Fluctuation and fixation of rodenticide resistance alleles in Rattus norvegicus

Berthier, K., Benoit, E., Berny, P., Lasseur, R., Merville, A., Peigneaux, F., Cosson, J.-F

Comparison of first versus second line sacrocolpopexies in terms of morbidity and mid-term efficacy

To compare pelvic organ prolapse (POP) recurrence and morbidity between first and second line sacrocolpopexies. We conducted a retrospective chart review of all laparoscopic or robotic sacrocolpopexies for POP-Q stage ≥ 2, with or without a history of previous prolapse repair, performed with a similar technique between January 2012 and June 2019 in 3 European Gynecologic Surgery Departments. Patients were separated into two groups: first line sacrocolpopexy (FLS) and second line sacrocolpopexy (SLS). Each patient from the SLS group was age-matched with a patient from the FLS group. The primary outcome measure was reoperation procedures for recurrent POP defined as a symptomatic POP-Q stage ≥ 2 POP in at least one vaginal compartment. Secondary outcomes included operative time, intraoperative organ trauma, intraoperative blood loss, postoperative POP recurrence (operated on or not), global reoperation and mesh-related complications. During this period, 332 patients were included. After age-matching, 170 patients were analyzed: 85 patients in the FLS and SLS groups, respectively. After a mean follow-up of 3 years, there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of recurrent POP (9.4% versus 10.6%, p = 0.7), recurrent POP reoperation (3.5% versus 5.9% p = 0.7), mesh-related reoperation (0% versus 2.4%, p = 0.5), global reoperation (3.5 versus 8.2%, p = 0.3), operative time (198 ± 67 min versus 193 ± 60 min, p = 0.5), intraoperative complications such as organ injury (4.7% versus 7.1%, p = 0.7) and blood loss > 500 mL (2.4% versus 0%, p = 0.5). Patients who underwent a first or a second line sacrocolpopexy seemed to have similar rates of prolapse recurrence and complications

Agrammatic but numerate

A central question in cognitive neuroscience concerns the extent to which language enables other higher cognitive functions. In the case of mathematics, the resources of the language faculty, both lexical and syntactic, have been claimed to be important for exact calculation, and some functional brain imaging studies have shown that calculation is associated with activation of a network of left-hemisphere language regions, such as the angular gyrus and the banks of the intraparietal sulcus. We investigate the integrity of mathematical calculations in three men with large left-hemisphere perisylvian lesions. Despite severe grammatical impairment and some difficulty in processing phonological and orthographic number words, all basic computational procedures were intact across patients. All three patients solved mathematical problems involving recursiveness and structure-dependent operations (for example, in generating solutions to bracket equations). To our knowledge, these results demonstrate for the first time the remarkable independence of mathematical calculations from language grammar in the mature cognitive system

Genetic history of Hepatitis C virus in Venezuela: high diversity and long time of evolution of HCV genotype 2

Background: The subtype diversity of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes is unknown in Venezuela. Methodology/Principal Findings: Partial sequencing of the NS5B region was performed in 310 isolates circulating in patients from 1995 to 2007. In the samples collected between 2005 and 2007, HCV genotype 1 (G1) was the most common genotype (63%), composed as expected of mainly G1a and G1b. G2 was the second most common genotype (33%), being G2a almost absent and G2j the most frequent subtype. Sequence analysis of the core region confirmed the subtype assignment performed within the NS5b region in 63 isolates. The complete genome sequence of G2j was obtained. G2j has been described in France, Canada and Burkina Fasso, but it was not found in Martinique, where several subtypes of G2 circulate in the general population. Bayesian coalescence analysis indicated a most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of G2j around 1785, before the introduction of G1b (1869) and G1a (1922). While HCV G1a and G1b experienced a growth reduction since 1990, coincident with the time when blood testing was implemented in Venezuela, HCV G2j did not seem to reach growth equilibrium during this period. Conclusions/Significance: Assuming the introduction of G2j from Africa during the slave trade, the high frequency of G2j found in Venezuela could suggest: 1- the introduction of African ethnic groups different from the ones introduced to Martinique or 2- the occurrence of a founder effect. This study represents an in-depth analysis of the subtype diversity of HCV in Venezuela, which is still unexplored in the Americas and deserves further studies.Fil: Sulbarán, Maria Z.. Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas; VenezuelaFil: Di Lello, Federico Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Microbiología, Inmunología y Biotecnología. Cátedra de Virología; ArgentinaFil: Sulbarán, Yoneira. Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas; VenezuelaFil: Cosson, Clarisa. Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas; VenezuelaFil: Loureiro, Carmen. Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas; VenezuelaFil: Rangel, Héctor R.. Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas; VenezuelaFil: Cantaloube, Jean F.. Etablissement Français du Sang Alpes-Méditerranée. Unité Emergence et Co-évolution virale; FranciaFil: Campos, Rodolfo Hector. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Departamento de Microbiología, Inmunología y Biotecnología. Cátedra de Virología; ArgentinaFil: Moratorio, Gonzalo. Universidad de la Republica; Uruguay. Instituto Pasteur de Montevideo; UruguayFil: Cristina, Juan. Universidad de la Republica; UruguayFil: Pujol, Flor H.. Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas; Venezuel

