Modulation of Myotilin and Fylamin C in Various Muscle Diseases: A Microarray Analysis

COMPARTMENT to identify the localization in cells. We showed that both MYOT and FLNC were significantly modulated in various muscle diseases. In particular, MYOT and FLNC mRNA were significantly downregulated in Acute quadriplegic myopathy (AQM) and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) compared to normal human skeletal muscle. Furthermore, the GIANT analysis showed a relationship confidence of 0.23 to MYOT and FLNC, confirming their strong correlation. These data provide to support our hypothesis that a positive correlation exists between MYOT and FLNC. Larger studies are needed to evaluate if MYOT and FLNC may be a promising clinical biomarker in subjects with diseases of the muscle

The role of taxanes in triple-negative breast cancer: literature review

Breast cancer (BC) is the most frequent tumor worldwide. Triple-negative BCs are characterized by the negative estrogen and progesterone receptors and negative HER2, and represent 15% of all BCs. In this review, data on the use of taxanes in triple-negative BCs are analyzed, concluding they are effective in any clinical setting (neoadjuvant, adjuvant, and metastatic). Further, the role of nab-paclitaxel (formulation of albumin-bound paclitaxel) in these tumors is also evaluated. The available data show the clinical potential of nab-paclitaxel based combinations in terms of long-duration response, increased survival, and better quality of life of patients with triple-negative metastatic BC. The ongoing trials will give further information on the better management of this type of tumor

In Situ Raman Analysis of CO\u2082-Assisted Drying of Fruit-Slices

This work explores the feasibility of applying in situ Raman spectroscopy for the online monitoring of the supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO\u2082) drying of fruits. Specifically, we investigate two types of fruits: mango and persimmon. The drying experiments were carried out inside an optical accessible vessel at 10 MPa and 313 K. The Raman spectra reveal: (i) the reduction of the water from the fruit slice and (ii) the change of the fruit matrix structure during the drying process. Two different Raman excitation wavelengths were compared: 532 nm and 785 nm. With respect to the quality of the obtained spectra, the 532 nm excitation wavelength was superior due to a higher signal-to-noise ratio and due to a resonant excitation scheme of the carotenoid molecules. It was found that the absorption of CO\u2082 into the fruit matrix enhances the extraction of water, which was expressed by the obtained drying kinetic curve

Knowledge Domains, Technological Strategies and Open Innovation

This study provides a patent-based framework, investigating the relationship among the relevance of the technological domains, the exploitation vs. exploration strategies and the choice of open innovation practices. Specifically, this work presents five levels of open innovation adoption and analyses the reason why firms open up their innovation boundaries. The methodology is tested on a sample of 240 companies belonging to the bio-pharmaceutical and the technology hardware & equipment industries, by examining their patents filed in 2011. Results show that the relevance of the knowledge domain affects the choice of the innovation strategy; also, non-equity alliances are preferred in explorative activities and equity alliances in exploitative ones

HIV RNA Suppression and Immune Restoration: Can We Do Better?

HAART has significantly changed the natural history of HIV infection: patients receiving antiretrovirals are usually able to control viremia, even though not all virological responders adequately recover their CD4+ count. The reasons for poor immune restoration are only partially known and they include genetic, demographic and immunologic factors. A crucial element affecting immune recovery is immune activation, related to residual viremia; indeed, a suboptimal virological control (i.e., low levels of plasma HIV RNA) has been related with higher levels of chronic inflammation and all-cause mortality. The sources of residual viremia are not yet completely known, even though the most important one is represented by latently infected cells. Several methods, including 2-LTR HIV DNA and unspliced HIV RNA measurement, have been developed to estimate residual viremia and predict the outcome of antiretroviral therapy. Considering that poor immunologic responders are exposed to a higher risk of both AIDS-related and non-AIDS-related diseases, there is a need of new therapeutic strategies, including immunomodulators and drugs targeting the latent viral reservoirs, in order to face residual viremia but also to “drive” the host immunologic responses

Processamento fonológico e velocidade de nomeação automática rápida em jovens e adultos analfabetos funcionais

