Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency associated hemolysis in COVID-19 patients treated with hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine: New case reports coming out.

Afra TP et al comment our recent report entitled: \u201cacute hemolysis by hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) was observed in G6PD-deficient patient with severe COVID-19 related lung injury\u201d [1,2]. Afra et al. underlight \u201dconfounding factors and inconsistencies\u201d in our conclusion, linking acute drop in Hb in COVID-19 patient with suspected G6PD and HCQ treatment. We respectfully disagree with comments from Afra et al. Our case report was the first one of a series, linking G6PD deficiency with HCQ/CQ treatment for COVID19 infection such as Kuiper ME et al. or Beauverd Y et al. or Maillart et al. [3\u20135]. In our case, we observed an acute drop of Hb values associated with the appearance of hemoglo-binuria and abnormalities in red cell morphology at the blood smear within 48 h after patient hospital admission and the introduction of HCQ treatment. Our patient was transfused and HCQ was withdrawn with stabilization of Hb values. Thus, this was not a spontaneous re-covery of Hb values as suspected by Afra et al. (see Fig. 1 in De Fran-ceschi L et al 2020) [2]. In addition, hemoglobinuria is a hallmark of intravascular hemolysis, which characterizes drug induced acute he-molysis in G6PD patients [6]. Otherwise, drug induced hemolytic an-emia in patients with healthy red cells is general an extravascular he-molysis without hemoglobinuria. Italy is an endemic area for G6PD deficiency [6]. Our patient was suspected for G6PD deficiency based on previous hemolytic events re-corded in patient history. To fully answer the question raised by Afra et al., we have evaluated G6PD activity in our patients at 8 weeks after hospital discharge. As expected we found G6PD deficiency with normal complete blood count analysis and normal reticulocyte count (43.500 retics/uL). Collectively our results and the post-recovery determination of G6PD support the link between acute hemolysis and HCQ/CQ treatment in COVID-19 patient

Acute hemolysis by hydroxycloroquine was observed in G6PD-deficient patient with severe COVD-19 related lung injury.

Our patient might be affected by Mediterannean variant of G6PD deficiency, which is more sensitive to pro-oxidant drugs compared to African G6PD A variant. No conclusive data are available on the possible pro-hemolytic impact of CQ/HCQ on patient with G6PD deficiency [3\u20135]. In COVID-19 emergency we believe it is important to warning the possible hemolytic effects of CQ/HCQ in patients with G6PD deficiency. Thus, the acute drop in Hb levels in the early days of CQ/HCQ treatment of COVID19 symptomatic patient should be considere

AF-algebras and topology of mapping tori

A covariant functor from the category of mapping tori to a category of AF-algebras is constructed; the functor takes continuous maps between such manifolds to stable homomorphisms between the corresponding AF-algebras. We use this functor to develop an obstruction theory for the torus bundles of dimension 2, 3 and 4.Comment: to appear Czechoslovak Math.

Determinação da temperatura e fotoperíodo ideais para o crescimento e esporulação de Trichoderma em meio líquido.

Resumo: Dentre os diversos agentes de biocontrole o Trichoderma é o mais utilizado para combater doenças em plantas por possuir mecanismos de antagonismo diversos. Industrialmente a produção de esporos é realizada em meio sólido, pois sua esporulação em meio líquido ainda é um desafio. Sendo assim, a definição dos parâmetros que promovem a melhor esporulação em fermentação líquida vem sendo investigada. Portanto, o objetivo deste trabalho foi estabelecer temperatura e fotoperíodo que sejam ótimos para obter maior produção de esporos com boa viabilidade. No experimento, um isolado Trichoderma asperellum foi cultivado em frascos de 250ml contendo o meio Czapek-Dox e peptona variando-se as temperaturas em 20, 25 e 30ºC entre fotoperíodos 0 (sem incidência de luz), 12 e 24 horas, sendo o arranjo fatorial 3x3. Os frascos permaneceram por um período de 7 dias em agitador orbital. Para as avaliações foram quantificadas as concentrações de esporos, percentual de conídios viáveis, unidades formadoras de colônias e massa seca. As análises foram realizadas por meio de análise de variância e teste de Tukey a 5%. A faixa de temperatura que promoveu maior concentração de esporos viáveis produzidos foi a de 25 a 30ºC. O fotoperíodo que proporcionou maior estabilidade na produção de esporos viáveis foi o de 12 horas. Abstract: The most studied and the most widely used biocontrol agent for plant diseases is the fungus Trichoderma. The fungus has multiple mechanisms of antagonism against plant pathogens. Industrially, the mass conidial production is performed in solid media, like rice grains, because it’s production in liquid medium is not well understand. Therefore, the definition of parameters that stimulated the better sporulation in liquid fermentation is necessary to be investigated. The aim of this work was to establish the best temperature and photoperiod for increased conidial production and viability. Trichoderma asperellum was grown in flasks of 250 mL containing the medium Czapek-Dox and peptone, varying the temperatures (20, 25 and 30 ° and the photoperiods (0 -no C) light, 12 and 24 hours), in a 3x3 factorial design. The flasks were kept for a period of seven days on orbital shaker. The following evaluations were performed: conidial concentration, conidial viability (germination), colony forming units (UFC) and total dry weight. Statistical analyses were performed by analysis of variance and Tukey test at 5%. The temperature range that stimulated greater production of conidia with great viability was 25 to 30 oC. The photoperiod that provided more stability on conidial production and viability was 12 hours

