Natural Infection of Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) by Euphorbia yellow mosaic virus Isolates across Four Brazilian States.

Severe yield losses induced by a complex of whitefly-transmitted Begomovirus species (family Geminiviridae) have been reported in tomatoes in Brazil (Reis et al. 2020). Nine isolates were obtained from tomato plants exhibiting begomovirus-like symptoms (viz. apical and interveinal chlorosis, yellow spots, and stunting) during independent field surveys: one isolate in Sumaré, São Paulo-SP State (isolate SP-066) in 2001, two in Serra Negra, Minas Gerais-MG (MG-012 and MG-016) in 2002, five in Caxias do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul-RS (RS-039, RS-045, RS-046, RS-047 and RS-058) in 2011 and one in Domingos Martins, Espírito Santo-ES (ES-148) in 2016. Disease incidence across all sampled fields ranged from 30% (in Domingos Martins-ES) to 90% in Sumaré-SP. Total DNA extraction was done by a modified CTAB method (Boiteux et al., 1999). Begomovirus infection was confirmed in all isolates by selective amplification of viral DNA-A segments using the primer pairs 'PAL1v1978 / PAR1c496' (Rojas et al., 1993) and 'BegomoAFor1' / 'BegomoARev1' (Ha et al., 2006), which produce two large and non-overlapping segments (≈1120 bp and ≈1205 bp, respectively). These PCR amplicons were initially characterized via direct Sanger dideoxy sequencing at CNPH. BLASTn analysis of the partial DNA-A genomes of these nine isolates indicated identity levels of 95-97% to three euphorbia yellow mosaic virus (EuYMV) reference isolates (= KY559532, JF756674, and KY559583) found infecting the weed Euphorbia heterophylla L. The entire DNA-A (2,609 nts = MN746971) and DNA-B (2,579 nts = MN746970) components of the MG-016 isolate were obtained via high-performance sequencing using Illumina HiSeq 2500 system (Macrogen Inc., South Korea). Sequences were assembled with the CLC Genomics Workbench program 10. Contigs were validated by BLASTx and BLASTn and compared to the ssDNA virus database at NCBI (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). The fully-characterized MG-016 isolate displayed identity levels ranging from 97 to 99% to the EuYMV reference isolates as well as similar genomic features such as the conserved TATA box, nonanucleotide, and iterons (that were in agreement with a cognate nature of the DNA-A and DNA-B components). A partial sequence of the DNA-B genome was also obtained for the MG-012 isolate (MT7831942). The isolates MG-012 and MG-016 were found in mixed infections with tomato severe rugose virus (ToSRV) and tomato golden vein virus (TGVV), respectively. In addition, the complete DNA-A genomes of ES-148 (MN746972) and SP-066 (MN782438) were also obtained via a combination of primer walking and Sanger dideoxy sequencing, displaying 96-98% identity to EuYMV isolates. To our knowledge, this is the first report of multiple and independent events of natural infection of tomatoes by EuYMV isolates. Our results confirm the natural host status of tomatoes to EuYMV isolates as indicated in previous infectivity assays using biolistic inoculation (Barreto et al., 2013). The weed E. heterophylla is widely disseminated and very often present within tomato fields due to its higher levels of tolerance to the major herbicide (metribuzin) employed in this crop. Therefore, this weed may act as a persistent reservoir of tomato-infecting EuYMV isolates, which may allow the selection of viral populations potentially more adapted to this vegetable crop.

Comportamientos alimentarios de riesgo y consumo de tabaco, alcohol y marihuana según género en estudiantes universitarios chilenos / Risk eating behaviors and tobacco, alcohol and marijuana consumption by gender among chilean university students

Los comportamientos de riesgo para la salud tienen implicaciones en amplios aspectos del individuo. El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar la asociación entre comportamientos alimentarios de riesgo (CAR) y consumo de tabaco, alcohol y marihuana en estudiantes universitarios de Chile según el género. Después de obtener consentimiento informado se realizó un estudio transversal y analítico, el cual incluyó a 1,087 universitarios de primer año con edad promedio 18.8 años. Se utilizó el Youth Risk Behavior Survey autoaplicado en línea para evaluar los comportamientos de riesgo para la salud. Las mujeres presentaron mayor prevalencia que los hombres en CAR y los hombres en consumo de alcohol y marihuana. Los resultados de las regresiones logísticas mostraron que en mujeres existen diferencias significativas entre quienes presentaron CAR y no, en la mitad de los comportamientos de uso de tabaco, alcohol y marihuana. En hombres sólo un comportamiento se asoció con CAR. En ambos géneros los tamaños de efecto fueron pequeños. En las mujeres los hallazgos confirman estudios previos y en hombres el tamaño de la muestra no permite observar adecuadamente la relación entre CAR y consumo de tabaco, alcohol y marihuana.

