Nefroblastoma espinal en un Rottweiler

El nefroblastoma espinal es una neoplasia infrecuente en el perro. Se diagnostica en animales jóvenes, afectando, casi exclusivamente, al segmento medular T10 -L2. En este trabajo, e describen los signos clínicos, resultados de las pruebas complementarias y los hallazgos histopatológicos de un perro con un nefroblastoma espinal.

Chaotic Friedmann-Robertson-Walker Cosmology

We show that the dynamics of a spatially closed Friedmann - Robertson - Walker Universe conformally coupled to a real, free, massive scalar field, is chaotic, for large enough field amplitudes. We do so by proving that this system is integrable under the adiabatic approximation, but that the corresponding KAM tori break up when non adiabatic terms are considered. This finding is confirmed by numerical evaluation of the Lyapunov exponents associated with the system, among other criteria. Chaos sets strong limitations to our ability to predict the value of the field at the Big Crunch, from its given value at the Big Bang. (Figures available on request)Comment: 28 pages, 11 figure

MY Camelopardalis, a very massive merger progenitor

Context. The early-type binary MY Cam belongs to the young open cluster Alicante 1, embedded in Cam OB3. Aims. MY Cam consists of two early-O type main-sequence stars and shows a photometric modulation suggesting an orbital period slightly above one day. We intend to confirm this orbital period and derive orbital and stellar parameters. Methods. Timing analysis of a very exhaustive (4607 points) light curve indicates a period of 1.1754514 +- 0.0000015 d. High- resolution spectra and the cross-correlation technique implemented in the TODCOR program were used to derive radial velocities and obtain the corresponding radial velocity curves for MY Cam. Modelling with the stellar atmosphere code FASTWIND was used to obtain stellar parameters and create templates for cross-correlation. Stellar and orbital parameters were derived using the Wilson-Devinney code, such that a complete solution to the binary system could be described. Results. The determined masses of the primary and secondary stars in MY Cam are 37.7 +- 1.6 and 31.6 +- 1.4 Msol, respectively. The corresponding temperatures, derived from the model atmosphere fit, are 42 000 and 39 000 K, with the more massive component being hotter. Both stars are overfilling their Roche lobes, sharing a common envelope. Conclusions. MY Cam contains the most massive dwarf O-type stars found so far in an eclipsing binary. Both components are still on the main sequence, and probably not far from the zero-age main sequence. The system is a likely merger progenitor, owing to its very short period.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, photometric data available on-line, Astronomy and Astrophysics, 201

UPRmt activation improves pathological alterations in cellular models of mitochondrial diseases

Background: Mitochondrial diseases represent one of the most common groups of genetic diseases. With a prevalence greater than 1 in 5000 adults, such diseases still lack effective treatment. Current therapies are purely palliative and, in most cases, insufficient. Novel approaches to compensate and, if possible, revert mitochondrial dysfunction must be developed. Results: In this study, we tackled the issue using as a model fibroblasts from a patient bearing a mutation in the GFM1 gene, which is involved in mitochondrial protein synthesis. Mutant GFM1 fibroblasts could not survive in galactose restrictive medium for more than 3 days, making them the perfect screening platform to test several compounds. Tetracycline enabled mutant GFM1 fibroblasts survival under nutritional stress. Here we demonstrate that tetracycline upregulates the mitochondrial Unfolded Protein Response (UPR), a compensatory pathway regulating mitochondrial proteostasis. We additionally report that activation of UPR improves mutant GFM1 cellular bioenergetics and partially restores mitochondrial protein expression. Conclusions: Overall, we provide compelling evidence to propose the activation of intrinsic cellular compensatory mechanisms as promising therapeutic strategy for mitochondrial diseases.This work was supported by FIS PI16/00786 (2016) and FIS PI19/00377 (2019) grants, the Ministerio de Sanidad, Spain and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER Unión Europea), Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport. This activity has been co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and by the Regional Ministry of Economic Transformation, Industry, Knowledge and Universities of the Junta de Andalucía, within the framework of the ERDF Andalusia operational program 2014–2020 Thematic objective "01—Reinforcement of research, technological development and innovation" through the reference research project CTS-5725 and PY18-850

Exact Philosophy of Space-Time

Starting from Bunge's (1977) scientific ontology, we expose a materialistic relational theory of space-time, that carries out the program initiated by Leibniz, and provides a protophysical basis consistent with any rigorous formulation of General Relativity. Space-time is constructed from general concepts which are common to any consistent scientific theory and they are interpreted as emergent properties of the greatest assembly of things, namely, the world.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures. Version compatible with the published one. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:gr-qc/971006

