Relações alimentares de aves com capivaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) em parque urbano no Sudeste do Brasil

Feeding relationships of birds with mammals are diverse and range from using mammals as hunting perches to feeding on their carcasses. We studied the natural history of associations between birds and capybaras (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) at an urban recreational park and focused on three main questions: (1) How many and what are the bird species that associate with capybaras? (2) What resources used by the birds are provided by capybaras? (3) What are the behaviours of birds and capybaras during the different associations? Additionally, we summarised the associations of birds with capybaras recorded to date, which include commensal, mutualistic and semi parasitic relationships. We recorded 10 bird species (mostly non-passerines) associated with capybaras. The birds used the capybaras as: (a) hunting perches; (b) beaters that flushed arthropods and fish; (c) attractors of flies; (d) sources of organic particles, external parasites, blood, diseased tissue, and carcasses. Birds and capybaras interacted mostly when the former picked ticks, or fed on blood and diseased tissue. When the birds picked ticks, the capybaras adopted poses that allowed the birds to reach body parts otherwise inaccessible. However, when the birds pecked at wounds to take blood or diseased tissue, the mammals tried to discourage the birds with avoidance movements of the body or head, and sometimes retreated. When the birds used the capybaras as perches or attractors, the mammals seemed oblivious to the birds’ presence. Twenty-one bird species are presently reported to associate with capybaras. Thus, the numbers we found in the urban and restricted study site are remarkable, and our findings strengthens the importance of so-called green areas to harbour the remaining wildlife in our increasingly anthropised environment

Duration of constant rate infusion with diazepam or propofol for canine cluster seizures and status epilepticus

IntroductionConstant rate infusion (CRI) of benzodiazepines or propofol (PPF) is a therapeutic option for cluster seizures (CS) and status epilepticus (SE) in canine patients non-responding to first-line benzodiazepines or non-anesthetics. However, specific indications for optimal duration of CRI are lacking. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of duration of anesthetic CRI on outcome and length of hospital stay in dogs with refractory seizure activity of different etiology.Study designOpen-label non-randomized clinical trial.Materials and methodsSeventy-three client-owned dogs were enrolled. Two groups [experimental (EXP) vs. control (CTRL)] were compared. The EXP group received diazepam (DZP) or PPF CRI for 12 h (±1 h) and the CTRL group received DZP or PPF CRI for 24 h (±1 h) in addition to a standardized emergency treatment protocol identical for both study groups. The historical control group was made up of a population of dogs already reported in a previously published paper by the same authors. Favorable outcome was defined as seizure cessation after CRI, no seizure recurrence, and clinical recovery. Poor outcome was defined as seizure recurrence, death in hospital or no return to acceptable clinical baseline. Univariate statistical analysis was performed.ResultsThe study sample was 73 dogs: 45 (62%) received DZP CRI and 28 (38%) received PPF CRI. The EXP group was 39 dogs (25 DZP CRI and 14 PPF CRI) and the CTRL group 34 dogs (20 DZP CRI and 14 PPF CRI). We found no statistically significant difference in outcomes between the groups. The median length of stay was 56 h (IQR, 40–78) for the ALL EXP group and 58.5 h (IQR, 48–74.5) for the ALL CTRL group (p = 0.8).ConclusionEven though a shorter DZP or PPF CRI duration was not associated with a worse outcome, the study failed to identify a clear superiority of shorter CRI duration on outcome or length of hospital stay in dogs with refractory seizure activity of different etiology

Travels of a Rayed Head: imagery, fiber, structure and connotations of early textiles from the South Central Andes

The rayed head image has long been identified as a central symbol associated with the Paracas tradition, also called the sun face 1 and associated with the concept of Oculate Being developed by the Berkeley School. 2 Prominently repeated on the central ground of the famous Paracas Textile at the Brooklyn Museum, this image has much earlier antecedents in the region. Scholars disagree on the extent to which many Paracas, Topara and early Nasca images with large round eyes, grinning mouths, and serpentlike appendages emitting from the head and body may also be manifestations of a particular Oculate Being or of more general concepts of natural or supernatural power. Recently, contemporary textiles found in the Sihuas valley to the south (see Haeberli in this volume) challenge us to reexamine the similarities and distinctions among rayed heads. One of the great challenges of the history of material culture, envisioned as a history of philosophical concepts, social values and cultural practices through their inscription in material objects, is the degree to which a recurrent image, pattern or special arrangement reflects a similar idea. A number of quite different images have been associated with the concept of an Oculate Being proposed by John Rowe and others of the Berkeley school based on their analysis of Ica valley ceramics and Ocucaje gravelots in the 1950s. I here trace the rayed head or sun face image as it occurs over at least 500 years in the region of Ica and Paracas. I then briefly consider its relationship to other contemporary imagery and later imagery featuring ray-like elements emitted from the head, both in the same contexts where the rayed head appears, and in other cemeteries to the south in southern Peru and northern Chile. All the imagery discussed here is associated with a period between about 450 BC and AD 450 called the Formative in the South Central Andes (Bolivia and northern Chile) and called the Early Horizon (or late Formative) and Early Intermediate (or Regional Development) Period in the Central Andes. Most of the images I discuss are created on textiles. While only recovered from burials on the desert coast, textile materials draw on relationships of production and exchange that spanned the Andean cordillera to the montane rainforest to the east, and stretched to the north and south. Either as clothing or cargo, textiles themselves traveled and were no doubt a primary source of non-local imagery. I do consider related images on non-textile artifacts. I compare textile based imagery with contemporary imagery on engraved and painted ceramics and gourds to try to distinguish among design features specific to medium, style and iconography

