4,5-Dibromo-2,7-di-tert-butyl-9,9-dimethyl-9H-thioxanthene

In the title compound, C23H28Br2S, the thioxanthene unit is twisted, showing a dihedral angle of 29.3 (5)° between the benzene rings. When projected along [001], the packing shows two types of channels. The crystal studied was a racemic twin

Boson representations, non-standard quantum algebras and contractions

A Gelfan'd--Dyson mapping is used to generate a one-boson realization for the non-standard quantum deformation of $sl(2,\R)$ which directly provides its infinite and finite dimensional irreducible representations. Tensor product decompositions are worked out for some examples. Relations between contraction methods and boson realizations are also explored in several contexts. So, a class of two-boson representations for the non-standard deformation of $sl(2,\R)$ is introduced and contracted to the non-standard quantum (1+1) Poincar\'e representations. Likewise, a quantum extended Hopf $sl(2,\R)$ algebra is constructed and the Jordanian $q$-oscillator algebra representations are obtained from it by means of another contraction procedure.Comment: 21 pages, LaTeX; two new references adde

Apolipoprotein B signal peptide polymorphism distribution among South Amerindian populations

This is the published version, also available here: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41465798

MMP-12, Secreted by Pro-Inflammatory Macrophages, Targets Endoglin in Human Macrophages and Endothelial Cells

Upon inflammation, monocyte-derived macrophages (MF) infiltrate blood vessels to regulate several processes involved in vascular pathophysiology. However, little is known about the mediators involved. Macrophage polarization is crucial for a fast and e cient initial response (GM-MF) and a good resolution (M-MF) of the inflammatory process. The functional activity of polarized MF is exerted mainly through their secretome, which can target other cell types, including endothelial cells. Endoglin (CD105) is a cell surface receptor expressed by endothelial cells and MF that is markedly upregulated in inflammation and critically involved in angiogenesis. In addition, a soluble form of endoglin with anti-angiogenic activity has been described in inflammation-associated pathologies. The aim of this work was to identify components of the MF secretome involved in the shedding of soluble endoglin. We find that the GM-MF secretome contains metalloprotease 12 (MMP-12), a GM-MF specific marker that may account for the anti-angiogenic activity of the GM-MF secretome. Cell surface endoglin is present in both GM-MF and M-MF, but soluble endoglin is only detected in GM-MF culture supernatants. Moreover, MMP-12 is responsible for the shedding of soluble endoglin in vitro and in vivo by targeting membrane-bound endoglin in both MF and endothelial cells. These data demonstrate a direct correlation between GM-MF polarization, MMP-12, and soluble endoglin expression and function. By targeting endothelial cells, MMP-12 may represent a novel mediator involved in vascular homeostasis.Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades of Spain (SAF2013-43421-R to C.B.; SAF2017-83785-R and SAF2014-23801 to A.L.C.)Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (201920E022 to C.B.)Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER; ISCIII-CB06/07/0038 to C.B.)Czech Republic Specific University Research (SVV-260414 to P.N.)CIBERER is an initiative of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) of Spain supported by FEDER fundsM.A. was funded with a fellowship from Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (BES-2008-003888)M.V. was supported by a short-term mobility fellowship from the European Erasmus Programm

Metabolic Syndrome as a Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factor: Patients Evaluated in Primary Care

To estimate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) in a population receiving attention in primary care centers (PCC) we selected a random cohort of ostensibly normal subjects from the registers of 5 basic-health area (BHA) PCC. Diagnosis of MS was with the WHO, NCEP and IDF criteria. Variables recorded were: socio-demographic data, CVD risk factors including lipids, obesity, diabetes, blood pressure and smoking habit and a glucose tolerance test outcome. Of the 720 individuals selected (age 60.3 ± 11.5 years), 431 were female, 352 hypertensive, 142 diabetic, 233 pre-diabetic, 285 obese, 209 dyslipemic and 106 smokers. CVD risk according to the Framingham and REGICOR calculation was 13.8 ± 10% and 8.8 ± 9.8%, respectively. Using the WHO, NCEP and IDF criteria, MS was diagnosed in 166, 210 and 252 subjects, respectively and the relative risk of CVD complications in MS subjects was 2.56. Logistic regression analysis indicated that the MS components (WHO set), the MS components (IDF set) and the female gender had an increased odds ratio for CVD of 3.48 (95CI%: 2.26–5.37), 2.28 (95%CI: 1.84–4.90) and 2.26 (95%CI: 1.48–3.47), respectively. We conclude that MS and concomitant CVD risk is high in ostensibly normal population attending primary care clinics, and this would necessarily impinge on resource allocation in primary care

Clinical Symptoms in Fibromyalgia Are Better Associated to Lipid Peroxidation Levels in Blood Mononuclear Cells Rather than in Plasma

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.[Background] We examined lipid peroxidation (LPO) in blood mononuclear cells (BMCs) and plasma, as a marker of oxidative damage, and its association to clinical symptoms in Fibromyalgia (FM) patients. [Methods]: We conducted a case–control and correlational study comparing 65 patients and 45 healthy controls. Clinical parameters were evaluated using the Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), visual analogues scales (VAS), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Oxidative stress was determined by measuring LPO in BMCs and plasma. [Results]: We found increased LPO levels in BMCs and plasma from FM patients as compared to normal control (P<0.001). A significant correlation between LPO in BMCs and clinical parameters was observed (r = 0.584, P<0.001 for VAS; r = 0.823, P<0.001 for FIQ total score; and r = 0.875, P<0.01 for depression in the BDI). We also found a positive correlation between LPO in plasma and clinical symptoms (r = 0.452, P<0.001 for VAS; r = 0.578, P<0.001 for FIQ total score; and r = 0.579, P<0.001 for depression in the BDI). Partial correlation analysis controlling for age and BMI, and sex, showed that both LPO in cells and plasma were independently associated to clinical symptoms. However, LPO in cells, but not LPO in plasma, was independently associated to clinical symptoms when controlling for depression (BDI scores). [Discussion]: The results of this study suggest a role for oxidative stress in the pathophysiology of fibromyalgia and that LPO in BMCs rather than LPO in plasma is better associated to clinical symptoms in FM.This work was supported by Spanish FIS PI080500 grant, and FIS EC08/00076 grant, Ministerio de Sanidad, Spain, and Federación Andaluza de Fibromialgia y Fatiga Crónica (ALBA Andalucía). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewe

Regulation of cell death receptor S-nitrosylation and apoptotic signaling by Sorafenib in hepatoblastoma cells

Nitric oxide (NO) plays a relevant role during cell death regulation in tumor cells. The overexpression of nitric oxide synthase type III (NOS-3) induces oxidative and nitrosative stress, p53 and cell death receptor expression and apoptosis in hepatoblastoma cells. S-nitrosylation of cell death receptor modulates apoptosis. Sorafenib is the unique recommended molecular-targeted drug for the treatment of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. The present study was addressed to elucidate the potential role of NO during Sorafenib-induced cell death in HepG2 cells. We determined the intra- and extracellular NO concentration, cell death receptor expression and their S-nitrosylation modifications, and apoptotic signaling in Sorafenib-treated HepG2 cells. The effect of NO donors on above parameters has also been determined. Sorafenib induced apoptosis in HepG2 cells. However, low concentration of the drug (10nM) increased cell death receptor expression, as well as caspase-8 and -9 activation, but without activation of downstream apoptotic markers. In contrast, Sorafenib (10 µM) reduced upstream apoptotic parameters but increased caspase-3 activation and DNA fragmentation in HepG2 cells. The shift of cell death signaling pathway was associated with a reduction of S-nitrosylation of cell death receptors in Sorafenib-treated cells. The administration of NO donors increased S-nitrosylation of cell death receptors and overall induction of cell death markers in control and Sorafenib-treated cells. In conclusion, Sorafenib induced alteration of cell death receptor S-nitrosylation status which may have a relevant repercussion on cell death signaling in hepatoblastoma cells.Instituto de Salud Carlos III PI13/00021Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad BFU2012-32056Consejería de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo, Junta de Andalucía BIO-0216Consejería de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo, Junta de Andalucía CTS-6264Consejería de Salud, Junta de Andalucía PI13/ 0002

The Fourteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey and from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment

The fourth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV) has been in operation since July 2014. This paper describes the second data release from this phase, and the fourteenth from SDSS overall (making this, Data Release Fourteen or DR14). This release makes public data taken by SDSS-IV in its first two years of operation (July 2014-2016). Like all previous SDSS releases, DR14 is cumulative, including the most recent reductions and calibrations of all data taken by SDSS since the first phase began operations in 2000. New in DR14 is the first public release of data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS); the first data from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory (APO) Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE-2), including stellar parameter estimates from an innovative data driven machine learning algorithm known as "The Cannon"; and almost twice as many data cubes from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO (MaNGA) survey as were in the previous release (N = 2812 in total). This paper describes the location and format of the publicly available data from SDSS-IV surveys. We provide references to the important technical papers describing how these data have been taken (both targeting and observation details) and processed for scientific use. The SDSS website (www.sdss.org) has been updated for this release, and provides links to data downloads, as well as tutorials and examples of data use. SDSS-IV is planning to continue to collect astronomical data until 2020, and will be followed by SDSS-V.Comment: SDSS-IV collaboration alphabetical author data release paper. DR14 happened on 31st July 2017. 19 pages, 5 figures. Accepted by ApJS on 28th Nov 2017 (this is the "post-print" and "post-proofs" version; minor corrections only from v1, and most of errors found in proofs corrected

LSST Science Book, Version 2.0

A survey that can cover the sky in optical bands over wide fields to faint magnitudes with a fast cadence will enable many of the exciting science opportunities of the next decade. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will have an effective aperture of 6.7 meters and an imaging camera with field of view of 9.6 deg^2, and will be devoted to a ten-year imaging survey over 20,000 deg^2 south of +15 deg. Each pointing will be imaged 2000 times with fifteen second exposures in six broad bands from 0.35 to 1.1 microns, to a total point-source depth of r~27.5. The LSST Science Book describes the basic parameters of the LSST hardware, software, and observing plans. The book discusses educational and outreach opportunities, then goes on to describe a broad range of science that LSST will revolutionize: mapping the inner and outer Solar System, stellar populations in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, the structure of the Milky Way disk and halo and other objects in the Local Volume, transient and variable objects both at low and high redshift, and the properties of normal and active galaxies at low and high redshift. It then turns to far-field cosmological topics, exploring properties of supernovae to z~1, strong and weak lensing, the large-scale distribution of galaxies and baryon oscillations, and how these different probes may be combined to constrain cosmological models and the physics of dark energy.Comment: 596 pages. Also available at full resolution at http://www.lsst.org/lsst/sciboo

Cultural and leadership predictors of corporate social responsibility values of top management: A GLOBE study of 15 countries.

This paper examines cultural and leadership variables associated with corporate social responsibility values that managers apply to their decision-making. In this longitudinal study, we analyze data from 561 firms located in 15 countries on five continents to illustrate how the cultural dimensions of institutional collectivism and power distance predict social responsibility values on the part of top management team members. CEO visionary leadership and integrity were also uniquely predictive of such values. Journal of International Business Studies (2006) 37, 823–837. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400230