Ecology of Triatoma rubrovaria (Hemiptera, Triatominae) in wild and peridomestic environments of Uruguay

This paper describes population structure, spatial distribution and habitat selection of wild and peridomestic populations of Triatoma rubrovaria (Blanchard, 1843). Field studies were carried out at Las Piedras and La Bolsa in the Northern Department of Artigas, Uruguay. A semicircular sampling area, divided in seven or eight triangular sectors was sequentially examined from October 1990 to November 1991. At Las Piedras (typical wild habitat) 1063 T. rubrovaria bugs were collected from 84 of the rocky outcroops ("pedregales"). Abundance varied by season peaking in October-November (spring). Throughout the year, most of the population was made up of third, fourth and fifth instar nymphs; adults were found from October to March. In the peridomestic environment of La Bolsa, however T. rubrovaria was less common and showed a more irregular instar distribution. Colonized ecotopes, were those close to houses. In both sites T. rubrovaria was mainly associated with the geckonid Homonota uruguayensis and the cockroach Blaptica dubia.

Exercise prevents fructose-induced hypertriglyceridemia in healthy young subjects.

Excess fructose intake causes hypertriglyceridemia and hepatic insulin resistance in sedentary humans. Since exercise improves insulin sensitivity in insulin-resistant patients, we hypothesized that it would also prevent fructose-induced hypertriglyceridemia. This study was therefore designed to evaluate the effects of exercise on circulating lipids in healthy subjects fed a weight-maintenance, high-fructose diet. Eight healthy males were studied on three occasions after 4 days of 1) a diet low in fructose and no exercise (C), 2) a diet with 30% fructose and no exercise (HFr), or 3) a diet with 30% fructose and moderate aerobic exercise (HFrEx). On all three occasions, a 9-h oral [(13)C]-labeled fructose loading test was performed on the fifth day to measure [(13)C]palmitate in triglyceride-rich lipoprotein (TRL)-triglycerides (TG). Compared with C, HFr significantly increased fasting glucose, total TG, TRL-TG concentrations, and apolipoprotein (apo)B48 concentrations as well as postfructose glucose, total TG, TRL-TG, and [(13)C]palmitate in TRL-TG. HFrEx completely normalized fasting and postfructose TG, TRL-TG, and [(13)C]palmitate concentration in TRL-TG and apoB48 concentrations. In addition, it increased lipid oxidation and plasma nonesterified fatty acid concentrations compared with HFr. These data indicate that exercise prevents the dyslipidemia induced by high fructose intake independently of energy balance.

Biologia do Triatoma nitida Usinger, 1939 em laboratório (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)

Triatoma nitida is a wild species occurring in Mexico and Central America. In order to establish the length of its life cycle and transmission potential, the following parameters were observed: the incubation period, the interval between hatching, or moulting, and the first feeding; the number of blood meals and the time of development. The time-lapse before the bite, the length of feeding and the interval between the end of the blood meal and defecation, as well as the site of defecation were also analyzed. Average length of the egg incubation period was 18.2 days. Time interval between the food source offering and the bite was less than 4 min in 60//of the analyzed cases, except in the fifth instar, where only 38//of the insects began feeding in less than 5 min. The blood-sucking period was long and rising until the fifth instar, decreasing in adults, and ranging from 1 min to 2 and a half hours. Only 26//of the blood meals were followed by defecations within 20 min. The average length of the life cycle was 897.5 days.

Accessory tendinous slips arising from the extensor carpi ulnaris (ECU) tendon: MRI appearance, prevalence and association with ECU tenosynovitis and tendinopathy

Purpose: To report the MRI features of ECU accessory tendinous slips, assess their observable prevalence and evaluate a potential link between this anatomical variation and ECU tenosynovitis or tendinopathy. Methods and materials: Institutional review board approved this retrospective study, with waiver of patient informed consent. One hundred sixty wrist MRI studies from 158 patients (85 females, 73 males, mean age 45.6 years, range 14-86) performed between March 2008 and February 2009 on a 1.5-T unit were included. MR images were analyzed by two radiologists in consensus. The observable prevalence of ECU accessory tendinous slips was assessed and their origin, diameter and insertion sites were noted. The presence of ECU tenosynovitis and/or tendinopathy was also evaluated. Results: The observable prevalence of ECU accessory tendinous slips was 21.9% (35/160). The origin was always seen: 8 were at the level of, and 27 distal to the ECU subsheath. The slip median diameter was 0.67 mm (range 0.43-0.88). The insertion was seen in 17.1% (6/35): 2 were on the fifth metacarpal bone, 4 on the extensor apparatus of the fifth finger. ECU tenosynovitis (20%), tendinopathy (5.7%) as well as concomitant tenosynovitis and tendinopathy (25.7%) were more frequently encountered in the patients with the anatomical variation than in the control patients group (0.8%, 3.2% and 9.6% respectively). Differences were statistically significant for tenosynovitis (p = 0.0001) and concomitant tenosynovitis and tendinopathy (p = 0.02) of the ECU. Conclusion: ECU accessory tendinous slips are frequent and visible on 1.5-T wrist MRI studies. ECU tenosynovitis and tendinopathy are more frequent in patients bearing this anatomical variation.

