Evidence of Bartonella spp., Rickettsia spp. and Anaplasma phagocytophilum in domestic, shelter and stray cat blood and fleas, Portugal.

Thirty-two fleas were collected from 18 Lisboncats, 29 of which (90.6%) were C. felis, one (3.1%)was C. canis and two (6.3%) were unidentifiable. Only C. felis fleas were infected, six (40.0%)withB. clarridgeiae and six (40.0% ) with R. felis; three(20.0%) were co-infected. No positive result wasfound for A. phagocytophilum. The infection prev-alence of B. clarridgeiae was higher in domestic(43.8%) than in shelter cat fleas (28.6%). However,the infection rate of R. felis was higher in shelter(42.9%) than in domestic cat fleas (25.0%). Straycat fleas were only infected with R. felis (11.1%).Twenty-five cats (67.7%) were bacteraemic(Table 1). Twenty-one of them (84.0%) wereless than 1 year old, 15 (60.0%) were femalea nd 10 (40.0%) had no Bartonella spp. antibodies, one of which (10.0%) was more than 1 year old. The prevalence of Bartonella bacteraemia is higher in shelter (76.9%) than in domestic cats(68.2%) and all stray cats tested (n = 2) were positive

Plantas medicinais da Península de Setúbal. Contribuição para o conhecimento da sua relevância Etnobotânica

A Península de Setúbal engloba ambientes muito distintos, na medida em que, por um lado, alberga cidades de grande/média e pequena dimensão, intimamente relacionadas com a capital, e por outro, áreas bem preservadas que integram parques naturais ou reservas/zonas protegidas. Assim sendo, os principais objectivos deste estudo prenderam-se com: 1) a caracterização dos remédios vegetais usados por populações distintas (as de áreas urbanas e as de áreas rurais); 2) a comparação e compreensão destas práticas (modo de aquisição e transmissão) e 3) a avaliação da influência da flora envolvente e da disponibilidade das plantas na sua persistência nestas populações. Os dados foram obtidos através de entrevistas semi-estruturadas a 121 pessoas, maioritariamente idosos, e permitiram recolher informações relativas ao nome vernáculo das plantas, à sua utilização terapêutica, ao seu modo de obtenção, aos procedimentos de colheita, à parte utilizada, ao seu modo de utilização, conservação e administração, a precauções/contraindicações do tratamento e ao modo de avaliação da sua eficácia, à fonte deste conhecimento e a outras utilizações das plantas. Foram referidos 186 usos medicinais distintos para os 253 taxa tentativamente catalogados, correspondendo a [Lavatera cretica L., Malva spp. (M. nicaeensis All.; M. sylvestris L.; M. tournefortiana L.); Pelargonium graveolens L' Her.] (“malvas”) o maior número de usos (31), enquanto que o taxon mais citado foi Aloysia triphylla (L'Hérit.) Britt. (“doce-lima”) (60 entrevistas). O grupo terapêutico com maior número de usos atribuído foi “Sistema digestivo” e o uso mais citado foi “Estômago” (45 taxa). Para averiguar de que modo as plantas eram caracterizadas pelos usos e os informantes pelas características identitárias (idade, sexo, local de nascimento, local de residência, escolaridade e actividade profissional) e plantas usadas (espécies, modo de aquisição, objectivo e regularidade do uso), recorreu-se à Análise das Correspondências seguida de Classificação Automática. Verificou-se que apesar de muitas das plantas terem várias aplicações terapêuticas, eram frequentemente utilizadas em afecções fisiologicamente relacionáveis. Constatou-se também que os informantes residentes em áreas mais urbanas apresentavam características distintas daqueles que residiam em áreas mais rurais, sendo que a sua área de residência tinha influência nas plantas que usavam. Para muitos dos parâmetros analisados a percentagem de esquecimento/desconhecimento foi importante, revelando que muitos dos informantes já não têm bem presentes os conhecimentos da medicina tradicional, o que confere urgência a uma recolha mais exaustiva destes conhecimentos, antes que desapareçam por completo

A new desiccation-related protein identified by proteomics in the phylloplane of Theobroma cacao

Currently, 20 millions of people from producing countries, such as Brazil, depend directly on cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) for their survival. The witches' broom disease caused by the fungus Moniliophthora perniciosa had drastic consequences on the socio-economic and environmental development of the affected regions, such as the Bahia State. The disease begins with the germination of the basidiospores on the leaf surface (or phylloplane), followed by the penetration of the germination tube into the intercellular space and the colonization of the plant tissues by the mycelium (biotrophic phase). It has been suggested that the phylloplane is one of the first battlefield of the host and pathogen, and the first interface between plant and environment. Here, we identify by SDS-PAGE/MS/MS, the cacao phylloplane proteins, using two different cacao varieties, one susceptible (Catongo) and one resistant (CCN51) to M. perniciosa. One of our objectives was to quantify the small glandular trichomes (SGTs) in relation with the plant resistance/susceptibility to M.perniciosa. Six hundred resistant cacao leaves were collected and washed in distilled water for 30 seconds. Proteins were extracted from filtered and dried washing, and analyzed on SDS-PAGE. The bands were excised from the gel, subjected to reduction/alkylation and tryptic digestion, and then the peptides were analyzed by mass spectrometry on Micromass ESI-Q-Tof Micro (Waters). The more abundant band (25-35 kDa) was sequenced by MS/MS and resulted in eight peptides, corresponding to a new basic protein of 310 amino acids, with a molecular mass of 33.7 kDa and a theoretical pI of 10.25. This protein contains a probable signal peptide cleavage site between the amino acids 24 and 25. The amino acid sequence revealed similarity to a protein related to desiccation tolerance characterized in pollen-grain of Medicago. Histology was performed on CCN51 and Catongo leaves, to obtain the rate of occurrence of SGTs. CCN51 and Catongo presented an average of 1500 and 700 SGTs/cm2, respectively. The role of the proteins involved in tolerance to desiccation or present in the phylloplane of T. cacao are discussed. (Texte intégral

Folatos em pseudocereais: efeito da cozedura e maltagem

Os pseudocereais, amaranto, quinoa e trigo-sarraceno, são plantas com sementes que podem ser utilizadas e processadas como cereais. São sementes isentas de glúten, sendo por isso importante na dieta de indivíduos com hipersensibilidade a essa proteína, como os celíacos. O folato é um termo genérico para tetrahidrofolato (THF) (formas naturais). A deficiência nutricional de folato é comum em indivíduos com baixa ingestão, má absorção, e mulheres grávidas por aumento de exigência neste nutriente. Foram recolhidas amostras, de cada pseudocereal, durantes os anos de 2013 e 2014 (n=7). As amostras foram sujeitas a cozedura (tradicional e a vapor) e a maltagem. Para a determinação simultânea de formas naturais de folatos, ácido fólico (FA), 5-metiltetrahidrofolato (5-MTHF), tetrahidrofolato (THF), 5-formiltetrahidrofolato (5-CHOTHF) e 10-formiltetrahidrofolato (10-CHOTHF), foi utilizado um cromatógrafo líquido de ultra eficiência com deteção por espectrometria de massa num triplo quadrupolo (UPLC-MS/MS). As amostras foram sujeitas a um processo de extração tri-enzimático (α-amilase, protease e soro de rato) precedido de dissolução com tampão bicarbonato 0,005 M (1% ácido ascórbico, 0.5% DTT) a pH 7.2. As amostras antes de serem injetadas foram sujeitas a um processo de ultrafiltração com filtros de 5 KDa de poro. O método inclui a utilização de padrões internos de referência, marcados isotopicamente (13C5 FA e 13C5 5-MTHF). Foi utilizada uma coluna AcQuity HSS T3 1.8 µm 2.1 x 150 mm da Waters e como fase móvel, 0.1 % ácido fórmico (A) e acetonitrilo (B) em gradiente. A temperatura da coluna foi de 45 ˚C com fluxo de 0.35 mL/min. A forma predominante de folato encontrada em todas as amostras foi o 5-MTHF. A quinoa é o pseudocereal que apresenta os valores mais elevados da soma das diferentes formas (294 ± 20,8 mg /100 g), seguido respetivamente pelo amaranto (246 ± 30,9 mg/100 g) e trigo-sarraceno (139 ± 8,51 mg/100 g). O processo de maltagem apresenta para o amaranto e trigo- sarraceno a taxa de retenção mais elevada (100%), o mesmo se observou na quinoa para o processo de cozedura tradicional. Podemos concluir que o processo de maltagem não alteram significativamente o teor de folatos totais

Genetic mapping and QTLs detection in a Theobroma grandiflora progeny : S04P01

The genus Theobroma covers 22 native species to the Amazon region. Two species are cultivated in Brazil:Theobroma cacao and T. grandiflorum (cupuaçu). T. grandiflora is economically important to the amazonian states of Brazil where it was developed in food and cosmetics with various products manufactured mainly from the pulp of the seed. Both species are susceptible to Moniliophthora perniciosa (Stahel) Singer, the causal agent of witches' brooms disease. 139 SSRs markers (Single Sequence Repeat) from T. grandiflora and 500 SSRs developed by CIRAD in T. cacao, were used to select polymorphic markers and carry out a genetic mapping of a Th. Grandiflora progeny from "174" x "1074" clones, respectively resistant and susceptible to witches' brooms. 145 plants were obtained by Embrapa-CPATU (Belém) today installed in the field at the CEPLAC (Belém) station. Inoculations with the M. perniciosa (from T. grandiflora) were carried out in the progenies and parents to evaluate the resistance. Other observations as vigor or number of ovules per ovary were observed also. We present the first results obtained with the selection of polymorphic specific markers of Th Grandiflora and Cocoa and the first genotying results from 44 SSRs of T. grandiflora including 14 SSRs from expression sequences. In conclusion this study including different teams is ongoing to have at the end of the project: i) the first genetic map of Theobroma grandiflora, ii) identification of QTLs of resistance to witches' broom, and other QTLs and iii) to compare genetic map and QTLs between both species. (Texte intégral

