Habitat use by European wildcats (Felis silvestris) in central Spain: what is the relative importance of forest variables?

Habitat preferences of wildcats are controversial. Although they are usually considered a forest species, alternative environments such as scrubland can be preferred. In this study we compared five habitat types in relation to wildcat occurrence. Sampling was carried out between 2001 and 2002 on a series of transects in search of wildcat scats to calculate an abundance index. Structural variables of landscape and rabbit abundance were also estimated and summarised as orthogonal factors using a principal component analysis (PCA). A priori contrasts showed that wildcats tended to be more abundant in areas with Mediterranean mountain vegetation, although agricultural steppes also provided suitable habitat. The forest variables were not included in the general linear model (GLM) obtained, indicating that wildcats are mainly associated with scrubland mosaics with rabbits in this region.

Tobacco rattle virus mediates gene silencing in a plant parasitic root-knot nematode

Root-knot nematodes (RKNs) are sedentary biotrophic parasites that induce the differentiation of root cells into feeding cells that provide the nematodes with the nutrients necessary for their development. The development of new control methods against RKNs relies greatly on the functional analysis of genes that are crucial for the development of the pathogen or the success of parasitism. In the absence of genetic transformation, RNA interference (RNAi) allows for phenotype analysis of nematode development and nematode establishment in its host after sequence-specific knock-down of the targeted genes. Strategies used to induce RNAi in RKNs are so far restricted to small-scale analyses. In the search for a new RNAi strategy amenable to large-scale screenings the possibility of using RNA viruses to produce the RNAi triggers in plants was tested. Tobacco rattle virus (TRV) was tested as a means to introduce double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) triggers into the feeding cells and to mediate RKN gene silencing. It was demonstrated that virus-inoculated plants can produce dsRNA and siRNA silencing triggers for delivery to the feeding nematodes. Interestingly, the knock-down of the targeted genes was observed in the progeny of the feeding nematodes, suggesting that continuous ingestion of dsRNA triggers could be used for the functional analysis of genes involved in early development. However, the heterogeneity in RNAi efficiency between TRV-inoculated plants appears as a limitation to the use of TRV-mediated silencing for the high-throughput functional analysis of the targeted nematode genes.

First results on angular distributions of thermal dileptons in nuclear collisions

The NA60 experiment at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron has studied dimuon production in 158A GeV In-In collisions. The strong excess of pairs above the known sources found in the complete mass region 0.2<M<2.6 GeV has previously been interpreted as thermal radiation. We now present first results on the associated angular distributions. Using the Collins-Soper reference frame, the structure function parameters lambda, mu, and nu are measured to be zero, and the projected distributions in polar and azimuth angles are found to be uniform. The absence of any polarization is consistent with the interpretation of the excess dimuons as thermal radiation from a randomized system.

Nosocomial infection surveillance and control: current situation in Spanish hospitals

We studied healthcare-associated infection (HCAI) surveillance and control programmes in Spanish hospitals in 2006 and the human resources and materials used. A questionnaire on the structure, organisation and resources for HCAI surveillance and control was sent to all hospitals registered in the 2005 National Catalogue of Hospitals. A total of 237 hospitals (29.8%) responded, representing 55.9% of the beds included in the catalogue. Some 92% of hospitals had a surveillance and control programme, although 29.9% had had it for less than five years. Only 17.4% of hospitals had one infection control nurse per 250 beds, and only 36.2% had one infection control doctor per 500 beds. Surveillance is the main activity of those responsible for surveillance and control, and the most widely used systems are reviews of microbiology laboratory test results and studies of outbreaks, prevalence surveys, the incidence of certain procedures and of infection in critical care areas. Collaboration in multicentre studies is variable. EPINE, the prevalence survey of nosocomial infections in Spain, is performed annually in 80.5% of centres; ENVIN-UCI, a study of the incidence of infection in critically ill patients, is carried out in 24.8%, and the European study of the incidence of surgical infection, HELICS, in 22.7%. Priority should be given to improving specialised human resources and establishing common surveillance and control systems.

[Ophthalmological manifestations in Fabry's disease. Four clinical cases showing deficient alpha-galactosidase-A activity]

CASE REPORT

Fabry's disease is an illness produced by an alteration in the catabolism of the glycosphingolipids. We report ophthalmologic findings in 4 people, detected after 113 patient evaluations from an analytical, cardiological and genetic point of view.

DISCUSSION

Fabry's disease is uncommon and shows variable ophthalmologic affectation. Some patients with Fabry's disease do not present ocular affectation, while, on the other hand, healthy carriers with important ocular alterations have been described. The deposit of glycosphingolipids produces affectation at the corneal, crystalline, vascular and retinal levels. The vascular alterations affect not only the veins but also the arteries, as we report in our patients.

Evidence for radial flow of thermal dileptons in high-energy nuclear collisions

The NA60 experiment at the CERN SPS has studied low-mass dimuon production in 158A GeV In-In collisions. An excess of pairs above the known meson decays has been reported before. We now present precision results on the associated transverse momentum spectra. The slope parameter Teff extracted from the spectra rises with dimuon mass up to the rho, followed by a sudden decline above. While the initial rise is consistent with the expectations for radial flow of a hadronic decay source, the decline signals a transition to an emission source with much smaller flow. This may well represent the first direct evidence for thermal radiation of partonic origin in nuclear collisions.

J/psi production in Indium-Indium collisions at 158 GeV/nucleon

The NA60 experiment studies muon pair production at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron. In this Letter we report on a precision measurement of J/psi in In-In collisions. We have studied the J/psi centrality distribution, and we have compared it with the one expected if absorption in cold nuclear matter were the only active suppression mechanism. For collisions involving more than approximately 80 participant nucleons, we find that an extra suppression is present. This result is in qualitative agreement with previous Pb-Pb measurements by the NA50 experiment, but no theoretical explanation is presently able to coherently describe both results.

In vivo T(1rho) and T(2) mapping of articular cartilage in osteoarthritis of the knee using 3 T MRI

OBJECTIVE

Evaluation and treatment of patients with early stages of osteoarthritis (OA) is dependent upon an accurate assessment of the cartilage lesions. However, standard cartilage dedicated magnetic resonance (MR) techniques are inconclusive in quantifying early degenerative changes. The objective of this study was to determine the ability of MR T1rho (T(1rho)) and T(2) mapping to detect cartilage matrix degeneration between normal and early OA patients.

METHOD

Sixteen healthy volunteers (mean age 41.3) without clinical or radiological evidence of OA and 10 patients (mean age 55.9) with OA were scanned using a 3Tesla (3T) MR scanner. Cartilage volume and thickness, and T(1rho) and T(2) values were compared between normal and OA patients. The relationship between T(1rho) and T(2) values, and Kellgren-Lawrence scores based on plain radiographs and the cartilage lesion grading based on MR images were studied.

RESULTS

The average T(1rho) and T(2) values were significantly increased in OA patients compared with controls (52.04+/-2.97ms vs 45.53+/-3.28ms with P=0.0002 for T(1rho), and 39.63+/-2.69ms vs 34.74+/-2.48ms with P=0.001 for T(2)). Increased T(1rho) and T(2) values were correlated with increased severity in radiographic and MR grading of OA. T(1rho) has a larger range and higher effect size than T(2), 3.7 vs 3.0.

CONCLUSION

Our results suggest that both in vivo T(1rho) and T(2) relaxation times increase with the degree of cartilage degeneration. T(1rho) relaxation time may be a more sensitive indicator for early cartilage degeneration than T(2). The ability to detect early cartilage degeneration prior to morphologic changes may allow us to critically monitor the course of OA and injury progression, and to evaluate the success of treatment to patients with early stages of OA.

First measurement of the rho spectral function in high-energy nuclear collisions

We report on a precision measurement of low-mass muon pairs in 158 AGeV indium-indium collisions at the CERN SPS. A significant excess of pairs is observed above the yield expected from neutral meson decays. The unprecedented sample size of 360,000 dimuons and the good mass resolution of about 2% allow us to isolate the excess by subtraction of the decay sources. The shape of the resulting mass spectrum is consistent with a dominant contribution from pi+pi- -->rho -->mu+mu- annihilation. The associated space-time averaged spectral function shows a strong broadening, but essentially no shift in mass. This may rule out theoretical models linking hadron masses directly to the chiral condensate.

Differentiation of red wines using an electronic nose based on surface acoustic wave devices

An electronic nose, utilizing the principle of surface acoustic waves (SAW), was used to differentiate among different wines of the same variety of grapes which come from the same cellar. The electronic nose is based on eight surface acoustic wave sensors, one is a reference sensor and the others are coated by different polymers by spray coating technique. Data analysis was performed by two pattern recognition methods; principal component analysis (PCA) and probabilistic neuronal network (PNN). The results showed that electronic nose was able to identify the tested wines.

Classification of white wine aromas with an electronic nose

This paper reports the use of a tin dioxide multisensor array based electronic nose for recognition of 29 typical aromas in white wine. Headspace technique has been used to extract aroma of the wine. Multivariate analysis, including principal component analysis (PCA) as well as probabilistic neural networks (PNNs), has been used to identify the main aroma added to the wine. The results showed that in spite of the strong influence of ethanol and other majority compounds of wine, the system could discriminate correctly the aromatic compounds added to the wine with a minimum accuracy of 97.2%.

Determination of IgE in the serum of patients with allergic reactions to four species of fish-parasite anisakids

This study investigates cross-reactions between somatic and metabolic antigens of various anisakids in the serum of patients with allergic processes. Twenty patients with allergic reactions after eating fish were studied using the skin-prick test for sensitivity to four species of anisakids. IgE was also determined, by blotting, in the serum of these patients when confronted with somatic and metabolic antigens of Anisakis simplex s.l. and Hysterothylacium aduncum, and somatic antigens of A. physeteris and H. fabri. The results obtained with both techniques basically agree, the following facts being of particular note: four patients presented specific IgE for A. simplex s.l. and 1 for Hysterothylacium sp. only, eight patients presented cosensitivity for A. simplex s.l. and A. physeteris, two for A. simplex s.l. and Hysterothylacium sp., one for A. physeteris and Hysterothylacium sp., and two for A. simplex s.l., A. physeteris and Hysterothylacium sp. Given the results obtained, it should be considered that other species of fish-parasite anisakids, apart from A. simplex s.l., may be involved in the allergic reactions presented by a large number of patients.

Detection of circulating antigens in experimental anisakiasis by two-site enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay

A two-site enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based on the avidin-biotin system was developed to study circulating antigens in the sera of rats orally or intraperitoneally infected with L3 larvae of Anisakis simplex s.l. Somatic and excretory-secretory antigens were detected from 24 h post-infection in all infected rats. A direct relationship between the number of larvae inoculated and the concentration of antigens in the sera was demonstrated; however, the amount of antigen decreased with the course of the infection. Comparative analysis revealed that intraperitoneal inoculation is most appropriate for detecting excretory-secretory antigens in serum. The minimum concentrations of A. simplex antigen detectable were approximately 2.5 microg/ml for somatic and excretory-secretory antigens. This antigen detection assay may have application in the diagnosis of anisakiasis.