False‑positive technetium‑99m methylene diphosphonate bone scan activity in the orbit in a patient with a history of breast carcinoma

Metastasis of breast carcinoma to the orbit is an uncommon entity and carries a poor prognosis. This case report presents false-positive technetium-99m methylene diphosphonate activity in the right orbit of a patient with a history of a primary breast neoplasm. Orbital computed tomography imaging was obtained to further characterize the radiotracer uptake identified on the bone scan and demonstrated diffuse right globe intraocular calcifications secondary to degenerative intraocular changes. A brief literature review of orbital metastasis from breast carcinoma and causes of intraocular calcification in the context of chronic vision loss are provided

Experimental in vitro transmission of Babesia sp. (EU1) by Ixodes ricinus

Babesia sp. (EU1), first characterized in 2003, has been implicated in human cases of babesiosis in Italy, Austria and Germany. It has been identified in roe deer and in its suspected tick vector, Ixodes ricinus, in several European countries. The aim of the present study was to validate the competence of I. ricinus as a vector of Babesia sp. (EU1) via experimental infections. For this purpose, a parasite strain isolated from roe deer was cloned in sheep erythrocytes. After experimental infections, parasite DNA was successfully amplified by PCR in both eggs and larvae originating from infected I. ricinus females and in the salivary glands of females exposed to Babesia sp. (EU1) as nymphs. We also demonstrate that infected females were able to transmit parasite DNA during a new blood meal. Together with previous epidemiological studies, these results validate I. ricinus as a competent vector for Babesia sp. (EU1)

Babesia and its hosts: adaptation to long-lasting interactions as a way to achieve efficient transmission

Babesia, the causal agent of babesiosis, are tick-borne apicomplexan protozoa. True babesiae (Babesia genus sensu stricto) are biologically characterized by direct development in erythrocytes and by transovarial transmission in the tick. A large number of true Babesia species have been described in various vertebrate and tick hosts. This review presents the genus then discusses specific adaptations of Babesia spp. to their hosts to achieve efficient transmission. The main adaptations lead to long-lasting interactions which result in the induction of two reservoirs: in the vertebrate host during low long-term parasitemia and throughout the life cycle of the tick host as a result of transovarial and transstadial transmission. The molecular bases of these adaptations in vertebrate hosts are partially known but few of the tick-host interaction mechanisms have been elucidated

Babesia sp. EU1 from Roe Deer and Transmission within Ixodes ricinus

We report in vitro culture of zoonotic Babesia sp. EU1 from blood samples of roe deer in France. This study provides evidence of transovarial and transstadial transmission of the parasite within Ixodes ricinus, which suggests that this tick could be a vector and reservoir of EU1

IrSPI, a tick serine protease inhibitor involved in tick feeding and Bartonella henselae infection

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.-- et al.Ixodes ricinus is the most widespread and abundant tick in Europe, frequently bites humans, and is the vector of several pathogens including those responsible for Lyme disease, Tick-Borne Encephalitis, anaplasmosis, babesiosis and bartonellosis. These tick-borne pathogens are transmitted to vertebrate hosts via tick saliva during blood feeding, and tick salivary gland (SG) factors are likely implicated in transmission. In order to identify such tick factors, we characterized the transcriptome of female I. ricinus SGs using next generation sequencing techniques, and compared transcriptomes between Bartonella henselae-infected and non-infected ticks. High-throughput sequencing of I. ricinus SG transcriptomes led to the generation of 24,539 isotigs. Among them, 829 and 517 transcripts were either significantly up- or down-regulated respectively, in response to bacterial infection. Searches based on sequence identity showed that among the differentially expressed transcripts, 161 transcripts corresponded to nine groups of previously annotated tick SG gene families, while the others corresponded to genes of unknown function. Expression patterns of five selected genes belonging to the BPTI/Kunitz family of serine protease inhibitors, the tick salivary peptide group 1 protein, the salp15 super-family, and the arthropod defensin family, were validated by qRT-PCR. IrSPI, a member of the BPTI/Kunitz family of serine protease inhibitors, showed the highest up-regulation in SGs in response to Bartonella infection. IrSPI silencing impaired tick feeding, as well as resulted in reduced bacterial load in tick SGs. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of I. ricinus SG transcriptome and contributes significant genomic information about this important disease vector. This in-depth knowledge will enable a better understanding of the molecular interactions between ticks and tick-borne pathogens, and identifies IrSPI, a candidate to study now in detail to estimate its potentialities as vaccine against the ticks and the pathogens they transmit.XYL was supported by funds from the China Scholarship Council (CSC). This work was funded by INRA and EU grant FP7-261504 EDENext and is catalogued by the EDENext Steering Committee as EDENext037 (http://www.edenext.eu). This work was also partially supported by the Spanish Secretaría de Estado de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad project BFU2011-23896.Peer Reviewe

Reliability of molecular host-identification methods for ticks: an experimental in vitro study with Ixodes ricinus

Background: Reliable information on host use by arthropod vectors is required to study pathogen transmission ecology and to predict disease risk. Direct observation of host use is often difficult or impossible and indirect methods are therefore necessary. However, the reliability of currently available methods to identify the last host of blood-feeding arthropods has not been evaluated, and may be particularly problematic for ticks because host blood has been digested at capture. Biases in host detection may lead to erroneous conclusions on both vector ecology and pathogen circulation. Methods: Here, we experimentally tested for biases in host detection using the generalist three-host tick Ixodes ricinus as a model system. We fed ticks using an artificial feeding system and amplified blood meal traces post-moult (i.e., in the succeeding unfed life stage) via both a quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction assay and a reverse line blotting method. We then experimentally tested for three types of biases in host detection: 1) time post-moult, 2) tick life stage and 3) host type (non-nucleated mammal blood versus nucleated avian blood), and compared these biases between the two molecular methods. Results: Our results show that all three factors can influence host detection in ticks but not necessarily in the expected way. Although host detection rates decreased with time post-moult, mammal blood tended to be more readily detected than bird blood. Tick life stage was also an important factor; detection was higher in nymphs than in adults and, in some cases, remnants from both larval and nymphal blood meals could be detected in the adult stage. These biases were similar for the two detection techniques. Conclusions: We show that different factors associated with questing ticks may influence our ability to correctly infer previous host use and that these factors may bias inferences from field-based studies. As these biases may be common to other vector-borne disease systems, their implications for our understanding of vector ecology and disease transmission require more explicit consideration

Handling the Microbial Complexity Associated to Ticks

Ticks and the pathogens they transmit constitute a growing burden for human and animal health worldwide. In the last years, high-throughput detection and sequencing technologies (HTT) have revealed that individual ticks carry a high diversity of microorganisms, including pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria. Despite several studies have contributed to the availability of a catalog of microorganisms associated to different tick species, major limitations and challenges remain ahead HTT studies to acquire further insights on the microbial complexity associated to ticks. Currently, using next generation sequencing (NGS), bacteria genera (or higher taxonomic levels) can be recorded; however, species identification remains problematic which in turn affects pathogen detection using NGS. Microfluidic PCR, a high-throughput detection technology, can detect up to 96 different pathogen species, and its combination with NGS might render interesting insights into pathogen-microbiota co-occurrence patterns. Microfluidic PCR, however, is also limited because detection of pathogen strains has not been implemented, and therefore, putative associations among bacterial genotypes are currently unknown. Combining NGS and microfluidic PCR data may prove challenging. Here, we review the impact of some HTT applied to tick microbiology research and propose network analysis as an integrative data analysis benchmark to unravel the structure and significance of microbial communities associated to ticks in different ecosystems

Sourcing Innovation in the Digital Age

This paper introduces a recent innovation survey, the first of its kind in the Digital Age. With coverage of 300 large firms, sampled to be representative of corporate innovation in eight countries, the survey provides a unique look at how innovation, particularly digital innovation, is being sourced by firms around the world. We find that open innovation at these companies is pervasive, but also recent. Only in the 2010s have many firms started innovating with external partners like universities, third-party experts, startups, or crowd. Overwhelmingly, firms use these new external innovation sources for digital technologies where they have internal capability shortfalls. Despite the remarkable growth in the use of external innovation sources, internal innovation sources remain more important for companies. These internal sources also produce the projects most likely to provide a competitive advantage

Local light-activation of the Src oncoprotein in an epithelial monolayer promotes collective extrusion

International audienceTransformed isolated cells are usually extruded from normal epithelia and subsequently eliminated. However, multicellular tumors outcompete healthy cells, highlighting the importance of collective effects. Here, we investigate this situation in vitro by controlling in space and time the activity of the Src oncoprotein within a normal Madin-Darby Canine Kidney (MDCK) epithelial cell monolayer. Using an optogenetics approach with cells expressing a synthetic light-sensitive version of Src (optoSrc), we reversibly trigger the oncogenic activity by exposing monolayers to well-defined light patterns. We show that small populations of activated optoSrc cells embedded in the non-transformed monolayer collectively extrude as a tridimensional aggregate and remain alive, while the surrounding normal cells migrate towards the exposed area. This phenomenon requires an interface between normal and transformed cells and is partially reversible. Traction forces show that Src-activated cells either actively extrude or are pushed out by the surrounding cells in a non-autonomous way

Biodiversity Informatics: An interactive computer- aided identification and knowledge base on tree species of Lao PDR

International audienceObjectives • To enrich the existing knowledge base (BIOTIK project*) on a major "hot spot" of biodiversity: the rain forests of Annamite Mountain range of Lao PDR, in the framework of the Inventory of biodiversity of forest canopies conducted in 2012 in Lao PDR under F. Hallé scientific direction, and also to participate to broader initiatives such as Pl@ntNet project**. • To translate the identification tool in the Lao language in order to contribute to the capacity-building in plant taxonomy in the country. • To transfer the identification system to touch pads, enabling plant identification and entering data directly in the field