Simultaneous emission and attenuation reconstruction in time-of-flight PET using a reference object

BACKGROUND: Simultaneous reconstruction of emission and attenuation images in time-of-flight (TOF) positron emission tomography (PET) does not provide a unique solution. In this study, we propose to solve this limitation by including additional information given by a reference object with known attenuation placed outside the patient. Different configurations of the reference object were studied including geometry, material composition, and activity, and an optimal configuration was defined. In addition, this configuration was tested for different timing resolutions and noise levels. RESULTS: The proposed strategy was tested in 2D simulations obtained by forward projection of available PET/CT data and noise was included using Monte Carlo techniques. Obtained results suggest that the optimal configuration corresponds to a water cylinder inserted in the patient table and filled with activity. In that case, mean differences between reconstructed and true images were below 10%. However, better results can be obtained by increasing the activity of the reference object. CONCLUSION: This study shows promising results that might allow to obtain an accurate attenuation map from pure TOF-PET data without prior knowledge obtained from CT, MRI, or transmission scans.This work was supported by a grant from the Comunidad de Madrid (2016-T1/TIC-1099). The CNIC is supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII); the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (MCNU); and the Pro CNIC Foundation, and is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (SEV-2015-0505).S

A Pilot Clinical Study on the Prognostic Relevance of Plasmatic Exosomes Levels in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients

Background: To evaluate the relationship between the plasmatic CD63 and CAV1 positive exosome levels, in patients with OSCC before and after surgical treatment and to correlate it with their overall survival. Methods: A double-blind pilot study over 10 patients OSCC and T4 stage without distant metastases or local bone invasion has been performed. The average follow-up period was 37.64 months (34.3–40.84). We obtained 2 plasma tubes of 1 mL each before surgery and 7 days after surgery. Before performing the immunocapture-based analysis, EVs (Extracellular Vesicles) were isolated from the plasma and characterized with western blot analysis. Results: Mean values of CD63 positive plasmatic exosomes (EXO-CD63) after surgery decreased from 750.88 ± 286.67 to 541.71 ± 244.93 (p = 0.091). On the other hand, CAV-1 positive plasmatic exosomes (EXO-CAV-1) increased after surgery from 507 ± 483.39 to 1120.25 ± 1151.17 (p = 0.237). Patients with EXO-CD63 levels lower than the mean global value before the surgery had a survival of 36.04 months compared with the group with EXO-CD63 higher than the average who only survived 12.49 ± 1.67 months from the diagnosis, p = 0.225. When EXO-CAV-1 levels before surgery was lower than the average (813.94 ± 801.21) overall survival was 24.69 ± 22.23 months in contrast when it was higher that was only 11.64 months, p = 0.157. Patients with lower EXO-CD63 levels after surgery lived an average of 23.84 ± 23.9 months, while those with higher plasmatic levels of EXO-CD63 live 13.35 months, p = 0.808. When EXO-CAV-1 levels after surgery were lower, the average overall survival was 20.344 ± 15.40 months, in contrast when the EXO-CAV-1 levels were higher showing rather an estimate survival expectation of 1.64 months. Conclusions: Surgical treatment induced a dramatic reduction of the plasmatic levels of exosomes expressing CD63 as early as 1 week after resection. This first result suggests that the tumour mass is responsible of the high levels of circulating exosomes detected in cancer patients. At the same time point exosome expressing CAV-1 increased, possibly due to the inflammatory reaction immediately after surgery. Lastly, statistical analysis showed that lower levels of plasmatic exosomes both before and after surgery correlated with a better life expectancy of OSCC patients. Hopefully, this approach will prove useful in the clinical follow-up of cancer patientsS

Dissecting the proton transport pathway in oral squamous cell carcinoma: state of the art and theranostics implications

Cancer cells overexpress proton exchangers at the plasma membrane in order acidify the extracellular matrix and maintain the optimal pH for sustaining cancer growth. Among the families of proton exchangers implicated in carcinogenesis, carbonic anhydrases (CAs), monocarboxylate transporters (MCTs), Na+/H+ exchangers (NHEs), sodium bicarbonate cotransporters (NBCs), and vacuolar ATPases (V-ATPases) are highlighted. Considerable research has been carried out into the utility of the understanding of these machineries in the diagnosis and prognosis of several solid tumors. In addition, as therapeutic targets, the interference of their functions has contributed to the discovery or optimization of cancer therapies. According to recent reports, the study of these mechanisms seems promising in the particular case of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). In the present review, the latest advances in these fields are summarized, in particular, the usefulness of proton exchangers as potential prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets in OSCCS

Estudio del impacto económico de la implementación protocolizada de la terapia con ácido hialurónico intraarticular en el Servicio de Cirugía Ortopédica y Traumatología del HUC.

