Tethyan margins in space and time

Rifting processes, leading to sea-floor spreading, are characterized by a sequence of events: transtensive phase of extension with syn-rift volcanism; simple shear extension accompanied by lithospheric thinning and asthenospheric up-welling and thermal uplift of the rift shoulder and asymmetric volcanism. The simple shear model of extension leads to an asymmetric model of passive margin: a lower plate tilted block margin and an upper plate flexural, ramp-like margin- Both will be affected by thermal contraction and subsidence, starting soon after sea-floor spreading. Based on these actualistic models Tethyan margins are classified as one type or the other. Their evolution from the first transtensional phase of extension to the passive margin stage are analyzed. Four main rifting events are recognized in the Tethyan realm: an episode of lower Paleozoic events leading to the formation of the Paleotethys; a Late Paleozoic event leading to the opening of the Permotethys and East Mediterranean basin: an early Mesozoic event leading to the opening of the Pindos Neotethys and a Jurassic event related to the opening of the Alpine/Atlantic Neotethys. Type margins are given as example of each rifting event: -Northern Iran (Alborz) as a type area for the Late Ordovician to Silurian rifting of Paleotethys. -Northern India and Oman for the Late Carboniferous to early Permian rifting of Permotethys. -The East Mediterranean (Levant, Tunisia) as a Late Carboniferous rifting event. -The Neotethyan rifting phases are separated in two types: an eastern Pindos system found in Turkey and Greece is genetically linked to the Permotethys with a sea-floor spreading delayed until middle Triassic: a western Alpine system directly linked to the opening of the central Atlantic is characterized by a Late Triassic transtensive phase, an early to Middle Liassic break-away phase and. following sea-floor spreading, a thermal subsidence phase starting in Dogger. Problems related to the closure of the Paleozoic oceanic domains are reviewed. A Late Permian, early Triassic phase of `'docking'' between an European accretionary prism (Chios) and a Paleotethyan margin is supported by recent findings in the Mediterranean area. Back-arc rifting within the European active margin led to the formation of marginal seas during Permian and Triassic times and will contribute to the closure of the Paleozoic oceans.

Aspects of peridomiciliary ecotopes in rural areas of Northeastern Brazil associated to triatomine (Hemiptera, Reduviidae) infestation, vectors of Chagas disease

Artificial ecotopes of 121 peridomiciliary environments in four rural localities in the state of Ceará, Brazil, were studied and the type of material of the ecotopes was identified as triatomine infestation. Two thousand two hundred and four Triatoma brasiliensis Neiva, 340 Triatoma pseudomaculata Corrêa and Espínola, 121 Rhodnius nasutus Stall, and 5 Panstrongylus lutzi (Neiva and Pinto) were captured. Out of the 323 ecotopes found (X =2.0 ± 1.8 per dwelling) such as pigpens, henhouses, corrals, perches, dovecotes, piles of roofing tiles, bricks, wood, and straw 30.3% were infested by triatomines in all different developmental stages, including eggs. A substantial number of triatomines were found in perches, however the largest infestation took place in roofing materials used in the construction of goat/sheep corrals, henhouses, and pigpens, where 98% of them were captured: 1372 triatomines were located in the roofing tile covers, 285 in the straw, 187 in the perches, 77 in the coverings of roofing tiles and straw, and 13 in the straw and wood. Among all the different pile of materials, roofing tiles were the most infested (50%) followed by bricks (38.9%) and woods (36.1%). T. brasiliensis colonized mainly brick piles (chi2=16.539; p < 0.05) and roofing tiles (chi2=5,090.58; p < 0.05); T. pseudomaculata preferred wood perches (chi2= 472.39; p < 0.05) and woodpiles (chi2=126.0 p < 0.05), and R. nasutus was principally found in roofing straw (chi2=384.43; p < 0.05). These findings suggest that triatomines tend to colonize peridomiciliary ecotopes similar to their original habitats.

