3,822 research outputs found
Rabifier2: an improved bioinformatic classifier of Rab GTPases
SUMMARY: The Rab family of small GTPases regulates and provides specificity to the endomembrane trafficking system; each Rab subfamily is associated with specific pathways. Thus, characterization of Rab repertoires provides functional information about organisms and evolution of the eukaryotic cell. Yet, the complex structure of the Rab family limits the application of existing methods for protein classification. Here, we present a major redesign of the Rabifier, a bioinformatic pipeline for detection and classification of Rab GTPases. It is more accurate, significantly faster than the original version and is now open source, both the code and the data, allowing for community participation.
AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: Rabifier and RabDB are freely available through the web at http://rabdb.org. The Rabifier package can be downloaded from the Python Package Index at https://pypi.python.org/pypi/rabifier, the source code is available at Github https://github.com/evocell/rabifier
The role of strain localization in magma injection into a transtensional shear zone (Variscan belt, SW Iberia).
This study deals with the interaction between deformation and magmatism in mid- to deep-crustal
domains. The relation is analysed between migmatites and shear zones and the spatial distribution of leucogranitoid
veins and dykes running through a footwall migmatite system, and reaching a transtensional
shear zone operated under amphibolite- to greenschist-facies metamorphic conditions (Boa Fé shear zone,
Variscan belt, SW Iberia). Statistical results show that the frequency of width and spacing of the leucogranitoid
dykes conform to power-law distributions comparable with observations in volcanic systems. The fractal
geometry of the distribution of leucogranitoid dykes highlights the development of a dense framework of
thinner weakly or non-mineralized veins and dykes formed at higher nucleation/growth ratios in the footwall
migmatite system that contrasts with the emplacement of thicker dykes associated with strongly mineralized
thinner veins within the shear zone. The volume of injected leucogranitoid dykes in the shear zone is lower
as compared with the footwall and is comparable with an expanding footwall shear zone with non-coaxial
flow and volume increase. The Boa Fé shear zone seems to form a physical barrier to the transport of magma to the hanging wall
TRATAMENTO RESTAURADOR ATRAUMÁTICO NA REDE PÚBLICA DO MUNICÍPIO DE ANÁPOLIS-GO
O tratamento restaurador atraumático (TRA) é uma técnica consiste na remoção de tecido cariado, desmineralizado, com instrumentos cortantes manuais simplificados dispensando o uso de micromotores e anestesia local. Capaz de reduzir a necessidade de procedimentos mais complexos, onerosos e que demandam maior tempo de atuação profissional, tem grande relevância principalmente quando aplicado simultaneamente às medidas de promoção de saúde
Benefícios dos Ativadores Seletivos dos Recetores de Vitamina D em Doentes Transplantados Renais
Severe chronic kidney disease may lead to disturbances, such as hyperphosphatemia, increased secretion
of fibroblast growth factor -23 (FGF -23) and vitamin D deficiency. These may increase plasmatic levels of
parathyroid hormone, and decrease plasmatic levels of calcium. Altogether, these may contribute to the
development of secondary hyperparathyroidism, and to abnormalities in mineral metabolism. Kidney transplantation is the best option to improve longevity and quality of life in end -stage chronic kidney disease
patients. Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause
of death in chronic kidney disease. Therefore, diagnosing this deficiency may be pivotal for minimizing
mortality in chronic kidney disease, because pharmacological treatments for this deficiency may be prescribed.
Calcitriol is indicated for the treatment of vitamin D deficiency, both in chronic kidney disease and
in kidney transplanted patients. However, calcitriol may increase the plasmatic levels of calcium and phosphorous, which can lead to vascular calcifications, that have been associated with cardiovascular mortality.
