Giardia sp. and Cryptosporidium sp. in Iberian Wolf

ΔΕΝ ΔΙΑΤΙΘΕΤΑΙ ΠΕΡΙΛΗΨΗA subsample consisting of fifty fecal samples from wild Iberian Wolf (Canis lupus signatus), from the northwest of Spain were collected in the field. The samples were analyzed for cysts of Giardia sp. and oocysts of Cryptosporidium sp. using a direct immunofluorescence antibody test (IFA). Giardia sp. and Cryptosporidium sp. were found in 20.0 % of the samples examined. Simple infections were more frequent (90.0 %) with seven (14.0 %) positive for Giardia sp. and two (4.0 %) positive for Cryptosporidium sp. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report of occurrence of Cryptosporidium sp. in Iberian Wolf

NDVI and LST extraction of MODIS data under a GIS open source application - Rickettsia study case in Angola

Fevers of unknown origin can have different aetiologies. The overlapping symptomatology of rickettsial infection and other endemic diseases that cause fever leads to a misdiagnosis or under-diagnosis of spotted fever group of Rickettsia (SFGR). To better understand the epidemiology of this vector-borne disease in Angola, a comprehensive seroprevalence study was conducted investigating the exposure to SFGR in a sample of 92 febrile, Malaria and Yellow Fever negative human plasma specimen, collected to the study of the national surveillance of febrile syndromes between 2016 and 2017, in Angola. The seroprevalence of IgG antibodies against SFG Rickettsia in humans was calculated by gender, and aimag (province). All data were analyzed through a logistic regression. Spatial data sources included Normalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Land Surface Temperature (LST) products by Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). The main objective of this work was the development of a GIS open source application to automatize the extraction of LST and NDVI products from MODIS images. The application was created as a simple graphic interface composed by two input fields (the text file with the coordinates of the sampling points (in sinusoidal coordinate system and the folder with the MODIS images), the field to define the buffer distance, and the output file. The application was tested considering MOD11A1 (LST product), MOD13Q1 and MYD13Q1 (NDVI product), free download from the USGS. QGIS 2.18.17 was used for geospatial operations and Python language was employed for the development of the GIS open source application under QGIS software. The process includes the circumscription of the major clusters where human data were collected. Then, a convex hull (minimum convex bounding geometry) was created around each sampling site with a 10 km buffer zone to accommodate the mobility among the nomadic people being samples. Counts of seropositive and seronegative humans were calculated within each of these sampling clusters along with the mean, maximum, and minimum values of NDVI and LST, and percent area of each land cover class. The application was tested in a set of 92 points in Angola and a buffer of 10 km considering the Universal transverse Mercator (UTM) Zone 33S projection (EPSG:32733) was applied for each point. The LST and NDVI statistical values were extracted for each sampling cluster. Variations in ecological niches, abundance of vegetation and land surface temperature, for ticks and fleas between different provinces could be in part responsible for the geographic differences in seroprevalence observed with SFGR

Giardia sp. and Cryptosporidium sp. in Iberian Wolf

A subsample consisting of fifty fecal samples from wild Iberian Wolf (Canis lupus signatus), from the northwest of Spain were collected in the field. The samples were analyzed for cysts of Giardia sp. and oocysts of Cryptosporidium sp. using a direct immunofluorescence antibody test (IFA). Giardia sp. and Cryptosporidium sp. were found in 20.0 % of the samples examined. Simple infections were more frequent (90.0 %) with seven (14.0 %) positive for Giardia sp. and two (4.0 %) positive for Cryptosporidium sp. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report of occurrence of Cryptosporidium sp. in Iberian Wolf.A91F-E8B8-FA62 | Teresa Susana Letra MateusN/

Post-Treated Prostate Cancer: Normal Findings and Signs of Local Relapse on Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging

The use of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mp-MRI) for prostate cancer has increased over recent years, mainly for detection, staging, and active surveillance. However, suspicion of recurrence in the set of biochemical failure is becoming a significant reason for clinicians to request mp-MRI. Radiologists should be able to recognize the normal post-treatment MRI findings. Fibrosis and atrophic remnant seminal vesicles after prostatectomy are often found and must be differentiated from local relapse. Moreover, brachytherapy, external beam radiotherapy, cryosurgery, and hormonal therapy tend to diffusely decrease the signal intensity of the peripheral zone on T2-weighted images (T2WI) due to the loss of water content, consequently mimicking tumor and hemorrhage. The combination of T2WI and functional studies like diffusion-weighted imaging and dynamic contrast-enhanced improves the identification of local relapse. Tumor recurrence tends to restrict on diffusion images and avidly enhances after contrast administration either within or outside the gland. The authors provide a pictorial review of the normal findings and the signs of local tumor relapse after radical prostatectomy, external beam radiotherapy, brachytherapy, cryosurgery, and hormonal therapy

Cancro da Próstata: O Papel da Ressonância Magnética Multiparamétrica

Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging has been increasingly used for detection, localization and staging of prostate cancer over the last years. It combines high-resolution T2 Weighted-Imaging and at least two functional techniques, which include Dynamic Contrast–Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Diffusion-Weighted Imaging, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging Spectroscopy. Although the combined use of a pelvic phased-array and an Endorectal Coil is considered the state-of-the-art for Magnetic Resonance Imaging evaluation of prostate cancer, Endorectal Coil is only absolute mandatory for Magnetic Resonance Imaging Spectroscopy at 1.5 T. Sensitivity and specificity levels in cancer detection and localization have been improving with functional technique implementation, compared to T2 Weighted-Imaging alone. It has been particularly useful to evaluate patients with abnormal PSA and negative biopsy. Moreover, the information added by the functional techniques may correlate to cancer aggressiveness and therefore be useful to select patients for focal radiotherapy, prostate sparing surgery, focal ablative therapy and active surveillance. However, more studies are needed to compare the functional techniques and understand the advantages and disadvantages of each one. This article reviews the basic principles of prostatic mp-Magnetic Resonance Imaging, emphasizing its role on detection, staging and active surveillance of prostate cancer

AP2γ: a new player on adult hippocampal neurogenesis regulation

Since the recognition that the mammalian brain retains the ability to generate newborn neurons with functional relevance throughout life, the matrix of molecular regulators that govern adult neurogenesis has been the focus of much interest. In a recent study published in Molecular Psychiatry, we demonstrate Activating Protein 2γ (AP2γ), a transcription factor previously implicated in cell fate determination in the developing cortex, as a novel player in the regulation of glutamatergic neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus. Using distinct experimental approaches, we showed that AP2γ is specifically present in a subpopulation of transient amplifying progenitors, where it acts as a crucial promoter of proliferation and differentiation of adult-born glutamatergic granule neurons. Strikingly, deficiency of AP2γ in the adult brain compromises the generation of new glutamatergic neurons, with impact on the function of cortico-limbic circuits. Here, we share our view on how AP2γ integrates the transcriptional orchestration of glutamatergic neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus, and consequently, how it emerges as a novel molecular candidate to study the translation of environmental pressures into alterations of brain neuroplasticity in homeostatic, but also in neuropathological contexts.Bial Foundation (427/14); Northern Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020); European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) (projects NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000013 e NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000023); Competitiveness Factors Operational Programme (COMPETE)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Net ecosystem carbon exchange in three contrasting Mediterranean ecosystems ? the effect of drought

International audienceDroughts reduce gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (Reco), contributing to most of the inter-annual variability in terrestrial carbon sequestration. In seasonally dry climates (Mediterranean), droughts result from reductions in annual rainfall and changes in rain seasonality. We compared carbon fluxes measured by the eddy covariance technique in three contrasting ecosystems in southern Portugal: an evergreen oak woodland (savannah-like) with ca.~21% tree crown cover, a grassland dominated by herbaceous annuals and a coppiced short-rotation eucalyptus plantation. During the experimental period (2003?2006) the eucalyptus plantation was always the strongest sink for carbon: net ecosystem exchange rate (NEE) between ?861 and ?399 g C m?2 year?1. The oak woodland and the grassland were much weaker sinks for carbon: NEE varied in the oak woodland between ?140 and ?28 g C m?2 year?1 and in the grassland between ?190 and +49 g C m?2 year?1. The eucalyptus stand had higher GPP and a lower proportion of GPP spent in respiration than the other systems. The higher GPP resulted from high leaf area duration (LAD), as a surrogate for the photosynthetic photon flux density absorbed by the canopy. The eucalyptus had also higher rain use efficiency (GPP per unit of rain volume) and light use efficiency (the daily GPP per unit incident photosynthetic photon flux density) than the other two ecosystems. The effects of a severe drought could be evaluated during the hydrological-year (i.e., from October to September) of 2004?2005. Between October 2004 and June 2005 the precipitation was only 40% of the long-term average. In 2004?2005 all ecosystems had GPP lower than in wetter years and carbon sequestration was strongly restricted (less negative NEE). The grassland was a net source of carbon dioxide (+49 g C m?2 year?1). In the oak woodland a large proportion of GPP resulted from carbon assimilated by its annual vegetation component, which was strongly affected by the shortage of rain in winter. Overall, severe drought affected more GPP than Reco leading to the deterioration of NEE. Although the rain-use efficiency of the eucalyptus plantation increased in the dry year, this was not the case of evergreen oak woodland, which rain-use efficiency was not influenced by drought. Recovery after drought alleviation, i.e., beginning with heavy rain in October 2005, was fully accomplished in 2006 in the oak woodland and grassland, but slow in the eucalyptus plantation

