Lower prevalence of protective antibodies for 2015/2016 influenza A(H1)pdm circulating strains comparing to seroprevalence for 2009 influenza A(H1)pdm virus

DDI-INSA em colaboração com a Rede Portuguesa de Laboratórios para o Diagnóstico da GripeBackground: Since 2009, influenza A(H1)pdm09 is circulating in the human population infecting in different ways specific age groups. The study aims to assess the seroprotection for A/California /07/2009 vaccine strain and evaluate the seroprotection for the circulating A(H1)pdm09 strains (clade 6B) in the Portuguese population. Seroepidemiological data can determine the vulnerable populations to disease and support intervention and action regarding vaccination programmes and other preventive measures, particularly in high-risk groups. Methods: To study influenza immunity a non-probabilistic sample was used. Samples were collected from people attending to hospital laboratories (n=13) for other reasons aside from influenza infection. We developed a cross-sectional study based on a convenience sample of 734 sera collected during July 2016, from all age groups (0–4; 5–14; 15–44; 45-64 and ≥65 years old), both genders, covering mainland and Atlantic islands. Sera were randomly selected. All samples were anonymized and recorded data: district residence/sample collection, gender and age. Antibody titers to A(H1)pdm09 virus strains [A/California /07/2009 and A/Lisboa/58/2015 (clade 6B)] were assessed by hemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay. HI titer>40 were considered protective. Seroprevalence estimates, overall and by age group, were calculated with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). The HA1 subunit of the hemagglutinin gene from A(H1)pdm09 viruses used in HI were sequenced. Results: In July 2016, the prevalence of protective antibodies for influenza A/California/07/2009 was 38% (95% CI: 34–41) and for A/Lisboa /58/2015 was 23% (95% CI: 21–27). Highest seroprevalence was observed in 5-14 age group for both strains, 55% (95% CI: 47–63) for A/California/07/2009 and 42% (95% CI: 35–50) for A/Lisboa/58/2015. The lowest seroprevalences were detected in the 65+ age group for A/California/07/2009 (28%; 95% CI: 22–36) and in the 45-64 for the A/Lisboa /58/2015 (9%; 95% CI: 6-15). Was observed a reduced prevalence of protective antibodies for A/Lisboa /58/2015 for all age groups, although a higher decrease was seen in the adults 45-64 years old (24% drop in seroprevalence). The influenza A/Lisboa/58/2015 presented four amino acid substitutions in antigenic sites: S162N e K163Q (Sa), S185T (Sb) and S203T (Ca1), belonging to 6B.1clade. Conclusions: Although 38% of study population have demonstrated to have seroprotection for A(H1)pdm09 vaccine strain this could not represent seroprotection to the currently circulating A(H1)pdm09 strains. Individuals in the age group of 45-64 years old are more susceptible to infection by currently circulating influenza A(H1)pdm09 viruses. The presence of K163Q (Sa), S185T (Sb) substitutions are likely to be involved in antigenic drift, as previously described, allowing the virus to escape from immune response namely the one that could be induced by the vaccine. In future this event should be closely monitored, although WHO recommended a new A(H1)pdm09 strain to be included in the next season flu vaccine.N/

A Genotyping-by-Sequencing approach brings new insights into the population structure and local adaptation of Western Mediterranean Oaks

XIX ENBE Annual Meeting of the Portuguese Association for Evolutionary Biology, 18-19 December 2023, Lisboninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The role of population movement in the epidemiology and control of schistosomiasis in Brazil: a preliminary typology of population movement

This paper examines recent developments in migration studies. It reviews literature related to the potential role of internal population movement in the occurrence of schistosomiasis in Brazil and modifies Prothero's typology of population movement for use in Brazil. This modified classification system may contribute to a better understanding of schistosome transmission as well as improved research and control programs. The results of this study indicate that population movement in Brazil primarily involves economically-motivated rural-urban and interregional movement. However, several movement patterns have become increasingly important in recent years as a result of changing socioeconomic and urbanisation dynamics. These patterns include urban-urban, intracity and urban-rural movement as well as the movement of environmental refugees and tourists. Little is known about the epidemiological significance of these patterns. This paper also highlights the role of social networks in the decision to migrate and to settle. Prothero's classic population movement typology categorises movement as either one-way migrations or circulations and examines them along spatial and temporal scales. However, the typology must be modified as epidemiological information about new patterns becomes available. This paper identifies areas that require further research and offers recommendations that can improve the measurement and spatial analysis of the relationship between population movement and schistosomiasis