Selective vitamin D receptor activators are indicated for the treatment of vitamin D deficiency in chronic
kidney disease. These have the advantage of being associated with lower increases of plasmatic levels of
calcium and phosphorous. These drugs also seem to have additional effects that may minimise patient
morbidity and mortality, especially due to potentially reducing cardiovascular events. Unfortunately, there
are few studies about the use of these drugs in kidney transplanted patients. Here we present a review about the physiology of vitamin D, the consequences of its deficiency in chronic kidney disease and in
kidney transplanted patients, and about the diagnosis and treatment of this deficiency. Finally, we discuss
the new line of research about the efficacy and safety of selective vitamin D receptor activators in kidney
transplanted patients
Acute kidney injury, long-term renal function and mortality in patients undergoing major abdominal surgery: a cohort analysis
BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is frequent during hospitalization and may contribute to adverse consequences. We aimed to evaluate long-term adverse renal function and mortality after postoperative AKI in a cohort of patients undergoing major abdominal surgery. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of adult patients who underwent major non-vascular abdominal surgery between January 2010 and February 2011 at the Department of Surgery II of Hospital de Santa Maria-Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte, Portugal. Exclusion criteria were as follows: chronic kidney disease on renal replacement therapy, undergoing renal replacement therapy the week before surgery, death before discharge and loss to follow-up through January 2014. Patients were categorized according to the development of postoperative AKI in the first 48 h after surgery using the Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes classification. AKI was defined by an increase in absolute serum creatinine (SCr) ≥0.3 mg/dL or by a percentage increase in SCr ≥50% and/or by a decrease in urine output to 6 h. Adverse renal outcomes (need for long-term dialysis and/or a 25% decrease in estimated glomerular filtration rate after hospital discharge) and mortality after discharge were evaluated. Cumulative mortality was analysed with the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test and outcome predictive factors with the Cox regression. Significance was set at P < 0.05. RESULTS: Of 390 selected patients, 72 (18.5%) developed postoperative AKI. The median follow-up was 38 months. Adverse renal outcomes and death after hospital discharge were more frequent among AKI patients (47.2 versus 22.0%, P < 0.0001; and 47.2 versus 20.5%, P < 0.0001, respectively). The 4 year cumulative probability of death was 44.4% for AKI patients, while it was 19.8% for patients with no AKI (log-rank test, P < 0.0001). In multivariate analysis, AKI was a risk factor for adverse renal outcomes (adjusted hazard ratio 1.6, P = 0.046) and mortality (adjusted hazard ratio 1.4, P = 0.043). CONCLUSIONS: AKI after major abdominal surgery was independently associated with the risk of long-term need for dialysis and/or renal function decline and with the risk of death after hospital discharge
Single to Double Hump Transition in the Equilibrium Distribution Function of Relativistic Particles
We unveil a transition from single peaked to bimodal velocity distribution in
a relativistic fluid under increasing temperature, in contrast with a
non-relativistic gas, where only a monotonic broadening of the bell-shaped
distribution is observed. Such transition results from the interplay between
the raise in thermal energy and the constraint of maximum velocity imposed by
the speed of light. We study the Bose-Einstein, the Fermi-Dirac, and the
Maxwell-J\"uttner distributions, all exhibiting the same qualitative behavior.
We characterize the nature of the transition in the framework of critical
phenomena and show that it is either continuous or discontinuous, depending on
the group velocity. We analyze the transition in one, two, and three
dimensions, with special emphasis on two-dimensions, for which a possible
experiment in graphene, based on the measurement of the Johnson-Nyquist noise,
is proposed.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Tratamiento de la ingestión de cuerpos extranos ˜ en una unidad de urgencias de otorrinolaringología: estudio prospectivo de 204 casos
AIMS:
To determine how often ingested foreign bodies are found and what parameters may predict their retrieval.
METHODS:
During 1 year, we prospectively studied all patients referred to our Ear Nose and Throat Emergency Unit because of foreign body ingestion.
RESULTS:
During the study, 204 (median age-42 years [10 months-84 years]) patients were admitted because of ingested foreign body. The most common was fish bone (88%). Most patients were admitted <24-hour after ingestion (72%) and complained of symptoms above the cricoid cartilage (79%). A foreign body was removed by Ear Nose and Throat team in 108 (53%) patients. Twenty-three (11%) patients were referred to Gastroenterology. In 9 (39%) of these patients, a foreign body was identified by esophagogastroscopy, always from the esophagus. Predictive variables for retrieval of foreign body by Ear Nose and Throat team were ingested fish bone (P=.000; odds ratio [OR]=17.3), short duration (<6hours) of symptoms (P=.001; OR=2.3) and symptoms above or at the level of cricoid cartilage (P=.000; OR=8.9). In patients with symptoms below the cricoid cartilage the rate of retrieval of foreign body by Ear Nose and Throat team (11%) was significantly increased by Gastroenterology (41%; P=.03).
