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Introduction: Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infection is characterised by a viral phase and a severe pro-inflammatory phase. The inhibition of the JAK/STAT pathway limits the pro-inflammatory state in moderate to severe COVID-19. Methodology: We analysed the data obtained by an observational cohort of patients with SARS-CoV-2 pneumonia treated with ruxolitinib in 22 hospitals of Mexico. The applied dose was determined based on physician's criteria. The benefit of ruxolitinib was evaluated using the 8-points ordinal scale developed by the NIH in the ACTT1 trial. Duration of hospital stay, changes in pro-inflammatory laboratory values, mortality, and toxicity were also measured. Results: A total of 287 patients were reported at 22 sites in Mexico from March to June 2020; 80.8% received ruxolitinib 5 mg BID and 19.16% received ruxolitinib 10 mg BID plus standard of care. At beginning of treatment, 223 patients were on oxygen support and 59 on invasive ventilation. The percentage of patients on invasive ventilation was 53% in the 10 mg and 13% in the 5 mg cohort. A statistically significant improvement measured as a reduction by 2 points on the 8-point ordinal scale was described (baseline 5.39 ± 0.93, final 3.67± 2.98, p = 0.0001). There were 74 deaths. Serious adverse events were presented in 6.9% of the patients. Conclusions: Ruxolitinib appears to be safe in COVID-19 patients, with clinical benefits observed in terms of decrease in the 8-point ordinal scale and pro-inflammatory state. Further studies must be done to ensure efficacy against mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the pests that affect the avocado crop we find Oligonychus perseae or better known as crystalline spider. This mite produces affectations in the epidermis of the leaves discoloring the injured areas, in severe attacks they cause defoliation and low production, all this as a result of the extraction of the cellular content of the tissues. In the State of Mexico, there are about 10 000 hectares planted with avocado, with an average production of 15. 602 t ha-1. The spatial distribution of O. perseae in four municipalities producing avocado var. Hass through the application of geostatistical analysis and ordinary krigeado. The results show that the crystalline spider populations are presented in an aggregate way, adjusting mostly spherical models. The area infested with the mite exceeded 73% of the municipality in all samples and the maximum number of individuals found was 1 445 organisms per tree. The most affected municipalities were Coatepec Harinas and Donato Guerra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Desert aquatic systems are widely separated, lack hydrologic connections, and are subject to drought. However, they provide unique settings to investigate distributional patterns of micrometazoans, including rotifers. Thus, to understand rotifer biodiversity we sampled 236 sites across an array of habitats including rock pools, springs, tanks, flowing waters, playas, lakes, and reservoirs in the Chihuahuan Desert of the USA (n = 202) and Mexico (n = 34) over a period of >20 years. This allowed us to calculate diversity indices and examine geographic patterns in rotifer community composition. Of ~1850 recognized rotifer species, we recorded 246 taxa (~13%), with greatest diversity in springs (n = 175), lakes (n = 112), and rock pools (n = 72). Sampling effort was positively related to observed richness in springs, lakes, rivers, and tanks. Nestedness analyses indicated that rotifers in these sites, and most subsets thereof, were highly nested (support from 4 null models). Distance was positively correlated with species composition dissimilarity on small spatial scales. We predicted species richness for unsampled locations using empirical Bayesian kriging. These findings provide a better understanding of regional rotifer diversity in aridlands and provide information on potential biodiversity hotspots for aquatic scientists and resource managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forty-eight hours acute toxicity tests were employed with Daphnia magna and Lecane quadridentata to assess the influents and effluents of the seven most important wastewater treatment plants (WTP) in the state of Aguascalientes, Mexico, during the 2006 dry and rainy seasons. The WTP of the City of Aguascalientes treated 1948 Ls(-1). The remaining six plants treated wastewater in the range from 28 to 93 Ls(-1). Plants efficiently removed toxicity when Daphnia magna was used as a model organism, but performed poorly when the freshwater rotifer Lecane quadridentata was employed. It was observed that biochemical oxygen demand (BOD(5)), chemical oxygen demand (COD), conductivity, dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, phenol, methylene blue active substances (MBAS), temperature, and total suspended solids (TSS) were within the maximum allowed levels (MAL) in the effluents during the rainy season. Whereas the BOD(5), total nitrogen, total dissolved solids (TDS) and TSS showed levels greater than the MAL in effluents during the dry season. The levels of BOD, MBAS, and total nitrogen were greater than the MAL in influents. In contrast, the values of TDS and TSS in influents were above the MAL during the rainy season. In the dry season the levels of aluminum (Al), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), chromium (Cr), mercury (Hg) and lead (Pb) in influents and Fe, Mn and Pb in effluents were above the MAL. During the rainy season the levels of Mn, Cr and Hg in influents and those of Mn in effluents were above the MAL. When D. magna was used as model organism, acute toxicity units (aTU) for influents ranged from 0.2 to 4.4 and from 0.1 to 0.2 for effluents. These values for effluents are acceptable according to international guidelines. However, when L. quadridentata was the model organism, ranges were from 2.0 to 8.3 aTU in influents and from 1.6 to 2.6 aTU in effluents. The treated water that discharges into the San Pedro River would be considered toxic. The results of the toxicity tests demonstrated that the freshwater rotifer Lecane quadridentata was more sensitive (in 89.3% of the samples) than the cladoceran Daphnia magna when both organisms were exposed to the influents and effluents of the wastewater treatment plants.