Gravitational lensing by wave dark matter halos

Wave Dark Matter (WaveDM) has recently gained attention as a viable candidate to account for the dark matter content of the Universe. In this paper we explore the extent to which dark matter halos in this model, and under what conditions, are able to reproduce strong lensing systems. First, we analytically explore the lensing properties of the model -- finding that a pure WaveDM density profile, a soliton profile, produces a weaker lensing effect than other similar cored profiles. Then we analyze models with a soliton embedded in an NFW profile, as has been found in numerical simulations of structure formation. We use a benchmark model with a boson mass of $m_a=10^{-22}{\rm eV}$, for which we see that there is a bi-modality in the contribution of the external NFW part of the profile, and actually some of the free parameters associated with it are not well constrained. We find that for configurations with boson masses $10^{-23}$ -- $10^{-22}{\rm eV}$, a range of masses preferred by dwarf galaxy kinematics, the soliton profile alone can fit the data but its size is incompatible with the luminous extent of the lens galaxies. Likewise, boson masses of the order of $10^{-21}{\rm eV}$, which would be consistent with Lyman-$\alpha$ constraints and consist of more compact soliton configurations, necessarily require the NFW part in order to reproduce the observed Einstein radii. We then conclude that lens systems impose a conservative lower bound $m_a > 10^{-24}$ and that the NFW envelope around the soliton must be present to satisfy the observational requirements.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figures, Publishe

Effectiveness of a recent topical sialogogue in the management of drug-induced xerostomia

Objectives: Use of certain drugs is the most common aetiology of xerostomia. Systemic sialogogues provide a longer effect than topic ones, but also induce relevant side effects. Topical sialogogues, as malic acid, allow a safe use as they induce no systemic side-effects or pharmacological interactions, being especially interesting in cases of mild hyposalivation and oral dryness, mainly the chronic use of xerostomizing drugs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical effect of 1% malic acid in patients affected by xerostomia due to antihypertensives or antidepressants. Study Design: 10 patients with drug-induced xerostomia were prospectively evaluated before and after using malic acid spray during three weeks. Xerostomia Inventory (XI) was used to evaluate subjective improvement. Unstimulated and stimulated salivary flow rates were determinated. Results: Severity significantly decreased, from 38.22 to 31.00 points (p = 0.011) after using the product. 77.8% of subjects did not complain about xerostomia at the end and 66.6% achieved an improvement > 6 points. Unstimulated flow rate singnificantly increased, from 0.163 to 0.226 mL/min (p = 0.021) at the third week. Conclusions: 1% malic acid spray induces some improvement in the management of mild and reversible xerostomia. Carrying out of randomized controlled trials is justified according to this study

Bone Remodeling of Two Anatomic Stems: Densitometric Study of the Redesign of the ABG-II Stem

Background: Periprosthetic bone remodeling, which is a phenomenon observed in all femoral stems, has a multifactorial origin as it depends on factors related to the patient, the surgical technique, and the design of the implant. To determine the pattern of remodeling produced by 2 models of anatomic cementless implants, we quantified the changes in bone mineral density (BMD) in the 7 areas of Gruen observed at different moments after surgery during the first postoperative year. Methods: A prospective, comparative, controlled, 1-year follow-up densitometric study was carried out in 2 groups of patients suffering from primary unilateral hip osteoarthritis. In the first group, with 68 patients, an ABG-II stem was implanted. In the second, with 66 patients, the ANATO stem was used. The contralateral, healthy hip was taken as a control. Results: Both groups showed a decrease in BMD at 3 months in all the areas, which recovered at the end of the study, except in zone 7: there was a 17.7% decrease in the ABG-II group and a 5.9% decrease in the ANATO group. In zones 2 and 6, where more loads are transmitted, conservation of BMD is observed in response to Wolff''s law. The differences in the pattern of remodeling between groups were maintained despite the age, gender, and BMI of the patients or the size of the implants. Conclusion: The ANATO stem achieved a more efficient transmission of loads at the metaphyseal level, which promotes bone preservation at the proximal femur, than the ABG-II stem

Un estudio del coste del servicio de comedores de los centros educativos de Canarias

