Iron status and Helicobacter pylori infection in symptomatic children: an international multi-centered study

Objective:Iron deficiency (ID) and iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) are global major public health problems, particularly in developing countries. Whilst an association between H. pylori infection and ID/IDA has been proposed in the literature, currently there is no consensus. We studied the effects of H. pylori infection on ID/IDA in a cohort of children undergoing upper gastrointestinal endoscopy for upper abdominal pain in two developing and one developed country.Methods:In total 311 children (mean age 10.7±3.2 years) from Latin America - Belo Horizonte/Brazil (n = 125), Santiago/Chile (n = 105) - and London/UK (n = 81), were studied. Gastric and duodenal biopsies were obtained for evaluation of histology and H. pylori status and blood samples for parameters of ID/IDA.Results:The prevalence of H. pylori infection was 27.7% being significantly higher (p<0.001) in Latin America (35%) than in UK (7%). Multiple linear regression models revealed H. pylori infection as a significant predictor of low ferritin and haemoglobin concentrations in children from Latin-America. A negative correlation was observed between MCV (r = -0.26; p = 0.01) and MCH (r = -0.27; p = 0.01) values and the degree of antral chronic inflammation, and between MCH and the degree of corpus chronic (r = -0.29, p = 0.008) and active (r = -0.27, p = 0.002) inflammation.Conclusions:This study demonstrates that H. pylori infection in children influences the serum ferritin and haemoglobin concentrations, markers of early depletion of iron stores and anaemia respectively

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Domestic feline contribution in the transmission of Sporothrix in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil: a comparison between infected and non-infected populations

Abstract Background Sporotrichosis is a neglected zoonosis caused by pathogenic fungi belonging to the Sporothrix schenckii complex. In Rio de Janeiro state, this disease reached an epidemic status with over 4700 domestic felines and around 4000 humans affected since the mid-90s. The present study evaluated clinical and epidemiological aspects and also the frequency of colonization and infection by these fungi in healthy cats and among those with suspicious cutaneous lesions, inhabiting four Rio de Janeiro state distinct areas. Results Three hundred and seventy-one cats were included in two groups: 175 healthy cats [CRG] and 196 cats showing lesions suggesting sporotrichosis [SSG]. Mycological diagnosis allowed SSG animals to be divided in positive [104 cats; +SG] and negative [92 cats; -SG] groups. Nails, oral mucosa and lesions swabs were submitted to culture and potential colonies were subculture for micromorphologycal analysis, dimorphism and molecular tests. In the CRG, only one cat was colonized in the oral cavity [0.57%]; in the -SG group, four animals showed colonization of the nail and/or oral cavity [4.3%]; while the highest frequency of colonization [39.4%] was observed in the +SG. All molecularly typed isolates were identified as S. brasiliensis. Conclusion The results obtained here indicate that healthy cats have a minor role in sporotrichosis transmission within the state of Rio de Janeiro. Conversely, a higher participation of diseased feline in sporotrichosis transmission was evidenced, especially by the colonization of their oral cavity. Sporothrix brasiliensis equally affects and colonizes animals from distinct Rio de Janeiro state areas. Thus, we hypothesize that sporotrichosis is a uniform endemic throughout the state, whose transmission depends mainly on the contact with cats with sporotrichosis. Since Rio de Janeiro displays a world unique epidemic model of the disease, not fully understood, data on the infected and non-infected animals can be of major importance for future strategies of sporotrichosis prevention and control. Finally, considering the importance of the current concept of “one health”, the experience here observed can be helpful for distinct epizootias and/or zoonosis

Conhecimento tradicional das marisqueiras de Barra Grande, área de proteção ambiental do delta do Rio Parnaíba, Piauí, Brasil

Na comunidade de Barra Grande localizada no litoral do Piauí, as mulheres dos pescadores, conhecidas localmente como marisqueiras, extraem do manguezal vários tipos de moluscos para comercialização e em maior escala para a subsistência. Dados sobre a atividade de mariscagem, conceitos de conservação e aspectos socioeconômicos do contexto em que ocorre a atividade de cata dos moluscos, foram revelados após a aplicação de protocolos estruturados e semiestruturados. O molusco bivalve Anomalocardia brasiliana (Gmelin, 1791), popularmente denominado de marisco, é caracterizado por ser um importante recurso para a subsistência, sendo o mais coletado pela comunidade, seguido da Mytella charruana (d'Orbigny, 1842), o sururu, explorado para a comercialização por ter o maior valor de mercado. O conhecimento das marisqueiras sobre A. brasiliana foi comparado com literatura especializada, muitas vezes mostrando-se em harmonia com esta. Demonstra-se assim que o conhecimento tradicional deve ser valorizado para delineamento de programas de gestão de recursos pesqueiros da região. Quanto aos modos de pensar, foi revelado que 82,81% das marisqueiras praticam manejo para a conservação da A. brasiliana ao coletar apenas os indivíduos de maior tamanho, e 80,86% consideram que não existe poluição nos pontos de coletas. O surgimento de uma Associação exclusiva e cooperativa para as marisqueiras é necessário para a valorização do trabalho por elas desenvolvido, visto que há uma média estimada de 351 kg de carne sendo extraídos mensalmente.<br>En la comunidad de Barra Grande, situada en la costa del estado de Piaui, las esposas de los pescadores, localmente llamadas de "marisqueiras", extraen de los manglares diversos tipos de moluscos para su comercialización, haciendo de esta actividad en una fuente de subsistencia. Informaciones detalladas y sistemáticas sobre la actividad de cosecha de mariscos, del contexto en el que se desarrolla la recolección y sus aspectos socioeconómicos, asi como la percepción ambiental y los conceptos relacionados a la preservación que tienen las "marisqueiras", sólo fueron conocidas luego de la aplicación de protocolos estructurados y semi-estructurados. El molusco Anomalocardia brasiliana (Gmelin, 1791), popularmente conocido como "marisco", es una importante fuente de recursos, siendo el más cosechado por la comunidad; le sigue en importancia el Mytella charruana (d'Orbigny, 1842), conocido como "sururu", cuya explotación se destina principalmente a la comercialización debido a su superior valor de mercado. El conocimiento que las "marisqueiras" tienen de la A. brasiliana fue comparado con el disponible en la literatura especializada, quedando evidente su compatibilidad, lo cual fundamenta la importancia de su valorización en el diseño de programas de gestión de los recursos pesqueros en la región. Estudios sobre el impacto ambiental de la actividad revelaron que el 82,81% de las "marisqueiras" tienen en cuenta las consecuencias de su actividad sobre la preservación, cosechando sólo los ejemplares más grandes, mientras que 80,86% de las trabajadoras considera que no hay contaminación en las zonas de cosecha. En el contexto actual se hace necesaria la creación de una Asociación de "marisqueiras", así como una cooperativa, con el propósito de jerarquizar la actividad, la cual es responsable por la producción estimada en promedio de 351 kg de carne por mes.<br>In the community of Barra Grande located at the coast of Piauí, the wives of fishermen, locally known as "marisqueiras" (female shellfish catcher), extract from the mangrove various kinds of shellfish for commercial purposes and a great amount for subsistence. For a better understanding, data on the activity of "marisqueiras", concepts of conservation and socioeconomic aspects of the context in which occurs the activity of shellfish catching were revealed after the application of semi-structured and structured protocols. The bivalve mussel Anomalocardia brasiliana (Gmelin, 1791), popularly known as "marisco", is characterized as an important resource for subsistence being most of it collected by the community, followed by Mytella charruana (d'Orbigny, 1842) the "sururu", extract for commercial purposes due to its highest market value. The knowledge of the "marisqueiras" about A. brasiliana was compared with literature which proved to be compatible, thus showing that it should be valued for the design of programs for the management of fishing resources in the region. About the way of thinking, it was revealed that 82.81% of "marisqueiras" practice the conservation of the A. brasiliana by collecting only the larger individuals and 80.86% consider that there is no pollution at the collection points. The creation of a unique association and a cooperative for the "marisqueiras" is required to value the work by themselves developed, since there are an estimated average of 351 kg of meat being extracted monthly

Biosynthetic Products from a Nearshore-Derived Gram-Negative Bacterium Enable Reassessment of the Kailuin Depsipeptides

Sampling of California nearshore sediments resulted in the isolation of a Gram-negative bacterium, <i>Photobacterium halotolerans</i>, capable of producing unusual biosynthetic products. Liquid culture in artificial seawater-based media provided cyclic depsipeptides including four known compounds, kailuins B–E (<b>2</b>–<b>5</b>), and two new analogues, kailuins G and H (<b>7</b> and <b>8</b>). The structures of the new and known compounds were confirmed through extensive spectroscopic and Marfey’s analyses. During the course of these studies, a correction was made to the previously reported double-bond geometry of kailuin D (<b>4</b>). Additionally, through the application of a combination of derivatization with Mosher’s reagent and extensive ¹³C NMR shift analysis, the previously unassigned chiral center at position C-3 of the β-acyloxy group of all compounds was determined. To evaluate bioactivity and structure–activity relationships, the kailuin core (<b>13</b>) and kailuin lactam (<b>14</b>) were prepared by chiral synthesis using an Fmoc solid-phase peptide strategy followed by solution-phase cyclization. All isolated compounds and synthetic cores were assayed for solid tumor cell cytotoxicity and showed only minimal activity, contrary to other published reports. Additional phenotypic screenings were done on <b>4</b> and <b>5</b>, with little evidence of activity