Anopheles stephensi p38 MAPK signaling regulates innate immunity and bioenergetics during Plasmodium falciparum infection.

BackgroundFruit flies and mammals protect themselves against infection by mounting immune and metabolic responses that must be balanced against the metabolic needs of the pathogens. In this context, p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-dependent signaling is critical to regulating both innate immunity and metabolism during infection. Accordingly, we asked to what extent the Asian malaria mosquito Anopheles stephensi utilizes p38 MAPK signaling during infection with the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum.MethodsA. stephensi p38 MAPK (AsP38 MAPK) was identified and patterns of signaling in vitro and in vivo (midgut) were analyzed using phospho-specific antibodies and small molecule inhibitors. Functional effects of AsP38 MAPK inhibition were assessed using P. falciparum infection, quantitative real-time PCR, assays for reactive oxygen species and survivorship under oxidative stress, proteomics, and biochemical analyses.ResultsThe genome of A. stephensi encodes a single p38 MAPK that is activated in the midgut in response to parasite infection. Inhibition of AsP38 MAPK signaling significantly reduced P. falciparum sporogonic development. This phenotype was associated with AsP38 MAPK regulation of mitochondrial physiology and stress responses in the midgut epithelium, a tissue critical for parasite development. Specifically, inhibition of AsP38 MAPK resulted in reduction in mosquito protein synthesis machinery, a shift in glucose metabolism, reduced mitochondrial metabolism, enhanced production of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species, induction of an array of anti-parasite effector genes, and decreased resistance to oxidative stress-mediated damage. Hence, P. falciparum-induced activation of AsP38 MAPK in the midgut facilitates parasite infection through a combination of reduced anti-parasite immune defenses and enhanced host protein synthesis and bioenergetics to minimize the impact of infection on the host and to maximize parasite survival, and ultimately, transmission.ConclusionsThese observations suggest that, as in mammals, innate immunity and mitochondrial responses are integrated in mosquitoes and that AsP38 MAPK-dependent signaling facilitates mosquito survival during parasite infection, a fact that may attest to the relatively longer evolutionary relationship of these parasites with their invertebrate compared to their vertebrate hosts. On a practical level, improved understanding of the balances and trade-offs between resistance and metabolism could be leveraged to generate fit, resistant mosquitoes for malaria control

Growth culture evaluation of Daphnia magna feed with Saccharomyces cereviseae enrichment with oat soy

ABSTRACT: Experimental cultivate cladocerans Daphnia magna feed with probiotics was realized. At University of Antioquia, Faculty of Agrarian Science, Larviculture, fish and food live Laboratory (Larpeali), under controlled conditions of environmental temperature between (21 - 25 °C), water temperature (22 - 23°C) and pH (7.6), were performed. One diet of Saccharomyces cereviseae was used and one enriched medium of oat-soy flour (fatty acid, n-6) to concentrations of diet and enriched medium were the same, 25 ppm and 12.5 ppm, 2x2 factorial treatment arrangements (2 levels of Saccharomyces cereviseae and 2 levels of oat-soy flour, diets was fed to four replicates of Daphnia culture per treatment in order to determine their effects on the populations cultivated. A 15-days feeding, each third day, trial were conducted, to assess the organisms at final period. The results showed significant high difference (p 0.05). The results showed that the combination of their high concentrations of components enhanced the population growth of Daphnia magna, reaching a number of microcrustaceans of 826ª ± 9.57. These cladocerans for their characteristics of growth in culture, present favorable adaptation to the handling conditions to produce biomasses potentially useful as nutritious particle as live food in aquaculture purposes.RESUMEN: Se realizó el cultivo experimental de cladócero Daphnia magna alimentado con probióticos. Se realizaron 16 ensayos experimentales, en el laboratorio de larvicultura de peces y alimento vivo (Larpeali) de la Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias de la Universidad de Antioquia, bajo condiciones controladas de temperatura ambiente (21 - 25 °C), temperatura del agua (22 - 23 °C) y pH (7.6). Empleando una dieta de Saccharomyces cereviseae y un medio de enriquecimiento con ácidos grasos (n-6) proveniente de harina avena-soya. Las concentraciones de dieta y enriquecimiento fueron de 25 ppm y 12.5 ppm, en arreglo factorial 2x2 (2 niveles de dieta con levadura y 2 niveles dieta con avena de soya), los cultivos de Daphnia por tratamiento se realizaron con cuatro replicas con el fin de determinar su efecto sobre el desempeño de la población. Se alimentaron cada tercer día, durante 15 días, evaluándose el número de organismos al final del período. Se obtuvieron diferencias altamente significativas (p 0.05). Se evidenció que la combinación de estos componentes en sus concentraciones más altas potenció el crecimiento de la Daphnia magna, alcanzando un número de microcrustáceos de 826ª Daphnias/L ± 9.57. Se puede concluir que los cladóceros por sus características de crecimiento en cultivo, presentan adaptación favorable a las condiciones de manejo para la producción de biomasa útil como alimento vivo en acuicultura

