Antimicrobial activity of essential oils of Lamiaceae aromatic spices towards sheep mastitis-causing Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis

Mastitis in ewes is responsible for massive economic losses. Antibiotics are routinely used for mastitis control but its excessive use leads to development of antibiotic resistance with deleterious outcomes both for animal and public health. Essential oils (EOs) show antibacterial proprieties and no resistance has been reported after prolonged exposure; however their efficacy depends on their chemical composition. In this study EOs chemical composition from four autochthonous aromatic herbs, from Alentejo region, southern Portugal, Calamintha nepeta subsp. nepeta, Lavandula stoechas subsp. luisieri, Rosmarinus oficinalis and Thymus mastichina was accessed. EOs of R. officinalis showed predominance in monoterpene hydrocarbons (63%) whereas EOs of T. mastichina, L. luisieri and C. nepeta were rich in oxygenated monoterpenes (71-95%). The antimicrobial activity of selected EOs was investigated towards Staphylococcus aureus (n= 24) and Staphylococcus epidermidis isolates (n= 24) from ovine mastitic milk origin. Results of disk diffusion assay revealed that C. nepeta, L. stoechas and T. mastichina EOs are highly active against both S. aureus and S. epidermidis strains, whereas R. officinalis EO is highly active against S. aureus strains but inactive against several S. epidermidis isolates. EOs concentration causing bacterial growth inhibition ranged from 500 to 4,000 µg mL-1 in liquid microassays

Leprosy and Kaposi Sarcoma Presenting as an Immune Reconstitution Inflammatory Syndrome in a Patient with AIDS

The simultaneous presence of infectious organisms within cutaneous lesions of Kaposi sarcoma in persons with AIDS has been demonstrated. We describe a patient with concurrent leprosy and Kaposi sarcoma presenting as an immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome in the setting of AIDS

Microlitíase e tumor testicular

A microlitíase testicular é uma entidade rara, sendo geralmente assintomática e bilateral. Pode surgir de forma isolada, mas estima-se que em até 40% dos casos constitua uma manifestação de tumor do testículo. Apresenta-se o caso clínico de uma criança de 11 anos, com tumefacção do testículo esquerdo com quatro meses de evolução. A ecografia testicular revelou aumento do volume do testículo esquerdo e microcalcificações bilaterais. A biopsia testicular revelou tumor de Sertoli, pelo que foi submetido a orquidectomia radical esquerda. A microlitíase testicular exige vigilância clínica e ecográfica periódicas pela associação frequente com patologia neoplásica, a qual é potencialmente curável se precocemente diagnosticada

Integrated Spectroscopy of Bulge Globular Clusters and Fields. II. Implications for stellar population models and elliptical galaxies

Synthetic Lick indices (e.g. Mg_2, Fe, etc.) of Simple Stellar Population (SSP) models are calibrated for the first time up to solar metallicity with a sample of Milky Way globular clusters (GCs) which includes the metal rich GCs of the Galactic bulge. This metallicity range is relevant to elliptical galaxies. It is shown that the Bulge GCs and integrated light follow the same correlation between Mg and Fe indices of elliptical galaxies, showing weaker Fe indices at given Mg indices with respect to models that assume solar-scaled abundances. This similarity is the robust empirical evidence for enhanced alpha/Fe ratios in the stellar populations of elliptical galaxies, since the globular clusters are independently known to be alpha-enhanced. The uniqueness of this alpha-overabundance solution is checked by exploring the whole range of model ingredients. We argue that the standard models reproduce the Mg-Fe correlation at low metallicities because the stellar templates used in the synthesis are the alpha-enhanced stars of the galactic Halo. These same models, however, fail to recover the Mg-Fe pattern of Bulge clusters and ellipticals at high metallicities because the high-metallicity templates are disk stars, which are not alpha-enhanced. The new SSP models by Thomas, Maraston & Bender (2002) which incorporate the dependence on alpha/Fe reproduce the Mg and Fe indices of GCs at all metallicities, with alpha/Fe=+0.3, which is in agreement with spectroscopic abundance determinations. The Balmer indices (Hbeta, Hdelta, Hgamma) are very well calibrated, provided the Horizontal Branch morphology is taken into account. In particular, we reproduce the Balmer lines of NGC 6388 and NGC 6441, which are metal-rich GCs with a tail of warm Horizontal Branch stars. {Abridged}Comment: 19 pages, 13 figures, Astronomy and Astrophysics in press. Only minor changes after the referee repor

Trinucleotide repeats in 202 families with ataxia: a small expanded (CAG)n allele at the SCA17 locus

BACKGROUND: Ten neurodegenerative disorders characterized by spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA) are known to be caused by trinucleotide repeat (TNR) expansions. However, in some instances the molecular diagnosis is considered indeterminate because of the overlap between normal and affected allele ranges. In addition, the mechanism that generates expanded alleles is not completely understood. OBJECTIVE: To examine the clinical and molecular characteristics of a large group of Portuguese and Brazilian families with ataxia to improve knowledge of the molecular diagnosis of SCA. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We have (1) assessed repeat sizes at all known TNR loci implicated in SCA; (2) determined frequency distributions of normal alleles and expansions; and (3) looked at genotype-phenotype correlations in 202 unrelated Portuguese and Brazilian patients with SCA. Molecular analysis of TNR expansions was performed using polymerase chain reaction amplification. RESULTS: Patients from 110 unrelated families with SCA showed TNR expansions at 1 of the loci studied. Dominantly transmitted cases had (CAG)(n) expansions at the Machado-Joseph disease gene (MJD1) (63%), at SCA2 (3%), the gene for dentatorubropallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA) (2%), SCA6 (1%), or SCA7 (1%) loci, or (CTG)(n) expansions at the SCA8 (2%) gene, whereas (GAA)(n) expansions in the Freidreich ataxia gene (FRDA) were found in 64% of families with recessive ataxia. Isolated patients also had TNR expansions at the MJD1 (6%), SCA8 (6%), or FRDA (8%) genes; in addition, an expanded allele at the TATA-binding protein gene (TBP), with 43 CAGs, was present in a patient with ataxia and mental deterioration. Associations between frequencies of SCA2 and SCA6 and a frequency of large normal alleles were found in Portuguese and Brazilian individuals, respectively. Interestingly, no association between the frequencies of DRPLA and large normal alleles was found in the Portuguese group. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that (1) a significant number of isolated cases of ataxia are due to TNR expansions; (2) expanded DRPLA alleles in Portuguese families may have evolved from an ancestral haplotype; and (3) small (CAG)(n) expansions at the TBP gene may cause SCA17

Finance, foreign (direct) investment, and the Dutch disease: the case of Colombia

In recent years Colombia has grown relatively rapidly, but it has been a biased growth. The energy sector (the locomotora minero-energetica, to use the rhetorical expression of President Juan Manuel Santos) grew much faster than the rest of the economy, while the manufacturing sector registered a negative rate of growth. These are classic symptoms of the well-known ‘Dutch disease’, but our purpose here is not to establish whether the Dutch disease exists or not, but rather to shed some light on the financial viability of several, simultaneous dynamics: (i) the existence of a traditional Dutch Disease being due to a large increase in mining exports and a significant exchange rate appreciation; (ii) a massive increase in foreign direct investment (FDI), particularly in the mining sector; (iii) a rather passive monetary policy, aimed at increasing purchasing power via exchange rate appreciation; (iv) more recently, a large distribution of dividends from Colombia to the rest of the world and the accumulation of mounting financial liabilities. The paper will show that these dynamics constitute a potential danger for the stability of the Colombian economy. Some policy recommendations are also discussed