Healthcare Reform in Latino Rhode Island: Perspectives of Spanish speakers and Insurance Navigators

Latinos have the highest uninsurance rates of any ethnic or racial group in the US despite recent health insurance expansion reform. In addition to immigration and language barriers, health literacy and attitudes may impact coverage disparities. Focus groups with Spanish-speaking community members and semi-structured interviews with health insurance navigators were conducted to explore knowledge, awareness, and attitudes towards healthcare reform among Latinos in Rhode Island. Sessions were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed employing standard qualitative methods. Thirty-two focus group participants and six navigators were enrolled in the study. Spanish-speaking participants demonstrated limited knowledge of the cost implications of the Medicaid Expansion and of the role of health insurance exchanges. Common misconceptions included that insurance costs would increase regardless of income, that enrollment would compromise green card and citizenship applications, that documented non-permanent residents would be ineligible for subsidies, and that reform benefits would apply to undocumented workers. Our findings suggest that local initiatives and providers should target Latinos in a culturally sensitive manner to increase literacy regarding insurance eligibility, affordability, points of access as well as to address misconceptions related to insurance eligibility for documented immigrants

Noether's theorem and gauge transformations. Application to the bosonic string and CP(2,n-1) model

New results on the theory of constrained systems are applied to characterize the generators of Noethers symmetry transformations. As a byproduct, an algorithm to construct gauge transformations in Hamiltonian formalism is derived. This is illustrated with two relevant examples

Control of cell adhesion and compartmentalization in the intestinal epithelium

Continuous cell renewal in the intestinal mucosa occurs without disrupting the integrity of the epithelial layer. Despite the restrictions imposed by strong cell-to-cell adhesions, epithelial intestinal cells migrate constantly between tissue compartments. Alterations in cell adhesion and compartmentalization play key roles in diseases of the intestine. In particular, decreased E-cadherin-mediated adhesion during inflammatory bowel disease and loss of EphB/ephrin-B-mediated compartmentalization in colorectal cancer have recently emerged as key players of these prevalent pathologies. Here we will review our current knowledge on how cell-to-cell adhesion, migration and cell positioning are coordinated in the intestinal epithelium. We will highlight what the in vivo genetic analysis of intestinal epithelium has taught us about the complex regulation of cell adhesion and migration in homeostasis and disease. © 2011 Elsevier Inc

Cancer stem cells revisited

© 2017 Nature America, Inc., part of Springer Nature. All rights reserved. The cancer stem cell (CSC) concept was proposed four decades ago, and states that tumor growth, analogous to the renewal of healthy tissues, is fueled by small numbers of dedicated stem cells. It has gradually become clear that many tumors harbor CSCs in dedicated niches, and yet their identification and eradication has not been as obvious as was initially hoped. Recently developed lineage-tracing and cell-ablation strategies have provided insights into CSC plasticity, quiescence, renewal, and therapeutic response. Here we discuss new developments in the CSC field in relationship to changing insights into how normal stem cells maintain healthy tissues. Expectations in the field have become more realistic, and now, the first successes of therapies based on the CSC concept are emerging

Temperature dependence of the magnetization processes in Co/Al oxide/Permalloy trilayers

The magnetization process of Co/Al oxide/Py trilayers and its evolution with the temperature have been analyzed. The particular behavior of the Co layers, including the shift of the hysteresis loops and a coercivity increase with the decrease of temperature, is related with the apparition of a CoO layer at the Co/Al-oxide interface

Evaluation of susceptibility of pear and plum varieties and rootstocks to Ca. P. pyri and Ca. P. prunorum using Real-Time PCR

