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We mainly give a numerical condition to ensure the finite generation of the effective monoids of some smooth projective rational surfaces. These surfaces are constructed from the blow-up of any fixed Hirzebruch surface at some special configurations of ordinary points. Under this numerical condition, we determine explicitly the list of all (- 1) and (- 2) -curves. In particular, we complete a result obtained by Harbourne (Duke Math J 52(1):129–148, 1985) and another result obtained by the third author (C R Math 338(11):873–878, 2004). Moreover, the Cox rings of these surfaces are finitely generated. Our ground field is assumed to be algebraically closed of any characteristic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the high symmetry in the geometry of a smooth projective quadric, we construct effectively new families of smooth projective rational surfaces whose nef divisors are regular, and whose effective monoids are finitely generated by smooth projective rational curves of negative self-intersection. Furthermore, the Cox rings of these surfaces are finitely generated, the dimensions of their anticanonical complete linear systems are zero, and their nonzero nef divisors intersect positively the anticanonical ones. And in two special cases, we give efficient ways of describing any effective divisor class in terms of the given minimal generating sets for the effective monoids of these surfaces. The ground field of our varieties is algebraically closed of arbitrary characteristic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Evidence shows altered oxidative stress markers in patients with depressive disorders. • SOD and GSH are oxidative stress indicators in Major Depressive Disorder. • CAT, GR, and GST are relevant biomarkers in Bipolar Disorder. • Controversial results seem linked to disorder type, sample type, and technique used. Oxidative stress (OS) results from the imbalance between the production of reactive oxygen species and the body's antioxidant mechanisms and is associated with various diseases, including depression. Antioxidants protect cells by neutralizing free radicals and include enzymatic components such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), glutathione reductase (GR), and glutathione S-transferase (GST). The concentration of these biomarkers can quantify OS. This research aimed to gather available information published in the last ten years about the concentration of enzymatic OS biomarkers in samples from patients with depressive disorders. Method: A systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA guidelines, including original scientific articles that evaluated enzymatic OS biomarkers in participants with depressive disorders, using the keywords and boolean operators "superoxide dismutase" OR "catalase" OR "glutathione" AND "depress*" in the databases PubMed, SAGE Journals, DOAJ, Scielo, Dialnet, and Redalyc. Results: The initial search showed 614 results, with only 28 articles meeting the selection criteria. It was observed that all evaluated oxidative stress enzymatic markers showed a significant increase or decrease in patients with depressive disorders, due to a wide variability in the depressive disorders studied, the type of biological sample analyzed, and the techniques used. Conclusion: There is evidence of the relationship between enzymatic OS biomarkers and depressive disorders, but additional studies are needed to clarify the nature of this relationship, particularly considering the different types of depressive disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we deal with the Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity of the residual scheme resY X of X with respect to Y; where X and Y are closed subschemes of the n-dimensional projective space ℙn over an algebraically closed field of arbitrary characteristic, moreover, we characterize it by studying its hyperplane section scheme. In addition, we investigate the case when resY X consists of points in uniform position, in particular we offer a method of constructing a set of points of a given projective space in uniform position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cherry trees from Spain affected by cherry leaf scorch (CLS), a fungal disease proposed to be caused by Apiognomonia erythrostoma, show symptoms (translucent-chlorotic leaf spots evolving into rusty areas) very similar to those of cherry chlorotic rusty spot disease (CCRS) and Amasya cherry disease, reported in Italy and Turkey, respectively. The three maladies are closely associated with 10-12 double-stranded viral RNAs, and CCRS is additionally associated with two cherry small circular RNAs (cscRNA1 and cscRNA2). Here, we report that a small viroid-like RNA similar to the CCRS-associated cscRNA1 is also present in CLS-affected trees, thus extending the link between the two diseases. Both CLS and CCRS cscRNA1 elements have common features, including sequence identity (88 %), a predicted quasi rod-like conformation with short bifurcations at both termini, and the presence of hammerhead ribozymes in the strands of both polarities. However, cscRNA2, apparently derived from cscRNA1 by deletion of a short hairpin, was not detected in CLS-affected material. Although the biological nature of cscRNAs is unknown, the identification of at least cscRNA1 in different cherry cultivars and in two distinct geographic areas (Spain and Italy), always in close association with the same mycoviral dsRNAs, supports that these viroid-like RNAs could be satellite RNAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adolescent obesity is associated with an increased risk of adult obesity and subsequent cardiovascular diseases. The present study aimed to assess the effect of weight loss after 6-month lifestyle intervention in obese adolescents on biomarkers of endothelial activation and fibrinolytic system. Eighty-five obese adolescents aged 10 to 16 years were assigned to a 6-month lifestyle intervention and 61 completed the programme. We examined the effect of the intervention on adhesion molecules (selectin E, soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1 and soluble vascular adhesion molecule 1) and fibrinolytic parameters [plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) and fibrinogen]. Thirty-six lean adolescents were studied only at baseline as a comparison group. Compared with lean participants, obese adolescents at baseline demonstrated significantly higher levels of triglycerides, glucose, insulin, homeostasis model assessment, soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1, PAI-1 and fibrinogen. After 6-month lifestyle intervention, those obese adolescents with decreased standard deviation score-body mass index (SDS-BMI) displayed significant decreases in insulin (19.2 ± 11.2 vs. 26.8 ± 13.2 