Time-periodic phases in populations of nonlinearly coupled oscillators with bimodal frequency distributions

The mean field Kuramoto model describing the synchronization of a population of phase oscillators with a bimodal frequency distribution is analyzed (by the method of multiple scales) near regions in its phase diagram corresponding to synchronization to phases with a time periodic order parameter. The richest behavior is found near the tricritical point were the incoherent, stationarily synchronized, ``traveling wave'' and ``standing wave'' phases coexist. The behavior near the tricritical point can be extrapolated to the rest of the phase diagram. Direct Brownian simulation of the model confirms our findings.Comment: Revtex,16 pag.,10 fig., submitted to Physica

De novo Analysis of the Epiphytic Transcriptome of the Cucurbit Powdery Mildew Fungus Podosphaera xanthii and Identification of Candidate Secreted Effector Proteins.

The cucurbit powdery mildew fungus Podosphaera xanthii is a major limiting factor for cucurbit production worldwide. Despite the fungus's agronomic and economic importance, very little is known about fundamental aspects of P. xanthii biology, such as obligate biotrophy or pathogenesis. To design more durable control strategies, genomic information about P. xanthii is needed. Powdery mildews are fungal pathogens with large genomes compared with those of other fungi, which contain vast amounts of repetitive DNA sequences, much of which is composed of retrotransposons. To reduce genome complexity, in this work we aimed to obtain and analyse the epiphytic transcriptome of P. xanthii as a starting point for genomic research. Total RNA was isolated from epiphytic fungal material, and the corresponding cDNA library was sequenced using a 454 GS FLX platform. Over 676,562 reads were obtained and assembled into 37,241 contigs. Annotation data identified 8,798 putative genes with different orthologues. As described for other powdery mildew fungi, a similar set of missing core ascomycete genes was found, which may explain obligate biotrophy. To gain insight into the plant-pathogen relationships, special attention was focused on the analysis of the secretome. After this analysis, 137 putative secreted proteins were identified, including 53 candidate secreted effector proteins (CSEPs). Consistent with a putative role in pathogenesis, the expression profile observed for some of these CSEPs showed expression maxima at the beginning of the infection process at 24 h after inoculation, when the primary appressoria are mostly formed. Our data mark the onset of genomics research into this very important pathogen of cucurbits and shed some light on the intimate relationship between this pathogen and its host plant

Telomere length in patients with gestational Diabetes Mellitus and normoglycemic pregnant women: a systematic review and meta-analysis

We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies assessing telomere length in blood leukocytes or mononuclear cells in women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and normoglycemic pregnant women (NPW) and their infants. The review protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42022300950). Searches were conducted in PubMed, Embase, LILACS, CNKI, and Wang Fang, from inception through November 2022. The primary outcomes were maternal and offspring telomere length. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to assess the quality of included studies. Random-effect meta-analyses were applied to estimate standardized mean differences (SMDs) and their 95% confidence interval (CI). The meta-analysis of four studies showed no significant maternal telomere length difference (SMD = −0.80, 95% CI: −1.66, 0.05) in women with GDM compared to NPW. In the sensibility analysis omitting one study with a small sample of women, the telomere length becomes significantly reduced in women with GDM (SMD = −1.10, 95% CI: −2.18, −0.02). GDM patients had increased glucose (SMD = 0.28, 95% CI: 0.09, 0.46) and glycosylated hemoglobin than NPW (SMD = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.23, 1.01) while total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides did not display differences between women with and without GDM. There was no significant difference in cord blood telomere length in offspring from women with GDM and NPW (SMD = 0.11, 95% CI: −0.52, 0.30). Cord blood insulin levels (SMD = 0.59, 95% CI: 0.33, 0.85) and birthweight (SMD = 0.59, 95% CI: 0.39, 0.79) were higher in offspring from pregnant women with GDM than in those from NPW. There were no significant differences in maternal and offspring telomere length between pregnancies with and without GDM

Spectral density of random graphs with topological constraints

The spectral density of random graphs with topological constraints is analysed using the replica method. We consider graph ensembles featuring generalised degree-degree correlations, as well as those with a community structure. In each case an exact solution is found for the spectral density in the form of consistency equations depending on the statistical properties of the graph ensemble in question. We highlight the effect of these topological constraints on the resulting spectral density.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figure

Tailored graph ensembles as proxies or null models for real networks I: tools for quantifying structure

We study the tailoring of structured random graph ensembles to real networks, with the objective of generating precise and practical mathematical tools for quantifying and comparing network topologies macroscopically, beyond the level of degree statistics. Our family of ensembles can produce graphs with any prescribed degree distribution and any degree-degree correlation function, its control parameters can be calculated fully analytically, and as a result we can calculate (asymptotically) formulae for entropies and complexities, and for information-theoretic distances between networks, expressed directly and explicitly in terms of their measured degree distribution and degree correlations.Comment: 25 pages, 3 figure

Documento de consenso sobre la utilización de profilaxis antibiótica en cirugía y procedimientos dentales

La profilaxis antibiótica en Odontología tiene como objetivo prevenir la aparición de infección a partir de la puerta de entrada que produce la actuación terapéutica, por lo que se encuentra indicada siempre que exista un riesgo importante de infección, ya sea por las características mismas de la operación o por las condiciones locales o generales del paciente. Sin embargo, los ensayos clínicos con antibióticos en patologías dentarias responden poco a los criterios metodológicos requeridos, y además no son lo suficientemente numerosos. Se presentan los resultados de una conferencia de expertos integrada por los Presidentes de Sociedades científicas españolas más representativas que han analizado la bibliografía existente y han aportado sus valiosas experiencias profesionales. Se describen las circunstancias técnicas, se analizan los fundamentos biológicos y farmacológicos y se aplican a las situaciones médicas más representativas. Se concluye que la profilaxis antibiótica en Odontología cuenta con indicaciones bien fundamentadas y precisas, ofreciendo a la comunidad científica internacional un protocolo práctico de actuación.The goal of antibiotic prophylaxis in Odontology is to prevent the onset of infections through the entranceway provided by the therapeutic action, therefore it is indicated providing there is a considerable risk of infection, either because of the characteristics of the operation itself or the patient's local or general condition. Nonetheless, clinical trials with antibiotics in dental pathologies have had scant regard for the required methodological criteria and, in addition, are not sufficiently numerous. This text presents the results of an expert conference comprising the Presidents of the most representative Scientific Societies in Spain who have analyzed the existing literature and have drawn on their valuable professional experience. It describes the technical circumstances, analyzes the biological and pharmacological foundations and their application to the most representative medical situations. It is concluded that antibiotic prophylaxis in Odontology has certain well-founded, precise indications and offers the international scientific community a practical protocol for action

Endoderm development requires centrioles to restrain p53-mediated apoptosis in the absence of ERK activity

Centrioles comprise the heart of centrosomes, microtubule-organizing centers. To study the function of centrioles in lung and gut development, we genetically disrupted centrioles throughout the mouse endoderm. Surprisingly, removing centrioles from the endoderm did not disrupt intestinal growth or development but blocked lung branching. In the lung, acentriolar SOX2-expressing airway epithelial cells apoptosed. Loss of centrioles activated p53, and removing p53 restored survival of SOX2-expressing cells, lung branching, and mouse viability. To investigate how endodermal p53 activation specifically killed acentriolar SOX2-expressing cells, we assessed ERK, aprosurvival cue.ERKwasactivethroughouttheintestine and inthedistal lung buds, correlating with tolerance to centriole loss. Pharmacologically inhibiting ERK activated apoptosis in acentriolar cells, revealing that ERK activity protects acentriolar cells from apoptosis. Therefore, centrioles are largely dispensable for endodermal growth and the spatial distribution of ERK activity in the endoderm shapes the developmental consequences of centriolar defects and p53 activation

Spin models on random graphs with controlled topologies beyond degree constraints

We study Ising spin models on finitely connected random interaction graphs which are drawn from an ensemble in which not only the degree distribution $p(k)$ can be chosen arbitrarily, but which allows for further fine-tuning of the topology via preferential attachment of edges on the basis of an arbitrary function Q(k,k') of the degrees of the vertices involved. We solve these models using finite connectivity equilibrium replica theory, within the replica symmetric ansatz. In our ensemble of graphs, phase diagrams of the spin system are found to depend no longer only on the chosen degree distribution, but also on the choice made for Q(k,k'). The increased ability to control interaction topology in solvable models beyond prescribing only the degree distribution of the interaction graph enables a more accurate modeling of real-world interacting particle systems by spin systems on suitably defined random graphs.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures, submitted to J Phys

The Little-Hopfield model on a Random Graph

We study the Hopfield model on a random graph in scaling regimes where the average number of connections per neuron is a finite number and where the spin dynamics is governed by a synchronous execution of the microscopic update rule (Little-Hopfield model).We solve this model within replica symmetry and by using bifurcation analysis we prove that the spin-glass/paramagnetic and the retrieval/paramagnetictransition lines of our phase diagram are identical to those of sequential dynamics.The first-order retrieval/spin-glass transition line follows by direct evaluation of our observables using population dynamics. Within the accuracy of numerical precision and for sufficiently small values of the connectivity parameter we find that this line coincides with the corresponding sequential one. Comparison with simulation experiments shows excellent agreement.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure