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Bikesharing helps citizens solve "the last mile" problem actively and healthily. However, these schemes tend to be located in the affluent and central areas of cities and often demand users to pay by credit or debit cards that are typically out of reach for poor groups, especially in developing countries. Consequently, bikesharing tends to reproduce existing inequalities in cities, leaving vulnerable groups and those living in poor areas with no option to ride bicycles. This study compares bikesharing users and ordinary cyclists from Santiago de Chile in terms of their sociodemographic characteristics, health status, transport-modal patterns, attitudes, and perceptions toward cycling and bikesharing infrastructure. In all, 1272 adult participants (569 bikesharing users and 703 ordinary cyclists, 63% males) responded to a 12-min survey in Santiago de Chile. The main findings show that bikesharing users reported higher educational levels and car ownership than ordinary cyclists, made shorter trips, and cycled less often than ordinary cyclists. However, using shared bikes permits them to comply with nearly 53% of their weekly physical activity recommendations, as nearly 40% of bikesharing trips would be otherwise made by car. Bikesharing users also tend to visit central areas of Santiago and rarely visit less central and affluent zones. • Bikesharing users have higher education levels than ordinary cyclists. • Cyclists perceive bikesharing schemes as having positive urban effects. • Bikesharing schemes operate in areas attracting high number of people. • Bikesharing users come and go to places less diverse than ordinary cyclists. • About 40% of bikesharing trips replaced trips otherwise made by cars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing threat to public health and farming at large. In clinical and veterinary practice, timely characterization of the antibiotic susceptibility profile of bacterial infections is a crucial step in optimizing treatment. High-throughput sequencing is a promising option for clinical point-of-care and ecological surveillance, opening the opportunity to develop genotyping-based AMR determination as a possibly faster alternative to phenotypic testing. In the present work, we compare the performance of state-of-the-art methods for detection of AMR using high-throughput sequencing data from clinical settings. We consider five computational approaches based on alignment (AMRPlusPlus), deep learning (DeepARG), k -mer genomic signatures (KARGA, ResFinder) or hidden Markov models (Meta-MARC). We use an extensive collection of 585 isolates with available AMR resistance profiles determined by phenotypic tests across nine antibiotic classes. We show how the prediction landscape of AMR classifiers is highly heterogeneous, with balanced accuracy varying from 0.40 to 0.92. Although some algorithms—ResFinder, KARGA and AMRPlusPlus—exhibit overall better balanced accuracy than others, the high per-AMR-class variance and related findings suggest that: (1) all algorithms might be subject to sampling bias both in data repositories used for training and experimental/clinical settings; and (2) a portion of clinical samples might contain uncharacterized AMR genes that the algorithms—mostly trained on known AMR genes—fail to generalize upon. These results lead us to formulate practical advice for software configuration and application, and give suggestions for future study designs to further develop AMR prediction tools from proof-of-concept to bedside. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reference materials are important in the standardization of autoantibody testing and only a few are freely available for many known autoantibodies. Our goal was to develop three reference materials for antibodies to PML bodies/multiple nuclear dots (MND), antibodies to GW bodies (GWB), and antibodies to the nuclear mitotic apparatus (NuMA).Reference materials for identifying autoantibodies to MND (MND-REF), GWB (GWB-REF), and NuMA (NuMA-REF) were obtained from three donors and validated independently by seven laboratories. The sera were characterized using indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) on HEp-2 cell substrates including two-color immunofluorescence using antigen-specific markers, western blot (WB), immunoprecipitation (IP), line immunoassay (LIA), addressable laser bead immunoassay (ALBIA), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and immunoprecipitation–mass spectrometry (IP-MS).MND-REF stained 6–20 discrete nuclear dots that colocalized with PML bodies. Antibodies to Sp100 and PML were detected by LIA and antibodies to Sp100 were also detected by ELISA. GWB-REF stained discrete cytoplasmic dots in interphase cells, which were confirmed to be GWB using two-color immunofluorescence. Anti-Ge-1 antibodies were identified in GWB-REF by ALBIA, IP, and IP-MS. All reference materials produced patterns at dilutions of 1:160 or greater. NuMA-REF produced fine speckled nuclear staining in interphase cells and staining of spindle fibers and spindle poles. The presence of antibodies to NuMA was verified by IP, WB, ALBIA, and IP-MS.MND-REF, GWB-REF, and NuMA-REF are suitable reference materials for the corresponding antinuclear antibodies staining patterns and will be accessible to qualified laboratories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the thermal comfort, airspeed and temperature distribution, air change effectiveness and importance of the boundary conditions on the selection and performance of Active Chilled Beams (ACB). Many past studies in cooling confirm that the thermal comfort is satisfactory because the temperature gradient and airspeeds are acceptable at the occupant level without addressing the local discomfort. Similarly, no known study was found to address thermal comfort in heating. This paper reports the results of an experimental study that addresses such issues. A laboratory experiment, simulating a multi-occupant open office with an ACB subjected to different boundary conditions, was conducted. The heating test results demonstrate that there is a risk of discomfort due to radiant temperature asymmetry. It also shows no airspeed in the occupied zone, which reduces the air change effectiveness. The cooling test results demonstrate that discomfort draft risk at the ankle level is higher in ACB parallel to window configuration. The results suggest that shape and throw of ACB affect air distribution and emphasize the importance of properly selecting, orienting, and designing ACB, not just to offset the room loads, but to match the proportions and boundary conditions of the space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the practice of walking in Chile, with particular attention given to walkability, urban planning, and inequality in cities including Santiago. Topics of discussion include urban planning focusing on automobiles, the creation of pedestrian-friendly zones, gender disparities and inequality, pedestrian accidents and fatalities, and socio-cultural factors.