Low-density colloid centrifugation removes bacteria from boar semen doses after spiking with selected species

Single-layer centrifugation (SLC) with a low-density colloid is an efficient method for removing contaminating microorganisms from boar semen while recovering most spermatozoa from the original sample. This study tested the performance of this technique, using 50-ml tubes, by spiking commercial semen doses prepared without antibiotics with selected bacterial species followed by storage at 17 degrees C. The doses were spiked up to 102/ml CFU (colony forming units) of the bacteria Burkholderia ambifaria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus sim-ulans. The semen was processed by SLC (15 ml of sample and 15 ml of colloid) with the colloid Porcicoll at 20% (P20) and 30% (P30), with a spiked control (CTL) and an unspiked control (CTL0), analyzing microbiology and sperm quality on days 0, 3 and 7. SLC completely removed B. ambifaria and S. simulans, considerably reducing P. aeruginosa and overall contamination (especially P30, similar to 104 CFU/ml of total contamination on day 7, median). Sperm viability was lower in P20 and P30 samples at day 0, with higher cytoplasmic ROS. Still, results were similar in all groups on day 3 and reversed on day 7, indicating a protective effect of SLC (possibly directly by removal of damaged sperm and indirectly because of lower bacterial contamination). Sperm chromatin was affected by the treatment (lower DNA fragmentation and chromatin decondensation) and storage (higher overall condensation on day 7 as per chromomycin A3 and monobromobimane staining). In conclusion, SLC with low-density colloids can remove most bacteria in a controlled contamination design while potentially improving sperm quality and long-term storage at practical temperatures

Kinematic and kinetic patterns related to free-walking in Parkinson's disease

The aim of this study is to compare the properties of free-walking at a natural pace between mild Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients during the ON-clinical status and two control groups. In-shoe pressure-sensitive insoles were used to quantify the temporal and force characteristics of a 5-min free-walking in 11 PD patients, in 16 young healthy controls, and in 12 age-matched healthy controls. Inferential statistics analyses were performed on the kinematic and kinetic parameters to compare groups’ performances, whereas feature selection analyses and automatic classification were used to identify the signature of parkinsonian gait and to assess the performance of group classification, respectively. Compared to healthy subjects, the PD patients’ gait pattern presented significant differences in kinematic parameters associated with bilateral coordination but not in kinetics. Specifically, patients showed an increased variability in double support time, greater gait asymmetry and phase deviation, and also poorer phase coordination. Feature selection analyses based on the ReliefF algorithm on the differential parameters in PD patients revealed an effect of the clinical status, especially true in double support time variability and gait asymmetry. Automatic classification of PD patients, young and senior subjects confirmed that kinematic predictors produced a slightly better classification performance than kinetic predictors. Overall, classification accuracy of groups with a linear discriminant model which included the whole set of features (i.e., demographics and parameters extracted from the sensors) was 64.1

Wersync: A WEB-BASED PLATFORM FOR DISTRIBUTED MEDIA SYNCHRONIZATION AND SOCIAL INTERACTION

This paper presents Wersync, which is an adaptive and accurate web-based platform that enables distributed media synchronization and social interaction across remote users. By using Wersync, users can create or join on-going sessions for concurrently consuming the same media content with other remote users in a synchronized manner. Besides, social interaction is provided by sharing the navigation control commands and by integrating synchronized text chat channels. Additionally, two social presence mechanisms have been added to stimulate the participation of external users in on-going sessions on Wersync. By exclusively relying on standard web-based technologies, this platform can guarantee cross-network, cross-platform and crossdevice support, which is a key point in the current heterogeneous media delivery ecosystem

Do vigorous-intensity and moderate-intensity physical activities reduce mortality to the same extent? : a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: To examine whether vigorous-intensity physical activity confers additional reductions on all-cause and cause-specific mortality compared with moderate-intensity physical activity. Design: A systematic review (registered in PROSPERO CRD42019138995) and meta-analysis. Data sources: Three electronic databases up to April 14 2020. Eligibility criteria: Inclusion criteria were prospective studies that contained information about (1) moderate-intensity (3–5.9 metabolic equivalent tasks (METs)) and vigorous-intensity (≥6 METs) physical activities and (2) all-cause and/or cause-specific mortality. Exclusion criteria were prospective studies that (1) exclusively recruited diseased patients (eg, hypertensive patients and diabetics) or (2) did not account for total physical activity in their multivariable models (3) or did not adjust or exclude individuals with comorbidities at baseline or (4) used physically inactive participants as reference group. Results: Five studies (seven cohorts using sex-specific results) were pooled into a meta-analysis. For all-cause mortality and controlling by total physical activity, vigorous-intensity physical activity (vs moderate) was not associated with a larger reduction in mortality (HR 0.95, 95% CI 0.83 to 1.09). After the exclusion of one study judged with critical risk of bias (Risk Of Bias in Non randomized Studies, ROBINS tool) from meta-analysis, results remained similar (HR 0.98, 95% CI 0.85 to 1.12). Due to the limited number of studies, meta-analyses for cancer and cardiovascular mortality were not performed. Conclusions: Prospective studies suggest that, for the same total physical activity, both vigorous-intensity and moderate-intensity physical activities reduce all-cause mortality to the same extent. However, absence of evidence must not be interpreted as evidence of absence due to the existing methodological flaws in the literature

