Diverse tick-borne microorganisms identified in free-living ungulates in Slovakia

Background: Free-living ungulates are hosts of ixodid ticks and reservoirs of tick-borne microorganisms in central Europe and many regions around the world. Tissue samples and engorged ticks were obtained from roe deer, red deer, fallow deer, mouflon, and wild boar hunted in deciduous forests of south-western Slovakia. DNA isolated from these samples was screened for the presence of tick-borne microorganisms by PCR-based methods. Results: Ticks were found to infest all examined ungulate species. The principal infesting tick was Ixodes ricinus, identified on 90.4% of wildlife, and included all developmental stages. Larvae and nymphs of Haemaphysalis concinna were feeding on 9.6% of wildlife. Two specimens of Dermacentor reticulatus were also identified. Ungulates were positive for A. phagocytophilum and Theileria spp. Anaplasma phagocytophilum was found to infect 96.1% of cervids, 88.9% of mouflon, and 28.2% of wild boar, whereas Theileria spp. was detected only in cervids (94.6%). Importantly, a high rate of cervids (89%) showed mixed infections with both these microorganisms. In addition to A. phagocytophilum and Theileria spp., Rickettsia helvetica, R. monacensis, unidentified Rickettsia sp., Coxiella burnetii, "Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis", Borrelia burgdorferi (s.l.) and Babesia venatorum were identified in engorged I. ricinus. Furthermore, A. phagocytophilum, Babesia spp. and Theileria spp. were detected in engorged H. concinna. Analysis of 16S rRNA and groEL gene sequences revealed the presence of five and two A. phagocytophilum variants, respectively, among which sequences identified in wild boar showed identity to the sequence of the causative agent of human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA). Phylogenetic analysis of Theileria 18S rRNA gene sequences amplified from cervids and engorged I. ricinus ticks segregated jointly with sequences of T. capreoli isolates into a moderately supported monophyletic clade. Conclusions: The findings indicate that free-living ungulates are reservoirs for A. phagocytophilum and Theileria spp. and engorged ixodid ticks attached to ungulates are good sentinels for the presence of agents of public and veterinary concern. Further analyses of the A. phagocytophilum genetic variants and Theileria species and their associations with vector ticks and free-living ungulates are required.Fil: Kazimírová, Mária. Slovak Academy of Sciences. Institute of Zoology; EslovaquiaFil: Hamšíková, Zuzana. Slovak Academy of Sciences. Institute of Zoology; EslovaquiaFil: Spitalská, Eva. Slovak Academy of Sciences. Institute of Virology. Biomedical Research Center,; EslovaquiaFil: Minichová, Lenka. Slovak Academy of Sciences. Institute of Virology. Biomedical Research Center,; EslovaquiaFil: Mahríková, Lenka. Slovak Academy of Sciences. Institute of Zoology; EslovaquiaFil: Caban, Radoslav. Široká ; EslovaquiaFil: Sprong, Hein. National Institute for Public Health and Environment.Laboratory for Zoonoses and Environmental Microbiology; Países BajosFil: Fonville, Manoj. National Institute for Public Health and Environment.Laboratory for Zoonoses and Environmental Microbiology; Países BajosFil: Schnittger, Leonhard. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Patobiología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Kocianová, Elena. Slovak Academy of Sciences. Institute of Virology. Biomedical Research Center,; Eslovaqui

An Easy and Efficient Method for Native and Immunoreactive Echinococcus granulosus Antigen 5 Enrichment from Hydatid Cyst Fluid

Background: Currently, the serodiagnosis of cystic echinococcosis relies mostly on crude Echinococcus granulosus hydatid cyst fluid as the antigen. Consequently, available immunodiagnostic tests lack standardization of the target antigen and, in turn, this is reflected on poor sensitivity and specificity of the serological diagnosis. Methodology/Principal Findings: Here, a chromatographic method enabling the generation of highly enriched Antigen 5 (Ag5) is described. The procedure is very easy, efficient and reproducible, since different hydatid cyst fluid (HCF) sources produced very similar chromatograms, notwithstanding the clearly evident and extreme heterogeneity of the starting material. In addition, the performance of the antigen preparation in immunological assays was preliminarily assessed by western immunoblotting and ELISA on a limited panel of cystic echinococcosis patients and healthy controls. Following western immunoblotting and ELISA experiments, a high reactivity of patient sera was seen, with unambiguous and highly specific results. Conclusions/Significance: The methods and results reported open interesting perspectives for the development of sensitive diagnostic tools to enable the timely and unambiguous detection of cystic echinococcosis antibodies in patient sera.This work was supported by Regione Autonoma della Sardegna (http://www.regione.sardegna.it/)Pubblicat

The impact of land use/land cover scale on modelling urban ecosystem services

Context Urbanisation places increasing stress on ecosystem services; however existing methods and data for testing relationships between service delivery and urban landscapes remain imprecise and uncertain. Unknown impacts of scale are among several factors that complicate research. This study models ecosystem services in the urban area comprising the towns of Milton Keynes, Bedford and Luton which together represent a wide range of the urban forms present in the UK. Objectives The objectives of this study were to test (1) the sensitivity of ecosystem service model outputs to the spatial resolution of input data, and (2) whether any resultant scale dependency is constant across different ecosystem services and model approaches (e.g. stock- versus flow-based). Methods Carbon storage, sediment erosion, and pollination were modelled with the InVEST framework using input data representative of common coarse (25 m) and fine (5 m) spatial resolutions. Results Fine scale analysis generated higher estimates of total carbon storage (9.32 vs. 7.17 kg m−2) and much lower potential sediment erosion estimates (6.4 vs. 18.1 Mg km−2 year−1) than analyses conducted at coarser resolutions; however coarse-scale analysis estimated more abundant pollination service provision. Conclusions Scale sensitivities depend on the type of service being modelled; stock estimates (e.g. carbon storage) are most sensitive to aggregation across scales, dynamic flow models (e.g. sediment erosion) are most sensitive to spatial resolution, and ecological process models involving both stocks and dynamics (e.g. pollination) are sensitive to both. Care must be taken to select model data appropriate to the scale of inquiry

Analysis of HDL-microRNA panel in heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia subjects with LDL receptor null or defective mutation

In the last years increasing attention has been given to the connection between genotype/phenotype and cardiovascular events in subjects with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH). MicroRNAs (miRs) bound to high-density lipoprotein (HDL) may contribute to better discriminate the cardiovascular risk of FH subjects. Our aim was to evaluate the HDL-miR panel in heterozygous FH (HeFH) patients with an LDLR null or defective mutation and its association with pulse wave velocity (PWV). We evaluated lipid panel, HDL-miR panel and PWV in 32 LDLR null mutation (LDLR-null group) and 35 LDLR defective variant (LDLR-defective group) HeFH patients. HDL-miR-486 and HDL-miR-92a levels were more expressed in the LDLR-null group than the LDLR-defective group. When we further stratified the study population into three groups according to both the LDLR genotype and history of ASCVD (LDLR-null/not-ASCVD, LDLR-defective/not-ASCVD and LDLR/ASCVD groups), both the LDLR/ASCVD and the LDLR-null/not-ASCVD groups had a higher expression of HDL-miR-486 and HDL-miR-92a than the LDLR-defective/not-ASCVD group. Finally, HDL-miR-486 and HDL-miR-92a were independently associated with PWV. In conclusion, the LDLR-null group exhibited HDL-miR-486 and HDL-miR-92a levels more expressed than the LDLR-defective group. Further studies are needed to evaluate these HDL-miRs as predictive biomarkers of cardiovascular events in FH

Design and analysis of cross vaults along history

The history of cross vaults began almost 2,000 years ago with a widespread use during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, becoming nowadays one of the most diffused and fascinating structural typologies of the European building cultural heritage. However, conversely to the undeniable excellence achieved by the ancient masons, the structural behavior of these elements is still at the center of the scientific debate. In this regard, with the aim of reviewing the knowledge on this subject as a concise and valuable support for researchers involved in conservation of historical buildings, with a focus on design rules and structural analysis, the present study firstly introduces the cross vaults from a historical perspective, by describing the evolution of the main geometrical shapes together with basic practical rules used to size them. Then, the article deals with the subsequent advancements in structural analysis methods of vaults, until the development of modern limit analysis.This work was partially carried out under the program "Dipartimento di Protezione Civile - Consorzio RELUIS", signed on 2013-12-27.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Prognostic value of gender and primary tumor location in metastatic colon cancer

Sex might influence prognosis in patients affected by colorectal cancer. We retrospectively studied a cohort of patients affected by metastatic colon cancer (mCC) stratified by sex and primary tumor location. RAS mutational status was also included in the analysis. Overall, 616 patients met the eligibility criteria, 261 women and 355 men. Neither gender, nor RAS mutational status influenced overall survival (OS) in the entire population. As expected, patients with right-sided colon cancer (RCC) had a significant shorter OS compared to those with left-sided colon cancer (LCC) (21.3 vs 33.1 months, p= 0.002). When the analysis was performed stratifying for gender, RCC retained worse prognosis among men (OS 20.5 vs 33.9 months, p= 0.008), but not among women (p= 0.132). Similarly, the presence of RAS mutations had no prognostic effect in women, but was significantly associate with shorter survival in men (OS 29.5 vs 33.7 months, p= 0.046). In addition, when comparing clinical outcome of women or men according to sidedness and RAS mutational status, RCC was associated with dismal prognosis only in men with RAS mutated tumor (OS 17.2 vs 32.3 months, p= 0.008). Our study highlights the importance of gender in the outcome of patients with mCC

Changes in body composition in early breast cancer patients treated with aromatase inhibitors

Purpose The aim of the study was to analyze the modification of total and regional body composition in early breast cancer patients treated with aromatase inhibitors (AIs).Methods This is a prospective, single-center, observational, longitudinal study. Four-hundred and twenty-eight patients treated with adjuvant aromatase inhibitors were enrolled at the Medical Oncology and Breast Unit of Spedali Civili Hospital in Brescia from September 2014 to June 2022. Several body composition parameters including total and regional fat and lean body mass were investigated with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan at baseline and after 18 months of treatment with aromatase inhibitors.Results A significant increase in fat body mass (mean + 7.2%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 5.5;8.9%) and a reduction in lean body mass (mean -3.1%, 95% CI -3.9; -2.4) were documented in this population. The changes in fat and lean body mass varied considerably according to different body districts ranging between + 3.2% to + 10.9% and from-1.3% to -3.9%, respectively.Conclusion Aromatase inhibitor adjuvant therapy in early breast cancer is associated with changes in body composition, with a wide variability among different body districts, leading to a risk of sarcopenic obesity. Supervised physical exercise that focuses on single body parts that may display detrimental variations may be beneficial for AIs treated patients