Stray dog population of the municipality of Camagüey, Cuba

Con el objetivo de estimar la población de perros callejeros en Camagüey, Cuba, se realizó un censo de la población canina callejera en cuatro barrios de la ciudad de Camagüey durante los meses de septiembre a diciembre de 2015. Se recopilaron datos sobre sexo del perro, presencia de ectoparásitos (garrapatas y pulgas) y enfermedades dermatológicas. Asimismo, se recolectó material fecal encontrado en calles y centros públicos. El promedio de perros por barrio varió entre 45 y 75, donde el 62% de las observaciones correspondieron a perros con lesiones en piel o con presencia de ectoparásitos. El 61.7% de las muestras fecales fue positiva a huevos de parásitos gastrointestinales, mayormente de los géneros Ancylostoma y Toxocara.In order to estimate the population of dogs in the streets of Camaguey, Cuba a field survey was carried out on stray dogs in four neighbourhoods of the Camagüey city during September to December 2015. Data related to sex of the dog, presence of ectoparasites (ticks and fleas) and skin diseases was collected. Besides, faecal material was collected from roads and public places. The number of stray dogs per neighborhood ranged from 45 to 75. Furthermore, 62% of the observations corresponded to dogs with skin lesions or presence of ectoparasites and 61.7% of the fecal samples were positive for eggs of gastrointestinal parasites, mostly of the genera Ancylostoma and Toxocara

Factores de riesgo de la parvovirosis canina en cuatro localidades de Cuba

The study aimed to determine the risk factors associated with the presentation of canine parvovirosis (CPV) in four locations in Cuba. The work was carried out between September 2018 and March 2019 with 87 canines of different breeds and ages, positive or not for CPV, in the municipalities of Ciego de Ávila, Camagüey, Morón and Gaspar (Cuba). The association measures [Odds ratio] (OR) of the possible irrigation factors to contract canine parvovirosis were determined. The risk factors associated with CPV with statistical significance were type of feeding and vaccination.El estudio tuvo como objetivo determinar los factores de riesgo asociados a la presentación de la parvovirosis canina (PVC) en cuatro localidades de Cuba. El trabajo se realizó entre septiembre de 2018 y marzo de 2019 con 87 caninos de diferentes razas y edades, positivos o no a PVC, en los municipios Ciego de Ávila, Camagüey, Morón y Gaspar (Cuba). Se determinaron las medidas de asociación [Odds ratio] (OR) de los posibles factores de riego para contraer la parvovirosis canina. Los factores de riesgo asociados a la PVC con significancia estadística fueron la alimentación y la vacunación

Uso de la oxitetraciclina en el tratamiento de la ehrlichiosis canina: estudio retrospectivo de 15 casos en Camagüey, Cuba

A retrospective study of 15 canine patients from the neighborhoods of Camagüey, Cuba in the period 2016-2017, with clinical signs compatible with hemoparasitosis and laboratory diagnosis by blood smear and Giemsa coloration of canine ehrlichiosis. An alternative therapy with antianemic reconstitutes, hydration with Lactate Ringer and oxytetracycline was proposed for the treatment of canine ehrlichiosis.Se hizo un estudio retrospectivo de 15 pacientes caninos de los barrios del municipio Camagüey, Cuba (2016-2017) con signos clínicos compatibles con hemoparasitosis y con diagnóstico de laboratorio mediante frotis sanguíneo y coloración Giemsa de ehrlichiosis canina. Se propuso una terapia alternativa con reconstituyentes antianémicos, hidratación con Lactato Ringer y oxitetraciclina para el tratamiento de la ehrlichiosis canina

Effect of homeopathic remedies and gentamicin in diarrhea in piglets

El estudio tuvo como objetivo evaluar el efecto de nux vómica y el complejo homeopático TratHo® cólera en comparación con la gentamicina al 5% en la diarrea de lechones. Se trabajó con 150 lechones de cinco días de nacidos que presentaron diarrea en una unidad porcina de Camagüey, Cuba. Los lechones fueron distribuidos en tres grupos, cada uno de 50 individuos. A los animales del grupo I se le administró nux vomica a la 30 CH en dosis de 5 gotas sublinguales cada 12 h el 1er día y luego cada 24 h hasta el 5° día. En el grupo II se les administró TratHo colera a la 30 CH en dosis de 5 gotas sublinguales cada 12 h el 1er día y luego cada 24 h hasta el 5° día. En el grupo III se les administró Gentamicina al 5% por vía intramuscular en dosis de 2 a 4 mg/kg de peso vivo, cada 12 h durante 5 días. En todos los casos, los lechones fueron rehidratados con solución Ringer, vía intraperitoneal, en dosis de 100 a 300 ml, según el grado de deshidratación. Se evaluó la evolución clínica, el apetito y la deshidratación sin llegar a encontrarse diferencias estadísticas entre grupos; no obstante la terapia homeopática resultó efectiva y más económica que el tratamiento con antibiótico.The study aimed to evaluate the effect of nux vomica, the homeopathic complex TratHo® cholera and Gentamicin 5% in the treatment of diarrhea in piglets. A total of 150 piglets of 5 days old that showed diarrhea in a pig unit in Camagüey, Cuba, were evaluated. The animals were distributed in three groups of 50 each. In group I, piglets were treated with nux vomica 30 CH in a dose of 5 drops sublingual every 12 h the 1st day and then every 24 h until the 5th day. In group II, piglets were treated with to TratHo® cholera 30 CH in a dose of 5 drops sublingual every 12 h the 1st day and then every 24 h until the 5th day. In group III, piglets were treated with gentamicin 5% intramuscularly, 2 to 4 mg/kg every 12 h for 5 days. In all cases, piglets were rehydrated with lactated Ringer’s solution intraperitoneally, using 100 to 300 ml depending of the degree of dehydration. The clinical evolution, appetite and dehydration were analyzed without observing significant differences between groups. However, the homeopathic therapy was effective and cheaper than the antibiotic treatment

Evaluación de microorganismos eficientes en la producción de plántulas de tomate (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

Los principales problemas de la producción de plántulas de tomate en las regiones tropicales residen principalmente por la afectación de los factores climatológicos y el bajo empleo de los biofertilizantes, por lo cual, es importante buscar alternativas eficientes de manejo de los biofertilizantes en estas regiones que aumente la racionalidad y sustentabilidad. El objetivo del trabajo fue evaluar diferentes formas de aplicación de microorganismos en la producción de plántulas de tomate. El diseño fue en Bloques al Azar, en esquema factorial 4x3, el tamaño de las parcelas fue de 2m2 y los factores de estudios fueron la aplicación de microorganismos eficientes en cuatro niveles: sin (0), inoculación de la semilla a 100mL L-1 (S), aplicaciones foliares a 100mL L-1 (F) y la inoculación a la semilla más aplicaciones foliares (S+F) y tres variedades (Amalia, Rilia y Seen-2), con tres repeticiones. Los descriptores evaluados fueron el porcentaje de germinación (%), diámetro del tallo (cm), altura de planta (cm), número de hojas, rendimiento (plántulas m-2) y el ciclo de producción de las plántulas (días). Los resultados mostraron que en las tres variedades de tomate, la combinación de la inoculación a las semillas con las aplicaciones foliares de microorganismos eficientes incrementó el diámetro del tallo, la altura de la planta, el número de hojas y el rendimiento en las variedades Amalia y Rilia en 26,0 % y en la Seen-2 un 25,0% con relación al tratamiento control y el ciclo de producción de plántulas fue reducido en las variedades Amalia y Seen-2 un 24,0% y en la Rilia un 22,0%

Immune Cell Associations with Cancer Risk.

Proper immune system function hinders cancer development, but little is known about whether genetic variants linked to cancer risk alter immune cells. Here, we report 57 cancer risk loci associated with differences in immune and/or stromal cell contents in the corresponding tissue. Predicted target genes show expression and regulatory associations with immune features. Polygenic risk scores also reveal associations with immune and/or stromal cell contents, and breast cancer scores show consistent results in normal and tumor tissue. SH2B3 links peripheral alterations of several immune cell types to the risk of this malignancy. Pleiotropic SH2B3 variants are associated with breast cancer risk in BRCA1/2 mutation carriers. A retrospective case-cohort study indicates a positive association between blood counts of basophils, leukocytes, and monocytes and age at breast cancer diagnosis. These findings broaden our knowledge of the role of the immune system in cancer and highlight promising prevention strategies for individuals at high risk

Overview of recent TJ-II stellarator results

The main results obtained in the TJ-II stellarator in the last two years are reported. The most important topics investigated have been modelling and validation of impurity transport, validation of gyrokinetic simulations, turbulence characterisation, effect of magnetic configuration on transport, fuelling with pellet injection, fast particles and liquid metal plasma facing components. As regards impurity transport research, a number of working lines exploring several recently discovered effects have been developed: the effect of tangential drifts on stellarator neoclassical transport, the impurity flux driven by electric fields tangent to magnetic surfaces and attempts of experimental validation with Doppler reflectometry of the variation of the radial electric field on the flux surface. Concerning gyrokinetic simulations, two validation activities have been performed, the comparison with measurements of zonal flow relaxation in pellet-induced fast transients and the comparison with experimental poloidal variation of fluctuations amplitude. The impact of radial electric fields on turbulence spreading in the edge and scrape-off layer has been also experimentally characterized using a 2D Langmuir probe array. Another remarkable piece of work has been the investigation of the radial propagation of small temperature perturbations using transfer entropy. Research on the physics and modelling of plasma core fuelling with pellet and tracer-encapsulated solid-pellet injection has produced also relevant results. Neutral beam injection driven Alfvénic activity and its possible control by electron cyclotron current drive has been examined as well in TJ-II. Finally, recent results on alternative plasma facing components based on liquid metals are also presentedThis work has been carried out within the framework of the EUROfusion Consortium and has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014–2018 under Grant Agreement No. 633053. It has been partially funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Inovación y Universidades of Spain under projects ENE2013-48109-P, ENE2015-70142-P and FIS2017-88892-P. It has also received funds from the Spanish Government via mobility grant PRX17/00425. The authors thankfully acknowledge the computer resources at MareNostrum and the technical support provided by the Barcelona S.C. It has been supported as well by The Science and Technology Center in Ukraine (STCU), Project P-507F

Cross-disease Meta-analysis of Genome-wide Association Studies for Systemic Sclerosis and Rheumatoid Arthritis Reveals IRF4 as a New Common Susceptibility Locus

Objectives: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are autoimmune diseases that share clinical and immunological characteristics. To date, several shared SSc- RA loci have been identified independently. In this study, we aimed to systematically search for new common SSc-RA loci through an inter-disease meta-GWAS strategy. Methods: We performed a meta-analysis combining GWAS datasets of SSc and RA using a strategy that allowed identification of loci with both same-direction and opposingdirection allelic effects. The top single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were followed-up in independent SSc and RA case-control cohorts. This allowed us to increase the sample size to a total of 8,830 SSc patients, 16,870 RA patients and 43,393 controls. Results: The cross-disease meta-analysis of the GWAS datasets identified several loci with nominal association signals (P-value < 5 x 10-6), which also showed evidence of association in the disease-specific GWAS scan. These loci included several genomic regions not previously reported as shared loci, besides risk factors associated with both diseases in previous studies. The follow-up of the putatively new SSc-RA loci identified IRF4 as a shared risk factor for these two diseases (Pcombined = 3.29 x 10-12). In addition, the analysis of the biological relevance of the known SSc-RA shared loci pointed to the type I interferon and the interleukin 12 signaling pathways as the main common etiopathogenic factors. Conclusions: Our study has identified a novel shared locus, IRF4, for SSc and RA and highlighted the usefulness of cross-disease GWAS meta-analysis in the identification of common risk loci

Treatment with tocilizumab or corticosteroids for COVID-19 patients with hyperinflammatory state: a multicentre cohort study (SAM-COVID-19)

Objectives: The objective of this study was to estimate the association between tocilizumab or corticosteroids and the risk of intubation or death in patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) with a hyperinflammatory state according to clinical and laboratory parameters. Methods: A cohort study was performed in 60 Spanish hospitals including 778 patients with COVID-19 and clinical and laboratory data indicative of a hyperinflammatory state. Treatment was mainly with tocilizumab, an intermediate-high dose of corticosteroids (IHDC), a pulse dose of corticosteroids (PDC), combination therapy, or no treatment. Primary outcome was intubation or death; follow-up was 21 days. Propensity score-adjusted estimations using Cox regression (logistic regression if needed) were calculated. Propensity scores were used as confounders, matching variables and for the inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTWs). Results: In all, 88, 117, 78 and 151 patients treated with tocilizumab, IHDC, PDC, and combination therapy, respectively, were compared with 344 untreated patients. The primary endpoint occurred in 10 (11.4%), 27 (23.1%), 12 (15.4%), 40 (25.6%) and 69 (21.1%), respectively. The IPTW-based hazard ratios (odds ratio for combination therapy) for the primary endpoint were 0.32 (95%CI 0.22-0.47; p < 0.001) for tocilizumab, 0.82 (0.71-1.30; p 0.82) for IHDC, 0.61 (0.43-0.86; p 0.006) for PDC, and 1.17 (0.86-1.58; p 0.30) for combination therapy. Other applications of the propensity score provided similar results, but were not significant for PDC. Tocilizumab was also associated with lower hazard of death alone in IPTW analysis (0.07; 0.02-0.17; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Tocilizumab might be useful in COVID-19 patients with a hyperinflammatory state and should be prioritized for randomized trials in this situatio