Estudio de conjuntos departamentales y organización de barrios utilizando sensores remotos y geofísica en el distrito de Tlajinga, Teotihuacan

RESUMEN: Estudios geofísicos, técnicas de sensores remotos y realización de mapas topográficos con GPS diferencial y vehículos aéreos no tripulados (VANT) han proporcionado una mejor comprensión de la organización espacial de los conjuntos departamentales y barrios en Teotihuacán. Nuestras investigaciones demuestran que en contraste con el mapa producido por el Teotihuacan Mapping Project (TMP) (Millon et al. 1973), el distrito de Tlanjinga es más rectangular y está más formalmente organizado, mientras que los conjuntos individuales tienen formas más irregulares, como lo había mostrado la excavación de Tlajinga 33 (Widmer y Storey 1993). Esto difiere de los nítidos cuadrados y rectángulos interpretados por las reconstrucciones arquitectónicas del TMP. El estudio de las imágenes satelitales mostró manchas blanquecinas en el terreno que parecen corresponder con áreas elevadas del mismo y con la desintegración de los aplanados de cal, destruidos por el tiempo y el trabajo agrícola. También verificamos la continuación del trazo de la Calzada de los Muertos que cruza este distrito mediante la modificación del relieve ocasionada por la excavación realizada en la toba volcánica subyacente (tepetate).ABSTRACT: Geophysical studies, remote-sensing techniques and topographic mapping with both differential GPS and UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) provide a much improved understanding of spatial organization of Teotihuacan’s districts, neighborhoods, and apartment compounds. Our investigations demonstrate that, in contrast to the analog map produced by the Teotihuacan Mapping Project (TMP) (Millon et al. 1973), the central Tlajinga district is more rectangular and formally organized, whereas individual compounds are more irregularly shaped, like the already excavated plan of Tlajinga 33 (Widmer and Storey 1993) and unlike the neat squares and rectangles conveyed by the TMP architectural reconstructions. Inspection of satellite imagery reveals concentrations of whitish surface spots that may correspond to areas where lime plaster has disintegrated as a consequence of time and agriculture, and where the terrain rises. We also verify the continuation of Teotihuacan’s central axis, the Street of the Dead, through the district, where it was excavated into the volcanic tuff substrate (tepetate).Accepted manuscrip

Sobre la Maximización de Ganancias en Empresas Socialmente Responsables: El Caso del Monopolista Ordinario que enfrenta una Función de Demanda Lineal.

The approach of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has changed the way business. However, its effect has not yet been incorporated into stan-dard economic theory. In this paper, shown a way to make such an extension to the case of ordinary monopoly, which can adapt to any possible mar-ket structures. The main result of the investigation, using simulation with Excel®, is that the decision to make socially responsible activities is favorable in terms of earnings, but only for certain levels of ex-penditure.El enfoque de responsabilidad social empresarial (RSE) ha cambiado la forma de hacer negocios. Sin embargo, su efecto no ha sido incorporado aún en la teoría económica estándar. En este trabajo se muestra una forma de hacer tal exten-sión para el caso del monopolio ordinario, la cual puede adecuarse para cualquiera de las otras estructuras de mercado posibles. Como resultado principal de la investigación, mediante simulación en Excel® se encuentra que la decisión de realizar actividades socialmente responsables es favor-able en cuanto a ganancias se refiere, pero solo para ciertos niveles de gasto

Structural mapping of oligomeric intermediates in an amyloid assembly pathway

Transient oligomers are commonly formed in the early stages of amyloid assembly. Determining the structure(s) of these species and defining their role(s) in assembly is key to devising new routes to control disease. Here, using a combination of chemical kinetics, NMR spectroscopy and other biophysical methods, we identify and structurally characterize the oligomers required for amyloid assembly of the protein ΔN6, a truncation variant of human β2-microglobulin (β2m) found in amyloid deposits in the joints of patients with dialysis-related amyloidosis. The results reveal an assembly pathway which is initiated by the formation of head-to-head non-toxic dimers and hexamers en route to amyloid fibrils. Comparison with inhibitory dimers shows that precise subunit organization determines amyloid assembly, while dynamics in the C-terminal strand hint to the initiation of cross-β structure formation. The results provide a detailed structural view of early amyloid assembly involving structured species that are not cytotoxic

Global, regional, and national age-sex-specific mortality for 282 causes of death in 195 countries and territories, 1980-2017 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background Global development goals increasingly rely on country-specific estimates for benchmarking a nation's progress. To meet this need, the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2016 estimated global, regional, national, and, for selected locations, subnational cause-specific mortality beginning in the year 1980. Here we report an update to that study, making use of newly available data and improved methods. GBD 2017 provides a comprehensive assessment of cause-specific mortality for 282 causes in 195 countries and territories from 1980 to 2017. Methods The causes of death database is composed of vital registration (VR), verbal autopsy (VA), registry, survey, police, and surveillance data. GBD 2017 added ten VA studies, 127 country-years of VR data, 502 cancer-registry country-years, and an additional surveillance country-year. Expansions of the GBD cause of death hierarchy resulted in 18 additional causes estimated for GBD 2017. Newly available data led to subnational estimates for five additional countries Ethiopia, Iran, New Zealand, Norway, and Russia. Deaths assigned International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes for non-specific, implausible, or intermediate causes of death were reassigned to underlying causes by redistribution algorithms that were incorporated into uncertainty estimation. We used statistical modelling tools developed for GBD, including the Cause of Death Ensemble model (CODErn), to generate cause fractions and cause specific death rates for each location, year, age, and sex. Instead of using UN estimates as in previous versions, GBD 2017 independently estimated population size and fertility rate for all locations. Years of life lost (YLLs) were then calculated as the sum of each death multiplied by the standard life expectancy at each age. All rates reported here are age-standardised. Findings At the broadest grouping of causes of death (Level 1), non-communicable diseases (NC Ds) comprised the greatest fraction of deaths, contributing to 73.4% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 72.5-74.1) of total deaths in 2017, while communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional (CMNN) causes accounted for 186% (17.9-19.6), and injuries 8.0% (7.7-8.2). Total numbers of deaths from NCD causes increased from 2007 to 2017 by 22.7% (21.5-23.9), representing an additional 7.61 million (7. 20-8.01) deaths estimated in 2017 versus 2007. The death rate from NCDs decreased globally by 7.9% (7.08.8). The number of deaths for CMNN causes decreased by 222% (20.0-24.0) and the death rate by 31.8% (30.1-33.3). Total deaths from injuries increased by 2.3% (0-5-4-0) between 2007 and 2017, and the death rate from injuries decreased by 13.7% (12.2-15.1) to 57.9 deaths (55.9-59.2) per 100 000 in 2017. Deaths from substance use disorders also increased, rising from 284 000 deaths (268 000-289 000) globally in 2007 to 352 000 (334 000-363 000) in 2017. Between 2007 and 2017, total deaths from conflict and terrorism increased by 118.0% (88.8-148.6). A greater reduction in total deaths and death rates was observed for some CMNN causes among children younger than 5 years than for older adults, such as a 36.4% (32.2-40.6) reduction in deaths from lower respiratory infections for children younger than 5 years compared with a 33.6% (31.2-36.1) increase in adults older than 70 years. Globally, the number of deaths was greater for men than for women at most ages in 2017, except at ages older than 85 years. Trends in global YLLs reflect an epidemiological transition, with decreases in total YLLs from enteric infections, respirator}, infections and tuberculosis, and maternal and neonatal disorders between 1990 and 2017; these were generally greater in magnitude at the lowest levels of the Socio-demographic Index (SDI). At the same time, there were large increases in YLLs from neoplasms and cardiovascular diseases. YLL rates decreased across the five leading Level 2 causes in all SDI quintiles. The leading causes of YLLs in 1990 neonatal disorders, lower respiratory infections, and diarrhoeal diseases were ranked second, fourth, and fifth, in 2017. Meanwhile, estimated YLLs increased for ischaemic heart disease (ranked first in 2017) and stroke (ranked third), even though YLL rates decreased. Population growth contributed to increased total deaths across the 20 leading Level 2 causes of mortality between 2007 and 2017. Decreases in the cause-specific mortality rate reduced the effect of population growth for all but three causes: substance use disorders, neurological disorders, and skin and subcutaneous diseases. Interpretation Improvements in global health have been unevenly distributed among populations. Deaths due to injuries, substance use disorders, armed conflict and terrorism, neoplasms, and cardiovascular disease are expanding threats to global health. For causes of death such as lower respiratory and enteric infections, more rapid progress occurred for children than for the oldest adults, and there is continuing disparity in mortality rates by sex across age groups. Reductions in the death rate of some common diseases are themselves slowing or have ceased, primarily for NCDs, and the death rate for selected causes has increased in the past decade. Copyright (C) 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe

The molecular lifecycle of amyloid – Mechanism of assembly, mesoscopic organisation, polymorphism, suprastructures, and biological consequences

The formation of a diverse range of amyloid structures from normally soluble proteins and peptides is a hallmark of devastating human disorders as well as biological functions. The current molecular understanding of the amyloid lifecycle reveals four processes central to their growth and propagation: primary nucleation, elongation, secondary nucleation and division. However, these processes result in a wide range of cross-β packing and filament arrangements, including diverse assemblies formed from identical monomeric precursors with the same amino acid sequences. Here, we review current structural and mechanistic understanding of amyloid self-assembly, and discuss how mesoscopic, i.e. micrometre to nanometre, organisation of amyloid give rise to suprastructural features that may be the key link between the polymorphic amyloid structures and the biological response they elicit. A greater understanding of the mechanisms governing suprastructure formation will guide future strategies to combat amyloid associated disorders and to use and control the amyloid quaternary structure in synthetic biology and materials applications