Phylogeny, antiquity, and niche occupancy of Trinomia (Hymenoptera: Halictidae), an Afrotropical endemic genus of Nomiinae.

The Afrotropical region is home to many endemic bee groups, yet almost none have been studied from an integrated, holistic perspective. Among them, the halictid subfamily Nomiinae contains exceptional African diversity with variable distributions and life histories. Here, we combine phylogenomics, molecular dating, and distributional modelling to explore the evolutionary ecology of the genus Trinomia.

HTLV infection in urban population from Mato Grosso do Sul, Central Brazil.

Background: Brazil has the highest number of HTLV-1 infection in Latin America, with around one million cases spread unevenly across regions. However, there is a limited number of studies on this infection in the general population. This cross-sectional study aimed to estimate the prevalence of HTLV as well as identify types, and subtypes of HTLV among the urban population of Campo Grande, capital of Mato Grosso do Sul state (MS).

Intrafamilial Transmission of HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 in Indigenous Peoples of the Brazilian Amazon: Molecular Characterization and Phylogenetic Analysis.

Human T-limphotropic virus 1 infection has a global distribution, with a high prevalence in some regions of Brazil and the world, while HTLV-2 infection is endemic mainly among indigenous people and drug users. To analyze intrafamilial transmission of HTLV-1/2 in five Kayapó indigenous peoples (Gorotire, Kararaô, Kokraimoro, Kubenkokre, and Xikrin do Bacajá), we investigated 1452 individuals who underwent serological and molecular tests. Among the 276 indigenous people with positive results, we identified intrafamily transmission in 42.

Inhibiting Ca channels in Alzheimer's disease model mice relaxes pericytes, improves cerebral blood flow and reduces immune cell stalling and hypoxia.

Early in Alzheimer's disease (AD), pericytes constrict capillaries, increasing their hydraulic resistance and trapping of immune cells and, thus, decreasing cerebral blood flow (CBF). Therapeutic approaches to attenuate pericyte-mediated constriction in AD are lacking. Here, using in vivo two-photon imaging with laser Doppler and speckle flowmetry and magnetic resonance imaging, we show that Ca entry via L-type voltage-gated calcium channels (CaVs) controls the contractile tone of pericytes.

Molecular and Phylogenetic Evidence of Interfamilial Transmission of HTLV-1 in the Afro-Descendant Community of São José de Icatú in the Brazilian Amazon.

This study aimed to describe the prevalence of HTLV-1/2 in communities in the state of Pará and investigate the possible sociodemographic risk factors associated with the infection, as well as to trace the occurrence of the familial transmission of the virus. A total of 310 individuals living in eight located in the state of Pará (northern Brazil) were investigated for the presence of anti-HTLV-1/2 antibodies using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and positive samples were confirmed using Western blot and/or real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Participants answered a questionnaire about sociodemographic aspects and risk factors for infection.

Immunogenetic Profile Associated with Patients Living with HIV-1 and Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) in the Brazilian Amazon Region.

Viral coinfection among HIV-positive patients, coupled with the development of AIDS, remains a major public health problem. The synergism between the presence of HIV and other viruses has consequences in relation to changes in the severity of the infection, as well as changes in the natural course of both infections. Several polymorphisms present in genes that encode cytokines have a relevant influence on their transcription and consequently on the production of such immunological molecules.

Sociobehavioral Risk Factors and Clinical Implications of Late Presentation Among People Living with HIV in the Brazilian Amazon Region.

This study aimed to analyze the prevalence, sociobehavioral factors and clinical-laboratory consequences of late presentation among people living with HIV (PLHIV) in the Brazilian Amazon region. In total, 402 HIV + individuals treated at reference units in Belém city (Pará, Brazil) between 2018 and 2019 were evaluated. Late presentation was defined as a first-collection LTCD4 count below 350 cells/µL.

DRB1 locus alleles of HLA class II are associated with modulation of the immune response in different serological profiles of HIV-1/Epstein-Barr virus coinfection in the Brazilian Amazon region.

Background: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection involves distinct clinical and serological profiles. We evaluated the frequency of alleles of locus DRB1 of HLA class II in different serological profiles of EBV infection among HIV-1 infected patients.

Methods: We recruited 19 patients with primary infection, 90 with serological transition and 467 with past infection by EBV, HIV-1 co-infection was 100% in primary infection and approximately 70% in other serological profiles.

Identification of eQTLs using different sets of single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with carcass and body composition traits in pigs.

Background: Mapping expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) in skeletal muscle tissue in pigs is crucial for understanding the relationship between genetic variation and phenotypic expression of carcass traits in meat animals. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of different sets of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP), including scenarios removing SNPs pruned for linkage disequilibrium (LD) and SNPs derived from SNP chip arrays and RNA-seq data from liver, brain, and skeletal muscle tissues, on the identification of eQTLs in the Longissimus lumborum tissue, associated with carcass and body composition traits in Large White pigs. The SNPs identified from muscle mRNA were combined with SNPs identified in the brain and liver tissue transcriptomes, as well as SNPs from the GGP Porcine 50 K SNP chip array.

Antimicrobial resistance and epidemic clustering of late-onset neonatal infections in a Brazilian intensive care unit.

