Mexican World Heritage information on the web: Institutional presence and visibility

This study offers a global overview of the presence and visibility of web information on UNESCO World Heritage located in Mexico, via the analysis of official websites and Web 2.0 information. Cultural heritage is a determining factor in linking people to their history, and contributes to increasing cultural tourism and economic development. The study starts from the hypothesis that the design of these has an influence on the dissemination and popularity of the aforementioned heritage. The relationships between the administrative organization of the country and Internet protocols are compared. A webometric study of the official Mexican websites was carried out. An evaluation sheet was designed to allow the assessment of aspects relating to identification, presence, accessibility and content. The multilingual nature of this information and its presence on social networks and Wikipedia was analysed. The analysis of URLs confirms that the domain .mx is used in 84% of cases. The results indicate a noticeable use of Web 2.0 dissemination of the heritage assets on YouTube (51%) and Facebook (40%), followed by 23% on Twitter. The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) guidelines are not yet frequently applied. Finally, the results obtained make it possible to identify variables that can contribute to improvements in the visibility and dissemination of official web information.This paper was supported by the RD & I Project, HAR2012-38562 (Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness)

Spontaneous central venous thrombosis and shunt occlusion following peritoneovenous shunt placement for intractable ascites

A 43-year-old man had a peritoneovenous shunt inserted for the treatment of chylous ascites secondary to myelofibrosis. Despite being on anticoagulation for superior mesenteric vein thrombosis, he developed shunt dysfunction within two weeks of insertion. Superior venacavography showed multiple filling defects in the right axillary vein, no filling of the right brachiocephalic and right subclavian vein, and thrombotic occlusion of the internal jugular veins bilaterally. The shunt was removed 11 days after insertion, and there was extensive thrombosis of the venous end of the shunt and the compressible pump chamber. Shunt thrombosis is known to occur but remains a rare complication, with 87% of such obstructions being due to a thrombus at the tip of the venous end of the shunt. Extensive thrombosis of the shunt (as in the present case) is very rare

Analysis of the piggyBac transposase reveals a functional nuclear targeting signal in the 94 c-terminal residues

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The <it>piggyBac</it> transposable element is a popular tool for germ-line transgenesis of eukaryotes. Despite this, little is known about the mechanism of transposition or the transposase (TPase) itself. A thorough understanding of just how <it>piggyBac</it> works may lead to more effective use of this important mobile element. A PSORTII analysis of the TPase amino acid sequence predicts a bipartite nuclear localization signal (NLS) near the c-terminus, just upstream of a putative ZnF (ZnF).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We fused the <it>piggyBac</it> TPase upstream of and in-frame with the enhanced yellow fluorescent protein (EYFP) in the <it>Drosophila melanogaster</it> inducible metallothionein protein. Using Drosophila Schneider 2 (S2) cells and the deep red fluorescent nuclear stain Draq5, we were able to track the pattern of <it>piggyBac</it> localization with a scanning confocal microscope 48 hours after induction with copper sulphate.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Through n and c-terminal truncations, targeted internal deletions, and specific amino acid mutations of the <it>piggyBac</it> TPase open reading frame, we found that not only is the PSORTII-predicted NLS required for the TPase to enter the nucleus of S2 cells, but there are additional requirements for negatively charged amino acids a short length upstream of this region for nuclear localization.</p

