Fatal evolution of systemic Lupus erythematosus associated with Crohn's disease

The authors describe the case of a young Brazilian woman who was treated of ileocolonic Crohn's disease sparing rectum, as confirmed by colonoscopy and histopathological examination. After a 4-year course of sulfasalazine treatment, she presented with skin facial lesions in vespertilio, fever, arthralgias and high titers of anti-ANA and LE cells. A sulfasalazine-induced lupus syndrome was diagnosed, because after sulfasalazine withdrawal and a short course of prednisone, the clinical symptoms disappeared and the laboratory tests returned to normal. Mesalazine 3 g/day was started and the patient remained well for the next 3 years, when she was again admitted with fever, weakness, arthralgias, diplopy, strabismus and hypoaesthesia in both hands and feet, microhematuria, haematic casts, hypocomplementemia and high titers of autoimmune antibodies. A diagnosis of associated systemic lupus erythematosus was made. Although a pulsotherapy with methylprednisolone was started, no improvement was noticed. A cyclophosphamide trial was tried and again no positive results occurred. The patient evolved to severe clinical manifestations of general vasculitis affecting the central and peripheral nervous system and lungs, having a fatal evolution after 2 weeks. Although uncommon, the association of both disease may occur, and the authors call attention to this possibility, making a brief review of literature.

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

ATLANTIC EPIPHYTES: a data set of vascular and non-vascular epiphyte plants and lichens from the Atlantic Forest

Epiphytes are hyper-diverse and one of the frequently undervalued life forms in plant surveys and biodiversity inventories. Epiphytes of the Atlantic Forest, one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world, have high endemism and radiated recently in the Pliocene. We aimed to (1) compile an extensive Atlantic Forest data set on vascular, non-vascular plants (including hemiepiphytes), and lichen epiphyte species occurrence and abundance; (2) describe the epiphyte distribution in the Atlantic Forest, in order to indicate future sampling efforts. Our work presents the first epiphyte data set with information on abundance and occurrence of epiphyte phorophyte species. All data compiled here come from three main sources provided by the authors: published sources (comprising peer-reviewed articles, books, and theses), unpublished data, and herbarium data. We compiled a data set composed of 2,095 species, from 89,270 holo/hemiepiphyte records, in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, recorded from 1824 to early 2018. Most of the records were from qualitative data (occurrence only, 88%), well distributed throughout the Atlantic Forest. For quantitative records, the most common sampling method was individual trees (71%), followed by plot sampling (19%), and transect sampling (10%). Angiosperms (81%) were the most frequently registered group, and Bromeliaceae and Orchidaceae were the families with the greatest number of records (27,272 and 21,945, respectively). Ferns and Lycophytes presented fewer records than Angiosperms, and Polypodiaceae were the most recorded family, and more concentrated in the Southern and Southeastern regions. Data on non-vascular plants and lichens were scarce, with a few disjunct records concentrated in the Northeastern region of the Atlantic Forest. For all non-vascular plant records, Lejeuneaceae, a family of liverworts, was the most recorded family. We hope that our effort to organize scattered epiphyte data help advance the knowledge of epiphyte ecology, as well as our understanding of macroecological and biogeographical patterns in the Atlantic Forest. No copyright restrictions are associated with the data set. Please cite this Ecology Data Paper if the data are used in publication and teaching events. © 2019 The Authors. Ecology © 2019 The Ecological Society of Americ

Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil: setting the baseline knowledge on the animal diversity in Brazil