Non-formal education for schistosomiasis prevention: the experience of the Museu Arqueológico de Central, Bahia, Brazil

The activities described here form part of an extensive programme in place in the Região Arqueológica de Central, state of Bahia, Brazil. After malacological and socio-environmental surveys in the area, a strategy comprising formal and non-formal education with an emphasis on schistosomiasis prevention was developed, introduced, and evaluated. Interviews were conducted of 142 students and 11 teachers, totalling 11 classes at six primary schools. On the basis of those interviews, four display cases and seven panels were prepared. In addition a table was set up where students could participate directly on the subject, drawing and recognising the factors involved in the schistosomiasis cycle. The exhibition was held at the Museu Arqueológico de Central. The endeavours of this paper underline the importance of health education as well as exhibitions to disease prevention activities.

Brumptomyia angelae, a new species of Phlebotominae (Diptera, Psychodidae) of the Atlantic forest of the state of Paraná, Brazil

The male of Brumptomyia angelae, sp. nov., a new species of Phlebotominae (Diptera, Psychodidae) of the Atlantic forest of the state of Paraná, Brazil, is described and illustrated. This new taxon is closely related to Brumptomyia ortizi Martins, Silva & Falcão 1971, Brumptomyia nitzulescui (Costa Lima, 1932), and Brumptomyia troglodytes (Lutz, 1922). The male genitalia of these three latter species have also been drawn.

Southern Cone Initiative for the elimination of domestic populations of Triatoma infestans and the interruption of transfusion Chagas disease: historical aspects, present situation, and perspectives

Created in 1991 by the governments of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay, the Southern Cone Initiative (SCI) has been extremely important for Chagas disease control in this region. Its basic objective was to reach the interruption of this disease, chiefly by means of the elimination of the principal vector Triatoma infestans and by the selection of safe donors in the regional blood banks. After a summarized historic of SCI, the text shows the advance of technical and operative activities, emphasizing some factors for the initiative success, as well as some difficulties and constraints. The future of SCI will depend of the continuity of the actions and of political priority. Scientific community has been highly responsible for this initiative and its maintenance. At the side of this, national and international efforts must be involved and reinforced to assure the accomplishment of the final targets of SCI. Very specially, the Pan American Health Organization has cooperated with the Initiative in all its moments and activities,being the most important catalytic and technical factor for SCI success.

Japón ante un conflicto militar entre Estados Unidos y China en el estrecho de Taiwán

Treball d'investigació que ha consistit a analitzar si, prenent com a base els acords de seguretat entre el Japó i els Estats Units, en cas que actualment esclatés un conflicte armat entre Taiwan i la Xina (independentment de qui en sigui el responsable), i els Estats Units intervinguessin en defensa o ajuda de Taiwan, el Japó estaria jurídicament obligat a oferir la seva col·laboració al país nord-americà.

Building Capacity in Developing Countries : OER for Food Safety

The Food Safety Knowledge Network (FSKN) was developed through the collaboration of Michigan State University and a professional network of international food industry retailers and manufacturers. The key objective of the FSKN project is to provide technical resources, in a cost effective way, in order to promote food safety in developing countries and for small and less developed companies. FSKN uses a competency based model including a framework, OERs, and assessments. These tools are being used to support face-to-face training, fully online training, and to gauge the learning outcomes of a series of pilot groups which were held in India, Egypt, and China.

The Anopheles albitarsis complex with the recognition of Anopheles oryzalimnetes Wilkerson and Motoki, n. sp. and Anopheles janconnae Wilkerson and Sallum, n. sp. (Diptera: Culicidae)

The Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) albitarsis complex includes six species: An. albitarsis, Anopheles oryzalimnetes Wilkerson and Motoki, n. sp., Anopheles marajoara, Anopheles deaneorum, Anopheles janconnae Wilkerson and Sallum, n. sp. and An. albitarsis F. Except for An. deaneorum, species of the complex are indistinguishable when only using morphology. The problematic distinction among species of the complex has made study of malaria transmission and ecology of An. albitarsis s.l. difficult. Consequently, involvement of species of the An. albitarsis complex in human Plasmodium transmission is not clear throughout its distribution range. With the aim of clarifying the taxonomy of the above species, with the exception of An. albitarsis F, we present comparative morphological and morphometric analyses, morphological redescriptions of three species and description of two new species using individuals from populations in Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Venezuela. The study included characters from adult females, males, fourth-instar larvae, pupae and male genitalia of An. albitarsis, An. marajoara, An. deaneorum and An. oryzalimnetes n. sp. For An. janconnae n. sp. only characters of the female, male and male genitalia were analyzed. Fourth-instar larvae, pupae and male genitalia characteristics of all five species are illustrated. Bionomics and distribution data are given based on published literature records.

