Validation of an IGF1 Screening Method for Retinopathy of Pre-maturity

Retinopathy of pre-maturity (ROP) is a retinal disease that causes arrest of vascularization of the retina and can result in retinal detachment and blindness. Current screening protocols may not be sufficiently accurate to identify all at-risk patients. The aim of this study is to validate a method for improved identification of newborns at risk of ROP. We conducted a prospective clinical trial of pre-term newborns <32 weeks of gestation and/or <1,500 g birth weight during a 6-year period in a tertiary care hospital. We applied our new method based on measurement of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) levels at 3 weeks of age and the presence of sepsis during the first 3 weeks of life. Our screening protocol allowed exclusion of 121 (79.1%) patients for whom American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) guidelines recommended screening, had a negative predictive value of 100%, and correctly identified all patients with ROP. Following retrospective assessment of our data based on these findings, we propose further restriction of the current AAP indications for screening to <1,100 g and <28 weeks of gestation in order to improve diagnostic efficacy while ensuring optimal use of restriction of human and material resources

Rapid Phenotype-Driven Gene Sequencing with the NeoSeq Panel: A Diagnostic Tool for Critically Ill Newborns with Suspected Genetic Disease

New genomic sequencing techniques have shown considerable promise in the field of neonatology, increasing the diagnostic rate and reducing time to diagnosis. However, several obstacles have hindered the incorporation of this technology into routine clinical practice. We prospectively evaluated the diagnostic rate and diagnostic turnaround time achieved in newborns with suspected genetic diseases using a rapid phenotype-driven gene panel (NeoSeq) containing 1870 genes implicated in congenital malformations and neurological and metabolic disorders of early onset (<2 months of age). Of the 33 newborns recruited, a genomic diagnosis was established for 13 (39.4%) patients (median diagnostic turnaround time, 7.5 days), resulting in clinical management changes in 10 (76.9%) patients. An analysis of 12 previous prospective massive sequencing studies (whole genome (WGS), whole exome (WES), and clinical exome (CES) sequencing) in newborns admitted to neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) with suspected genetic disorders revealed a comparable median diagnostic rate (37.2%), but a higher median diagnostic turnaround time (22.3 days) than that obtained with NeoSeq. Our phenotype-driven gene panel, which is specific for genetic diseases in critically ill newborns is an affordable alternative to WGS and WES that offers comparable diagnostic efficacy, supporting its implementation as a first-tier genetic test in NICUs

Homeostatic control of polyamine levels under long-term salt stress in Arabidopsis

Salt stress has been frequently studied in its first osmotic phase. Very often, data regarding the second ionic phase is missing. It has also been suggested that Putrescine or/and Spermine could be responsible for salt resistance. In order to test this hypothesis under long-term salt stress, we obtained Arabidopsis thaliana transgenic plants harboring pRD29A::oatADC or pRD29A::GUS construction. Although Putrescine was the only polyamine significantly increased after salt acclimation in pRD29A::oatADC transgenic lines, this rendered in no advantage to this kind of stress. The higher Spermine levels found in WT and transgenic lines when compared to control conditions along with no increment on Putrescine levels in WT plants under salt acclimation, leads us to analyze Spermine effect on pADC1 and pADC2 expression. Increasing levels of this polyamine inhibits these promoters expression while enhances pRD29A expression, making Spermine the polyamine responsible for salt acclimation, and the transgenic lines developed in this work suitable for studying Putrescine roles in conditions where its biosynthesis would be inhibited in the WT genotype

Código de conduta. Prevenção da introdução e dispersão de flora e fauna exótica invasora: agentes ambientais

De forma intencional ou involuntária, o ser humano transporta espécies entre locais desde tempos imemoriais. No entanto, nos últimos 50 anos, o ritmo de introdução de espécies exóticas no meio natural acelerou de forma alarmante, tornando-se numa das principais causas de perda de biodiversidade. A globalização, juntamente com as alterações climáticas, a destruição de habitats, o aumento do trânsito de pessoas e o comércio, são hoje os principais responsáveis pela perda de biodiversidade a nível global, acarretando também graves prejuízos para a economia e a saúde humana

XVI International Congress of Control Electronics and Telecommunications: "Techno-scientific considerations for a post-pandemic world intensive in knowledge, innovation and sustainable local development"

Este título, sugestivo por los impactos durante la situación de la Covid 19 en el mundo, y que en Colombia lastimosamente han sido muy críticos, permiten asumir la obligada superación de tensiones sociales, políticas, y económicas; pero sobre todo científicas y tecnológicas. Inicialmente, esto supone la existencia de una capacidad de la sociedad colombiana por recuperar su estado inicial después de que haya cesado la perturbación a la que fue sometida por la catastrófica pandemia, y superar ese anterior estado de cosas ya que se encontraban -y aún se encuentran- muchos problemas locales mal resueltos, medianamente resueltos, y muchos sin resolver: es decir, habrá que rediseñar y fortalecer una probada resiliencia social existente - producto del prolongado conflicto social colombiano superado parcialmente por un proceso de paz exitoso - desde la tecnociencia local; como lo indicaba Markus Brunnermeier - economista alemán y catedrático de economía de la Universidad de Princeton- en su libro The Resilient Society…La cuestión no es preveerlo todo sino poder reaccionar…aprender a recuperarse rápido.This title, suggestive of the impacts during the Covid 19 situation in the world, and which have unfortunately been very critical in Colombia, allows us to assume the obligatory overcoming of social, political, and economic tensions; but above all scientific and technological. Initially, this supposes the existence of a capacity of Colombian society to recover its initial state after the disturbance to which it was subjected by the catastrophic pandemic has ceased, and to overcome that previous state of affairs since it was found -and still is find - many local problems poorly resolved, moderately resolved, and many unresolved: that is, an existing social resilience test will have to be redesigned and strengthened - product of the prolonged Colombian social conflict partially overcome by a successful peace process - from local technoscience; As Markus Brunnermeier - German economist and professor of economics at Princeton University - indicates in his book The Resilient Society...The question is not to foresee everything but to be able to react...learn to recover quickly.Bogot

La renovación de la palabra en el bicentenario de la Argentina : los colores de la mirada lingüística

El libro reúne trabajos en los que se exponen resultados de investigaciones presentadas por investigadores de Argentina, Chile, Brasil, España, Italia y Alemania en el XII Congreso de la Sociedad Argentina de Lingüística (SAL), Bicentenario: la renovación de la palabra, realizado en Mendoza, Argentina, entre el 6 y el 9 de abril de 2010. Las temáticas abordadas en los 167 capítulos muestran las grandes líneas de investigación que se desarrollan fundamentalmente en nuestro país, pero también en los otros países mencionados arriba, y señalan además las áreas que recién se inician, con poca tradición en nuestro país y que deberían fomentarse. Los trabajos aquí publicados se enmarcan dentro de las siguientes disciplinas y/o campos de investigación: Fonología, Sintaxis, Semántica y Pragmática, Lingüística Cognitiva, Análisis del Discurso, Psicolingüística, Adquisición de la Lengua, Sociolingüística y Dialectología, Didáctica de la lengua, Lingüística Aplicada, Lingüística Computacional, Historia de la Lengua y la Lingüística, Lenguas Aborígenes, Filosofía del Lenguaje, Lexicología y Terminología

Unexpected deep-sea fish species on the Porcupine Bank (NE Atlantic): Biogeographical implications

Four specimens corresponding to three rare deep-water fish species were caught on the Porcupine Bank (Northeast Atlantic) in September 2019. These catches include the new northernmost records of Azores rockling Gaidropsarus granti and Deep water dab Poecilopsetta beanii in the Atlantic Ocean and the second record of the latter species in its eastern zone. Three of the specimens were retained and their molecular identification also allowed the first time to obtain the Cataetyx alleni DNA barcode. The appearance of P. beanii, a West Atlantic species, in its eastern zone is discussed in relation to a possible phenomenon of transoceanic drift in the larval stage.Versión del editor1,83

Does the photo-thermal environment limit post-flowering maize growth?

After canopy closure and in the absence of limitations by water or nutrient availability, crop growth rate (CGR) of maize (Zea mays L.) is ultimately constrained by the daily incident radiation and temperature of the environment. Sustaining maximal canopy photosynthetic capacity after-flowering is, then, a necessary but not a sufficient condition to increase maize dry-matter production. The aim of the present study was to determine the extent of the photo-thermal environment limitation to CGR during the post-flowering period in current maize crops. Dynamic of CGR was studied in two well-irrigated and nourished maize field experiments (Exp. 1 and Exp. 2 for 2010−11 and 2011−12 cropping seasons, respectively) on conventional crops (i.e. full-season hybrid planted early in the season) at Balcarce, Argentina (37° 45’ S, 58° 18’ W; 130 m a.s.l.). Two independent methods were performed to benchmark the CGR of these conventional crops during the post-flowering period: i) empirical CGR values obtained under the same weather conditions from younger maize crops, and ii) theoretically estimated potential CGR, obtained as a function of daily incident radiation and potential radiation use-efficiency (RUE). Conventional crops reached the maximal CGR near flowering in mid-January, being 51.2 g m−2 d−1 and 58.8 g m−2 d−1 in Exp. 1 and Exp. 2, respectively. Afterwards, CGR decreased progressively towards crops maturity late in March. Estimates, from either the empirical or the theoretical method, indicated that although attainable-CGR decreases progressively towards the end of the cropping season, it sustains higher values than those achieved by conventional crops after flowering. Differences in attainable vs. actual-CGR was almost exclusively attributable to RUE, which, in turn, could not be explained solely by the post-flowering foliar nitrogen withdrawal. Differences between actual (1987 g m−2 in Exp. 1 and 1614 g m−2 in Exp. 2) and potential post-flowering dry-matter production defined gaps that were in the range 18.2%–47.8%. From these results, it can be concluded that the photo-thermal environment is not, at least so far, the limiting factor to the post-flowering maize growth. Further research is needed, however, to analyze the viability of increasing potential yield of maize through the closure of these estimated gaps.EEA BalcarceFil: Bonelli, Lucas Emmanuel. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Cerrudo, Aníbal Alejandro. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina.Fil: Olmedo Pico, Lía Belén. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Investigación Animal del Chaco Semiárido; Argentina. Purdue University. Departament of Agronomy; Estados UnidosFil: Di Matteo, Javier. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina.Fil: Monzon, Juan Pablo. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Rizzalli, Roberto Héctor. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina.Fil: Andrade, Fernando Héctor. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Balcarce; Argentina. . Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET); Argentin

Código de conduta. Prevenção da introdução e dispersão de flora e fauna exótica invasora: agentes ambientais

De forma intencional ou involuntária, o ser humano transporta espécies entre locais desde tempos imemoriais. No entanto, nos últimos 50 anos, o ritmo de introdução de espécies exóticas no meio natural acelerou de forma alarmante, tornando-se numa das principais causas de perda de biodiversidade. A globalização, juntamente com as alterações climáticas, a destruição de habitats, o aumento do trânsito de pessoas e o comércio, são hoje os principais responsáveis pela perda de biodiversidade a nível global, acarretando também graves prejuízos para a economia e a saúde humana