Technoeconomic and life-cycle analysis of single-step catalytic conversion of wet ethanol into fungible fuel blendstocks

Technoeconomic and life-cycle analyses are presented for catalytic conversion of ethanol to fungible hydrocarbon fuel blendstocks, informed by advances in catalyst and process development. Whereas prior work toward this end focused on 3-step processes featuring dehydration, oligomerization, and hydrogenation, the consolidated alcohol dehydration and oligomerization (CADO) approach described here results in 1-step conversion of wet ethanol vapor (40 wt% in water) to hydrocarbons and water over a metal-modified zeolite catalyst. A development project increased liquid hydrocarbon yields from 36% of theoretical to >80%, reduced catalyst cost by an order of magnitude, scaled up the process by 300-fold, and reduced projected costs of ethanol conversion 12-fold. Current CADO products conform most closely to gasoline blendstocks, but can be blended with jet fuel at low levels today, and could potentially be blended at higher levels in the future. Operating plus annualized capital costs for conversion of wet ethanol to fungible blendstocks are estimated at $2.00/GJ for CADO today and$1.44/GJ in the future, similar to the unit energy cost of producing anhydrous ethanol from wet ethanol ($1.46/GJ). Including the cost of ethanol from either corn or future cellulosic biomass but not production incentives, projected minimum selling prices for fungible blendstocks produced via CADO are competitive with conventional jet fuel when oil is$100 per barrel but not at $60 per barrel. However, with existing production incentives, the projected minimum blendstock selling price is competitive with oil at$60 per barrel. Life-cycle greenhouse gas emission reductions for CADO-derived hydrocarbon blendstocks closely follow those for the ethanol feedstock

Effects of drought ? altered seasonality and low rainfall ? in net ecosystem carbon exchange of three contrasting Mediterranean ecosystems

International audienceDroughts cause reductions in gross primary production (GPP) and also in net ecosystem exchange (NEE), contributing to most of the inter-annual variability in terrestrial carbon sequestration. In seasonally dry climates (Mediterranean) droughts result from reductions in annual rainfall and from changes in rain seasonality. In western Iberia, the hydrological-year (i.e., from October to September) of 2004?2005 was extremely dry, with precipitation 50% below the long-term mean (691 mm in 1961?1990), but 2005?2006 was normal. We compared the carbon fluxes measured by the eddy covariance technique from three contrasting ecosystems in southern Portugal: an evergreen oak woodland (savannah-like) with ca. 21% tree cover; a Mediterranean C3/C4 grassland; and a coppiced eucalyptus plantation. During the dry hydrological-year of 2004?2005, NEE was lowest, the highest sink strength was in the eucalypt plantation (NEE = ?399 g C m ?2 year?1) as compared to the oak woodland (NEE = ?88 g C m ?2 year?1), and the grassland (NEE = +49 g C m ?2 year ?1). The latter was a source of carbon dioxide. The NEE values of the dry year were, however, much lower than those for wetter years, e.g. NEE = ?861 g C m?2 year ?1 in 2002?2003 in the eucalypt plantation. The NEE of the grassland and the oak savannah in the 2005?2006 hydrological-year, with annual precipitation above the long term mean, were ?190 and ?120 g C m ?2 year?1, respectively. All ecosystems studied increased their rain-use efficiency (GPP per unit of rain volume) increased in dry years. In the case of annual vegetation ? grassland and low tree density woodland, however &ndash, rain-use efficiency decreased with severe drought. However, this was more pronounced in the eucalypt plantation due to greater GPP and the use of deep soil water resources. Although both calendar years of 2004 and 2005 had equally low rainfall, the effect of drought on the eucalypt plantation was delayed until the second dry year. This suggests that the effects of water deficits on Mediterranean forests are exacerbated by prolonged droughts when long-term soil water reserves are depleted. The grassland, however, was more vulnerable and responded faster to water deficits. This effect of drought was less pronounced in the oak woodland due to the sparse tree cover