Gene deficiency in activating Fcγ receptors influences the macrophage phenotypic balance and reduces atherosclerosis in mice

Immunity contributes to arterial inflammation during atherosclerosis. Oxidized low-density lipoproteins induce an autoimmune response characterized by specific antibodies and immune complexes in atherosclerotic patients. We hypothesize that specific Fcγ receptors for IgG constant region participate in atherogenesis by regulating the inflammatory state of lesional macrophages. In vivo we examined the role of activating Fcγ receptors in atherosclerosis progression using bone marrow transplantation from mice deficient in γ-chain (the common signaling subunit of activating Fcγ receptors) to hyperlipidemic mice. Hematopoietic deficiency of Fcγ receptors significantly reduced atherosclerotic lesion size, which was associated with decreased number of macrophages and T lymphocytes, and increased T regulatory cell function. Lesions of Fcγ receptor deficient mice exhibited increased plaque stability, as evidenced by higher collagen and smooth muscle cell content and decreased apoptosis. These effects were independent of changes in serum lipids and antibody response to oxidized low-density lipoproteins. Activating Fcγ receptor deficiency reduced pro-inflammatory gene expression, nuclear factor-κB activity, and M1 macrophages at the lesion site, while increasing anti-inflammatory genes and M2 macrophages. The decreased inflammation in the lesions was mirrored by a reduced number of classical inflammatory monocytes in blood. In vitro, lack of activating Fcγ receptors attenuated foam cell formation, oxidative stress and pro-inflammatory gene expression, and increased M2-associated genes in murine macrophages. Our study demonstrates that activating Fcγ receptors influence the macrophage phenotypic balance in the artery wall of atherosclerotic mice and suggests that modulation of Fcγ receptor-mediated inflammatory responses could effectively suppress atherosclerosis

HIV infection, hepatitis B and C and syphilis in homeless people, in the city of São Paulo, Brazil

Estimar a prevalência das infecções pelo HIV, vírus das hepatites B e C, e da sífilis em moradores de rua. Estudo transversal com intervenção educativa, realizado no município de São Paulo, de 2002 a 2003. Selecionou-se amostra de conveniência de moradores de rua que utilizavam albergues noturnos, segundo os critérios: gt;18 anos e não apresentar distúrbios psiquiátricos. Em entrevistas, foram coletados dados sociodemográficos e de comportamento, e realizados exames laboratoriais para HIV, hepatite B e C e sífilis, e aconselhamento pós-teste. Participaram 330 usuários dos albergues, com 40,2 anos (média), 80,9% homens, nas ruas, em média, há um ano. Observaram-se prevalências de 1,8% de HIV, 8,5% de vírus de hepatite C, 30,6% de infecção pregressa por hepatite B, 3,3% de infecção aguda ou crônica pelo vírus hepatite B e 5,7% de sífilis. Uso consistente de preservativo foi referido por 21,3% e uso de droga injetável, por 3% dos entrevistados. A positividade para HIV foi de 10% e 50% para vírus da hepatite C entre usuários de drogas injetáveis, versus 1,5% para HIV e 7,3% para hepatite C nos demais, evidenciando associação entre esse vírus e uso de droga injetável. Prisão anterior foi referida por 7,9% das mulheres e 26,6% dos homens, com prevalência de 2,6% para HIV e 17,1% para vírus da hepatite C. As elevadas prevalências de HIV e vírus de hepatite B e C requerem programas de prevenção baseados na vacinação contra hepatite B, diagnóstico precoce dessas infecções e inserção dos moradores de rua em serviços de saúde412475

Medición de Dióxido de Carbono en ambientes de la Unidad Educativa Técnico Salesiano mediante la internet de las cosas (IoT)

El objetivo de este trabajo es medir el incremento de dióxido de carbono (CO2) y temperatura en los ambientes del Técnico Salesiano para conocer sí estos afectan a la salud y al desempeño de los estudiantes en las horas laborables de clases. Para lo cual se propuso la elaboración de un sistema de sensores, los mismos que medirán la concentración de CO2 y de la temperatura en un aula de clase determinada cada dos horas y mediante internet los resultados obtenidos se guardarán en una base de datos. El programa para el manejo de los sensores se realizó en JAVA. Para la protección del sistema eléctrico se diseñaran los planos de dos cajas que fueron impresas en 3D. También se elaboró una encuesta que fue aplicada a los estudiantes del Tercero “F1”. Como resultado de las encuestas se obtuvo que los estudiantes al estar expuestos a una mala ventilación del aula de clase sienten estrés y agotamiento. En la mayoría de los casos esto se debe a que la temperatura se incrementa y se concentra en un mismo lugar. Es necesario que los estudiantes se desarrollen en un ambiente adecuado para su salud y para la adquisición de nuevos conocimientos, por este motivo es conveniente reducir el incremento de la temperatura y CO2 en un aula de clases adecuándolas con ventanas grandes y así potenciar la concentración de los estudiantes

Structural and functional, empirical and modeled connectivity in the cerebral cortex of the rat

