Cutting Edge: Brazilian Pemphigus Foliaceus Anti-Desmoglein 1 Autoantibodies Cross-React with Sand Fly Salivary LJM11 Antigen

The environmental factors that contribute to the development of autoimmune diseases are largely unknown. Endemic pemphigus foliaceus in humans, known as Fogo Selvagem (FS) in Brazil, is mediated by pathogenic IgG4 autoantibodies against desmoglein 1 (Dsg1). Clusters of FS overlap with those of leishmaniasis, a disease transmitted by sand fly (Lutzomyia longipalpis) bites. In this study, we show that salivary Ags from the sand fly, and specifically the LJM11 salivary protein, are recognized by FS Abs. Anti-Dsg1 monoclonal autoantibodies derived from FS patients also cross-react with LJM11. Mice immunized with LJM11 generate anti-Dsg1 Abs. Thus, insect bites may deliver salivary Ags that initiate a cross-reactive IgG4 Ab response in genetically susceptible individuals and lead to subsequent FS. Our findings establish a clear relationship between an environmental, noninfectious Ag and the development of potentially pathogenic autoantibodies in an autoimmune disease. The Journal of Immunology, 2012, 189: 1535-1539.

A remarkable new species of flesh-fly mimicking weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Conoderinae) from Southeastern Brazil

Timorus sarcophagoides, new species (type-locality: Brazil, Minas Gerais, Santana do Riacho - Serra do Cipo, 43 degrees 35'W 19 degrees 17'S, 1200-1300m ASL), is described and illustrated. The new species can be distinguished mainly from the other species of the genus by the sexual dimorphism of the male rostrum armed with a hooked tubercle at the base of the dorsal carina, while the tubercle is absent in the female and the corresponding region of the carina is only tumid. The new species has a striking pattern of coloration and behavior that mimics flesh-flies in the family Sarcophagidae. Observations on the natural history of the new species are reported and discussed.

Fly ash as zeolites for reducing nitrogen losses by volatilization

The structural and chemical characteristics of fly ash from coal-fired mineral and fly ash zeolitized are similar to those of zeolites. Urea was added with these materials in the proportions of urea: fly ashes of 100:10, 100:20, 100:50, 100:100, with a control containing just urea. These treatments were applied in soil surface and the experimental design was a randomized block with clay and sandy soil. Nitrogen losses by ammonia volatilization and the chemical characteristics of soil fertility were evaluated. In sandy soil there was reduction of ammonia volatilization for the proportions of 100:10 and 100:20, while fly ash zeolitized and fly ash had no difference.

Mass-rearing of Mediterranean fruit fly using low-cost yeast products produced in Brazil

Ceratitis capitata is one of the most important pests of fruits for exportation, and Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) has been the most efficient and environmental friendly technique used to control fruit fly populations around the world. A key goal in achieving a successful SIT program is a mass rearing system producing high quality insects at low cost. Providing adults with an artificial diet containing hydrolysed protein has been the major obstacle for bio-production facilities in Brazil, because it is expensive and has to be imported. Two other commercial products, autolysed yeast (AY) and yeast extract (YE), of domestic origin and low cost, were tested as substitutes of the imported hydrolyzed protein. To compare their efficiency we observed the female fecundity, adult survival and egg viability of flies raised on diets containing one of each of the different protein products. Flies reared on the domestic yeast products had equivalent or superior performance to the flies reared on imported protein. Both AY and YE can be a possible substitute for imported hydrolyzed protein for C. capitata mass-rearing, as they are cheaper and are readily available in the national market.

Analisi dell'efficienza del chelante EDTA per l'estrazione di metalli pesanti da lisciviati di fly ash prodotte da termovalorizzatori

Si è valutata l'efficienza di estrazione di metalli pesanti (Al, Zn, Pb, V, Cr, Cu, Ti, Co, Cd, Ni) da soluzioni ottenute da leaching acido di fly ash da termovalorizzatore. L'efficienza è stata stimata in funzione del pH e del tempo (esperimenti di 24 h e 3 h) e tramite l'utilizzo di un agente chelante (EDTA). Si è dimostrata l'efficienza dell'esperimento di 3 h, che si traduce in un beneficio economico in quanto si ottiene un elevato grado di estrazione in minor tempo.

