Dexpanthenol in Wound Healing after Medical and Cosmetic Interventions (Postprocedure Wound Healing)

With the availability of new technologies, the number of subjects undergoing medical and cosmetic interventions is increasing. Many procedures (e.g., ablative fractional laser treatment) resulting in superficial/minor wounds require appropriate aftercare to prevent complications in wound healing and poor cosmetic outcome. We review the published evidence of the usefulness of topical dexpanthenol in postprocedure wound healing and the associated mechanisms of action at the molecular level. A search in the PubMed and Embase databases was performed to query the terms dexpanthenol, panthenol, superficial wound, minor wound, wound healing, skin repair, and postprocedure. Search results were categorized as clinical trials and in vitro studies. In vitro and clinical studies provided evidence that topically applied dexpanthenol promotes superficial and postprocedure wound healing. Latest findings confirmed that dexpanthenol upregulates genes that are critical for the healing process. The gene expression data are of clinical relevance as evidenced by prospective clinical studies indicating that topical dexpanthenol accelerates wound healing with rapid re-epithelialization and restoration of skin barrier function following skin injury. It can therefore be inferred that topical dexpanthenol represents an appropriate and state-of-the-art treatment option for superficial postprocedure wounds, especially when applied early after the superficial skin damage

Scaling-up climate services with users in Latin America

Latin America farmers are highly vulnerable to climate variability, with crop losses observed throughout the region on a virtually annual basis. For instance, as indicated by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Program (WFP), the 2014–2017 drought conditions in Central America affected over 3.5 million people in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. At the same time, local stakeholders and farmers generally have limited access to existing climate and forecast information, do not have sufficient capacities to understand the climate information and/or mechanisms to relate this information to the impact that climate variations can generate at a local level. This precludes the translation of information into actionable knowledge, and therefore into action. In this study, we describe a process through which scientists and strategic partners have co-developed, tested and scaled out an approach to assess, co-produce, translate and transfer climate information to enable agricultural decision making –the Local Technical Agroclimatic Committees (LTAC). LTACs allow open and clear dialogues about climate variations at multiple timescales, how these can affect crops, and the design of measures to reduce crop loss, particularly providing agronomic recommendations to farmers. We systematically describe the process of evidence generation, creation, partner engagement, scaling up, and monitoring of the approach throughout Latin America. Currently, 35 LTACs exist in 9 Latin American countries, engaging more than 250 public and private institutions, increasing the resilience and food security of an estimated 330,000 farmers, and potentially transforming how Latin American farmers manage climate risk. The study illustrates changes in institutional and farmers' capacities to co-produce, translate and use climate information and explores how better climate and crop prediction models can effectively underpin this process. We show how strategic alliances with farmer organizations, national public, and private and regional climate outlook forums help deliver improved and accurate climate information to users. Finally, we document how LTACs and their integration with other local-scale processes have led to changes in farmers’ management practices to take better advantage of good climatic conditions or avoid losses

Rice bran derivatives alleviate microglia activation: possible involvement of MAPK pathway

(A-C). Effects of RBE on the phosphorylation of p38MAPK, ERK, and JNK in non-activated microglia. Cells were treated with RBE (50–300 μg/ml) for 24 h followed by cell lyses and protein estimation. During stimulation, one of the wells in 6-well plate was incubated with LPS (10 ng/ml) for 30 min to be used as positive control to validate the functionality of antibodies against activated state of kinases. Whole cell lysates were subjected to western blots analyses. Representative blots (upper panel) and densitometry analyses (lower panel) are shown: A) p38 MAPK, B) pERK, and C) pJNK. Statistical analyses were carried out by using one-way ANOVA with post hoc Student-Newman-Keuls test (multiple comparisons). Results are expressed as means ± SEM of three independent experiments. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001 compared control cells. (TIF 963 kb

Cosecha de Alcances: Valoración de las transformaciones producidas por las Mesas Técnicas Agroclimáticas (MTA) en Latinoamérica