The limited temporal completeness and taxonomic accuracy of species lists, made available in a traditional manner in scientific publications, has always represented a problem. These lists are invariably limited to a few taxonomic groups and do not represent up-to-date knowledge of all species and classifications. In this context, the Brazilian megadiverse fauna is no exception, and the Catálogo Taxonômico da Fauna do Brasil (CTFB) (http://fauna.jbrj.gov.br/), made public in 2015, represents a database on biodiversity anchored on a list of valid and expertly recognized scientific names of animals in Brazil. The CTFB is updated in near real time by a team of more than 800 specialists. By January 1, 2024, the CTFB compiled 133,691 nominal species, with 125,138 that were considered valid. Most of the valid species were arthropods (82.3%, with more than 102,000 species) and chordates (7.69%, with over 11,000 species). These taxa were followed by a cluster composed of Mollusca (3,567 species), Platyhelminthes (2,292 species), Annelida (1,833 species), and Nematoda (1,447 species). All remaining groups had less than 1,000 species reported in Brazil, with Cnidaria (831 species), Porifera (628 species), Rotifera (606 species), and Bryozoa (520 species) representing those with more than 500 species. Analysis of the CTFB database can facilitate and direct efforts towards the discovery of new species in Brazil, but it is also fundamental in providing the best available list of valid nominal species to users, including those in science, health, conservation efforts, and any initiative involving animals. The importance of the CTFB is evidenced by the elevated number of citations in the scientific literature in diverse areas of biology, law, anthropology, education, forensic science, and veterinary science, among others

Fatal evolution of systemic lupus erythematosus associated with Crohn's disease

The authors describe the case of a young Brazilian woman who was treated of ileocolonic Crohn's disease sparing rectum, as confirmed by colonoscopy and histopathological examination. After a 4-year course of sulfasalazine treatment, she presented with skin facial lesions in vespertilio, fever, arthralgias and high titers of anti-ANA and LE cells. A sulfasalazine-induced lupus syndrome was diagnosed, because after sulfasalazine withdrawal and a short course of prednisone, the clinical symptoms disappeared and the laboratory tests returned to normal. Mesalazine 3 g/day was started and the patient remained well for the next 3 years, when she was again admitted with fever, weakness, arthralgias, diplopy, strabismus and hypoaesthesia in both hands and feet, microhematuria, haematic casts, hypocomplementemia and high titers of autoimmune antibodies. A diagnosis of associated systemic lupus erythematosus was made. Although a pulsotherapy with methylprednisolone was started, no improvement was noticed. A cyclophosphamide trial was tried and again no positive results occurred. The patient evolved to severe clinical manifestations of general vasculitis affecting the central and peripheral nervous system and lungs, having a fatal evolution after 2 weeks. Although uncommon, the association of both disease may occur, and the authors call attention to this possibility, making a brief review of literature

First results of the Brazilian Registry of Percutaneous Left Atrial Appendage Closure

<div><p>Abstract Background: Left atrial appendage closure (LAAC) is an effective alternative to oral anticoagulation (OA) for the prevention of stroke in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). Objective: To present the immediate results and late outcomes of patients submitted to LAAC and included in the Brazilian Registry of Percutaneous Left Atrial Appendage Closure. Methods: 91 patients with NVAF, high stroke risk (CHA2DS2VASc score = 4.5 ± 1.5) and restrictions to OAC (HAS-BLED score = 3.6 ± 1.0) underwent 92 LAAC procedures using either the Amplatzer cardiac plug or the Watchman device in 11 centers in Brazil, between late 2010 and mid 2016. Results: Ninety-six devices were used (1.04 device/procedure, including an additional non-dedicated device), with a procedural success rate of 97.8%. Associated procedures were performed in 8.7% of the patients. Complete LAAC was obtained in 93.3% of the successful cases. In cases of incomplete closure, no residual leak was larger than 2.5 mm. One patient needed simultaneous implantation of 2 devices. There were 7 periprocedural major (5 pericardial effusions requiring pericardiocentesis, 1 non-dedicated device embolization and 1 coronary air embolism without sequelae) and 4 minor complications. After 128.6 patient-years of follow-up there were 3 deaths unrelated to the procedure, 2 major bleedings (one of them in a patient with an unsuccessful LAAC), thrombus formation over the device in 2 cases (both resolved after resuming OAC for 3 months) and 2 strokes (2.2%). Conclusions: In this multicenter, real world registry, that included patients with NVAF and high thromboembolic and bleeding risks, LAAC effectively prevented stroke and bleeding when compared to the expected rates based on CHA2DS2VASc and HASBLED scores for this population. Complications rate of the procedure was acceptable considering the beginning of the learning curve of most of the involved operators.</p></div