Serum proteomics of active tuberculosis patients and contacts reveals unique processes activated during Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.

Tuberculosis (TB) is the most lethal infection among infectious diseases. The specific aim of this study was to establish panels of serum protein biomarkers representative of active TB patients and their household contacts who were either infected (LTBI) or uninfected (EMI-TB Discovery Cohort, Pontevedra Region, Spain). A TMT (Tamdem mass tags) 10plex-based quantitative proteomics study was performed in quintuplicate containing a total of 15 individual serum samples per group. Peptides were analyzed in an LC-Orbitrap Elite platform, and raw data were processed using Proteome Discoverer 2.1. A total of 418 proteins were quantified. The specific protein signature of active TB patients was characterized by an accumulation of proteins related to complement activation, inflammation and modulation of immune response and also by a decrease of a small subset of proteins, including apolipoprotein A and serotransferrin, indicating the importance of lipid transport and iron assimilation in the progression of the disease. This signature was verified by the targeted measurement of selected candidates in a second cohort (EMI-TB Verification Cohort, Maputo Region, Mozambique) by ELISA and nephelometry techniques. These findings will aid our understanding of the complex metabolic processes associated with TB progression from LTBI to active disease

La reconversión azucarera en la provincia de Guantánamo, Cuba. Una mirada desde lo local

Un análisis antes y después del proceso reconversión azucarera en la provincia de Guantánamo, Cuba, posibilitó identificar las principales experiencias de su aplicación; además, se destacan los beneficios que una perspectiva local hubiera podido aportar. Se abordó el impacto socioeconómico de dicho proceso en la agroindustria azucarera de la provincia. Se concluyó que el proceso de reconversión azucarera y el desarrollo económico local están sujetos al perfeccionamiento de los modelos de desarrollo tradicionales y a su adaptación a particularidades locales. Así, la evaluación del impacto de la reconversión en las comunidades debe considerar los principios de sostenibilidad (dimensiones económica, ambiental y social)

Entropy and equilibrium state of free market models

Many recent models of trade dynamics use the simple idea of wealth exchanges among economic agents in order to obtain a stable or equilibrium distribution of wealth among the agents. In particular, a plain analogy compares the wealth in a society with the energy in a physical system, and the trade between agents to the energy exchange between molecules during collisions. In physical systems, the energy exchange among molecules leads to a state of equipartition of the energy and to an equilibrium situation where the entropy is a maximum. On the other hand, in the majority of exchange models, the system converges to a very unequal condensed state, where one or a few agents concentrate all the wealth of the society while the wide majority of agents shares zero or almost zero fraction of the wealth. So, in those economic systems a minimum entropy state is attained. We propose here an analytical model where we investigate the effects of a particular class of economic exchanges that minimize the entropy. By solving the model we discuss the conditions that can drive the system to a state of minimum entropy, as well as the mechanisms to recover a kind of equipartition of wealth

Application of differential colorimetry to evaluate anthocyanin-flavonol-flavanol ternary copigmentation interactions in model solutions

The combined effect of anthocyanin−flavanol−flavonol ternary interactions on the colorimetric and chemical stability of malvidin-3-glucoside has been studied. Model solutions with fixed malvidin-3-glucoside/(+)-catechin ratio (MC) and variable quercetin-3-β-D-glucoside concentration (MC+Q) and solutions with fixed malvidin-3-glucoside/quercetin-3-β-Dglucoside ratio (MQ) and variable (+)-catechin concentration (MQ+C) were tested at levels closer to those existing in wines. Color variations during storage were evaluated by differential colorimetry. Changes in the anthocyanin concentration were monitored by HPLC-DAD. CIELAB color-difference formulas were demonstrated to be of practical interest to assess the stronger and more stable interaction of quercetin-3-β-D-glucoside with MC binary mixture than (+)-catechin with MQ mixture. The results imply that MC+Q ternary solutions kept their intensity and bluish tonalities for a longer time in comparison to MQ+C solutions. The stability of malvidin-3-glucoside improves when the concentration of quercetin-3-β-D-glucoside increases in MC+Q mixtures, whereas the addition of (+)-catechin in MQ+C mixtures resulted in an opposite effec

Fatty acid composition and age estimation of wild Octopus vulgaris paralarvae

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Fatty acids composition and age estimation of wild Octopus vulgaris paralarvae

Under culture conditions, lipid composition and specifically, the fatty acid profile of reared paralarvae is significantly different from hatchlings. Therefore, comparing wild paralarvae and reared paralarvae of similar age would allow us to elucidate if the changes in fatty acid profile are related with a non-optimal prey composition or are caused by the normal development. The aim of this study was analyze, for the very first time, the fatty acid profile of wild Octopus vulgaris paralarvae individually, determining for each paralarvae their age through deposition of daily increments on lateral hood surface of the beaks. The main goal is to clear up lipid requirements of paralarvae and optimise the diet of reared paralarvae

An RNA-seq Based Machine Learning Approach Identifies Latent Tuberculosis Patients With an Active Tuberculosis Profile.

A better understanding of the response against Tuberculosis (TB) infection is required to accurately identify the individuals with an active or a latent TB infection (LTBI) and also those LTBI patients at higher risk of developing active TB. In this work, we have used the information obtained from studying the gene expression profile of active TB patients and their infected -LTBI- or uninfected -NoTBI- contacts, recruited in Spain and Mozambique, to build a class-prediction model that identifies individuals with a TB infection profile. Following this approach, we have identified several genes and metabolic pathways that provide important information of the immune mechanisms triggered against TB infection. As a novelty of our work, a combination of this class-prediction model and the direct measurement of different immunological parameters, was used to identify a subset of LTBI contacts (called TB-like) whose transcriptional and immunological profiles are suggestive of infection with a higher probability of developing active TB. Validation of this novel approach to identifying LTBI individuals with the highest risk of active TB disease merits further longitudinal studies on larger cohorts in TB endemic areas

Changes in the Immune Phenotype and Gene Expression Profile Driven by a Novel Tuberculosis Nanovaccine: Short and Long-Term Post-immunization.

Deciphering protection mechanisms against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) remains a critical challenge for the development of new vaccines and therapies. We analyze the phenotypic and transcriptomic profile in lung of a novel tuberculosis (TB) nanoparticle-based boosting mucosal vaccine Nano-FP1, which combined to BCG priming conferred enhanced protection in mice challenged with low-dose Mtb. We analyzed the vaccine profile and efficacy at short (2 weeks), medium (7 weeks) and long term (11 weeks) post-vaccination, and compared it to ineffective Nano-FP2 vaccine. We observed several changes in the mouse lung environment by both nanovaccines, which are lost shortly after boosting. Additional boosting at long-term (14 weeks) recovered partially cell populations and transcriptomic profile, but not enough to enhance protection to infection. An increase in both total and resident memory CD4 and CD8 T cells, but no pro-inflammatory cytokine levels, were correlated with better protection. A unique gene expression pattern with differentially expressed genes revealed potential pathways associated to the immune defense against Mtb. Our findings provide an insight into the critical immune responses that need to be considered when assessing the effectiveness of a novel TB vaccine

Coastal upwelling in the Rías Bajas, NW Spain: Contrasting the benthic regimes of Rías de Arosa and de Muros

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