Three-generation mobility in the United States, 1850-1940: the role of maternal and paternal grandparents

This paper estimates intergenerational elasticities across three generations in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, exploring how maternal and paternal grandfathers predict the economic status of their grandsons and granddaughters. We document that the relationship between the income of grandparents and grandchildren differs by gender. The socio-economic status of grandsons is more strongly associated with the status of paternal grandfathers than maternal grandfathers. The status of maternal grandfathers is more strongly correlated with the status of granddaughters than grandsons, while the opposite is true for paternal grandfathers. We argue that the findings can be rationalized by a model of gender-specific intergenerational transmission of traits and imperfect assortative mating.Accepted manuscrip

Nuevos registros de algas de agua dulce y de Cyanobacteria de los arroyos de montaña de Córdoba (Argentina).

Constant collection surveys of freshwater Algae and Cyanobacteria in central Argentinastreams have revealed new identities. This study reports for the first time six species for CórdobaProvince and five for Argentina. Biodiversity description of the streams of central Argentina is crucial forthe development of conservation activities. In this study the record of new species for this region and forArgentina highlights the relevance of further research to help improving knowledge of the diversity andecology in this hydrographic system.Nuevos registros de algas de agua dulce y de Cyanobacteria de los arroyos de montaña deCórdoba (Argentina). Diferentes muestreos en arroyos de agua dulce del centro de la Argentina hanrevelado nuevas identidades de algas y cianobacterias. Este estudio reporta nuevas citas, seis especiespara la provincia de Córdoba y cinco para Argentina. La descripción de la biodiversidad de los arroyosde la región central de Argentina, es crucial para el desarrollo de las actividades de conservación. Eneste estudio el registro de nuevas especies para la región y para el país pone de relieve la necesidadde promover la investigación para mejorar el conocimiento de la diversidad y ecología de este sistemahidrográfico

Determinants of the effectiveness of fast break actions in elite and sub-elite Italian men\u27s basketball games

The aim of this study was to examine the determinants of successful and unsuccessful fast-break (FB) actions in elite and sub-elite basketball games. Fifteen 1st-division (elite) and fifteen 3rd-division (sub-elite) Italian men’s championship games were analysed across two seasons (2012/2013 and 2013/2014). A binary logistic regression analysis was performed, and the fast-break outcome (successful vs. unsuccessful) was adopted as the dependent variable separately in both elite and sub-elite games. FB execution (initiation, advance and completion phases), typology (primary and secondary break) and the number of players involved (equal number or superiority) were used as independent variables. The results showed that the rate of success of FB actions was 63.5% and 59.7% in elite and sub-elite games, respectively. Moreover, successful FBs were more likely to be completed in the lane in relation to unsuccessful ones in both elite and sub-elite games (p\u3c0.05). Finally, descriptive statistics showed that both elite and sub-elite teams executed FBs similarly. This study highlighted that completion zone was the only predictor of a successful fast break in basketball, while the typology and number of players involved did not predict fast break effectiveness. Moreover, elite and sub-elite teams executed fast break actions similarly. These findings might be useful for basketball coaches to optimize the training of FB actions

Depleción tisular de azaperona y su metabolito azaperol tras administración oral de azaperona en cerdo

Azaperone is a butyrophenone tranquilizer for swine. Food producing pigs are particularly sensitive to stress during handling and transport to the abattoir. In vivo, azaperone is partially metabolised to azaperol, a metabolite with pharmacological activity. The high and persistent concentrations of azaperone and azaperol in the injection site contra-indicates the use of azaperone using the intramuscular route for the transport of the food producing animals, pigs, to the slaughterhouse; the oral use could be an alternative to avoid residues at the injection site. The present study determined the tissue depletion of azaperone and its metabolite azaperol after oral administration of the formulation Stresnil®. Male pigs (30-45 kg of body weight) were treated with Stresnil® (single oral dose of 4 mg azaperone/kg body weight) and were sacrificed 6, 24 and 48 hours after the administration. Muscle, skin + fat, liver and kidney were collected from each animal. Azaperone and azaperol were assayed by HPLC after solid phase extraction. The concentrations of the azaperone plus azaperol in all analysed tissues did not exceed to the Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) established by the European Union (100 μg/kg in muscle, liver, kidney and skin plus fat) at any sampling time. As a consequence, from the results obtained in the present study, edible tissues of pigs treated orally with 4 mg/kg azaperone, 6 hours before to the sacrifice, might be acceptable to guarantee safety for the consumers. Nevertheless a withdrawal time of cero hours was estimated by linear regression analysis.Azaperona es un tranquilizante de tipo butirofenona usado en ganado porcino. Los cerdos son particularmente sensibles al estrés durante el manejo y transporte al matadero. La azaperona es parcialmente metabolizada in vivo a azaperol, un metabolito con actividad farmacológica. Las concentraciones altas y persistentes de azaperona y azaperol en el lugar de inyección contraindican el uso de azaperona por vía intramuscular para el transporte de cerdos de producción de carne al matadero; el uso oral podría ser una alternativa para evitar residuos en el lugar de inyección. El presente estudio determinó la depleción en los tejidos de azaperona y su metabolito azaperol después de la administración oral de la formulación Stresnil®. Cerdos machos (30-45 kg de peso corporal) fueron tratados con Stresnil® (dosis oral única de 4 mg azaperona/kg de peso corporal) y se sacrificaron 6, 24 y 48 horas después de la administración. De cada animal se obtuvo músculo, piel + grasa, hígado y riñón. Azaperona y azaperol se analizaron por HPLC tras la extracción en fase sólida. Las concentraciones de azaperona más azaperol en todos los tejidos analizados no superaron el Límite Máximo de Residuos (LMR) establecidos por la Unión Europea (100 mg / kg en el músculo, el hígado, los riñones y la piel + grasa) en ningún momento del muestreo. Como consecuencia, según los resultados obtenidos en el presente estudio, los tejidos comestibles de los cerdos tratados por vía oral con 4 mg/kg de azaperona, 6 horas antes al sacrificio, podrían ser aceptables para garantizar la seguridad de los consumidores. Sin embargo, se estimó un tiempo de espera de cero horas por análisis de regresión lineal.Facultad de Ciencias Veterinaria

Comparison of image processing techniques for nonviable tissue quantification in late gadolinium enhancement cardiac magnetic resonance images

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the performance of quantitative methods, either semiautomated or automated, for left ventricular (LV) nonviable tissue analysis from cardiac magnetic resonance late gadolinium enhancement (CMR-LGE) images. Materials and Methods: The investigated segmentation techniques were: (i) n-standard deviations thresholding; (ii) full width at half maximum thresholding; (iii) Gaussian mixture model classification; and (iv) fuzzy c-means clustering. These algorithms were applied either in each short axis slice (single-slice approach) or globally considering the entire short-axis stack covering the LV (global approach). CMR-LGE images from 20 patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy were retrospectively selected, and results from each technique were assessed against manual tracing. Results: All methods provided comparable performance in terms of accuracy in scar detection, computation of local transmurality, and high correlation in scar mass compared with the manual technique. In general, no significant difference between single-slice and global approach was noted. The reproducibility of manual and investigated techniques was confirmed in all cases with slightly lower results for the nSD approach. Conclusions: Automated techniques resulted in accurate and reproducible evaluation of LV scars from CMR-LGE in ischemic patients with performance similar to the manual technique. Their application could minimize user interaction and computational time, even when compared with semiautomated approaches

New Red-Emitting Chloride-Sensitive Fluorescent Protein with Biological Uses

This work was financially supported by CTQ2017-85685-R, CTQ2017-85454-C2-1-P, and CTQ2017-86125-P (MICIU/AEI/ERDF). J.M.P. and J.D.V. thank UEQ for funding. J.V.P. is supported by an FPU fellowship (FPU17/04749). D.A. was supported by the Italian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (grant FFC#3/2019) and by Fondazione Cassa Rurale Trento Rovereto (ref 2018.256). The authors acknowledge the Universidad of Granada (Spain) cell culture and microscopy central facilities (CIC-UGR).A new chloride-sensitive red fluorescent protein derived from Entacmaea quadricolor is described. We found that mBeRFP exhibited moderate sensitivity to chloride and, via sitedirected mutagenesis (S94V and R205Y), we increased the chloride affinity by more than an order of magnitude (kd = 106 ± 6 mM) at physiological pH. In addition, cis−trans isomerization of the chromophore produces a dual emission band with different chloride sensitivities, which allowed us to develop a ratiometric methodology to measure intracellular chloride concentrations.MICIU/AEI/ERDF CTQ2017-85685-R CTQ2017-85454-C2-1-P CTQ2017-86125-PUEQSpanish Government FPU17/04749Ministry of Health, ItalyItalian Cystic Fibrosis Research Foundation 3/2019Fondazione Cassa Rurale Trento Rovereto 2018.25

Airway cell composition at rest and after an all-out test in competitive rowers

Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2004 Oct;36(10):1723-9. Airway cell composition at rest and after an all-out test in competitive rowers. Morici G, Bonsignore MR, Zangla D, Riccobono L, Profita M, Bonanno A, Paternò A, Di Giorgi R, Mirabella F, Chimenti L, Benigno A, Vignola AM, Bellia V, Amato G, Bonsignore G. SourceDepartment of Experimental Medicine Italian National Research Council (CNR), Palermo, Italy. Abstract PURPOSES: This study was designed to assess: a) whether rowing affects airway cell composition, and b) the possible relationship between the degree of ventilation during exercise and airway cells. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: In nine young, nonasthmatic competitive rowers (mean age +/- SD: 16.2 +/- 1.0 yr), induced sputum samples were obtained at rest and shortly after an all-out rowing test over 1000 m (mean duration: 200 +/- 14 s), during which ventilatory and metabolic variables were recorded breath-by-breath (Cosmed K4b, Italy). RESULTS: At rest, induced sputum showed prevalence of neutrophils (60%) over macrophages (40%); after exercise, total cell and bronchial epithelial cell (BEC) counts tended to increase. In the last minute of exercise, mean VE was 158.0 +/- 41.5 L x min(-1), and VO2 x kg(-1) 62 +/- 11 mL x min(-1). Exercise VE correlated directly with postexercise total cell (Spearman rho: 0.75, P < 0.05) an dmacrophage (rho: 0.82, P < 0.05) counts. A similar trend was observed for exercise VE and changes in BEC counts from baseline to postexercise (rho: 0.64, P = 0.11). Exercise VE did not correlate with airway neutrophil counts at rest or after exercise. Expression of adhesion molecules by airway neutrophils, macrophages, and eosinophils decreased after the all-out test. CONCLUSION: Similar to endurance athletes, nonasthmatic competitive rowers showed increased neutrophils in induced sputum compared with values found in sedentary subjects. The trend toward increased BEC postexercise possibly reflected the effects of high airflows on airway epithelium. Airway macrophages postexercise were highest in rowers showing tile most intense exercise hyperpnea, suggesting early involvement of these cells during exercise. However, the low expression of adhesion molecules by all airway cell types suggests that intense short-lived exercise may be associated with a blunted response of airway cells in nonasthmatic well-trained rowers. PMID:15595293[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE

“Test Tube Cetaceans”: From the Evaluation of Susceptibility to the Study of Genotoxic Effects of Different Environmental Contaminants Using Cetacean Fibroblast Cell Cultures

Population estimates of various species of cetaceans indicate that certain species have declined dramatically this century. Most studies of contamination and biomarker responses in marine mammals have been conducted using animals killed by hunting, tacitly approving this activity. The development of a series of nondestructive techniques to evaluate biomarker responses and residue levels is strongly recommended for the hazard assessment, protection and conservation of endangered species of marine mammals. A non-invasive sampling method, represented by skin biopsy or integument biopsy (epidermis, dermis and blubber), have been developed and validated in cetaceans. In this paper we present the cetacean fibroblast cell cultures obtained from the skin biopsies as the “test tube cetacean” for evaluate both the susceptibility that the genotoxicity of different environmental contaminants. Fibroblast cell cultures were obtained from many species of cetaceans sampled in Mediterranean Sea (Italy) and in the Mar de Cortez (Mexico). Using test tube cetaceans we can study the relationships between contamination and biochemical responses. One of the principal applications of this developed in vitro system was the assessment of interspecies differences in the mixed function oxidase activity (Cyp1A1 and Cyp2B) induced by in vitro treatment of various contaminants, such as some Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) but also emerging contaminants (such as bisphenol A (BpA)) and nanoparticles, added at different concentrations. The induction of Cyp1A1 and Cyp2B was evaluated with the indirect immunofluorescence technique. Therefore, another purpose of this work was to evaluate the qualitative and quantitative MICA protein expression in fibroblast cell cultures with immunofluorescence technique as toxicological stress marker of the immune system of different species of cetaceans. Finally, In this paper we will present how to evaluate the presence of DNA damage by comet assay in test tube cetaceans, after treatment with different genotoxic compounds (for example PCBs, DDTs, PAHs, BPA)

Mitochondrial permeabilization engages NF-κB-dependent anti-tumour activity under caspase deficiency

Apoptosis represents a key anti-cancer therapeutic effector mechanism. During apoptosis, mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization (MOMP) typically kills cells even in the absence of caspase activity. Caspase activity can also have a variety of unwanted consequences that include DNA damage. We therefore investigated whether MOMP-induced caspase-independent cell death (CICD) might be a better way to kill cancer cells. We find that cells undergoing CICD display potent pro-inflammatory effects relative to apoptosis. Underlying this, MOMP was found to stimulate NF-κB activity through the downregulation of inhibitor of apoptosis proteins. Strikingly, engagement of CICD displays potent anti-tumorigenic effects, often promoting complete tumour regression in a manner dependent on intact immunity. Our data demonstrate that by activating NF-κB, MOMP can exert additional signalling functions besides triggering cell death. Moreover, they support a rationale for engaging caspase-independent cell death in cell-killing anti-cancer therapies