Energy harvesting from vehicular traffic over speed bumps: A review

Energy used by vehicles to slow down in areas of limited speed is wasted. A traffic energy-harvesting device (TEHD) is capable of harvesting vehicle energy when passing over a speed bump. This paper presents a classification of the different technologies used in the existing TEHDs. Moreover, an estimation of the energy that could be harvested with the different technologies and their cost has been elaborated. The energy recovered with these devices could be used for marking and lighting of roads in urban areas, making transportation infrastructures more sustainable and environmentally friendly

<i>Cheironchus paravorax</i> n. sp. and <i>Cheironchus vorax </i> Cobb, 1917 from the Campeche Sound, an oil producing zone in the Gulf of Mexico (Nemata: Selachinematidae)

A new species Cheironchus paravorax n. sp. is described from the oil producing zone of Campeche Sound in the Gulf of Mexico. It closely resembles C. vorax Cobb, 1917 but differs by its more slender habitus, different tail shape with blister, shorter and slightly stouter spicules and finer buccal armature. SEM studies provide additional information on the body cuticle, the head region and buccal armature, and in male on the precloacal supplements and gubernaculum. C. vorax Cobb, 1917 is redescribed based on specimens from the Gulf of Mexico

Childhood growth and development and DNA methylation age in mid-life

Background: In the first study of its kind, we examine the association between growth and development in early life and DNAm age biomarkers in mid-life. / Methods: Participants were from the Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development (n = 1376). Four DNAm age acceleration (AgeAccel) biomarkers were measured when participants were aged 53 years: AgeAccelHannum; AgeAccelHorvath; AgeAccelLevine; and AgeAccelGrim. Exposure variables included: relative weight gain (standardised residuals from models of current weight z-score on current height, and previous weight and height z-scores); and linear growth (standardised residuals from models of current height z-score on previous height and weight z-scores) during infancy (0–2 years, weight gain only), early childhood (2–4 years), middle childhood (4–7 years) and late childhood to adolescence (7–15 years); age at menarche; and pubertal stage for men at 14–15 years. The relationship between relative weight gain and linear growth and AgeAccel was investigated using conditional growth models. We replicated analyses from the late childhood to adolescence period and pubertal timing among 240 participants from The National Child and Development Study (NCDS). / Results: A 1SD increase in relative weight gain in late childhood to adolescence was associated with 0.50 years (95% CI 0.20, 0.79) higher AgeAccelGrim. Although the CI includes the null, the estimate was similar in NCDS [0.57 years (95% CI − 0.01, 1.16)] There was no strong evidence that relative weight gain and linear growth in childhood was associated with any other AgeAccel biomarker. There was no relationship between pubertal timing in men and AgeAccel biomarkers. Women who reached menarche ≥ 12 years had 1.20 years (95% CI 0.15, 2.24) higher AgeAccelGrim on average than women who reached menarche < 12 years; however, this was not replicated in NCDS and was not statistically significant after Bonferroni correction. / Conclusions: Our findings generally do not support an association between growth and AgeAccel biomarkers in mid-life. However, we found rapid weight gain during pubertal development, previously related to higher cardiovascular disease risk, to be associated with older AgeAccelGrim. Given this is an exploratory study, this finding requires replication

Iberian cured-ham consumption improves endothelial function in healthy subjects

Objectives: Previous studies have shown that dietary components such as oleic acid or polyphenols exert beneficial effects on endothelium. We aimed to assess the impact of regular consumption of Iberian cured-ham (ICH) on endothelial function. Design: An open-label, randomized controlled parallel study. Setting: Volunteers recruited through advertisements at a hospital in Madrid, Spain. Participants: 102 Caucasian adults (76.8% females) aged 25-55 years, and free from cardiometabolic disease. Intervention: Participants were randomized to an ICH-enriched ad libitum diet or an ad libitum diet without ICH for 6 weeks. Subjects in ICH group were randomly provided with either acorn- or mixed-fed ICH, and followed up for an additional 6-week period under their usual diet. Measurements: Clinical parameters, biomarkers of endothelial function and oxidative stress, microvascular vasodilatory response to hyperemia and arterial stiffness were measured before and after the intervention. Results: After 6 weeks, a larger decrease in PAI-1 was observed in subjects consuming ICH compared to the Control group (-6.2±17.7 vs. 0.3±1.4 ng/ml; p=0.020). Similarly, microvascular vasodilatory response to hyperemia showed a significant increase (112.4±391.7 vs. -56.0±327.9%; p=0.007). However, neither oxidative stress, hemodynamic nor clinical parameters differed significantly over the study. Additionally, after stopping ICH consumption, improvements in PAI-1 remained for 6 additional weeks with respect to baseline (p=0.006). Conclusion: The present study demonstrates, for the first time, that regular consumption of ICH improves endothelial function in healthy adults. Strategies aimed to preserve or improve the endothelial function may have implications in vascular aging beyond the prevention of the atherothrombotic disease

DNA methylation age and physical and cognitive ageing

Background: DNA methylation (DNAm) age acceleration (AgeAccel) has been shown to be predictive of all-cause mortality but it is unclear what functional aspect/s of ageing it captures. We examine associations between four measures of AgeAccel in adults aged 45-87 years and physical and cognitive performance and their age-related decline. / Methods: AgeAccelHannum, AgeAccelHorvath, AgeAccelPheno and AgeAccelGrim were calculated in the Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD), National Child Development Study (NCDS) and TwinsUK. Three measures of physical (grip strength, chair rise speed and forced expiratory volume in one second[FEV1]) and two measures of cognitive (episodic memory and mental speed) performance were assessed. / Results: AgeAccelPheno and AgeAccelGrim, but not AgeAccelHannum and AgeAccelHorvath were related to performance in random effects meta-analyses (n=1388-1685). For example, a one year increase in AgeAccelPheno/AgeAccelGrim was associated with a 0.01ml[95%CI:0.01,0.02]/0.03ml[95%CI:0.01,0.05] lower mean FEV1. In NSHD, AgeAccelPheno and AgeAccelGrim at 53 years were associated with age-related decline in performance between 53 and 69 years as tested by linear mixed models (p<0.05). In a subset of NSHD participants(n=482), there was little evidence that change in any AgeAccel measure was associated with change in performance conditional on baseline performance. / Conclusions: We found little evidence to support associations between the first generation of DNAm-based biomarkers of ageing and age-related physical or cognitive performance in mid-life to early old age. However, there was evidence that the second generation biomarkers, AgeAccelPheno and AgeAccelGrim, could act as makers of an individual’s health-span as proposed

Host genetic and environmental factors shape the human gut resistome

BACKGROUND: Understanding and controlling the spread of antimicrobial resistance is one of the greatest challenges of modern medicine. To this end many efforts focus on characterising the human resistome or the set of antibiotic resistance determinants within the microbiome of an individual. Aside from antibiotic use, other host environmental and genetic factors that may shape the resistome remain relatively underexplored. METHODS: Using gut metagenome data from 250 TwinsUK female twins, we quantified known antibiotic resistance genes to estimate gut microbiome antibiotic resistance potential for 41 types of antibiotics and resistance mechanisms. Using heritability modelling, we assessed the influence of host genetic and environmental factors on the gut resistome. We then explored links between gut resistome, host health and specific environmental exposures using linear mixed effect models adjusted for age, BMI, alpha diversity and family structure. RESULTS: We considered gut microbiome antibiotic resistance to 21 classes of antibiotics, for which resistance genes were detected in over 90% of our population sample. Using twin modelling, we estimated that on average about 25% of resistome variability could be attributed to host genetic influences. Greatest heritability estimates were observed for resistance potential to acriflavine (70%), dalfopristin (51%), clindamycin (48%), aminocoumarin (48%) and the total score summing across all antibiotic resistance genes (38%). As expected, the majority of resistome variability was attributed to host environmental factors specific to an individual. We compared antibiotic resistance profiles to multiple environmental exposures, lifestyle and health factors. The strongest associations were observed with alcohol and vegetable consumption, followed by high cholesterol medication and antibiotic usage. Overall, inter-individual variation in host environment showed modest associations with antibiotic resistance profiles, and host health status had relatively minor signals. CONCLUSION: Our results identify host genetic and environmental influences on the human gut resistome. The findings improve our knowledge of human factors that influence the spread of antibiotic resistance genes and may contribute towards helping to attenuate it

Sarcoma de Kaposi clásico en una adolescente inmunocompetente

El sarcoma de Kaposi (KS) es una enfermedad prevalente en África, se sabe de su existencia hace más de un siglo, por lo que se le ha denominado endémico. Desde la aparición del virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana (VIH) y el síndrome de inmunodeficiencia adquirida (SIDA), se reconoció un tipo de sarcoma de Kaposi, el llamado epidémico más agresivo y diseminado, que recientemente se ha relacionado con el virus del herpes tipo 8. El sarcoma de Kaposi clásico se presenta en pacientes ancianos como manchas vasculares discretamente sobre-elevadas que se localizan predominantemente en los miembros inferiores, rara vez sucede en la infancia. Se presenta un caso de sarcoma de Kaposi clásico en una adolescente mexicana inmunocompetente. &nbsp; Abstract Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) is a prevalent disease in Africa and is known of its existence for more than a century, which has been called endemic. Since the emergence of HIV (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a type of Kaposi’s sarcoma more aggressive and spread was recognized recently has been linked to the virus type 8 herpes, he has called classic Kaposi’s sarcoma. It occurs in elderly patients as vascular patches localized predominantly in the lower limbs, rarely seen in childhood. We report a case of classic Kaposi’s sarcoma in an immunocompetent Mexican teenager. &nbsp

Sarcoma de Kaposi clásico en una adolescente inmunocompetente

El sarcoma de Kaposi (KS) es una enfermedad prevalente en África, se sabe de su existencia hace más de un siglo, por lo que se le ha denominado endémico. Desde la aparición del virus de la inmunodeficiencia humana (VIH) y el síndrome de inmunodeficiencia adquirida (SIDA), se reconoció un tipo de sarcoma de Kaposi, el llamado epidémico más agresivo y diseminado, que recientemente se ha relacionado con el virus del herpes tipo 8. El sarcoma de Kaposi clásico se presenta en pacientes ancianos como manchas vasculares discretamente sobre-elevadas que se localizan predominantemente en los miembros inferiores, rara vez sucede en la infancia. Se presenta un caso de sarcoma de Kaposi clásico en una adolescente mexicana inmunocompetente. &nbsp; Abstract Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) is a prevalent disease in Africa and is known of its existence for more than a century, which has been called endemic. Since the emergence of HIV (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a type of Kaposi’s sarcoma more aggressive and spread was recognized recently has been linked to the virus type 8 herpes, he has called classic Kaposi’s sarcoma. It occurs in elderly patients as vascular patches localized predominantly in the lower limbs, rarely seen in childhood. We report a case of classic Kaposi’s sarcoma in an immunocompetent Mexican teenager. &nbsp

Oxygen-sensing PHDs regulate bone homeostasis through the modulation of osteoprotegerin

The bone microenvironment is composed of niches that house cells across variable oxygen tensions. However, the contribution of oxygen gradients in regulating bone and blood homeostasis remains unknown. Here, we generated mice with either single or combined genetic inactivation of the critical oxygen-sensing prolyl hydroxylase (PHD) enzymes (PHD1–3) in osteoprogenitors. Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) activation associated with Phd2 and Phd3 inactivation drove bone accumulation by modulating osteoblastic/osteoclastic cross-talk through the direct regulation of osteoprotegerin (OPG). In contrast, combined inactivation of Phd1, Phd2, and Phd3 resulted in extreme HIF signaling, leading to polycythemia and excessive bone accumulation by overstimulating angiogenic–osteogenic coupling. Wealso demonstrate that genetic ablation of Phd2 and Phd3 was sufficient to protect ovariectomized mice against bone loss without disrupting hematopoietic homeostasis. Importantly,we identify OPG as a HIF target gene capable of directing osteoblast-mediated osteoclastogenesis to regulate bone homeostasis. Here, we show that coordinated activation of specific PHD isoforms fine-tunes the osteoblastic response to hypoxia, thereby directing two important aspects of bone physiology: cross-talk between osteoblasts and osteoclasts and angiogenic–osteogenic coupling