Potencial evocado auditivo de tronco encefálico em recém-nascido: influência do sexo e da relação peso e idade gestacional

OBJECTIVE:To investigate the influence of gender and weight/gestational age ratio on the Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) in preterm (PT) and term (T) newborns.METHODS:176 newborns were evaluated by ABR; 88 were preterm infants - 44 females (22 small and 22 appropriate for gestational age) and 44 males (22 small and 22 appropriate for gestational age). The preterm infants were compared to 88 term infants - 44 females (22 small and 22 appropriate for gestational age) and 44 males (22 small and 22 appropriate for gestational age). All newborns had bilateral presence of transient otoacoustic emissions and type A tympanometry.RESULTS:No interaural differences were found. ABR response did not differentiate newborns regarding weight/gestational age in males and females. Term newborn females showed statistically shorter absolute latencies (except on wave I) than males. This finding did not occur in preterm infants, who had longer latencies than term newborns, regardless of gender.CONCLUSIONS:Gender and gestational age influence term infants' ABR, with lower responses in females. The weight/gestational age ratio did not influence ABR response in either groups.OBJETIVO:Verificar las influencias del sexo y la relación peso/edad gestacional en las respuestas del Potencial Evocado Auditivo de Tronco Encefálico (PEATE) en recién nacidos pretérmino (PT) y a término (T).MÉTODOS:Se evaluaron a 176 recién nacidos por medio del PEATE, siendo 88 prematuros - 44 femeninos (22 pequeños y 22 adecuados para la edad gestacional) y 44 masculinos (22 pequeños y 22 adecuados para la edad gestacional). Se compararon los prematuros con 88 recién nacidos a término, 44 del sexo femenino (22 pequeños y 22 adecuados) y 44 del sexo masculino (22 pequeños y 22 adecuados). Todos los recién nacidos presentaron emisiones otoacústicas bilateralmente, por estímulo transiente y timpanometría tipo A.RESULTADOS:No se encontraron diferencias interaurales y en el desempeño de los recién nacidos en las respuestas del PEATE respecto a la clasificación peso/edad gestacional, en ambos sexos. Los recién nacidos a término del sexo femenino mostraron latencias absolutas estadísticamente más cortas (excepto onda I) que las del sexo masculino; lo mismo no pasó con los prematuros. Los neonatos pretérmino presentaron latencias más prolongadas que las de los recién nacidos a término, independiente del sexo.CONCLUSIONES:El sexo y la edad gestacional ejercen influencia relevante en el PEATE de recién nacidos a término, con respuestas menores en el sexo femenino, debiendo considerárselas en el análisis clínico. La relación peso/edad gestacional, en contrario, no interfiere en las respuestas de ese potencial.OBJETIVO:Verificar as influências do sexo e a relação peso/idade gestacional nas respostas do Potencial Evocado Auditivo de Tronco Encefálico (PEATE) em recém-nascidos pré-termo (PT) e a termo (T).MÉTODOS:Avaliaram-se 176 recém-nascidos por meio do PEATE, sendo 88 prematuros - 44 femininos (22 pequenos e 22 adequados para a idade gestacional) e 44 masculinos (22 pequenos e 22 adequados para a idade gestacional). Compararam-se os prematuros a 88 recém-nascidos a termo, 44 do sexo feminino (22 pequenos e 22 adequados) e 44 do sexo masculino (22 pequenos e 22 adequados). Todos os recém-nascidos apresentaram emissões otoacústicas bilateralmente, por estímulo transiente e timpanometria tipo A.RESULTADOS:Não se encontraram diferenças interaurais e no desempenho dos recém-nascidos nas respostas do PEATE quanto à classificação peso/idade gestacional, em ambos os sexos. Os recém-nascidos a termo do sexo feminino mostraram latências absolutas estatisticamente mais curtas (exceto onda I) do que os do masculino; o mesmo não ocorreu nos prematuros. Os neonatos pré-termo apresentaram latências mais prolongadas que as dos recém-nascidos a termo, independentemente do sexo.CONCLUSÕES O sexo e a idade gestacional exercem influência relevante no PEATE de recém-nascidos a termo, com respostas menores no sexo feminino. A relação peso/idade gestacional, ao contrário, não interfere nas respostas desse potencial.UNIFESP Hospital São PauloUniversidade de São Paulo Faculdade de MedicinaUniversidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM)UNIFESP, Hospital São PauloUNIFESP, EPMSciEL

High-quality draft genome sequence of Pseudomonas reidholzensis strain CCOS 865T

We have sequenced and assembled the genome of Pseudomonas reidholzensis CCOS 865T, which was isolated in 2014 from forest soil. Members of the genus Pseudomonas play important roles in environmental systems and are utilized in many biotechnological processes. The genome of this species may provide an important resource for the discovery of novel enzyme activities

