Potential impacts of seasonal and altitudinal changes on enzymatic peat decomposition in the High Andean Paramo region of Ecuador.

The Andean Paramo is a vast ecosystem, characterized by distinct vegetational zones at several altitudinal levels with huge water storage and carbon fixation capacity within its peat-like andosols, due to a slow decomposition rate of organic matter. These characteristics become mutually related as enzymatic activities increase with temperature and are associated with oxygen penetration, restricting the activity of many hydrolytic enzymes according to the enzyme Latch Theory. This study describes the changing activity of sulfatase (Sulf), phosphatase (Phos), n-acetyl-glucosaminidase (N-Ac), cellobiohydrolase (Cellobio), β-glucosidase (β-Glu), and peroxidase (POX) on an altitudinal scale from 3600 to 4200 m, in rainy and dry seasons at 10 and 30 cm sampling depth, related to physical and chemical soil characteristics, like metals and organic elements.

LoRa Technology in Flying Ad Hoc Networks: A Survey of Challenges and Open Issues.

The Internet of Things (IoT) and Flying Ad Hoc Networks (FANETs) have become hot topics among researchers because of the increased availability of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and the electronic components required to control and connect them (e.g., microcontrollers, single board computers, and radios).

Continuous Long-Term Physical Activity Monitoring in Hemodialysis Patients.

Background: Physical inactivity is common in patients receiving hemodialysis, but activity patterns throughout the day and in relation to dialysis are largely unknown. This knowledge gap can be addressed by long-term continuous activity monitoring, but this has not been attempted and may not be acceptable to patients receiving dialysis.

Methods: Ambulatory patients with end-stage kidney disease receiving thrice-weekly hemodialysis wore commercially available wrist-worn activity monitors for 6 months.

Step length and fall risk in adults with chronic kidney disease: a pilot study.

Background: Patients with chronic kidney disease commonly experience gait abnormalities, which predispose to falls and fall-related injuries. An unmet need is the development of improved methods for detecting patients at high risk of these complications, using tools that are feasible to implement in nephrology practice. Our prior work suggested step length could be such a marker.

Muscle fibrosis and maladaptation occur progressively in CKD and are rescued by dialysis.

BACKGROUNDSkeletal muscle maladaptation accompanies chronic kidney disease (CKD) and negatively affects physical function. Emphasis in CKD has historically been placed on muscle fiber-intrinsic deficits, such as altered protein metabolism and atrophy. However, targeted treatment of fiber-intrinsic dysfunction has produced limited improvement, whereas alterations within the fiber-extrinsic environment have scarcely been examined.

Intradialytic acid-base changes and organic anion production during high versus low bicarbonate hemodialysis.

The use of high dialysate bicarbonate for hemodialysis in end-stage renal disease is associated with increased mortality, but potential physiological mediators are poorly understood. Alkalinization due to high dialysate bicarbonate may stimulate organic acid generation, which could lead to poor outcomes. Using measurements of β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) and lactate, we quantified organic anion (OA) balance in two single-arm studies comparing high and low bicarbonate prescriptions.

Skeletal muscle fibrosis is associated with decreased muscle inflammation and weakness in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Muscle dysfunction is an important cause of morbidity among patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Although muscle fibrosis is present in a CKD rodent model, its existence in humans and its impact on physical function are currently unknown. We examined isometric leg extension strength and measures of skeletal muscle fibrosis and inflammation in vastus lateralis muscle from CKD patients ( n = 10) and healthy, sedentary controls ( n = 10).

Intracerebral Hemorrhage Secondary to Scorpion Toxin in the Northwest of Argentina; A Case Report.

Scorpionism is the clinical picture resulting from the inoculation of scorpion venom. It is considered a major public health problem, especially in countries with low resources and tropical or subtropical climate. Poisoning can be fatal especially in the first hours due to respiratory and / or cardiovascular collapse.

Variability in monthly serum bicarbonate measures in hemodialysis patients: a cohort study.

Background: Some nephrologists have advocated an individualized approach to the prescription of bicarbonate hemodialysis. However, the utility of monthly serum bicarbonate levels for guiding and evaluating such treatment decisions has not been evaluated. We sought to define the variability of these measurements and to determine factors that are associated with month-to-month variability in pre-dialysis serum bicarbonate.

A slow-onset, long-duration indanamine monoamine reuptake inhibitor as a potential maintenance pharmacotherapy for psychostimulant abuse: effects in laboratory rat models relating to addiction.

