Infratentorial hygroma secondary to decompressive craniectomy after cerebellar infarction

We present a case of expansive CSF collection in the cerebellar convexity. The patient was a 74 years old lady who one month before had suffered a cerebellar infarct complicated with acute hydrocephalus. She had good evolution after decompressive craniectomy without shunting. Fifteen days after surgery, the patient started with new positional vertigo, nausea and vomiting and a wound CSF fistula that needed ventriculoperitoneal shunt (medium pressure) because conservative treatment failed. After shunting, the fistula closed, but the patient symptoms worsened. The MRI showed normal ventricular size with a cerebellar hygroma, extending to the posterior interhemispheric fissure. The collection had no blood signal and expanded during observation. A catheter was implanted in the collection and connected to the shunt. The patient became asymptomatic after surgery, and the hygromas had disappeared in control CT at one month. This case shows an infrequent problem of CSF circulation at posterior fossa that resulted in vertigo of central origin. A higroma-ventricle-peritoneal shunt solved the symptoms of the patient

The development of social preferences

This paper examines how social preferences develop with age. This is done using a range of mini-dictator games from which we classify 665 subjects into a variety of behavioural types. We expand on previous developmental studies of pro-sociality and parochialism by analysing individuals aged 9–67, and by employing a cross country study where participants from Spain interact with participants from different ethnic groups (Arab, East Asian, Black and White) belonging to different countries (Morocco, China, Senegal and Spain). We identify a ‘U-shaped’ relationship between age and egalitarianism that had previously gone unnoticed, and appeared linear. An inverse “U-shaped” relationship is found to be true for altruism. A gender differential is found to emerge in teenage years, with females becoming less altruistic but more egalitarian than males. In contrast to the majority of previous economic studies of the development of social preferences, we report evidence of increased altruism, and decreased egalitarianism and spite expressed towards black individuals from Senegal

An insight into the role of trissolcus mitsukurii as biological control agent of halyomorpha halys in Northeastern Italy

11noSustainable strategies such as classical or augmentative biological control are currently being evaluated for the long-term management of the alien invasive pest Halyomorpha halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). A three-year study carried out in northeastern Italy was performed to investigate the distribution and field performance of the H. halys egg parasitoid Trissolcus mitsukurii (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae), in comparison with other parasitoid species. In the study area, adventive populations of T. mitsukurii were present since 2016, representing the earliest detection of this species in Europe. Trissolcus mitsukurii was the most abundant parasitoid and showed a higher “parasitoid impact” (i.e., number of parasitized eggs over the total number of field-collected eggs) compared to the other species, i.e., Anastatus bifasciatus (Geoffroy) (Hymenoptera: Eupelmidae), Trissolcus basalis (Wollaston) and Trissolcus kozlovi Rjachovskij (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae). The hyperparasitoid Acroclisoides sinicus (Huang and Liao) (Hymenoptera: Pteromalidae) was also recorded. Phylogenetic analysis of T. mitsukurii population distinguished two clades, one covering samples from Italy, Japan and China, the other from South Korea. The present study provides promising results for the biological control of a pest that is having a dramatic impact on a wide range of crops worldwide.openopenScaccini D.; Falagiarda M.; Tortorici F.; Martinez-Sanudo I.; Tirello P.; Reyes-Dominguez Y.; Gallmetzer A.; Tavella L.; Zandigiacomo P.; Duso C.; Pozzebon A.Scaccini, D.; Falagiarda, M.; Tortorici, F.; Martinez-Sanudo, I.; Tirello, P.; Reyes-Dominguez, Y.; Gallmetzer, A.; Tavella, L.; Zandigiacomo, P.; Duso, C.; Pozzebon, A

Genetic diversity of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Peru and exploration of phylogenetic associations with drug resistance.

BACKGROUND: There is limited available data on the strain diversity of M tuberculosis in Peru, though there may be interesting lessons to learn from a setting where multidrug resistant TB has emerged as a major problem despite an apparently well-functioning DOTS control programme. METHODS: Spoligotyping was undertaken on 794 strains of M tuberculosis collected between 1999 and 2005 from 553 community-based patients and 241 hospital-based HIV co-infected patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in Lima, Peru. Phylogenetic and epidemiologic analyses permitted identification of clusters and exploration of spoligotype associations with drug resistance. RESULTS: Mean patient age was 31.9 years, 63% were male and 30.4% were known to be HIV+. Rifampicin mono-resistance, isoniazid mono-resistance and multidrug resistance (MDR) were identified in 4.7%, 8.7% and 17.3% of strains respectively. Of 794 strains from 794 patients there were 149 different spoligotypes. Of these there were 27 strains (3.4%) with novel, unique orphan spoligotypes. 498 strains (62.7%) were clustered in the nine most common spoligotypes: 16.4% SIT 50 (clade H3), 12.3% SIT 53 (clade T1), 8.3% SIT 33 (LAM3), 7.4% SIT 42 (LAM9), 5.5% SIT 1 (Beijing), 3.9% SIT 47 (H1), 3.0% SIT 222 (clade unknown), 3.0% SIT1355 (LAM), and 2.8% SIT 92 (X3). Amongst HIV-negative community-based TB patients no associations were seen between drug resistance and specific spoligotypes; in contrast HIV-associated MDRTB, but not isoniazid or rifampicin mono-resistance, was associated with SIT42 and SIT53 strains. CONCLUSION: Two spoligotypes were associated with MDR particularly amongst patients with HIV. The MDR-HIV association was significantly reduced after controlling for SIT42 and SIT53 status; residual confounding may explain the remaining apparent association. These data are suggestive of a prolonged, clonal, hospital-based outbreak of MDR disease amongst HIV patients but do not support a hypothesis of strain-specific propensity for the acquisition of resistance-conferring mutations