Near-field scanning optical microscopy to study nanometric structural details of LiNbO3 Zn-diffused channel waveguides

A near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM) is used to perform structural and optical characterization of the surface layer after Zn diffusion in a channel waveguide fabricated on lithium niobate. A theoretical approach has been developed in order to extract refractive index contrast from NSOM optical transmission measurements (illumination configuration). As a result, different solid phases present on the sample surface can be identified, such as ZnO and ZnNb2O6. They appear like submicrometric crystallites aligned along the domain wall direction, whose origin can be ascribed to some strain relaxation mechanism during the annealing process after Zn [email protected]

High‐temperature behavior of impurities and dimensionality of the charge transport in unintentionally and tin‐doped indium selenide

A systematic study of the electron transport and shallow impurity distribution in indium selenide above room temperature or after an annealing process is reported by means of far‐infrared‐absorption and Hall‐effect measurements. Evidences are found for the existence of a large concentration of deep levels (1012–1013 cm−2), related to impurities adsorbed to stacking faults in this material. Above room temperature impurities can migrate from those defect zones and then become shallow in the bulk. The subsequent large increase of 3D electrons can change the dimensionality of the electron transport, which in most cases was 2D. The temperature dependence of the resistivity parallel to the c axis can be explained by the observed increase of the 3D electron concentration, whose motion across the layers is limited by stacking‐fault‐related potential barriers. The observed macroscopic resistivity is thus determined by tunneling through those [email protected]

Ecofriendly Perovskites with Giant Self-Defocusing Optical Response

[EN] The full optical control of light using sustainable green technologies is one of the incipient challenges of the Photonics community. There are, however, few optical materials able to provide a significant nonlinear refractive index change under small enough intensities (< 1 GW cm(-2)), and, more importantly, allowing the external control of the magnitude and sign of their nonlinear response. This manuscript demonstrates that Cs2SnI6 lead-free nanocrystals (NCs) present an extraordinary self-defocusing response not yet observed up to now in any material. Despite its complex structural form, these NCs are fully characterized here, both experimentally and theoretically, revealing a giant negative refractive change Delta n = -0.05 under proper illumination conditions. The nonlinear response is tuned with the intensity, concentration of NCs in the solvent, and propagation distance leading to a crossover where the media transforms to self-focusing with Delta n = +0.002. These results can provide fascinating opportunities in sensing and light-matter interactions for a future ecofriendly photonic technology.This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 862656 (project DROP-IT) and by the Spanish MICINN through project no. PID2020-120484RB-I00 and by Generalitat Valenciana PROMETEO/2021/082.Suárez, I.; Martinez-Pastor, JP.; Oszajca, MF.; Lüchinger, NA.; Graves, B.; Agouram, S.; Milián Enrique, C.... (2022). Ecofriendly Perovskites with Giant Self-Defocusing Optical Response. Advanced Optical Materials. https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.20220212

The subpopulation pattern of eel sperm is affected by post-activation time, hormonal treatment and thermal regime

