Analysis of thioredoxin peroxidase as a promising antigen for diagnosis of Fasciola gigantica infection: a preliminary study.

Buffalo fasciolosis induced by Fasciola gigantica causes important economic losses in tropical areas of Asia. Detection of prepatent infection is essential to control this disease. Classical tools such as coprology, necroscopy or ELISA based on crude extracts from F.

Lack of genetic structure among Eurasian populations of the tick Ixodesricinus contrasts with marked divergence from north-African populations.

Host-parasite interactions may select for significant novel mutations with major evolutionary consequences for both partners. In poor active dispersers such as ticks, their population structures are shaped by their host movements. Here, we use population genetics and phylogeography to investigate the evolutionary history of the most common tick in Europe, Ixodes ricinus, a vector of pathogenic agents causing diseases in humans and animals.

Influence of near threshold visual distractors on perceptual detection and reaching movements.

Providing evidence against a dissociation between conscious vision for perception and unconscious vision for action, recent studies have suggested that perceptual and motor decisions are based on a unique signal but distinct decisional thresholds. The aim of the present study was to provide a direct test of this assumption in a perceptual-motor dual task involving arm movements. In 300 trials, 10 participants performed speeded pointing movements toward a highly visible target located at 10° from the fixation point and ± 45° from the body midline.

Identification of three CCp genes in Babesia divergens: novel markers for sexual stages parasites.

Babesia divergens, a tick-borne protozoan parasite of red blood cells, is the main agent of bovine and human babesiosis in Europe. Very few data are available concerning its life cycle and sexual reproduction inside the tick vector, Ixodes ricinus. The aim of this study was to define some markers of the B.

Observing or producing a motor action improves later perception of biological motion: evidence for a gender effect.

Two experiments are presented addressing the issue of whether observing (visual priming) or producing (motor priming) a running activity during a very short period (30s) facilitates the perception of the direction of a point-light runner embedded in a dense dynamical mask. Experiment 1 showed that perceptual judgements improved and response time increased in the visual priming compared to the neutral priming condition (video of a moving car) in which judgements were at random. Because this effect was observed for male participants only, we performed a second experiment with the aim of evaluating the role of gender congruency in the visual priming condition.

Determination of erythrocyte susceptibility of Chinese sheep (Tan mutton breed) and French sheep (Vendéen breed) to Babesia sp. BQ1 (Lintan) by in vitro culture.

The Babesia species "BQ1 (Lintan)" is infective to sheep and goats. The species was isolated from Haemaphysalis qinghaiensis collected in the Gannan Tibet Autonomous Region, China in April 2000. In this study, an in vitro culture system was developed for the propagation of Babesia sp.

Immunity against helminths: interactions with the host and the intercurrent infections.

Helminth parasites are of considerable medical and economic importance. Studies of the immune response against helminths are of great interest in understanding interactions between the host immune system and parasites. Effector immune mechanisms against tissue-dwelling helminths and helminths localized in the lumen of organs, and their regulation, are reviewed.

Multiphoton-excited luminescent lanthanide bioprobes: two- and three-photon cross sections of dipicolinate derivatives and binuclear helicates.

Multiphoton excited luminescent properties of water-soluble Eu(III) and Tb(III) complexes with derivatives of dipicolinic acid functionalized with a polyoxyethylene pendant arm and terminal groups, [Eu(L(OMe))(3)](3-), [Eu(L(NH2))(3)](3-), and [Tb(L(OH))(3)](3-), as well as of binuclear helicates with overall composition [Ln(2)(L(CX))(3)] (X = 2, 5) are investigated. Characteristic emission from the (5)D(0) and (5)D(4) excited levels of Eu(III) and Tb(III), respectively, upon approximately 800 nm excitation results from three-photon absorption (3PA) for [Eu(L(OMe))(3)](3-), [Eu(L(NH2))(3)](3-), [Tb(L(OH))(3)](3-), and [Ln(2)(L(C2))(3)], while luminescence from [Eu(2)(L(C5))(3)] is induced by two-photon absorption (2PA) owing to its 1PA spectrum extending further into the visible. The 3PA cross sections have been determined and are the first ones reported for lanthanide complexes: (i) those of Eu(III) and Tb(III) bimetallic helicates [Ln(2)(L(C2))(3)] are 20 times larger compared to the corresponding values for tris(dipicolinates); (ii) derivatization of dipicolinic acid for Tb(III) complexes has almost no influence on the 3PA cross section; however, for Eu(III) complexes a approximately 2 times decrease is observed.

Does face inversion change spatial frequency tuning?

The authors examined spatial frequency (SF) tuning of upright and inverted face identification using an SF variant of the Bubbles technique (F. Gosselin & P. G.

Merozoite proteins from Babesia sp. BQ1 (Lintan) as potential antigens for serodiagnosis by ELISA.

Babesia sp. BQ1 (Lintan) is a Babesia isolated from sheep infested with Haemaphysalis qinghaiensis in China, and is closely related to B. motasi based on the 18S rRNA gene sequence.

Sensitized near-IR luminescence of lanthanide complexes based on push-pull diketone derivatives.

Lanthanide complexes with two push-pull diketone derivatives as sensitizers have been developed as synthons for near-infrared emitting materials. The ligand substituents consist of a carbazole moiety with hole-transport properties and an aromatic or heteroaromatic unit. According to quantitative NMR analysis and complementary HPLC experiments, the diketones are predominantly in their enolic form in polar solvents such as THF and MeCN at room temperature.

Course of infection by Babesia sp. BQ1 (Lintan) and B. divergens in sheep depends on the production of IFNgamma and IL10.

Ovine babesiosis is an important disease in China and responsible for economic losses. Several Babesia strains are involved, but Babesia sp. BQ1 (Lintan) and Babesia sp.

Babesia sp. BQ1 (Lintan): molecular evidence of experimental transmission to sheep by Haemaphysalis qinghaiensis and Haemaphysalis longicornis.

Ovine babesiosis is an economically important disease induced by tick transmitted haemoparasites throughout the world. In China, several ovine Babesia strains have been isolated from field-collected ticks or sheep blood during the last two decades but little is known about the vector ticks and transmission pattern. Babesia sp.

Bioconjugated lanthanide luminescent helicates as multilabels for lab-on-a-chip detection of cancer biomarkers.

The lanthanide binuclear helicate [Eu(2)(L(C2(CO(2)H)))(3)] is coupled to avidin to yield a luminescent bioconjugate EuB1 (Q = 9.3%, tau((5)D(0)) = 2.17 ms).

Luminescent lanthanide helicates self-assembled from ditopic ligands bearing phosphonic acid or phosphoester units.

A series of hexadentate ditopic receptors incorporating benzimidazole moieties have been designed, which are fitted with phosphonic acid or phosphoethylester coordinating units. In addition, poly(oxyethylene) pendants have been introduced on the benzimidazole backbone of two ligands to increase water solubility. The ligands self-assemble with lanthanide ions under stoichiometric conditions, yielding triple-stranded homobimetallic helicates, as ascertained by mass spectrometry and UV-visible titrations.

Babesia divergens experimental infection of spleen-intact sheep results in long-lasting parasitemia despite a strong humoral response: preliminary results.

Babesia divergens is an intraerythrocytic Apicomplexa and the main agent of bovine babesiosis in Europe. The infection in cattle develops in 2 phases: an acute phase with hemolytic anemia and a chronic phase with asymptomatic persistence of the parasite for several years. The acute phase of B.

Redescription of Babesia capreoli (Enigk and Friedhoff, 1962) from roe deer (Capreolus capreolus): isolation, cultivation, host specificity, molecular characterisation and differentiation from Babesia divergens.

The recent use of the sole molecular identification of Babesia infecting European cervids has led to confusion between the closely related Babesia divergens and Babesia capreoli, and to their grouping together as "B. divergens-like". In order to clarify this taxonomic confusion, Babesia from roe deer, cattle and human blood were isolated, cultured and their biological as well as molecular characteristics compared.

Elucidation of the complex structure and origin of the human trypsinogen locus triplication.

One of the causes of chronic pancreatitis is the duplication and triplication of a approximately 605 kb segment containing the trypsinogen locus. Employing array-comparative genomic hybridization, we fully characterized the triplication copy number mutation (CNM) and found it to be part of a complex rearrangement that also contains a triplicated approximately 137 kb segment and 21 bp sequence tract. This triplication allele therefore constitutes a gain of two tandemly arranged composite duplication blocks, each comprising a copy of the approximately 605 kb segment, a copy of the inverted approximately 137 kb segment and a copy of the inverted 21 bp sequence tract.

A new ovine Babesia species transmitted by Hyalomma anatolicum anatolicum.

The pathogenicity and morphology of a large Babesia species, Babesia sp. Xinjiang, are described here. The parasite has very low virulence for sheep, and caused no detectable clinical symptoms.

Babesia and its hosts: adaptation to long-lasting interactions as a way to achieve efficient transmission.

Babesia, the causal agent of babesiosis, are tick-borne apicomplexan protozoa. True babesiae (Babesia genus sensu stricto) are biologically characterized by direct development in erythrocytes and by transovarial transmission in the tick. A large number of true Babesia species have been described in various vertebrate and tick hosts.

Individual heterogeneity in erythrocyte susceptibility to Babesia divergens is a critical factor for the outcome of experimental spleen-intact sheep infections.

Susceptibility of sheep erythrocytes to Babesia divergens was investigated in vitro and a high inter-individual variability in their ability to support parasite population development was demonstrated, with some individuals having refractory red blood cells (RBC). As neither changes in growth conditions nor the use of different B. divergens strains influenced the level of susceptibility, the main factor postulated for this variability is the erythrocyte itself.

Experimental in vitro transmission of Babesia sp. (EU1) by Ixodes ricinus.

Babesia sp. (EU1), first characterized in 2003, has been implicated in human cases of babesiosis in Italy, Austria and Germany. It has been identified in roe deer and in its suspected tick vector, Ixodes ricinus, in several European countries.

Natural transmission of Zoonotic Babesia spp. by Ixodes ricinus ticks.

To determine characteristics of natural transmission of Babesia sp. EU1 and B. divergens by adult Ixodes ricinus ticks, we examined tick salivary gland contents.

A versatile method for quantification of DNA and PCR products based on time-resolved EuIII luminescence.

A versatile and robust method for the determination of DNA and PCR products (<500 bp) is presented, based on a mix of an Eu(III) chelate and acridine orange (AO). The nucleic acid selective stains acridine orange (AO) and ethidium bromide (EB) quench the luminescence of the bimetallic [Eu(2)(L(C2))(3)] and of other monometallic chelates such as the macrocyclic complex [Eu(L(kel))], even at very low molar ratios. Stern-Volmer plots of the metal-centered emission intensities (F(0)/F) and Eu((5)D(0)) lifetimes (tau(0)/tau) show the AO quenching being purely dynamic with K(D) = 6.