Amphibian-killing chytrid in Brazil comprises both locally endemic and globally expanding populations.

Chytridiomycosis, caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), is the emerging infectious disease implicated in recent population declines and extinctions of amphibian species worldwide. Bd strains from regions of disease-associated amphibian decline to date have all belonged to a single, hypervirulent clonal genotype (Bd-GPL). However, earlier studies in the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil detected a novel, putatively enzootic lineage (Bd-Brazil), and indicated hybridization between Bd-GPL and Bd-Brazil. Here, we characterize the spatial distribution and population history of these sympatric lineages in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. To investigate the genetic structure of Bd in this region, we collected and genotyped Bd strains along a 2400-km transect of the Atlantic Forest. Bd-Brazil genotypes were restricted to a narrow geographic range in the southern Atlantic Forest, while Bd-GPL strains were widespread and largely geographically unstructured. Bd population genetics in this region support the hypothesis that the recently discovered Brazilian lineage is enzootic in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil and that Bd-GPL is a more recently expanded invasive. We collected additional hybrid isolates that demonstrate the recurrence of hybridization between panzootic and enzootic lineages, thereby confirming the existence of a hybrid zone in the Serra da Graciosa mountain range of Paraná State. Our field observations suggest that Bd-GPL may be more infective towards native Brazilian amphibians, and potentially more effective at dispersing across a fragmented landscape. We also provide further evidence of pathogen translocations mediated by the Brazilian ranaculture industry with implications for regulations and policies on global amphibian trade.

Stability of immobilized D-hydantoinase from Vigna angularis and repeated cycles of highly enantioenriched production of N-carbamoyl-D-phenylglycines.

D-hydantoinase from Vigna angularis was immobilized by covalent linkage to aminopropyl glass beads. Thermal stability, resistance to storage at different pH values and temperatures of this biocatalyst were studied. This enzyme preparation was used as a catalyst to prepare enantioenriched N-carbamoyl-D-phenylglycine, N-carbamyl-D-p-fluorophenylglycine and N-carbamoyl-D-p-trifluoromethylphenylglycine, using a stirred batch reactor. Reactions were conducted during eight repeated reaction cycles, without loss of enzymatic activity or variation of the enantiomeric excess of the respective product (>98%).

[A rare case of Marfan syndrome with involvement of the thoracoabdominal aorta--its surgical treatment]. / Um caso raro de síndrome de Marfan com envolvimento da aorta toracoabdominal--tratamento cirúrgico.

A 49-year-old woman with classic manifestations of Marfan's syndrome, having previously been submitted to two surgical procedures for ascending aorta and aortic valve replacement, was admitted with diagnosis of a large dissecting thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm, with indication for surgical repair. The patient underwent a successful reconstruction of the aorta by means of the "simplified technique" introduced by ourselves in 1984, as an alternative to the conventional S. Crawford's "inclusion technique", for the management of thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms. Assessed two years after the operation, the patient was found to be in excellent clinical condition and a control angiography showed the vascular prosthesis and its side branches working properly. This unusual aortic complication of Marfan's syndrome and the usefulness of the unique and original technique employed to replace the thoracoabdominal aorta justify the presentation of this clinical case.

[The surgical treatment of renal artery fibrodysplasia. The immediate and late results]. / Tratamento cirúrgico da fibrodisplasia da artéria renal. Resultados imediatos e tardios.

Between November 1977 and April 1992, thirty patients carrying several forms of renal artery fibrodysplasia underwent surgical treatment. The series is composed of thirteen male and seventeen female, aged between 1 and 51 years (mean age 32). All patients had arterial hypertension, which was not relieved by medical therapy, consisting in the administration of an average of 2.9 antihypertensive drugs per patients. Bilateral renal artery lesions were diagnosed in ten patients (33.3%). The remaining twenty patients (66.6%) had unilateral lesions, one of which involved a congenital single kidney, making a total of forty renal arteries affected by the disease. Surgical procedures consisted in renal artery revascularization in thirty-one kidneys, in aneurysmectomy alone or associated with aorto-renal bypass in six cases, and in a nephrectomy as a single procedure in one case. Three kidneys were considered lost and were left untouched. There was no operative mortality. Evaluated between 1 and 173 months following the operation (mean 79 months/6.6 years) twenty-six patients (86.6%) were classified as either cured or improved. Only two patients (6.6%) did not get any improvement with the surgical treatment. Two patients whose condition after the operation was considered satisfactory were lost to follow-up. The results of this experience are compared with other series published in the international literature, as well as with the percutaneous transluminal angioplasty which has been regarded as an alternative to arterial reconstructive surgery.

[Unusual procedures used in reconstructive surgery and/or revascularization of the aorta]. / Procedimentos invulgares utilizados na cirurgia de reconstrução e/ou revascularização da aorta.

Since the advent of arterial surgery, four decades of development have evolved, characterized not only by a remarkable evolution of concepts, but also by the improvement of technics, means and methods utilized for arterial reconstructive surgery. This progress led to the promotion and improvement of the conventional surgical methods dedicated to the treatment of the most common aortic disorders, obstructive or aneurysmal. Endarterectomy, revascularization using synthetic bypasses or interposition of arterial prosthesis are the most common and standardized procedures which are used worldwide, giving gratifying and long lasting results, involving low or negligible risks. In clinical practice however one sometimes, faces rare conditions, poorly understood due to their rarity, in which the conventional methods may be regarded as inappropriate, unfit or even formally contraindicated. Some unusual or uncommon methods were devised to deal with such conditions, which are less popular due to their rarity, but may also be considered just as valid and reliable as conventional methods, bearing satisfactory and rewarding results. Among them we stress the bypass originated in the ascending aorta, the bypass from the descending thoracic aorta and the bypass arising from the supraceliac aorta. The main features of these procedures as well as the personal experience of their utilization obtained by the senior author constitute the essence of this presentation.