765 research outputs found
Microglia activation due to obesity programs metabolic failure leading to type two diabetes
Obesity is an energy metabolism disorder that increases susceptibility to the development of metabolic diseases. Recently, it has been described that obese subjects have a phenotype of chronic inflammation in organs that are metabolically relevant for glucose homeostasis and energy. Altered expression of immune system molecules such as interleukins IL-1, IL-6, IL-18, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), serum amyloid A (SAA), and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), among others, has been associated with the development of chronic inflammation in obesity. Chronic inflammation modulates the development of metabolic-related comorbidities like metabolic syndrome (insulin resistance, glucose tolerance, hypertension and hyperlipidemia). Recent evidence suggests that microglia activation in the central nervous system (CNS) is a priority in the deregulation of energy homeostasis and promotes increased glucose levels. This review will cover the most significant advances that explore the molecular signals during microglia activation and inflammatory stage in the brain in the context of obesity, and its influence on the development of metabolic syndrome and type two diabetes
Orchestrating learning analytics (OrLA): Supporting inter-stakeholder communication about adoption of learning analytics at the classroom level
© 2019 Australasian Journal of Educational Technology. Despite the recent surge of interest in learning analytics (LA), their adoption in everyday classroom practice is still slow. Knowledge gaps and lack of inter-stakeholder communication (particularly with educational practitioners) have been posited as critical factors for previous LA adoption failures. Yet, what issues should researchers, practitioners and other actors communicate about, when considering the adoption of an LA innovation in a particular context? We reviewed and synthesised existing literature on four focus areas related to LA, their adoption, implications for practice, and more general factors that have emerged as crucial when studying everyday classroom adoption of technologies (i.e., classroom orchestration). This synthesis resulted in two conversational frameworks and an inter-stakeholder communication tool. These can be used to guide and support conversations and decision-making about the adoption of LA innovations. We illustrate their usefulness with examples of use in ongoing LA adoption processes in Australia, Spain and Estonia
Detection and analysis of tumour biomarkers to strengthen the diagnosis of acute and chronic leukaemias
AbstractMolecular markers in leukaemia are essential to diagnose, establish prognosis factors and determine the correct treatment of patients; therefore, it is imperative to include molecular biology studies, so that, combined with cytomorphology and immunophenotyping studies, they constitute the differential diagnosis of these neoplasias. It is extremely important to implement a panel of molecular markers that allows us to detect oncogenes derived from chromosomal translocations, genes derived from epigenetic alterations and drug-resistant genes.A panel of molecular markers that included 11 genes derived from chromosomal translocations BCR-ABL major and minor breakpoints, E2A-PBX1, MLL-AF4, TEL-AML1, PML-RARα, AML1-ETO was standardised; cancer testis antigens (CTA) derived from NY-ESO1 and MAGE-A3 epigenetic alterations and multi-drug-resistant genes ABCB1 and ABCG2. 30 patients diagnosed with leukaemia from Mexico's General Hospital (Hospital General de Mexico) were included. They suffered from acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) and acute myeloblastic leukaemia (AML); bone marrow mononuclear cells were used, from which RNA was extracted for the synthesis of cDNA and RT-PCR for each of the markers. In acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), BCR-ABL biomarkers expressed under 30% (3/10), E2A-PBX1 10% (1/10), ABC-B1 80% (8/10), and ABC-G2 60% (6/10). Patients with acute myeloblastic leukaemia (AML) expressed 30% PML-RARα (3/10), 40% ABC-B1 (4/10), and 10% ABC-G2 (1/10). Lastly, in patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), BCR-ABL was over 100% (10/10), ABC-B1 20% (2/10), and ABC-G2 50% (5/10). The presence of transcripts from chimeric genes minor BCR-ABL and E2A-PBX1 in ALL; PML-RARα in AML; and major BCR-ABL in CML, confirms the importance that the panel of molecular markers has in strengthening the diagnosis and prognosis of these conditions
Selection and chemical composition of plant species consumed by goats under drought conditions in three microregions of the Comarca Lagunera, Mexico
Objective: To evaluate the plant selection of the diet of goats during the dry season and the chemical composition of the said plants in three microregions of the Comarca Lagunera, Mexico.
Design/Methodology/Approach: Three microregions were identified within the Comarca Lagunera: 1) mountain slope, 2) plain, and 3) cultivation areas. The selection of the goat diet, the availability of forage, and the nutritional composition (CP, EE, DNF, AFD, NFC, TDN, and NEl) of plant species and strata were evaluated in the three microregions.
Results: The shrubs and herbaceous in the Comarca Lagunera had the highest forage availability and a better nutritional profile during winter. On the one hand, these plant strata had an adequate protein content. On the other hand, the overall energy content reached <1 Mcal kg-1 DM.
Study Limitations/Implications: The plant strata have an adequate protein content; however, the energy content is not enough and limits growth. Consequently, supplementation programs for grazing dairy goats in the Comarca Lagunera must include sources of energy.
Findings/Conclusions: Regardless of the microregion, the energy content of the species consumed by grazing dairy goats in the Comarca Lagunera is low
Direct hospitalization costs associated with chronic Hepatitis C in the Valencian Community in 2013
[ES] Fundamentos. Los costes hospitalarios asociados a la Hepatitis
Crónica C (HCC) surgen en los estadíos finales de la enfermedad.
Su cuantificación es de gran utilidad para estimar la carga
de la enfermedad y establecer decisiones de financiación de los
nuevos antivirales. Los costes más elevados son motivados por la
descompensación de la cirrosis.
Métodos. Estudio observacional de corte transversal de los
costes hospitalarios de episodios con diagnóstico de HCC en la
Comunidad Valenciana en 2013. Fuente de información: Conjunto
mínimo básico de datos. Se estimaron los costes según las tarifas
establecidas para los GRD (Grupos relacionados por el diagnóstico)
asociados a los episodios con diagnóstico de hepatitis C.
La supervivencia media de los pacientes desde que se inició la
descompensación de su cirrosis se estimó mediante un modelo de
Markov, según las probabilidades de evolución de la enfermedad
existentes en la literatura.
Resultados. Se registraron 4.486 episodios de hospitalización
con diagnóstico de HCC, 1.108 fueron debidos a complicaciones
de la HCC que generaron 6.713 estancias, tasa de reingresos del
28,2 % y mortalidad del 10,2%. El coste hospitalario ascendió
a 8.788.593EUR: 3.306.333EUR correspondieron a Cirrosis
(5.273EUR/paciente); 1.060.521EUR a Carcinoma (6.350EUR/
paciente) y 2.962.873EUR a trasplante (70.544EUR/paciente).
La comorbilidad por Hepatitis C supuso 1.458.866EUR. Estos
costes se mantienen durante una media de 4 años una vez comienza
la descompensación de la cirrosis.
Conclusiones. La cirrosis por HCC genera un coste muy
elevado por hospitalización, la metodología utilizada en la estimación
de estos costes a partir de los GRD puede ser de gran
utilidad para evaluar la tendencia e impacto económico de esta
enfermedad.[EN] Background. Hospital costs associated with Chronic Hepatitis C (HCC) arise in the final stages of the disease. Its quantification is very helpful in order to estimate and check the burden
of the disease and to make financial decisions for new antivirals.
The highest costs are due to the decompensation of cirrosis.
Methods. Cross-sectional observational study of hospital
costs of HCC diagnoses in the Valencian Community in 2013 (n=
4,486 hospital discharges). Information source: Minimum basic
set of data/ Basic Minimum Data Set. The costs were considered
according to the rates established for the DRG (Diagnosis related
group) associated with the episodes with diagnosis of hepatitis
C. The average survival of patients since the onset of the decompensation of their cirrhosis was estimated by a Markov model,
according to the probabilities of evolution of the disease existing
in Literatura.
Results. There were 4,486 hospital episodes, 1,108 due to
complications of HCC, which generated 6,713 stays, readmission
rate of 28.2% and mortality of 10.2%. The hospital cost amounted to 8,788,593EUR: 3,306,333EUR corresponded to Cirrhosis
(5,273EUR/patient); 1,060,521EUR to Carcinoma (6,350EUR/
patient) and 2,962,873EUR to transplantation (70,544EUR/paciente. Comorbidity was 1,458,866EUR. These costs are maintained for an average of 4 years once the cirrhosis decompensation
begins.
Conclusions. Cirrhosis due to HCC generates a very high
hospitalization¿s costs. The methodology used in the estimation
of these costs from the DRG can be very useful to evaluate the
trend and economic impact of this disease.Barrachina Martínez, I.; Giner-Durán R; Vivas-Consuelo, D.; ANTONIO LOPEZ RODADO; Maldonado Segura, JA. (2018). Costes de hospitalización asociados a la Hepatitis crónica C en la Comunidad Valenciana en 2013. Revista Española de Salud Pública. 92:1-12. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/124218S1129
A peculiar class of debris disks from Herschel/DUNES - A steep fall off in the far infrared
Aims. We present photometric data of debris disks around HIP 103389 (HD
199260), HIP 107350 (HN Peg, HD206860), and HIP 114948 (HD 219482), obtained in
the context of our Herschel Open Time Key Program DUNES (DUst around NEarby
Stars). Methods. We used Herschel/PACS to detect the thermal emission of the
three debris disks with a 3 sigma sensitivity of a few mJy at 100 um and 160
um. In addition, we obtained Herschel/PACS photometric data at 70 um for HIP
103389. Two different approaches are applied to reduce the Herschel data to
investigate the impact of data reduction on the photometry. We fit analytical
models to the available spectral energy distribution (SED) data. Results. The
SEDs of the three disks potentially exhibit an unusually steep decrease at
wavelengths > 70 um. We investigate the significance of the peculiar shape of
these SEDs and the impact on models of the disks provided it is real. Our
modeling reveals that such a steep decrease of the SEDs in the long wavelength
regime is inconsistent with a power-law exponent of the grain size distribution
-3.5 expected from a standard equilibrium collisional cascade. In contrast, a
very distinct range of grain sizes is implied to dominate the thermal emission
of such disks. However, we demonstrate that the understanding of the data of
faint sources obtained with Herschel is still incomplete and that the
significance of our results depends on the version of the data reduction
pipeline used. Conclusions. A new mechanism to produce the dust in the
presented debris disks, deviations from the conditions required for a standard
equilibrium collisional cascade (grain size exponent of -3.5), and/or
significantly different dust properties would be necessary to explain the
potentially steep SED shape of the three debris disks presented. (abridged)Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, accepted by A&
GeantV: Results from the prototype of concurrent vector particle transport simulation in HEP
Full detector simulation was among the largest CPU consumer in all CERN
experiment software stacks for the first two runs of the Large Hadron Collider
(LHC). In the early 2010's, the projections were that simulation demands would
scale linearly with luminosity increase, compensated only partially by an
increase of computing resources. The extension of fast simulation approaches to
more use cases, covering a larger fraction of the simulation budget, is only
part of the solution due to intrinsic precision limitations. The remainder
corresponds to speeding-up the simulation software by several factors, which is
out of reach using simple optimizations on the current code base. In this
context, the GeantV R&D project was launched, aiming to redesign the legacy
particle transport codes in order to make them benefit from fine-grained
parallelism features such as vectorization, but also from increased code and
data locality. This paper presents extensively the results and achievements of
this R&D, as well as the conclusions and lessons learnt from the beta
prototype.Comment: 34 pages, 26 figures, 24 table
The effect of magnetic activity saturation in chromospheric flux-flux relationships
We present a homogeneous study of chromospheric and coronal flux-flux
relationships using a sample of 298 late-type dwarf active stars with spectral
types F to M. The chromospheric lines were observed simultaneously in each star
to avoid spread due to long term variability. Unlike other works, we subtract
the basal chromospheric contribution in all the spectral lines studied. For the
first time, we quantify the departure of dMe stars from the general relations.
We show that dK and dKe stars also deviate from the general trend. Studying the
flux-colour diagrams we demonstrate that the stars deviating from the general
relations are those with saturated X-ray emission and that those stars also
present saturation in the H line. Using several age spectral
indicators, we show that they are younger stars than those following the
general relationships. The non-universality of flux-flux relationships found in
this work should be taken into account when converting between fluxes in
different chromospheric activity indicators.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal
Astronomical Societ
Chromospheric activity and rotation of FGK stars in the solar vicinity. An estimation of the radial velocity jitter
Context: Chromospheric activity produces both photometric and spectroscopic
variations that can be mistaken as planets. Large spots crossing the stellar
disc can produce planet-like periodic variations in the light curve of a star.
These spots clearly affect the spectral line profiles and their perturbations
alter the line centroids creating a radial velocity jitter that might
contaminate" the variations induced by a planet. Precise chromospheric activity
measurements are needed to estimate the activity-induced noise that should be
expected for a given star. Aims: We obtain precise chromospheric activity
measurements and projected rotational velocities for nearby (d < 25 pc) cool
(spectral types F to K) stars, to estimate their expected activity-related
jitter. As a complementary objective, we attempt to obtain relationships
between fluxes in different activity indicator lines, that permit a
transformation of traditional activity indicators, i.e, CaII H & K lines, to
others that hold noteworthy advantages. Methods: We used high resolution
(~50000) echelle optical spectra. To determine the chromospheric emission of
the stars in the sample, we used the spectral subtraction technique. Rotational
velocities were determined using the cross-correlation technique. To infer
activity-related radial velocity (RV) jitter, we used empirical relationships
between this jitter and the R'_HK index. Results: We measured chromospheric
activity, as given by different indicators throughout the optical spectra, and
projected rotational velocities for 371 nearby cool stars. We have built
empirical relationships among the most important chromospheric emission lines.
Finally, we used the measured chromospheric activity to estimate the expected
RV jitter for the active stars in the sample.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic
- …