Molecular characterization of cryptic and sympatric lymnaeid species from the Galba/Fossaria group in Mendoza Province, Northern Patagonia, Argentina

Background: Freshwater lymnaeid snails can act as the intermediate hosts for trematode parasites such as the liver fluke Fasciola hepatica, that cause significant economic and biomedical burden worldwide, particularly through bovine fascioliasis. Transmission potential is tightly coupled to local compatibility with snail hosts, so accurate identification of lymnaeid species is crucial for understanding disease risk, especially when invasive species are encountered. Mendoza Province, in Argentina, is a center of livestock production and also an area of endemic fascioliasis transmission. However, the distribution of lymnaeid species in the region is not well known. Methods: This study examined lymnaeid snails from seven localities in the Department of Malarguë, Mendoza Province, using morphological and molecular analyses and also describing ecological variables associated with snail presence. Results: While morphological characters identified two species of lymnaeid, Galba truncatula and G. viatrix, molecular data revealed a third, cryptic species, G. neotropica, which was sympatric with G. viatrix. G. truncatula was exclusively found in high altitude (>1900 meters above sea level [masl]) sites, whereas mixed G. neotropica/G. viatrix localities were at middle elevations (1300-1900 masl), and G. viatrix was found alone at the lowest altitude sites (<1300 masl). Phylogenetic analysis using two mitochondrial markers revealed G. neotropica and G. viatrix to be closely related, and given their morphological similarities, their validities as separate taxonomic entities should be questioned. Conclusions: This study highlights the need of a robust taxonomic framework for the identification of lymnaeid snails, incorporating molecular, morphological and ecological variables while avoiding nomenclature redundancy. As the three species observed here, including one alien invasive species, are considered hosts of varying susceptibility to Fasciola parasites, and given the economic importance of fascioliasis for livestock production, this research has critical importance for the ultimate aim of controlling disease transmission.Fil: Standley, Claire J.. University Of Princeton. Ecology & Evolutionary Biology; Estados Unidos de América;Fil: Prepelitchi, Lucila. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; Argentina; Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución. Unidad de Ecología de Reservorios y Vectores de Parásitos; Argentina;Fil: Pietrokovsky, Silvia Monica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; Argentina;Fil: Issia, Laura Andrea. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución. Unidad de Ecología de Reservorios y Vectores de Parásitos; Argentina;Fil: Stothard, J. Russell. Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Department of Parasitology; Reino Unido;Fil: Wisnivesky, Maria Cristina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución. Unidad de Ecología de Reservorios y Vectores de Parásitos; Argentina; Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; Argentina

Molecular characterization of cryptic and sympatric lymnaeid species from the Galba/Fossaria group in Mendoza Province, Northern Patagonia, Argentina

Background Freshwater lymnaeid snails can act as the intermediate hosts for trematode parasites such as the liver fluke Fasciola hepatica, that cause significant economic and biomedical burden worldwide, particularly through bovine fascioliasis. Transmission potential is tightly coupled to local compatibility with snail hosts, so accurate identification of lymnaeid species is crucial for understanding disease risk, especially when invasive species are encountered. Mendoza Province, in Argentina, is a center of livestock production and also an area of endemic fascioliasis transmission. However, the distribution of lymnaeid species in the region is not well known. Methods This study examined lymnaeid snails from seven localities in the Department of Malarguë, Mendoza Province, using morphological and molecular analyses and also describing ecological variables associated with snail presence. Results While morphological characters identified two species of lymnaeid, Galba truncatula and G. viatrix, molecular data revealed a third, cryptic species, G. neotropica, which was sympatric with G. viatrix. G. truncatula was exclusively found in high altitude (>1900 meters above sea level [masl]) sites, whereas mixed G. neotropica/G. viatrix localities were at middle elevations (1300–1900 masl), and G. viatrix was found alone at the lowest altitude sites (<1300 masl). Phylogenetic analysis using two mitochondrial markers revealed G. neotropica and G. viatrix to be closely related, and given their morphological similarities, their validities as separate taxonomic entities should be questioned. Conclusions This study highlights the need of a robust taxonomic framework for the identification of lymnaeid snails, incorporating molecular, morphological and ecological variables while avoiding nomenclature redundancy. As the three species observed here, including one alien invasive species, are considered hosts of varying susceptibility to Fasciola parasites, and given the economic importance of fascioliasis for livestock production, this research has critical importance for the ultimate aim of controlling disease transmission

Prognostic Significance of Lymph Node Metastases in Small Intestinal Neuroendocrine Tumors

Background/Aims: Current staging guidelines for small intestinal neuroendocrine tumors (SI-NETs) differentiate between the presence (N1) and absence (N0) of lymph node (LN) metastases. However, the prognostic significance of the extent of LN involvement remains unknown. In this study, we used data from a population-based cancer registry to examine whether involvement of a higher number of LNs is associated with worse survival. Methods: We used the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database to identify patients with histologically confirmed, surgically resected SI-NETS diagnosed between 1988 and 2010. Patients were classified into three groups by the LN ratio (number of positive LNs/number of total LNs examined, LNR):0.2-0.5, and \u3e0.5. We used the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox models to assess NET cancer-specific survival differences (up to 10 years from diagnosis) according to LNR status. Results: We identified 2,984 surgically resected patients with stage IIIb (N1, M0) SI-NETs with detailed LN data. More than half of the NETs were located in the ileum. A higher LNR was significantly associated with worse NET cancer-specific survival (p \u3c 0.0001). Ten-year NET-specific survival was 85, 77, and 74% for patients in the0.2-0.5, and \u3e0.5 LNR groups, respectively. In stratified analyses, higher LNR groups had worse survival only in early tumor (T1, T2) disease (p \u3c 0.0001). Conclusions: The extent of LN involvement provides independent prognostic information on patients with LN-positive SI-NETs. This information may be used to identify patients at high risk of recurrence and inform decisions about the use of adjuvant therapy. (C) 2015 S. Karger AG, Base

