Characterization of intestinal microbiota from indigenous people with metabolic syndrome in the Highlands of Ecuador

Background: Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a constellation of interconnected physiological, biochemical, clinical, and metabolic factors that increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Previous studies demonstrated that changes in the composition of gastrointestinal microbiota by external factors, contribute to the etiology of several cardio metabolic diseases...Antecedentes: el síndrome metabólico (EM) es una constelación de factores fisiológicos, bioquímicos, clínicos y metabólicos interconectados que aumentan el riesgo de enfermedades cardiovasculares. Estudios previos demostraron que los cambios en la composición de la microbiota gastrointestinal por factores externos contribuyen a la etiología de varias enfermedades cardio-metabólicas..

Construcción de un prototipo de generador eólico de baja potencia con eje vertical en el edificio de la carrera de electricidad de la Universidad Técnica del Norte

Construir un prototipo de generador eólico de baja potencia con eje vertical, para la realización de estudios de caracterización de funcionamiento eléctrico, mediante el análisis de un aerogenerador existente en la Carrera de Electricidad de la Universidad Técnica del NorteEl aprovechamiento de las energías renovables altamente abundantes, inagotables y no contaminantes, surge en respuesta para disminuir el uso excesivo de combustibles fósiles altamente contaminantes. En un aerogenerador de eje vertical de baja potencia, el generador eléctrico que en su mayoría emplea es de imanes permanentes de flujo axial, por varias razones: simplicidad de diseño, construcción y generación suficiente que ofrece a bajas velocidades, sin embargo, su funcionamiento se ve limitado por la disponibilidad del recurso eólico que no siempre es constante, siendo necesario estudiar permanentemente sus características eléctricas de funcionamiento para el mejoramiento de su rendimiento. En este proyecto de investigación se diseñó y construyó un prototipo de generador eólico de baja potencia, específicamente un generador de flujo axial, con la finalidad de realizar pruebas de caracterización y evaluar su funcionamiento. El diseño parte de considerar la disponibilidad de recurso eólico que relaciona la cantidad de revoluciones, el análisis de las características magnéticas de los imanes, útiles para determinar la geometría del generador, cantidad de polos, bobinas, conductor para el bobinado, voltaje de salida y pérdidas eléctricas. En la etapa de pruebas de caracterización se realizaron pruebas sin carga y con carga resistiva, con la finalidad de observar el comportamiento de voltaje, corriente y potencia generada en función de la velocidad de rotación medida en revoluciones por minuto, obteniendo con carga elevada mayor voltaje, menor corriente y potencia reducida; en cambio, a poca carga, se obtiene mayor corriente, menor voltaje y potencia más elevada. En cuanto a la eficiencia, el generador presenta menos pérdidas con carga resistiva elevada, las cuales las logra superar. Finalmente, se demuestra que, con los datos obtenidos, el prototipo construido si entrega corrientes y voltajes aceptables para la generación a pequeña escala, con el recurso eólico disponible y las características eléctricas de diseño establecidas.Ingenierí

Diagnostic investigation of 100 cases of abortion in sheep in Uruguay: 2015-2021

The aim of this work was to identify causes of abortion through laboratory investigations in sheep flocks in Uruguay. One hundred cases of abortion, comprising 58 fetuses, 36 fetuses with their placentas, and 6 placentas were investigated in 2015-2021. Cases were subjected to gross and microscopic pathologic examinations, and microbiological and serological testing for the identification of causes of abortion, including protozoal, bacterial, and viral pathogens. An etiologic diagnosis was determined in 46 (46%) cases, including 33 (33%) cases caused by infectious pathogens, as determined by the detection of a pathogen along with the identification of fetoplacental lesions attributable to the detected pathogen. Twenty-seven cases (27%) were caused by Toxoplasma gondii, 5 (5%) by Campylobacter fetus subspecies fetus, and 1 (1%) by an unidentified species of Campylobacter. Fourteen cases (14%) had inflammatory and/or necrotizing fetoplacental lesions compatible with an infectious etiology. Although the cause for these lesions was not clearly identified, T. gondii was detected in 4 of these cases, opportunistic bacteria (Bacillus licheniformis, Streptococcus sp.) were isolated in 2 cases, and bovine viral diarrhea virus 1 subtype i (BVDV-1i) was detected in another. Campylobacter jejuni was identified in 1 (1%) severely autolyzed, mummified fetus. BVDV-2b was identified incidentally in one fetus with an etiologic diagnosis of toxoplasmosis. Microscopic agglutination test revealed antibodies against ≥1 Leptospira serovars in 15/63 (23.8%) fetuses; however, Leptospira was not identified by a combination of qPCR, culture, fluorescent antibody testing nor immunohistochemistry. Neospora caninum, Chlamydia abortus, Chlamydia pecorum, Coxiella burnetii and border disease virus were not detected in any of the analyzed cases. Death was attributed to dystocia in 13 (13%) fetuses delivered by 8 sheep, mostly from one highly prolific flock. Congenital malformations including inferior prognathism, a focal hepatic cyst, and enterohepatic agenesis were identified in one fetus each, the latter being the only one considered incompatible with postnatal life. Toxoplasmosis, campylobacteriosis and dystocia were the main identified causes of fetal losses. Despite the relatively low overall success rate in establishing an etiologic diagnosis, a systematic laboratory workup in cases of abortion is of value to identify their causes and enables zoonotic pathogens surveillance.INIA: PL_27 N-23398ANII: FCE_3_2018_1_148540ANII: FSA_1_2018_1_15268

