Acute febrile illness is associated with Rickettsia spp infection in dogs

BACKGROUND: Rickettsia conorii is transmitted by Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks and causes Mediterranean Spotted Fever (MSF) in humans. Although dogs are considered the natural host of the vector, the clinical and epidemiological significance of R. conorii infection in dogs remains unclear. The aim of this prospective study was to investigate whether Rickettsia infection causes febrile illness in dogs living in areas endemic for human MSF. METHODS: Dogs from southern Italy with acute fever (n = 99) were compared with case–control dogs with normal body temperatures (n = 72). Serology and real-time PCR were performed for Rickettsia spp., Ehrlichia canis, Anaplasma phagocytophilum/A. platys and Leishmania infantum. Conventional PCR was performed for Babesia spp. and Hepatozoon spp. Acute and convalescent antibodies to R. conorii, E. canis and A. phagocytophilum were determined. RESULTS: The seroprevalence rates at first visit for R. conorii, E. canis, A. phagocytophilum and L. infantum were 44.8%, 48.5%, 37.8% and 17.6%, respectively. The seroconversion rates for R. conorii, E. canis and A. phagocytophilum were 20.7%, 14.3% and 8.8%, respectively. The molecular positive rates at first visit for Rickettsia spp., E. canis, A. phagocytophilum, A. platys, L. infantum, Babesia spp. and Hepatozoon spp. were 1.8%, 4.1%, 0%, 2.3%, 11.1%, 2.3% and 0.6%, respectively. Positive PCR for E. canis (7%), Rickettsia spp. (3%), Babesia spp. (4.0%) and Hepatozoon spp. (1.0%) were found only in febrile dogs. The DNA sequences obtained from Rickettsia and Babesia PCRs positive samples were 100% identical to the R. conorii and Babesia vogeli sequences in GenBank®, respectively. Febrile illness was statistically associated with acute and convalescent positive R. conorii antibodies, seroconversion to R. conorii, E. canis positive PCR, and positivity to any tick pathogen PCRs. Fourteen febrile dogs (31.8%) were diagnosed with Rickettsia spp. infection based on seroconversion and/or PCR while only six afebrile dogs (12.5%) seroconverted (P = 0.0248). The most common clinical findings of dogs with Rickettsia infection diagnosed by seroconversion and/or PCR were fever, myalgia, lameness, elevation of C-reactive protein, thrombocytopenia and hypoalbuminemia. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates acute febrile illness associated with Rickettsia infection in dogs living in endemic areas of human MSF based on seroconversion alone or in combination with PCR

Stellar Coronal and Wind Models: Impact on Exoplanets

Surface magnetism is believed to be the main driver of coronal heating and stellar wind acceleration. Coronae are believed to be formed by plasma confined in closed magnetic coronal loops of the stars, with winds mainly originating in open magnetic field line regions. In this Chapter, we review some basic properties of stellar coronae and winds and present some existing models. In the last part of this Chapter, we discuss the effects of coronal winds on exoplanets.Comment: Chapter published in the "Handbook of Exoplanets", Editors in Chief: Juan Antonio Belmonte and Hans Deeg, Section Editor: Nuccio Lanza. Springer Reference Work

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

Evaluation of health care providers’ role transition and satisfaction in hospital-at-home for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbations: a survey study

__Abstract__ __Background__: Hospital-at-home is an accepted alternative for usual hospital treatment for patients with a Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) exacerbation. The introduction of hospital-at-home may lead to changes in health care providers’ roles and responsibilit

You are Not Welcome: Social Exchanges between Female Spider Monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi)

Group living leads to competition for food between group members. Two types of intragroup food competition may occur: scramble competition, in which all group members use the same resource, such that feeding opportunities are equal for everyone; and contest competition, in which some group members monopolize resources through aggression and dominance. In species in which females disperse from the natal group and immigrate into other groups, immigrant females increase group size and thus possibly food competition. Under these circumstances, other females may use aggression to discourage new females from joining the group. We assessed the distribution of aggression, embraces, and kisses among female spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) in relation to group tenure. We recorded social interactions during 1688 10-min focal animal samples on 11 females in Santa Rosa, Costa Rica. We found that aggression was rare between long-term resident females and aggression rates were not higher during feeding than in other contexts, suggesting there was little contest competition. Long-term residents and less recently immigrant females showed higher aggression rates toward the most recent immigrants than toward other females, especially during the first months after a female immigrated, which coincided with the dry season. We did not find similar patterns for embrace and kiss. These results suggest that other females target aggression toward the most recent immigrants to reduce scramble competition. This finding suggests that group tenure should be included in socioecological models for species with female dispersal. © 2017 Springer Science+Business Media, LL

