Impact of aetiological treatment on conventional and multiplex serology in chronic Chagas disease

The main criterion for treatment effectiveness in Chagas Disease has been the seronegative conversion of previously reactive serology, generally achieved many years post-treatment. The lack of reliable tests to ensure parasite clearance and to examine the effect of treatment is the main difficulty in evaluating treatment for chronic Chagas disease. Decreases of conventional and non-conventional serological titers can be useful tools to monitor the early impact of treatment. We serially measured changes in antibody levels, including seronegative conversion as well as declines in titers in 53 benznidazole-treated and 89 untreated chronically T. cruzi-infected subjects. Seronegative conversion as well as decreases of titers was significantly higher in treated compared with untreated patients. A strong concordance was found between decreases of titers of conventional and non-conventional serologic tests post-treatment, reaffirming the findings. When seronegative conversion plus decreases of titers were considered altogether, the impact of treatment was higher, in a shorter follow-up period than previously considered. New tools for monitoring the effectiveness of treatment of chronic Chagas disease are necessary, and the results showed in this study is a contribution to researchers and physicians who assist patients suffering from this disease

On the Diversity of Phyllodocida (Annelida: Errantia), with a Focus on Glyceridae, Goniadidae, Nephtyidae, Polynoidae, Sphaerodoridae, Syllidae, and the Holoplanktonic Families

Este artículo contiene 65 páginas, 26 figuras, 1 tabla.Phyllodocida is a clade of errantiate annelids characterized by having ventral sensory palps, anterior enlarged cirri, axial muscular proboscis, compound chaetae (if present) with a single ligament, and of lacking dorsolateral folds. Members of most families date back to the Carboniferous, although the earliest fossil was dated from the Devonian. Phyllodocida holds 27 well-established and morphologically homogenous clades ranked as families, gathering more than 4600 currently accepted nominal species. Among them, Syllidae and Polynoidae are the most specious polychaete groups. Species of Phyllodocida are mainly found in the marine benthos, although a few inhabit freshwater, terrestrial and planktonic environments, and occur from intertidal to deep waters in all oceans. In this review, we (1) explore the current knowledge on species diversity trends (based on traditional species concept and molecular data), phylogeny, ecology, and geographic distribution for the whole group, (2) try to identify the main knowledge gaps, and (3) focus on selected families: Alciopidae, Goniadidae, Glyceridae, Iospilidae, Lopadorrhynchidae, Polynoidae, Pontodoridae, Nephtyidae, Sphaerodoridae, Syllidae, Tomopteridae, Typhloscolecidae, and Yndolaciidae. The highest species richness is concentrated in European, North American, and Australian continental shelves (reflecting a strong sampling bias). While most data come from shallow coastal and surface environments most world oceans are clearly under-studied. The overall trends indicate that new descriptions are constantly added through time and that less than 10% of the known species have molecular barcode information availableWe acknowledge support of the publication fees by the CSIC Open Access Publication Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI) and the Open Access Publication Funds of the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen. This research was funded by the Spanish “Agencia Estatal de Investigación” (AEI) and the European Funds for Regional Development (FEDER), Research Project PopCOmics (CTM2017-88080) to DM; the Russian Scientific Foundation for Basic Research, grant no. RFBR 18-05-00459 to TAB; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), contract foreseen in the Decree-Law 57/2016 (Nrs 4-6, art. 23), changed by Law 57/2017 to AR and FCT/MCTES to CESAM (UIDP/50017/2020+UIDB/50017/2020) through national funds; São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP), fellowship proc. 2007/53040-9 to MVF; Spanish MINECO, AEI, Comunidad Autónoma de las Islas Baleares, European Social Funds and Ramón y Cajal program, RYC-2016-20799 to MC; FCT and ESF (SFRH/BD/131527/2017) through a PhD grant to MALT.Peer reviewe

Impact of Aetiological Treatment on Conventional and Multiplex Serology in Chronic Chagas Disease

The main criterion for treatment effectiveness in Chagas Disease has been the seronegative conversion of previously reactive serology, generally achieved many years post-treatment. The lack of reliable tests to ensure parasite clearance and to examine the effect of treatment is the main difficulty in evaluating treatment for chronic Chagas disease. Decreases of conventional and non-conventional serological titers can be useful tools to monitor the early impact of treatment. We serially measured changes in antibody levels, including seronegative conversion as well as declines in titers in 53 benznidazole-treated and 89 untreated chronically T. cruzi-infected subjects. Seronegative conversion as well as decreases of titers was significantly higher in treated compared with untreated patients. A strong concordance was found between decreases of titers of conventional and non-conventional serologic tests post-treatment, reaffirming the findings. When seronegative conversion plus decreases of titers were considered altogether, the impact of treatment was higher, in a shorter follow-up period than previously considered. New tools for monitoring the effectiveness of treatment of chronic Chagas disease are necessary, and the results showed in this study is a contribution to researchers and physicians who assist patients suffering from this disease

