Mapping the Risk of Soil-Transmitted Helminthic Infections in the Philippines

BackgroundIn order to increase the efficient allocation of soil-transmitted helminth (STH) disease control resources in the Philippines, we aimed to describe for the first time the spatial variation in the prevalence of A. lumbricoides, T. trichiura and hookworm across the country, quantify the association between the physical environment and spatial variation of STH infection and develop predictive risk maps for each infection.Conclusions/SignificanceThis analysis revealed significant spatial variation in STH infection prevalence within provinces of the Philippines. This suggests that a spatially targeted approach to STH interventions, including mass drug administration, is warranted. When financially possible, additional STH surveys should be prioritized to high-risk areas identified by our study in Luzon.     

Lineage sorting in multihost parasites: Eidmanniella albescens and Fregatiella aurifasciata on seabirds from the Galapagos Islands

Parasites comprise a significant percentage of the biodiversity of the planet and are useful systems to test evolutionary and ecological hypotheses. In this study, we analyze the effect of host species identity and the immediate local species assemblage within mixed species colonies of nesting seabirds on patterns of genetic clustering within two species of multihost ectoparasitic lice. We use three genetic markers (one mitochondrial, COI, and two nuclear, EF1‐α and wingless) and maximum likelihood phylogenetic trees to test whether (1) parasites show lineage sorting based on their host species; and (2) switching of lineages to the alternate host species depends on the immediate local species assemblage of individual hosts within a colony. Specifically, we examine the genetic structure of two louse species: Eidmanniella albescens, infecting both Nazca (Sula granti) and blue‐footed boobies (Sula nebouxii), and Fregatiella aurifasciata, infecting both great (Fregata minor) and magnificent frigatebirds (Fregata magnificens). We found that host species identity was the only factor explaining the patterns of genetic structure in both parasites. In both cases, there is evident genetic differentiation depending on the host species. Thus, a revision of the taxonomy of these louse species is needed. One possible explanation of this pattern is extremely low louse migration rates between host species, perhaps influenced by fine‐scale spatial separation of host species within mixed colonies, and low parasite infrapopulation numbers.     

Plants Probiotics as a Tool to Produce Highly Functional Fruits: The Case of Phyllobacterium and Vitamin C in Strawberries

The increasing interest in the preservation of the environment and the health of consumers is changing production methods and food consumption habits. Functional foods are increasingly demanded by consumers because they contain bioactive compounds involved in health protection. In this sense biofertilization using plant probiotics is a reliable alternative to the use of chemical fertilizers, but there are few studies about the effects of plant probiotics on the yield of functional fruits and, especially, on the content of bioactive compounds. In the present work we reported that a strain of genus Phyllobacterium able to produce biofilms and to colonize strawberry roots is able to increase the yield and quality of strawberry plants. In addition, the fruits from plants inoculated with this strain have significantly higher content in vitamin C, one of the most interesting bioactive compounds in strawberries. Therefore the use of selected plant probiotics benefits the environment and human health without agronomical losses, allowing the production of highly functional foods.     

Immunomodulator-Based Enhancement of Anti Smallpox Immune Responses

Background

The current live vaccinia virus vaccine used in the prevention of smallpox is contraindicated for millions of immune-compromised individuals. Although vaccination with the current smallpox vaccine produces protective immunity, it might result in mild to serious health complications for some vaccinees. Thus, there is a critical need for the production of a safe virus-free vaccine against smallpox that is available to everyone. For that reason, we investigated the impact of imiquimod and resiquimod (Toll-like receptors agonists), and the codon-usage optimization of the vaccinia virus A27L gene in the enhancement of the immune response, with intent of producing a safe, virus-free DNA vaccine coding for the A27 vaccinia virus protein.

Methods

We analyzed the cellular-immune response by measuring the IFN-γ production of splenocytes by ELISPOT, the humoral-immune responses measuring total IgG and IgG2a/IgG1 ratios by ELISA, and the TH1 and TH2 cytokine profiles by ELISA, in mice immunized with our vaccine formulation.

Results

The proposed vaccine formulation enhanced the A27L vaccine-mediated production of IFN-γ on mouse spleens, and increased the humoral immunity with a TH1-biased response. Also, our vaccine induced a TH1 cytokine milieu, which is important against viral infections.

Conclusion

These results support the efforts to find a new mechanism to enhance an immune response against smallpox, through the implementation of a safe, virus-free DNA vaccination platform.     

Repertoire Sharing and Song Similarity between Great Tit Males Decline with Distance between Forest Fragments

Birdsong can play a critical role in establishing a territory and finding a mate among individuals from local and foreign populations. Variation in birdsong among populations can be influenced by habitat fragmentation and might affect successful dispersal among habitat fragments. We studied variation in great tit song in a long‐term study population distributed over nine forest fragments. All individual males recorded had a known dispersal history within the fragmented forest habitat. We found spatial structure of declining song‐type sharing with distance, with a marked drop from an individual’s own forest fragment to another across a habitat gap. We also found decreasing song similarity among increasingly distant fragments in terms of temporal and spectral characteristics of shared song types. The change in acoustic structure was more gradual and seemed less affected by habitat discontinuity but also showed a tight correlation with dispersal index among forest fragments. Immigrant birds shared fewer song types with neighbouring birds that were born within the same forest fragment, but not less compared to birds born in another forest fragment within the study area. Our data provide detailed insight into the relationship between song differentiation and male dispersal and contribute to our understanding of the potential role of song in reproductive exchange and avian speciation. The fact that birds in small forest fragments shared more songs than birds in larger forest fragments confirms that song analysis has potential as a tool for conservation in rare species.     

