Examining the immune signatures of SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy and the impact on neurodevelopment: Protocol of the SIGNATURE longitudinal study.

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a valuable opportunity to carry out cohort studies that allow us to advance our knowledge on pathophysiological mechanisms of neuropsychiatric diseases. One of these opportunities is the study of the relationships between inflammation, brain development and an increased risk of suffering neuropsychiatric disorders. Based on the hypothesis that neuroinflammation during early stages of life is associated with neurodevelopmental disorders and confers a greater risk of developing neuropsychiatric disorders, we propose a cohort study of SARS-CoV-2-infected pregnant women and their newborns. The main objective of SIGNATURE project is to explore how the presence of prenatal SARS-CoV-2 infection and other non-infectious stressors generates an abnormal inflammatory activity in the newborn. The cohort of women during the COVID-19 pandemic will be psychological and biological monitored during their pregnancy, delivery, childbirth and postpartum. The biological information of the umbilical cord (foetus blood) and peripheral blood from the mother will be obtained after childbirth. These samples and the clinical characterisation of the cohort of mothers and newborns, are tremendously valuable at this time. This is a protocol report and no analyses have been conducted yet, being currently at, our study is in the recruitment process step. At the time of this publication, we have identified 1,060 SARS-CoV-2 infected mothers and all have already given birth. From the total of identified mothers, we have recruited 537 SARS-COV-2 infected women and all of them have completed the mental health assessment during pregnancy. We have collected biological samples from 119 mothers and babies. Additionally, we have recruited 390 non-infected pregnant women

Non-native mollusks throughout South America: emergent patterns in an understudied continent

Non-native species have been introduced at escalating rates during the last decades, mainly due to the dispersion generated by the increasing trade and transport worldwide. Mollusks, the second largest metazoan phylum in terms of species richness, are no exception to this pattern, but, to date, a comprehensive synthesis of non-native mollusk species (NNMS) in South America was not available. For this purpose, an e-discussion group was formed with malacologists and taxonomists from South America, where we exchanged and analyzed bibliography, databases and information about NNMS, providing expert opinion to this assessment. The first list of non-native mollusk species for South America, considering terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments, includes 86 NNMS distributed in 152 ecoregions (terrestrial, freshwater and marine) of the 189 recognized for the South American continent. Information on their native region, vectors, first record for South America and distribution, are also provided. In the analysis of the distribution of the NNMS and the entry points of each species (e.g., ports, cargo and passenger airports, cities) and status of conservation of the ecoregions, four hot spots were recognized: Subtropical-Atlantic, Northern Andes, Central Andes and Southern Andes. This work, thus, sets the baseline on NNMS for South America, a key piece of information regarding the development of policies targeting the management of biological invasions and their socio-ecological impacts.Fil: Darrigran, Gustavo Alberto. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División de Zoología Invertebrados; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Agudo Padrón, Ignacio. Projeto ''Avulsos Malacológicos''; BrasilFil: Baez, Pedro. Sociedad Malacológica Chile; Chile. Universidad Andrés Bello; ChileFil: Belz, Carlos Eduardo. Universidade Federal do Paraná; BrasilFil: Cardoso, Franz. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; PerúFil: Carranza, Alvar. Universidad de la República; Uruguay. Ministerio de Educación y Cultura. Museo Nacional de Historia Natural; UruguayFil: Collado, Gonzalo. Sociedad Malacológica Chile; Chile. Universidad del Bıo Bio; ChileFil: Correoso, Modesto. Universidad de Las Fuerzas Armadas; EcuadorFil: Cuezzo, Maria Gabriela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical; ArgentinaFil: Fabres, Alejandra. Sociedad Malacológica Chile; Chile. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: Gutiérrez Gregoric, Diego E.. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División de Zoología Invertebrados; Argentina. Universidad del Bio Bio; Chile. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Letelier, Sergio. Sociedad Malacológica Chile; ChileFil: Ludwig, Sandra. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; BrasilFil: Mansur, Maria Cristina. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Pastorino, Roberto Santiago Guido. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Penchaszadeh, Pablo Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Peralta, Carolina. Universidad Simon Bolivar; VenezuelaFil: Rebolledo, Andrea. Sociedad Malacológica Chile; ChileFil: Rumi Macchi Z., Alejandra. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División de Zoología Invertebrados; Argentina. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Santos, Sonia. Universidade Do Estado de Rio Do Janeiro. Instituto de Biologia "roberto Alcantara Gomes".; BrasilFil: Thiengo, Silvana Aparecida Rogel. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz; BrasilFil: Vidigal, Teofania Heloisa Dutra Amorim. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; BrasilFil: Damborenea, Maria Cristina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División de Zoología Invertebrados; Argentina. Smach; Chile. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentin