Soil macroinvertebrates community and its temporal variation in a well-drained savannah of the Venezuelan Llanos

Morales-Márquez, Jimmy A., Hernández-Hernández, Rosa M., Sánchez, Gloria K., Lozano, Zenaida, Castro, Ignacio, Bravo, Carlos, Ramírez, Elizabeth and Jiménez Ballesta, Raimundo: "Soil macroinvertebrates community and its temporal variation in a well-drained savannah of the Venezuelan Llanos" published at European Journal of Soil Biology 84.2 (2018): 19-26; DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejsobi.2017.11.002In the well-drained savannahs of Venezuelan Llanos, intensive agricultural activities could be causing damage to the soil, with negative consequences for the ecosystem. In order to avoid this problem, some agroecological alternatives are needed. Consequently, it is necessary to know the biologic dimension in this ecosystem, and within this, the soil macroinvertebrate community. The purpose of this work was to characterize this community in the natural savannah: its structure and diversity, its time variation and its relationship with the physical-chemical properties of the soil. A total of 72 samples were taken in different season along a period of time of 1405 days. The results revealed that the soil macrofauna had an average density of 243.5 ± 183.6 ind·m −2 , distributed in 32 families of 11 orders, with a diversity of N 1 = 4.5 ± 2.8 families. Coleoptera, Hymenoptera and Isoptera was the most dominants orders. The density, richness and diversity of families showed a temporal variation (r ≥ −0.5; p < 0,05). Additionally, the structure of the soil macroinvertebrate community showed a vertical variation. The relationship with soil properties differed according families: Lampyridae, Aphodiidae and Formicidae had a positive correlation with soil macro-porosity (radius of the pores > 15 μm); Tenthredinidae and Tenebrionidae had a positive correlation with the micro-porosity (pores ≤ 15 μm). The community in general, correlated positively with soil porosity and negatively with bulk density. This suggests that these soil properties need to be considered when designing agroecological technics in this area.We want to express our gratitude to the "Fondo Nacional para la Ciencia Innovación y Tecnología del Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Educación Universitaria, Ciencia y Tecnología", of the Boliviarian Republic of Venezuela, for the financial support of the project “Manejo Agroecológico de Suelos de Sabanas Bien Drenadas con Unidades de Producción Cereal-Ganado”, Nº G-2002000398, of which this study is part

Structure of the complex of an Fab fragment of a neutralizing antibody with foot-and-mouth disease virus: Positioning of a highly mobile antigenic loop

Data from cryo-electron microscopy and X-ray crystallography have been combined to study the interactions of foot-and-mouth disease virus serotype C (FMDV-C) with a strongly neutralizing monoclonal antibody (mAb) SD6. The mAb SD6 binds to the long flexible GH-loop of viral protein 1 (VP1) which also binds to an integrin receptor. The structure of the virus-Fab complex was determined to 30 Å resolution using cryo-electron microscopy and image analysis. The known structure of FMDV-C, and of the SD6 Fab co-crystallized with a synthetic peptide corresponding to the GH-loop of VP1, were fitted to the cryo-electron microscope density map. The SD6 Fab is seen to project almost radially from the viral surface in an orientation which is only compatible with monovalent binding of the mAb. Even taking into account the mAb hinge and elbow flexibility, it is not possible to model bivalent binding without severely distorting the Fabs. The bound GH-loop is essentially in what has previously been termed the 'up' position in the best fit Fab orientation. The SD6 Fab interacts almost exclusively with the GH-loop of VP1, making very few other contacts with the viral capsid. The position and orientation of the SD6 Fab bound to FMDV-C is in accord with previous immunogenic data.Peer Reviewe

Impact of changing oxygenation policies on retinopathy of prematurity in a neonatal unit in Argentina.

