Mechanism for financing the accumulated debt of utility services water, electricity and gas as a result of the COVID-19

The effects associated with the pandemic of COVID-19 have left several consequences. The large confinements have caused formal and independent job losses. Therefore, families have been forced to prioritize their monthly utility bills. Most countries have decided on suspending cuts in utility services and give them payment arrangements for the future instead. In this article, the actions taken in Latin America and Europe are presented. Additionally, for the Chilean case, a mechanism for financing the accumulated debt is proposed. The main objective of this is to establish a procedure that allows users to regain the habit of paying for public utilities (water, electricity and piped gas).Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Disadvantageous decision-making as a predictor of drop-out among cocaine-dependent individuals in long-term residential treatment

Background: The treatment of cocaine-dependent individuals (CDI) is substantially challenged by high drop-out rates, raising questions regarding contributing factors. Recently, a number of studies have highlighted the potential of greater focus on the clinical significance of neurocognitive impairments in treatment-seeking cocaine users. In the present study, we hypothesized that disadvantageous decision-making would be one such factor placing CDI at greater risk for treatment drop-out. Methods: In order to explore this hypothesis, the present study contrasted baseline performance (at treatment onset) on two validated tasks of decision-making, the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and the Cambridge GambleTask (CGT) in CDI who completed treatment in a residentialTherapeutic Community (TC) (N=66) and those who dropped out ofTC prematurely (N=84). Results: Compared to treatment completers, CDI who dropped out ofTC prematurely did not establish a consistent and advantageous response pattern as the IGT progressed and exhibited a poorer ability to choose the most likely outcome on the CGT. There were no group differences in betting behavior. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that neurocognitive rehabilitation of disadvantageous decision-making may have clinical benefits in CDI admitted to long-term residential treatment programs

Inflammatory biomarkers and brain health indicators in children with overweight and obesity: The ActiveBrains project

INTRODUCTION: Chronic inflammation plays an important role on the pathogenesis of several cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, as well as on brain function and behaviour. The aim of the present study was to examine the associations between inflammatory biomarkers and a wide range of brain health indicators (i.e., academic performance, executive function, behavioural and emotional functioning, and brain volume) in children with overweight/obesity. METHODS: A total of 107 children (10.0 ± 1.1 years, 41% girls) from the ActiveBrains project were included in the analysis. Five inflammatory biomarkers were analysed in plasma: white blood cell (WBC) count, interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-1beta, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and C-reactive protein (CRP). Academic performance was assessed by Woodcock-Munoz Tests of Achievement. Executive function was assessed through the Design Fluency Test for cognitive flexibility, the Stroop test for cognitive inhibition, and the Delayed Non-Match-to-Sample task for working memory. Behavioural and emotional functioning was evaluated through the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC) questionnaire. Total and regional brain volume was assessed by magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS: IL-6 was inversely associated with adaptive skills (beta = -0.228; p = 0.030), while TNF-alpha was related to mathematics (beta = -0.198; p = 0.034). In addition, CRP was positively associated with externalizing (beta = 0.246; p = 0.046) and internalizing problems (beta = 0.234; p = 0.039), as well as the behavioural symptoms index (beta = 0.236; p = 0.047). However, these significant associations disappeared after multiple comparisons correction. Inflammatory biomarkers were not associated with executive function and total brain volumes. Regarding regional brain analyses, WBC was positively associated with gray matter volume in the left middle temporal gyrus (beta = 0.387; p < 0.001, k = 44), and CRP was positively associated with gray matter volume in the right superior temporal gyrus (beta = 0.439; p < 0.001, k = 29). Additionally, when adjusting by total brain volume, CRP was positively associated with gray matter volume in the right supplementary motor cortex (beta = 0.453; p < 0.001, k = 51). Moreover, both, IL-6 (beta = 0.366; p < 0.001, k = 81) and TNF-alpha (beta = 0.368; p < 0.001, k = 62) were positively associated with white matter volume around the right inferior frontal gyrus pars opercularis, while CRP was inversely associated with white matter volume around the left superior frontal gyrus (beta = -0.482; p < 0.001, k = 82). After adjusting by total brain volume, CRP was also inversely associated with white matter volume in 3 additional clusters (beta ranging from -0.473 to -0.404; p < 0.001, k = 87). CONCLUSIONS: Inflammation was slightly associated with brain health (i.e., academic performance, behavioural and emotional functioning and regional brain volume) in children with overweight or obesity. Further larger longitudinal and interventional studies are warranted to elucidate the short-term and long-term effect of systemic low-grade inflammation on children's brain health

Increased Amygdala Activations during the Emotional Experience of Death-Related Pictures in Complicated Grief: An fMRI Study

