In Silico Exploration of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Metabolic Networks Shows Host-Associated Convergent Fluxomic Phenotypes

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis, is composed of several lineages characterized by a genome identity higher than 99%. Although the majority of the lineages are associated with humans, at least four lineages are adapted to other mammals, including different M. tuberculosis ecotypes. Host specificity is associated with higher virulence in its preferred host in ecotypes such as M. bovis. Deciphering what determines the preference of the host can reveal host-specific virulence patterns. However, it is not clear which genomic determinants might be influencing host specificity. In this study, we apply a combination of unsupervised and supervised classification methods on genomic data of ~27,000 M. tuberculosis clinical isolates to decipher host-specific genomic determinants. Host-specific genomic signatures are scarce beyond known lineage-specific mutations. Therefore, we integrated lineage-specific mutations into the iEK1011 2.0 genome-scale metabolic model to obtain lineage-specific versions of it. Flux distributions sampled from the solution spaces of these models can be accurately separated according to host association. This separation correlated with differences in cell wall processes, lipid, amino acid and carbon metabolic subsystems. These differences were observable when more than 95% of the samples had a specific growth rate significantly lower than the maximum achievable by the models. This suggests that these differences might manifest at low growth rate settings, such as the restrictive conditions M. tuberculosis suffers during macrophage infection

Principios activos de bajo período de carencia para el control de plagas y enfermedades en verduras de hoja.

La producción de hortalizas de hoja es un sistema intensivo, cuyos productos son comercializados en fresco por lo que deben cumplir condiciones de inocuidad para los consumidores. La utilización de métodos de control químico en estos sistemas debe considerar el cumplimiento de uso de productos fitosanitarios autorizados, de bajo impacto ambiental y de los días de carencia para cada situación, producto y dosis. Considerando lo anteriormente expuesto se realizó una recopilación bibliográfica de los productos autorizados para el control de plagas en cultivos hortícolas de hojas a los fines de facilitar a los asesores técnicos la toma de decisiones en el momento de realizar una recomendación de control químico. Esta guía está compuesta por listas de principios activos registrados con hasta 8 días de carencia y sus valores de EIQ ecológico como herramienta a la hora de seleccionar un principio activo. En el siguiente trabajo se presenta una lista de principios activos permitidos para usar en el control de plagas en los cultivos de acelga, espinaca, rúcula, perejil, lechuga, repollo, apio y achicoria, como así también información importante a la hora de realizar una prescripción de un tratamiento fitosanitario. La utilización adecuada de esta información contribuiría a una producción de hortalizas inocuas para el consumo y con menor impacto ambiental posible

Recopilación de insecticidas, acaricidas y fungicidas registrados para el cultivo de cucurbitáceas en Argentina

The large and diverse horticultural production in Argentina is carried out intensively and extensively in all the territory, even as subsistence farming carried out by families. Horticultural crop products are mainly sold fresh which is the reason why they must fulfill innocuousness requirements for family consumption. According to this, the chemical control over the variety of pests that harm this production must rely on duly registered phytosanitary products with low impact on the environment. Phytosanitaires must be responsibly well-managed, considering waiting period and correct dosage in each case. As a result, bibliographic compilation of registered phytosanitary products for the Cucurbitaceae family was carried out. That would help technicians make decisions on the various situations that arise in the field when opting for chemical control. This work includes charts for each species traditionally produced in NEA, elaborated with the active ingredients registered for: pumpkin, melon, cucumber, watermelon, squash and zucchini. Moreover, this work provides the Environmental Impact Quotient (EIQ) values that correspond to each use recommendation made in order to offer other criteria for the selection of the active ingredient to be used.La extensa y variada producción hortícola en la República Argentina se lleva a cabo de manera intensiva, extensiva e incluso como cultivo de subsistencia en huertas familiares. Sus productos se comercializan principalmente en fresco, razón por la cual deben cumplir con la tan necesaria condición de inocuidad para las familias que los consumen. De acuerdo con esto, el control químico de las distintas plagas que perjudican a esta producción debe basarse en la utilización de productos fitosanitarios debidamente registrados, con bajo impacto en el medio, con un uso responsable, manejo adecuado y considerando el tiempo de carencia y dosis para cada caso. A raíz de todo esto, se elaboró una recopilación bibliográfica de los fitosanitarios registrados para la familia de las Cucurbitáceas con el fin de facilitar a los técnicos la toma de decisiones frente a las diversas situaciones que se presentan a campo a la hora de optar por el control químico. El siguiente trabajo cuenta con tablas por cultivo, elaboradas con los principios activos registrados para cada una de las especies tradicionalmente producidas en el NEA, las cuales son calabaza, melón, pepino, sandía, zapallo y zapallito de tronco o redondo. Además, en el presente trabajo, se brinda los valores del Coeficiente de Impacto Ambiental (EIQ) para cada recomendación de uso lo cual es un criterio más para la selección del principio activo a utilizar

