Insulin resistance and triglyceride/HDLc index are associated with coronary artery disease

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Insulin-resistance is associated with cardiovascular disease but it is not used as a marker for disease in clinical practice.</p> <p>Aims</p> <p>To study the association between the homeostatic model assessment (HOMA-IR) and triglyceride/HDLc ratio (TG/HDLc) with the presence of coronary artery disease in patients submitted to cardiac catheterization.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In a cross-sectional study, 131 patients (57.0 ± 10 years-old, 51.5% men) underwent clinical, laboratory and angiographic evaluation and were classified as No CAD (absence of coronary artery disease) or CAD (stenosis of more than 30% in at least one major coronary artery).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Prevalence of coronary artery disease was 56.7%. HOMA-IR and TG/HDLc index were higher in the CAD <it>vs </it>No CAD group, respectively: HOMA-IR: 3.19 (1.70-5.62) vs. 2.33 (1.44-4.06), p = 0.015 and TG/HDLc: 3.20 (2.38-5.59) vs. 2.80 (1.98-4.59) p = 0.045) - median (p25-75). After a ROC curve analysis, cut-off values were selected based on the best positive predictive value for each variable: HOMA-IR = 6.0, TG/HDLc = 8.5 and [HOMA-IR×TG/HDLc] = 28. Positive predictive value for coronary artery disease for HOMA-IR>6.0 was 82.6%, for TG/HDLc>8.5 was 85.7% and for [HOMA-IR×TG/HDLc]>28 was 88.0%. Adjusted relative risk (age, gender, diabetes, body mass index, systolic blood pressure) for the presence of coronary artery disease was: for HOMA-IR>6.0, 1.47 (95.CI: 1.06-2.04, p = 0.027), for TG/HDLc>8.5, 1.46 (95% CI:1.07-1.98), p = 0.015) and for [HOMA-IR × TG/HDLc] >28, 1.64 (95%CI: 1.28-2.09), p < 0.001).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Increased HOMA-IR, TG/HDLc and their product are positively associated with angiographic coronary artery disease, and may be useful for risk stratification as a high-specificity test for coronary artery disease.</p

Japanese Foreign Policy for Africa, the Human Security Speech and the Relationship with South Sudan

Este estudio analiza la importancia estratégica de África para Japón y viceversa, teniendo en cuenta la pertinencia del discurso de seguridad humana para el sustento de la relación entre el Estado japonés y el continente africano. Inicialmente, se lleva a cabo un recorte histórico sobre las relaciones entre Japón y África; a continuación, son observadas las características de la política exterior japonesa para el continente africano y, finalmente se evaluará, la efectividad del discurso de seguridad humana japonés como elemento de la política exterior frente a los intereses imperialistas. Por lo tanto, el caso de Sudán del Sur es utilizado en el sentido de ratificar la actuación japonesa en África, la importancia de las Fuerzas de Autodefensa de ese país en la región y el discurso de seguridad humana, además de intentar percibir las fragilidades en esa relación.Este estudo analisa a importância estratégica da África para o Japão e vice-versa, considerando a relevância do discurso de segurança humana na manutenção da relação entre o Estado japonês e o continente africano. Inicialmente, realiza-se um recorte histórico sobre as interligações entre o Japão e a África; posteriormente, observam-se as características da política externa japonesa para o continente africano e, por fim, avalia-se a efetividade do discurso de segurança humana japonês enquanto elemento de política externa diante dos interesses imperialistas. Portanto, o caso do Sudão do Sul é utilizado no sentido de ratificar a atuação japonesa na África, a importância das Forças de Autodefesa na região e o discurso de segurança humana, além de tentar perceber as fragilidades nessa relação.This study analyzes the strategic importance of Africa to Japan and vice versa, considering the relevance of the discourse of human security in the maintenance of the relationship between the japanese state and the african continent. In this sense, initially, it is realized a historical review on the linkages between Japan and Africa; later, are observed the characteristics of Japan’s foreign policy toward Africa, and, finally it is evaluated the effectiveness of the human security discourse as an element of foreign policy against the imperialists interests. Therefore, the case of South Sudan is used to ratify the Japanese operations in Africa, the importance of the Self-Defense Forces in the region and the discourse of human security, as well as trying to understand the weaknesses in this relationship.Instituto de Relaciones Internacionales (IRI

Prognostic value of the percentage of positive fragments in biopsies from patients with localized prostate cancer

OBJECTIVE: To assess the prognostic value of the percentage of positive fragments (PPF) in biopsies from patients with localized prostate cancer (PCa) undergoing radical prostatectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: During the period from March 1991 to November 2000, 440 patients were selected. Cases receiving neoadjuvant or adjuvant hormone therapy, or adjuvant radiotherapy, were excluded, as were cases presenting Gleason scores higher than 6 at biopsy. PPF was defined as the total number of fragments divided by the total number of biopsy fragments times 100. This variable was initially divided into categories from 0 to 25%, 25.1% to 50%, 50.1 to 75% and 75% to 100%. During the postoperative period, patients were assessed every 2 months for 1 year, then every 6 months for 5 years, and then yearly. Biochemical recurrence was defined as serum PSA higher than or equal to 0.4 ng/mL. Median follow-up was 60 months. RESULTS: One hundred and nine (24.8%) of the 440 patients under study had biochemical recurrence. In the univariate analysis, PPF significantly influenced disease-free survival (log-rank, p < 0.001), and patients with PPF between 75 and 100% presented a risk of a biochemical recurrence of the disease 3 times higher than patients with PPF between 0 and 25% (p < 0.001). After the Cox regression analysis, both serum PSA (p = 0.001) and PPF (p < 0.001) showed to be independent predictive factors for disease-free survival following surgery. CONCLUSION: PPF measurement in biopsy is a simple and practical method, which should be routinely used as a predictive factor for biochemical recurrence in patients with PCa presenting Gleason scores between 2 and 6.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM) Division of UrologyUNIFESP, EPM, Division of UrologySciEL

Big data-driven prediction of airspace congestion

Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSP) worldwide have been making a considerable effort for the development of a better method to measure and predict aircraft counts within a particular airspace, also referred to as airspace density. An accurate measurement and prediction of airspace density is crucial for a better managed airspace, both strategically and tactically, yielding a higher level of automation and thereby reducing the air traffic controller's workload. Although the prior approaches have been able to address the problem to some extent, data management and query processing of ever-increasing vast volume of air traffic data at high rates, for various analytics purposes such as predicting aircraft counts, still remains a challenge especially when only linear prediction models are used. In this paper, we present a novel data management and prediction system that accurately predicts aircraft counts for a particular airspace sector within the National Airspace System (NAS). The incoming Traffic Flow Management (TFM) data is streaming, big, uncorrelated and noisy. In the preprocessing step, the system continuously processes the incoming raw data, reduces it to a compact size, and stores it in a NoSQL database, where it makes the data available for efficient query processing. In the prediction step, the system learns from historical trajectories and uses their segments to collect key features such as sector boundary crossings, weather parameters, and other air traffic data. The features are fed into various regression models, including linear, non-linear and ensemble models, and the best performing model is used for prediction. Evaluation on an extensive set of real track, weather, and air traffic data including boundary crossings in the U.S. verify that our system efficiently and accurately predicts aircraft counts in each airspace sector.Comment: Submitted to the 2023 IEEE/AIAA Digital Aviation Systems Conference (DASC

Tomador de decisiones asiático: la Federación Rusa y su búsqueda de un liderazgo estratégico de seguridad en Asia Central por la Organización de Cooperación de Shanghái (OCS) (2001-2018)

The article aims to explore how the Russian Federation seeks regional strategic leadership in Central Asia, through its role in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), influenced by the Chinese presence in the region. For this, we have used the methodological case study tool, by deductive method, in order to explore – from general to specific – particularities of the selected case. In the current analysis, the paper is divided into two sections: i) Shanghai Cooperation Organization: idea and conception in international security; and, ii) Russian geopolitics and Chinese trade: Change of power balance at SCO?El artículo tiene como objetivo explorar cómo la Federación Rusa busca el liderazgo estratégico regional en Asia Central, a través de su papel en la Organización de Cooperación de Shanghái (OCS), influenciada por la presencia china en la región. Para ello, se utiliza la herramienta metodológica de estudio de caso, por método deductivo, con el fin de explorar, de lo general a lo particular, las particularidades del caso seleccionado. En el análisis actual, el trabajo se divide en dos secciones: i) Organización de Cooperación de Shanghái: idea y concepción en seguridad internacional; y, ii) Geopolítica rusa y comercio chino: ¿Cambio en el equilibrio de poder en la OCS?Instituto de Relaciones Internacionale

Is holistic processing of written words modulated by phonology?

Holistic processing, a hallmark of face processing, has been shown for written words, signaled by the word composite effect. Fluent readers find it harder to focus on one half of a written word (e.g., the first syllable of a CV.CV word) while ignoring the other half (e.g., the second syllable), especially when the two halves are aligned rather than misaligned. Given the linguistic nature of written words, in the present study, we examined whether the word composite effect is modulated by phonology. In Experiment 1, participants saw two sequentially presented CV.CV words and had to decide if the left half (first syllable) was the same or not, regardless of the right half. The word pairs were either phonologically consistent (univocal orthography to phonology mapping; e.g., TI is always /ti/ in Portuguese) or inconsistent (orthography can map into different phonological representations; e.g., CA can correspond to /ka/ or /kɐ/). The word composite effect was found for phonologically consistent words but not for phonologically inconsistent words. In Experiment 2, timing of trial events was reduced to test whether the influence of phonology was fast and automatic. Similar to what was found in Experiment 1, the word composite effect was found only for phonologically consistent words. The faster trial events in Experiment 2 rendered it less likely that the influence of phonology in word composite effect is merely a result of strategic processing. These findings suggest that holistic processing of visual words is modulated by fast and automatic activation of lexical phonological representations

Early experience with targeted therapy and dendritic cell vaccine in metastatic renal cell carcinoma after nephrectomy

PURPOSE: Metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is one of the most treatment-resistant malignancies and nephrectomy, isolated or combined with systemic chemotherapy typically has limited or no effectiveness. We report our initial results in patients treated with the association of molecular targeted therapy, nephrectomy, and hybrid dendritic-tumor cell (DC) vaccine. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two male patients diagnosed with metastatic RCC were selected for the study. They were treated with the triple strategy, in which sunitinib (50 mg per day) was given for 4 weeks, followed by radical nephrectomy after two weeks. DC vaccine was initiated immediately after surgery and repeated monthly. Sunitinib was restarted daily after 2 to 3 weeks of surgery with a 7-day interval every 4 weeks. RESULTS: Both patients had complete adherence to the proposed treatment with DC vaccine therapy combined with sunitinib. Follow-up in these patients at 9 and 10 months demonstrated a stable disease in both, as shown by imaging and clinical findings, with no further treatment required. CONCLUSION: The immune response obtained with DC vaccine combined with the antiangiogenic effect of sunitinib and the potential benefits of cytoreductive nephrectomy in advanced disease could represent a new option in the treatment of metastatic RCC. Further prospective trials are needed not only to elucidate the ideal dosing and schedule, but also to better define the proof-of-concept proposed in this report and its role in clinical practice

Identification of an IL-17–producing NK1.1neg iNKT cell population involved in airway neutrophilia

Invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells are an important source of both T helper type 1 (Th1) and Th2 cytokines, through which they can exert beneficial, as well as deleterious, effects in a variety of inflammatory diseases. This functional heterogeneity raises the question of how far phenotypically distinct subpopulations are responsible for such contrasting activities. In this study, we identify a particular set of iNKT cells that lack the NK1.1 marker (NK1.1neg) and secrete high amounts of interleukin (IL)-17 and low levels of interferon (IFN)-γ and IL-4. NK1.1neg iNKT cells produce IL-17 upon synthetic (α-galactosylceramide [α-GalCer] or PBS-57), as well as natural (lipopolysaccharides or glycolipids derived from Sphingomonas wittichii and Borrelia burgdorferi), ligand stimulation. NK1.1neg iNKT cells are more frequent in the lung, which is consistent with a role in the natural immunity to inhaled antigens. Indeed, airway neutrophilia induced by α-GalCer or lipopolysaccharide instillation was significantly reduced in iNKT-cell–deficient Jα18−/− mice, which produced significantly less IL-17 in their bronchoalveolar lavage fluid than wild-type controls. Furthermore, airway neutrophilia was abolished by a single treatment with neutralizing monoclonal antibody against IL-17 before α-GalCer administration. Collectively, our findings reveal that NK1.1neg iNKT lymphocytes represent a new population of IL-17–producing cells that can contribute to neutrophil recruitment through preferential IL-17 secretion

Aquaporin 5 Interacts with Fluoride and Possibly Protects Against Caries

Aquaporins (AQP) are water channel proteins and the genes coding for AQP2, AQP5, and AQP6 are clustered in 12q13. Since AQP5 is expressed in serous acinar cells of salivary glands, we investigated its involvement in caries. DNA samples from 1,383 individuals from six groups were studied. Genotypes of eight single nucleotide polymorphisms covering the aquaporin locus were tested for association with caries experience. Interaction with genes involved in enamel formation was tested. The association between enamel microhardness at baseline, after creation of artificial caries lesion, and after exposure to fluoride and the genetic markers in AQP5 was tested. Finally, AQP5 expression in human whole saliva, after exposure to fluoride in a mammary gland cell line, which is known to express AQP5, and in Wistar rats was also verified. Nominal associations were found between caries experience and markers in the AQP5 locus. Since these associations suggested that AQP5 may be inhibited by levels of fluoride in the drinking water that cause fluorosis, we showed that fluoride levels above optimal levels change AQP5 expression in humans, cell lines, and rats. We have shown that AQP5 is involved in the pathogenesis of caries and likely interact with fluoride.Fil: Anjomshoaa, Ida. University of Pittsburgh; Estados UnidosFil: Briseño Ruiz, Jessica. University of Pittsburgh; Estados UnidosFil: Deeley, Kathleen. University of Pittsburgh; Estados UnidosFil: Poletta, Fernando Adrián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. CEMIC-CONICET. Centro de Educaciones Médicas e Investigaciones Clínicas "Norberto Quirno". CEMIC-CONICET.; ArgentinaFil: Mereb, Juan C.. Provincia de Río Negro. Ministerio de Salud. Hospital de Área El Bolsón ; ArgentinaFil: Leite, Aline L.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Barreta, Priscila A. T.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Silva, Thelma L.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Dizak, Piper. University of Pittsburgh; Estados UnidosFil: Ruff, Timothy. University of Pittsburgh; Estados UnidosFil: Patir, Asli. İstanbul Medipol Üniversitesi; TurquíaFil: Koruyucu, Mine. İstanbul Üniversitesi; TurquíaFil: Abbasoğlu, Zerrin. Yeditepe Üniversitesi; TurquíaFil: Casado, Priscila L.. Universidade Federal Fluminense; BrasilFil: Brown, Andrew. University of Pittsburgh; Estados UnidosFil: Zaky, Samer H.. University of Pittsburgh; Estados UnidosFil: Bayram, Merve. İstanbul Medipol Üniversitesi; TurquíaFil: Küchler, Erika C.. University of Pittsburgh; Estados UnidosFil: Cooper, Margaret E.. University of Pittsburgh; Estados UnidosFil: Liu, Kai. University of Pittsburgh; Estados UnidosFil: Marazita, Mary L.. University of Pittsburgh; Estados UnidosFil: Tanboğa, İlknur. Marmara Üniversitesi; TurquíaFil: Granjeiro, José M.. Universidade Federal Fluminense; Brasil. Instituto Nacional de Metrologia, Qualidade e Tecnologia; BrasilFil: Seymen, Figen. İstanbul Üniversitesi; TurquíaFil: Castilla, Eduardo Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. CEMIC-CONICET. Centro de Educaciones Médicas e Investigaciones Clínicas "Norberto Quirno". CEMIC-CONICET.; Argentina. Fundación Oswaldo Cruz; BrasilFil: Orioli, Iêda M.. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Sfeir, Charles. University of Pittsburgh; Estados UnidosFil: Owyang, Hongjiao. Marmara Üniversitesi; TurquíaFil: Rabelo Buzalaf, Marilia Afonso. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Vieira, Alexandre R.. University of Pittsburgh; Estados Unido

Broadcast spawning coral <i>Mussismilia hispida</i> can vertically transfer its associated bacterial core

The hologenome theory of evolution (HTE), which is under fierce debate, presupposes that parts of the microbiome are transmitted from one generation to the next [vertical transmission (VT)], which may also influence the evolution of the holobiont. Even though bacteria have previously been described in early life stages of corals, these early life stages (larvae) could have been inoculated in the water and not inside the parental colony (through gametes) carrying the parental microbiome. How Symbiodinium is transmitted to offspring is also not clear, as only one study has described this mechanism in spawners. All other studies refer to incubators. To explore the VT hypothesis and the key components being transferred, colonies of the broadcast spawner species Mussismilia hispida were kept in nurseries until spawning. Gamete bundles, larvae and adult corals were analyzed to identify their associated microbiota with respect to composition and location. Symbiodinium and bacteria were detected by sequencing in gametes and coral planula larvae. However, no cells were detected using microscopy at the gamete stage, which could be related to the absence of those cells inside the oocytes/dispersed in the mucus or to a low resolution of our approach. A preliminary survey of Symbiodinium diversity indicated that parental colonies harbored Symbiodinium clades B, C and G, whereas only clade B was found in oocytes and planula larvae [5 days after fertilization (a.f.)]. The core bacterial populations found in the bundles, planula larvae and parental colonies were identified as members of the genera Burkholderia, Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Ralstonia, Inquilinus and Bacillus, suggesting that these populations could be vertically transferred through the mucus. The collective data suggest that spawner corals, such as M. hispida, can transmit Symbiodinium cells and the bacterial core to their offspring by a coral gamete (and that this gamete, with its bacterial load, is released into the water), supporting the HTE. However, more data are required to indicate the stability of the transmitted populations to indicate whether the holobiont can be considered a unit of natural selection or a symbiotic assemblage of independently evolving organisms