Screening The Life Cycle Of Schistosoma Mansoni Using High-resolution Mass Spectrometry.

Schistosomiasis is a common tropical disease caused by Schistosoma species Schistosomiasis' pathogenesis is known to vary according to the worms' strain. Moreover, high parasitical virulence is directly related to eggs release and granulomatous inflammation in the host's organs. This virulence might be influenced by different classes of molecules, such as lipids. Therefore, better understanding of the metabolic profile of these organisms is necessary, especially for an increased potential of unraveling strain virulence mechanisms and resistance to existing treatments. In this report, direct-infusion electrospray high-resolution mass spectrometry (ESI(+)-HRMS) along with the lipidomic platform were employed to rapidly characterize and differentiate two Brazilian S. mansoni strains (BH and SE) in three stages of their life cycle: eggs, miracidia and cercariae, with samples from experimental animals (Swiss/SPF mice). Furthermore, urine samples of the infected and uninfected mice were analyzed to assess the possibility of direct diagnosis. All samples were differentiated using multivariate data analysis, PCA, which helped electing markers from distinct lipid classes; phospholipids, diacylglycerols and triacylglycerols, for example, clearly presented different intensities in some stages and strains, as well as in urine samples. This indicates that biochemical characterization of S. mansoni may help narrowing-down the investigation of new therapeutic targets according to strain composition and aggressiveness of disease. Interestingly, lipid profile of infected mice urine varies when compared to control samples, indicating that direct diagnosis of schistosomiasis from urine may be feasible.

Long-term Prospects For The Environmental Profile Of Advanced Sugar Cane Ethanol.

This work assessed the environmental impacts of the production and use of 1 MJ of hydrous ethanol (E100) in Brazil in prospective scenarios (2020-2030), considering the deployment of technologies currently under development and better agricultural practices. The life cycle assessment technique was employed using the CML method for the life cycle impact assessment and the Monte Carlo method for the uncertainty analysis. Abiotic depletion, global warming, human toxicity, ecotoxicity, photochemical oxidation, acidification, and eutrophication were the environmental impacts categories analyzed. Results indicate that the proposed improvements (especially no-til farming-scenarios s2 and s4) would lead to environmental benefits in prospective scenarios compared to the current ethanol production (scenario s0). Combined first and second generation ethanol production (scenarios s3 and s4) would require less agricultural land but would not perform better than the projected first generation ethanol, although the uncertainties are relatively high. The best use of 1 ha of sugar cane was also assessed, considering the displacement of the conventional products by ethanol and electricity. No-til practices combined with the production of first generation ethanol and electricity (scenario s2) would lead to the largest mitigation effects for global warming and abiotic depletion. For the remaining categories, emissions would not be mitigated with the utilization of the sugar cane products. However, this conclusion is sensitive to the displaced electricity sources.