Wilson loops in warped resolved deformed conifolds

We calculate quark-antiquark potentials using the relationship between the expectation value of the Wilson loop and the action of a probe string in the string dual. We review and categorize the possible forms of the dependence of the energy on the separation between the quarks. In particular, we examine the possibility of there being a minimum separation for probe strings which do not penetrate close to the origin of the bulk space, and derive a condition which determines whether this is the case. We then apply these considerations to the flavoured resolved deformed conifold background of Gaillard et al. We suggest that the unusual behaviour we observe in this solution is likely to be related to the IR singularity which is not present in the unflavoured case

Effects of two fractions of swietenia macrophylla and catechin on muscle damage induced by bothrops venom and PLA(2)

Plant natural products can attenuate the myonecrosis caused by Bothrops snake venom and their phospholipases A(2) (PLA(2)). In this study, we evaluated the effects of two fractions (F4 and F6) from Swietenia macrophylla and purified catechin on the muscle damage caused by a myotoxic PLA(2) from Colombian Bothrops asper venom (BaColPLA(2)) in mice and by Bothrops marmoratus venom from Brazil in mouse phrenic nerve-diaphragm muscle (PND) preparations in vitro. Male mice were injected with PLA(2) (50 mu g) in the absence or presence of F4, F6, and catechin, in the gastrocnemius muscle and then killed 3, 7, 14, and 28 h later for histopathological analysis of myonecrosis, leukocyte infiltration, and the presence of collagen. Fractions F4 and F6 (500 mu g) and catechin (90 mu g) significantly reduced the extent of necrosis at all-time intervals. These two fractions and catechin also attenuated the leukocyte infiltration on day 3, as did catechin on day 14. There was medium-to-moderate collagen deposition in all groups up to day 7, but greater deposition on days 14 and 28 in the presence of F6 and catechin. Bothrops marmoratus venom (100 mu g/mL) caused slight (25%) muscle facilitation after 10 min and weak neuromuscular blockade (64% decrease in contractile activity after a 120-min incubation). Pre-incubation of venom with F4 or F6 abolished the facilitation, whereas catechin, which was itself facilitatory, did not. All three fractions attenuated the venom-induced decrease in muscle contractions. These findings indicate that fractions and catechin from S. macrophylla can reduce the muscle damage caused by Bothrops venom and PLA(2). These fractions or their components could be useful for treating venom-induced local damage11

The creative imagination of university students of the specialty of Psychology

The purpose of this study is to determine the predominant dimension in the creative imagination of students of psychology, with creative imagination understood as the ability to invent new situations, products or solutions beyond reproducing them from previous knowledge. This research study design is substantive, descriptive and explanatory. The study sample is composed of 85 students between 16 and 18 years of the Faculty of Psychology of the Cesar Vallejo University. An instrument called PIC-J (Test of creative imagination for young people) was used, construct validity was performed through construct analysis and reliability through the Cronbach Alpha. The testing of the hypotheses was made through the logistic regression and these results show that the predominant dimension is narrative creativity and the relevant indicators are fluency and originality, which are fundamental for the students.El presente estudio tiene como finalidad determinar la dimensión predominante en la imaginación creativa de estudiantes de psicología, la imaginación creativa entendida como capacidad de inventar nuevas situaciones, productos o soluciones más allá de reproducirlas desde un conocimiento anterior. La investigación corresponde al tipo sustantivo, descriptivo explicativo, la muestra de estudio conformada por 85 estudiantes entre 16 a 18 años de la Facultad de Psicología de la Universidad César Vallejo, se utilizó un instrumento denominada PIC-J (Prueba de imaginación creativa para jóvenes), la validez de constructo se realizó a través del análisis de constructo y la confiabilidad a través del Alpha Cronbach. La contrastación de las hipótesis se realizó a través de la regresión logística y dichos resultados demuestran que la dimensión predominante es la creatividad narrativa y los indicadores relevantes la fluidez y originalidad, fundamental para los estudiantes. Palabras claves: Imaginación creativa, fluidez, originalidad, creatividad narrativa