mU/L, P≤ 0.01), homeostasis model assessment (4.24 ± 3.19 vs. 6.58 ± 4.08, P≤ 0.01), selectin E (100.2 ± 60.9 vs. 116.0 ± 69.0 ng/mL, P≤ 0.01) and PAI-1 (39.6 ± 38.0 vs. 51.8 ± 25.6 ng/mL, P≤ 0.05) with respect to the baseline levels. No changes in these parameters were observed in the obese adolescents with stable or increased SDS-BMI. The changes of triglycerides after intervention in subgroup with decreased SDS-BMI were significantly greater than those in subgroup with stable SDS-BMI. The present study demonstrated increased endothelial activation and impairment of the fibrinolytic system in early life, which is in part reversible by a 6-month lifestyle intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective:To elaborate Mexican growth charts based on international methodology.Design:Data were obtained from the Mexican National Health Survey. The survey was stratified and probabilistic representative of all the country.Setting:Nationwide open population living in urban and rural areas.Subjects:Boys (8545) and girls (9983) from 10 to 18 years participating in the survey.Methods:Age, weight and height were recorded. Empirical percentiles were calculated and smoothed. Smoothed curves were approximated using least-mean square estimation.Results:Tables and figures for percentile values of weight, height and body mass index (BMI) for age, as well as percentile values of weight and BMI for height for both genders are presented. Regarding 50th BMI for age percentiles, Mexicans had higher levels than the Americans in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth charts; Mexicans were lower but had similar weights than the Americans. Owing to the high BMI, the percentile corresponding to an overweight level (25 kg/m2) at 18 years was 74.5 in boys and 72.5 in girls, whereas obesity level (30 kg/m2) at 18 years was 97.3 and 97.4 in boys and girls, respectively.Conclusions:The present growth charts are snapshots of a Mexican population. Because the high median BMI compared to US and World Health Organization standards, we must be cautious in establishing an upper normal cutoff for clinical normality, not merely selecting the 85th and 95th percentiles as equivalents of overweight and obesity, respectively. Therefore, we proposed percentiles 74.5 in boys and 72.5 in girls as the action points of overweight as they are the percentiles corresponding to BMI 25 kg/m2 at 18 years.Sponsorship:The survey was supported by the Mexican Minister of Health. Statistical analyses were sponsored by Dr Del-Rio-Navarro.European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2007) 61, 963–975; doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602612; published online 17 January 2007 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new image analysis technique has been developed which allows maceral analysis of coal to be carried out. The technique is able to separate the liptinite, vitrinite and inertinite component from the background resin by using quantization method, this method identify the five most important colors in each image of each maceral. The colors images identified are introduced in the Vander-Lugt correlator to be compare with images coal's microstructures without characterize and show the correlation's peaks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a detailed study of a single thunderstorm anvil cirrus cloud measured on 21 July 2002 near southern Florida during the Cirrus Regional Study of Tropical Anvils and Cirrus Layers–Florida Area Cirrus Experiment (CRYSTAL-FACE). NASA WB-57F and University of North Dakota Citation aircraft tracked the microphysical and radiative development of the anvil for 3 h. Measurements showed that the cloud mass that was advected downwind from the thunderstorm was separated vertically into two layers: a cirrus anvil with cloud-top temperatures of -45°C lay below a second, thin tropopause cirrus (TTC) layer with the same horizontal dimensions as the anvil and temperatures near -70°C. In both cloud layers, ice crystals smaller than 50 μm across dominated the size distributions and cloud radiative properties. In the anvil, ice crystals larger than 50 μm aggregated and precipitated while small ice crystals increasingly dominated the size distributions; as a consequence, measured ice water contents and ice crystal effective radii decreased with time. Meanwhile, the anvil thinned vertically and maintained a stratification similar to its environment. Because effective radii were small, radiative heating and cooling were concentrated in layers approximately 100 m thick at the anvil top and base. A simple analysis suggests that the anvil cirrus spread laterally because mixing in these radiatively driven layers created horizontal pressure gradients between the cloud and its stratified environment. The TTC layer also spread but, unlike the anvil, did not dissipate—perhaps because the anvil shielded the TTC from terrestrial infrared heating. Calculations of top-of-troposphere radiative forcing above the anvil and TTC showed strong cooling that tapered as the anvil evolved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compare the absorption of (a) an absorbing potential proposed recently by Manolopoulos based on semiclassical arguments and (b) complex potentials composed by contiguous square barriers. The latter use more parameters and provide better absorption, but the potential by Manolopoulos is simple and robust with respect to numerical discretization, and can be very efficient if its only effective parameter is optimized. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Extracranial injury is frequently present in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, no reliable biomarker exists nowadays to evaluate the magnitude and extension of extracranial injury as well as the identification of patients who are at risk of developing secondary injuries. The purpose of this study was to identify new possible peptide biomarkers by mass spectrometry analysis in patients with TBI and ascertain whether the novel biomarker discovered by peptide mass fingerprinting, serum amyloid A1 (SAA1), is capable of reflecting the condition of the patient and both intracranial and extracranial injury extension. Demographic characteristics, clinical data, and serum samples were prospectively collected from 120 patients with TBI (Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS] score 3-15) on admission. Biomarkers were quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Intracranial lesion volume was measured from the semiautomatic segmentation of hematoma on computed tomography (CT) using Analyze software. Functional outcome was evaluated using the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) at hospital discharge and GOS extended scores at 6 months. The SAA1 levels were significantly associated with intracranial (GCS score at