Associations between eating speed, diet quality, adiposity, and cardiometabolic risk factors

Objective: To assess the associations between eating speed, adiposity, cardiometabolic risk factors, and diet quality in a cohort of Spanish preschool-children. Study design: A cross-sectional study in 1371 preschool age children (49% girls; mean age, 4.8 ± 1.0 years) from the Childhood Obesity Risk Assessment Longitudinal Study (CORALS) cohort was conducted. After exclusions, 956 participants were included in the analyses. The eating speed was estimated by summing the total minutes used in each of the 3 main meals and then categorized into slow, moderate, or fast. Multiple linear and logistic regression models were fitted to assess the β-coefficient, or OR and 95% CI, between eating speed and body mass index, waist circumference, fat mass index (FMI), blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, and lipid profile. Results: Compared with participants in the slow-eating category, those in the fast-eating category had a higher prevalence risk of overweight/obesity (OR, 2.9; 95% CI, 1.8-4.4; P < .01); larger waist circumference (β, 2.6 cm; 95% CI, 1.5-3.8 cm); and greater FMI (β, 0.3 kg/m2; 95% CI, 0.1-0.5 kg/m2), systolic blood pressure (β, 2.8 mmHg; 95% CI, 0.6-4.9 mmHg), and fasting plasma glucose levels (β, 2.7 mg/dL, 95% CI, 1.2-4.2 mg/dL) but lower adherence to the Mediterranean diet (β, −0.5 points; 95% CI, −0.9 to −0.1 points). Conclusions: Eating fast is associated with higher adiposity, certain cardiometabolic risk factors, and lower adherence to a Mediterranean diet. Further long-term and interventional studies are warranted to confirm these associations

Soil contamination in nearby natural areas mirrors that in urban greenspaces worldwide

Soil contamination is one of the main threats to ecosystem health and sustainability. Yet little is known about the extent to which soil contaminants differ between urban greenspaces and natural ecosystems. Here we show that urban greenspaces and adjacent natural areas (i.e., natural/semi-natural ecosystems) shared similar levels of multiple soil contaminants (metal(loid)s, pesticides, microplastics, and antibiotic resistance genes) across the globe. We reveal that human influence explained many forms of soil contamination worldwide. Socio-economic factors were integral to explaining the occurrence of soil contaminants worldwide. We further show that increased levels of multiple soil contaminants were linked with changes in microbial traits including genes associated with environmental stress resistance, nutrient cycling, and pathogenesis. Taken together, our work demonstrates that human-driven soil contamination in nearby natural areas mirrors that in urban greenspaces globally, and highlights that soil contaminants have the potential to cause dire consequences for ecosystem sustainability and human wellbeing

The global contribution of soil mosses to ecosystem services

Soil mosses are among the most widely distributed organisms on land. Experiments and observations suggest that they contribute to terrestrial soil biodiversity and function, yet their ecological contribution to soil has never been assessed globally under natural conditions. Here we conducted the most comprehensive global standardized field study to quantify how soil mosses influence 8 ecosystem services associated with 24 soil biodiversity and functional attributes across wide environmental gradients from all continents. We found that soil mosses are associated with greater carbon sequestration, pool sizes for key nutrients and organic matter decomposition rates but a lower proportion of soil-borne plant pathogens than unvegetated soils. Mosses are especially important for supporting multiple ecosystem services where vascular-plant cover is low. Globally, soil mosses potentially support 6.43 Gt more carbon in the soil layer than do bare soils. The amount of soil carbon associated with mosses is up to six times the annual global carbon emissions from any altered land use globally. The largest positive contribution of mosses to soils occurs under a high cover of mat and turf mosses, in less-productive ecosystems and on sandy and salty soils. Our results highlight the contribution of mosses to soil life and functions and the need to conserve these important organisms to support healthy soils.The study work associated with this paper was funded by a Large Research Grant from the British Ecological Society (no. LRB17\1019; MUSGONET). D.J.E. is supported by the Hermon Slade Foundation. M.D.-B. was supported by a Ramón y Cajal grant from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (RYC2018-025483-I), a project from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for the I + D + i (PID2020-115813RA-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033a) and a project PAIDI 2020 from the Junta de Andalucía (P20_00879). E.G. is supported by the European Research Council grant agreement 647038 (BIODESERT). M.B. is supported by a Ramón y Cajal grant from Spanish Ministry of Science (RYC2021-031797-I). A.d.l.R is supported by the AEI project PID2019-105469RB-C22. L.W. and Jianyong Wang are supported by the Program for Introducing Talents to Universities (B16011) and the Ministry of Education Innovation Team Development Plan (2013-373). The contributions of T.G. and T.U.N. were supported by the Research Program in Forest Biology, Ecology and Technology (P4-0107) and the research projects J4-3098 and J4-4547 of the Slovenian Research Agency. The contribution of P.B.R. was supported by the NSF Biological Integration Institutes grant DBI-2021898. J. Durán and A. Rodríguez acknowledge support from the FCT (2020.03670.CEECIND and SFRH/BDP/108913/2015, respectively), as well as from the MCTES, FSE, UE and the CFE (UIDB/04004/2021) research unit financed by FCT/MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC)

