Bites by coral snakes (Micrurus spp.) in Campinas, State of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil

Coral snakes (Micrurus spp.) are the main representatives of the Elapidae in South America. However, bites by these snakes are uncommon. We retrospectively reviewed the data from 11 individuals bitten by coral snakes over a 20-year period; four were confirmed (snake brought for identification) and seven were highly suspected (neuromuscular manifestations) cases of elapid envenoming. The cases were classified as dry-bite (n = 1, caused by M. lemniscatus; did not receive antivenom), mild (n = 2, local manifestations with no acute myasthenic syndrome; M. frontalis and Micrurus spp.), moderate (n = 5, mild myasthenia) or severe (n = 3, important myasthenia; one of them caused by M. frontalis). The main clinical features upon admission were paresthesia (local, n = 9; generalized, n = 2), local pain (n = 8), palpebral ptosis (n = 8), weakness (n = 4) and inability to stand up (n = 3). No patient developed respiratory failure. Antivenom was used in ten cases, with mild early reactions occurring in three. An anticholinesterase drug was administered in the three severe cases, with a good response in two. No deaths were observed. Despite the high toxicity of coral snake venoms, the prognosis following envenoming is good. In serious bites by M. frontalis or M. lemniscatus, the venom of which acts postsynaptically, anticholinesterases may be useful as an ancillary measure if antivenom is unavailable, if there is a delay in obtaining a sufficient amount, or in those patients given the highest recommended doses of antivenom without improvement of the paralysis or with delayed recovery.

A melancolia na arte - da literatura para o cinema. Análise da transposição de Mrs. Dalloway, de V. Woolf, para o filme As Horas

Dissertação apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Mestre em Ciências da Comunicação – Comunicação e Arte

Study of infection by Rickettsiae of the spotted fever group in humans and ticks in an urban park located in the City of Londrina, State of Paraná, Brazil

INTRODUCTION: Spotted fevers are emerging zoonoses caused by Rickettsia species in the spotted fever group (SFG). Rickettsia rickettsii is the main etiologic agent of Brazilian spotted fever (BSF) and it is transmitted by Amblyomma spp. ticks. METHODS: The study aimed to investigate SFG rickettsiae in the Arthur Thomas Municipal Park in Londrina, PR, by collecting free-living ticks and ticks from capybaras and blood samples from personnel working in these areas. Samples from A. dubitatum and A. cajennense were submitted for PCR in pools to analyze the Rickettsia spp. gltA (citrate synthase gene). RESULTS: All the pools analyzed were negative. Human sera were tested by indirect immunofluorescence assay with R. rickettsii and R. parkeri as antigens. Among the 34 sera analyzed, seven (20.6%) were reactive for R. rickettsii: four of these had endpoint titers equal to 64, 2 titers were 128 and 1 titer was 256. None of the samples were reactive for R. parkeri. An epidemiological questionnaire was applied to the park staff, but no statistically significant associations were identified. CONCLUSIONS: The serological studies suggest the presence of Rickettsiae related to SFG that could be infecting the human population studied; however, analysis of the ticks collected was unable to determine which species may be involved in transmission to humans.

Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) and the etiopathogenesis of Kaposi's sarcoma

OBJECTIVE: To review the current literature on human herpesvirus 8 with particular attention to the aspects related to the etiopathogenesis of Kaposi's sarcoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The authors searched original research and review articles on specific aspects of human herpesvirus 8 infection, including virology, epidemiology, transmission, diagnosis, natural history, therapy, and Kaposi's sarcoma etiopathogenesis. The relevant material was evaluated and reviewed. RESULTS: Human herpesvirus 8 is a recently discovered DNA virus that is present throughout the world but with major geographic variation. In the Western world, the virus, transmitted mainly by means of sexual contact, is strongly associated with Kaposi's sarcoma and body cavity-based lymphoma and more controversially with multiple myeloma and other non-proliferative disorders. There is no specific effective treatment, but HIV protease inhibitors may play an indirect role in the clearance of human herpesvirus 8 DNA from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of HIV-infected patients. Human herpesvirus 8 DNA is present in saliva, but there are as yet no documented cases of nosocomial transmission to health care workers. The prevalence of human herpesvirus 8 among health care workers is probably similar to that in the general population. CONCLUSION: Human herpesvirus 8 appears to be, at least in Western Europe and United States, restricted to a population at risk of developing Kaposi's sarcoma. Human herpesvirus 8 certainly has the means to overcome cellular control and immune responses and thus predispose carriers to malignancy, particularly Kaposi's sarcoma. The wide diffusion of Human herpesvirus 8 in classic Kaposi's sarcoma areas appears to represent an important factor in the high incidence of the disease. However, additional co-factors are likely to play a role in the development of Kaposi's sarcoma.