admission, lesion load measured with cranial CT, and pupil responsiveness) and extracranial clinical severity (all Abbreviated Injury Scale regions, Injury Severity Score, major extracranial injury, polytrauma, and orthopedic fractures presence), along with systemic secondary insults and functional outcome. SAA1 was is associated with the volume of traumatic intracranial lesions. The SAA1 levels were correlated with astroglial S100β and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), neuronal neuron-specific enolase (NSE), and axonal total tau (T-tau) and phosphorylated neurofilament heavy chain (pNF-H) injury markers. SAA1 predicts unfavorable outcome and mortality at hospital discharge (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.90, 0.82) and 6 months (AUC = 0.89). SAA1 can be established as a marker for the overall patient condition due to its involvement in the neuroendocrine axis of the systemic response to craniocerebral [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Sexual function is important for patients’ well-being but it is a common side effect of SSRI and SNRI, included desvenlafaxine. Objectives and aims Evaluate incidence and characteristics of sexual dysfunction caused by desvenlafaxine in the clinical practice. Methods One hundred and thirty-three patients with recently introduced desvenlafaxine treatment are recruited from Barakldo and Uribe-Kosta Mental Health Centres in Biscay, Spain. UKU scale is administered to measure sexual side effects. Statistical analysis is performed using SPSS v.22. Results Sexual dysfunction is observed in 5 patients (3.7%) at 50 and 100 mg/d (2 and 3 patients, respectively) desvenlafaxine doses. Two patients (1.5%) have experimented more than one sexual side effect. Regarding gender differences, the most frequent sexual dysfunctions are diminished sexual desire (5.5%) and erectile dysfunction (5.5%) in men and orgasmic dysfunction (1.2%) in women ( P -values are 0.034; 0.034 and 0.408, respectively). Discontinuation is decided in 60% of patients. Conclusions Desvenlafaxine has a well-tolerated sexual side effect profile in general population. There are some gender-related differences both in presentation and perception, as it has been described with other drugs, and this should be taken into account by prescriptors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Desvenlafaxine is a SNRI which presents low affinity for muscarinic, H1 and α1 in vitro receptors and a marginal hepatic metabolism. Different studies have shown effectiveness and a favorable tolerability profile, but only a few of them have been realized independently. Objectives and aims To study the incidence and characteristics of short-term desvenlafaxine side effects (SE) in daily clinical practice. Methods A total of 123 patients with recently introduced desvenlafaxine treatment are recruited from Barakaldo and Uribe-Kosta Mental Health Centers, and UKU scale is administered to measure SE. Descriptive data are calculated using SPSS v.22. Results SE are observed in 30.09%. Among these, 5.69% experimented improvement or disappearance of SE with dose reduction, whereas 16.26% had to stop DVF treatment. The most frequent SE was nausea/vomiting (7.3%), followed by dry mouth (4.9%), blurred vision (4.9%), tachycardia (4.1%), sexual SE (4.1%) and tension/inner unrest (4.1%). Among the patients with anxiety disorders, 27.78% present SE versus 30.47% of patients with other diagnoses. Conclusions The characteristics of SE with DVF in daily clinical practice are comparable to those found in previous studies, and the overall profile is more benign than other AD. Aspects such as gender and sexual function must be considered. In patients with anxious symptoms DVF is also effective and ES are presented similarly, opening a new line of research and treatment of conditions with these characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction The new edition of the DSM has introduced some changes involving differences, sometimes significant, in the conceptualization and classification of mental pathology. One of the most important has been the case of mental retardation. Objectives and aims Discuss, with a clinical and pragmatic perspective, the relevance of those changes in the diagnosis and classification of mental retardation in DSM. Methods A 45-year-old woman diagnosed with mental retardation is admitted in a psychiatric rehabilitation unit for behavioral disorders and psychotic symptoms. Once controlled the symptoms and studied the patient, a disability not corresponding with the diagnosis presented (mild mental retardation according to DSM IV) is shown. Clinicians start a reevaluation of the diagnosis. Results A comprehensive rehabilitation program according to the pathology and deterioration of the patient is designed. With the diagnosis review is possible to find new resources and community programs, better fit for the patient needs. Conclusions DSM V changes in mental retardation diagnosis and classification allows a better perspective of the disease and its impact of functionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Early Pleistocene archeological site of Fuente Nueva-3 (FN3) preserves some of the oldest evidence of hominin presence in Western Europe, including a huge assemblage of Oldowan tools and evidence of butchering and marrow processing of large mammal bones. Moreover, there is also evidence of the regular presence of carnivores at the site, including a small proportion of bones that show tooth marks, the majority of which can be attributed to the giant, short-faced hyena Pachycrocuta brevirostris, and there are 220 coprolites, most of them from the Upper Archeological Level. In order to identify the defecating agent, we analyze here the coprolites and compare them with other specimens from the literature and with scats from zoo spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta). The morphology, color, size, and chemical composition of the FN3 coprolites allow us to attribute them to the hyena P. brevirostris, which is also represented at the site by fossil specimens. In addition, we evaluate the origin of the accumulation of coprolites and discuss on the role played by the scavenging hyenas in the accumulation and modification of the bone remains unearthed at the site, which allows evaluating the contribution of the giant hyena to this Early Pleistocene site. Finally, based on the lithology of layer 5 of the Upper Archeological Level, fine sands and clays deposited in a salt-lake environment, we hypothesize that this layer may have acted as a quicksand where large-sized animals like elephants were trapped and their carcasses lured scavenging carnivores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the conference paper "US elastography: its potential role in evaluation of breast lesions" by A. Rotili and colleagues is presented.