Feeding and defaecation patterns in Triatoma sordida

Triatoma sordida is a peridomestic Triatominae that could play an important role in the transmission of Trypanosoma cruzi, although its vectorial competence is not well known. The aim of this work was to evaluate two aspects of the vectorial competence: the feeding behaviour and defaecation patterns, and to compare them with T. infestans. The feeding and defaecation patterns were studied in adults and fifth instar nymphs of T. sordida fed ad libitum on a restrained pigeon. The results showed how the blood meal size controls excretion behaviour. Blood intake and time to first defaecation showed a significant negative correlation. Adults and nymphs frequently defaecated during the blood meal, reaching the maximum frequency within the first 10 minutes.

Effect of school based physical activity programme (KISS) on fitness and adiposity in primary schoolchildren: cluster randomised controlled trial.

To assess the effectiveness of a school based physical activity programme during one school year on physical and psychological health in young schoolchildren. Cluster randomised controlled trial. 28 classes from 15 elementary schools in Switzerland randomly selected and assigned in a 4:3 ratio to an intervention (n=16) or control arm (n=12) after stratification for grade (first and fifth grade), from August 2005 to June 2006. 540 children, of whom 502 consented and presented at baseline. Children in the intervention arm (n=297) received a multi-component physical activity programme that included structuring the three existing physical education lessons each week and adding two additional lessons a week, daily short activity breaks, and physical activity homework. Children (n=205) and parents in the control group were not informed of an intervention group. For most outcome measures, the assessors were blinded. Primary outcome measures included body fat (sum of four skinfolds), aerobic fitness (shuttle run test), physical activity (accelerometry), and quality of life (questionnaires). Secondary outcome measures included body mass index and cardiovascular risk score (average z score of waist circumference, mean blood pressure, blood glucose, inverted high density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides). 498 children completed the baseline and follow-up assessments (mean age 6.9 (SD 0.3) years for first grade, 11.1 (0.5) years for fifth grade). After adjustment for grade, sex, baseline values, and clustering within classes, children in the intervention arm compared with controls showed more negative changes in the z score of the sum of four skinfolds (-0.12, 95 % confidence interval -0.21 to -0.03; P=0.009). Likewise, their z scores for aerobic fitness increased more favourably (0.17, 0.01 to 0.32; P=0.04), as did those for moderate-vigorous physical activity in school (1.19, 0.78 to 1.60; P<0.001), all day moderate-vigorous physical activity (0.44, 0.05 to 0.82; P=0.03), and total physical activity in school (0.92, 0.35 to 1.50; P=0.003). Z scores for overall daily physical activity (0.21, -0.21 to 0.63) and physical quality of life (0.42, -1.23 to 2.06) as well as psychological quality of life (0.59, -0.85 to 2.03) did not change significantly. A school based multi-component physical activity intervention including compulsory elements improved physical activity and fitness and reduced adiposity in children. Trial registration Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN15360785.

Hyperresponders vs. nonresponder patients after renal denervation: do they differ?

BACKGROUND: Blood pressure (BP) response after renal denervation (RDN) is highly variable. Besides baseline BP, no reliable predictors of response have been consistently identified. The differences between patients showing a major BP decrease after RDN vs. nonresponders have not been studied so far. AIM AND METHODS: We identified extreme BP responders (first quintile) and nonresponders (fifth quintile) to RDN defined according to office or 24-h ambulatory BP in the European Network COordinating research on Renal Denervation database (n = 109) and compared the baseline characteristics and BP changes 6 months after RDN in both subsets. RESULTS: In extreme responders defined according to ambulatory BP, baseline BP and BP changes 6 months after RDN were similar for office and out-of-the office BP. In contrast, extreme responders defined according to office BP were characterized by a huge white-coat effect at baseline, with dramatic shrinkage at 6 months. Compared with nonresponders, extreme responders defined according to office BP were more frequently women, had higher baseline office--but not ambulatory--BP, and higher estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). In contrast, when considering ambulatory BP decrease to define extreme responders and nonresponders, the single relevant difference between both subsets was baseline ambulatory BP. CONCLUSION: This study suggests a major overestimation of BP response after RDN in extreme responders defined according to office, but not ambulatory BP. The association of lower eGFR with poor response to RDN is consistent with our previous analysis. The increased proportion of women in extreme responders may reflect sex differences in drug adherence.

