Contrasting CO2 and water vapour fluxes in dry forest and pasture sites of central Argentina

The dry forests of South America are a key player of the global carbon cycle and the regional water cycle, but they are being intensively deforested. We used eddy covariance measurements to compare the temporal patterns of CO2 and water vapour fluxes and their relationships with environmental variables in dry forest and pastures sites of central Argentina. Ecosystem fluxes showed clear contrasts in magnitude, timing and response to environmental controls between ecosystems. The dry forest displayed higher daily gross primary productivity (GPP, 10.6 vs. 7.8 g CO2 m−2 d−1) and ecosystem respiration (Reco, 9.1 vs. 7.0 g CO2 m−2 d−1) and lower net ecosystem exchange (NEE, −1.5 vs. −0.7 g CO2 m−2 d−1) than the pasture. These differences were explained by a lower tolerance of the pasture to cool temperatures and drought. The lowest NEE rates were observed between 26°C and 34°C in the pasture, but below this range, NEE increased sharply, switching to a carbon source with temperatures <20°C. By contrast, the dry forest remained as a strong carbon sink down to 18°C. The pasture also showed a stronger drop of GPP with drought compared with the dry forest, becoming a carbon source with soil wetness <25% of soil available water. Rainfall was strongly coupled with GPP in both ecosystems, but the dry forest responded to longer rainfall integration periods. This study helps to understand how ecosystems can respond to climate change, improve global scale modelling and increase the productivity and resilience of rangelands.Fil: Nosetto, Marcelo Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico, Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi"; ArgentinaFil: Luna Toledo, Emanuel Santiago. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Chilecito; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Magliano, Patricio Nicolás. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico, Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi"; ArgentinaFil: Figuerola, Patricia Irene. Universidad Nacional de Chilecito; ArgentinaFil: Blanco, Lisandro Javier. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; ArgentinaFil: Jobbagy Gampel, Esteban Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico, Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi"; Argentin

Clinical Outcomes of a Zika Virus Mother-Child Pair Cohort in Spain

BACKGROUND: Zika virus (ZIKV) infection has been associated with congenital microcephaly and other neurodevelopmental abnormalities. There is little published research on the effect of maternal ZIKV infection in a non-endemic European region. We aimed to describe the outcomes of pregnant travelers diagnosed as ZIKV-infected in Spain, and their exposed children. METHODS: This prospective observational cohort study of nine referral hospitals enrolled pregnant women (PW) who travelled to endemic areas during their pregnancy or the two previous months, or those whose sexual partners visited endemic areas in the previous 6 months. Infants of ZIKV-infected mothers were followed for about two years. RESULTS: ZIKV infection was diagnosed in 163 PW; 112 (70%) were asymptomatic and 24 (14.7%) were confirmed cases. Among 143 infants, 14 (9.8%) had adverse outcomes during follow-up; three had a congenital Zika syndrome (CZS), and 11 other potential Zika-related outcomes. The overall incidence of CZS was 2.1% (95%CI: 0.4-6.0%), but among infants born to ZIKV-confirmed mothers, this increased to 15.8% (95%CI: 3.4-39.6%). CONCLUSIONS: A nearly 10% overall risk of neurologic and hearing adverse outcomes was found in ZIKV-exposed children born to a ZIKV-infected traveler PW. Longer-term follow-up of these children is needed to assess whether there are any later-onset manifestations

Habitable Zones in the Universe

Habitability varies dramatically with location and time in the universe. This was recognized centuries ago, but it was only in the last few decades that astronomers began to systematize the study of habitability. The introduction of the concept of the habitable zone was key to progress in this area. The habitable zone concept was first applied to the space around a star, now called the Circumstellar Habitable Zone. Recently, other, vastly broader, habitable zones have been proposed. We review the historical development of the concept of habitable zones and the present state of the research. We also suggest ways to make progress on each of the habitable zones and to unify them into a single concept encompassing the entire universe.Comment: 71 pages, 3 figures, 1 table; to be published in Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres; table slightly revise

Phase I clinical trial in healthy adults of a nasal vaccine candidate containing recombinant hepatitis B surface and core antigens

