Analysis of the genetic variability and structure of Ochlerotatus taeniorhynchus (Diptera: Culicidae) populations from the Colombian Atlantic coast on the basis of random amplified polymorphic DNA markers

Ochlerotatus taeniorhynchus (Diptera: Culicidae) is a mosquito, which is an efficient vector of the virus causing epidemic-epizootic Venezuelan equine encephalitis in Colombia. This study used 9 random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers to analyze the mosquito's genetic variability and genetic structure of 122 specimens in 7 populations from the Colombian Atlantic coast. Assuming that all loci were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, diversity statistics and analyses were performed. The average number of amplified fragments for each primer was 8.3, and the size of these fragments ranged from 350 to 3600 bp. The expected average heterozygosity was 0.358 ± 0.103. The genetic heterogeneity among the populations studied was small (GST = 0.05 ± 0.01); meanwhile, the gene flow estimates (Nm = 7.32 ± 1.35) were high. In an identical way, the Nei's genetic distances obtained yielded very small values amongst the populations that were studied in this Colombian region. Furthermore, a spatial autocorrelation analysis with Moran's I index revealed a very weak, or inexistent, spatial genetic structure among these populations. The comparison of these results with those performed for other markers (isoenzymes and microsatellites) in populations of this same mosquito from the Colombian Atlantic coast was discussed. The results of our RAPD analysis showed scarce genetic differentiation among the mosquito populations on the Colombian Atlantic coast, which was probably determined by high gene flow levels. © FUNPEC-RP

PARAGANGLIOMA E ANGIOEDEMA

Paragangliomas or extra-adrenal pheochromocytomas are rare tumors that arise from chromaffin tissues and tend to occur either sporadically or in the context of complex genetic disorders. They are clinically heterogeneous in nature - symptoms deriving either from the secretory profile of the tumor or from the mass effect of the neoplasm. Dermatologic symptoms are quite seldom described in the literature and have been classified in acute or chronic. The case of a 40 YO Caucasian female that had been enduring for the last 2 years recurring self-limited episodes of angioedema, diarrhoea, chest pain, hypertension or hypotension, dyspnoea and anxiety is reported. Biochemical studies and further imagiologic work up and, later on, pathologic exam allowed to identify a paraganglioma that drained to the left renal artery. Upon surgery, during tumor manipulation, the patient developed an additional systemic crisis that required active life support. Recovery was regular, with a quick and sustained normalization of lab results as well as on the clinical side, with no further episode for the last 17 years.Paragangliomas ou Feocromocitomas extra-suprarrenais são tumores raros derivados do tecido cromafim que tendem a ocorrer esporadicamente ou no contexto de doenças genéticas complexas. São tumores com apresentação clínica variada, dependente do seu perfil secretório ou do efeito de massa determinado pela neoplasia. Sintomas dermatológicos são raros, tendo sido classificados como agudos/paroxísticos ou crónicos. É apresentado caso de uma Eurocaucasiana de 40 anos de idade que referia, nos últimos 2 anos, episódios auto-limitados de angioedema, diarreia, toracalgia, hiper ou hipotensão arterial, dispneia e ansiedade. Estudos laboratoriais e, posteriormente, avaliação imagiológica e exame patológico permitiram identificar um paraganglioma drenante para a veia renal esquerda, o qual foi extirpado com sucesso. Durante a cirurgia, a manipulação do tumor desencadeou uma nova crise grave, a qual exigiu, com carácter de emergência, a instituição de medidas de suporte avançado de vida. A recuperação decorreu sem incidentes, tendo-se verificado uma rápida regularização dos valores laboratoriais a par de uma remissão clínica completa, sem novos episódios verificados durante 17 anos

Methodology to improve water and energy use by proper irrigationscheduling in pressurised networks

