648 research outputs found
Sobre la distribución de Riella Helicophylla (Bory et Mont.) Mont en la PenÃnsula Ibérica
Nueva localidad española de Riella helicophylla (Bory et Mont.) Mont. y mapa de distribución de la especie en la Peninsula Ibérica.A new record of Riella helicophylla from Spain and distributional map in the Iberian Peninsul
Simulation of 3d Ising spin glass model using three replicas: study of Binder cumulants
We have carried out numerical simulations of the three-dimensional Ising spin
glass model with first neighbour Gaussian couplings using three replicas for
each sample of couplings. We have paid special attention to the measure of two
types of Binder cumulant that can be constructed from the three possible
overlaps between the replicas. We obtain new information about the possible
phase transition and perform an initial analysis of the ultrametricity issue.Comment: 14 pages and 7 figures, available at
http://chimera.roma1.infn.it/index_papers_complex.htm
A Very di-Still-ed Diagnosis- Adult-Onset Still’s Disease Presenting in a Middle-Aged Hispanic Patient
Background: Adult-Onset Still’s Disease (AOSD) is a systemic inflammatory disorder characterized by daily high fevers, arthritis, evanescent rash, and leukocytosis (1). Patients can present without typical manifestations and pose a challenging differential. We present a case of a 52-year-old gentleman with a one-year history of recurring fever, lymphadenopathy, and weight loss diagnosed with AOSD. This case highlights the diagnostic challenge that AOSD poses and the strategies to help aid in the diagnosis.
Case Presentation: A 52-year-old gentleman presented to the ED for a 2-week history of fever associated with chills and bone pain. He reported that he has been having intermittent fever, weight loss, night sweats, and rash for the past year with prior workup being unrevealing. He endorsed swollen glands and fatigue but denied productive cough, chest pain, gastrointestinal, urinary, or neurological symptoms. On physical examination, the patient was febrile at 101.9 deg F, tachycardic 121 BPM, and RR 21 br/min. He appeared cachexic, with dry oral mucosa, palpable lymphadenopathy, and bilateral knee tenderness. Laboratories were remarkable for WBC 22.3 th/mm3, hemoglobin 11.1 gm/dL, platelet 513 th/mm3, sedimentation rate 120 mm/h, CRP 23 mg/dL, lactic acid 0.89 mmol/L, ferritin level 28,595.9 ng/mL, and LDH 603 IU/L. Peripheral smear revealed reactive neutrophilic leukocytosis. Infectious etiology, including SARS Covid-19PCR, HIV, blood cultures, lumbar puncture with CSF analysis, and QuantiFERON gold were negative. Autoimmune workup was unrevealing. CT Chest/Abdomen demonstrated moderate pleural effusions and reactive bilateral hilar, mediastinal, and retroperitoneal lymphadenopathy, and hepatomegaly. CT-guided biopsy of the left inguinal lymph node showed benign follicles with mixed B and T cells. Flow cytometry showed increased granulocytes and eosinophils without immunophenotypic abnormalities to suggest hematologic malignancy. After excluding infectious and malignant causes, rheumatology was consulted. Based on symptomatology, laboratory, and radiographic findings, a diagnosis of AOSD was entertained. Yamaguchi\u27s criteria supported the diagnosis with four major and four minor criteria met (2). The patient was started on prednisone 1 mg/kg with excellent response.
