Bird collisions in a railway crossing a wetland of international importance (Sado estuary, Portugal)

L. Borda-de-Água et al. (eds.), Railway Ecology, chapter 7, p. 103-115Many studies have evaluated bird mortality in relation to roads and other human structures, but little is known about the potential impacts of railways. In particular, it is uncertain whether railways are an important mortality source when crossing wetlands heavily used by aquatic birds. Here we analyze bird collisions in a railway that crosses the Nature Reserve of the Sado Estuary (Portugal) over an annual cycle, documenting bird mortality and the flight behaviour of aquatic birds in relation to a bowstring bridge. During monthly surveys conducted on 16.3 km of railway, we found 5.8 dead birds/km/10 survey days in the section crossing wetland habitats (6.3 km), while <0.5 dead birds/km/10 survey days were found in two sections crossing only forested habitats. Most birds recorded were small songbirds (Passeriformes), while there was only a small number of aquatic birds (common moorhen, mallard, flamingo, great cormorant, gulls) and other non-passerines associated with wetlands (white stork). During nearly 400 h of observations, we recorded 27,000 movements of aquatic birds across the Sado bridge, particularly in autumn and winter. However, only <1% of movements were within the area of collision risk with trains, while about 91% were above the collision risk area, and 8% were below the bridge. Overall, our case study suggests that bird collisions may be far more numerous in railways crossing wetland habitats than elsewhere, although the risk to aquatic birds may be relatively low. Information from additional study systems would be required to evaluate whether our conclusions apply to other wetlands and railway linesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A Non-Human Primate Model for Gluten Sensitivity

Gluten sensitivity is widespread among humans. For example, in celiac disease patients, an inflammatory response to dietary gluten leads to enteropathy, malabsorption, circulating antibodies against gluten and transglutaminase 2, and clinical symptoms such as diarrhea. There is a growing need in fundamental and translational research for animal models that exhibit aspects of human gluten sensitivity.Using ELISA-based antibody assays, we screened a population of captive rhesus macaques with chronic diarrhea of non-infectious origin to estimate the incidence of gluten sensitivity. A selected animal with elevated anti-gliadin antibodies and a matched control were extensively studied through alternating periods of gluten-free diet and gluten challenge. Blinded clinical and histological evaluations were conducted to seek evidence for gluten sensitivity.When fed with a gluten-containing diet, gluten-sensitive macaques showed signs and symptoms of celiac disease including chronic diarrhea, malabsorptive steatorrhea, intestinal lesions and anti-gliadin antibodies. A gluten-free diet reversed these clinical, histological and serological features, while reintroduction of dietary gluten caused rapid relapse.Gluten-sensitive rhesus macaques may be an attractive resource for investigating both the pathogenesis and the treatment of celiac disease

Estudio transversal clínico y epidemiológico de la enfermedad de Chagas en una área rural del Nordeste Argentino Clinical and epidemiological transversal study on Chagas' disease in a rural area of the Argentinian Northeastern

Esta investigación tiene por objeto analizar las características epidemiológicas, clínicas, electrocardiográficas y radiológicas de una población de seropositivos y seronegativos al Trypanosoma cruzi en una área rural del Departamento San Miguel, provincia de Corrientes, Argentina. Se seleccionaron 132 pobladores (58 hombres y 74 mujeres) de todos los grupos etareos para la realización de un examen clínico y cardiovascular. Se registraron síntomas y signos compatibles con afección cardíaca, tensión arterial, electrocardiograma de 12 derivaciones y radiografía anteroposterior de tórax. En la signo-sintomatología, anomalías electrocardiográficas y en las alteraciones radiográficas detectadas, no se observaron diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre seropositivos y seronegativos. Se concluye que si bien en la población objeto de estudio la infección chagásica no se asoció a mayor prevalencia de cardiopatía, cabe destacar que los pacientes chagásicos pertenecían a un grupo etareo muy joven con un 54,0% de ellos menores de 20 años y que el 45,0% de los pacientes mayores de 41 años tenían alteraciones electrocardiográficas.<br>The main goal was to know the epidemiologic, clinical, electrocardiographic and radiologic characteristics among a population of seropositives and seronegatives to Trypanosoma cruzi in a rural area of the Departament of San Miguel, province of Corrientes, Argentina. One hundred and thirty-two patients of different ages: 2-79 years old were researched (58 males, 74 females). In order to make a thorough assessment clinical evaluation and cardiologic testing were carried out. Signs and symptoms consistent with heart disease, blood pressure, 12-lead ECG registry and chest x-ray (PA view) were registered. In signs and symptoms, abnormal ECG patterns and radiologic abnormalities, non-significant statistic difference were observed. Although we were unable to find a significant relationship between chagasic infection and a higher prevalence for heart disease, it is important to stress the fact that 54.0% of the studied population was largely composed of very young patients whose ages were less than 20 years old, and 45.0% of those older than 41 years showed ECG abnormalities

Podoplanin mediates ECM degradation by squamous carcinoma cells through control of invadopodia stability

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.Invadopodia are actin-rich cell membrane projections used by invasive cells to penetrate the basement membrane. Control of invadopodia stability is critical for efficient degradation of the extracellular matrix (ECM); however, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. Here, we uncover a new role for podoplanin, a transmembrane glycoprotein closely associated with malignant progression of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs), in the regulation of invadopodia-mediated matrix degradation. Podoplanin downregulation in SCC cells impairs invadopodia stability, thereby reducing the efficiency of ECM degradation. We report podoplanin as a novel component of invadopodia-associated adhesion rings, where it clusters prior to matrix degradation. Early podoplanin recruitment to invadopodia is dependent on lipid rafts, whereas ezrin/moesin proteins mediate podoplanin ring assembly. Finally, we demonstrate that podoplanin regulates invadopodia maturation by acting upstream of the ROCK-LIMK-Cofilin pathway through the control of RhoC GTPase activity. Thus, podoplanin has a key role in the regulation of invadopodia function in SCC cells, controlling the initial steps of cancer cell invasion.This work has been funded by grants from Cancer Research UK (C7125/A9926; A13651) to GEJ and EM-V, the Medical Research Council (G0401026) to GEJ and from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (SAF 2010-19152/SAF2013-46183R) and Community of Madrid (S2010/BMD-2359, SkinModel-CM) to MQ. EM-V is currently a recipient of a Postdoctoral Research Contract from Fundación Científica Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer (AECC).Peer reviewe

Patients with Crohn's disease have longer post-operative in-hospital stay than patients with colon cancer but no difference in complications' rate

BACKGROUNDRight hemicolectomy or ileocecal resection are used to treat benign conditions like Crohn's disease (CD) and malignant ones like colon cancer (CC).AIMTo investigate differences in pre- and peri-operative factors and their impact on post-operative outcome in patients with CC and CD.METHODSThis is a sub-group analysis of the European Society of Coloproctology's prospective, multi-centre snapshot audit. Adult patients with CC and CD undergoing right hemicolectomy or ileocecal resection were included. Primary outcome measure was 30-d post-operative complications. Secondary outcome measures were post-operative length of stay (LOS) at and readmission.RESULTSThree hundred and seventy-five patients with CD and 2,515 patients with CC were included. Patients with CD were younger (median = 37 years for CD and 71 years for CC (P &lt; 0.01), had lower American Society of Anesthesiology score (ASA) grade (P &lt; 0.01) and less comorbidity (P &lt; 0.01), but were more likely to be current smokers (P &lt; 0.01). Patients with CD were more frequently operated on by colorectal surgeons (P &lt; 0.01) and frequently underwent ileocecal resection (P &lt; 0.01) with higher rate of de-functioning/primary stoma construction (P &lt; 0.01). Thirty-day post-operative mortality occurred exclusively in the CC group (66/2515, 2.3%). In multivariate analyses, the risk of post-operative complications was similar in the two groups (OR 0.80, 95%CI: 0.54-1.17; P = 0.25). Patients with CD had a significantly longer LOS (Geometric mean 0.87, 95%CI: 0.79-0.95; P &lt; 0.01). There was no difference in re-admission rates. The audit did not collect data on post-operative enhanced recovery protocols that are implemented in the different participating centers.CONCLUSIONPatients with CD were younger, with lower ASA grade, less comorbidity, operated on by experienced surgeons and underwent less radical resection but had a longer LOS than patients with CC although complication's rate was not different between the two groups