Introducción: La artrosis es la enfermedad musculoesquelética más frecuente y puede producir una limitación funcional que afecta a la calidad de vida de los pacientes. Su tratamiento ofrece diferentes alternativas entre las cuales se encuentran las infiltraciones intraarticulares de ácido hialurónico. ● Objetivos: Analizar el impacto económico que ha supuesto la implementación del ácido hialurónico intraarticular como tratamiento de la artrosis, prescrito por los Facultativos del Servicio de Cirugía Ortopédica y Traumatología (COT) del HUC, siguiendo un protocolo establecido. Además, analizar en qué subtipo de artrosis se indica más frecuentemente. ● Material y métodos: Estudio descriptivo-observacional transversal donde se incluyó a un total de 36 pacientes. Se realizó un estudio de frecuencias para ver las características de los sujetos y se evaluó el coste económico que supuso la administración de la solución durante un año. ● Resultados: El coste generado en el primer año de implementación del AH en el Servicio de COT fue de 1.368,38€ representando el 0,0001% del gasto farmacéutico hospitalario global. La gonartrosis fue el diagnóstico predominante de la serie de pacientes recogida en este estudio. ● Conclusiones: La implementación protocolizada de AH no ha supuesto un impacto económico significativo en el gasto farmacéutico global, justificándose por esta causa la continuidad de este tratamiento. Por otro lado, la gonartrosis representa la patología en la que se indica más frecuentemente la viscosuplementación.Introduction: Osteoarthritis is the most common musculoskeletal disease and can produce functional limitations that affect patients' quality of life. Its treatment offers different alternatives, among which we find intra-articular hyaluronic acid infiltrations. ● Objectives: To analyze the economic impact of the employment of intra-articular hyaluronic acid as a treatment for osteoarthritis, prescribed by physicians of the Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology Service (COT) of HUC, following an established protocol. In addition, to analyze which subtype of osteoarthritis it is most frequently prescribed. ● Material and methods: Cross-sectional descriptive-observational study, including a total of 36 patients. A frequency study was carried out to determine the characteristics of the subjects and to evaluate the economic cost of administering the solution for one year. ● Results: COT´s total expenditure, within the first year of HA employment, amounted to €1.368,38 representing 0.0001% of the overall hospital pharmaceutical expense. Gonarthrosis was the predominant diagnosis in the series of patients collected in this study. ● Conclusions: The protocolled implementation of HA has not had a significant economic impact on overall pharmaceutical expenditure, thus justifying the preservation of this protocol. On the other hand, it was concluded that gonarthrosis is the pathology in which viscosupplementation is most frequently indicated

Public finances and inflation : the case of Spain

En este documento exploramos empíricamente la influencia de la inflación sobre las variables fiscales en el corto, medio y largo plazos, para el caso de la economía españolaen particular, para extraer lecciones de política para el diseño del proceso en curso de reequilibrio de las cuentas públicas. Proporcionamos evidencia basada en varios elementos analíticos: i) la restricción presupuestaria del Gobierno, para evaluar la influencia de la inflación sobre los cambios en la deuda públicaii) desagregaciones contables de los ingresos y gastos nominales en sus partes real y de precios para, en particular, ilustrar el efecto de determinadas medidas de consolidación fiscal en distintos escenarios inflacionistasiii) un modelo macroeconométrico que contiene un bloque muy detallado de política fiscal, para analizar el impacto presupuestario y macroeconómico de shocks de inflación, y iv) un modelo contable de largo plazo (en línea con la labor de Grupo de trabajo de envejecimiento de la Comisión Europea), para ilustrar los efectos sobre el gasto en pensiones de distintas sendas de inflación en el medio-largo plazoWe empirically explore the influence of inflation on fiscal variables in the short, medium and long run, for the case of the Spanish economy, in particular to draw policy lessons for the design of the ongoing process of rebalancing of fiscal accounts. We focus on this topic through the lenses of: (i) the government budget constraint, to assess the influence of inflation on changes in public debt(ii) accounting decompositions of nominal revenue and expenditure items into their real and price parts(iii) a large-scale macroeconometric model that contains a detailed fiscal policy blockand (iv) a long-run accounting model on pension expenditur

Economic Gender Gap: Which Countries Are Falling Behind?

Política de acceso abierto tomada de: https://doiserbia.nb.rs/journal.aspx?issn=1452-595X&pg=editorialpolicyEconomic parity continues to be one of the main challenges to achieving gender equality worldwide, even though disparities between countries in the economic gender gap are frequently neglected. In this paper, we use a fuzzy logic approach to measure the extent to which countries are narrowing this gap. Specifically, we evaluate the degree to which 110 countries evolved from 2006 to 2019 in each of the three dimensions of the World Economic Forum’s Economic Participation and Opportunity Index (remuneration, participation and advancement). We focus on which countries have been left behind and to what extent they have pulled away from the rest. The findings reveal that differences across countries in advancement gender gaps are more evident than in the other dimensions. Moreover, while there are signs of convergence in the closure of the gender gaps in remuneration, we do not find such evidence for the advancement and participation gender gaps

The Iturin and Fengycin Families of Lipopeptides Are Key Factors in Antagonism of Bacillus subtilis Toward Podosphaera fusca

Podosphaera fusca is the main causal agent of cucurbit powdery mildew in Spain. Four Bacillus subtilis strains, UMAF6614, UMAF6619, UMAF6639, and UMAF8561, with proven ability to suppress the disease on melon in detached leaf and seedling assays, were subjected to further analyses to elucidate the mode of action involved in their biocontrol performance. Cell-free supernatants showed antifungal activities very close to those previously reported for vegetative cells. Identification of three lipopeptide antibiotics, surfactin, fengycin, and iturin A or bacillomycin, in butanolic extracts from cell-free culture filtrates of these B. subtilis strains pointed out that antibiosis could be a major factor involved in their biocontrol ability. The strong inhibitory effect of purified lipopeptide fractions corresponding to bacillomycin, fengycin, and iturin A on P. fusca conidia germination, as well as the in situ detection of these lipopeptides in bacterial-treated melon leaves, provided interesting evidence of their putative involvement in the antagonistic activity. Those results were definitively supported by site-directed mutagenesis analysis, targeted to suppress the biosynthesis of the different lipopeptides. Taken together, our data have allowed us to conclude that the iturin and fengycin families of lipopeptides have a major role in the antagonism of B. subtilis toward P. fusca.

The Iturin and Fengycin Families of Lipopeptides Are Key Factors in Antagonism of Bacillus subtilis Toward Podosphaera fusca

Podosphaera fusca is the main causal agent of cucurbit powdery mildew in Spain. Four Bacillus subtilis strains, UMAF6614, UMAF6619, UMAF6639, and UMAF8561, with proven ability to suppress the disease on melon in detached leaf and seedling assays, were subjected to further analyses to elucidate the mode of action involved in their biocontrol performance. Cell-free supernatants showed antifungal activities very close to those previously reported for vegetative cells. Identification of three lipopeptide antibiotics, surfactin, fengycin, and iturin A or bacillomycin, in butanolic extracts from cell-free culture filtrates of these B. subtilis strains pointed out that antibiosis could be a major factor involved in their biocontrol ability. The strong inhibitory effect of purified lipopeptide fractions corresponding to bacillomycin, fengycin, and iturin A on P. fusca conidia germination, as well as the in situ detection of these lipopeptides in bacterial-treated melon leaves, provided interesting evidence of their putative involvement in the antagonistic activity. Those results were definitively supported by site-directed mutagenesis analysis, targeted to suppress the biosynthesis of the different lipopeptides. Taken together, our data have allowed us to conclude that the iturin and fengycin families of lipopeptides have a major role in the antagonism of B. subtilis toward P. fusca.

Extraordinary mechanisms for payment of general government suppliers in Spain

Incluye bibliografíaThe economic crisis was initially associated with an increase in regional and local government payment periods and trade debt. Since 2012, central government has approved various extraordinary mechanisms for the payment of local and regional government suppliers that have signifi cantly reduced the stock of trade debt and the average supplier-payment periods attributable to these levels of government. Successive plans have helped unblock payments and channel funds of close to €67 billion towards the private sector in somewhat less than three years. And against a background of economic weakness, fi scal consolidation and diffi cult conditions of access to lending, it is believed this has provided a considerable impetus to activity that has helped mitigate some of the adverse effects of the economic crisis. In parallel, the roll-out of the plan has entailed a substantial increase in local and regional government debt vis-à-vis the State. To prevent inappropriate incentives for the conduct of local and regional government from arising, the funding mechanisms agreed on require compliance with certain adjustment plan

Effect of silvicultural treatment of individual selection on the horizontal structure of a pine-oak forest in northern Mexico

In sustainable forest management it is essential to conserve and maintain biodiversity, the floristic composition and the mixture of its species. For this purpose, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the selection silvicultural treatment as a function of time, on the horizontal structure of a Pine-Oak Forest in northern Mexico. Nine sampling points were established to analyze the structure of the Initial Condition of the forest in 2012, the Recruitment of 2022 and the Final Condition of 2022. In addition, the Jaccard similarity coefficient and the Margalef wealth index were estimated. Likewise, Shannon true diversity index, the importance value index and the forest value index were calculated for each species. The analysis of variance with a confidence of 95% was used to evaluate the studied variables, multiple comparisons were made with Duncan's test to group the species in ranges of statistical importance. The results indicated that the forest not presented a change in similarity, richness and diversity of species due to the application of the selection silvicultural treatment, without statistical differences according to the mix and distribution of the species in the forest, this indicates that selective logging does not change the composition of forest species. Regarding the indices of true diversity, value of importance and forest value by species, no significant differences were observed in terms of the application of silvicultural treatment. According to these results, it was possible to identify groups of forest importance and value, where Pinus durangensis Martínez was the most representative species