Characterization of a Coal Fly Ash-Cement Slurry by the Absolute Foam Index

This dissertation established a standard foam index: the absolute foam index test. This test characterized a wide range of coal fly ash by the absolute volume of air-entraining admixture (AEA) necessary to produce a 15-second metastable foam in a coal fly ash-cement slurry in a specified time. The absolute foam index test was used to characterize fly ash samples having loss on ignition (LOI) values that ranged from 0.17 to 23.3 %wt. The absolute foam index characterized the fly ash samples by absolute volume of AEA, defined as the amount of undiluted AEA solution added to obtain a 15-minute endpoint signified by 15-second metastable foam. Results were compared from several foam index test time trials that used different initial test concentrations to reach termination at selected times. Based on the coefficient of variation (CV), a 15-minute endpoint, with limits of 12 to 18 minutes was chosen. Various initial test concentrations were used to accomplish consistent contact times and concentration gradients for the 15-minute test endpoint for the fly ash samples. A set of four standard concentrations for the absolute foam index test were defined by regression analyses and a procedure simplifying the test process. The set of standard concentrations for the absolute foam index test was determined by analyzing experimental results of 80 tests on coal fly ashes with loss on ignition (LOI) values ranging from 0.39 to 23.3 wt.%. A regression analysis informed selection of four concentrations (2, 6, 10, and 15 vol.% AEA) that are expected to accommodate fly ashes with 0.39 to 23.3 wt.% LOI, depending on the AEA type. Higher concentrations should be used for high-LOI fly ash when necessary. A procedure developed using these standard concentrations is expected to require only 1-3 trials to meet specified endpoint criteria for most fly ashes. The AEA solution concentration that achieved the metastable foam in the foam index test was compared to the AEA equilibrium concentration obtained from the direct adsorption isotherm test with the same fly ash. The results showed that the AEA concentration that satisfied the absolute foam index test was much less than the equilibrium concentration. This indicated that the absolute foam index test was not at or near equilibrium. Rather, it was a dynamic test where the time of the test played an important role in the results. Even though the absolute foam index was not an equilibrium condition, a correlation was made between the absolute foam index and adsorption isotherms. Equilibrium isotherm equations obtained from direct isotherm tests were used to calculate the equilibrium concentrations and capacities of fly ash from 0.17 to 10.5% LOI. The results showed that the calculated fly ash capacity was much less than capacities obtained from isotherm tests that were conducted with higher initial concentrations. This indicated that the absolute foam index was not equilibrium. Rather, the test is dynamic where the time of the test played an important role in the results. Even though the absolute foam index was not an equilibrium condition, a correlation was made between the absolute foam index and adsorption isotherms for fly ash of 0.17 to 10.5% LOI. Several batches of mortars were mixed for the same fly ash type increasing only the AEA concentration (dosage) in each subsequent batch. Mortar air test results for each batch showed for each increase in AEA concentration, air contents increased until a point where the next increase in AEA concentration resulted in no increase in air content. This was maximum air content that could be achieved by the particular mortar system; the system reached its air capacity at the saturation limit. This concentration of AEA was compared to the critical micelle concentration (CMC) for the AEA and the absolute foam index.

A Normative Theory of Forgetting: Lessons from the Fruit Fly

Recent experiments revealed that the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster has a dedicated mechanism for forgetting: blocking the G-protein Rac leads to slower and activating Rac to faster forgetting. This active form of forgetting lacks a satisfactory functional explanation. We investigated optimal decision making for an agent adapting to a stochastic environment where a stimulus may switch between being indicative of reward or punishment. Like Drosophila, an optimal agent shows forgetting with a rate that is linked to the time scale of changes in the environment. Moreover, to reduce the odds of missing future reward, an optimal agent may trade the risk of immediate pain for information gain and thus forget faster after aversive conditioning. A simple neuronal network reproduces these features. Our theory shows that forgetting in Drosophila appears as an optimal adaptive behavior in a changing environment. This is in line with the view that forgetting is adaptive rather than a consequence of limitations of the memory system.