Slow-onset, long-lasting dopamine reuptake blockers with reduced abuse potential have been suggested as maintenance therapies for cocaine addiction. We have synthesized a series of 3-(3',4'-dichlorophenyl)-1-indanamine monoamine reuptake inhibitors as candidates for such maintenance pharmacotherapy. The initial lead compound, the N,N-dimethyl analogue 30,640 was then subjected to testing in addiction-relevant animal models.

Comparison of two single-day regimens of triclabendazole for the treatment of human pulmonary paragonimiasis.

A well-tolerated single-day treatment regimen is required for the community-based treatment of pulmonary paragonimiasis. To identify an optimal single-day treatment regimen, an open clinical trial was performed to compare the efficacy of 2 single-day regimens of triclabendazole. From 1991 to 1993, a total of 154 Ecuadorian patients were allocated to receive either a single dose or 2 doses of 10 mg/kg triclabendazole.

Trypanosoma cruzi isoenzyme variability in Ecuador: first observation of zymodeme III genotypes in chronic chagasic patients.

We have analysed by multilocus enzyme electrophoresis (MLEE) at 21 genetic loci 10 Trypanosoma cruzi stocks isolated from chronic chagasic patients and 3 stocks isolated from Triatoma dimidiata collected in human habitats from the coastal part of Ecuador (all stocks isolated in August-December 1998). Isoenzyme profiles were compared to those of 4 laboratory-cloned stocks representing the major phylogenetic subdivisions of T. cruzi.

[IN CARCIRADED INGUINOSCROTAL HERNIA WITHIN SIGMODIAL PERFORATED ADENOCARCINOMA AND PERITONITIS IN THE SCROTAL SAC.A CASE REPORT].

A case of perforated sigmoid colon, complicated with peritonitis inside the inguinal hernia scrotal sack is presented. A 91 years old male with reducible inguinal tumor from 4 years ago, that 4 days before hospitalization turns to an unyielding restitution inguinal hernia. Producing an intestinal obstruction.

Eotaxin and RANTES expression by the dermal endothelium is associated with eosinophil infiltration after ivermectin treatment of onchocerciasis.

The roles of eotaxin, RANTES, and MCP-3 expression in eosinophil recruitment to the site of parasite killing that occurs following ivermectin treatment of onchocerciasis were assessed in the skin of 13 Onchocerca volvulus-infected subjects and two noninfected controls before and after ivermectin treatment. Adverse reactions in infected subjects were associated with the appearance of eosinophils in the dermis as part of a perivascular inflammatory infiltrate. Although no expression of RANTES and eotaxin was seen in dermal vascular endothelial cells in biopsies taken before treatment (nor at any time in the skin of uninfected controls), endothelial expression of both eotaxin and RANTES was noted by 24 h following treatment.

Human onchocerciasis and tetanus vaccination: impact on the postvaccination antitetanus antibody response.

To investigate whether helminth infections may affect the efficacy of vaccines by impairing the immune response to nonparasite vaccine antigens, we compared the antibody responses to tetanus toxoid (TT) after tetanus vaccination in 193 subjects with Onchocerca volvulus infection with 85 comparable noninfected controls. After vaccination, the proportions of subjects in each group attaining protective levels of antitetanus antibodies were similar (96.9% infected versus 97.

Treatment of human pulmonary paragonimiasis with triclabendazole: clinical tolerance and drug efficacy.

An open clinical trial to determine the efficacy and tolerability of postprandial doses of triclabendazole against Paragonimus mexicanus in 62 patients with pulmonary paragonimiasis from the Ecuadorian Amazon region was performed. Praziquantel was used as therapeutic control. Patients were allocated at random to the following 4 therapeutic regimens: triclabendazole, 5 mg/kg once daily for 3 d (16 patients), 10 mg/kg twice on one day (15 patients), and 10 mg/kg in a single dose (16 patients), and praziquantel, 25 mg/kg thrice daily for 3 d (15 patients).

Impaired tetanus-specific cellular and humoral responses following tetanus vaccination in human onchocerciasis: a possible role for interleukin-10.

Onchocerca volvulus infection has been associated with impaired cellular responses to parasite antigens, an impairment that may also extend to nonparasite antigens. To investigate the mechanism of this impaired immune response, the effect of concurrent O. volvulus infection on the immune response to tetanus toxoid (TT) following tetanus vaccination was studied.

In utero exposure to Onchocerca volvulus: relationship to subsequent infection intensity and cellular immune responsiveness.

Afro-Ecuadorian individuals from an area where Onchocerca volvulus is hyperendemic have been monitored for infection over the past 16 years. To determine whether in utero exposure to O. volvulus biases a child's subsequent immune responses, children (9 to 16 years old) for whom the mother's infection status was known were chosen for study.

Bartonellosis in Zamora Chinchipe province in Ecuador.

Human bartonellosis was investigated in the Ecuadorian province of Zamora Chinchipe; 17 cases were identified retrospectively from hospital records over the period 1984-1995, mostly from 6 communities in the provincial district of Zumba. A questionnaire concerning risk factors for disease transmission was administered in these 6 communities. Blood samples were taken from individuals with current febrile illnesses or skin lesions suggestive of bartonellosis.

Systemic cocaine challenge after chronic cocaine treatment reveals sensitization of extracellular dopamine levels in nucleus accumbens but direct cocaine perfusion into nucleus accumbens does not: implications for the neural locus of cocaine sensitization.

Rats were treated chronically with 20 mg/kg/day cocaine (by intraperitoneal injection) for 16 days, followed by 7 days of cocaine wash-out. On the next day, rats were challenged with an acute dose of cocaine administered by one of two routes (systemic or intracranial), and extra-cellular dopamine (DA) in the nucleus accumbens (Acb) was measured by in vivo microdialysis. Rats acutely challenged systemically with 20 mg/kg cocaine showed enhanced Acb extracellular DA levels (compared to control rats that had not previously received chronic cocaine).

Resistance to Onchocerca volvulus: differential cellular and humoral responses to a recombinant antigen, OvMBP20/11.

Persons putatively immune (PI) to Onchocerca volvulus (Ov) infection were identified in Ecuador on the basis of epidemiologic, clinical, and parasitologic findings. Immune responses of PI subjects to a recombinant onchocercal protein, OvMBP20/11, were determined and compared with those of a comparable infected (INF) group from the same Ov-endemic area. PI subjects had significantly less antibody reactivity to this molecule; however, not all INF subjects had an antibody response.

Immunity to onchocerciasis: putative immune persons produce a Th1-like response to Onchocerca volvulus.

Immunity to Onchocerca volvulus (Ov) infection is suggested by the presence of putatively immune (PI) subjects in a region of Ecuador in which Ov is endemic. PI subjects were identified by traditional diagnostic methods combined with a polymerase chain reaction-based assay for Ov DNA in skin snips. Responses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from the PI group (n = 16) were compared with those of persons with active infection (microfiladermic [MF] subjects; n = 51).

Clozapine produces potent antidopaminergic effects anatomically specific to the mesolimbic system.

Although weak as an antagonist at brain dopamine receptors, clozapine is very strongly antidopaminergic when measured by in vivo single-neuron electrophysiologic recording, in vivo brain microdialysis, in vivo brain voltammetric electrochemistry, in vivo electrical brain stimulation, or in vivo neurobehavioral techniques. Three aspects of clozapine's strong antidopaminergic actions are remarkable. First, clozapine's antidopaminergic potency is stronger than can be explained by its comparatively weak interaction with dopamine receptors, implying that a significant portion of its antidopaminergic action may be transsynaptic and secondary to actions on nondopamine neurotransmitter systems.

Ventral tegmental microinjection of delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol enhances ventral tegmental somatodendritic dopamine levels but not forebrain dopamine levels: evidence for local neural action by marijuana's psychoactive ingredient.

Basal extracellular levels of dopamine (DA) and its metabolites in both ventral tegmental area (VTA) and nucleus accumbens (Acb) were simultaneously monitored by in vivo brain microdialysis in laboratory rats. Microinjection of 12 micrograms or 24 micrograms delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta 9-THC), the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana and hashish, into the VTA produced a dose-dependent increase in somatodendritic DA levels in VTA but failed to produce any simultaneous change in extracellular DA in Acb. Direct delta 9-THC perfusion (5 x 10(-5) and 2 x 10(-4) M) into Acb via the microdialysis probes caused a significant increase in extracellular DA levels in Acb.

Overview of chemical sampling techniques.

Although many of the ideas for sampling the chemical microenvironment of the brain were present, at least in nascent form, three decades ago or more, the last 10 years have witnessed a particularly spectacular surge of development, refinement, and use. We are now able to measure virtually any endogenous brain chemical in vivo at commendable levels of sensitivity, selectivity, and speed. The long-dreamt-of goal of being able to correlate neurochemical events with ongoing behavior and/or presentation of salient environmental cues and stimuli has already been largely achieved.