Abrolhos Bank Reef Health Evaluated by Means of Water Quality, Microbial Diversity, Benthic Cover, and Fish Biomass Data

The health of the coral reefs of the Abrolhos Bank (southwestern Atlantic) was characterized with a holistic approach using measurements of four ecosystem components: (i) inorganic and organic nutrient concentrations, [1] fish biomass, [1] macroalgal and coral cover and (iv) microbial community composition and abundance. The possible benefits of protection from fishing were particularly evaluated by comparing sites with varying levels of protection. Two reefs within the well-enforced no-take area of the National Marine Park of Abrolhos (Parcel dos Abrolhos and California) were compared with two unprotected coastal reefs (Sebastião Gomes and Pedra de Leste) and one legally protected but poorly enforced coastal reef (the “paper park” of Timbebas Reef). The fish biomass was lower and the fleshy macroalgal cover was higher in the unprotected reefs compared with the protected areas. The unprotected and protected reefs had similar seawater chemistry. Lower vibrio CFU counts were observed in the fully protected area of California Reef. Metagenome analysis showed that the unprotected reefs had a higher abundance of archaeal and viral sequences and more bacterial pathogens, while the protected reefs had a higher abundance of genes related to photosynthesis. Similar to other reef systems in the world, there was evidence that reductions in the biomass of herbivorous fishes and the consequent increase in macroalgal cover in the Abrolhos Bank may be affecting microbial diversity and abundance. Through the integration of different types of ecological data, the present study showed that protection from fishing may lead to greater reef health. The data presented herein suggest that protected coral reefs have higher microbial diversity, with the most degraded reef (Sebastião Gomes) showing a marked reduction in microbial species richness. It is concluded that ecological conditions in unprotected reefs may promote the growth and rapid evolution of opportunistic microbial pathogens

Measurement of the Bottom-Strange Meson Mixing Phase in the Full CDF Data Set

We report a measurement of the bottom-strange meson mixing phase \beta_s using the time evolution of B0_s -> J/\psi (->\mu+\mu-) \phi (-> K+ K-) decays in which the quark-flavor content of the bottom-strange meson is identified at production. This measurement uses the full data set of proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt(s)= 1.96 TeV collected by the Collider Detector experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron, corresponding to 9.6 fb-1 of integrated luminosity. We report confidence regions in the two-dimensional space of \beta_s and the B0_s decay-width difference \Delta\Gamma_s, and measure \beta_s in [-\pi/2, -1.51] U [-0.06, 0.30] U [1.26, \pi/2] at the 68% confidence level, in agreement with the standard model expectation. Assuming the standard model value of \beta_s, we also determine \Delta\Gamma_s = 0.068 +- 0.026 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps-1 and the mean B0_s lifetime, \tau_s = 1.528 +- 0.019 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps, which are consistent and competitive with determinations by other experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett 109, 171802 (2012

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT

Measurement of the cross-section of high transverse momentum vector bosons reconstructed as single jets and studies of jet substructure in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents a measurement of the cross-section for high transverse momentum W and Z bosons produced in pp collisions and decaying to all-hadronic final states. The data used in the analysis were recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at a centre-of-mass energy of √s = 7 TeV;{\rm Te}{\rm V}$and correspond to an integrated luminosity of$4.6\;{\rm f}{{{\rm b}}^{-1}}$. The measurement is performed by reconstructing the boosted W or Z bosons in single jets. The reconstructed jet mass is used to identify the W and Z bosons, and a jet substructure method based on energy cluster information in the jet centre-of-mass frame is used to suppress the large multi-jet background. The cross-section for events with a hadronically decaying W or Z boson, with transverse momentum${{p}_{{\rm T}}}\gt 320\;{\rm Ge}{\rm V}$and pseudorapidity$|\eta |\lt 1.9$, is measured to be${{\sigma }_{W+Z}}=8.5\pm 1.7$ pb and is compared to next-to-leading-order calculations. The selected events are further used to study jet grooming techniques

Search for R-parity-violating supersymmetry in events with four or more leptons in sqrt(s) =7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for new phenomena in final states with four or more leptons (electrons or muons) is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of $\sqrt{s}=7\;\mathrm{TeV}$ proton-proton collisions delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in two signal regions: one that requires moderate values of missing transverse momentum and another that requires large effective mass. The results are interpreted in a simplified model of R-parity-violating supersymmetry in which a 95% CL exclusion region is set for charged wino masses up to 540 GeV. In an R-parity-violating MSUGRA/CMSSM model, values of m 1/2 up to 820 GeV are excluded for 10 < tan β < 40