Risk factors associated with the transmission of Brazilian spotted fever in the Piracicaba river basin, State of São Paulo, Brazil.

Introduction: Brazilian spotted fever (BSF) is a disease transmitted by ticks for which the etiological agent is Rickettsia rickettsii. The present essay evaluates the risk factors associated with the transmission of cases of BSF in the time period between 2003 and 2013 in the Piracicaba river basin, state of São Paulo.

Methods: This essay presents a retrospective study to identify the factors associated with the transmission of cases of BSF among all suspected cases identified by the System for Epidemiological Surveillance of São Paulo (CVE).

Rickettsial agents in avian ixodid ticks in northeast Brazil.

Birds are important in the maintenance and spread of ticks and tick-borne diseases. In this context we screened birds in the Atlantic forest north of the São Francisco River and Caatinga in northeast Brazil. In the Atlantic forest Amblyomma longirostre, Amblyomma nodosum, Amblyomma varium and Amblyomma auricularium were identified.

Isolation and characterization of microsatellite loci from the tick Amblyomma aureolatum (Acari: Ixodidae).

Amblyomma aureolatum (Pallas) is the main vector of the bacterium Rickettsia rickettsii, the etiological agent of Brazilian spotted fever. This disease is the most lethal human spotted fever rickettsiosis in the world. Microsatellite loci were isolated from a dinucleotide-enriched library produced from A.

FCGR2C polymorphisms associate with HIV-1 vaccine protection in RV144 trial.

The phase III RV144 HIV-1 vaccine trial estimated vaccine efficacy (VE) to be 31.2%. This trial demonstrated that the presence of HIV-1-specific IgG-binding Abs to envelope (Env) V1V2 inversely correlated with infection risk, while the presence of Env-specific plasma IgA Abs directly correlated with risk of HIV-1 infection.

Changing Authorship Patterns and Publishing Habits in the European Journal of Pediatric Surgery: A 10-Year Analysis.

Aim: The aim of this study is an analysis of the changing authorship patterns and publishing habits encountered in papers published in the European Journal of Pediatric Surgery (EJPS) over the past 10 years. Furthermore, it seeks to anticipate the trends in the years ahead.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of articles published in the EJPS during a 10-year period (January 1, 2003-December 31, 2012).

Measuring and Statistically Testing the Size of the Effect of a Chemical Compound on a Continuous In-Vitro Pharmacological Response Through a New Statistical Model of Response Detection Limit.

Biomolecular screening research frequently searches for the chemical compounds that are most likely to make a biochemical or cell-based assay system produce a strong continuous response. Several doses are tested with each compound and it is assumed that, if there is a dose-response relationship, the relationship follows a monotonic curve, usually a version of the median-effect equation. However, the null hypothesis of no relationship cannot be statistically tested using this equation.

Subcutaneous granuloma annulare of the penis associated with a urethral anomaly: case report and review of the literature.

Granuloma annulare (GA) is an uncommon benign inflammatory skin condition, most often found on the extremities of young females. The subcutaneous variant of GA involving the penis is very rare. We report a case of subcutaneous GA associated with a urethral anomaly in a 15-year-old boy that persisted for a year.

Pseudo-ventricular tachycardia mimicking malignant arrhythmia in a patient with rapid atrial fibrillation.

Artifacts can simulate arrhythmias such as atrial flutter, atrial fibrillation, and ventricular tachycardia. A case of pseudo-ventricular tachycardia is outlined in a patient with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation, which made the diagnosis a special challenge. Characteristic signs of pseudo-ventricular tachycardia are described.

Systolic blood pressure influences the interpretation of cardiopulmonary exercise tests and helps identify a very high-risk cohort of heart failure patients.

Background: Ventilatory inefficiency (high volume of expired air/volume of carbon dioxide eliminated [Ve/Vco2] slope), and impaired exercise tolerance (low peak volume of oxygen consumption) obtained from cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPX) strongly predict mortality in heart failure (HF) patients; however, other CPX variables may also contain prognostic information. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the prognostic power of the aggregate of CPX data.

Methods: The study prospectively monitored 390 patients referred for cardiac transplantation evaluation for 10 years for events (death, urgent transplant, left ventricular assist devices).

Vaccine-induced Env V1-V2 IgG3 correlates with lower HIV-1 infection risk and declines soon after vaccination.

HIV-1-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) subclass antibodies bind to distinct cellular Fc receptors. Antibodies of the same epitope specificity but of a different subclass therefore can have different antibody effector functions. The study of IgG subclass profiles between different vaccine regimens used in clinical trials with divergent efficacy outcomes can provide information on the quality of the vaccine-induced B cell response.

Impaired baroreflex function is related to reduced carotid artery elasticity in patients with tetralogy of Fallot.

Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is a common late complication in patients with tetralogy of Fallot (ToF). Reduced baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) is an independent predictor of SCD and BRS reduction was reported in ToF. Relationship between BRS and carotid artery distensibility (DC) in healthy subjects was reported by us earlier.

DNA and protein co-immunization improves the magnitude and longevity of humoral immune responses in macaques.

We tested the concept of combining DNA with protein to improve anti-HIV Env systemic and mucosal humoral immune responses. Rhesus macaques were vaccinated with DNA, DNA&protein co-immunization or DNA prime followed by protein boost, and the magnitude and mucosal dissemination of the antibody responses were monitored in both plasma and mucosal secretions. We achieved induction of robust humoral responses by optimized DNA vaccination delivered by in vivo electroporation.

Computational prediction of neutralization epitopes targeted by human anti-V3 HIV monoclonal antibodies.

The extreme diversity of HIV-1 strains presents a formidable challenge for HIV-1 vaccine design. Although antibodies (Abs) can neutralize HIV-1 and potentially protect against infection, antibodies that target the immunogenic viral surface protein gp120 have widely variable and poorly predictable cross-strain reactivity. Here, we developed a novel computational approach, the Method of Dynamic Epitopes, for identification of neutralization epitopes targeted by anti-HIV-1 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs).

Vaccine-induced IgG antibodies to V1V2 regions of multiple HIV-1 subtypes correlate with decreased risk of HIV-1 infection.

Unlabelled: In the RV144 HIV-1 vaccine efficacy trial, IgG antibody (Ab) binding levels to variable regions 1 and 2 (V1V2) of the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein gp120 were an inverse correlate of risk of HIV-1 infection. To determine if V1V2-specific Abs cross-react with V1V2 from different HIV-1 subtypes, if the nature of the V1V2 antigen used to asses cross-reactivity influenced infection risk, and to identify immune assays for upcoming HIV-1 vaccine efficacy trials, new V1V2-scaffold antigens were designed and tested. Protein scaffold antigens carrying the V1V2 regions from HIV-1 subtypes A, B, C, D or CRF01_AE were assayed in pilot studies, and six were selected to assess cross-reactive Abs in the plasma from the original RV144 case-control cohort (41 infected vaccinees, 205 frequency-matched uninfected vaccinees, and 40 placebo recipients) using ELISA and a binding Ab multiplex assay.

Lack of difference in T wave variability between patients at risk of sudden cardiac death and healthy subjects.

Background: T wave variability (Tvar) is a proposed method to predict sudden cardiac death (SCD). The purpose of this trial was to evaluate the reproducibility of Tvar measurements over time and demonstrate a difference in Tvar between patient populations at risk for ventricular arrhythmias and healthy subjects.

Methods: Sixty subjects were enrolled in into 3 groups: healthy subjects (Population I), patients at high risk of SCD (Population II), and patients with a recent ventricular tachyarrhythmia event (Population III).

A very stable complex of a modified marine cyclopeptide with chloroform.

Noncovalent interactions play a pivotal role in molecular recognition. These interactions can be subdivided into hydrogen bonds, cation-π interactions, ion pair interactions and London dispersion forces. The latter are considered to be weak molecular interactions and increase with the size of the interacting moieties.

Occurrence of Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in birds from the Atlantic Forest, state of São Paulo, Brazil.

Avian are considered important intermediate hosts for Toxoplasma gondii because they serve as source of infection for Felidae, which shed environmentally resistant oocysts after ingesting infected tissues. Little is known of epidemiology of toxoplasmosis in wild birds. In the present study, antibodies to T.

Specific sequences commonly found in the V3 domain of HIV-1 subtype C isolates affect the overall conformation of native Env and induce a neutralization-resistant phenotype independent of V1/V2 masking.

Primary HIV-1 isolates are relatively resistant to neutralization by antibodies commonly induced after infection or vaccination. This is generally attributed to masking of sensitive epitopes by the V1/V2 domain and/or glycans situated at various positions in Env. Here we identified a novel masking effect mediated by subtype C-specific V3 sequences that contributes to the V1/V2-independent and glycan-independent neutralization resistance of chimeric and primary Envs to antibodies directed against multiple neutralization domains.

Genetic impact dominates over environmental effects in development of carotid artery stiffness: a twin study.

Arterial stiffness is an independent predictor of cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and all-cause mortality. Quantifying the genetic influence on the stiff arterial phenotype allows us to better predict the development of arterial stiffness. In this study, we aimed to determine the heritability of carotid artery stiffness in healthy twins.

Ecology, biology and distribution of spotted-fever tick vectors in Brazil.

Spotted-fever-caused Rickettsia rickettsii infection is in Brazil the major tick-borne zoonotic disease. Recently, a second and milder human rickettsiosis caused by an agent genetically related to R. parkeri was discovered in the country (Atlantic rainforest strain).