Diabetes and atypical presentations of patients hospitalized for an acute myocardial infarction in Puerto Rico

Introduction: Diabetes mellitus is one of the fastest growing health issues concerning the world today with an estimated 382 million individuals affected as of 2013 and a projected increase in number to 592 million by 2035. Diabetes mellitus is a condition affecting 12-15% of the population or around 400,000 people in Puerto Rico. The most common presenting complaint of diabetics who are hospitalized for an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is chest pain. However, the pervasiveness of atypical symptoms in diabetic patients is yet unclear. The aim of this study is to determine if there is an association between diabetes and the presentation of atypical symptoms in the emergency room in those suffering from an AMI in Puerto Rico. Methods: We conducted a secondary data analysis of data from participants from the 2007, 2009 and 2011 Puerto Rico Cardiovascular Disease Surveillance system (PRCDS), an observational, non-concurrent, cross-sectional study. The main independent variable was presence of diabetes mellitus (Type I and Type II). The outcome was the presence of atypical symptoms at the time of presentation, defined as the absence of chest pain on admission. The prevalence of atypical symptoms in diabetic patients and non-diabetic patients was compared. Binary logistic regression was used to test for independent association. Statistical significance was considered for p-values ≤0.05 for a two-tailed test. Analysis was conducted using SPSS software. Results: We found no association between atypical presentation of an AMI and diabetes, before or after adjustment for age, gender, congestive heart failure, stroke history and BMI. (unadjusted OR= 1.0, 95%CI=0.7-1.4 and adjusted OR=1.0, 95% CI=0.6-1.5). Other independent associations identified were that patients older than 75 were 3.5 times more likely to present atypically than people younger than 55 (OR= 3.5, 95% CI=1.6-7.6), and those with CHF and stroke were more likely to present with atypical symptoms (OR=3.2, 95% CI=1.7-6.1 and OR=4.2 95% CI=2.1-8.4, respectively). Lastly, overweight patients were 3.3 times more likely to present atypically than healthy weight patients (OR=2.0, 95% CI=0.6-7.0). Conclusion: We found no evidence of an association between diabetes and the presentation of atypical symptoms in patients hospitalized for AMI in Puerto Rico

Surface morphologies of Ti and Ti-Al-V bombarded by 1.0-MeV Au+ Ions

Ion implantation is known to enhance the mechanical properties of biomaterials such as, e.g., the wear resistance of orthopedic joints. Increasing the surface area of implants may likewise improve their integration with, e.g., bone tissue, which requires surface features with sizes in the micron range. Ion implantation of biocompatible metals has recently been demonstrated to induce surface ripples with wavelengths of a few microns. However, the physical mechanisms controlling the formation and characteristics of these patterns are yet to be understood. We bombard Ti and Ti-6Al-4V surfaces with 1.0-MeV Au+ ions. Analysis by scanning electron and atomic force microscopies shows the formation of surface ripples with typical dimensions in the micron range, with potential indeed for biomedical applications. Under the present specific experimental conditions, the ripple properties are seen to strongly depend on the fluence of the implanted ions while being weakly dependent on the target material. Moreover, by examining experiments performed for incidence angle values theta = 8 degrees, 23 degrees, 49 degrees, and 67 degrees, we confirm the existence of a threshold incidence angle for (ripple) pattern formation. Surface indentation is also used to study surface features under additional values of., agreeing with our single-angle experiments.This work was financially supported by Dirección General de Asuntos del Personal Académico-UNAM under Contracts No. Programa de Apoyo a Proyectos de Investigación e Innovación Tecnológica IN110116 and No. IN111717, and by CONACYT under Contract No. 222485. L. R. d. l. V. is supported by the Programa de Estancias Sabáticas Nacionales del Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACyT). R. C. acknowledges the kind hospitality and support of the Instituto de Física at UNAM while part of this work was being carried out, as well as partial support from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad/Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (Spain/European Union) through Grants No. FIS2012- 38866-C05-01 and No. FIS2015-66020-C2-1-P

Hispanic ethnicity and survival in pediatric acute lymphocytic leukemia (all) patients in Florida

Introduction: Pediatric cancer mortality rates have drastically declined according to analyzed population-based surveillance data; however, incidences of most childhood cancers continue to rise. Recent studies have indicated an association between ethnicity/race and cancer survival. Florida's ethnically/racially diverse population and surging pediatric cancer incidence characterize the state as an ideal setting to study the association between ethnicity/race and pediatric cancer survival. Objective: To determine whether or not an association exists between Hispanic ethnicity and cancer survival in a Floridian population of pediatric patients with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL). Methods: We will use data from participants 18 years or younger of Florida Cancer Data System (FCDS). Cox-proportional hazard regression was used to assess independent association between Hispanic ethnicity and time to death (time interval from diagnose of ALL to the last patient contact, as recorded in the database). Survival status (death or alive) was assessed at the date of last contact. Those who are alive at last contact were then censored. Results: In the unadjusted model, ethnicity was not associated with risk of death (HR= 0.87, 95% CI=0.73 - 1.04). After adjustment for sex, race, age at diagnosis, insurance status, geographic area, and immunophenotype) the results showed again no association between Hispanic ethnicity and survival (HR = 1.19, 95% CI=0.82 - 1.72). Conclusions: We found no evidence for differences in survival based on ethnic status. Potential difference in racial-survival disparities in pediatric ALL within various geographic regions might depend on Hispanic ancestries or cancer type. Further research on the topic is still deemed necessary as to clarify the nature of the association between ethnicity and cancer survival

Sex in Cheese: Evidence for Sexuality in the Fungus Penicillium roqueforti

Abstract Although most eukaryotes reproduce sexually at some moment of their life cycle, as much as a fifth of fungal species were thought to reproduce exclusively asexually. Nevertheless, recent studies have revealed the occurrence of sex in some of these supposedly asexual species. For industrially relevant fungi, for which inoculums are produced by clonal-subcultures since decades, the potentiality for sex is of great interest for strain improvement strategies. Here, we investigated the sexual capability of the fungus Penicillium roqueforti, used as starter for blue cheese production. We present indirect evidence suggesting that recombination could be occurring in this species. The screening of a large sample of strains isolated from diverse substrates throughout the world revealed the existence of individuals of both mating types, even in the very same cheese. The MAT genes, involved in fungal sexual compatibility, appeared to evolve under purifying selection, suggesting that they are still functional. The examination of the recently sequenced genome of the FM 164 cheese strain enabled the identification of the most important genes known to be involved in meiosis, which were found to be highly conserved. Linkage disequilibria were not significant among three of the six marker pairs and 11 out of the 16 possible allelic combinations were found in the dataset. Finally, the detection of signatures of repeat induced point mutations (RIP) in repeated sequences and transposable elements reinforces the conclusion that P. roqueforti underwent more or less recent sex events. In this species of high industrial importance, the induction of a sexual cycle would open the possibility of generating new genotypes that would be extremely useful to diversify cheese products

Microbiota alterations in proline metabolism impact depression

The microbiota-gut-brain axis has emerged as a novel target in depression, a disorder with low treatment efficacy. However, the field is dominated by underpowered studies focusing on major depression not addressing microbiome functionality, compositional nature, or confounding factors. We applied a multi-omics approach combining pre-clinical models with three human cohorts including patients with mild depression. Microbial functions and metabolites converging onto glutamate/GABA metabolism, particularly proline, were linked to depression. High proline consumption was the dietary factor with the strongest impact on depression. Whole-brain dynamics revealed rich club network disruptions associated with depression and circulating proline. Proline supplementation in mice exacerbated depression along with microbial translocation. Human microbiota transplantation induced an emotionally impaired phenotype in mice and alterations in GABA-, proline-, and extracellular matrix-related prefrontal cortex genes. RNAi-mediated knockdown of proline and GABA transporters in Drosophila and mono-association with L. plantarum, a high GABA producer, conferred protection against depression-like states. Targeting the microbiome and dietary proline may open new windows for efficient depression treatment

La Cueva de El Sidrón (Piloña Asturias)

Estado de las excavaciones y estudios en la Cueva de El Sidrón (PIloña, Asturias)

Development of a framework for fire risk assessment using remote sensing and geographic information system technologies

Forest fires play a critical role in landscape transformation, vegetation succession, soil degradation and air quality. Improvements in fire risk estimation are vital to reduce the negative impacts of fire, either by lessen burn severity or intensity through fuel management, or by aiding the natural vegetation recovery using post-fire treatments. This paper presents the methods to generate the input variables and the risk integration developed within the Firemap project (funded under the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology) to map wildland fire risk for several regions of Spain. After defining the conceptual scheme for fire risk assessment, the paper describes the methods used to generate the risk parameters, and presents proposals for their integration into synthetic risk indices. The generation of the input variables was based on an extensive use of geographic information system and remote sensing technologies, since the project was intended to provide a spatial and temporal assessment of risk conditions. All variables were mapped at 1 km2 spatial resolution, and were integrated into a web-mapping service system. This service was active in the summer of 2007 for semi-operational testing of end-users. The paper also presents the first validation results of the danger index, by comparing temporal trends of different danger components and fire occurrence in the different study regions.The Firemap project was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education (CGL2004-060490C04-01/CLI) through the Environment and Climate programPeer reviewe

The Pierre Auger Observatory III: Other Astrophysical Observations

Astrophysical observations of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays with the Pierre Auger ObservatoryComment: Contributions to the 32nd International Cosmic Ray Conference, Beijing, China, August 201