Durante el 2019 se realizó un proceso de análisis de las transformaciones que han generado las Mesas Técnicas Agroclimáticas (MTA), en los territorios en que han sido establecidas durante los últimos 6 años. El estudio se enfoca en los cambios observables de comunidades, organizaciones o instituciones que han modificado sus acciones, relaciones, políticas y prácticas en cuatro países de Latinoamérica. Cinco áreas de transformación han sido identificadas i) mayor confianza en la calidad de información climática y agroclimática en el nivel local; ii) información agroclimática más conocida, comprensible y conectada; iii) democratización de conocimiento climático; iv) transformaciones en las prácticas agrícolas, y v) incidencia política y transformación institucional. Se verifican más de 140 alcances o cambios sobre dichas áreas. Se evidencia que las MTA analizadas han promovido un mayor acercamiento de las Instituciones Meteorológicas Nacionales a las necesidades de los territorios, lo que, a su vez, ha propiciado la creación de comunidades de práctica locales sobre la aplicación de conocimientos de clima en la toma de decisiones. En efecto, se tiene evidencia que los agricultores adaptan sus prácticas productivas tomando decisiones basadas en información de variabilidad climática local, reduciendo pérdidas y aumentando rentabilidad. Se demuestra, además, que el desarrollo de alianzas inter-institucionales derivadas de las MTA en los países, ayudan a la construcción y fortalecimiento de políticas públicas locales y nacionales para la adaptación al cambio y la variabilidad climática en la agricultura. Finalmente, se identifican diversas oportunidades y desafíos relacionados con liderazgo y la sostenibilidad del proceso de establecimiento de las MTA en Latinoamérica.During 2019 a process of analysis of the effects or transformations that the Local Agro climatic Technical Committees (MTA) have been carried out, in the territories in which they have been established during the last 5 years. The study focuses on the observable changes of individuals, communities, organizations or institutions that have modified their actions, relationships, policies and practices in five Latin American countries. Five areas of transformation have been identified as outcomes of the MTAs, among which are analyzed: i) greater confidence in the quality of climate and agro climatic information at the local level; ii) best-known, understandable and connected agro climatic information; iii) democratization of climate knowledge; iv) transformations in agricultural practices, and v) political influence and institutional transformation. More than 140 scopes or changes over these areas are verified. There is evidence that the MTAs have promoted a closer approach of the national meteorological institutions to the need of the territories farmers, which in turn has led to the creation of local communities of practice on the application of climate knowledge in decision making agricultural. Indeed, evidence shows that farmers adapt their productive practices by making decisions based on information on local climate variability, reducing losses and increasing profitability. It is also demonstrated that the development of inter-institutional alliances derived from MTAs in the countries, helps to build and strengthen local and national public policies for adaptation to climate change and variability in agriculture. Finally, various opportunities and challenges related to leadership and the sustainability of the MTA establishment process in Latin America are identified

Better marital adjustment is associated with lower disease activity in early inflammatory arthritis

Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the association between marital adjustment and disease outcomes in patients with early inflammatory arthritis. Materials and methods: Patients with average disease duration of 7.66 ± 3.79 months were recruited from a larger early inflammatory arthritis registry, which recorded sociodemographic data and disease characteristics. The acute phase reactant C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were measured and disease activity was estimated using the Disease Activity Score in 28 joints (DAS28). Patient and spouse perceived marital adjustment was assessed by the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS). Results: The study sample consisted of 73 patients living with their spouses. The mean age of the study participants was 54.30 ± 12.09 years and 64.4% were female. Patient-perceived marital adjustment (DAS-Patient) was negatively correlated to CRP (P = 0.007) and DAS28 (P = 0.002). On multivariate analysis, DAS-Patient contributed to the dependent variable DAS28 after controlling for CRP. Conclusion: The current study indicates that better marital adjustment is associated with lower disease activity. The possible reciprocal relationship between marital adjustment and illness highlights the relevance for clinicians to include both patients and their spouses in interventions

Are power calculations useful? A multicentre neuroimaging study

There are now many reports of imaging experiments with small cohorts of typical participants that precede large-scale, often multicentre studies of psychiatric and neurological disorders. Data from these calibration experiments are sufficient to make estimates of statistical power and predictions of sample size and minimum observable effect sizes. In this technical note, we suggest how previously reported voxel-based power calculations can support decision making in the design, execution and analysis of cross-sectional multicentre imaging studies. The choice of MRI acquisition sequence, distribution of recruitment across acquisition centres, and changes to the registration method applied during data analysis are considered as examples. The consequences of modification are explored in quantitative terms by assessing the impact on sample size for a fixed effect size and detectable effect size for a fixed sample size. The calibration experiment dataset used for illustration was a precursor to the now complete Medical Research Council Autism Imaging Multicentre Study (MRC-AIMS). Validation of the voxel-based power calculations is made by comparing the predicted values from the calibration experiment with those observed in MRC-AIMS. The effect of non-linear mappings during image registration to a standard stereotactic space on the prediction is explored with reference to the amount of local deformation. In summary, power calculations offer a validated, quantitative means of making informed choices on important factors that influence the outcome of studies that consume significant resources

Dissecting the heterogeneous cortical anatomy of autism spectrum disorder using normative models