Real-time PCR was used to quantify phytoplasma concentration in fifty inoculated trees from five Prunus rootstocks and in forty-eight symptomatic pear and Japanese plum trees from orchards. Seasonal fluctuation of Ca. P. prunorum in different Prunus rootstocks, over three years, showed that the highest percentage detected by nested-PCR was in the ‘Garnem’ rootstock on nearly all sampling dates. Intra-varietal differences were also observed. Phytoplasma titer could be estimated by real time PCR in some trees of the rootstocks ‘Garnem’, ‘Barrier’, ‘GF-677’ and ‘Marianna’, and ranged from 4.7x105 to 3.18x109 phytoplasmas per gram of tissue. Quantification by real-time PCR was not possible in the ‘Cadaman’ trees analyzed, probably due to a lower phytoplasma titer in this variety. Samples from infected trees from commercial plots had different phytoplasma concentration and detection percentage depending on the variety, both being lower in ‘Fortune’ and ‘606’ Japanese plum and in ‘Blanquilla’ pear trees.Keywords: Candidatus Phytoplasma pyri, Candidatus Phytoplasma prunorum, real time PCR, detectio

Preliminary screening of polycaprolactone-polystyrene electrospun scaffolds for the formation of tumoroids

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) subtype is the most aggressive and conventional chemotherapy is the standard treatment since lacks validated targeted therapies. Thus, there is an unmet need for improved in vitro research tools, including scaffolds for the formation of tumoroids. In this preliminary study, the main aim was to assess the tumoroid-forming potential of polycaprolactone (PCL)/polystyrene (PS) scaffolds. Six different polymer solutions, varying PCL/PS ratios, were formulated and PCL/PS scaffolds were manufactured using the electrospinning technique. PCL/PS structures were characterized by SEM imaging. Subsequently, a sterilization assay was performed to evaluate potential alterations derived from this process. Afterwards, TNBC MDA-MB-231 cells were cultured on PCL/PS structures for 10 days. The findings revealed that cells cultured on PCL 100/PS 0, PCL 80/PS 20, and PCL 60/PS 40 matrices exhibited the formation of tumoroids. In conclusion, PCL/PS scaffolds offer a valuable in vitro tool for tumoroid formation.This work was funded by PLEC2021-007523 / AEI / 10.13039/501100011033 and by the European Union – NextGenerationEU. It was also supported by Spanish grant from Instituto de Salud Carlos III and co-funded by European Union ERDF/ESF, “A way to make Europe”/ “Investing in your future”)(PI19/00372). The authors thank the support of Catalan Government (2021SGR01589) and Oncolliga Foundation and RadikalSwim (OncoSwim). The authors thank Research Technical Services from the University of Girona

Treatment with EV-miRNAs Alleviates Obesity-Associated Metabolic Dysfunction in Mice

Most cells release extracellular vesicles (EVs) that can be detected circulating in blood. We and others have shown that the microRNA contents of these vesicles induce transcriptomic changes in acceptor cells, contributing to the adjustment of metabolic homeostasis in response to environmental demands. Here, we explore the potential for modulating obesity- and exercise-derived EV-microRNAs to treat the metabolic dysfunction associated with obesity in mice. Treatment with EV-miRNAs alleviated glucose intolerance and insulin resistance in obese mice to an extent similar to that of high-intensity interval training, although only exercise improved cardiorespiratory fitness and decreased body weight. Mechanistically, EV-miRNAs decreased fatty acid and cholesterol biosynthesis pathways in the liver, reducing hepatic steatosis and increasing insulin sensitivity, resulting in decreased glycemia and triglyceridemia. Our data suggest that manipulation of EV-miRNAs may be a viable strategy to alleviate metabolic dysfunction in obese and diabetic patients who are unable to exercise, although actual physical activity is needed to improve cardiorespiratory fitness

Detection of flavescence dorée phytoplasma in grapevine in northern Spain

Research NoteGrapevine yellows diseased stocks were observed in vineyards of the Alt Emporda area, northern Spain. Phytoplasma was detected and characterized by PCR-RFLP in the region of the 16S rDNA of phytoplasmas or by ELISA. For the first time a FD phytoplasma was detected in Spain