Analysis of the Functional Relationship of Protein Kinase Families Using Phospho-Proteomics Data

As cancer research advances, Mass-spectrometry based proteomics is becoming a widely used technique for proteome characterization. Phosphoproteomics is a specific type of proteomics that characterizes proteins with the reversible post-translational modification of phosphorylation PTM), which has allowed the identifications of thousands of phosphorylation sites. These phosphorylation sites, also known as substrates, are known to interact with a protein type named kinases. Studies have shown that abnormal phosphorylation activity is related to cancer diseases. Moreover, these kinases are divided into families, based on the similarity of their catalytic domain, as this part of their amino acid sequence determines a large part of what their functions are. In this work, propose 2 new methods to assess the relationship of kinases based on the correlation of the phosphorylation pattern of their substrates. Using these metrics, we cluster the kinases and analyze their inter-family interactions

Validation of the Satisfaction Scale of Basic Psychological Needs in Physical Education with the Incorporation of the Novelty in the Spanish Context

The purpose of the study was to validate to the physical education context, the Spanish version of the Scale of the Satisfaction of Psychological Needs toward the Physical Education classes of Menéndez and Fernández-Rio, with the incorporation of the novelty, since they contemplated its inclusion. In this study, 1444 students participated (mean = 15.34, standard deviation = 1.12) from several schools in Almeria. To analyze the psychometric properties of the scale, several analyses were carried out. The results offered support for both the four-factor structure and the higher-order model called satisfaction. The analysis of invariance with respect to gender showed that the factor structure of the questionnaire was invariant. The Cronbach alpha values were higher than 0.70 in the subscales. The results of this study demonstrated the reliability and validity of the Scale of the Satisfaction of Psychological Needs, with the incorporation of novelty in the Spanish context of Physical Education

Optimum community energy storage for renewable energy and demand load management

While the management of PV generation is the prime application of residential batteries, they can deliver additional services in order to help systems to become cost-competitive. They can level-out the demand and potentially reduce the cost and emissions of the energy system by reducing demand peaks. In this study, community energy storage (CES) is optimised to perform both PV energy time-shift and demand load shifting (using retail tariffs with varying prices blocks) simultaneously. The optimisation method obtains the techno-economic benefits of CES systems as a function of the size of the community ranging from a single home to a 100-home community in two different scenarios for the United Kingdom: the year 2020 and a hypothetical zero emissions target. It is demonstrated that the levelised cost and levelised value of CES systems reach intermediate values to those achieved when both applications are performed independently. For the optimal performance of a battery system being charged from both local PV plants and the grid, our results suggest that the battery should be sized suitable to ensure it can fully discharge during the peak period

Kinetics of Cytokine mRNA Expression in the Central Nervous System Following Lethal and Nonlethal Coronavirus-Induced Acute Encephalomyelitis

AbstractThe potential role(s) of cytokines in the reduction of infectious virus and persistent viral infection in the central nervous system was examined by determining the kinetics of cytokine mRNA expression following infection with the neurotropic JHM strain of mouse hepatitis virus. Mice were infected with an antibody escape variant which produces a nonlethal encephalomyelitis and compared to a clonal virus population which produces a fulminant fatal encephalomyelitis. Infection with both viruses induced the accumulation of mRNAs associated with Th1- and Th2-type cytokines, including IFN-γ, IL-4, and IL-10. Peak mRNA accumulations were coincident with the clearance of virus and there was no obvious differences between lethally and nonlethally infected mice. TNF-α mRNA was induced more rapidly in lethally infected mice compared to mice undergoing a nonfatal encephalomyelitis. Rapid transient increases in the mRNAs encoding IL-12, iNOS, IL-1α, IL-1β, and IL-6 occurred following infection. Nonlethal infections were associated with increased IL-12, IL-1β, and earlier expression of IL-6, while lethal infections were associated with increased iNOS and IL-1α mRNA. These data suggest a rapid but differential response within the central nervous system cells to infection by different JHMV variants. However, neither the accumulation nor kinetics of induction provide evidence to distinguish lethal infections from nonlethal infections leading to a persistent infection. Accumulation of both Th1 and Th2 cytokines in the central nervous system of JHMV-infected mice is consistent with the participation of both cytokines and cell immune effectors during resolution of acute viral-induced encephalomyelitis

Error Analysis in a Stereo Vision-Based Pedestrian Detection Sensor for Collision Avoidance Applications

This paper presents an analytical study of the depth estimation error of a stereo vision-based pedestrian detection sensor for automotive applications such as pedestrian collision avoidance and/or mitigation. The sensor comprises two synchronized and calibrated low-cost cameras. Pedestrians are detected by combining a 3D clustering method with Support Vector Machine-based (SVM) classification. The influence of the sensor parameters in the stereo quantization errors is analyzed in detail providing a point of reference for choosing the sensor setup according to the application requirements. The sensor is then validated in real experiments. Collision avoidance maneuvers by steering are carried out by manual driving. A real time kinematic differential global positioning system (RTK-DGPS) is used to provide ground truth data corresponding to both the pedestrian and the host vehicle locations. The performed field test provided encouraging results and proved the validity of the proposed sensor for being used in the automotive sector towards applications such as autonomous pedestrian collision avoidance

A novel digital cognitive biomarker for mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer disease

Recent evidence suggests that oculomotor behaviours linked to cognitive performance can be a biomarker of Alzheimer?s disease (AD). Short-Term Memory Binding (STMB) declines in patients with AD dementia and in those at risk of dementia. STMB relies on brain regions relevant to visual processing which are known to support oculomotor behaviours. Viewmind is proposed as a novel ?cognitive digital biomarker? with the potential of revealing phenotypic features of AD in the pre-dementia stage of the pathology. Viewmind applies artificial intelligence to analyse eye movements and pupil responses during the performance of STMBT.Fil: Fernández Gerardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Eléctrica "Alfredo Desages". Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica y de Computadoras. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Eléctrica "Alfredo Desages"; ArgentinaFil: Schumacher, Marcela Silvana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Eléctrica "Alfredo Desages". Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica y de Computadoras. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Eléctrica "Alfredo Desages"; ArgentinaFil: Orozco, David. Clínica Privada Bahiense; ArgentinaFil: Sgrilli Gustavo. Clinica Privada Bahiense; ArgentinaFil: Echeverria Gustavo. Clinica privada Bahiense; ArgentinaFil: Linares Ramiro. Clinica Privada Bahiense; ArgentinaFil: Parra, Mario A. University of Strathclyde; Reino UnidoAlzheimer´s Association International ConferenceDenver, ColoradoEstados UnidosAlzheimer Associatio

Construcción del índice de términos de intercambio para Colombia

El documento compara tres índices alternativos para la medición de los Términos de Intercambio (TI) en Colombia: el ITI-PIB, que se construye con los deflactores implícitos del PIB; el ITI-CE, que utiliza el índice de valor unitario con información de comercio exterior y el ITI-IPP, basado en los precios de los bienes del Índice de Precios del Productor. Los índices propuestos son de tipo encadenado. Esta metodología tiene una ventaja sobre los índices tradicionales porque involucra los cambios en la estructura económica a través del tiempo. Los resultados sugieren que el comportamiento de los indicadores es similar, aunque pueden presentarse divergencias temporales. Estas se explicarían por las diferencias en las metodologías y las fuentes de información utilizadas para cada índice.Términos de Intercambio, Índices de Precios, Índices Encadenados. Classification JEL: C43, F10.

Visual short-term memory binding deficit with age-related hearing loss in cognitively normal older adults

Age-related hearing loss (ARHL) has been posited as a possible modifiable risk factor for neurocognitive impairment and dementia. Measures sensitive to early neurocognitive changes associated with ARHL would help to elucidate the mechanisms underpinning this relationship. We hypothesized that ARHL might be associated with decline in visual short-term memory binding (VSTMB), a potential biomarker for preclinical dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We examined differences in accuracy between older adults with hearing loss and a control group on the VSTMB task from a single feature (shapes) condition to a feature binding (shapes-colors) condition. Hearing loss was associated with a weaker capacity to process bound features which appeared to be accounted for by a weaker sensitivity for change detection (A’). Our findings give insight into the neural mechanisms underpinning neurocognitive decline with ARHL and its temporal sequence