Threshold Responses to Soil Moisture Deficit by Trees and Soil in Tropical Rain Forests: Insights from Field Experiments

Many tropical rain forest regions are at risk of increased future drought. The net effects of drought on forest ecosystem functioning will be substantial if important ecological thresholds are passed. However, understanding and predicting these effects is challenging using observational studies alone. Field-based rainfall exclusion (canopy throughfall exclusion; TFE) experiments can offer mechanistic insight into the response to extended or severe drought and can be used to help improve model-based simulations, which are currently inadequate. Only eight TFE experiments have been reported for tropical rain forests. We examine them, synthesizing key results and focusing on two processes that have shown threshold behavior in response to drought: (1) tree mortality and (2) the efflux of carbon dioxdie from soil, soil respiration. We show that: (a) where tested using large-scale field experiments, tropical rain forest tree mortality is resistant to long-term soil moisture deficit up to a threshold of 50% of the water that is extractable by vegetation from the soil, but high mortality occurs beyond this value, with evidence from one site of increased autotrophic respiration, and (b) soil respiration reaches its peak value in response to soil moisture at significantly higher soil moisture content for clay-rich soils than for clay-poor soils. This first synthesis of tropical TFE experiments offers the hypothesis that low soil moisture-related thresholds for key stress responses in soil and vegetation may prove to be widely applicable across tropical rain forests despite the diversity of these forests

PCR-diagnosis of Anaplasma marginale in cattle populations of Ecuador and its molecular identification through sequencing of ribosomal 16S fragments

Abstract Background Bovine anaplasmosis is an endemic disease in tropical and subtropical areas. It is caused by a bacterium named Anaplasma marginale, and represents an economic problem for cattle farmers due to the losses it generates, such as: mortalities, reduced production, quarantine measures, treatments and control of vectors. The method most often used to diagnose this haemotrophic bacterium is direct examination on blood smear, which sensitivity and specificity are limited compared to other methods such as PCR. The present study aimed at investigating the presence of A. marginale in dairy cattle of Luz de América commune, province of Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas. Two PCRs were used to amplify specific regions of the Rickettsia for its molecular identification. Results At first, 151 blood samples were tested: msp5 specific gene of A. marginale was identified in 130 samples, meaning 86.1% of them were infected by the rickettsia. Two positive samples were further randomly selected to confirm the presence of A. marginale through amplification, cloning and sequencing of the conserved region of gene 16S rRNA. The analysis of sequences obtained through cloning revealed a 100% identity between both samples and those registered in GenBank for A. marginale. Conclusion This is the first report and molecular identification of A. marginale in the bovine population of Ecuador and its prevalence was high at the level of farms and animals. These results demonstrate the importance of proceeding to evaluate and characterize bovine Anaplasmosis in Ecuador in order to establish control measures and reduce their impact

Mitochondria and Coenzyme Q10 in the Pathogenesis of Preeclampsia

Hypertensive disorders during pregnancy constitute one of the main causes of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality across the world and particularly in developing countries such as Ecuador. However, despite its impact on public health, the primary pathophysiological processes involved are yet to be elucidated. It has been proposed, among other theories, that an abnormal placentation may induce an endothelial dysfunction, which is ultimately responsible for the final clinical manifestations. Mitochondria, particularly from trophoblastic cells, are responsible for the production of energy, which is extremely important for normal placentation. The malfunction in this supply of energy may produce higher levels of free radicals. In both production of energy and free radicals, coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) plays a crucial role in electron transport. As such, the role of CoQ10 in the genesis and prevention of preeclampsia has become the focus of a number of research groups, including that of the authors. Developing an in-depth understanding of these mechanisms might allow us to design new and feasible strategies with which we can reduce preeclampsia, particularly in the Latin-American countries

Threshold Responses to Soil Moisture Deficit by Trees and Soil in Tropical Rain Forests: Insights from Field Experiments.

