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Juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were fed diets in which fishmeal was totally replaced by mixtures of Spirulina powder and soybean meal. Three experimental diets were formulated with 75% Spirulina and 25% soybean meal, 50% Spirulina and 50% soybean meal, and 25% Spirulina and 75% soybean meal. A commercial diet and a diet with 100% fishmeal served as controls. Diets were fed to triplicate groups of 10 juveniles with an initial weight of 6.8±0.4 g for 50 days. At the end of the experiment, growth performance, oxygen consumption, nitrogen and phosphorus excretion, protein digestibility, and serum protein content and lysozyme activity were evaluated. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA. Growth performance was not significantly affected by the experimental diets, but values tended to be lower as the level of dietary soybean meal increased. Among the experimental diets, the 75% Spirulina/25% soybean diet produced the best growth performance. Further, in fish fed this diet, the apparent coefficient of digestibility of protein was higher than 98% (as with all diets), oxygen consumption was lower and lysozyme activity was higher than in fish fed other replacement diets, and dissolved phosphorus and phosphorus in feces were similar or lower than in the controls. The present research shows the possibility of using mixtures of Spirulina powder and soybean meal as total substitutes of fishmeal in diets for juvenile rainbow trout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Glycine strongly reduces the serum levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and increases the levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines. Recently, glycine has been shown to decrease the expression and secretion of pro-inflammatory adipokines in monosodium glutamate-induced obese (MSG/Ob) mice. It has been postulated that these effects may be explained by a reduction in nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) activation. NF-κB is a transcription factor, which is crucial to the inflammatory response. recently reported a glycine-dependent reduction in NF-κB levels. Here, we have investigated the role of glycine in the regulation of NF-κB in differentiated 3T3-L1 adipocytes. The results revealed that pretreatment with glycine interfered with the activation of NF-κB, which has been shown to be stimulated by tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). Glycine alone stimulated NF-κB activation in an unusual way such that the inhibitor κB-β (IκB-β) degradation was more significant than that of the inhibitor κB-α (IκB-α) and led to NF-κB complexes comprised of p50 and p65 subunits; IκB-ε degradation did not affect by glycine. These findings suggest that glycine could be used as an alternative treatment for chronic inflammation, which is a hallmark of obesity and other comorbidities, and is characterized by an elevated production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper describes the modeling, control and hardware implementation of an experimental tilt-rotor aircraft. This vehicle combines the high-speed cruise capabilities of a conventional airplane with the hovering capabilities of a helicopter by tilting their four rotors. Changing between cruise and hover flight modes in mid-air is referred to transition. Dynamic model of the vehicle is derived both for vertical and horizontal flight modes using Newtonian approach. Two nonlinear control strategies are presented and evaluated at simulation level to control, the vertical and horizontal flight dynamics of the vehicle in the longitudinal plane. An experimental prototype named Quad-plane was developed to perform the vertical flight. A low-cost DSP-based Embedded Flight Control System (EFCS) was designed and built to achieve autonomous attitude-stabilized flight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The monosodium glutamate (MSG) neonatal administration in mice provides a model of obesity with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and insulin resistance. However, the inflammatory profile of cytokines produced from fat tissue and its relationship to the metabolic dysfunction induced by MSG have not yet been revealed. The aim of this study was to establish the inflammatory profile attributed to MSG by measuring the expression of adipokines in visceral fat and serum of 19-week-old mice as well as the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors alpha and gamma (PPARα and γ). Some metabolic and biochemical parameters were also quantified. The MSG increased mRNA expression of interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα), resistin and leptin, but adiponectin did not exhibit any changes. In addition, impaired glucose tolerance, increased levels of insulin, resistin and leptin were observed in serum. Both PPARα and PPARγ were activated in MSG-induced obese mice, which might explain its inflammatory profile. However, liver transaminases were severely depressed, indicating that MSG may also induce liver injury, contributing to inflammation. The MSG neonatal neuro-intoxication in mice may thus provide a model of obesity and inflammation characterized by the dual activation of PPARα and PPARγ, which might offer new insights into the mechanism of inflammatory diabetes in obesity leading to steatohepatitis, as well as a suitable model to study the role of new therapeutic agents to prevent or reduce insulin resistance, the inflammatory state and liver steatosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cirugía y Cirujanos is the property of Publicidad Permanyer SLU and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Cerebrovascular malformations appear in 3% of the population subjecting