Nuevas asociaciones de especies de parasitoides y anastrepha distincta (diptera: tephritidae) en el Soconusco, Chiapas, México

We report five native species of parasitoids as new associations with larvae of A. distincta, obtained from fruits of Inga spuria, I. laurina and I. micheliana

Nuevas asociaciones de especies de parasitoides y anastrepha distincta (diptera: tephritidae) en el Soconusco, Chiapas, México

We report five native species of parasitoids as new associations with larvae of A. distincta, obtained from fruits of Inga spuria, I. laurina and I. micheliana.We report five native species of parasitoids as new associations with larvae of A. distincta, obtained from fruits of Inga spuria, I. laurina and I. micheliana

Experimental study of the mechanical transmission of rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV2/b) by Aedes Albopictus (Diptera: Clicidae) and Phlebotomus papatasi (diptera: psychodidae); 34447999

Rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD) is caused by a lagovirus mainly affecting European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), although other European and North American lagomorph species are also susceptible to fatal infection by the new viral variant RHDV2/b. In the present work, direct mechanical transmission of the rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV2/b variant) by the hematophagous Diptera Aedes albopictus (Skuse) (Diptera: Culicidae) and the sand fly Phlebotomus papatasi (Scopoli) (Diptera: Psychodidae) was tested. For each species, six and three laboratory rabbits were exposed to bites of dipterous females partially fed on RHDV2/b viral suspension 2 h and 24 h prior to exposure, respectively. The rabbits were then monitored for clinical changes and mortality for 35 d, and seroconversion was assessed by indirect ELISA. No rabbit died or showed clinical signs of disease, and seroconversion was recorded in two rabbits challenged with P. papatasi females fed the viral suspension 2 h prior to exposure. The number of RHDV2/b RNA copies/female was higher in Ae. albopictus than in P. papatasi but the decrease over time of RNA load in Ae. albopictus was greater than that in P. papatasi. The results of this study suggest the inability of Ae. albopictus to serve as a direct mechanical vector of RHDV2/b, but sand flies could play a role in the local transmission of RHD. © The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America

Protective effects of Spirulina maxima on hyperlipidemia and oxidative-stress induced by lead acetate in the liver and kidney

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Oxidative damage has been proposed as a possible mechanism involved in lead toxicity, specially affecting the liver and kidney. Previous studies have shown the antioxidant effect of <it>Spirulina maxima </it>in several experimental models of oxidative stress. The current study was carried out to evaluate the antioxidant activity of <it>Spirulina maxima </it>against lead acetate-induced hyperlipidemia and oxidative damage in the liver and kidney of male rats. Control animals were fed on a standard diet and did not receive lead acetate (Control group). Experimental animals were fed on a standard laboratory diet with or without <it>Spirulina maxima </it>5% in the standard laboratory diet and treated with three doses of lead acetate (25 mg each/weekly, intraperitoneal injection) (lead acetate with <it>Spirulina</it>, and lead acetate without <it>Spirulina </it>groups).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results showed that <it>Spirulina maxima </it>prevented the lead acetate-induced significant changes on plasma and liver lipid levels and on the antioxidant status of the liver and kidney. On the other hand, <it>Spirulina maxima </it>succeeded to improve the biochemical parameters of the liver and kidney towards the normal values of the Control group.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>It was concluded that <it>Spirulina maxima </it>has protective effects on lead acetate-induced damage, and that the effects are associated with the antioxidant effect of <it>Spirulina</it>.</p

Mediastinal Schwannoma Diagnosed by Endoscopic Ultrasonography-Guided Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology

Schwannoma is the most common neurogenic tumor that is derived from the peripheral nerve sheath. There are no specific serologic markers or characteristic imaging abnormalities associated with schwannoma. Tissue diagnosis and immunohistochemistry are required to diagnose this lesion. We describe a 65-year-old male with a finding of three mass lesions in the superior and middle mediastinum on computed tomography of the chest. The largest lesion measured 4.6 × 5 cm. The patient subsequently underwent endoscopic ultrasonography-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) of the lesion and cytology was consistent with spindle cell neoplasm. Immunohistochemical staining of the cytologic specimen was positive for S-100 and negative for pan-cytokeratin, CD34, CD117, calcitonin, smooth muscle actin and desmin. These findings were consistent with schwannoma. This is the second reported case of a mediastinal schwannoma diagnosed by EUS-FNA

Adaptability of the threatened jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi Schereber, 1777) to human-altered environments in San Luis Potosí, Mexico

La persistencia y recuperación de especies raras en regiones en desarrollo con áreas protegidas limitadas depende de su adaptabilidad a los hábitats alterados por el hombre. El jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) está clasificado como amenazado en México, y el conocimiento de su distribución y su correlación con el ambiente es necesario para los esfuerzos de recuperación informados. Sin embargo, poco se sabe sobre el hábitat o la distribución de jaguarundi en el interior de México, incluido el estado de San Luis Potosí (SLP). Realizamos 96 entrevistas semiestructuradas en comunidades, ejidos y ranchos a lo largo de SLP para obtener registros de la presencia de jaguarundi e identificar correlaciones ambientales y atributos de sitios asociados con su ocurrencia. Evaluamos las entrevistas utilizando criterios analíticos de credibilidad y recopilamos información sobre hábitats de 50 eventos confiables de tres de las cuatro regiones geográficas de SLP. En comparación con el paisaje de SLP, las ocurrencias de jaguarundi se ubicaron más cerca del agua, más cerca de las carreteras, a bajas elevaciones, marginalmente más cerca de las comunidades, y en áreas con mayor borde total, densidad de bordes y número de parches de paisaje. El jaguarundi mostró preferencia por los mosaicos de bosques tropicales, agrícolas, de pastizales y urbanos (es decir, cualquier comunidad). Coberturas de escondite relativamente denso o de emboscada generalmente estaban presentes en los sitios de ocurrencia. Colectivamente, el modelo de máxima entropía y el modelo de regresión logística predijeron una probabilidad similar y alta de presencia de jaguarundi en regiones caracterizadas por mosaicos de bosques tropicales, agricultura, pastizales o tipos de cobertura urbana &lt;500 m en elevación y &lt;2 km desde carreteras. Estos paisajes de mosaicos tendían a estar relativamente cerca de comunidades de densidades moderadas de población y agua, y generalmente soportan densidades de presas pequeñas más altas que las áreas menos fragmentadas. Los jaguarundi se adaptaron al menos a las perturbaciones ligeras y moderadas relacionadas con los seres humanos, y pueden verse beneficiados por el aumento de los mosaicos de borde y hábitat.Persistence and recovery of rare species in developing regions with limited protected areas depends upon their adaptability to human-altered habitats. The jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) is classed as threatened in Mexico, and knowledge of its distribution and environmental correlates is necessary for informed recovery efforts. However, little is known of jaguarundi habitat or distribution in interior Mexico, including the state of San Luis Potosí (SLP). We conducted 96 semi-structured interviews around communities, ejidos, and ranches throughout SLP to obtain records of jaguarundi presence and identify environmental correlates and site attributes associated with its occurrence. We evaluated interviews using analytical criteria of credibility, and collected habitat information from 50 reliable occurrences from three of the four geographic regions of SLP. Compared to the SLP landscape, jaguarundi occurrences were located closer to water, closer to roads, at lower elevation, marginally closer to communities, and in areas with greater total edge, edge density, and number of landscape patches. Jaguarundi showed preference for mosaics of tropical forest, agricultural, grassland, and urban (i.e., any community) cover types. Relatively dense hiding or ambush cover was usually present at occurrence sites. Collectively, maximum entropy modeling and logistic regression modeling predicted similar and high likelihood of jaguarundi presence in regions characterized by mosaics of tropical forest, agriculture, grassland, or urban cover types &lt;500 m in elevation and &lt;2 km from roads. These mosaic landscapes tended to be relatively close to communities of moderate population densities and water, and typically support higher small prey densities than less fragmented areas. Jaguarundi were adaptable to at least light–moderate human-related disturbance, and may be benefitted by it because of increased edge and habitat mosaics