Species‐specific transpiration responses to intermediate disturbance in a northern hardwood forest

Intermediate disturbances shape forest structure and composition, which may in turn alter carbon, nitrogen, and water cycling. We used a large‐scale experiment in a forest in northern lower Michigan where we prescribed an intermediate disturbance by stem girdling all canopy‐dominant early successional trees to simulate an accelerated age‐related senescence associated with natural succession. Using 3 years of eddy covariance and sap flux measurements in the disturbed area and an adjacent control plot, we analyzed disturbance‐induced changes to plot level and species‐specific transpiration and stomatal conductance. We found transpiration to be ~15% lower in disturbed plots than in unmanipulated control plots. However, species‐specific responses to changes in microclimate varied. While red oak and white pine showed increases in stomatal conductance during postdisturbance (62.5 and 132.2%, respectively), red maple reduced stomatal conductance by 36.8%. We used the hysteresis between sap flux and vapor pressure deficit to quantify diurnal hydraulic stress incurred by each species in both plots. Red oak, a ring porous anisohydric species, demonstrated the largest mean relative hysteresis, while red maple, bigtooth aspen, and paper birch, all diffuse porous species, had the lowest relative hysteresis. We employed the Penman‐Monteith model for LE to demonstrate that these species‐specific responses to disturbance are not well captured using current modeling strategies and that accounting for changes to leaf area index and plot microclimate are insufficient to fully describe the effects of disturbance on transpiration.Key PointsPlot level scaling of evaporation from sap flux evaluated with eddy fluxDisturbance changes intradaily transpiration dynamicsHydraulic strategy causes species‐specific transpiration differencesPeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110637/1/jgrg20315.pd

Complete genome sequence of the cyanogenic phosphate-solubilizing Pseudomonas sp. strain CCOS 191 : a close relative of Pseudomonas mosseli

We sequenced the complete genome of the isolate Pseudomonas sp. CCOS 191. This strain is able to dissolve phosphate minerals and form cyanide. The genome sequence is used to establish the phylogenetic relationship of this species

Apraxia and motor dysfunction in corticobasal syndrome

Background: Corticobasal syndrome (CBS) is characterized by multifaceted motor system dysfunction and cognitive disturbance; distinctive clinical features include limb apraxia and visuospatial dysfunction. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been used to study motor system dysfunction in CBS, but the relationship of TMS parameters to clinical features has not been studied. The present study explored several hypotheses; firstly, that limb apraxia may be partly due to visuospatial impairment in CBS. Secondly, that motor system dysfunction can be demonstrated in CBS, using threshold-tracking TMS, and is linked to limb apraxia. Finally, that atrophy of the primary motor cortex, studied using voxel-based morphometry analysis (VBM), is associated with motor system dysfunction and limb apraxia in CBS.   Methods: Imitation of meaningful and meaningless hand gestures was graded to assess limb apraxia, while cognitive performance was assessed using the Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination - Revised (ACE-R), with particular emphasis placed on the visuospatial subtask. Patients underwent TMS, to assess cortical function, and VBM.   Results: In total, 17 patients with CBS (7 male, 10 female; mean age 64.4+/2 6.6 years) were studied and compared to 17 matched control subjects. Of the CBS patients, 23.5% had a relatively inexcitable motor cortex, with evidence of cortical dysfunction in the remaining 76.5% patients. Reduced resting motor threshold, and visuospatial performance, correlated with limb apraxia. Patients with a resting motor threshold <50% performed significantly worse on the visuospatial sub-task of the ACE-R than other CBS patients. Cortical function correlated with atrophy of the primary and pre-motor cortices, and the thalamus, while apraxia correlated with atrophy of the pre-motor and parietal cortices.   Conclusions: Cortical dysfunction appears to underlie the core clinical features of CBS, and is associated with atrophy of the primary motor and pre-motor cortices, as well as the thalamus, while apraxia correlates with pre-motor and parietal atrophy

Conserved G-quadruplexes regulate the immediate early promoters of human alphaherpesviruses

Human Alphaherpesviruses comprise three members, herpes simplex virus (HSV) 1 and 2 and varicella zoster virus (VZV). These viruses are characterized by a lytic cycle in epithelial cells and latency in the nervous system, with lifelong infections that may periodically reactivate and lead to serious complications, especially in immunocompromised patients. The mechanisms that regulate viral transcription have not been fully elucidated, but the master role of the immediate early (IE) genes has been established. G-quadruplexes are non-canonical nucleic-acid structures that control transcription, replication, and recombination in many organisms including viruses and that represent attractive antiviral targets. In this work, we investigate the presence, conservation, folding and activity of G-quadruplexes in the IE promoters of the Alphaherpesviruses. Our analysis shows that all IE promoters in the genome of HSV-1, HSV-2 and VZV contain fully conserved G-quadruplex forming sequences. These comprise sequences with long loops and bulges, and thus deviating from the classic G-quadruplex motifs. Moreover, their location is both on the leading and lagging strand and in some instances they contain exuberant G-tracts. Biophysical and biological analysis proved that all sequences actually fold into G-quadruplex under physiological conditions and can be further stabilized by the G-quadruplex ligand BRACO-19, with subsequent impairment of viral IE gene transcription in cells. These results help shed light on the control of viral transcription and indicate new viral targets to design drugs that impair the early steps of Alphaherpesviruses. In addition, they validate the significance of G-quadruplexes in the general regulation of viral cycles