Nosocomial infections in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) tend to cluster and multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens are rising in developing countries. We did a retrospective cohort study of neonates admitted to a NICU in Brazil with late-onset neonatal sepsis (LOS) confirmed by blood culture from October 2012 to December 2016 and from July 2018 to December 2021. We defined a cluster of infection when at least two cases of LOS occurred within two different time intervals: 15 and 30 days with the same pathogen in different patients.

Equine conjunctival haemangiosarcoma: Clinical presentation, management, and outcome of seven cases in the United Kingdom.

Background: Only 27 cases of equine conjunctival haemangiosarcoma have been reported in the literature over the past 37 years. Out of these, 22% of cases were lost to follow-up, 52% were euthanized, and 26% survived. A scarcity of cases and information is available for this rarely seen conjunctival tumour.

Evaluation of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome surveillance caused by respiratory viruses in a pediatric unit, 2013 to 2019.

Objective: To evaluate severe acute respiratory syndrome surveillance in a pediatric unit.

Methods: Descriptive study of reported severe acute respiratory syndrome cases with the detection of respiratory viruses in the nasopharyngeal sample of patients hospitalized between 2013 and 2019, in a reference hospital in the Federal District, Brazil.

Results: A total of 269 children had one or more viruses detected, resulting in 280 viruses, of which 152 (54%) were respiratory syncytial virus.

The evolutionary history of bees in time and space.

Bees are the most significant pollinators of flowering plants. This partnership began ca. 120 million years ago, but the uncertainty of how and when bees spread across the planet has greatly obscured investigations of this key mutualism.

New genus and subgenus of South American long-horned bees (Apidae, Eucerini).

As part of a broader treatment of Eucerini systematics, a new genus and a new subgenus are described to accommodate previously described species. Savannychapis gen. n.

Transcriptome profile of skeletal muscle using different sources of dietary fatty acids in male pigs.

Pork is of great importance in world trade and represents the largest source of fatty acids in the human diet. Lipid sources such as soybean oil (SOY), canola (CO), and fish oil (FO) are used in pig diets and influence blood parameters and the ratio of deposited fatty acids. In this study, the main objective was to evaluate changes in gene expression in porcine skeletal muscle tissue resulting from the dietary oil sources and to identify metabolic pathways and biological process networks through RNA-Seq.

Brain fatty acid and transcriptome profiles of pig fed diets with different levels of soybean oil.

Background: The high similarity in anatomical and neurophysiological processes between pigs and humans make pigs an excellent model for metabolic diseases and neurological disorders. Lipids are essential for brain structure and function, and the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) have anti-inflammatory and positive effects against cognitive dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases. Nutrigenomics studies involving pigs and fatty acids (FA) may help us in better understanding important biological processes.

RNA-seq transcriptome profiling of pigs' liver in response to diet with different sources of fatty acids.

Pigs () are an animal model for metabolic diseases in humans. Pork is an important source of fatty acids (FAs) in the human diet, as it is one of the most consumed meats worldwide. The effects of dietary inclusion of oils such as canola, fish, and soybean oils on pig gene expression are mostly unknown.

Benthic Dissolved Silicon and Iron Cycling at Glaciated Patagonian Fjord Heads.

Glacier meltwater supplies silicon (Si) and iron (Fe) sourced from weathered bedrock to downstream ecosystems. However, the extent to which these nutrients reach the ocean is regulated by the nature of the benthic cycling of dissolved Si and Fe within fjord systems, given the rapid deposition of reactive particulate fractions at fjord heads. Here, we examine the benthic cycling of the two nutrients at four Patagonian fjord heads through geochemical analyses of sediment pore waters, including Si and Fe isotopes (δSi and δFe), and reaction-transport modeling for Si.

Evaluating the Impact of Anatomical Partitioning on Summary Topologies Obtained with Bayesian Phylogenetic Analyses of Morphological Data.

Morphological data are a fundamental source of evidence to reconstruct the Tree of Life, and Bayesian phylogenetic methods are increasingly being used for this task. Bayesian phylogenetic analyses require the use of evolutionary models, which have been intensively studied in the past few years, with significant improvements to our knowledge. Notwithstanding, a systematic evaluation of the performance of partitioned models for morphological data has never been performed.

Exposure to Infection in Individuals Who Are Newly Diagnosed with HIV and Antiretroviral-Naïve from Belém, Northern Brazil.

is one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted bacteria worldwide and may increase the risk of other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This study describes the seroprevalence of infection among antiretroviral-naïve patients who are newly diagnosed with HIV in the city of Belém, Pará, in the Amazon region of Brazil. A cross-sectional study was carried out between January 2018 and January 2019 in 141 people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) who were followed up in a specialized unit of the public health network of Pará.

HTLV infection in Brazil's second-largest indigenous reserve.

Human T-lymphotropic viruses 1 and 2 (HTLV-1/2) have a worldwide distribution. HTLV-1 has been associated with several diseases, including an aggressive malignant disease known as adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma and a chronic inflammatory neurological disease called HTLV-1-associated myelopathy, while HTLV-2 has not been definitively associated with diseases. HTLV-2 is most prevalent in specific groups such as injecting drug users and the indigenous population.