The Cluster Lensing and Supernova Survey with Hubble (CLASH): Strong Lensing Analysis of Abell 383 from 16-Band HST WFC3/ACS Imaging

We examine the inner mass distribution of the relaxed galaxy cluster Abell 383 in deep 16-band HST/ACS+WFC3 imaging taken as part of the CLASH multi-cycle treasury program. Our program is designed to study the dark matter distribution in 25 massive clusters, and balances depth with a wide wavelength coverage to better identify lensed systems and generate precise photometric redshifts. This information together with the predictive strength of our strong-lensing analysis method identifies 13 new multiply-lensed images and candidates, so that a total of 27 multiple-images of 9 systems are used to tightly constrain the inner mass profile, $d\log \Sigma/d\log r\simeq -0.6\pm 0.1$ (r<160 kpc). We find consistency with the standard distance-redshift relation for the full range spanned by the lensed images, 1.01<z<6.03, with the higher redshift sources deflected through larger angles as expected. The inner mass profile derived here is consistent with the results of our independent weak-lensing analysis of wide-field Subaru images, with good agreement in the region of overlap. The overall mass profile is well fitted by an NFW profile with M_{vir}=(5.37^{+0.70}_{-0.63}\pm 0.26) x 10^{14}M_{\odot}/h and a relatively high concentration, c_{vir}=8.77^{+0.44}_{-0.42}\pm 0.23, which lies above the standard c-M relation similar to other well-studied clusters. The critical radius of Abell 383 is modest by the standards of other lensing clusters, r_{E}\simeq16\pm2\arcsec (for z_s=2.55), so the relatively large number of lensed images uncovered here with precise photometric redshifts validates our imaging strategy for the CLASH survey. In total we aim to provide similarly high-quality lensing data for 25 clusters, 20 of which are X-ray selected relaxed clusters, enabling a precise determination of the representative mass profile free from lensing bias. (ABRIDGED)Comment: 15 pages, 14 figures, 2 tabels; V3 matches the submitted version later published in Ap

Crescimento de isolados de coniothyrium minitans em diferentes temperaturas.

O mofo-branco causado por Sclerotinia slerotiorum é uma das doenças mais destrutivas do feijoeiro. Agentes de controle biológico (ACB) vêm sendo usados com sucesso para o controle do patógeno em diversos países. Entre estes, Coniothyrium minitans tem se destacado. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o efeito da temperatura sobre o crescimento de isolados do antagonista. O experimento foi composto de 15 isolados de C. minitans e cinco temperaturas (15, 20, 25, 30 e 35ºC) em câmaras de crescimento na ausência de luz. Foram feitas quatro repetições para cada isolado e temperatura, sendo cada repetição composta por uma placa de Petri. Os diâmetros da colônia no sentido transversal e longitudinal de crescimento foram medidos após 4, 7, 11, 14 e 19 dias, quando as primeiras repetições atingiram o crescimento máximo. O efeito da temperatura sobre o crescimento radial dos isolados de C. minitans foi semelhante. A temperatura ideal de crescimento variou de 18 a 19ºC para todos isolados e nas temperaturas de 30 e 35ºC não houve crescimento. Ainda não existem estudos acerca da utilização do antagonista em condições brasileiras. Essa espécie é resistente à decomposição por luz, porém é sensível a altas temperaturas, como verificado. Portanto, C. minitans tem potencial para ser usado nos cultivos de outono-inverno no Centro-sul do Brasil, onde as temperaturas são mais amenas. Os isolados de C. minitans serão avaliados quanto à capacidade parasítica de escleródios e apotécios do patógeno em condições de campo em cultivos de feijão de outono-inverno

ClC-1 mutations in myotonia congenita patients: insights into molecular gating mechanisms and genotype-phenotype correlation

Loss-of-function mutations of the skeletal muscle ClC-1 channel cause myotonia congenita with variable phenotypes. Using patch clamp we show that F484L, located in the conducting pore, probably induces mild dominant myotonia by right-shifting the slow gating of ClC-1 channel, without exerting a dominant-negative effect on the wild-type (WT) subunit. Molecular dynamics simulations suggest that F484L affects the slow gate by increasing the frequency and the stability of H-bond formation between E232 in helix F and Y578 in helix R. Three other myotonic ClC-1 mutations are shown to produce distinct effects on channel function: L198P shifts the slow gate to positive potentials, V640G reduces channel activity, while L628P displays a WT-like behaviour (electrophysiology data only). Our results provide novel insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying normal and altered ClC-1 function