Coded aperture compressive temporal imaging.

We use mechanical translation of a coded aperture for code division multiple access compression of video. We discuss the compressed video's temporal resolution and present experimental results for reconstructions of > 10 frames of temporal data per coded snapshot

Genetic admixture patterns in argentinian patagonia

As in other Latin American populations, Argentinians are the result of the admixture amongst different continental groups, mainly from America and Europe, and to a lesser extent from Sub-Saharan Africa. However, it is known that the admixture processes did not occur homogeneously throughout the country. Therefore, considering the importance for anthropological, medical and forensic researches, this study aimed to investigate the population genetic structure of the Argentinian Patagonia, through the analysis of 46 ancestry informative markers, in 433 individuals from five different localities. Overall, in the Patagonian sample, the average individual ancestry was estimated as 35.8% Native American (95% CI: 32.2–39.4%), 62.1% European (58.5–65.7%) and 2.1% African (1.7–2.4%). Comparing the five localities studied, statistically significant differences were observed for the Native American and European contributions, but not for the African ancestry. The admixture results combined with the genealogical information revealed intra-regional variations that are consistent with the different geographic origin of the participants and their ancestors. As expected, a high European ancestry was observed for donors with four grandparents born in Europe (96.8%) or in the Central region of Argentina (85%). In contrast, the Native American ancestry increased when the four grandparents were born in the North (71%) or in the South (61.9%) regions of the country, or even in Chile (60.5%). In summary, our results showed that differences on continental ancestry contribution have different origins in each region in Patagonia, and even in each locality, highlighting the importance of knowing the origin of the participants and their ancestors for the correct interpretation and contextualization of the genetic information.Finantial support was granted by Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica, Argentina (ANPCyT; https://www.argentina.gob.ar/ ciencia/agencia; grants ref. MPL PICT 2013-2414, JLL PICT 2014-1558), and Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Brazil (CNPq; http://www.cnpq.br; grant ref. LG 305330/2016-0)

Transcriptional Regulation of the Capsular Polysaccharide Biosynthesis Locus of Streptococcus Pneumoniae: a Bioinformatic Analysis

The polysaccharide capsule of Streptococcus pneumoniae is the main virulence factor, which makes the bacterium resistant to phagocytosis. Expression of capsular polysaccharide must be adjusted at different stages of pneumococcal infection, thus, their transcriptional regulation appears to be crucial. To get insight into the existence of regulatory mechanisms common to most serotypes, a bioinformatic analysis of the DNA region located upstream of the capsular locus was performed. With the exception of serotype 37, the capsular locus is located between dexB and aliA on the pneumococcal chromosome. Up to 26 different sequence organizations were found among pneumococci synthesizing their capsule through a Wzy-polymerase-dependent mechanism, mostly varying according to the presence/absence of distinct insertion elements. As a consequence, only ∼250 bp (including a 107 bp RUP_A element) was conserved in 86 sequences, although only a short (ca. 87 bp) region located immediately upstream of cpsA was strictly conserved in all the sequences analyzed. An exhaustive search for possible operator sequences was done. Interestingly, although the promoter region of serotype 3 isolates completely differs from that of other serotypes, most of the proteins proposed to regulate transcription in serotype 3 pneumococci were also predicted to function as possible regulators in non-serotype 3 S. pneumoniae isolates

Polarised light sheet tomography

The research leading to these results has received funding from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under REA grant agreement no. 608133 and Scottish Funding Council (SFC) Horizon fund.The various benefits of light sheet microscopy have made it a widely used modality for capturing three- dimensional images. It is mostly used for fluorescence imaging, but recently another technique called Light Sheet Tomography solely relying on scattering was presented. The method was successfully applied to imaging of plant roots in transparent soil, but is limited when it comes to more turbid samples. This study presents a Polarised Light Sheet Tomography system and its advantages when imaging in highly scattering turbid media. The experimental configuration is guided by Monte Carlo Radiation Transfer methods, which model the propagation of a polarised light sheet in the sample. Images of both reflecting and absorbing phantoms in a complex collagenous matrix were acquired, and the results for different polarisation configurations are compared. Focus scanning methods were then used to reduce noise and produce three-dimensional reconstructions of absorbing targets.PostprintPeer reviewe

Sex and gender differences in acute stroke care: metrics, access to treatment and outcome. A territorial analysis of the Stroke Code System of Catalonia

