Coral diseases are major contributors to coral mortality in Shingle Island, Gulf of Mannar, southeastern India

The present study reports coral mortality, driven primarily by coral diseases, around Shingle Island, Gulf of Mannar (GOM), Indian Ocean. In total, 2910 colonies were permanently monitored to assess the incidence of coral diseases and consequent mortality for 2 yr. Four types of lesions consistent with white band disease (WBD), black disease (BD), white plaque disease (WPD), and pink spot disease (PSD) were recorded from 4 coral genera: Montipora, Pocillopora, Acropora, and Porites. Porites were affected by 2 disease types, while the other 3 genera were affected by only 1 disease type. Overall disease prevalence increased from 8% (n = 233 colonies) to 41.9% (n = 1219) over the 2 yr study period. BD caused an unprecedented 100% mortality in Pocillopora, followed by 20.4 and 13.1% mortality from WBD in Montipora and Acropora, respectively. Mean disease progression rates of 0.8 +/- 1.0 and 0.6 +/- 0.5 cm mo(-1) over live coral colonies were observed for BD and WBD. Significant correlations between temperature and disease progression were observed for BD (r = 0.86, R-2 = 0.75, p < 0.001) and WBD (R-2 = 0.76, p < 0.001). This study revealed the increasing trend of disease prevalence and progression of disease over live coral in a relatively limited study area; further study should investigate the status of the entire coral reef in the GOM and the role of diseases in reef dynamics.

Crystal structures of SCP2-thiolases of Trypanosomatidae, human pathogens causing widespread tropical diseases: the importance for catalysis of the cysteine of the unique HDCF loop

Thiolases are essential CoA-dependent enzymes in lipid metabolism. In the present study we report the crystal structures of trypanosomal and leishmanial SCP2 (sterol carrier protein, type-2)-thiolases. Trypanosomatidae cause various widespread devastating (sub)-tropical diseases, for which adequate treatment is lacking. The structures reveal the unique geometry of the active site of this poorly characterized subfamily of thiolases. The key catalytic residues of the classical thiolases are two cysteine residues, functioning as a nucleophile and an acid/base respectively. The latter cysteine residue is part of a CxG motif. Interestingly, this cysteine residue is not conserved in SCP2-thiolases. The structural comparisons now show that in SCP2-thiolases the catalytic acid/base is provided by the cysteine residue of the HDCF motif, which is unique for this thiolase subfamily. This HDCF cysteine residue is spatially equivalent to the CxG cysteine residue of classical thiolases. The HDCF cysteine residue is activated for acid/base catalysis by two main chain NH-atoms, instead of two water molecules, as present in the CxG active site. The structural results have been complemented with enzyme activity data, confirming the importance of the HDCF cysteine residue for catalysis. The data obtained suggest that these trypanosomatid SCP2-thiolases are biosynthetic thiolases. These findings provide promise for drug discovery as biosynthetic thiolases catalyse the first step of the sterol biosynthesis pathway that is essential in several of these parasites.

Critical cysteines in Akt1 regulate its activity and proteasomal degradation: implications for neurodegenerative diseases

Impaired Akt1 signaling is observed in neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson's disease (PD). In PD models oxidative modification of Akt1 leads to its dephosphorylation and consequent loss of its kinase activity. To explore the underlying mechanism we exposed Neuro2A cells to cadmium, a pan inhibitor of protein thiol disulfide oxidoreductases, including glutaredoxin 1 (Grx1), or downregulated Grx1, which led to dephosphorylation of Akt1, loss of its kinase activity, and also decreased Akt1 protein levels. Mutation of cysteines to serines at 296 and 310 in Akt1 did not affect its basal kinase activity but abolished cadmium- and Grx1 downregulation-induced reduction in Akt1 kinase activity, indicating their critical role in redox modulation of Akt1 function and turnover. Cadmium-induced decrease in phosphorylated Akt1 correlated with increased association of wild-type (WT) Akt1 with PP2A, which was absent in the C296-310S Akt1 mutant and was also abolished by N-acetylcysteine treatment. Further, increased proteasomal degradation of Akt1 by cadmium was not seen in the C296-310S Akt1 mutant, indicating that oxidation of cysteine residues facilitates degradation of WT Akt1. Moreover, preventing oxidative modification of Akt1 cysteines 296 and 310 by mutating them to serines increased the cell survival effects of Akt1. Thus, in neurodegenerative states such as PD, maintaining the thiol status of cysteines 296 and 310 in Akt1 would be critical for Akt1 kinase activity and for preventing its degradation by proteasomes. Preventing downregulation of Akt signaling not only has long-range consequences for cell survival but could also affect the multiple roles that Ala plays, including in the Akt-mTOR signaling cascade. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Photoacoustic tomography of the human finger: towards the assessment of inflammatory joint diseases

