Induced hyperlipaemia and immune challenge in locusts

Injections of immunogens, such as β-1,3-glucan or lipopolysaccharide (LPS), bring about a marked hyperlipaemia with associated changes in lipophorins and apolipophorin-III in the haemolymph of Locusta migratoria. These changes are similar to those observed after injection of adipokinetic hormone (AKH). The possibility that endogenous AKH is released as part of the response to these immunogens is investigated using passive immunisation against AKH-I, and measurement of AKH-I titre in the haemolymph after injection of immunogens. The data presented show that, despite the similarity of the changes brought about by the presence of immunogens in the haemolymph to those brought about by AKH, there is no release of endogenous AKH after injection of laminarin or LPS. A direct effect of the immunogens on release of neutral lipids by the fat body cannot be demonstrated in vitro, and the mechanism by which hyperlipaemia is induced during immune challenge remains uncertain

The distance to the Orion Nebula

We have used the Very Long Baseline Array to measure the trigonometric parallax of several member stars of the Orion Nebula Cluster showing non-thermal radio emission. We have determined the distance to the cluster to be 414 +/- 7 pc. Our distance determination allows for an improved calibration of luminosities and ages of young stars. We have also measured the proper motions of four cluster stars which, when accurate radial velocities are measured, will put strong constraints on the origin of the cluster.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Astronomy & Astrophyisc

Solving random boundary heat model using the finite difference method under mean square convergence

"This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Cortés, J. C., Romero, J. V., Roselló, M. D., Sohaly, MA. Solving random boundary heat model using the finite difference method under mean square convergence. Comp and Math Methods. 2019; 1:e1026. https://doi.org/10.1002/cmm4.1026 , which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/cmm4.1026. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving."[EN] This contribution is devoted to construct numerical approximations to the solution of the one-dimensional boundary value problem for the heat model with uncertainty in the diffusion coefficient. Approximations are constructed via random numerical schemes. This approach permits discussing the effect of the random diffusion coefficient, which is assumed a random variable. We establish results about the consistency and stability of the random difference scheme using mean square convergence. Finally, an illustrative example is presented.Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. Grant Number: MTM2017-89664-PCortés, J.; Romero, J.; Roselló, M.; Sohaly, M. (2019). Solving random boundary heat model using the finite difference method under mean square convergence. Computational and Mathematical Methods. 1(3):1-15. https://doi.org/10.1002/cmm4.1026S11513Han, X., & Kloeden, P. E. (2017). Random Ordinary Differential Equations and Their Numerical Solution. Probability Theory and Stochastic Modelling. doi:10.1007/978-981-10-6265-0Villafuerte, L., Braumann, C. A., Cortés, J.-C., & Jódar, L. (2010). Random differential operational calculus: Theory and applications. Computers & Mathematics with Applications, 59(1), 115-125. doi:10.1016/j.camwa.2009.08.061Logan, J. D. (2004). Partial Differential Equations on Bounded Domains. Undergraduate Texts in Mathematics, 121-171. doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-8879-9_4Cannon, J. R. (1964). A Cauchy problem for the heat equation. Annali di Matematica Pura ed Applicata, 66(1), 155-165. doi:10.1007/bf02412441LinPPY.On The Numerical Solution of The Heat Equation in Unbounded Domains[PhD thesis].New York NY:New York University;1993.Li, J.-R., & Greengard, L. (2007). On the numerical solution of the heat equation I: Fast solvers in free space. Journal of Computational Physics, 226(2), 1891-1901. doi:10.1016/j.jcp.2007.06.021Han, H., & Huang, Z. (2002). Exact and approximating boundary conditions for the parabolic problems on unbounded domains. Computers & Mathematics with Applications, 44(5-6), 655-666. doi:10.1016/s0898-1221(02)00180-3Han, H., & Huang, Z. (2002). A class of artificial boundary conditions for heat equation in unbounded domains. Computers & Mathematics with Applications, 43(6-7), 889-900. doi:10.1016/s0898-1221(01)00329-7Strikwerda, J. C. (2004). Finite Difference Schemes and Partial Differential Equations, Second Edition. doi:10.1137/1.9780898717938Kloeden, P. E., & Platen, E. (1992). Numerical Solution of Stochastic Differential Equations. doi:10.1007/978-3-662-12616-5Øksendal, B. (2003). Stochastic Differential Equations. Universitext. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-14394-6Holden, H., Øksendal, B., Ubøe, J., & Zhang, T. (2010). Stochastic Partial Differential Equations. doi:10.1007/978-0-387-89488-1El-Tawil, M. A., & Sohaly, M. A. (2012). Mean square convergent three points finite difference scheme for random partial differential equations. Journal of the Egyptian Mathematical Society, 20(3), 188-204. doi:10.1016/j.joems.2012.08.017Cortés, J.-C., Navarro-Quiles, A., Romero, J.-V., Roselló, M.-D., & Sohaly, M. A. (2018). Solving the random Cauchy one-dimensional advection–diffusion equation: Numerical analysis and computing. Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics, 330, 920-936. doi:10.1016/j.cam.2017.02.001Cortés, J. C., Jódar, L., Villafuerte, L., & Villanueva, R. J. (2007). Computing mean square approximations of random diffusion models with source term. Mathematics and Computers in Simulation, 76(1-3), 44-48. doi:10.1016/j.matcom.2007.01.020Cortés, J. C., Jódar, L., & Villafuerte, L. (2009). Random linear-quadratic mathematical models: Computing explicit solutions and applications. Mathematics and Computers in Simulation, 79(7), 2076-2090. doi:10.1016/j.matcom.2008.11.008Henderson, D., & Plaschko, P. (2006). Stochastic Differential Equations in Science and Engineering. doi:10.1142/580

XRCC2 R188H (rs3218536), XRCC3 T241M (rs861539) and R243H (rs77381814) single nucleotide polymorphisms in cervical cancer risk

Human Papillomavirus (HPV) is the main cause of cervical cancer and its precursor lesions. Transformation may be induced by several mechanisms, including oncogene activation and genome instability. Individual differences in DNA damage recognition and repair have been hypothesized to influence cervical cancer risk. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the double strand break gene polymorphisms XRCC2 R188H G>A (rs3218536), XRCC3 T241M C>T (rs861539) and R243H G>A (rs77381814) are associated to cervical cancer in Argentine women. A case control study consisting of 322 samples (205 cases and 117 controls) was carried out. HPV DNA detection was performed by PCR and genotyping of positive samples by EIA (enzyme immunoassay). XRCC2 and 3 polymorphisms were determined by pyrosequencing. The HPV-adjusted odds ratio (OR) of XRCC2 188 GG/AG genotypes was OR = 2.4 (CI = 1.1-4.9, p = 0.02) for cervical cancer. In contrast, there was no increased risk for cervical cancer with XRCC3 241 TT/CC genotypes (OR = 0.48; CI = 0.2-1; p = 0.1) or XRCC3 241 CT/CC (OR = 0.87; CI = 0.52-1.4; p = 0.6). Regarding XRCC3 R243H, the G allele was almost fixed in the population studied. In conclusion, although the sample size was modest, the present data indicate a statistical association between cervical cancer and XRCC2 R188H polymorphism. Future studies are needed to confirm these findings.Fil: Perez, Luis Orlando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico CONICET- La Plata. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria "Ing. Fernando Noel Dulout". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria; ArgentinaFil: Crivaro, Andrea Natalia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico CONICET- La Plata. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria "Ing. Fernando Noel Dulout". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria; ArgentinaFil: Barbisan, Gisela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico CONICET- La Plata. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria "Ing. Fernando Noel Dulout". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria; ArgentinaFil: Poleri, Lucía Belén. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico CONICET- La Plata. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria "Ing. Fernando Noel Dulout". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria; ArgentinaFil: Golijow, Carlos Daniel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico CONICET- La Plata. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria "Ing. Fernando Noel Dulout". Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias. Instituto de Genética Veterinaria; Argentin

The Huntington's disease mutation impairs Huntingtin's role in the transport of NF-κB from the synapse to the nucleus

Expansion of a polyglutamine (polyQ) tract in the Huntingtin (Htt) protein causes Huntington's disease (HD), a fatal inherited neurodegenerative disorder. Loss of the normal function of Htt is thought to be an important pathogenetic component of HD. However, the function of wild-type Htt is not well defined. Htt is thought to be a multifunctional protein that plays distinct roles in several biological processes, including synaptic transmission, intracellular transport and neuronal transcription. Here, we show with biochemical and live cell imaging studies that wild-type Htt stimulates the transport of nuclear factor κ light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) out of dendritic spines (where NF-κB is activated by excitatory synaptic input) and supports a high level of active NF-κB in neuronal nuclei (where NF-κB stimulates the transcription of target genes). We show that this novel function of Htt is impaired by the polyQ expansion and thus may contribute to the etiology of HD

Probing the order parameter symmetry in the cuprate high temperature superconductors by SQUID microscopy

The orbital component of the order parameter in the cuprate high-Tc cuprate superconductors is now well established, in large part because of phase sensitive tests. Although it would be desirable to use such tests on other unconventional superconductors, there are a number of favorable factors associated with the properties of the cuprates, and a number of technical advances, that were required for these tests to be successful. In this review I will describe the development of phase sensitive pairing symmetry tests using SQUID microscopy, underlining the factors favoring these experiments in the cuprates and the technical advances that had to be made.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure, invited review to be published in Comptes Rendus de l'Academie des Sciences (Comptes Rendus Physique

Intraspecfic variation in cold-temperature metabolic phenotypes of Arabidopsis lyrata ssp petraea

