Hb40-61a: Novel analogues help expanding the knowledge on chemistry, properties and candidacidal action of this bovine α-hemoglobin-derived peptide

AbstractThis study expands the knowledge on chemical synthesis and properties of Hb40-61a as well as provides results of the first steps given towards knowing how it kills Candida cells. For the first time, this peptide, its all-D analogue (D-Hb40-61a) and its fluorescently labeled analogue (FAM-Hb40-61a) were successfully assembled on resin at 60°C using conventional heating in all steps. Purified and characterized, these peptides exhibited very low toxicity on human erythrocytes. Hb40-61a and D-Hb40-61a were equally active against Candida strains, ruling out sterically specific interactions on their working mechanism. Cell permeabilization assays confirmed progressive damage of the yeast plasma membrane with increasing concentrations of Hb40-61a. While experiment using the fluorescent probe DiBAC4(5) revealed that this synthetic hemocidin alters the yeast plasma membrane potential, test employing DPH indicated that Hb40-61a might affect its dynamics. Exposure of the yeast cells to FAM-Hb40-61a showed that the peptide accumulates in the cell membrane at the ½ MIC, but stains about 97% of the cells at the MIC. Such effect is salt-dependent and partially energy-dependent. These new findings indicate that the central target of Hb40-61a in Candida cells is the plasma membrane and that this synthetic hemocidin should be considered as a potential candidacidal for topic uses

Preschool Metacognitive Skill Assessment in Order to Promote Educational Sensitive Response From Mixed-Methods Approach: Complementarity of Data Analysis

A child''s metacognitive skills contribute significantly to their learning and success. However, very few studies are focused on these skills at early education andmost of them are carried out from inappropriate methodological perspectives for the characteristics of the youngest students. To overcome such limitations, it is essential to carry out observational studies that analyze children''s metacognitive behaviors in the natural and habitual context of children''s learning, as well as appropriate tasks for their level of development. The aim of this study was to analyze the sequential and associative structure of the metacognitive skills used by 5-year-old children throughout the resolution of a playful task (a puzzle). It was interesting to know if there were different hidden structures in the use of metacognitive skills in the children who solved the puzzle and those who did not. From the methodological approach, this work was located in the perspective of mixed methods which is characterized by the integration of qualitative and quantitative elements. This integration was carried out from the "connect" option. The integration involved developing quantitizing, as one of its possibilities. Recent scientific literature has considered systematic observation, in which the QUAL-QUAN-QUAL macro stages take place, as a mixed method itself. Consequently, systematic observation was applied, because it was suitable for our aim. A Nomothetic/Punctual/Multidimensional observational design was used. The playful activity of 44 preschool children solving the puzzle individually was coded. It allowed us to obtain data matrices that respond to the QUAL stage. Regarding the QUAN stage, once the quality of data was controlled, the records were further analyzed by differentiating two groups of participants (those who had solved the puzzle and those who did not) using three quantitative techniques of observational analysis (T-pattern detection, lag sequential analysis, polar coordinate analysis). Finally data was returned to a QUAL stage to interpret the results. The use of these three techniques allowed a detailed and in-depth analysis of the children''s activity. Results reveal differences in the metacognitive abilities of the children that solved and didn''t solve the puzzle. These results have important implications for educational practice

A Fully-Integrated CMOS LDO Regulator for Battery-Operated On-Chip Measurement Systems

This paper presents a fully-integrated 0.18 mu m CMOS low drop-out (LDO) regulator designed to drive on-chip low power frontend sensor nodes. The proposed LDO is based on a simple telescopic amplifier stage with internal cascode compensation driving a PMOS pass-device, providing a high precision 1.8 V output voltage for input voltages from 3.6 V to 1.92 V up to a 50 mA load current with only 22 mu A quiescent current. Line and load regulation are respectively better than 0.017 mV/V and 0.003 mV/mA, while recovery times are below 4 mu s over a (-40 degrees C, 120 degrees C) temperature span

A CMOS Mixed Mode Non-Linear Processing Unit for Adaptive Sensor Conditioning in Portable Smart Systems

This paper presents the architecture of a novel non-linear digitally programmable analog unit for sensor output conditioning in battery-operated smart systems. Designed in an 180nm 1.8V standard CMOS technology, by properly setting the 6-bit registers in the arithmetic unit, the voltage inputs are weighted before being processed by a non-linear circuit. Thus, a processing system consisting of a set of these devices suitably tuned and interconnected can be applied to condition a non-linear sensor, improving its behavior both in linearity and operating range, while reducing the effects of cross sensitivity. The robustness of the digital weight tuning is tested simulating a chip-on-the-loop training using a Levenberg-Marquardt-based algorithm. Electric simulations of the proposed unit and the results of its application in a complete neural network-based processing system to improve the linear operating range of a thermistor are presented

Anthocyanin pigments in strawberry

The anthocyanin composition was analysed in strawberry fruits from five different cultivars (cv. Eris, Oso Grande, Carisma, Tudnew and Camarosa). Twenty-five defined anthocyanin pigments were detected, most of them containing Pelargonidin (Pg) as aglycone; some cyanidin (Cy) derivatives were also found. Glucose and rutinose were the usual substituting sugars, although arabinose and rhamnose were also tentatively identified; some minor anthocyanins showed acylation with aliphatic acids. A relevant aspect was the detection of anthocyanin-derived pigments, namely 5-carboxypyranopelargonidin-3-glucoside and four condensed pigments containing C–C linked anthocyanin (Pg) and flavanol (catechin and afzelechin) residues. Total anthocyanin content ranged between 200 and 600mg/kg, with Pg 3-gluc constituting 77–90% of the anthocyanins in the strawberry extracts followed by Pg 3-rut (6–11%) and Cy 3-gluc (3–10%). A notable variability was found among the anthocyanin concentrations in samples of a same variety and harvest, indicating a strongly influence of the degree of maturity, edaphic-climatic factors and post-harvest storage

Tobacco use worldwide: Legislative efforts to curb consumption

Tobacco smoking is recognized as a major preventable cause of disease worldwide and is linked to 6 million deaths annually, 30% of which are due to cancer. The negative health consequences of smoking currently represent one of the greatest public health challenges. Secondhand smoke, declared carcinogenic by the International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2004, is also a major source of morbidity and premature death in nonsmokers, particularly children. Negative health effects associated with exposure to secondhand smoke have been well documented and include lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, asthma, and other respiratory diseases. International and national policies to implement cost-effective strategies to curtail smoking will have a significant impact on population health and will protect nonsmokers. Effective interventions, such as a combination of smoke-free laws, tobacco price increases, easy access to tobacco cessation treatments, and anti-tobacco media campaigns, should continue. Reducing tobacco use would be a major step towards the goal of decreasing health disparities by 2030 as 80% of the projected tobaccorelated deaths will occur in low- and middle-income countries

Tobacco Use Worldwide: Legislative Efforts to Curb Consumption

Tobacco smoking is recognized as a major preventable cause of disease worldwide and is linked to 6 million deaths annually, 30% of which are due to cancer. The negative health consequences of smoking currently represent one of the greatest global public health challenges. Additionally, secondhand smoke, which was declared carcinogenic by the International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2004, is a major source of morbidity and premature death in nonsmokers, particularly children. Negative health effects associated with exposure to secondhand smoke have been well documented and include lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, asthma, and other respiratory diseases. International and national policies to implement cost-effective strategies to curtail smoking will have a significant impact on population health and will protect nonsmokers. Effective interventions, such as smoking bans, tobacco price increases, easy access to tobacco cessation treatments, and anti-tobacco media campaigns, should continue. Reducing tobacco use would be a major step towards the goal of decreasing health disparities by 2030, as 80% of the projected tobacco-related deaths will occur in low and middle-income countries

The Effect of Balance Training on Postural Control in Patients with Parkinson s Disease Using a Virtual Rehabilitation System

[EN] Objectives: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor clinical alterations among others. Postural problems have serious consequences for patients, not only limiting their daily life but also increasing some risks, like the risk of fall. Inadequate postural control and postural instability is a major problem in PD patients. A Virtual Motor Rehabilitation System (VMR) has been tested in patients with PD in the intervention period. Our pur-pose was to analyze the evolution of the spatial postural control during the intervention period, to see if there are any changes caused precisely by this intervention. Methods: Ten people with PD carried out 15 virtual rehabilitation sessions. We tested a groundbreaking system based on Virtual Motor Rehabilitation in two periods of time (baseline evaluation and final evaluation). In the training sessions, the participants performed a customizable treatment using a low-cost system, the Active Balance Rehabilitation system (ABAR). We stored the pressure performed by the participants every five hundredths of a second, and we analyzed the patients' pressure when they maintained their body on the left, on the right, and in the center in sitting position. Our system was able to measure postural control in every patient in each of the virtual rehabilitation sessions. Results: There are no significant differences in the performance of postural control in any of the positions evaluated throughout the sessions. Moreover, the results show a trend to an improvement in all positions. This improvement is especially remarkable in the left/right positions, which are the most important positions in order to avoid problems such as the risk of fall. With regard to the suitability of the ABAR system, we have found outstanding results in enjoyment, success, clarity, and helpfulness. Conclusions: Although PD is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, the results demonstrate that patients with PD maintain or even improve their postural control in all positions. We think that the main factor influencing these results is that patients use more of their available cognitive processing to improve their postural control. The ABAR system allows us to make this assumption because the system requires the continuous attention of patients, promoting cognitive processing.This contribution was partially funded by the Gobierno de Aragon, Departamento de Industria e Innovacion, y Fondo Social Europeo "Construyendo Europa desde Aragon" and by the Programa Ibercaja-CAI de Estancias de Investigacion.Albiol-Perez, S.; Gil-Gómez, J.; Muñoz-Tomás, M.; Gil Gómez, H.; Vial Escolano, R.; Lozano Quilis, JA. (2017). 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Physiotherapy for patients with Parkinson’s Disease: a comparison of techniques. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2001; (3): CD002817Albiol-Pérez S, Lozano-Quilis JA, Gil-Gómez H, Gil-Gómez JA, Llorens R. Virtual rehabilitation system for people with Parkinson disease. 9th Intl Conf. Disability, Virtual Reality & Associated Technologies, Laval, France; 2012Mendes, F. A. dos S., Pompeu, J. E., Lobo, A. M., da Silva, K. G., Oliveira, T. de P., Zomignani, A. P., & Piemonte, M. E. P. (2012). Motor learning, retention and transfer after virtual-reality-based training in Parkinson’s disease – effect of motor and cognitive demands of games: a longitudinal, controlled clinical study. Physiotherapy, 98(3), 217-223. doi:10.1016/j.physio.2012.06.001Saposnik, G., & Levin, M. (2011). Virtual Reality in Stroke Rehabilitation. Stroke, 42(5), 1380-1386. doi:10.1161/strokeaha.110.605451Lozano-Quilis, J.-A., Gil-Gómez, H., Gil-Gómez, J.-A., Albiol-Pérez, S., Palacios-Navarro, G., Fardoun, H. 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Capsule endoscopy interpretation: the role of physician extenders

Background and aims: capsule endoscopy (CE) allows for a new era in small-bowel examination. Nevertheless, physicians’ time for CE-interpretation remains longer than desirable. Alternative strategies to physicians have not been widely investigated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of physician extenders in CE-interpretation. Material and methods: one CE-experienced gastroenterologist and two physician extenders reviewed independently 20 CEprocedures. Each reader was blinded to the findings of their colleagues. A consensus formed by the readers and a second CE-experienced gastroenterologist was used as gold standard. Number, type and location of images selected, character of CEexams and their relationship with indications were recorded. Gastric emptying time (GEt), small-bowel transit time (SBTt) and time spent by readers were also noted. Results: sensitivity and specificity for “overall” lesions was 79 and 99% for the gastroenterologist; 86 and 43% for the nurse; and 80 and 57% for the resident. All 34 “major” lesions considered by consensus were found by the readers. Agreement between consensus and readers for images classification and procedures interpretation was good to excellent (κ from 0.55 to 1). No significant differences were found in the GEt and SBTt obtained by consensus and readers. The gastroenterologist was faster than physician extenders (mean time spent was 51.9 ± 13.5 minutes versus 62.2 ± 19 and 60.9 ± 17.1 for nurse and resident, respectively; p < 0.05). Conclusions: physician extenders could be the perfect complement to gastroenterologists for CE-interpretation but gastroenterologists should supervise their findings. Future cost-efficacy analyses are required to assess the benefits of this alternative