A novel reiterated family of transcribed oligo(A)-terminated, interspersed DNA elements in the genome of Trypanosoma cruzi

We report the molecular characterization of a novel reiterated family of transcribed oligo(A)-terminated, interspersed DNA elements in the genome of Trypanosoma cruzi. Steady-state level of transcripts of this sequence family appeared to be developmentally regulated, since only in the replicative forms the parasite showed expression of related sequences with a major band around 3 kb. The presence of frame shifts or premature stop codons predicts that transcripts are not translated. The sequence family also contains truncated forms of retrotransposons elements that may become potential hot spots for retroelement insertion. Sequences homologous to this family are interspersed at many chromosomes including the subtelomeric regions.Escola Paulista de Medicina Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e ParasitologiaNorthwestern University Medical School Departments of Pathology and Microbiology-ImmunologyUniversidad Central de Venezuela Instituto de Biologia Experimental Laboratorio de Genetica MolecularUniversidad de Antofagasta Departamento de Tecnologia MédicaUNIFESP, EPM, Depto. de Microbiologia, Imunologia e ParasitologiaSciEL

Amongst tests and masks: Perception about the restart of digestive endoscopy during COVID-19

COVID-19 ha generado una pausa en la endoscopia electiva, retrasando el diagnóstico de múltiples patologías. Existen varias propuestas para reiniciar las actividades que incluyen el tamizaje por COVID-19 y un reinicio escalonado.Introducción: COVID-19 ha generado una pausa en la endoscopia electiva, retrasando el diagnóstico de múltiples patologías. Existen varias propuestas para reiniciar las actividades que incluyen el tamizaje por COVID-19 y un reinicio escalonado. Objetivo: Conocer la percepción general de los endoscopistas respecto al reinicio de procedimientos electivos, y la influencia que genera la disponibilidad de equipo de protección personal (EPP) y tamizaje. Metodología: Se encuestan endoscopistas expertos con preguntas enfocadas a la endoscopia durante la pandemia, así como de disponibilidad de EPP y del uso de pruebas de tamizaje de SARS-CoV-2. La encuesta fue distribuida vía e-mail, mensajería instantánea y por contacto directo a distintas sociedades de endoscopia, obteniendo respuesta completa de 168 médicos. Resultados: 88% de los encuestados no practican tamizaje por COVID-19 sin embargo un 70% considera apropiada esta práctica. El 80% afirma contar con EPP adecuado. El 94% de los médicos afirma que deben reiniciarse los procedimientos lo antes posible. Conclusiones: Los endoscopistas latinoamericanos con mayor disponibilidad de EPP, así como la implementación de tamizaje de SARS-CoV-2, presentaron mayor disposición a reiniciar las endoscopias electivas.Introduction: COVID-19 has paused elective procedures and delayed the diagnosis of multiple pathologies. Different proposals have been recommended for restarting elective procedures, including screening tests and a gradual restart. ­ Objective: To know the perception of Latin American endoscopists regarding the restart of elective procedures, and how the availability of personal protection equipment (PPE) and prior testing may influence this perception. Methods: A web-based survey was developed by endoscopy experts, based in the development of endoscopy, availability of PPE and screening tests, which was distributed via e-mail, social media and direct contact by one author to several societies. Full response was obtained from 168 endoscopists during May 2020. Results: 88% of surveyed endoscopists don’t screen for COVID-19 prior to endoscopy, however, 70% consider this appropriate. 80% affirm having PPE. 94% believe that endoscopic practice must be restarted as soon as possible. Conclusions: Latin American endoscopists with greater amount of PPE and prior testing for SARS-CoV-2 were more willing to restart elective procedures than those in limited scenarios.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias de la Salud::Instituto de Investigaciones en Salud (INISA)UCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Salud::Facultad de Medicina::Escuela de NutriciónUCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Salud::Facultad de Medicina::Escuela de Medicin

Quality of Life in Costa Rican Patients with Brain Tumors: Neuropsychological Contributions

