Evolution and interspecies transmission of canine distemper virus—an outlook of the diverse evolutionary landscapes of a multi-host virus

This article belongs to the Special Issue MorbillivirusesCanine distemper virus (CDV) is a worldwide distributed virus which belongs to the genus Morbillivirus within the Paramyxoviridae family. CDV spreads through the lymphatic, epithelial, and nervous systems of domestic dogs and wildlife, in at least six orders and over 20 families of mammals. Due to the high morbidity and mortality rates and broad host range, understanding the epidemiology of CDV is not only important for its control in domestic animals, but also for the development of reliable wildlife conservation strategies. The present review aims to give an outlook of the multiple evolutionary landscapes and factors involved in the transmission of CDV by including epidemiological data from multiple species in urban, wild and peri-urban settings, not only in domestic animal populations but at the wildlife interface. It is clear that different epidemiological scenarios can lead to the presence of CDV in wildlife even in the absence of infection in domestic populations, highlighting the role of CDV in different domestic or wild species without clinical signs of disease mainly acting as reservoirs (peridomestic and mesocarnivores) that are often found in peridomestic habits triggering CDV epidemics. Another scenario is driven by mutations, which generate genetic variation on which random drift and natural selection can act, shaping the genetic structure of CDV populations leading to some fitness compensations between hosts and driving the evolution of specialist and generalist traits in CDV populations. In this scenario, the highly variable protein hemagglutinin (H) determines the cellular and host tropism by binding to signaling lymphocytic activation molecule (SLAM) and nectin-4 receptors of the host; however, the multiple evolutionary events that may have facilitated CDV adaptation to different hosts must be evaluated by complete genome sequencing. This review is focused on the study of CDV interspecies transmission by examining molecular and epidemiological reports based on sequences of the hemagglutinin gene and the growing body of studies of the complete genome; emphasizing the importance of long-term multidisciplinary research that tracks CDV in the presence or absence of clinical signs in wild species, and helping to implement strategies to mitigate the infection. Integrated research incorporating the experience of wildlife managers, behavioral and conservation biologists, veterinarians, virologists, and immunologists (among other scientific areas) and the inclusion of several wild and domestic species is essential for understanding the intricate epidemiological dynamics of CDV in its multiple host infections

Cinética de crecimiento de bacterias ácido- lácticas autóctonas aisladas de “queso doble crema” con potencial para un cultivo iniciador

Currently, there is a permanent search for native Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) to explore and apply their biodiversity in the development and improvement of industrial processes, with studies of growth kinetics and performance factors being a fundamental tool for biotechnological use. The objective of this study was to determine the kinetic parameters of 12 autochthonous strains (Pediococcus pentosaceus (19), Leuconostoc citreum (20), Pediococcus acidilactici (21), Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. Mesenteroides (22, 29), Enterococcus faecium (24, 25), Enterococcus faecalis (27), Weissella viridescens (28), Lactococcus lactis (30), Lacticaseibacillus casei (31) and Limosilactobacillus fermentum (32)) isolated from a traditional Colombian cheese Double Cream Cheese to obtain information that allows establishing the ideal conditions of the inoculum, standardizing the production of metabolites and exploring their use as starter cultures. Fermentation was carried out in UHT milk at 120 rpm and 35-37 °C until stationary phase, and samples were taken over time to determine pH and titratable acidity (TTA). Exponential and logistic models were used to fit the growth kinetics data. Validation of both models was carried out with the coefficient of determination R2, obtaining good consistency for both (R2 = 0.925 - R2 = 0.932), with slight variations in the kinetic parameters in all the strains. The genera Pediococcus, Leuconostoc, Lactococcus, and E. faecium (24) had the shortest adaptation phases (0-2 h), being P. acidilactici (21), Leu. mesenteroides (22), W. viridescens (28), and E. faecium (24) presented the lowest pH values and high acidity percentages, which shows their potential to be included in the native LAB starter culture and for technology and suitability aptitude studies to produce double cream cheese using pasteurized milk without losing the qualities of the original product.Actualmente, existe una búsqueda permanente de bacterias ácido-lácticas (BAL) autóctonas para explorar y aplicar su biodiversidad en el desarrollo y mejoramiento de procesos industriales, siendo los estudios de cinética de crecimiento y los factores de rendimiento una herramienta fundamental para la utilización biotecnológica. Este trabajo tuvo como objetivo determinar los parámetros cinéticos de 12 cepas autóctonas (Pediococcus pentosaceus (19), Leuconostoc citreum (20), Pediococcus acidilactici (21), Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. Mesenteroides (22, 29), Enterococcus faecium (24, 25), Enterococcus faecalis (27), Weissella viridescens (28), Lactococcus lactis (30), Lacticaseibacillus casei (31) y Limosilactobacillus fermentum (32)) aisladas de un queso doble crema tradicional colombiano con el fin de obtener información para identificar su potencial en la conformación de un cultivo iniciador. Se realizó una fermentación en leche UHT a 120 rpm y 35-37 °C hasta la fase estacionaria, y se tomaron muestras para determinar el pH y la acidez titulable (TTA). Se emplearon los modelos exponencial y logístico para ajustar los datos de la cinética de crecimiento. La validación de ambos modelos se realizó empleando el coeficiente de correlación R2, presentando buena consistencia en ambos (R2 = 0.925 - R2 = 0.932) con variaciones en los parámetros cinéticos en todas las cepas. Los géneros Pediococcus, Leuconostoc, Lactococcus y E. faecium (24) tuvieron las fases de adaptación más cortas (0-2 h), siendo P. acidilactici (21), Leu. mesenteroides (22), W. viridescens (28) y E. faecium (24) quienes presentaron los menores valores de pH y altos porcentajes de acidez. Esto evidencia su potencial para ser incluidas en el cultivo iniciador de BAL autóctonos y en estudios de aptitud tecnológica e idoneidad para la elaboración del queso tipo doble crema utilizando leche pasteurizada sin perder las cualidades del producto original

