650 research outputs found
Neurogranin and Neurofilament Light Chain as Preclinical Biomarkers in Scrapie
Prion diseases are diagnosed in the symptomatic stage, when the neuronal damage is spread throughout the central nervous system (CNS). The assessment of biological features that allow the detection of asymptomatic cases is needed, and, in this context, scrapie, where pre-symptomatic infected animals can be detected through rectal biopsy, becomes a good study model. Neurogranin (Ng) and neurofilament light chain (NfL) are proteins that reflect synaptic and axonal damage and have been studied as cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers in different neurodegenerative disorders. In this study, we evaluated Ng and NfL both at the protein and transcript levels in the CNS of preclinical and clinical scrapie-affected sheep compared with healthy controls and assessed their levels in ovine CSF. The correlation between these proteins and the main neuropathological events in prion diseases, PrPSc deposition and spongiosis, was also assessed. The results show a decrease in Ng and NfL at the protein and gene expression levels as the disease progresses, and significant changes between the control and preclinical animals. On the contrary, the CSF levels of NfL increased throughout the progression of the disease. Negative correlations between neuropathological markers of prion disease and the concentration of the studied proteins were also found. Although further research is needed, these results suggest that Ng and NfL could act as biomarkers for neurodegeneration onset and intensity in preclinical cases of scrapie
HST/WFPC2 imaging of the circumnuclear structure of LLAGNs. I Data and nuclear morphology
To advance our knowledge of the nature of the central source in LLAGNs and
its relation with stellar clusters, we are carrying out several imaging
projects with HST at near-UV, optical and near-IR wavelengths. In this paper,
we present the first results obtained with observations of the central regions
of 57 LLAGNs imaged with the WFPC2 through any of the V (F555W, F547M, F614W)
and I (F791W, F814W) filters that are available in the HST archive. The sample
contains 34% of the LINERs and 36% of the TOs in the Palomar sample. The mean
spatial resolution of these images is 10 pc. With these data we have built an
atlas that includes structural maps for all the galaxies, useful to identify
compact nuclear sources and, additionally, to characterize the circumnuclear
environment of LLAGNs, determining the frequency of dust and its morphology.
The main results obtained are: 1) We have not found any correlation between the
presence of nuclear compact sources and emission-line type. Thus, nucleated
LINERs are as frequent as nucleated TOs. 2) The nuclei of "Young-TOs" are
brighter than the nuclei of "Old-TOs" and LINERs. These results confirm our
previous results that Young-TOs are separated from other LLAGNs classes in
terms of their central stellar population properties and brightness. 3)
Circumnuclear dust is detected in 88% of the LLAGNs, being almost ubiquitous in
TOs. 4) The dust morphology is complex and varied, from nuclear spiral lanes to
chaotic filaments and nuclear disk-like structures. Chaotic filaments are as
frequent as dust spirals; but nuclear disks are mainly seen in LINERs. These
results suggest an evolutionary sequence of the dust in LLAGNs, LINERs being
the more evolved systems and Young-TOs the youngest. The full collection of
figures are at http://www.iaa.es/~rosa/research/LLAGNs2007/LLAGNs-HSTIma1.htmlComment: Paper accepted in AJ, pdf file and the full collection of figures are
at the ULR: http://www.iaa.es/~rosa/research/LLAGNs2007/LLAGNs-HSTIma1.htm
SARS-CoV-2 outbreak on a Spanish mink farm: epidemiological, molecular, and pathological studies
Farmed minks have been reported to be highly susceptible to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and may represent a risk to humans. In this study, we describe the first outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 occurred on a mink farm in Spain, between June and July 2020, involving 92,700 animals. The outbreak started shortly after some farm workers became seropositive for SARS-CoV-2. Minks showed no clinical signs compatible with SARS-CoV-2 infection throughout the outbreak. Samples from 98 minks were collected for histopathological, serological, and molecular studies. Twenty out of 98 (20.4%) minks were positive by RT-qPCR and 82 out 92 (89%) seroconverted. This finding may reflect a rapid spread of the virus at the farm with most of the animals overcoming the infection. Additionally, SARS-CoV-2 was detected by RT-qPCR in 30% of brain samples from positive minks. Sequencing analysis showed that the mink sequences were not closely related with the other mink SARS-CoV-2 sequences available, and that this mink outbreak has its probable origin in one of the genetic variants that were prevalent in Spain during the first COVID-19 epidemic wave. Histological studies revealed bronchointerstitial pneumonia in some animals. Immunostaining of viral nucleocapsid was also observed in nasal turbinate tissue. Farmed minks could therefore constitute an important SARS-CoV-2 reservoir, contributing to virus spread among minks and humans. Consequently, continuous surveillance of mink farms is needed
Frenetic, under-challenged, and worn-out burnout subtypes among brazilian primary care personnel: Validation of the Brazilian “burnout clinical subtype questionnaire” (BCSQ-36/BCSQ-12)
