Determining the ontogenetic variation of lower cheek teeth occlusal surface patterns in lagomorphs using micro ct-technology

Altres ajuts: SYNTHESYS Project http://www.synthesys.info/, financed by European Community Research Infrastructure Action under the FP6 "Structuring the European Research Area" (AT-TAF-3508)Micro CT-scanning has been performed on the lower jaws of some selected lagomorph taxa in order to reconstruct unequivocally their controversial ontogenetic development. The analyses were concentrated on the development of p3, and on the sequences of lobe connections and on the sequence of appearance/disappearance of flexids/fossettes of p4-m2. This is the first time that this approach has been applied to lagomorphs and opens promising perspectives especially for the taxonomy and phylogeny of this complex order

Governmentality versus Community : The Impact of the COVID Lockdowns

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Assessing the dynamic social values of the ‘deep city’:An integrated methodology combining online and offline approaches

This monograph presents findings from original research on urban heritage transformations and advances existing scholarship on three grounds: (1) it offers tested combinations of methods to capture the social values of heritage; (2) it distils the complex, diverse social values generated by urban heritage and revealed by the use of these methods; and (3) it discusses the implications and potential applications of these methods for urban planning. Cities are multi-layered deposits of tangible historic features and intangible meanings, memories, practices and associated values. These dense socio-material assemblages have been conceptualised as the ‘deep city’, a concept that recognises dynamic relationships between past, present and future, whilst simultaneously repositioning heritage at the heart of sustainable transformation. However, methods for understanding people’s relationships with urban heritage are mostly applied piecemeal in urban planning and heritage management. Here, we introduce research involving a suite of social and digital research methods, which can be deployed rapidly in online and offline spaces to examine the social values generated by urban heritage. Three in-depth case studies, in Edinburgh, London, and Florence, reveal how these values are involved in urban place-making. Failure to take them into account in development and regeneration projects can result in fragmentation and/or marginalisation of communities and their place attachments. The research has important implications for urban planning, offering methods and tools for working with communities to create more socially sustainable urban futures

Surveillance of adults with congenital heart disease:Current guidelines and actual clinical practice

Background and aim: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common birth defect with prevalence of 0.8%. Thanks to tremendous progress in medical and surgical practice, nowadays, &gt;90% of children survive into adulthood. Recently European Society of Cardiology (ESC), American College of Cardiology (ACC)/ American Heart Association (AHA) issued guidelines which offer diagnostic and therapeutic recommendations for the different defect categories. However, the type of technical exams and their frequency of follow-up may vary largely between clinicians and centres. We aimed to present an overview of available diagnostic modalities and describe current surveillance practices by cardiologists taking care of adults with CHD (ACHD).Methods and results: A questionnaire was used to assess the frequency cardiologists treating ACHD for at least one year administrated the most common diagnostic tests for ACHD. The most frequently employed diagnostic modalities were ECG and echocardiography for both mild and moderate/severe CHD. Sixty-seven percent of respondents reported that they routinely address psychosocial well-being. Conclusion: Differences exist between reported current clinical practice and published guidelines. This is particularly true for the care of patients with mild lesions. In addition, some differences exist between ESC and American guidelines, with more frequent surveillance suggested by the Americans.</p

Surveillance of adults with congenital heart disease:Current guidelines and actual clinical practice

Background and aim: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common birth defect with prevalence of 0.8%. Thanks to tremendous progress in medical and surgical practice, nowadays, &gt;90% of children survive into adulthood. Recently European Society of Cardiology (ESC), American College of Cardiology (ACC)/ American Heart Association (AHA) issued guidelines which offer diagnostic and therapeutic recommendations for the different defect categories. However, the type of technical exams and their frequency of follow-up may vary largely between clinicians and centres. We aimed to present an overview of available diagnostic modalities and describe current surveillance practices by cardiologists taking care of adults with CHD (ACHD).Methods and results: A questionnaire was used to assess the frequency cardiologists treating ACHD for at least one year administrated the most common diagnostic tests for ACHD. The most frequently employed diagnostic modalities were ECG and echocardiography for both mild and moderate/severe CHD. Sixty-seven percent of respondents reported that they routinely address psychosocial well-being. Conclusion: Differences exist between reported current clinical practice and published guidelines. This is particularly true for the care of patients with mild lesions. In addition, some differences exist between ESC and American guidelines, with more frequent surveillance suggested by the Americans.</p

Contribution of common and rare variants to bipolar disorder susceptibility in extended pedigrees from population isolates.

