Habitat disturbance and the organization of bacterial communities in Neotropical hematophagous arthropods

The microbiome plays a key role in the biology, ecology and evolution of arthropod vectors of human pathogens. Vector-bacterial interactions could alter disease transmission dynamics through modulating pathogen replication and/or vector fitness. Nonetheless, our understanding of the factors shaping the bacterial community in arthropod vectors is incomplete. Using large-scale 16S amplicon sequencing, we examine how habitat disturbance structures the bacterial assemblages of field-collected whole-body hematophagous arthropods that vector human pathogens including mosquitoes (Culicidae), sand flies (Psychodidae), biting midges (Ceratopogonidae) and hard ticks (Ixodidae). We found that all comparisons of the bacterial community among species yielded statistically significant differences, but a difference was not observed between adults and nymphs of the hard tick, Haemaphysalis juxtakochi. While Culicoides species had the most distinct bacterial community among dipterans, tick species were composed of entirely different bacterial OTU’s. We observed differences in the proportions of some bacterial types between pristine and disturbed habitats for Coquillettidia mosquitoes, Culex mosquitoes, and Lutzomyia sand flies, but their associations differed within and among arthropod assemblages. In contrast, habitat quality was a poor predictor of differences in bacterial classes for Culicoides biting midges and hard tick species. In general, similarities in the bacterial communities among hematophagous arthropods could be explained by their phylogenetic relatedness, although intraspecific variation seems influenced by habitat disturbance.The microbiome plays a key role in the biology, ecology and evolution of arthropod vectors of human pathogens. Vector-bacterial interactions could alter disease transmission dynamics through modulating pathogen replication and/or vector fitness. Nonetheless, our understanding of the factors shaping the bacterial community in arthropod vectors is incomplete. Using large-scale 16S amplicon sequencing, we examine how habitat disturbance structures the bacterial assemblages of field-collected whole-body hematophagous arthropods that vector human pathogens including mosquitoes (Culicidae), sand flies (Psychodidae), biting midges (Ceratopogonidae) and hard ticks (Ixodidae). We found that all comparisons of the bacterial community among species yielded statistically significant differences, but a difference was not observed between adults and nymphs of the hard tick, Haemaphysalis juxtakochi. While Culicoides species had the most distinct bacterial community among dipterans, tick species were composed of entirely different bacterial OTU’s. We observed differences in the proportions of some bacterial types between pristine and disturbed habitats for Coquillettidia mosquitoes, Culex mosquitoes, and Lutzomyia sand flies, but their associations differed within and among arthropod assemblages. In contrast, habitat quality was a poor predictor of differences in bacterial classes for Culicoides biting midges and hard tick species. In general, similarities in the bacterial communities among hematophagous arthropods could be explained by their phylogenetic relatedness, although intraspecific variation seems influenced by habitat disturbance

Sneddon syndrome a case report and literature review

Sneddon’s syndrome (SS) is characterized by livedo racemosa (LR) or reticularis and recurrent ischemic strokes. At the skin and brain level a non-inflammatory thrombotic vasculopathy is observed. Almost 80% of cases are women around 40 years old. The most accepted etiological proposal is an autoimmune and inflammatory mechanism versus the presence of thrombophilia. Neurological manifestations occur in 3 phases: prodromal symptoms (headache, dizziness, and vertigo), recurrent strokes, and early-onset dementia. Livedo racemosa has been reported to precede strokes by more than 10 years. Treatment is mainly based on secondary prophylaxis preventing a stroke with antiplatelet and antithrombotic agents. The neuropsychiatric prognosis is relatively poor with deficits in concentration, attention, visual perception, and visuospatial skills

A Survey of Proper Motion Stars. XVII. A Deficiency of Binary Stars on Retrograde Galactic Orbits and the Possibility that omega Centauri is Related to the Effect

We find a deficiency of binary stars moving on strongly retrograde Galactic orbits. No binary deficiencies are seen for U or W velocities, however. From theoretical analyses, we rule out preferential disruption of pre-existing binary stars due to encounters with massive perturbers. We also rule out globular clusters as the source of the effect since prograde motions are more likely to create such an effect. We search for star streams and find one possible candidate, but it is not on a retrograde orbit and probably represents the remains of a cluster that has passed too near the Galactic center. Based on a very small number of stars, we find that about the right fraction of stars on retrograde Galactic orbits share some chemical similarities to the cluster omega Cen, suggesting that its parent galaxy could be the explanation.Comment: To appear in the Astronomical Journal (March 2005 issue

