A Spontaneous Deletion of the US1.67/US2 Genomic Region on the Bovine Herpesvirus 1 Strain Cooper.

Bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) is an alphaherpesvirus with a genome of 135 kb. Some BoHV-1 genes are nonessential and may be deleted from the viral genome. Here, a spontaneous gene deletion was identified in the BoHV-1 strain Cooper. Genes of the US1.67/US2 region were absent, as determined by next-generation sequencing.

Detection of bovine herpesvirus 2 and bovine herpesvirus 4 DNA in trigeminal ganglia of naturally infected cattle by polymerase chain reaction.

Establishment of latent infection within specific tissues in the host is a common biological feature of the herpesviruses. In the case of bovine herpesvirus 2 (BoHV-2), latency is established in neuronal tissues, while bovine herpesvirus 4 (BoHV-4) and ovine herpesvirus 2 (OvHV-2) latent virus targets on cells of the monocytic lineage. This study was conducted in quest of BoHV-2, BoHV-4 and OvHV-2 DNA in two hundred trigeminal ganglia (TG) specimens, derived from one hundred clinically healthy cattle, majority of them naturally infected with bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1) and bovine herpesvirus 5 (BoHV-5). Total DNA extracted from ganglia was analyzed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) designed to amplify part of the genes coding for BoHV-2, and BoHV-4 glycoprotein B and, for OvHV-2, the gene coding for phosphoribosylformylglycinamidine synthase-like protein. BoHV-2 DNA was detected in TG samples of two (2%) and BoHV-4 DNA in nine (9%) of the animals, whereas OvHV-2 DNA could not be detected in any of the TG DNA. The two animals in which BoHV-2 DNA was identified were also co-infected with BoHV-1 and BoHV-5. Within the nine animals in which BoHV-4 DNA was detected, six were also co-infected with BoHV-1 and BoHV-5. This report provides for the first time evidence that viral DNA from BoHV-2 and BoHV-4 can be occasionally detected in TG of naturally infected cattle. Likewise, in this report we provided for the first time evidence that the co-infection of cattle with three distinct bovine herpesviruses might be a naturally occurring phenomenon.

Observation of pulsed gamma-rays above 25 GeV from the Crab pulsar with MAGIC.

One fundamental question about pulsars concerns the mechanism of their pulsed electromagnetic emission. Measuring the high-end region of a pulsar's spectrum would shed light on this question. By developing a new electronic trigger, we lowered the threshold of the Major Atmospheric gamma-ray Imaging Cherenkov (MAGIC) telescope to 25 giga-electron volts. In this configuration, we detected pulsed gamma-rays from the Crab pulsar that were greater than 25 giga-electron volts, revealing a relatively high cutoff energy in the phase-averaged spectrum. This indicates that the emission occurs far out in the magnetosphere, hence excluding the polar-cap scenario as a possible explanation of our measurement. The high cutoff energy also challenges the slot-gap scenario.

Very-high-energy gamma rays from a distant quasar: how transparent is the universe?

The atmospheric Cherenkov gamma-ray telescope MAGIC, designed for a low-energy threshold, has detected very-high-energy gamma rays from a giant flare of the distant Quasi-Stellar Radio Source (in short: radio quasar) 3C 279, at a distance of more than 5 billion light-years (a redshift of 0.536). No quasar has been observed previously in very-high-energy gamma radiation, and this is also the most distant object detected emitting gamma rays above 50 gigaelectron volts. Because high-energy gamma rays may be stopped by interacting with the diffuse background light in the universe, the observations by MAGIC imply a low amount for such light, consistent with that known from galaxy counts.

Variable very-high-energy gamma-ray emission from the microquasar LS I +61 303.

Microquasars are binary star systems with relativistic radio-emitting jets. They are potential sources of cosmic rays and can be used to elucidate the physics of relativistic jets. We report the detection of variable gamma-ray emission above 100 gigaelectron volts from the microquasar LS I 61 + 303. Six orbital cycles were recorded. Several detections occur at a similar orbital phase, which suggests that the emission is periodic. The strongest gamma-ray emission is not observed when the two stars are closest to one another, implying a strong orbital modulation of the emission or absorption processes.

A Mg-dependent ecto-ATPase in Leishmania amazonensis and its possible role in adenosine acquisition and virulence.

