Fungal microbiota from rain water and pathogenicity of Fusarium species isolated from atmospheric dust and rainfall dust

In order to determine the presence of Fusarium spp. in atmospheric dust and rainfall dust, samples were collected during September 2007, and July, August, and October 2008. The results reveal the prevalence of airborne Fusarium species coming from the atmosphere of the South East coast of Spain. Five different Fusarium species were isolated from the settling dust: Fusarium oxysporum, F. solani, F. equiseti, F. dimerum, and F. proliferatum. Moreover, rainwater samples were obtained during significant rainfall events in January and February 2009. Using the dilution-plate method, 12 fungal genera were identified from these rainwater samples. Specific analyses of the rainwater revealed the presence of three species of Fusarium: F. oxysporum, F. proliferatum and F. equiseti. A total of 57 isolates of Fusarium spp. obtained from both rainwater and atmospheric rainfall dust sampling were inoculated onto melon (Cucumis melo L.) cv. Piñonet and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) cv. San Pedro. These species were chosen because they are the main herbaceous crops in Almeria province. The results presented in this work indicate strongly that spores or propagules of Fusarium are able to cross the continental barrier carried by winds from the Sahara (Africa) to crop or coastal lands in Europe. Results show differences in the pathogenicity of the isolates tested. Both hosts showed root rot when inoculated with different species of Fusarium, although fresh weight measurements did not bring any information about the pathogenicity. The findings presented above are strong indications that long-distance transmission of Fusarium propagules may occur. Diseases caused by species of Fusarium are common in these areas. They were in the past, and are still today, a problem for greenhouses crops in Almería, and many species have been listed as pathogens on agricultural crops in this region. Saharan air masses dominate the Mediterranean regions. The evidence of long distance dispersal of Fusarium spp. by atmospheric dust and rainwater together with their proved pathogenicity must be taken into account in epidemiological studies

Renal vasculitis in Colombia

A retrospective review of publications about primary vasculitis cases was performed from the Colombian medical literature, the clinical and pathological features are described.The Renal vasculitis occurred in 33.9% of cases of primary vasculitis reviewed and was more frequent in women. The main clinical, hematological, immunological variables and nephropathology and immunosuppressive treatments used findings are described

The active living gender's gap challenge: 2013-2017 Eurobarometers physical inactivity data show constant higher prevalence in women with no progress towards global reduction goals

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization (WHO) considers physical inactivity (PIA) as a critical noncommunicable factor for disease and mortality, affecting more women than men. In 2013, the WHO set a 10% reduction of the PIA prevalence, with the goal to be reached by 2025. Changes in the 2013-2017 period of physical inactivity prevalence in the 28 European Union (EU) countries were evaluated to track the progress in achieving WHO 2025 target. METHODS: In 2013 and 2017 EU Special Eurobarometers, the physical activity levels reported by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire of 53,607 adults were analyzed. Data were considered as a whole sample and country-by-country. A χ2 test was used to analyze the physical inactivity prevalence (%) between countries, analyzing women and men together and separately. Additionally, PIA prevalence was analyzed between years (2013-2017) for the overall EU sample and within-country using a Z-Score for two population proportions. RESULTS: The PIA prevalence increased between 2013 and 2017 for the overall EU sample (p <  0.001), and for women (p = 0.04) and men (p < 0.001) separately. Data showed a higher PIA prevalence in women versus men during both years (p <  0.001). When separately considering changes in PIA by gender, only Belgium's women and Luxembourg's men showed a reduction in PIA prevalence. Increases in PIA prevalence over time were observed in women from Austria, Croatia, Germany, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Romania, and Slovakia and in men from Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain. CONCLUSIONS: PIA prevalence showed an overall increase across the EU and for both women and men between 2013 and 2017, with higher rates of PIA reported for women versus men during both years. PIA prevalence was reduced in only Belgium's women and Luxembourg's men. Our data indicate a limited gender-sensible approach while tacking PIA prevalence with no progress reaching global voluntary reductions of PIA for 2025

Parameter identification problems in the modelling of cell motility

We present a novel parameter identification algorithm for the estimation of parameters in models of cell motility using imaging data of migrating cells. Two alternative formulations of the objective functional that measures the difference between the computed and observed data are proposed and the parameter identification problem is formulated as a minimisation problem of nonlinear least squares type. A Levenberg–Marquardt based optimisation method is applied to the solution of the minimisation problem and the details of the implementation are discussed. A number of numerical experiments are presented which illustrate the robustness of the algorithm to parameter identification in the presence of large deformations and noisy data and parameter identification in three dimensional models of cell motility. An application to experimental data is also presented in which we seek to identify parameters in a model for the monopolar growth of fission yeast cells using experimental imaging data. Our numerical tests allow us to compare the method with the two different formulations of the objective functional and we conclude that the results with both objective functionals seem to agree

Genome-wide association study of primary open-angle glaucoma in continental and admixed African populations.

Primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) is a complex disease with a major genetic contribution. Its prevalence varies greatly among ethnic groups, and is up to five times more frequent in black African populations compared to Europeans. So far, worldwide efforts to elucidate the genetic complexity of POAG in African populations has been limited. We conducted a genome-wide association study in 1113 POAG cases and 1826 controls from Tanzanian, South African and African American study samples. Apart from confirming evidence of association at TXNRD2 (rs16984299; OR[T] 1.20; P = 0.003), we found that a genetic risk score combining the effects of the 15 previously reported POAG loci was significantly associated with POAG in our samples (OR 1.56; 95% CI 1.26-1.93; P = 4.79 × 10-5). By genome-wide association testing we identified a novel candidate locus, rs141186647, harboring EXOC4 (OR[A] 0.48; P = 3.75 × 10-8), a gene transcribing a component of the exocyst complex involved in vesicle transport. The low frequency and high degree of genetic heterogeneity at this region hampered validation of this finding in predominantly West-African replication sets. Our results suggest that established genetic risk factors play a role in African POAG, however, they do not explain the higher disease load. The high heterogeneity within Africans remains a challenge to identify the genetic commonalities for POAG in this ethnicity, and demands studies of extremely large size

Origen y razones del consumo de psicofármacos y analgésicos en la población general.

Se investiga en este trabajo el origen y razones del consumo de psicofármacos y analgésicos en una comunidad de Cantabria. El 2,6± 1% de los varones y el 10,7 ±2% de las mujeres consumen psicofármacos, siendo para ambos sexos los porcentajes de consumo de analgésicos significativamente más altos (varones = 6,5 ± 2 %; mujeres = 16,4 ± 3 %). Distintos factores como el sexo femenino o la presencia de enfermedad física o psíquica incrementan de forma significativa el consumo de dichos fármacos. Se observó, sin embargo, que la presencia de enfermedad psíquica (medida mediante el sistema PSECA TEGO-ID) se asociaba a tratamiento psicofarmacológico sólo en un reducido número de casos. Es más, en aquellos cuadros depresivos o psicóticos que recibían tratamiento farmacológico, éste solía pertenecer al grupo de las benzodiacepinas. Se evidenció además en nuestro estudio una clara interacción entre factores psicosociales y los modos o formas de consumo definidos como "auto-consumo" o "consumo bajo control médico ". Dicha interacción demuestra la existencia de perfiles sociodemográficos específicos para cada uno de dichos modos de consumo

Origen y razones del consumo de psicofármacos y analgésicos en la población general.

Se investiga en este trabajo el origen y razones del consumo de psicofármacos y analgésicos en una comunidad de Cantabria. El 2,6± 1% de los varones y el 10,7 ±2% de las mujeres consumen psicofármacos, siendo para ambos sexos los porcentajes de consumo de analgésicos significativamente más altos (varones = 6,5 ± 2 %; mujeres = 16,4 ± 3 %). Distintos factores como el sexo femenino o la presencia de enfermedad física o psíquica incrementan de forma significativa el consumo de dichos fármacos. Se observó, sin embargo, que la presencia de enfermedad psíquica (medida mediante el sistema PSECA TEGO-ID) se asociaba a tratamiento psicofarmacológico sólo en un reducido número de casos. Es más, en aquellos cuadros depresivos o psicóticos que recibían tratamiento farmacológico, éste solía pertenecer al grupo de las benzodiacepinas. Se evidenció además en nuestro estudio una clara interacción entre factores psicosociales y los modos o formas de consumo definidos como "auto-consumo" o "consumo bajo control médico ". Dicha interacción demuestra la existencia de perfiles sociodemográficos específicos para cada uno de dichos modos de consumo

The Role of Natural Halogens in Global Tropospheric Ozone Chemistry and Budget Under Different 21st Century Climate Scenarios

Funder: NSFFunder: Office of Science of the US Department of EnergyFunder: PICT‐2016‐0714 (ANPCyT)Funder: i‐COOP‐B20331 (CSIC + CONICET)Abstract: Tropospheric ozone ( O 3 ) is an important greenhouse gas and a surface pollutant. The future evolution of O 3 abundances and chemical processing are uncertain due to a changing climate, socioeconomic developments, and missing chemistry in global models. Here, we use an Earth System Model with natural halogen chemistry to investigate the changes in the O 3 budget over the 21st century following Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP)6.0 and RCP8.5 climate scenarios. Our results indicate that the global tropospheric O 3 net chemical change (NCC, chemical gross production minus destruction) will decrease ∼ 50 % , notwithstanding increasing or decreasing trends in ozone production and loss. However, a wide range of surface NCC variations (from −60 % to 150 % ) are projected over polluted regions with stringent abatements in O 3 precursor emissions. Water vapor and iodine are found to be key drivers of future tropospheric O 3 destruction, while the largest changes in O 3 production are determined by the future evolution of peroxy radicals. We show that natural halogens, currently not considered in climate models, significantly impact on the present‐day and future global O 3 burden reducing ∼ 30–35 Tg (11–15 % ) of tropospheric ozone throughout the 21st century regardless of the RCP scenario considered. This highlights the importance of including natural halogen chemistry in climate model projections of future tropospheric ozone