Health-Risk Behaviors has implications for broader aspects of the people. The aim of this study was to analyze the association between Risk Eating Behaviors (REB) and tobacco, alcohol and marijuana consumption by gender among Chilean university students. After obtaining informed consent, a cross-sectional analytical study, which included 1087 college freshmen, mean age 18.8 years was conducted. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey was online self-applied to evaluate the Health-Risk Behavior. The REB were higher among women, while alcohol and marijuana consumption in men. Regression analysis yielded a model that shows significant higher risk in women who reported Risk Eating Behaviors and those who not, in the half of the behaviors of tobacco, alcohol and marijuana. In men only one behavior was associated with Risk Eating Behaviors. In both genders the effect sizes were small. Those findings confirmed that in women the findings confirm previous studies but in men the size of the sample did not permit adequately observe the relation between eating risk behavior and consumption of tobacco, alcohol and marijuana.

Chemiluminescence determination of antioxidant property of Zizyphus mistol and Prosopis alba during oxidative stress generated in blood by Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome-producing Escherichia coli.

This study was undertaken to elucidate the antioxidant effect of Zizyphus mistol and Prosopis alba, with the hypothesis that these fruits can counteract the induction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) caused by toxins produced by Escherichia coli. In the search of nutrients effective against the Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS), we detected by chemiluminescence a protective role of both plants, due to their natural antioxidants significantly decreasing the levels of ROS induced by toxins from E. coli in blood. The ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) was found to be higher in Z. mistol than in P. alba. The chemical analyses of the phenols and flavonoids present in the fruit extracts indicated that the FRAP correlated with the amount of phenolic compounds, but not with the flavonoids analyzed. Both fruits studied reduce the induction of ROS, and in this way help to prevent the development of complications related to oxidative stress generated in the blood of patients with HUS.

Factor V Leiden and the risk of venous thrombosis, myocardial infarction, and stroke: a case-control study in Venezuela.

The most common genetic defect associated with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a mutation in the Factor V gene (G1691A), known as Factor V Leiden (FVL). We investigated the genotypes for FVL in 571 individuals in Venezuela: 208 patients with DVT, 175 patients with acute myocardial infarction, 54 patients with stroke, and 134 control subjects. Our results showed in the population analyzed here that the FVL was associated with a fourfold increase in the risk for DVT (odds ratio, 4.24; 95% confidence interval, 1.35-14.79); particularly, women carriers showed a 6.5-fold increase in the risk for DVT. No relation was observed between the presence of FVL and the risk for acute myocardial infarction or stroke. In conclusion, a clear association between the FVL mutation and DVT was observed in the population analyzed in Venezuela. These results are in agreement with those found in other populations with different ethnic backgrounds.

Detection of the 35delG/GJB2 and del(GJB6-D13S1830) mutations in Venezuelan patients with autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss.

Severe to profound hearing impairment affects 1 of every 1000 newborn children each year. Inheritance accounts for 60% of these cases, of which 70% are nonsyndromic. The most common cause of autosomal recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss (ARNSHL) is mutation in GJB2, a gene on chromosome 13, which encodes a gap junction protein named Connexin 26. Mutations in GJB2 are responsible for 40% of genetic childhood deafness. The most common mutation, 35delG, predominates in many ethnic groups. Some families with linkage to the DFNB1 locus have none or only one mutated allele in GJB2, however, some subjects can exhibit a large deletion in another connexin gene, GJB6, resulting in a monogenic or digenic pattern of inheritance in this complex DFNB1 locus that contains both genes (GJB2 and GJB6). The aim of the study was to determine (1) the frequency for the 35delG (27.5%), del(GJB6-D13S1830) (2.5%) and del(GJB6-D13S1854) (0.0%) mutations in a cohort of 40 Venezuelan patients with ARNSHL and (2) the carrier frequency 35delG (4%), del(GJB6-D13S1830) (0%) and del(GJB6-D13S1854) (0%) in the Venezuelan population with no familial history of hearing impairment. One patient (2.5%) was detected as double heterozygote for the deletion del(GJB6-D13S1830) and 35delG mutation. This result has direct clinical implications because we include the molecular detection of the deletion del(GJB6-D13S1830) during the evaluation of the diagnosis of deafness in the Venezuelan population.