An intercomparison of remote sensing river discharge estimation algorithms from measurements of river height, width, and slope

The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite mission planned for launch in 2020 will map river elevations and inundated area globally for rivers >100 m wide. In advance of this launch, we here evaluated the possibility of estimating discharge in ungauged rivers using synthetic, daily ‘‘remote sensing’’ measurements derived from hydraulic models corrupted with minimal observational errors. Five discharge algorithms were evaluated, as well as the median of the five, for 19 rivers spanning a range of hydraulic and geomorphic conditions. Reliance upon a priori information, and thus applicability to truly ungauged reaches, varied among algorithms: one algorithm employed only global limits on velocity and depth, while the other algorithms relied on globally available prior estimates of discharge. We found at least one algorithm able to estimate instantaneous discharge to within 35% relative root-mean-squared error (RRMSE) on 14/16 nonbraided rivers despite out-of-bank flows, multichannel planforms, and backwater effects. Moreover, we found RRMSE was often dominated by bias; the median standard deviation of relative residuals across the 16 nonbraided rivers was only 12.5%. SWOT discharge algorithm progress is therefore encouraging, yet future efforts should consider incorporating ancillary data or multialgorithm synergy to improve results

Cell entry of a host targeting protein of oomycetes requires gp96

This work is supported by the [European Community’s] Seventh Framework Programme [FP7/2007–2013] under grant agreement no. [238550] (L.L., J.D.-U., C.J.S., P.v.W.); BBSRC [BBE007120/1, BB/J018333/1 and BB/G012075/1] (F.T., I.d.B., C.J.S., S.W., P.v.W.); Newton Global Partnership Award [BB/N005058/1] (F.T., P.v.W.), the University of Aberdeen (A.D.T., T.R., C.J.S., P.v.W.) and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [CRC1093] (P.B., T.S.). We would like to acknowledge the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia for funding INA. We would like to thank Brian Haas for his bioinformatics support. We would like to acknowledge Neil Gow and Johannes van den Boom for critical reading of the manuscript. We would like to acknowledge Svetlana Rezinciuc for technical help with pH-studies.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Pentoxifylline associated to hypertonic saline solution attenuates inflammatory process and apoptosis after intestinal ischemia/reperfusion in rats

PURPOSE:To evaluate intestinal inflammatory and apoptotic processes after intestinal ischemia/reperfusion injury, modulated by pentoxifylline and hypertonic saline.METHODS:It was allocated into four groups (n=6), 24 male Wistar rats (200 to 250g) and submitted to intestinal ischemia for 40 min and reperfusion for 80 min: IR (did not receive any treatment); HS group (Hypertonic Saline, 4ml/kg-IV); PTX group (Pentoxifylline, 30mg/kg-IV); HS+PTX group (Hypertonic Saline and Pentoxifylline). All animals were heparinized (100U/kg). At the end of reperfusion, ileal fragments were removed and stained on hematoxylin-eosin and histochemical studies for COX-2, Bcl-2 and cleaved caspase-3.RESULTS:The values of sO2 were higher on treated groups at 40 minutes of reperfusion (p=0.0081) and 80 minutes of reperfusion (p=0.0072). Serum lactate values were lower on treated groups after 40 minutes of reperfusion (p=0.0003) and 80 minutes of reperfusion (p=0.0098). Morphologic tissue injuries showed higher grades on IR group versus other groups: HS (p=0.0006), PTX (p=0.0433) and HS+PTX (p=0.0040). The histochemical study showed lesser expression of COX-2 (p=0.0015) and Bcl-2 (p=0.0012) on HS+PTX group. A lower expression of cleaved caspase-3 was demonstrated in PTX (p=0.0090; PTXvsIR).CONCLUSION:The combined use of pentoxifylline and hypertonic saline offers best results on inflammatory and apoptotic inhibitory aspects after intestinal ischemia/reperfusion.São Paulo University Medical SchoolUSP Medical SchoolFederal University of São Paulo Medical SchoolUSP School of MedicineUSP School of Medicine Department of SurgeryUSP Medical School Department of SurgeryUNIFESP, Medical SchoolSciEL