Characterization of S3Pvac Anti-Cysticercosis Vaccine Components: Implications for the Development of an Anti-Cestodiasis Vaccine

Background: Cysticercosis and hydatidosis seriously affect human health and are responsible for considerable economic loss in animal husbandry in non-developed and developed countries. S3Pvac and EG95 are the only field trial-tested vaccine candidates against cysticercosis and hydatidosis, respectively. S3Pvac is composed of three peptides (KETc1, GK1 and KETc12), originally identified in a Taenia crassiceps cDNA library. S3Pvac synthetically and recombinantly expressed is effective against experimentally and naturally acquired cysticercosis.Methodology/ Principal Findings: In this study, the homologous sequences of two of the S3Pvac peptides, GK1 and KETc1, were identified and further characterized in Taenia crassiceps WFU, Taenia solium, Taenia saginata, Echinococcus granulosus and Echinococcus multilocularis. Comparisons of the nucleotide and amino acid sequences coding for KETc1 and GK1 revealed significant homologies in these species. The predicted secondary structure of GK1 is almost identical between the species, while some differences were observed in the C terminal region of KETc1 according to 3D modeling. A KETc1 variant with a deletion of three C-terminal amino acids protected to the same extent against experimental murine cysticercosis as the entire peptide. on the contrary, immunization with the truncated GK1 failed to induce protection. Immunolocalization studies revealed the non stage-specificity of the two S3Pvac epitopes and their persistence in the larval tegument of all species and in Taenia adult tapeworms.Conclusions/ Significance: These results indicate that GK1 and KETc1 may be considered candidates to be included in the formulation of a multivalent and multistage vaccine against these cestodiases because of their enhancing effects on other available vaccine candidates

Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)1.

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field

A giant impact as the likely origin of different twins in the Kepler-107 exoplanet system

Measures of exoplanet bulk densities indicate that small exoplanets with radius less than 3 Earth radii ($R_\oplus$) range from low-density sub-Neptunes containing volatile elements to higher density rocky planets with Earth-like or iron-rich (Mercury-like) compositions. Such astonishing diversity in observed small exoplanet compositions may be the product of different initial conditions of the planet-formation process and/or different evolutionary paths that altered the planetary properties after formation. Planet evolution may be especially affected by either photoevaporative mass loss induced by high stellar X-ray and extreme ultraviolet (XUV) flux or giant impacts. Although there is some evidence for the former, there are no unambiguous findings so far about the occurrence of giant impacts in an exoplanet system. Here, we characterize the two innermost planets of the compact and near-resonant system Kepler-107. We show that they have nearly identical radii (about $1.5-1.6~R_\oplus$), but the outer planet Kepler-107c is more than twice as dense (about $12.6~\rm g\,cm^{-3}$) as the innermost Kepler-107b (about $5.3~\rm g\,cm^{-3}$). In consequence, Kepler-107c must have a larger iron core fraction than Kepler-107b. This imbalance cannot be explained by the stellar XUV irradiation, which would conversely make the more-irradiated and less-massive planet Kepler-107b denser than Kepler-107c. Instead, the dissimilar densities are consistent with a giant impact event on Kepler-107c that would have stripped off part of its silicate mantle. This hypothesis is supported by theoretical predictions from collisional mantle stripping, which match the mass and radius of Kepler-107c.Comment: Published in Nature Astronomy on 4 February 2019, 35 pages including Supplementary Information materia

Cognitive and Functional Status of Persons Newly Enrolled at Dementia-Specific Adult Day Centers and Burden of Their Caregivers

Background and Objectives: Recognizing the important role that dementia-specific adult day centers have in maintaining persons with a neurocognitive disorder in their home, this article examines three critical indicators at the time when people first enroll in such a center: cognitive and functional impairment of the enrollee, and burden reported by their family caregivers. We also considered variations in these 3 indicators by race/ethnicity and by the relationship of caregiver to the new enrollee. Research Design and Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of data collected by a nonprofit organization operating 11 dementia-specific adult day centers located on the east coast of Florida. Nursing staff conducted intake interviews with enrollees and their caregivers, and assessed functional status within one month of admission. Instruments included the Zarit Burden Scale and components of the Minimum Data Set: the Brief Interview for Mental Status (BIMS) and 4 measures of functional status. Results: On average the cognitive scores of newly enrollees were well-within the range indicated for severe impairment, and these levels did not differ by race/ethnicity. Burden reported by caregivers however differed significantly, with Latinx caregivers reporting the greatest burden and African American/Black caregivers reporting the least. Further, while daughters generally reported higher levels of burden than other family caregivers, Black daughters reported the least. Discussion and Implications: Results suggest a need for greater dissemination efforts about adult day programs to the Latinx community, as well as attention to the disparate burden placed upon differing family relationships of caregivers to enrollees

Recalled Attributes of Parents with Alzheimer\u27s Disease: Relevance for Caregiving

Health psychology has long been involved in studies of factors that lead to more effective caregiving. Drawing on the theory of distributive justice, the underlying hypothesis of this paper was that perceptions of what a demented parent was like, prior to becoming ill, influence an adult child caregiver\u27s provision of care, as well as the caregiver\u27s own well-being. A secondary question dealt with the nature of retrospective ratings by caregiver informants. The sample consisted of triads of two adult children (N = 385) and a parent (N = 201) diagnosed with Alzheimer\u27s disease, although in a few instances only one adult child was interviewed. Both retrospective and current ratings of the parent were made by caregivers, who were administered a semantic differential instrument twice over a 10-month period. Comparison of ratings from first and second interview waves suggested that perceptions of what a parent was like, prior to the onset of dementia, were more stable over time than perceptions of what the parent was currently like, at each interview. Ratings of premorbid attributes were more strongly related to ratings of the present for those parents who displayed the least evidence of cognitive decline. Regression analyses supported the hypothesized relationship between adult children\u27s perceptions and both provision of care and well-being variables. Results have implications for projections of caregiver burden and for placement into long-term care

Recalled Attributes of Parents with Alzheimer\u27s Disease: Relevance for Caregiving

Health psychology has long been involved in studies of factors that lead to more effective caregiving. Drawing on the theory of distributive justice, the underlying hypothesis of this paper was that perceptions of what a demented parent was like, prior to becoming ill, influence an adult child caregiver\u27s provision of care, as well as the caregiver\u27s own well-being. A secondary question dealt with the nature of retrospective ratings by caregiver informants. The sample consisted of triads of two adult children (N = 385) and a parent (N = 201) diagnosed with Alzheimer\u27s disease, although in a few instances only one adult child was interviewed. Both retrospective and current ratings of the parent were made by caregivers, who were administered a semantic differential instrument twice over a 10-month period. Comparison of ratings from first and second interview waves suggested that perceptions of what a parent was like, prior to the onset of dementia, were more stable over time than perceptions of what the parent was currently like, at each interview. Ratings of premorbid attributes were more strongly related to ratings of the present for those parents who displayed the least evidence of cognitive decline. Regression analyses supported the hypothesized relationship between adult children\u27s perceptions and both provision of care and well-being variables. Results have implications for projections of caregiver burden and for placement into long-term care