Complicated grief (CG) is associated with alterations in various components of emotional processing. The main aim of this study was to identify brain activations in individuals diagnosed with CG while they were observing positive, negative, and death-related pictures. The participants included 19 individuals with CG and 19 healthy non-bereaved (NB) individuals. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans were obtained during an emotional experience task. The perception of death-related pictures differed between the CG group and the NB group, with a greater activation in the former of the amygdala, putamen, hypothalamus, middle frontal gyrus, and anterior cingulate cortex. Amygdala and putamen activations were significantly correlated with Texas Revised Inventory of Grief scores in the CG group, suggesting that the higher level of grief in this group was associated with a greater activation in both brain areas while watching death-related pictures. A significant interaction between image type and group was observed in the amygdala, midbrain, periaqueductal gray, cerebellum, and hippocampus, largely driven by the greater activation of these areas in the CG group when watching death-related pictures and the lower activation when watching positive-valence pictures. In this study, individuals with CG showed significantly distinct brain activations in response to different emotional images.This research was supported by CEI-BioTic (University of Granada), Grant number: CEI2014-MPBS34. and by the Program of Networks-I3CE of Investigation in University Teaching (Program Networks) from the Vice-Rectorate of Quality and Educational Innovation and Education Sciences Institute of the University of Alicante (2018–2019). Ref: 4561. J.V.R and was funded by a Grant from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (FJCI-2017-33396)

Effects of Maternal Fish Oil and/or 5-MethylTetrahydrofolate Supplementation during Pregnancy on Offspring Brain Resting-State at 10 Years Old: A Follow-Up Study from the NUHEAL Randomized Controlled Trial

Recent studies have shown that maternal supplementation with folate and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) during pregnancy may affect children’s brain development. We aimed at examining the potential long-term effect of maternal supplementation with fish oil (FO) and/or 5-methyl-tetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF) on the brain functionality of offspring at the age of 9.5–10 years. The current study was conducted as a follow-up of the Spanish participants belonging to the Nutraceuticals for a Healthier Life (NUHEAL) project; 57 children were divided into groups according to mother’s supplementation and assessed through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning and neurodevelopment testing. Independent component analysis and double regression methods were implemented to investigate plausible associations. Children born to mothers supplemented with FO (FO and FO + 5-MTHF groups, n = 33) showed weaker functional connectivity in the default mode (DM) (angular gyrus), the sensorimotor (SM) (motor and somatosensory cortices) and the fronto-parietal (FP) (angular gyrus) networks compared to the No-FO group (placebo and 5-MTHF groups, n = 24) (PFWE < 0.05). Furthermore, no differences were found regarding the neuropsychological tests, except for a trend of better results in an object recall (memory) test. Considering the No-FO group, the aforementioned networks were associated negatively with attention and speed-processing functions. Mother’s FO supplementation during pregnancy seems to be able to shape resting-state network functioning in their children at school age and appears to produce long-term effects on children´s cognitive processing.European Union (EU) 212652 007036Commission of the European Community within the 5th Framework Program QLK1-CT-1999-00888European Research Council (ERC) 322605 META-GROWTHSpanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities FJCI-2017-3339

Effects of an Exercise Program on Brain Health Outcomes for Children With Overweight or Obesity. The ActiveBrains Randomized Clinical Trial

IMPORTANCE Pediatric overweight and obesity are highly prevalent across the world, with implications for poorer cognitive and brain health. Exercise might potentially attenuate these adverse consequences. OBJECTIVES To investigate the effects of an exercise program on brain health indicators, including intelligence, executive function, academic performance, and brain outcomes, among children with overweight or obesity and to explore potential mediators and moderators of the main effects of exercise. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS All preexercise and postexercise data for this 20-week randomized clinical trial of 109 children aged 8 to 11 years with overweight or obesity were collected from November 21, 2014, to June 30, 2016, with neuroimaging data processing and analyses conducted between June 1, 2017, and December 20, 2021. All 109 children were included in the intention-to-treat analyses; 90 children (82.6%) completed the postexercise evaluation and attended 70%or more of the recommended exercise sessions and were included in per-protocol analyses. INTERVENTIONS All participants received lifestyle recommendations. The control group continued their usual routines, whereas the exercise group attended a minimum of 3 supervised 90-minute sessions per week in an out-of-school setting. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Intelligence, executive function (cognitive flexibility, inhibition, andworking memory), and academic performancewere assessed with standardized tests, and hippocampal volume was measured with magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS The 109 participants included 45 girls (41.3%); participants had a mean (SD) body mass index of 26.8 (3.6) and a mean (SD) age of 10.0 (1.1) years at baseline. In per-protocol analyses, the exercise intervention improved crystallized intelligence, with the exercise group improving from before exercise to after exercise (mean z score, 0.62 [95%CI, 0.44-0.80]) compared with the control group (mean z score, –0.10 [95%CI, –0.28 to 0.09]; difference between groups, 0.72 SDs [95%CI, 0.46-0.97]; P < .001). Total intelligence also improved significantly more in the exercise group (mean z score, 0.69 [95%CI, 0.48-0.89]) than in the control group (mean z score, 0.07 [95% CI, –0.14 to 0.28]; difference between groups, 0.62 SDs [95%CI, 0.31-0.91]; P < .001). Exercise also positively affected a composite score of cognitive flexibility (mean z score: exercise group, 0.25 [95% CI, 0.05-0.44]; control group, –0.17 [95%CI, –0.39 to 0.04]; difference between groups, 0.42 SDs [95%CI, 0.13-0.71]; P = .005). These main effects were consistent in intention-to-treat analyses and after multiple-testing correction. There was a positive, small-magnitude effect of exercise on total academic performance (mean z score: exercise group, 0.31 [95%CI, 0.18-0.44]; control group, 0.10 [95%CI, –0.04 to 0.24]; difference between groups, 0.21 SDs [95%CI, 0.01-0.40]; P = .03), which was partially mediated by cognitive flexibility. Inhibition, working memory, hippocampal volume, and other brain magnetic resonance imaging outcomes studied were not affected by the exercise program. The intervention increased cardiorespiratory fitness performance as indicated by longer treadmill time to exhaustion (mean z score: exercise group, 0.54 [95%CI, 0.27-0.82]; control group, 0.13 [95%CI, –0.16 to 0.41]; difference between groups, 0.42 SDs [95%CI, 0.01-0.82]; P = .04), and these changes in fitness mediated some of the effects (small percentage of mediation [approximately 10%-20%]). The effects of exercise were overall consistent across the moderators tested, except for larger improvements in intelligence among boys compared with girls. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this randomized clinical trial, exercise positively affected intelligence and cognitive flexibility during development among children with overweight or obesity. However, the structural and functional brain changes responsible for these improvementswere not identified.Spanish Government DEP2013-47540 DEP2016-79512-R DEP2017-91544-EXPEuropean Commission European Commission European Commission Joint Research Centre 667302Alicia Koplowitz FoundationERDF (FEDER in Spanish) B-CTS-355-UGR18University of Granada, Plan Propio de Investigacion, Visiting Scholar grantsJunta de AndaluciaUnit of Excellence on Exercise, Nutrition and Health (UCEENS)European Commission SOMM17/6107/UGREXERNET Research Network on Exercise and Health DEP2005-00046/ACTIHigh Council of Sports 09/UPB/19Spanish Government FPU 14/06837 FPI-BES-2014-068829 FJC2018-037925-I FJCI-2014-19563 IJCI-2017-33642 RYC2019-027287-I FPU15/02645 FJCI-2017-33396 IJC2019-041916-IJunta de AndaluciaNational Agency for Research and Development (ANID)/BECAS Chile 72180543Ramon Areces Foundatio

Polymorphisms within autophagy-related genes influence the risk of developing colorectal cancer: a meta-analysis of four large cohorts

The role of genetic variation in autophagy-related genes in modulating autophagy and cancer is poorly understood. Here, we comprehensively investigated the association of autophagy-related variants with colorectal cancer (CRC) risk and provide new insights about the molecular mechanisms underlying the associations. After meta-analysis of the genome-wide association study (GWAS) data from four independent European cohorts (8006 CRC cases and 7070 controls), two loci, DAPK2 (p = 2.19 × 10−5) and ATG5 (p = 6.28 × 10−4) were associated with the risk of CRC. Mechanistically, the DAPK2rs11631973G allele was associated with IL1 β levels after the stimulation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) with Staphylococcus aureus (p = 0.002), CD24 + CD38 + CD27 + IgM + B cell levels in blood (p = 0.0038) and serum levels of en-RAGE (p = 0.0068). ATG5rs546456T allele was associated with TNF α and IL1 β levels after the stimulation of PBMCs with LPS (p = 0.0088 and p = 0.0076, respectively), CD14+CD16− cell levels in blood (p = 0.0068) and serum levels of CCL19 and cortisol (p = 0.0052 and p = 0.0074, respectively). Interestingly, no association with autophagy flux was observed. These results suggested an effect of the DAPK2 and ATG5 loci in the pathogenesis of CRC, likely through the modulation of host immune responses.This work was partially supported by grants from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Madrid, Spain; PI12/02688 and PI17/02256). CORSA was funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) BRIDGE grant (no. 829675, to Andrea Gsur), the “Herzfelder’sche Familienstiftung” (grant to Andrea Gsur). Czech Republic CCS was funded by GACR grants (18–09709S, 19–10543S and 20–03997S), ProgresQ28/1.LF and UNCE/MED/006 grants. This article is based upon work from COST Action CA17118, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). A.K. is a recipient of a Ramalingaswami Re-Retry Faculty Fellowship (Grant; BT/RLF/Re-entry/38/2017) from the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India (GOI). V.M. received funding from the Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR) of the Catalan Government grant 2017SGR723, the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, co-funded by FEDER funds–a way to build Europe–grants PI14-00613, PI17-00092 and the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC) Scientific Foundation grant GCTRA18022MORE. K.H. was supported by European Union Horizon 2020 grant No. 856620. We thank the CERCA Programme, Generalitat de Catalunya for institutional support