Reduction in morbidity and mortality from childhood diarrhoeal disease after species A rotavirus vaccine introduction in Latin America : a review

Countries in Latin America were among the first to implement routine vaccination against species A rotavirus (RVA). We evaluate data from Latin America on reductions in gastroenteritis and RVA disease burden following the introduction of RVA vaccine. Published literature was reviewed to identify case-control studies of vaccine effectiveness and population-based studies examining longitudinal trends of diarrhoeal disease reduction after RVA vaccine introduction in Latin American countries. RVA vaccine effectiveness and impact on gastroenteritis mortality and hospitalization rates and RVA hospitalization rates are described. Among middle-income Latin American countries with published data (Mexico, Brazil, El Salvador and Panama), RVA vaccine contributed to a gastroenteritis-associated mortality reduction of 22-41%, a gastroenteritis-associated hospitalization reduction of 17-51% and a RVA hospitalization reduction of 59-81% among children younger than five years of age. In Brazil and El Salvador, case-control studies demonstrated that a full RVA vaccination schedule was 76-85% effective against RVA hospitalization; a lower effectiveness of 46% was seen in Nicaragua, the only low-income country with available data. A growing body of literature offers convincing evidence of "real world" vaccine program successes in Latin American settings, which may be expanded as more countries in the region include RVA vaccine in their immunization programs.

A single nucleotide polymorphism, rs129679860, in the IL28B locus is associated with the viral kinetics and a sustained virological response in a chronic, monoinfected hepatitis C virus genotype-1 Brazilian population treated with pegylated interferon-ribavirin

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the interleukin (IL)28B locus have been associated with a sustained virological response (SVR) in interferon-ribavirin (IFN-RBV)-treated chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients in European and African populations. In this study, the genotype frequency of two IL28B SNPs (rs129679860 and rs8099917) in a cohort of chronic HCV-monoinfected patients in Brazil was evaluated and the SNP sufficient to predict the treatment response outcome was determined. A total of 66 naïve genotype-1 chronic HCV-infected patients were genotyped and the associated viral kinetics and SVR were assessed. The overall SVR was 38%. Both the viral kinetics and SVR were associated with rs129679860 genotypes (CC = 62% vs. CT = 33% vs. TT = 18%, p = 0.016). However, rs8099917 genotypes were only associated with SVR (TT = 53% vs. TG = 33% vs. GG = 18%; p = 0.032). In this population, the analysis of a single SNP, rs12979860, successfully predicts SVR in the IFN-RBV treatment of HCV.

Shigella in Brazilian children with acute diarrhoea: prevalence, antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes

Diarrhoeal disease is still considered a major cause of morbidity and mortality among children. Among diarrhoeagenic agents, Shigella should be highlighted due to its prevalence and the severity of the associated disease. Here, we assessed Shigella prevalence, drug susceptibility and virulence factors. Faeces from 157 children with diarrhoea who sought treatment at the Children's Hospital João Paulo II, a reference children´s hospital in Belo Horizonte, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, were cultured and drug susceptibility of the Shigella isolates was determined by the disk diffusion technique. Shigella virulence markers were identified by polymerase chain reaction. The bacterium was recovered from 10.8% of the children (88.2% Shigella sonnei). The ipaH, iuc, sen and ial genes were detected in strains isolated from all shigellosis patients; set1A was only detected in Shigella flexneri. Additionally, patients were infected by Shigella strains of different ial, sat, sen and set1A genotypes. Compared to previous studies, we observed a marked shift in the distribution of species from S. flexneri to S. sonnei and high rates of trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole resistance.