Major allergens are defined as the main components of the allergen extracts, binding most of IgE of patient's serum. The major allergens Der-s1 (25kD) and Der-s2 (15kD) of the mite Dermatophagoides siboney (Ds) are being studied as candidates for development of therapeutic vaccines. The aim of this work was to determine the biological activity of isolated Ds major allergens, as compared to the whole allergen extract. Der-s1 was purified using Mab-affinity chromatography, rendering a purity >95%. A fraction of the allergen extract, containing predominantly Der-s1 and Der-s2 (s1/s2), was obtained by salting out and gel filtration chromatography, using Superdex-200. The 25 and 15kD components represented about 80% of the total protein content, in this fraction. The allergenic activity was tested in-vitro by IgE Inhibition ELISA using a serum pool of allergic patients. Up to 70 and 95% of the total IgE binding activity of the extract was inhibited by Der-s1 and s1/s2, respectively. These two purified preparations, together with the whole extract, were applied in the Skin Prick Test on 26 allergic patients. The size of the skin reaction was recorded, and used to calculate the biological activity. Up to 96% of patients showed positive tests to s1/s2 and only 58% to Der-s1. The highest activity was showed by s1/s2, although no statistical differences (p=0.05) were detected between different preparations. The results suggest that the optimal vaccine candidate should contain both major allergens in order to be effective in the vast majority of allergic population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the episodic/semantic distinction in remembering the past and imagining the future and explored cognitive mechanisms predicting events’ specificity throughout the lifespan. Eighty-three 6- to 81-year-old participants, divided into 5 age groups, underwent past, present and future episodic (events’ evocation) and semantic (self-descriptions) autobiographical tasks and a complementary cognitive test battery (executive functions, working and episodic memory). The main results showed age effects on episodic events’ evocation indicating an inverted U function (i.e., developmental progression from 6 to 21 years and aging decline). By contrast, age effects were slighter on self-descriptions while self-defining events’ evocation increased with age. Furthermore, age effects on episodic events’ evocation were mainly mediated by age effects on cognitive functions and personal semantics. These new findings indicate a developmental and aging episodic/semantic distinction for both remembering the past and imagining the future, and suggest that above similarities, these abilities could have a fundamentally different basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a theoretical revision of the social vulnerability concept, this article proposes a scheme of vulnerability indicators within the human environment focused on different aetiology risks. An adaptation of this generic scheme of vulnerability factors is set for the specific field of aquifer contamination risk, as well as a methodology for its analysis. Finally, model application examples are given for the Sierra de Líbar and Sierra de Mijas carbonate aquifers and the Vélez River detrital aquifer, all of which are located in the south of Spain. Obtained cartography results show a range of utilities for risk mitigation and permit appropriate spatial discrimination for its performance over different scales. The exposure and vulnerability of the groundwater contamination risk concept is evaluated in specific maps, taking into account the resident population as well as their assets. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We review the construction and use of complex potentials in reactive scattering and other molecular collisions to calculate continuum quantities (such as state-to-state transition probabilities, cumulative reaction probabilities, or resonance characteristics) with finite grid or finite basis methods. The success of the approach is greatly based on its simplicity. In general these potentials are adjusted phenomenologically or optimized for achieving an absorptive and non-reflecting boundary. For further progress the conceptual and formal framework of the complex potentials and the efficiency of their numerical implementation must be investigated more deeply. We present along this line a formal theory of scattering for complex potentials in one dimension, as well as a detailed account of the functional forms and construction methods proposed. We also demonstrate that part of the acquired knowledge may be transferred to “physical” absorbing potentials, i.e., effective interactions that can be tailored physically (rather than numerically) to accomplish e.g. an improved atomic detection by fluorescence. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The status of the arrival time distributions of Allcock and Kijowski and their generalizations, which are all obtained using conventional quantum mechanics, is discussed in the light of some “paradoxes” pointed out by Leavens and some other recent results on a fluorescence based operational time-of-arrival model. We claim that the paradoxical aspects dissolve away from the point of view of the standard interpretation of quantum mechanics. Nevertheless, the relation with actual measurement devices is problematic and the limitations for implementing such a connection are made explicit. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this work, we report the design, fabrication, and characterization of gold nanocrosses for chemosensing purposes. The nanocrosses are designed to exhibit a localized surface plasmon resonance which is very sensitive to refractive index changes in the surrounding medium, resulting in sensitivity values of around 500-700 nm per refractive index unit at wavelengths around 1.4 μm. We experimentally demonstrate the functionalization of the gold nanocrosses and the successful sensing of chemical monolayers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: Childhood obesity is a serious public health problem in Mexico. Adult gut microbiota composition has been linked to obesity, but few studies have addressed the role of gut microbiota in childhood obesity. Objectives: The aim of this study is to compare gut microbiota composition in obese and normal‐weight children and to associate gut microbiota profiles with amino acid serum levels and obesity‐related metabolic traits. Methods: Microbial taxa relative abundance was determined by 16S rRNA sequencing in 67 normal‐weight and 71 obese children aged 6–12 years. Serum amino acid levels were measured by mass spectrometry. Associations between microbiota composition, metabolic parameters and amino acid serum levels were tested. Results: No significant differences in phyla