Tuning the cell and biological tissue environment through magneto-active materials

This review focuses on novel applications based on multifunctional materials to actuate biological processes. The first section of the work revisits the current knowledge on mechanically dependent biological processes across several scales from subcellular and cellular level to the cellcollective scale (continuum approaches). This analysis presents a wide variety of mechanically dependent biological processes on nervous system behaviour; bone development and healing; collective cell migration. In the second section, this review presents recent advances in smart materials suitable for use as cell substrates or scaffolds, with a special focus on magneto-active polymers (MAPs). Throughout the manuscript, both experimental and computational methodologies applied to the different treated topics are reviewed. Finally, the use of smart polymeric materials in bioengineering applications is discussed.This work has been supported by the Madrid Government (Comunidad de Madrid) under the Multiannual Agreement with UC3M in the line of "Fostering Young Doctors Research" (BIOMASKIN-CM-UC3M), and in the context of the V PRICIT (Regional Programme of Research and Technological Innovation, and support from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 947723). DGG acknowledges support from the Talent Attraction grant (CM 2018-2018-T2/IND-9992) from the Comunidad de Madrid.Publicad

Direccionamiento estratégico desde la gerencia social a la fundación salud taller – Funstall

La propuesta va enmarcada básicamente en dos títulos: el primero que hace referencia a lo relacionado con las generalidades de la metodología de investigación como son problemas, objetivos, justificación, marco referencial, metodología. El segundo título es la aplicación de las herramientas de la Gerencia Social, básicas para el fortalecimiento organizacional de FUNSTALL: Plan Estratégico, Mercadeo Social, Fundraising y Redes y Alianzas, en cada uno de estos títulos se darán los parámetros fundamentales para el fortalecimiento desde la Gerencia Social, los cuales son medidos a través del cronograma y el presupuesto

Magneto-mechanical system to reproduce and quantify complex strain patterns in biological materials

Biological cells and tissues are continuously subjected to mechanical stress and strain cues from their surrounding substrate. How these forces modulate cell and tissue behavior is a major question in mechanobiology. To conduct studies under controlled varying physiological strain scenarios, a new virtually-assisted experimental system is proposed allowing for non-invasive and real-time control of complex deformation modes within the substrates. This approach is based on the use of extremely soft magneto-active polymers, which mimic the stiffness of biological materials. Thus, the system enables the untethered control of biological substrates providing reversible mechanical changes and controlling heterogeneous patterns. Motivated on a deep magneto-mechanical characterization across scales, a multi-physics and multi-scale in silico framework was developed to guide the experimental stimulation setup. The versatility and viability of the system have been demonstrated through its ability to reproduce complex mechanical scenarios simulating local strain patterns in brain tissue during a head impact, and its capability to transmit physiologically relevant mechanical forces to dermal fibroblasts. The proposed framework opens the way to understanding the mechanobiological processes that occur during complex and dynamic deformation states, e.g., in traumatic brain injury, pathological skin scarring or fibrotic heart remodeling during myocardial infarction.The authors thank Denis Wirtz (Johns Hopkins University) and Jean-Christophe Olivo-Marin (Institute Pasteur) for relevant discussion. The authors acknowledge support from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program (Grant agreement No. 947723, project: 4D-BIOMAP), and from Programa de Apoyo a la Realizacion de Proyectos Interdiscisplinares de I+D para Jovenes Investigadores de la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and Comunidad de Madrid (project: BIOMASKIN). MAMM and CGC acknowledges support from the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades, Spain (FPU19/03874 and FPU20/01459) and DGG acknowledges support from the Talent Attraction grant (CM 2018 - 2018-T2/IND-9992) from the Comunidad de Madrid

A parallel-group, multicenter randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, phase 2/3, clinical trial to test the efficacy of pyridostigmine bromide at low doses to reduce mortality or invasive mechanical ventilation in adults with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection: the Pyridostigmine In Severe COvid-19 (PISCO) trial protocol

