Skin does not care about crisis

OBJETIVO: Evaluar los productos hidratantes ofertados en las grandes superficies comerciales según la relación coste/efectividad y sus indicaciones

Predation success by a plant-ant indirectly favours the growth and fitness of its host myrmecophyte

Mutualisms, or interactions between species that lead to net fitness benefits for each species involved, are stable and ubiquitous in nature mostly due to "byproduct benefits" stemming from the intrinsic traits of one partner that generate an indirect and positive outcome for the other. Here we verify if myrmecotrophy (where plants obtain nutrients from the refuse of their associated ants) can explain the stability of the tripartite association between the myrmecophyte Hirtella physophora, the ant Allomerus decemarticulatus and an Ascomycota fungus. The plant shelters and provides the ants with extrafloral nectar. The ants protect the plant from herbivores and integrate the fungus into the construction of a trap that they use to capture prey; they also provide the fungus and their host plant with nutrients. During a 9-month field study, we over-provisioned experimental ant colonies with insects, enhancing colony fitness (i.e., more winged females were produced). The rate of partial castration of the host plant, previously demonstrated, was not influenced by the experiment. Experimental plants showed higher δ¹⁵N values (confirming myrmecotrophy), plus enhanced vegetative growth (e.g., more leaves produced increased the possibility of lodging ants in leaf pouches) and fitness (i.e., more fruits produced and more flowers that matured into fruit). This study highlights the importance of myrmecotrophy on host plant fitness and the stability of ant-myrmecophyte mutualisms

Burden of paediatric Rotavirus Gastroenteritis (RVGE) and potential benefits of a universal Rotavirus vaccination programme with a pentavalent vaccine in Spain

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Rotavirus is the most common cause of gastroenteritis in young children worldwide. The aim of the study was to assess the health outcomes and the economic impact of a universal rotavirus vaccination programme with RotaTeq, the pentavalent rotavirus vaccine, versus no vaccination programme in Spain.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A birth cohort was followed up to the age of 5 using a cohort model. Epidemiological parameters were taken from the REVEAL study (a prospective epidemiological study conducted in Spain, 2004-2005) and from the literature. Direct and indirect costs were assessed from the national healthcare payer and societal perspectives by combining health care resource utilisation collected in REVEAL study and unit costs from official sources. RotaTeq per protocol efficacy data was taken from a large worldwide rotavirus clinical trial (70,000 children). Health outcomes included home care cases, General Practioner (GP)/Paediatrician, emergency department visits, hospitalisations and nosocomial infections.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The model estimates that the introduction of a universal rotavirus vaccination programme with RotaTeq (90% coverage rate) would reduce the rotavirus gastroenteritis (RVGE) burden by 75% in Spain; 53,692 home care cases, 35,187 GP/Paediatrician visits, 34,287 emergency department visits, 10,987 hospitalisations and 2,053 nosocomial infections would be avoided. The introduction of RotaTeq would avoid about 76% of RVGE-related costs from both perspectives: €22 million from the national health system perspective and €38 million from the societal perspective.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A rotavirus vaccination programme with RotaTeq would reduce significantly the important medical and economic burden of RVGE in Spain.</p

Genetic Ancestry, Race, and Severity of Acutely Decompensated Cirrhosis in Latin America

Background & Aims: Genetic ancestry or racial differences in health outcomes exist in diseases associated with systemic inflammation (eg, COVID-19). This study aimed to investigate the association of genetic ancestry and race with acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF), which is characterized by acute systemic inflammation, multi-organ failure, and high risk of short-term death. / Methods: This prospective cohort study analyzed a comprehensive set of data, including genetic ancestry and race among several others, in 1274 patients with acutely decompensated cirrhosis who were nonelectively admitted to 44 hospitals from 7 Latin American countries. / Results: Three hundred ninety-five patients (31.0%) had ACLF of any grade at enrollment. Patients with ACLF had a higher median percentage of Native American genetic ancestry and lower median percentage of European ancestry than patients without ACLF (22.6% vs 12.9% and 53.4% vs 59.6%, respectively). The median percentage of African genetic ancestry was low among patients with ACLF and among those without ACLF. In terms of race, a higher percentage of patients with ACLF than patients without ACLF were Native American and a lower percentage of patients with ACLF than patients without ACLF were European American or African American. In multivariable analyses that adjusted for differences in sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, the odds ratio for ACLF at enrollment was 1.08 (95% CI, 1.03–1.13) with Native American genetic ancestry and 2.57 (95% CI, 1.84–3.58) for Native American race vs European American race. / Conclusions: In a large cohort of Latin American patients with acutely decompensated cirrhosis, increasing percentages of Native American ancestry and Native American race were factors independently associated with ACLF at enrollment