Inter-specific and developmental differences on the array of antennal chemoreceptors in four species of triatominae (Hemiptera: Reduviidae)

The aim of the work was to investigate the pattern of chemoreceptor sensilla in adults and fifth stage nymphs of Rhodnius prolixus, R. neglectus, Triatoma infestans and T. sordida in order to study differences and similarities between genera and species. Three types of sensilla were analyzed by light microscopy: thin-walled trichoidea, thick-walled trichoidea and basiconica. The number of sensilla of each three types were counted. The length of the antennal segments were also used as a variable for the analysis. The statistical analysis showed that the number of these antennal chemoreceptors had significant differences between species and between adults and nymphs of each species. Discriminant analysis separates incompletely the fifth stage nymphs of the four species and showed similarity between them. Discriminant analysis performed with 12 variables of the antennae, allowed a complete separation of the adults of the four species.

Repeated injections of 131I-rituximab show patient-specific stable biodistribution and tissue kinetics.

PURPOSE: It is generally assumed that the biodistribution and pharmacokinetics of radiolabelled antibodies remain similar between dosimetric and therapeutic injections in radioimmunotherapy. However, circulation half-lives of unlabelled rituximab have been reported to increase progressively after the weekly injections of standard therapy doses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the evolution of the pharmacokinetics of repeated 131I-rituximab injections during treatment with unlabelled rituximab in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). METHODS: Patients received standard weekly therapy with rituximab (375 mg/m2) for 4 weeks and a fifth injection at 7 or 8 weeks. Each patient had three additional injections of 185 MBq 131I-rituximab in either treatment weeks 1, 3 and 7 (two patients) or weeks 2, 4 and 8 (two patients). The 12 radiolabelled antibody injections were followed by three whole-body (WB) scintigraphic studies during 1 week and blood sampling on the same occasions. Additional WB scans were performed after 2 and 4 weeks post 131I-rituximab injection prior to the second and third injections, respectively. RESULTS: A single exponential radioactivity decrease for WB, liver, spleen, kidneys and heart was observed. Biodistribution and half-lives were patient specific, and without significant change after the second or third injection compared with the first one. Blood T(1/2)beta, calculated from the sequential blood samples and fitted to a bi-exponential curve, was similar to the T(1/2) of heart and liver but shorter than that of WB and kidneys. Effective radiation dose calculated from attenuation-corrected WB scans and blood using Mirdose3.1 was 0.53+0.05 mSv/MBq (range 0.48-0.59 mSv/MBq). Radiation dose was highest for spleen and kidneys, followed by heart and liver. CONCLUSION: These results show that the biodistribution and tissue kinetics of 131I-rituximab, while specific to each patient, remained constant during unlabelled antibody therapy. RIT radiation doses can therefore be reliably extrapolated from a preceding dosimetry study.

Regulation of horizontal gene transfer of the catabolic island ICEclc

ICEclc is a mobile genetic element found in two copies on the chromosome of the bacterium Pseudomonas knackmussii B13. ICEclc harbors genes encoding metabolic pathways for the degradation of chlorocatechols (CLC) and 2-aminophenol (2AP). At low frequencies, ICEclc excises from the chromosome, closes into a circular DNA molecule which can transfer to another bacterium via conjugation. Once in the recipient cell, ICEclc can reintegrate into the chromosome by site-specific recombination. This thesis aimed at identifying the regulatory network underlying the decisions for ICEclc horizontal transfer (HGT). The first chapter is an introduction on integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) more in general, of which ICEclc is one example. In particular I emphasized the current knowledge of regulation and conjugation machineries of the different classes of ICE. In the second chapter, I describe a transcriptional analysis using microarrays and other experiments to understand expression of ICEclc in exponential and stationary phase. By overlaying transcriptomic profiles with Northern hybridizations and RT- PCR data, we established a transcription map for the entire core region of ICEclc, a region assumed to encode the ICE conjugation process. We also demonstrated how transcription of the ICEclc core is maximal in stationary phase, which correlates to expression of reporter genes fused to key ICEclc promoters. In the third chapter, I present a transcriptome analysis of ICEclc in a variety of different host species, in order to explore whether there are species-specific differences. In the fourth chapter, I focus on the role of a curious ICEclc-encoded TetR-type transcriptional repressor. We find that this gene, which we name mfsR, not only controls its own expression but that of a set of genes for a putative multi-drug efflux pump (mfsABC) as well. By using a combination of biochemical and molecular biology techniques, I could show that MfsR specifically binds to operator boxes in two ICEclc promoters (PmfsR and PmfsA), inhibiting the transcription of both the mfsR and mfsABC-orf38184 operons. Although we could not detect a clear phenotype of an mfsABC deletion, we discuss the implications of pump gene reorganizations in ICEclc and close relatives. In the fifth chapter, we find that mfsR not only controls its own expression and that of the mfsABC operon, but is also indirectly controlling ICEclc transfer. Using gene deletions, microarrays, transfer assays and microscopy-based reporter fusions, we demonstrate that mfsR actually controls a small operon of three regulatory genes. The last gene of this mfsR operon, orf17162, encodes a LysR-type activator that when deleted strongly impairs ICEclc transfer. Interestingly, deletion of mfsR leads to transfer competence in almost all cells, thereby overruling the bistability process in the wild-type. In the final sixth chapter, I discuss the relevance of the present thesis and the resulting perspectives for future studies.

