Multifractal bioinformatics: A proposal to the nonlinear interpretation of genome

Resumen El primer borrador de la secuencia completa del genoma humano (GH) se publicó en el año 2001 por parte de dos consorcios competidores. Desde entonces, varias características estructurales y funcionales de la organización del GH han sido reveladas. Hoy en día, más de 2000 genomas humanos han sido secuenciados y todos estos hallazgos están impactando fuertemente en la academia y la salud pública. A pesar de esto, un gran cuello de botella llamado la interpretación del genoma persiste; esto es, la falta de una teoría que integre y explique el complejo rompecabezas de características codificantes y no codificantes que componen el GH como un todo. Diez años después de secuenciado el GH, dos trabajos recientes, abordados dentro del formalismo multifractal permiten proponer una teoría no-lineal que ayuda a interpretar la variación estructural y funcional de la información genética de los genomas. El presente artículo de revisión trata acerca de este novedoso enfoque, denominado: “Bioinformática multifractal”. Abstract The first draft of the human genome (HG) sequence was published in 2001 by two competing consortia. Since then, several structural and functional characteristics for the HG organization have been revealed. Today, more than 2.000 HG have been sequenced and these findings are impacting strongly on the academy and public health. Despite all this, a major bottleneck, called the genome interpretation persists. That is, the lack of a theory that explains the complex puzzles of coding and non-coding features that compose the HG as a whole. Ten years after the HG sequenced, two recent studies, discussed in the multifractal formalism allow proposing a nonlinear theory that helps interpret the structural and functional variation of the genetic information of the genomes. The present review article discusses this new approach, called: “Multifractal bioinformatics”

Prediction of virus-host protein-protein interactions mediated by short linear motifs

Table S4. Supplement information describing the previous files. (Supplement - Prediction of Virus-Host Protein-Protein interactions based on Short Linear Motifs.pdf) available at https://figshare.com/articles/Supplement_-_Prediction_of_Virus-Host_Protein-Protein_interactions_based_on_Short_Linear_Motifs/4667461 . (PDF 166 kb

Consenso SECOT artrosis femorotibial medial.

Se presenta un consenso elaborado por SECOT sobre la actuación en la artrosis del compartimento medial de la rodilla para establecer criterios y recomendaciones clínicas orientadas a unificar criterios en su manejo, abordando los factores implicados en la patogenia de la artrosis femorotibial medial de rodilla, la utilidad de las técnicas diagnósticas por la imagen y la utilidad de la artroscopia. También se analizarán los tratamientos conservadores y el tratamiento quirúrgico. Los expertos consultados muestran consenso (acuerdo o desacuerdo)en el 65,85% de los ítems planteados, dejando 14 ítems donde no se encontró el consenso que se enmarcaron en la etiopatogenia de la artrosis, el valor de la RM en la patología degenerativa,la utilidad de los COX-2 y de los fármacos condroprotectores, así como sobre la técnica idónea de la osteotomía valguizante.© 2013 SECOT. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L

A Hemispherical Contact Model for Simplifying 3D Occlusal Surfaces

Statement of problem Currently, dental articulators can recreate mandibular movements and occlusal contacts. However, whether virtual articulators can also provide information about occluding dental surfaces, functional movements, and the mandibular condyles is unclear. Purpose The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the occluding surfaces on dental casts obtained from a patient and approximate them to a hemispherical contact model. Both models were tested by digitizing the Dentatus ARL dental articulator. Material and methods A combination of photogrammetry and structure from motion methods were used to scan a Dentatus ARL articulator and representative dental casts. Using computer-aided engineering and finite element analysis, contact points and action vectors to the forces on occluding surfaces and condyles were obtained for cast and hemispherical models. This experiment was performed using centric occlusion and 3 different condylar inclinations. The Kruskal-Wallis 1-way analysis of variance on ranks test was used to allow all pairwise comparisons between condylar inclination and mechanical action vector values in each location (α=.05). Results Action vectors from the cast model and each location of the hemispherical model were calculated to show the mechanical consequences and the similarity among models. Overall, no significant differences were observed for action vectors (A20 versus A40 versus A60) at each location (dental cast/hemisphere, right condylar, and left condylar) in the analysis of dental casts and the hemisphere model (.382≤P≤.999). Conclusions This study provided graphical information that may assist the dental professional in determining which occlusal contacts should be modified to attain condylar and balanced centric occlusion

Evaluation of a Bayesian Algorithm to Detect Burned Areas in the Canary Islands’ Dry Woodlands and Forests Ecoregion Using MODIS Data

