technologies. We consider temporal land use data to identify potential land availability for biomass production. With the spatial distribution of the land availability and potential yield of biomass crops, biomass production potential and costs are calculated. The BJF production cost is calculated by taking into account the development in the technological pathways and in plant scales. We estimate the techno‐economic potential by determining the minimum BJF total costs and comparing this with the range of fossil jet fuel prices. The techno‐economic potential of BJF production ranges from 0 to 6.4 EJ in 2015 and between 1.2 and 7.8 EJ in 2030, depending on the reference fossil jet fuel price, which varies from 19 to 65 US$/GJ across the airports. The techno‐economic potential consists of a diverse set of production routes. The Northeast and Southeast region of Brazil present the highest potentials with several viable production routes, whereas the remaining regions only have a few promising production routes. The maximum techno‐economic potential of BJF in Brazil could meet almost half of the projected global jet fuel demand toward 2030.     

Role of B lymphocytes in the infarcted mass in patients with acute myocardial infarction

Despite early reperfusion, patients with ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) may present large myocardial necrosis and significant impairment of ventricular function. The present study aimed to evaluate the role of subtypes of B lymphocytes and related cytokines in the infarcted mass and left ventricular ejection fraction obtained by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging performed after 30 days of STEMI. This prospective study included 120 subjects with STEMI submitted to pharmacoinvasive strategy. Blood samples were collected in subjects in the first (D1) and 30th (D30) days post STEMI. The amount of CD11b+ B1 lymphocytes (cells/ml) at D1 were related to the infarcted mass (rho = 0.43; P=0.033), measured by cardiac MRI at D30. These B1 cells were associated with CD4+ T lymphocytes at D1 and D30, while B2 classic lymphocytes at day 30 were related to left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Higher titers of circulating IL-4 and IL-10 were observed at D30 versus D1 (P=0.013 and P<0.001, respectively). Titers of IL-6 at D1 were associated with infarcted mass (rho = 0.41, P<0.001) and inversely related to LVEF (rho = −0.38, P<0.001). After multiple linear regression analysis, high-sensitivity troponin T and IL-6 collected at day 1 were independent predictors of infarcted mass and, at day 30, only HDL-C. Regarding LVEF, high-sensitivity troponin T and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein were independent predictors at day 1, and B2 classic lymphocytes, at day 30. In subjects with STEMI, despite early reperfusion, the amount of infarcted mass and ventricular performance were related to inflammatory responses triggered by circulating B lymphocytes.