SinEx DB: a database for single exon coding sequences in mammalian genomes

Indexación: Web of Science.Eukaryotic genes are typically interrupted by intragenic, noncoding sequences termed introns. However, some genes lack introns in their coding sequence (CDS) and are generally known as 'single exon genes' (SEGs). In this work, a SEG is defined as a nuclear, protein-coding gene that lacks introns in its CDS. Whereas, many public databases of Eukaryotic multi-exon genes are available, there are only two specialized databases for SEGs. The present work addresses the need for a more extensive and diverse database by creating SinEx DB, a publicly available, searchable database of predicted SEGs from 10 completely sequenced mammalian genomes including human. SinEx DB houses the DNA and protein sequence information of these SEGs and includes their functional predictions (KOG) and the relative distribution of these functions within species. The information is stored in a relational database built with My SQL Server 5.1.33 and the complete dataset of SEG sequences and their functional predictions are available for downloading. SinEx DB can be interrogated by: (i) a browsable phylogenetic schema, (ii) carrying out BLAST searches to the in-house SinEx DB of SEGs and (iii) via an advanced search mode in which the database can be searched by key words and any combination of searches by species and predicted functions. SinEx DB provides a rich source of information for advancing our understanding of the evolution and function of SEGs.https://academic.oup.com/database/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/database/baw09

Plasma phospho-tau in Alzheimer’s disease: towards diagnostic and therapeutic trial applications

As the leading cause of dementia, Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a major burden on affected individuals, their families and caregivers, and healthcare systems. Although AD can be identified and diagnosed by cerebrospinal fluid or neuroimaging biomarkers that concord with neuropathological evidence and clinical symptoms, challenges regarding practicality and accessibility hinder their widespread availability and implementation. Consequently, many people with suspected cognitive impairment due to AD do not receive a biomarker-supported diagnosis. Blood biomarkers have the capacity to help expand access to AD diagnostics worldwide. One such promising biomarker is plasma phosphorylated tau (p-tau), which has demonstrated specificity to AD versus non-AD neurodegenerative diseases, and will be extremely important to inform on clinical diagnosis and eligibility for therapies that have recently been approved. This review provides an update on the diagnostic and prognostic performances of plasma p-tau181, p-tau217 and p-tau231, and their associations with in vivo and autopsy-verified diagnosis and pathological hallmarks. Additionally, we discuss potential applications and unanswered questions of plasma p-tau for therapeutic trials, given their recent addition to the biomarker toolbox for participant screening, recruitment and during-trial monitoring. Outstanding questions include assay standardization, threshold generation and biomarker verification in diverse cohorts reflective of the wider community attending memory clinics and included in clinical trials

A new way of valorizing biomaterials: the use of sunflower protein for 1 a-tocopherol microencapsulation

Biopolymer based microparticles were efficiently prepared from sunflower protein (SP) wall material and a-tocopherol (T) active core using a spray-drying technique. Protein enzymatic hydrolysis and/or N-acylation were carried out to make some structural modifications to the vegetable protein. Native and hydrolyzed SP were characterized by Asymmetrical Flow Field-Flow Fractionation (AsFlFFF). Results of AsFlFFF confirmed that size of proteinic macromolecules was influenced by degree of hydrolysis. The effect of protein modifications and the influence of wall/core ratio on both emulsions and microparticle properties were evaluated. Concerning emulsion properties, enzymatic hydrolysis involved a decrease in viscosity, whereas acylation did not significantly affect emulsion droplet size and viscosity. Microparticles obtained with hydrolyzed SP wall material showed lower retention efficiency (RE) than native SP microparticles (62-80% and 93% respectively). Conversely, acylation of both hydrolyzed SP and native SP allowed a higher RE to be reached (up to 100%). Increasing T concentration increased emulsion viscosity, emulsion droplet size, microparticle size, and enhanced RE. These results demonstrated the feasibility of high loaded (up to 79.2% T) microparticles

Obesogenic Lifestyle and Its Influence on Adiposity in Children and Adolescents, Evidence from Mexico

Overweight (OW) and obesity (OB) during childhood/adolescence are major public health problems in Mexico. Several obesogenic lifestyle (OL) risk factors have been identified, but the burden and consequences of them in Mexican children/adolescents remain unclear. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of OL components and describe their relationships with adiposity, and OW/OB. A population-based cross-sectional study of Mexican children/adolescents with nutritional assessment, data collection on daily habits and adiposity as fat-mass index (FMI) by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was performed. Individual OL-components: "inactivity," "excessive screen time," "insufficient sleep," "unhealthy-diet", were defined according to non-adherence to previously published healthy recommendations. RESULTS: 1449 subjects were assessed between March 2015 to April 2018. Sixteen percent of subjects had all four OL-components, 40% had three, 35% had two, 9% had one, and 0.5% had none. A cumulative OL score showed a significant dose-response effect with FMI. The combination of inactivity, excessive screen time, and insufficient sleep showed the highest risk association to OW/OB and higher values of FMI. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of OL-components was extremely high and associated with increased adiposity and OW/OB. Several interventions are needed to revert this major public health threat

Recent results from the canfranc dark matter search with germanium detectors

Two germanium detectors are currently operating in the Canfranc Underground Laboratory at 2450 m.w.e looking for WIMP dark matter. One is a 2 kg 76Ge IGEX detector (RG-2) which has an energy threshold of 4 keV and a low-energy background rate of about 0.3 c/keV/kg/day. The other is a small (234 g) natural abundance Ge detector (COSME), of low energy threshold (2.5 keV) and an energy resolution of 0.4 keV at 10 keV which is looking for WIMPs and for solar axions. The analysis of 73 kg-days of data taken by COSME in a search for solar axions via their photon Primakoff conversion and Bragg scattering in the Ge crystal yields a 95% C.L. limit for the axion-photon coupling g < 2.8 10^-9 GeV^-1. These data, analyzed for WIMP searches provide an exclusion plot for WIMP-nucleon spin-independent interaction which improves previous plots in the low mass region. On the other hand, the exclusion plot derived from the 60 kg-days of data from the RG-2 IGEX detector improves the exclusion limits derived from other ionization (non thermal) germanium detector experiments in the region of WIMP masses from 30 to 100 GeV recently singled out by the reported DAMA annual modulation effect.Comment: 6 pages, talk given at IDM2000, York, September 200

Preanalytical stability of plasma/serum brain-derived tau

INTRODUCTION: We investigated the effects of matrix type and reagent batch changes on diagnostic performances and longitudinal trajectories of brain-derived tau (BD-tau). METHODS: We evaluated (i) Cohort 1: paired EDTA plasma and serum from Alzheimer biomarker-positive older adults versus controls (n = 26); and (ii) Cohort 2: n = 79 acute ischemic stroke patients with 265 longitudinal samples across four time points. RESULTS: In Cohort 1, plasma and serum BD-tau were strongly correlated (rho = 0.96, p 99%) and correlations with CSF total-tau (rho = 0.93–0.94, p < 0.0001). However, absolute concentrations were ∼40% higher in plasma versus serum. In Cohort 2, first and repeated BD-tau measurements showed a near-perfect correlation (rho = 0.96, p < 0.0001), with no significant between-batch concentration differences. In longitudinal analyses, substituting ∼10% of the first-run concentrations for the remeasured values showed overlapping estimated trajectories without significant differences at any time point. DISCUSSION: BD-tau has equivalent diagnostic accuracies, but non-interchangeable absolute concentrations, in plasma versus serum. Furthermore, the analytical robustness is unaffected by batch-to-batch reagent variations. Highlights: Brain-derived tau (BD-tau) is a novel blood-based biomarker that quantifies tau protein of CNS origin. Effects of preanalytical handling procedures on the quality and reproducibility of BD-tau measures are unknown. In two cohorts of n = 105 participants, we compared BD-tau concentrations and diagnostic performances in paired plasma and serum samples, and evaluated impacts of batch-to-batch reagent variations. Paired plasma and serum showed equivalent diagnostic performances to separate amyloid-positive AD from amyloid-negative controls, indicating both can be used independently. Repeated measurements and longitudinal trajectories of plasma BD-tau were unaffected by batch-to-batch reagent variation

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In CdS/CdTe solar cells, chemical interdiffusion at the interface gives rise to the formation of an interlayer of the ternary compound CdSxCdTe1-x. In this work, we evaluate the effects of this interlayer in CdS/CdTe photovoltaic cells in order to improve theoretical results describing experimental C-V (capacitance versus voltage) characteristics. We extended our previous theoretical methodology developed on the basis of three cardinal equations (Castillo-Alvarado et al., 2010). The present results provide a better fit to experimental data obtained from CdS/CdTe solar cells grown in our laboratory by the chemical bath deposition (for CdS film) and the close-spaced vapor transport (for CdTe film) techniques

EVIDENT 3 Study: A randomized, controlled clinical trial to reduce inactivity and caloric intake in sedentary and overweight or obese people using a smartphone application: Study protocol

Introduction: Mobile technology, when included within multicomponent interventions, could contribute to more effective weight loss. The objective of this project is to assess the impact of adding the use of the EVIDENT 3 application, designed to promote healthy living habits, to traditional modification strategies employed for weight loss. Other targeted behaviors (walking, caloric-intake, sitting time) and outcomes (quality of life, inflammatory markers, measurements of arterial aging) will also be evaluated. Methods: Randomized, multicentre clinical trial with 2 parallel groups. The study will be conducted in the primary care setting and will include 700 subjects 20 to 65 years, with a body mass index (27.5-40kg/m2), who are clinically classified as sedentary. The primary outcome will be weight loss. Secondary outcomes will include change in walking (steps/d), sitting time (min/wk), caloric intake (kcal/d), quality of life, arterial aging (augmentation index), and pro-inflammatory marker levels. Outcomes will be measured at baseline, after 3 months, and after 1 year. Participants will be randomly assigned to either the intervention group (IG) or the control group (CG). Both groups will receive the traditional primary care lifestyle counseling prior to randomization. The subjects in the IG will be lent a smartphone and a smartband for a 3-month period, corresponding to the length of the intervention. The EVIDENT 3 application integrates the information collected by the smartband on physical activity and the self-reported information by participants on daily food intake. Using this information, the application generates recommendations and personalized goals for weight loss. Discussion: There is a great diversity in the applications used obtaining different results on lifestyle improvement and weight loss. The populations studied are not homogeneous and generate different results. The results of this study will help our understanding of the efficacy of new technologies, combined with traditional counseling, towards reducing obesity and enabling healthier lifestyles. Ethicsanddissemination: The study was approved by the Clinical Research Ethics Committee of the Health Area of Salamanca ("CREC of Health Area of Salamanca") on April 2016. A SPIRIT checklist is available for this protocol. The trial was registered in ClinicalTrials.gov provided by the US National Library of Medicine-number NCT03175614