Artificial Neural Networks Manipulation Server: Research on the Integration of Databases and Artificial Neural Networks

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s005210200011This paper proposes a new whole and distributed integration approach between Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) and Databases (DBs) taking into account the different stages of the former’s lifecycle (training, test and running). The integration architecture which has been developed consists of an ANN Manipulation Server (AMS) based on a client-server approach, which improves the ANNs’ manipulation and experimentation capabilities considerably, and also those of their training and test sets, together with their modular reuse among possibly remote applications. Moreover, the chances of integrating ANNs and DBs are analysed, proposing a new level of integration which improves the integration features considerably. This level has not been contemplated yet at full reach in any of the commercial or experimental tools analysed up to the present date. Finally, the application of the integration architecture which has been developed to the specific domain of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) is studied. Thus, the versatility and efficacy of that architecture for developing ANNs is tested. The enormous complexity of the functioning of the patterns which rule the environment’s behaviour, and the great number of variables involved, make it the ideal domain for experimenting on the application of ANNs together with DBs

Ozone Therapy for Tumor Oxygenation: a Pilot Study

Tumor hypoxia is an adverse factor for chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Ozone therapy is a non-conventional form of medicine that has been used successfully in the treatment of ischemic disorders. This prospective study was designed to assess the effect of ozone therapy on tumor oxygenation. Eighteen subjects were recruited for the study. Systemic ozone therapy was administered by autohemotransfusion on three alternate days over one week. Tumor oxygenation levels were measured using polarographic needle probes before and after the first and the third ozone therapy session. Overall, no statistically significant change was observed in the tumor oxygenation in the 18 patients. However, a significant decrease was observed in hypoxic values ≤10 and ≤5 mmHg of pO(2). When individually assessed, a significant and inverse non-linear correlation was observed between increase in oxygenation and the initial tumor pO(2) values at each measuring time-point, thus indicating that the more poorly-oxygenated tumors benefited most (rho = −0.725; P = 0.001). Additionally, the effect of ozone therapy was found to be lower in patients with higher hemoglobin concentrations (rho = −0.531; P < 0.034). Despite being administered over a very short period, ozone therapy improved oxygenation in the most hypoxic tumors. Ozone therapy as adjuvant in chemo-radiotherapy warrants further research

Adjuvant Ozonetherapy in Advanced Head and Neck Tumors: A Comparative Study

Advanced head and neck (H&N) tumors have a poor prognosis, and this is worsened by the occurrence of hypoxia and ischemia in the tumors. Ozonetherapy has proved useful in the treatment of ischemic syndromes, and several studies have described a potential increase of oxygenation in tissues and tumors. The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the clinical effect of ozonetherapy in patients with advanced H&N cancer in the course of their scheduled radiotherapy. Over a period of 3 years, 19 patients with advanced H&N tumors who were undergoing treatment in our department with non-standard fractionated radiotherapy plus oral tegafur. A group of 12 patients was additionally treated with intravenous chemotherapy before and/or during radiotherapy. In the other group of seven patients, systemic ozonetherapy was administered twice weekly during radiotherapy. The ozonetherapy group was older (64 versus 54 years old, P = 0.006), with a higher percentage of lymph node involvement (71% versus 8%, P = 0.019) and with a trend to more unfavorable tumor stage (57% versus 8% IVb + IVc stages, P = 0.073). However, there was no significant difference in overall survival between the chemotherapy (median 6 months) and ozonetherapy (8 months) groups. Although these results have to be viewed with caution because of the limited number of patients, they suggest that ozonetherapy could have had some positive effect during the treatment of our patients with advanced H&N tumors. The adjuvant administration of ozonetherapy during the chemo–radiotherapy for these tumors merits further research

A genome-wide association study follow-up suggests a possible role for PPARG in systemic sclerosis susceptibility

Introduction: A recent genome-wide association study (GWAS) comprising a French cohort of systemic sclerosis (SSc) reported several non-HLA single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) showing a nominal association in the discovery phase. We aimed to identify previously overlooked susceptibility variants by using a follow-up strategy.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Methods: Sixty-six non-HLA SNPs showing a P value &#60;10-4 in the discovery phase of the French SSc GWAS were analyzed in the first step of this study, performing a meta-analysis that combined data from the two published SSc GWASs. A total of 2,921 SSc patients and 6,963 healthy controls were included in this first phase. Two SNPs, PPARG rs310746 and CHRNA9 rs6832151, were selected for genotyping in the replication cohort (1,068 SSc patients and 6,762 healthy controls) based on the results of the first step. Genotyping was performed by using TaqMan SNP genotyping assays. Results: We observed nominal associations for both PPARG rs310746 (PMH = 1.90 × 10-6, OR, 1.28) and CHRNA9 rs6832151 (PMH = 4.30 × 10-6, OR, 1.17) genetic variants with SSc in the first step of our study. In the replication phase, we observed a trend of association for PPARG rs310746 (P value = 0.066; OR, 1.17). The combined overall Mantel-Haenszel meta-analysis of all the cohorts included in the present study revealed that PPARG rs310746 remained associated with SSc with a nominal non-genome-wide significant P value (PMH = 5.00 × 10-7; OR, 1.25). No evidence of association was observed for CHRNA9 rs6832151 either in the replication phase or in the overall pooled analysis.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; Conclusion: Our results suggest a role of PPARG gene in the development of SSc