it to the risk of hemorrhage, epilepsy and neurological deficits. Cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVM) have been described since antiquity and continue to represent a cause of high morbidity. Not very much is known to explain the genesis of these lesions, as well as the clinical behavior of many individual patients. We present an updated review of the etiopathogenesis and physiopathology of AVMs, proving that understanding them is important to provide better treatment of affected patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. To describe the immediate management of distal tibial fractures as well as the complications of soft and bony tissues. Material and methods. Prospective review of 45 patients with distal tibial fractures during an 8-month period (August 1st 2005 to March 31st 2006). They were classified according to Rüedi and Allgöwer. Seventy-one percent were managed with transcalcaneal skeletal traction and 28% with Jones bandage. The neovascular status of the affected anatomical segment was reviewed and analyzed before and after the surgical procedure. Results. Type II distal fractures were the most frequent ones, with the left size and the male gender as predominant. Skeletal traction was used in 32 patients (71%); osteosynthesis was performed in all cases. Conclusions. When compared with Jones bandage, transcalcaneal skeletal traction improved the clinical conditions of the distal segment of the leg before and after the surgical procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Ortopédica Mexicana is the property of Sociedad Mexicana de Ortopedia, AC and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

• The AgriQ, a low-cost and open-source unmanned aerial system, is presented. • The construction of a dual-spectrum system with two low-cost cameras is detailed. • Eight vegetation indices are computed with the visible and near-infrared data. • Detailed information for farmers is derived by analyzing the vegetation indices. • A comparison of the AgriQ with a commercial system shows outstanding results. Precision agriculture currently presents significant growth thanks to the development of three main technologies: drones, vision-based systems, and embedded electronics. To take advantage of these technologies, services and products have launched cameras, drones, and algorithms in the cloud, from which the farmer can easily obtain valuable information for the optimization of their production. Notwithstanding the previous, in Latin America (and in general in the undeveloped countries), these technologies are costly and sometimes difficult to access for most farmers. This study proposes developing the low-cost Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) for precision agriculture tasks called AgriQ. It comprises three subsystems: (a) the drone; (b) the multispectral imaging system; and (c) the open-source software responsible for computing valuable information for the farmers. Intending to obtain a competitive UAS, we tackle the problem from four main points: (1) the construction of the drone; (2) the vision algorithms; (3) the autonomous trajectory considering all the parameters for properly recovering all the crops' visual information; and (4) the construction of a low-cost multispectral imaging system with multiple bands. The multispectral imaging system is onboard the quadrotor and is composed of two low-cost cameras that have been modified to output multispectral imagery. With all this unmanned aerial system, we compute 8 vegetation indices that provide useful information to the farmers. To verify that the AgriQ is competitive versus commercial systems, we compared its performance to the professional multispectral camera RedEdge-M and popular Pix4D software. For this purpose, we have conducted experiments in two real environments, one of which is a real crop field. The experiments' data show that our AgriQ UAS achieved prominent results at a fraction of the commercial system cost. Furthermore, to provide the user with a complete low-cost tool for precision agriculture, all the parts of the AgriQ are presented and explained in detail. The software is developed using open-source code where our contribution is available online on our GitHub site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) is characterized by deregulation in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, with a very high mortality rate. Glucose Transporter type 4 (GLUT4) plays a crucial role in T2D and represents a therapeutic target of interest. Tillandsia usneoides (T. usneoides) is a plant used as a remedy for diabetes. T. usneoides decreased blood glucose in different experimental models. However, the involvement of GLUT4 in this effect has not yet been explored.Purpose: This study aimed to investigate whether any component in T. usneoides might participate in the effect on blood glucose through a bioassay-guided fractionation, testing its potential antihyperglycemic effect in mice, as well as its influence on GLUT4 translocation in C2C12 myoblasts and primary hepatocytes.Methods: The aqueous extract and the Ethyl Acetate fraction (TU-AcOEt) of T. usneoides were evaluated in a hypoglycemic activity bioassay and in the glucose tolerance test in CD-1 mice. TU-AcOEt was fractionated, obtaining five fractions that were studied in an additional glucose tolerance test. C1F3 was fractioned again, and its fractions (C2F9-12, C2F22-25, and C2F38-44) were examined by HPLC. The C2F38-44 fraction was analyzed by Mass Spectrometry (MS) and subjected to additional fractionation. The fraction C3F6-9 was explored by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), resulting in 5,7,4´-trihydroxy-3,6,3´,5´-tetramethoxyflavone (Flav1). Subsequently, a viability test was performed to evaluate the cytotoxic effect of Flav1 and fractions C2F9-12, C2F22-25. C2F38-44, and C3F30-41 in C2C12 myoblasts and primary mouse hepatocytes. Confocal microscopy was also performed to assess the effect of Flav1 and fractions on GLUT4 translocation.Results: The TU-AcOEt fraction exhibited a hypoglycemic and antihyperglycemic effect in mice, and its fractionation resulted in five fractions, among which fraction C1F3 decreased blood glucose. MS and NMR analysis revealed the presence of Flav1. Finally, Flav1 significantly promoted the translocation of GLUT4 in C2C12 myoblasts and primary hepatocytes.Conclusion: To date, Flav1 has not been reported to have activity in GLUT4; this study provides evidence that T. usneoides is a plant with the potential to develop novel therapeutic agents for the control of T2D. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable management of non-timber forest products such as palm fruits is crucial for the long-term conservation of intact forest. A major limitation to expanding sustainable management of palms has been the need for precise information about the resources at scales of tens to hundreds of hectares, while typical ground-based surveys only sample small areas. In recent years, small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become an important tool for mapping forest areas as they are cheap and easy to transport, and they provide high spatial resolution imagery of remote areas. We developed an object-based classification workflow for RGB UAV imagery which aims to identify and delineate palm tree crowns in the tropical rainforest by combining image processing and GIS functionalities using color and textural information in an integrative way to show one of the potential uses of UAVs in tropical forests. Ten permanent forest plots with 1170 reference palm trees were assessed from October to December 2017. The results indicate that palm tree crowns could be clearly identified and, in some cases, quantified following the workflow. The best results were obtained using the random forest classifier with an 85% overall accuracy and 0.82 kappa index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although current research has contributed to the promotion of whole-food plant-based diets, few studies have examined healthy vegan dietary and lifestyle factors, especially in South America. Therefore, we aimed at investigating the adherence to healthy vegan lifestyle habits among Argentinian vegetarians and omnivorous, using a recently developed vegetarian lifestyle index adapted to the vegan dietary pattern. Also, accessibility of vegetarian foods, and the proportion of household income spent on food were assessed in a cross-sectional approach with 1454 participants. The population was comprised of females (84.9%), singles (55.0%), young-adults (mean age 32.1, standard deviation (SD) = 13.6), employed (50.8%), with high educational levels (50.4%), and low prevalence of both tobacco smoking (7.0%) and frequent alcohol consumption (7.6%). The mean score of adherence to healthy vegan lifestyle habits was 6.64 (SD = 1.72), with higher scores indicating better adherence. Non-vegetarians (5.75; 95% confidence interval (CI), 5.61–5.89) had a significantly lower adjusted mean score compared to semi-(6.32; 95% CI, 6.17–6.47), pesco-(6.99; 95% CI, 6.59–7.39), lacto-ovo-vegetarians (7.10; 95% CI, 6.96–7.24), as well as vegans (8.59; 95% CI, 8.35–8.83). The mean proportion of household income spent on food was significantly lower among vegans compared with other dietary patterns. The whole population that was studied showed a low consumption of whole grains, legumes, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Although vegans showed a better diet and lifestyle pattern there is a need to improve eating and lifestyle habits to address risk factors for non-communicable diseases in Argentina. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cuatrociénegas area is useful for the investigation of the effect of groundwater extraction in the Chihuahuan freshwater xeric ecoregion. It has been investigated at this time using a selection of geochemical indicators (major, minor and trace elements) and δ34S data, to characterize the origin of groundwater, the main geochemical processes and the mineral/groundwater interactions controlling the baseline geochemistry. The area is composed of limestones of Mesozoic age, with a composite thickness of about 500 m, overlaid by basin fill (poorly consolidated young sediments). Substantial water extraction and modification of natural discharges from the area along the last century have produced a detrimental impact on ecosystem structure and function. Water-rock interactions, mixing and evaporative processes dominate the baseline groundwater quality. Natural recharge is HCO3-Ca type in equilibrium with calcite, low salinity (TDS < 500 mg/L), Cl− lower than 11 mg/L and average Li+ concentration of 0.005 mg/L. Along the groundwater flow systems, δ34S evidence and mass transfer calculations indicate that Cretaceous gypsum dissolution and dedolomitization reactions adjust water composition to the SO4-Ca type. The increase of water-rock interaction is reflected by Cl− values increase (average 68 mg/L), TDS up to about 1500 mg/L and an average Li+ concentration of 0.063 mg/L. Calculations with chemical geothermometers indicate that temperature at depth could be at maximum of 15-20 °C higher than field-measured temperature for pozas. After groundwater is discharged to the surface, chemical evolution continues; water evaporation, CO2 degassing and precipitation of minerals such as gypsum, calcite and kaolinite represent the final processes and reactions controlling water chemical composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]