With the aim of reducing energy consumption and improving water use in pressurised irrigation systems, the methodology to minimise energy consumption by grouping intakes of pressurised irrigation networks into sectors, as developed by Jimenez Bello et al. (2010a), was modified to enable irrigation intakes to operate during the scheduled period for each intake instead of operating during restricted irrigation periods of the same length. Moreover, a method was developed to detect the maximum number of intakes that can operate without extra energy if the source has sufficient head to feed at least some of the intakes. These methods were applied to a Mediterranean irrigation system, where the total cropped area was mainly citrus orchards. In this case study, water was allocated to two groups of intakes, one fed by gravity and the other by pumps. A saving of 36.3 % was achieved by increasing the total volume supplied by gravity, decreasing the injection pump head, and improving the pump performance. Therefore, all the intakes only operated during the irrigation periods at the minimum required pressure.This research was supported by funds from Climate-KIC AGADAPT and from EU 7th Framework Programme FIGARO projects. The authors wish to acknowledge the support provided by Picassent Sector XI staff. The revision of this paper was funded by "The Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Spain".Jiménez Bello, MA.; Royuela Tomás, Á.; Manzano Juarez, J.; García Prats, A.; Martínez Alzamora, F. (2015). Methodology to improve water and energy use by proper irrigationscheduling in pressurised networks. Agricultural Water Management. 149:91-101. doi:10.1016/j.agwat.2014.10.026S9110114

Near-infrared photometry and spectroscopy of the low Galactic latitude globular cluster 2MASS-GC03

We present deep near-infrared photometry and spectroscopy of the globular cluster 2MASS-GC03 projected in the Galactic disk using MMIRS on the Clay telescope (Las Campanas Observatory) and VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea survey (VVV) data. Most probable cluster member candidates were identified from near-infrared photometry. Out of ten candidates that were followed-up spectroscopically, five have properties of cluster members, from which we calculate = -0.9 +/- 0.2 and a radial velocity of v_r > = -78 +- 12km/s. A distance of 10.8kpc is estimated from 3 likely RRLyrae members. Given that the cluster is currently at a distance of 4.2kpc from the Galactic center, the cluster's long survival time of an estimated 11.3 +/- 1.2 Gyr strengthens the case for its globular-cluster nature. The cluster has a hint of elongation in the direction of the Galactic center.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

A comparison of feature extractors for panorama stitching in an autonomous car architecture.

Panorama stitching consists on frames being put together to create a 360o view. This technique is proposed for its implementation in autonomous vehicles instead of the use of an external 360o camera, mostly due to its reduced cost and improved aerodynamics. This strategy requires a fast and robust set of features to be extracted from the images obtained by the cameras located around the inside of the car, in order to effectively compute the panoramic view in real time and avoid hazards on the road. In this paper, we compare and discuss three feature extraction methods (i.e. SIFT, BRISK and SURF) for image feature extraction, in order to decide which one is more suitable for a panorama stitching application in an autonomous car architecture. Experimental validation shows that SURF exhibits an improved performance under a variety of image transformations, and thus appears to be the most suitable of these three methods, given its accuracy when comparing features between both images, while maintaining a low time consumption. Furthermore, a comparison of the results obtained with respect to similar work allows to increase the reliability of our methodology and the reach of our conclusions

Geographical Distribution of Trypanosoma cruzi Genotypes in Venezuela

Chagas disease is an endemic zoonosis native to the Americas and is caused by the kinetoplastid protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. The parasite is also highly genetically diverse, with six discrete typing units (DTUs) reported TcI – TcVI. These DTUs broadly correlate with several epidemiogical, ecological and pathological features of Chagas disease. In this manuscript we report the most comprehensive evaluation to date of the genetic diversity of T. cruzi in Venezuela. The dataset includes 778 samples collected and genotyped over the last twelve years from multiple hosts and vectors, including nine wild and domestic mammalian host species, and seven species of triatomine bug, as well as from human sources. Most isolates (732) can be assigned to the TcI clade (94.1%); 24 to the TcIV group (3.1%) and 22 to TcIII (2.8%). Importantly, among the 95 isolates genotyped from human disease cases, 79% belonged to TcI - a DTU common in the Americas, however, 21% belonged to TcIV- a little known genotype previously thought to be rare in humans. Furthermore, were able to assign multiple oral Chagas diseases cases to TcI in the area around the capital, Caracas. We discuss our findings in the context of T. cruzi DTU distributions elsewhere in the Americas, and evaluate the impact they have on the future of Chagas disease control in Venezuela

