Región y nación: el Río Grande insurgente, entre el Imperio de Brasil y las repúblicas del Río de la Plata (1838-1842)

El siglo diecinueve fue marcado por el proceso de descolonización y el consecuente proceso de formación de los Estados nacionales en Latinoamérica. Durante muchos años las guerras civiles entre diferentes grupos políticos fueron la característica más visible de aquellos tiempos. El artículo presente busca una explicación para la secesión de la provincia brasileña del Rio Grande do Sul ubicada en el extremo surdel país, en la frontera con el Estado Oriental del Uruguay y la Confederación Argentina. Los insurgentes proclamaron su independencia del Imperio de Brasil bajo el nombre de República Rio-Grandense, tratando desde luego de firmar compromisos políticos y económicoscon las repúblicas vecinas como una manera de asegurarse contra los esfuerzos del gobierno brasileño en reintegrar su provincia desgarrada. La República Rio-Grandense se mantuvo desde 1836 hasta 1845, pero el texto muestra los actos diplomáticos más importantes de los rebelados, que ocurrieron entre 1838 y 1842

About Zitterbewegung and electron structure

We start from the spinning electron theory by Barut and Zanghi, which has been recently translated into the Clifford algebra language. We "complete" such a translation, first of all, by expressing in the Clifford formalism a particular Barut-Zanghi (BZ) solution, which refers (at the classical limit) to an internal helical motion with a time-like speed [and is here shown to originate from the superposition of positive and negative frequency solutions of the Dirac equation]. Then, we show how to construct solutions of the Dirac equation describing helical motions with light-like speed, which meet very well the standard interpretation of the velocity operator in the Dirac equation theory (and agree with the solution proposed by Hestenes, on the basis --however-- of ad-hoc assumptions that are unnecessary in the present approach). The above results appear to support the conjecture that the Zitterbewegung motion (a helical motion, at the classical limit) is responsible for the electron spin.Comment: LaTeX; 11 pages; this is a corrected version of work appeared partly in Phys. Lett. B318 (1993) 623 and partly in "Particles, Gravity and Space-Time" (ed.by P.I.Pronin & G.A.Sardanashvily; World Scient., Singapore, 1996), p.34

Moderate versus light pressure massage therapy leads to greater weight gain in preterm infants

Sixty-eight preterm infants (M GA= 30 weeks) were randomly assigned to a moderate or to a light pressure massage therapy group to receive 15 massages three times per day for 5 days. Behavior state, stress behaviors and heart rate were recorded for 15 min before and during the first 15-min therapy session. Weight gain was recorded over the 5-day therapy period. The moderate versus light pressure massage group gained significantly more weight per day. During the behavior observations the moderate versus light pressure massage group showed significantly lower increases from the pre-session to the session recording on: (1) active sleep; (2) fussing; (3) crying; (4) movement; and (5) stress behavior (hiccupping). They also showed a smaller decrease in deep sleep, a greater decrease in heart rate and a greater increase in vagal tone. Thus, the moderate pressure massage therapy group appeared to be more relaxed and less aroused than the light pressure massage group which may have contributed to the greater weight gain of the moderate pressure massage therapy group.We would like to thank the mothers and infants who participated in this study and Julia Beutler, Larissa Feijo, Karla Gill and Yanexy Vera for their help with participant recruitment and data collection. We would also like to thank John Allen for his help with EKG analysis software. This research was supported by Senior Research Scientist Awards (#MH00331 and #AT01585) and an NIHM merit award (MH #46586) and a March of Dimes Grant (#12-FY03-48) to Tiffany Field, an NCCAM research Grant to Maria Hernandez-Reif (#AT00370) and an NCCAM research supplement (#AT00370-02S 1) to Miguel A. Diego and funding from Johnson and Johnson Pediatric Institute

Mineral content in French type bread with sodium replacement using fluorescence spectrometry X-rays by energy dispersive

The present study aimed to determine the mineral composition of the French type bread with partial replacement of sodium chloride by potassium chloride using the technique of X-ray fluorescence energy dispersive. The excitation energy used was 50 keV and detector operation at -176°C. The detected variations were from 10.16 to 613.69 mg 100 g-1 for sodium and from 211.58 to 958.96 mg 100 g-1 for potassium. The concentrations of iron, magnesium, phosphorus and calcium ranged from 10.62 to 21.45, 16.59 to 30.78, 92.53 to 125.77 and from 16.54 to 100.88 mg 100 g-1, respectively. The use of this simple technique proved to be reliable on detecting the variations imposed on the French type bread formulation. The results of this study indicate that, at the levels studied, the addition of potassium chloride assisted in getting French type bread with lower levels of sodium and proved the technological feasibility of producing French type bread with 43% salt reduction (1.0% in the commercial formulation) with 0.5% potassium chloride, which provide bread with the amount of sodium proposed to meet the set limits (174.09 mg.50 g-1), related to the salt standard formulation of 1.88% (306.5 mg.50 g-1).Key words: French bread, replacement, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, food analysis, minerals, energy dispersive

Electron structure, Zitterbewegung, and the new non-linear Dirac-like equation

The recent literature shows a renewed interest, with various independent approaches, in the classical theories for spin. Considering the possible interest of those results, at least for the electron case, we purpose in this paper to explore their physical and mathematical meaning, by the natural and powerful language of Clifford algebras (which, incidentally, will allow us to unify those different approaches). In such theories, the ordinary electron is in general associated to the mean motion of a point-like "constituent" Q, whose trajectory is a cylindrical helix. We find, in particular, that the object Q obeys a new, non-linear Dirac-like equation, such that --when averaging over an internal cycle (which corresponds to linearization)-- it transforms into the ordinary Dirac equation (valid for the electron as a whole).Comment: LaTeX; 19 pages; this is a corrected version of work appeared partly in Hadronic J. 18 (1995) 97 and partly in Phys.Lett. B318 (1993) 48

Physical activity but not sedentary activity is reduced in primary Sjögren’s syndrome

The aim of the study was to evaluate the levels of physical activity in individuals with primary Sjögren’s syndrome (PSS) and its relationship to the clinical features of PSS. To this cross-sectional study, self-reported levels of physical activity from 273 PSS patients were measured using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-short form (IPAQ-SF) and were compared with healthy controls matched for age, sex and body mass index. Fatigue and other clinical aspects of PSS including disease status, dryness, daytime sleepiness, dysautonomia, anxiety and depression were assessed using validated tools. Individuals with PSS had significantly reduced levels of physical activity [median (interquartile range, IQR) 1572 (594–3158) versus 3708 (1732–8255) metabolic equivalent of task (MET) × min/week, p < 0.001], but similar levels of sedentary activity [median (IQR) min 300 (135–375) versus 343 (223–433) (MET) × min/week, p = 0.532] compared to healthy individuals. Differences in physical activity between PSS and controls increased at moderate [median (IQR) 0 (0–480) versus 1560 (570–3900) MET × min/week, p < 0.001] and vigorous intensities [median (IQR) 0 (0–480) versus 480 (0–1920) MET × min/week, p < 0.001]. Correlation analysis revealed a significant association between physical activity and fatigue, orthostatic intolerance, depressive symptoms and quality of life. Sedentary activity did not correlate with fatigue. Stepwise linear regression analysis identified symptoms of depression and daytime sleepiness as independent predictors of levels of physical activity. Physical activity is reduced in people with PSS and is associated with symptoms of depression and daytime sleepiness. Sedentary activity is not increased in PSS. Clinical care teams should explore the clinical utility of targeting low levels of physical activity in PSS

Fatigue in primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) is associated with lower levels of proinflammatory cytokines: a validation study

Primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS) is a chronic autoimmune rheumatic disease with symptoms including dryness, fatigue, and pain. The previous work by our group has suggested that certain proinflammatory cytokines are inversely related to patient-reported levels of fatigue. To date, these findings have not been validated. This study aims to validate this observation. Blood levels of seven cytokines were measured in 120 patients with pSS from the United Kingdom Primary Sjögren’s Syndrome Registry and 30 age-matched healthy non-fatigued controls. Patient-reported scores for fatigue were classified according to severity and compared to cytokine levels using analysis of variance. The differences between cytokines in cases and controls were evaluated using Wilcoxon test. A logistic regression model was used to determine the most important identifiers of fatigue. Five cytokines, interferon-γ-induced protein-10 (IP-10), tumour necrosis factor-α (TNFα), interferon-α (IFNα), interferon-γ (IFN-γ), and lymphotoxin-α (LT-α) were significantly higher in patients with pSS (n = 120) compared to non-fatigued controls (n = 30). Levels of two proinflammatory cytokines, TNF-α (p = 0.021) and LT-α (p = 0.043), were inversely related to patient-reported levels of fatigue. Cytokine levels, disease-specific and clinical parameters as well as pain, anxiety, and depression were used as predictors in our validation model. The model correctly identifies fatigue levels with 85% accuracy. Consistent with the original study, pain, depression, and proinflammatory cytokines appear to be the most powerful predictors of fatigue in pSS. TNF-α and LT-α have an inverse relationship with fatigue severity in pSS challenging the notion that proinflammatory cytokines directly mediate fatigue in chronic immunological conditions

The Transcriptome of Trichuris suis – First Molecular Insights into a Parasite with Curative Properties for Key Immune Diseases of Humans

