Epidemiology of ovine toxoplasmosis and neosporosis in rams from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

Although the State of Rio Grande do Sul is one of the principal sheep rearing regions in Brazil, the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii and Neospora caninum is unknown in rams. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of ovine toxoplasmosis and neosporosis and the risk factors associated with the development of these diseases in rams used exclusively for breeding.September 23-28, 2018

Neutralising reactivity against SARS-CoV-2 delta and omicron variants by vaccination and infection history.

BACKGROUND: The continuous emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC) with immune escape properties, such as Delta (B.1.617.2) and Omicron (B.1.1.529), questions the extent of the antibody-mediated protection against the virus. Here we investigated the long-term antibody persistence in previously infected subjects and the extent of the antibody-mediated protection against B.1, B.1.617.2 and BA.1 variants in unvaccinated subjects previously infected, vaccinated naïve and vaccinated previously infected subjects. METHODS: Blood samples collected 15 months post-infection from unvaccinated (n=35) and vaccinated (n=41) previously infected subjects (Vo' cohort) were tested for the presence of antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) and nucleocapsid (N) antigens using the Abbott, DiaSorin, and Roche immunoassays. The serum neutralising reactivity was assessed against B.1, B.1.617.2 (Delta), and BA.1 (Omicron) SARS-CoV-2 strains through micro-neutralisation. The antibody titres were compared to those from previous timepoints, performed at 2- and 9-months post-infection on the same individuals. Two groups of naïve subjects were used as controls, one from the same cohort (unvaccinated n=29 and vaccinated n=20) and a group of vaccinated naïve healthcare workers (n=61). RESULTS: We report on the results of the third serosurvey run in the Vo' cohort. With respect to the 9-month time point, antibodies against the S antigen significantly decreased (P=0.0063) among unvaccinated subjects and increased (P<0.0001) in vaccinated individuals, whereas those against the N antigen decreased in the whole cohort. When compared with control groups (naïve Vo' inhabitants and naïve healthcare workers), vaccinated subjects that were previously infected had higher antibody levels (P<0.0001) than vaccinated naïve subjects. Two doses of vaccine elicited stronger anti-S antibody response than natural infection (P<0.0001). Finally, the neutralising reactivity of sera against B.1.617.2 and BA.1 was 4-fold and 16-fold lower than the reactivity observed against the original B.1 strain. CONCLUSIONS: These results confirm that vaccination induces strong antibody response in most individuals, and even stronger in previously infected subjects. Neutralising reactivity elicited by natural infection followed by vaccination is increasingly weakened by the recent emergence of VOCs. While immunity is not completely compromised, a change in vaccine development may be required going forward, to generate cross-protective pan-coronavirus immunity in the global population

Evaluation of cyst fluid analysis in the diagnosis of pancreatic cysts.

The pre-operative differential diagnosis of pancreatic cystic lesions is often difficult because of the lack of reliable clinical or radiological criteria. In order to improve the pre-operative recognition of these lesions, we performed cyst fluid analysis for enzymes (amylase and lipase), tumour markers (CEA, CA 19-9, CA 125, CA 72-4), and cytology in 52 pancreatic cysts. The cases included 21 pseudocysts, 12 mucinous cystic neoplasms, 7 ductal carcinomas, 7 benign lesions, and 5 rare malignancies observed from 1989 to 1994. Cyst fluid amylase, lipase, CEA, and CA 19-9 were variable and not discriminant between the groups. CA 125 fluid levels were high in 63% of malignant cysts. CA 72-4 fluid levels were significantly higher in mucinous cystic tumours than in pseudocysts (p < 0.0001), showing 95% specificity in detecting mucinous or malignant cysts. Cytology showed a sensitivity of 61% and a specificity of 100%. CA 72-4 determination raised the sensitivity of cytology to 92% in detecting mucinous or malignant cysts. This study confirms the low sensitivity of cytologic examination and low amylase specificity in distinguishing cystic neoplasms from pseudocysts. Cyst tumour markers assay is useful to improve the sensitivity of cytology, and CA 72-4 shows the best specificity in detecting (pre)malignant neoplasms

Lasciare il petrolio nel sottosuolo e yasunizar la tierra. Analisi multicriteriali e sistemi informativi geografici a supporto delle politiche pubbliche sul cambiamento climatico e la transizione energetica

Dal primo Summit sul cambiamento climatico nel 1992, il dibattito sociale, politico e scientifico sulla relazione tra global warming ed utilizzo di combustibili fossili ha avuto un crescendo esponenziale, evidenziando come le politiche di sviluppo vadano coniugate sempre pi\uf9 con sostenibilit\ue0 ambientale ed energetica. Nel periodo compreso tra il 2011 ed il 2050 le emissioni cumulate di CO2 dovrebbero mantenersi in un range di 870-1.240 Gt per evitare il temuto traguardo dei 2\ub0C di riscaldamento medio globale, rispetto all\u2019epoca preindustriale. Per raggiungere tale obiettivo, McGlade e Ekins, in un articolo pubblicato da Nature nel 2015, stimano che oltre l'80% del carbone, il 50% del gas e il 30% delle riserve di petrolio dovrebbero rimanere stoccati nel sottosuolo. Nonostante il crescente numero di studi ed il grande interesse attorno a questi temi, allo stato attuale rimane inesplorata la definizione di metodologie e criteri geografici per scegliere dove utilizzare o lasciare nel sottosuolo i combustibili fossili. Globalmente \ue8 stato realizzato un solo esperimento politico, tra il 2007 e il 2013, nel Parco Nazionale Yasun\ued (Ecuador), che mirava a non estrarre gli idrocarburi dal sottosuolo, con la contemporanea creazione di un fondo di compensazione internazionale. Anche se l\u2019iniziativa, denominata Yasun\ued-ITT, \ue8 stata poi abbandonata, l\u2019idea \ue8 tuttora supportata dalla comunit\ue0 scientifica e dalla societ\ue0 civile che hanno creato il neologismo Yasunisaci\uf3n. In questo contesto, nel 2016, l\u2019Universit\ue0 di Padova ha dato avvio ad un progetto di ricerca di ateneo per: 1) mappare, a scala globale, le riserve di idrocarburi e le attivit\ue0 estrattive onshore, valutando le sovrapposizioni e gli impatti nelle aree di maggiore sensibilit\ue0 ed alta diversit\ue0 biologica e culturale; 2) definire criteri geografici per individuare le aree da preservare dall\u2019attivit\ue0 di estrazione dei idrocarburi. Il progetto intende elaborare un atlante mondiale dell'Unburnable Carbon fornendo linee guida a supporto delle politiche pubbliche integrate per la lotta al cambiamento climatico, la transizione energetica, la conservazione della biodiversit\ue0, la tutela dei diritti umani. Il percorso metodologico adottato prevede l\u2019elaborazione di un geodatabase opensource per la raccolta e la gestione di dati ecologici, antropici, produttivi, economici e infrastrutturali disponibili, e lo sviluppo di analisi multicriteriali in ambiente GIS. Il progetto sta testando metodologie e criteri in diverse aree campione ad alta diversit\ue0 ecologica e culturale, tra cui il bacino amazzonico e la penisola italiana. In questo contributo si presenteranno alcuni risultati applicati al contesto italiano, 4\ub0 produttore europeo di petrolio con un acceso dibattito pubblico su oil & gas e questione ambientale. Queste analisi e la visualizzazione cartografica possono fornire un primo strumento di supporto ai processi decisionali nella gestione della oil footprint e nelle politiche climatiche

Analysis of genetic susceptibility to mercury contamination evaluated through molecular biomarkers in at-risk Amazon Ameridian populations.

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