Primary healthcare personnel show high levels of burnout. A new model of burnout has been developed to distinguish three subtypes: frenetic, under-challenged, and worn-out, which are characterized as overwhelmed, under-stimulated, and disengaged at work, respectively. The aim of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of the long/short Brazilian versions of the “Burnout Clinical Subtypes Questionnaire” (BCSQ-36/BCSQ-12) among Brazilian primary healthcare staff and its possible associations with other psychological health-related outcomes. An online cross-sectional study conducted among 407 Brazilian primary healthcare personnel was developed. Participants answered a Brazil-specific survey including the BCSQ-36/BCSQ-12, “Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey”, “Utrecht Work Engagement Scale”, “Hospital Anxiety/Depression Scale”, “Positive-Negative Affect Schedule”, and a Visual Analogue Scale of guilt at work. The bifactor was the model with the best fit to the data using the BCSQ-36, which allowed a general factor for each subtype. The three-correlated factors model fit better to the BCSQ-12. Internal consistence was appropriate, and the convergence between the long-short versions was high. The pattern of relationships between the burnout subtypes and the psychological outcomes suggested a progressive deterioration from the frenetic to the under-challenged and worn-out. In sum, the Brazilian BCSQ-36/BCSQ-12 showed appropriate psychometrics to be used in primary healthcare personnel
Meson and di-electron production with HADES
The HADES experiment, installed at GSI, Darmstadt, measures di-electron
production in A+A, p/pi+N and p/pi+A collisions. Here, the pi0 and eta Dalitz
decays have been reconstructed in the exclusive p+p reaction at 2.2 GeV to form
a reference cocktail for long-lived di-electron sources. In the C+C reaction at
1 and 2 GeV/u, these long-lived sources have been subtracted from the measured
inclusive e+e- yield to exhibit the signal from the early phase of the
collision. The results suggest that resonances play an important role in dense
nuclear matter.Comment: Invited plenary talk at the 10th International Workshop On Meson
Production, Properties And Interaction (MESON 2008) 6-10 Jun 2008, Cracow,
Polan
Hepatic insulin resistance both in prediabetic and diabetic patients determines postprandial lipoprotein metabolism: from the CORDIOPREV study
Background/aims: Previous evidences have shown the presence of a prolonged and exaggerated postprandial
response in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and its relation with an increase of cardiovascular risk. However, the
response in prediabetes population has not been established. The objective was to analyze the degree of postprandial
lipemia response in the CORDIOPREV clinical trial (NCT00924937) according to the diabetic status.
Methods: 1002 patients were submitted to an oral fat load test meal (OFTT) with 0.7 g fat/kg body weight [12 %
saturated fatty acids (SFA), 10 % polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), 43 % monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), 10 %
protein and 25 % carbohydrates]. Serial blood test analyzing lipid fractions were drawn at 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 h during
postprandial state. Postprandial triglycerides (TG) concentration at any point >2.5 mmol/L (220 mg/dL) has been
established as undesirable response. We explored the dynamic response in 57 non-diabetic, 364 prediabetic and 581
type 2 diabetic patients. Additionally, the postprandial response was evaluated according to basal insulin resistance
subgroups in patients non-diabetic and diabetic without pharmacological treatment (N = 642).
Results: Prevalence of undesirable postprandial TG was 35 % in non-diabetic, 48 % in prediabetic and 59 % in diabetic
subgroup, respectively (p < 0.001). Interestingly, prediabetic patients displayed higher plasma TG and large triacylglycerol-
rich lipoproteins (TRLs-TG) postprandial response compared with those non-diabetic patients (p < 0.001
and p = 0.003 respectively). Moreover, the area under the curve (AUC) of TG and AUC of TRLs-TG was greater in the
prediabetic group compared with non-diabetic patients (p < 0.001 and p < 0.005 respectively). Patients with liver
insulin resistance (liver-IR) showed higher postprandial response of TG compared with those patients with muscle-IR
or without any insulin-resistance respectively (p < 0.001).
Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that prediabetic patients show a lower phenotypic flexibility after external
aggression, such as OFTT compared with nondiabetic patients. The postprandial response increases progressively
according to non-diabetic, prediabetic and type 2 diabetic state and it is higher in patients with liver insulin-resistance.
To identify this subgroup of patients is important to treat more intensively in order to avoid future cardiometabolic
complications
New GOLD classification: Longitudinal data on group assignment
Rationale:
Little is known about the longitudinal changes associated with using the 2013 update of the multidimensional GOLD strategy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Objective:
To determine the COPD patient distribution of the new GOLD proposal and evaluate how this classification changes over one year compared with the previous GOLD staging based on spirometry only.
Methods:
We analyzed data from the CHAIN study, a multicenter observational Spanish cohort of COPD patients who are monitored annually. Categories were defined according to the proposed GOLD: FEV1%, mMRC dyspnea, COPD Assessment Test (CAT), Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ), and exacerbations-hospitalizations. One-year follow-up information was available for all variables except CCQ data.
Results:
At baseline, 828 stable COPD patients were evaluated. On the basis of mMRC dyspnea versus CAT, the patients were distributed as follows: 38.2% vs. 27.2% in group A, 17.6% vs. 28.3% in group B, 15.8% vs. 12.9% in group C, and 28.4% vs. 31.6% in group D. Information was available for 526 patients at one year: 64.2% of patients remained in the same group but groups C and D show different degrees of variability. The annual progression by group was mainly associated with one-year changes in CAT scores (RR, 1.138; 95%CI: 1.074-1.206) and BODE index values (RR, 2.012; 95%CI: 1.487-2.722).
Conclusions:
In the new GOLD grading classification, the type of tool used to determine the level of symptoms can substantially alter the group assignment. A change in category after one year was associated with longitudinal changes in the CAT and BODE index
Study of dielectron production in C+C collisions at 1 AGeV
The emission of e+e- pairs from C+C collisions at an incident energy of 1 GeV
per nucleon has been investigated. The measured production probabilities,
spanning from the pi0-Dalitz to the rho/omega! invariant-mass region, display a
strong excess above the cocktail of standard hadronic sources. The
bombarding-energy dependence of this excess is found to scale like pion
production, rather than like eta production. The data are in good agreement
with results obtained in the former DLS experiment.Comment: submitted to Physics Letters
El proyecto de El Berrocal: síntesis preliminar
El Berrocal is an international research project on the natural radionuclide migration in a fissured granitic environment. This project is being carried out in the El Berrocal zone, north of the village of Nombela (Toledo). The gelogical formation studied is a granitic pluton with an epithermal vein-type mineralization comprising quartz, sphalerite, pyrite and chalcopyrite; and pitchblende, pyrite, carbonates and barite. The activities of the project are focused on the structural, lithological, geochemical, hydrochemical and hydrogeological aspects of the granite-U mineralization system, in order to establish a migration model of the natural radionuclides of the environment. The concurrence of the tectonic, hydrothermal and supergenic processes has originated several U remobilizations during the deuteric, hydrothermal and supergenic alteration phases, which affected the system. These phases are responsible of the mineralogical species and present distribution of this element within the system. The Th remobilization is much more limited, due to its different geochemical behavior. The present water-rock interaction processes account for the different types of water existing in the system, which are sulphatic, in the shallowest zones, and calcium bicarbonated in the deepest. The U contents in these waters vary from 1 to 100 ppb. The hydrogeology of the zone is controlled, at a local scale, by the topography and the fracture network, and the mineralized quartz dyke plays a major role on the groundwater flow. The isotopic analyses of the U and Th series in the infill materials seem to indicate recent sorption-desorption U processes and coprecipitation with carbonates.«El Berrocal», es un proyecto internacional de investigación sobre la migración de radionucleidos naturales en un medio granítico fisurado. Este proyecto se está desarrollando en la zona de El Berrocal, situada al norte de Nombela (Toledo), en un plutón granítico con una mineralización filoniana epitermal de uranio. El objetivo del proyecto es conocer los aspectos estructurales, litológicos, geoquímicos, hidroquímicos e hidrogeológicos del sistema granito-mineralización de U, a fin de establecer un modelo de migración de los radionucleidos naturales del medio. La convergencia de procesos tectónicos, hidrotermales y supergénicos ha dado lugar a sucesivas removilizaciones del uranio durante las fases deutérica, hidrotermal y supergénica, que afectaron al sistema. Estas fases son las responsables de la mineralogía y distribución actual de dicho elemento en el sistema. La removilización del torio es mucho más restringida debido a su diferente comportamiento geoquímico. Los procesos actuales de interacción agua-roca están condicionando los tipos de aguas existentes en el sistema que son: sulfatadas, en las zonas más superficiales y bicarbonatadas cálcicas, en las más profundas. Los contenidos en uranio en estas aguas están comprendidos entre 1 y 100 ppb. La hidrogeología de la zona está controlada, a nivel local, por la topografía y la red de fracturación, siendo el dique de cuarzo mineralizado un accidente con repercusión importante en la circulación de las aguas subterráneas. El análisis isotópico de las series del uranio y del torio en rellenos fisurales parece indicar procesos recientes de sorción-desorción de uranio y coprecipitación con carbonatos
Customer values and CSR image in the banking industry.
ABSTRACT: The authors analyse the role that collectivism and novelty seeking play in the formation process of corporate social responsibility (CSR) image in the Spanish banking industry. Two multisampling analyses of a structural equation model are performed on a sample of 1124 customers. The findings of the article allow the authors to anticipate CSR image based on (i) the congruence between the company and its CSR initiatives, (ii) the attribution of motivations for the company to implement CSR and (iii) corporate credibility in developing CSR initiatives. The findings also show that collectivists and innovative customers process information differently to individualists and conservative customers
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