Parametric Design as a Technique of Convergence

Following the introduction of parametric design into the contemporary digital architectural scene, this paper exposes its principals as well as some of its major potentialities that emerge from its use in the discipline. It is argued that parametric design is a technique that embraces the concept of “convergence” in multiple dimensions. Through this explanation this paper intends also to highlight the relevance of the integration of this technique in architectural education. Student's projects are described to illustrate some of the concepts

Détermination des facteurs de réflexion, de transmission et d'absorption de lames minces d'or obtenues par évaporation

On a déterminé les facteurs de réflexion, de transmission et d'absorption de couches d'or déposées sur du verre, dont les épaisseurs étaient comprises entre 0 et 150 m μ. Pour éviter des différences de structure entre les lames d'épaisseurs différentes, ces dernières sont préparées simultanément sur le même support. On arrive à ce résultat grâce à un disque, genre disque de Talbot, interposé entre la source et le support, tout près de ce dernier. L'étude des lames obtenues est faite de façon à réduire au minimum les erreurs dues à leur évolution après la préparation

Sur l'énergie absorbée dans les couches minces solides

En supposant, en première approximation, qu'une couche mince peut être considérée comme un milieu continu, homogène, isotrope et limité par deux faces planes et parallèles on a calculé, en fonction des paramètres qui suffisent alors à caractériser la couche, la proportion de l'énergie lumineuse incidente et la proportion de l'énergie lumineuse ayant effectivement pénétré dans la couche mince, qui sont absorbées par cette dernière. On a mis ainsi en évidence un certain nombre de résultats d'allure paradoxale qui se sont trouvés confirmés qualitativement par l'expérience

Discongruence of Mhc and cytochrome b phylogeographical patterns in Myodes glareolus (Rodentia: Cricetidae)

In the present study, a phylogeographical approach was developed to analyse the influence of selection and history on a major histocompatibility complex (Mhc) class II gene polymorphism in European bank vole (Myodes glareolus) populations. We focused on exon 2 of the Dqa gene because it is highly variable in a large array of species and appears to evolve under pathogen-mediated selection in several rodent species. Using single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis and sequencing techniques, 17 Dqa-exon2 alleles, belonging to at least two different copies of Dqa gene, were detected over the distribution range of M.glareolus. Evidence of selection was found using molecular and population analyses. At the molecular level, we detected 13 codons evolving under positive selection pressures, most of them corresponding to regions coding for putative antigen binding sites of the protein. At the European level, we compared patterns of population structure for the Dqa-exon2 and cytochrome b (cyt b) gene. We did not detect any spatial genetic structure among M.glareolus populations for the Dqa-exon2. These results strongly differed from those obtained using the cyt b gene, which indicated a recent phylogeographical history closely linked to the last glacial events. Seven mitochondrial lineages have yet been described, which correspond to major glacial refugia. Altogether, our results revealed clear evidence of balancing selection acting on Dqa-exon2 and maintaining polymorphism over large geographical areas despite M.glareolus history. It is thus likely that Mhc phylogeographical variability could have been shaped by local adaptation to pathogens. © 2012 The Linnean Society of London

Mating system, population genetics, and phylogeography of the devil’s garden ant, Myrmelachista schumanni, in the Peruvian Amazon

Devil’s gardens are a remarkable feature of Amazonian rainforests. These clearings result from the cultivation of ant-plants by their symbiotic ant, Myrmelachista schumanni. Each devil’s garden is inhabited by a single M. schumanni colony, often with millions of workers and thousands of queens. Through a combination of field surveys and microsatellite genotyping, we examined M. schumanni colony structure, mating system, dispersal, and phylogeography. We discovered that the reproduction of M. schumanni is weakly seasonal, exhibits facultative polyandry, and involves split sex ratios potentially leading to sex-biased dispersal. Surprisingly, we observed only very weak clustering of genetic variation, either within or between devil’s gardens. We hypothesize that the apparent absence of geographical structure results from the unusually high level of genetic differentiation between colonies. This study adds intriguing observations to the scarce literature about the reproduction and phylogeography of Amazonian ants.We thank the Dirección General Forestal y de Fauna Silvestre of the Ministerio de Agricultura in Peru for permits (Nos. 0299-2011-AG-DGFFS-DGEFFS, 0046-2014-MINAGRI-DGFFS-DGEFFS). We are grateful to A. Coral for assistance in the field. This work was supported by FQEB Grant RFP-12-06 from the National Philanthropic Trust to NEP and MEF, NSF SES-0750480 to NEP and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to MEF