First Record in Honduras of the Halfbeak Hyporhampus roberti hildebrandi, Jordan and Everman 1927, (Hemiramphidae) Collected in an Inland Reservoir

An inhabitant of tropical America, the Central American halfbeak (Hyporhamphus roberti hildebrandi), is one of 2 subspecies of halfbeaks of the subgenus Hyporhamphus (Collette 2003, Collette 2004) that belong to the family Hemiramphidae. This family has representatives from the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans (Greenfield and Thomerson 1997, Berra 2001, Collette 2004), and nearly all species are marine; however, some Hemiramphidae species in the Indo-Australian region are restricted to freshwater (Greenfield and Thomerson 1997). The distributional range of H. r. hildebrandi extends along the Caribbean coast of Central America from Mexico to the Gulf of Uraba in Colombia (Collette 2004, Miller et al. 2005). The sub-species is considered marine and estuarine, commonly found in mangrove forests (Greenfield and Thomerson 1997), and coastal lagoons (Schmitter-Soto 1998, Díaz-Ruiz et al. 2003, Collette 2004). For example, they have been collected in the Laguna de Bacalar in southern Mexico (Schmitter-Soto 1998) and the Tortuguero National Park in Costa Rica (Winemiller and Leslie 1992). Previous specimens collected in Honduras have been from estuarine and marine systems or from freshwater systems with a direct connection to brackish or marine water (see NeoDat, http://www.neodat.org). Here, we report the first record of H. r. hildebrandi in Honduran freshwater (see Reis et at. 2003) as well as in a landlocked freshwater body of water

Toward genome editing in X-linked RP-development of a mouse model with specific treatment relevant features

Genome editing represents a powerful tool to treat inherited disorders. Highly specific endonucleases induce a DNA double strand break near the mutant site, which is subsequently repaired by cellular DNA repair mechanisms that involve the presence of a wild type template DNA. In vivo applications of this strategy are still rare, in part due to the absence of appropriate animal models carrying human disease mutations and knowledge of the efficient targeting of endonucleases. Here we report the generation and characterization of a new mouse model for X-linked retinitis pigmentosa (XLRP) carrying a point mutation in the mutational hotspot exon ORF15 of the RPGR gene as well as a recognition site for the homing endonuclease I-SceI. Presence of the genomic modifications was verified at the RNA and protein levels. The mutant protein was observed at low levels. Optical coherence tomography studies revealed a slowly progressive retinal degeneration with photoreceptor loss starting at 9 months of age, paralleling the onset of functional deficits as seen in the electroretinogram. Early changes to the outer retinal bands can be used as biomarker during treatment applications. We further show for the first time efficient targeting using the I-SceI enzyme at the genomic locus in a proof of concept in photoreceptors following adeno-associated virus mediated gene transfer in vivo. Taken together, our studies not only provide a human-XLRP disease model but also act as a platform to design genome editing technology for retinal degenerative diseases using the currently available endonucleases

Sustentabilidade socioambiental e diálogo de saberes: o Pantanal Mato-grossense e seu espaço vernáculo como referência

Este artigo tem como base a discussão sobre a crise ambiental, a qual culminou na crise do modelo econômico vigente e nos limites da ciência moderna, levando à busca e construção interdisciplinar de uma nova racionalidade: a racionalidade ambiental. Fundamentando-se basicamente nos estudos de Enrique Leff, pretende apresentar algumas considerações quanto à questão da sustentabilidade socioambiental no Pantanal a partir da possibilidade de um diálogo de saberes. Socio-Environmental Sustainability and knowledge dialog: Pantanal Mato-grossense and its space of a reference Abstract This article is based on the environmental crisis discussion, which culminated in the effective economical model crisis and in the modern science limits, taking to the search and construction of a new rationality: the environmental rationality. This paper is based upon Enrique Leffs studies, it intends to present some considerations related to the subject of the Pantanal socio-environmental sustainable development starting from the possibility of a knowledge dialogue

Modeling risks of cardiovascular and cancer mortality following a diagnosis of loco-regional breast cancer

Background Many women with breast cancer also have a high likelihood of cardiovascular mortality, and while there are several cardiovascular risk prediction models, none have been validated in a cohort of breast cancer patients. We first compared the performance of commonly-used cardiovascular models, and then derived a new model where breast cancer and cardiovascular mortality were modeled simultaneously, to account for the competing risk endpoints and commonality of risk factors between the two events. Methods We included 20,462 women diagnosed with stage I–III breast cancer between 2000 and 2010 in Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) with follow-up through April 30, 2015, and examined the performance of the Framingham, CORE and SCOREOP cardiovascular risk models by area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), and observed-to -expected (O/E) ratio. We developed a multi-state model based on cause-specific hazards (CSH) to jointly model the causes of mortality. Results The extended models including breast cancer characteristics (grade, tumor size, nodal involvement) with CVD risk factors had better discrimination at 5-years with AUCs of 0.85 (95% CI 0.83, 0.86) for cardiovascular death and 0.80 (95% CI 0.78, 0.87) for breast cancer death compared with the existing cardiovascular models evaluated at 5 years AUCs ranging 0.71–0.78. Five-year calibration for breast and cardiovascular mortality from our multi-state model was also excellent (O/E = 1.01, 95% CI 0.91–1.11). Conclusion A model incorporating cardiovascular risk factors, breast cancer characteristics, and competing events, outperformed traditional models of cardiovascular disease by simultaneously estimating cancer and cardiovascular mortality risks