Next-generation sequencing reveals large connected networks of intra-host HCV variants

Background: Next-generation sequencing (NGS) allows for sampling numerous viral variants from infected patients. This provides a novel opportunity to represent and study the mutational landscape of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) within a single host.Results: Intra-host variants of the HCV E1/E2 region were extensively sampled from 58 chronically infected patients. After NGS error correction, the average number of reads and variants obtained from each sample were 3202 and 464, respectively. The distance between each pair of variants was calculated and networks were created for each patient, where each node is a variant and two nodes are connected by a link if the nucleotide distance between them is 1. The work focused on large components having > 5% of all reads, which in average account for 93.7% of all reads found in a patient. The distance between any two variants calculated over the component correlated strongly with nucleotide distances (r = 0.9499; p = 0.0001), a better correlation than the one obtained with Neighbour-Joining trees (r = 0.7624; p = 0.0001). In each patient, components were well separated, with the average distance between (6.53%) being 10 times greater than within each component (0.68%). The ratio of nonsynonymous to synonymous changes was calculated and some patients (6.9%) showed a mixture of networks under strong negative and positive selection. All components were robust to in silico stochastic sampling; even after randomly removing 85% of all reads, the largest connected component in the new subsample still involved 82.4% of remaining nodes. In vitro sampling showed that 93.02% of components present in the original sample were also found in experimental replicas, with 81.6% of reads found in both. When syringe-sharing transmission events were simulated, 91.2% of all simulated transmission events seeded all components present in the source.Conclusions: Most intra-host variants are organized into distinct single-mutation components that are: well separated from each other, represent genetic distances between viral variants, robust to sampling, reproducible and likely seeded during transmission events. Facilitated by NGS, large components offer a novel evolutionary framework for genetic analysis of intra-host viral populations and understanding transmission, immune escape and drug resistance.

Reproduction, food dynamics and exploitation level of Oreochromis niloticus (Perciformes: Cichlidae) from artisanal fisheries in Barra Bonita Reservoir, Brazil

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Glicerina bruta substituindo o milho em dietas de baixo amido na terminação de cordeiros

Pós-graduação em Zootecnia - FCAV

Estrutura e dinâmica de perfilhamento do capim-marandu submetido a três intensidades de pastejo

Pós-graduação em Zootecnia - FCAV

Lifespan and reproductive dynamics of the commercially important sea bob shrimp Xiphopenaeus kroyeri (Penaeoidea): synthesis of a 5-year study

Population parameters of the shrimp Xiphopenaeus kroyeri (Heller, 1862) (sex ratio, length-frequency distributions (carapace length, CL), growth, lifespan, size of sexual maturity, spawning and recruitment) were analyzed in a long-term study from January 1998 through June 2003. The data on these parameters were collected and analyzed to test the hypothesis that the main period of juvenile recruitment in the bay coincides with the period of fishery closures currently designated by the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources. Monthly collections were conducted along the southeastern Brazilian coast, using a shrimp fishing boat with “double-rig” nets sampling at stations up to 40 m depth. Sex ratios were female-biased only in zones with high reproductive activity such as in stations deeper than 15 m (χ2 test, p<0.05). The mean size of males and females was 15.3 ± 3.1 mm CL and 16.2 ± 4.7 mm CL, respectively, with size at sexual maturity estimates (CL50) of 14.8 mm for males and 15.5 mm for females. Mean growth curves provided estimates of CL∞ = 29.31 mm, k = 0.009/day, t0=−0.25 and CL∞ = 35.33 mm, k = 0.006/day, t0=−0.23 for males and females, respectively, and average lifespans of 1.35 for males and 2.12 years for females. Recruitment and abundances of reproductive females were highly correlated with the environmental factors such as higher water temperature and finer-grained bottom sediment (canonical correlation, r=0.63, p<0.001). The reproductive peaks in February-April 1998, March-May 1999 and February-May 2002 were followed by recruitment peaks in May-July 1998, July-September 1999 and April-June 2002, respectively. Thus, the proposed period of fisheries closure (March to May) does not coincide with the main recruitment periods observed for X. kroyeri.

Lifespan and reproductive dynamics of the commercially important sea bob shrimp xiphopenaeus kroyeri (penaeoidea): synthesis of a 5-year study

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Efeito da alimentação do adulto na qualidade do endoparasitoide larval da broca comum da cana-de-açúcar

Aiming qualitative improvements in the mass rearing of Cotesia flavipes (Cameron, 1891) (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) in laboratory, tests were conducted with adults feed before parasitism on Diatraea saccharalis (Fabricius, 1794) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) larvae, using 14 artificial diets based on sucrose, brewer yeast and honey. The design was completely randomized with 15 treatments and five replications. The biological parameters evaluated in F1 and F2 generations were: number of adults emerged; sex ratio; adult emergence percentage; weight of pupae mass; and male and female longevity. The highest average of emerged adults were 85 in diet with sucrose 5% for F1 generation, and 91 in diet with sucrose 5% + yeast brewer 2,5% for F2; the smaller average of adult emergency were 63.60 in diet with honey 5% + yeast brewer 2.5 % for F1 generation and 66.80 in diet with honey 5% for F2. Diets that produced more females were honey 5% + yeast brewer 2.5%, showing the sex ratio of 0.82 for F1 generation, and sucrose 10% + 2.5% yeast brewer 2.5% (0.75) for F2, while sucrose 10% + yeast brewer 2.5% (0.60 for F1) and honey 2.5% (0.59) provided fewer females for F2 generation. The highest percentage of adult emergence were 93.90% with the diet containing sucrose 2.5% + yeast brewer 2.5%) and 93.89 % with honey 5% + yeast brewer 2.5%, and the lowest 81.71% (honey 5% + yeast brewer 2.5%) for F1 and 78.96 % (honey 5%) to F1 and F2, respectively. The diet with Mel 2.5% produced greater weight of pupae mass. The adult longevity did not differ significantly for all diets in F1 and F2 generations. Diets containing 5% or 10% of sucrose or honey provide, in general, improve the qualitative development of C. flavipes in mass rearing.