Widespread forest vertebrate extinctions induced by a mega hydroelectric dam in lowland Amazonia

Mega hydropower projects in tropical forests pose a major emergent threat to terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity worldwide. Despite the unprecedented number of existing, underconstruction and planned hydroelectric dams in lowland tropical forests, long-term effects on biodiversity have yet to be evaluated. We examine how medium and large-bodied assemblages of terrestrial and arboreal vertebrates (including 35 mammal, bird and tortoise species) responded to the drastic 26-year post-isolation history of archipelagic alteration in landscape structure and habitat quality in a major hydroelectric reservoir of Central Amazonia. The Balbina Hydroelectric Dam inundated 3,129 km2 of primary forests, simultaneously isolating 3,546 land-bridge islands. We conducted intensive biodiversity surveys at 37 of those islands and three adjacent continuous forests using a combination of four survey techniques, and detected strong forest habitat area effects in explaining patterns of vertebrate extinction. Beyond clear area effects, edge-mediated surface fire disturbance was the most important additional driver of species loss, particularly in islands smaller than 10 ha. Based on species-area models, we predict that only 0.7% of all islands now harbor a species-rich vertebrate assemblage consisting of ≥80% of all species. We highlight the colossal erosion in vertebrate diversity driven by a man-made dam and show that the biodiversity impacts of mega dams in lowland tropical forest regions have been severely overlooked. The geopolitical strategy to deploy many more large hydropower infrastructure projects in regions like lowland Amazonia should be urgently reassessed, and we strongly advise that long-term biodiversity impacts should be explicitly included in pre-approval environmental impact assessments

Comparative genomics of isolates of a pseudomonas aeruginosa epidemic strain associated with chronic lung infections of cystic fibrosis patients

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the main cause of fatal chronic lung infections among individuals suffering from cystic fibrosis (CF). During the past 15 years, particularly aggressive strains transmitted among CF patients have been identified, initially in Europe and more recently in Canada. The aim of this study was to generate high-quality genome sequences for 7 isolates of the Liverpool epidemic strain (LES) from the United Kingdom and Canada representing different virulence characteristics in order to: (1) associate comparative genomics results with virulence factor variability and (2) identify genomic and/or phenotypic divergence between the two geographical locations. We performed phenotypic characterization of pyoverdine, pyocyanin, motility, biofilm formation, and proteolytic activity. We also assessed the degree of virulence using the Dictyostelium discoideum amoeba model. Comparative genomics analysis revealed at least one large deletion (40-50 kb) in 6 out of the 7 isolates compared to the reference genome of LESB58. These deletions correspond to prophages, which are known to increase the competitiveness of LESB58 in chronic lung infection. We also identified 308 non-synonymous polymorphisms, of which 28 were associated with virulence determinants and 52 with regulatory proteins. At the phenotypic level, isolates showed extensive variability in production of pyocyanin, pyoverdine, proteases and biofilm as well as in swimming motility, while being predominantly avirulent in the amoeba model. Isolates from the two continents were phylogenetically and phenotypically undistinguishable. Most regulatory mutations were isolate-specific and 29% of them were predicted to have high functional impact. Therefore, polymorphism in regulatory genes is likely to be an important basis for phenotypic diversity among LES isolates, which in turn might contribute to this strain's adaptability to varying conditions in the CF lung