Identification of conserved peptides containing B-cell epitopes of Babesia bovis AMA-1 and their potential as diagnostics candidates.

The apical membrane antigen 1 (AMA-1) is a protein of the micronemes that is present in all organisms of the phylum Apicomplexa; it has been shown that AMA-1 plays an essential role for parasite invasion to target cells. It has been reported that AMA-1 is conserved among different isolates of Babesia; however, it is unknown whether the protein contains conserved B-cell epitopes and whether these epitopes are recognized by antibodies from cattle in endemic areas. In this research, using an in silico analysis, four peptides were designed containing exposed and conserved linear B-cell epitopes from the extracellular region of Babesia bovis AMA-1.

Babesia bovis RON2 contains conserved B-cell epitopes that induce an invasion-blocking humoral immune response in immunized cattle.

Background: Babesia bovis belongs to the phylum Apicomplexa and is the major causal agent of bovine babesiosis, the most important veterinary disease transmitted by arthropods. In apicomplexan parasites, the interaction between AMA1 and RON2 is necessary for the invasion process, and it is a target for vaccine development. In B.

[Neuraxial analgesia in a parturient with the VACTERL association undergoing labor and vaginal delivery].

Introduction: The term VACTERL is an acronym for an association of congenital malformations: including vertebral, anal, cardiac, tracheo-esophageal, renal and limb anomalies. VACTERL anomalies pose a formidable challenge to anesthesiologists. We describe the anesthetic management of a parturient with VACTERL association, who underwent neuraxial analgesia for labor and vaginal delivery.

Spinal injection of local anesthetic during cervical facet joint injection.

Introduction: Facet joint pain is a common source of non-radicular back pain worldwide. Non-surgical interventional modalities remain the mainstay in the treatment of facetogenic back pain and comprise the second most commonly performed interventional pain procedures in the USA.

Case: A 36 year-old man with chronic cervical pain secondary to C6-C7 facet arthrosis radiographically, underwent diagnostic local anesthetic bilateral facet joint injection under fluoroscopic guidance.

[Spinal injection of local anesthetic during cervical facet joint injection].

Introduction: Facet joint pain is a common source of non-radicular back pain worldwide. Non-surgical interventional modalities remain the mainstay in the treatment of facetogenic back pain and comprise the second most commonly performed interventional pain procedures in the USA.

Case: A 36 year-old man with chronic cervical pain secondary to C6-C7 facet arthrosis radiographically, underwent diagnostic local anesthetic bilateral facet joint injection under fluoroscopic guidance.

Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures in the post-anesthesia recovery unit.

Introduction: Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES or "pseudoseizures") remain an obscure topic in the peri-operative setting. They are sudden and time-limited motor and cognitive disturbances, which mimic epileptic seizures, but are psychogenically mediated. Pseudoseizures occur more frequently than epilepsy in the peri-operative setting.

The Great Deceiver: A Case of Central Sensitization Presenting as Carcinoid Syndrome.

Central sensitization defines a state of amplified sensory input within the nervous system across many organ systems; it overlaps syndromes as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, irritable bowel, and interstitial cystitis. Commonly, individuals will experience multiple syndromes during the course of their lifetime. A 62-year-old patient presented for evaluation of multiple medically unexplained symptoms postsurgically including chronic left chest wall and flank pain with concomitant diarrhea, abdominal pain, and facial flushing.

Perioperative Management of Multiple Noncardiac Implantable Electronic Devices.

The number of patients with noncardiac implantable electronic devices is increasing, and the absence of perioperative management standards, guidelines, practice parameters, or expert consensus statements presents clinical challenges. A 69-year-old woman presented for latissimus dorsi breast reconstruction. The patient had previously undergone implantation of a spinal cord stimulator, a gastric pacemaker, a sacral nerve stimulator, and an intrathecal morphine pump.

[Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures in the post-anesthesia recovery unit].