© 2020, The Author(s). Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, the causative agent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), may lead to severe systemic inflammatory response, pulmonary damage, and even acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). This in turn may result in respiratory failure and in death. Experimentally, acetylcholine (ACh) modulates the acute inflammatory response, a neuro-immune mechanism known as the inflammatory reflex. Recent clinical evidence suggest that electrical and chemical stimulation of the inflammatory reflex may reduce the burden of inflammation in chronic inflammatory diseases. Pyridostigmine (PDG), an ACh-esterase inhibitor (i-ACh-e), increases the half-life of endogenous ACh, therefore mimicking the inflammatory reflex. This clinical trial is aimed at evaluating if add-on of PDG leads to a decrease of invasive mechanical ventilation and death among patients with severe COVID-19. Methods: A parallel-group, multicenter, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, phase 2/3 clinical trial to test the efficacy of pyridostigmine bromide 60 mg/day P.O. to reduce the need for invasive mechanical ventilation and mortality in hospitalized patients with severe COVID-19. Discussion: This study will provide preliminary evidence of whether or not -by decreasing systemic inflammation- add-on PDG can improve clinical outcomes in patients with severe COVID-19. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04343963 (registered on April 14, 2020)

Mortality in the Waikato Hospital Systemic Sclerosis Cohort

Objective To characterize the causes of mortality and standardised mortality ratio in a cohort of patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). Methods A cohort of 132 patients enrolled at the Waikato Systemic Sclerosis Clinic was prospectively followed from 2005 to 2016. Patient demographics, diagnoses and laboratory reports were used to assess risk of mortality and generate standardised mortality ratios (SMR). Survival was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier methods. Results Of the cohort of 132 patients, 20 (15%) were deceased by the end of the study period. The median age of diagnosis and death was 52 years (range 13–86) and 71 years (range 42–87) respectively. Seventy percent of deaths were SSc related and the leading causes of death were due to pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), interstitial lung disease (ILD) and scleroderma renal crisis (SRC). Patients diagnosed after the age of 60 had renal or cardiac manifestations and were associated with a significantly increased risk of mortality. The overall SMR was 2.59 (95% CI 1.67–4.01) and was higher in those with diffuse versus limited SSc (6.46, 95% CI 3.08–13.54 vs. 1.93, 95% CI 1.10–3.41) and males (4.17, 95% CI 1.74–10.02 vs. 2.30, 95% CI 1.39–3.81). Conclusion This study demonstrated an increased risk of mortality in patients with SSc relative to that of the general population. An excess in risk was observed particularly in those with diffuse SSc and in males. Renal and cardiac involvement were found to be significant indicators of mortality and reinforces the necessity of screening for these complications

Transitional Care for Patients with Congenital Colorectal Diseases: An EUPSA Network Office, ERNICA, and eUROGEN Joint Venture

Background: Transition of care (TOC; from childhood into adulthood) of patients with anorectal malformations (ARM) and Hirschsprung disease (HD) ensures continuation of care for these patients. The aim of this international study was to assess the current status of TOC and adult care (AC) programs for patients with ARM and HD. Methods: A survey was developed by members of EUPSA, ERN eUROGEN, and ERNICA, including patient representatives (ePAGs), comprising of four domains: general information, general questions about transition to adulthood, and disease-specific questions regarding TOC and AC programs. Recruitment of centres was done by the ERNs and EUPSA, using mailing lists and social media accounts. Only descriptive statistics were reported. Results: In total, 82 centres from 21 different countries entered the survey. Approximately half of them were ERN network members. Seventy-two centres (87.8%) had a self-reported area of expertise for both ARM and HD. Specific TOC programs were installed in 44% of the centres and AC programs in 31% of these centres. When comparing centres, wide variation was observed in the content of the programs. Conclusion: Despite the awareness of the importance of TOC and AC programs, these programs were installed in less than 50% of the participating centres. Various transition and AC programs were applied, with considerable heterogeneity in implementation, content and responsible caregivers involved. Sharing best practice examples and taking into account local and National Health Care Programs might lead to a better continuation of care in the future. Level of Evidence: III