Coeficiente intelectual y factores asociados en niños escolarizados en la ciudad de medellín, colombia

Objetivo Analizar el coeficiente intelectual y los factores asociados en niños escolarizados de 6 a 8 años en las comunas Nororiental y Norocidental de la ciudad de Medellín-Colombia. Materiales y Métodos Se realizó un muestreo aleatorio simple, polietápico y estratificado según grado escolar y comuna, la muestra estuvo constituida por 423 niños de ambos sexos. El coeficiente intelectual se evaluó con la Escala de Inteligencia Wechsler para Niños WISC-IV y la estimulación psicosocial con Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME). Para la valoración del estado nutricional se utilizó las normas de referencia y puntos de corte de la OMS.Resultados Los factores de riesgo que explican las puntuaciones en el Coeficiente Intelectual Total y sus índices fueron: historia de problemas académicos de la madre y padre e historia de problemas de comportamiento de los hermanos, alcoholismo de la madre durante el embarazo y conductas agresivas en el hogar. Conclusión En los niños que cursan los primeros años de escolaridad en las dos comunas más pobres de Medellín, el coeficiente intelectual y sus índices se encuentra correlacionado con factores de antecedencia psicosocial y conductas agresivas en el hogar

Elevation and latitude drives structure and tree species composition in Andean forests: Results from a large-scale plot network

Our knowledge about the structure and function of Andean forests at regional scales remains limited. Current initiatives to study forests over continental or global scales still have important geographical gaps, particularly in regions such as the tropical and subtropical Andes. In this study, we assessed patterns of structure and tree species diversity along ~ 4000 km of latitude and ~ 4000 m of elevation range in Andean forests. We used the Andean Forest Network (Red de Bosques Andinos, https://redbosques.condesan.org/) database which, at present, includes 491 forest plots (totaling 156.3 ha, ranging from 0.01 to 6 ha) representing a total of 86,964 identified tree stems ≥ 10 cm diameter at breast height belonging to 2341 identified species, 584 genera and 133 botanical families. Tree stem density and basal area increases with elevation while species richness decreases. Stem density and species richness both decrease with latitude. Subtropical forests have distinct tree species composition compared to those in the tropical region. In addition, floristic similarity of subtropical plots is between 13 to 16% while similarity between tropical forest plots is between 3% to 9%. Overall, plots ~ 0.5-ha or larger may be preferred for describing patterns at regional scales in order to avoid plot size effects. We highlight the need to promote collaboration and capacity building among researchers in the Andean region (i.e., South-South cooperation) in order to generate and synthesize information at regional scale.Fil: Malizia, Agustina. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional; ArgentinaFil: Blundo, Cecilia Mabel. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional; ArgentinaFil: Carilla, Julieta. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional; ArgentinaFil: Osinaga Acosta, Oriana. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional; ArgentinaFil: Cuesta, Francisco. Universidad de Las Américas; Ecuador. Consorcio para el Desarrollo Sostenible de la Ecorregión Andina; EcuadorFil: Duque, Alvaro. Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Sede Medellín; ColombiaFil: Aguirre, Nikolay. Universidad Nacional de Loja. Centro de Investigaciones Tropicales del Ambiente y la Biodiversidad; EcuadorFil: Aguirre, Zhofre. Universidad Nacional de Loja. Centro de Investigaciones Tropicales del Ambiente y la Biodiversidad; EcuadorFil: Ataroff, Michele. Universidad de Los Andes; VenezuelaFil: Baez, Selene. Escuela Politécnica Nacional; EcuadorFil: Calderón Loor, Marco. Universidad de Las Américas; Ecuador. Deakin University; AustraliaFil: Cayola, Leslie. Herbario Nacional de Bolivia; Bolivia. Missouri Botanical Garden; Estados UnidosFil: Cayuela, Luis. Universidad Rey Juan Carlos; EspañaFil: Ceballos, Sergio Javier. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional; ArgentinaFil: Cedillo, Hugo. Universidad de Cuenca; EcuadorFil: Farfán Ríos, William. Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco. Herbario Vargas; PerúFil: Feeley, Kenneth J.. University of Miami; Estados UnidosFil: Fuentes, Alfredo Fernando. Herbario Nacional de Bolivia; Bolivia. Missouri Botanical Garden; Estados UnidosFil: Gámez Álvarez, Luis E.. Universidad de Los Andes; VenezuelaFil: Grau, Hector Ricardo. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional; ArgentinaFil: Homeier, Juergen. Universität Göttingen; AlemaniaFil: Jadan, Oswaldo. Universidad de Cuenca; EcuadorFil: Llambi, Luis Daniel. Escuela Politécnica Nacional; EcuadorFil: Loza Rivera, María Isabel. University of Missouri; Estados Unidos. Herbario Nacional de Bolivia; Bolivia. Missouri Botanical Garden; Estados UnidosFil: Macía, Manuel J.. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; EspañaFil: Malhi, Yadvinder. University of Oxford; Reino UnidoFil: Malizia, Lucio Ricardo. Universidad Nacional de Jujuy. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Peralvo, Manuel. Consorcio para el Desarrollo Sostenible de la Ecorregión Andina; EcuadorFil: Pinto, Esteban. Consorcio para el Desarrollo Sostenible de la Ecorregión Andina; EcuadorFil: Tello, Sebastián. Missouri Botanical Garden; Estados UnidosFil: Silman, Miles. Center for Energy, Environment and Sustainability; Estados UnidosFil: Young, Kenneth R.. University of Texas at Austin; Estados Unido

