Use of plumage and gular pouch color to evaluate condition of oil spill rehabilitated California brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis californicus) post-release

Sublethal effects of oil spills may dampen seabird rehabilitation success due to lingering negative impacts of contamination and stress on reproduction and long-term survival. These effects can be difficult to measure while birds are in care as well as once birds are released. Expression of sexually selected traits that are sensitive to condition can provide information on physiological status of birds. We evaluated plumage molt and gular pouch skin color of California brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis californicus) following oil contamination and rehabilitation to test for differences between previously oiled and rehabilitated (post-spill) and presumably uncontaminated pelicans. Post-spill pelicans released with either color leg bands alone, or bands plus harness-mounted satellite GPS tags, were relocated and visually assessed in the field at non-breeding communal roosts and compared to surrounding unmarked pelicans in the general population. Non-oiled pelicans bearing GPS tags were also included in the study. Post-spill pelicans lagged the general population in molt of ornamental yellow crown feathers but hind neck transition into white plumage was not significantly different. Both post-spill and non-oiled pelicans wearing GPS tags had lower gular redness scores than the unmarked, non-oiled population. Pre-breeding gular pouch redness of post-spill pelicans was more strongly influenced by wearing of a GPS tag than a history of oil contamination and rehabilitation. Gular pouch redness of post-spill pelicans in the first 18 months after release was positively correlated with long term survivorship. If gular pouch color is a condition-dependent sexual signal and overall health influences plumage molt progression, our results indicate that many post-spill pelicans marked with bands alone were in relatively good condition going into the next breeding season, but those released with electronic tags experienced additional stress due to wearing the equipment, introducing a confounding variable to the post-release study

Use of plumage and gular pouch color to evaluate condition of oil spill rehabilitated California brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis californicus) post-release

Sublethal effects of oil spills may dampen seabird rehabilitation success due to lingering negative impacts of contamination and stress on reproduction and long-term survival. These effects can be difficult to measure while birds are in care as well as once birds are released. Expression of sexually selected traits that are sensitive to condition can provide information on physiological status of birds. We evaluated plumage molt and gular pouch skin color of California brown pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis californicus) following oil contamination and rehabilitation to test for differences between previously oiled and rehabilitated (post-spill) and presumably uncontaminated pelicans. Post-spill pelicans released with either color leg bands alone, or bands plus harness-mounted satellite GPS tags, were relocated and visually assessed in the field at non-breeding communal roosts and compared to surrounding unmarked pelicans in the general population. Non-oiled pelicans bearing GPS tags were also included in the study. Post-spill pelicans lagged the general population in molt of ornamental yellow crown feathers but hind neck transition into white plumage was not significantly different. Both post-spill and non-oiled pelicans wearing GPS tags had lower gular redness scores than the unmarked, non-oiled population. Pre-breeding gular pouch redness of post-spill pelicans was more strongly influenced by wearing of a GPS tag than a history of oil contamination and rehabilitation. Gular pouch redness of post-spill pelicans in the first 18 months after release was positively correlated with long term survivorship. If gular pouch color is a condition-dependent sexual signal and overall health influences plumage molt progression, our results indicate that many post-spill pelicans marked with bands alone were in relatively good condition going into the next breeding season, but those released with electronic tags experienced additional stress due to wearing the equipment, introducing a confounding variable to the post-release study

FFAs and QT intervals in obese women with visceral adiposity: Effects of sustained weight loss over 1 year

We evaluated 66 obese patients grouped by waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) into group A (WHR > 0.85, n = 30) and group B (WHR ≤ 0.85, n = 36), before and after 1 yr of diet-induced weight loss compared with 25 nonobese women. Before diet, the longest values of QT intervals and the highest levels of FFA and catecholamines were in group A (P < 0.01). In obese women (both groups), the corrected QT (QTc); interval correlated with plasma FFA (P < 0.01) and catecholamine (P < 0.02) concentrations. After 1 yr of diet, at the same levels of body weight reduction, the decrement of the QTc interval (P < 0.02), FFA (P < 0.01) and catecholamine (P < 0.02) levels were significantly greater in-group A than group B. In multivariate analysis, the decline of the QTc interval after weight loss was associated with changes in plasma FFA independently of changes in WHR and plasma catecholamines. Our data suggest that the QTc interval is tightly correlated with plasma FFA levels; shortening of cardiac repolarization times in the course of long-lasting weight reduction may reduce the risk of ventricular electrical instability, especially in women with abdominal adiposity

