Hydrogen Molecule Interaction with CpCr(CO)3 Catalyst

The hydrogen molecule interaction with CpCr(CO)3 catalyst has been studied using the B3LYP, B86 functionals and the 6-311++G**, LACV3P basis sets. The best results in the testing calculations of the analyzed reaction have been obtained by using the B86/6-311++G** DFT version giving quite good agreement between experimental and theoretical calculated enthalpies. The dispersion corrected DFT Grimme’s and Head-Gordon and coworkers’functionals have been attempted without any improvement of the results. The free energies of the initial reactants, transition states, intermediate compounds and fi nal products of the typical six-ring bond modifi cation mechanism have been calculated. The energy barriers of the reaction pathways are too high in the DFT approximation.

Cumulative exposure to gamma interferon-dependent chemokines CXCL9 and CXCL10 correlates with worse outcome after lung transplant

Outcomes following lung transplant are suboptimal owing to chronic allograft failure termed bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS). Prior work in both mice and humans has shown that interferon gamma (IFNG)-induced chemokines, including CXCL9 and CXCL10, are elevated in patients with established BOS. We hypothesized that patients who ultimately developed BOS would have elevations in these chemokines before losing lung function. We utilized a high throughput multiplex enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to measure biomarkers in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). We modeled cumulative exposure to seven biomarkers (CXCL9, CXCL10, RANTES, IL1-RA, IL-17, MCP1 and IL-13) by calculating the 1-year area under the curve (AUC) for each biomarker in the BALF of 40 lung transplant patients who had at least four samples obtained in the first year posttransplant. Cumulative elevations in CXCL9 and CXCL10 were associated with a significant risk of subsequent graft failure after transplant (HR 9.37 and 5.52, respectively; p < 0.01 for both). Further these chemokines were also elevated in patients before the onset of BOS. CXCL9 and CXCL10 elevations were seen between 3 and 9 months before graft failure. Our data show that persistent presence of CXCL9 and CXCL10 portents worsening lung allograft function; measuring these IFNG-induced chemokines might prospectively identify patients at risk for BOS.

Bovine rotavirus strains circulating in beef and dairy herds in Argentina from 2004 to 2010

Bovine Group A Rotavirus (RVA) is one of the main causes of neonatal calf diarrhea worldwide. The present study reports the genotyping of bovine RVA strains circulating in Argentinean cattle from 2004 to 2010. Additionally, a new set of typing primers was designed and tested to differentiate between G8 and G6 (lineage III and IV) RVA strains. Bovine RVA was detected in 30% (435/1462) of the tested samples, corresponding to 49% (207/423) of the studied outbreaks with a similar detection rates in beef (53%; 67/127) and dairy herds (52%; 65/126). The RVA strains circulating in Argentinean cattle belonged to the common bovine genotypes G6 (lineages III and IV), G8, G10, P[5] and P[11]. A different RVA G/P-genotype distribution was found between the exploitation types, with the combination G6(IV)P[5] being by fare the most prevalent RVA strain in beef herds (58%), whereas a more even distribution of G6(III)P[11] (15%), G10P[11] (17%), G6(IV)P[5] (14%), and G6(IV)P[11] (6%) RVA strains was detected in dairy herds. G8 RVA strains were found in two dairy farms in calves co-infected with G8+G6(III)P[11]. A high percentage of co-infections and co-circulation of RVA strains with different genotypes during the same outbreak were registered in both exploitation types (20% of the outbreaks from beef herds and 23% from dairy herds), indicating a potential environment for reassortment. This finding is significant because G10P[11] and G6(III)P[11] strains may possess zoonotic potential. Continuous surveillance of the RVA strains circulating in livestock provides valuable information for a better understanding of rotavirus ecology and epidemiology.

The Innovative Socio-economic Interventions Against Tuberculosis (ISIAT) project: an operational assessment

SETTING

Tuberculosis (TB) affected households in impoverished shantytowns, Lima, Peru.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate socio-economic interventions for strengthening TB control by improving uptake of TB care and prevention services.

DESIGN

Barriers to TB control were characterised by interviews with TB-affected families. To reduce these barriers, a multidisciplinary team offered integrated community and household socio-economic interventions aiming to: 1) enhance uptake of TB care by education, community mobilisation and psychosocial support; and 2) reduce poverty through food and cash transfers, microcredit, microenterprise and vocational training. An interim analysis was performed after the socio-economic interventions had been provided for 2078 people in 311 households of newly diagnosed TB patients for up to 34 months.

RESULTS

Poverty (46% earned <US$1 per day), depression (40%), stigmatisation (77%), and perceived isolation (39%) were common among TB patients (all P < 0.05 vs. non-patients). The project had 100% recruitment, and involved 97% of TB-affected households in regular visits, 71% in community groups, 78% in psychosocial support and 77% in poverty-reduction interventions. The socio-economic interventions were associated with increases in household contact TB screening (from 82% to 96%); successful TB treatment completion (from 91% to 97%); patient human immunodeficiency virus testing (from 31% to 97%); and completion of preventive therapy (from 27% to 87%; all P < 0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS

Socio-economic interventions can strengthen TB control activities.

KEYWORDS

tuberculosis; control; microcredit; poverty;social determinants.

Egg yolk IgY: protection against rotavirus induced diarrhea and modulatory effect on the systemic and mucosal antibody responses in newborn calves

Bovine rotavirus (BRV) is an important cause of diarrhea in newborn calves. Local passive immunity is the most efficient protective strategy to control the disease. IgY technology (the use of chicken egg yolk immunoglobulins) is an economic and practical alternative to prevent BRV diarrhea in dairy calves. The aim of this study was to evaluate the protection and immunomodulation induced by the oral administration of egg yolk enriched in BRV specific IgY to experimentally BRV infected calves. All calves in groups Gp 1, 2 and 3 received control colostrum (CC; BRV virus neutralization Ab titer - VN=65,536; ELISA BRV IgG(1)=16,384) prior to gut closure. After gut closure, calves received milk supplemented with 6% BRV-immune egg yolk [(Gp 1) VN=2048; ELISA IgY Ab titer=4096] or non-immune control egg yolk [(Gp 2) VN<4; ELISA IgY Ab titer<4] twice a day, for 14 days. Calves receiving CC only or colostrum deprived calves (CD) fed antibody (Ab) free milk served as controls (Gp 3 and 4, respectively). Calves were inoculated with 10(5.85)focus forming units (FFU) of virulent BRV IND at 2 days of age. Control calves (Gp 3 and 4) and calves fed control IgY (Gp 2) were infected and developed severe diarrhea. Around 80% calves in Gp 1 (IgY 4096) were infected, but they showed 80% (4/5) protection against BRV diarrhea. Bovine RV-specific IgY Ab were detected in the feces of calves in Gp 1, indicating that avian antibodies (Abs) remained intact after passage through the gastrointestinal tract. At post infection day 21, the duodenum was the major site of BRV specific antibody secreting cells (ASC) in all experimental groups. Mucosal ASC responses of all isotypes were significantly higher in the IgY treated groups, independently of the specificity of the treatment, indicating that egg yolk components modulated the immune response against BRV infection at the mucosal level. These results indicate that supplementing newborn calves' diets for the first 14 days of life with egg yolk enriched in BRV-specific IgY represents a promising strategy to prevent BRV diarrhea. Moreover a strong active ASC immune response is induced in the intestinal mucosa following BRV infection after the administration of egg yolk, regardless the specificity of the treatment.

304 EFFECT OF SYNTHETIC OVIDUCT FLUID MEDIUM (SOF) v. OPTIMIZED SIMPLE POTASSIUM MEDIUM (KSOM) ON EMBRYO DEVELOPMENT OF IN VITRO-FERTILIZED BOVINE OOCYTES

The objective of the study was to compare the effect of 2 free serum chemically defined media, synthetic oviduct fluid medium (SOF) and optimized simple potassium medium (KSOM) on embryo development of in vitro-produced embryos. Bovine ovaries were collected from a local abattoir. Cumulus oocyte complexes (COC) were obtained by follicular aspiration of 3- to 6-mm follicles and in vitro-matured in TCM-199 for 24 h at 39°C, 5% CO2, and high humidity. After IVM, COC were co-incubated with sperm at a concentration of 1.5 × 106 spermatozoa per mL in TALP medium for 18 h at 39°C, 5% CO2, and high humidity. Presumptive zygotes were randomly assigned to SOF (n = 312) or KSOM (n = 290) media, both supplemented with essential and nonessential amino acids plus 0.6% BSA. Zygotes were cultured at 39°C, 5% CO2, 5% O2, 90% N2, and high humidity for 9 days. Cleavage rate was evaluated on Day 2 (Day 0 = day of insemination) and the number of blastocysts and hatched blastocysts were recorded on Days 8 and 9. Expanded blastocysts from Day 8 (n = 45/per culture medium) were fixed and stained with bisbenzimide (Hoechst 33242), and the total number of embryonic nuclei was counted by fluorescence microscopy (Optiphot, Nikon, Tokyo, Japan). The study was conducted in 6 replicates for embryo development assessment and 3 replicates for embryonic nuclei counting. Data were analyzed using Fisher’s exact test and Student’s t-test. The percentage of presumptive zygotes to develop into 2 to 4 cells (22.4 v. 24.2%) or > 4 cells (47.7 v. 53.4%) did not differ (P > 0.05) between SOF and KSOM on Day 2, but total embryo cleavage ≥ 2 cells was greater (P < 0.05) in KSOM (76.8%) than in SOF (68.5%). However, the percentage of blastocysts developed on Day 8 and 9 was greater (P < 0.05) for zygotes cultured in SOF (22.1 and 25.6%) than for those cultured in KSOM (15.1 and 18.9%). Furthermore, the percentages of hatched blastocysts on Day 8 and 9 were also greater (P < 0.05) for zygotes cultured in SOF (18.8 and 36.2%) than for those cultured in KSOM (4.7 and 12.5%). In addition, expanded blastocysts developed in SOF had higher total mean number of embryonic nuclei than those developed in KSOM (P < 0.05; 128.8 ± 7.5 v. 84.3 ± 8.9, respectively). In conclusion, the use of SOF resulted in significantly greater percentage of blastocysts and hatched blastocysts compared with KSOM. Additionally, expanded blastocysts developed in SOF displayed a higher number of cells. This study was supported by Convenio Desempeño en Investigacion (2007-DGI-CDA-04), Universidad Catolica de Temuco and DiD-UAcH: S-2009-26.

Oil spill vulnerability assessment integrating physical, biological and socio-economical aspects: application to the Cantabrian coast (Bay of Biscay, Spain)

A methodology has been developed to carry out an integrated oil spill vulnerability index, V, for coastal environments. This index takes into account the main physical, biological and socio-economical characteristics by means of three intermediate indexes. Three different integration methods (worst-case, average and survey-based) along with ESI-based vulnerability scores, V(ESI), proposed for the Cantabrian coast during the Prestige oil spill, have been analyzed and compared in terms of agreement between the classifications obtained with each one for this coastal area. Results of this study indicate that the use of the worst-case index, V(R), leads to a conservative ranking, with a very poor discrimination which is not helpful in coastal oil spill risk management. Due to the homogeneity of this coastal stretch, the rest of the methods, V(I), V(M) and V(ESI), provide similar classifications. However, V(M) and V(I) give more flexibility allowing three indexes for each coastal segment and including socio-economic aspects. Finally, the V(I) procedure is proposed here as the more advisable as using this index promotes the public participation that is a key element in the implementation of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (IZCM).

Association between migraine and a functional polymorphism at the dopamine beta-hydroxylase locus

Migraine is a common neurological disorder with a significant genetic component. Although a number of linkage and association studies have been undertaken, the number and identity of all migraine susceptibility genes has yet to be defined. The existence of dopaminergic hypersensitivity in migraine has been recognised on a pharmacological basis and some studies have reported genetic association between migraine and dopamine-related gene variants. Our laboratory has previously reported association of migraine with a promoter STR marker in the dopamine beta hydroxylase (DBH) gene. In the present study, we analysed two additional DBH markers in two independent migraine case-control cohorts. These two markers are putative functional SNPs, one within the promoter (-1021C-->T) and another SNP (+1603C-->T) in exon 11 of the DBH gene. The results showed a significant association for allelic and genotypic frequency distribution between the DBH marker in the promoter and migraine in the first (P = 0.004 and P = 0.012, respectively) and the second (P = 0.013 and P = 0.031, respectively) tested cohorts. There was no association observed between either genotype and/or allelic frequencies for the DBH marker located in exon 11 and migraine (P > or = 0.05). The promoter DBH marker, reported associated with migraine in this study, has been shown to affect up to 52% of plasma DBH activity. Varying DBH activity levels have been postulated to be involved in migraine process with an increase of dopamine, resulting from a lower DBH activity shown positively correlated with migraine severity. It is plausible that the functional promoter variant of DBH may play a role in the migraine disorder.

OIL SPILL VULNERABILITY ATLAS FOR THE CANTABRIAN COAST (BAY OF BISCAY, SPAIN)

In order to respond rapidly and successfully to an oil spill occurring in a defined geographical area, a contingency plan which includes information and processes for oil spill containment and clean-up is required. An important part of the plan'S development, should involve evaluating oil spill risk based on the identification of vulnerable coastal environments. In this work, a methodology to determine an index that represents the oil spill vulnerability of a specific coast is developed. In order to provide a useful decision-making tool, special emphasis is given to the integration in one single index, of physical, biological as well as socio-economical aspects. To do this, three intermediate indexes which include different indicators are defined. The oil spill vulnerability index, V, is calculated by means of a weighting scheme as a result of the participation of interest groups involved in the decision-making process. The presented methodology is applied to the Cantabrian coast (Bay of Biscay, Spain) which was one of the areas most affected by the Prestige oil spill. The work is based on GIS technology allowing an efficient information management and the generation of updated oil spill vulnerability maps.

Pharmacogenetics of migraine: genetic variants and their potential role in migraine therapy

Migraine is a paroxysmal neurological disorder affecting up to 6% of males and 18% of females in the general population, and has been demonstrated to have a strong, but complex, genetic component. Genetic investigation of migraine provides hope that new targets for medications and individual specific therapy will be developed. The identification of polymorphisms or genetic biomarkers for disease susceptibility and treatment should aid in providing a better understanding of migraine pathology and, consequently, more appropriate and efficient treatment for migraineurs. In this review, we will discuss results investigating genetic biomarkers for migraine and their potential role in future therapy planning.