CONCLUSIONS:
Patients with ingestion of foreign body who ingest fish bone, present within the first 6hours or complain of symptoms at or above cricoid cartilage deserve greater investment in terms of time and resources for retrieval of ingested foreign body by Ear Nose and Throat team
Plasma GFAP is an early marker of amyloid-β but not tau pathology in Alzheimer's disease
Although recent clinical trials targeting amyloid-β (Aβ) in Alzheimer's disease (AD) have shown promising results, there is increasing evidence suggesting that understanding alternative disease pathways that interact with Aβ metabolism and amyloid pathology might be important to halt the clinical deterioration. In particular, there is evidence supporting a critical role of astroglial activation and astrocytosis in AD. However, to this date, no studies have assessed whether astrocytosis is independently related to either Aβ or tau pathology, respectively, in vivo. To address this question, we determined the levels of the astrocytic marker glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 217 Aβ-negative cognitively unimpaired individuals, 71 Aβ-positive cognitively unimpaired individuals, 78 Aβ-positive cognitively impaired individuals, 63 Aβ-negative cognitively impaired individuals and 75 patients with a non-AD neurodegenerative disorder from the Swedish BioFINDER-2 study. Subjects underwent longitudinal Aβ (18F-flutemetamol) and tau (18F-RO948) positron emission tomography (PET) as well as cognitive testing. We found that plasma GFAP concentration was significantly increased in all Aβ-positive groups compared with subjects without Aβ pathology (p < 0.01). In addition, there were significant associations between plasma GFAP with higher Aβ-PET signal in all Aβ-positive groups, but also in cognitively normal individuals with normal Aβ values (p < 0.001), which remained significant after controlling for tau-PET signal. Furthermore, plasma GFAP could predict Aβ-PET positivity with an area under the curve of 0.76, which was greater than the performance achieved by CSF GFAP (0.69) and other glial markers (CSF YKL-40: 0.64, sTREM2: 0.71). Although correlations were also observed between tau-PET and plasma GFAP, these were no longer significant after controlling for Aβ-PET. In contrast to plasma GFAP, CSF GFAP concentration was significantly increased in non-AD patients compared to other groups (p < 0.05) and correlated with Aβ-PET only in Aβ-positive cognitively impaired individuals (p = 0.005). Finally, plasma GFAP was associated with both longitudinal Aβ-PET and cognitive decline, and mediated the effect of Aβ-PET on tau-PET burden, suggesting that astrocytosis secondary to Aβ aggregation might promote tau accumulation. Altogether, these findings indicate that plasma GFAP is an early marker associated with brain Aβ pathology but not tau aggregation, even in cognitively normal individuals with a normal Aβ status. This suggests that plasma GFAP should be incorporated in current hypothetical models of AD pathogenesis and be used as a non-invasive and accessible tool to detect early astrocytosis secondary to Aβ pathology
A substantial prehistoric European ancestry amongst Ashkenazi maternal lineages
The origins of Ashkenazi Jews remain highly controversial. Like Judaism, mitochondrial DNA is passed along the maternal line. Its variation in the Ashkenazim is highly distinctive, with four major and numerous minor founders. However, due to their rarity in the general population, these founders have been difficult to trace to a source. Here we show that all four major founders, similar to 40% of Ashkenazi mtDNA variation, have ancestry in prehistoric Europe, rather than the Near East or Caucasus. Furthermore, most of the remaining minor founders share a similar deep European ancestry. Thus the great majority of Ashkenazi maternal lineages were not brought from the Levant, as commonly supposed, nor recruited in the Caucasus, as sometimes suggested, but assimilated within Europe. These results point to a significant role for the conversion of women in the formation of Ashkenazi communities, and provide the foundation for a detailed reconstruction of Ashkenazi genealogical history
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