Haemophilus parasuis VtaA2 is involved in adhesion to extracellular proteins

International audienceAbstractHaemophilus parasuis is part of the microbiota of the upper respiratory tract in swine. However, virulent strains can cause a systemic disease known as Glässer’s disease. Several virulence factors have been described in H. parasuis including the virulence-associated trimeric autotransporters (VtaAs). VtaA2 is up-regulated during infection and is only found in virulent strains. In order to determine its biological function, the vtaA2 gene was cloned with its native promotor region in pACYC184, and the transformed Escherichia coli was used to perform functional in vitro assays. VtaA2 was found to have a role in attachment to plastic, mucin, BSA, fibronectin and collagen. As other VtaAs from H. parasuis, the passenger domain of VtaA2 contains collagen domains. In order to examine the contribution of the collagen repeats to VtaA2 function, a recombinant vtaA2 without the central collagen domains was obtained and named vtaA2OL. VtaA2OL showed similar capacity than VtaA2 to adhere to plastic, mucin, BSA, fibronectin and plasma but a reduced capacity to adhere to collagen, suggesting that the collagen domains of VtaA2 are involved in collagen attachment. No function in cell adhesion and invasion to epithelial alveolar cell line A549 or unspecific binding to primary alveolar macrophages was found. Likewise VtaA2 had no role in serum or phagocytosis resistance. We propose that VtaA2 mediates adherence to the host by binding to the mucin, found in the upper respiratory tract mucus, and to the extracellular matrix proteins, present in the connective tissue of systemic sites, such as the serosa

Haemophilus parasuis VtaA2 is involved in adhesion to extracellular proteins

Haemophilus parasuis is part of the microbiota of the upper respiratory tract in swine. However, virulent strains can cause a systemic disease known as Glässer’s disease. Several virulence factors have been described in H. parasuis including the virulence-associated trimeric autotransporters (VtaAs). VtaA2 is up-regulated during infection and is only found in virulent strains. In order to determine its biological function, the vtaA2 gene was cloned with its native promotor region in pACYC184, and the transformed Escherichia coli was used to perform functional in vitro assays. VtaA2 was found to have a role in attachment to plastic, mucin, BSA, fibronectin and collagen. As other VtaAs from H. parasuis, the passenger domain of VtaA2 contains collagen domains. In order to examine the contribution of the collagen repeats to VtaA2 function, a recombinant vtaA2 without the central collagen domains was obtained and named vtaA2OL. VtaA2OL showed similar capacity than VtaA2 to adhere to plastic, mucin, BSA, fibronectin and plasma but a reduced capacity to adhere to collagen, suggesting that the collagen domains of VtaA2 are involved in collagen attachment. No function in cell adhesion and invasion to epithelial alveolar cell line A549 or unspecific binding to primary alveolar macrophages was found. Likewise VtaA2 had no role in serum or phagocytosis resistance. We propose that VtaA2 mediates adherence to the host by binding to the mucin, found in the upper respiratory tract mucus, and to the extracellular matrix proteins, present in the connective tissue of systemic sites, such as the serosa.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Derivation and validation of a clinical prediction rule for sleep apnoea syndrome for use in primary care

Background: Several clinical prediction rules (CPRs) are available for sleep apnoea-hypopnoea syndrome (OSAH), but they are difficult to apply in primary care (PC). Aim: Derivation and validation of a CPR using simple measurements available in PC. Design & setting: A prospective study conducted in health centres from the area of influence of three Spanish hospitals. Method: Patients (aged 18-70 years) who attended for any reason; who presented with at least one of the three key symptoms for OSAH (snoring, breathing pauses while sleeping, and daytime sleepiness); and who were not undergoing non-invasive ventilation or prior treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) were included. Anthropometric data, smoking habit, comorbidities, and Epworth test were collected. Patients were subsequently referred to the sleep unit (SU), where the decision was taken whether or not to instigate treatment. A multivariate logistic model was constructed using a sub-sample and scores assigned based on the regression coefficients; the CPR was validated with the remaining sample. Both receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted and the sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values calculated. Results: The derivation sample comprised 352 patients, with 260 in the validation sample. The final factors (arterial hypertension [AHT], age, body mass index [BMI], and sex) were used to develop a rule with scores ranging from 0.00-5.50. The cut-off point that optimises the area under the curve (AUC) is ?2.50 points (AUC = 0.78; sensitivity = 86%; specificity = 54%; positive predictive value [PPV] = 45%; negative predictive value [NPV] = 90%; likelihood ratio [LR] = 0.26). The properties for the validation sample with this cut-off point are as follows: AUC = 0.68; sensitivity = 81%; specificity = 43%; PPV = 61%; NPV = 68%; LR = 0.44. Conclusion: As in similar cases, the specificity is low, meaning that healthy people are referred to a specialist. A negative result rules out the disease in most cases

