Entomological characterization of malaria in northern Colombia through vector and parasite species identification, and analyses of spatial distribution and infection rates

Background: Malaria remains a worldwide public health concern and, in Colombia, despite the efforts to stop malaria transmission, the incidence of cases has increased over the last few years. In this context, it is necessary to evaluate vector diversity, infection rates, and spatial distribution, to better understand disease transmission dynamics. This information may contribute to the planning and development of vector control strategies. Results: A total of 778 Anopheles mosquitoes were collected in fifteen localities of Córdoba from August 2015 to October 2016. Six species were identified and overall, Anopheles albimanus was the most widespread and abundant species (83%). Other species of the Nyssorhynchus subgenus were collected, including Anopheles triannulatus (13%), Anopheles nuneztovari (1%), Anopheles argyritarsis (< 1%) and two species belonging to the Anopheles subgenus: Anopheles pseudopunctipennis (3%) and Anopheles neomaculipalpus (< 1%). Four species were found naturally infected with two Plasmodium species: Anopheles nuneztovari was detected naturally infected with Plasmodium falciparum and Anopheles pseudopunctipennis with Plasmodium vivax, whereas An. albimanus and An. triannulatus were found infected with both parasite species and confirmed by nested PCR. Conclusions: In general, the obtained results were contrasting with previous studies in terms of the most abundant and widespread collected species, and regarding infection rates, which were higher than those previously reported. A positive relationship between mosquito local abundance at the locality level and human infection at the municipality level was found. Mosquito local abundance and the number of houses with mosquitoes in each village are factors explaining malaria human cases in these villages. The obtained results suggest that other factors related to the apparent variation in malaria eco-epidemiology in northern Colombia, must be identified, to provide health authorities with better decision tools aiming to design control and prevention strategies

Evidence for induction of humoral and cytotoxic immune responses against devil facial tumor disease cells in Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) immunized with killed cell preparations

Available online 20 February 2015Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii) risk extinction from a contagious cancer, devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) in which the infectious agent is the tumor cell itself. Because devils are unable to produce an immune response against the tumor cells no devil has survived 'infection'. To promote an immune response we immunized healthy devils with killed DFTD tumor cells in the presence of adjuvants. Immune responses, including cytotoxicity and antibody production, were detected in five of the six devils. The incorporation of adjuvants that act via toll like receptors may provide additional signals to break 'immunological ignorance'. One of these devils was protected against a challenge with viable DFTD cells. This was a short-term protection as re-challenge one year later resulted in tumor growth. These results suggest that Tasmanian devils can generate immune responses against DFTD cells. With further optimization of immune stimulation it should be possible to protect Tasmanian devils against DFTD with an injectable vaccine.A. Kreiss, G.K. Brown, C. Tovar, A.B. Lyons, G.M. Wood

Convergence analysis of hybrid cellular automata for topology optimization

The hybrid cellular automaton (HCA) algorithm was inspired by the structural adaptation of bones to their ever changing mechanical environment. This methodology has been shown to be an effective topology synthesis tool. In previous work, it has been observed that the convergence of the HCA methodology is affected by parameters of the algorithm. As a result, questions have been raised regarding the conditions by which HCA converges to an optimal design. The objective of this investigation is to examine the conditions that guarantee convergence to a Karush-Kuhn-Tucker (KKT) point. In this paper, it is shown that the HCA algorithm is a fixed point iterative scheme and the previously reported KKT optimality conditions are corrected. To demonstrate the convergence properties of the HCA algorithm, a simple cantilevered beam example is utilized. Plots of the spectral radius for projections of the design space are used to show regions of guaranteed convergence

Spin waves in ultrathin ferromagnetic overlayers

The influence of a non-magnetic metallic substrate on the spin wave excitations in ultrathin ferromagnetic overlayers is investigated for different crystalline orientations. We show that spin wave dumping in these systems occur due to the tunneling of holes from the substrate into the overlayer, and that the spin wave energies may be considerably affected by the exchange coupling mediated by the substrate.Comment: RevTeX 4, 7 pages, 5 figures; submitted to Phys. Rev.

