Intestinal parasites of zoonotic importance in dogs from the District of General Pueyrredón (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Lavallén, C.M.; Dopchiz, M.C.; Lobianco, E.; Hollmann, P.; Denegri, G.: Intestinal parasites of zoonotic importance in dogs from the District of General Pueyrredón (Buenos Aires, Argentina). Rev. vet. 22: 1, 19–24, 2011. Key words: dog, intestinal parasites, zoonoses

Histochemical analyses of muscle injury induced by venom from Argentine Bothrops alternatus (víbora de la cruz)

Histochemical methods were used to study necrosis of skeletal muscle fibers induced by Bothrops alternatus snake venom from Argentina. Rats with a body weight between 220–270 g, were used. Animals received an i.m. venom injection (800 μg) in the gastrocnemius. To determine creatinphosphokinase activity (CPK), blood samples were taken from the tail 60 min, 3, 6, 12 and 24 h after the envenoming. About 24 h later, rats received chloral hydrate anesthesia for histological analysis with Hematoxilin–Eosin (H–E) stain, and histochemical studies such as lipid peroxidation (Schiff’s reaction), and calcium precipitation (alizarin red stain). Results showed an increment in plasma CPK level, with its major peak at 3 h. Histochemical analyses revealed an intense destruction of muscular fibers as a consequence of a significant lipid peroxidation and calcium precipitation as well. Histochemical methods can be considered as a valuable tool in applied research regarding toxicological problems such as snake venom intoxication. It can be concluded that B. alternatus snake venom leads to a lipid peroxidation accompanied by citoplasmatic calcium precipitation. In addition, it was demonstrated that H–E stain made on frozen cuts (histochemical technique) is effective to evidence a panoramic tissular view of muscular lesion caused by B. alternatus venom, with the advantage of demanding a shorter execution lapse (few hours) in relationship to classic H–E histological technique, which requires several days of procesing

Next-to-leading order QCD corrections to W+W- production via vector-boson fusion

Vector-boson fusion processes constitute an important class of reactions at hadron colliders, both for signals and backgrounds of new physics in the electroweak interactions. We consider what is commonly referred to as W+W- production via vector-boson fusion (with subsequent leptonic decay of the Ws), or, more precisely, e+ nu_e mu- nubar_mu + 2 jets production in proton-proton scattering, with all resonant and non-resonant Feynman diagrams and spin correlations of the final-state leptons included, in the phase-space regions which are dominated by t-channel electroweak-boson exchange. We compute the next-to-leading order QCD corrections to this process, at order alpha^6 alpha_s. The QCD corrections are modest, changing total cross sections by less than 10%. Remaining scale uncertainties are below 2%. A fully-flexible next-to-leading order partonic Monte Carlo program allows to demonstrate these features for cross sections within typical vector-boson-fusion acceptance cuts. Modest corrections are also found for distributions.Comment: 29 pages, 14 figure

Multimodality imaging of chronic tophaceous gout

The diagnosis of gout is usually based on clinical presentation and laboratory findings. Imaging plays a role in the assessment and grading of articular damage related to chronic, long-standing disease, which is characterized by granulomatous synovitis, tophi, and erosions. Multimodality imaging of chronic tophaceous gout may be useful in clinical practice for a variety of purposes, including assessment of disease-related anatomical changes and monitoring of articular and soft-tissue lesions over time, especially in response to urate-lowering therapy. Radiography remains the primary imaging technique. Ultrasonography may detect monosodium urate crystals on cartilage, is helpful to assess small joint effusion, to guide to joint aspiration, and to evaluate the volume of tophi. Computed tomography is considered to be more sensitive than plain radiography in the detection and evaluation of cortical bone erosions associated with tophi. MRI represents the only imaging modality which provides visualization of bone marrow oedema associated with erosions and may be useful to characterize and distinguish tophi from other soft tissue nodules

Dark Matter and LHC: What is the Connection?

We review what can (and cannot) be learned if dark matter is detected in one or more experiments, emphasizing the importance of combining LHC data with direct, astrophysical and cosmological probes of dark matter. We briefly review the conventional picture of a thermally produced WIMP relic density and its connection with theories of electroweak symmetry breaking. We then discuss both experimental and theoretical reasons why one might generically expect this picture to fail. If this is the case, we argue that a combined effort bringing together all types of data -- combined with explicitly constructed theoretical models -- will be the only way to achieve a complete understanding of the dark matter in our universe and become confident that any candidate actually provides the relic density.Comment: 25 pages, 2 figures, Invited review for Modern Physics Letters

Relevamiento coproparasitológico de aceras y calles de la ciudad de Mar del Plata, Argentina