Acaricidal effects of fluazuron (2.5 mg/kg) and a combination of fluazuron (1.6 mg/kg) + ivermectin (0.63 mg/kg), administered at different routes, against Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus parasitizing cattle

The present study aimed to evaluate the acaricidal efficacy of fluazuron (2.5 mg/kg), administered as a pour-on, in comparison to an injectable formulation containing fluazuron (1.6 mg/kg) + ivermectin (0.63 mg/kg), against Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus in naturally and experimentally infested cattle. Two studies were conducted with different tick strains, one with artificial infestations (Stall Test, using leight animals per group) and one with natural infestations (utilizing ten animals per group): In both studies, the animals were randomized, according to average tick counts performed on days -3, -2 and -1, into four groups: T01, negative control (saline solution); T02, pour-on fluazuron (2.5 mg/kg); T03: subcutaneous fluazuron (1.6 mg/kg) + ivermectin (0.63 mg/kg); and T04 subcutaneous ivermectin (0.63 mg/kg). Based on obtained results, and considering the utilized tick strains, it was possible to conclude that the pour-on fluazuron (2.5 mg/kg) formulation demonstrated high acaricidal efficacy, with protection periods ranging from 49 to 77 days against Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus. On the other hand, for the injectable fluazuron (1.6 mg/kg) + ivermectin (0.63 mg/kg) formulation, it was not possible to observe elevated anti-R. (B.) microplus effect on both artificial and experimental infestation studies. Results observed for this combination were similar or inferior to those obtained by subcutaneous ivermectin (0.63 mg/kg). Future studies with this formulation containing fluazuron (1.6 mg/kg) + ivermectin (0.63 mg/kg), regarding pharmacokinetic and/or bioavailability profiles, or even studies analyzing both this active principles separately, are needed, seeking to better understand the effects of such combination against Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus parasitizing cattle. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Voltammetric Behavior of a Chemically Modified Silsesquioxane with 4-Amino-5-Phenyl-4h-[1,2,4]-Triazole-3-Thiol and its Application for Detection of L-Dopamine

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Tolerance to high temperature in F-5 inbred lines of tomato

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Characteristics of PbO-BiO1.5-GaO1.5 glasses melted in SnO2 crucibles

PbO-BiO 1.5-GaO 1.5-based glasses are good candidates for optical applications, because of some of their interesting characteristics, such as high refraction indices and high transmission in the ultraviolet (UV), visible (VIS), and infrared (IR) regions. A limited stage in the processing of these glasses is the corrosion that is caused by the melt in all currently used conventional crucibles, such as noble metals (platinum or gold) and Al 2O 3. The absorption of crucible material by the glass composition may reduce the transmission level, the cutoff in the UV-VIS, and IR regions, and the thermal stability. In this study, a SnO 2 crucible has been tested for PbO-BiO 1.5-GaO 1.5 molten glass. Optical and thermal analyses show, in some cases, advantages over the use of platinum and Al 2O 3 crucibles. A visible cutoff value of 474 nm has been measured, and a longer melting time (850°C for 4 h) results in a significant reduction of the O-H absorption band at 3.2 μm.

Real-time Sampling of Particulate Matter Smaller than 2.5 µm from Amazon Forest Biomass Combustion

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Hormonal induction of Brycon cephalus (Characiformes, Characidae) to spermiation using D-ala6, pro9net-mGnRH + metoclopramide

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Effects of 5-hydroxytryptophan and m-hydroxybenzylhydrazine associated to Lactobacillus spp. on the humoral response of broilers challenged with Salmonella Enteritidis

This study investigates the effects of different doses of serotonin, its precursor 5-hydroxytry-ptophan (5HTP), and m-hydroxybenzylhydrazine inhibitor (NSD1015), administered via intraperitoneal for 5 consecutive days, on behavior and average body weight of broilers. We also measured the humoral immune response and quantification of Salmonella Enteritidis in broilers chickens that received the drugs evaluated and a Lactobacillus pool. The study was divided into 3 experiments: Experiment 1--administration of pharmaceuticals with choice of dosage; Experiment 2--administration of pharmaceuticals and a Lactobacillus pool in birds that were not challenged with S. Enteritidis, and Experiment 3--administration of pharmaceuticals and a Lactobacillus pool in birds challenged with S. Enteritidis. The ELISA was used to scan dosages of intestinal IgA and serum IgY. We used colony-forming units to quantify S. Enteritidis. The concentrations of IgA and IgY did not show significant differences (P>0.05) in Experiment 2. In Experiment 3, NSD1015 associated with Lactobacillus determined higher IgA concentrations, promoting greater stimulus to the immune system than 5HTP. Regarding quantification of S. Enteritidis in the cecal content of birds, 5HTP associated to Lactobacillus determined the smallest number of bacteria, showing possible interaction of 5-hydroxytryptophan and Lactobacillus spp. with the immune system of broiler chickens.

Carga e trabalho de enfermagem em unidade de terapia intensiva especializada em queimados

Pós-graduação em Enfermagem (mestrado profissional) - FMB