CSF parvalbumin levels reflect interneuron loss linked with cortical pathology in multiple sclerosis

INTRODUCTION AND METHODS: In order to verify whether parvalbumin (PVALB), a protein specifically expressed by GABAergic interneurons, could be a MS-specific marker of grey matter neurodegeneration, we performed neuropathology/molecular analysis of PVALB expression in motor cortex of 40 post-mortem progressive MS cases, with/without meningeal inflammation, and 10 control cases, in combination with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) assessment. Analysis of CSF PVALB and neurofilaments (Nf-L) levels combined with physical/cognitive/3TMRI assessment was performed in 110 naïve MS patients and in 32 controls at time of diagnosis. RESULTS: PVALB gene expression was downregulated in MS (fold change = 3.7 ± 1.2, P < 0.001 compared to controls) reflecting the significant reduction of PVALB+ cell density in cortical lesions, to a greater extent in MS patients with high meningeal inflammation (51.8, P < 0.001). Likewise, post-mortem CSF-PVALB levels were higher in MS compared to controls (fold change = 196 ± 36, P < 0.001) and correlated with decreased PVALB+ cell density (r = -0.64, P < 0.001) and increased MHC-II+ microglia density (r = 0.74, P < 0.01), as well as with early age of onset (r = -0.69, P < 0.05), shorter time to wheelchair (r = -0.49, P < 0.05) and early age of death (r = -0.65, P < 0.01). Increased CSF-PVALB levels were detected in MS patients at diagnosis compared to controls (P = 0.002). Significant correlation was found between CSF-PVALB levels and cortical lesion number on MRI (R = 0.28, P = 0.006) and global cortical thickness (R = -0.46, P < 0.001), better than Nf-L levels. CSF-PVALB levels increased in MS patients with severe cognitive impairment (mean ± SEM:25.2 ± 7.5 ng/mL) compared to both cognitively normal (10.9 ± 2.4, P = 0.049) and mild cognitive impaired (10.1 ± 2.9, P = 0.024) patients. CONCLUSIONS: CSF-PVALB levels reflect loss of cortical interneurons in MS patients with more severe disease course and might represent an early, new MS-specific biomarker of cortical neurodegeneration, atrophy, and cognitive decline

Fluorescein angiography findings in eyes with lamellar macular hole and epiretinal membrane foveoschisis

PURPOSE. The purpose of this paper was to study fluorescein angiography (FA) findings in eyes with lamellar macular hole (LMH), and epiretinal membrane (ERM) foveoschisis. METHODS. In this prospective, observational case series, 46 eyes of patients affected by either LMH or ERM foveoschisis were examined using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and FA. All patients underwent a comprehensive ophthalmological examination and a general workup to exclude uveitis. Main outcome measures were: presence of FA abnormalities, measurements of the areas of vascular leakage, and intensity of pixels in the vitreous. RESULTS. Twenty-four (52.2%) eyes with LMH and 22 (47.8%) with ERM foveoschisis were studied. Overall, FA abnormalities were found in 20 (83.3%) eyes with LMH and 18 (81.8%) with ERM foveoschisis. The median areas of posterior pole and peripheral leakage were 7.52 vs. 1.07 mm2 (P = 0.03) and 21.8 vs. 3.74 mm2 (P = 0.02) in the LMH and ERM foveoschisis group, respectively. Disk hyperfluorescence was found in 8 and 4 eyes and perivascular leak in 10 and 4 eyes with LMH and ERM foveoschisis, respectively. OCT-derived measurements of vitreous intensity did not differ between the two groups, and the investigational workup for uveitis was negative in all patients. CONCLUSIONS. Discrete areas of central and peripheral leakage are commonly found in eyes with LMH and ERM foveoschisis, whereas perivascular leak and hyperfluorescence of the disc are less frequently observed. These findings suggest that breakdown of the retinal blood barrier, involving the posterior pole and the periphery, is frequently associated with these two vitreoretinal disorders

Grassroots Agency: Participation and Conflict in Buenos Aires Shantytowns seen through the Pilot Plan for Villa 7 (1971–1975)

open access articleIn 1971, after more than a decade of national and municipal policies aimed at the top-down removal of shantytowns, the Buenos Aires City Council approved the Plan Piloto para la Relocalización de Villa 7 (Pilot Plan for the Relocation of Shantytown 7; 1971–1975, referred to as the Pilot Plan hereinafter). This particular plan, which resulted in the construction of the housing complex, Barrio Justo Suárez, endures in the collective memory of Argentines as a landmark project regarding grassroots participation in state housing initiatives addressed at shantytowns. Emerging from a context of a housing shortage for the growing urban poor and intense popular mobilizations during the transition to democracy, the authors of the Pilot Plan sought to empower shantytown residents in novel ways by: 1) maintaining the shantytown’s location as opposed to eradication schemes that relocated the residents elsewhere, 2) formally employing some of the residents for the stage of construction, as opposed to “self-help” housing projects in which the residents contributed with unpaid labor, and 3) including them in the urban and architectural design of the of the new housing. This paper will examine the context in which the Pilot Plan was conceived of as a way of re-assessing the roles of the state, the user, and housing-related professionals, often seen as antagonistic. The paper argues that residents’ fair participation and state intervention in housing schemes are not necessarily incompatible, and can function in specific social and political contexts through multiactor proposals backed by a political will that prioritizes grassroots agency

Evaluación actual y propuestas para el desarrollo urbano en México

La revista Problemas del Desarrollo recoge en su colección de ediciones especiales las disertaciones y ponencias que se presentan en los seminarios, simposia y conferencias a que convoca y realiza anualmente el Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. El propósito es contribuir a la mayor difusión de textos de contenido analítico, descriptivo y propositivo que se presentan en tales actos y que tienen gran valor para el mejor conocimiento y comprensión de la estructura y problemática económica y social de nuestro país. Pero también la revista quiere convertirse en foro abierto para la expresión de comentarios y ampliaciones que deseen hacer los lectores de estas ediciones especiales sobre temas particulares de los comprendidos en cada uno de sus libros. Estos aportes, por lo tanto, serán muy bien recibidos. Para ello, solo se requiere que los lectores los remitan, por escrito, al Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas, Torre II de Humanidades, Ciudad Universitaria

Borrelia valaisiana resist complement-mediated killing independently of the recruitment of immune regulators and inactivation of complement components

Spirochetes belonging to the Borrelia (B.) burgdorferi sensu lato complex differ in their resistance to complement-mediated killing, particularly in regard to human serum. In the present study, we elucidate the serum and complement susceptibility of B. valaisiana, a genospecies with the potential to cause Lyme disease in Europe as well as in Asia. Among the investigated isolates, growth of ZWU3 Ny3 was not affected while growth of VS116 and Bv9 was strongly inhibited in the presence of 50% human serum. Analyzing complement activation, complement components C3, C4 and C6 were deposited on the surface of isolates VS116 and Bv9, and similarly the membrane attack complex was formed on their surface. In contrast, no surface-deposited components and no aberrations in cell morphology were detected for serum-resistant ZWU3 Ny3. While further investigating the protective role of bound complement regulators in mediating complement resistance, we discovered that none of the B. valaisiana isolates analyzed bound complement regulators Factor H, Factor H-like protein 1, C4b binding protein or C1 esterase inhibitor. In addition, B. valaisiana also lacked intrinsic proteolytic activity to degrade complement components C3, C3b, C4, C4b, and C5. Taken together, these findings suggest that certain B. valaisiana isolates differ in their capability to resist complement-mediating killing by human serum. The molecular mechanism utilized by B. valaisiana to inhibit bacteriolysis appears not to involve binding of the key host complement regulators of the alternative, classical, and lectin pathways as already known for serum-resistant Lyme disease or relapsing fever borreliae