Antimicrobial activity of Bursera morelensis ramírez essential oil

Background: Bursera morelensis, known as “Aceitillo”, is an endemic tree of Mexico. Infusions made from the bark of this species have been used for the treatment of skin infections and for their wound healing properties. In this work, we present the results of a phytochemical and antimicrobial investigation of the essential oil of B. morelensis.Materials and Methods: The essential oil was obtained by a steam distillation method and analyzed using GC-MS. The antibacterial and antifungal activities were evaluated.Results: GC-MS of the essential oil demonstrated the presence of 28 compounds. The principal compound of the essential oil was α-Phellandrene (32.69%). The essential oil had antibacterial activity against Gram positive and negative strains. The most sensitive strains were S. pneumoniae, V. cholerae (cc) and E. coli (MIC 0.125 mg/mL, MBC 0.25 mg/mL). The essential oil was bactericidal for V. cholera (cc). The essential oil inhibited all the filamentous fungi. F. monilifome (IC50 = 2.27 mg/mL) was the most sensitive fungal strain.Conclusions: This work provides evidence that confirms the antimicrobial activity of the B. morelensis essential oil and this is a scientific support about of traditional uses of this species.Keywords: Essential oil; Medicinal plants; Tehuacan-Cuicatlan Valley; Burseraceae; Burser

Bringing Earth-Abundant Plasmonic Catalysis to Light : Gram-Scale Mechanochemical Synthesis and Tuning of Activity by Dual Excitation of Antenna and Reactor Sites

The localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) excitation in plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) in the visible and near-infrared ranges is currently at the forefront of improving photocatalytic performances via plasmonic photocatalysis. One bottleneck of this field is that the NPs that often display the best optical properties in the visible and near-infrared ranges are based on expensive noble metals such as silver (Ag) and gold (Au). While earth-abundant plasmonic materials have been proposed together with catalytic metals in antenna-reactor systems, their performances remain limited by their optical properties. Importantly, the synthesis of plasmonic photocatalysts remains challenging in terms of scalability while often requiring several steps, high temperatures, and special conditions. Herein, we address these challenges by developing a one-pot, gram-scale, room-temperature synthesis of earth-abundant plasmonic photocatalysts while improving their activities beyond what has been dictated by the LSPR excitation of the plasmonic component. We describe the mechanochemical synthesis of earth-abundant plasmonic photocatalysts by using MoO3 (antenna) and Au (reactor) NPs as a proof-of-concept example and demonstrate that the dual plasmonic excitation of antenna and reactor sites enables the tuning of plasmonic photocatalytic performances toward the reductive coupling of nitrobenzene to azobenzene as a model reaction. In addition to providing a pathway to the facile and gramscale synthesis of plasmonic photocatalysts, the results reported herein may open pathways to improved activities in plasmonic catalysis.Peer reviewe

Stress-induced expression is enriched for evolutionarily young genes in diverse budding yeasts

The Saccharomycotina subphylum (budding yeasts) spans 400 million years of evolution and includes species that thrive in diverse environments. To study niche-adaptation, we identify changes in gene expression in three divergent yeasts grown in the presence of various stressors. Duplicated and non-conserved genes are significantly more likely to respond to stress than genes that are conserved as single-copy orthologs. Next, we develop a sorting method that considers evolutionary origin and duplication timing to assign an evolutionary age to each gene. Subsequent analysis reveals that genes that emerged in recent evolutionary time are enriched amongst stress-responsive genes for each species. This gene expression pattern suggests that budding yeasts share a stress adaptation mechanism, whereby selective pressure leads to functionalization of young genes to improve growth in adverse conditions. Further characterization of young genes from species that thrive in harsh environments can inform the design of more robust strains for biotechnology