Understanding the clinical spectrum of complicated Plasmodium vivax malaria: a systematic review on the contributions of the Brazilian literature

The resurgence of the malaria eradication agenda and the increasing number of severe manifestation reports has contributed to a renewed interested in the Plasmodium vivax infection. It is the most geographically widespread parasite causing human malaria, with around 2.85 billion people living under risk of infection. The Brazilian Amazon region reports more than 50% of the malaria cases in Latin America and since 1990 there is a marked predominance of this species, responsible for 85% of cases in 2009. However, only a few complicated cases of P. vivax have been reported from this region. A systematic review of the Brazilian indexed and non-indexed literature on complicated cases of vivax malaria was performed including published articles, masters' dissertations, doctoral theses and national congresses' abstracts. The following information was retrieved: patient characteristics (demographic, presence of co-morbidities and, whenever possible, associated genetic disorders); description of each major clinical manifestation. As a result, 27 articles, 28 abstracts from scientific events' annals and 13 theses/dissertations were found, only after 1987. Most of the reported information was described in small case series and case reports of patients from all the Amazonian states, and also in travellers from Brazilian non-endemic areas. The more relevant clinical complications were anaemia, thrombocytopaenia, jaundice and acute respiratory distress syndrome, present in all age groups, in addition to other more rare clinical pictures. Complications in pregnant women were also reported. Acute and chronic co-morbidities were frequent, however death was occasional. Clinical atypical cases of malaria are more frequent than published in the indexed literature, probably due to a publication bias. In the Brazilian Amazon (considered to be a low to moderate intensity area of transmission), clinical data are in accordance with the recent findings of severity described in diverse P. vivax endemic areas (especially anaemia in Southeast Asia), however in this region both children and adults are affected. Finally, gaps of knowledge and areas for future research are opportunely pointed out

Molecular Phylogeny of the Astrophorida (Porifera, Demospongiaep) Reveals an Unexpected High Level of Spicule Homoplasy

Background: The Astrophorida (Porifera, Demospongiae(rho)) is geographically and bathymetrically widely distributed. Systema Porifera currently includes five families in this order: Ancorinidae, Calthropellidae, Geodiidae, Pachastrellidae and Thrombidae. To date, molecular phylogenetic studies including Astrophorida species are scarce and offer limited sampling. Phylogenetic relationships within this order are therefore for the most part unknown and hypotheses based on morphology largely untested. Astrophorida taxa have very diverse spicule sets that make them a model of choice to investigate spicule evolution. Methodology/Principal Findings: With a sampling of 153 specimens (9 families, 29 genera, 89 species) covering the deep- and shallow-waters worldwide, this work presents the first comprehensive molecular phylogeny of the Astrophorida, using a cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene partial sequence and the 59 end terminal part of the 28S rDNA gene (C1-D2 domains). The resulting tree suggested that i) the Astrophorida included some lithistid families and some Alectonidae species, ii) the sub-orders Euastrophorida and Streptosclerophorida were both polyphyletic, iii) the Geodiidae, the Ancorinidae and the Pachastrellidae were not monophyletic, iv) the Calthropellidae was part of the Geodiidae clade (Calthropella at least), and finally that v) many genera were polyphyletic (Ecionemia, Erylus, Poecillastra, Penares, Rhabdastrella, Stelletta and Vulcanella). Conclusion: The Astrophorida is a larger order than previously considered, comprising ca. 820 species. Based on these results, we propose new classifications for the Astrophorida using both the classical rank-based nomenclature (i.e., Linnaean classification) and the phylogenetic nomenclature following the PhyloCode, independent of taxonomic rank. A key to the Astrophorida families, sub-families and genera incertae sedis is also included. Incongruences between our molecular tree and the current classification can be explained by the banality of convergent evolution and secondary loss in spicule evolution. These processes have taken place many times, in all the major clades, for megascleres and microscleres

Pre- and post-fire comparison of forest areas in 3D

A satellite processing platform for high resolution forest assessment (FORSAT) was developed. It generates the digital surface models (DSMs) of the forest canopy by advanced processing of the very-high resolution (VHR) optical satellite imagery and automatically matches the pre- and post-fire DSMs for 3D change detection. The FORSAT software system can perform the following tasks: pre-processing, point measurement, orientation, quasi-epipolar image generation, image matching, DSM extraction, orthoimage generation, photogrammetric restitution either in mono-plotting mode or in stereo models, 3D surface matching, co-registration, comparison and change detection. It can thoroughly calculate the planimetric and volumetric changes between the epochs. It supports most of the VHR optical imagery commonly used for civil applications. Capabilities of FORSAT have been tested in two real forest fire cases, where the burned areas are located in Cyprus and Austria. The geometric characteristics of burned forest areas have been identified both in 2D plane and 3D volume dimensions, using pre- and post-fire optical image data from different sensors. The test studies showed that FORSAT is an operational software capable of providing spatial (3D) and temporal (4D) information for monitoring of forest fire areas and sustainable forest management. Beyond the wildfires, it can be used for many other forest information needs.Publisher's Versio

Pre-and post-fire comparison of forest areas in 3D

\u3cp\u3eA satellite processing platform for high resolution forest assessment (FORSAT) was developed. It generates the digital surface models (DSMs) of the forest canopy by advanced processing of the very-high resolution (VHR) optical satellite imagery and automatically matches the pre- and post-fire DSMs for 3D change detection. The FORSAT software system can perform the following tasks: pre-processing, point measurement, orientation, quasi-epipolar image generation, image matching, DSM extraction, orthoimage generation, photogrammetric restitution either in mono-plotting mode or in stereo models, 3D surface matching, co-registration, comparison and change detection. It can thoroughly calculate the planimetric and volumetric changes between the epochs. It supports most of the VHR optical imagery commonly used for civil applications. Capabilities of FORSAT have been tested in two real forest fire cases, where the burned areas are located in Cyprus and Austria. The geometric characteristics of burned forest areas have been identified both in 2D plane and 3D volume dimensions, using pre- and post-fire optical image data from different sensors. The test studies showed that FORSAT is an operational software capable of providing spatial (3D) and temporal (4D) information for monitoring of forest fire areas and sustainable forest management. Beyond the wildfires, it can be used for many other forest information needs.\u3c/p\u3