Social motility of African trypanosomes is a property of a distinct life-cycle stage that occurs early in tsetse fly transmission

The protozoan pathogen Trypanosoma brucei is transmitted between mammals by tsetse flies. The first compartment colonised by trypanosomes after a blood meal is the fly midgut lumen. Trypanosomes present in the lumen-designated as early procyclic forms-express the stage-specific surface glycoproteins EP and GPEET procyclin. When the trypanosomes establish a mature infection and colonise the ectoperitrophic space, GPEET is down-regulated, and EP becomes the major surface protein of late procyclic forms. A few years ago, it was discovered that procyclic form trypanosomes exhibit social motility (SoMo) when inoculated on a semi-solid surface. We demonstrate that SoMo is a feature of early procyclic forms, and that late procyclic forms are invariably SoMo-negative. In addition, we show that, apart from GPEET, other markers are differentially expressed in these two life-cycle stages, both in culture and in tsetse flies, indicating that they have different biological properties and should be considered distinct stages of the life cycle. Differentially expressed genes include two closely related adenylate cyclases, both hexokinases and calflagins. These findings link the phenomenon of SoMo in vitro to the parasite forms found during the first 4-7 days of a midgut infection. We postulate that ordered group movement on plates reflects the migration of parasites from the midgut lumen into the ectoperitrophic space within the tsetse fly. Moreover, the process can be uncoupled from colonisation of the salivary glands. Although they are the major surface proteins of procyclic forms, EP and GPEET are not essential for SoMo, nor, as shown previously, are they required for near normal colonisation of the fly midgut.

Comet 1P/Halley multifluid MHD model for the Giotto fly-by

The interaction of comets with the solar wind has been the focus of many studies including numerical modeling. We compare the results of our multifluid MHD simulation of comet 1P/Halley to data obtained during the flyby of the European Space Agency's Giotto spacecraft in 1986. The model solves the full set of MHD equations for the individual fluids representing the solar wind protons, the cometary light and heavy ions, and the electrons. The mass loading, charge-exchange, dissociative ion-electron recombination, and collisional interactions between the fluids are taken into account. The computational domain spans over several million kilometers, and the close vicinity of the comet is resolved to the details of the magnetic cavity. The model is validated by comparison to the corresponding Giotto observations obtained by the Ion Mass Spectrometer, the Neutral Mass Spectrometer, the Giotto magnetometer experiment, and the Johnstone Plasma Analyzer instrument. The model shows the formation of the bow shock, the ion pile-up, and the diamagnetic cavity and is able to reproduce the observed temperature differences between the pick-up ion populations and the solar wind protons. We give an overview of the global interaction of the comet with the solar wind and then show the effects of the Lorentz force interaction between the different plasma populations.

Bericht über die im Auftrage des Westpr. bot.-zool. Vereins im Kreise Strasburg vom 12. bis 24. September 1878 ausgeführten Excursionen

Dr. Traugott Hielscher

Die Moor-Vegetation der Tucheler Heide, mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Moose. Bericht über die im Auftrage des Westpr. Bot-Zool. Vereins in der Zeit vom 4. bis 29. Juli 1896 ausgeführte bryologische Forschungsreise

Von C. Warnstorf

Bericht über die von mir im Auftrage des westpr. bot.-zool. Vereins im Jahre 1887 unternommenen botanischen Exkursionen

Von H. von Klinggraeff

Abwehr und Berichtigung der in Engler's Bot. Jahrb. Bd. 31, Heft 4/5, 1902 von Prof. Dr. E. Warming aus Kopenhagen veröffentlichten >Anmerkungen< zu meiner Arbeit über die Vegetation der ostfriesischen Inseln

Von Dr. A. Hansen