Information Structure and Word Order Canonicity in the Comprehension of Spanish Texts: An Eye-Tracking Study

Word order alternation has been described as one of the most productive information structure markers and discourse organizers across languages. Psycholinguistic evidence has shown that word order is a crucial cue for argument interpretation. Previous studies about Spanish sentence comprehension have shown greater difficulty to parse sentences that present a word order that does not respect the order of participants of the verb's lexico-semantic structure, irrespective to whether the sentences follow the canonical word order of the language or not. This difficulty has been accounted as the cognitive cost related to the miscomputation of prominence status of the argument that precedes the verb. Nonetheless, the authors only analyzed the use of alternative word orders in isolated sentences, leaving aside the pragmatic motivation of word order alternation. By means of an eye-tracking task, the current study provides further evidence about the role of information structure for the comprehension of sentences with alternative word order and verb type, and sheds light on the interaction between syntax, semantics and pragmatics. We analyzed both “early” and “late” eye-movement measures as well as accuracy and response times to comprehension questions. Results showed an overall influence of information structure reflected in a modulation of late eye-movement measures as well as offline measures like total reading time and questions response time. However, effects related to the miscomputation of prominence status did not fade away when sentences were preceded by a context that led to non-canonical word order of constituents, showing that prominence computation is a core mechanism for argument interpretation, even in sentences preceded by context.Este documento se encuentra publicado en Frontiers in Psychology (ISSN: 1664-1078) 12:629724. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.62972

Atorvastatin combined to interferon to verify the efficacy (ACTIVE) in relapsing-remitting active multiple sclerosis patients: a longitudinal controlled trial of combination therapy.

A large body of evidence suggests that, besides their cholesterol-lowering effect, statins exert anti-inflammatory action. Consequently, statins may have therapeutic potential in immune-mediated disorders such as multiple sclerosis. Our objectives were to determine safety, tolerability and efficacy of low-dose atorvastatin plus high-dose interferon beta-1a in multiple sclerosis patients responding poorly to interferon beta-1a alone. Relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis patients, aged 18–50 years, with contrast-enhanced lesions or relapses while on therapy with interferon beta-1a 44 mg (three times weekly) for 12 months, were randomized to combination therapy (interferon+atorvastatin 20mg per day; group A) or interferon alone (group B) for 24 months. Patients underwent blood analysis and clinical assessment with the Expanded Disability Status Scale every 3 months, and brain gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging at screening, and 12 and 24 months thereafter. Primary outcome measure was contrast-enhanced lesion number. Secondary outcome measures were number of relapses, EDSS variation and safety laboratory data. Forty-five patients were randomized to group A (n 1⁄4 21) or B (n 1⁄4 24). At 24 months, group A had significantly fewer contrast-enhanced lesions versus baseline (p 1⁄4 0.007) and significantly fewer relapses versus the two pre-randomization years (p < 0.001). At survival analysis, the risk for a 1-point EDSS increase was slightly higher in group B than in group A (p 1⁄4 0.053). Low-dose atorvastatin may be beneficial, as add-on therapy, in poor responders to high-dose interferon beta-1a alone

Soybean protein concentrate as a protein source for totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi) juveniles: Effect on intermediary metabolism and liver histological organization

This study aimed to investigate the effects of replacing fish meal (FM) with soybean protein concentrates (SPC) on the intermediary metabolism and health of Totoaba macdonaldi juveniles. Fish (initial weight 50 ± 1 g) were fed for 60 days with eight diets: a reference diet (RD) and seven experimental diets where FM was replaced gradually with 15 to 100% SPC (SPC15, SPC30, SPC45, SPC60, SPC75, SPC90, and SPC100, respectively). Hexokinase (HK), glucokinase (GK), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) enzyme activities showed highly significant differences (p < 0.01) between fish fed RD (0% SPC) compared to fish fed the diets with 60, 75, 90, and 100% SPC. The ALT enzyme shows a highly significant (p < 0.01) decrease in activity for fish fed 75, 90, and 100% SPC inclusions compared to fish fed the RD. The aspartate aminotransferase AST/ALT ratio showed a significant increase in activity for fish fed 100% soybean compared only with fish fed the control diet. The histological organization of the liver in totoaba juveniles fed RD, SPC15, SPC30 and SPC45 diets were similar. Totoaba fed with SPC90 and SPC100 showed histological alterations in hepatic and pancreatic parenchyma. Overall, according to the findings in this study, 45% of dietary FM could be replaced by SPC without causing adverse changes in metabolism, histological organization of liver, and health of juveniles of totoaba when cultured for 60 days. However, levels greater than 60% of SPC could compromise the health status of fish.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

