A New Approach to Express Regional Adiposity and Its Association with Blood Lipids, Inflammation and Insulin Resistance Markers

Regional adiposity is classically related with inflammation, insulin resistance (IR) and an altered blood lipid profile. Traditionally, central adiposity expressed as a ratio (%FM) = fat mass/total mass of the region is the variable most used in research. However, this ratio does not account for total bodily fat mass (TFM). So, a great accumulation in a region, where lean mass is more important than fat, could be more associated with risk factors than other with less absolute fat (kg) but higher percentage (in instance abdomen). PURPOSE: To analyse the associations between the ratio (RW) = regional fat mass (kg) / TFM (kg) and blood lilid profile, IR and inflammation. METHODS: Sixty-two pre-menopausal and healthy women were recruited for this study (age, 39.6 ±7.2 years; BMI, 29.2 ±4.2 kg.m-2; total %TFM, 42.0 ±5.9%). Weight and height were measured to the nearest 0.1 kg and 0.1 cm respectively, and body composition was estimated with dual energy x-ray aborptiometry. RWF were calculated for trunk (RWT), lower limbs (RWLL) and upper limbs (RWUL). Insulin, glycaemia and insulin sensitivity (HOMA) were the IR markers. C-reactive protein (CRP) and Tumour Necrosis Factor (TNF-α) were the inflammation variables. Total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and triglycerides (TG) were also measured. Partial correlations adjusted to TFM between RW and blood markers were carried out. RESULTS: Significant correlations were found between RWUL and HOMA (r=0.276, P<0.05), TG (r=0.292, P<0.05) and insulin (r=0.271, P<0.05). RWT was also correlated with blood lipids: TG (r=0.278, P<0.05) and LDL (r=-0.318, P<0.05). Finally, RWLL was the ratio with more number of associations: HOMA (r=-0.274, P<0.05), TG (r=-0.342, P<0.01), LDL (r=0.317, P<0.05) and insulin (r=-0.253, P<0.05). Abdominal and trunk %FM were only correlated with HOMA (r=0.380, P<0.01) and LDL (r=0.264, P<0.05) respectively. CONCLUSION: In our sample, regional fat mass contribution (RW) for whole body FM showed more associations with blood markers than classical ratios (regional %FM). These findings highlighted RW ratios were well correlated with inflammatory and IR risk factors, which in turn could be useful to express positive or negative results in future studies. This issue requires further investigation.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Detecção de Cryptosporidium sp. em fezes não diarréicas de crianças, em uma escola de educação infantil de São Paulo, Brasil

O protozoário Cryptosporidium sp. tem sido detectado com freqüência em fezes de crianças com diarréia persistente. Este trabalho teve como objetivo investigar um surto de criptosporidiose, em uma escola de educação infantil, que atende crianças de classe média alta, de 0 a seis anos de idade. O surto foi detectado a partir de amostras fecais não diarréicas encaminhadas ao Instituto Adolfo Lutz através da rede de saúde pública. Das 64 crianças 13 (20,3%) apresentaram oocistos de Cryptosporidium nas fezes, examinadas pelo método de Kinyoun, sendo sete crianças com um ano de idade, três com dois anos de idade e três, com três anos de idade. Dos 23 adultos examinados, apenas uma mulher de 22 anos, com possível imunocomprometimento, foi positiva. Aspectos epidemiológicos e clínicos foram investigados por meio de questionários, ressaltando-se que o surto ocorreu em período muito seco.The protozoan Cryptosporidium sp. has been frequently detected in faeces from children with persistent diarrhoea. This work achieved to investigate an outbreak of cryptosporidiosis, in a day care center, attending children of high socio-economic level, between 0 and six years old. The outbreak was detected through the network of public health, when stool samples, not diarrhoeic, were examined at the Parasitology Service of the Adolfo Lutz Institute. Among the 64 examined children, 13 (20.3%) showed oocysts of Cryptosporidium sp. in the faeces examined by Kinyoun technique: seven children one year old, three, two years old and three, three years old. Among the 23 examined adults, only a 22 years old woman, possibly having an immunocomprometiment, was positive. Clinical and epidemiological aspects were investigated by questionnaires, highlighting the occurrence of the outbreak in a very dry period

Three decades of research on Iberian wild Carnivora: trends, highlights, and future directions

1. Mammalian carnivores (Carnivora) are crucial components of landscapes, because of both their top-down effects on lower trophic level species and their sensitivity to bottom-up processes, such as limited food resources (e.g. due to climate instability). To understand their functional role in Iberian ecosystems more clearly, and to define effective plans for their management and conservation, it is crucial to sum up the available regional knowledge that can inform decision-making processes.2. We review bio-ecological research on wild Iberian carnivores over 30 years (1990–2020) and identify key knowledge gaps and priority avenues for future research. Based on a systematic review of the scientific literature, we aimed to: 1) summarise current knowledge; 2) assess species and ecoregion representativeness; 3) identify key research topics addressed and those lacking investment and 4) suggest key future research priorities.3. We examined 920 peer-reviewed articles involving wild Iberian mammalian carnivores, focusing on different bio-ecological issues. We found considerable heterogeneity in the topics and species investigated, as well as in the study areas (ecoregions) explored, with a mismatch between the research priorities identified by researchers and the knowledge gaps.4. We suggest that future research should prioritise: 1) rear-edge populations that are at the southwestern limits of the species' Eurasian range, thus being particularly sensitive to the increasing fragmentation and aridity of Iberian ecosystems, and that were less studied (e.g. brown bear Ursus arctos, stoat Mustela erminea, European mink Mustela lutreola and pine marten Martes martes); 2) less-studied topics, such as morphometry and body condition, ecophysiology, and reproductive biology, all of which provide essential information for species' management and conservation and 3) specific ecoregions for which studies on species' adaptations to environmental and anthropic contexts are lacking (e.g. northern ecoregions of Iberia, Iberian conifer forests and Northwest Iberian montane forests). Our review provides the necessary background to support future research on carnivore populations in Iberia.João Carvalho was supported by a research contract (CEECIND/01428/2018) from the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT). Nuno Santos was also supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (SFRH/BPD/116596/2016). Carlos Fernandes appreciates the support of cE3c through an Assistant Researcher contract (FCiência.ID contract #366) and FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) for Portuguese National Funds attributed to cE3c within the strategic project UID/BIA/00329/2020. Carlos Fernandes also thanks FPUL for a contract of Invited Assistant Professor. Pedro Monterroso was supported by UID/BIA/50027/2021 with funding from FCT/MCTES through national funds. Thanks are due to FCT/MCTES for the financial support to cE3c (UIDB/00329/2020), CHANGE (LA/P/0121/2020) and CESAM (UIDP/50017/2020 + UIDB/50017/2020+ LA/P/0094/2020), through national funds, and FEDER co-funding within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement and Compete 2020. This work was also financially supported by: i) project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028204 (WildForests) funded by FEDER, through COMPETE2020—Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI), and by national funds (OE) through FCT/MCTES; Project ref. 2022.03253.PTDC (ForCe), funded by national funds (OE) through FCT; iii) project NORTE-01-0246-FEDER-000063, supported by the Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE2020) under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement and through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).Peer reviewe

A novel vasorelaxant lectin purified from seeds of Clathrotropis nitida: Partial characterization and immobilization in chitosan beads

A novel lectin from seeds of Clathrotropis nitida (CNA) was purified and characterized. CNA is a glycoprotein containing approximately 3.3% carbohydrates in its structure. CNA promoted intense agglutination of rabbit erythrocytes, which was inhibited by galactosides and porcine stomach mucin (PSM). The lectin maintained its hemagglutinating activity after incubation in a wide range of temperatures (30-60 °C) and pH (6.0-7.0), and its binding activity was dependent on divalent cations (Ca+2 and Mg+2). SDS-PAGE showed an electrophoretic profile consisting of a single band of 28 kDa, as confirmed by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, which indicated an average molecular mass of 27,406 ± 2 Da and the possible presence of isoforms and glycoforms. In addition, CNA exhibited no toxicity to Artemia sp. nauplii and elicited reversible and dose-dependent vasorelaxation in precontracted aortic rings. CNA was successfully immobilized on chitosan beads and was able to capture PSM in solution. This study demonstrated that CNA is a lectin that has potential as a biotechnological tool in glycomics and glycoproteomics applications. © 2015 Elsevier Inc

Genetic population structure of Anopheles gambiae in Equatorial Guinea

BACKGROUND: Patterns of genetic structure among mosquito vector populations in islands have received particular attention as these are considered potentially suitable sites for experimental trials on transgenic-based malaria control strategies. In this study, levels of genetic differentiation have been estimated between populations of Anopheles gambiae s.s. from the islands of Bioko and Annobón, and from continental Equatorial Guinea (EG) and Gabon. METHODS: Genotyping of 11 microsatellite loci located in chromosome 3 was performed in three island samples (two in Bioko and one in Annobón) and three mainland samples (two in EG and one in Gabon). Four samples belonged to the M molecular form and two to the S-form. Microsatellite data was used to estimate genetic diversity parameters, perform demographic equilibrium tests and analyse population differentiation. RESULTS: High levels of genetic differentiation were found between the more geographically remote island of Annobón and the continent, contrasting with the shallow differentiation between Bioko island, closest to mainland, and continental localities. In Bioko, differentiation between M and S forms was higher than that observed between island and mainland samples of the same molecular form. CONCLUSION: The observed patterns of population structure seem to be governed by the presence of both physical (the ocean) and biological (the M-S form discontinuity) barriers to gene flow. The significant degree of genetic isolation between M and S forms detected by microsatellite loci located outside the "genomic islands" of speciation identified in A. gambiae s.s. further supports the hypothesis of on-going incipient speciation within this species. The implications of these findings regarding vector control strategies are discussed

Energy Estimation of Cosmic Rays with the Engineering Radio Array of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) is part of the Pierre Auger Observatory and is used to detect the radio emission of cosmic-ray air showers. These observations are compared to the data of the surface detector stations of the Observatory, which provide well-calibrated information on the cosmic-ray energies and arrival directions. The response of the radio stations in the 30 to 80 MHz regime has been thoroughly calibrated to enable the reconstruction of the incoming electric field. For the latter, the energy deposit per area is determined from the radio pulses at each observer position and is interpolated using a two-dimensional function that takes into account signal asymmetries due to interference between the geomagnetic and charge-excess emission components. The spatial integral over the signal distribution gives a direct measurement of the energy transferred from the primary cosmic ray into radio emission in the AERA frequency range. We measure 15.8 MeV of radiation energy for a 1 EeV air shower arriving perpendicularly to the geomagnetic field. This radiation energy -- corrected for geometrical effects -- is used as a cosmic-ray energy estimator. Performing an absolute energy calibration against the surface-detector information, we observe that this radio-energy estimator scales quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy as expected for coherent emission. We find an energy resolution of the radio reconstruction of 22% for the data set and 17% for a high-quality subset containing only events with at least five radio stations with signal.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Measurement of the Radiation Energy in the Radio Signal of Extensive Air Showers as a Universal Estimator of Cosmic-Ray Energy

We measure the energy emitted by extensive air showers in the form of radio emission in the frequency range from 30 to 80 MHz. Exploiting the accurate energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory, we obtain a radiation energy of 15.8 \pm 0.7 (stat) \pm 6.7 (sys) MeV for cosmic rays with an energy of 1 EeV arriving perpendicularly to a geomagnetic field of 0.24 G, scaling quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy. A comparison with predictions from state-of-the-art first-principle calculations shows agreement with our measurement. The radiation energy provides direct access to the calorimetric energy in the electromagnetic cascade of extensive air showers. Comparison with our result thus allows the direct calibration of any cosmic-ray radio detector against the well-established energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DOI. Supplemental material in the ancillary file

Measurement of the cosmic ray spectrum above 4×10184{\times}10^{18} eV using inclined events detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory

A measurement of the cosmic-ray spectrum for energies exceeding $4{\times}10^{18}$ eV is presented, which is based on the analysis of showers with zenith angles greater than $60^{\circ}$ detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2013. The measured spectrum confirms a flux suppression at the highest energies. Above $5.3{\times}10^{18}$ eV, the "ankle", the flux can be described by a power law $E^{-\gamma}$ with index $\gamma=2.70 \pm 0.02 \,\text{(stat)} \pm 0.1\,\text{(sys)}$ followed by a smooth suppression region. For the energy ($E_\text{s}$) at which the spectral flux has fallen to one-half of its extrapolated value in the absence of suppression, we find $E_\text{s}=(5.12\pm0.25\,\text{(stat)}^{+1.0}_{-1.2}\,\text{(sys)}){\times}10^{19}$ eV.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO