Terapia fotodinámica en queratosis actínicas y nuevas indicaciones

Premio Extraordinario de Doctorado 2011La TDF es un tratamiento eficaz y bien tolerada para las queratosis actínicas. La localización del área tratada influye e los resultados, siendo mejores en las lesiones localizadas en la cara que en las localizadas en el dorso de las manos o en el cuero cabelludo. La TDF es un tratamiento efectivo en la Enfermedad de Bowen, las verrugas virales, y el LCCT. Los resultados son prometedores en el caso de la pitiriasis liquenoide crónica, la mucinosis folicular primaria y ellupus eritematoso discorde crónico. La TDF no es efectiva para el tratamiento del vitíligo, la PASD, la alopecia areata, el psoriasis vulgar, la enfermedad de Hailey-Hailey, la hidrosadenitis supurativa, la enfermedad de Paget, el LEA, la hidrosadenitis supurativa, el síndrome de Pápillon-Lefevre y la necrobiosis lipoídica. El diagnóstico de fluorescencia es un factor predictivo de la respuesta al tratamiento con TFD de las QA. Sin embargo, no lo es tanto en el resto de las indicaciones estudiadas en este trabajo

Terapia fotodinámica en queratosis actínicas y nuevas indicaciones

Premio Extraordinario de Doctorado 2011La TDF es un tratamiento eficaz y bien tolerada para las queratosis actínicas. La localización del área tratada influye e los resultados, siendo mejores en las lesiones localizadas en la cara que en las localizadas en el dorso de las manos o en el cuero cabelludo. La TDF es un tratamiento efectivo en la Enfermedad de Bowen, las verrugas virales, y el LCCT. Los resultados son prometedores en el caso de la pitiriasis liquenoide crónica, la mucinosis folicular primaria y ellupus eritematoso discorde crónico. La TDF no es efectiva para el tratamiento del vitíligo, la PASD, la alopecia areata, el psoriasis vulgar, la enfermedad de Hailey-Hailey, la hidrosadenitis supurativa, la enfermedad de Paget, el LEA, la hidrosadenitis supurativa, el síndrome de Pápillon-Lefevre y la necrobiosis lipoídica. El diagnóstico de fluorescencia es un factor predictivo de la respuesta al tratamiento con TFD de las QA. Sin embargo, no lo es tanto en el resto de las indicaciones estudiadas en este trabajo

Network analysis by simulated annealing of taxa and islands of Macaronesia (North Atlantic Ocean)

With the aim of explaining the role that taxa and island features have in biogeographical patterns, we processed presence–absence matrices of all the Macaronesian native species of ten different taxa (arthropods, birds, bryophytes, fungi, lichens, mammals, mollusks, pteridophytes, reptiles and spermatophytes) through simulated annealing analysis. Distribution patterns among the archipelagos were pinpointed, along with the different biogeographic roles played by islands and species groups. All the networks analysed resulted to be significantly modular and the structure of biogeographic modules reflects known past connections among the archipelagos and the current drivers of species distribution. The role assigned to the species supports some biological (ecological amplitude, degree of endemicity) and functional (long-distance dispersal and persistence abilities) traits of their respective biota and justifies their position in recent models of biogeographical distribution. Whereas it was expected that the modules identified by the spermatophytes and arthropods would reflect the compartmentalization of archipelagos quite well, this was also the case for much more vagile taxa, such as fungi or lichens. Conversely, results obtained for pteridophytes and bryophytes suggest that for those taxa geographic distance and/or macroclimatic conditions are less important than the size, age and orography of an island to determine the modularity of island groups. On the other hand, dry, species-poor islets, act as connectors, tending to cluster together for different taxa, independently of their archipelagic adscription, whereas large, high, humid islands tend to form network or module hubs representing regional centers of speciation and dispersal

Frequency analysis of vocalisations in relation to the growth in broiler chicken

Poultry is one of the lowest cost sources of animal protein in the world and, more than 40 billion chickens are produced every year globally. For reasons of public concern and due to the large number of animals involved, it is considered by many people to be important to take care of the welfare and health status of the chickens reared under intensive farm conditions. Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) can support the farmer in his day to day routine management through the use of sensors, cameras and microphones, and these have the potential to improve production and to enable monitoring of welfare status. In this context, the 7FP EU-PLF project aims to test the efficiency of the use of those sensors at farm level. In particular, the aim of this study was to record and analyse broiler vocalisations under normal farm conditions and to identify the relation between animal sounds, and growth trends. Recordings were made at regular intervals, for the entire short production life of the birds, in order to evaluate the variation of frequency and bandwidth of the sounds emitted by the animals during the cycle of production. The recordings were made in an automated, non-invasive and non-intrusive way and the sound data was compared with the weight of the birds automatically measured by a 'step on scale' placed on the floor of the broiler house. Sound analysis was performed based on the amplitude and frequency of the sound signal in audio files recorded at farm level. Through analysis of the sounds recorded, a significant correlation (P<0.001) between the frequencies of the vocalisations recorded and the weight of the broilers was found across all production cycles and farms assessed. The ongoing goal will be the development of a tool able to automatically detect the growth of the animals based on the frequency of the vocalisation emitted by the birds at different ages, and as a possible tool for determining deviations from their expected growth trend