Atmospheric temperature is a key factor in determining the distribution of a plant species. Alongside this, plant populations growing at the margin of their range may exhibit traits that indicate genetic differentiation and adaptation to their local abiotic environment. We investigated whether geographically separated marginal populations of Arabidopsis lyrata ssp. petraea have distinct metabolic phenotypes associated with exposure to cold temperatures. Seeds of A. petraea were obtained from populations along a latitudinal gradient, namely Wales, Sweden and Iceland and grown in a controlled cabinet environment. Mannose, glucose, fructose, sucrose and raffinose concentrations were different between cold treatments and populations, especially in the Welsh population, but polyhydric alcohol concentrations were not. The free amino acid compositions were population specific, with fold differences in most amino acids, especially in the Icelandic populations, with gross changes in amino acids, particularly those associated with glutamine metabolism. Metabolic fingerprints and profiles were obtained. Principal component analysis (PCA) of metabolite fingerprints revealed metabolic characteristic phenotypes for each population and temperature. It is suggested that amino acids and carbohydrates were responsible for discriminating populations within the PCA. Metabolite fingerprinting and profiling has proved to be sufficiently sensitive to identify metabolic differences between plant populations at different atmospheric temperatures. These findings show that there is significant natural variation in cold metabolism among populations of A. l. petraea which may signify plant adaptation to local climates

OMERACT Filter 2.1: Elaboration of the Conceptual Framework for Outcome Measurement in Health Intervention Studies

Objective: The Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) Filter 2.0 framework was developed in 2014 to aid core outcome set development by describing the full universe of “measurable aspects of health conditions” from which core domains can be selected. This paper provides elaborations and updated concepts (OMERACT Filter 2.1). Methods: At OMERACT 2018, we discussed challenges in the framework application caused by unclear or ambiguous wording and terms and incompletely developed concepts. Results: The updated OMERACT Filter 2.1 framework makes benefits and harms explicit, clarifies concepts, and improves naming of various terms. Conclusion: We expect that the Filter 2.1 framework will improve the process of core set development

"Open Innovation" and "Triple Helix" Models of Innovation: Can Synergy in Innovation Systems Be Measured?

The model of "Open Innovations" (OI) can be compared with the "Triple Helix of University-Industry-Government Relations" (TH) as attempts to find surplus value in bringing industrial innovation closer to public R&D. Whereas the firm is central in the model of OI, the TH adds multi-centeredness: in addition to firms, universities and (e.g., regional) governments can take leading roles in innovation eco-systems. In addition to the (transversal) technology transfer at each moment of time, one can focus on the dynamics in the feedback loops. Under specifiable conditions, feedback loops can be turned into feedforward ones that drive innovation eco-systems towards self-organization and the auto-catalytic generation of new options. The generation of options can be more important than historical realizations ("best practices") for the longer-term viability of knowledge-based innovation systems. A system without sufficient options, for example, is locked-in. The generation of redundancy -- the Triple Helix indicator -- can be used as a measure of unrealized but technologically feasible options given a historical configuration. Different coordination mechanisms (markets, policies, knowledge) provide different perspectives on the same information and thus generate redundancy. Increased redundancy not only stimulates innovation in an eco-system by reducing the prevailing uncertainty; it also enhances the synergy in and innovativeness of an innovation system.Comment: Journal of Open Innovations: Technology, Market and Complexity, 2(1) (2016) 1-12; doi:10.1186/s40852-016-0039-

High prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among children aged 1 month to 16 years in Hangzhou, China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Recent studies have suggested that vitamin D deficiency in children is widespread. But the vitamin D status of Chinese children is seldom investigated. The objective of the present study was to survey the serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] in more than 6,000 children aged 1 month to 16 years in Hangzhou (latitude: 30°N), the capital of Zhejiang Province, southeast China.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The children aged 1 month to 16 years who came to the child health care department of our hospital, the children's hospital affiliated to Zhejiang university school of medicine, for health examination were taken blood for 25(OH) D measurement. Serum 25(OH) D levels were determined by direct enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and categorized as < 25, < 50, and < 75 nmol/L.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 6,008 children aged 1 month to 16 years participated in this cross-sectional study. All the subjects were divided into subgroups according to their age: 0-1y, 2-5y, 6-11y and 12-16y representing infancy, preschool, school age and adolescence stages respectively. The highest mean level of serum 25(OH)D was found in the 0-1y stage (99 nmol/L) and the lowest one was found in 12-16y stage (52 nmol/L). Accordingly, the prevalence of serum 25(OH)D levels of < 75 nmol/L and < 50 nmol/L were at the lowest among infants (33.6% and 5.4% respectively) and rose to the highest among adolescents (89.6% and 46.4% respectively). The mean levels of serum 25(OH)D and the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency changed according to seasons. In winter and spring, more than 50% of school age children and adolescents had a 25(OH)D level at < 50 nmol/L. If the threshold is changed to < 75 nmol/L, all of the adolescents (100%) had low 25(OH)D levels in winter and 93.7% school age children as well.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency among children in Hangzhou Zhejiang province is high, especially among children aged 6-16 years. We suggest that the recommendation for vitamin D supplementation in Chinese children should be extended to adolescence.</p