Detection of neutralizing antibodies against arboviruses from liver homogenates.

Yellow fever virus (YFV) circulates in a sylvatic cycle between non-human primates (NHPs) and arboreal mosquitoes in Brazil. Passive monitoring of ill or deceased NHPs is a key component of the Brazilian yellow fever (YF) surveillance program. Samples from NHPs carcasses are usually suitable for molecular tests but not for serological assays.

Disguised Blessings: A Mechanistic Understanding of the Beneficial Outcomes Triggered by Partial K Replacement With Na in Two Eucalyptus Species Under Drought Stress.

While not essential for most plants, sodium (Na) can partially substitute for potassium (K) in some metabolic functions. Thus, understanding the mechanisms underlying K and Na uptake, transport, utilization, and ion replacement is crucial to sustain forest production. A pot experiment was designed with 6 K/Na ratios (100/0, 85/15, 70/30, 55/45, 40/60, and 0/0%) and two water conditions (well-watered, W+; and water-stressed, W-) on two Eucalyptus species with contrasting drought tolerance.

Preclinical evaluation of immunogenicity and protective efficacy of a recombinant chimeric protein vaccine against visceral leishmaniasis.

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a tropical disease that can be fatal if acute and untreated. Diagnosis is difficult, the treatment is toxic and prophylactic vaccines do not exist. parasites express hundreds of proteins and several of them are relevant for the host's immune system.

Correction: Garcia-Oliveira et al. YELLOW ALERT: Persistent Yellow Fever Virus Circulation among Non-Human Primates in Urban Areas of Minas Gerais State, Brazil (2021-2023). 2024, , 31.

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eQTL-Detect: nextflow-based pipeline for eQTL detection in modular format with sharable and parallelizable scripts.

Bioinformatic pipelines are becoming increasingly complex with the ever-accumulating amount of Next-generation sequencing (NGS) data. Their orchestration is difficult with a simple Bash script, but bioinformatics workflow managers such as Nextflow provide a framework to overcome respective problems. This study used Nextflow to develop a bioinformatic pipeline for detecting expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) using a DSL2 Nextflow modular syntax, to enable sharing the huge demand for computing power as well as data access limitation across different partners often associated with eQTL studies.

Key co-expressed genes correlated with blood serum parameters of pigs fed with different fatty acid profile diets.

This study investigated how gene expression is affected by dietary fatty acids (FA) by using pigs as a reliable model for studying human diseases that involve lipid metabolism. This includes changes in FA composition in the liver, blood serum parameters and overall metabolic pathways. RNA-Seq data from 32 pigs were analyzed using Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis (WGCNA).

Protein supplementation during mid-gestation affects maternal voluntary feed intake, performance, digestibility, and uterine blood flow of beef cows.

This study aimed to assess the impact of protein supplementation and its interaction with calf sex (CS) on the performance, metabolism and physiology of pregnant beef cows. Fifty-two multiparous Zebu beef cows carrying female (n = 22) and male (n = 30) fetuses were used. Cows were individually housed from day 100 to 200 of gestation and randomly assigned to restricted (RES, n = 26) or supplemented (SUP, n = 26) groups.

Synthetic Peptides Selected by Immunoinformatics as Potential Tools for the Specific Diagnosis of Canine Visceral Leishmaniasis.

Diagnosing canine visceral leishmaniasis (CVL) in Brazil faces challenges due to the limitations regarding the sensitivity and specificity of the current diagnostic protocol. Therefore, it is urgent to map new antigens or enhance the existing ones for future diagnostic techniques. Immunoinformatic tools are promising in the identification of new potential epitopes or antigen candidates.

Splenic Embolism in Infective Endocarditis: A Systematic Review of the Literature with an Emphasis on Radiological and Histopathological Diagnoses.

Infective endocarditis (IE) is characterised by fever, heart murmurs, and emboli. Splenic emboli are frequent in left-sided IE. A systematic review of the literature published on splenic embolism (SE) between 2000 and 2023 was conducted.

The potential of graphene coatings as neural interfaces.

Recent advances in nanotechnology design and fabrication have shaped the landscape for the development of ideal cell interfaces based on biomaterials. A holistic evaluation of the requirements for a cell interface is a highly complex task. Biocompatibility is a crucial requirement which is affected by the interface's properties, including elemental composition, morphology, and surface chemistry.

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.

Sequenced-based GWAS for linear classification traits in Belgian Blue beef cattle reveals new coding variants in genes regulating body size in mammals.

Background: Cohorts of individuals that have been genotyped and phenotyped for genomic selection programs offer the opportunity to better understand genetic variation associated with complex traits. Here, we performed an association study for traits related to body size and muscular development in intensively selected beef cattle. We leveraged multiple trait information to refine and interpret the significant associations.

Immunization with recombinant LiHyp1 protein plus adjuvant is protective against tegumentary leishmaniasis.

Tegumentary leishmaniasis (TL) is the main clinical manifestation of leishmaniasis, and it can cause the infected hosts to self-healing cutaneous lesions until mutilating scars in mucosal membranes, particularly in the nose and throat. The treatment against disease presents problems, and the diagnosis is hampered by variable sensitivity and/or specificity of the tests. In this context, the development of prophylactic vaccines could be considered as a strategy to control the disease.

The association between rLiHyp1 protein plus adjuvant and amphotericin B is an effective immunotherapy against visceral leishmaniasis in mice.

Treatment of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is compromised by drug toxicity, high cost and/or the emergence of resistant strains. Though canine vaccines are available, there are no licensed prophylactic human vaccines. One strategy to improve clinical outcome for infected patients is immunotherapy, which associates a chemotherapy that acts directly to reduce parasitism and the administration of an immunogen-adjuvant that activates the host protective Th1-type immune response.

Efficacy of an Immunotherapy Combining Immunogenic Chimeric Protein Plus Adjuvant and Amphotericin B against Murine Visceral Leishmaniasis.

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in the Americas is a chronic systemic disease caused by infection with parasites. The toxicity of antileishmanial drugs, long treatment course and limited efficacy are significant concerns that hamper adequate treatment against the disease. Studies have shown the promise of an immunotherapeutics approach, combining antileishmanial drugs to reduce the parasitism and vaccine immunogens to activate the host immune system.

Ecological drivers of sustained enzootic yellow fever virus transmission in Brazil, 2017-2021.

Beginning December 2016, sylvatic yellow fever (YF) outbreaks spread into southeastern Brazil, and Minas Gerais state experienced two sylvatic YF waves (2017 and 2018). Following these massive YF waves, we screened 187 free-living non-human primate (NHPs) carcasses collected throughout the state between January 2019 and June 2021 for YF virus (YFV) using RTqPCR. One sample belonging to a Callithrix, collected in June 2020, was positive for YFV.

Tridimensional assessment of the mandibular angle in patients with different skeletal patterns by cone-beam computed tomography scans: a retrospective study.

Background: Since the muscles of chewing are involved in the region of the mandibular angle, important structures in surgical and orthodontic procedures, to study its morphological aspects and the possible influence of different patterns of skeletal development would be of interest. Thus, this study aimed to assess the influence of patient characteristics - such as sex, skeletal malocclusion (Class I, Class II, and Class III) and facial type (brachycephalic, mesocephalic, and dolichocephalic) - on the width, height, thickness, and volume of the mandibular angle, using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans.

Methods: CBCT scans were assessed - 144 men and 154 women, total of 298 - and classified according to skeletal patterns (skeletal malocclusions and facial types).

Improving the annotation of the cattle genome by annotating transcription start sites in a diverse set of tissues and populations using Cap Analysis Gene Expression sequencing.

Understanding the genomic control of tissue-specific gene expression and regulation can help to inform the application of genomic technologies in farm animal breeding programs. The fine mapping of promoters [transcription start sites (TSS)] and enhancers (divergent amplifying segments of the genome local to TSS) in different populations of cattle across a wide diversity of tissues provides information to locate and understand the genomic drivers of breed- and tissue-specific characteristics. To this aim, we used Cap Analysis Gene Expression (CAGE) sequencing, of 24 different tissues from 3 populations of cattle, to define TSS and their coexpressed short-range enhancers (<1 kb) in the ARS-UCD1.

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.