The ocean sampling day consortium.

Ocean Sampling Day was initiated by the EU-funded Micro B3 (Marine Microbial Biodiversity, Bioinformatics, Biotechnology) project to obtain a snapshot of the marine microbial biodiversity and function of the world's oceans. It is a simultaneous global mega-sequencing campaign aiming to generate the largest standardized microbial data set in a single day. This will be achievable only through the coordinated efforts of an Ocean Sampling Day Consortium, supportive partnerships and networks between sites. This commentary outlines the establishment, function and aims of the Consortium and describes our vision for a sustainable study of marine microbial communities and their embedded functional traits

The ocean sampling day consortium

Ocean Sampling Day was initiated by the EU-funded Micro B3 (Marine Microbial Biodiversity, Bioinformatics, Biotechnology) project to obtain a snapshot of the marine microbial biodiversity and function of the world’s oceans. It is a simultaneous global mega-sequencing campaign aiming to generate the largest standardized microbial data set in a single day. This will be achievable only through the coordinated efforts of an Ocean Sampling Day Consortium, supportive partnerships and networks between sites. This commentary outlines the establishment, function and aims of the Consortium and describes our vision for a sustainable study of marine microbial communities and their embedded functional traits

The Latin American experience of allografting patients with severe aplastic anaemia: real-world data on the impact of stem cell source and ATG administration in HLA-identical sibling transplants

We studied 298 patients with severe aplastic anaemia (SAA) allografted in four Latin American countries. The source of cells was bone marrow (BM) in 94 patients and PBSCs in 204 patients. Engraftment failed in 8.1% of recipients with no difference between BM and PBSCs (P = 0.08). Incidence of acute GvHD (aGvHD) for BM and PBSCs was 30% vs 32% (P = 0.18), and for grades III–IV was 2.6% vs 11.6% (P = 0.01). Chronic GvHD (cGvHD) between BM and PBSCs was 37% vs 59% (P = 0.002) and extensive 5% vs 23.6% (P = 0.01). OS was 74% vs 76% for BM vs PBSCs (P = 0.95). Event-free survival was superior in patients conditioned with anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG)-based regimens compared with other regimens (79% vs 61%, P = 0.001) as excessive secondary graft failure was seen with other regimens (10% vs 26%, P = 0.005) respectively. In multivariate analysis, aGvHD II–IV (hazard ratio (HR) 2.50, confidence interval (CI) 1.1–5.6, P = 0.02) and aGvHD III–IV (HR 8.3 CI 3.4–20.2, Po0.001) proved to be independent negative predictors of survival. In conclusion, BM as a source of cells and ATG-based regimens should be standard because of higher GvHD incidence with PBSCs, although the latter combining with ATG in the conditioning regimen could be an option in selected high-risk patient

"La vida en las lagunas": 20 años de experiencia educativa en el sistema de lagunas Encadenadas de Chascomús y Lezama (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Los autores son estudiantes de pregrado y egresados (docentes e investigadores) de la Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo de La Plata (FCNyM), quienes en conjunto con investigadores de la Estación Hidrobiológica de Chascomús participan como talleristas y llevan adelante el proyecto La Vida en las Lagunas. El cual es coordinado por la Secretaría de Extensión de la FCNyM (Universidad Nacional de La Plata, UNLP) desde el año 1997. Este programa de educación ambiental tiene como propósito compartir y transferir conocimiento científico a estudiantes de escuelas primarias y secundarias y la inmersión de esos conocimientos en las ideas de sustentabilidad ambiental.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse