Autoimmune neurological conditions associated with Zika virus infection

Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging flavivirus rapidly spreading throughout the tropical Americas. mosquitoes is the principal way of transmission of the virus to humans. ZIKV can be spread by transplacental, perinatal, and body fluids. ZIKV infection is often asymptomatic and those with symptoms present minor illness after 3 to 12 days of incubation, characterized by a mild and self-limiting disease with low-grade fever, conjunctivitis, widespread pruritic maculopapular rash, arthralgia and myalgia. ZIKV has been linked to a number of central and peripheral nervous system injuries such as Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), transverse myelitis (TM), meningoencephalitis, ophthalmological manifestations, and other neurological complications. Nevertheless, mechanisms of host-pathogen neuro-immune interactions remain incompletely elucidated. This review provides a critical discussion about the possible mechanisms underlying the development of autoimmune neurological conditions associated with Zika virus infection

Exposure of Trypanosoma brucei to an N-acetylglucosamine-binding lectin induces VSG switching and glycosylation defects resulting in reduced infectivity

Trypanosoma brucei variant surface glycoproteins (VSG) are glycosylated by both paucimannose and oligomannose structures which are involved in the formation of a protective barrier against the immune system. Here, we report that the stinging nettle lectin (UDA), with predominant N-acetylglucosamine-binding specificity, interacts with glycosylated VSGs and kills parasites by provoking defects in endocytosis together with impaired cytokinesis. Prolonged exposure to UDA induced parasite resistance based on a diminished capacity to bind the lectin due to an enrichment of biantennary paucimannose and a reduction of triantennary oligomannose structures. Two molecular mechanisms involved in resistance were identified: VSG switching and modifications in N-glycan composition. Glycosylation defects were correlated with the down-regulation of the TbSTT3A and/or TbSTT3B genes (coding for oligosaccharyltransferases A and B, respectively) responsible for glycan specificity. Furthermore, UDA-resistant trypanosomes exhibited severely impaired infectivity indicating that the resistant phenotype entails a substantial fitness cost. The results obtained further support the modification of surface glycan composition resulting from down-regulation of the genes coding for oligosaccharyltransferases as a general resistance mechanism in response to prolonged exposure to carbohydrate-binding agents

Facial disability index (FDI): adaptation to Spanish, reliability and validity

Objectives: To adapt to Spanish the facial disability index (FDI) described by VanSwearingen and Brach in 1995 and to assess its reliability and validity in patients with facial nerve paresis after parotidectomy. Study Design: The present study was conducted in two different stages: a) cross-cultural adaptation of the questionnaire and b) cross-sectional study of a control group of 79 Spanish-speaking patients who suffered facial paresis after superficial parotidectomy with facial nerve preservation. The cross-cultural adaptation process comprised the following stages: (I) initial translation, (II) synthesis of the translated document, (III) retro-translation, (IV) review by a board of experts, (V) pilot study of the pre-final draft and (VI) analysis of the pilot study and final draft. Results: The reliability and internal consistency of every one of the rating scales included in the FDI (Cronbach's alpha coefficient) was 0.83 for the complete scale and 0.77 and 0.82 for the physical and the social well-being subscales. The analysis of the factorial validity of the main components of the adapted FDI yielded similar results to the original questionnaire. Bivariate correlations between FDI and House-Brackmann scale were positive. The variance percentage was calculated for all FDI components. Conclusions: The FDI questionnaire is a specific instrument for assessing facial neuromuscular dysfunction which becomes a useful tool in order to determine quality of life in patients with facial nerve paralysis. Spanish adapted FDI is equivalent to the original questionnaire and shows similar reliability and validity. The proven reproducibi- lity, reliability and validity of this questionnaire make it a useful additional tool for evaluating the impact of facial nerve paralysis in Spanish-speaking patients

Color characterization of coatings with diffraction pigments

Coatings with diffraction pigments present high iridescence, which needs to be characterized in order to describe their appearance. The spectral bidirectional reflectance distribution functions (BRDFs) of six coatings with SpectraFlair diffraction pigments were measured using the robot-arm-based goniospectrophotometer GEFE, designed and developed at CSIC. Principal component analysis has been applied to study the coatings of BRDF data. From data evaluation and based on theoretical considerations, we propose a relevant geometric factor to study the spectral reflectance and color gamut variation of coatings with diffraction pigments. At fixed values of this geometric factor, the spectral BRDF component due to diffraction is almost constant. Commercially available portable goniospectrophotometers, extensively used in several industries (automotive and others), should be provided with more aspecular measurement angles to characterize the complex reflectance of goniochromatic coatings based on diffraction pigments, but they would not require either more than one irradiation angle or additional out-of-plane geometries.European Metrology Research Programme (EMRP) (EMRP IND52); Comunidad de Madrid (SINFOTON-CM: S2013/MIT-2790); Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) (DIP2015-65814)

Milk Density in Two Dairy Collection Routes for Pasteurizing Plant in Camagüey.

