Extinction risk of Mesoamerican crop wild relatives

Ensuring food security is one of the world's most critical issues as agricultural systems are already being impacted by global change. Crop wild relatives (CWR)—wild plants related to crops—possess genetic variability that can help adapt agriculture to a changing environment and sustainably increase crop yields to meet the food security challenge. Here we report the results of an extinction risk assessment of 224 wild relatives of some of the world's most important crops (i.e. chilli pepper, maize, common bean, avocado, cotton, potato, squash, vanilla and husk tomato) in Mesoamerica—an area of global significance as a centre of crop origin, domestication and of high CWR diversity. We show that 35% of the selected CWR taxa are threatened with extinction according to The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List demonstrates that these valuable genetic resources are under high anthropogenic threat. The dominant threat processes are land use change for agriculture and farming, invasive and other problematic species (e.g. pests, genetically modified organisms) and use of biological resources, including overcollection and logging. The most significant drivers of extinction relate to smallholder agriculture—given its high incidence and ongoing shifts from traditional agriculture to modern practices (e.g. use of herbicides)—smallholder ranching and housing and urban development and introduced genetic material. There is an urgent need to increase knowledge and research around different aspects of CWR. Policies that support in situ and ex situ conservation of CWR and promote sustainable agriculture are pivotal to secure these resources for the benefit of current and future generations

Spatiotemporal Characteristics of the Largest HIV-1 CRF02_AG Outbreak in Spain: Evidence for Onward Transmissions

Background and Aim: The circulating recombinant form 02_AG (CRF02_AG) is the predominant clade among the human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) non-Bs with a prevalence of 5.97% (95% Confidence Interval-CI: 5.41–6.57%) across Spain. Our aim was to estimate the levels of regional clustering for CRF02_AG and the spatiotemporal characteristics of the largest CRF02_AG subepidemic in Spain.Methods: We studied 396 CRF02_AG sequences obtained from HIV-1 diagnosed patients during 2000–2014 from 10 autonomous communities of Spain. Phylogenetic analysis was performed on the 391 CRF02_AG sequences along with all globally sampled CRF02_AG sequences (N = 3,302) as references. Phylodynamic and phylogeographic analysis was performed to the largest CRF02_AG monophyletic cluster by a Bayesian method in BEAST v1.8.0 and by reconstructing ancestral states using the criterion of parsimony in Mesquite v3.4, respectively.Results: The HIV-1 CRF02_AG prevalence differed across Spanish autonomous communities we sampled from (p < 0.001). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that 52.7% of the CRF02_AG sequences formed 56 monophyletic clusters, with a range of 2–79 sequences. The CRF02_AG regional dispersal differed across Spain (p = 0.003), as suggested by monophyletic clustering. For the largest monophyletic cluster (subepidemic) (N = 79), 49.4% of the clustered sequences originated from Madrid, while most sequences (51.9%) had been obtained from men having sex with men (MSM). Molecular clock analysis suggested that the origin (tMRCA) of the CRF02_AG subepidemic was in 2002 (median estimate; 95% Highest Posterior Density-HPD interval: 1999–2004). Additionally, we found significant clustering within the CRF02_AG subepidemic according to the ethnic origin.Conclusion: CRF02_AG has been introduced as a result of multiple introductions in Spain, following regional dispersal in several cases. We showed that CRF02_AG transmissions were mostly due to regional dispersal in Spain. The hot-spot for the largest CRF02_AG regional subepidemic in Spain was in Madrid associated with MSM transmission risk group. The existence of subepidemics suggest that several spillovers occurred from Madrid to other areas. CRF02_AG sequences from Hispanics were clustered in a separate subclade suggesting no linkage between the local and Hispanic subepidemics

Discovering HIV related information by means of association rules and machine learning

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is still one of the main health problems worldwide. It is therefore essential to keep making progress in improving the prognosis and quality of life of affected patients. One way to advance along this pathway is to uncover connections between other disorders associated with HIV/AIDS-so that they can be anticipated and possibly mitigated. We propose to achieve this by using Association Rules (ARs). They allow us to represent the dependencies between a number of diseases and other specific diseases. However, classical techniques systematically generate every AR meeting some minimal conditions on data frequency, hence generating a vast amount of uninteresting ARs, which need to be filtered out. The lack of manually annotated ARs has favored unsupervised filtering, even though they produce limited results. In this paper, we propose a semi-supervised system, able to identify relevant ARs among HIV-related diseases with a minimal amount of annotated training data. Our system has been able to extract a good number of relationships between HIV-related diseases that have been previously detected in the literature but are scattered and are often little known. Furthermore, a number of plausible new relationships have shown up which deserve further investigation by qualified medical experts

Gravest Empirical Mode to be used by Inverted Echo Sounders in order to determine the zonal flows in the South Atlantic

Four Pressure-equipped Inverted Echo Sounders (PIES) were deployed at about 10°W, between 19 and 35°S, the South Atlantic Gateway (SAGA), in order to determine the zonal flows in the South Atlantic. Those PIES will allow to observe the circulation of two water masses, the South Atlantic Central Water (SACW) and the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW), that flow in opposite directions across the South Atlantic, between Cape town and Brazil, through the SAGA. The measurements from the PIES, together with historical hydrographic data, permit to estimate the profiles of temperature and salinity of the water column, and therefore the density. Besides, using the thermal-wind equation, it is possible to retrieve the geostrophic velocity from an array of PIES. In order to get those estimations of temperature and salinity, it is necessary to determine the Gravest Empirical Mode (GEM), a relationship between the acoustic travel time observed by the PIES and the historical observations of salinity and temperature in the study area. In this work, we will show the GEM estimated for the SAGA, calculated using historical hydrographic data from CTDs and Argo Float, as well as, the estimations of the error in the geostrophic transport

