Seroprevalence of anti-Leptospira antibodies in equines and associated workers-Isolation of Leptospira interrogans serogroup Canicola from equine urine.

To investigate seroprevalence of anti-Leptospira antibodies in equines and associated workers in Uruguay, 891 equine and 150 human sera were drawn; 212 equine urine samples were also taken for culture. Environmental conditions and equine raising or managing practices were recorded in all 72 visited establishments; epidemiological information was obtained from each worker. Microscopic agglutination technique (MAT) was performed with 10 Leptospira strains for equines and 18 for human sera, that were also studied with IgM indirect immunofluorescence (IgM-IIF).

Effects of a Reserve Protein on Development: A Biochemical and Molecular Approach to the Entomotoxic Mechanism.

Talisin is a storage protein from seeds that presents lectin-like and peptidase inhibitor properties. These characteristics suggest that talisin plays a role in the plant defense process, making it a multifunctional protein. This work aimed to investigate the effects of chronic intake of talisin on fifth instar larvae of , considered the main insect pest of maize and the cause of substantial economic losses in several other crops.

Seroprevalence of leptospirosis in human groups at risk due to environmental, labor or social conditions.

Leptospirosis is important in Uruguay due to the economic loss caused by the diseases of production animals, mainly bovines, and also due to frequent human infection. We decided to study anti-Leptospira antibodies in the sera of dairy workers, rice laborers, veterinarians, suburban slum dwellers and garbage recyclers. Our aims were to estimate the seroprevalence of infection by Leptospira spp.

Characterization of Leptospira isolates from humans and the environment in Uruguay.

Laboratory diagnosis of human leptospirosis usually relies on indirect methods exploring specific immune response. Isolation and identification of the involved strains are cumbersome, but can provide biological resources for pathogenic studies and relevant information for guiding prevention and control measures. The aim of the research we are hereby reporting was the characterization of Leptospira isolates obtained from humans and the environment in Uruguay.

A rare case of racemose neurocysticercosis and its complications. Case report.

Neurocysticercosis is a central nervous system infection caused by the pork tapeworm Taenia solium. The disease is endemic in Central and South America, Asia and Africa. Racemose neurocysticercosis refers to cysts in the subarachnoid space and is characterized by proliferative lobulated cysts without a scolex.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study on Blebs Morphology of Ahmed Valves.

Purpose: To determine the morphometric parameters of filtration blebs of a valved aqueous humor drainage device.

Materials And Methods: Orbital magnetic resonances imaging (MRI) was taken after implantation of an Ahmed valve (FP7 model). Outcomes of the analysis were intraocular pressure (IOP) and the bleb's morphometric analysis (volume, height, major and minor axis).

Perceptual learning increases the strength of the earliest signals in visual cortex.

Training improves performance on most visual tasks. Such perceptual learning can modify how information is read out from, and represented in, later visual areas, but effects on early visual cortex are controversial. In particular, it remains unknown whether learning can reshape neural response properties in early visual areas independent from feedback arising in later cortical areas.

Linear and nonlinear relationships between visual stimuli, EEG and BOLD fMRI signals.

In the present study, the cascaded interactions between stimuli and neural and hemodynamic responses were modeled using linear systems. These models provided the theoretical hypotheses that were tested against the electroencephalography (EEG) and blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data recorded from human subjects during prolonged periods of repeated visual stimuli with a variable setting of the inter-stimulus interval (ISI) and visual contrast. Our results suggest that (1) neural response is nonlinear only when ISI<0.

Electrophysiological neuroimaging: cortical correlates of alpha rhythm modulation.

Eyes-open and eyes-closed are two widely accepted resting conditions in neuroimaging study. When alternating between the two conditions, electroencephalogram (EEG) studies have reported the modulation of alpha band (8-12 Hz) oscillation. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have found modulation of blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) response.

Negative covariation between task-related responses in alpha/beta-band activity and BOLD in human sensorimotor cortex: an EEG and fMRI study of motor imagery and movements.

Similar to the occipital alpha rhythm, electroencephalographic (EEG) signals in the alpha- and beta-frequency bands can be suppressed by movement or motor imagery and have thus been thought to represent the "idling state" of the sensorimotor cortex. A negative correlation between spontaneous alpha EEG and blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signals has been reported in combined EEG and fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) experiments when subjects stayed at the resting state or alternated between the resting state and a task. However, the precise nature of the task-induced alpha modulation remains elusive.