Albayzín-2014 evaluation: audio segmentation and classification in broadcast news domains

The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13636-015-0076-3Audio segmentation is important as a pre-processing task to improve the performance of many speech technology tasks and, therefore, it has an undoubted research interest. This paper describes the database, the metric, the systems and the results for the Albayzín-2014 audio segmentation campaign. In contrast to previous evaluations where the task was the segmentation of non-overlapping classes, Albayzín-2014 evaluation proposes the delimitation of the presence of speech, music and/or noise that can be found simultaneously. The database used in the evaluation was created by fusing different media and noises in order to increase the difficulty of the task. Seven segmentation systems from four different research groups were evaluated and combined. Their experimental results were analyzed and compared with the aim of providing a benchmark and showing up the promising directions in this field.This work has been partially funded by the Spanish Government and the European Union (FEDER) under the project TIN2011-28169-C05-02 and supported by the European Regional Development Fund and the Spanish Government (‘SpeechTech4All Project’ TEC2012-38939-C03

Role of ACE2 genetic polymorphisms in susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 among highly exposed but non infected healthcare workers

We aim to evaluate the role of single-nucleotide polymorphisms of the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 in susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection. We included 28 uninfected but highly exposed healthcare workers and 39 hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Thirty-five SNPs were rationally selected. Two variants were associated with increased risk of being susceptible to SARS-CoV-2: the minor A allele in the rs2106806 variant (OR 3.75 [95% CI 1.23-11.43]) and the minor T allele in the rs6629110 variant (OR 3.39 [95% CI 1.09-10.56]). Evaluating the role of genetic variants in susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection could help identify more vulnerable individuals and suggest potential drug targets for COVID-19 patients.This work was supported by Instituto de Salud Carlos III: [grant number AC17/00019,COV20/00349,PI18/00154,PT17/0019]; Merck, Sharp & Dohme: [Ref IISP 59181].S

Censo de Productores de Arándanos. Partido de San Pedro – 2004

Este estudio se realizó con el objetivo de conocer la situación de la producción de arándanos en el Partido de San Pedro. Se identifican y ubican territorialmente a los establecimientos, releva información estratégica relativa a indicadores tecnológicos, el panorama varietal (grado de adopción y nº de plantas por variedad) y los sistemas de protección contra contingencias climáticas (mallas antigranizo, defensas contra heladas)EEA San PedroFil: Ros, Patricio Guillermo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Pedro. Agencia de Extensión Rural San Nicolás; ArgentinaFil: Hansen, Laura. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Pedro; ArgentinaFil: Marcozzi, Paula. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Pedro. Agencia de Extensión Rural San Pedro; ArgentinaFil: Gordó, Manuela. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Pedro. Agencia de Extensión Rural San Pedro; ArgentinaFil: López Serrano, Fernando Alberto. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Pedro. Agencia de Extensión Rural San Pedro; ArgentinaFil: Heguiabeheri, Adolfo Ricardo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Pedro. Agencia de Extensión Rural San Pedro; ArgentinaFil: Biglia, Jorge Lorenzo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Pedro. Agencia de Extensión Rural San Pedro; ArgentinaFil: Bisi, Marcelo Alejandro. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Pedro. Agencia de Extensión Rural San Pedro; ArgentinaFil: Basaldúa, Beatriz Blanca. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Pedro. Agencia de Extensión Rural San Pedro; Argentin