Evolution of crystalline orientations in the production of ferritic stainless steel

Ferritic stainless steel EN 1.4016 is used in a wide range of applications, the most common ones related to sheet forming. Several problems in the post-processing of these steels relates to their texture and anisotropy. Therefore, it is necessary to know the mechanisms of texture formation in the subsequent stages of metal manufacturing processes. EBSD has been demonstrated as a successful characterisation technique for this purpose. It is known that during re-crystallisation of Fe-Cr steels, deviations from the desired.-fibre texture promote a decrease of deep drawability. Additionally, a-fibre damages formability. Subsequent cold rolling and annealing can enhance the deep drawing properties of the steel sheet. In this research, a standard sample and a modified one with optimised settings as regard to chemical composition and manufacturing process, to improve the formability properties, are characterised. To analyse the preferred orientation and the type of main fibre present in the material, ODF and Aztec Reclassify Phase, to calculate the content of martensite, were used

Effect of the inclusion of Bacillus spp. in growing–finishing pigs’ diets: a meta-analysis

This meta-analysis determined the effect of Bacillus spp. on growth performance of growing–finishing pigs and then assessed causes for the heterogeneity of responses detected using meta-regression. A database of 22 articles published from 2000 to 2020 was identified, and 9 articles fitted the selection criteria and were integrated in the final database. Statistical analysis was performed to analyze the effect size for ADG, average daily feed intake (ADFI), and F:G ratio using a standardized means difference (SMD) at a 95% confidence interval. A meta-regression analysis was used to investigate the cause of heterogeneity, using the individual SMD for each study assessment as the outcome and the associated SE as the measure of variance. Dietary Bacillus spp. supplementation had no effect on ADFI (SMD: −0.052, p = 0.138) and numerically increased ADG (SMD: 0.113, p = 0.081) and reduced the F:G ratio SMD: −0.127, p < 0.001). Meta-regression outcomes suggested that the number of animals per group was an essential component promoting heterogeneity in ADG. Overall, the inclusion of Bacillus spp. (median 486 mg/d) in growing–finishing pigs can increase ADG and can decrease the F:G ratio

Extraction and Inhibition of Enzymatic Activity of Botulinum Neurotoxins/A1, /A2, and /A3 by a Panel of Monoclonal Anti-BoNT/A Antibodies

Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) are extremely potent toxins that are capable of causing death or respiratory failure leading to long-term intensive care. Treatment includes serotype-specific antitoxins, which must be administered early in the course of the intoxication. Rapidly determining human exposure to BoNT is an important public health goal. In previous work, our laboratory focused on developing Endopep-MS, a mass spectrometry-based endopeptidase method for detecting and differentiating BoNT/A–G serotypes in buffer and BoNT/A, /B, /E, and /F in clinical samples. We have previously reported the effectiveness of antibody-capture to purify and concentrate BoNTs from complex matrices, such as clinical samples. Because some antibodies inhibit or neutralize the activity of BoNT, the choice of antibody with which to extract the toxin is critical. In this work, we evaluated a panel of 16 anti-BoNT/A monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) for their ability to inhibit the in vitro activity of BoNT/A1, /A2, and /A3 complex as well as the recombinant LC of A1. We also evaluated the same antibody panel for the ability to extract BoNT/A1, /A2, and /A3. Among the mAbs, there were significant differences in extraction efficiency, ability to extract BoNT/A subtypes, and inhibitory effect on BoNT catalytic activity. The mAbs binding the C-terminal portion of the BoNT/A heavy chain had optimal properties for use in the Endopep-MS assay