185 research outputs found

    The Potential for pathogenicity was present in the ancestor of the Ascomycete subphylum Pezizomycotina

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Previous studies in Ascomycetes have shown that the function of gene families of which the size is considerably larger in extant pathogens than in non-pathogens could be related to pathogenicity traits. However, by only comparing gene inventories in extant species, no insights can be gained into the evolutionary process that gave rise to these larger family sizes in pathogens. Moreover, most studies which consider gene families in extant species only tend to explain observed differences in gene family sizes by gains rather than by losses, hereby largely underestimating the impact of gene loss during genome evolution.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In our study we used a selection of recently published genomes of Ascomycetes to analyze how gene family gains, duplications and losses have affected the origin of pathogenic traits. By analyzing the evolutionary history of gene families we found that most gene families with an enlarged size in pathogens were present in an ancestor common to both pathogens and non-pathogens. The majority of these families were selectively maintained in pathogenic lineages, but disappeared in non-pathogens. Non-pathogen-specific losses largely outnumbered pathogen-specific losses.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We conclude that most of the proteins for pathogenicity were already present in the ancestor of the Ascomycete lineages we used in our study. Species that did not develop pathogenicity seemed to have reduced their genetic complexity compared to their ancestors. We further show that expansion of gained or already existing families in a species-specific way is important to fine-tune the specificities of the pathogenic host-fungus interaction.</p

    The improbable transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi to human: the missing link in the dynamics and control of Chagas disease

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    Chagas disease has a major impact on human health in Latin America and is becoming of global concern due to international migrations. Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of the disease, is one of the rare human parasites transmitted by the feces of its vector, as it is unable to reach the salivary gland of the insect. This stercorarian transmission is notoriously poorly understood, despite its crucial role in the ecology and evolution of the pathogen and the disease. The objective of this study was to quantify the probability of T. cruzi vectorial transmission to humans, and to use such an estimate to predict human prevalence from entomological data. We developed several models of T. cruzi transmission to estimate the probability of transmission from vector to host. Using datasets from the literature, we estimated the probability of transmission per contact with an infected triatomine to be 5.8x10(-4) (95%CI: [2.6; 11.0] x 10(-4)). This estimate was consistent across triatomine species, robust to variations in other parameters, and corresponded to 900-4,000 contacts per case. Our models subsequently allowed predicting human prevalence from vector abundance and infection rate in 7/10 independent datasets covering various triatomine species and epidemiological situations. This low probability of T. cruzi transmission reflected well the complex and unlikely mechanism of transmission via insect feces, and allowed predicting human prevalence from basic entomological data. Although a proof of principle study would now be valuable to validate our models' predictive ability in an even broader range of entomological and ecological settings, our quantitative estimate could allow switching the evaluation of disease risk and vector control program from purely entomological indexes to parasitological measures, as commonly done for other major vector borne diseases. This might lead to different quantitative perspectives as these indexes are well known not to be proportional one to another

    Kwapa: Gente del rĂ­o. Estrategias transmedia de impacto social

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    En este reporte se encuentra toda la documentaciĂłn del trabajo realizado durante el perĂ­odo de otoño 2022 dentro del proyecto de aplicaciĂłn profesional Alter CĂłdigo en el cual se siguiĂł trabajando en la realizaciĂłn del videojuego “A orillas del rĂ­o” y en la producciĂłn del documental de etnoficciĂłn “DĂ©jennos pescar”. En el documental etnoficciĂłn se tuvo como objetivo principal el rodaje en comunidades cucapĂĄ en Baja California, a partir de esto se implementaron diversas estrategias para lograrlo. Como resultado de lo anterior, se abriĂł un crowdfunding junto con una estrategia de difusiĂłn en redes sociales que incluyĂł, ademĂĄs, la participaciĂłn en el festival universitario y la producciĂłn de stickers para lograr mayor impacto. En el videojuego el objetivo principal consistiĂł en desarrollar una demo jugable cuyo resultado deja definida una direcciĂłn concreta para continuar a futuro. AdemĂĄs, permite mostrar las herramientas que se van a implementar como tomar objetos, seleccionar, agarrar e interactuar entre personajes y el entorno. En tĂ©rminos de colaboraciĂłn se creĂł un cuadernillo ilustrado para mostrar a niños y adolescentes cucapĂĄ y, de este modo, sentar las bases de retroalimentaciĂłn respecto al desarrollo de la historia y diseño de personajes. Por Ășltimo, el viaje de producciĂłn proveyĂł de material para seguir desarrollando eldocumental, al mismo tiempo que permitiĂł al equipo de videojuego sentar las bases de una retroalimentaciĂłn con base en una metodologĂ­a, desde la perspectiva emic, en la que nuestros colaboradores son co-productores del sentido.ITESO, A.C

    Studies of new Higgs boson interactions through nonresonant HH production in the b¯bγγ fnal state in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

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    A search for nonresonant Higgs boson pair production in the b ÂŻbγγ fnal state is performed using 140 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. This analysis supersedes and expands upon the previous nonresonant ATLAS results in this fnal state based on the same data sample. The analysis strategy is optimised to probe anomalous values not only of the Higgs (H) boson self-coupling modifer Îșλ but also of the quartic HHV V (V = W, Z) coupling modifer Îș2V . No signifcant excess above the expected background from Standard Model processes is observed. An observed upper limit ”HH &lt; 4.0 is set at 95% confdence level on the Higgs boson pair production cross-section normalised to its Standard Model prediction. The 95% confdence intervals for the coupling modifers are −1.4 &lt; Îșλ &lt; 6.9 and −0.5 &lt; Îș2V &lt; 2.7, assuming all other Higgs boson couplings except the one under study are fxed to the Standard Model predictions. The results are interpreted in the Standard Model efective feld theory and Higgs efective feld theory frameworks in terms of constraints on the couplings of anomalous Higgs boson (self-)interactions

    Combination of searches for heavy spin-1 resonances using 139 fb−1 of proton-proton collision data at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

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    A combination of searches for new heavy spin-1 resonances decaying into different pairings of W, Z, or Higgs bosons, as well as directly into leptons or quarks, is presented. The data sample used corresponds to 139 fb−1 of proton-proton collisions at = 13 TeV collected during 2015–2018 with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Analyses selecting quark pairs (qq, bb, , and tb) or third-generation leptons (Ï„Îœ and ττ) are included in this kind of combination for the first time. A simplified model predicting a spin-1 heavy vector-boson triplet is used. Cross-section limits are set at the 95% confidence level and are compared with predictions for the benchmark model. These limits are also expressed in terms of constraints on couplings of the heavy vector-boson triplet to quarks, leptons, and the Higgs boson. The complementarity of the various analyses increases the sensitivity to new physics, and the resulting constraints are stronger than those from any individual analysis considered. The data exclude a heavy vector-boson triplet with mass below 5.8 TeV in a weakly coupled scenario, below 4.4 TeV in a strongly coupled scenario, and up to 1.5 TeV in the case of production via vector-boson fusion

    Association Between Preexisting Versus Newly Identified Atrial Fibrillation and Outcomes of Patients With Acute Pulmonary Embolism

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    Background Atrial fibrillation (AF) may exist before or occur early in the course of pulmonary embolism (PE). We determined the PE outcomes based on the presence and timing of AF. Methods and Results Using the data from a multicenter PE registry, we identified 3 groups: (1) those with preexisting AF, (2) patients with new AF within 2 days from acute PE (incident AF), and (3) patients without AF. We assessed the 90-day and 1-year risk of mortality and stroke in patients with AF, compared with those without AF (reference group). Among 16 497 patients with PE, 792 had preexisting AF. These patients had increased odds of 90-day all-cause (odds ratio [OR], 2.81; 95% CI, 2.33-3.38) and PE-related mortality (OR, 2.38; 95% CI, 1.37-4.14) and increased 1-year hazard for ischemic stroke (hazard ratio, 5.48; 95% CI, 3.10-9.69) compared with those without AF. After multivariable adjustment, preexisting AF was associated with significantly increased odds of all-cause mortality (OR, 1.91; 95% CI, 1.57-2.32) but not PE-related mortality (OR, 1.50; 95% CI, 0.85-2.66). Among 16 497 patients with PE, 445 developed new incident AF within 2 days of acute PE. Incident AF was associated with increased odds of 90-day all-cause (OR, 2.28; 95% CI, 1.75-2.97) and PE-related (OR, 3.64; 95% CI, 2.01-6.59) mortality but not stroke. Findings were similar in multivariable analyses. Conclusions In patients with acute symptomatic PE, both preexisting AF and incident AF predict adverse clinical outcomes. The type of adverse outcomes may differ depending on the timing of AF onset.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
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