Immunogenic Salivary Proteins of Triatoma infestans: Development of a Recombinant Antigen for the Detection of Low-Level Infestation of Triatomines

Chagas disease, caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, is a neglected disease with 20 million people at risk in Latin America. The main control strategies are based on insecticide spraying to eliminate the domestic vectors, the most effective of which is Triatoma infestans. This approach has been very successful in some areas. However, there is a constant risk of recrudescence in once-endemic regions resulting from the re-establishment of T. infestans and the invasion of other triatomine species. To detect low-level infestations of triatomines after insecticide spraying, we have developed a new epidemiological tool based on host responses against salivary antigens of T. infestans. We identified and synthesized a highly immunogenic salivary protein. This protein was used successfully to detect differences in the infestation level of T. infestans of households in Bolivia and the exposure to other triatomine species. The development of such an exposure marker to detect low-level infestation may also be a useful tool for other disease vectors

Global patterns and drivers of ecosystem functioning in rivers and riparian zones

River ecosystems receive and process vast quantities of terrestrial organic carbon, the fate of which depends strongly on microbial activity. Variation in and controls of processing rates, however, are poorly characterized at the global scale. In response, we used a peer-sourced research network and a highly standardized carbon processing assay to conduct a global-scale field experiment in greater than 1000 river and riparian sites. We found that Earth's biomes have distinct carbon processing signatures. Slow processing is evident across latitudes, whereas rapid rates are restricted to lower latitudes. Both the mean rate and variability decline with latitude, suggesting temperature constraints toward the poles and greater roles for other environmental drivers (e.g., nutrient loading) toward the equator. These results and data set the stage for unprecedented "next-generation biomonitoring" by establishing baselines to help quantify environmental impacts to the functioning of ecosystems at a global scale.peerReviewe

Experimental evaluation on grinding wheel wear through vibration and acoustic emission

The dressing process is necessary to reestablish the surface of the grinding wheel, when its grains lose their edges and break due to the wheel wear. Dressing must be done to avoid part rejections caused mainly by roughness increase. The determination of the exact moment to accomplish the dressing process (known as the end of wheel life) is still a problem without a precise solution. Generally, machine operators decide when to dress the wheel based on their own experience. During the last years, several works have been done in order to build grinding monitoring systems that could determine the end of grinding wheel life in a more precise way, without the need of an operator. The objectives of this work follow this trend. Hardened steel workpieces were ground until their surface roughness reached values considered intolerable for grinding process. At the same time, vibration and acoustic emission sensors attached on two points of the grinder machine monitored the process, in order to indirectly establish the wheel condition and the moment to dress it. Besides that, the signals from these sensors were also used to determine the duration of spark out and elastic deformation phases of the grinding cycle. The vibration sensor proved to be the best one to establish the end of wheel life; the acoustic emission sensor is the most suitable to determine the time spent on elastic deformation and both acoustic emission and vibration sensors are able to detect the end of spark out phase. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.217171

Field and classroom initiatives for portable sequence-based monitoring of dengue virus in Brazil.

Brazil experienced a large dengue virus (DENV) epidemic in 2019, highlighting a continuous struggle with effective control and public health preparedness. Using Oxford Nanopore sequencing, we led field and classroom initiatives for the monitoring of DENV in Brazil, generating 227 novel genome sequences of DENV1-2 from 85 municipalities (2015-2019). This equated to an over 50% increase in the number of DENV genomes from Brazil available in public databases. Using both phylogenetic and epidemiological models we retrospectively reconstructed the recent transmission history of DENV1-2. Phylogenetic analysis revealed complex patterns of transmission, with both lineage co-circulation and replacement. We identified two lineages within the DENV2 BR-4 clade, for which we estimated the effective reproduction number and pattern of seasonality. Overall, the surveillance outputs and training initiative described here serve as a proof-of-concept for the utility of real-time portable sequencing for research and local capacity building in the genomic surveillance of emerging viruses