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small noncoding RNAs that function in post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. Dysregulation of miRNAs has been reported in different stages of cancer development and progression. This dysregulation results in different miRNA profiles between cancer and normal tissues. Many studies have shown a significant correlation between miRNA profile and cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Additionally, since a single miRNA regulates multiple mRNA targets, miRNAs dysregulation can affect several pathways involved in cancer development. Finally, due to their regulatory role in immune cell development, many recent studies have reported that certain miRNAs play key roles in cancer immunology. In this brief review, we discuss the role of miR-21 and miR-375 in the RAS pathway as well as their role in cancer diagnosis and progression, along with the role of other select miRNAs in cancer immune surveillance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of new urban transport infrastructure transforms the accessibility patterns of the immediate areas, modifying people's movements and, with that, the demand for land, its uses, activities and densities. In the case of the Chilean capital, Santiago, the underground (Metro), has generated sub-centralities, densification and potentiated real estate development in certain parts of the city, but has had negligible effects in others. Our research aims at trying to enhance the positive effects of a mass transit network such as Metro, to improve two large malaises of the city: its increasing urban sprawl and its unacceptable social segregation. Both problems are not unique to Santiago, but are shared by many Latin American conurbations. To do so, we first analysed and classified the areas around Metro stations, based on their social and urban characteristics, and densification potential. We then identified existing and potential subsidies to promote social integration and densification and, finally, we applied a stated choice experiment to real estate developers to inquire into their willingness to build in the vicinity of selected GIS-classified stations. In a previous paper, we discussed the models estimated with the stated choice data, and the expected results of applying packages of incentives for densification in the vicinity of different Metro stations. In this paper, we seek to identify mechanisms to increase both housing density and, at the same time, promote social integration in the vicinity of Metro stations, by identifying a typology of urban areas that respond differently to such incentives. Our results show that the effectiveness of the various incentives depends, to a great extent, on the urban characteristics of the Metro station surroundings. For example, in stations located in the central areas of the city incentives to stimulate real estate activity are not really necessary, as the process is well underway; however, in Metro stations located in industrial areas incentives are more effective in triggering real estate dynamics, especially direct demand incentives for any buyer or with a limited time frame. Finally, in peripheral Metro stations located in low standard social housing areas, the incentives tend to be less effective and are probably not enough to trigger a significant densification or integration process; hence, probably other type of governmental action, such as pilot or demonstration projects, should be sought for these cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobility-related social inequalities are receiving increasing attention from planning research and practice. Nevertheless, research seems to have a limited impact on urban policies addressing mobility. Using Santiago de Chile as a case study, the paper discusses the existing gaps between research on mobility-related equity concerns and existing policies and plans addressing urban mobility operating at national, metropolitan and municipal scales. An equity-based comparison is performed for different spatial planning instruments, exploring guiding concepts and deriving proposals through content analysis. The findings show that there is a comprehensive and multidisciplinary body of literature in Santiago on mobility and equity, approaching several dimensions of mobility, accessibility and social exclusion in relation to different population groups. However, the series of discourses, norms and actions (policies and programmes) operating at different planning scales lack coherence and address only some of the dimensions identified in the literature. Current plans and policies in Santiago have a limited scope and are difficult to modify, questioning their effectiveness for understanding and tackling mobility-related equity concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural socio-economic and institutional limitations can affect the implementation of cycling infrastructure. More stringent cycling infrastructure standards aiming to solve deficiencies might exacerbate disparities, especially in poor districts with fragmentary governance. Using an audit and quantitative and spatial analysis of cycleways, this paper examines to what extent structural inequalities and governance issues affect the availability and quality of cycling infrastructure, considering new indicative and normative standards aiming at improving cycling infrastructure in Santiago, Chile. Our results show that the distribution of cycleways is unequal and only partially complies with national quality standards. All districts in the city have both high and low standard bicycle lanes, but since district finances have huge differences, this can lead to inequalities in cycle coverage and districts' capabilities to address current standard problems. This raises relevant challenges regarding governance and how to ensure an equitable distribution of cycling infrastructure in Global South cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Toxicity and relapses from the immunochemotherapy used to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) prompt continued interest in gentle but effective targeted treatment options for the mainly elderly population suffering from this disease. Here, we report the definition of critical CLL cell survival pathways that can be targeted by ectopic reexpression of the miRNA genes miR-130a and miR-143 which are widely downregulated in CLL. Notably, miR-130a inhibited autophagy by reducing autophagosome formation, an effect mediated by downregulation of the genes ATG2B and DICER1, the latter of which is a major component of the miRNA silencing machinery. In support of the concept of a fundamental connection between miRNA disregulation and altered autophagic flux in this cancer, we showed that RNA interference-mediated knockdown of DICER1 expression was sufficient to reduce autophagy in primary or established cultures of CLL cells. Together, our findings show that miR-130a modulates cell survival programs by regulating autophagic flux, and they define roles for miR-130a and Dicer1 in a regulatory feedback loop that mediates CLL cell survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]