Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is an attenuated Mycobacterium tuberculosis vaccine. We performed a series of co-infection experiments with BCG-Plasmodium chabaudi chabaudi Landau, 1965 AS using C57BL/6 mice to analyse whether BCG can affect the development of protective immunity to infection with Plasmodium spp. and the mechanism of this protection. We divided mice into four groups: BCG-inoculation 4 weeks prior to P. c. chabaudi AS infection (B-4w-Pc); simultaneous BCG-inoculation and P. c. chabaudi AS infection (Pc+B); BCG-inoculation 3 days post P. c. chabaudi AS (Pc-3-B) infection; and mono-P. c. chabaudi AS infection as control (Pc). The parasitemia level in the B-4w-Pc group was noticeably higher than control group at 6-19 days post infection (dpi). Compared with the control group, the proportion of CD4+CD69+ T cells was significantly reduced 5, 8 and 12 dpi, but the proportion of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ Tregs was significantly increased in the B-4w-Pc group on 5 and 8 dpi. The B-4w-Pc group also demonstrated reduced levels of IFN-γ and TNF-α on 5 and 8 dpi and significantly elevated level of IL-10 on 12 dpi. There were significantly fewer mDCs (CD11c+CD11b+) and pDCs (CD11c+B220+) in the B-4w-Pc group than the control group at all the time points post infection and the expression of MHC II was noticeably reduced on day 8 pi. Our findings confirmed that BCG inoculation prior to Plasmodium infection resulted in excessive activation and proliferation of Tregs and upregulation of anti-inflammatory mediators, which inhibited establishment of a Th1-dominant immune response during the early stages of Plasmodium infection by inhibiting dendritive cells response. BCG inoculation prior to P. c. chabaudi AS infection may contribute to overgrowth of parasites as well as mortality in mice., Dong-Hua Cao, Ji-Chun Wang, Jun Liu, Yun-Ting Du, Li-Wang Cui, Ya-Ming Cao., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Insights can be gained by analysing the feeding decisions of animals in terms of nutrient demands at a species or community level. Using carbohydrate and protein food baits, resource use and food preferences of Formica (Serviformica) lemani were determined at nine locations situated at different altitudes (1875 to 2400 m a.s.l.) in the alpine grassland belt above the tree line in Austria and northern Italy. F. lemani is the most common species of ant in this habitat. Sucrose baits placed around ant colonies were visited by significantly (3.9 times) more workers than protein baits. This indicates that sources of sugar (carbohydrate) are in short supply in the alpine zone, whereas availability of prey items appears to be less constraining. Overall, we recorded a decrease in the incidence of visits to baits from low (31.9% baits attracting ants at least once) to high altitudes (16.7%). Foraging ants never visited 51.5% of the baits exposed for periods of 75 min. This indicates that with increasing altitude competition for food among ant colonies becomes less intense in alpine grassland ant communities., Elia Guariento, Jan Martini, Konrad Fiedler., and Obsahuje bibliografii
To characterize the differences in baroreflex sensitivity (BRS), blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR) and respiration rate (RR) in preterm infants with a similar postconceptional age reached by various combinations of gestational and postnatal ages. To detect potential sex differences in assessed cardiovascular parameters. The study included 49 children (24 boys and 25 girls), postconceptional age 34.6±1.9 weeks. Two subgroups of infants were selected with the similar postconceptional age (PcA) and current weight, but differing in gestational (GA) and postnatal (PnA) ages, as well as two matched subgroups of boys and girls. Blood pressure (BP) was recorded continuously using Portapres device (FMS). A stationary segment of 250 beat-to-beat BP values was analyzed for each child. Baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) was calculated by cross-correlation sequence method. Despite the same PcA age and current weight, children with longer GA had higher BRS, diastolic and mean BP than children with shorter GA and longer PnA age. Postconceptional age in preterm infants is a parameter of maturation better predicting baroreflex sensitivity and blood pressure values compared to postnatal age. Sex related differences in BRS, BP, HR and RR were not found in our group of preterm infants.
A sample of chigger mites from bat hosts collected in the Balearic Islands (Western Mediterranean Sea) is found to include two species. These are the first records of bat-infesting chiggers identified to species in Spain. Chiggers collected from Pipistrellus kuhlii (Kuhl) in Menorca are identified as Oudemansidium komareki (Daniel et Dusbábek, 1959); this species, which was known from Austria, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Moldova, Crimea, and Azerbaijan, is recorded for the first time in Spain. Chiggers collected from Plecotus austriacus (Fischer) in Formentera are identified as Trombicula knighti Radford, 1954, which was insufficiently described from a bat in Yemen and known only from its type locality. We transfer this species to the genus Trisetica Traub et Evans, 1950 and provide its re-description based on paratypes and the material from the Balearic Islands. The species Sasatrombicula (Rudnicula) balcanica Kolebinova, 1966 is synonymised with T. knighti. One species closely related to T. knighti, Trisetica aethiopica (Hirst, 1926), which was recorded in Ghana, Uganda, South Sudan, and Madagascar, is re-described on the basis of its syntype deposited in the Natural History Museum, London, UK. This specimen is designated as lectotype.
In Italy, food-borne outbreaks of opisthorchiasis have occurred since 2003, all of them originating from some lakes in Central Italy where the only European liver fluke, Opisthorchis felineus (Rivolta, 1884) is endemic. The aim of the present study is to investigate the factors that may facilitate the life cycle of O. felineus in the area of Bolsena Lake, the knowledge of the local population about opisthorchiasis, and preventative healthcare measures. We performed a descriptive observational study through the submission of questionnaires to three target populations: fishermen who fish exclusively in Bolsena Lake, restaurateurs whose businesses are close to the lake and general population living in the province of Viterbo. Results showed hazardous behaviours and eating habits in the three target populations, as well as a poor knowledge of opisthorchiasis and preventative healthcare measures., Paola Scaramozzino, Roberto Condoleo, Enrica Martini, Teresa Bossù, Silvia Aquilani, Valentina Spallucci, Elisabetta Aquilini, Selene Marozzi., and Obsahuje bibliografii
This study examined the effects of different types on anthropogenic disturbance on behaviours of grey herons Ardea cinerea, and great egrets Ardea alba, that gather in an Important Bird Area near Belgrade (Serbia), during their autumn migration, with the goal of assessing how diverse human-caused stimuli affect the behaviours of foraging and resting birds. I obtained behavioural data through scan sampling, with six categories of behaviour distinguished: vigilant, flying, feeding, comfort, inactive and other. In total, I collected 5,065 observations of individual birds: 1,293 for grey herons and 3,772 for great egrets. Significantly more birds were vigilant or in flight when they were disturbed by construction vehicles, military jets, and rural free-ranging dogs, whereas no statistical significance was associated with shooting and passing cars. Using a linear mixed model, it was shown that a greater proportion of birds was vigilant during disturbance than following disturbance or in the absence of disturbance, whereas air temperature and wind speed were not statistically significant. This study demonstrates that anthropogenic disturbance can alter the behaviour of the study species, which could aid future management and conservation planning.
In the Pyrenees, brown bear population abundance is estimated from non-invasive genetic analyses of scat and hair samples. Although such analyses are highly beneficial for population monitoring and research, it can be especially difficult for humans to locate bear scats in the field. To address this, we have incorporated a dog (trained from an early age to detect bear scats) into these efforts since 2014. Here, we compared the effectiveness of the scat-detection dog/handler and human-only teams to locate bear scats using our work in the Pyrenees as a case study. A species validation was systematically carried out, either genetically or visually using a microscope, based on the presence of bear hair, for all scats collected from 2010 to 2019. From 2014 to 2019, the use of the dog/handler team in addition to human-only teams increased the average number of bear scats collected annually by four times in comparison with the 2010-2013 period when only humans were searching for scats. This temporal augmentation could not be explained by the increase in bear population size. From 2014 to 2019, the annual percentage of outings during which at least one bear scat was found was 17 times higher for the dog than for humans. The use of the dog also resulted indirectly in a better genotyping success and genetic identification of more individuals due to a larger choice of viable samples that could be sent to the molecular laboratory, as well as a larger number of cub scats detected by the dog. We found that even the use of a single scat-detection dog can greatly improve the efficiency of detecting target scats in challenging monitoring conditions.
The macrozoobenthos in saline pools at dumps in a former coal mining area was studied over a period of two years. Due to specific environmental conditions these pools are unique in the Czech Republic. Extremely high values of salinity (up to 11‰) along with a low concentration of dissolved phosphorus (0.01-0.1 mg.l-1) are typical of some of the water in this area. The pools were grouped into three categories based on their conductivity values and treated using cow dung, municipal wastewater treatment sludge and inorganic NPK (nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium) fertilizer at doses recommended for carp ponds. The application of fertilizer had a positive effect on the density and biomass of all the groups in the macrozoobenthos. The highest and the lowest increases in macrozoobenthos biomass were recorded after the application of NPK and cow dung, respectively. However, the application of fertilizer had no effect on the diversity of macrozoobenthos. Chironomus aprilinus, recorded in the Czech Republic for the first time, inhabited all pools with conductivity ranges of between 5,000-16,000 µS.cm-1. The density of C. aprilinus larvae increased with increasing salinity reaching a maximum of about 17,083 ind.m-2 (biomass - 82 g.m-2). Analysis of C. aprilinus phenology revealed a bivoltine pattern with the summer generation of larvae reaching a maximum in June-July and the overwintering generation in October to November., Josef Matěna, Iva Šínová, Jakub Brom, Kateřina Novotná., and Obsahuje bibliografii
β-adrenergic receptors (β-ARs) play a pivotal role in the cardiovascular regulation. In the human heart β1- and β2-ARs dominate in atria as well as in ventricle influencing heart rate and myocardial contractility. Some single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of β-ARs might influence cardiovascular function. However, the influence of β-AR genes SNPs on hemodynamic parameters at rest and their reactivity under stress is still not well known. We aimed to explore the associations between four selected β-ARs gene polymorphisms and selected cardiovascular measures in eighty-seven young healthy subjects. While in β1-AR polymorphism rs1801252 no significant association was observed, second β1-AR polymorphism rs1801253 was associated with decreased cardiac output and cardiac index during all phases and with decreased flow time corrected and ejection time index at rest and during mental arithmetics. Polymorphism rs1042713 in β2-AR was associated with alterations in blood pressure variability at rest and during head-up-tilt, while rs1042714 was associated predominantly with decreased parameters of cardiac contractility at rest and during mental arithmetics. We conclude that complex analysis of various cardiovascular characteristics related to the strength of cardiac contraction and blood pressure variability can reveal subtle differences in cardiovascular sympathetic nervous control associated with β-ARs polymorphisms.