El objetivo del presente trabajo fue conocer el grado de parasitosis de la materia fecal canina existente en aceras y calles de dos zonas de la ciudad de Mar del Plata con distinta afluencia de personas (Céntrica y Periférica), identificar las especies de parásitos presentes y estudiar las variaciones entre los períodos pre–temporada, temporada y post–temporada turística. Durante los meses de diciembre de 2003, enero y marzo de 2004 se hallaron el mismo día y durante las primeras horas de la mañana, 351 muestras de heces caninas (286 en la zona Periférica y 65 en la zona Céntrica), de las que se colectó una submuestra de 36 de la zona Céntrica y 76 de la Periférica para su análisis coproparasitológico mediante técnicas de flotación–sedimentación. Se calcularon y se analizaron las prevalencias parasitarias totales y por especie de parásito para cada período y zona. La prevalencia parasitaria total registrada fue del 42,8%, (55,55% para la zona Céntrica y 36,84% para la Periférica). Se hallaron los siguientes parásitos, todos de importancia zoonótica: Entamoeba sp., Ancylostoma caninum, Trichurus vulpis, Toxocara canis, Toxascaris leonina y coccidios. En el período temporada en la zona Céntrica se registró la prevalencia significativamente más alta, con predominio de A. caninum. En la zona Periférica T. vulpis fue la especie más prevalente y las infestaciones de grado severo se registraron mayoritariamente en el período pre–temporada. Entamoeba sp. fue altamente prevalente en ambas áreas. Se discuten las implicancias del riesgo de infección parasitaria para las personas sanas, en especial para los niños y la importancia de tomar medidas sanitarias y educativas y de tenencia responsable de mascotas

Charged Higgs production from SUSY particle cascade decays at the LHC

We analyze the cascade decays of the scalar quarks and gluinos of the Minimal Supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model, which are abundantly produced at the Large Hadron Collider, into heavier charginos and neutralinos which then decay into the lighter ones and charged Higgs particles, and show that they can have substantial branching fractions. The production rates of these Higgs bosons can be much larger than those from the direct production mechanisms, in particular for intermediate values of the parameter $\tan \beta$, and could therefore allow for the detection of these particles. We also discuss charged Higgs boson production from direct two-body top and bottom squark decays as well as from two- and three-body gluino decays.Comment: 30 pages with 10 figures, latex. Uses axodraw.sty and epsfig.st

Dominant next-to-leading order QCD corrections to Higgs plus three jet production in vector-boson fusion

We present the calculation of the dominant next to leading order QCD corrections to Higgs boson production in association with three jets via vector boson fusion in the form of a NLO parton-level Monte Carlo program. QCD corrections to integrated cross sections are modest, while the shapes of some kinematical distributions change appreciably at NLO. Scale uncertainties are shown to be reduced at NLO for the total cross section and for distributions. We consider a central jet veto at the LHC and analyze the veto probability for typical vector boson fusion cuts. Scale uncertainties of the veto probability are sufficiently small at NLO for precise Higgs coupling measurements at the LHC.Comment: 40 pages, 17 figures, 2 tables, published versio

CaMKII inhibition rectifies arrhythmic phenotype in a patient-specific model of catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) offer a unique opportunity for developmental studies, disease modeling and regenerative medicine approaches in humans. The aim of our study was to create an in vitro 'patient-specific cell-based system' that could facilitate the screening of new therapeutic molecules for the treatment of catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT), an inherited form of fatal arrhythmia. Here, we report the development of a cardiac model of CPVT through the generation of iPSC from a CPVT patient carrying a heterozygous mutation in the cardiac ryanodine receptor gene (RyR2) and their subsequent differentiation into cardiomyocytes (CMs). Whole-cell patch-clamp and intracellular electrical recordings of spontaneously beating cells revealed the presence of delayed afterdepolarizations (DADs) in CPVT-CMs, both in resting conditions and after β-adrenergic stimulation, resembling the cardiac phenotype of the patients. Furthermore, treatment with KN-93 (2-[N-(2-hydroxyethyl)]-N-(4methoxybenzenesulfonyl)]amino-N-(4-chlorocinnamyl)-N-methylbenzylamine), an antiarrhythmic drug that inhibits Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent serine-threonine protein kinase II (CaMKII), drastically reduced the presence of DADs in CVPT-CMs, rescuing the arrhythmic phenotype induced by catecholaminergic stress. In addition, intracellular calcium transient measurements on 3D beating clusters by fast resolution optical mapping showed that CPVT clusters developed multiple calcium transients, whereas in the wild-type clusters, only single initiations were detected. Such instability is aggravated in the presence of isoproterenol and is attenuated by KN-93. As seen in our RyR2 knock-in CPVT mice, the antiarrhythmic effect of KN-93 is confirmed in these human iPSC-derived cardiac cells, supporting the role of this in vitro system for drug screening and optimization of clinical treatment strategies

Digital play and the actualisation of the consumer imagination

In this article, the authors consider emerging consumer practices in digital virtual spaces. Building on constructions of consumer behavior as both a sense-making activity and a resource for the construction of daydreams, as well as anthropological readings of performance, the authors speculate that many performances during digital play are products of consumer fantasy. The authors develop an interpretation of the relationship between the real and the virtual that is better equipped to understand the movement between consumer daydreams and those practices actualized in the material and now also in digital virtual reality. The authors argue that digital virtual performances present opportunities for liminoid transformations through inversions, speculations, and playfulness acted out in aesthetic dramas. To illustrate, the authors consider specific examples of the theatrical productions available to consumers in digital spaces, highlighting the consumer imagination that feeds them, the performances they produce, and the potential for transformation in consumer-players