Los comedores escolares ofrecen un servicio esencial a la sociedad elaborando menús y atendiendo a los alumnos. El cálculo del coste real del servicio de comedor escolar es de enorme importancia para su correcta gestión. El objetivo principal de este Trabajo de Fin de Grado es la estimación del coste de servicio de comedor escolar separando dicho coste entre el del personal y el del producto. Los resultados concluyen que el peso del coste del producto es sensiblemente menor que el del personal. Un objetivo secundario ha sido comparar el coste del servicio de los comedores escolares que sirven menús ecológicos (ecocomedores) respecto a los menús convencionales. Los resultados muestran que la provisión de menús ecológicos en modo alguno es más cara que un menú convencional, lo cual anima a la transformación de los menús utilizando productos ecológicos en todos los centros educativos de Canarias.School canteens offer an essential service to society by preparing menus and serving students. The calculation of the real cost of the school canteen service is of enormous importance for its correct management. The main objective of this Final Degree Project is to estimate the cost of the school canteen service, separating said cost between that of the staff and that of the product. The results conclude that the weight of the cost of the product is significantly less than that of the personnel. A secondary objective has been to compare the service cost of school canteens that serve ecological menus (eco-canteens) with respect to conventional menus. The results show that the provision of organic menus is by no means more expensive than a conventional menu, which encourages the transformation of menus using organic products in all educational centers in the Canary Islands

GPS deformation rates in the Bajo Segura basin (Eastern Betic Cordillera)

En este trabajo hemos cuantificado las tasas de deformación actual de la cuenca del Bajo Segura (NE del corredor de cizalla de la Bética oriental), a partir del análisis de una red GPS con 11 vértices geodésicos. Se han analizado los datos de cuatro campañas GPS entre junio de 1999 y enero de 2013, que han sido procesados con la versión 6.2 del software GIPSY-OASIS. Este software utiliza la técnica de posicionamiento puntual de precisión conocido por las siglas PPP. Se observa un acortamiento ~N-S en toda la cuenca de mayor magnitud en el sur, en la zona de falla del Bajo Segura, con valores que varían de oeste a este entre 0,73 y 0,24 mm/año. En el borde septentrional de la cuenca, en la zona de falla de Crevillente, los valores de acortamiento N-S son menores. Sin embargo, en esta falla se ha observado un movimiento lateral sinistrorso que, en la componente E-O, varía entre 0,44 y 0,75 mm/año.We estimate the present deformation rates of the Bajo Segura Basin (NE end of the Eastern Betic shear zone), from the analysis of a GPS network with 11 sites. We analyze the data from four observation campaigns carried out between June 1999 and January 2013.We used the 6.2 version of GIPSYOASIS software to process GPS data in Precise Point Positioning mode (PPP). It is observed a ~N-S shortening in the whole basin, higher in the south, along the Bajo Segura fault zone, with rates varying from West to East between 0.73 and 0.24 mm/yr. In the northern border of the basin, along the Crevillente fault zone, N-S deformation rates are lower. However, it is observed a left-lateral movement of this fault zone varying between 0.44 and 0.75 mm/yr in the E-W direction.Este trabajo ha sido financiado por los proyectos del Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad AYA2010-15501 y CGL2011-30153-C02-02 y por el proyecto CSD2006-0041 (European Regional Development Fund-ERDF)

Identifying SARS-CoV-2 'memory' NK cells from COVID-19 convalescent donors for adoptive cell therapy

COVID-19 disease is the manifestation of syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, which is causing a worldwide pandemic. This disease can lead to multiple and different symptoms, being lymphopenia associated with severity one of the most persistent. Natural killer cells (NK cells) are part of the innate immune system, being fighting against virus-infected cells one of their key roles. In this study, we determined the phenotype of NK cells after COVID-19 and the main characteristic of SARS-CoV-2-specific-like NK population in the blood of convalescent donors. CD57+ NKG2C+ phenotype in SARS-CoV-2 convalescent donors indicates the presence of 'memory'/activated NK cells as it has been shown for cytomegalovirus infections. Although the existence of this population is donor dependent, its expression may be crucial for the specific response against SARS-CoV-2, so that, it gives us a tool for selecting the best donors to produce off-the-shelf living drug for cell therapy to treat COVID-19 patients under the RELEASE clinical trial (NCT04578210)

Pathway-specific effects of ADSL deficiency on neurodevelopment

Adenylosuccinate lyase (ADSL) functions in de novo purine synthesis (DNPS) and the purine nucleotide cycle. ADSL deficiency (ADSLD) causes numerous neurodevelopmental pathologies, including microcephaly and autism spectrum disorder. ADSLD patients have normal serum purine nucleotide levels but exhibit accumulation of dephosphorylated ADSL substrates, S-Ado, and SAICAr, the latter being implicated in neurotoxic effects through unknown mechanisms. We examined the phenotypic effects of ADSL depletion in human cells and their relation to phenotypic outcomes. Using specific interventions to compensate for reduced purine levels or modulate SAICAr accumulation, we found that diminished AMP levels resulted in increased DNA damage signaling and cell cycle delays, while primary ciliogenesis was impaired specifically by loss of ADSL or administration of SAICAr. ADSL-deficient chicken and zebrafish embryos displayed impaired neurogenesis and microcephaly. Neuroprogenitor attrition in zebrafish embryos was rescued by pharmacological inhibition of DNPS, but not increased nucleotide concentration. Zebrafish also displayed phenotypes commonly linked to ciliopathies. Our results suggest that both reduced purine levels and impaired DNPS contribute to neurodevelopmental pathology in ADSLD and that defective ciliogenesis may influence the ADSLD phenotypic spectrum.ID was funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 754510, THS, JL, and SP were funded by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MCIU; PGC2018-095616-B-I00 to THS, PGC2018-099562-B-I00 to JL, and BFU2017-83562-P to SP), the 2017 SGR 1089 (AGAUR), FEDER, the Centres of Excellence Severo Ochoa award, and the CERCA Programme. THS was supported by the NIH Intramural Research Program, National Cancer Institute, Center for Cancer Research. MP was funded by grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG PH144/4-1 and PH144/6-1). MZ, OS, and VS were supported by Charles University, program PROGRES Q26/LF1. We would like to thank Biocev, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, for the opportunity to use their department’s equipment

Extracellular Tumor-Related mRNA in Plasma of Lymphoma Patients and Survival Implications

BACKGROUND: We studied anomalous extracellular mRNAs in plasma from patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and their survival implications. mRNAs studied have been reported in the literature as markers of poor (BCL2, CCND2, MYC) and favorable outcome (LMO2, BCL6, FN1) in tumors. These markers were also analyzed in lymphoma tissues to test possible associations with their presence in plasma. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: mRNA from 42 plasma samples and 12 tumors from patients with DLBCL was analyzed by real-time PCR. Samples post-treatment were studied. The immunohistochemistry of BCL2 and BCL6 was defined. Presence of circulating tumor cells was determined by analyzing the clonality of the immunoglobulin heavy-chain genes by PCR. In DLBCL, MYC mRNA was associated with short overall survival. mRNA targets with unfavorable outcome in tumors were associated with characteristics indicative of poor prognosis, with partial treatment response and with short progression-free survival in patients with complete response. In patients with low IPI score, unfavorable mRNA targets were related to shorter overall survival, partial response, high LDH levels and death. mRNA disappeared in post-treatment samples of patients with complete response, and persisted in those with partial response or death. No associations were found between circulating tumor cells and plasma mRNA. Absence of BCL6 protein in tumors was associated with presence of unfavorable plasma mRNA. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Through a non-invasive procedure, tumor-derived mRNAs can be obtained in plasma. mRNA detected in plasma did not proceed from circulating tumor cells. In our study, unfavorable targets in plasma were associated with poor prognosis in B-cell lymphomas, mainly MYC mRNA. Moreover, the unfavorable targets in plasma could help us to classify patients with poor outcome within the good prognosis group according to IPI

Accelerating to Zero: Strategies to Eliminate Malaria in the Peruvian Amazon.

AbstractIn February 2014, the Malaria Elimination Working Group, in partnership with the Peruvian Ministry of Health (MoH), hosted its first international conference on malaria elimination in Iquitos, Peru. The 2-day meeting gathered 85 malaria experts, including 18 international panelists, 23 stakeholders from different malaria-endemic regions of Peru, and 11 MoH authorities. The main outcome was consensus that implementing a malaria elimination project in the Amazon region is achievable, but would require: 1) a comprehensive strategic plan, 2) the altering of current programmatic guidelines from control toward elimination by including symptomatic as well as asymptomatic individuals for antimalarial therapy and transmission-blocking interventions, and 3) the prioritization of community-based active case detection with proper rapid diagnostic tests to interrupt transmission. Elimination efforts must involve key stakeholders and experts at every level of government and include integrated research activities to evaluate, implement, and tailor sustainable interventions appropriate to the region