Introduction: Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES or "pseudoseizures") remain an obscure topic in the peri-operative setting. They are sudden and time-limited motor and cognitive disturbances, which mimic epileptic seizures, but are psychogenically mediated. Pseudoseizures occur more frequently than epilepsy in the peri-operative setting.

Venipuncture-related lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve injury: what to know?

Background And Objectives: Venipuncture is one of the most common procedures performed in daily anesthetic practice. Though usually innocuous, peripheral nerve injuries with serious sequelae have been described following venipuncture. We present a case of venipuncture-related lateral antebrachial cutaneous nerve injury, alongside the essential diagnostic and prognostic information for day to day practice.

The role of cannabinoids in prostate cancer: Basic science perspective and potential clinical applications.

Prostate cancer is a global public health problem, and it is the most common cancer in American men and the second cause for cancer-related death. Experimental evidence shows that prostate tissue possesses cannabinoid receptors and their stimulation results in anti-androgenic effects. To review currently relevant findings related to effects of cannabinoid receptors in prostate cancer.

Melanoma of the female urethra.

Melanoma is a malignant tumor that can affect any area of the anatomical economy. Its appearance in the female urethra is extremely rare, with approximately 121 cases in indexed literature since 1966. The subject to be described is an 86-year-old woman who seeks assessment for intermittent macroscopic hematuria with blood clots of 3 months progression.

The Aspergillus niger multicopper oxidase family: analysis and overexpression of laccase-like encoding genes.

Background: Many filamentous fungal genomes contain complex groups of multicopper oxidase (MCO) coding genes that makes them a good source for new laccases with potential biotechnological interest. A bioinformatics analysis of the Aspergillus niger ATCC 1015 genome resulted in the identification of thirteen MCO genes. Ten of them were cloned and homologously overexpressed.

Expression analysis of heat shock protein 20 and rhoptry-associated protein 1a in sexual stages and kinetes of Babesia bigemina.

Heat shock protein 20 (HSP-20) and rhoptry-associated protein 1a (RAP-1a) are two proteins considered as candidates to be included in vaccines or diagnostics methods for the control of bovine babesiosis. It has been hypothesized that both genes have a basic function in the cellular physiology of erythrocyte-infecting stages; it is not known if they have a functional role in tick stages. The objective of this work was to analyze whether hsp-20 and rap-1a are expressed in sexual stages and kinetes of Babesia bigemina.

Infection and seroconversion of susceptible animals introduced into a babesiosis endemic area.

The study aimed to determine the incubation period of Babesia sp. infection in naive cattle and to monitor the serological response once exposed to natural Boophilus microplus (Rhipicephalus microplus)-infested paddocks. The study was carried out on a farm located in Veracruz, Mexico.

Enhancement of the Mexican bovine babesiosis vaccine efficacy by using Lactobacillus casei.

To evaluate the effect of Lactobacillus casei on the effectiveness of the Mexican bovine babesiosis mixed vaccine, 20 bovines were randomly allocated into four groups of five animals (I, II, III, and IV). At day -2 animals in groups I and II were inoculated with saline solution by intramuscular route (i.m.

Field challenge of cattle vaccinated with a combined Babesia bovis and Babesia bigemina frozen immunogen.

To determine the optimal dose of a combined, frozen immunogen containing in vitro culture-derived strains of Babesia bovis and Babesia bigemina, twenty-four 14-month-old Bos taurus steers from a Boophilus microplus-free area in Northern Mexico were used in this experiment. Cattle were randomly allocated into six groups with four animals each, and were intramuscularly inoculated as follows: group 1 (control animals) were administered with normal bovine erythrocytes; group 2 received 1 x 10(7) B. bovis- and B.

Babesia bigemina: sporozoite isolation from Boophilus microplus nymphs and initial immunomolecular characterization.

It has been hypothesized that babesial sporozoites express specific antigens that induce protective immunologic responses in cattle. However, they remain uncharacterized, partly for lack of research on the sporozoite stage of Babesia spp. This field suffers from complete knowledge of parasite development in the tick salivary gland; limited amounts of sporozoites from ticks, and a lack of protocols for induction and purification of sporozoites.