COVID-19 in hospitalized HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients : A matched study

CatedresObjectives: We compared the characteristics and clinical outcomes of hospitalized individuals with COVID-19 with [people with HIV (PWH)] and without (non-PWH) HIV co-infection in Spain during the first wave of the pandemic. Methods: This was a retrospective matched cohort study. People with HIV were identified by reviewing clinical records and laboratory registries of 10 922 patients in active-follow-up within the Spanish HIV Research Network (CoRIS) up to 30 June 2020. Each hospitalized PWH was matched with five non-PWH of the same age and sex randomly selected from COVID-19@Spain, a multicentre cohort of 4035 patients hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19. The main outcome was all-cause in-hospital mortality. Results: Forty-five PWH with PCR-confirmed COVID-19 were identified in CoRIS, 21 of whom were hospitalized. A total of 105 age/sex-matched controls were selected from the COVID-19@Spain cohort. The median age in both groups was 53 (Q1-Q3, 46-56) years, and 90.5% were men. In PWH, 19.1% were injecting drug users, 95.2% were on antiretroviral therapy, 94.4% had HIV-RNA < 50 copies/mL, and the median (Q1-Q3) CD4 count was 595 (349-798) cells/μL. No statistically significant differences were found between PWH and non-PWH in number of comorbidities, presenting signs and symptoms, laboratory parameters, radiology findings and severity scores on admission. Corticosteroids were administered to 33.3% and 27.4% of PWH and non-PWH, respectively (P = 0.580). Deaths during admission were documented in two (9.5%) PWH and 12 (11.4%) non-PWH (P = 0.800). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that well-controlled HIV infection does not modify the clinical presentation or worsen clinical outcomes of COVID-19 hospitalization

Impact of late presentation of HIV infection on short-, mid- and long-term mortality and causes of death in a multicenter national cohort : 2004-2013

To analyze the impact of late presentation (LP) on overall mortality and causes of death and describe LP trends and risk factors (2004-2013). Cox models and logistic regression were used to analyze data from a nation-wide cohort in Spain. LP is defined as being diagnosed when CD4 < 350 cells/ml or AIDS. Of 7165 new HIV diagnoses, 46.9% (CI:45.7-48.0) were LP, 240 patients died.First-year mortality was the highest (aHR = 10.3[CI:5.5-19.3]); between 1 and 4 years post-diagnosis, aHR = 1.9(1.2-3.0); an

A longitudinal multiethnic study of biomarkers in systemic lupus erythematosus: Launching the GLADEL 2.0 Study Group

Introduction: After more than 20 years of sustained work, the Latin American Group for the Study of Lupus (GLADEL) has made a significant number of contributions to the field of lupus, not only in the differential role that race/ethnicity plays in its course and outcome but also in several other studies including the beneficial effects of using antimalarials in lupus patients and the development of consensus guidelines for the treatment of lupus in our region. Methods: A new generation of “Lupus Investigators” in more than 40 centers throughout Latin America has been constituted in order to continue the legacy of the investigators of the original cohort and to launch a novel study of serum and urinary biomarkers in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. Results: So far, we have recruited 807 patients and 631 controls from 42 Latin-American centers including 339 patients with SLE without renal involvement, 202 patients with SLE with prevalent but inactive renal disease, 176 patients with prevalent and active renal disease and 90 patients with incident lupus nephritis. Conclusions: The different methodological aspects of the GLADEL 2.0 cohort are discussed in this manuscript, including the challenges and difficulties of conducting such an ambitious project. </jats:p

Humoral and cellular response induced by a second booster of an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in adults

Indexación: ScopusBackground: The Omicron variant has challenged the control of the COVID-19 pandemic due to its immuno-evasive properties. The administration of a booster dose of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine showed positive effects in the immunogenicity against SARS-CoV-2, effect that is even enhanced after the administration of a second booster. Methods: During a phase-3 clinical trial, we evaluated the effect of a second booster of CoronaVac®, an inactivated vaccine administered 6 months after the first booster, in the neutralization of SARS-CoV-2 (n = 87). In parallel, cellular immunity (n = 45) was analyzed in stimulated peripheral mononuclear cells by flow cytometry and ELISPOT. Findings: Although a 2.5-fold increase in neutralization of the ancestral SARS-CoV-2 was observed after the second booster when compared with prior its administration (Geometric mean units p < 0.0001; Geometric mean titer p = 0.0002), a poor neutralization against the Omicron variant was detected. Additionally, the activation of specific CD4+ T lymphocytes remained stable after the second booster and, importantly, equivalent activation of CD4+ T lymphocytes against the Omicron variant and the ancestral SARS-CoV-2 were found. Interpretation: Although the neutralizing response against the Omicron variant after the second booster of CoronaVac® was slightly increased, these levels are far from those observed against the ancestral SARS-CoV-2 and could most likely fail to neutralize the virus. In contrast, a robust CD4+T cell response may confer protection against the Omicron variant. Funding: The Ministry of Health, Government of Chile, the Confederation of Production and Commerce, Chile and SINOVAC Biotech. NIH NIAID. The Millennium Institute on Immunology and Immunotherapy. © 2023 The Author(s)https://www-sciencedirect-com.recursosbiblioteca.unab.cl/science/article/pii/S2352396423001287?via%3Dihu