Mesoamerican urbanism revisited: Environmental change, adaptation, resilience, persistence, and collapse

Urban adaptation to climate change is a global challenge requiring a broad response that can be informed by how urban societies in the past responded to environmental shocks. Yet, interdisciplinary efforts to leverage insights from the urban past have been stymied by disciplinary silos and entrenched misconceptions regarding the nature and diversity of premodern human settlements and institutions, especially in the case of prehispanic Mesoamerica. Long recognized as a distinct cultural region, prehispanic Mesoamerica was the setting for one of the world’s original urbanization episodes despite the impediments to communication and resource extraction due to the lack of beasts of burden and wheeled transport, and the limited and relatively late use of metal implements. Our knowledge of prehispanic urbanism in Mesoamerica has been significantly enhanced over the past two decades due to significant advances in excavating, analyzing, and contextualizing archaeological materials. We now understand that Mesoamerican urbanism was as much a story about resilience and adaptation to environmental change as it was about collapse. Here we call for a dialogue among Mesoamerican urban archaeologists, sustainability scientists, and researchers interested in urban adaptation to climate change through a synthetic perspective on the organizational diversity of urbanism. Such a dialogue, seeking insights into what facilitates and hinders urban adaptation to environmental change, can be animated by shifting the long-held emphasis on failure and collapse to a more empirically grounded account of resilience and the factors that fostered adaptation and sustainability

Human Papillomavirus Infection in HIV-1 Infected Women in Catalonia (Spain): Implications for Prevention of Cervical Cancer

Background High-risk human Papillomavirus infection is a necessary factor for cervical squamous intraepithelial lesions and invasive cervical cancer. In HIV-1-infected women, HPV infection is more prevalent and a higher risk of cervical cancer has been identified. We aimed to calculate the prevalence of infection by HR-HPV, determine the factors associated with this infection and abnormal cytology findings and to describe the history of cervical cancer screening in HIV-1-infected women. Methods We enrolled 479 HIV-1-infected women from the PISCIS cohort. Each patient underwent a gynecological check-up, PAP smear, HPV AND Hybrid capture, HPV genotyping, and colposcopy and biopsy, if necessary. We applied questionnaires to obtain information on sociodemographic, behavioral, clinical, and cervical screening variables. We present a cross-sectional analysis. Results Median age was 42 years. The prevalence of HR-HPV infection was 33.2% and that of high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL) was 3.8%. The most common genotypes were 16(23%), 53(20.3%), and 52(16.2%). The factor associated with HR-HPV infection was age 500cells/mm3 (OR,8.4; 95%CI,3.7-19.2), HIV-1 viral load >10,000copies/mL versus <400copies/mL (OR,2.1; 95%CI,1.0-4.4), and use of oral contraceptives (OR,2.0; 95%CI,1.0-3.9). Sixty percent of HIV-1-infected women had had one Pap smear within the last 2 years. Conclusions The high prevalence of HPV infection and cervical lesions in the HIV-1-infected population in Catalonia, as well as the low coverage and frequency of screening in this group, means that better preventive efforts are necessary and should include vaccination against HPV, better accessibility to screening programs, training of health care professionals, and specific health education for HIV-1-infected women

Non-lysosomal Activation in Macrophages of Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar) After Infection With Piscirickettsia salmonis

Piscirickettsia salmonis is a facultative intracellular pathogen and etiological agent of the systemic disease salmonid rickettsial septicemia. It has been suggested that P. salmonis is able to survive in host macrophages, localized within a vacuole like-compartment which prevents lysosomal degradation. However, the relevant aspects of the pathogenesis of P. salmonis as the host modulation that allow its intracellular survival have been poorly characterized. In this study, we evaluated the role of lysosomes in the response to P. salmonis infection in macrophage-enriched cell cultures established from Atlantic salmon head kidneys. Bacterial infection was confirmed using confocal microscopy. A gentamicin protection assay was performed to recover intracellular bacteria and the 16S rDNA copy number was quantified through quantitative polymerase chain reaction in order to determine the replication of P. salmonis within macrophages. Lysosomal activity in Atlantic salmon macrophage-enriched cell cultures infected with P. salmonis was evaluated by analyzing the lysosomal pH and proteolytic ability through confocal microscopy. The results showed that P. salmonis can survive ≥120 h in Atlantic salmon macrophage-enriched cell cultures, accompanied by an increase in the detection of the 16S rDNA copy number/cell. The latter finding suggests that P. salmonis also replicates in Atlantic salmon macrophage-enriched cell cultures. Moreover, this bacterial survival and replication appears to be favored by a perturbation of the lysosomal degradation system. We observed a modulation in the total number of lysosomes and lysosomal acidification following infection with P. salmonis. Collectively, the results of this study showed that infection of Atlantic salmon macrophages with P. salmonis induced limited lysosomal response which may be associated with host immune evasion mechanisms of P. salmonis that have not been previously reported

Influenza Vaccination for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease in the Americas: Consensus document of the Inter-American Society of Cardiology and the Word Heart Federation

Background Cardiovascular mortality is decreasing but remains the leading cause of death world-wide. Respiratory infections such as influenza significantly contribute to morbidity and mortality in patients with cardiovascular disease. Despite of proven benefits, influenza vaccination is not fully implemented, especially in Latin America. Objective The aim was to develop a regional consensus with recommendations regarding influenza vaccination and cardiovascular disease. Methods A multidisciplinary team composed by experts in the management and prevention of cardiovascular disease from the Americas, convened by the Inter-American Society of Cardiology (IASC) and the World Heart Federation (WHF), participated in the process and the formulation of statements. The modified RAND/UCLA methodology was used. This document was supported by a grant from the WHF. Results An extensive literature search was divided into seven questions, and a total of 23 conclusions and 29 recommendations were achieved. There was no disagreement among experts in the conclusions or recommendations. Conclusions There is a strong correlation between influenza and cardiovascular events. Influenza vaccination is not only safe and a proven strategy to reduce cardiovascular events, but it is also cost saving. We found several barriers for its global implementation and potential strategies to overcome them