12-months prospective Pentraxin-3 and metabolomic evaluation in multiple sclerosis patients treated with glatiramer acetate

Background: Pentraxin-3 (PTX-3) is involved in acute immunological responses and it is a pro-inflammatory protein and a novel biomarker of inflammatory diseases. It is demonstrated that PTX-3 is higher in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of aggressive Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Metabolomics, the identification of small endogenous molecules, offers a molecular profile of MS. Glatiramer acetate (GA) is a widely used treatment for (MS) but its mechanism of action is not completely defined. The aim of our study is to analyze PTX-3 and metabolomic profile in MS patients compared to controls and to investigate the effect of GA on PXT-3 and metabolic molecules during treatment in responder and not responder MS patients. Methods: 28 unrelated MS patients and 27 age-and sex-matched controls were recruited. In serum, PTX-3 levels were measured by ELISA and Metabolomic panel was evaluated trough Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR). According to clinical practice patients started GA treatment; PTX-3 and metabolomic identification were performed before and during treatment. Responders to treatment were identified if no evidence of instrumental, clinical relapses and disability progression (NEDA) occurred during follow up. Results: Serum PTX-3 levels were higher in MS patients compared to matched controls (7,85 ± 2,19 vs 6,20 ± 1,63 ng/ml) (p = 0,03); metabolomic evaluation shows higher levels of lactate and lower levels of valine, tyrosine and tryptophan in MS patients compared to controls. During therapy, PTX-3 levels have been reduced statistically significant (p = 0,001) at six months and one year of treatment. After one year, of the twenty patients that completed the study, 55% were considered fully responders to treatment; in these patients the mean reduction of PTX-3 at one year was higher respect to not responders (−3,82 ± 1,24 ng/ml vs −2,32 ± 1,03 ng/ml p = 0,02) and we observed a higher reduction of lactate, tyrosine and hypoxanthine and an increase of hydroxyproline and ADP as well as of three oxidative phosphorylation markers, citrulline, ornithine and tryptophan approaching the metabolic profile of healthy subjects. Discussion and conclusions: We demonstrated a metabolomic imbalance with mitochondrial dysfunction detected by higher levels of lactate and lower levels of tryptophan, tyrosine and valine in MS patients compared to healthy controls. The reduction of PTX-3 levels and the restoring of mitochondrial function, reducing oxidative stress by GA, allows to identify responder patients. Further and larger studies are needed to understand the predictive role of PTX-3 and metabolomic pattern in the identification of responder patients to GA

Cientópolis: motorizando la ciencia ciudadana

En ciertas situaciones como la toma, clasificación y etiquetado de muestras, el científico realiza un gran número de tareas simples, repetitivas, que no pueden ser automatizadas y que podrían ser ejecutadas por personas sin formación en la materia si se las entrena y asiste con herramientas. En el pasado, en proyectos de conservación, astronomía y biología, entre otros, este tipo de tareas se ha delegado de manera efectiva a voluntarios. Cuando se convoca a ciudadanos voluntarios para colaborar con los científicos, se habla de ciencia ciudadana. Encontrar e involucrar a esos voluntarios, sumado a coordinar y reconocer su trabajo, es una tarea compleja. Definir y conducir proyectos de ciencia ciudadana presenta desafíos en tres áreas críticas: metodologías, tecnologías y construcción de comunidades de voluntarios. El proyecto Cientópolis (http://cientopolis.org) tiene como objetivo producir avances en estas tres áreas y socializarlos con la comunidad. En la actualidad, Cientópolis brinda espacios para compartir conocimiento y experiencias, ofrece herramientas para la construcción de proyectos de toma de muestras con dispositivos móviles y construcción colaborativa de conocimiento, da acceso a una comunidad creciente de ciudadanos científicos y explora estrategias de ludificación para consolidar y sostener dicha comunidad.Trabajo presentado por el Laboratorio de Investigación y Formación en Informática Avanzada (LIFIA

