Isolation ofAeromonas hydrophila in bullfrog tadpoles in the transformation stage

O objetivo deste trabalho foi isolar o agente causador da doença-da-perna-vermelha em girinos de Rana catesbeiana em fase de transformação. Coletaram-se 20 girinos, na fase G4, apresentando prostração, anorexia, pele ressecada, pernas posteriores hemorrágicas e natação errática. Amostras do coração, fígado e partes da perna foram inoculadas em meio de cultura ágar triptona de soja e ágar sangue, a 25°C, por 48 horas. Aeromonas hydrophila foi a principal causa do surto de mortalidade. A fim de avaliar o efeito dessa bactéria nos girinos, realizou-se inoculação por via oral e intraperitoneal de 106 unidades formadoras de colônia por mililitro, e verificou-se o aparecimento de petéquias hemorrágicas na boca e nos órgãos internos.This work aimed to isolate the pathogen responsible for red-leg disease in tadpoles of Rana catesbeiana in their transformation stage. Twenty animals in G4 stage were collected presenting prostration, anorexia, desiccated skin, hemorragic legs and erratic swimming. The bacteria were isolated from samples of heart, liver and legs on tryptone soy agar and blood agar at 25°C for 48 hours. Aeromonas hydrophila was the main responsible for mortality. To evaluate the effect of bacterium, the tadpoles were orally and intraperitoneally infected with 106 CFU mL-1. The appearance of haemorrhagic petechiae on the mouth and internal organs were verified

Atlas of Schistosoma mansoni long non-coding RNAs and their expression correlation to protein-coding genes

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been widely discovered in several organisms with the help of high-throughput RNA sequencing. LncRNAs are over 200 nt-long transcripts that do not have protein-coding (PC) potential, having been reported in model organisms to act mainly on the overall control of PC gene expression. Little is known about the functionality of lncRNAs in evolutionarily ancient non-model metazoan organisms, like Schistosoma mansoni, the parasite that causes schistosomiasis, one of the most prevalent infectious-parasitic diseases worldwide. In a recent transcriptomics effort, we identified thousands of S. mansoni lncRNAs predicted to be functional along the course of parasite development. Here, we present an online catalog of each of the S. mansoni lncRNAs whose expression is correlated to PC genes along the parasite life-cycle, which can be conveniently browsed and downloaded through a new web resource http://verjolab.usp.br. We also provide access now to navigation on the co-expression networks disclosed in our previous publication, where we correlated mRNAs and lncRNAs transcriptional patterns across five life-cycle stages/forms, pinpointing biological processes where lncRNAs might act upon

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Post-intervention Status in Patients With Refractory Myasthenia Gravis Treated With Eculizumab During REGAIN and Its Open-Label Extension

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether eculizumab helps patients with anti-acetylcholine receptor-positive (AChR+) refractory generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG) achieve the Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA) post-intervention status of minimal manifestations (MM), we assessed patients' status throughout REGAIN (Safety and Efficacy of Eculizumab in AChR+ Refractory Generalized Myasthenia Gravis) and its open-label extension. METHODS: Patients who completed the REGAIN randomized controlled trial and continued into the open-label extension were included in this tertiary endpoint analysis. Patients were assessed for the MGFA post-intervention status of improved, unchanged, worse, MM, and pharmacologic remission at defined time points during REGAIN and through week 130 of the open-label study. RESULTS: A total of 117 patients completed REGAIN and continued into the open-label study (eculizumab/eculizumab: 56; placebo/eculizumab: 61). At week 26 of REGAIN, more eculizumab-treated patients than placebo-treated patients achieved a status of improved (60.7% vs 41.7%) or MM (25.0% vs 13.3%; common OR: 2.3; 95% CI: 1.1-4.5). After 130 weeks of eculizumab treatment, 88.0% of patients achieved improved status and 57.3% of patients achieved MM status. The safety profile of eculizumab was consistent with its known profile and no new safety signals were detected. CONCLUSION: Eculizumab led to rapid and sustained achievement of MM in patients with AChR+ refractory gMG. These findings support the use of eculizumab in this previously difficult-to-treat patient population. CLINICALTRIALSGOV IDENTIFIER: REGAIN, NCT01997229; REGAIN open-label extension, NCT02301624. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: This study provides Class II evidence that, after 26 weeks of eculizumab treatment, 25.0% of adults with AChR+ refractory gMG achieved MM, compared with 13.3% who received placebo