[EN] There has been a marked reduction in natural stocks of eels (genus Anguilla) over the past 60 years, and the culture of eels is still based on the capture of very large quantities of juveniles. It is necessary to close the life cycle in captivity in order to ease the pressure on wild populations. The aims of the present study were to evaluate sperm subpopulations (through cluster analysis of computer-aided sperm analysis data) in the European eel (Anguilla anguilla) and to assess the effects of motility acquisition time after activation (i.e. at 30, 60 and 90 s), the thermal regimen (i.e. 10 degrees C (T10) or 15 degrees C (T15) and up to 20 degrees C, or constant at 20 degrees C (T20)) and hormonal treatments (i.e. human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), recombinant (r) hCG or pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG)) on these subpopulations. In all cases, we obtained three subpopulations of spermatozoa: low velocity and linear (S1); high velocity with low linearity (S2); and high velocity and linear (S3; considered high quality). Total motility and S1 were affected by acquisition time; thus, 30 s is recommended as the standard time for motility acquisition. When eels were kept at 20 degrees C (T20), motility data fitted quadratic models, with the highest motility and proportion of S3 between Weeks 8 and 12 after the first injection. Lower temperatures (T10, T15) delayed spermiation and the obtaining of high-quality spermatozoa (S3), but did not seem to alter the spermiation process (similar subpopulation pattern). Conversely, the hormonal treatments altered both the dynamics of the subpopulation pattern and the onset of spermiation (with PMSG delaying it). Total motility and the yield of S3 with the widely used hCG treatment varied throughout the spermiation period. However, using rhCG allowed us to obtain high-quality and constant motility for most of the study (Weeks 7-20), and the S3 yield was also higher overall (61.8 +/- 1.3%; mean +/- s.e.m.) and more stable over time than the other hormonal treatments (averaging 53.0 +/- 1.4%). Using T20 and rhCG would be more economical and practical, allowing us to obtain a higher number of S3 spermatozoa over an extended time.This study was funded by the European Community's 7th Framework Program under the Theme 2 'Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and Bio-technology', grant agreement no. 245257 (PRO-EEL) and Generalitat Valenciana (ACOMP/2012/086). VG and MCV have predoctoral grants from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (AGL2010-16009) and Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (UPV) PAID Program (2011-S2-02-6521), respectively. DSP was supported by a contract cofinanced by Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN) and UPV (PTA2011-4948-I). FM-P was supported by the Ramon y Cajal program (MICINN, RYC-2008-02560).Gallego Albiach, V.; Vilchez Olivencia, MC.; Peñaranda, D.; Pérez Igualada, LM.; Herraez, MP.; Asturiano Nemesio, JF.; Martinez-Pastor, F. (2015). The subpopulation pattern of eel sperm is affected by post-activation time, hormonal treatment and thermal regime. Reproduction, Fertility and Development. 27(3):529-543. https://doi.org/10.1071/RD13198S52954327

Secuelas tras inyección ilegal de silicona líquida como técnica de aumento mamario: presentación de 2 casos

The use of liquid silicone for breast augmentation was widespread in the 1960s but was abandoned at the end of the decade due to numerous studies describing the development of a large number of local complications, as well as remote migration of small amounts of silicone. The use of liquid silicone also leads to enormous difficulty in the early diagnosis of breast cancer; these patients are precluded from routine screening programs and must undergo exhaustive periodic examinations. Magnetic resonance imaging has become the most effective test for the early detection of breast cancer in these patients. Indications for subcutaneous mastectomy are the presence of local complications, suspicion of a malignant lesion, or the patient’s desire to prevent both these potential problems

Visual processing speed in hemianopia patients secondary to acquired brain injury: a new assessment methodology

Producción CientíficaBackground: There is a clinical need to identify diagnostic parameters that objectively quantify and monitor the effective visual ability of patients with homonymous visual field defects (HVFDs). Visual processing speed (VPS) is an objective measure of visual ability. It is the reaction time (RT) needed to correctly search and/or reach for a visual stimulus. VPS depends on six main brain processing systems: auditory-cognitive, attentional, working memory, visuocognitive, visuomotor, and executive. We designed a new assessment methodology capable of activating these six systems and measuring RTs to determine the VPS of patients with HVFDs. Methods: New software was designed for assessing subject visual stimulus search and reach times (S-RT and R-RT respectively), measured in seconds. Thirty-two different everyday visual stimuli were divided in four complexity groups that were presented along 8 radial visual field positions at three different eccentricities (10o, 20o, and 30o). Thus, for each HVFD and control subject, 96 S- and R-RT measures related to VPS were registered. Three additional variables were measured to gather objective data on the validity of the test: eye-hand coordination mistakes (ehcM), eye-hand coordination accuracy (ehcA), and degrees of head movement (dHM, measured by a head-tracker system). HVFD patients and healthy controls (30 each) matched by age and gender were included. Each subject was assessed in a single visit. VPS measurements for HFVD patients and control subjects were compared for the complete test, for each stimulus complexity group, and for each eccentricity. Results: VPS was significantly slower (p < 0.0001) in the HVFD group for the complete test, each stimulus complexity group, and each eccentricity. For the complete test, the VPS of the HVFD patients was 73.0% slower than controls. They also had 335.6% more ehcMs, 41.3% worse ehcA, and 189.0% more dHMs than the controls. Conclusions: Measurement of VPS by this new assessment methodology could be an effective tool for objectively quantifying the visual ability of HVFD patients. Future research should evaluate the effectiveness of this novel method for measuring the impact that any specific neurovisual rehabilitation program has for these patients