Molecular detection of coccidian Apicomplexa Parasites isolated from wild crab-eating and pampas foxes through novel TaqMan™ probes: a contribution to their molecular epidemiology.

Neospora caninum, Toxoplasma gondii and Hammondia spp. are coccidian parasites similar in morphology. Molecular techniques are necessary to detect parasite DNA isolated from stool samples in wild canids because they were reported as definitive hosts of N. caninum life cycle. The objective of this study was to develop a highly sensitive and accurate molecular method for the identification of coccidian Apicomplexa parasites in crab-eating fox (Cerdocyon thous) and pampas fox (Lycalopex gymnocercus). Tissue samples from road-killed animals (pampas fox = 46, crab-eating fox = 55) and feces (pampas fox = 84, crab-eating fox = 2) were collected, and species were diagnosed through molecular assay. PCR was used for the amplification of a fragment of the coccidian Apicomplexa nss-rRNA gene. Additionally, we developed a novel real-time PCR TaqMan™ probe approach to detect T. gondii- Hammondia spp. and N. caninum. This is the first report of N. caninum DNA in pampas fox feces (n = 1), thus it was also detected from pampas fox tissues (n = 1). Meanwhile, T. gondii was found in tissues of pampas (n = 1) and crab-eating (n = 1) foxes and H. triffittae in one crab-eating fox tissue. Despite the low percentage (2.5%) of positive samples, the molecular method developed in this study proved to be highly sensitive and accurate allowing to conduct an extensive monitoring analysis for these parasites in wildlife.

SLFinder, a pipeline for the novel identification of splice-leader sequences: a good enough solution for a complex problem.

BACKGROUND: Spliced Leader trans-splicing is an important mechanism for the maturation of mRNAs in several lineages of eukaryotes, including several groups of parasites of great medical and economic importance. Nevertheless, its study across the tree of life is severely hindered by the problem of identifying the SL sequences that are being trans-spliced. RESULTS: In this paper we present SLFinder, a four-step pipeline meant to identify de novo candidate SL sequences making very few assumptions regarding the SL sequence properties. The pipeline takes transcriptomic de novo assemblies and a reference genome as input and allows the user intervention on several points to account for unexpected features of the dataset. The strategy and its implementation were tested on real RNAseq data from species with and without SL Trans-Splicing. CONCLUSIONS: SLFinder is capable to identify SL candidates with good precision in a reasonable amount of time. It is especially suitable for species with unknown SL sequences, generating candidate sequences for further refining and experimental validation.

Heterogeneity and nonlinearity in consumers' preferences: An application to the olive oil shopping behavior in Chile.

In relatively unknown products, consumers use prices as a quality reference. Under such circumstances, the utility function can be non-negative for a specific price range and generate an inverted U-shaped function. The extra virgin olive oil market in Chile is a good example. Although domestic production and consumption have increased significantly in the last few years, consumer knowledge of this product is still limited. The objective of this study was to analyze Chilean consumer preferences and willingness to pay for extra virgin olive oil attributes. Consumers were segmented taking into account purchasing frequency. A Random Parameter Logit model was estimated for preference heterogeneity. Results indicate that the utility function is nonlinear allowing us to differentiate between two regimes. In the first regime, olive oil behaves as a conspicuous good, that is, higher utility is assigned to higher prices and consumers prefer foreign products in smaller containers. Under the second regime, Chilean olive oil in larger containers is preferred.

The Popayan earthquake : A preliminary report on its effects on health

This paper reports the preliminary findings of those individuals admitted to hospitals and the dead. The report shows a comparatively small number of deaths and severe injuries considering the destruction that took place. Head injury was the commonest cause of death or hospital admission, followed by "multiple trauma" for admissions and "traumatic shock" for the deaths, both unsatisfactory and non-specific diagnoses. A high proportion of the deaths (24.5 percent) occurred in the cathedral were a religious service was taking place. The earthquake was not followed by epidemic of infectious diseases, and there fore, there was no need for mass immunization campaigns. At the present time, the authors are collecting more detailed data for each case admitted to the hospital and those who died, and basic information on the numbers, age distribution and type of lesions for those cases which did not require hospital admission

Comportamiento clínico del carcinoma vesical acompañado de producción ectópica de gonadotropina coriónica / Clinical behavior of bladder carcinoma associated with ectopic productions of chorionic gonadotropin

De marzo a septiembre de 1992 se estudiaron 25 pacientes portadores de cáncer vesical de células transicionales, a los cuales se les determinó hormona gonadotropina coriónica en las muestras de patología con técnica de inmunoperoxidasa indirecta. La edad promedio fue de 62 años (24 a 89); 21 eran varones y cuatro mujeres (proporción 5:1). Fumaban 80 por ciento, había hematuria en 76 por ciento y manifestaban síntomas irritativos urinarios bajos 28 por ciento. Del total 21 tenían carcinomas de etapa A y cuatro de etapa B. El promedio de seguimiento fue de 35 meses. De las 25 muestras analizadas, seis (24 por ciento) fueron positivas a la hormona gonadotropina coriónica: la positividad era leve en dos, moderada en dos e intensas en otras dos. Se observó grado de diferenciación III de Ash en 66 por ciento de los casos positivos y en 10 por ciento de los negativos. Seconcluye que la expresión ectópica de la hormona gonadotropina coriónica por tumores vesicales es un factor de mal pronóstico que indica mayor desdiferenciación celular

Hallazgos histopatológicos subsecuentes al empleo de quimioterapia en pacientes con tumor testicular no seminomatoso / Histopatologic findings after chemotherapy in patients with non seminomatous testicular tumor

Se realizó un estudio prospectivo, descriptivo y analítico, que abarcó el periodo de octubre de 1989 a octubre de 1991, con 10 pacientes de tumor testícular no seminomatoso sometidos a quimioterapia a base de platinol, bleomicina y vinblastina previamente a la linfadenectomia retroperitoneal, para estudiar los hallazgos histopatológicos del espécimen. Tres pacientes se encontraban en etapa "B1", dos en etapa "B2", cuatro en etapa "B3" y uno en etapa "C". Los resultados obtenidos fueron: cuatro pacientes (40 por ciento) con células tumorales viables; cuatro (40 por ciento) con necrosis tumoral, hialinnización y fibrosis, uno (10 por ciento) con teratoma maduro, y el último (10 por ciento) con hiperplasia linfoide reticular reactiva. Se concluye que la linfadenectomia retroperitoneal tiene un lugar como medio diagnóstico y terappéutico en los casos con masa tumoral residual subsecuente a la quimioterapia en pacientes con tumor testicular no seminomatoso en etapas "B1", "B2", "b3" y "C".