Studies on Homalomeneae (Araceae) of Borneo VI: Homalomena giamensis, a New Species from Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, with Observations on its Pollination

A new species, Homalomena giamensis L.S.Tung, S.Y.Wong & P.C.Boyce, is described and illustrated from karst limestone formations at Kampung Giam, Kuching Division, SW Sarawak, to where it is locally endemic. As part of an ongoing project to investigate triggers and barriers in speciation processes in Homalomena, observations of the pollination of Homalomena giamensis were undertaken to record inflorescence mechanics, interactions with insect visitors, and determine the pollinator. Five insect genera visited during anthesis-Diptera: Drosophilidae (Colocasiomyia); Coeleoptera: Chrysomelidae: (Chaloenus & Dercetina sp.); Nitidulidae (genus undetermined), and Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae (Parastasia bimaculata Guerin). The pollinator was determined to be the ruteline scarab. Parastasia bimaculata is a rather widespread species in tropical Asia, and has previously recorded as a pollinating agent for one Bornean Homalomena. A review of pollination studies of tropical Asian aroids to date is given

Derivation of Conditions for the Normal Gain Behavior of Conical Horns

Monotonically increasing gain-versus-frequency pattern is in general expected to be a characteristic of aperture antennas that include the smooth-wall conical horn. While optimum gain conical horns do naturally exhibit this behavior, nonoptimum horns need to meet certain criterion: a minimum axial length for given aperture diameter, or, alternatively, a maximum aperture diameter for the given axial length. In this paper, approximate expressions are derived to determine these parameters

Avaliação e manejo da dor em pacientes idosos com e sem demência

Persistent pain is a frequent health problem in the elderly. Its prevalence ranges from 45% to 80%. Chronic diseases, such as depression, cardiovascular disease, cancer and osteoporosis have a higher prevalence in aged individuals and increase the risk of developing chronic pain. The presence of pain is known to be associated with sleep disorders in these patients, as well as functional impairment, decreased sociability and greater use of the health system, with consequent increase in costs. Alzheimer's disease patients seem to have a normal pain discriminative capacity and they may probably have weaker emotional and affective experience of pain when compared to other types of dementia. Many patients have language deficits and thus cannot properly describe its characteristics. In more advanced cases, it becomes even difficult to determine whether pain is present or not. Therefore, the evaluation of these patients should be performed in a systematic way. There are three ways to measure the presence of pain: by direct questioning (self-report), by direct behavioral observation and by interviews with caregivers or informants. In recent years, many pain scales and questionnaires have been published and validated specifically for the elderly population. Some are specific to patients with cognitive decline, allowing pain evaluation to be conducted in a structured and reproducible way. The next step is to determine the type of painful syndrome and discuss the bases of the pharmacological management, the use of multiple medications and the presence of comorbidities demand the use of smaller doses and impose contra-indications against some drug classes. A multiprofessional approach is the rule in the management of these patients.Dor persistente é um problema de saúde frequente no idoso e sua prevalência varia de 45 a 80%. Doenças crônicas, como depressão, distúrbios cardiovasculares, câncer e osteoporose tem alta prevalência em indivíduos idosos e aumentam o risco de desenvolver dor crônica. Nestes indivíduos, a presença de dor está associada a distúrbios do sono, prejuízo funcional, diminuição da sociabilidade e maior procura dos serviços de saúde, com o consequente aumento dos custos de saúde. Pacientes com Alzheimer têm uma capacidade discriminativa dolorosa normal e uma experiência afetiva e emocional da dor mais atenuada quando comparados com outros tipos de demência. Muitos pacientes têm déficits de linguagem e não podem descrever adequadamente as características de sua dor. Em casos avançados, torna-se difícil determinar se a dor está realmente presente ou não. Desta forma, a avaliação destes doentes deve ser realizada de forma sistemática. Há três formas de se avaliar a dor: questionários diretos, observação direta do comportamento ou entrevistas diretas com os cuidadores ou informantes. Nos últimos anos muitas escalas e questionários para dor foram publicados e validados especificamente para a população idosa. Alguns são específicos para pacientes com declínio cognitivo, permitindo que a evolução da dor possa ser conduzida de uma forma estruturada e reprodutível. O passo seguinte é se determinar o tipo de síndrome dolorosa e se discutir as bases do manejo farmacológico. O uso de múltiplas medicações e a presença de comorbidades exige o uso de pequenas doses e impõem contra-indicações para algumas classes de drogas. A abordagem multidisciplinar é a regra no seguimento a longo prazo destes doentes

Studies on Potheae (Araceae) of Borneo II: Pedicellarum M.Hotta subsumed into Pothos L., and recognition of three new species

Pedicellarum is subsumed into Pothos as Pothos paiei. Four species, three taxonomically novel (Pothos degenerans, ecclesiae and P. fractiflexus) and one pre-existing (Pothos oliganthus) are discussed. The reproductive structures are reinterpreted and floral terminology used in this paper is in line with paving the way to interpreting the ‘inflorescence’ of Pothos, and indeed of all other aroids, as a unique array of structures that are neither flowers nor inflorescences as defined by current prevailing orthodoxy, but something of both

