Study protocol for the multicentre cohorts of Zika virus infection in pregnant women, infants, and acute clinical cases in Latin America and the Caribbean: The ZIKAlliance consortium

Background: The European Commission (EC) Horizon 2020 (H2020)-funded ZIKAlliance Consortium designed a multicentre study including pregnant women (PW), children (CH) and natural history (NH) cohorts. Clinical sites were selected over a wide geographic range within Latin America and the Caribbean, taking into account the dynamic course of the ZIKV epidemic. Methods: Recruitment to the PW cohort will take place in antenatal care clinics. PW will be enrolled regardless of symptoms and followed over the course of pregnancy, approximately every 4 weeks. PW will be revisited at delivery (or after miscarriage/abortion) to assess birth outcomes, including microcephaly and other congenital abnormalities according to the evolving definition of congenital Zika syndrome (CZS). After birth, children will be followed for 2 years in the CH cohort. Follow-up visits are scheduled at ages 1-3, 4-6, 12, and 24 months to assess neurocognitive and developmental milestones. In addition, a NH cohort for the characterization of symptomatic rash/fever illness was designed, including follow-up to capture persisting health problems. Blood, urine, and other biological materials will be collected, and tested for ZIKV and other relevant arboviral diseases (dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever) using RT-PCR or serological methods. A virtual, decentralized biobank will be created. Reciprocal clinical monitoring has been established between partner sites. Substudies of ZIKV seroprevalence, transmissio

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

Cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes mortality burden of cardiometabolic risk factors from 1980 to 2010: A comparative risk assessment

Background: High blood pressure, blood glucose, serum cholesterol, and BMI are risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and some of these factors also increase the risk of chronic kidney disease and diabetes. We estimated mortality from cardiovascular diseases, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes that was attributable to these four cardiometabolic risk factors for all countries and regions from 1980 to 2010. Methods: We used data for exposure to risk factors by country, age group, and sex from pooled analyses of population-based health surveys. We obtained relative risks for the effects of risk factors on cause-specific mortality from meta-analyses of large prospective studies. We calculated the population attributable fractions for each risk factor alone, and for the combination of all risk factors, accounting for multicausality and for mediation of the effects of BMI by the other three risks. We calculated attributable deaths by multiplying the cause-specific population attributable fractions by the number of disease-specific deaths. We obtained cause-specific mortality from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors 2010 Study. We propagated the uncertainties of all the inputs to the final estimates. Findings: In 2010, high blood pressure was the leading risk factor for deaths due to cardiovascular diseases, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes in every region, causing more than 40% of worldwide deaths from these diseases; high BMI and glucose were each responsible for about 15% of deaths, and high cholesterol for more than 10%. After accounting for multicausality, 63% (10·8 million deaths, 95% CI 10·1-11·5) of deaths from these diseases in 2010 were attributable to the combined effect of these four metabolic risk factors, compared with 67% (7·1 million deaths, 6·6-7·6) in 1980. The mortality burden of high BMI and glucose nearly doubled from 1980 to 2010. At the country level, age-standardised death rates from these diseases attributable to the combined effects of these four risk factors surpassed 925 deaths per 100 000 for men in Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia, but were less than 130 deaths per 100 000 for women and less than 200 for men in some high-income countries including Australia, Canada, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, South Korea, and Spain. Interpretation: The salient features of the cardiometabolic disease and risk factor epidemic at the beginning of the 21st century are high blood pressure and an increasing effect of obesity and diabetes. The mortality burden of cardiometabolic risk factors has shifted from high-income to low-income and middle-income countries. Lowering cardiometabolic risks through dietary, behavioural, and pharmacological interventions should be a part of the global response to non-communicable diseases. Funding: UK Medical Research Council, US National Institutes of Health. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd

Mitochondrial physiology

As the knowledge base and importance of mitochondrial physiology to evolution, health and disease expands, the necessity for harmonizing the terminology concerning mitochondrial respiratory states and rates has become increasingly apparent. The chemiosmotic theory establishes the mechanism of energy transformation and coupling in oxidative phosphorylation. The unifying concept of the protonmotive force provides the framework for developing a consistent theoretical foundation of mitochondrial physiology and bioenergetics. We follow the latest SI guidelines and those of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) on terminology in physical chemistry, extended by considerations of open systems and thermodynamics of irreversible processes. The concept-driven constructive terminology incorporates the meaning of each quantity and aligns concepts and symbols with the nomenclature of classical bioenergetics. We endeavour to provide a balanced view of mitochondrial respiratory control and a critical discussion on reporting data of mitochondrial respiration in terms of metabolic flows and fluxes. Uniform standards for evaluation of respiratory states and rates will ultimately contribute to reproducibility between laboratories and thus support the development of data repositories of mitochondrial respiratory function in species, tissues, and cells. Clarity of concept and consistency of nomenclature facilitate effective transdisciplinary communication, education, and ultimately further discovery