Inflammatory arthritis is often manifested in finger joints. The growth of new or withdrawal of old blood vessels can be a sensitive marker for these diseases. Photoacoustic (PA) imaging has great potential in this respect since it allows the sensitive and highly resolved visualization of blood. We systematically investigated PA imaging of finger vasculature in healthy volunteers using a newly developed PA tomographic system. We present the PA results which show excellent detail of the vasculature. Vessels with diameters ranging between 100 mu m and 1.5 mm are visible along with details of the skin, including the epidermis and the subpapillary plexus. The focus of all the studies is at the proximal and distal interphalangeal joints, and in the context of ultimately visualizing the inflamed synovial membrane in patients. This work is important in laying the foundation for detailed research into PA imaging of the phalangeal vasculature in patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis.

Un menú diferente

Duración (en horas): De 11 a 20 horas. Nivel educativo: Grado

Recognizing and managing common fish diseases

(4pp.)

On Mice and Men and De ratones y hombres: Cultural transfer of substandars characters from literary discourse to film discourse

Eguíluz, Federico; Merino, Raquel; Olsen, Vickie; Pajares, Eterio; Santamaría, José Miguel (eds.)

All the King's Men: del Pulitzer al Oscar

Eterio Pajares, Raquel Merino y José Miguel Santamaría (eds.)

The economic impact of diseases and parasitic problems in freshwater fish production

Diseases and parasitic problems could constitute significant economic losses in fish production if not controlled, thus the need to continue monitoring its prevalence. Based on field studies on feral and intensively raised fish at the Kainji Lake Research Institute Nigeria, some diseases and parasitic problems have been identified. These include; helminthiasis; fungal disease; protozoa which include Myxosoma sp., Myxobolus spp., Henneguya sp., Trichodina sp., Ichthopthrius sp. bacterial mainly Aeromonas sp., Pseudomonas sp., mechanical injuries; death due to unknown causes and economic assessment of myxosporidian infection. Suggestion for disease control in fish production are recommended

Distribution and occurrence of bacterial fish diseases in the different cultural facilities of Lake Kainji area

Fish farming practices in the Lake Kainji Area of Nigeria are categorized under seven main cultural facilities, namely, earthen ponds/reservoirs, indoor/outdoor concrete tanks, plastic tanks, floating cages/hapas, aquaria, sewage and feral conditions. The presence of Bacteria isolates associated with diseased fish conditions varied significantly (P<0.05) with different cultural facilities. The highest bacteria isolates and bacterial disease incidence, 33% and 46% respectively, was associated with diseased fish in the indoor/outdoor concrete tanks. The least incidence of bacteria isolates (3.5%) and blue bacterial disease (3%) was associated with diseased fish in the aquaria and feral conditions. Nine Gram-negative and two Gram-positive bacteria genera were isolated during this investigation. Pseudomonas spp. (23.6%) and Staphylococcus spp. (14.3%), were the predominant Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria genera in the different cultural facilities, respectively. This paper highlights the relevance of occurrence and distribution of bacteria isolates associated with diseased fish to bacterial fish diseases under different cultural facilities

A review of diseases associated with cage culture systems: diagnosis and control in smale scale fish farming

