Cell walls of the dimorphic fungal pathogens Sporothrix schenckii and Sporothrix brasiliensis exhibit bilaminate structures and sloughing of extensive and intact layers

This work was supported by the Fundação Carlos Chagas de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ), grants E-26/202.974/2015 and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), grants 229755/2013-5, Brazil. LMLB is a senior research fellow of CNPq and Faperj. NG acknowledged support from the Wellcome Trust (Trust (097377, 101873, 200208) and MRC Centre for Medical Mycology (MR/N006364/1). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

High connectivity of the Crocodile Shark between the Atlantic and Southwest Indian Oceans: highlights for conservation

Among the various shark species that are captured as bycatch in commercial fishing operations, the group of pelagic sharks is still one of the least studied and known. Within those, the crocodile shark, Pseudocarcharias kamoharai, a small-sized lamnid shark, is occasionally caught by longline vessels in certain regions of the tropical oceans worldwide. However, the population dynamics of this species, as well as the impact of fishing mortality on its stocks, are still unknown, with the crocodile shark currently one of the least studied of all pelagic sharks. Given this, the present study aimed to assess the population structure of P. kamoharai in several regions of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans using genetic molecular markers. The nucleotide composition of the mitochondrial DNA control region of 255 individuals was analyzed, and 31 haplotypes were found, with an estimated diversity Hd = 0.627, and a nucleotide diversity pi = 0.00167. An analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed a fixation index phi(ST) = -0.01118, representing an absence of population structure among the sampled regions of the Atlantic Ocean, and between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. These results show a high degree of gene flow between the studied areas, with a single genetic stock and reduced population variability. In panmictic populations, conservation efforts can be concentrated in more restricted areas, being these representative of the total biodiversity of the species. When necessary, this strategy could be applied to the genetic maintenance of P. kamoharai.Foundation for Research Support of the Sao Paulo State - FAPESP [2011/23787-0, 2010/51903-2]; Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) [SFRH/BPD/93936/2013]; Foundation for Research Support of the Sao Paulo State - FAPESP [2011/23787-0, 2010/51903-2]; Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) [SFRH/BPD/93936/2013]info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effects of bromopride on the healing of left colon anastomoses of rats

Objetivo: Avaliar os efeitos da bromoprida sobre a formação de aderências e a cicatrização de anastomoses de cólon esquerdo de ratos. Métodos: Foram incluídos 40 ratos, divididos em dois grupos contendo 20 animais, para administração de bromoprida (grupo de estudo- E) ou solução fisiológica (grupo controle- C). Cada grupo foi dividido em subgrupos contendo 10 animais cada, para eutanásia no terceiro (E3 e C3) ou no sétimo dia (E7 e C7) de pós-operatório. Os ratos foram submetidos à secção do cólon esquerdo e anastomose término-terminal. No dia da relaparotomia, foi avaliada a quantidade total de aderências e removido um segmento colônico contendo a anastomose para análise histopatológica, da força de ruptura e da concentração de hidroxiprolina. Resultados: Não houve diferença entre os grupos em relação à evolução clínica. Dois animais do grupo de estudo apresentaram deiscência de anastomose bloqueada. Os animais que receberam bromoprida apresentaram número de aderências intracavitárias e aderências à anastomose semelhantes ao grupo controle. As anastomoses dos animais do grupo E3 apresentaram menor resistência de ruptura do que as do grupo C3 (p=0,04). Este efeito não ocorreu no sétimo dia de pós-operatório (p=0,37). Não houve diferença significativa entre os grupos em relação à histopatologia ou concentração de hidroxiprolina das anastomoses. Conclusão: O uso da bromoprida está associado à diminuição da resistência tênsil de anastomoses do cólon esquerdo de ratos no terceiro dia de pós-operatório.Objective: To evaluate the effects of bromopride on the formation of adhesions and anastomotic healing in the left colon of rats. Methods: We divided 40 rats into two groups of 20 animals, administration of bromopride (study group-E) or saline (control group- C). Each group was divided into subgroups containing 10 animals each for euthanasia in the third (C3 and E3) or the seventh (E7 and C7) postoperative days. The rats were submitted to section of the left colon and end-to-end anastomosis. On the day of reoperation, we evaluated the total amount of adhesions and removed a colonic segment containing the anastomosis for histopathological analysis, assessment of rupture strength and hydroxyproline concentration. Results: There was no difference between groups in relation to clinical outcome. Two animals in the study group had blocked anastomotic leakage. The animals that received bromopride had the number of intracavitary adhesions and adhesions to the anastomosis similar to the control group. The anastomoses from the group E3 animals showed lower resistance to rupture the one from the C3 group (p = 0.04). This effect did not occur on the seventh postoperative day (p = 0.37). There was no significant difference between groups in relation to histopathology and hydroxyproline concentration in the anastomoses. Conclusion: The use of bromopride was associated with decreased tensile strength of left colon anastomosis in rats in the third postoperative day

Absence of Fas-L aggravates renal injury in acute Trypanosoma cruzi infection

Trypanosoma cruzi infection induces diverse alterations in immunocompetent cells and organs, myocarditis and congestive heart failure. However, the physiological network of disturbances imposed by the infection has not been addressed thoroughly. Regarding myocarditis induced by the infection, we observed in our previous work that Fas-L-/- mice (gld/gld) have very mild inflammatory infiltration when compared to BALB/c mice. However, all mice from both lineages die in the early acute phase. Therefore, in this work we studied the physiological connection relating arterial pressure, renal function/damage and cardiac insufficiency as causes of death. Our results show that a broader set of dysfunctions that could be classified as a cardio/anaemic/renal syndrome is more likely responsible for cardiac failure and death in both lineages. However, gld/gld mice had very early glomerular deposition of IgM and a more intense renal inflammatory response with reduced renal filtration, which is probably responsible for the premature death in the absence of significant myocarditis in gld/gld.Instituto Oswaldo Cruz-Fiocruz Laboratório de Biologia CelularUniversidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas FilhoUniversidade Federal Fluminense Instituto Biomédico Departamento de Fisiologia e FarmacologiaUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Escola Paulista de Medicina Disciplina de NefrologiaCentro de Criação de Animais de Laboratório Departamento de Controle de Qualidade AnimalUNIFESP, EPM, Disciplina de NefrologiaSciEL

