Stimulation of endothelial progenitor cells: a new putative effect of several cardiovascular drugs

The role of vascular endothelium in cardiovascular disorders is well recognized. Mature endothelial cells contribute to the repair of endothelial injury, but they only have a limited capacity to do so. This has led to growing interest and further investigation into circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and their role in vascular healing, repair, and postnatal neovascularization. The current perception of vascular health is that of a balance between ongoing injury and resultant vascular repair, mediated at least in part by circulating EPCs. Circulating EPCs play an important role in accelerating endothelialization at areas of vascular damage, and EPC enumeration is a viable strategy for assessing reparative capacity. Recent studies have shown that EPCs are affected both in number and function by several cardiovascular risk factors as well as various cardiovascular disease states, such as hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and coronary artery disease. The present review summarizes the most relevant studies on the effects of cardiovascular drugs on vascular function and EPCs, focusing on their mechanisms of action

The disruption of proteostasis in neurodegenerative diseases

Cells count on surveillance systems to monitor and protect the cellular proteome which, besides being highly heterogeneous, is constantly being challenged by intrinsic and environmental factors. In this context, the proteostasis network (PN) is essential to achieve a stable and functional proteome. Disruption of the PN is associated with aging and can lead to and/or potentiate the occurrence of many neurodegenerative diseases (ND). This not only emphasizes the importance of the PN in health span and aging but also how its modulation can be a potential target for intervention and treatment of human diseases.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Using molecular data for epidemiological inference: assessing the prevalence of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense in Tsetse in Serengeti, Tanzania

Background: Measuring the prevalence of transmissible Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense in tsetse populations is essential for understanding transmission dynamics, assessing human disease risk and monitoring spatio-temporal trends and the impact of control interventions. Although an important epidemiological variable, identifying flies which carry transmissible infections is difficult, with challenges including low prevalence, presence of other trypanosome species in the same fly, and concurrent detection of immature non-transmissible infections. Diagnostic tests to measure the prevalence of T. b. rhodesiense in tsetse are applied and interpreted inconsistently, and discrepancies between studies suggest this value is not consistently estimated even to within an order of magnitude. Methodology/Principal Findings: Three approaches were used to estimate the prevalence of transmissible Trypanosoma brucei s.l. and T. b. rhodesiense in Glossina swynnertoni and G. pallidipes in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania: (i) dissection/microscopy; (ii) PCR on infected tsetse midguts; and (iii) inference from a mathematical model. Using dissection/microscopy the prevalence of transmissible T. brucei s.l. was 0% (95% CI 0–0.085) for G. swynnertoni and 0% (0–0.18) G. pallidipes; using PCR the prevalence of transmissible T. b. rhodesiense was 0.010% (0–0.054) and 0.0089% (0–0.059) respectively, and by model inference 0.0064% and 0.00085% respectively. Conclusions/Significance: The zero prevalence result by dissection/microscopy (likely really greater than zero given the results of other approaches) is not unusual by this technique, often ascribed to poor sensitivity. The application of additional techniques confirmed the very low prevalence of T. brucei suggesting the zero prevalence result was attributable to insufficient sample size (despite examination of 6000 tsetse). Given the prohibitively high sample sizes required to obtain meaningful results by dissection/microscopy, PCR-based approaches offer the current best option for assessing trypanosome prevalence in tsetse but inconsistencies in relating PCR results to transmissibility highlight the need for a consensus approach to generate meaningful and comparable data

Chemins de vie. Dix-neuf visages et paroles de migrant-e-s, 1956-2012

Dix-neuf entretiens avec des migrant-e-s ont été réalisés et analysés par des étudiant-e-s du Master d’histoire moderne et contemporaine des Universités Lyon 2 et Lyon 3.Ces migrant-e-s appartiennent à diverses générations (le plus âgé, Ferdinand Gonzalez, est née en 1935 et la plus jeune, Anaïs Quenette, en 1995) et sont d’origines géographiques variées (Europe, Afrique du Nord et subsaharienne, Amérique latine…). Ce sont des femmes et hommes qui ont émigré en France pour des raisons de travail, mais aussi pour suivre leurs parents, rejoindre un-e conjoint-e ou simplement pour faire des études supérieures. Certain-e-s ont demandé leur naturalisation, d’autres pas.Le fil rouge qui a été choisi pour structurer les entretiens est celui de « l’insertion » envisagée sous diverses facettes : le départ et les réactions de l’entourage, les représentations liées à la France, mais aussi les réactions des Françaises face à l’Autre, l’insertion sur le marché du travail, l’apprentissage de la langue, le logement comme les différents réseaux tissés dans l’exil, les différentes identités induites et bousculées par la migration.Le volume est organisé en deux parties. La première est l’analyse des entretiens en six grandes thématiques. La deuxième partie regroupe la retranscription intégrale des entretiens menés, qui sont classés par ordre alphabétique des noms de famille, qui peuvent être des pseudonymes. Les retranscriptions sont précédées de quelques lignes méthodologiques sur les conditions de l’entretien

Identification of energetically critical processes for cocoa production in Santander, Colombia

The intensification of industrial activities in post-harvest cocoa processes has generated a disproportionate increase in energy consumption. The objective of this work is to describe those energetically critical ones that are used in the cocoa production line in Santander so that further research can evaluate the implementa-tion of alternative or renewable energy systems. Through the collection of information and data manage-ment, it is seeking to promote the efficient use of energy based on the NTC ISO 500001. For this end, a description of the processes involved in the production of cocoa was made considering the technical data. Then, the energy consumed by the equipment used in the different processes was determined for 30 days, operating 24 hours a day, assuming power factors of 0.75 and 0.9. Finally, through analysis, calculations, and the application of the Pareto methodology, it was possible to identify that the process with the highest energy consumption is the cocoa refining step, since the equipment used in this process consumes more than 30% of energy from the total energy used for cocoa production

Relationship between force signal and superficial electromyographic signals associated to hand movements

The analysis of electromyographic signals is applied both to the diagnosis of pathologies and to the recogni-tion of movement patterns. Variables such as force and speed of movement are factors that affect the charac-teristics of the signals of surface electromyography (SMEG). The naturalness of the movements of the hand are also associated with strength and speed. Current work assessment 96 records of SEMG -Force). The objective was to obtain a linear model that would allow the relation of the force signal with the tone of the forearm SEMG signals. The work results show models at the determination coefficient R2 - median 0.78. The SEMG signal would contribute to the variation of the strength signal. However, there are appreciable differences in relation to the model in each type of hand movement

Cognitive impairment induced by delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol occurs through heteromers between cannabinoid CB1 and serotonin 5-HT2A receptors

Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive compound of marijuana, induces numerous undesirable effects, including memory impairments, anxiety, and dependence. Conversely, THC also has potentially therapeutic effects, including analgesia, muscle relaxation, and neuroprotection. However, the mechanisms that dissociate these responses are still not known. Using mice lacking the serotonin receptor 5-HT2A, we revealed that the analgesic and amnesic effects of THC are independent of each other: while amnesia induced by THC disappears in the mutant mice, THC can still promote analgesia in these animals. In subsequent molecular studies, we showed that in specific brain regions involved in memory formation, the receptors for THC and the 5-HT2A receptors work together by physically interacting with each other. Experimentally interfering with this interaction prevented the memory deficits induced by THC, but not its analgesic properties. Our results highlight a novel mechanism by which the beneficial analgesic properties of THC can be dissociated from its cognitive side effects