AIMS: To assess the impact of different oxygenation policies on the rate and severity of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). METHODS: Between January 2003 and December 2006, infants of 1500 g birthweight (BW) or less and/or 32 weeks gestational age (GA) or less, and larger, more mature infants with risk factors for ROP were examined through three different time periods: period 1: high target oxygen saturation levels (88-96%) and treatment at threshold ROP; period 2: low target oxygen saturation levels (83-93%) and treatment at threshold ROP; period 3: low target oxygen saturation and treatment at type 1 ROP. RESULTS: Type 1 ROP was detected more frequently in babies of 32 weeks GA or less (50/365, 13.7%) than in more mature babies (15/1167, 1.3%; p<0.001). The rate of type 1 ROP in period 1 was 6.9%; period 2, 3.6% and period 3, 1.8%. Rates of stage 3 ROP declined over time in both BW/GA groups (from 9.0% to 4.1% to 2.0%) as did rates of plus disease (from 7.5% to 3.6% to 1.8%). Mean BW and GA declined from period 1 to period 3, and death rates remained unchanged. 74.4% of babies received all the examinations required; 48.1% of treatments were undertaken after discharge from the neonatal unit. CONCLUSIONS: Lower target oxygen saturation was associated with a lower rate of severe ROP without increasing mortality, and changed the characteristics of affected babies. Screening criteria need to remain wide enough to identify all babies at risk of ROP needing treatment

Strong fisheries management and governance positively impact ecosystem status

Fisheries have had major negative impacts on marine ecosystems, and effective fisheries management and governance are needed to achieve sustainable fisheries, biodiversity conservation goals and thus good ecosystem status. To date, the IndiSeas programme (Indicators for the Seas) has focussed on assessing the ecological impacts of fishing at the ecosystem scale using ecological indicators. Here, we explore fisheries Management Effectiveness' and Governance Quality' and relate this to ecosystem health and status. We developed a dedicated expert survey, focused at the ecosystem level, with a series of questions addressing aspects of management and governance, from an ecosystem-based perspective, using objective and evidence-based criteria. The survey was completed by ecosystem experts (managers and scientists) and results analysed using ranking and multivariate methods. Results were further examined for selected ecosystems, using expert knowledge, to explore the overall findings in greater depth. Higher scores for Management Effectiveness' and Governance Quality' were significantly and positively related to ecosystems with better ecological status. Key factors that point to success in delivering fisheries and conservation objectives were as follows: the use of reference points for management, frequent review of stock assessments, whether Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) catches were being accounted for and addressed, and the inclusion of stakeholders. Additionally, we found that the implementation of a long-term management plan, including economic and social dimensions of fisheries in exploited ecosystems, was a key factor in successful, sustainable fisheries management. Our results support the thesis that good ecosystem-based management and governance, sustainable fisheries and healthy ecosystems go together.IOC-UNESCO; EuroMarine; European FP7 MEECE research project; European Network of Excellence Eur-Oceans; FRB EMIBIOS project [212085]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Atopic Dermatitis and Erythrodermia Associated With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Case Report

La eritrodermia es una dermatosis inflamatoria que involucra capas parciales o totales de la piel. La mortalidad es del 16%. Los síntomas sistémicos incluyen fiebre, taquicardia, hinchazón de las extremidades, adenomegalia y hepatomegalia. Las causas infecciosas son las más frecuentes, estando presentes hasta en un 40%, seguidas de ictiosis y dermatitis en el 15% de los casos

Determining mehlich‐3 and DTPA extractable soil zinc optimum economic threshold for maize