The Global Smartphone: Beyond a youth technology

The smartphone is often literally right in front of our nose, so you would think we would know what it is. But do we? To find out, 11 anthropologists each spent 16 months living in communities in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America, focusing on the take up of smartphones by older people. Their research reveals that smartphones are technology for everyone, not just for the young. The Global Smartphone presents a series of original perspectives deriving from this global and comparative research project. Smartphones have become as much a place within which we live as a device we use to provide ‘perpetual opportunism’, as they are always with us. The authors show how the smartphone is more than an ‘app device’ and explore differences between what people say about smartphones and how they use them. The smartphone is unprecedented in the degree to which we can transform it. As a result, it quickly assimilates personal values. In order to comprehend it, we must take into consideration a range of national and cultural nuances, such as visual communication in China and Japan, mobile money in Cameroon and Uganda, and access to health information in Chile and Ireland – all alongside diverse trajectories of ageing in Al Quds, Brazil and Italy. Only then can we know what a smartphone is and understand its consequences for people’s lives around the world

Assessment of SARS-CoV-2 Immunity in Convalescent Children and Adolescents

Persistence of protective immunity for SARS-CoV-2 is important against reinfection. Knowledge on SARS-CoV-2 immunity in pediatric patients is currently lacking. We opted to assess the SARS-CoV-2 adaptive immunity in recovered children and adolescents, addressing the pediatrics specific immunity towards COVID-19. Two independent assays were performed to investigate humoral and cellular immunological memory in pediatric convalescent COVID-19 patients. Specifically, RBD IgG, CD4+, and CD8+ T cell responses were identified and quantified in recovered children and adolescents. SARS-CoV-2-specific RBD IgG detected in recovered patients had a half-life of 121.6 days and estimated duration of 7.9 months compared with baseline levels in controls. The specific T cell response was shown to be independent of days after diagnosis. Both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells showed robust responses not only to spike (S) peptides (a main target of vaccine platforms) but were also similarly activated when stimulated by membrane (M) and nuclear (N) peptides. Importantly, we found the differences in the adaptive responses were correlated with the age of the recovered patients. The CD4+ T cell response to SARS-CoV-2 S peptide in children aged <12 years correlated with higher SARS-CoV-2 RBD IgG levels, suggesting the importance of a T cell-dependent humoral response in younger children under 12 years. Both cellular and humoral immunity against SARS-CoV-2 infections can be induced in pediatric patients. Our important findings provide fundamental knowledge on the immune memory responses to SARS-CoV-2 in recovered pediatric patients

Calcium Homeostasis in Myogenic Differentiation Factor 1 (MyoD)-Transformed, Virally-Transduced, Skin-Derived Equine Myotubes