Developmental stage of oligodendrocytes determines their response to activated microglia in vitro

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs) and mature oligodendrocytes are both lost in central nervous system injury and disease. Activated microglia may play a role in OPC and oligodendrocyte loss or replacement, but it is not clear how the responses of OPCs and oligodendrocytes to activated microglia differ.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>OPCs and microglia were isolated from rat cortex. OPCs were induced to differentiate into oligodendrocytes with thyroid hormone in defined medium. For selected experiments, microglia were added to OPC or oligodendrocyte cultures. Lipopolysaccharide was used to activate microglia and microglial activation was confirmed by TNFα ELISA. Cell survival was assessed with immunocytochemistry and cell counts. OPC proliferation and oligodendrocyte apoptosis were also assessed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>OPCs and oligodendrocytes displayed phenotypes representative of immature and mature oligodendrocytes, respectively. Activated microglia reduced OPC survival, but increased survival and reduced apoptosis of mature oligodendrocytes. Activated microglia also underwent cell death themselves.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Activated microglia may have divergent effects on OPCs and mature oligodendrocytes, reducing OPC survival and increasing mature oligodendrocyte survival. This may be of importance because activated microglia are present in several disease states where both OPCs and mature oligodendrocytes are also reacting to injury. Activated microglia may simultaneously have deleterious and helpful effects on different cells after central nervous system injury.</p

Reliability and validity of the Colombian version of the Revised Sociosexual Orientation Inventory

Sociosexuality refers to an individual’s disposition to have casual sex without establishing affective bonds and has been widely studied worldwide using the Revised Sociosexual Orientation Inventory (SOI-R; Penke & Asendorpf, 2008). Despite its many validations in different cultural contexts, no psychometric analyses of this instrument have been conducted in Spanish-speaking Latin American countries. To address this gap in the literature, we examined the psychometric properties of the SOI-R in Colombia. In a cross-sectional study with a large sample of participants (N = 812; 64% women), we conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to identify different factor structures and determine which had the best fit for our sample and examined the reliability of the scale. Results showed that a three-factor structure, with sociosexual behaviors, attitudes, and desire as first-order factors, and global sociosexuality as a second-order factor, had the best fit indexes. Each factor presented good reliability indexes. Replicating already established gender differences, we also found that men scored higher on each factor when compared to women. These findings show that the SOI-R is a reliable and valid instrument to assess sociosexuality in countries where sociosexuality research is underrepresented.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Seed Size and Its Relationship with Crop Establishment, Productivity and Nutritive Value in Genotypes of Maize for Silage

For a high dry matter (DM) yield of forage maize an adequate population of plants is required, which is related to germination, vigour, and seed size (Ellis, 1992). The objective of the present study was to investigate seed size and its relationship to establishment, productive and nutritional potential of silage maize, which has not before been reported in the literature

Integration of Art Pedagogy in Engineering Graduate Education

The integration of STEM with the Arts, commonly referred to as STEAM, recognizes the need for human skill, creativity, and imagination in technological innovations and solutions of real-world technical problems. The STEAM paradigm changes the dominant “chalk and talk” lecture and “closed-ended” problem-solving orientation of traditional engineering pedagogy to a hands-on, studio-based, and open-ended creative learning approach, typical in art education. A growing body of literature has provided evidence of the favorable impact of situating STEAM in K-16 education. The long-term objective of this work is to promote creativity in engineering students by integrating learning methods and environments from the Arts into graduate STEM education. To this end, an integrating engineering, technology and art (ETA) educational model is developed and is currently being tested. This ETA educational model systematically merges technical instruction with studio-based pedagogy. The ETA model consists of three courses, which were piloted in the year 2017. In each course, engineering and art instructors and students collaborated for 15 weeks on design projects. These projects ranged from drones to architectural installations