The role of sucrose and sensory systems in fruit selection and consumption of Ateles geoffroyi in Yucatan, Mexico

Our aim was to evaluate the role of sucrose and the role of smell, taste and touch in the selection and consumption of fruit in wild spider monkeys. We recorded the feeding bouts of 14 adults for 9 mo in the Otoch Ma’ax Yetel Kooh Reserve, Punta Laguna, Yucatan, Mexico. For each of 2346 inspections on fruits of six species the consumption or rejection and the use of touch, smell and taste was recorded. Ten fruit samples (five ripe and five unripe) from each species were collected and the sucrose concentration was determined with a refractometer. As expected, sucrose concentrations were higher in ripe than unripe fruits. The difference in sucrose concentration between ripe and unripe fruits was positively associated with the proportion of inspections on ripe fruits and the proportion of consumed ripe fruits. Furthermore, the senses of touch and taste were used more often when fruits were ripe, whereas the sense of smell was used more often when fruits were unripe. The results suggest that sensory cues and sucrose concentration play important roles in fruit selection in spider monkeys

CPAMD8 loss-of-function underlies non-dominant congenital glaucoma with variable anterior segment dysgenesis and abnormal extracellular matrix

Abnormal development of the ocular anterior segment may lead to a spectrum of clinical phenotypes ranging from primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) to variable anterior segment dysgenesis (ASD). The main objective of this study was to identify the genetic alterations underlying recessive congenital glaucoma with ASD (CG-ASD). Next-generation DNA sequencing identified rare biallelic CPAMD8 variants in four patients with CG-ASD and in one case with PCG. CPAMD8 is a gene of unknown function and recently associated with ASD. Bioinformatic and in vitro functional evaluation of the variants using quantitative reverse transcription PCR and minigene analysis supported a loss-of-function pathogenic mechanism. Optical and electron microscopy of the trabeculectomy specimen from one of the CG-ASD cases revealed an abnormal anterior chamber angle, with altered extracellular matrix, and apoptotic trabecular meshwork cells. The CPAMD8 protein was immunodetected in adult human ocular fluids and anterior segment tissues involved in glaucoma and ASD (i.e., aqueous humor, non-pigmented ciliary epithelium, and iris muscles), as well as in periocular mesenchyme-like cells of zebrafish embryos. CRISPR/Cas9 disruption of this gene in F0 zebrafish embryos (96 hpf) resulted in varying degrees of gross developmental abnormalities, including microphthalmia, pharyngeal maldevelopment, and pericardial and periocular edemas. Optical and electron microscopy examination of these embryos showed iridocorneal angle hypoplasia (characterized by altered iris stroma cells, reduced anterior chamber, and collagen disorganized corneal stroma extracellular matrix), recapitulating some patients’ features. Our data support the notion that CPAMD8 loss-of-function underlies a spectrum of recessive CG-ASD phenotypes associated with extracellular matrix disorganization and provide new insights into the normal and disease roles of this gene

Correction : Chaparro et al. Incidence, Clinical Characteristics and Management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Spain: Large-Scale Epidemiological Study. J. Clin. Med. 2021, 10, 2885

The authors wish to make the following corrections to this paper [...]

Incidence, Clinical Characteristics and Management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Spain : Large-Scale Epidemiological Study

(1) Aims: To assess the incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in Spain, to describe the main epidemiological and clinical characteristics at diagnosis and the evolution of the disease, and to explore the use of drug treatments. (2) Methods: Prospective, population-based nationwide registry. Adult patients diagnosed with IBD-Crohn's disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC) or IBD unclassified (IBD-U)-during 2017 in Spain were included and were followed-up for 1 year. (3) Results: We identified 3611 incident cases of IBD diagnosed during 2017 in 108 hospitals covering over 22 million inhabitants. The overall incidence (cases/100,000 person-years) was 16 for IBD, 7.5 for CD, 8 for UC, and 0.5 for IBD-U; 53% of patients were male and median age was 43 years (interquartile range = 31-56 years). During a median 12-month follow-up, 34% of patients were treated with systemic steroids, 25% with immunomodulators, 15% with biologics and 5.6% underwent surgery. The percentage of patients under these treatments was significantly higher in CD than UC and IBD-U. Use of systemic steroids and biologics was significantly higher in hospitals with high resources. In total, 28% of patients were hospitalized (35% CD and 22% UC patients, p < 0.01). (4) Conclusion: The incidence of IBD in Spain is rather high and similar to that reported in Northern Europe. IBD patients require substantial therapeutic resources, which are greater in CD and in hospitals with high resources, and much higher than previously reported. One third of patients are hospitalized in the first year after diagnosis and a relevant proportion undergo surgery