Esclerosis tuberosa: hallazgos clinicos en 67 pacientes

BACKGROUND: Tuberous sclerosis is an uncommon neurocutaneous syndrome characterized by the appearance of hamartomas in multiple organs. Diagnosis is based on clinical criteria. OBJECTIVE. To report the clinical findings in a series of 67 patients with tuberous sclerosis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This was a descriptive and observational retrospective study of patients with tuberous sclerosis referred to our dermatology clinics between January 1994 and March 2007. RESULTS: All patients presented neurological or dermatological disorders. Other disorders, in descending frequency, were psychiatric (55.5%), renal (32.8%), cardiac (22.4%), skeletal and pulmonary (13.4%), and ophthalmological (11.9%). CONCLUSIONS: We report the clinical findings in a series of patients with tuberous sclerosis. According to our literature search, this is the first such study in the Spanish population. Overall, our findings support those already publishe

Photodynamic Therapy Combined with CO2 Laser Vaporization on Disseminated Superficial Actinic Porokeratosis: A Report of 2 Cases on the Face

Disseminated superficial actinic porokeratosis (DSAP) is a skin condition that usually shows a poor response to different modalities of treatment. Herein we describe 2 patients with DSAP on the face, each treated with 3 to 4 sessions of photodynamic therapy combined with laser vaporization

Energyplus simulation model of a zoning regulation system intgegrated with an unitary ducted air-to-air heat pump

En los edificios se pueden distinguir una variedad de zonas con diferentes patrones de utilización y perfiles de cargas térmicas. Los sistemas de climatización zonificados permiten adaptarse a las diferentes demandas térmicas de cada espacio y no climatizar aquellos que no estén siendo utilizados. Recientemente, con el aumento de la disponibilidad de velocidades de ventilador de los principales fabricantes de unidades de expansión directa de pequeña y mediana potencia para conductos, se han desarrollado sistemas que se basan en lo que se denomina una “pasarela de comunicación”, que permite una mayor integración del sistema de zonas con el equipo de climatización, controlando aspectos tales como el encendido y apagado, modo de funcionamiento, velocidad del ventilador, temperatura de consigna del equipo, etc. Este trabajo presenta el desarrollo de un nuevo modelo computacional que integra estos sistemas en el programa de simulación energética EnergyPlusUniversidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Characterisation of resistance mechanisms developed by basal cell carcinoma cells in response to repeated cycles of photodynamic therapy

photodynamic therapy (pDt) with methyl-aminolevulinate acid (MAL-pDt) is being used for the treatment of Basal cell carcinoma (BCC), but recurrences have been reported. In this work, we have evaluated resistance mechanisms to MAL-pDt developed by three BCC cell lines (AsZ, BsZ and CsZ), derived from mice on a ptch+/− background and with or without p53 expression, subjected to 10 cycles of PDT (10thG). the resistant populations showed mesenchymal-like structure and diminished proliferative capacity and size compared to the parental (p) cells. the resistance was dependent on the production of the endogenous photosensitiser protoporphyrin IX in the CsZ cell line and on its cellular localisation in AsZ and BsZ cells. Moreover, resistant cells expressing the p53 gene presented lower proliferation rate and increased expression levels of N-cadherin and Gsk3β (a component of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway) than P cells. In contrast, 10thG cells lacking the p53 gene showed lower levels of expression of Gsk3β in the cytoplasm and of e-cadherin and β-catenin in the membrane. In addition, resistant cells presented higher tumorigenic ability in immunosuppressed mice. Altogether, these results shed light on resistance mechanisms of BCC to pDt and may help to improve the use of this therapeutic approac

Hybrid Refining Approach of PrOnto Ontology

This paper presents a refinement of PrOnto ontology using a validation test based on legal experts’ annotation of privacy policies combined with an Open Knowledge Extraction (OKE) algorithm. To ensure robustness of the results while preserving an interdisciplinary approach, the integration of legal and technical knowledge has been carried out as follows. The set of privacy policies was first analysed by the legal experts to discover legal concepts and map the text into PrOnto. The mapping was then provided to computer scientists to perform the OKE analysis. Results were validated by the legal experts, who provided feedbacks and refinements (i.e. new classes and modules) of the ontology according to MeLOn methodology. Three iterations were performed on a set of (development) policies, and a final test using a new set of privacy policies. The results are 75,43% of detection of concepts in the policy texts and an increase of roughly 33% in the accuracy gain on the test set, using the new refined version of PrOnto enriched with SKOS-XL lexicon terms and definitions