Revisão das espécies do grupo de Bufo crucifer, com descrições de duas espécies relacionadas (Amphibia, Anura, Bufonidae)

The Bufo crucifer species group is revised on the basis of external morphological and morphometrical characteristics, evidencing variation in size, shape of the parotoid gland, width of the head, cranial crests, and presence or absence of yellow spots near the cloaca and hind limbs. Five species are recognized: B. crucifer Wied-Neuwied, 1821, B. ornatus Spix, 1824 (revalidated), B. henseli A.Lutz, 1934 (revalidated), B. abei sp.nov., and B. pombali sp.nov. The geographic distribution of the species is associated with the Atlantic Rain Forest and adjacent areas: B. crucifer occurs from the State of Ceará to southern State of Espírito Santo and northeastern State of Minas Gerais; B. ornatus is distributed from southern State of Espírito Santo, through the states of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo to northern State of Paraná, and possibly in northeastern Argentina, in the provinces Misiones and Corrientes; B. henseli is found from southern State of Santa Catarina to the coast of the State of Rio Grande do Sul; B. abei sp.nov., described from Córrego Grande, Municipality of Florianópolis, State of Santa Catarina, is distributed from the State of Paraná to southern State of Santa Catarina and areas of the northern State of Rio Grande do Sul; and B. pombali sp.nov., described from the Reserva Biológica de Peti, Municipality of São Gonçalo do Rio Abaixo, State of Minas Gerais, occurs in transitional areas between the Atlantic Rain Forest and the “cerrados” in the State of Minas Gerais. Additionally, Bufo crucifer var. pfrimeri Miranda-Ribeiro, 1926, currently in the synonymy of B. crucifer, is transfered to the synonymy of Bufo guttatus Schneider, 1799. Bufo levicristatus Boettger, 1885 is considered a species inquirenda and removed from the synonymy of any species included in the B. crucifer group. Bufo spixii Fitzinger, 1826 is transfered from the synonymy of Bufo margaritifer (Laurenti, 1768) to the synonymy of Bufo ornatus Spix, 1824.O grupo de Bufo crucifer é revisado com base em caracteres morfológicos externos e morfométricos, evidenciando variação em tamanho, forma das glândulas parotóides, largura da cabeça, cristas cefálicas e presença ou ausência de manchas amarelas próximo à cloaca e nas pernas. Cinco espécies são reconhecidas: Bufo crucifer Wied-Neuwied, 1821, B. ornatus Spix, 1824 (revalidada), B. henseli A.Lutz, 1924 (revalidada), B. abei sp.nov. e B. pombali sp.nov. A distribuição geográfica das espécies é associada à Floresta Atlântica e regiões adjacentes: B. crucifer ocorre do Estado do Ceará ao sul do Estado do Espírito Santo e nordeste do Estado de Minas Gerais; B. ornatus ocorre do sul do Estado do Espírito Santo, através dos Estados do Rio de Janeiro e São Paulo até o norte do Estado do Paraná e possivelmente no nordeste da Argentina, nas Províncias Misiones e Corrientes; B. henseli é encontrada do sul do Estado de Santa Catarina até a região costeira do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul; B. abei sp.nov., descrita de Córrego Grande, Município de Florianópolis, Estado de Santa Catarina, está distribuída do Estado do Paraná até o sul do Estado de Santa Catarina e áreas do norte do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul; B. pombali sp.nov., descrita da Reserva Biológica de Peti, Município de São Gonçalo do Rio Abaixo, Estado de Minas Gerais, ocorre nas áreas de transição entre a Floresta Atlântica e os cerrados no Estado de Minas Gerais. Adicionalmente, Bufo crucifer var. pfrimeri Miranda-Ribeiro, 1926, atualmente incluída na sinonimia de B. crucifer, é transferida para a sinonimia de Bufo guttatus Schneider, 1799. Bufo levicristatus Boettger, 1885 é considerada species inquirenda e retirada da sinonimia de qualquer das espécies incluídas no grupo de B. crucifer. Bufo spixii Fitzinger, 1826 é transferida da sinonimia de Bufo margaritifer (Laurenti, 1768) para a sinonimia de Bufo ornatus Spix, 1824