A leitura é uma habilidade cognitiva complexa e sua aquisição depende do acesso a escola e a um sistema de ensino com qualidade. No entanto, a qualidade do ensino e a taxa de evasão escolar ainda produzem altas taxas de analfabetismo e baixas habilidades de leitura no Brasil. Dados de 2018 indicam que 29% da população brasileira pode ser classificada como analfabetos funcionais. Entretanto, apesar da aplicação de provas de leitura em avaliações nacionais ser importante para detectar as taxas de analfabetismo na população adulta, os resultados são pouco conclusivos sobre o impacto dos diferentes processos cognitivos e linguísticos subjacente à leitura nessa população. Verifica-se uma lacuna de conhecimentos específicos sobre os processos cognitivos envolvidos no desempenho de leitura de jovens e adultos analfabetos funcionais e, em que medida, esses processos se diferenciam dos considerados bons leitores. Nesse caso, ainda são necessários estudos que mostrem se a consciência fonológica e a nomeação automática rápida são também habilidades correlacionadas ao desempenho em leitura e escrita em adultos analfabetos funcionais, assim como é em crianças. O objetivo do estudo foi avaliar o desempenho em consciência fonológica e velocidade de nomeação automática rápida, em jovens e adultos analfabetos funcionais e comparar com crianças em processo de alfabetização e adultos plenamente alfabetizados. Participaram do estudo 84 participantes, sendo 26 jovens e adultos analfabetos funcionais, 28 crianças do 3º ano do Ensino Fundamental e 30 jovens e adultos universitários e bons leitores. Todos os participantes foram avaliados por meio de uma bateria ampla de testes neuropsicológicos e de leitura e escrita. Além disso, foram registrados e analisados os movimentos oculares nas tarefas de Nomeação Automática Rápida e leitura. Análises de Covariância (ANCOVAs) Multivariada, controlando o nível de inteligência, indicaram que os jovens e adultos analfabetos funcionais não se diferenciam das crianças e dos universitários nos subtestes silábicos da prova de Consciência Fonológica, entretanto tiveram melhores desempenho do que as crianças em transposição fonêmica e no escore geral dos subtestes fonêmicos, sendo que os universitários obtiveram os melhores resultados. Em relação ao desempenho em Nomeação Automática Rápida, o grupo de analfabetos funcionais obteve melhores desempenho do que as crianças nas tarefas não alfanuméricas e nas alfanuméricas, sendo que os universitários novamente obtiveram melhores desempenhos. Também foram encontradas diferenças nos padrões de movimentos oculares durantes as tarefas de nomeação e leitura.Reading is a complex cognitive ability and its acquisition depends on accessing the school system and in the teaching system quality. However, the quality of education and the school dropout rate still produce high rates of illiteracy and low reading skills in Brazil. Data from 2018 indicate that 29% of the Brazilian population can be classified as functional illiterates. However, although the use of reading tests in national assessments is important to detect illiteracy rates in the adult population, the results are inconclusive on the impact of the different cognitive and linguistic processes underlying reading. There is a lack of specific knowledge about the cognitive processes involved in reading performance of functionally illiterate adults, and to what extent these processes differ from those considered to be good readers. In this case, studies are still necessary to show whether phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming are also skills correlated to reading and writing performance in functional adult illiterates, just as it is in children. The aim of the study was to assess the performance in phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming speed in young people and adults functionally illiterate and to compare with children in the literacy process and fully literate adults. A total of 84 subjects participated in the study, 26 young and adults functionally illiterates, 28 children in the 3rd year of elementary school and 30 undergraduate students. All participants were assessed using a wide battery of neuropsychological and reading and writing tests. In addition, eye movements were recorded and analyzed in the Rapid Automatized Naming and Reading tasks. Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVAs), controlling the level of intelligence, indicated that functionally illiterates adults are not differentiated from children and undergraduate students in the syllabic subtests of the Phonological Awareness test, however they performed better than the children in phonemic transposition and in the general score of the phonemic subtests, and the undergraduate students obtained the best results. Regarding the performance in Rapid Automatized Naming, the functionally illiterate group performed better than children in non-alphanumeric and alphanumeric tasks, and the undergraduate students again performed better. Differences in eye movement patterns were also found during naming and reading tasks.Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível SuperiorFundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paul