SummaryBackgroundThe nasal vaccine candidate (NASVAC), comprising hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface (HBsAg) and core antigens (HBcAg), has been shown to be highly immunogenic in animal models.MethodsA phase I double-blinded, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial was carried out in 19 healthy male adults with no serologic markers of immunity/infection to HBV. This study was aimed at exploring the safety and immunogenic profile of nasal co-administration of both HBV recombinant antigens. The trial was performed according to Good Clinical Practice guidelines. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 45 years and were randomly allocated to receive a mixture of 50μg HBsAg and 50μg HBcAg or 0.9% physiologic saline solution, as a placebo, via nasal spray in a five-dose schedule at 0, 7, 15, 30, and 60 days. A total volume of 0.5ml was administered in two dosages of 125μl per nostril. Adverse events were actively recorded 1h, 6h, 12h, 24h, 48h, 72h, 7 days and 30 days after each dose. Anti-HBs and anti-HBc titers were evaluated using corresponding ELISA kits at days 30 and 90.ResultsThe vaccine candidate was safe and well tolerated. Adverse reactions included sneezing (34.1%), rhinorrhea (12.2%), nasal stuffiness (9.8%), palate itching (9.8%), headache (9.8%), and general malaise (7.3%). These reactions were all self-limiting and mild in intensity. No severe or unexpected events were recorded during the trial. The vaccine elicited anti-HBc seroconversion in 100% of subjects as early as day 30 of the immunization schedule, while a seroprotective anti-HBs titer (≥10IU/l) was at a maximum at day 90 (75%). All subjects in the placebo group remained seronegative during the trial.ConclusionThe HBsAg–HBcAg vaccine candidate was safe, well tolerated and immunogenic in this phase I study in healthy adults. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of safety and immunogenicity for a nasal vaccine candidate comprising HBV antigens

Natural History of MYH7-Related Dilated Cardiomyopathy

BACKGROUND: Variants in myosin heavy chain 7 (MYH7) are responsible for disease in 1% to 5% of patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM); however, the clinical characteristics and natural history of MYH7-related DCM are poorly described. OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine the phenotype and prognosis of MYH7-related DCM. We also evaluated the influence of variant location on phenotypic expression. METHODS: We studied clinical data from 147 individuals with DCM-causing MYH7 variants (47.6% female; 35.6 ± 19.2 years) recruited from 29 international centers. RESULTS: At initial evaluation, 106 (72.1%) patients had DCM (left ventricular ejection fraction: 34.5% ± 11.7%). Median follow-up was 4.5 years (IQR: 1.7-8.0 years), and 23.7% of carriers who were initially phenotype-negative developed DCM. Phenotypic expression by 40 and 60 years was 46% and 88%, respectively, with 18 patients (16%) first diagnosed at <18 years of age. Thirty-six percent of patients with DCM met imaging criteria for LV noncompaction. During follow-up, 28% showed left ventricular reverse remodeling. Incidence of adverse cardiac events among patients with DCM at 5 years was 11.6%, with 5 (4.6%) deaths caused by end-stage heart failure (ESHF) and 5 patients (4.6%) requiring heart transplantation. The major ventricular arrhythmia rate was low (1.0% and 2.1% at 5 years in patients with DCM and in those with LVEF of ≤35%, respectively). ESHF and major ventricular arrhythmia were significantly lower compared with LMNA-related DCM and similar to DCM caused by TTN truncating variants. CONCLUSIONS: MYH7-related DCM is characterized by early age of onset, high phenotypic expression, low left ventricular reverse remodeling, and frequent progression to ESHF. Heart failure complications predominate over ventricular arrhythmias, which are rare

Overview of recent TJ-II stellarator results

The main results obtained in the TJ-II stellarator in the last two years are reported. The most important topics investigated have been modelling and validation of impurity transport, validation of gyrokinetic simulations, turbulence characterisation, effect of magnetic configuration on transport, fuelling with pellet injection, fast particles and liquid metal plasma facing components. As regards impurity transport research, a number of working lines exploring several recently discovered effects have been developed: the effect of tangential drifts on stellarator neoclassical transport, the impurity flux driven by electric fields tangent to magnetic surfaces and attempts of experimental validation with Doppler reflectometry of the variation of the radial electric field on the flux surface. Concerning gyrokinetic simulations, two validation activities have been performed, the comparison with measurements of zonal flow relaxation in pellet-induced fast transients and the comparison with experimental poloidal variation of fluctuations amplitude. The impact of radial electric fields on turbulence spreading in the edge and scrape-off layer has been also experimentally characterized using a 2D Langmuir probe array. Another remarkable piece of work has been the investigation of the radial propagation of small temperature perturbations using transfer entropy. Research on the physics and modelling of plasma core fuelling with pellet and tracer-encapsulated solid-pellet injection has produced also relevant results. Neutral beam injection driven Alfvénic activity and its possible control by electron cyclotron current drive has been examined as well in TJ-II. Finally, recent results on alternative plasma facing components based on liquid metals are also presented. ISSN:0029-5515 ISSN:1741-432

Dendritic cell deficiencies persist seven months after SARS-CoV-2 infection

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV)-2 infection induces an exacerbated inflammation driven by innate immunity components. Dendritic cells (DCs) play a key role in the defense against viral infections, for instance plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs), have the capacity to produce vast amounts of interferon-alpha (IFN-α). In COVID-19 there is a deficit in DC numbers and IFN-α production, which has been associated with disease severity. In this work, we described that in addition to the DC deficiency, several DC activation and homing markers were altered in acute COVID-19 patients, which were associated with multiple inflammatory markers. Remarkably, previously hospitalized and nonhospitalized patients remained with decreased numbers of CD1c+ myeloid DCs and pDCs seven months after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Moreover, the expression of DC markers such as CD86 and CD4 were only restored in previously nonhospitalized patients, while no restoration of integrin β7 and indoleamine 2,3-dyoxigenase (IDO) levels were observed. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the immunological sequelae of COVID-19

SARS-CoV-2 viral load in nasopharyngeal swabs is not an independent predictor of unfavorable outcome

The aim was to assess the ability of nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 viral load at first patient’s hospital evaluation to predict unfavorable outcomes. We conducted a prospective cohort study including 321 adult patients with confirmed COVID-19 through RT-PCR in nasopharyngeal swabs. Quantitative Synthetic SARS-CoV-2 RNA cycle threshold values were used to calculate the viral load in log10 copies/mL. Disease severity at the end of follow up was categorized into mild, moderate, and severe. Primary endpoint was a composite of intensive care unit (ICU) admission and/or death (n = 85, 26.4%). Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed. Nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 viral load over the second quartile (≥ 7.35 log10 copies/mL, p = 0.003) and second tertile (≥ 8.27 log10 copies/mL, p = 0.01) were associated to unfavorable outcome in the unadjusted logistic regression analysis. However, in the final multivariable analysis, viral load was not independently associated with an unfavorable outcome. Five predictors were independently associated with increased odds of ICU admission and/or death: age ≥ 70 years, SpO2, neutrophils > 7.5 × 103/µL, lactate dehydrogenase ≥ 300 U/L, and C-reactive protein ≥ 100 mg/L. In summary, nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 viral load on admission is generally high in patients with COVID-19, regardless of illness severity, but it cannot be used as an independent predictor of unfavorable clinical outcome

Documento de posición sobre las necesidades y niveles óptimos de vitamina D

IntroducciónEn los últimos años se ha producido un notable interés por la vitamina D, no sólo por su importancia crucial en el metabolismo mineral óseo, sino también por los efectos extraóseos, cada vez mejor conocidos. Asi mismo, se ha constatado la existencia de valores séricos bajos de vitamina D, por debajo de lo deseable, en diferentes poblaciones, tanto sanas como enfermas, y se discute cuáles serían los niveles óptimos de vitamina D en sangre. Por todo ello, la Sociedad Española de Investigación Ósea y Metabolismo Mineral (SEIOMM), conjuntamente con todas las Sociedades Científicas implicadas en el estudio del metabolismo óseo, han elaborado el presente documento de posición sobre las necesidades y niveles óptimos de vitamina D