Diffuse glioblastoma resembling acute hemorrhagic leukoencephalitis

We report the case of a young man with sudden onset of diplopia after an upper respiratory tract infection. Based on the first radiological findings acute hemorrhagic leukoencephalitis, a variant of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, was suspected and treatment with high dose intravenous dexamethasone was started but it was stopped for intolerance. The patient clinically worsened, developing gait instability, ataxia and ophthalmoplegia; brain MRI performed 20 days later showed severe progression of the disease with subependymal dissemination. After brain biopsy of the right temporal lesion the histological diagnosis was glioblastoma. These findings suggest that MRI features of acute hemorrhagic leukoencephalitis may dissimulate the diagnosis of diffuse glioma/glioblastoma. This case underscores the importance of considering diffuse glioma in the differential diagnosis of atypical signs and symptoms of acute hemorrhagic leukoencephalitis and underlines the relevant role of integrating neuroradiologic findings with neuropathology

Cd19 cell count at baseline predicts b cell repopulation at 6 and 12 months in multiple sclerosis patients treated with ocrelizumab

Background: The kinetics of B cell repopulation in MS patients treated with Ocrelizumab is highly variable, suggesting that a fixed dosage and time scheduling might be not optimal. We aimed to investigate whether B cell repopulation kinetics influences clinical and radiological outcomes and whether circulating immune asset at baseline affects B cell repopulation kinetics. Methods: 218 MS patients treated with Ocrelizumab were included. Every six months we collected data on clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) activity and lymphocyte subsets at baseline. According to B cell counts at six and twelve months, we identified two groups of patients, those with fast repopulation rate (FR) and those with slow repopulation rate (SR). Results: A significant reduction in clinical and radiological activity was found. One hundred fifty-five patients had complete data and received at least three treatment cycles (twelve-month follow-up). After six months, the FR patients were 41/155 (26.45%) and 10/41 (29.27%) remained non-depleted after twelve months. FR patients showed a significantly higher percentage of active MRI scan at twelve months (17.39% vs. 2.53%; p = 0,008). Furthermore, FR patients had a higher baseline B cell count compared to patients with an SR (p = 0.02 and p = 0.002, at the six-and twelve-month follow-ups, respectively). Conclusion: A considerable proportion of MS patients did not achieve a complete CD19 cell depletion and these patients had a higher baseline CD19 cell count. These findings, together with the higher MRI activity found in FR patients, suggest that the Ocrelizumab dosage could be tailored depending on CD19 cell counts at baseline in order to achieve complete disease control in all patients

Pregnancy effect on disease activity in women with multiple sclerosis treated with cladribine

Introduction Cladribine is an oral immune reconstitution therapy for relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS). Hormonal and immune changes are responsible for the decline of disease activity in the third trimester of pregnancy and disease reactivation in the early post-partum period.We investigate the impact of pregnancy on disease activity in women with MS who conceived after cladribine treatment.Methods We recruited women of childbearing age with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) who became pregnant or not after being treated with cladribine. For both groups, demographic, clinical and radiological data were collected 1 year before and after treatment during a mean follow-up of 3.53 years. We compared disease activity over time between groups using variance analysis for repeated measures.Results 48 childbearing women were included. 25 women had a pregnancy after a mean of 1.75 years from the first treatment cycle. Women with or without pregnancy did not differ in demographics or pre-cladribine disease activity. No significant differences in disease activity or EDSS worsening were found between women with or without pregnancy.Discussion Our findings suggest that pregnancy does not appear to influence disease activity and disability in women previously treated with cladribine; further studies with larger numbers and longer follow-up are needed to confirm this finding