Schistosoma mansoni in a low-prevalence area in Brazil: the importance of additional methods for the diagnosis of hard-to-detect individual carriers by low-cost immunological assays

Schistosomiasis diagnosis is based on the detection of eggs in the faeces, which is laborious and lacks sensitivity, especially for patients with a low parasite burden. Immunological assays for specific antibody detection are available, but they usually demonstrate low sensitivity and/or specificity. In this study, two simple immunological assays were evaluated for the detection of soluble Schistosoma mansoni adult worm preparation (SWAP) and egg-specific IgGs. These studies have not yet been evaluated for patients with low parasite burdens. Residents of an endemic area in Brazil donated sera and faecal samples for our study. The patients were initially diagnosed by a rigorous Kato-Katz analysis of 18 thick smears from four different stool samples. The ELISA-SWAP was successful for human diagnosis with 90% sensitivity and specificity, confirming the Kato-Katz diagnosis with nearly perfect agreement, as seen by the Kappa index (0.85). Although the ELISA-soluble S. mansoni egg antigen was 85% sensitive, it exhibited low specificity (80%; Kappa index: 0.75) and was more susceptible to cross-reactivity. We believe that immunological assays should be used in conjunction with Kato-Katz analysis as a supplementary tool for the diagnosis of schistosomiasis for patients with low infection burdens, which are usually hard to detect.

Sequence polymorphisms in Pvs48/45 and Pvs47 gametocyte and gamete surface proteins in Plasmodium vivax isolated in Korea

Nucleotide sequence analyses of the Pvs48/45 and Pvs47 genes were conducted in 46 malaria patients from the Republic of Korea (ROK) (n = 40) and returning travellers from India (n = 3) and Indonesia (n = 3). The domain structures, which were based on cysteine residue position and secondary protein structure, were similar between Plasmodium vivax (Pvs48/45 and Pvs47) and Plasmodium falciparum (Pfs48/45 and Pfs47). In comparison to the Sal-1 reference strain (Pvs48/45, PVX_083235 and Pvs47, PVX_083240), Korean isolates revealed seven polymorphisms (E35K, H211N, K250N, D335Y, A376T, I380T and K418R) in Pvs48/45. These isolates could be divided into five haplotypes with the two major types having frequencies of 47.5% and 20%, respectivelfy. In Pvs47, 10 polymorphisms (F22L, F24L, K27E, D31N, V230I, M233I, E240D, I262T, I273M and A373V) were found and they could be divided into four haplotypes with one major type having a frequency of 75%. The Pvs48/45 isolates from India showed a unique amino acid substitution site (K26R). Compared to the Sal-1 and ROK isolates, the Pvs47 isolates from travellers returning from India and Indonesia had amino acid substitutions (S57T and I262K). The current data may contribute to the development of the malaria transmission-blocking vaccine in future clinical trials.

A comparison of larval, ovitrap and MosquiTRAP surveillance for Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti

In Brazil, the entomological surveillance of Aedes (Stegomyia) aegypti is performed by government-mandated larval surveys. In this study, the sensitivities of an adult sticky trap and traditional surveillance methodologies were compared. The study was performed over a 12-week period in a residential neighbourhood of the municipality of Pedro Leopoldo, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. An ovitrap and a MosquiTRAP were placed at opposite ends of each neighbourhood block (60 traps in total) and inspections were performed weekly. The study revealed significant correlations of moderate strength between the larval survey, ovitrap and MosquiTRAP measurements. A positive relationship was observed between temperature, adult capture measurements and egg collections, whereas precipitation and frequency of rainy days exhibited a negative relationship.

Lactotransferrin gene functional polymorphisms do not influence susceptibility to human immunodeficiency virus-1 mother-to-child transmission in different ethnic groups

Lactotransferrin, also known as lactoferrin, is an iron binding glycoprotein that displays antiviral activity against many different infectious agents, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1. Lactotransferrin is present in the breast milk and in the female genitourinary mucosa and it has been hypothesised as a possible candidate to prevent mother-to-child HIV-1 transmission. To verify if two functional polymorphisms, Thr29Ala and Arg47Lys, in the lactotransferrin encoding gene (LTF) could affect HIV-1 infection and vertical transmission, a preliminary association study was performed in 238 HIV-1 positive and 99 HIV-1 negative children from Brazil, Italy, Africa and India. No statistically significant association for the Thr29Ala and Arg47Lys LTF polymorphisms and HIV-1 susceptibility in the studied populations was found. Additionally LTF polymorphisms frequencies were compared between the four different ethnic groups.