The importance of forest patch networks for the conservation of the Thorn-tailed Rayaditos in central Chile

Conservation of forest birds in fragmented landscapes requires not only determining the critical patch characteristics influencing local population persistence but also identifying patch networks providing connectivity and suitable habitat conditions necessary to ensure regional persistence. In this study, we assessed the importance of patch attributes, patch connectivity, and network components (i.e., groups of interconnected patches) in explaining the occupancy pattern of the Thorn-tailed Rayadito (Aphrastura spinicauda), a forest bird species of central Chile. Using a daily movement threshold distance, we identified a total of 16 network components of sclerophyllous forest within the study area. Among those components, patch area and vegetation structure-composition were important predictors of patch occupancy. However, the inclusion of patch connectivity and component size (i.e., the area of a network component) into the models greatly increases the models’ accuracy and parsimony. Using the best-fitted model, a total of 33 patches were predicted to be occupied by rayaditos within the study area, but such occupied patches were distributed in only six network components. These results suggest that persistence of rayaditos in central Chile requires the maintenance of large single patches and patch networks providing habitat and connectivity.     

Multistability in a Model for CTL Response to HTLV-I Infection and Its Implications to HAM/TSP Development and Prevention

Human T-cell leukaemia/lymphoma virus type I (HTLV-I) is a retrovirus that has been identified as the causative agent of HTLV-I-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) and other illnesses. HTLV-I infects primarily CD4⁺ T cells and the transmission occurs through direct cell-to-cell contact. HAM/TSP patients harbor higher proviral loads in peripheral blood lymphocytes than asymptomatic carriers. Also, HAM/TSP patients exhibit a remarkably high number of circulating HTLV-I-specific CD8⁺ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) in the peripheral blood. While CTLs have a protective role by killing the infected cells and lowering the proviral load, a high level of CTLs and their cytotoxicity are believed to be a main cause of the development of HAM/TSP. A mathematical model for HTLV-I infection of CD4⁺ T cells that incorporates the CD8⁺ cytotoxic T-cell (CTL) response is investigated. Our mathematical analysis reveals that the system can stabilize at a carrier steady-state with persistent viral infection but no CTL response, or at a HAM/TSP steady-state at which both the viral infection and CTL response are persistent. We also establish two threshold parameters R ₀ and R ₁, the basic reproduction numbers for viral persistence and for CTL response, respectively. We show that the parameter R ₁ can be used to distinguish asymptomatic carriers from HAM/TSP patients, and as an important control parameter for preventing the development of HAM/TSP.     

Optimization of the Water-Insoluble Procedures for <Emphasis Type="Italic">USP</Emphasis> General Chapter <Emphasis Type="Italic">Residual Solvents</Emphasis> <467>

The water-insoluble procedures in US Pharmacopeia (USP) General Chapter Residual Solvents <467>, which are based on European Pharmacopoeia procedures, were optimized and modified before their inclusion in the chapter to improve their scope, performance, and ruggedness. The optimized procedures use a static headspace introduction system with a gas chromatograph equipped with a flame ionization detector. This article describes some of the key changes made to the USP published procedures, including use of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) or dimethylformamide (DMF) as the solvent, addition of 5 mL of water and 1 mL of sample (dissolved in DMSO or DMF) to the headspace vial, use of a 3:1 GC split ratio, and use of new matrix-matched system suitability solutions. These procedures were verified with two different active pharmaceutical ingredients—hydroxyzine pamoate and prednisone. In the investigation, the more polar material (hydroxyzine pamoate) showed greater recoveries for the optimized procedures when prepared in DMSO. The less polar material (prednisone) typically had greater recoveries in DMF for the optimized procedures. During experimentation, insights into sample preparation, additional types of headspace instrumentation, solvent purity, and other parameters were also gained.     

Molecular phylogeny of mangrove oysters (Crassostrea) from Brazil

As a result of phenotypic plasticity, the cupped oysters (Crassostrea)are difficult to identify by means of their morphology. However,molecular DNA markers are a useful means of discriminating amongthese species. Cupped oysters are one of the most widely culturedmarine invertebrates and correct species identification is importantin aquaculture. Moreover, the molecular phylogeny of the genusCrassostrea and the subfamily Crassostreinae is still not clear.In order to identify the Brazilian cupped oysters and to clarifythe phylogenetic relationships of these species, we sequenceda fragment of mitochondrial DNA (16S rRNA gene) from 120 specimenscollected at nine different sites distributed along the Braziliancoast. The results identified two native species of oyster:Crassostrea gasar, from the Amazon to the Parnaíba delta;and Crassostrea rhizophorae, from the northeast (Fortim) tothe south of Brazil. An exotic Crassostrea species, closelyrelated to Indo-Pacific Crassostrea, was found in one locationin the north of Brazil. Crassostrea showed monophyly and theAtlantic oysters are clearly separated from the Indo-Pacificcluster. (Received 30 May 2006; accepted 12 April 2007)