ONE WORM IN THREE SUBSTRATES, NEOICHNOLOGICAL ANALYSES OF U-SHAPE STRUCTURES IN THE GOLFO NUEVO BEACHES, PATAGONIA, ARGENTINA.

The environmental analysis of the sedimentary record use different tools to characterized not just the main physical parameters of a sedimentary systems, also the development of life on it. Neoichnology, is an actualistic view of how the organisms are connected with the place where they live, providing modern models and ideas that serve as analogous. Many of the (neo)ichnological literature is concentrated on the Northern Hemisphere, and it is little known what happens southern the tropics. The description of organisms that lives either in hard- and soft-grounds is strange, and its description can help to interpret the paleodiversity in the fossil record. At Chubut province (Patagonia), in the Golfo Nuevo lives a polychaete that inhabits at the same time rocky abrasion platforms and sandy intertidal sediments. The present short-note is intended to described this occurrence and discuss its importance to ichnology

Kdr-based insecticide resistance in Anopheles gambiae s.s populations in

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The spread of insecticide resistance in the malaria mosquito, <it>Anopheles gambiae </it>is a serious threat for current vector control strategies which rely on the use of insecticides. Two mutations at position 1014 of the S₆transmembrane segment of domain II in the voltage gated sodium channel, known as <it>kdr </it>(<it>knockdown resistance</it>) mutations leading to a change of a Leucine to a Phenylalanine (L1014F) or to a Serine (L1014S) confer resistance to DDT and pyrethroid insecticides in the insect. This paper presents the current distribution of the <it>kdr </it>alleles in wild <it>Anopheles gambiae </it>populations in Cameroon.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 1,405 anopheline mosquitoes were collected from 21 localities throughout Cameroon and identified as <it>An. gambiae </it>(N = 1,248; 88.8%), <it>An. arabiensis </it>(N = 120; 8.5%) and <it>An. melas </it>(N = 37; 2.6%). Both <it>kdr </it>alleles 1014F and 1014S were identified in the M and S molecular forms of <it>An. gambiae </it>s.s. The frequency of the 1014F allele ranged from 1.7 to 18% in the M-form, and from 2 to 90% in the S-form. The 1014S allele ranged from 3-15% in the S-form and in the M-form its value was below 3%. Some specimens were found to carry both resistant <it>kdr </it>alleles.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study provides an updated distribution map of the <it>kdr </it>alleles in wild <it>An. gambiae </it>populations in Cameroon. The co-occurrence of both alleles in malaria mosquito vectors in diverse ecological zones of the country may be critical for the planning and implementation of malaria vector control interventions based on IRS and ITNs, as currently ongoing in Cameroon.</p

Cardiotoxicity and cytotoxicity of the anthracycline analog 4'-deoxy-4'-iodo-doxorubicin

The cardiotoxicity and cytotoxicity of the novel doxorubicin (DXR) derivative 4'-deoxy-4'-iodo-DXR were evaluated and compared to DXR. A single dose of DXR 10 mg/kg i.v. in anesthetized rats induced a significant widening of S alpha T segment of the electrocardiogram, an increase in both mean arterial blood pressure and heart rate and a fall in systemic arterial dP/dtmax, while 4'-deoxy-4'-iodo-DXR 4 mg/kg i.v. induced a significant widening of S alpha T segment and an increase in mean arterial blood pressure. A chronic cardiomyopathy was induced over a 6-week period by three injections of DXR 3 mg/kg per week i.v. and was characterized by a progressive enlargement of S alpha T segment, a flattening of T wave, the occurrence of arrhythmias and histological alterations of myocardium. The contractile responses to adrenaline of isolated hearts from DXR-treated animals were significantly reduced compared to controls. 4'-Deoxy-4'-iodo-DXR (1.2 mg/kg per week three times) induced minor ECG alterations and sporadic episodes of arrhythmias. The contractile responses of isolated hearts were not significantly different from those of controls and microscopic examination of hearts revealed only minor changes. Cytotoxicity in vitro was evaluated by the colony formation assay; based on IC50, 4'-deoxy-4'-iodo-DXR was up to six times more cytotoxic than DXR on four human cancer cell lines. These results suggest that 4'-deoxy-4'-iodo-DXR is significantly less cardiotoxic and more cytotoxic than DXR

REDUCING DOXORUBICIN CARDIOTOXICITY IN THE RAT USING DEFERRED TREATMENT WITH ADR-529

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the optimal timing of ADR-529 administration to protect rats treated with doxorubicin (DXR) against drug-induced cardiotoxicity. Complete electrocardiographic monitoring (QRS complex, S alpha T segment and T wave) and the histopathological analysis of cardiac tissue were used to assess the degree of heart damage produced in female rats treated with ten i.v. doses of 1 mg/kg DXR over a period of 15 weeks; body-weight increase and survival were also analyzed to evaluate the toxicity of treatments. Cardiac alterations induced by DXR were compared with those occurring in animals receiving 20 mg/kg i.v. ADR-529 at 30 min prior to DXR administration, starting at the first, third, or sixth DXR dose and given until the end of the study (15th week). Rats treated with DXR were severely cardiomyopathic, showing progressive and irreversible ECG alterations (QRS-complex and S alpha T-segment widening and T-wave flattening) and marked degeneration of the myocardium (myocyte vacuolation, myofibrillar loss, and endomyocardial fibrosis). The most effective cardiac protection was provided by the administration of ADR-529 beginning with the first or third DXR dose. Delaying treatment with ADR-529 until the sixth DXR dose resulted in a significant reduction in its therapeutic action on heart damage. A significant difference in body-weight increase and survival was observed between the treatment groups: ADR-529 injected prior to the first DXR dose significantly protected animals from DXR toxicity, but this schedule was significantly more toxic than the administration of ADR-529 beginning with the third or sixth DXR dose. Taking into account the degree of cardiac protection and the toxicity of combination treatments, the results of the present study demonstrate the superiority of ADR-529 given prior to the third DXR dose over the other schedules tested. This finding suggests that significant protection against DXR-induced chronic cardiotoxicity in the rat can be obtained using deferred treatment with ADR-529

Photosensitizing role of R-phycoerythrin red protein and β-carboline alkaloids in Dye sensitized solar cell: Electrochemical and spectroscopic characterization

Dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) technology represents a valuable source for renewable energy production. Although with a rather low conversion efficiency, the continuous improvement of the price/performance ratio is making this technology more competitive than other sources of electrical power generation. To date, one of the major challenges is the search of novel and low-cost photosensitizers, a key player in the overall photo-conversion process. Natural dyes have shown to be an excellent alternative that still needs to be further explored. In this work, the spectroscopic and electrochemical properties of two different families of naturally occurring pigments (i.e, -carboline alkaloids (Cs) and the red protein R-phycoerythrin (R-PE)) as well as their role in DSSCs are addressed. DSSC assemblies show that R-PE represents a highly suitable photosensitizer showing quite a high stability with a relative high solar energy to electricity conversion efficiency (n=0.11%) when comparing with other recombinant proteins ( n=0.30%). Algae extracts used without further purification showed herein the highest efficiencies. The latter fact has a concomitant positive effect on the overall production cost of these photovoltaic cells. Surprisingly, and despite their positive effect on the coating of the semiconductor surface, the use of Cs as additive decreases the overall conversion efficiency of the R-PE based DSSCs evaluated. Data support the hypothesis these alkaloids would be blocking the incident UVB/UVA radiation