Maize (Zea mays L.) is one of the most susceptible crops to zinc (Zn) deficiency. However, in much of the world, soil Zn tests are poorly calibrated, and thus determining a critical soil test, level for Zn is challenging. The objectives of this study were to: (i) produce a field calibration of the Zn Mehlich-3 (M3-Zn) method for predicting maize grain yield response to Zn fertilizer application, (ii) compare the capacity of DTPA extractable Zn (DTPA-Zn) with M3-Zn for predicting the response of maize yield to Zn fertilizer, (iii) determine whether inclusion of soil pH, organic matter (SOM) and extractable phosphorus in a M3-Zn model improves its predictive capacity and (iv) evaluate an economic approach for determining soil Zn thresholds. We conducted 55 field experiments covering a wide range of edaphic and climatic conditions. Maize responded to Zn fertilizer in 29% of the trials. The capacity of M3-Zn and DTPA-Zn to predict relative yield of maize was similar. Inclusion of other soil variables (pH, extractable phosphorus and SOM) did not or only slightly improve the prediction of M3-Zn. Based on the relationship between M3-Zn and DTPA-Zn (R2 = 0.89), one test can be predicted from the other without affecting the calibration. The M3-Zn 'economic threshold' ranged from 0.98 to 2.79 mg kg−1, while for DTPA-Zn it varied from 0.41 to 1.61 mg kg−1. The broad range of economic thresholds shows that differences in maize productivity and grain price between regions and seasons make establishing a single Zn threshold for all economic-productive situations inappropriate.Fil: Martínez Cuesta, Nicolás. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Wyngaard, Nicolás. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Innovación Para la Producción Agropecuaria y El Desarrollo Sostenible. - Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estacion Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Instituto de Innovación Para la Producción Agropecuaria y El Desarrollo Sostenible.; ArgentinaFil: Sainz Rozas, Hernan Rene. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Reussi Calvo, Nahuel Ignacio. Laboratorio de Analisis de Suelos Fertilab; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Carciochi, Walter Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Eyherabide, Mercedes. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Innovación Para la Producción Agropecuaria y El Desarrollo Sostenible. - Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estacion Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Instituto de Innovación Para la Producción Agropecuaria y El Desarrollo Sostenible.; ArgentinaFil: Colazo, Juan Cruz. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; ArgentinaFil: Barraco, Mariano Manuel. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; ArgentinaFil: Guertal, Elizabeth A.. Auburn University.; Estados UnidosFil: Barbieri, Pablo Andres. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Innovación Para la Producción Agropecuaria y El Desarrollo Sostenible. - Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Buenos Aires Sur. Estacion Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce. Instituto de Innovación Para la Producción Agropecuaria y El Desarrollo Sostenible.; Argentin

Confirmation of six Be X-ray binaries in the Small Magellanic Cloud

The X-ray binary population of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) contains a large number of massive X-ray binaries, and the recent survey of the SMC by XMM–Newton has resulted in almost 50 more tentative high-mass X-ray binary (HMXB) candidates. Using probability parameters from Haberl and Sturm together with the optical spectra and timing in this work, we confirm six new massive X-ray binaries in the SMC. We also report two very probable binary periods of 36.4 d in XMM 1859 and of 72.2 d in XMM 2300. These Be X-ray binaries are likely part of the general SMC population, which rarely undergoes an X-ray outburst.This paper is based on ESO data from 079.D−0371 and 088.D−0352. The AAT observations have been supported by the OPTICON project (observing proposals 2011A/014 and 2012/A015), which is funded by the European Commission under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). VAM acknowledges financial support from the National Research Foundation of South Africa (Grant 93405) and the World Universities Network. RD, AM and IN from the University of Alicante acknowledge support from the Spanish Government Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad under grant AYA2015-68012-C2-2-P (MINECO/FEDER). ESB acknowledges support from a Claude Leon Foundation fellowship and from the Marie Curie Actions of the European Commission (FP7-COFUND). The OGLE project has received funding from the National Science Centre, Poland, grant MAESTRO 2014/14/A/ST9/00121 to AU

Role of Engrailed-2 (EN2) as a prostate cancer detection biomarker in genetically high risk men

