Post-common envelope binaries from SDSS - XVI. Long orbital period systems and the energy budget of CE evolution

Virtually all close compact binary stars are formed through common-envelope (CE) evolution. It is generally accepted that during this crucial evolutionary phase a fraction of the orbital energy is used to expel the envelope. However, it is unclear whether additional sources of energy, such as the recombination energy of the envelope, play an important role. Here we report the discovery of the second and third longest orbital period post-common envelope binaries (PCEBs) containing white dwarf (WD) primaries, i.e. SDSSJ121130.94-024954.4 (Porb = 7.818 +- 0.002 days) and SDSSJ222108.45+002927.7 (Porb = 9.588 +- 0.002 days), reconstruct their evolutionary history, and discuss the implications for the energy budget of CE evolution. We find that, despite their long orbital periods, the evolution of both systems can still be understood without incorporating recombination energy, although at least small contributions of this additional energy seem to be likely. If recombination energy significantly contributes to the ejection of the envelope, more PCEBs with relatively long orbital periods (Porb >~ 1-3 day) harboring massive WDs (Mwd >~ 0.8 Msun) should exist.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 8 pages, 6 figures and 4 table

Effects of weight loss and long-term weight maintenance with diets varying in protein and glycemic index on cardiovascular risk factors: the diet, obesity, and genes (DiOGenes) study: a randomized, controlled trial

BACKGROUND: We sought to separately examine the effects of either weight loss or diets varying in protein content and glycemic index without further changes in body weight on cardiovascular risk factors within the Diet, Obesity, and Genes study (DiOGenes). METHODS AND RESULTS: DiOGenes is a pan-European controlled dietary intervention study in 932 overweight adults who first lost body weight on an 8-week low-calorie diet and were then randomized to 1 of 5 ad libitum diets for 26 weeks. The diets were either high or low protein or high or low glycemic index in 4 combinations or control. Weight loss (-11.23 kg; 95% confidence interval, -11.54 to -10.92; P<0.001) reduced high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (-1.15 mg/L; 95% confidence interval, -1.30 to -0.41; P<0.001), low- and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood pressure. During the 26-week weight maintenance period in the intention-to-treat analysis, the further decrease of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein blood levels was -0.46 mg/L greater (95% confidence interval, -0.79 to -0.13) in the groups assigned to low-glycemic-index diets than in those on high-glycemic-index diets (P<0.001). Groups on low-protein diets achieved a -0.25 mg/L greater reduction in high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (95% confidence interval, -0.59 to -0.17) than those on high-protein diets (P<0.001), whereas lipid profiles and blood pressure were not differently affected. CONCLUSIONS: This large-scale intervention study clearly separates weight loss from dietary composition-related effects. Low-glycemic-index carbohydrates and, to a lesser extent, low-protein intake may specifically reduce low-grade inflammation and associated comorbidities in overweight/obese adults

The coordination of cell growth during fission yeast mating requires Ras1-GTP hydrolysis

The spatial and temporal control of polarity is fundamental to the survival of all organisms. Cells define their polarity using highly conserved mechanisms that frequently rely upon the action of small GTPases, such as Ras and Cdc42. Schizosaccharomyces pombe is an ideal system with which to study the control of cell polarity since it grows from defined tips using Cdc42-mediated actin remodeling. Here we have investigated the importance of Ras1-GTPase activity for the coordination of polarized cell growth during fission yeast mating. Following pheromone stimulation, Ras1 regulates both a MAPK cascade and the activity of Cdc42 to enable uni-directional cell growth towards a potential mating partner. Like all GTPases, when bound to GTP, Ras1 adopts an active conformation returning to an inactive state upon GTP-hydrolysis, a process accelerated through interaction with negative regulators such as GAPs. Here we show that, at low levels of pheromone stimulation, loss of negative regulation of Ras1 increases signal transduction via the MAPK cascade. However, at the higher concentrations observed during mating, hyperactive Ras1 mutations promote cell death. We demonstrate that these cells die due to their failure to coordinate active Cdc42 into a single growth zone resulting in disorganized actin deposition and unsustainable elongation from multiple tips. These results provide a striking demonstration that the deactivation stage of Ras signaling is fundamentally important in modulating cell polarity

A modality-adaptive method for segmenting brain tumors and organs-at-risk in radiation therapy planning

In this paper we present a method for simultaneously segmenting brain tumors and an extensive set of organs-at-risk for radiation therapy planning of glioblastomas. The method combines a contrast-adaptive generative model for whole-brain segmentation with a new spatial regularization model of tumor shape using convolutional restricted Boltzmann machines. We demonstrate experimentally that the method is able to adapt to image acquisitions that differ substantially from any available training data, ensuring its applicability across treatment sites; that its tumor segmentation accuracy is comparable to that of the current state of the art; and that it captures most organs-at-risk sufficiently well for radiation therapy planning purposes. The proposed method may be a valuable step towards automating the delineation of brain tumors and organs-at-risk in glioblastoma patients undergoing radiation therapy

Virgin olive oil and health: summary of the III international conference on virgin olive oil and health consensus report, JAEN (Spain) 2018

The Mediterranean diet is considered as the foremost dietary regimen and its adoption is associated with the prevention of degenerative diseases and an extended longevity. The preeminent features of the Mediterranean diet have been agreed upon and the consumption of olive oil stands out as the most peculiar one. Indeed, the use of olive oil as the nearly exclusive dietary fat is what mostly characterizes the Mediterranean area. Plenty of epidemiological studies have correlated that the consumption of olive oil was associated with better overall health. Indeed, extra virgin olive oil contains (poly)phenolic compounds that are being actively investigated for their purported biological and pharma-nutritional properties. On 18 and 19 May 2018, several experts convened in Jaen (Spain) to discuss the most recent research on the benefits of olive oil and its components. We reported a summary of that meeting (reviewing several topics related to olive oil, not limited to health) and concluded that substantial evidence is accruing to support the widespread opinion that extra virgin olive oil should, indeed, be the fat of choice when it comes to human health and sustainable agronomy

A Prospective Observational Study of Complications in 140 Sialendoscopies

Objectives. To evaluate the incidence and nature of complications associated with diagnostic and interventional sialendoscopies and to report intervention failures in a prospective setup. Study Design. Prospective observational study. Setting. Academic tertiary care university hospital. Subjects and Methods. Patients who underwent diagnostic or interventional sialendoscopy between October 2015 and December 2016 were prospectively enrolled. Patient data, operation-related factors, treatment failures, and complications were recorded into a database and analyzed. Results. A total of 140 sialendoscopies were attempted or performed on 118 patients; 67 (48%) were for a parotid gland and 73 (52%) for a submandibular gland. The sialendoscopy was interventional in 81 cases (58%), diagnostic in 56 (40%), and not possible to perform in 3 (2.1%). A total of 21 complications were registered for 21 sialendoscopies (15%) and 21 patients (18%). The most common complication was infection, in 9 cases (6.4%). Other observed complications were salivary duct perforation (4 cases), prolonged glandular swelling (3 cases), transient lingual nerve analgesia (2 cases), basket entrapment (2 cases), and transient weakness in the marginal branch of the facial nerve (1 case). All complications were related to interventional procedures or papilla dilatation. Failure to treat occurred in 21 (15%) sialendoscopies: sialendoscopy itself was unsuccessful in 3 cases, and an intended intervention failed in 18 cases. Conclusion. Complications in sialendoscopy are usually related to interventional procedures. The complications are mainly minor and temporary but lead to additional follow-up visits, further treatments, and sometimes hospitalization. Sialendoscopic procedures are safe but not free of complications.Peer reviewe

Bioreactors as engineering support to treat cardiac muscle and vascular disease

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the Western World. The inability of fully differentiated, load-bearing cardiovascular tissues to in vivo regenerate and the limitations of the current treatment therapies greatly motivate the efforts of cardiovascular tissue engineering to become an effective clinical strategy for injured heart and vessels. For the effective production of organized and functional cardiovascular engineered constructs in vitro, a suitable dynamic environment is essential, and can be achieved and maintained within bioreactors. Bioreactors are technological devices that, while monitoring and controlling the culture environment and stimulating the construct, attempt to mimic the physiological milieu. In this study, a review of the current state of the art of bioreactor solutions for cardiovascular tissue engineering is presented, with emphasis on bioreactors and biophysical stimuli adopted for investigating the mechanisms influencing cardiovascular tissue development, and for eventually generating suitable cardiovascular tissue replacements

Ideal cardiovascular health and inflammation in European adolescents: The HELENA study

Background and aims Inflammation plays a key role in atherosclerosis and this process seems to appear in childhood. The ideal cardiovascular health index (ICHI) has been inversely related to atherosclerotic plaque in adults. However, evidence regarding inflammation and ICHI in adolescents is scarce. The aim is to assess the association between ICHI and inflammation in European adolescents. Methods and results As many as 543 adolescents (251 boys and 292 girls) from the Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence (HELENA) study, a cross-sectional multi-center study including 9 European countries, were measured. C-reactive protein (CRP), complement factors C3 and C4, leptin and white blood cell counts were used to compute an inflammatory score. Multilevel linear models and multilevel logistic regression were used to assess the association between ICHI and inflammation controlling by covariates. Higher ICHI was associated with a lower inflammatory score, as well as with several individual components, both in boys and girls (p < 0.01). In addition, adolescents with at least 4 ideal components of the ICHI had significantly lower inflammatory score and lower levels of the study biomarkers, except CRP. Finally, the multilevel logistic regression showed that for every unit increase in the ICHI, the probability of having an inflammatory profile decreased by 28.1% in girls. Conclusion Results from this study suggest that a better ICHI is associated with a lower inflammatory profile already in adolescence. Improving these health behaviors, and health factors included in the ICHI, could play an important role in CVD prevention