Perceived stress and high fat intake: A study in a sample of undergraduate students.

OBJECTIVES: Different studies have reported the association between perceived stress and unhealthy diet choices. We aimed to determine whether there is a relationship between perceived stress and fat intake among undergraduate medical students. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A cross-sectional study was performed including first-year medical students. The outcome of interest was the self-report of fat intake assessed using the Block Screening Questionnaire for Fat Intake (high vs. low intake), whereas the exposure was perceived stress (low/normal vs. high levels). The prevalence of high fat intake was estimated and the association of interest was determined using prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). Models were created utilizing Poisson regression with robust standard errors. Data from 523 students were analyzed, 52.0% female, mean age 19.0 (SD 1.7) years. The prevalence of high fat intake was 42.4% (CI: 38.2%-46.7%). In multivariate model and compared with those with lowest levels of stress, those in the middle (PR = 1.59; 95%CI: 1.20-2.12) and highest (PR = 1.92; 95%CI: 1.46-2.53) categories of perceived stress had greater prevalence of fat intake. Gender was an effect modifier of this association (p = 0.008). CONCLUSIONS: Greater levels of perceived stress were associated with higher fat intake, and this association was stronger among males. More than 40% of students reported having high fat consumption. Our results suggest the need to implement strategies that promote decreased fat intake

Diversidad y composición de helechos arbóreos en la localidad de Wiñaywayna- Intipunku, Santuario Histórico de Machu Picchu

Los bosques montanos Neotropicales albergan a la flora de helechos arbóreos más ricos delmundo, este es un grupo bastante conspicuo por su tamaño y frecuencia, sin embargo, poco estudiado y conocido. La familia muestra una distribución pantropical con más de 600 especies. Todas las especies de helechos arbóreos están incluidos en el Apéndice II de la Convención sobre el Comercio Internacional de Especies Amenazadas de Fauna y Flora Silvestres (CITES), por lo que consideramos necesario evaluar la diversidad y parámetros poblacionales de las especies presentes en un sector Wiñaywayna- Intipunku del Santuario Histórico de Machu Picchu (SHMP), Cusco, Sureste de Perú. La evaluación se en un transecto de 500 x 5m, dividido en sub unidades de 25 x 5 m, donde registramos 12 especies de helechos arbóreos de los géneros Cyathea, Dicksonia y Lophosoria. La especie con mayor índice de valor de importancia (IVI) fue D. sellowiana.Estos resultados servirán como herramienta para guiar esfuerzos de conservación en los bosques montanos del SHMP

Study of the Very High Energy Emission of M87 through its Broadband Spectral Energy Distribution

The radio galaxy M87 is the central dominant galaxy of the Virgo Cluster. Very high-energy (VHE, ≳0.1 TeV) emission from M87 has been detected by imaging air Cherenkov telescopes. Recently, marginal evidence for VHE long-term emission has also been observed by the High Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory, a gamma-ray and cosmic-ray detector array located in Puebla, Mexico. The mechanism that produces VHE emission in M87 remains unclear. This emission originates in its prominent jet, which has been spatially resolved from radio to X-rays. In this paper, we construct a spectral energy distribution from radio to gamma rays that is representative of the nonflaring activity of the source, and in order to explain the observed emission, we fit it with a lepto-hadronic emission model. We found that this model is able to explain nonflaring VHE emission of M87 as well as an orphan flare reported in 2005

HAWC Study of the Very-high-energy γ-Ray Spectrum of HAWC J1844−034

Recently, the region surrounding eHWC J1842−035 has been studied extensively by γ-ray observatories due to its extended emission reaching up to a few hundred TeV and potential as a hadronic accelerator. In this work, we use 1910 days of cumulative data from the High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory to carry out a dedicated systematic source search of the eHWC J1842−035 region. During the search, we found three sources in the region, namely, HAWC J1844−034, HAWC J1843−032, and HAWC J1846−025. We have identified HAWC J1844−034 as the extended source that emits photons with energies up to 175 TeV. We compute the spectrum for HAWC J1844−034, and by comparing with the observational results from other experiments, we have identified HESS J1843−033, LHAASO J1843−0338, and TASG J1844−038 as very-high-energy γ-ray sources with a matching origin. Also, we present and use the multiwavelength data to fit the hadronic and leptonic particle spectra. We have identified four pulsar candidates in the nearby region in which PSR J1844−0346 is found to be the most likely candidate due to its proximity to HAWC J1844−034 and the computed energy budget. We have also found SNR G28.6−0.1 as a potential counterpart source of HAWC J1844−034 for which both leptonic and hadronic scenarios are feasible

SUMOylated SNF2PH promotes variant surface glycoprotein expression in bloodstream trypanosomes

SUMOylation is a post¿translational modification that positively regulates monoallelic expression of the trypanosome variant surface glycoprotein (VSG). The presence of a highly SUMOylated focus associated with the nuclear body, where the VSG gene is transcribed, further suggests an important role of SUMOylation in regulating VSG expression. Here, we show that SNF2PH, a SUMOylated plant homeodomain (PH)¿transcription factor, is upregulated in the bloodstream form of the parasite and enriched at the active VSG telomere. SUMOylation promotes the recruitment of SNF2PH to the VSG promoter, where it is required to maintain RNA polymerase I and thus to regulate VSG transcript levels. Further, ectopic overexpression of SNF2PH in insect forms, but not of a mutant lacking the PH domain, induces the expression of bloodstream stage¿specific surface proteins. These data suggest that SNF2PH SUMOylation positively regulates VSG monoallelic transcription, while the PH domain is required for the expression of bloodstream¿specific surface proteins. Thus, SNF2PH functions as a positive activator, linking expression of infective form surface proteins and VSG regulation, thereby acting as a major regulator of pathogenicity.The authors thank Dr. Alicia Barroso Del Jesus for excellent assistance and input with NSG methodology at the Genomic Unit and Dr. Laura Montosa at the Microscopy Unit (IPBLN-CSIC). This work was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (RTI2018-098834-B-I00) and the Wellcome Trust (WTI 204697/Z/16/Z to MCF) and thegrant from the Argentinian National Agency for Promotion of Scientific and Technological Research to VEA (PICT/2016/0465)

The road to BOFUSS: The basic OpenFlow userspace software switch

Software switches are pivotal in the Software-Defined Networking (SDN) paradigm, particularly in the early phases of development, deployment and testing. Currently, the most popular one is Open vSwitch (OVS), leveraged in many production-based environments. However, due to its kernel-based nature, OVS is typically complex to modify when additional features or adaptation is required. To this regard, a simpler user-space is key to perform these modifications. In this article, we present a rich overview of BOFUSS, the basic OpenFlow user-space software switch. BOFUSS has been widely used in the research community for diverse reasons, but it lacked a proper reference document. For this purpose, we describe the switch, its history, architecture, uses cases and evaluation, together with a survey of works that leverage this switch. The main goal is to provide a comprehensive overview of the switch and its characteristics. Although the original BOFUSS is not expected to surpass the high performance of OVS, it is a useful complementary artefact that provides some OpenFlow features missing in OVS and it can be easily modified for extended functionality. Moreover, enhancements provided by the BEBA project brought the performance from BOFUSS close to OVS. In any case, this paper sheds light to researchers looking for the trade-offs between performance and customization of BOFUSS

Regional and seasonal patterns of litterfall in tropical South America

The production of aboveground soft tissue represents an important share of total net primary production in tropical rain forests. Here we draw from a large number of published and unpublished datasets (n=81 sites) to assess the determinants of litterfall variation across South American tropical forests. We show that across old-growth tropical rainforests, litterfall averages 8.61±1.91 Mg ha−1 yr−1 (mean ± standard deviation, in dry mass units). Secondary forests have a lower annual litterfall than old-growth tropical forests with a mean of 8.01±3.41 Mg ha−1 yr−1. Annual litterfall shows no significant variation with total annual rainfall, either globally or within forest types. It does not vary consistently with soil type, except in the poorest soils (white sand soils), where litterfall is significantly lower than in other soil types (5.42±1.91 Mg ha−1 yr−1). We also study the determinants of litterfall seasonality, and find that it does not depend on annual rainfall or on soil type. However, litterfall seasonality is significantly positively correlated with rainfall seasonality. Finally, we assess how much carbon is stored in reproductive organs relative to photosynthetic organs. Mean leaf fall is 5.74±1.83 Mg ha−1 yr−1 (71% of total litterfall). Mean allocation into reproductive organs is 0.69±0.40 Mg ha−1 yr−1 (9% of total litterfall). The investment into reproductive organs divided by leaf litterfall increases with soil fertility, suggesting that on poor soils, the allocation to photosynthetic organs is prioritized over that to reproduction. Finally, we discuss the ecological and biogeochemical implications of these result

Factors Associated with Mortality in Patients with COVID-19 from a Hospital in Northern Peru

We aimed to identify the factors associated with mortality in patients with COVID-19 from the hospitalization service of the Cayetano Heredia Hospital, Piura, Peru, from May to June 2020. A prospective study was conducted in hospitalized patients with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 through serological and/or molecular reactive testing. The dependent variable was death due to COVID-19, and the independent variables were the epidemiological, clinical and laboratory characteristics of the patient. The chi-square test and the non-parametric Mann–Whitney U test were used, with a significance level of 5%. Of 301 patients with COVID-19, the majority of them were male (66.1%), and the mean age was 58.63 years. Of the patients analyzed, 41.3% of them died, 40.2% of them were obese and 59.8% of them had hepatic steatosis. The three most frequent signs/symptoms were dyspnea (90.03%), fatigue (90.03%) and a cough (84.72%). Being an older adult (p = 0.011), being hospitalized in the ICU (p = 0.001), overweight (p = 0.016), obese (p = 0.021) and having compromised consciousness (p = 0.039) and thrombocytopenia (p = 0.024) were associated with mortality due to COVID-19. Overall, the mortality rate due to COVID-19 was 41.3%. Having an older age, being hospitalized in the ICU, overweight, obese and having compromised consciousness and thrombocytopenia were positively associated with mortality in patients with COVID-19. These findings highlight the need to establish an adequate system of surveillance and epidemiological education in hospitals and communities in the event of new outbreaks, especially in rural and northern Peru

miR-155 in the progression of lung fibrosis in systemic sclerosis

Background: MicroRNA (miRNA) control key elements of mRNA stability and likely contribute to the dysregulated lung gene expression observed in systemic sclerosis associated interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD). We analyzed the miRNA gene expression of tissue and cells from patients with SSc-ILD. A chronic lung fibrotic murine model was used. Methods: RNA was isolated from lung tissue of 12 patients with SSc-ILD and 5 controls. High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) was performed at baseline and 2-3 years after treatment. Lung fibroblasts and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were isolated from healthy controls and patients with SSc-ILD. miRNA and mRNA were analyzed by microarray, quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and/or Nanostring; pathway analysis was performed by DNA Intelligent Analysis (DIANA)-miRPath v2.0 software. Wild-type and miR-155 deficient (miR-155ko) mice were exposed to bleomycin. Results: Lung miRNA microarray data distinguished patients with SSc-ILD from healthy controls with 185 miRNA differentially expressed (q < 0.25). DIANA-miRPath revealed 57 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways related to the most dysregulated miRNA. miR-155 and miR-143 were strongly correlated with progression of the HRCT score. Lung fibroblasts only mildly expressed miR-155/miR-21 after several stimuli. miR-155 PBMC expression strongly correlated with lung function tests in SSc-ILD. miR-155ko mice developed milder lung fibrosis, survived longer, and weaker lung induction of several genes after bleomycin exposure compared to wild-type mice. Conclusions: miRNA are dysregulated in the lungs and PBMC of patients with SSc-ILD. Based on mRNA-miRNA interaction analysis and pathway tools, miRNA may play a role in the progression of the disease. Our findings suggest that targeting miR-155 might provide a novel therapeutic strategy for SSc-ILD