Current evidence from case/control studies indicates that genetic risk for psychiatric disorders derives primarily from numerous common variants, each with a small phenotypic impact. The literature describing apparent segregation of bipolar disorder (BP) in numerous multigenerational pedigrees suggests that, in such families, large-effect inherited variants might play a greater role. To identify roles of rare and common variants on BP, we conducted genetic analyses in 26 Colombia and Costa Rica pedigrees ascertained for bipolar disorder 1 (BP1), the most severe and heritable form of BP. In these pedigrees, we performed microarray SNP genotyping of 838 individuals and high-coverage whole-genome sequencing of 449 individuals. We compared polygenic risk scores (PRS), estimated using the latest BP1 genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics, between BP1 individuals and related controls. We also evaluated whether BP1 individuals had a higher burden of rare deleterious single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) and rare copy number variants (CNVs) in a set of genes related to BP1. We found that compared with unaffected relatives, BP1 individuals had higher PRS estimated from BP1 GWAS statistics (P = 0.001 ~ 0.007) and displayed modest increase in burdens of rare deleterious SNVs (P = 0.047) and rare CNVs (P = 0.002 ~ 0.033) in genes related to BP1. We did not observe rare variants segregating in the pedigrees. These results suggest that small-to-moderate effect rare and common variants are more likely to contribute to BP1 risk in these extended pedigrees than a few large-effect rare variants

Assessing the dynamic social values of the 'deep city': an integrated methodology combining online and offline approaches

This monograph presents findings from original research on urban heritage transformations and advances existing scholarship on three grounds: (1) it offers tested combinations of methods to capture the social values of heritage; (2) it distils the complex, diverse social values generated by urban heritage and revealed by the use of these methods; and (3) it discusses the implications and potential applications of these methods for urban planning. Cities are multi-layered deposits of tangible historic features and intangible meanings, memories, practices and associated values. These dense socio-material assemblages have been reconceptualised as the ‘deep city’, a concept that recognises dynamic relationships between past, present and future, whilst simultaneously repositioning heritage at the heart of sustainable transformation. However, methods for understanding people’s relationships with urban heritage are mostly applied piecemeal in urban planning and heritage management. Here, we introduce research involving a suite of social and digital research methods, which can be deployed rapidly in online and offline spaces, to examine the social values generated by urban heritage. Three in-depth case studies, in Edinburgh, London, and Florence, reveal how these values are involved in urban place-making. Failure to take them into account in development and regeneration projects can result in fragmentation and/or marginalisation of communities and their place attachments. The research has important implications for urban planning, offering methods and tools for working with communities to create more socially sustainable urban futures

Adiposity assessed close to diagnosis and prostate cancer prognosis in the EPIC study

Background: Adiposity has been characterized as a modifiable risk factor for prostate cancer. Its association with outcomes after prostate cancer diagnosis, however, must be better understood, and more evidence is needed to facilitate the development of lifestyle guidance for patients with prostate cancer. Methods: We investigated the associations between adiposity indices close to prostate cancer diagnosis (up to 2 years before or up to 5 years after diagnosis) and mortality in 1968 men of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort. Men were followed up for a median of 9.5 years. Cox proportional hazards models were adjusted for age and year of diagnosis, disease stage and grade, and smoking history and stratified by country. Results: Each 5-unit increment in prediagnosis or postdiagnosis body mass index combined was associated with a 30% higher rate of all-cause mortality and a 49% higher rate of prostate cancer–specific mortality. Similarly, each 5-unit increment in prediagnosis body mass index was associated with a 35% higher rate of all-cause mortality and a 51% higher rate of prostate cancer–specific mortality. The associations were less strong for postdiagnosis body mass index, with a lower number of men in analyses. Less clear positive associations were shown for waist circumference, hip circumference, and waist to hip ratio, but data were limited. Conclusions: Elevated levels of adiposity close to prostate cancer diagnosis could lead to higher risk of mortality; therefore, men are encouraged to maintain a healthy weight. Additional research is needed to confirm whether excessive adiposity after prostate cancer diagnosis could worsen prognosis