Axial Spondyloarthritis: Reshape the Future—From the “2022 GISEA International Symposium”

The term “axial spondyloarthritis” (axSpA) refers to a group of chronic rheumatic diseases that predominantly involve the axial skeleton and consist of ankylosing spondylitis, reactive arthritis, arthritis/spondylitis associated with psoriasis (PsA) and arthritis/spondylitis associated with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Moreover, pain is an important and common symptom of axSpA. It may progress to chronic pain, a more complicated bio-psychosocial phenomena, leading to a significant worsening of quality of life. The development of the axSpA inflammatory process is grounded in the complex interaction between genetic (such as HLA B27), epigenetic, and environmental factors associated with a dysregulated immune response. Considering the pivotal contribution of IL-23 and IL-17 in axSpA inflammation, the inhibition of these cytokines has been evaluated as a potential therapeutic strategy. With this context, here we discuss the main pathogenetic mechanisms, therapeutic approaches and the role of pain in axSpA from the 2022 International GISEA/OEG Symposium

Identification of nuclear substrates of Akt/PKB by functional proteomics: prohibitin 2 is a target of Akt phosphorylation in human promyelocytic leukemia cells

The serine/threonine protein kinase Akt is a major signal transducer of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI 3-K) pathway in all cells and tissues and plays a pivotal role in the maintenance of cellular processes including cell growth, proliferation, survival, metabolism and development of many malignancies including acute myeloid leukemia. The frequent aberrant activation of the PI 3-K/Akt pathway in human cancer has made it an attractive therapeutic target. Therefore, the study of effector proteins downstream of Akt could clarify the role of Akt in the development of myeloid leukemia. Although both localization and activity of Akt in the nuclear compartment are well documented, most Akt substrates identified so far are located in the cytoplasm, while nuclear substrates have remained elusive. In this study, we applied a proteomic approach to identify novel Akt substrates by using an antibody that recognized a consensus motif phosphorylated by Akt (K/RXK/RXXS/T) when phosphorylated on S/T (anti-phospho-Akt substrate antibody). NB4 cells were treated with ATRA, and the putative Akt substrate proteins were isolated by immunoprecipitation with the anti-phospho-Akt substrate antibody. The proteins were separated on SDS-PAGE and analyzed by ESI-Q-TOF mass spectrometry. This analysis indicated prohibitin 2, a potential tumor suppressor protein with potent transcriptional functions in the nucleus, as a putative substrate of Akt in the nucleus of NB4 cells. The putative Akt-Prohibitin 2 interaction was validated by reverse in vivo immunoprecipitation from nuclear protein of NB4 cells. In vitro phosphorylation of endogenous prohibitin 2 by recombinant Akt further validated this result. Vandermoere F, El Yazidi-Belkoura I, Demont Y, Slomianny C, Antol J, Lemoine J, Hondermarck H. Proteomics exploration reveals that actin is a signaling target of the kinase Akt. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2007 Jan;6(1):114-24. Kasashima K, Ohta E, Kagawa Y, Endo H. Mitochondrial functions and estrogen receptor-dependent nuclear translocation of pleiotropic human prohibitin 2. J Biol Chem. 2006 Nov 24;281(47):36401-10

SAFE Project: An improved integrated system of earthquake physics study from ground and satellite observations

Trabajo presentado en 35th General Assembly of the European Seismological Commission, celebrado en Trieste (Italia), del 4 al 10 de septiembre de 2016The Swarm satellite mission by ESA has the primary goal to measure the magnetic signals from the Earth to get new insights of the geomagnetic field and its sources. The SAFE (“Swarm for Earthquake study”) project (funded by ESA in the framework "STSE Swarm+lnnovation", 2014) aims at applying the new approach of geosystemics to the analysis of Swarm satellite electromagnetic data for investigating the preparatory phase of large earthquakes. The main objective of the project is to explore the possible link between large earthquakes and precursory electromagnetic anomalies detected by Swarm and ground based data (seismic, magnetic, GNSS, etc.). This work will show some recent case studies analysed in the framework of the project.Peer reviewe