Fish cage culture is a rapid aquacultural practice of producing fish with more yield compared to traditional pond culture. Several species cultured by this method include Cyprinus carpio, Orechromis niloticus, Sarotherodon galilaeus, Tilapia zilli, Clarias lazera, C. gariepinus, Heterobranchus bidorsalis, Citharinus citharus, Distochodus rostratus and Alestes dentes. However, the culture of fish in cages has some problems that are due to mechanical defects of the cage or diseases due to infection. The mechanical problems which may lead to clogged net, toxicity and easy access by predators depend on defects associated with various types of nets which include fold sieve cloth net, wire net, polypropylene net, nylon, galvanized and welded net. The diseases problems are of two types namely introduced diseases due to parasites. The introduced parasites include Crustaseans, Ergasilus sp. Argulus africana, and Lamprolegna sp, Helminth, Diplostomulum tregnna: Protozoan, Trichodina sp, Myxosoma sp, Myxobolus sp. the second disease problems are inherent diseases aggravated by the very rich nutrient environment in cages for rapid bacterial, saprophytic fungi, and phytoplanktonic bloom resulting in clogging of net, stagnation of water and low biological oxygen demand (BOD). The consequence is fish kill, prevalence of gill rot and dropsy conditions. Recommendations on routine cage hygiene, diagnosis and control procedures to reduce fish mortality are highlighted

Revealing, illuminating, and modifying proteins in human diseases using noncanonical amino acids

To better understand human diseases, much recent work has focused on proteins to either identify disease targets through proteomics or produce therapeutics via protein engineering. Noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) are tools for altering the chemical and physical properties of proteins, providing a facile strategy not only to label proteins but also to engineer proteins with novel properties. My thesis research has focused on the development and applications of noncanonical amino acids in identifying, imaging, and engineering proteins for studying human diseases. Chapter 1 introduces the concept of ncAAs and reveals insights to how I chose my thesis projects.

ncAAs have been incorporated to tag and enrich newly synthesized proteins for mass spectrometry through a method termed BONCAT, or bioorthogonal noncanonical amino acid tagging. Chapter 2 describes the investigation of the proteomic response of human breast cancer cells to induced expression of tumor suppressor microRNA miR-126 by combining BONCAT with another proteomic method, SILAC or stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture. This proteomic analysis led to the discovery of a direct target of miR-126, shedding new light on its role in suppressing cancer metastasis.

In addition to mass spectrometry, ncAAs can also be utilized to fluorescently label proteins. Chapter 3 details the synthesis of a set of cell-permeant cyclooctyne probes and demonstration of selective labeling of newly synthesized proteins in live mammalian cells using azidohomoalanine. Similar to live cell imaging, the ability to selectively label a particular cell type within a mixed cell population is important to interrogating many biological systems, such as tumor microenvironments. By taking advantage of the metabolic differences between cancer and normal cells, Chapter 5 discusses efforts to develop selective labeling of cancer cells using a glutamine analogue.

Furthermore, Chapter 4 describes the first demonstration of global replacement at polar amino acid positions and its application in developing an alternative PEGylation strategy for therapeutic proteins. Polar amino acids typically occupy solvent-exposed positions on the protein surface, and incorporation of noncanonical amino acids at these positions should allow easier modification and cause less perturbation compared to replacements at the interior positions of proteins.

A Percepção do usuário de drogas sobre o mundo do trabalho: uma contribuição para a prática do enfermeiro

Estudo qualitativo, com base na Análise de Conteúdo, a partir da interrogação sobre como o usuário de drogas em situação de tratamento para a dependência química percebe-se como trabalhador, e qual sua relação com o mundo do trabalho. O referencial teórico apoiou-se nas definições de drogas psicotrópicas, dependência química e trabalho, das seguintes fontes, respectivamente, Organização das Nações Unidas (ONU), Classificação Internacional das Doenças (CID-10) e Ministério do Trabalho (MT) e a teoria da Psicodinâmica do trabalho. A metodologia baseou-se na Análise de Conteúdo Temática. A coleta de dados desenvolveu-se por meio de entrevistas em profundidade, e pela obtenção de dados sociodemográficos e de trabalho a partir dos registros. Foram realizadas trinta e oitos entrevistas semi estruturadas com dez mulheres, quatorze homens usuários de múltiplas drogas e quatorze homens usuários somente de bebidas alcoólicas. Todos os sujeitos eram trabalhadores em tratamento no Centro de Atenção Psicossocial-álcool e drogas Centro Estadual de Tratamento e Reabilitação de Adictos (Caps-ad CENTRA-RIO). Foram organizadas e analisadas seis categorias: conciliação ente o trabalho e o consumo de drogas; trabalho e angústia; o mundo do trabalho favorecendo/estimulando o consumo; beneficio e UD; trabalho pleno; perspectivas de vida do UD. Discutiu-se a intensa relação de sofrimento que permeia o tempo todo o trabalhador usuário de drogas, as diversas alternativas experimentadas para conseguir conciliar o binômio trabalho e drogas, a submissão aos valores construídos no ambiente de trabalho, a função de integradora intragrupo dos trabalhadores e terapêutica das drogas para conseguir cumprir o trabalho real, sua função relaxante e domadora da angústia e do medo. Nas conclusões, discutem-se os limites do mundo do trabalho em acompanhar a evolução do campo da saúde mental e a Reforma Psiquiátrica, e a importância para a enfermagem do trabalho. O enfermeiro deve ser o articulador para que este trabalhador usuário de drogas atue como protagonista ativo da sua própria história, contribuindo com sua experiência, para que os profissionais de saúde, o trabalho e a sociedade em geral aperfeiçoem formas de cuidar integral.

Relação da doença periodontal com a anticoagulação oral e os benefícios do tratamento periodontal em pacientes anticoagulados

Anticoagulantes orais são amplamente indicados para prevenção de eventos tromboembólicos. No entanto, nem sempre os pacientes atingem a faixa terapêutica recomendada. Os objetivos desse estudo foram avaliar a associação entre periodontite e níveis de anticoagulação (fase 1) e o efeito do tratamento periodontal nos níveis de anticoagulação (fase 2) em pacientes que faziam uso do anticoagulante oral varfarina. O exame clínico incluiu índice CPO-D, índice de placa, sangramento à sondagem, profundidade de bolsa e nível de inserção clínica. Coeficiente normalizado internacional (INR), níveis de albumina, proteína C-reativa (PCR) e fibrinogênio foram avaliados no dia zero e até 180 dias após tratamento periodontal. Na fase 1 do estudo foram examinados 62 pacientes (42 mulheres e 20 homens, com idade média de 50,8 9,2 anos). Observamos uma correlação negativa entre extensão e severidade da doença periodontal e índice de placa com valores de INR. Não houve associação entre diagnóstico periodontal e níveis de anticoagulação. Dentre os pacientes fora do alvo terapêutico, 87% apresentavam diagnóstico de periodontite, enquanto no grupo na faixa terapêutica apenas 56%. Participaram da fase 2 do estudo 26 pacientes com periodontite severa (15 mulheres e 11 homens, com idade média de 51,3 9,2 anos). O tratamento periodontal resultou em melhora significativa de todos os parâmetros periodontais e dos níveis de anticoagulação 30, 60 90 e 180 dias após conclusão da terapia periodontal. Não houve alteração significativa na dose semanal da varfarina. Foi observada redução significativa entre níveis séricos de albumina dos dia 90 e 180 após a terapia periodontal, quando comparado aos valores do dia 0 (p < 0,05). De acordo com o alvo terapêutico estabelecido, observamos que no dia 0 doze pacientes (46,15%) estavam fora dessa faixa. Esse percentual foi reduzido significativamente após tratamento periodontal, sendo 26,1% e 29,2% nos dias 60 e 90, respectivamente. Embora tenha ocorrido melhora nos níveis de anticoagulação, não houve alteração significativa nos níveis de PCR e fibrinogênio. Sendo assim, pacientes com periodontite severa podem apresentar dificuldade para atingir a faixa terapêutica e o tratamento periodontal pode resultar em benefícios na busca da anticoagulação plena. Novos estudos são necessários para avaliar se formas menos severas de doença periodontal também podem interferir com a varfarina.