Conclusion: AOSD is a diagnosis of exclusion, and the appropriate clinical scenario should warrant further investigation. AOSD should be in the differential after careful workup and excluding infectious etiology, malignancy, and other connective tissue diseases
Growth Hormone Receptor Signaling Pathways and its Negative Regulation by SOCS2
Growth hormone (GH) is a critical regulator of linear body growth during childhood but continues to have important metabolic actions throughout life. The GH receptor (GHR) is ubiquitously expressed, and deficiency of GHR signaling causes a dramatic impact on normal physiology during somatic development, adulthood, and aging. GHR belongs to a family of receptors without intrinsic kinase activity. However, GH binding to homodimers of GHR results in a conformational change in the receptors and the associated tyrosine kinase Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) molecules. Activated JAK2 phosphorylates the GHR cytoplasmic domain on tyrosine residues, and subsequent JAK2-dependent and JAK2-independent intracellular signal transduction pathways evoke cell responses including changes in gene transcription, proliferation, cytoskeletal reorganization, and lipid and glucose metabolism. JAK2 phosphorylates STAT5b, which is a key transcription factor in GH regulation of target genes associated with body growth, intermediate metabolism, and gender dimorphism; although STAT1, 3, and 5a have also been shown to be recruited by the GHR. In addition, many transcripts are regulated independently of STAT5b as a result of GHR activation of Src, ERK, and PI3K-mTOR signaling pathways. The analysis of molecular mechanisms involved in inactivation of GHR-dependent signaling pathway is also imperative for understanding GH physiology. This is clearly illustrated in the case of hepatic GHR-JAK2-STAT5b activation where signal duration regulates gender differences in liver gene expression. An early step in the termination of GH-dependent signaling is removal of GHRs by endocytosis and ubiquitination. The level of ubiquitin ligase SOCS2 is constitutively low, but its expression is rapidly induced by GH. SOCS2 binding to GHR complex promotes their ubiquitination and subsequent proteasomal degradation, contributing to the termination of the GH intracellular signaling. Clinically relevant, SOCS2 is a key negative regulator of GH-dependent body growth and lipid and glucose homeostasis. Furthermore, several cytokines, growth factors, xenobiotics, and sex hormones can regulate SOCS2 protein level, which provides a mechanism for cross-talking where multiple factors can regulate GHR signaling during somatic development. A better understanding of this complex regulation in physiological and pathological states will contribute to prevent health damage and improve clinical management of patients with growth and metabolic disorders
Factors Associated with Normal-Weight Abdominal Obesity Phenotype in a Representative Sample of the Peruvian Population: A 4-Year Pooled Cross-Sectional Study
To examine factors associated with abdominal obesity among normal-weight individuals
from the Demographic and Health Survey of Peru (2018–2021). Cross-sectional analytical study.
The outcome variable was abdominal obesity defined according to JIS criteria. Crude (cPR) and
adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) were estimated for the association between sociodemographic and
health-related variables and abdominal obesity using the GLM Poisson distribution with robust
variance estimates. A total of 32,109 subjects were included. The prevalence of abdominal obesity was
26.7%. The multivariate analysis showed a statistically significant association between abdominal
obesity and female sex (aPR: 11.16; 95% CI 10.43–11.94); categorized age 35 to 59 (aPR: 1.71; 95%
CI 1.65–1.78); 60 to 69 (aPR: 1.91; 95% CI 1.81–2.02); and 70 or older(aPR: 1.99; 95% CI 1.87–2.10);
survey year 2019 (aPR: 1.22; 95% CI 1.15–1.28); 2020 (aPR: 1.17; 95% CI 1.11–1.24); and 2021 (aPR: 1.12;
95% CI 1.06–1.18); living in Andean region (aPR: 0.91; 95% CI 0.86–0.95); wealth index poor (aPR:
1.26; 95% CI 1.18–1.35); middle (aPR: 1.17; 95% CI 1.08–1.26); rich (aPR: 1.26; 95% CI 1.17–1.36); and
richest (aPR: 1.25; 95% CI 1.16–1.36); depressive symptoms (aPR: 0.95; 95% CI 0.92–0.98); history of
hypertension (aPR: 1.08; 95% CI 1.03–1.13), type 2 diabetes (aPR: 1.13; 95% CI 1.07–1.20); and fruit
intake 3 or more servings/day (aPR: 0.92; 95% CI 0.89–0.96). Female sex, older ages, and low and
high income levels increased the prevalence ratio for abdominal obesity, while depressive symptoms
Analysis of polarized 16O(e→,e′p→) observables within the relativistic distorted wave impulse approximation
15 págs.; 9 figs. ; PACS number(s): 25.30.Rw, 14.20.Gk, 24.10.Jv, 24.30.GdRecoil nucleon transferred polarization observables in coincidence quasielastic electron scattering are studied within the relativistic distorted wave impulse approximation. Results for response functions and polarization asymmetries are discussed for proton knockout from p1/2, p 3/2, and s1/2 shells in 16O. The impact of spinor distortion is examined by comparing the fully relativistic calculation with results obtained by projecting out the negative-energy components. In particular, a careful analysis of effects linked to the description of the bound and scattered relativistic nucleon wave functions is presented. The high sensitivity of some polarization observables to the dynamical enhancement of the lower components, already shown within the relativistic plane wave impulse approximation, is proven to be maintained in the relativistic distorted wave approach. Semi-relativistic approaches based on the effective momentum approximation are also studied. Finally, comparison with experimental data and a brief analysis of effects linked to medium modified form factors is presented. ©2004 American Physical SocietyThis work was partially supported by funds provided by
DGI (Spain) and FEDER funds, under Contract Nos.