Research and Development for Near Detector Systems Towards Long Term Evolution of Ultra-precise Long-baseline Neutrino Experiments

With the discovery of non-zero value of $\theta_{13}$ mixing angle, the next generation of long-baseline neutrino (LBN) experiments offers the possibility of obtaining statistically significant samples of muon and electron neutrinos and anti-neutrinos with large oscillation effects. In this document we intend to highlight the importance of Near Detector facilities in LBN experiments to both constrain the systematic uncertainties affecting oscillation analyses but also to perform, thanks to their close location, measurements of broad benefit for LBN physics goals. A strong European contribution to these efforts is possible

Biomagnification of mercury through the food web of the Santos continental shelf, subtropical Brazil

This study was conducted on the continental shelf surrounding a large metropolitan\ud region on the coast of São Paulo State, Southeast Brazil. This region harbours a large industrial plant and the largest port in Latin America, both of which release pollutants into the Santos−São Vicente estuarine system. High levels of Hg have been reported in sediments and fish from the estuaries and Santos Bay; however, data for the biota in offshore waters are scarce, and the biomagnification of Hg across the food web here has never been assessed. In this study, the trophic structure of the Santos shelf was addressed through the carbon and nitrogen stable isotope compositions of different species across a trophic gradient. We determined the total Hg levels (THg, dry weight) of invertebrates and fish to estimate the rate of biomagnification of this metal in the benthic and pelagic food webs. The lowest mean THg levels were found in zooplankton (0.006 μg g−1)\ud and surface-depositivore polychaetes (0.011 μg g−1); the highest THg levels were found in the largest fishes: Patagonian flounder (0.825 μg g−1), fat snook (0.714 μg g−1), and lesser guitarfish (0.639 μg g−1). Overall, the Hg concentration in fish was below the recommended limit for human consumption. The THg and δ15N were positively correlated in both food webs; however, the rate of biomagnification was higher and the basal Hg was lower in the pelagic food web. These differences may be related to the differing bioavailability of mercury in water and sediment, the higher diversity of prey and more complex feeding interactions in the benthic food web, and metabolic differences among different taxa

Allopurinol reduces antigen-specific and polyclonal activation of human T cells

Allopurinol is the most popular commercially available xanthine oxidase inhibitor and it is widely used for treatment of symptomatic hyperuricaemia, or gout. Although, several anti-inflammatory actions of allopurinol have been demonstrated in vivo and in vitro, there have been few studies on the action of allopurinol on T cells. In the current study, we have assessed the effect of allopurinol on antigen-specific and mitogen-driven activation and cytokine production in human T cells. Allopurinol markedly decreased the frequency of IFN-γ and IL-2-producing T cells, either after polyclonal or antigen-specific stimulation with Herpes Simplex virus 1, Influenza (Flu) virus, tetanus toxoid and Trypanosoma cruzi-derived antigens. Allopurinol attenuated CD69 upregulation after CD3 and CD28 engagement and significantly reduced the levels of spontaneous and mitogen-induced intracellular reactive oxygen species in T cells. The diminished T cell activation and cytokine production in the presence of allopurinol support a direct action of allopurinol on human T cells, offering a potential pharmacological tool for the management of cell-mediated inflammatory diseases

Effects of harbor activities on sediment quality in a semi-arid region in Brazil

Tropical marine environments are rich in biodiversity and the presence of harbor activities in these areas can harm the coastal ecosystems. In this study, we assessed sediment quality of two harbors from a tropical region in Brazil by applying multiple lines-of-evidence approach. This approach included the integration of results on: (1) grain size, organic matter, organic carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, trace metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, linear alkylbenzenes, and tributyltin(2) acute toxicity of whole sediments and chronic toxicity of liquid phasesand (3) benthic community descriptors. Our results revealed that the main contaminants detected in sediments from Mucuripe and Pecen Harbors were chromium, copper, nitrogen, zinc, and tributyltin. These toxicants arise from typical harbor activities. However, the changes in benthic composition and structure appear to depend on a combination of physical impacts, such as the deposition of fine sediments and the toxic potential of contaminants, especially in Mucuripe. Thus, apart from toxicants physical processes are important in describing risks. This information may assist in management and conservation of marine coastal areas. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Fundação Cearense de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (FUNCAP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Autoridade portuária (Docas do Ceará e Ceará Portos)Univ Fed Ceara, Inst Ciencias Mar, Fortaleza, Ceara, BrazilUNESP, Nucleo Estudos Poluicao & Ecotoxicol Aquat, Sao Vicente, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Inst Mar, Santos, BrazilUniv Sao Paulo, Inst Pesquisas Energet & Nucl, Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Sao Paulo, Inst Oceanog, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Rio Grande FURG, Inst Oceanog, Rio Grande, BrazilInstituto do Mar, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Santos, BrazilFUNCAP: 1571/07FUNCAP: BMD-0008-00058.01.18/09CNPq: 142002/2010-0CNPq: 552299/2010-3CNPq: 306486/2015-6Web of Scienc