abundances or Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratios were observed between normal‐weight and obese children. However, Bacteroides eggerthii abundance was significantly higher in obese children and correlated positively with body fat percentage and negatively with insoluble fibre intake. Additionally, Bacteroides plebeius and unclassified Christensenellaceae abundances were significantly higher in normal‐weight children. Abundance of both these species correlated negatively with phenylalanine serum levels, a metabolite also found to be associated with obesity in Mexican children. Conclusions: The study identified bacterial species associated with obesity, metabolic complications and amino acid serum levels in Mexican children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study focusing on the prevalence of hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia (HED) in Mestizos people in Mexico and the mutational spectrum of EDA and EDAR genes in them. Topics discussed include the informed consent taken from the families under study in observance of Helsinki declaration, the confirmation of several EDA-positive mutation patients as genetic carriers, and the HED phenotype in the patients.

Background According to the National Transplant Center (CENATRA), in 2013, a total of 2707 transplantations were performed in Mexico; of them, 10% (270 transplantations) were done in our Tertiary Care Hospital (Western National Medical Center). This means that one in 10 transplant recipients undergoes transplantation at our medical center. The aim of our study was to describe the characteristics of and to compare changes in the kidney transplantation program over time. Materials and Methods This was a cross-sectional study. Data were collected from the hospital transplant registry from January 1994 to December 2014. Results During the study period, 3643 kidney transplantations were conducted; most were living donor 3236 (89%), and only 407 patients (11%) received a graft from a deceased donor. Of living donors, 2786 (87%) were related, and 450 (13%) were genetically unrelated. The average recipient age was 28 years, and the average age of the donor was 34 years. It was observed that siblings donated more frequently (51%), followed by parents (34%). Among unrelated donors, spouses donated the most (66%). In 80% of cases, the cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) was unknown (80%). The most frequent renal replacement therapy was peritoneal dialysis (54%), followed by hemodialysis (18%); only 5% of patients received preemptive kidney transplant. The most frequent immunosuppression scheme was tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil, and prednisone in 70% of patients. Conclusion The Western National Medical Center is the largest kidney transplantation program in Mexico. The main activity is living donor transplantation. Recipients are relatively young persons with unknown etiology of ESRD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Early steroid withdrawal (ESW) can improve lipid and hemodynamic profiles without severe acute rejection (AR) events in renal transplant patients. Our objective was to evaluate the effects of ESW on the frequency and severity of AR. Methods A randomized, open-label, controlled clinical trial was performed on renal transplant recipients with a follow-up of 12 months. In the ESW group, patients were selected for corticosteroid treatment withdrawal on the fifth day post transplantation. In the Control group, patients continued with steroid treatment. All patients were over 18 years of age with panel reactive antibody (PRA) class I and II HLA <20%. Results In total, 71 patients, 37 in the ESW group (52.1%) and 34 in the Control group (47.9%), had comparable AR incidences at the end of the follow-up (16% vs 15%) (NS) (RR = 1.20, 95% CI = 0.32–3.33). Although renal graft survival was similar between the ESW and Control groups (87% vs 94%), renal function was superior in the ESW group (85 vs 75 mL/min). Additionally, hypertension was less frequent in the ESW group (3% vs 35%), requiring the use of fewer antihypertensives (8% vs 50%). Conclusions ESW was also associated with better blood pressure control and similar AR risk. The ESW group exhibited stable renal function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a biozonation of the Pleistocene continental record of the Guadix-Baza Basin is proposed. This biozonation is based on the small mammal succession, which ranges from the earliest Pleistocene (ca. 2.6 Ma) to the Middle Pleistocene (ca. 0.3 Ma). A total of 9 biozones have been recognized, all based on the range or concurrent-range of arvicolid species. Therefore, seven biozones have been defined for the Early Pleistocene: Kislangia gusii Zone, Mimomys cf. reidi Zone, Mimomys (Tcharinomy)s oswaldoreigi Zone, Allophaiomys ruffoi Zone, Allophaiomys aff. lavocati Zone, Iberomys huescarensis Zone and Terricola arvalidens Zone. In the Middle Pleistocene of the basin two biozones have been recognized: Iberomys brecciensis–Arvicola mosbachensis Zone and Iberomys brecciensis-Arvicola aff. sapidus Zone. According to different dating methods, the duration of each Early Pleistocene biozone ranges between 0.4 and 0.1 My, with increasing resolution from the Earliest Pleistocene to the late Early Pleistocene. The small mammal succession reveals a high degree of endemism and a persistent Eastern Mediterranean influence, as opposed to Central and Eastern Europe. However, correlation with other Iberian and European sites has been possible on the basis of each biozone associated fauna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human-robot collaboration (HRC) technologies represent one of the new options for the prevention of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMDs) [1]. They share the workspace with workers, communicate with them, manage the human partner's flexibility and ergonomics and physically interact, to work together on a common goal [2]. Reconfigurable collaborative robots adapt to the workers' intentions and task variations, offloading them from external loads and keeping them in ergonomic working circumstances, to improve efficiency and quality of the task execution. Although collaborative work is a widespread method for lowering WMDs, the scientific literature reveals conflicting findings on its efficacy, due to factors affecting team capacity, autonomy, and coordination [3]. To measure motor coordination during dynamic tasks, a common approach is muscle co-activation that may become functionally unfavorable [3]. Therefore, this research aims to evaluate upper limb muscle coactivation in workers performing an industrial use case manual material handling (MMH), proposed by the SME HANKAMP (Netherlands), by comparing a scenario where the workers are helped by a dual-arm cobot BAZAR [4] with a