BFM2002-03315, BFM2002-03562, FPA2002-04181-C04-
04, and BFM2000-0600 and by the Junta de AndalucÃa
(Spain) and in part by the U.S. Department of Energy under
Cooperative Research Agreement No. DE-FC02-
94ER40818. M.C.M. and J.R.V. acknowledge financial support
from the Fundación Cámara (University of Sevilla) and
the ConsejerÃa de Educación de la Comunidad de Madrid,
respectivelyPeer Reviewe
Re-use of construction and demolition residues and industrial wastes for the elaboration or recycled eco-efficient concretes
[EN] Production of residues from industries and construction and demolition sectors has increased during last years. The
total amount of debris produced according to different estimations reaches values close to 42 million tonnes yr
–1
. Much
of this waste has been thrown to landfill, without considering its potential for reuse, recycling or valuation. The aim
of this research is to describe some of the physical and mechanical properties of different laboratory-mixed concretes,
using various proportions of additional materials recovered from industrial waste and demolition rubble. The added
materials are included either as admixtures (forestry residues, cork dust, steel fibre) or in partial substitution of natural
aggregates (wire from electrical residues, tyre rubber, white ceramic, sanitary porcelain or shale). The laboratory tests
have followed the standard EN protocols. Assay results were variable according to the nature of the material added to
the mix: organic materials and shale, despite the steel fibre reinforcement, reduce the compression strength, but are
suitable for the manufacture of lightweight concrete for agricultural pavements, with certain flexion resistance and a
relatively good behaviour to impact. The substitution of natural aggregates with ceramic and porcelain wastes produces
a significant increase in compression resistance, making them suitable for the manufacture of concrete with
characteristic resistances above 40 MPa, which can be used both for structures or other agricultural elements: separators,
feeders, slat floors. As a conclusion can be stated the possibility of reuse these wastes for the production of structural
or non-structural concrete, with different applications in agricultural engineerin
3D Spin Glass and 2D Ferromagnetic XY Model: a Comparison
We compare the probability distributions and Binder cumulants of the overlap
in the 3D Ising spin glass with those of the magnetization in the ferromagnetic
2D XY model. We analyze similarities and differences. Evidence for the
existence of a phase transition in the spin glass model is obtained thanks to
the crossing of the Binder cumulant. We show that the behavior of the XY model
is fully compatible with the Kosterlitz-Thouless scenario. Finite size effects
have to be dealt with by using great care in order to discern among two very
different physical pictures that can look very similar if analyzed without
large attention.Comment: 14 pages and 6 figures. Also available at
http://chimera.roma1.infn.it/index_papers_complex.htm
Biodegradable Polymers on Cementitious Materials
[EN] Nowadays the sustainability and safety requirements of structures inspire the study of new
self-healing materials and preventive repair methods on cementitious elements. To achieve this
undertaking, this research replaces widely employed synthetic polymers by biodegradable ones as
consolidants and water-repellents, and assesses the protection and consolidation effect of biopolymers
(obtained by using waste biomass of mixed microbial cultures from polyhydroxyalkanoates production
processes) as eco-friendly healing agents by analysing the water absorption of two kind of materials.
The first group of samples are cement mortar specimens whose external surface has been treated with
biopolymer products and subsequently evaluated by water drop absorption test. The second group of
samples are cement mortar specimens formulated with biopolymer products included in its mixing water
and later the waterproofing efficiency is analysed by capillary water absorption tests. The water
absorption behaviour of both kind of samples shows a potential improvement of cementitious elements
durability, since water absorption results have decreased for treated samples in comparison with
untreated one
Small Window Overlaps Are Effective Probes of Replica Symmetry Breaking in 3D Spin Glasses
We compute numerically small window overlaps in the three dimensional Edwards
Anderson spin glass. We show that they behave in the way implied by the Replica
Symmetry Breaking Ansatz, that they do not qualitatively differ from the full
volume overlap and do not tend to a trivial function when increasing the
lattice volume. On the contrary we show they are affected by small finite
volume effects, and are interesting tools for the study of the features of the
spin glass phase.Comment: 9 pages plus 5 figure
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