Maternal dietary patterns and acute leukemia in infants: results from a case control study in Mexico

BackgroundChildhood cancer is the leading cause of disease-related mortality among children aged 5–14 years in Mexico, with acute leukemia being the most common cancer among infants. Examining the overall dietary patterns allows for a comprehensive assessment of food and nutrient consumption, providing a more predictive measure of disease risk than individual foods or nutrients. This study aims to evaluate the association between maternal dietary patterns during pregnancy and the risk of acute leukemia in Mexican infants.MethodsA hospital-based case–control study was conducted, comparing 109 confirmed acute leukemia cases with 152 age-matched controls. All participants (≤24 months) were identified at hospitals in Mexico City between 2010 and 2019. Data on a posteriori dietary patterns and other relevant variables were collected through structured interviews and dietary questionnaires. Multivariate logistic regression was employed to estimate the association between maternal dietary patterns during pregnancy and the risk of acute leukemia in infants.ResultsThe “Balanced & Vegetable-Rich” pattern, characterized by a balanced consumption of various food groups and higher vegetable intake, exhibited a negative association with acute leukemia when compared to the “High Dairy & Cereals” Pattern (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 0.51; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.29, 0.90). We observed that mothers who gave birth to girls and adhered to a healthy dietary pattern during pregnancy exhibited significantly lower odds of their children developing AL compared to those who gave birth to boys [OR = 0.32 (95% CI 0.11, 0.97)]. Our results underscore the significance of maternal nutrition as a modifiable factor in disease prevention and the importance of prenatal health education

La renovación de la palabra en el bicentenario de la Argentina : los colores de la mirada lingüística

El libro reúne trabajos en los que se exponen resultados de investigaciones presentadas por investigadores de Argentina, Chile, Brasil, España, Italia y Alemania en el XII Congreso de la Sociedad Argentina de Lingüística (SAL), Bicentenario: la renovación de la palabra, realizado en Mendoza, Argentina, entre el 6 y el 9 de abril de 2010. Las temáticas abordadas en los 167 capítulos muestran las grandes líneas de investigación que se desarrollan fundamentalmente en nuestro país, pero también en los otros países mencionados arriba, y señalan además las áreas que recién se inician, con poca tradición en nuestro país y que deberían fomentarse. Los trabajos aquí publicados se enmarcan dentro de las siguientes disciplinas y/o campos de investigación: Fonología, Sintaxis, Semántica y Pragmática, Lingüística Cognitiva, Análisis del Discurso, Psicolingüística, Adquisición de la Lengua, Sociolingüística y Dialectología, Didáctica de la lengua, Lingüística Aplicada, Lingüística Computacional, Historia de la Lengua y la Lingüística, Lenguas Aborígenes, Filosofía del Lenguaje, Lexicología y Terminología

Fitoplasma representante de un nuevo subgrupo, 16SrI-Z, asociado con síntomas de Cogollo Arrepollado del Papayo (PBT) en Cuba

Phytoplasmas are associated with two papaya diseases in Cuba, Papaya Bunchy Top (PBT) and Bunchy Top Symptoms (BTS), which decrease fruit production. Assessment of the 16S ribosomal DNA by nested PCR, conventional RFLP, sequencing, and in silico RFLP analyses allowed the identification of a new phytoplasma subgroup designated BTSp-16SrI-Z associated with BTS disease in the eastern region of the country. BTSp-16SrI-Z subgroup was detected in 60.42 % of the surveyed plants with crown leaf chlorosis and necrosis of the young leaves. Results confirmed that this phytoplasma strain was consistently associated with the observed BTS symptoms, implying new epidemiological constraints for the disease management.Key words: papaya, nested PCR, phytoplasma, sequencing, in silico RFLP.Los fitoplasmas se asocian con dos enfermedades del papayo en Cuba, Cogollo Arrepollado del Papayo (PBT) y Síntomas de Cogollo Arrepollado (BTS), que disminuyen la producción de frutos de papaya. La detección del ADN ribosomal 16S por análisis de PCR anidada, RFLP convencional, secuenciación y RFLP in silico permitió la identificación de un nuevo subgrupo de fitoplasmas 16SrI-Z asociado a la enfermedad BTS en la región oriental del país. El fitoplasma BTSp-16SrI-Z se detectó en el 60,42 % de las plantas muestreadas con clorosis en las hojas de la región apical y necrosis en las hojas jóvenes. El resultado confirma que este aislado de fitoplasma está consistentemente asociado con síntomas de BTS, lo cual implica nuevas restricciones para el manejo de la enfermedad. Palabras clave: papayo, PCR anidada, fitoplasma, secuenciación, RFLP in silico