Relevamiento de nematodes gastrointestinales en bovinos del sur de Misiones y nordeste de Corrientes (Argentina)

Se realizó un estudio de investigación observacional de nematodes gastrointestinales de bovinos en 592 terneros destete de 12 rodeos de cría durante 27 meses. El área de estudio comprendió los departamentos Apóstoles y Capital (Provincia de Misiones) y departamentos Ituzaingó y Santo Tomé (Provincia de Corrientes), de características fitogeográficas similares. Las variables bajo estudio fueron la cantidad de huevos excretados por medio del método de conteo de huevos por gramo de materia fecal (hpg) y la proporción de los géneros parasitarios detectada mediante coprocultivo e identificación de larvas de tercer estadio. Debido a la distribución asimétrica de la variable, para la valoración del conteo de huevos se utilizó la mediana como parámetro de tendencia central. En el total de las muestras se registró una mediana de 90 hpg, y en el análisis por estación se verificaron medianas de 200 hpg en primavera, 190 hpg en verano y 50 hpg en otoño e invierno. El coprocultivo se realizó sobre 21 pools de muestras en 8 estaciones seguidas durante todo el estudio y los hallazgos totales fueron: 30% Haemonchus sp., 26%  richostrongylus sp., 24% Cooperia sp. y 20% Oesophagostomum sp. La participación mayoritaria de nematodes de alta oviposición y los relativamente bajos conteos de hpg en heces -exceptuando algunos casos con altos valores- indican la necesidad de profundizar los estudios epidemiológicos de las parasitosis de la región para establecer medidas de control que reduzcan su impacto en las explotaciones ganaderas

Liquid Marble Actuator for Microfluidic Logic Systems

© 2018, The Author(s). A mechanical flip-flop actuator has been developed that allows for the facile re-routing and distribution of liquid marbles (LMs) in digital microfluidic devices. Shaped loosely like a triangle, the actuating switch pivots from one bistable position to another, being actuated by the very low mass and momentum of a LM rolling under gravity (~4 × 10 −6 kg ms −1 ). The actuator was laser-cut from cast acrylic, held on a PTFE coated pivot, and used a PTFE washer. Due to the rocking motion of the switch, sequential LMs are distributed along different channels, allowing for sequential LMs to traverse parallel paths. This distributing effect can be easily cascaded, for example to evenly divide sequential LMs down four different paths. This lightweight, cheap and versatile actuator has been demonstrated in the design and construction of a LM-operated mechanical multiplication device — establishing its effectiveness. The actuator can be operated solely by gravity, giving it potential use in point-of-care devices in low resource areas

The potential role for prolactin-inducible protein (PIP) as a marker of human breast cancer micrometastasis

The prolactin-inducible protein (PIP/GCPD15) is believed to originate from a limited set of tissues, including breast and salivary glands, and has been applied as a clinical marker for the diagnosis of metastatic tumours of unknown origin. We have investigated the potential role of PIP mRNA as a marker of human breast cancer metastasis. Using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and Southern or dot blot analysis, PIP mRNA was detected in 4/6 breast cell lines, independent of oestrogen receptor (ER) status. In breast primary tumours (n = 97), analysed from histologically characterized sections, PIP mRNA was detected in most cases. Higher PIP mRNA levels correlated with ER+ (P = 0.0004), progesterone receptor positive (PR+) (P = 0.0167), low-grade (P = 0.0195) tumours, and also PIP protein levels assessed by immunohistochemistry (n = 19, P = 0.0319). PIP mRNA expression was also detectable in 11/16 (69%) of axillary node metastases. PIP mRNA expression, however, was also detected in normal breast duct epithelium, skin, salivary gland and peripheral blood leucocyte samples from normal individuals. We conclude that PIP mRNA is frequently expressed in both primary human breast tumours and nodal metastases. However, the presence of PIP expression in skin creates a potential source of contamination in venepuncture samples that should be considered in its application as a marker for breast tumour micrometastases. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig

The cystic fibrosis microbiome in an ecological perspective and its impact in antibiotic therapy

The recent focus on the cystic fibrosis (CF) complex microbiome has led to the recognition that the microbes can interact between them and with the host immune system, affecting the disease progression and treatment routes. Although the main focus remains on the interactions between traditional pathogens, growing evidence supports the contribution and the role of emergent species. Understanding the mechanisms and the biological effects involved in polymicrobial interactions may be the key to improve effective therapies and also to define new strategies for disease control. This review focuses on the interactions between microbe-microbe and host-microbe, from an ecological point of view, discussing their impact on CF disease progression. There are increasing indications that these interactions impact the success of antimicrobial therapy. Consequently, a new approach where therapy is personalized to patients by taking into account their individual CF microbiome is suggested.Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013-CEB and UID/EQU/00511/2013-LEPABE units. This study was also supported by FCT and the European Community fund FEDER, through Program COMPETE, under the scope of the Projects “DNA mimics” PIC/IC/82815/2007, RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462), “BioHealth—Biotechnology and Bioengineering approaches to improve health quality”, Ref. NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000027 and NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000025—RL2_ Environment and Health, co-funded by the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2 – O Novo Norte), QREN, FEDER. The authors also acknowledge the grant of Susana P. Lopes (SFRH/BPD/95616/2013) and of the COST-Action TD1004: Theragnostics for imaging and therapy

The two Titan stellar occultations of 14

[1] We report the observation of two stellar occultations by Titan on 14 November 2003, using stations in the Indian Ocean, southern Africa, Spain, and northern and southern Americas. These occultations probed altitudes between $550 and 250 km ($1 to 250 mbar) in Titan's upper stratosphere. The light curves reveal a sharp inversion layer near 515 ± 6 km altitude (1.5 mbar pressure level), where the temperature increases by 15 K in only 6 km. This layer is close to an inversion layer observed fourteen months later by the Huygens HASI instrument during the entry of the probe in Titan's atmosphere on 14 January 2005 À1 near the equator, and progressively weaker winds as more southern latitudes are probed. The haze distribution around Titan's limb at 250 km altitude is close to that predicted by the Global Circulation Model o