Performance de IEEE 802.15.6 en coexistencia con IEEE 802.15.4 e IEEE 802.11

En el presente trabajo se analiza el impacto en el rendimiento de IEEE 802.15.6 cuando es interferido por IEEE 802.15.4 o IEEE 802.11, pretendiendo dar una medida del grado de confiabilidad del primero, que es un protocolo creado para transmisión en baja potencia de parámetros vitales de pacientes humanos, cuando comparte la banda de frecuencias ISM con otros protocolos ampliamente difundidos como son los dos últimos. Las ISM son bandas de radiofrecuencia electromagnética no licenciadas, comprendidas (entre otras) desde los 2,4 a 2,5GHz1, reservadas internacionalmente para uso no comercial en áreas industrial, científica y médica. Se ha popularizado su uso en comunicaciones WiFi (distintas versiones de IEEE 802.11), Bluethoot, IEEE 802.15.6, IEEE 802.15.4, etc; pudiendo unos comportarse como ruido electromagnético de otros, especialmente en áreas densamente pobladas. A la fecha de redacción de la presente tesis, no se han encontrado trabajos donde se estudie el impacto en el rendimiento de IEEE 802.15.6 interferido por IEEE 802.15.4 o 802.11. Trabajos como el de R. Natarajan, P. Zand y M. Nabi [4] han realizado un estudio teórico y experimental de la degradación del rendimiento de IEEE 802.15.4 interferido por BLE (y viceversa) o por IEEE 802.11, pero no han considerado a IEEE 802.15.6. Otros como el de M.M Alam y E.B. Hamida compara las estrategias de coexistencia propuestas por IEEE 802.15.6 con interferencia intra-BAN, inter-BAN y degradación del canal debido al movimiento dinámico del cuerpo, pero no considera el caso en que el protocolo comparta canales con otros estándares. El presente trabajo analiza de forma teórica, repitiendo el escenario y método de R. Nataraja et al, el impacto en el rendimiento de IEEE 802.15.6 cuando es interferido por IEEE 802.11 o 802.15.4Facultad de Informátic

Functional Properties and Toxin Pharmacology of a Dorsal Root Ganglion Sodium Channel Viewed through its Voltage Sensors

The voltage-activated sodium (Nav) channel Nav1.9 is expressed in dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons where it is believed to play an important role in nociception. Progress in revealing the functional properties and pharmacological sensitivities of this non-canonical Nav channel has been slow because attempts to express this channel in a heterologous expression system have been unsuccessful. Here, we use a protein engineering approach to dissect the contributions of the four Nav1.9 voltage sensors to channel function and pharmacology. We define individual S3b–S4 paddle motifs within each voltage sensor, and show that they can sense changes in membrane voltage and drive voltage sensor activation when transplanted into voltage-activated potassium channels. We also find that the paddle motifs in Nav1.9 are targeted by animal toxins, and that these toxins alter Nav1.9-mediated currents in DRG neurons. Our results demonstrate that slowly activating and inactivating Nav1.9 channels have functional and pharmacological properties in common with canonical Nav channels, but also show distinctive pharmacological sensitivities that can potentially be exploited for developing novel treatments for pain

Heme oxygenase-1 in central nervous system malignancies

Central nervous system tumors are the most common pediatric solid tumors and account for 20%-25% of all childhood malignancies. Several lines of evidence suggest that brain tumors show altered redox homeostasis that triggers the activation of various survival pathways, leading to disease progression and chemoresistance. Among these pathways, heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) plays an important role. HO-1 catalyzes the enzymatic degradation of heme with the simultaneous release of carbon monoxide (CO), ferrous iron (Fe2+), and biliverdin. The biological effects of HO-1 in tumor cells have been shown to be cell-specific since, in some tumors, its upregulation promotes cell cycle arrest and cellular death, whereas, in other neoplasms, it is associated with tumor survival and progression. This review focuses on the role of HO-1 in central nervous system malignancies and the possibility of exploiting such a target to improve the outcome of well-established therapeutic regimens. Finally, several studies show that HO-1 overexpression is involved in the development and resistance of brain tumors to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, suggesting the use of HO-1 as an innovative therapeutic target to overcome drug resistance. The following keywords were used to search the literature related to this topic: nuclear factor erythroid 2 p45-related factor 2, heme oxygenase, neuroblastoma, medulloblastoma, meningioma, astrocytoma, oligodendroglioma, glioblastoma multiforme, and gliomas