Global environmental changes: setting priorities for Latin American coastal habitats.

The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.comThe Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) reports that Global Environmental Changes (GEC) are occurring quicker than at any other time over the last 25 million years and impacting upon marine environments (Bellard et al., 2012). There is overwhelming evidence showing that GEC are affecting both the quality and quantity of the goods and services provided by a wide range of marine ecosystems. In order to discuss regional preparedness for global environmental changes, a workshop was held in Ilhabela, Brazil (22- 26 April 2012) entitled "Evaluating the Sensitivity of Central and South American Benthic Communities to Global Environmental Changes" that drew together scientists from ten Latin American and three European countries. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Dexketoprofen/tramadol: randomised double-blind trial and confirmation of empirical theory of combination analgesics in acute pain

Background: Combination analgesics are effective in acute pain, and a theoretical framework predicts efficacy for combinations. The combination of dexketoprofen and tramadol is untested, but predicted to be highly effective. Methods: This was a randomised, double-blind, double-dummy, parallel-group, placebo-controlled, single-dose trial in patients with moderate or severe pain following third molar extraction. There were ten treatment arms, including dexketoprofen trometamol (12.5 mg and 25 mg) and tramadol hydrochloride (37.5 mg and 75 mg), given as four different fixed combinations and single components, with ibuprofen 400 mg as active control as well as a placebo control. The study objective was to evaluate the superior analgesic efficacy and safety of each combination and each single agent versus placebo. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients with at least 50 % max TOTPAR over six hours. Results: 606 patients were randomised and provided at least one post-dose assessment. All combinations were significantly better than placebo. The highest percentage of responders (72 %) was achieved in the dexketoprofen trometamol 25 mg plus tramadol hydrochloride 75 mg group (NNT 1.6, 95 % confidence interval 1.3 to 2.1). Addition of tramadol to dexketoprofen resulted in greater peak pain relief and greater pain relief over the longer term, particularly at times longer than six hours (median duration of 8.1 h). Adverse events were unremarkable. Conclusions: Dexketoprofen trometamol 25 mg combined with tramadol hydrochloride 75 mg provided good analgesia with rapid onset and long duration in a model of moderate to severe pain. The results of the dose finding study are consistent with pre-trial calculations based on empirical formulae

Lipopolysaccharides of brucella abortus and brucella melitensis induce nitric oxide synthesis in rat peritoneal macrophages

Producción CientíficaSmooth lipopolysaccharide (S-LPS) and lipid A of Brucella abortus and Brucella melitensis induced the production of nitric oxide (NO) by rat adherent peritoneal cells, but they induced lower levels of production of NO than Escherichia coli LPS. The participation of the inducible isoform of NO synthase (iNOS) was confirmed by the finding of an increased expression of both iNOS mRNA and iNOS protein. These observations might help to explain (i) the acute outcome of Brucella infection in rodents, (ii) the low frequency of septic shock in human brucellosis, and (iii) the prolonged intracellular survival of Brucella in humans.This work was supported by (grants FIS 96/1017, SAF96-0144, and SAF98-0176

Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography–fluorescence detection for the analysis of glutathione and its precursor γ-glutamyl cysteine in wines and model wines supplemented with oenological inactive dry yeast preparations

El pdf del artículo es la versión pre-print.A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography-fluorescence detection methodology involving a pre-column derivatization procedure using 2,3-naphtalenedialdehyde in the presence of 5 and 0. 5 mM of dithiothreitol to determine total and reduced glutathione (GSH) and γ-glutamyl-cysteine (γ-glu-cys) in musts and wines has been set up and validated. The proposed method showed good linearity (R 2 >99% for reduced and total GSH, and R 2 >98% for γ-glu-cys) in synthetic wines, over a wide range of concentration (0-10 mg L -1). The limits of detection for reduced GSH in synthetic and real wines were almost the same (0. 13 and 0. 15 mg L -1, respectively) and slightly higher for γ-glu-cys (0. 24 mg L -1). The application of the method allowed knowing, for the first time, the amount of total and reduced GSH and γ-glu-cys released into synthetic wines by oenological preparations of commercial inactive dry yeast (IDY). In addition, the evolution of these three compounds during the winemaking and shelf life (0-9 months) of an industrially manufactured rosé wine supplemented with a GSH-enriched IDY showed that although GSH is effectively released from IDY, it is rapidly oxidized during alcoholic fermentation, contributing to the higher total GSH content determined in wines supplemented with GSH-enriched IDYs compared to control wines. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.IAO and JJRB acknowledge CAM and CSIC for their respective research grants. This work has been founded by PET2007-0134 project.Peer Reviewe

Family physicians' views on participating in prevention of major depression. The predictD-EVAL qualitative study

BACKGROUND: The predictD intervention, a multicomponent intervention delivered by family physicians (FPs), reduced the incidence of major depression by 21% versus the control group and was cost-effective. A qualitative methodology was proposed to identify the mechanisms of action of these complex interventions. PURPOSE: To seek the opinions of these FPs on the potential successful components of the predictD intervention for the primary prevention of depression in primary care and to identify areas for improvement. METHOD: Qualitative study with FPs who delivered the predictD intervention at 35 urban primary care centres in seven Spanish cities. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews adopting a phenomenological approach. The data was triangulated by three investigators using thematic analysis and respondent validation was carried out. RESULTS: Sixty-seven FPs were interviewed and they indicated strategies used to perform the predictD intervention, including specific communication skills such as empathy and the activation of patient resources. They perceived barriers such as lack of time and facilitators such as prior acquaintance with patients. FPs recognized the positive consequences of the intervention for FPs, patients and the doctor-patient relationship. They also identified strategies for future versions and implementations of the predictD intervention. CONCLUSIONS: The FPs who carried out the predictD intervention identified factors potentially associated with successful prevention using this program and others that could be improved. Their opinions about the predictD intervention will enable development of a more effective and acceptable version and its implementation in different primary health care settings

The spatial structure of lithic landscapes : the late holocene record of east-central Argentina as a case study

Fil: Barrientos, Gustavo. División Antropología. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Catella, Luciana. División Arqueología. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Oliva, Fernando. Centro Estudios Arqueológicos Regionales. Facultad de Humanidades y Artes. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; Argentin

Mathematical models for immunology:current state of the art and future research directions

The advances in genetics and biochemistry that have taken place over the last 10 years led to significant advances in experimental and clinical immunology. In turn, this has led to the development of new mathematical models to investigate qualitatively and quantitatively various open questions in immunology. In this study we present a review of some research areas in mathematical immunology that evolved over the last 10 years. To this end, we take a step-by-step approach in discussing a range of models derived to study the dynamics of both the innate and immune responses at the molecular, cellular and tissue scales. To emphasise the use of mathematics in modelling in this area, we also review some of the mathematical tools used to investigate these models. Finally, we discuss some future trends in both experimental immunology and mathematical immunology for the upcoming years

Longitudinal study of DNA methylation during the first 5 years of life.

Background: Early life epigenetic programming influences adult health outcomes. Moreover, DNA methylation levels have been found to change more rapidly during the first years of life. Our aim was the identification and characterization of the CpG sites that are modified with time during the first years of life. We hypothesize that these DNA methylation changes would lead to the detection of genes that might be epigenetically modulated by environmental factors during early childhood and which, if disturbed, might contribute to susceptibility to diseases later in life. Methods: The study of the DNA methylation pattern of 485577 CpG sites was performed on 30 blood samples from 15 subjects, collected both at birth and at 5 years old, using Illumina® Infinium 450 k array. To identify differentially methylated CpG (dmCpG) sites, the methylation status of each probe was examined using linear models and the Empirical Bayes Moderated t test implemented in the limma package of R/Bioconductor. Surogate variable analysis was used to account for batch effects. Results: DNA methylation levels significantly changed from birth to 5 years of age in 6641 CpG sites. Of these, 36.79 % were hypermethylated and were associated with genes related mainly to developmental ontology terms, while 63.21 % were hypomethylated probes and associated with genes related to immune function. Conclusions: Our results suggest that DNA methylation alterations with age during the first years of life might play a significant role in development and the regulation of leukocyte-specific functions. This supports the idea that blood leukocytes experience genome remodeling related to their interaction with environmental factors, underlining the importance of environmental exposures during the first years of life and suggesting that new strategies should be take into consideration for disease prevention

The Prometastatic Microenvironment of the Liver

The liver is a major metastasis-susceptible site and majority of patients with hepatic metastasis die from the disease in the absence of efficient treatments. The intrahepatic circulation and microvascular arrest of cancer cells trigger a local inflammatory reaction leading to cancer cell apoptosis and cytotoxicity via oxidative stress mediators (mainly nitric oxide and hydrogen peroxide) and hepatic natural killer cells. However, certain cancer cells that resist or even deactivate these anti-tumoral defense mechanisms still can adhere to endothelial cells of the hepatic microvasculature through proinflammatory cytokine-mediated mechanisms. During their temporary residence, some of these cancer cells ignore growth-inhibitory factors while respond to proliferation-stimulating factors released from tumor-activated hepatocytes and sinusoidal cells. This leads to avascular micrometastasis generation in periportal areas of hepatic lobules. Hepatocytes and myofibroblasts derived from portal tracts and activated hepatic stellate cells are next recruited into some of these avascular micrometastases. These create a private microenvironment that supports their development through the specific release of both proangiogenic factors and cancer cell invasion- and proliferation-stimulating factors. Moreover, both soluble factors from tumor-activated hepatocytes and myofibroblasts also contribute to the regulation of metastatic cancer cell genes. Therefore, the liver offers a prometastatic microenvironment to circulating cancer cells that supports metastasis development. The ability to resist anti-tumor hepatic defense and to take advantage of hepatic cell-derived factors are key phenotypic properties of liver-metastasizing cancer cells. Knowledge on hepatic metastasis regulation by microenvironment opens multiple opportunities for metastasis inhibition at both subclinical and advanced stages. In addition, together with metastasis-related gene profiles revealing the existence of liver metastasis potential in primary tumors, new biomarkers on the prometastatic microenvironment of the liver may be helpful for the individual assessment of hepatic metastasis risk in cancer patients