Burned Area (BA) is deemed as a primary variable to understand the Earth’s climate system. Satellite remote sensing data have allowed for the development of various burned area detection algorithms that have been globally applied to and assessed in diverse ecosystems, ranging from tropical to boreal. In this paper, we present a Bayesian algorithm (BY-MODIS) that detects burned areas in a time series of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) images from 2002 to 2012 of the Canary Islands’ dry woodlands and forests ecoregion (Spain). Based on daily image products MODIS, MOD09GQ (250 m), and MOD11A1 (1 km), the surface spectral reflectance and the land surface temperature, respectively, 10 day composites were built using the maximum temperature criterion. Variables used in BY-MODIS were the Global Environment Monitoring Index (GEMI) and Burn Boreal Forest Index (BBFI), alongside the NIR spectral band, all of which refer to the previous year and the year the fire took place in. Reference polygons for the 14 fires exceeding 100 hectares and identified within the period under analysis were developed using both post-fire LANDSAT images and official information from the forest fires national database by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment of Spain (MAPAMA). The results obtained by BY-MODIS can be compared to those by official burned area products, MCD45A1 and MCD64A1. Despite that the best overall results correspond to MCD64A1, BY-MODIS proved to be an alternative for burned area mapping in the Canary Islands, a region with a great topographic complexity and diverse types of ecosystems. The total burned area detected by the BY-MODIS classifier was 64.9% of the MAPAMA reference data, and 78.6% according to data obtained from the LANDSAT images, with the lowest average commission error (11%) out of the three products and a correlation (R2) of 0.82. The Bayesian algorithm—originally developed to detect burned areas in North American boreal forests using AVHRR archival data Long-Term Data Record—can be successfully applied to a lower latitude forest ecosystem totally different from the boreal ecosystem and using daily time series of satellite images from MODIS with a 250 m spatial resolution, as long as a set of training areas adequately characterising the dynamics of the forest canopy affected by the fire is defined

Análisis del consumo de cerveza en el área metropolitana de Monterrey: Un modelo de respuesta censurada

This study analyses the effect of household income and socioeconomic composition on household expenditure on beer. Tobit models are used in order to capture the response on the magnitude of beer purchases as well as the behavior of non-purchasing households. The results indicate, without regard to income segment, that household income and education of the household manager determine beer consumption and have a greater effect on potential consumers.

Methods and Apparatus for In Vivo Identification and Characterization of Vulnerable Atherosclerotic Plaques

Methods and apparatus for analyzing the chemical composition of vulnerable plaques with an intravascular catheter having a near-infrared light source, a fiber-optic probe, a mechanism for directing the light from the light source into a blood vessel, and detectors for detecting light reflected or scattered by the tissue. The light source may be a tunable laser, and may transmit an incident beam having a wavelength ranging from 1400 to 4100 nm. A computer may be included to receive and process the spectral data in the analysis of the vulnerable plaques. A catheter system may be configured to provide near-IR spectrometric imaging of arteries to non-destructively locate and determine lipid pool and fibrous cap size and composition. Additionally, mediators and cellular components may be also determined that are typically associated with vulnerable plaques which have an increased risk of rupture. The lipid pool, fibrous cap, and inflammatory response may serve as an in vivo marker for vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques. Methods are further provided for prospectively identifying and characterizing vulnerable plaques which may include the steps of focusing near-IR light onto a blood vessel wall; detecting the scattered light in the region; and analyzing the resulting spectra across the full preselected wavelength range, particularly in the ranges that include identifying peaks for vulnerable plaque constituents

Oestrid myiasis in European Mouflon from Spain

From February 1992 to March 1997, 245 European mouflon (Ovis orientalis musimon) from Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas Natural Park (southern Spain) were surveyed for oestrid larvae in order to estimate prevalence and mean intensity of parasitism by Oestrus ovis. Over 46 percent of the animals surveyed were infected, with a mean intensity of 9.6 larvae/host parasitized. No significant differences in prevalence rates between host sexes were observed, but older mouflons were infected with more larvae than younger ones.Peer Reviewe

Influence of a Concurrent Exercise Training Intervention during Pregnancy on Maternal and Arterial and Venous Cord Serum Cytokines: The GESTAFIT Project

The aim of the present study was to analyze the influence of a supervised concurrent exercise-training program, from the 17th gestational week until delivery, on cytokines in maternal (at 17th and 35th gestational week, and at delivery) and arterial and venous cord serum. Fifty-eight Caucasian pregnant women (age: 33.5 +/- 4.7 years old, body mass index: 23.6 +/- 4.1kg/m(2)) from the GESTAFIT Project (exercise (n = 37) and control (n = 21) groups) participated in this quasi-experimental study (per-protocol basis). The exercise group followed a 60-min 3 days/week concurrent (aerobic-resistance) exercise-training from the 17th gestational week to delivery. Maternal and arterial and venous cord serum cytokines (fractalkine, interleukin (IL)-1 beta, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, interferon (IFN)-gamma, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha) were assessed using Luminex xMAP technology. In maternal serum (after adjusting for the baseline values of cytokines), the exercise group decreased TNF-alpha (from baseline to 35th week, p = 0.02), and increased less IL-1 beta (from baseline to delivery, p = 0.03) concentrations than controls. When adjusting for other potential confounders, these differences became non-significant. In cord blood, the exercise group showed reduced arterial IL-6 and venous TNF-alpha (p = 0.03 and p = 0.001, respectively) and higher concentrations of arterial IL-1 beta (p = 0.03) compared to controls. The application of concurrent exercise-training programs could be a strategy to modulate immune responses in pregnant women and their fetuses. However, future research is needed to better understand the origin and clearance of these cytokines, their role in the maternal-placental-fetus crosstalk, and the influence of exercise interventions on them