Introduction: Previous studies have reported differences in the management and outcome of women stroke patients in comparison with men. We aim to analyze sex and gender differences in the medical assistance, access to treatment and outcome of acute stroke patients in Catalonia. Patients and methods: Data were obtained from a prospective population-based registry of stroke code activations in Catalonia (CICAT) from January/2016 to December/2019. The registry includes demographic data, stroke severity, stroke subtype, reperfusion therapy, and time workflow. Centralized clinical outcome at 90 days was assessed in patients receiving reperfusion therapy. Results: A total of 23,371 stroke code activations were registered (54% men, 46% women). No differences in prehospital time metrics were observed. Women more frequently had a final diagnosis of stroke mimic, were older and had a previous worse functional situation. Among ischemic stroke patients, women had higher stroke severity and more frequently presented proximal large vessel occlusion. Women received more frequently reperfusion therapy (48.2% vs 43.1%, p < 0.001). Women tended to present a worse outcome at 90 days, especially for the group receiving only IVT (good outcome 56.7% vs 63.8%; p < 0.001), but not for the group of patients treated with IVT + MT or MT alone, although sex was not independently associated with clinical outcome in logistic regression analysis (OR 1.07; 95% CI, 0.94–1.23; p = 0.27) nor in the analysis after matching using the propensity score (OR 1.09; 95% CI, 0.97–1.22). Discussion and conclusion: We found some differences by sex in that acute stroke was more frequent in older women and the stroke severity was higher. We found no differences in medical assistance times, access to reperfusion treatment and early complications. Worse clinical outcome at 90 days in women was conditioned by stroke severity and older age, but not by sex itself

PpiA, a Surface PPIase of the Cyclophilin Family in Lactococcus lactis

Background: Protein folding in the envelope is a crucial limiting step of protein export and secretion. In order to better understand this process in Lactococcus lactis, a lactic acid bacterium, genes encoding putative exported folding factors like Peptidyl Prolyl Isomerases (PPIases) were searched for in lactococcal genomes. Results: In L. lactis, a new putative membrane PPIase of the cyclophilin subfamily, PpiA, was identified and characterized. ppiA gene was found to be constitutively expressed under normal and stress (heat shock, H2O2) conditions. Under normal conditions, PpiA protein was synthesized and released from intact cells by an exogenously added protease, showing that it was exposed at the cell surface. No obvious phenotype could be associated to a ppiA mutant strain under several laboratory conditions including stress conditions, except a very low sensitivity to H2O2. Induction of a ppiA copy provided in trans had no effect i) on the thermosensitivity of an mutant strain deficient for the lactococcal surface protease HtrA and ii) on the secretion and stability on four exported proteins (a highly degraded hybrid protein and three heterologous secreted proteins) in an otherwise wild-type strain background. However, a recombinant soluble form of PpiA that had been produced and secreted in L. lactis and purified from a culture supernatant displayed both PPIase and chaperone activities. Conclusions: Although L. lactis PpiA, a protein produced and exposed at the cell surface under normal conditions, displaye

The development of a 16S rRNA gene based PCR for the identification of Streptococcus pneumoniae and comparison with four other species specific PCR assays

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Streptococcus pneumoniae </it>is one of the most frequently encountered pathogens in humans but its differentiation from closely related but less pathogenic streptococci remains a challenge.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This report describes a newly-developed PCR assay (Spne-PCR), amplifying a 217 bp product of the 16S rRNA gene of <it>S. pneumoniae</it>, and its performance compared to other genotypic and phenotypic tests.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The new PCR assay designed in this study, proved to be specific at 57°C for <it>S. pneumoniae</it>, not amplifying <it>S. pseudopneumoniae </it>or any other streptococcal strain or any strains from other upper airway pathogenic species. PCR assays (psaA, LytA, ply, spn9802-PCR) were previously described for the specific amplification of <it>S. pneumoniae</it>, but <it>psaA</it>-PCR was the only one found not to cross-react with <it>S. pseudopneumoniae</it>.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Spne-PCR, developed for this study, and psaA-PCR were the only two assays which did not mis-identify <it>S. pseudopneumoniae </it>as <it>S. pneumoniae</it>. Four other PCR assays and the AccuProbe assay were unable to distinguish between these species.</p

Factors related to the development of health-promoting community activities in Spanish primary healthcare: two case-control studies.

Objective Spanish primary healthcare teams have the responsibility of performing health-promoting community activities (CAs), although such activities are not widespread. Our aim was to identify the factors related to participation in those activities. Design Two case–control studies. setting Performed in primary care of ve Spanish regions. subjects In the rst study, cases were teams that performed health-promoting CAs and controls were those that did not. In the second study (on case teams from the rst study), cases were professionals who developed these activities and controls were those who did not. Main outcome measures Team, professional and community characteristics collected through questionnaires (team managers/professionals) and from secondary sources. results The rst study examined 203 teams (103 cases, 100 controls). Adjusted factors associated with performing CAs were percentage of nurses (OR 1.07, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.14), community socioeconomic status (higher vs lower OR 2.16, 95% CI 1.18 to 3.95) and performing undergraduate training (OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.93). In the second study, 597 professionals responded (254 cases, 343 controls). Adjusted factors were professional classi cation (physicians do fewer activities than nurses and social workers do more), training in CAs (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.2 to 3.1), team support (OR 2.9, 95% CI 1.5 to 5.7), seniority (OR 1.06, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.09), nursing tutor (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.1 to 3.5), motivation (OR 3.7, 95% CI 1.8 to 7.5), collaboration with non-governmental organisations (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.2 to 3.1) and participation in neighbourhood activities (OR 3.1, 95% CI 1.9 to 5.1). Conclusions Professional personal characteristics, such as social sensitivity, profession, to feel team support or motivation, have in uence in performing health-promoting CAs. In contrast to the opinion expressed by many professionals, workload is not related to performance of health-promoting CAs