Malaria vectors in the Brazilian Amazon: Anopheles of the subgenus Nyssorhynchus

Various species of Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) were studied in the Amazon with the objective of determining their importance as malaria vectors. Of the 33 known Anopheles species occurring in the Amazon, only 9 were found to be infected with Plasmodium. The different species of this subgenus varied both in diversity and density in the collection areas. The populations showed a tendency towards lower density and diversity in virgin forest than in areas modified by human intervention. The principal vector, An. darlingi, is anthropophilic with a continuous activity cycle lasting the entire night but peaking at sunset and sunrise. These species (Nyssorhynchus) are peridomiciliary, entering houses to feed on blood and immediately leaving to settle on nearby vegetation. Anopheles nuneztovari proved to be zoophilic, crepuscular and peridomiciliary. These habits may change depending on a series of external factors, especially those related to human activity. There is a possibility that sibling species exist in the study area and they are being studied with reference to An. darlingi. An. albitarsis and An. nuneztovari. The present results do not suggest the existence of subpopulations of An. darlingi in the Brazilian Amazon

Genetic divergence in mitochondrial DNA of Anopheles nuneztovari (Diptera: Culicidae) from Brazil and Colombia

In the present study, we have examined the variability in Anopheles nuneztovari mitochondrial DNA of three populations from the Brazilian Amazon and one from western Colombia (Sitronela), using four restriction endonucleases (BclI, ClaI, HindIII, SstI). The haplotype diversity (h) was slightly elevated in all populations (0.5000 to 0.6765), whereas the nucleotide diversity (π) was lower in the Sitronela population (0.0029) and higher in populations from the Brazilian Amazon (0.0056 to 0.0098). The degree of sequence divergence (δ) estimated within the Brazilian Amazon and that in Sitronela (0.0329 to 0.0371) suggests that these geographic populations of A. nuneztovari may eventually constitute separate species. The low sequence divergence values among the three Brazilian Amazon populations (0.0012 to 0.0031) indicate that these populations are genetically similar. These results are consistent with those recently reported for allozymes of these same populations

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362

Comparative Growth Of Trichoderma Strains In Different Nutritional Sources, Using Bioscreen C Automated System [crescimento De Linhagens De Trichoderma Em Diferentes Fontes Nutricionais, Empregando O Sistema Automatizado Bioscreen C]

Trichoderma is one of the fungi genera that produce important metabolites for industry. The growth of these organisms is a consequence of the nutritional sources used as also of the physical conditions employed to cultivate them. In this work, the automated Bioscreen C system was used to evaluate the influence of different nutritional sources on the growth of Trichoderma strains (T. hamatum, T. harzianum, T. viride, and T. longibrachiatum) isolated from the soil in the Juréia-Itatins Ecological Station (JIES), São Paulo State -Brazil. The cultures were grown in liquid culture media containing different carbon- (2%; w/v) and nitrogen (1%; w/v) sources at 28°C, pH 6.5, and agitated at 150 rpm for 72 h. The results showed, as expected, that glucose is superior to sucrose as a growth-stimulating carbon source in the Trichoderma strains studied, while yeast extract and tryptone were good growth-stimulating nitrogen sources in the cultivation of T. hamatum and T. harzianum.402404410Alvarez-Barrientos, A., Arroyo, J., Canton, R., Nombela, C., Sanchez-Pérez, M., Applications of flow cytometry to clinical microbiology (2000) Clin. Microbiol. Rev., 13, pp. 167-195Antal, Z., Manczinger, L., Szakacs, G., Tengerdy, R.P., Ferenczy, L., Colony growth, in vitro antagonism and secretion of extracellular enzymes in cold-tolerant strains of Trichoderma species (2000) Mycol. Res., 104, pp. 545-549Antunes, M.F.R., Ninomiya, A., Schoenlein-Crusius, I.H., Efeitos da queimada sobre a micota de solo na Mata Atlântica na Reserva Biológica do Alto da Serra de Paranapiacaba, SP (1994) Hoehnea., 20 (1), pp. 1-8Apsmo, S.I., Horn, S.J., Eijsink, G.H., Hydrolysates from Atlantic cód (Gadus morhua L.) viscera as components of microbial growth media (2005) Process Biochem., 40, pp. 3714-3722Ayres, M., Ayres, D.L., Santos, A.A.S., Biostat 4.0 - Aplicações estatísticas nas áreas de Ciências Biomédicas (2005) Sociedade Mamirauá, , Belém, PABlack, R.L.B., Dix, N.J., Utilization of ferulic acid by microfungi from litter and soil (1976) Transations of the British Mycologial Society, 66, pp. 305-311Caçais, A.O.G., Silveira, F., Filho, E.X.F., Production of xylandegrading enzymes by a Trichoderma harzianum strain Braz (2001) J. Microbiol., 32 (2), pp. 141-143Corabi-Adell, C., (2004) Biodiversidade do gênero Trichoderma (Hypocreales - Fungi) mediante técnicas moleculares e análise ecofisiográfica, , Rio Claro - Brazil (Dr. Tesis. Instituto de Biociências, Unesp)Delgado-Jarana, J., Pintor-Toro, J.A., Benítez, T., Overproduction of β-1,6-glucanase in Trichoderma harzianum is controlled by extracellular acid proteases and pH (2000) Acta Biochim. Biophys., 1481, pp. 289-296Dennis, C., Webster, J., Antagonistic properties of species-groups of Trichoderma. 1. Production of non-volatile antibiotics (1971) Transactions of the British Mycologial Society, 57, pp. 25-39Goller, S.P., Schoisswohl, D., Baron, M., Parriche, M., Kubicek, C.P., Role of endoproteolytic dibasic proprotein processing in maturation of secretory in Trichoderma reesei (1998) Appl. Environ. 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Electrochemical DNA biosensor for the detection of human papillomavirus E6 gene inserted in recombinant plasmid

In the current study, we describe a novel, simple, inexpensive, sensitive, specific, stable and label-free electrochemical DNA biosensor used to identify a target gene cloned into a plasmid. The biosensor was designed with a 23-mer oligonucleotide of guanine-free, which was immobilized on the pencil graphite electrode (PGE) for E6 gene detection from human papillomavirus 16 type (HPV16). The E6 gene was used due to its clinical importance. The optimal probe concentration was obtained in 500 nM. The hybridization detection showed a good linearity in the range of 40–5,000 pg/μL with a detection limit of 16 pg/μL. The electrochemical method showed higher sensitivity and specificity when compared with the agarose gel electrophoresis assay. This technology could be postulated as a new and attractive alternative for cloning analysis in plasmids