Human and murine clonal CD8+ T cell expansions arise during tuberculosis because of TCR selection

The immune system can recognize virtually any antigen, yet T cell responses against several pathogens, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, are restricted to a limited number of immunodominant epitopes. The host factors that affect immunodominance are incompletely understood. Whether immunodominant epitopes elicit protective CD8+ T cell responses or instead act as decoys to subvert immunity and allow pathogens to establish chronic infection is unknown. Here we show that anatomically distinct human granulomas contain clonally expanded CD8+ T cells with overlapping T cell receptor (TCR) repertoires. Similarly, the murine CD8+ T cell response against M. tuberculosis is dominated by TB10.44-11-specific T cells with extreme TCRß bias. Using a retro genic model of TB10.44-11-specific CD8+ Tcells, we show that TCR dominance can arise because of competition between clonotypes driven by differences in affinity. Finally, we demonstrate that TB10.4-specific CD8+ T cells mediate protection against tuberculosis, which requires interferon-? production and TAP1-dependent antigen presentation in vivo. Our study of how immunodominance, biased TCR repertoires, and protection are inter-related, provides a new way to measure the quality of T cell immunity, which if applied to vaccine evaluation, could enhance our understanding of how to elicit protective T cell immunity.

The family haloplasmataceae

Haloplasmataceae is a family within the order Haloplasmatales, which currently includes one single genus and species: Haloplasma contractile. This family has unusual phenotypic features the most noticeable being a unique morphology and cellular contractility cycle and a distinct phylogenetic position between the Firmicutes and the Tenericutes (Mollicutes). Members of the Haloplasmataceae have been isolated from the upper sediments of a deep-sea anoxic brine in the Red Sea, but cultivation-independent studies have found related sequences in a wide range of biotopes including other extreme environments, contaminated soils and marine sediments, as well as intestinal samples. The isolation and description of new representatives of this family might therefore result in significant changes to the current description.

The Family Salinisphaeraceae

The family Salinisphaeraceae (Class Gammaproteobacteria, Order Salinisphaerales) comprises a single genus, Salinisphaera, and six species: S. shabanensis, S. hydrothermalis, S. dokdonensis, S. orenii, S. halophila, and S. japonica. All members of the family Salinisphaeraceae were isolated from marine/oceanic and high-salinity environments. These bacteria have coccoid or short rod morphologies and are halophilic or halotolerant. All known members of the family Salinisphaeraceae are heterotrophic, mesophilic aerobes, although S. hydrothermalis was shown to be a facultative chemolithoautotroph. Isolation and characterization of new members of the Salinisphaeraceae, as well as in-depth studies of the currently known species, will allow for a better understanding of this family.

Quantifying the legacy of the Chinese Neolithic on the maternal genetic heritage of Taiwan and Island Southeast Asia

There has been a long-standing debate concerning the extent to which the spread of Neolithic ceramics and Malay-Polynesian languages in Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) were coupled to an agriculturally driven demic dispersal out of Taiwan 4000 years ago (4 ka). We previously addressed this question using founder analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control-region sequences to identify major lineage clusters most likely to have dispersed from Taiwan into ISEA, proposing that the dispersal had a relatively minor impact on the extant genetic structure of ISEA, and that the role of agriculture in the expansion of the Austronesian languages was therefore likely to have been correspondingly minor. Here we test these conclusions by sequencing whole mtDNAs from across Taiwan and ISEA, using their higher chronological precision to resolve the overall proportion that participated in the "out-of-Taiwan" mid-Holocene dispersal as opposed to earlier, postglacial expansions in the Early Holocene. We show that, in total, about 20 % of mtDNA lineages in the modern ISEA pool result from the "out-of-Taiwan" dispersal, with most of the remainder signifying earlier processes, mainly due to sea-level rises after the Last Glacial Maximum. Notably, we show that every one of these founder clusters previously entered Taiwan from China, 6-7 ka, where rice-farming originated, and remained distinct from the indigenous Taiwanese population until after the subsequent dispersal into ISEA.

Arabs of central Iraq, their history, ethnology, and physical characters / by Henry Field -- ; with introduction by Sir Arthur Keith --. Berthold Laufer --, ed.

v.4(1935)

A monograph of the British Desmidiaceæ, by W. West and G. S. West.

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A monograph of the British Desmidiaceæ, by W. West and G. S. West.

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A monograph of the British Desmidiaceæ, by W. West and G. S. West.

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