Informe diagnóstico sobre el déficit hídrico en los partidos de la costa norte bonaerense (San Nicolás, Ramallo, San Pedro, Baradero y Zárate). Situación del clima y los cultivos. 19 de octubre de 2022. Versión 1.2

Este informe describe la situación del clima y los cultivos a mediados de octubre de 2022 para los cinco partidos ubicados sobre la costa bonaerense del río Paraná. Incluye: Eventos climáticos y su impacto en los cultivos, Registros de datos meteorológicos, Pronósticos, Precipitaciones: datos mensuales del último año y acumulado, Situación hídrica: área afectada aproximada, Estado de los cultivos: área sembrada, cosechada y sin posibilidades de ser trabajada. Estado vegetativo afectado de los cultivos y Actividades ganaderas afectadas: estimaciones de pérdidas, muerte de animales, traslados, ventas forzosas y recursos forrajeros comprometidos.EEA San PedroFil: Delprino, María Rosa. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Pedro; ArgentinaFil: Gamietea, Ignacio José. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Pedro. Agencia de Extensión Rural San Pedro; ArgentinaFil: Garcia, Leonardo Martin. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Pedro. Agencia de Extensión Rural Zárate; ArgentinaFIl: Ibern, Danila Beatriz. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Pedro. Agencia de Extensión Rural San Pedro; ArgentinaFil: Hansen, Laura. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Pedro; ArgentinaFil: Heguiabeheri, Adolfo Ricardo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Pedro. Agencia de Extensión Rural San Pedro; ArgentinaFil: Lazzari, Franco Daniel. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Pedro; ArgentinaFil: Lopez Serrano, Fernando Alberto. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Pedro. Agencia de Extensión Rural San Pedro; ArgentinaFil: Marcozzi, Paula.Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Pedro. Agencia de Extensión Rural San Pedro; ArgentinaFil: Piola, Mariana. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Pedro; ArgentinaFil: Portillo, Javier Esteban. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Pergamino; ArgentinaFil: Richmond, Pablo Federico. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Pedro. Agencia de Extensión Rural San Nicolás; ArgentinaFil: Ros, Patricio Guillermo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Pedro. Agencia de Extensión Rural San Nicolás; ArgentinaFil: Varela, Lucila. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria San Pedro; Argentin

Turismo y Género. Una mirada desde Iberoamérica

En las últimas cuatro décadas ha crecido el interés de la academia, gobiernos y organizaciones internacionales por estudiar cómo ha sido, en qué circunstancias y qué efectos ha traído la incorporación de las mujeres al turismo. De esta forma se inicia un debate internacional en el que se cuestionan, por un lado, los efectos negativos de esta actividad en la vida de las mujeres y, por el otro, se realzan beneficios económicos que mejoran su calidad de vida y la de sus familias. A pesar del interés y la importante participación de mujeres en el sector turístico, aún son insuficientes los estudios enfocados en explicar y evidenciar su situación laboral. En este contexto, surge la idea de publicar un libro que compilara trabajos recientes en torno a las condiciones de las trabajadoras en el sector turístico de Iberoamérica.Esta obra se compone de tres secciones, Aproximaciones teórico metodológicas, Mujer y turismo en zonas rurales y La mujer en empresas turísticas, cuyas investigaciones abordan distintos temas para evidenciar los problemas enfrentados por las mujeres, proponer diversas soluciones y comprender su escenario laboral. En la primera sección, hay dos capítulos que proponen marcos teóricos para analizar el empoderamiento de las mujeres en el turismo rural. Los resultados de investigaciones de la segunda sección visibilizan las desigualdades, reflexionan y proponen acciones para mejorar las condiciones de las trabajadoras turísticas. En la última, en los tres capítulos, concentrados en las actividades empresariales, se estudian las desventajas y obstáculos de la empleada en alguna compañía turística.Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México