The plasma membrane of cells contains enzymes whose active sites face the external medium rather than the cytoplasm. The activities of these enzymes, referred to as ectoenzymes, can be measured using living cells. In this work we describe the ability of living promastigotes of Leishmania amazonensis to hydrolyze extracellular ATP. In these intact parasites whose viability was assessed before and after the reactions by motility and by trypan blue dye exclusion, there was a low level of ATP hydrolysis in the absence of any divalent metal (5.39 +/- 0.71 nmol P(i)/h x 10(7) cells). The ATP hydrolysis was stimulated by MgCl(2) and the Mg-dependent ecto-ATPase activity was 30.75 +/- 2.64 nmol P(i)/h x 10(7) cells. The Mg-dependent ecto-ATPase activity was linear with cell density and with time for at least 60 min. The addition of MgCl(2) to extracellular medium increased the ecto-ATPase activity in a dose-dependent manner. At 5 mM ATP, half-maximal stimulation of ATP hydrolysis was obtained with 1.21 mM MgCl(2). This stimulatory activity was also observed when MgCl(2) was replaced by MnCl(2), but not by CaCl(2) or SrCl(2). The apparent K(m) for Mg-ATP(2-) was 0.98 mM and free Mg(2+) did not increase the ecto-ATPase activity. In the pH range from 6.8 to 8.4, in which the cells were viable, the acid phosphatase activity decreased, while the Mg(2+)-dependent ATPase activity increased. This ecto-ATPase activity was insensitive to inhibitors of other ATPase and phosphatase activities, such as oligomycin, sodium azide, bafilomycin A(1), ouabain, furosemide, vanadate, molybdate, sodium fluoride, tartrate, and levamizole. To confirm that this Mg-dependent ATPase was an ecto-ATPase, we used an impermeant inhibitor, 4,4'-diisothiocyanostylbene 2',2'-disulfonic acid as well as suramin, an antagonist of P(2) purinoreceptors and inhibitor of some ecto-ATPases. These two reagents inhibited the Mg(2+)-dependent ATPase activity in a dose-dependent manner. A comparison between the Mg(2+)-dependent ATPase activity of virulent and avirulent promastigotes showed that avirulent promastigotes were less efficient than the virulent promastigotes in hydrolyzing ATP.

Complete myocardial revascularization on the beating heart.

BACKGROUND: Complete myocardial revascularization with excellent visualization, exposure, and stabilization can be accomplished on the beating heart without cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). METHODS: Three hundred patients were totally revascularized via median sternotomy with myocardial stabilization using the CardioThoracic System. All patients who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting were considered for the off-pump procedure. Pericardial sutures were placed at the level of the left atrial appendage and were pulled upwards to the right. The stabilizer was applied sequentially from circumflex, obtuse marginal, intermediate, diagonal, left anterior descending, and right coronary artery. Coronaries were occluded using the Calafiore technique, and multiple arterial grafts were inserted. RESULTS: The average number of grafts was 3.4 per patient. Six percent had to be converted to standard CPB. Comorbidity was not a limiting factor with 8% redos, 48% having diabetes, and acute myocardial infarctions in 28%. The unadjusted mortality was 2.3%, and stroke rate was 0.7%. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that complete revascularization can safely be accomplished without CPB.

Frecuencia de embarazo y aborto en adolescentes solteras del Barrio Simón Bolivar de la Ciudad de Santo Domingo / Frequency of abortin and pregnancy in single adolescents of Simon Bolivar neighborhood of the city of Santo Domingo

Antecedentes: El embarazo en adolescentes constituye un serio problema de salud en nuestras jovenes marginadas. Materiales y métodos: Seleccionamos una muestra de 173 adolescentes entre 13 y 19 años de edad, residentes en el Barrio Simón Bolívar de la ciudad de Sanro Domingo, que representa un 9.8// de ellas en este barrio, habitado por una población socioeconómica de clase baja. Resultados: Todas las adolescentes entrevistadas habían estado embarazadas por lo menos una vez, 42.8// de ellas se habían practicado un aborto y 8.7// mas de uno (en total 51.5// se habían practicado abortos). Conclusión: Es necesario urgentemente una campaña de educación sexual y elevación de los niveles morales y espirituales en este segmento de la población