Seed beetles (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) associated with Acacia cornigera (L.) Willd., with description of a new species of Acanthoscelides Schilsky

Presented herein is a key to identify species of Bruchidae associated with Acacia cornigera (L.). For each species, host records, distributions and bionomics are given. A new species of Acanthoscelides Schilsky is described and figured; Acanthoscelides sauli Romero, Cruz, and Kingsolver

Assessing influence of immigrant status and other social determinants of health on community psychiatry

Background/purpose: Social determinants of health are fundamental and structural factors that affect people’s lives and impact their health and longevity. Differences in social determinants of health across populations and communities account for major health disparities between them. The purpose of this paper is to assess how social determinants of health have impacted the health outcomes in patients from our community psychiatry clinics, to evaluate the impact of irregular immigration status as an independent social determinant of health, and to investigate the use of SDOH screening instrument in our clinics. Methods: An online questionnaire was sent to community psychiatry providers in different clinical sites (RGSC, UTRGV clinics, VBMC, TTBH) . The questions involved in the survey provided included 10 key pillars of social determinants of health such as: 1. Discrimination, racism and social exclusion 2. Adverse life experiences 3. Job insecurity and unemployment 4. Income inequality 5. Poverty 6. Neighborhood deprivation 7. Food insecurity 8. Housing instability 9. Poor access to mental health care. 10. Immigration status and evaluation of the impact towards certain patient populations. The results were tabulated and interpreted as flow charts. Additionally, we provided a case report from our clinic in which SDOH impacted negatively diagnosis and management of a patient exhibiting rare neurodegenerative disorder, HD. Results: The majority of clinicians that participated in this study reported that economical status, housing situations, transportation barriers, lower educational level independently contributed to poor health outcomes. Between 40-50% of participants reported that irregular immigration status negatively impacted patient’s diagnosis and management. More than 70% of participants have used any form of SDOH screening in their practice, yet 90% of participants reported their lack of awareness about financial/assistance resources to be detrimental for patient’s health outcomes. Conclusions: Our study corroborated and reiterated that social determinants of health significantly affect physical and mental health outcomes of our unique patient population. Most of the community clinicians indicated non-standardized usage of SDOH screening tool though they reported unawareness surrounding appropriate measures and resources available to address these social factors. Therefore, there is a need to implement the use of a standard, simple and comprehensive SDOH screening tool in community psychiatry clinical sites. Future directions may involve conduction of an experimental study, in which psychiatric patients’ outcome on mental health will be analyzed with implementation of standardized SDOH screening tool and establishment of structured referral pathway

Antioxidant Capacity and Antimicrobial Activity of Commercial Samples of Guava Leaves (\u3cem\u3ePsidium guajava\u3c/em\u3e)

Psidium guajava is a small tree native to South and Central America. Guava leaves have traditionally been used for treating different illnesses. These benefits can be attributed to phenolics and flavonoids produced by guava. The chemical composition of guava leaf extracts was correlated with biological activity. Total phenolics, total flavonoids, ABTS/DPPH, TZM-bl, plaque reduction, XTT, spectrophotometric and Kirby-Bauer assays were used to test phenols, flavonoids, antioxidant properties, antiviral activity, cytotoxicity, and antibacterial activity, respectively. The median cytotoxicity concentration and half-maximal effective concentration values were obtained in order to determine antiviral selectivity against human immunodeficiency virus type 1 and herpes simplex virus type 1. Antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis were evaluated using a spectrophotometric assay and Kirby-Bauer test. The guava leaf extracts had a high phenol (0.8 to 2.1 GAE mg/mL) and flavonoid (62.7 to 182.1 Rutin Eq mg/g DW) content that correlated with high antioxidant capacity and selective antiviral activity (therapeutic index values above 10). Results of antibacterial tests indicated that the extracts have activity against gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria

Diagnosis of bronchial hyperresponsiveness in sport by PC20 value

En este trabajo se exponen los criterios de positividad del Comité Olímpico Internacional versus a la Sociedad Española de Neumología y Cirugía Torácica. Participaron en este estudio ochenta deportistas de alto rendimiento, realizando una historia clínica, una espirometría de reposo y un test de metacolina. Se analiza la sensibilidad y especificidad del test de metacolina mediante curvas ROC. El comité Internacional antidopaje (WADA) requiere que la disminución sea con un PC20 < a 4mg/ml, mientras que para la práctica clínica este descenso debe presentar un PC20 < 8mg/ml. Los resultados fueron: 25% tuvieron un PC20 > de 8mg/ml; el 61% obtuvieron un PC20 < 4mg/ml y un 14% presentaron un PC20 entre 4 y 8mg/ml, correspondiendo el mejor punto de corte a PC20 de 7,6mg/ml con especificidad de 98,3 y sensibilidad de 100%. Se tendría que determinar los mismos criterios para el diagnóstico de los deportistas y los que no lo son.In this work criteria of the International Olympic Committee versus the Spanish Society of Pneumology and Thoracic Surgery are exposed. A study was conducted in eighty high performance athletes of several sports . Who underwent a medical history, resting spirometry and a methacholine challenge test. You get the sensitivity and specificity of methacholine challenge test using Receiver Operating Curves (ROC curves). International anti-doping Committee requires that the decline is a PC20 < 4mg/ml, while clinical practice this fall must submit a PC20 < 8mg/ml. Twenty five percent of those studied had a PC20 > of 8mg/ml, 61% had a PC20 < 4mg/ml and 14% had a 4 to 8mg/ml PC20. The best cutoff point was found for a PC20 of 7.6 mg/ml with a specificity of 98.3 and a sensitivity of 100%. It would have to determine the same criteria for positive diagnosis of athletes and those who are not

Technology transfer and valuation methods in use by university technology transfer offices

Valuing research deliverables implies the assessment of knowledge, skills, and solutions that can create benefits for a wide scope of stakeholders, including researchers, research units, universities, businesses, and the larger society. Investing in early-stage technology or technology that is novel and has an inventive step can imply a high-risk investment. High-quality information and advice are needed, and valuation methods are required, to support decision making regarding intellectual property rights protection, define a technology value proposition, devise a roadmap to bring technology into the market, and support negotiations with potential licensees. To provide information and evidence regarding the main technology valuation methods in use by Portuguese University Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs), qualitative and quantitative data have been collected by surveying and interviewing eight Portuguese University TTOs. From the data it was possible to conclude that pre-defined rating/ranking methods and models are the most frequently used valuation methods, followed by market valuation approaches. Previous agreements and discounted cash-flow projections are mainly used when a spin-off firm is under consideration or when there is a manifestation of interest from a potential investor. Royalty standards are used to prepare licensing negotiations, and Real Options, Monte Carlo simulation, rules of thumb, and Auctions are not being used.FCT -Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia(UIDB/00319/2020

Inducing charges and currents from extra dimensions

In a particular variant of Kaluza-Klein theory, the so-called induced-matter theory (IMT), it is shown that any configuration of matter may be geometrically induced from a five-dimensional vacuum space. By using a similar approach we show that any distribution of charges and currents may also be induced from a five-dimensional vacuum space. Whereas in the case of IMT the geometry is Riemannian and the fundamental equations are the five-dimensional Einstein equations in vacuum, here we consider a Minkowskian geometry and the five-dimensional Maxwell equations in vacuum.Comment: 8 pages. Accepted for publication in Modern Physics Letters

Development and Evaluation of \u3cem\u3ePennisetum Purpureum\u3c/em\u3e Mutants Through Irradiation With \u3csup\u3e60\u3c/sup\u3eCo

The development of plant mutants is a commonly used procedure nowadays. One way of obtaining mutant plants has been seed irradiation with gamma rays. As these studies are not common in tropical pasture species (Micke et al., 1993, Herrera, 2001), the objective of this study was the development and evaluation of Pennisetum purpureum mutants through irradiation with 60Co

Comparative effect of different cooking methods on the physicochemical and sensory characteristics of high pressure processed marinated pork chops

peer-reviewedThe objective of this study was to assess the effect of griddle and steam cooking on the physicochemical and sensory characteristics of high pressure processed (HPP) piri-piri marinated pork chops (MPC). Raw MPC that were HPP at 400 MPa had higher (P < 0.05) marinade absorption compared to untreated samples. After cooking, griddled MPC were significantly (P < 0.05) darker, less red, less yellow, tougher and had higher cook loss compared to steam cooked samples. The appearance of the griddled MPC was preferred while the texture, tenderness, juiciness and overall sensory acceptability (OSA) were preferred in steam cooked MPC. The increased marinade absorption in MPC that were HPP modified the fatty acid composition resulting in increased (P < 0.05) levels of oleic acid (C18:1c). Steam cooked MPC had a lower (P < 0.05) n-6: n-3 PUFA ratio and were preferred by the sensory panel compared to griddled MPC. Overall, from the cooking methods assessed steam cooking was the best cooking method for untreated and MPC that were HPP. Industrial relevance: Processed meat manufacturers are constantly looking for new ways to increase yield, safety and shelf life of meat products. While high pressure processing (HPP) of raw meat has been shown to increase the safety and shelf life of these products; however, negative effects on the physicochemical characteristics of raw meat products have been reported. For example, HPP of raw meat products causes a whitening effect which may negatively affect consumers' acceptance of these products. In this study, we used a novel approach (a combination of HPP, marinade and a mix of organic acids Inbac™) which showed great potential not only for enhancing the yield of marinated pork chops but also enhancement of the sensory properties, safety and shelf life and particularly the piri-piri marinade masked the discoloration of raw pork meat caused by HPP. This study also provides consumers, retailers and caterers with information on how to best prepare HPP meat products and showed that steam cooked HPP marinated pork chops had the best physicochemical and sensory characteristics compared to griddled marinated pork chops

Ischemic Stroke and Epilepsy in a Patient with Tourette´s Syndrome: Association with the Antiphospholipid Syndrome and Good Response to Levetiracetam

The role played by different humoral factors, including antiphospholipid antibodies, in the pathogenesis of Tourette syndrome (TS) is still presently unclear. We present a patient with chronic and severe TS who, at the age of 16 years, presented an ischemic stroke in the left posterior cerebral artery and/or postero-inferior temporal branch of the left medial cerebral artery. A complete study was negative with the exception of a positive lupus anticoagulant. The stroke was related with the primary antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). The stroke manifested visual abnormalities and thereafter by secondary generalized complex partial seizures. The epileptic syndrome was initially difficult to control but responded dramatically to levetiracetam. With this therapy, the manifestations of TS, especially the tics, improved. We conclude that some TS cases may present APS. In addition, levetiracetam may be useful in the management of TS. Further investigations should pursue both these facts