Iatrogenic infection of humans with Trichuris suis (a parasitic nematode of swine) is being evaluated or promoted as a biological, curative treatment of immune diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and ulcerative colitis, in humans. Although it is understood that short-term T. suis infection in people with such diseases usually induces a modified Th2-immune response, nothing is known about the molecules in the parasite that induce this response.As a first step toward filling the gaps in our knowledge of the molecular biology of T. suis, we characterised the transcriptome of the adult stage of this nematode employing next-generation sequencing and bioinformatic techniques. A total of ∼65,000,000 reads were generated and assembled into ∼20,000 contiguous sequences ( = contigs); ∼17,000 peptides were predicted and classified based on homology searches, protein motifs and gene ontology and biological pathway mapping.These analyses provided interesting insights into a number of molecular groups, particularly predicted excreted/secreted molecules (n = 1,288), likely to be involved in the parasite-host interactions, and also various molecules (n = 120) linked to chemokine, T-cell receptor and TGF-β signalling as well as leukocyte transendothelial migration and natural killer cell-mediated cytotoxicity, which are likely to be immuno-regulatory or -modulatory in the infected host. This information provides a conceptual framework within which to test the immunobiological basis for the curative effect of T. suis infection in humans against some immune diseases. Importantly, the T. suis transcriptome characterised herein provides a curated resource for detailed studies of the immuno-molecular biology of this parasite, and will underpin future genomic and proteomic explorations

Symptom-based stratification of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome: multi-dimensional characterisation of international observational cohorts and reanalyses of randomised clinical trials

Background Heterogeneity is a major obstacle to developing effective treatments for patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome. We aimed to develop a robust method for stratification, exploiting heterogeneity in patient-reported symptoms, and to relate these differences to pathobiology and therapeutic response. Methods We did hierarchical cluster analysis using five common symptoms associated with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pain, fatigue, dryness, anxiety, and depression), followed by multinomial logistic regression to identify subgroups in the UK Primary Sjögren's Syndrome Registry (UKPSSR). We assessed clinical and biological differences between these subgroups, including transcriptional differences in peripheral blood. Patients from two independent validation cohorts in Norway and France were used to confirm patient stratification. Data from two phase 3 clinical trials were similarly stratified to assess the differences between subgroups in treatment response to hydroxychloroquine and rituximab. Findings In the UKPSSR cohort (n=608), we identified four subgroups: Low symptom burden (LSB), high symptom burden (HSB), dryness dominant with fatigue (DDF), and pain dominant with fatigue (PDF). Significant differences in peripheral blood lymphocyte counts, anti-SSA and anti-SSB antibody positivity, as well as serum IgG, κ-free light chain, β2-microglobulin, and CXCL13 concentrations were observed between these subgroups, along with differentially expressed transcriptomic modules in peripheral blood. Similar findings were observed in the independent validation cohorts (n=396). Reanalysis of trial data stratifying patients into these subgroups suggested a treatment effect with hydroxychloroquine in the HSB subgroup and with rituximab in the DDF subgroup compared with placebo. Interpretation Stratification on the basis of patient-reported symptoms of patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome revealed distinct pathobiological endotypes with distinct responses to immunomodulatory treatments. Our data have important implications for clinical management, trial design, and therapeutic development. Similar stratification approaches might be useful for patients with other chronic immune-mediated diseases. Funding UK Medical Research Council, British Sjogren's Syndrome Association, French Ministry of Health, Arthritis Research UK, Foundation for Research in Rheumatology

B-cell activity markers are associated with different disease activity domains in primary Sjögren's syndrome

OBJECTIVES: B-cell activating factor (BAFF), β-2 microglobulin (β2M) and serum free light chains (FLCs) are elevated in primary SS (pSS) and associated with disease activity. We aimed to investigate their association with the individual disease activity domains of the EULAR Sjögren’s Syndrome Disease Activity Index (ESSDAI) in a large well-characterized pSS cohort. METHODS: Sera from pSS patients enrolled in the UK Primary Sjögren’s Syndrome Registry (UKPSSR) (n = 553) and healthy controls (n = 286) were analysed for FLC (κ and λ), BAFF and β2 M. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated for patient clinical characteristics, including salivary flow, Schirmer’s test, EULAR Sjögren’s Syndrome Patient Reported Index and serum IgG levels. Poisson regression was performed to identify independent predictors of total ESSDAI and ClinESSDAI (validated ESSDAI minus the biological domain) scores and their domains. RESULTS: Levels of BAFF, β2M and FLCs were higher in pSS patients compared to controls. All three biomarkers associated significantly with the ESSDAI and the ClinESSDAI. BAFF associated with the peripheral nervous system domain of the ESSDAI, whereas β2M and FLCs associated with the cutaneous, biological and renal domains. Multivariate analysis showed BAFF, β2M and their interaction to be independent predictors of ESSDAI/ClinESSDAI. FLCs were also shown to associate with the ESSDAI/ClinESSDAI but not independent of serum IgG. CONCLUSION: All biomarkers were associated with total ESSDAI scores but with differing domain associations. These findings should encourage further investigation of these biomarkers in longitudinal studies and against other disease activity measures