Minimal Symptom Expression' in Patients With Acetylcholine Receptor Antibody-Positive Refractory Generalized Myasthenia Gravis Treated With Eculizumab

The efficacy and tolerability of eculizumab were assessed in REGAIN, a 26-week, phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody-positive (AChR+) refractory generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG), and its open-label extension

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Qualidade microbiológica de ostras Crassostrea gigas e estudo da ação sinérgica da substância antimicrobiana produzida por Bacillus amyloliquefaciens

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Ciências Agrárias. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência dos Alimentos.O elevado índice de morbidade em função da contaminação dos alimentos tem aumentado a necessidade do uso de metodologias alternativas para conservação dos mesmos. Nesse sentido, essa pesquisa teve como objetivo: i) descrever uma revisão sobre a ação de antimicrobianos naturais produzidos por microrganismos para conservação de alimentos; ii) avaliar a qualidade microbiológica de ostra Crassostrea gigas produzida e comercializada em diferentes áreas da região litorânea de Florianópolis # SC; iii) Estudar a atividade antimicrobiana do extrato bruto produzido por Bacillus amyloliquefaciens potencializado pela ação do pH e da concentração de sal em estudos simulados in vitro, com intuito de utilizá-la como inibidor de Listeria monocytogenes em ostras. Com a revisão concluiu-se que as substâncias antimicrobianas, em geral, são uma das opções em um mosaico de possíveis mecanismos para controlar bactérias patogênicas e deteriorantes em alimentos. Tudo indica que conservadores naturais, particularmente em adição ou combinação sinergística com outros fatores e técnicas, têm um papel importante na industria de alimentos, garantindo segurança ao consumidor. Para verificar a qualidade microbiológica das ostras, durante o ano de 2003, 90 (noventa) amostras de ostras da espécie Crassostrea gigas foram analisadas, sendo que 45 delas foram coletadas junto a estabelecimentos comerciais destinados à venda de frutos do mar e 45 amostras diretamente no local de cultivo. De acordo com os resultados, Víbrio cholerae, Víbrio parahaemolyticus e Salmonella sp. não foram encontrados em nenhuma das amostras. Apenas uma amostra apresentou 80 UFC/g de estafilococos coagulase positiva, as demais amostras apresentaram <10 UFC/g. Com o resultado das análises de coliformes a 35ºC e coliformes a 45 ºC, evidencia-se contaminação tanto no local de cultivo quanto no local de venda, nas três áreas analisadas. Escherichia coli foi encontrada em 4 amostras analisadas do local de cultivo, demonstrando uma ocorrência de 9 %. Já nos estabelecimentos comerciais, foi encontrada uma ocorrência de 35,5 % (16/45). A ação do extrato bruto produzido por Bacillus amyloliquefaciens em diferentes concentrações de proteína (0,0; 5,0; 40; 80 µg/mL) sobre o inóculo de 106 UFC.mL-1 de Listeria monocytogenes, foi verificada em caldo TSB-YE previamente ajustado para pH 4,0; 6,1; 8,0; e concentrações de NaCl para 0; 2,5; 4,5 % p/v, resultando em uma análise fatorial completa de 36 curvas de comportamento microbiano. Os ensaios foram realizados à temperatura de 25 ºC em estufa DBO, por até 50 horas. Os resultados obtidos indicam que ocorreu uma ação sinérgica entre pH, concentração de sal e extrato bruto, demonstrando uma potencialização da ação antimicrobiana. A melhor ação foi observada quando se utilizou 80 µg/mL de extrato bruto da substância antimicrobiana, pH 4,0 e 4,5 % de concentração de sal, onde ocorreu uma redução de aproximadamente cinco ciclos logarítmicos da cultura de Listeria monocytogenes