Continuum emission in NGC1068 and NGC3147: Indications for a turnover in the core spectra

We present new interferometric observations of the continuum emission at mm wavelengths in the Seyfert galaxies NGC1068 and NGC3147. Three mm continuum peaks are detected in NGC1068, one centered on the core, one associated with the jet and the third one with the counter-jet. This is the first significant detection of the radio jet and counter-jet at mm wavelengths in NGC1068. While the fluxes of the jet components agree with a steep spectral index extrapolated from cm-wavelengths, the core fluxes indicate a turnover of the inverted cm- into a steep mm-spectrum at roughly 50GHz which is most likely caused by electron-scattered synchrotron emission. As in NGC 1068, the spectrum of the pointlike continuum source in NGC3147 also shows a turnover between cm and mm-wavelengths at 25GHz resulting from synchrotron self-absorption different to NGC1068. This strongly resembles the spectrum of SgrA*, the weakly active nucleus of our own galaxy, and M81*, a link between SgrA* and Seyfert galaxies in terms of activity sequence, which may display a similar turnover.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Validation of the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) surface UV radiation product

The TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) onboard the Sentinel-5 Precursor (S5P) satellite was launched on 13 October 2017 to provide the atmospheric composition for atmosphere and climate research. The S5P is a Sun-synchronous polar-orbiting satellite providing global daily coverage. The TROPOMI swath is 2600 km wide, and the ground resolution for most data products is 7:23:5 km2 (5:63:5 km2 since 6 August 2019) at nadir. The Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) is responsible for the development of the TROPOMI UV algorithm and the processing of the TROPOMI surface ultraviolet (UV) radiation product which includes 36 UV parameters in total. Ground-based data from 25 sites located in arctic, subarctic, temperate, equatorial and Antarctic areas were used for validation of the TROPOMI overpass irradiance at 305, 310, 324 and 380 nm, overpass erythemally weighted dose rate/UV index, and erythemally weighted daily dose for the period from 1 January 2018 to 31 August 2019. The validation results showed that for most sites 60 % 80% of TROPOMI data was within 20% of ground-based data for snow-free surface conditions. The median relative differences to ground-based measurements of TROPOMI snow-free surface daily doses were within 10% and 5% at two-Thirds and at half of the sites, respectively. At several sites more than 90% of cloud-free TROPOMI data was within 20% of groundbased measurements. Generally median relative differences between TROPOMI data and ground-based measurements were a little biased towards negative values (i.e. satellite data ground-based measurement), but at high latitudes where non-homogeneous topography and albedo or snow conditions occurred, the negative bias was exceptionally high: from 30% to 65 %. Positive biases of 10 % 15% were also found for mountainous sites due to challenging topography. The TROPOMI surface UV radiation product includes quality flags to detect increased uncertainties in the data due to heterogeneous surface albedo and rough terrain, which can be used to filter the data retrieved under challenging conditions

Differences in MEF2 and NFAT Transcriptional Pathways According to Human Heart Failure Aetiology

BACKGROUND:Ca(2+) handling machinery modulates the activation of cardiac transcription pathways involved in heart failure (HF). The present study investigated the effect of HF aetiology on Ca(+2) handling proteins and NFAT1, MEF2C and GATA4 (transcription factors) in the same cardiac tissue. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:A total of 83 hearts from ischemic (ICM, n = 43) and dilated (DCM, n = 31) patients undergoing heart transplantation and controls (CNT, n = 9) were analyzed by western blotting. Subcellular distribution was analyzed by fluorescence and electron microscopy. When we compared Ca(+2) handling proteins according to HF aetiology, ICM showed higher levels of calmodulin (24%, p<0.01), calcineurin (26%, p<0.01) and Ca(2+)/Calmodulin-dependent kinase II (CaMKIIδ(b) nuclear isoform 62%, p<0.001) than the CNT group. However, these proteins in DCM did not significantly increase. Furthermore, ICM showed a significant elevation in MEF2C (33%, p<0.01), and GATA4 (49%, p<0.05); also NFAT1 (66%, p<0.001) was increased, producing the resultant translocation of this transcriptional factor into the nuclei. These results were supported by fluorescence and electron microscopy analysis. Whereas, DCM only had a significant increase in GATA4 (52%, p<0.05). Correlations between NFAT1 and MEF2C in both groups (ICM r = 0.38 and DCM r = 0.59, p<0.05 and p<0.01, respectively) were found; only ICM showed a correlation between GATA4 and NFAT1 (r = 0.37, p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:This study shows an increase of Ca(2+) handling machinery synthesis and their cardiac transcription pathways in HF, being more markedly increased in ICM. Furthermore, there is a significant association between MEF2, NFAT1 and GATA4. These proteins could be therapeutic targets to improve myocardial function

Genome-wide association and HLA fine-mapping studies identify risk loci and genetic pathways underlying allergic rhinitis

Allergic rhinitis is the most common clinical presentation of allergy, affecting 400 million people worldwide, with increasing incidence in westernized countries1,2. To elucidate the genetic architecture and understand the underlying disease mechanisms, we carried out a meta-analysis of allergic rhinitis in 59,762 cases and 152,358 controls of European ancestry and identified a total of 41 risk loci for allergic rhinitis, including 20 loci not previously associated with allergic rhinitis, which were confirmed in a replication phase of 60,720 cases and 618,527 controls. Functional annotation implicated genes involved in various immune pathways, and fine mapping of the HLA region suggested amino acid variants important for antigen binding. We further performed genome-wide association study (GWAS) analyses of allergic sensitization against inhalant allergens and nonallergic rhinitis, which suggested shared genetic mechanisms across rhinitis-related traits. Future studies of the identified loci and genes might identify novel targets for treatment and prevention of allergic rhinitis

Galactic Gamma-Ray Diffuse Emission at TeV energies with HAWC Data

The Galactic gamma-ray diffuse emission (GDE) is emitted by cosmic rays (CRs), ultra-relativistic protons and electrons, interacting with gas and electromagnetic radiation fields in the interstellar medium. Here we present the analysis of TeV diffuse emission from a region of the Galactic Plane over the range in longitude of $l\in[43^\circ,73^\circ]$, using data collected with the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) detector. Spectral, longitudinal and latitudinal distributions of the TeV diffuse emission are shown. The radiation spectrum is compatible with the spectrum of the emission arising from a CR population with an "index" similar to that of the observed CRs. When comparing with the \texttt{DRAGON} \textit{base model}, the HAWC GDE flux is higher by about a factor of two. Unresolved sources such as pulsar wind nebulae and TeV halos could explain the excess emission. Finally, deviations of the Galactic CR flux from the locally measured CR flux may additionally explain the difference between the predicted and measured diffuse fluxes

Prevalence of HIV, Herpes Simplex Virus-2, and Syphilis in male sex partners of pregnant women in Peru

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background:</p> <p>Sexually active heterosexual men may represent an important risk factor for HIV infection and STI transmission to their female partners and unborn children, though little is known about the prevalence of STIs in this population. We sought to determine the prevalence of HIV, herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2), and syphilis infection and associated risk behaviors among male sex partners of pregnant women in Peru.</p> <p>Methods:</p> <p>Survey and seroprevalence data were collected from 1,835 male partners of pregnant women in four cities in Peru. Serum was tested for antibodies to HIV, HSV-2, and syphilis.</p> <p>Results:</p> <p>Among the 1,835 male participants, HIV prevalence was 0.8% (95% CI = 0.5–1.4%), HSV-2 16.0% (95% CI = 14.3–17.8%), and syphilis 1.6% (95% CI = 1.0–2.2%). Additionally, 11.0% reported a lifetime history of intercourse with men, and 37.1% with female sex workers. Unprotected intercourse with men during the previous year was reported by 0.9% and with female sex workers by 1.2%.</p> <p>Conclusion:</p> <p>Pregnant women's sex partners reported lifetime sexual contact with core risk groups, had an elevated prevalence of HSV-2, and demonstrated the potential to spread HIV and other STIs to their partners. Though the prevalence of HIV in the population was not significantly higher than observed in other samples of heterosexuals in Peru, the risk of HIV transmission to their female partners may be exacerbated by their increased prevalence of HSV-2 infection. Further study of heterosexual populations is necessary to fully understand the epidemiology of HIV/STIs in Latin America.</p