Dysfunctional skeletal muscle calcium homeostasis plays a central role in the pathophysiology of several human and animal skeletal muscle disorders, in particular, genetic disorders associated with ryanodine receptor 1 (RYR1) mutations, such as malignant hyperthermia, central core disease, multiminicore disease and certain centronuclear myopathies. In addition, aberrant skeletal muscle calcium handling is believed to play a pivotal role in the highly prevalent disorder of Thoroughbred racehorses, known as Recurrent Exertional Rhabdomyolysis. Traditionally, such defects were studied in human and equine subjects by examining the contractile responses of biopsied muscle strips exposed to caffeine, a potent RYR1 agonist. However, this test is not widely available and, due to its invasive nature, is potentially less suitable for valuable animals in training or in the human paediatric setting. Furthermore, increasingly, RYR1 gene polymorphisms (of unknown pathogenicity and significance) are being identified through next generation sequencing projects. Consequently, we have investigated a less invasive test that can be used to study calcium homeostasis in cultured, skin-derived fibroblasts that are converted to the muscle lineage by viral transduction with a MyoD (myogenic differentiation 1) transgene. Similar models have been utilised to examine calcium homeostasis in human patient cells, however, to date, there has been no detailed assessment of the cells’ calcium homeostasis, and in particular, the responses to agonists and antagonists of RYR1. Here we describe experiments conducted to assess calcium handling of the cells and examine responses to treatment with dantrolene, a drug commonly used for prophylaxis of recurrent exertional rhabdomyolysis in horses and malignant hyperthermia in humans

Hidden charm molecules in finite volume

In the present paper we address the interaction of pairs of charmed mesons with hidden charm in a finite box. We use the interaction from a recent model based on heavy-quark spin symmetry that predicts molecules of hidden charm in the infinite volume. The energy levels in the box are generated within this model, and from them some synthetic data are generated. These data are then employed to study the inverse problem of getting the energies of the bound states and phase shifts for D (D) over bar or D*(D) over bar*. Different strategies are investigated using the lowest two levels for different values of the box size, and the errors produced are studied. Starting from the upper level, fits to the synthetic data are carried out to determine the scattering length and effective range plus the binding energy of the ground state. A similar strategy using the effective range formula is considered with a simultaneous fit to the two levels-one above and the other one below the threshold. This method turns out to be more efficient than the previous one. Finally, a method based on the fit to the data by means of a potential and a conveniently regularized loop function, turns out to be very efficient and allows us to produce accurate results in the infinite volume starting from levels of the box with errors far larger than the uncertainties obtained in the final results. A regularization method based on Gaussian wave functions turns out to be rather efficient in the analysis and as a byproduct a practical and fast method to calculate the Luscher function with high precision is presented

El Smartphone Global: Más allá de una tecnología para jóvenes - A Spanish Translation of The Global Smartphone

El smartphone suele estar literalmente frente a nuestras narices, por eso creemos saber lo que es. ¿Pero lo sabemos? Para responder a esta pregunta, once antropólogos vivieron durante 16 meses en comunidades de África, Asia, Europa y Sudamérica, enfocándose en el uso de smartphones por gente mayor. Sus investigaciones revelan que son una tecnología para todos, no solo para los jóvenes. El Smartphone Global presenta una serie de nuevas perspectivas que emergen de este proyecto de investigación global y comparativo. El smartphone se ha convertido tanto en un lugar dentro del cual vivimos como en un aparato que usamos para tener “oportunismo perpetuo”, pues siempre está con nosotros. Los autores muestran cómo el smartphone es más que un “aparato con aplicaciones” y exploran las diferencias entre lo que las personas dicen de él y la forma en cómo lo usan. El smartphone no tiene precedentes por el grado en el cual podemos transformarlo. Como resultado, rápidamente asimila nuestros valores personales. Para comprenderlo debemos considerar una serie de matices nacionales y culturales, tales como la comunicación visual en China y Japón, el dinero móvil en Camerún y Uganda, y el acceso a la información de salud en Chile e Irlanda, junto a las diversas trayectorias del envejecimiento en Al-Quds, Brasil e Italia. Solo entonces sabremos qué es el smartphone y podremos comprender sus consecuencias en las vidas de las personas alrededor del mundo