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Purpose: Annexins are proteins with important roles in parasites, some of which are related to excretion–secretion processes, protein traffic, and microvesicle functionality. The participation of annexins in osmoregulation has been reported in tapeworms, including Taenia solium. This study aimed to investigate the localization and expression of annexin in cysticerci of Taenia crassiceps, used as a model of cysticercosis. Methods: We used an antibody made with a protein, previously employed on Schistosoma bovis, to detect annexin in T. crassiceps proteins extracts used Western blot assay. The histological distribution of annexin was studied with immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy. Results: The antibody against annexin recognized a band at a molecular weight of 40.9 kDa. The histological distribution of annexin showed that the protein is mainly localized in the tegument and the protonephridia ducts. Conclusion: In our study, annexin was detected at a molecular weight similar to that described for Schistosoma bovis. In addition, its principal localization entailed structures of the osmoregulatory system one of the most important by the survival of the parasites. This confirms and solidifies previous reports concerning the role of annexins in T. crassiceps and this will be interesting by the development of new compounds against this protein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work is motivated by the need to accurately estimate genetic effects over time when analysing data from high-throughput phenotyping (HTP) experiments. The HTP data we deal with here are characterised by phenotypic traits measured multiple times in the presence of spatial and temporal noise and a hierarchical organisation at three levels (populations, genotypes within populations, and plants within genotypes). We propose a feasible one-stage spatio-temporal P-spline-based hierarchical approach to model the evolution of the genetic signal over time on a given phenotype while accounting for spatio-temporal noise and experimental design and/or post-blocking factors. We provide the user with appealing tools that take advantage of the sparse model matrices structure to reduce computational complexity. We illustrate the performance of our method using spatio-temporal simulated data and data from the PhenoArch greenhouse platform at INRAE Montpellier. In the plant breeding context, we show that information extracted for selection purposes from our fitted genotypic curves is similar to that obtained using a comparable two-stage P-spline-based approach.Supplementary materials accompanying this paper appear on-line. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recently adopted Ariel ESA mission will measure the atmospheric composition of a large number of exoplanets. This information will then be used to better constrain planetary bulk compositions. While the connection between the composition of a planetary atmosphere and the bulk interior is still being investigated, the combination of the atmospheric composition with the measured mass and radius of exoplanets will push the field of exoplanet characterisation to the next level, and provide new insights of the nature of planets in our galaxy. In this white paper, we outline the ongoing activities of the interior working group of the Ariel mission, and list the desirable theoretical developments as well as the challenges in linking planetary atmospheres, bulk composition and interior structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High throughput phenotyping (HTP) platforms and devices are increasingly used for the characterization of growth and developmental processes for large sets of plant genotypes. Such HTP data require challenging statistical analyses in which longitudinal genetic signals need to be estimated against a background of spatio-temporal noise processes. We propose a two-stage approach for the analysis of such longitudinal HTP data. In a first stage, we correct for design features and spatial trends per time point. In a second stage, we focus on the longitudinal modelling of the spatially corrected data, thereby taking advantage of shared longitudinal features between genotypes and plants within genotypes. We propose a flexible hierarchical three-level P-spline growth curve model, with plants/plots nested in genotypes, and genotypes nested in populations. For selection of genotypes in a plant breeding context, we show how to extract new phenotypes, like growth rates, from the estimated genotypic growth curves and their first-order derivatives. We illustrate our approach on HTP data from the PhenoArch greenhouse platform at INRAE Montpellier and the outdoor Field Phenotyping platform at ETH Zürich. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ANAELU program is part of the current trend towards 2D diffraction patterns processing. ANAELU is open source, distributed under MPL license. The basic conception of the program is that the user proposes the crystalline structure of the phase under study and the inverse pole figure of the considered texture. With this data, using the tools of mathematical texture analysis, the program simulates and graphically represents the 2D-XRD pattern of the model sample. An important feature of the considered patterns is the distribution of intensities along the Debye rings. The visual comparison between observed and calculated patterns is the criterion of correctness of the proposed model. The program has been successfully used in the characterization of materials for electronic applications, alloys and minerals. Some limitations that have been detected in the use of ANAELU are the limited number of input formats that it is able to read, the program relative slowness, the non-consideration of the diffraction background and the poor portability. The present update consists in the improvement of the raised aspects. ANAELU-2.0 presents the following innovations. (a) A new GUI has been created, in WxPython, associated with a system for reading experimental patterns through the FabIO library. The current system reads patterns in the most internationally used formats. (b) The calculation of diffraction patterns, from the generation of the unit cell to the diffracted intensities, has been translated to FORTRAN 2003 with systematic use of the CRYSFML library. This change reduces the running time by one order. (c) Various routines (Laplacian softening, spherical harmonics) have been introduced to model the two-dimensional background. (d) The current version, ANAELU2.0, can be distributed by means of stable executable packages in Windows, LINUX and IOS wraped by MiniConda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To retrospectively evaluate the accuracy of ultrasound as a diagnostic method for differentiating acute diverticulitis from colon cancer in patients with sigmoid colon stenosis.Materials and Methods: Ultrasound examinations of 91 consecutive patients with sigmoid stenosis (50 diverticulitis and 41 colon cancers) were reviewed by two trained radiologists. Sixty-five (71%) patients presented with acute abdominal symptoms. Thirteen sonographic criteria retrieved from the literature were evaluated to differentiate benign from malignant strictures. A score including all parameters which showed significant differences between benign vs. malignant was built. Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and positive or negative predictive values of each sonographic sign, the overall diagnosis, and sonographic score were calculated.Results: Loss of the bowel wall stratification was the most reliable criteria for the diagnosis of malignancy (92% and 94% of sensitivity and specificity, respectively), and the best inter-radiologist agreement (κ = 0.848). Adjacent lymph nodes were the most specific feature (98%) for colon cancer, but its sensitivity was low. Global assessment could differentiate both diseases with high sensitivity (92-94.9%) and specificity (98-100%). Sonographic score >3 enabled differentiation of carcinoma from diverticulitis with 95% sensitivity and 92-94% specificity, with an area under the ROC curve of 0.98-0.987. There were no significant differences in the results between patients with acute and nonacute abdominal symptoms.Conclusion: The combination of several morphological sonographic findings using a score can differentiate most cases of diverticulitis from colon carcinoma in sigmoid strictures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Since the initial description of human T cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV-1), clusters of this infection have been detected globally. Unlike HIV infection, most patients infected with HTLV-1 remain asymptomatic throughout their lifetime.Case Report: We report the case of a 39-year-old Afro-Caribbean man with HTLV-1 infection presenting as hypercalcemia and granulomatous pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia.Results: Interestingly, the hypercalcemia presented with normal parathyroid hormone-related protein and low 1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D levels, and the presence of pneumocystis jiroveci in the granulomas was diagnosed with transbronchial biopsy taken during bronchoscopy. HTLV-1-associated adult T cell leukemia lymphoma (ATLL) was diagnosed in this patient by bone marrow and lymph node biopsy.Conclusion: Increased bone resorption, likely cytokine-mediated, is the most likely mechanism of hypercalcemia in this patient. This is believed to be the first description of this type of reaction to pneumocystis jiroveci in a HTLV-1-infected ATLL patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our aim was to provide a descriptive overview of how the birth defects surveillance and folic acid fortification programs were implemented in Costa Rica-through the establishment of the Registry Center for Congenital Anomalies (Centro de Registro de Enfermedades Congénitas-CREC), and fortification legislation mandates. We estimated the overall prevalence of neural tube defects (i.e., spina bifida, anencephaly and encephalocele) before and after fortification captured by CREC. Prevalence was calculated by dividing the total number of infants born with neural tube defects by the total number of live births in the country (1987-2012).A total of 1,170 newborns with neural tube defects were identified from 1987 to 2012 (1992-1995 data excluded); 628 were identified during the baseline pre-fortification period (1987-1991; 1996-1998); 191 during the fortification period (1999-2002); and 351 during the post-fortification time period (2003-2012). The overall prevalence of neural tube defects decreased from 9.8 per 10,000 live-births (95 % CI 9.1-10.5) for the pre-fortification period to 4.8 per 10,000 live births (95 % CI 4.3-5.3) for the post-fortification period. Results indicate a statistically significant ( P < 0.05) decrease of 51 % in the prevalence of neural tube defects from the pre-fortification period to the post-fortification period. Folic acid fortification via several basic food sources has shown to be a successful public health intervention for Costa Rica. Costa Rica's experience can serve as an example for other countries seeking to develop and strengthen both their birth defects surveillance and fortification programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Super-Earths are the newest class of extra-solar planets with a mass range between about 1–10 M ⊕. With their large masses, they experience very large internal pressures. The central pressure scales proportionately with mass, reaching values that require us to extend our understanding of rock and H2O behavior to such extreme conditions. Pressure also constrains the power law relationship between mass and radius of solid planets R∼ M β. The value for the exponent is 0.262≤ β≤0.274 as constrained by the different internal structure models for super-Earths, while it is 0.3 for planets between 5–50% the mass of Earth. Despite uncertainties in planetary composition, temperature structure and equation of state, the mass-radius relationship is robust, and thus, useful for inferring the expected signal in transit searches. In the next few years many super-Earths will be discovered and their masses and radii will be known with some uncertainty. Even without errors in both the data and structure models, a large number of compositions can fit the same average density. However, the follow-up observations with space telescopes will yield very precise radius measurements and even probe the atmospheres of super-Earths. This radius uncertainty will then be comparable to the current error derived from the equation of state used by the structure models. Thus, there is a need for accurate equations of state of solid planetary materials. Furthermore, information on the structure, such as the size and state of the core, crucially depends on the exact behavior of super-Earth materials (i.e. silicates, iron, iron alloy and ices) at high pressures and temperatures. In addition, information about the atmospheric composition of these planets may prove useful in constraining their interiors. Ultimately any inference on the structure of super-Earths, including information from atmospheres, depends on the precision of interior models, which in turn require accurate equations of state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to assess the tolerance and efficacy of rituximab (RTX), a chimeric IgG1 monoclonal antibody directed against the CD20 receptor present in B lymphocytes, in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases (AIRD). For this purpose, patients treated with RTX and their respective clinical charts were comprehensively examined. Indications for treatment were a refractory character of the disease, inefficacy or intolerance of other immunosuppressors. Activity indexes (SLEDAI, DAS28, and specific clinical manifestations) were used to evaluate efficacy. Serious side effects were also recorded. Seventy-four patients were included. Forty-three patients had systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 21 had rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 8 had Sjögren’s syndrome (SS), and 2 had Takayasu’s arteritis (TA). RTX was well-tolerated in 66 (89%) patients. In 8 patients (SLE = 3, SS = 3, RA = 2), serious side effects lead to discontinuation. The mean follow-up period was 12 ± 7.8 (2–35) months. The efficacy of RTX was registered in 58/66 (87%) patients, of whom 36 (83%) had SLE, 18/21 (85%) had RA, 3/8 (37%) had SS, and 1 had TA. The mean time of efficacy was 6.3 ± 5.1 weeks. A significant steroid-sparing effect was noticed in half of the patients. These results add further evidence for the use of RTX in AIRD. Based on its risk–benefit ratio, RTX might be used as the first-choice treatment for patients with severe AIRD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]