Vibrational dynamics of a two-dimensional microgranular crystal

We study the dynamics of an ordered hexagonal monolayer of polystyrene microspheres adhered to a glass substrate coated with a thin aluminum layer. A laser-induced transient grating technique is employed to generate and detect three types of acoustic modes across the entire Brillouin zone in the Γ−K direction: low-frequency contact-based modes of the granular monolayer, high-frequency modes originating from spheroidal vibrations of the microspheres, and surface Rayleigh waves. The dispersion relation of contact-based and spheroidal modes indicates that they are collective modes of the microgranular crystal controlled by particle-particle contacts. We observe a spheroidal resonance splitting caused by the symmetry breaking due to the substrate, as well as an avoided crossing between the Rayleigh and spheroidal modes. The measurements are found to be in agreement with our analytical model.United States. Department of Energy (Grant DE-FG02-00ER15087)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant CHE-1111557

Primary Hepatosplenic Large B-Cell Lymphoma: A Rare Aggressive Tumor

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is the most common form of lymphoma. It usually begins in the lymph nodes; up to 40% may have an extranodal presentation. According to a definition of primary extranodal lymphoma with presentation only in extranodal sites, there are reports of large B-cell lymphomas limited to liver or spleen as separate entities, and to date there have been only three documented cases of primary hepatosplenic presentation. This paper reports a fourth case. Due to a review of the literature and the clinical course of the case reported, we conclude that primary hepatosplenic large B-cell lymphoma has been found predominantly in females older than 60 years. The patients reported had <2 months of evolution prior to diagnosis, prominent B symptoms, splenomegaly in three and hepatomegaly in two, none with lymph node involvement. All had thrombocytopenia and abnormal liver function tests; three had anemia and elevated serum lactic dehydrogenase levels, two with hemophagocytosis in bone marrow. Because of the previously mentioned data, it can be stated that primary hepatosplenic lymphoma is an uncommon and aggressive form of disease that requires immediate recognition and treatment

Nineteen novel NPHS1 mutations in a worldwide cohort of patients with congenital nephrotic syndrome (CNS)

Background. Recessive mutations in the NPHS1 gene encoding nephrin account for ∼40% of infants with congenital nephrotic syndrome (CNS). CNS is defined as steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome (SRNS) within the first 90 days of life. Currently, more than 119 different mutations of NPHS1 have been published affecting most exons. Methods. We here performed mutational analysis of NPHS1 in a worldwide cohort of 67 children from 62 different families with CNS. Results. We found bi-allelic mutations in 36 of the 62 families (58%) confirming in a worldwide cohort that about one-half of CNS is caused by NPHS1 mutations. In 26 families, mutations were homozygous, and in 10, they were compound heterozygous. In an additional nine patients from eight families, only one heterozygous mutation was detected. We detected 37 different mutations. Nineteen of the 37 were novel mutations (∼51.4%), including 11 missense mutations, 4 splice-site mutations, 3 nonsense mutations and 1 small deletion. In an additional patient with later manifestation, we discovered two further novel mutations, including the first one affecting a glycosylation site of nephrin. Conclusions. Our data hereby expand the spectrum of known mutations by 17.6%. Surprisingly, out of the two siblings with the homozygous novel mutation L587R in NPHS1, only one developed nephrotic syndrome before the age of 90 days, while the other one did not manifest until the age of 2 years. Both siblings also unexpectedly experienced an episode of partial remission upon steroid treatmen

Finite size effects near the onset of the oscillatory instability

A system of two complex Ginzburg - Landau equations is considered that applies at the onset of the oscillatory instability in spatial domains whose size is large (but finite) in one direction; the dependent variables are the slowly modulated complex amplitudes of two counterpropagating wavetrains. In order to obtain a well posed problem, four boundary conditions must be imposed at the boundaries. Two of them were already known, and the other two are first derived in this paper. In the generic case when the group velocity is of order unity, the resulting problem has terms that are not of the same order of magnitude. This fact allows us to consider two distinguished limits and to derive two associated (simpler) sub-models, that are briefly discussed. Our results predict quite a rich variety of complex dynamics that is due to both the modulational instability and finite size effects

Incidence of Diabetes in the Working Population in Spain: Results from the ICARIA Cohort

INTRODUCTION: Our objective was to evaluate the incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in a working population in Spain and to assess associations between its development and several risk factors. METHODS: The ICARIA (Ibermutuamur CArdiovascular RIsk Assessment) cohort (n = 627,523) includes ~3% of Spanish workers. This analysis was undertaken in individuals whose glycaemic status during the index period (May 2004-December 2007) was determined to be normal or indicative of prediabetes [fasting plasma glucose (FPG) 100-125 mg/dl] and who had at least one FPG measurement taken 9 months after a first measurement during follow-up (May 2004-June 2014) (n = 380,366). T2DM patients were defined as those with an FPG ? 126 mg/day and those who had already been diagnosed with T2DM or were taking antihyperglycaemic medications. RESULTS: The incidence rate of T2DM was 5.0 [95% confidence interval (CI) 4.9-5.1] cases per 1000 person-years. Under multivariate logistic regression analysis, the factor showing the strongest association with the occurrence of T2DM was the baseline FPG level, with the likelihood of T2DM almost doubling for every 5 mg/dl increase in baseline FPG between 100 and < 126 mg/dl. The presence of other cardiometabolic risk factors and being a blue-collar worker were also significantly associated with the occurrence of T2DM. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of T2DM in the working population was within the range encountered in the general population and prediabetes was found to be the strongest risk factor for the development of diabetes. The workplace is an appropriate and feasible setting for the assessment of easily measurable risk factors, such as the presence of prediabetes and other cardiometabolic factors, to facilitate the early detection of individuals at higher risk of diabetes and the implementation of diabetes prevention programmes

Controlled clinical trial comparing the effectiveness of a mindfulness and self-compassion 4-session programme versus an 8-session programme to reduce work stress and burnout in family and community medicine physicians and nurses: MINDUUDD study protocol

Background: Health personnel are susceptible to high levels of work stress and burnout due to the psychological and emotional demands of their work, as well as to other aspects related to the organisation of that work. This paper describes the rationale and design of the MINDUUDD study, the aim of which is to evaluate the effectiveness of a mindfulness and self-compassion 4-session programme versus the standard 8-session programme to reduce work stress and burnout in Family and Community Medicine and Nursing tutors and residents. Methods: The MINDUDD study is a multicentre cluster randomised controlled trial with three parallel arms. Six Teaching Units will be randomised to one of the three study groups: 1) Experimental Group-8 (EG8); 2) Experimental Group-4 (EG4) Control group (CG). At least 132 subjects will participate (66 tutors/66 residents), 44 in the EG8, 44 in the EG4, and 44 in the CG. Interventions will be based on the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program, including some self-compassion practices of the Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) programme. The EG8 intervention will be implemented during 8 weekly face-to-face sessions of 2.5 h each, while the EG4 intervention will consist of 4 sessions of 2.5 h each. The participants will have to practice at home for 30 min/day in the EG8 and 15 min/day in the EG4. The Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), Self-Compassion Scale (SCS), Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ), Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy (JSPE), and Goldberg Anxiety-Depression Scale (GADS) will be administered. Measurements will be taken at baseline, at the end of the programs, and at three months after completion. The effect of the interventions will be evaluated by bivariate and multivariate analyses (Multiple Linear Regression). Discussion: If the abbreviated mindfulness programme is at least as effective as the standard program, its incorporation into the curriculum and training plans will be easier and more appropriate. It will also be more easily applied and accepted by primary care professionals because of the reduced resources and means required for its implementation, and it may also extend beyond care settings to academic and teaching environments as well

A systematic approach to mapping recessive disease genes in individuals from outbred populations

The identification of recessive disease-causing genes by homozygosity mapping is often restricted by lack of suitable consanguineous families. To overcome these limitations, we apply homozygosity mapping to single affected individuals from outbred populations. In 72 individuals of 54 kindred ascertained worldwide with known homozygous mutations in 13 different recessive disease genes, we performed total genome homozygosity mapping using 250,000 SNP arrays. Likelihood ratio Z-scores (ZLR) were plotted across the genome to detect ZLR peaks that reflect segments of homozygosity by descent, which may harbor the mutated gene. In 93% of cases, the causative gene was positioned within a consistent ZLR peak of homozygosity. The number of peaks reflected the degree of inbreeding. We demonstrate that disease-causing homozygous mutations can be detected in single cases from outbred populations within a single ZLR peak of homozygosity as short as 2 Mb, containing an average of only 16 candidate genes. As many specialty clinics have access to cohorts of individuals from outbred populations, and as our approach will result in smaller genetic candidate regions, the new strategy of homozygosity mapping in single outbred individuals will strongly accelerate the discovery of novel recessive disease genes

Production of fructooligosaccharides and b-fructofuranosidase by batch and repeated batch fermentation with immobilized cells of Penicillium expansum

The production of fructooligosaccharides (FOS) and b-fructofuranosidase (FFase) by immobilized cells of Penicillium expansum was evaluated. In an initial stage, different low-cost materials including synthetic fiber, polyurethane foam, stainless steel sponge, loofah sponge, and cork oak were tested as carrier for the fungus immobilization. Additionally, the influence of the inoculum age (1 or 3 weeks) on cells immobilization, FOS and FFase production was also verified. Synthetic fiber and polyurethane foam were the best materials for P. expansum immobilization (2.21 and 1.98 g/g carrier, respectively) and FOS production (120.3 and 104.8 g/l), and gave also high results of FFase activity (23.01 and 32.42 U/ml). Then, the production of FOS and FFase by repeated batch fermentation with P. expansum immobilized on synthetic fiber was studied, aiming to improve the batch fermentation results. The results obtained in this stage were very promising with FOS yields of 87, 72, and 44 %, in the 3 initial cycles (60 h), respectively; the FFase activity was constant throughout the process (6 cycles, 96 h). Repeated batch fermentation with immobilized cells of P. expansum was found as being a technology with great potential for FOS and FFase production on industrial scaleThe financial support from FCT, the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (research grant SFRH/BPD/38212/2007) is gratefully acknowledged

El modelo integrador y de innovación docente del Grado en Veterinaria de Zaragoza: integración en équidos

Desde hace cuatro años se ha comenzado a impartir en la Universidad de Zaragoza el nuevo Grado en Veterinaria, de 300 créditos ECTS distribuidos en 5 cursos. En el diseño de este nuevo Plan de Estudios se ha tratado de dotar a la Titulación de un enfoque basado, fundamentalmente, en las competencias que la profesión exige y la sociedad necesita de un t itulado (graduado) en veterinaria. Tras una formación inicial básica el alumno llega al CUARTO CURSO del grado, en el que las materias se han organizado en asignaturas siguiendo una estructura totalmente novedosa para los estudios de veterinaria en España. Como consecuencia de esta nueva estructura desaparecen como tales muchas de las asignaturas tradicionales que han estado presentes como asignaturas propias (con denominaciones idénticas o similares) en la práctica totalidad de los planes de estudio de veterinaria españoles desde la década de los 70 del siglo pasado. Al cursar estas asignaturas, los alumnos de esos planes, estudiábamos las particularidades de las diferentes especies animales de interés veterinario desde el enfoque, inevitablemente compartimentalizado, de esas asignaturas