Controversy surrounds the use of PSA as a biomarker for prostate cancer detection, leaving an unmet need for a novel biomarker in this setting; urinary EN2 may identify individuals with clinically relevant prostate cancer. Male BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers are at increased risk of clinically significant prostate cancer and may benefit from screening. Urine samples from 413 BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers and controls were evaluated. Subjects underwent annual PSA screening with diagnostic biopsy triggered by PSA > 3.0 ng/ml; 21 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer. Urinary EN2 levels were measured by ELISA and had a sensitivity of 66.7% and specificity of 89.3% for cancer detection. There was no statistically significant difference in EN2 levels according to genetic status or Gleason score. Urinary EN2 may be useful as a non-invasive early biomarker for prostate cancer detection in genetically high-risk individuals

A phase 1b/pharmacokinetic trial of PTC299, a novel post-transcriptional VEGF inhibitor, for AIDS-related Kaposi’s sarcoma: AIDS Malignancy Consortium trial 059

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays an important role in Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS). We administered PTC299, a post-transcriptional inhibitor of pathogenic VEGF, to persons with HIV-related KS. Seventeen participants received three different doses of PTC299. Adverse events typically observed with VEGF-inhibition were absent. Three participants had partial tumor responses and 11 had stable disease. There were no differences in exposure to PTC299 by antiretroviral regimen. Serum VEGF, but not KSHV DNA, decreased on treatment. Given redundancies in the VEGF feedback loop, future trials should consider combining PTC299 with agents that inhibit different pathways implicated in KS and KSHV proliferation

Ceftolozane/tazobactam versus meropenem in patients with ventilated hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia: Subset analysis of the ASPECT-NP randomized, controlled phase 3 trial

BACKGROUND: Ceftolozane/tazobactam is approved for treatment of hospital-acquired/ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia (HABP/VABP) at double the dose approved for other infection sites. Among nosocomial pneumonia subtypes, ventilated HABP (vHABP) is associated with the lowest survival. In the ASPECT-NP randomized, controlled trial, participants with vHABP treated with ceftolozane/tazobactam had lower 28-day all-cause mortality (ACM) than those receiving meropenem. We conducted a series of post hoc analyses to explore the clinical significance of this finding. METHODS: ASPECT-NP was a multinational, phase 3, noninferiority trial comparing ceftolozane/tazobactam with meropenem for treating vHABP and VABP; study design, efficacy, and safety results have been reported previously. The primary endpoint was 28-day ACM. The key secondary endpoint was clinical response at test-of-cure. Participants with vHABP were a prospectively defined subgroup, but subgroup analyses were not powered for noninferiority testing. We compared baseline and treatment factors, efficacy, and safety between ceftolozane/tazobactam and meropenem in participants with vHABP. We also conducted a retrospective multivariable logistic regression analysis in this subgroup to determine the impact of treatment arm on mortality when adjusted for significant prognostic factors. RESULTS: Overall, 99 participants in the ceftolozane/tazobactam and 108 in the meropenem arm had vHABP. 28-day ACM was 24.2% and 37.0%, respectively, in the intention-to-treat population (95% confidence interval [CI] for difference: 0.2, 24.8) and 18.2% and 36.6%, respectively, in the microbiologic intention-to-treat population (95% CI 2.5, 32.5). Clinical cure rates in the intention-to-treat population were 50.5% and 44.4%, respectively (95% CI - 7.4, 19.3). Baseline clinical, baseline microbiologic, and treatment factors were comparable between treatment arms. Multivariable regression identified concomitant vasopressor use and baseline bacteremia as significantly impacting ACM in ASPECT-NP; adjusting for these two factors, the odds of dying by day 28 were 2.3-fold greater when participants received meropenem instead of ceftolozane/tazobactam. CONCLUSIONS: There were no underlying differences between treatment arms expected to have biased the observed survival advantage with ceftolozane/tazobactam in the vHABP subgroup. After adjusting for clinically relevant factors found to impact ACM significantly in this trial, the mortality risk in participants with vHABP was over twice as high when treated with meropenem compared with ceftolozane/tazobactam. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov, NCT02070757. Registered 25 February, 2014, clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02070757