Type 2 Diabetes-Related Variants Influence the Risk of Developing Prostate Cancer:A Population-Based Case-Control Study and Meta-Analysis

In this study, we have evaluated whether 57 genome-wide association studies (GWAS)-identified common variants for type 2 diabetes (T2D) influence the risk of developing prostate cancer (PCa) in a population of 304 Caucasian PCa patients and 686 controls. The association of selected single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with the risk of PCa was validated through meta-analysis of our data with those from the UKBiobank and FinnGen cohorts, but also previously published genetic studies. We also evaluated whether T2D SNPs associated with PCa risk could influence host immune responses by analysing their correlation with absolute numbers of 91 blood-derived cell populations and circulating levels of 103 immunological proteins and 7 steroid hormones. We also investigated the correlation of the most interesting SNPs with cytokine levels after in vitro stimulation of whole blood, peripheral mononuclear cells (PBMCs), and monocyte-derived macrophages with LPS, PHA, Pam3Cys, and Staphylococcus Aureus. The meta-analysis of our data with those from six large cohorts confirmed that each copy of the FTOrs9939609A, HNF1Brs7501939T, HNF1Brs757210T, HNF1Brs4430796G, and JAZF1rs10486567A alleles significantly decreased risk of developing PCa (p = 3.70 × 10−5, p = 9.39 × 10−54, p = 5.04 × 10−54, p = 1.19 × 10−71, and p = 1.66 × 10−18, respectively). Although it was not statistically significant after correction for multiple testing, we also found that the NOTCH2rs10923931T and RBMS1rs7593730 SNPs associated with the risk of developing PCa (p = 8.49 × 10−4 and 0.004). Interestingly, we found that the protective effect attributed to the HFN1B locus could be mediated by the SULT1A1 protein (p = 0.00030), an arylsulfotransferase that catalyzes the sulfate conjugation of many hormones, neurotransmitters, drugs, and xenobiotic com-pounds. In addition to these results, eQTL analysis revealed that the HNF1Brs7501939, HNF1Brs757210, HNF1Brs4430796, NOTCH2rs10923931, and RBMS1rs7593730 SNPs influence the risk of PCa through the modulation of mRNA levels of their respective genes in whole blood and/or liver. These results confirm that functional TD2-related variants influence the risk of developing PCa, but also highlight the need of additional experiments to validate our functional results in a tumoral tissue context

Deepint.net: A rapid deployment platform for smart territories

This paper presents an efficient cyberphysical platform for the smart management of smart territories. It is efficient because it facilitates the implementation of data acquisition and data management methods, as well as data representation and dashboard configuration. The platform allows for the use of any type of data source, ranging from the measurements of a multi-functional IoT sensing devices to relational and non-relational databases. It is also smart because it incorporates a complete artificial intelligence suit for data analysis; it includes techniques for data classification, clustering, forecasting, optimization, visualization, etc. It is also compatible with the edge computing concept, allowing for the distribution of intelligence and the use of intelligent sensors. The concept of smart cities is evolving and adapting to new applications; the trend to create intelligent neighbourhoods, districts or territories is becoming increasingly popular, as opposed to the previous approach of managing an entire megacity. In this paper, the platform is presented, and its architecture and functionalities are described. Moreover, its operation has been validated in a case study where the bike renting service of Paris—Vélib’ Métropole has been managed. This platform could enable smart territories to develop adapted knowledge management systems, adapt them to new requirements and to use multiple types of data, and execute efficient computational and artificial intelligence algorithms. The platform optimizes the decisions taken by human experts through explainable artificial intelligence models that obtain data from IoT sensors, databases, the Internet, etc. The global intelligence of the platform could potentially coordinate its decision-making processes with intelligent nodes installed in the edge, which would use the most advanced data processing techniques.This work has been partially supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Interreg Spain-Portugal V-A Program (POCTEP) under grant 0677_DISRUPTIVE_2_E, the project My-TRAC: My TRAvel Companion (H2020-S2RJU-2017), the project LAPASSION, CITIES (CYTED 518RT0558) and the company DCSC. Pablo Chamoso’s research work has been funded through the Santander Iberoamerican Research Grants, call 2020/2021, under the direction of Paulo Novais