Overexpression of the Aspergillus nidulans histone 4 acetyltransferase EsaA increases activation of secondary metabolite production

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Soukup, A. A., Chiang, Y.-M., Bok, J. W., Reyes-Dominguez, Y., Oakley, B. R., Wang, C. C. C., Strauss, J. and Keller, N. P. (2012), Overexpression of the Aspergillus nidulans histone 4 acetyltransferase EsaA increases activation of secondary metabolite production. Molecular Microbiology, 86: 314–330. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2958.2012.08195.x, which has been published in final form at http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2958.2012.08195.x. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.Regulation of secondary metabolite (SM) gene clusters in Aspergillus nidulans has been shown to occur through cluster specific transcription factors or through global regulators of chromatin structure such as histone methyltransferases, histone deacetylases, or the putative methyltransferase LaeA. A multi-copy suppressor screen for genes capable of returning SM production to the SM deficient ΔlaeA mutant resulted in identification of the essential histone acetyltransferase EsaA, able to complement an esa1 deletion in Saccharomyces cereviseae. Here we report that EsaA plays a novel role in SM cluster activation through histone 4 lysine 12 (H4K12) acetylation in four examined SM gene clusters (sterigmatocystin, penicillin, terrequinone, and orsellinic acid), in contrast to no increase in H4K12 acetylation of the housekeeping tubA promoter. This augmented SM cluster acetylation requires LaeA for full effect and correlates with both increased transcript levels and metabolite production relative to wild type. H4K12 levels may thus represent a unique indicator of relative production potential, notably of SMs

Physical Characterization of Long-Lasting Hybrid Eruptions: The 2021 Tajogaite Eruption of Cumbre Vieja (La Palma, Canary Islands)

Long-lasting, hybrid eruptions can be of complex description and classification, especially when associated with multiple eruptive styles and multiple products. The 2021 Tajogaite eruption of La Palma, Canary Islands, was associated with a magma-gas decoupled system that resulted in the simultaneous emission of lava flows and tephra plumes from various vents. Even though the tephra blanket (∼2 × 107 m3) represents only 7%–16% of the total erupted volume, it provides fundamental insights into the overall eruptive dynamics. Tephra was mostly dispersed NE-SW due to a complex regional and local wind patterns and was subdivided into 3 units and 11 layers that well correlate at different distances from the vent and with both tremor data and lava emission rate. While plume height varied at the temporal scale of a few hours, the average mass eruption rate associated with the tephra blanket of the different units remained relatively constant (∼3–4 × 103 kg s−1). In contrast, the emission rate of lava largely increased after the first week and remained higher than the overall emission of tephra throughout the whole eruption (average value of ∼6 × 104 kg s−1). Based on a detailed characterization of the tephra blanket in combination with atmospheric wind, tremor, and lava emission trend, we demonstrate the need of (a) multidisciplinary strategies for the description of hybrid eruptions that account for both the duration of individual phases and the quantification of the mass of multiple products, and of (b) dedicated ash dispersal forecasting strategies that account for the frequent variations of eruptive and atmospheric conditions

Genetics of tibia bone properties of crossbred commercial laying hens in different housing systems

Osteoporosis and bone fractures are a severe problem for the welfare of laying hens, with genetics and environment, such as housing system, each making substantial contributions to bone strength. In this work, we performed genetic analyses of bone strength, bone mineral density, and bone composition, as well as body weight, in 860 commercial crossbred laying hens from 2 different companies, kept in either furnished cages or floor pens. We compared bone traits between housing systems and crossbreds and performed a genome-wide association study of bone properties and body weight. As expected, the 2 housing systems produced a large difference in bone strength, with layers housed in floor pens having stronger bones. These differences were accompanied by differences in bone geometry, mineralization, and chemical composition. Genome scans either combining or independently analyzing the 2 housing systems revealed no genome-wide significant loci for bone breaking strength. We detected 3 loci for body weight that were shared between the housing systems on chromosomes 4, 6, and 27 (either genome-wide significant or suggestive) and these coincide with associations for bone length. In summary, we found substantial differences in bone strength, content, and composition between hens kept in floor pens and furnished cages that could be attributed to greater physical activity in pen housing. We found little evidence for large-effect loci for bone strength in commercial crossbred hens, consistent with a highly polygenic architecture for bone strength in the production environment. The lack of consistent genetic associations between housing systems in combination with the differences in bone phenotypes could be due to gene-by-environment interactions with housing system or a lack of power to detect shared associations for bone strength

Modeling the hard TeV spectra of blazars 1ES 0229+200 and 3C 66A with an internal absorption scenario

We study the applicability of the idea of internal absorption of gamma-rays produced through synchrotron radiation of ultrarelativistic protons in highly magnetized blobs to 1ES 0229+200 and 3C 66A, the two TeV blazars which show unusually hard intrinsic gamma-ray spectra after being corrected for the intergalactic absorption. We show that for certain combinations of reasonable model parameters, even with quite modest energy requirements, the scenario allows a self-consistent explanation of the non-thermal emission of these objects in the keV, GeV, and TeV energy bands.Comment: 34 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in Ap