Controls on Coral-Ground Development along the Northern Mesoamerican Reef Tract

Coral-grounds are reef communities that colonize rocky substratum but do not form framework or three-dimensional reef structures. To investigate why, we used video transects and underwater photography to determine the composition, structure and status of a coral-ground community located on the edge of a rocky terrace in front of a tourist park, Xcaret, in the northern Mesoamerican Reef tract, Mexico. The community has a relatively low coral, gorgonian and sponge cover (<10%) and high algal cover (>40%). We recorded 23 species of Scleractinia, 14 species of Gorgonacea and 30 species of Porifera. The coral community is diverse but lacks large coral colonies, being dominated instead by small, sediment-tolerant, and brooding species. In these small colonies, the abundance of potentially lethal interactions and partial mortality is high but decreases when colonies are larger than 40 cm. Such characteristics are consistent with an environment control whereby storm waves periodically remove larger colonies and elevate sediment flux. The community only survives these storm conditions due to its slope-break location, which ensures lack of burial and continued local recruitment. A comparison with similar coral-ground communities in adjacent areas suggests that the narrow width of the rock terrace hinders sediment stabilization, thereby ensuring that communities cannot escape bottom effects and develop into three-dimensional reef structures on geological time scales

Contralateral asymmetry for breast cancer detection : A CADx approach

Early detection is fundamental for the effective treatment of breast cancer and the screening mammography is the most common tool used by the medical community to detect early breast cancer development. Screening mammograms include images of both breasts using two standard views, and the contralateral asymmetry per view is a key feature in detecting breast cancer. we propose a methodology to incorporate said asymmetry information into a computer-aided diagnosis system that can accurately discern between healthy subjects and subjects at risk of having breast cancer. Furthermore, we generate features that measure not only a view-wise asymmetry, but a subject-wise one. Briefly, the methodology co-registers the left and right mammograms, extracts image characteristics, fuses them into subjectwise features, and classifies subjects. In this study, 152 subjects from two independent databases, one with analog- and one with digital mammograms, were used to validate the methodology. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.738 and 0.767, and diagnostic odds ratios of 23.10 and 9.00 were achieved, respectively. In addition, the proposed method has the potential to rank subjects by their probability of having breas

Compromising between European and US allergen immunotherapy schools: Discussions from GUIMIT, the Mexican immunotherapy guidelines

Background: Allergen immunotherapy (AIT) has a longstanding history and still remains the only disease-changing treatment for allergic rhinitis and asthma. Over the years 2 different schools have developed their strategies: the United States (US) and the European. Allergen extracts available in these regions are adapted to local practice. In other parts of the world, extracts from both regions and local ones are commercialized, as in Mexico. Here, local experts developed a national AIT guideline (GUIMIT 2019) searching for compromises between both schools. Methods: Using ADAPTE methodology for transculturizing guidelines and AGREE-II for evaluating guideline quality, GUIMIT selected 3 high-quality Main Reference Guidelines (MRGs): the European Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (EAACI) guideines, the S2k guideline of various German-speaking medical societies (2014), and the US Practice Parameters on Allergen Immunotherapy 2011. We formulated clinical questions and based responses on the fused evidence available in the MRGs, combined with local possibilities, patient's preference, and costs. We came across several issues on which the MRGs disagreed. These are presented here along with arguments of GUIMIT members to resolve them. GUIMIT (for a complete English version, see Supplementary data) concluded the following: Results: Related to the diagnosis of IgE-mediated respiratory allergy, apart from skin prick testing complementary tests (challenges, in vitro testing and molecular such as species-specific allergens) might be useful in selected cases to inform AIT composition. AIT is indicated in allergic rhinitis and suggested in allergic asthma (once controlled) and IgE-mediated atopic dermatitis. Concerning the correct subcutaneous AIT dose for compounding vials according to the US school: dosing tables and formula are given; up to 4 non-related allergens can be mixed, refraining from mixing high with low protease extracts. When using European extracts: the manufacturer's indications should be followed; in multi-allergic patients 2 simultaneous injections can be given (100% consensus); mixing is discouraged. In Mexico only allergoid tablets are available; based on doses used in all sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) publications referenced in MRGs, GUIMIT suggests a probable effective dose related to subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) might be: 50–200% of the monthly SCIT dose given daily, maximum mixing 4 allergens. Also, a table with practical suggestions on non-evidence-existing issues, developed with a simplified Delphi method, is added. Finally, dissemination and implementation of guidelines is briefly discussed, explaining how we used online tools for this in Mexico. Conclusions: Countries where European and American AIT extracts are available should adjust AIT according to which school is followed

Clonal chromosomal mosaicism and loss of chromosome Y in elderly men increase vulnerability for SARS-CoV-2

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19) had an estimated overall case fatality ratio of 1.38% (pre-vaccination), being 53% higher in males and increasing exponentially with age. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, we found 133 cases (1.42%) with detectable clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations (mCA) and 226 males (5.08%) with acquired loss of chromosome Y (LOY). Individuals with clonal mosaic events (mCA and/or LOY) showed a 54% increase in the risk of COVID-19 lethality. LOY is associated with transcriptomic biomarkers of immune dysfunction, pro-coagulation activity and cardiovascular risk. Interferon-induced genes involved in the initial immune response to SARS-CoV-2 are also down-regulated in LOY. Thus, mCA and LOY underlie at least part of the sex-biased severity and mortality of COVID-19 in aging patients. Given its potential therapeutic and prognostic relevance, evaluation of clonal mosaicism should be implemented as biomarker of COVID-19 severity in elderly people. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, individuals with clonal mosaic events (clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations and/or loss of chromosome Y) showed an increased risk of COVID-19 lethality

Mutational spectrum in a worldwide study of 29,700 families with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations.

The prevalence and spectrum of germline mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 have been reported in single populations, with the majority of reports focused on White in Europe and North America. The Consortium of Investigators of Modifiers of BRCA1/2 (CIMBA) has assembled data on 18,435 families with BRCA1 mutations and 11,351 families with BRCA2 mutations ascertained from 69 centers in 49 countries on six continents. This study comprehensively describes the characteristics of the 1,650 unique BRCA1 and 1,731 unique BRCA2 deleterious (disease-associated) mutations identified in the CIMBA database. We observed substantial variation in mutation type and frequency by geographical region and race/ethnicity. In addition to known founder mutations, mutations of relatively high frequency were identified in specific racial/ethnic or geographic groups that may reflect founder mutations and which could be used in targeted (panel) first pass genotyping for specific populations. Knowledge of the population-specific mutational spectrum in BRCA1 and BRCA2 could inform efficient strategies for genetic testing and may justify a more broad-based oncogenetic testing in some populations

Relatório de estágio em farmácia comunitária

Relatório de estágio realizado no âmbito do Mestrado Integrado em Ciências Farmacêuticas, apresentado à Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade de Coimbr

Hydraulic Interactions between Injection Events Using Multiple Injection Strategies and a Solenoid Diesel Injector

An experimental study was performed to explore the influence of dwell time on the hydraulic interactions between injection events using pilot injection strategy, split injection strategy, post injection strategy and a solenoid diesel injector. To do so, a sweep of dwell time from 0.55 up to 2 ms using all multiple injection strategies and levels of rail pressure, of 80, 100 and 120 MPa, and single level of back pressure, of 5 MPa, was performed. The hydraulic interactions between injection events were characterized through the second injection hydraulic delay and second injection mass in an injection discharge curve indicator equipped with all the components required for its operation and control. In order to define the operating conditions of the multiple injection strategies, to ensure the same injected fuel mass in all cases, the characteristic curves of injection rate for the solenoid diesel injector studied were obtained. The second injection hydraulic delay increases with dwell time values in the range of 0.55–0.9 ms for all multiple injection strategies and levels of rail pressure tested. Conversely, the second injection hydraulic delay decreases with dwell time values higher than 0.9 ms. Moreover, the second hydraulic delay depends mainly on the dwell time and not on the injected fuel mass during the first injection event. The second injection mass increases with dwell values less than 0.6 ms. By contrast, the second injection mass is not significantly affected by that of the first injection at a dwell time higher than 0.6 ms

Región confidencial para el óptimo económico de una función de producción Cobb-Douglas

El modelo Cobb-Douglas se emplea con frecuencia en investigaciones agroeconómicas para modelar funciones de producción. Es no lineal en los parámetros cuando los errores suponen aditivos. Estimados los parámetros del modelo, los estimadores correspondientes se insertan en la expresión matemática para el óptimo económico, el punto donde se maximiza el ingreso neto, obteniéndose un estimador puntual para el óptimo. Éste es una variable aleatoria. Cuando se desea estimar el óptimo económico para una región confidencial, se usan métodos de regresión no lineal. En este trabajo se construye una región confidencial para el óptimo económico de una función de producción Cobb- Douglas bivariada, empleando la técnica de Wald, descrita por Gallant (1987)

Metaevaluación de los programas de apoyo al campo en México 2001-2017

This work of a socioeconomic nature proposes to know the level of use and usefulness of the results of the evaluations of the field support programs in Mexico, in the period 2001-2017, it is a meta-evaluation or evaluation of the evaluation, which considers particularly those two key aspects of the evaluation process. To carry out the study, information was obtainedfrom the possible users of the evaluations through a survey applied online or directly. The foregoing is relevant since in Mexico the formal evaluation of SADER’s field support programs before SAGARPA dates back to the end of 1997, with the Alliance for the Field,to the current programs and also in an important period of time. From 2001 to date, the federal government has maintained a technical cooperation agreement with FAO to conduct this process. Thus, this work is also relevant for decision-making since it corroborates, among other things, the limited use of evaluations carried out in decision-making for the improvement of programs. Finally, it is expected to contribute to motivate a technical-methodological and normative redefinition of the external evaluation process of the field support programs in Mexico and thus achieve the objective of improving the performance of said programs to which they are assigned year after year. important public resources to improve the standard of living of the populationliving in rural areasEste trabajo de carácter socioeconómico se plantea conocer el nivel de uso y utilidad de los resultados de las evaluaciones de los programas de apoyo al campo en México, en el periodo 2001-2017, se trata de una metaevaluación o evaluación de la evaluación, que considera particularmente esos dos aspectos clave del proceso de evaluación. Para realizar el estudio se obtuvo información de los posibles usuarios de las evaluaciones a través de una encuesta aplicada en línea o de manera directa. Lo anterior, es relevante ya que en México la evaluación formal de los programas de apoyo al campo de la SADER antes SAGARPA se remonta hacia finales de 1997, con la Alianza para el Campo, hasta los programas actuales y además en un importante periodo de tiempo de 2001 hasta la fecha el gobierno federal ha mantenido un acuerdo de cooperación técnica con la FAO para conducir dicho proceso. Así, este trabajo es pertinente también para la toma de decisiones ya que corrobora, entre otras cosas, el limitado uso de las evaluaciones realizadas en la toma de decisiones para el mejoramiento de los programas. Finalmente, se espera contribuir a motivar una redefinición técnica-metodológica y normativa del proceso de evaluación externa de los programas de apoyo al campo en México y se logre así el objetivo de mejorar el desempeño de dichos programas a los cuales año con año se le destinan importantes recursos públicos para el mejoramiento del nivel de vida de la población que vive en el medio rural