Surgical treatment of globe subluxation in the active phase of the myogenic type of Graves orbitopathy: case reports

The purpose of the present article is to present and discuss two cases of globe subluxation in the active phase of myogenic Graves' orbitopathy and to evaluate the prevalence of this phenomenon. Two patients with the myogenic variant of Graves' orbitopathy that had being treated with oral and intravenous steroid pulses developed globe subluxation. Both had to have urgent eyelid and orbital decompression. After these observations, we reviewed the medical records of a sample of 284 patients (482 orbits) who had had orbital decompression at our Institution from 1992 to 2010, with a search for cases presenting severe proptosis or globe subluxation in the active phase of myogenic Graves' orbitopathy. No patient had to have decompression for globe subluxation in the active phase of Graves' orbitopathy. The prevalence of this event as an indication for surgery in the myogenic variant of Graves' orbitopathy was therefore 0.7% (2/284) or even less. The combination of lowering the upper eyelid and orbital decompression had a dramatic therapeutic effect on these patients despite the presence of intense inflammatory signs in the orbits. In conclusion, patients affected with the myogenic variant of Graves' orbitopathy may develop globe subluxation. Urgent surgical treatments should not be postponed despite the presence of active inflammation.

Can Indian Ocean SST anomalies influence South American rainfall?

In this study we examine the impact of Indian Ocean sea surface temperature (SST) variability on South American circulation using observations and a suite of numerical experiments forced by a combination of Indian and Pacific SST anomalies. Previous studies have shown that the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) mode can affect climate over remote regions across the globe, including over South America. Here we show that such a link exists not only with the IOD, but also with the Indian Ocean basin-wide warming (IOBW). The IOBW, a response to El Nino events, tends to reinforce the South American anomalous circulation in March-to-May associated with the warm events in the Pacific. This leads to increased rainfall in the La Plata basin and decreased rainfall over the northern regions of the continent. In addition, the IOBW is suggested to be an important factor for modulating the persistence of dry conditions over northeastern South America during austral autumn. The link between the IOBW and South American climate occurs via alterations of the Walker circulation pattern and through a mid-latitude wave-train teleconnection.

First report of sacbrood virus in honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies in Brazil

Sacbrood disease, an affliction of honey bees (Apis mellifera) characterized by brood that fails to pupate and subsequently dies, is an important threat to honey bee health. The disease is caused by the sacbrood virus (SBV), a positive-, single-stranded RNA virus in the order Picornavirales. Because of the economic importance of honey bees for both pollination and honey production, it is vital to understand and monitor the spread of viruses such as SBV. This virus has been found in many places across the globe, including recently in some South American countries, and it is likely that it will continue to spread. We performed a preliminary study to search for SBV in two apiaries of Africanized honey bees in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil, using RT-PCR and Sanger sequencing and found the first evidence of SBV in honey bee colonies in Brazil. The virus was detected in larvae, foraging and nurse bees from two colonies, one of which had symptoms of sacbrood disease, at the beginning of the winter season in June 2011. No SBV was found in samples from nine other nearby colonies.

A biophysical model of Sugarcane growth

Scientists predict that global agricultural lands will expand over the next few decades due to increasing demands for food production and an exponential increase in crop-based biofuel production. These changes in land use will greatly impact biogeochemical and biogeophysical cycles across the globe. It is therefore important to develop models that can accurately simulate the interactions between the atmosphere and important crops. In this study, we develop and validate a new process-based sugarcane model (included as a module within the Agro-IBIS dynamic agro-ecosystem model) which can be applied at multiple spatial scales. At site level, the model systematically under/overestimated the daily sensible/latent heat flux (by -10.5% and 14.8%, H and E, respectively) when compared against the micrometeorological observations from southeast Brazil. The model underestimated ET (relative bias between -10.1% and 12.5%) when compared against an agro-meteorological field experiment from northeast Australia. At the regional level, the model accurately simulated average yield for the four largest mesoregions (clusters of municipalities) in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil, over a period of 16 years, with a yield relative bias of -0.68% to 1.08%. Finally, the simulated annual average sugarcane yield over 31 years for the state of Louisiana (US) had a low relative bias (-2.67%), but exhibited a lower interannual variability than the observed yields.

Bioclimatic characterization of outdoor and confined systems for pregnant sows

Pregnant sows confinement systems were created in order to maximize the productivity, however there are problems concerning the animal welfare. The aim of this research was to evaluate pregnant sows in outdoors and in confinement systems in relation to the thermal environment and physiological animal responses. The experiment was conducted in a commercial farm in Monte Mor city, Sao Paulo, Brazil. The physiological evaluation was performed by recording physiological variables, such as respiratory frequency and skin temperature. Furthermore, variables like dry bulb temperature, wet bulb temperature, and black globe temperature were also evaluated to characterize the ambient by means of enthalpy and black globe humidity index. In each treatment six animals were evaluated. The experimental design was completely randomized in a split-plot version whose averages were compared by the Tukey test. The findings of the experiment revealed higher values for all the bioclimatic variables in the confined treatment. Hence, the outdoor system provided better thermal conditioning for pigs, resulting in a lower heat stress.

An Extreme Case of Plant-Insect Codiversification: Figs and Fig-Pollinating Wasps

It is thought that speciation in phytophagous insects is often due to colonization of novel host plants, because radiations of plant and insect lineages are typically asynchronous. Recent phylogenetic comparisons have supported this model of diversification for both insect herbivores and specialized pollinators. An exceptional case where contemporaneous plant-insect diversification might be expected is the obligate mutualism between fig trees (Ficus species, Moraceae) and their pollinating wasps (Agaonidae, Hymenoptera). The ubiquity and ecological significance of this mutualism in tropical and subtropical ecosystems has long intrigued biologists, but the systematic challenge posed by >750 interacting species pairs has hindered progress toward understanding its evolutionary history. In particular, taxon sampling and analytical tools have been insufficient for large-scale cophylogenetic analyses. Here, we sampled nearly 200 interacting pairs of fig and wasp species from across the globe. Two supermatrices were assembled: on an average, wasps had sequences from 77% of 6 genes (5.6 kb), figs had sequences from 60% of 5 genes (5.5 kb), and overall 850 new DNA sequences were generated for this study. We also developed a new analytical tool, Jane 2, for event-based phylogenetic reconciliation analysis of very large data sets. Separate Bayesian phylogenetic analyses for figs and fig wasps under relaxed molecular clock assumptions indicate Cretaceous diversification of crown groups and contemporaneous divergence for nearly half of all fig and pollinator lineages. Event-based cophylogenetic analyses further support the codiversification hypothesis. Biogeographic analyses indicate that the present-day distribution of fig and pollinator lineages is consistent with a Eurasian origin and subsequent dispersal, rather than with Gondwanan vicariance. Overall, our findings indicate that the fig-pollinator mutualism represents an extreme case among plant-insect interactions of coordinated dispersal and long-term codiversification.

Buphthalmos development in adult: case report

To report a case of extensive globe enlargement due to secondary glaucoma in a young adult suffering from ocular surface disorders related to hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of buphthalmos in the adulthood.