International audienceBACKGROUNDThe neuroanatomical basis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has remained elusive, mostly owing to high biological and clinical heterogeneity among diagnosed individuals. Despite considerable effort toward understanding ASD using neuroimaging biomarkers, heterogeneity remains a barrier, partly because studies mostly employ case-control approaches, which assume that the clinical group is homogeneous.METHODS:Here, we used an innovative normative modeling approach to parse biological heterogeneity in ASD. We aimed to dissect the neuroanatomy of ASD by mapping the deviations from a typical pattern of neuroanatomical development at the level of the individual and to show the necessity to look beyond the case-control paradigm to understand the neurobiology of ASD. We first estimated a vertexwise normative model of cortical thickness development using Gaussian process regression, then mapped the deviation of each participant from the typical pattern. For this, we employed a heterogeneous cross-sectional sample of 206 typically developing individuals (127 males) and 321 individuals with ASD (232 males) (6-31 years of age).RESULTS:We found few case-control differences, but the ASD cohort showed highly individualized patterns of deviations in cortical thickness that were widespread across the brain. These deviations correlated with severity of repetitive behaviors and social communicative symptoms, although only repetitive behaviors survived corrections for multiple testing.CONCLUSIONS:Our results 1) reinforce the notion that individuals with ASD show distinct, highly individualized trajectories of brain development and 2) show that by focusing on common effects (i.e., the "average ASD participant"), the case-control approach disguises considerable interindividual variation crucial for precision medicine

Gray matter covariations and core symptoms of autism: the EU-AIMS Longitudinal European Autism Project.

BACKGROUND: Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) studies in autism spectrum disorder (autism) have yielded diverging results. This might partly be attributed to structural alterations being associating with the combined influence of several regions rather than with a single region. Further, these structural covariation differences may relate to continuous measures of autism rather than with categorical case-control contrasts. The current study aimed to identify structural covariation alterations in autism, and assessed canonical correlations between brain covariation patterns and core autism symptoms. METHODS: We studied 347 individuals with autism and 252 typically developing individuals, aged between 6 and 30 years, who have been deeply phenotyped in the Longitudinal European Autism Project. All participants' VBM maps were decomposed into spatially independent components using independent component analysis. A generalized linear model (GLM) was used to examine case-control differences. Next, canonical correlation analysis (CCA) was performed to separately explore the integrated effects between all the brain sources of gray matter variation and two sets of core autism symptoms. RESULTS: GLM analyses showed significant case-control differences for two independent components. The first component was primarily associated with decreased density of bilateral insula, inferior frontal gyrus, orbitofrontal cortex, and increased density of caudate nucleus in the autism group relative to typically developing individuals. The second component was related to decreased densities of the bilateral amygdala, hippocampus, and parahippocampal gyrus in the autism group relative to typically developing individuals. The CCA results showed significant correlations between components that involved variation of thalamus, putamen, precentral gyrus, frontal, parietal, and occipital lobes, and the cerebellum, and repetitive, rigid and stereotyped behaviors and abnormal sensory behaviors in autism individuals. LIMITATIONS: Only 55.9% of the participants with autism had complete questionnaire data on continuous parent-reported symptom measures. CONCLUSIONS: Covaried areas associated with autism diagnosis and/or symptoms are scattered across the whole brain and include the limbic system, basal ganglia, thalamus, cerebellum, precentral gyrus, and parts of the frontal, parietal, and occipital lobes. Some of these areas potentially subserve social-communicative behavior, whereas others may underpin sensory processing and integration, and motor behavior

Fractionating autism based on neuroanatomical normative modeling.

Autism is a complex neurodevelopmental condition with substantial phenotypic, biological, and etiologic heterogeneity. It remains a challenge to identify biomarkers to stratify autism into replicable cognitive or biological subtypes. Here, we aim to introduce a novel methodological framework for parsing neuroanatomical subtypes within a large cohort of individuals with autism. We used cortical thickness (CT) in a large and well-characterized sample of 316 participants with autism (88 female, age mean: 17.2 ± 5.7) and 206 with neurotypical development (79 female, age mean: 17.5 ± 6.1) aged 6-31 years across six sites from the EU-AIMS multi-center Longitudinal European Autism Project. Five biologically based putative subtypes were derived using normative modeling of CT and spectral clustering. Three of these clusters showed relatively widespread decreased CT and two showed relatively increased CT. These subtypes showed morphometric differences from one another, providing a potential explanation for inconsistent case-control findings in autism, and loaded differentially and more strongly onto symptoms and polygenic risk, indicating a dilution of clinical effects across heterogeneous cohorts. Our results provide an important step towards parsing the heterogeneous neurobiology of autism