Multiple organism algorithm for finding ultraconserved elements

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ultraconserved elements are nucleotide or protein sequences with 100% identity (no mismatches, insertions, or deletions) in the same organism or between two or more organisms. Studies indicate that these conserved regions are associated with micro RNAs, mRNA processing, development and transcription regulation. The identification and characterization of these elements among genomes is necessary for the further understanding of their functionality.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We describe an algorithm and provide freely available software which can find all of the ultraconserved sequences between genomes of multiple organisms. Our algorithm takes a combinatorial approach that finds all sequences without requiring the genomes to be aligned. The algorithm is significantly faster than BLAST and is designed to handle very large genomes efficiently. We ran our algorithm on several large comparative analyses to evaluate its effectiveness; one compared 17 vertebrate genomes where we find 123 ultraconserved elements longer than 40 bps shared by all of the organisms, and another compared the human body louse, <it>Pediculus humanus humanus</it>, against itself and select insects to find thousands of non-coding, potentially functional sequences.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Whole genome comparative analysis for multiple organisms is both feasible and desirable in our search for biological knowledge. We argue that bioinformatic programs should be forward thinking by assuming analysis on multiple (and possibly large) genomes in the design and implementation of algorithms. Our algorithm shows how a compromise design with a trade-off of disk space versus memory space allows for efficient computation while only requiring modest computer resources, and at the same time providing benefits not available with other software.</p

Medical Conditions of Nursing Home Admissions

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>As long-term nursing home care is likely to increase with the aging of the population, identifying chronic medical conditions is of particular interest. Although need factors have a strong impact on nursing home (NH) admission, the diseases causing these functional disabilities are lacking or unclear in the residents' file. We investigated the medical reason (primary diagnosis) of a nursing home admission with respect to the underlying disease.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This study is based on two independent, descriptive and comparative studies in Belgium and was conducted at two time points (1993 and 2005) to explore the evolution over twelve years. Data from the subjects were extracted from the resident's file; additional information was requested from the general practitioner, nursing home physician or the head nurse in a face-to-face interview. In 1993 we examined 1332 residents from 19 institutions, and in 2005 691 residents from 7 institutions. The diseases at the time of admission were mapped by means of the International Classification of Diseases - 9th edition (ICD-9). Longitudinal changes were assessed and compared by a chi-square test.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The main chronic medical conditions associated with NH admission were dementia and stroke. Mental disorders represent 48% of all admissions, somatic disorders 43% and social/emotional problems 8%. Of the somatic disorders most frequently are mentioned diseases of the circulatory system (35%) [2/3 sequels of stroke and 1/5 heart failure], followed by diseases of the nervous system (15%) [mainly Parkinson's disease] and the musculoskeletal system (14%) [mainly osteoarthritis]. The most striking evolution from 1993 to 2005 consisted in complicated diabetes mellitus (from 4.3 to 11.4%; p < 0.0001) especially with amputations and blindness. Symptoms (functional limitations without specific disease) like dizziness, impaired vision and frailty are of relevance as an indicator of admission.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Diseases like stroke, diabetes and mobility problems are only important for institutionalisation if they cause functional disability. Diabetes related complications as cause of admission increased almost three-fold between 1993 and 2005.</p

Robust Off- and Online Separation of Intracellularly Recorded Up and Down Cortical States

BACKGROUND: The neuronal cortical network generates slow (<1 Hz) spontaneous rhythmic activity that emerges from the recurrent connectivity. This activity occurs during slow wave sleep or anesthesia and also in cortical slices, consisting of alternating up (active, depolarized) and down (silent, hyperpolarized) states. The search for the underlying mechanisms and the possibility of analyzing network dynamics in vitro has been subject of numerous studies. This exposes the need for a detailed quantitative analysis of the membrane fluctuating behavior and computerized tools to automatically characterize the occurrence of up and down states. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Intracellular recordings from different areas of the cerebral cortex were obtained from both in vitro and in vivo preparations during slow oscillations. A method that separates up and down states recorded intracellularly is defined and analyzed here. The method exploits the crossover of moving averages, such that transitions between up and down membrane regimes can be anticipated based on recent and past voltage dynamics. We demonstrate experimentally the utility and performance of this method both offline and online, the online use allowing to trigger stimulation or other events in the desired period of the rhythm. This technique is compared with a histogram-based approach that separates the states by establishing one or two discriminating membrane potential levels. The robustness of the method presented here is tested on data that departs from highly regular alternating up and down states. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: We define a simple method to detect cortical states that can be applied in real time for offline processing of large amounts of recorded data on conventional computers. Also, the online detection of up and down states will facilitate the study of cortical dynamics. An open-source MATLAB toolbox, and Spike 2-compatible version are made freely available