scenario without BAZAR. This cobot BAZAR is being assessed in the context of SOPHIA (http://www.project-sophia.eu) project funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 (grant agreement No. 871237). Eleven participants (5 females and 6 males; 27.73±5.99 years; BMI: 23.06±3.93 kg/m2) took part in the study carried out at the University of Montpellier in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration and authorized by the local Ethics Committee (Protocol number IRB-EM 2103 A). Six bipolar electrodes (FreeEMG300 System, BTS, Italy, sampling rate at 1000 Hz) were placed on the flexors and extensors muscles of the shoulder (anterior and posterior deltoideus), elbow (biceps and triceps brachii caput longum) and wrist (flexor and extensor carpi radialis) joints. The experiments are shown in the video available at: https://youtu.be/vul8iLO0Sdw. Each participant, after being instructed, completed the task 3 times without BAZAR and 3 with BAZAR (Fig. 1A). We randomly ordered the 2 conditions for each subject. Furthermore, participants performed a specific exercise twice with each muscle to obtain the isometric maximal voluntary contractions (iMVCs) [1,3]. The envelope of each task's sEMG signals was then extracted, normalized respect to the average iMVC peak value for each muscle, time-normalized and then interpolated according to the brushing sub-task duration (400 samples) [1,3]. The time-varying multi-muscle coactivation function (TMCf) [3] was estimated and the mean and maximum values were calculated. A statistical analysis was carried out to evaluate whether the help of the cobot had determined significant changes in each parameter (p-value < 0.05). Fig. 1B show the mean and standard deviation of mean and max values of evaluated TMCf for each condition. Significant effects of the presence of BAZAR were found for mean (p<0.001) and max (p=0.001) values of TMCf: the values significantly decrease when the task is performed with BAZAR. The results showed a reduction in upper limb co-activation when the specific MMH was performed with BAZAR. Therefore, HRC technologies, which share the workspace with workers, not only offload workers from external loads and improve the task execution efficiency and quality. They also allow a better coordination and reduce the worker's physical effort while she/he physically interacts with the robot, and positively affect her/his physiological motor strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The discovery of viroids about 45 years ago heralded a revolution in Biology: small RNAs comprising around 350 nt were found to be able to replicate autonomously—and to incite diseases in certain plants—without encoding proteins, fundamental properties discriminating these infectious agents from viruses. The initial focus on the pathological effects usually accompanying infection by viroids soon shifted to their molecular features—they are circular molecules that fold upon themselves adopting compact secondary conformations—and then to how they manipulate their hosts to be propagated. Replication of viroids—in the nucleus or chloroplasts through a rolling-circle mechanism involving polymerization, cleavage and circularization of RNA strands—dealt three surprises: (i) certain RNA polymerases are redirected to accept RNA instead of their DNA templates, (ii) cleavage in chloroplastic viroids is not mediated by host enzymes but by hammerhead ribozymes, and (iii) circularization in nuclear viroids is catalyzed by a DNA ligase redirected to act upon RNA substrates. These enzymes (and ribozymes) are most probably assisted by host proteins, including transcription factors and RNA chaperones. Movement of viroids, first intracellularly and then to adjacent cells and distal plant parts, has turned out to be a tightly regulated process in which specific RNA structural motifs play a crucial role. More recently, the advent of RNA silencing has brought new views on how viroids may cause disease and on how their hosts react to contain the infection; additionally, viroid infection may be restricted by other mechanisms. Representing the lowest step on the biological size scale, viroids have also attracted considerable interest to get a tentative picture of the essential characteristics of the primitive replicons that populated the postulated RNA world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective:Epigenetic alterations have been suggested to be associated with obesity and related metabolic disorders. Here we examined the correlation between obesity and insulin resistance with the methylation frequency of the leptin (LEP) and adiponectin (ADIPOQ) promoters in obese adolescents with the aim to identify epigenetic markers that might be used as tools to predict and follow up the physiological alterations associated with the development of the metabolic syndrome.Subjects:One hundred and six adolescents were recruited and classified according to body mass index and homeostasis model of assessment-insulin resistance index. The circulating concentrations of leptin, adiponectin and of several metabolic markers of obesity and insulin resistance were determined by standard methods. The methylation frequency of the LEP and ADIPOQ promoters was determined by methylation-specific PCR (MS-PCR) in DNA obtained from peripheral blood samples.Results:Obese adolescents without insulin resistance showed higher and lower circulating levels of, respectively, leptin and adiponectin along with increased plasmatic concentrations of insulin and triglycerides. They also exhibited the same methylation frequency than lean subjects of the CpG sites located at −51 and −31 nt relative to the transcription start site of the LEP gene. However, the methylation frequency of these nucleotides dropped markedly in obese adolescents with insulin resistance. We found the same inverse relationship between the combined presence of obesity and insulin resistance and the methylation frequency of the CpG site located at −283 nt relative to the start site of the ADIPOQ promoter.Conclusions:These observations sustain the hypothesis that epigenetic modifications might underpin the development of obesity and related metabolic disorders. They also validate the use of blood leukocytes and MS-PCR as a reliable and affordable methodology for the identification of epigenetic modifications that could be used as molecular markers to predict and follow up the physiological changes associated with obesity and insulin resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Buia Homo site, also known as Wadi Aalad, is an East African paleoanthropological site near the village of Buia that, due to its very rich yield from the late Early Pleistocene, has been intensively investigated since 1994. In this paper, which reports on the finds of the 2010–2011 excavations, we include new fossil evidence on previously