Many tropical rain forest regions are at risk of increased future drought. The net effects of drought on forest ecosystem functioning will be substantial if important ecological thresholds are passed. However, understanding and predicting these effects is challenging using observational studies alone. Field-based rainfall exclusion (canopy throughfall exclusion; TFE) experiments can offer mechanistic insight into the response to extended or severe drought and can be used to help improve model-based simulations, which are currently inadequate. Only eight TFE experiments have been reported for tropical rain forests. We examine them, synthesizing key results and focusing on two processes that have shown threshold behavior in response to drought: (1) tree mortality and (2) the efflux of carbon dioxdie from soil, soil respiration. We show that: (a) where tested using large-scale field experiments, tropical rain forest tree mortality is resistant to long-term soil moisture deficit up to a threshold of 50% of the water that is extractable by vegetation from the soil, but high mortality occurs beyond this value, with evidence from one site of increased autotrophic respiration, and (b) soil respiration reaches its peak value in response to soil moisture at significantly higher soil moisture content for clay-rich soils than for clay-poor soils. This first synthesis of tropical TFE experiments offers the hypothesis that low soil moisture-related thresholds for key stress responses in soil and vegetation may prove to be widely applicable across tropical rain forests despite the diversity of these forests

A combination of GRA3, GRA6 and GRA7 peptides offer a useful tool for serotyping type II and III Toxoplasma gondii infections in sheep and pigs

The clinical consequences of toxoplasmosis are greatly dependent on the Toxoplasma gondii strain causing the infection. To better understand its epidemiology and design appropriate control strategies, it is important to determine the strain present in infected animals. Serotyping methods are based on the detection of antibodies that react against segments of antigenic proteins presenting strain-specific polymorphic variations, offering a cost-effective, sensitive, and non-invasive alternative to genotyping techniques. Herein, we evaluated the applicability of a panel of peptides previously characterized in mice and humans to serotype sheep and pigs. To this end, we used 51 serum samples from experimentally infected ewes (32 type II and 19 type III), 20 sheep samples from naturally infected sheep where the causative strain was genotyped (18 type II and 2 type III), and 40 serum samples from experimentally infected pigs (22 type II and 18 type III). Our ELISA test results showed that a combination of GRA peptide homologous pairs can discriminate infections caused by type II and III strains of T. gondii in sheep and pigs. Namely, the GRA3-I/III-43 vs. GRA3-II-43, GRA6-I/III-213 vs. GRA6-II-214 and GRA6-III-44 vs. GRA6-II-44 ratios showed a statistically significant predominance of the respective strain-type peptide in sheep, while in pigs, in addition to these three peptide pairs, GRA7-II-224 vs. GRA7-III-224 also showed promising results. Notably, the GRA6-44 pair, which was previously deemed inefficient in mice and humans, showed a high prediction capacity, especially in sheep. By contrast, GRA5-38 peptides failed to correctly predict the strain type in most sheep and pig samples, underpinning the notion that individual standardization is needed for each animal species. Finally, we recommend analyzing for each animal at least 2 samples taken at different time points to confirm the obtained results.European CommissionComunidad de Madrid (España)National Agency of Research and Innovation (Uruguay)Universidad Complutense de Madrid (España)Depto. de Sanidad AnimalFac. de VeterinariaTRUEpubPagado por el auto

DataSheet_1_A combination of GRA3, GRA6 and GRA7 peptides offer a useful tool for serotyping type II and III Toxoplasma gondii infections in sheep and pigs.xlsx

The clinical consequences of toxoplasmosis are greatly dependent on the Toxoplasma gondii strain causing the infection. To better understand its epidemiology and design appropriate control strategies, it is important to determine the strain present in infected animals. Serotyping methods are based on the detection of antibodies that react against segments of antigenic proteins presenting strain-specific polymorphic variations, offering a cost-effective, sensitive, and non-invasive alternative to genotyping techniques. Herein, we evaluated the applicability of a panel of peptides previously characterized in mice and humans to serotype sheep and pigs. To this end, we used 51 serum samples from experimentally infected ewes (32 type II and 19 type III), 20 sheep samples from naturally infected sheep where the causative strain was genotyped (18 type II and 2 type III), and 40 serum samples from experimentally infected pigs (22 type II and 18 type III). Our ELISA test results showed that a combination of GRA peptide homologous pairs can discriminate infections caused by type II and III strains of T. gondii in sheep and pigs. Namely, the GRA3-I/III-43 vs. GRA3-II-43, GRA6-I/III-213 vs. GRA6-II-214 and GRA6-III-44 vs. GRA6-II-44 ratios showed a statistically significant predominance of the respective strain-type peptide in sheep, while in pigs, in addition to these three peptide pairs, GRA7-II-224 vs. GRA7-III-224 also showed promising results. Notably, the GRA6-44 pair, which was previously deemed inefficient in mice and humans, showed a high prediction capacity, especially in sheep. By contrast, GRA5-38 peptides failed to correctly predict the strain type in most sheep and pig samples, underpinning the notion that individual standardization is needed for each animal species. Finally, we recommend analyzing for each animal at least 2 samples taken at different time points to confirm the obtained results.</p