Late-time supernova light curves: The effect of internal conversion and Auger electrons

Energy release from radioactive decays contributes significantly to supernova light curves. Previous works, which considered the energy deposited by gamma-rays and positrons produced by 56Ni, 56Co, 57Ni, 57Co, 44Ti and 44Sc, have been quite successful in explaining the light curves of both core collapse and thermonuclear supernovae. We point out that Auger and internal conversion electrons together with the associated X-ray cascade, constitute an additional heat source. When a supernova is transparent to gamma-rays, these electrons can contribute significantly to light curves for reasonable nucleosynthetic yields. In particular, the electrons emitted in the decay of 57Co, which are largely due to internal conversion from a fortuitously low-lying 3/2- state in the daughter 57Fe, constitute an additional significant energy deposition channel. We show that when the heating by these electrons is accounted for, a slow-down in the lightcurve of SN 1998bw is naturally obtained for typical hypernova nucleosynthetic yields. Additionally, we show that for generic Type Ia supernova yields, the Auger electrons emitted in the ground-state to ground-state electron capture decay of 55Fe exceed the energy released by the 44Ti decay chain for many years after the explosion.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, MNRAS in press, v2 with updated reference

Vasoactive agents for the management of acute variceal bleeding: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background & Aims: Vasoactive agents with endoscopic therapy are used to treat acute variceal bleeding (AVB). There are two main groups of vasoactive agents: terlipressin and vasopressin (T-V), and octreotide and somatostatin (O-S). However, the benefit/harm balance is unclear. Our aim was to assess the efficacy and safety of T-V versus O-S for the management of AVB. Methods: We performed a systematic search for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in PubMed, Scopus, and CENTRAL. Our main outcomes were mortality and adverse events. Secondary outcomes were bleeding control, rebleeding, blood transfusion, hospital stay. We evaluated the certainty of evidence using GRADE methodology. Results: We included 21 RCTs. The risk of mortality (RR: 1.01; 95%CI: 0.83-1.22), bleeding control (RR: 0.96; 95%CI: 0.91-1.02; I2=53%), early rebleeding (RR: 0.91; 95%CI: 0.66-1.24: I2=0%), late rebleeding (RR: 0.94; 95 CI: 0.56-1.60; I2=0%), blood transfusion (MD: 0.04; 95%CI:-0.31-0.39; I2=68%) and hospital stay (MD:-1.06; 95%CI:-2.80-0.69; I2=0%) were similar between T-V and O-S groups. Only 15 studies reported adverse events, which were significantly higher in the T-V compared to the O-S group (RR 2.39; 95%CI: 1.58-3.63; I2=57%). The certainty of evidence was moderate for the main outcomes, and low or very low for others. Conclusions: In cirrhotic patients with AVB, those treated with T-V had similar mortality risk compared to O-S. However, the use of T-V showed an increased risk of adverse events compared to O-S.Revisión por pare

Factors associated with the intention to participate in COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials: A cross-sectional study in Peru

Objective: To evaluate the factors associated with the intention to participate in COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials in the Peruvian population. Methods: Cross-sectional study and secondary analysis of a database that involved Peruvian population during September 2020. The Poisson regression model was used to estimate the associated factors. Results: Data from 3231 individuals were analyzed, 44.1% of whom intended to participate in COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials. Factors associated with the outcome were being male (RPa: 1.25; 95% CI: 1.15–1.35), being from the highlands region (RPa: 1.18; 95% CI: 1.09–1.28) or jungle (RPa: 1.30; 95% CI: 1.15–1.47), having a relative that is a healthcare professional (PRa: 1.16; 95% CI: 1.06–1.28), using a medical source of information (PRa: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.17–1.41), and trusting in the possible effectiveness of vaccines (PRa: 1.40; 95% CI: 1.29–1.51). The main reason for not participating in the trial was the possibility of developing side effects (69.80%). Conclusion: There is an urgent need to generate a perception of safety in COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials, to increase the population's intention to participate in these studies, and to provide evidence-based information about the vaccine.Revisión por pare

Genome-wide scan for five brain oscillatory phenotypes identifies a new qtl associated with theta eeg band

Brain waves, measured by electroencephalography (EEG), are a powerful tool in the investigation of neurophysiological traits and a noninvasive and cost-effective alternative in the diagnostic of some neurological diseases. In order to identify novel Quantitative Trait Loci (QTLs) for brain wave relative power (RP), we collected resting state EEG data in five frequency bands (d, ¿, a, ß1, and ß2) and genome-wide data in a cohort of 105 patients with late onset Alzheimer’s disease (LOAD), 41 individuals with mild cognitive impairment and 45 controls from Iberia, correcting for disease status. One novel association was found with an interesting candidate for a role in brain wave biology, CLEC16A (C-type lectin domain family 16), with a variant at this locus passing the adjusted genome-wide significance threshold after Bonferroni correction. This finding reinforces the importance of immune regulation in brain function. Additionally, at a significance cutoff value of 5 × 10-6, 18 independent association signals were detected. These signals comprise brain expression Quantitative Loci (eQTLs) in caudate basal ganglia, spinal cord, anterior cingulate cortex and hypothalamus, as well as chromatin interactions in adult and fetal cortex, neural progenitor cells and hippocampus. Moreover, in the set of genes showing signals of association with brain wave RP in our dataset, there is an overrepresentation of loci previously associated with neurological traits and pathologies, evidencing the pleiotropy of the genetic variation modulating brain function.This project is supported by “European Commission” and “European Regional Development Fund” under the project “Análisis y correlación entre el genoma completo y la actividad cerebral para la ayuda en el diagnóstico de la enfermedad de Alzheimer” (Project 1317_AD-EEGWA), (Cooperation Programme INTERREG V-A Spain-Portugal POCTEP 2014–2020) and the COMPETE 2020-Operacional Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (POCI), Portugal 2020. Portuguese funds are supporting this work through FCT-Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia/Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação in the framework of the project “Institute for Research and Innovation in Health Sciences” (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007274). SM, AML, NP and IG are funded by FCT: CEECIND/00684/2017, IF/01262/2014, SFRH/BPD/97414/2013 and CEECIND/02609/2017, respectively. MA is funded by the Grant RYC-2015-18241 from the Spanish Government. Spanish funds are supporting this work through “Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación–Agencia Estatal de Investigación” and “European Regional Development Fund” under project PGC2018-098214-A-I00 and by “CIBER en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN)” through “Instituto de Salud Carlos III” co-funded with “European Regional Development Fund” funds

News discourse and readers’ comments: expanding the range of citizenship positions?

First Published May 15, 2017.Little attention has been paid to the relation between citizens’ representation in news media and citizen participation in readers’ comments, and to the roles both discourses may play in fostering public engagement in official consultation processes. This article offers a discursive analysis of these questions by focusing on how commenters, through their uses of language in connection with news texts, address the political ordering of news discourse and their positioning therein. Using Critical Discourse Analysis and other interaction-oriented forms of discourse analysis, we examine, first, the topics and the framing of voices in news coverage and, second, the interactional order, stance markers and style features of readers’ comments. Based on data regarding a policy plan on hydroelectric power in Portugal that was submitted to public consultation, we show that citizen positionings emerging from the interaction between news texts and comments change the balance of power within the discussion, but their participatory potential is restrained by traditional citizenship regimes.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was developed for the project COMPOLIS: 'Communication and Political Engagement with Environmental Issues' and supported by the Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (Portugal) [grant number EXPL/IVC-COM/1717/2012] through national funds (PIDDAC) and co-funded by the European Fund of Regional Development (FEDER) through COMPETE - Operational Program Competitive Factors (POFC).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Integrated treatment of first episode psychosis with online training (e-learning): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

BackgroundThe integrated treatment of first episode psychosis has been shown to improve functionality and negative symptoms in previous studies. In this paper, we describe a study of integrated treatment (individual psychoeducation complementary to pharmacotherapy) versus treatment as usual, comparing results at baseline with those at 6-month re-assessment (at the end of the study) for these patients, and online training of professionals to provide this complementary treatment, with the following objectives: 1) to compare the efficacy of individual psychoeducation as add-on treatment versus treatment as usual in improving psychotic and mood symptoms; 2) to compare adherence to medication, functioning, insight, social response, quality of life, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor, between both groups; and 3) to analyse the efficacy of online training of psychotherapists.Methods/designThis is a single-blind randomised clinical trial including patients with first episode psychosis from hospitals across Spain, randomly assigned to either a control group with pharmacotherapy and regular sessions with their psychiatrist (treatment as usual) or an intervention group with integrated care including treatment as usual plus a psychoeducational intervention (14 sessions). Training for professionals involved at each participating centre was provided by the coordinating centre (University Hospital of Álava) through video conferences. Patients are evaluated with an extensive battery of tests assessing clinical and sociodemographic characteristics (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, Scale to Assess Unawareness of Mental Disorders, Strauss and Carpenter Prognostic Scale, Global Assessment of Functioning Scale, Morisky Green Adherence Scale, Functioning Assessment Short Test, World Health Organization Quality of Life instrument WHOQOL-BREF (an abbreviated version of the WHOQOL-100), and EuroQoL questionnaire), and brain-derived neurotrophic factor levels are measured in peripheral blood at baseline and at 6 months. The statistical analysis, including bivariate analysis, linear and logistic regression models, will be performed using SPSS.DiscussionThis is an innovative study that includes the assessment of an integrated intervention for patients with first episode psychosis provided by professionals who are trained online, potentially making it possible to offer the intervention to more patients.Trial registrationNCT01783457 clinical trials.gov. Date of registration in primary registry 23 January 2013