UVSSA and USP7, a new couple in transcription-coupled DNA repair

Transcription-coupled nucleotide excision repair (TC-NER) specifically removes transcription-blocking lesions from our genome. Defects in this pathway are associated with two human disorders: Cockayne syndrome (CS) and UV-sensitive syndrome (UVSS). Despite a similar cellular defect in the UV DNA damage response, patients with these syndromes exhibit strikingly distinct symptoms; CS patients display severe developmental, neurological, and premature aging features, whereas the phenotype of UVSS patients is mostly restricted to UV hypersensitivity. The exact molecular mechanism behind these clinical differences is still unknown; however, they might be explained by additional functions of CS proteins beyond TC-NER. A short overview of the current hypotheses addressing possible molecular mechanisms and the proteins involved are presented in this review. In addition, we will focus on two new players involved in TC-NER which were recently identified: UV-stimulated scaffold protein A (UVSSA) and ubiquitin-specific protease 7 (USP7). UVSSA has been found to be the causative gene for UVSS and, together with USP7, is implicated in regulating TC-NER activity. We will discuss the function of UVSSA and USP7 and how the discovery of these proteins contributes to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the clinical differences between UVSS and the more severe CS

Search for rare quark-annihilation decays, B --> Ds(*) Phi

We report on searches for B- --> Ds- Phi and B- --> Ds*- Phi. In the context of the Standard Model, these decays are expected to be highly suppressed since they proceed through annihilation of the b and u-bar quarks in the B- meson. Our results are based on 234 million Upsilon(4S) --> B Bbar decays collected with the BABAR detector at SLAC. We find no evidence for these decays, and we set Bayesian 90% confidence level upper limits on the branching fractions BF(B- --> Ds- Phi) Ds*- Phi)<1.2x10^(-5). These results are consistent with Standard Model expectations.Comment: 8 pages, 3 postscript figues, submitted to Phys. Rev. D (Rapid Communications

Review on catalytic cleavage of C-C inter-unit linkages in lignin model compounds: Towards lignin depolymerisation

Lignin depolymerisation has received considerable attention recently due to the pressing need to find sustainable alternatives to fossil fuel feedstock to produce chemicals and fuels. Two types of interunit linkages (C–C and C–O linkages) link several aromatic units in the structure of lignin. Between these two inter-unit linkages, the bond energies of C–C linkages are higher than that of C–O linkages, making them harder to break. However, for an efficient lignin depolymerisation, both types of inter-unit linkages have to be broken. This is more relevant because of the fact that many delignification processes tend to result in the formation of additional C–C inter-unit bonds. Here we review the strategies reported for the cleavage of C–C inter-unit linkages in lignin model compounds and lignin. Although a number of articles are available on the cleavage of C–O inter-unit linkages, reports on the selective cleavage of C–C inter-unit linkages are relatively less. Oxidative cleavage, hydrogenolysis, two-step redox-neutral process, microwave assisted cleavage, biocatalytic and photocatalytic methods have been reported for the breaking of C–C inter-unit linkages in lignin. Here we review all these methods in detail, focused only on the breaking of C–C linkages. The objective of this review is to motivate researchers to design new strategies to break this strong C–C inter-unit bonds to valorise lignins, technical lignins in particular

Determination of the number of J/ψ events with J/ψ → inclusive decays

postprin

Exercise and Physical Therapy Interventions for Children with Ataxia: a systematic review

The effectiveness of exercise and physical therapy for children with ataxia is poorly understood. The aim of this systematic review was to critically evaluate the range, scope and methodological quality of studies investigating the effectiveness of exercise and physical therapy interventions for children with ataxia. The following databases were searched: AMED, CENTRAL, CDSR, CINAHL, ClinicalTrials.gov, EMBASE, Ovid MEDLINE, PEDro and Web of Science. No limits were placed on language, type of study or year of publication. Two reviewers independently determined whether the studies met the inclusion criteria, extracted all relevant outcomes, and conducted methodological quality assessments. A total of 1988 studies were identified, and 124 full texts were screened. Twenty studies were included in the review. A total of 40 children (aged 5-18 years) with ataxia as a primary impairment participated in the included studies. Data were able to be extracted from eleven studies with a total of 21 children (aged 5-18 years), with a range of cerebellar pathology. The studies reported promising results but were of low methodological quality (no RCTs), used small sample sizes and were heterogeneous in terms of interventions, participants and outcomes. No firm conclusions can be made about the effectiveness of exercise and physical therapy for children with ataxia. There is a need for further high-quality child-centred research