Short-term effects of text-background color combinations on the dynamics of the accommodative response

The purpose of the present study was to assess the accommodative response and pupillary dynamics while reading passages with different text-background color combinations on an LCD screen. Twenty healthy young adults read fourteen 2-min passages designed with fourteen different color combinations between text and background, while the accommodative and pupil responses were continuously measured with a binocular open-field autorefractometer. Our results revealed that the text-background color combination modulates the accommodative and pupillary dynamics during a 2-minutes reading task. The blue-red combination induced a heightened accommodative response, whereas positive polarities were associated with more variability of the accommodative response and smaller pupil sizes. Participants reported lower perceived ratings of legibility for text-background color combination with lower luminance contrast (white-yellow). The manipulation of text-background color did not have a significant effect on reading speed. These results may have important applications in the design of digital visual interfaces.This research was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, with support from European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), RTI2018-094738-B-I00 project

Schumann resonance data processing programs and four-year measurements from Sierra Nevada ELF station

In this work, we present to the scientific community the measurements taken during four years, from March 2013 to February 2017 inclusive, by the Extremely Low Frequency Sierra Nevada station, Spain, together with the data processing programs developed in Python (version 3.8) to extract the Schumann resonance (SR) parameters (i.e., amplitudes, resonant frequencies, resonance widths) in 10 min time periods from these records. The measure- ments correspond to the voltage induced by the atmospheric electromagnetic field at the north-south and east- west oriented magnetometers of the station. The process comprises four stages. The spectrum, calibrated in the frequency band ranging from 6 Hz to 25 Hz, is obtained at the first stage using the Welch method with Hann windows. The second step eliminates the anthropogenic noise generated by different undesired sources. Next, a non-linear fit of the measured spectrum combining Lorentzian functions together with a linear term is carried out in order to identify the presence of SRs and quantitatively characterize them. This third step is carried out using the Python package Lmfit, which implements the Levenberg-Marquad algorithm. Finally, a compact and easy-to- read output is generated at the fourth stage, using the power of the Numpy arrays and the npz format. In addition, four Jupyter notebooks with the description of the code and the possibility of their use in interactive mode are presented as supplementary material with this paper

A fully-automated low-cost cardiac monolayer optical mapping robot.

Scalable and high-throughput electrophysiological measurement systems are necessary to accelerate the elucidation of cardiac diseases in drug development. Optical mapping is the primary method of simultaneously measuring several key electrophysiological parameters, such as action potentials, intracellular free calcium and conduction velocity, at high spatiotemporal resolution. This tool has been applied to isolated whole-hearts, whole-hearts in-vivo, tissue-slices and cardiac monolayers/tissue-constructs. Although optical mapping of all of these substrates have contributed to our understanding of ion-channels and fibrillation dynamics, cardiac monolayers/tissue-constructs are scalable macroscopic substrates that are particularly amenable to high-throughput interrogation. Here, we describe and validate a scalable and fully-automated monolayer optical mapping robot that requires no human intervention and with reasonable costs. As a proof-of-principle demonstration, we performed parallelized macroscopic optical mapping of calcium dynamics in the well-established neonatal-rat-ventricular-myocyte monolayer plated on standard 35 mm dishes. Given the advancements in regenerative and personalized medicine, we also performed parallelized macroscopic optical mapping of voltage dynamics in human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocyte monolayers using a genetically encoded voltage indictor and a commonly-used voltage sensitive dye to demonstrate the versatility of our system.The Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC) is supported by the MCIN and the Pro CNIC Foundation, and is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (CEX2020-001041-S). The study was supported by the Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN) (PID2019-109329RB-I00), the Fundación Interhospitalaria para la Investigación Cardiovascular, the McEwen Stem Cell Institute, the Canada Research Chairs Program, the Stem Cell Network, the University of Toronto’s Medicine by Design/Canada First Research Excellence Fund initiative, and Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research Education Fund.S

Sex differences on the relation among gross motor competence, cognition, and academic achievement in children

An association between gross motor competence (GMC) and academic achievement (AA) has been described, but the potential mechanisms behind this association are still unknown. It is not known either whether these mechanisms are similar for boys and girls. The aim of this study was to analyse whether the association between GMC and AA is mediated by executive functions (EFs), and to investigate whether this mediation differs by sex. This cross-sectional study involved 451 children aged 8 to 10 (234 girls; mean age 9.95 ± 0.59). The Movement Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition (MABC-2), NIH Toolbox, and grades in language and mathematics were used to test GMC, EFs, and AA, respectively. Multifactorial structural equation model (SEM) was used to evaluate a possible relation between variables, controlling for confounders. The differences by sex were examined using a multi-group SEM approach. The results showed that EFs acted as a full mediator of the relationship between GMC and AA in boys (β = 0.14, p = 0.012) but not in girls (β = 0.10, p = 0.326). These results show that the benefit of GMC on AA is mediated by EFs in boys but not in girls. Nevertheless, these conclusions should be carefully considered due to the cross-sectional nature of the studySe ha descrito una asociación entre la competencia motora gruesa (GMC) y el rendimiento académico (AA), pero aún se desconocen los posibles mecanismos detrás de esta asociación. Tampoco se sabe si estos mecanismos son similares para niños y niñas. El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar si la asociación entre GMC y AA está mediada por funciones ejecutivas (FE), e investigar si esta mediación difiere según el sexo. Este estudio transversal involucró a 451 niños de 8 a 10 años (234 niñas; edad media 9,95 ± 0,59). La batería de evaluación de movimiento para niños, segunda edición (MABC-2), NIH Toolbox y las calificaciones en lenguaje y matemáticas se utilizaron para evaluar GMC, EF y AA, respectivamente. Se utilizó el modelo de ecuaciones estructurales multifactoriales (SEM) para evaluar una posible relación entre las variables, controlando los factores de confusión. Las diferencias por sexo se examinaron utilizando un enfoque SEM multigrupo. Los resultados mostraron que los EF actuaron como un mediador completo de la relación entre GMC y AA en niños (β  = 0,14, p  = 0,012) pero no en niñas ( β  = 0,10, p  = 0,326). Estos resultados muestran que el beneficio de GMC en AA está mediado por EF en niños pero no en niñas. Sin embargo, estas conclusiones deben ser consideradas cuidadosamente debido a la naturaleza transversal del estudio

Validez de los criterios DSM-IV según respuesta de los padres en el diagnóstico del trastorno por déficit de atención con hiperactividad.

Introducción. Objetivos: Estudiar la validez para el diagnóstico del trastorno por déficit de atención con hiperactividad (TDAH), de cada uno de los ítems DSM-IV y buscar un modelo reducido de ítems que ayude a detectar casos de niños con TDAH. Sujetos y método. Se utilizan los datos de un estudio epidemiológico sobre TDAH con una muestra de 1095 casos. El 6.6% son TDAH. Casos de TDAH definidos según ADHD RS-IV y criterios clínicos DSM-IV. Controles definidos por exclusión. Resultados. El modelo de regresión logística que mejor predice el fenotipo inatento está compuesto por los ítems del ADHD RS-IV (versión padres) 1, 3, 9, 15 y 17 (Se: 96.7%, Es: 81.5%); el fenotipo hiperactivo/impulsivo por los ítems 2, 4, 10, 12, 14 y 16 (Se: 96.6%, Es: 81%) y el fenotipo combinado por los ítems 9, 10, 12, 14 y 15 (Se: 100 %, Es: 82.6%). Existe una reducción del 66% de los ítems en el fenotipo combinado. Conclusiones. Es posible reducir la lista de síntomas de TDAH con unos niveles de validez adecuados y determinados ítems parecen tener mayor capacidad para determinar decisiones diagnóstica

Influence of single-nucleotide polymorphisms in TLR3 (rs3775291) and TLR9 (rs352139) on the risk of CMV infection in kidney transplant recipients

Risk stratification for cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection after kidney transplantation (KT) remains to be determined. Since endosomal toll-like receptors (TLRs) are involved in viral sensing, we investigated the impact of common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) located within TLR3 and TLR9 genes on the occurrence of overall and high-level (≥1,000 IU/ml) CMV infection in a cohort of 197 KT recipients. Homozygous carriers of the minor allele of TLR3 (rs3775291) had higher infection-free survival compared with reference allele carriers (60.0% for TT versus 42.3% for CC/CT genotypes; P-value = 0.050). Decreased infection-free survival was observed with the minor allele of TLR9 (rs352139) (38.2% for TC/CC versus 59.3% for TT genotypes; P-value = 0.004). After multivariable adjustment, the recessive protective effect of the TLR3 (rs3775291) TT genotype was confirmed (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR]: 0.327; 95% CI: 0.167–0.642; P-value = 0.001), as was the dominant risk-conferring effect of TLR9 (rs352139) TC/CC genotypes (aHR: 1.865; 95% CI: 1.170–2.972; P-value = 0.009). Carriers of the TLR9 (rs352139) TC/CC genotypes showed lower CMV-specific interferon-γ-producing CD4+ T-cell counts measured by intracellular cytokine staining compared with the TT genotype (median of 0.2 versus 0.7 cells/μl; P-value = 0.003). In conclusion, TLR3/TLR9 genotyping may inform CMV infection risk after KT

CD38 Deficiency Ameliorates Chronic Graft-Versus-Host Disease Murine Lupus via a B-Cell-Dependent Mechanism

© 2021 Martínez-Blanco, Domínguez-Pantoja, Botía-Sánchez, Pérez-Cabrera, Bello-Iglesias, Carrillo-Rodríguez, Martin-Morales, Lario-Simón, Pérez-Sánchez-Cañete, Montosa-Hidalgo, Guerrero-Fernández, Longobardo-Polanco, Redondo-Sánchez, Cornet-Gomez, Torres-Sáez, Fernández-Ibáñez, Terrón-Camero, Andrés-León, O’Valle, Merino, Zubiaur and Sancho.The absence of the mouse cell surface receptor CD38 in Cd38−/− mice suggests that this receptor acts as a positive regulator of inflammatory and autoimmune responses. Here, we report that, in the context of the chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) lupus inducible model, the transfer of B6.C-H2bm12/KhEg(bm12) spleen cells into co-isogenic Cd38−/− B6 mice causes milder lupus-like autoimmunity with lower levels of anti-ssDNA autoantibodies than the transfer of bm12 spleen cells into WT B6 mice. In addition, significantly lower percentages of Tfh cells, as well as GC B cells, plasma cells, and T-bet+CD11chi B cells, were observed in Cd38−/− mice than in WT mice, while the expansion of Treg cells and Tfr cells was normal, suggesting that the ability of Cd38−/− B cells to respond to allogeneic help from bm12 CD4+ T cells is greatly diminished. The frequencies of T-bet+CD11chi B cells, which are considered the precursors of the autoantibody-secreting cells, correlate with anti-ssDNA autoantibody serum levels, IL-27, and sCD40L. Proteomics profiling of the spleens from WT cGVHD mice reflects a STAT1-driven type I IFN signature, which is absent in Cd38−/− cGVHD mice. Kidney, spleen, and liver inflammation was mild and resolved faster in Cd38−/− cGVHD mice than in WT cGVHD mice. We conclude that CD38 in B cells functions as a modulator receptor that controls autoimmune responses.S and MZ received financial support through “Proyecto del Plan Estatal”: SAF2017–89801-R. The IPBLN-CSIC Proteomics Unit belonged to ProteoRed-ISCIII (PRB2; PRB3) and was supported by grants PT13/0001/0011 (IPBLN-CSIC) and PT17/0019/0010 (CIB-CSIC; IPBLN-CSIC). RM: Project: SAF2017-82905-R. FO'V: Cátedra MIS IMPLANT-UGR. The stay of AC-G in Sancho’s lab was supported by a fellowship-contract JAE-Intro (CSIC). The stay of MD-P in Sancho’s lab was supported by a 1-year post-doctoral fellowship (Reference No. 502492) from the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT) of México. EA-L was recipient of a postdoctoral fellowship from the regional Andalusian Government

A fully-automated low-cost cardiac monolayer optical mapping robot

Scalable and high-throughput electrophysiological measurement systems are necessary to accelerate the elucidation of cardiac diseases in drug development. Optical mapping is the primary method of simultaneously measuring several key electrophysiological parameters, such as action potentials, intracellular free calcium and conduction velocity, at high spatiotemporal resolution. This tool has been applied to isolated whole-hearts, whole-hearts in-vivo, tissue-slices and cardiac monolayers/tissue-constructs. Although optical mapping of all of these substrates have contributed to our understanding of ion-channels and fibrillation dynamics, cardiac monolayers/tissue-constructs are scalable macroscopic substrates that are particularly amenable to high-throughput interrogation. Here, we describe and validate a scalable and fully-automated monolayer optical mapping robot that requires no human intervention and with reasonable costs. As a proof-of-principle demonstration, we performed parallelized macroscopic optical mapping of calcium dynamics in the well-established neonatal-rat-ventricular-myocyte monolayer plated on standard 35 mm dishes. Given the advancements in regenerative and personalized medicine, we also performed parallelized macroscopic optical mapping of voltage dynamics in human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocyte monolayers using a genetically encoded voltage indictor and a commonly-used voltage sensitive dye to demonstrate the versatility of our system