Long-Term Real-World Effectiveness and Safety of Ustekinumab in Crohn’s Disease Patients: The SUSTAIN Study

Background Large real-world-evidence studies are required to confirm the durability of response, effectiveness, and safety of ustekinumab in Crohn’s disease (CD) patients in real-world clinical practice. Methods A retrospective, multicentre study was conducted in Spain in patients with active CD who had received ≥1 intravenous dose of ustekinumab for ≥6 months. Primary outcome was ustekinumab retention rate; secondary outcomes were to identify predictive factors for drug retention, short-term remission (week 16), loss of response and predictive factors for short-term efficacy and loss of response, and ustekinumab safety. Results A total of 463 patients were included. Mean baseline Harvey-Bradshaw Index was 8.4. A total of 447 (96.5%) patients had received prior biologic therapy, 141 (30.5%) of whom had received ≥3 agents. In addition, 35.2% received concomitant immunosuppressants, and 47.1% had ≥1 abdominal surgery. At week 16, 56% had remission, 70% had response, and 26.1% required dose escalation or intensification; of these, 24.8% did not subsequently reduce dose. After a median follow-up of 15 months, 356 (77%) patients continued treatment. The incidence rate of ustekinumab discontinuation was 18% per patient-year of follow-up. Previous intestinal surgery and concomitant steroid treatment were associated with higher risk of ustekinumab discontinuation, while a maintenance schedule every 12 weeks had a lower risk; neither concomitant immunosuppressants nor the number of previous biologics were associated with ustekinumab discontinuation risk. Fifty adverse events were reported in 39 (8.4%) patients; 4 of them were severe (2 infections, 1 malignancy, and 1 fever). Conclusions Ustekinumab is effective and safe as short- and long-term treatment in a refractory cohort of CD patients in real-world clinical practice

Using Interpretable Machine Learning to Identify Baseline Predictive Factors of Remission and Drug Durability in Crohn’s Disease Patients on Ustekinumab

Ustekinumab has shown efficacy in Crohn's Disease (CD) patients. To identify patient profiles of those who benefit the most from this treatment would help to position this drug in the therapeutic paradigm of CD and generate hypotheses for future trials. The objective of this analysis was to determine whether baseline patient characteristics are predictive of remission and the drug durability of ustekinumab, and whether its positioning with respect to prior use of biologics has a significant effect after correcting for disease severity and phenotype at baseline using interpretable machine learning. Patients' data from SUSTAIN, a retrospective multicenter single-arm cohort study, were used. Disease phenotype, baseline laboratory data, and prior treatment characteristics were documented. Clinical remission was defined as the Harvey Bradshaw Index <= 4 and was tracked longitudinally. Drug durability was defined as the time until a patient discontinued treatment. A total of 439 participants from 60 centers were included and a total of 20 baseline covariates considered. Less exposure to previous biologics had a positive effect on remission, even after controlling for baseline disease severity using a non-linear, additive, multivariable model. Additionally, age, body mass index, and fecal calprotectin at baseline were found to be statistically significant as independent negative risk factors for both remission and drug survival, with further risk factors identified for remission

MAREJADAS RURALES Y LUCHA POR LA VIDA, VOL. I:CONSTRUCCIÓN SOCIOCULTURAL Y ECONÓMICA DEL CAMPO.

Este volumen incluye trabajos que abordan temáticas que demuestran que el campo es una construcción sociocultural, por lo tanto, el medio rural es diferenciado y está en constante cambio y adaptación a los procesos globales y locales. Son 19 trabajos divididos en dos secciones, la primera, denominada Nuevas dinámicas sociales, económicas y culturales en el medio rural, está compuesta por 8 capítulos, en esta sección se incluyen aquellos trabajos que analizan de manera concreta los cambios perceptibles en las relaciones rurales y en las actividades económicas; procesos como desagrarización y nuevas actividades económicas son abordados aquí, así como propuestas metodológicas para el estudio de lo rural considerando los cambios y adaptaciones que se registran en los territorios. La segunda sección, Resistencias y alternativas al modelo neoliberal en la producción agrícola y alimentaria, está integrada por 11 trabajos que abordan las diversas formas en que los campesinos y productores agrícolas resisten y se adaptan a los cambios globales y a las modificaciones de política pública, desde los mercados alternativos hasta la producción de nuevos cultivos que generan un mercado nuevo a su producción, hasta las resistencias y defensa de la milpa, las reflexiones que nos ofrecen dan idea de la diversidad de formas en que la vida campesina se mantiene a pesar de todos los embates.INSTITUTO DE CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y RURALES (ICAR), UNIVERSIDAD DE GUADALAJARA, EL COLEGIO DE MICHOACÁN A.C., CUCOSTA SUR GRANA, FACULTAD DE ESTUDIOS SUPERIORES ACATLÁN-UNAM, ECOSU

Clonal chromosomal mosaicism and loss of chromosome Y in elderly men increase vulnerability for SARS-CoV-2

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19) had an estimated overall case fatality ratio of 1.38% (pre-vaccination), being 53% higher in males and increasing exponentially with age. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, we found 133 cases (1.42%) with detectable clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations (mCA) and 226 males (5.08%) with acquired loss of chromosome Y (LOY). Individuals with clonal mosaic events (mCA and/or LOY) showed a 54% increase in the risk of COVID-19 lethality. LOY is associated with transcriptomic biomarkers of immune dysfunction, pro-coagulation activity and cardiovascular risk. Interferon-induced genes involved in the initial immune response to SARS-CoV-2 are also down-regulated in LOY. Thus, mCA and LOY underlie at least part of the sex-biased severity and mortality of COVID-19 in aging patients. Given its potential therapeutic and prognostic relevance, evaluation of clonal mosaicism should be implemented as biomarker of COVID-19 severity in elderly people. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, individuals with clonal mosaic events (clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations and/or loss of chromosome Y) showed an increased risk of COVID-19 lethality

Fusarium: more than a node or a foot-shaped basal cell

Recent publications have argued that there are potentially serious consequences for researchers in recognising distinct genera in the terminal fusarioid clade of the family Nectriaceae. Thus, an alternate hypothesis, namely a very broad concept of the genus Fusarium was proposed. In doing so, however, a significant body of data that supports distinct genera in Nectriaceae based on morphology, biology, and phylogeny is disregarded. A DNA phylogeny based on 19 orthologous protein-coding genes was presented to support a very broad concept of Fusarium at the F1 node in Nectriaceae. Here, we demonstrate that re-analyses of this dataset show that all 19 genes support the F3 node that represents Fusarium sensu stricto as defined by F. sambucinum (sexual morph synonym Gibberella pulicaris). The backbone of the phylogeny is resolved by the concatenated alignment, but only six of the 19 genes fully support the F1 node, representing the broad circumscription of Fusarium. Furthermore, a re-analysis of the concatenated dataset revealed alternate topologies in different phylogenetic algorithms, highlighting the deep divergence and unresolved placement of various Nectriaceae lineages proposed as members of Fusarium. Species of Fusarium s. str. are characterised by Gibberella sexual morphs, asexual morphs with thin- or thick-walled macroconidia that have variously shaped apical and basal cells, and trichothecene mycotoxin production, which separates them from other fusarioid genera. Here we show that the Wollenweber concept of Fusarium presently accounts for 20 segregate genera with clear-cut synapomorphic traits, and that fusarioid macroconidia represent a character that has been gained or lost multiple times throughout Nectriaceae. Thus, the very broad circumscription of Fusarium is blurry and without apparent synapomorphies, and does not include all genera with fusarium-like macroconidia, which are spread throughout Nectriaceae (e.g., Cosmosporella, Macroconia, Microcera). In this study four new genera are introduced, along with 18 new species and 16 new combinations. These names convey information about relationships, morphology, and ecological preference that would otherwise be lost in a broader definition of Fusarium. To assist users to correctly identify fusarioid genera and species, we introduce a new online identification database, Fusarioid-ID, accessible at www.fusarium.org. The database comprises partial sequences from multiple genes commonly used to identify fusarioid taxa (act1, CaM, his3, rpb1, rpb2, tef1, tub2, ITS, and LSU). In this paper, we also present a nomenclator of names that have been introduced in Fusarium up to January 2021 as well as their current status, types, and diagnostic DNA barcode data. In this study, researchers from 46 countries, representing taxonomists, plant pathologists, medical mycologists, quarantine officials, regulatory agencies, and students, strongly support the application and use of a more precisely delimited Fusarium (= Gibberella) concept to accommodate taxa from the robust monophyletic node F3 on the basis of a well-defined and unique combination of morphological and biochemical features. This F3 node includes, among others, species of the F. fujikuroi, F. incarnatum-equiseti, F. oxysporum, and F. sambucinum species complexes, but not species of Bisifusarium [F. dimerum species complex (SC)], Cyanonectria (F. buxicola SC), Geejayessia (F. staphyleae SC), Neocosmospora (F. solani SC) or Rectifusarium (F. ventricosum SC). The present study represents the first step to generating a new online monograph of Fusarium and allied fusarioid genera (www.fusarium.org)

Geodivulgar: Geología y Sociedad 2018

Depto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y PaleontologíaFac. de Ciencias GeológicasFALSEsubmitte