Triatoma infestans in Greater Buenos Aires, Argentina

The Health Administration Agencies of many municipalities in Greater Buenos Aires (GBA) receive frequent reports on triatomines in houses. The aim of this work was to identify and describe the dispersal foci of Triatoma infestans in an urban neighborhood of GBA, and contribute to the knowledge of the epidemiological situation in the region. In June 1998, potentially infested places were entomologically evaluated. T. infestans was only detected in a hen building for egg production, which housed approximately 6,000 birds. A total of 2,930 insects were collected. Density was about 9 triatomines/m². The proportions of fifth instar nymphs and adults were significantly higher than those of the other stages (p<0.001). The number of triatomines collected largely exceeded the highest domestic infestation found in one house from rural endemic areas of Argentina. Though triatomines were negative for Trypanosoma cruzi, they could acquire the parasite by coming in contact with infected people living in GBA. Besides, the numerous and widely distributed places housing hens and chickens, would favor the settlement of the vector. Together, both facts may constitute a risk of parasitic vectorial transmission. It is recommended to intensify systematic activities of vector search and case detection in GBA.

The Children Order Advisory Committee (PDF 410 KB)

Fifth Report

Health Inequalities: NI Health % Social Care Inequalities Monitoring System - Regional 2014

Key Points: Health outcomes are generally worse in the most deprived areas in Northern Ireland when compared both with those witnessed in the region generally and in the least deprived areas. Large differences (health inequality gaps) continue to exist for a number of different health measures. åá Males in the 20% most deprived areas could expect, on average, to live 4.3 fewer years than the NI average and 7.3 fewer years than those in the 20% least deprived areas.åá Female life expectancy in the most deprived areas was 2.6 years less than the regional average and 4.3 years less than that in the least deprived areas.åá The overall death rate for males as measured by the All Age All Cause Mortality (AAACM) rate was a fifth higher in the most deprived areas (1,567 deaths per 100,000 population) than the NI average (1,304 deaths per 100,000 population), and 44% higher than in the least deprived areas (1,090 deaths per 100,000 population).åá The overall death rate for females (AAACM) in the most deprived areas (1,093 deaths per 100,000 population) was 17% higher than regionally (935 deaths per 100,000 population), and a third higher than in the least deprived areas (829 deaths per 100,000 population).åá The suicide rate in the most deprived areas (30.7 deaths per 100,000 population) was three times that in the least deprived areas (10.1 deaths per 100,000 population). All HSCIMS reports are published on the Departmental website at: http://www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/index/statistics/health-inequalities.htm

Essential Bacillus subtilis genes.

To estimate the minimal gene set required to sustain bacterial life in nutritious conditions, we carried out a systematic inactivation of Bacillus subtilis genes. Among approximately 4,100 genes of the organism, only 192 were shown to be indispensable by this or previous work. Another 79 genes were predicted to be essential. The vast majority of essential genes were categorized in relatively few domains of cell metabolism, with about half involved in information processing, one-fifth involved in the synthesis of cell envelope and the determination of cell shape and division, and one-tenth related to cell energetics. Only 4% of essential genes encode unknown functions. Most essential genes are present throughout a wide range of Bacteria, and almost 70% can also be found in Archaea and Eucarya. However, essential genes related to cell envelope, shape, division, and respiration tend to be lost from bacteria with small genomes. Unexpectedly, most genes involved in the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway are essential. Identification of unknown and unexpected essential genes opens research avenues to better understanding of processes that sustain bacterial life.