identified taxa (i.e., reptiles), as well as the very first description of the small mammal, fish and bird remains discovered. In particular, this study documents the discovery of the first African fossil of the genus Burhinus (Aves, Charadriiformes) and of the first rodent from the site. This latter is identified as a thryonomyid rodent (cane rat), a relatively common taxon in African paleoanthropological faunal assemblages. On the whole, the new occurrences documented within the Buia vertebrate assemblage confirm the occurrence of taxa characterized by strong water dependence. The paleoenvironmental characteristics of the fauna are confirmed as fully compatible with the evidence obtained through sedimentology and facies analysis, documenting the sedimentary evolution of fluvio-deltaic and lacustrine systems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Extensive research has shown that aberrant expression of microRNAs ( miRNAs) plays an important role in innate and adaptive immune responses. The rs2910164 polymorphism has been identified as a functional variant, which affects the transcription and expression level of miR-146a and, thereby, contributes to the pathogenesis of several inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. To investigate whether the rs2910164 G/C polymorphism was associated with asthma, systemic lupus erythematosus ( SLE) or juvenile rheumatoid arthritis ( JRA), we performed an association study in a pediatric Mexican cohort. We included 979 pediatric patients (asthma: 402, SLE: 367 and JRA: 210) and 531 control subjects without inflammatory or immune diseases. Genotyping was performed using the 5′ exonuclease technique. The genotype distribution of the rs2910164 polymorphism was in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in each group. No significant differences were detected in the distribution of this polymorphism between cases and controls ( P = 0.108, 0.609 and 0.553 for subjects with asthma, JRA and SLE, respectively). However, stratification by gender showed a statistically significant difference between asthmatic and control females, where the C allele was significantly associated with protection to asthma (odds ratio = 0.694, 95% confidence interval 0.519-0.929, P = 0.0138). Our results provide evidence that rs2910164 may play a role in the susceptibility to childhood-onset asthma, but not SLE or JRA in Mexicans. Further association studies may contribute to determining the role of miR-146a single-nucleotide polymorphisms in immune-mediated diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Toxoplasmosis is a devastating opportunistic infection that can affect immunocompromised patients such as cord blood transplantation ( CBT) recipients. The clinical characteristics of 4 toxoplasmosis CBT patients treated at our institution are reviewed, together with 5 cases collected from the literature. The rate of toxoplasmosis in our hospital was 6% in CBT recipients and 0.2% in other types of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation ( P < 0.001). Five patients (56%) presented disseminated toxoplasmosis and 4 patients (44%) had localized infection in the central nervous system. In 5 of the 9 patients considered (56%), cytomegalovirus viral replication had been detected before the clinical onset of toxoplasmosis. Seven patients (78%) had previously developed graft-versus-host disease. All patients who exhibited disseminated disease died due to Toxoplasma infection. Pre-transplant serology was positive in 1 patient, negative in 3 patients, and not performed in another. Only 1 of these 5 patients with disseminated disease had received Toxoplasma prophylaxis with cotrimoxazole. It could be concluded that mortality in CBT patients with disseminated toxoplasmosis is unacceptably high. The negative results of serology in the majority of these cases, and its unspecific clinical presentation, makes diagnosis exceedingly difficult. Better diagnostic tests and prophylaxis strategy are needed in CBT recipients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The autism susceptibility locus on human chromosome 7q32 contains the maternally imprinted MEST and the non-imprinted COPG2 and TSGA14 genes. Autism is a disorder of the 'social brain' that has been proposed to be due to an overbalance of paternally expressed genes. To study regulation of the 7q32 locus during anthropoid primate evolution, we analyzed the methylation and expression patterns of MEST, COPG2, and TSGA14 in human, chimpanzee, Old World monkey (baboon and rhesus macaque), and New World monkey (marmoset) cortices. In all human and anthropoid primate cortices, the MEST promoter was hemimethylated, as expected for a differentially methylated imprinting control region, whereas the COPG2 and TSGA14 promoters were completely demethylated, typical for transcriptionally active non-imprinted genes. The MEST gene also showed comparable mRNA expression levels in all analyzed species. In contrast, COPG2 expression was downregulated in the human cortex compared to chimpanzee, Old and New World monkeys. TSGA14 either showed no differential regulation in the human brain compared to chimpanzee and marmoset or a slight upregulation compared to baboon. The human-specific downregulation supports a role for COPG2 in the development of a 'social brain'. Promoter methylation patterns appear to be more stable during evolution than gene expression patterns, suggesting that other mechanisms may be more important for inter-primate differences in gene expression. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human brain is distinguished by its remarkable size, high energy consumption, and cognitive abilities compared to all other mammals and non-human primates. However, little is known about what has accelerated brain evolution in the human lineage. One possible explanation is that the appearance of advanced communication skills and language has been a driving force of human brain development. The phenotypic adaptations in brain structure and function which occurred on the way to modern humans may be associated with specific molecular signatures in today's human genome and/or transcriptome. Genes that have been linked to language, reading, and/or autism spectrum disorders are prime candidates when searching for genes for human-specific communication abilities. The database and genome-wide expression analyses we present here revealed a clustering of such communication-associated genes (COAG) on human chromosomes X and 7, in particular chromosome 7q31-q36. Compared to the rest of the genome, we found a high number of COAG to be differentially expressed in the cortices of humans and non-human primates (chimpanzee, baboon, and/or marmoset). The role of X-linked genes for the development of human-specific cognitive abilities is well known. We now propose that chromosome 7q31-q36 also represents a hot spot for the evolution of human-specific communication abilities. Selective pressure on the T cell receptor beta locus on chromosome 7q34, which plays a pivotal role in the immune system, could have led to rapid dissemination of positive gene variants in hitchhiking COAG. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The CES-D is widely used for the assessment of depressive symptoms in the adult population. However, few studies have been performed to assess the utility of this scale in an older population with cognitive impairment. The factor structure of the Spanish version of the CES-D was examined in an observational, cross sectional study in 623 older adults (M = 72.74 years; SD = 7.7). The validity of the scale was determined in two samples of older adults, one comprising 162 participants with cognitive impairment (M = 76.73 years; SD = 8.1) and one with 58 participants without cognitive impairment (M = 74.64 years; SD = 9.0). The results confirm previous results of a four factor structure. With regard to the validity of the scale, in the group with cognitive impairment the area under the ROC curve is 0.84 (95% CI: 0.77-0.89) and the cut-off point for possible depression is 13, while in the group without cognitive impairment the area is 0.90 (95% CI: 0.79-0.96) and the optimal cut-off point is 28. These results show that the Spanish version of the CES-D is a valid instrument for the identification of depression in older adults with and without cognitive impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Anatomic and functional disorders of the lower urinary tract represent up to 40% of the causes of renal failure in children. Several centers avoid renal transplantation in these patients because of the high risk of complications and lower graft survival. The aim of this work was to determine the frequency of urinary tract abnormalities (UTAs) among our pediatric series, and to compare the frequency of complications, function, and long-term graft survival among patients without versus with UTA. Methods: This single-center, retrospective study compared outcomes between pediatric recipients with versus without UTA. We analyzed demographic features, etiology, pretransplant protocol, urinary tract rehabilitation, incidence of complications, rejection events, as well as graft function and survival. Results: Among 328 pediatric cases performed between 1998 and 2008, we excluded nine patients due to incomplete medical records, analyzing 319 procedures in 312 patients. Sixty-seven patients (21%) had UTA. The average age, weight, and height at the time of grafting were significantly lower in the urologic group: 11.1 versus 12.6 years, 28.8 versus 34.4 kg; 125.4 versus 138.4 cm, respectively. There were significantly higher frequencies of a transperitoneal approach and vena cavae and aortic anastomoses among patients with UTA (P < .001), posing a greater technical challenge in this population. No differences in creatinine levels were observed at 0.5, 1, 2, 5, and 10 years: 1.3 versus 1.6 at 5 years, and 1.4 versus 1.5 at 8 years. Urologic complications, including urinary tract infections (UTIs), occurred among 80.6% of patients with UTA versus 42.1% in the non-UTA group (P < .001). UTIs appeared predominantly in patients with UTA (62.7% vs 35.3%, P < .001), representing a 2.7-fold risk compared with those children transplanted for other reasons. Rejection incidence was similar in both groups (49.8%). There was no significant difference in 5-y (89.8% vs 85%) or 10-year (83% vs 67%) graft survivals between the groups (P = .162). Conclusion: Our results demonstrated that with proper interdisciplinary care, graft and patient survivals of pediatric recipients with UTAs were not affected; therefore, these patients should not be rejected for transplantation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Low severity of GVHD, substantial graft vs tumor (GVT) and slow development of protective immunity are well-documented features of cord blood transplants (CBT). We have evaluated the immune reconstitution of adult recipients of single-unit CBT supported by the coinfusion of third party donor (TPD) mobilized hematopoietic stem cells (MHSC), a procedure—‘dual CB/TPD-MHSC transplant’—that results in early recovery of circulating granulocytes, high rates of CB engraftment and full chimerism. Cumulative recovery of natural killer and B cells at or above the median values of normal controls were 1.0 and 0.76 by the sixth and ninth months. Recovery of T cells was much slower, naive cells lagging behind those of memory and effector (committed) immunophenotypes. Serial analyses of signal joint TCR excision circles showed a general pattern of very low levels by the third month after CBT, followed by recovery to levels persistently similar or higher than those observed before transplantation and in normal controls. Our results are consistent with the clinical observations of substantial GVT effect together with low incidence of serious GVHD and slow development of protective immunity and suggest that thymic function contributes substantially to the recovery of T-cell populations in adults receiving dual CB/TPD-MHSC transplants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A genome-wide association study identified ORM1-like 3 (orosomucoid 1-like 3, ORMDL3) as an asthma candidate gene. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the region including ORMDL3 on chromosome 17q21 were related to childhood asthma risk and ORMDL3 expression levels in Europeans. Objective: We examined whether polymorphisms in ORMDL3 and the adjacent gasdermin-like ( GSDML) gene associated with asthma in the genome-wide association study are related to childhood asthma and atopy in a Mexico City population. Methods: We genotyped rs4378650 in ORMDL3 and rs7216389 in GSDML in 615 nuclear families consisting of asthmatic children aged 4–17 years and their parents. Atopy was determined by skin prick tests to 25 aeroallergens. Results: Individuals carrying the C allele of rs4378650 or the T allele of rs7216389 had increased risk of asthma [relative risk (RR) = 1.73, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.19–2.53, P = 0.003 for one or two copies of rs4378650 C, and RR = 1.64, 95% CI 1.12–2.38, P = 0.009 for one or two copies of rs7216389 T). Linkage disequilibrium between the two SNPs was high ( r2 = 0.92). Neither of the SNPs was associated with the degree of atopy. A meta-analysis of five published studies on rs7216389 in nine populations gave an odds ratio for asthma of 1.44 (95% CI, 1.35–1.54, P < 0.00001). Conclusions: Our results and the meta-analysis provide evidence to confirm the finding from a recent genome-wide association study that polymorphisms in ORMDL3 and the adjacent GSDML may contribute to childhood asthma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]