Efficacy and safety of a hexanic extract of Serenoa repens (Permixon (R)) for the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia (LUTS/BPH): systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials and observational studies

Objectives To comprehensively evaluate the efficacy and safety of the hexanic extract of Serenoa repens (HESr, Permixon (R); Pierre Fabre Medicament, Castres, France), at a dose of 320 mg daily, as monotherapy for the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia (LUTS/BPH). Materials and methods We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and prospective observational studies in patients with LUTS/BPH identified through searches in Medline, Web of Knowledge (Institute for Scientific Information), Scopus, the Cochrane Library, and bibliographic references up to March 2017. Articles studying S. repens extracts other than Permixon were excluded. Data were collected on International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax), nocturia, quality of life, prostate volume, sexual function, and adverse drug reactions (ADRs). Data obtained from RCTs and observational studies were analysed jointly and separately using a random effects model. A sub-group analysis was performed of studies that included patients on longer-term treatment (= 1 year). Results Data from 27 studies (15 RCTs and 12 observational studies) were included for meta-analysis (total N = 5 800). Compared with placebo, the HESr was associated with 0.64 (95% confidence interval [CI] -0.98 to -0.31) fewer voids/ night (P < 0.001) and an additional mean increase in Q(max) of 2.75 mL/s (95% CI 0.57 to 4.93; P = 0.01). When compared with a-blockers, the HESr showed similar improvements on IPSS (weighted mean difference [WMD] 0.57, 95% CI -0.27 to 1.42; P = 0.18) and a comparable increase in Q(max) to tamsulosin (WMD -0.02, 95% CI -0.71 to 0.66; P = 0.95). Efficacy assessed using the IPSS was similar after 6 months of treatment between the HESr and 5a-reductase inhibitors (5ARIs). Analysis of all available published data for the HESr showed a mean improvement in IPSS from baseline of -5.73 points (95% CI -6.91 to -4.54; P < 0.001). HESr did not negatively affect sexual function and no clinically relevant effect was observed on prostate-specific antigen. Prostate volume decreased slightly. Similar efficacy results were seen in patients treated for = 1 year (n = 447). The HESr had a favourable safety profile, with gastrointestinal disorders being the most frequent ADR (mean incidence of 3.8%). Conclusion The present meta-analysis, which includes all available RCTs and observational studies, shows that the HESr (Permixon) reduced nocturia and improved Q(max) compared with placebo and had a similar efficacy to tamsulosin and short-term 5ARI in relieving LUTS. HESr (Permixon) appears to be an efficacious and well-tolerated therapeutic option for the longterm medical treatment of LUTS/BPH

Renovación urbana : globalización y patrimonio

256 p.El presente libro analiza los fenómenos que acompañan los procesos de renovación urbana partiendo del reconocimiento de la diferencia entre la ciudad -entendida como un conjunto de edificios, equipamientos e infraestructuras y lo urbano, concepto que alude a una forma de vida que se manifiesta culturalmente en el ejercicio de valores e imaginarios comprometidos con determinadas maneras de organización social, política, ambiental, cultural y económica. Formula la distinción entre la gestión urbana. la gestión de la ciudad, tomando en cuenta Ia propia diferencia que existe entre renovar la imagen física -compromiso de la gestión de la ciudad- y renovar su dinámica estructural, responsabilidad de la gestión urbana propiamente dicha. Así mismo, frente a los procesos de desconfiguración territorial y expulsión de población que frecuentemente acompañan las llamadas "operaciones de renovación urbana", presenta una reflexión crítica y propositiva, dirigida a los investigadores especializados y a las autoridades en la materia, para ofrecer posibles alternativas de prevención y mitigación de sus efectos, en la perspectiva de proponer la construcción-apropiación de una ciudad de todos y todas.This book analyzes different phenomena that accompany urban renewal processes, based on a recognition of the difference between “the city”—understood as a set of buildings, facilities, and infrastructures —and “the urban”, a concept that alludes to a way of life that culturally manifests itself in the exercise of values and imaginaries that are committed to certain ways of social, political, environmental, cultural, and economic organization. It proposes a distinction between urban management and city management, taking into account the very divergence between renewing the city’s physical image —a commitment undertaken by city management— and renewing its structural dynamics, which is the responsibility of urban management. Likewise, in the face of processes of territorial deconfiguration and the expulsion of populations that frequently accompany the so-called “urban renewal operations,” the study presents a critical and proactive reflection, aimed at researchers and authorities specialized in the field, in order to offer possible alternatives for the prevention and mitigation of their effects in a specific situation, seeking to propose the construction-appropriation of a city by all.CAPÍTULO 1 Renovación urbana y patrimonio: Líneas convergentes y divergentes Introducción CAPÍTULO 2 Pensando la renovación urbana en el contexto de la ciudad latinoamericana Referencias CAPÍTULO 3 Renovación urbana. De la certeza a las incertidumbres Introducción Parte 1. Historia crítica de la renovación urbana Parte 2. Situación actual y perspectivas de la renovación urbana Referencias CAPÍTULO 4 Globalización, patrimonio, turismo: una aproximación desde la renovación urbana Introducción Patrimonio: esencia y políticas la globalización como motor de cambios patrimonio y centros históricos Reflexiones finales Referencias CAPÍTULO 5 Patrimonio urbano e a producáo de lugares se consumo Referencias CAPÍTULO 6 Renovación urbana y políticas publicas en el Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de México Introducción Renovación urbana y proyecto urbano Proyecto urbano Características del proyecto urbano El Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de México Políticas públicas y Plan de Manejo del Centro Histórico El Plan Integral de Manejo del Centro Histórico (2011-2016) Intervenciones recientes (resumen) Conclusiones Referencias CAPÍTULO 7 tejidos y entretejidos Granada siglo XXI Introducción Un poco de historia Antonio Jiménez Torrecillas, arquitecto y granadino de adopción "Vivo en el mundo, pero duermo en Granada" El centro José Guerrero la muralla nazarí en el Alto Albaicín la estación Alcázar Genil Referencias CAPÍTULO 8 Políticas de renovación, rehabilitación y desarrollo urbano en Buenos Aires. Una revisión crítica Introducción Consideraciones teóricas las estrategias de renovación, rehabilitación y redesarrollo urbano en el contexto de la globalización las estrategias de renovación, rehabilitación urbana en Buenos Aires 1996-2016 Reflexiones finales Referencias CAPÍTULO 9 Tendencias globales, incomprensiones locales: las renovaciones de Santo Domingo, República Dominicana Introducción la tendencia global de la renovación contra las identidades glocales Estrategia emergente de cambio en la política del turismo dominicano la gran intervención en el centro histórico El proyecto de la discordia: las ruinas del monasterio de San Francisco Referencias CAPÍTULO 10 La transformación de las ciudades ante las condiciones sociales del estado de Guerrero en México Introducción la sociedad mesoamericana antes de la llegada de los españoles la casa mesoamericana Época colonial Época independiente Condiciones de seguridad en las poblaciones hasta mediados del siglo XX Casas típicas de arquitectura vernácula en las zonas del estado de Guerrero El arribo de intereses internacionales: la política, la economía, el narcotráfico Situación de la transformación urbana y el cambio de actitud ante las condiciones de inseguridad en el sur de México Impactos de la globalización en la imagen de la ciudad, aspectos contradictorios Retos del gobierno y sociedad, escenarios posibles Reflexiones finales Referencias CAPÍTULO 11 ¿ Tiene futuro el pasado? La renovación urbana en tiempos de qlobalízación Referencias CAPÍTULO 12 Renovación urbana y control social Consideraciones propositivas para articular modelo de ciudad y modelo de gobierno Introducción Una mirada transversal Control social y participación ciudadana a articulación entre modelo de ciudad y modelo le gobierno: un reto para la renovación urbana que de tal forma renueva, también, la idea de administración y ordenamiento del territorio APÉNDICE Apego al lugar de residencia, construcción de identidad y calidad de vida Introducción El concepto de Lugar El concepto de Apego Teoría sobre Apego al Lugar El apego en los procesos de renovación urbana Conclusiones Referencias1a ed

Analysis of the common genetic component of large-vessel vasculitides through a meta- Immunochip strategy

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) and Takayasu's arteritis (TAK) are major forms of large-vessel vasculitis (LVV) that share clinical features. To evaluate their genetic similarities, we analysed Immunochip genotyping data from 1,434 LVV patients and 3,814 unaffected controls. Genetic pleiotropy was also estimated. The HLA region harboured the main disease-specific associations. GCA was mostly associated with class II genes (HLA-DRB1/HLA-DQA1) whereas TAK was mostly associated with class I genes (HLA-B/MICA). Both the statistical significance and effect size of the HLA signals were considerably reduced in the cross-disease meta-analysis in comparison with the analysis of GCA and TAK separately. Consequently, no significant genetic correlation between these two diseases was observed when HLA variants were tested. Outside the HLA region, only one polymorphism located nearby the IL12B gene surpassed the study-wide significance threshold in the meta-analysis of the discovery datasets (rs755374, P?=?7.54E-07; ORGCA?=?1.19, ORTAK?=?1.50). This marker was confirmed as novel GCA risk factor using four additional cohorts (PGCA?=?5.52E-04, ORGCA?=?1.16). Taken together, our results provide evidence of strong genetic differences between GCA and TAK in the HLA. Outside this region, common susceptibility factors were suggested, especially within the IL12B locus

Epidemiological trends of HIV/HCV coinfection in Spain, 2015-2019

Altres ajuts: Spanish AIDS Research Network; European Funding for Regional Development (FEDER).Objectives: We assessed the prevalence of anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies and active HCV infection (HCV-RNA-positive) in people living with HIV (PLWH) in Spain in 2019 and compared the results with those of four similar studies performed during 2015-2018. Methods: The study was performed in 41 centres. Sample size was estimated for an accuracy of 1%. Patients were selected by random sampling with proportional allocation. Results: The reference population comprised 41 973 PLWH, and the sample size was 1325. HCV serostatus was known in 1316 PLWH (99.3%), of whom 376 (28.6%) were HCV antibody (Ab)-positive (78.7% were prior injection drug users); 29 were HCV-RNA-positive (2.2%). Of the 29 HCV-RNA-positive PLWH, infection was chronic in 24, it was acute/recent in one, and it was of unknown duration in four. Cirrhosis was present in 71 (5.4%) PLWH overall, three (10.3%) HCV-RNA-positive patients and 68 (23.4%) of those who cleared HCV after anti-HCV therapy (p = 0.04). The prevalence of anti-HCV antibodies decreased steadily from 37.7% in 2015 to 28.6% in 2019 (p < 0.001); the prevalence of active HCV infection decreased from 22.1% in 2015 to 2.2% in 2019 (p < 0.001). Uptake of anti-HCV treatment increased from 53.9% in 2015 to 95.0% in 2019 (p < 0.001). Conclusions: In Spain, the prevalence of active HCV infection among PLWH at the end of 2019 was 2.2%, i.e. 90.0% lower than in 2015. Increased exposure to DAAs was probably the main reason for this sharp reduction. Despite the high coverage of treatment with direct-acting antiviral agents, HCV-related cirrhosis remains significant in this population

Cross-disease Meta-analysis of Genome-wide Association Studies for Systemic Sclerosis and Rheumatoid Arthritis Reveals IRF4 as a New Common Susceptibility Locus

Objectives: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are autoimmune diseases that share clinical and immunological characteristics. To date, several shared SSc- RA loci have been identified independently. In this study, we aimed to systematically search for new common SSc-RA loci through an inter-disease meta-GWAS strategy. Methods: We performed a meta-analysis combining GWAS datasets of SSc and RA using a strategy that allowed identification of loci with both same-direction and opposingdirection allelic effects. The top single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were followed-up in independent SSc and RA case-control cohorts. This allowed us to increase the sample size to a total of 8,830 SSc patients, 16,870 RA patients and 43,393 controls. Results: The cross-disease meta-analysis of the GWAS datasets identified several loci with nominal association signals (P-value < 5 x 10-6), which also showed evidence of association in the disease-specific GWAS scan. These loci included several genomic regions not previously reported as shared loci, besides risk factors associated with both diseases in previous studies. The follow-up of the putatively new SSc-RA loci identified IRF4 as a shared risk factor for these two diseases (Pcombined = 3.29 x 10-12). In addition, the analysis of the biological relevance of the known SSc-RA shared loci pointed to the type I interferon and the interleukin 12 signaling pathways as the main common etiopathogenic factors. Conclusions: Our study has identified a novel shared locus, IRF4, for SSc and RA and highlighted the usefulness of cross-disease GWAS meta-analysis in the identification of common risk loci

Complement component C4 structural variation and quantitative traits contribute to sex-biased vulnerability in systemic sclerosis

Altres ajuts: Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), "A way of making Europe".Copy number (CN) polymorphisms of complement C4 play distinct roles in many conditions, including immune-mediated diseases. We investigated the association of C4 CN with systemic sclerosis (SSc) risk. Imputed total C4, C4A, C4B, and HERV-K CN were analyzed in 26,633 individuals and validated in an independent cohort. Our results showed that higher C4 CN confers protection to SSc, and deviations from CN parity of C4A and C4B augmented risk. The protection contributed per copy of C4A and C4B differed by sex. Stronger protection was afforded by C4A in men and by C4B in women. C4 CN correlated well with its gene expression and serum protein levels, and less C4 was detected for both in SSc patients. Conditioned analysis suggests that C4 genetics strongly contributes to the SSc association within the major histocompatibility complex locus and highlights classical alleles and amino acid variants of HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DPB1 as C4-independent signals