Milk density values were assessed in two  dairy collection routes (Route 6 and Purialito)  for Pasteurizing Plant in Camagüey, Cuba. The study was carried out in the months of March-April-May, 2013, where 179 samples were as-sessed, and a density values database was created. A descriptive statistical analysis for density was performed with SPSS 15.0. Using simple variance analysis through a general linear model, the effects of route, month, and their int e-ractions on milk  weight, were measured. The multiple comparison test (Tuckey) was performed to contrast density differences between months. Route and month significantly influenced on milk density (P ≤ 0.05); the same behavior was observed for  route-month interaction (P ≤ 0.05). The mean values and ranges of dairy density were within the normal limits, though in May they decreased to  1.027 g/cm3 . The multiple comparison test  (Tuckey) showed significant levels (P ≤ 0.001) between March and April; and March and May (P ≤ 0.05); no statistical significant dif-ferences were observed between April and May. The better route was Purialito in terms of dairy density

Spectroscopy of proton-unbound nuclei by tracking their decay products in-flight: One- and two-proton decays of 15F, 16Ne, and 19Na

14 páginas, 23 figuras, 1 tabla.-- et al.A powerful method of investigating proton-unbound nuclear states by tracking their decay products in flight is discussed in detail. To verify the method, four known levels in 15F, 16Ne, and 19Na were investigated by measuring the angular correlations between protons and the respective heavy-ion fragments stemming from the precursor decays in flight. The parent nuclei of interest were produced in nuclear reactions of one-neutron removal from 17Ne and 20Mg projectiles at energies of 410–450 A MeV. The trajectories of the respective decay products, 14O + p + p and 18Ne + p + p, were measured by applying a tracking technique with microstrip detectors. These data were used to reconstruct the angular correlations of the fragments, which provided information on energies and widths of the parent states. In addition for reproducing properties of known states, evidence for hitherto unknown excited states in 15F and 16Ne was found. This tracking technique has an advantage in studies of exotic nuclei beyond the proton drip line measuring the resonance energies and widths with a high precision although by using low-intensity beams and very thick targets.This work has been supported by Contract EURONS Nos. EC-I3 and FPA2006-13807-C02-01, FPA2007-63074 (MEC, Spain), the INTAS Grant No. 03-54-6545. L.V.G. is supported by FAIR-Russia Research Center grant, Russian Foundation for Basic Research viaGrant Nos. RFBR 08-02-00892 and 08-02-00089-a, and Russian Ministry of Industry and Science Grant No. NSh-7235.2010.2. N.K.T. acknowledges support from the UK Grant No. STFC ST/F012012/1, E.L. is supported by the LOEWE program of the State of Hessen (Helmholtz International Center for FAIR), Germany.Peer Reviewe

Elastic and break-up of the 1n-halo 11Be nucleus

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0.-- Trabajo presentado a la: "International Nuclear Physics Conference" (INPC), celebrada en Firenze (Italia) del 2 al 7 de junio de 2013.-- et al.The elastic and break-up angular distributions of the 10,11Be+64Zn reactions measured at Ec.m. ≈1.4 VC have been analysed within the CCDC and O.M. frameworks. The suppression of the Coulomb-nuclear interference, observed in the 11Be scattering case with respect to the 10Be, has been interpreted as due to a long range absorption owing to the coupling with the break-up (Coulomb and nuclear) channels. The presence of 10Be events on the 11Be experiment data have been explained as due mainly to break-up processes. C Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2014Peer Reviewe

Propuesta de utilización turística de los Mogotes de la Sierra de los Órganos y el Pan de Guajaibón, Pinar del Río, Cuba.

In order to maintain all the values of this area, "Mogotes de la Sierra de los Órganos" some of the most conserved of Cuba, this paper presents a proposition of management categories for them, according to Cuban National System of Protected Areas. With this proposition this hummocks, famous in the world, will be protected and incorporated to the national turistic economy.Con el objetivo de proteger los  valores del área "Mogotes de la Sierra de los Órganos", una de las mejor conservadas de Cuba, se presenta una propuesta de categorías de manejo para la misma, la cual ha sido tomada en cuenta en el sistema nacional de áreas protegidas del país. Con dicha propuesta estos mogotes, célebres en el mundo, podrán ser protegidos e incorporados a la economía turística nacional