Specific, sensitive and rapid detection of human plasmodium knowlesi infection by loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) in blood samples

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The emergence of <it>Plasmodium knowlesi </it>in humans, which is in many cases misdiagnosed by microscopy as <it>Plasmodium malariae </it>due to the morphological similarity has contributed to the needs of detection and differentiation of malaria parasites. At present, nested PCR targeted on <it>Plasmodium </it>ssrRNA genes has been described as the most sensitive and specific method for Plasmodium detection. However, this method is costly and requires trained personnel for its implementation. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), a novel nucleic acid amplification method was developed for the clinical detection of <it>P. knowlesi</it>. The sensitivity and specificity of LAMP was evaluated in comparison to the results obtained via microscopic examination and nested PCR.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>LAMP assay was developed based on <it>P. knowlesi </it>genetic material targeting the apical membrane antigen-1 (AMA-1) gene. The method uses six primers that recognize eight regions of the target DNA and it amplifies DNA within an hour under isothermal conditions (65°C) in a water-bath.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>LAMP is highly sensitive with the detection limit as low as ten copies for AMA-1. LAMP detected malaria parasites in all confirm cases (n = 13) of <it>P. knowlesi </it>infection (sensitivity, 100%) and none of the negative samples (specificity, 100%) within an hour. LAMP demonstrated higher sensitivity compared to nested PCR by successfully detecting a sample with very low parasitaemia (< 0.01%).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>With continuous efforts in the optimization of this assay, LAMP may provide a simple and reliable test for detecting <it>P. knowlesi </it>malaria parasites in areas where malaria is prevalent.</p

Spatially Resolved Transcriptomes of Mammalian Kidneys Illustrate the Molecular Complexity and Interactions of Functional Nephron Segments

Available transcriptomes of the mammalian kidney provide limited information on the spatial interplay between different functional nephron structures due to the required dissociation of tissue with traditional transcriptome-based methodologies. A deeper understanding of the complexity of functional nephron structures requires a non-dissociative transcriptomics approach, such as spatial transcriptomics sequencing (ST-seq). We hypothesize that the application of ST-seq in normal mammalian kidneys will give transcriptomic insights within and across species of physiology at the functional structure level and cellular communication at the cell level. Here, we applied ST-seq in six mice and four human kidneys that were histologically absent of any overt pathology. We defined the location of specific nephron structures in the captured ST-seq datasets using three lines of evidence: pathologist's annotation, marker gene expression, and integration with public single-cell and/or single-nucleus RNA-sequencing datasets. We compared the mouse and human cortical kidney regions. In the human ST-seq datasets, we further investigated the cellular communication within glomeruli and regions of proximal tubules–peritubular capillaries by screening for co-expression of ligand–receptor gene pairs. Gene expression signatures of distinct nephron structures and microvascular regions were spatially resolved within the mouse and human ST-seq datasets. We identified 7,370 differentially expressed genes (padj < 0.05) distinguishing species, suggesting changes in energy production and metabolism in mouse cortical regions relative to human kidneys. Hundreds of potential ligand–receptor interactions were identified within glomeruli and regions of proximal tubules–peritubular capillaries, including known and novel interactions relevant to kidney physiology. Our application of ST-seq to normal human and murine kidneys confirms current knowledge and localization of transcripts within the kidney. Furthermore, the generated ST-seq datasets provide a valuable resource for the kidney community that can be used to inform future research into this complex organ

Neuropathic pain after brachial plexus avulsion - central and peripheral mechanisms

Abstract\ud \ud Review\ud The pain that commonly occurs after brachial plexus avulsion poses an additional burden on the quality of life of patients already impaired by motor, sensory and autonomic deficits. Evidence-based treatments for the pain associated with brachial plexus avulsion are scarce, thus frequently leaving the condition refractory to treatment with the standard methods used to manage neuropathic pain. Unfortunately, little is known about the pathophysiology of brachial plexus avulsion. Available evidence indicates that besides primary nerve root injury, central lesions related to the abrupt disconnection of nerve roots from the spinal cord may play an important role in the genesis of neuropathic pain in these patients and may explain in part its refractoriness to treatment.\ud \ud \ud Conclusions\ud The understanding of both central and peripheral mechanisms that contribute to the development of pain is of major importance in order to propose more effective treatments for brachial plexus avulsion-related pain. This review focuses on the current understanding about the occurrence of neuropathic pain in these patients and the role played by peripheral and central mechanisms that provides insights into its treatment.\ud \ud \ud Summary\ud Pain after brachial plexus avulsion involves both peripheral and central components; thereby it is characterized as a mixed (central and peripheral) neuropathic pain syndrome.Department of Neurology and by the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Laboratory of the Psychiatry Institute, University of São Paul