The Vicious Cycle Towards Violence: Focus on the Negative Feedback Mechanisms of Brain Serotonin Neurotransmission

Violence can be defined as a form of escalated aggressive behavior that is expressed out of context and out of inhibitory control, and apparently has lost its adaptive function in social communication. Little is known about the social and environmental factors as well as the underlying neurobiological mechanisms involved in the shift of normal adaptive aggression into violence. In an effort to model the harmful acts of aggression and violence in humans, we recently (re)developed an animal model that is focused on engendering uncontrolled forms of maladaptive aggressive behavior in laboratory-bred feral rats and mice. We show that certain (8–12%) constitutionally aggressive individuals gradually develop, over the course of repetitive exposures to victorious social conflicts, escalated (short-latency, high-frequency and ferocious attacks), persistent (lack of attack inhibition by defeat/submission signals and perseverance of the aggressive attack-biting bout), indiscriminating (attacking female and anesthetized male intruders) and injurious (enhanced vulnerable-body region attacks and inflicted wounding) forms of offensive aggression. Based on the neurobiological results obtained using this model, a revised view is presented on the key role of central serotonergic (auto)regulatory mechanisms in this transition of normal aggression into violence

Development of violence in mice through repeated victory along with changes in prefrontal cortex neurochemistry

Recent reviews on the validity of rodent aggression models for human violence have addressed the dimension of pathological, maladaptive, violent forms of aggression in male rodent aggressive behaviour. Among the neurobiological mechanisms proposed for the regulation of aggressive behaviour in its normal and pathological forms, serotonin plays a major role. However, the results on the detailed mechanism are still confusing and controversial, mainly because of difficulties in extrapolating from rodent to human psychopathological behaviour. Our aim was to investigate the involvement of serotonin in pathological aggression. We subjected mice genetically selected for high (SAL, TA, NC900 lines) and low (LAL, TNA, NC100) aggression levels to a repeated resident-intruder experience (RRI mice) or to handling as a control procedure (CTR mice). Pathological aggression parameters we recorded were aggression towards females and lack of communication between the resident and its opponent. In the same mice, we measured the monoamine levels in the prefrontal cortex, a brain region strongly involved in the regulation of motivated behaviour. Our results show that SAL mice augmented their proneness to attack and showed the most pathological phenotype, with disregard of the opponent's sex, high territorial behavioural patterns, and low sensitivity to signals of subordination. In contrast, TA and NC900 augmented their proneness to attack and low discrimination of the opponent's signals, without showing offence towards females. After repeated resident-intruder experience, serotonin levels in the prefrontal cortex were significantly lower in SAL than in LAL whereas dopamine turnover was significantly higher, compared to CTR mice. Serotonin turnover was significantly reduced in all RRI mice, with no strain differences. Noradrenaline was significantly lower in aggressive mice of the TA and NC900 lines compared to their low-aggressive counterparts, with no effect of the repeated resident-intruder experience. We conclude that social experience changes prefrontal cortex neurochemistry and elicits pathologically aggressive phenotypes. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Physiotherapists and Osteopaths’ Attitudes: Training in Management of Temporomandibular Disorders

Temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) are a condition which has multifactorial etiology. The most acknowledged method to classify TMDs is the diagnostic criteria (DC) introduced firstly by Dworkin. This protocol considers different aspects that are not only biological, but even psychosocial. Diagnosis is often based on anamnesis, physical examination and instrumental diagnosis. TMDs are classified as intra-articular and/or extra-articular disorders. Common signs and symptoms include jaw pain and dysfunction, earache, headache, facial pain, limitation to opening the mouth, ear pain and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) noises. This study regards two kind of clinicians that started in the last years to be more involved in the treatment of TMDs: osteopaths (OOs) and physiotherapists (PTs). The purpose is to analyze their attitude and clinical approach on patients affected by TMDs. Four hundred therapists answered an anonymous questionnaire regarding TMJ and TMDs. OOs showed greater knowledges on TMDs and TMJ and, the therapists with both qualifications seemed to be most confident in treating patients with TMDs. In conclusion this study highlights OOs and all the clinicians with this qualification, have a higher confidence in treating patients with TMD than the others. Dentists and orthodontists, according to this study, should co-work with OOs and PTs, because they are the specialists more requested by them than other kinds of specialists

Reemergence of Strongyloidiasis, Northern Italy

Strongyloidiasis is a helminth infection caused by Strongyloides stercoralis, a nematode ubiquitous in tropical and subtropical countries and occasionally reported in temperate countries, including Italy (1). Sources of infection are filariform strongyloid larvae present in soil contaminated by infected feces; the larvae penetrate through the skin of a human host. After the first life cycle, a process of autoinfection begins, which persists indefinitely in the host if the infection is not effectively treated. The infection can remain totally asymptomatic for many years or forever or cause cutaneous (itching and rash), abdominal (epigastric pain, pseudoappendicitis, diarrhea), respiratory (cough, recurrent asthma), and systemic (weight loss, cachexia) symptoms that can be enervating. More importantly, when host immunity is impaired because of a concurrent disease or immunosuppressive therapy (including corticosteroids, sometimes used to treat symptoms of the unrecognized infection or the concurrent eosinophilia), disseminated strongyloidiasis may occur (2\u20134), causing a massive and almost invariably fatal invasion of virtually all organs and tissues by filariform larvae and even adult worms (Figure), often combined with bacterial superinfection. This complication is believed to be rare but is probably underestimated because of the extreme variability of the clinical presentation. Although strongyloidiasis can be suspected in the presence of symptoms or eosinophilia (which is frequent but not mandatory), the low sensitivity of direct diagnostic methods often lets the disease go unrecognized (5\u20137). By far the most sensitive diagnostic tools are serologic tests: sensitivity and specificity of indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) (in-house produced IFAT) are 97.4% and 97.9%, respectively, at a dilution >1/20, and 70.5% and 99.8% at a dilution >1/80 (6). A suspected case is defined by a positive antibody titer >20 (IFAT); a case is confirmed by a positive direct test result (culture in agar being the most sensitive direct technique) or by a positive antibody titer >80 (6). Despite some anecdotal reports on the presence of strongyloidiasis in Italy (1,6), reliable information about the real prevalence of the infection is lacking. After seeing several patients affected by the disease, 1 of whom died because of dissemination (Z. Bisoffi, unpub. data), we decided to carry out a preliminary rapid assessment of the extent of the problem in elderly patients with eosinophilia. During a 4-month period, from February through May 2008, every patient born in 1940 or earlier who came to the clinical laboratories of 2 contiguous health districts in northern Italy (Mantova, Lombardy Region, and Legnago, Veneto Region) for a diagnostic blood test (hematocrit and leukocyte count/formula) for whatever reason and having a eosinophil count >500 cells/\u3bcL was asked to join the study. This study was the pilot phase of a larger, multicentered study, which obtained formal approval from the Ethical Committee of Sacro Cuore Hospital of Negrar, Verona. Informed consent was required of each patient. Of the 132 patients eligible for inclusion (mean age 76.4 years, range 68\u201390 years, male:female ratio 1.6), none refused to give informed consent. Serum specimens were subjected to the IFAT for S. stercoralis at the Sacro Cuore Hospital Centre for Tropical Diseases. Unexpectedly, we found that 37 (28%) of 132 patients were positive, with titers ranging between 20 and >320 (and >80 in most cases). However, caution should be exercised in interpreting the results because the patients may not be representative of the general population. Moreover, our results are based on an indirect (although highly sensitive and specific) test. Because the reported cases involve only a few patients every year (of whom some are anecdotally reported as dying from the infection, usually unpublished), we suspect that most strongyloidiasis cases remain undetected. If relevant transmission still exists in the area, it is unknown but is unlikely because of the improvement of hygienic conditions in the past 5 decades. Reports of the infection in children or young adults with no travel history outside Italy are lacking. Strongyloidiasis in the elderly is therefore most likely to result from an infection that occurred much earlier in life, either in infancy or at a young age, while walking or working barefoot in agricultural fields. The long persistence is the consequence of the autoinfection cycle typical of this parasite as described above. The result is an important and unrecognized public health problem affecting the geriatric population of northern Italy. These preliminary results confirm the need for the already planned, multicentered study involving a larger sample and a wider geographic area

Epidemiology of Strongyloides stercoralis in northern Italy: Results of a multicentre case-control study, February 2013 to July 2014

Strongyloides stercoralis is a soil-transmitted helminth widely diffused in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. Autochthonous cases have been also diagnosed sporadically in areas of temperate climate. We aimed at defining the epidemiology of strongyloidiasis in immigrants and Italians living in three northern Italian Regions. Screening for S. stercoralis infection was done with serology, confirmation tests were a second serological method or stool agar culture. A case-control approach was adopted and patients with a peripheral eosinophil count 65 500/mcL were classified as cases. Of 2,701 individuals enrolled here 1,351 were cases and 1,350 controls; 86% were Italians, 48% women. Italians testing positive were in 8% (97/1,137) cases and 1% (13/1,178) controls (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 8.2; 95% confidence interval (CI): 4.5-14.8), while positive immigrants were in 17% (36/214) cases and in 2% (3/172) controls (aOR 9.6; 95% CI: 2.9-32.4). Factors associated with a higher risk of infection for all study participants were eosinophilia (p < 0.001) and immigration (p = 0.001). Overall, strongyloidiasis was nine-times more frequent in individuals with eosinophilia than in those with normal eosinophil count

Proteome and Physiological Characterization of Halotolerant Nodule Endophytes: The Case of Rahnella aquatilis and Serratia plymuthica

Bacterial endophytes were isolated from nodules of pea and fava bean. The strains were identified and characterized for plant beneficial activities (phosphate solubilization, synthesis of indole acetic acid and siderophores) and salt tolerance. Based on these data, four strains of Rahnella aquatilis and three strains of Serratia plymuthica were selected. To shed light on the mechanisms underlying salt tolerance, the proteome of the two most performant strains (Ra4 and Sp2) grown in the presence or not of salt was characterized. The number of proteins expressed by the endophytes was higher in the presence of salt. The modulated proteome consisted of 302 (100 up-regulated, 202 down-regulated) and 323 (206 up-regulated, 117 down-regulated) proteins in Ra4 and Sp2, respectively. Overall, proteins involved in abiotic stress responses were up-regulated, while those involved in metabolism and flagellum structure were down-regulated. The main up-regulated proteins in Sp2 were thiol: disulfide interchange protein DsbA, required for the sulfur binding formation in periplasmic proteins, while in Ra4 corresponded to the soluble fraction of ABC transporters, having a role in compatible solute uptake. Our results demonstrated a conserved response to salt stress in the two taxonomically related species

Mapping the Effect of Interictal Epileptic Activity Density During Wakefulness on Brain Functioning in Focal Childhood Epilepsies With Centrotemporal Spikes

Childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (CECTS) is the most common type of \u201cself-limited focal epilepsies.\u201d In its typical presentation, CECTS is a condition reflecting non-lesional cortical hyperexcitability of rolandic regions. The benign evolution of this disorder is challenged by the frequent observation of associated neuropsychological deficits and behavioral impairment. The abundance (or frequency) of interictal centrotemporal spikes (CTS) in CECTS is considered a risk factor for deficits in cognition. Herein, we captured the hemodynamic changes triggered by the CTS density measure (i.e., the number of CTS for time bin) obtained in a cohort of CECTS, studied by means of video electroencephalophy/functional MRI during quite wakefulness. We aim to demonstrate a direct influence of the diurnal CTS frequency on epileptogenic and cognitive networks of children with CECTS. A total number of 8,950 CTS (range between 27 and 801) were recorded in 23 CECTS (21 male), with a mean number of 255 CTS/patient and a mean density of CTS/30 s equal to 10,866 \ub1 11.46. Two independent general linear model models were created for each patient based on the effect of interest: \u201cindividual CTS\u201d in model 1 and \u201cCTS density\u201d in model 2. Hemodynamic correlates of CTS density revealed the involvement of a widespread cortical\u2013subcortical network encompassing the sensory-motor cortex, the Broca's area, the premotor cortex, the thalamus, the putamen, and red nucleus, while in the CTS event-related model, changes were limited to blood\u2013oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal increases in the sensory-motor cortices. A linear relationship was observed between the CTS density hemodynamic changes and both disease duration (positive correlation) and age (negative correlation) within the language network and the bilateral insular cortices. Our results strongly support the critical role of the CTS frequency, even during wakefulness, to interfere with the normal functioning of language brain networks