Experimental verification of democratic particle motions by direct imaging of glassy colloidal systems

We analyze data from confocal microscopy experiments of a colloidal suspension to validate predictions of rapid sporadic events responsible for structural relaxation in a glassy sample. The trajectories of several thousand colloidal particles are analyzed, confirming the existence of rapid sporadic events responsible for the structural relaxation of significant regions of the sample, and complementing prior observations of dynamical heterogeneity. The emergence of relatively compact clusters of mobility allows the dynamics to transition between the large periods of local confinement within its potential energy surface, in good agreement with the picture envisioned long ago by Adam and Gibbs and Goldstein.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Race and Health Disparities Among Seniors in Urban Areas in Brazil

White seniors report better health than Black seniors in urban areas in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This is the case even after controlling for baseline health conditions and several demographic, socio-economic and family support characteristics. Furthermore, adjusted racial disparities in self-reported health are larger than the disparities found using alternative measures of functional health. Our empirical research in this paper suggests that the two most important factors driving racial disparities in health among seniors (in our sample) are historical differences in rural living conditions and current income. Present economic conditions are more relevant to racial disparities among poor seniors than among rich seniors. Moreover, racial differences in health not attributable to observable characteristics are more important when comparing individuals in the upper half of the income distribution.

Spatiotemporal intermittency and localized dynamic fluctuations upon approaching the glass transition

We introduce a new and robust approach for characterizing spatially and temporally heterogeneous behavior within a system based on the evolution of dynamic fuctuations once averaged over different space lengths and time scales. We apply it to investigate the dynamics in two canonical systems as the glass transition is approached: simulated Lennard-Jones liquids and experimental dense colloidal suspensions. We find that in both cases the onset of glassines is marked by spatially localized dynamic fluctuations originating in regions of correlated mobile particles. By removing the trivial system size dependence of the fluctuations we show that such regions contain tens to hundreds of particles for time scales corresponding to maximally non-Gaussian dynamics.Comment: New analysis technique introduced, and applied to previously published dat

Monkeypox virus – Would it arrive in Latin America?

May 2022 mark the beginning of a new outbreak of some degree of concern, globally, as it is spreading relatively quickly in multiple countries, between persons even without travel-related history [1]. Monkeypox, a DNA virus member of the Orthopoxvirus genus (family Poxviridae) (Figure 1), is now the cause of clinical disease in almost 200 hundred suspected cases in more than a dozen of countries (Figure 2) outside Africa, where this zoonosis is endemic, especially in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the Republic of the Congo and Nigeria. As the number of cases increases daily, the question in Latin America is quite apparent. Would Monkeypox arrive in Latin America? Yes. When writing this Editorial, a suspected case is already investigated in Argentina. A traveller from Spain, with clinical findings compatible with Monkeypox infection. Then, as has occurred with the COVID-19 pandemic [2], we should expect to have more suspected Monkeypox cases in Argentina, as well as, in other countries, especially in those with a large volume of international flights between them and North America and Europe, as is the case of Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Peru, among others in the region

Enrichment of neural-related genes in human mesenchymal stem cells from neuroblastoma patients.

Neuroblastoma (NB) is one of the most common pediatric solid tumors and, like most human cancers, is char-acterized by a broad variety of genomic alterations. Although mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are known to interact with cancer cells, the relationship between MSCs and metastatic NB cancer cells in bone marrow (BM) is unknown. To obtain genetic evidence about this interaction, we isolated ΒΜ-derived MSCs from children with NB and compared their global expression patterns with MSCs obtained from normal pediatric donors, using the Agilent 44K microarrays. Significance analysis of microarray results with a false discovery rate (FDR) <5% identified 496 differentially expressed genes showing either a 2-fold upregulation or downregulation between both groups of samples. Comparison of gene ontology categories of differ-entially expressed genes revealed the upregulation of genes categorized as ‘neurological system process’, ‘cell adhesion’, ‘apoptosis’, ‘cell surface receptor linked signal transduction’, ‘intrinsic to membrane’ and ‘extracellular region’. Among the downregulated genes, several immunology-related terms were the most abundant. These findings provide preliminary genetic evidence of the interaction between MSCs and NB cancer cells in ΒΜ as well as identify relevant biological processes potentially altered in MSCs in response to NBThis study was supported by grants from the Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias (FIS; PI05/2217 and PI08/0029 to J.G.C.), MICINN (PLE2009-0115) and the Madrid Regional Government (S-BIO-0204-2006 and P2010/BMD-2420) in Spain. The experiments were approved by the appropriate committees.S

Oximetry signal processing identifies REM sleep-related vulnerability trait in asthmatic children

Rationale. The sleep-related factors that modulate the nocturnal worsening of asthma in children are poorly understood. This study addressed the hypothesis that asthmatic children have a REM sleep-related vulnerability trait that is independent of OSA. Methods. We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of pulse-oximetry signals obtained during REM and NREM sleep in control and asthmatic children (n=134). Asthma classification was based on preestablished clinical criteria. Multivariate linear regression model was built to control for potential confounders (significance level p ≤ 0.05). Results. Our data demonstrated that (1) baseline nocturnal respiratory parameters were not significantly different in asthmatic versus control children, (2) the maximal % of SaO2 desaturation during REM, but not during NREM, was significantly higher in asthmatic children, and (3) multivariate analysis revealed that the association between asthma and REM-related maximal % SaO2 desaturation was independent of demographic variables. Conclusion. These results demonstrate that children with asthma have a REM-related vulnerability trait that impacts oxygenation independently of OSA. Further research is needed to delineate the REM sleep neurobiological mechanisms that modulate the phenotypical expression of nocturnal asthma in children

Thermo-magnetic-fluid dynamics analysis of an OsNAN distribution transformer cooled with mineral oil and biodegradable esters

This work introduces a coupled electromagnetic, thermal and fluid flow analysis of an oil-natural air-natural distribution transformer in order to study the changes in the heat dissipation performance when a biodegradable ester is used to cool the device instead of mineral oil. The transformer has a rated power of 315kVA and a voltage ratio of 13.2kV / 0.4kV. The heat losses in the magnetic core and the windings are computed with the ANSYS® Maxwell software and they are transferred as volume heat source terms to compute the heat conduction. The natural convection of the fluid flow is taken into account using a temperature-dependent density. The heat conduction through the solid walls and radiators panels are also considered. The thermo–hydraulic problem is solved with the software Code_Saturne. Data from experimental tests carried out with mineral oil are used to validate the numerical simulations. Equivalent and anisotropic thermal conductivities in the core and the windings are calculated both with a semi-analytic procedure and finite element simulations to simplify the heat conduction model in the active parts. It is found that, after reaching a steady state, the transformer cooled with the ester shows a temperature difference between specific locations at the top and the bottom higher than that cooled with mineral oil. The magnetic core and the windings also work hotter when ester is used. Finally, the analysis of the flow through the cooling ducts of the windings confirms that the oil velocity is, on average, 25% higher than the ester one.Fil: Garelli, Luciano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Centro de Investigaciones en Métodos Computacionales. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Centro de Investigaciones en Métodos Computacionales; ArgentinaFil: Rios Rodriguez, Gustavo Adolfo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Centro de Investigaciones en Métodos Computacionales. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Centro de Investigaciones en Métodos Computacionales; ArgentinaFil: Kubiczek, K.. Silesian University Of Technology; PoloniaFil: Lasek, P.. Silesian University Of Technology; PoloniaFil: Stepien, M.. Silesian University Of Technology; PoloniaFil: Smolka, J.. Silesian University Of Technology; PoloniaFil: Storti, Mario Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Centro de Investigaciones en Métodos Computacionales. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Centro de Investigaciones en Métodos Computacionales; ArgentinaFil: Pessolani, F.. No especifíca;Fil: Amadei, M.. No especifíca

Association between gamma glutamyl transpeptidase to HDL-cholesterol (GGT/HDL-C) ratio and metabolic syndrome resolution after sleeve gastrectomy

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between GGT/HDL-C ratio and resolution of MetS in adults after sleeve gastrectomy (SG). METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using secondary data from a Peruvian bariatric center. The study population consisted of adults aged 18 and above who underwent laparoscopic SG and were diagnosed with MetS prior to the surgery. The main outcome measured was MetS resolution 6 months post-surgery and the exposure variable was the GGT/HDL-C ratio. RESULTS: We analyzed 137 patients with a mean age of 38.9 ± 10.9 years; 64.2% were females. The median GGT/HDL-C ratio was 1.1 [0.7 - 1.5], and 83.9% of patients experienced resolution of MetS. Furthermore, both the middle tertile of GGT/HDL-C (aRR: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.04 - 1.58; p = .019) and the lowest tertile (aRR: 1.27; 95% CI: 1.01 - 1.60; p = .038) showed a significant association with the resolution of MetS. CONCLUSION: Eight out of 10 patients undergoing SG experience resolution of MetS within 6 months after surgery. Patients in the middle and lower tertiles of the GGT/HDL-C were more likely to achieve this outcome. Therefore, the GGT/HDL-C ratio should be considered a valuable and efficient biomarker for preoperative assessment of bariatric surgery candidates

Association between gamma glutamyl transpeptidase to HDL-Cholesterol (GGT/HDL-C) ratio and metabolic syndrome resolution after sleeve gastrectomy

Objective: To evaluate the association between GGT/HDL-C ratio and resolution of MetS in adults after sleeve gastrectomy (SG). Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using secondary data from a Peruvian bariatric center. The study population consisted of adults aged 18 and above who underwent laparoscopic SG and were diagnosed with MetS prior to the surgery. The main outcome measured was MetS resolution 6 months post-surgery and the exposure variable was the GGT/HDL-C ratio. Results: We analyzed 137 patients with a mean age of 38.9 ± 10.9 years; 64.2% were females. The median GGT/HDL-C ratio was 1.1 [0.7 – 1.5], and 83.9% of patients experienced resolution of MetS. Furthermore, both the middle tertile of GGT/HDL-C (aRR: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.04 - 1.58; p =.019) and the lowest tertile (aRR: 1.27; 95% CI: 1.01 - 1.60; p =.038) showed a significant association with the resolution of MetS. Conclusion: Eight out of 10 patients undergoing SG experience resolution of MetS within 6 months after surgery. Patients in the middle and lower tertiles of the GGT/HDL-C were more likely to achieve this outcome. Therefore, the GGT/HDL-C ratio should be considered a valuable and efficient biomarker for preoperative assessment of bariatric surgery candidates.Revisión por pare