The Sagnac Effect in curved space-times from an analogy with the Aharonov-Bohm Effect

In the context of the natural splitting, the standard relative dynamics can be expressed in terms of gravito-electromagnetic fields, which allow to formally introduce a gravito-magnetic Aharonov-Bohm effect. We showed elsewhere that this formal analogy can be used to derive the Sagnac effect in flat space-time as a gravito-magnetic Aharonov-Bohm effect. Here, we generalize those results to study the General Relativistic corrections to the Sagnac effect in some stationary and axially symmetric geometries, such as the space-time around a weakly gravitating and rotating source, Kerr space-time, G\"{odel} universe and Schwarzschild space-time.Comment: 14 pages, 1 EPS figure, LaTeX, accepted for publication in General Relativity and Gravitatio

Fasciolosis en bovinos hembras en crecimiento del Departamento Berón de Astrada (Corrientes, Argentina)

El objetivo del trabajo fue estudiar la evolución de la fasciolosis bovina a largo plazo, a partir hembras en crecimiento al pie de madre y hasta los 3 años de edad, efectuando el diagnóstico in vivo por coprología y evaluando la respuesta al tratamiento instaurado (albendazole). Las tareas de campo se realizaron en un establecimiento del Departamento Berón de Astrada (Corrientes, Argentina), zona donde la infestación del ganado con Fasciola hepatica es enzoótica. El grupo investigado estuvo inicialmente constituido por 78 animales, los que al final del ensayo se redujeron a 30. Se realizaron seis muestreos de materia fecal para estudios coprológicos por sedimentación (Dennis), los tres primeros coincidentes con los tres tratamientos antiparasitarios efectuados. El día 0 se verificó un 3,85% de animales positivos. La tasa fue de 1,30% al día 71 y de 0% durante los dos muestreos sucesivos, a los 172 y 230 días, avalando la eficacia de los tratamientos recibidos. La interrupción de la administración del antiparasitario provocó que la “fasciolosis” reapareciera al día 553 con 7,69% de animales positivos, nivel que ascendió al 80% el día 850 (ultimo muestreo). Se concluye alertando sobre los efectos contraproducentes de la práctica habitual de interrumpir los tratamientos antiparasitarios contra F. hepatica en animales adultos, porque ellos son losgrandes diseminadores de esta enfermedad parasitaria

The modified patient enablement instrument: a Portuguese cross-cultural adaptation, validity and reliability study

"Article number: 16087"Enabling patients with asthma to obtain the knowledge, confidence and skills they need in order to assume a major role in the management of their disease is cost effective. It should be an integral part of any plan for long-term control of asthma. The modified Patient Enablement Instrument (mPEI) is an easily administered questionnaire that was adapted in the United Kingdom to measure patient enablement in asthma, but its applicability in Portugal is not known. Validity and reliability of questionnaires should be tested before use in settings different from those of the original version. The purpose of this study was to test the applicability of the mPEI to Portuguese asthma patients after translation and cross-cultural adaptation, and to verify the structural validity, internal consistency and reproducibility of the instrument. The mPEI was translated to Portuguese and back translated to English. Its content validity was assessed by a debriefing interview with 10 asthma patients. The translated instrument was then administered to a random sample of 142 patients with persistent asthma. Structural validity and internal consistency were assessed. For reproducibility analysis, 86 patients completed the instrument again 7 days later. Item-scale correlations and exploratory factor analysis were used to assess structural validity. Cronbach's alpha was used to test internal consistency, and the intra-class correlation coefficient was used for the analysis of reproducibility. All items of the Portuguese version of the mPEI were found to be equivalent to the original English version. There were strong item-scale correlations that confirmed construct validity, with a one component structure and good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha >0.8) as well as high test-retest reliability (ICC=0.85). The mPEI showed sound psychometric properties for the evaluation of enablement in patients with asthma making it a reliable instrument for use in research and clinical practice in Portugal. Further studies are needed to confirm its responsiveness.Financial support for this work was provided by FEDER funds through the Operational Programme Competitiveness Factors-COMPETE and National Funds through FCT-Foundation for Science and Technology under the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007038, and by the project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000013, supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Presencia de Pseudosuccinea columella naturalmente infestada con Fasciola hepatica en Santo Tomé (Corrientes, Argentina)

La fasciolosis es una enfermedad producida por Fasciola hepatica. Esta parasitosis produce grandes pérdidas económicas en el ganado bovino de la Provincia de Corrientes, Argentina, y también tiene carácter zoonótico. En el norte de la Provincia, Pseudosuccinea columella es el caracol involucrado en la transmisión de la enfermedad. El objetivo del presente trabajo fue ampliar los datos sobre la distribución de P. columella y su infestación natural por F. hepatica en la Provincia de Corrientes. Se recolectaron caracoles en un establecimiento ganadero del Departamento de Santo Tomé, al nordeste de la Provincia, que fueron identificados taxonómicamente, medidos y disecados para verificar la presencia de cercarias de F. hepatica. Los 115 caracoles recolectados fueron identificados como P. columella. La longitud de la conchilla varió entre 0,8–21,3 mm, con una media de 10,0 mm. La prevalencia de caracoles naturalmente infestados por F. hepatica fue de 8 (7,4%) sobre 108 examinados. La presencia de P. columella en distintos departamentos del norte y nordeste de la Provincia de Corrientes y las altas prevalencias de infestación natural por F. hepatica registradas, indicarían el asentamiento de un ciclo de transmisión enzoótica en esta zona