[EN] Connectomics data from animal models provide an invaluable opportunity to reveal the complex interplay between structure and function in the mammalian brain. In this work, we investigate the relationship between structural and functional connectivity in the rat brain cortex using a directed anatomical network generated from a carefully curated meta-analysis of published tracing data, along with resting-state functional MRI data obtained from a group of 14 anesthetized Wistar rats. We found a high correspondence between the strength of functional connections, measured as blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal correlations between cortical regions, and the weight of the corresponding anatomical links in the connectome graph (maximum Spearman rank-order correlation rho = 0.48). At the network-level, regions belonging to the same functionally defined community tend to form more mutual weighted connections between each other compared to regions located in different communities. We further found that functional communities in resting-state networks are enriched in densely connected anatomical motifs. Importantly, these higher-order structural subgraphs cannot be explained by lower-order topological properties, suggesting that dense structural patterns support functional associations in the resting brain. Simulations of brain-wide resting-state activity based on neural mass models implemented on the empirical rat anatomical connectome demonstrated high correlation between the simulated and the measured functional connectivity (maximum Pearson correlation rho = 0: 53), further suggesting that the topology of structural connections plays an important role in shaping functional cortical networks.This work was supported in part by the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO) and FEDER funds under grants BFU2015-64380-C2-1-R (S.C) and BFU2015-64380-C2-2-R (D.M.) and EU Horizon 2020 Program 668863-SyBil-AA grant (S.C.). S.C. acknowledges financial support from the Spanish State Research Agency, through the "Severo Ochoa" Programme for Centres of Excellence in R&D (ref. SEV-2013-0317). A. D.-P., was supported by grant FPU13/01475 from the Spanish Ministerio de Educacion, Cultura y Deporte (MECD). O.S. acknowledges support by the J.S. McDonnell Foundation (#220020387) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH R01 AT009036-01). We are also grateful to Andrea Avena-Koenigsberger and Begona Fernandez for their technical support.Díaz-Parra, A.; Osborn, Z.; Canals Gamoneda, S.; Moratal, D.; Sporns, O. (2017). Structural and functional, empirical and modeled connectivity in the cerebral cortex of the rat. NeuroImage. 159:170-184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.07.046S17018415

ESTIMATING ENVIRONMENTAL KUZNETS CURVE: THE IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL TAXES AND ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN CO2 EMISSIONS OF OECD COUNTRIES

The objective of the paper is to estimate the relationship between CO2 emissions per capita, GDP per capita, energy consumption and environmental taxes for OECD countries in the period 1994-2014. To perform the above, we estimated a static and dynamic panel data models. The results show that the Environmental Kuznets Curve is verified for OECD countries, and environmental taxes have a negative impact on CO2 emissions (static model). On the other hand, the consumption of energy from fossil fuels has a positive impact on CO2 emissions. We conclude that while the Environmental Kuznets Curve is met, government plays an important role in improving the environment, because environmental taxes have a negative impact on CO2 emissions

Toxic Gases in Mining

Rapid detection of causes of mining accidents leading to emergencies is to search the  efforts. Controlling fires and gas leaks provides an immediate approach to rescue work for fatalities or injuries and detecting who needs resuscitation outside the mine. Evacuation and recovery operations should be guided by continuous monitoring of the mine environment due to fire and explosion hazards. The main toxic gases in mines are carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2); flammable gases are methane (CH4), CO and hydrogen (H2); suffocating gases are CO2, nitrogen (N20) and CH4; and the toxic gases are CO, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S)

Women's reproductive rights in the inter-American system of human rights: conclusions from the Field, June - September 2014

The Inter-American System of Human Rights has proven to be a forum for the advancement of women’s reproductive rights in the Inter-American region. However, the Inter-American System faces significant challenges in promoting structural transformative change that enables women’s enjoyment of their reproductive health rights. This report examines three reproductive rights cases from the Inter- American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights: María Mamerita Mestanza Chávez v. Peru; Paulina Ramirez Jacinto v. Mexico; and Artavia Murillo et al. v. Costa Rica. In the summer of 2014, interviews were conducted with representatives in each of the case study countries, with the objective of the research being two-fold: (1) to understand how each of the cases developed, and the subsequent challenges and advancements; and (2) to learn from these cases in order to suggest recommendations for how actors can make better use of the Inter-American System as one of several avenues for protecting, promoting and fulfilling women’s reproductive rights. The report first discusses challenges in implementing women’s reproductive health rights, and then explores how the Inter-American System can strengthen its work on women’s reproductive health rights

Role of crystal size on swing-effect and adsorption induced structure transition of ZIF-8.

The flexibility and structure transition behaviour of ZIF-8 in a series of samples with different particle size has been studied using a combination of high-resolution N2 gas adsorption isotherms and, for the first time, a broad in situ PXRD and Rietveld analysis. During the stepped adsorption process, large particles showed a narrow adsorption/desorption pressure range with a shorter equilibrium time due to lower kinetic hindrance, deriving from higher amount of active sites. In situ PXRD showed that both the rotation of imidazole ring and a bend in the methyl group led to the gate opening of ZIF-8.This work was funded by the EPSRC IAA Partnership Development Award (RG/75759). D.F.-J. thanks the Royal Society for funding through a University Research Fellowship. We thank Diamond Light Source for beamtime at beamline I11 (visit EE9750).This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the Royal Society of Chemistry via http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C6DT00565

Complete Plastid Genome Sequences of Two Species of the Neotropical Genus Brunellia (Brunelliaceae)

Here we present the first two complete plastid genomes for Brunelliaceae, a Neotropical family with a single genus, Brunellia. We surveyed the entire plastid genome in order to find variable cpDNA regions for further phylogenetic analyses across the family. We sampled morphologically different species, B. antioquensis and B. trianae, and found that the plastid genomes are 157,685 and 157,775 bp in length and display the typical quadripartite structure found in angiosperms. Despite the clear morphological distinction between both species, the molecular data show a very low level of divergence. The amount of nucleotide substitutions per site is one of the lowest reported to date among published congeneric studies (π = 0.00025). The plastid genomes have gene order and content coincident with other COM (Celastrales, Oxalidales, Malpighiales) relatives. Phylogenetic analyses of selected superrosid representatives show high bootstrap support for the ((C,M)O) topology. The N-fixing clade appears as the sister group of the COM clade and Zygophyllales as the sister to the rest of the fabids group