Guest Molecule-Responsive Functional Calcium Phosphonate Frameworks for Tuned Proton Conductivity

We report the synthesis, structural characterization, and functionality of an open-framework hybrid that combines Ca2+ ions and the rigid polyfunctional ligand 5-(dihydroxyphosphoryl) isophthalic acid (PiPhtA). Ca-PiPhtA-I is obtained by slow crystallization at ambient conditions from acidic (pH≈3) aqueous solutions. It possesses a high water content (both Ca coordinated and in the lattice), and importantly, it exhibits water-filled 1D channels. At 75 °C, Ca-PiPhtA-I is partially dehydrated and exhibits a crystalline diffraction pattern that can be indexed in a monoclinic cell with parameters close to the pristine phase. Rietveld refinement was carried out for the sample heated at 75 °C, Ca-PiPhtA-II, using synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction data.All connectivity modes of the “parent” Ca-PiPhtA-I framework are retained in Ca-PiPhtA-II. Upon Ca-PiPhtA-I exposure to ammonia vapors (28% aqueous NH3) a new derivative is obtained (Ca-PiPhtA-NH3) containing 7 NH3 and 16 H2O molecules according to elemental and thermal analyses. Ca-PiPhtA-NH3 exhibits a complex X-ray diffraction pattern with peaks at 15.3 and 13.0 Å that suggest partial breaking and transformation of the parent pillared structure. Although detailed structural identification of Ca-PiPhtA-NH3 was not possible, due in part to nonequilibrium adsorption conditions and the lack of crystallinity, FT-IR spectra and DTA-TG analysis indicate profound structural changes compared to the pristine Ca-PiPhtA-I. At 98% RH and T = 24 °C, proton conductivity, σ, for Ca PiPhtA-I is 5.7 ×10−4 S·cm−1. It increases to 1.3 × 10−3 S·cm−1 upon activation by preheating the sample at 40 °C for 2 h followed by water equilibration at room temperature under controlled conditions. Ca-PiPhtA-NH3 exhibits the highest proton conductivity, 6.6 × 10−3 S·cm−1, measured at 98% RH and T = 24 °C. Ea for proton transfer in the above-mentioned frameworks range between 0.23 and 0.4 eV, typical of a Grothuss mechanism of proton conduction.Proyecto nacional MAT2010-1517

Patient preferences and treatment safety for uncomplicated vulvovaginal candidiasis in primary health care

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Vaginitis is a common complaint in primary care. In uncomplicated candidal vaginitis, there are no differences in effectiveness between oral or vaginal treatment. Some studies describe that the preferred treatment is the oral one, but a Cochrane's review points out inconsistencies associated with the report of the preferred way that limit the use of such data. Risk factors associated with recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis still remain controversial.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>This work describes a protocol of a multicentric prospective observational study with one year follow up, to describe the women's reasons and preferences to choose the way of administration (oral vs topical) in the treatment of not complicated candidal vaginitis. The number of women required is 765, they are chosen by consecutive sampling. All of whom are aged 16 and over with vaginal discharge and/or vaginal pruritus, diagnosed with not complicated vulvovaginitis in Primary Care in Madrid.</p> <p>The main outcome variable is the preferences of the patients in treatment choice; secondary outcome variables are time to symptoms relief and adverse reactions and the frequency of recurrent vulvovaginitis and the risk factors. In the statistical analysis, for the main objective will be descriptive for each of the variables, bivariant analysis and multivariate analysis (logistic regression).. The dependent variable being the type of treatment chosen (oral or topical) and the independent, the variables that after bivariant analysis, have been associated to the treatment preference.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>Clinical decisions, recommendations, and practice guidelines must not only attend to the best available evidence, but also to the values and preferences of the informed patient.</p