A safeguard approach to detect stagnation of GMRES(m) with applications in Newton-Krylov methods

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Restarting GMRES, a linear solver frequently used in numerical schemes, is known to suffer from stagnation. In this paper, a simple strategy is proposed to detect and avoid stagnation, without modifying the standard GMRES code. Numerical tests with the proposed modified GMRES(m) procedure for solving linear systems and also as part of an inexact Newton procedure, demonstrate the efficiency of this strategy.272175199Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)PRONEX-OptimizationFundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

Transcription factor NRF2 protects mice against dietary iron-induced liver injury by preventing hepatocytic cell death

BACKGROUND & AIMS: The liver, being the major site of iron storage, is particularly exposed to the toxic effects of iron. Transcription factor NRF2 is critical for protecting the liver against disease by activating the transcription of genes encoding detoxification/antioxidant enzymes. We aimed to determine if the NRF2 pathway plays a significant role in the protection against hepatic iron overload.METHODS: Wild-type and Nrf2(-/-) mouse primary hepatocytes were incubated with ferric ammonium citrate. Wild-type and Nrf2(-/-) mice were fed standard rodent chow or iron-rich diet for 2weeks, with or without daily injection of the antioxidant mito-TEMPOL.RESULTS: In mouse hepatocytes, iron induced the nuclear translocation of NRF2 and the expression of cytoprotective genes in an NRF2-dependent manner. Moreover, Nrf2(-/-) hepatocytes were highly susceptible to iron-induced cell death. Wild-type and Nrf2(-/-) mice fed iron-rich diet accumulated similar amounts of iron in the liver and were equally able to increase the expression of hepatic hepcidin and ferritin. Nevertheless, in Nrf2-null mice the iron loading resulted in progressive liver injury, ranging from mild confluent necrosis to severe necroinflammatory lesions. Hepatocytic cell death was associated with gross ultrastructural damage to the mitochondria. Notably, liver injury was prevented in iron-fed animals that received mito-TEMPOL.CONCLUSIONS: NRF2 protects the mouse liver against the toxicity of dietary iron overload by preventing hepatocytic cell death. We identify NRF2 as a potential modifier of liver disease in iron overload pathology and show the beneficial effect of the antioxidant mito-TEMPOL in a mouse model of dietary iron-induced liver injury.This work is funded by FEDER Funds through the Operational Competitiveness Programme - COMPETE and by National Funds through FCT - Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia under the project FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-011062 (PTDC/SAU-FCF/101177/2008). TLD is supported by "Programa Ciencia - financiado pelo POPH - QREN - Tipologia 4.2 - Promocao do Emprego Cientifico, comparticipado pelo Fundo Social Europeu e por fundos nacionais do MCTES''

A study of the Z production cross-section in pp collisions at √s = 7 using tau final states

A measurement of the inclusive Z → ττ cross-section in pp collisions at √s =7 is presented based on a dataset of 1.0 fb[superscript −1] collected by the LHCb detector. Candidates for Z → τ τ decays are identified through reconstructed final states with two muons, a muon and an electron, a muon and a hadron, or an electron and a hadron. The production cross-section for Z bosons, with invariant mass between 60 and 120 GeV/c[superscript 2], which decay to τ leptons with transverse momenta greater than 20 GeV/c and pseudorapidities between 2.0 and 4.5, is measured to be σ[subscript pp]→Z→ττ = 71.4 ± 3.5 ± 2.8 ± 2.5 pb; the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic, and the third is due to the uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The ratio of the cross-sections for Z → τ τ to Z → μμ is determined to be 0.93 ± 0.09, where the uncertainty is the combination of statistical, systematic, and luminosity uncertainties of the two measurements.National Science Foundation (U.S.

Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40+8-8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Mo. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ~40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One- Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ~9 and ~16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta

A922 Sequential measurement of 1 hour creatinine clearance (1-CRCL) in critically ill patients at risk of acute kidney injury (AKI)

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Trade-offs during the COVID-19 pandemic: A discrete choice experiment about policy preferences in Portugal

The need to control the sanitary situation during the COVID-19 pandemic has led governments to implement several restrictions with substantial social and economic impacts. We explored people’s trade-offs in terms of their income, life restrictions, education, and poverty in the society, compared to their willingness to avoid deaths. We applied a web-based discrete choice experiment to elicit preferences of the Portuguese citizens for these attributes and computed the marginal rate of substitution in terms of avoided deaths. We recorded 2,191 responses that faced the possibility of having 250 COVID-19 related deaths per day as the worst possible outcome from the choice levels presented. Estimates suggested that individuals would be willing to sacrifice 30% instead of 10% of their income to avoid approximately 47 deaths per day during the first six months of 2021. For the same period, they would also accept 30% of the students’ population to become educationally impaired, instead of 10%, to avoid approximately 25 deaths; a strict lockdown, instead of mild life restrictions, to avoid approximately 24 deaths; and 45% of the population to be in risk of poverty, instead of 25%, to avoid approximately 101 deaths. Our paper shows that avoiding deaths was strongly preferred to the remaining societal impacts; and that being a female, as well as working on site, led individuals to be more averse to such health hazards. Furthermore, we show how a DCE can be used to assess the societal support to decision-making during times of crisis