Resumen. Se describe una experiencia clínico-formativa en el ámbito hospitalario, donde destacan los aportes de la neuropsicología en la atención multidisciplinaria a pacientes con tumores cerebrales. Se ejemplifican cuatro casos atendidos en el Servicio de Neurocirugía del Hospital México en Costa Rica, a quienes se les realizó una valoración neuropsicológica como parte del protocolo de atención en cirugía de resección tumoral. Se documenta una leve pero consistente tendencia a la mejoría en los rendimientos tras la intervención neuroquirúrgica de los casos reportados, evidenciando, también, las secuelas neurocognitivas y emocionales que permanecen e impactan directamente la calidad de vida. Se discute sobre los retos asociados a la expectativa sanitaria de prolongación de la vida pero preservando su calidad y funcionalidad.Abstract. The systematization of a clinical and educational experience in a hospital setting shows evidence of the neuropsychological contributions to the multidisciplinary care for patients with brain tumors. Four cases of people diagnosed with brain tumors are exemplified. The patients were treated at the Neurosurgical Unit at the Hospital Mexico, Costa Rica. Each patient underwent neuropsychological evaluations as part of the established protocol for neurosurgical interventions.Results showed a slight yet consistent trend of cognitive performance improvement after each surgery, and identified residual neurocognitive consequences that would have a direct impact on the patients quality of life. This paper discusses the challenges associated with health expectancy of prolonging life while preserving its quality and functionality.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Sociales::Instituto de Investigaciones Psicológicas (IIP

Involvement of the stage-specific 82-kilodalton adhesion molecule of Trypanosoma cruzi metacyclic trypomastigotes in host cell invasion

This study provides several pieces of evidence indicating that 3F6-Ag, identified by monoclonal antibod

Standardization and international multicenter validation of a PulseNet pulsed-field gel electrophoresis protocol for subtyping Shigella flexneri isolates

Fil: Pichel, Mariana. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas; Argentina.Fil: Brengi, Silvina P. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas; Argentina.Fil: Cooper, Kara L. F. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Estados Unidos.Fil: Ribot, Efrain M. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Georgia.Fil: Al-Busaidy, Suleiman. Central Public Health Laboratory; Omán.Fil: Araya, Pamela. Instituto de Salud Pública de Chile; Chile.Fil: Fernández, Jorge. Instituto de Salud Pública de Chile; Chile.Fil: Vaz, Tania Ibelli. Instituto Adolfo Lutz; Brazil.Fil: Kam, Kai Man. Public Health Laboratory Centre; Japón.Fil: Morcos, Myriam. Regional Center at the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit #3 (NAMRU-3). Global Disease Detection (GDD); Egipto.Fil: Nielsen, Eva M. Statens Serum Institut; Dinamarca.Fil: Nadon, Celine. National Microbiology Laboratory; Canadá.Fil: Pimentel, Guillermo. Regional Center at the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit #3 (NAMRU-3). Global Disease Detection (GDD); Egipto.Fil: Pérez-Gutiérrez, Enrique. PAHO/WHO. Health Surveillance; Panamá.Fil: Gerner-Smidt, Peter. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Georgia.Fil: Binsztein, Norma. ANLIS Dr.C.G.Malbrán. Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Infecciosas; Argentina.Shigella flexneri is one of the agents most frequently linked to diarrheal illness in developing countries and often causes outbreaks in settings with poor hygiene or sanitary conditions. Travel is one of the means by which S. flexneri can be imported into developed countries, where this pathogen is not commonly seen. A robust and discriminatory subtyping method is needed for the surveillance of S. flexneri locally and regionally, and to aid in the detection and investigation of outbreaks. The PulseNet International network utilizes standardized pulsedfield gel electrophoresis (PFGE) protocols to carry out laboratory-based surveillance of foodborne pathogens in combination with epidemiologic data. A multicenter validation was carried out in nine PulseNet laboratories located in North and South America, Europe, and Asia, and it demonstrated that a new protocol is highly robust and reproducible for subtyping of S. flexneri. This protocol, already approved for PulseNet laboratories, applies NotI and XbaI as primary and secondary restriction enzymes, respectively, under electrophoresis conditions of initial switch time of 5 s to final switch time of 35 s, at 6 volts/cm

Pitfalls in assessing stromal tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs) in breast cancer

Stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs) are important prognostic and predictive biomarkers in triple-negative (TNBC) and HER2-positive breast cancer. Incorporating sTILs into clinical practice necessitates reproducible assessment. Previously developed standardized scoring guidelines have been widely embraced by the clinical and research communities. We evaluated sources of variability in sTIL assessment by pathologists in three previous sTIL ring studies. We identify common challenges and evaluate impact of discrepancies on outcome estimates in early TNBC using a newly-developed prognostic tool. Discordant sTIL assessment is driven by heterogeneity in lymphocyte distribution. Additional factors include: technical slide-related issues; scoring outside the tumor boundary; tumors with minimal assessable stroma; including lymphocytes associated with other structures; and including other inflammatory cells. Small variations in sTIL assessment modestly alter risk estimation in early TNBC but have the potential to affect treatment selection if cutpoints are employed. Scoring and averaging multiple areas, as well as use of reference images, improve consistency of sTIL evaluation. Moreover, to assist in avoiding the pitfalls identified in this analysis, we developed an educational resource available at www.tilsinbreastcancer.org/pitfalls.Stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs) are important prognostic and predictive biomarkers in triple-negative (TNBC) and HER2-positive breast cancer. Incorporating sTILs into clinical practice necessitates reproducible assessment. Previously developed standardized scoring guidelines have been widely embraced by the clinical and research communities. We evaluated sources of variability in sTIL assessment by pathologists in three previous sTIL ring studies. We identify common challenges and evaluate impact of discrepancies on outcome estimates in early TNBC using a newly-developed prognostic tool. Discordant sTIL assessment is driven by heterogeneity in lymphocyte distribution. Additional factors include: technical slide-related issues; scoring outside the tumor boundary; tumors with minimal assessable stroma; including lymphocytes associated with other structures; and including other inflammatory cells. Small variations in sTIL assessment modestly alter risk estimation in early TNBC but have the potential to affect treatment selection if cutpoints are employed. Scoring and averaging multiple areas, as well as use of reference images, improve consistency of sTIL evaluation. Moreover, to assist in avoiding the pitfalls identified in this analysis, we developed an educational resource available at www.tilsinbreastcancer.org/pitfalls.Peer reviewe

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Pitfalls in assessing stromal tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs) in breast cancer

Abstract: Stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs) are important prognostic and predictive biomarkers in triple-negative (TNBC) and HER2-positive breast cancer. Incorporating sTILs into clinical practice necessitates reproducible assessment. Previously developed standardized scoring guidelines have been widely embraced by the clinical and research communities. We evaluated sources of variability in sTIL assessment by pathologists in three previous sTIL ring studies. We identify common challenges and evaluate impact of discrepancies on outcome estimates in early TNBC using a newly-developed prognostic tool. Discordant sTIL assessment is driven by heterogeneity in lymphocyte distribution. Additional factors include: technical slide-related issues; scoring outside the tumor boundary; tumors with minimal assessable stroma; including lymphocytes associated with other structures; and including other inflammatory cells. Small variations in sTIL assessment modestly alter risk estimation in early TNBC but have the potential to affect treatment selection if cutpoints are employed. Scoring and averaging multiple areas, as well as use of reference images, improve consistency of sTIL evaluation. Moreover, to assist in avoiding the pitfalls identified in this analysis, we developed an educational resource available at www.tilsinbreastcancer.org/pitfalls

La renovación de la palabra en el bicentenario de la Argentina : los colores de la mirada lingüística

El libro reúne trabajos en los que se exponen resultados de investigaciones presentadas por investigadores de Argentina, Chile, Brasil, España, Italia y Alemania en el XII Congreso de la Sociedad Argentina de Lingüística (SAL), Bicentenario: la renovación de la palabra, realizado en Mendoza, Argentina, entre el 6 y el 9 de abril de 2010. Las temáticas abordadas en los 167 capítulos muestran las grandes líneas de investigación que se desarrollan fundamentalmente en nuestro país, pero también en los otros países mencionados arriba, y señalan además las áreas que recién se inician, con poca tradición en nuestro país y que deberían fomentarse. Los trabajos aquí publicados se enmarcan dentro de las siguientes disciplinas y/o campos de investigación: Fonología, Sintaxis, Semántica y Pragmática, Lingüística Cognitiva, Análisis del Discurso, Psicolingüística, Adquisición de la Lengua, Sociolingüística y Dialectología, Didáctica de la lengua, Lingüística Aplicada, Lingüística Computacional, Historia de la Lengua y la Lingüística, Lenguas Aborígenes, Filosofía del Lenguaje, Lexicología y Terminología