Phenotypes of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and all-cause mortality: Unsupervised machine learning analysis of NHANES III

Objectives: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a non-communicable disease with a rising prevalence worldwide and with large burden for patients and health systems. To date, the presence of unique phenotypes in patients with NAFLD has not been studied, and their identification could inform precision medicine and public health with pragmatic implications in personalised management and care for patients with NAFLD. Design: Cross-sectional and prospective (up to 31 December 2019) analysis of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (1988–1994). Primary and secondary outcomes measures: NAFLD diagnosis was based on liver ultrasound. The following predictors informed an unsupervised machine learning algorithm (k-means): body mass index, waist circumference, systolic blood pressure (SBP), plasma glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides, liver enzymes alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and gamma glutamyl transferase. We summarised (means) and compared the predictors across clusters. We used Cox proportional hazard models to quantify the all-cause mortality risk associated with each cluster. Results: 1652 patients with NAFLD (mean age 47.2 years and 51.5% women) were grouped into 3 clusters: anthro-SBP-glucose (6.36%; highest levels of anthropometrics, SBP and glucose), lipid-liver (10.35%; highest levels of lipid and liver enzymes) and average (83.29%; predictors at average levels). Compared with the average phenotype, the anthro-SBP-glucose phenotype had higher all-cause mortality risk (aHR=2.88; 95% CI: 2.26 to 3.67); the lipid-liver phenotype was not associated with higher all-cause mortality risk (aHR=1.11; 95% CI: 0.86 to 1.42). Conclusions: There is heterogeneity in patients with NAFLD, whom can be divided into three phenotypes with different mortality risk. These phenotypes could guide specific interventions and management plans, thus advancing precision medicine and public health for patients with NAFLD

Influencia de la alimentación con hoja de arroz (Oryza sativa L.) en la biología de Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith, 1797)

Spodoptera frugiperda incide en el desarrollo y rendimiento del cultivo de arroz, por tal razón se realizó durante tres generaciones un estudio para demostrar la influencia de la alimentación con hojas de tres variedades de arroz en su biología, bajo condiciones de laboratorio. Se criaron individualmente 25 larvas en placas Petri por variedad, alimentándolas diariamente con hojas de la variedad correspondiente. La temperatura promedio fue de 26,33 °C y humedad relativa de 84,33%. Los resultados indican que el periodo de incubación fue de 4,0 días para las tres variedades, el larval tuvo una duración promedio en las tres generaciones de 14,27 ± 0,16 días en Tinajones, 13,77 ± 0,13 en Feron y 13,50 ± 0,17 en Mallares, el estado de pre-pupa 2,1± 0,10 días en Ferón, 2,0 en Mallares y 2,60 ± 0,17 en Tinajones. En el caso de la pupa 8,80 ± 0,20 días en Feron, 7,73 ± 0,5 en Mallares y 9,53±0,20 en Tinajones. El ciclo de desarrollo tuvo una duración de 28,67 ± 0,27 días en Ferón, 27,23 ± 0,27 en Mallares y 30,40 ± 0,30 en la variedad Tinajones. Se concluye que las variedades de arroz tienen una ligera influencia en la biología de la especie en estudio

Especies de arañas como agentes de control biológico natural de la “cigarrita marrón” (Tagosodes orizicolus Muir) en el cultivo de arroz en el valle de Tumbes

Las arañas son parte de la fauna benéfica presente en los agroecosistemas de arroz en Tumbes y cumplen un rol fundamental como agentes de biocontrol de Tagosodes orizicolus Muir. Se hace necesario conocer su biodiversidad para integrarlas en el manejo integrado de plagas. El objetivo del estudio fue identificar las especies y sus fluctuaciones poblacionales en el cultivo de arroz en el valle de Tumbes. El primer periodo de evaluación fue durante octubre 2018 a enero 2019 en cultivos sembrados bajo la modalidad de trasplante y de abril a junio de 2019 de siembra directa. Las colectas fueron semanales, las técnicas de colecta fueron trampas de caída, observación directa en un determinado número de plantas por m2 y barrido con red entomológica. El material colectado fue llevado a los ambientes del museo entomológico para su procesamiento, identificación y conservación. Se recolectaron ejemplares pertenecientes a 18 familias, las más representativas fueron Lycosidae (65,05%), Tetragnathidae (15,15%) y Oxyopidae (6,48%). Se identificaron 37 especies y/o morfoespecies. Las más abundantes fueron Hogna albemarlensis (45,57%), Arctosa minuta (12,46%) y Tetragnatha nitens (10,63%). Este estudio representa la primera contribución al conocimiento de la diversidad de arañas presentes en el cultivo de arroz en el valle de Tumbes

Do UK universities communicate their brands effectively through their websites?

This paper attempts to explore the effectiveness of UK universities’ websites. The area of branding in higher education has received increasing academic investigation, but little work has researched how universities demonstrate their brand promises through their websites. The quest to differentiate through branding can be challenging in the university context, however. It is argued that those institutions that have a strong distinctive image will be in a better position to face a changing future. Employing a multistage methodology, the web pages of twenty UK universities were investigated by using a combination of content and multivariable analysis. Results indicated ‘traditional values’ such as teaching and research were often well communicated in terms of online brand but ‘emotional values’ like social responsibility and the universities’ environments were less consistently communicated, despite their increased topicality. It is therefore suggested that emotional values may offer a basis for possible future online differentiation

Recurring adaptive introgression of a supergene variant that determines social organization

Introgression has been proposed as an essential source of adaptive genetic variation. However, a key barrier to adaptive introgression is that recombination can break down combinations of alleles that underpin many traits. This barrier might be overcome in supergene regions, where suppressed recombination leads to joint inheritance across many loci. Here, we study the evolution of a large supergene region that determines a major social and ecological trait in Solenopsis fire ants: whether colonies have one queen or multiple queens. Using coalescent-based phylogenies built from the genomes of 365 haploid fire ant males, we show that the supergene variant responsible for multiple-queen colonies evolved in one species and repeatedly spread to other species through introgressive hybridization. This finding highlights how supergene architecture can enable a complex adaptive phenotype to recurrently permeate species boundaries

A SIMPLE METHOD FOR THE SYNTHESIS OF CdS NANOPARTICLES USING A NOVEL SURFACTANT

In this work, we present the synthesis and characterization of CdS nanoparticles suitable for semiconductor applications using a simple and manufacturable process. The solution based process was synthetized at room temperature using cadmium nitrate tetrahydrate (Cd (NO 3 ) 2 .4 H 2 O 0.1 M) and a Thioacetamide (C 2 H 5 NS (TA) 0.5 M) as source of cadmium and sulfur, respectively. The effect of the concentration of polyethyleneimine (PEI) as a surface stabilizer or surfactant for growth control of CdS nanoparticles was studied. The PEI concentrations were varied as 1 M, 0.5 M , 0.25 M , and 0.01 M respectively. Optical properties of CdS were analyzed by UV-Vis spectroscopy; functional groups were identified by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and the surface morphology by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The particle size for CdS nanoparticles were less than 80 nm. An increase in size was observed inversely to the PEI concentration

Parasitoides de la cigarrita marrón Tagosodes orizicolus Muir (Hemiptera: Delphacidae), insecto plaga del cultivo de arroz

Las poblaciones de Tagosodes orizicolus Muir, insecto plaga clave del cultivo de arroz en el valle de Tumbes, son reguladas por enemigos naturales predadores y parasitoides.  El objetivo del estudio fue identificar especies de parasitoides. Durante noviembre 2018 a junio 2019, se recolectaron semanalmente hojas de arroz conteniendo huevos; adultos y ninfas recolectadas con red entomológica y llevadas al Museo de Entomología de la Universidad Nacional de Tumbes, en las hojas se realizaron disecciones, se retiró la parte conteniendo los huevos, se depositaron en tubos de ensayo para esperar la emergencia de cigarritas o parasitoides para su identificación y preservación. Los adultos y ninfas fueron revisados para detectar presencia de ectoparasitoides.  Se utilizaron las claves para especies de himenópteros neotropicales y subtropicales de Huber y Pinto. Se recuperaron dos especies, una perteneciente al género Anagrus (Mymaridae) y la otra al género Paracentrobia (Trichogrammatidae). El mayor porcentaje de parasitismo fue de 16,7% al 47,7% para Anagrus y 2,1% al 39,3% para Paracentrobia. No se recuperaron parasitoides de los otros estados de desarrollo.  Se concluye que existen especies de parasitoides de huevos en el valle de Tumbes y para su multiplicación y protección natural hay que brindarles corredores biológicos

Degenerative expansion of a young supergene.

Long term suppression of recombination ultimately leads to gene loss, as demonstrated by the depauperate Y and W chromosomes of long-established pairs of XY and ZW chromosomes. The young social supergene of the Solenopsis invicta red fire ant provides a powerful system to examine the effects of suppressed recombination over a shorter timescale. The two variants of this supergene are carried by a pair of heteromorphic chromosomes, referred to as the social B and social b (SB and Sb) chromosomes. The Sb variant of this supergene changes colony social organization and has an inheritance pattern similar to a Y or W chromosome because it is unable to recombine. We used high-resolution optical mapping, k-mer distribution analysis and quantification of repetitive elements on haploid ants carrying alternate variants of this young supergene region. We find that instead of shrinking, the Sb variant of the supergene has increased in length by more than 30%. Surprisingly, only a portion of this length increase is due to consistent increases in the frequency of particular classes of repetitive elements. Instead, haplotypes of this supergene variant differ dramatically in the amounts of other repetitive elements, indicating that the accumulation of repetitive elements is a heterogeneous and dynamic process. This is the first comprehensive demonstration of degenerative expansion in an animal and shows that it occurs through non-linear processes during the early evolution of a region of suppressed recombination