Chronic Q fever with no elevation of inflammatory markers: a case report

Chronic q Fever with no elevation of inflammatory markers: a case report. Boattini M, Almeida A, Moura RB, Abreu J, Santos AS, Toscano Rico M. SourceDepartment of Internal Medicine, St. Marta's Hospital, 1169-024 Lisbon, Portugal. Abstract We describe the case of a 55-year-old man with a biological prosthetic aortic valve who suffered from epigastrium and right hypochondrium pain associated with intermittent night sweats. Liver biopsy showed infectious hepatitis pattern without pathognomonic features. Coxiella burnetii serology was suggestive of chronic Q fever, and modified Duke's criteria for endocarditis were also fulfilled. The authors present a brief literature review concerning chronic Q fever, emphasizing absent previous reports of chronic Q fever with hepatitis and endocarditis and no increase in inflammatory markers

Solution and Asymptotic Behavior for a Nonlocal Coupled System of Reaction-Diffusion

This paper concerns with existence, uniqueness and asymptotic behavior of the solutions for a nonlocal coupled system of reaction-diffusion. We prove the existence and uniqueness of weak solutions by the Faedo-Galerkin method and exponential decay of solutions by the classic energy method. We improve the results obtained by Chipot-Lovato and Menezes for coupled systems. A numerical scheme is presented

Perforated peptic ulcer: main factors of morbidity and mortality.

World J Surg. 2003 Jul;27(7):782-7. Perforated peptic ulcer: main factors of morbidity and mortality. Noguiera C, Silva AS, Santos JN, Silva AG, Ferreira J, Matos E, Vilaça H. Surgery Department, Surgery 1, Hospital Geral de Santo António, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Largo do Prof. Abel Salazar, 4099-001 Oporto, Portugal. Abstract It is well stated in the literature that medical treatment for peptic ulcer is based on a combination of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and antibiotics to eradicate Helicobacter pylori. This treatment is associated with a high rate of immediate success and a low rate of recurrence at 12 months, although it is not effective in all patients. Peptic ulcer (PU) perforation is a serious problem that leads to high complication and mortality rates. Surgical treatment, with its various possibilities, constitutes the ideal treatment. Surgical intervention in these cases, however, can be directed to treating the perforation alone, or it can offer definitive treatment of the ulcer itself. With the hope of establishing why such complications and mortality were seen in the patients in our hospital population, we gathered the facts about PU perforations and the types of surgery performed. We studied 210 consecutive patients (150 men, 60 women) who had undergone surgery at our hospital because of perforation between January 1, 1990 and December 31, 2000. The patients' median age was 53.0 +/- 20.6 years (men 47.7 +/- 17.3 years; women 66.3 +/- 22.0 years). Altogether, 86 patients had significant associated illnesses, 62 were admitted more than 24 hours after the perforation, and 25 were admitted in shock. We performed resections in 10 patients; 88 patients were treated by suturing the perforation with or without a patch of epiploon; and 112 underwent a troncular vagotomy with drainage (VT + Dr). A total of 21 patients died (10%). Significant risk factors that led to complications were identified by statistical studies. They were a perforation that had been present more than 24 hours, the coexistence of significant associated illnesses, and resection surgery. The significant risk factors that led to death were the presence of shock at admission, the coexistence of significant illnesses, and resection surgery. There was no statistically significant difference concerning morbidity and mortality between simple closure of the perforation and definitive surgery (VT + Dr). PMID: 14509505 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE

Efeito da aplicação de diferentes regimes de rega deficitária no pessegueiro ‘Sweet Dream’ cultivado num pomar da região da Beira Interior.

Efeito da aplicação de diferentes regimes de rega deficitária no pessegueiro ‘Sweet Dream’ cultivado num pomar da região da Beira Interior.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Efeito da aplicação de diferentes regimes de rega deficitária no pessegueiro ‘Sweet Dream’ cultivado num pomar da região da Beira Interior.

Efeito da aplicação de diferentes regimes de rega deficitária no pessegueiro ‘Sweet Dream’ cultivado num pomar da região da Beira Interior.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio