CD26/DPPIV and response to hepatitis B vaccination

The prevention of hepatitis B is important, since it is responsible for significant morbidity and mortality around the world. Unfortunately, hepatitis B vaccine does not always induce protective immunity. The lack of immune response to vaccine (non-responders) can depend on individual characteristics. The objective of this study was to correlate the CD26/DPPIV cellular expression and DPPIV serum activity with HBV vaccine response and its possible role as an indicator of immune competence acquisition. We also determined the cellular expression of CD3, CD19, CD56 and CD25 in peripheral blood T lymphocytes. Blood samples were obtained from 28 healthy human volunteers who were enrolled with a vaccination program. There were "responders" (RM = 13) and "non-responders" (NRM = 15), after vaccination. The lymphocyte populations were identified by flow cytometry. DPPIV serum activity was measured fluorimetrically. CD26 expression in responders (55.9 +/- 7.7%) versus in non-responders (51.9 +/- 7.0%) did not show a significant difference. The DPPIV serum activity in responders compared to in non-responder subgroup (59.9 +/- 8.4/50.3 +/- 10.6U/L) showed, however, a significant difference (P < 0.05). The expression of CD3, CD19 and CD56 on peripheral lymphocytes was similar between responders and non-responders. The expression of CD3CD26 (52.2 +/- 8.6%) and CD3CD25 (10.9 +/- 3.8%) in responders versus the expression of CD3CD26 (48.0 +/- 5.7%) and CD3CD25 (8 +/- 4.6%) in non-responders did not show statistically significant difference. CD25 referred as a marker of T lymphocyte activation was increased in responders (15.8 +/- 4.5%) versus in non-responders (10.1 +/- 4.8%), showing a significant difference (P = 0.003). It was, however, impossible to demonstrate an increase in CD3CD25 and CD3CD26 in the responder subgroup. This suggests that different lymphocyte subsets other than T cells are implicated in the response to hepatitis B vaccination

Real time phase-slopes calculations by correlations using FPGAs

J. Trujillo Sevilla ; M. R. Valido ; L. F. Rodríguez Ramos ; E. Boemo ; F. Rosa ; J. M. Rodríguez Ramos, “Real time phase-slopes calculations by correlations using FPGAs,” Proc. SPIE 7015, Adaptive Optics Systems, 70153B (July 11, 2008), Norbert Hubin; Claire E. Max; Peter L. Wizinowich , 7015 (Issue) 70153B, (2008). Copyright © 2008 SPIE Society of Photo‑Optical Instrumentation Engineers. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic reproduction and distribution, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modification of the content of the paper are prohibited.ELT laser guide star wavefront sensors are planned to handle an expected amount of data to be overwhelmingly large (1600x1600 pixels at 700 fps). According to the calculations involved, the solutions must consider to run on specialized hardware as Graphical Processing Units (GPUs) or Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), among others. In the case of a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor is finally selected, the wavefront slopes can be computed using centroid or correlation algorithms. Most of the developments are designed using centroid algorithms, but precision ought to be taken in account too, and then correlation algorithms are really competitive. This paper presents an FPGA-based wavefront slope implementation, capable of handling the sensor output stream in a massively parallel approach, using a correlation algorithm previously tested and compared to the centroid algorithm. Time processing results are shown, and they demonstrate the ability of the FPGA integer arithmetic in the resolution of AO problems. The selected architecture is based in today’s commercially available FPGAs which have a very limited amount of internal memory. This limits the dimensions used in our implementation, but this also means that there is a lot of margin to move real-time algorithms from the conventionalThis work has been partially supported by “Programa Nacional de Diseño y Producción Industrial" (Project DPI 2006- 07906) of the “Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia" of the Spanish Government, and by “European Regional Development Fund" (ERDF)

Diclidophora luscae (Monogenea: Diclidophoridae) in pouting, Trisopterus luscus (Linnaeus, 1758) from the northeast Atlantic; epidemiology, morphology, molecular and phylogenetic analysis

Diclidophora (Monogenea) species are gill parasites with a stenoxenic specifcity occurring only in Gadiformes. Epidemiologi‑cal, morphological, molecular and phylogenetic studies were performed on 594 Diclidophora specimens collected from 213 Trisopterus luscus captured in the northeast Atlantic of the Portuguese coast during 2012, 2013 and 2020. Prevalence, parasite abundance and infection intensity were determined. Positive correlation between fsh weight and length and infection intensity was observed. The efects of preservation on the parasite morphological features were studied, highlighting that specimen’s identifcation should be reinforced by molecular studies. A sequence of D. luscae capelanii from T. capelanus captured in the Mediterranean Sea included in the 28S rDNA molecular analysis was nested within a robust D. luscae clade. Data analysis suggested that this species is in fact D. luscae, which is compatible with T. luscus and T. capelanus. The identity of fsh hosts was confrmed by barcoding. For the frst time, data on the infection parameters is shown, highlighting the importance of including this parasite in the monitoring plans for a holistic approach with possible efects for the management of pouting resources aiming of attaining sustainable development and biodiversity conservation measures, according to the 14th objective of the 2030 agendainfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Prevalencia de la discapacidad en España por comunidades autónomas: el papel de los factores individuales y del entorno geográfico en su variabilidad

Fundamento: La prevalencia de discapacidad en la población general presenta una gran variabilidad geográfica, de manera que identificar aquellos factores que pudieran explicarla será importante para la planificación de políticas sociales. En este trabajo se analiza la variabilidad de la discapacidad por comunidades autónomas desde una doble vertiente, los factores individuales y del entorno. Métodos: Los datos proceden principalmente de la Encuesta de Discapacidad, Deficiencias y Estado de Salud de 1999 y del Inebase, ambas del Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE). Se calculó la prevalencia de discapacidad simple y ajustada por edad de las CCAA. Se analizan los factores individuales asociados a la discapacidad mediante una regresión logística y los factores individuales y de la comunidad autónoma conjuntamente con una regresión logística de dos niveles. Resultados: La prevalencia de discapacidad muestra una diferencia máxima de 5,75 puntos entre las comunidades autónomas. En la regresión logística la comunidad de residencia fue estadísticamente significativa (OR: 3,35 en la de mayor prevalencia respecto a la de menor) junto con otras variables individuales: edad (OR de 40-64= 1,78 OR de 65-79= 1,87 y OR de >79= 3,34), sexo (OR mujer= 0,66), situación laboral (OR sin trabajo=2,25 OR amas casa/estudiante=1,39 y OR otros=2,03), estado de salud (OR regular= 1,69 OR malo/muy malo= 2,05) y enfermedades crónicas (OR 1-3=1,56 OR4-6=1,82 OR>6=2,59). En la regresión de dos niveles las variables individuales explican poca varianza (s=0,261) y ninguna de las variables relativas a las CCAA mejora el modelo. Conclusiones: Las características individuales no explican suficientemente la variabilidad de la discapacidad entre CCAA y no se han identificado variables del entorno que sean significativas.Background: The prevalence of disability shows a high geographical variability and the identification of factors that could explain these variations can be usuful to the heath and social welfare planning. Here the analysis of disability variations among autonomous regions in Spain is made taking into account individual and geographical setting factors together. Methods: Data come from the Spanish Disability, Impairment and Health Status survey of 1999 and from Inebase both of the National Institute for Statistics. The prevalence of disability crude and adjusted by age was calculated for each autonomous region. Individual factors related to disability are identified by means of a logistic regression. The analysis accounting for both, individual and geographical setting factors was performed by means of a logistic regression of two levels. Results: Disability prevalence showed a maximum difference of 5.75 points among regions. In a logistic regression the region of residence was statistically significant (OR: 3.35 in the highest rated region related to the lowest) beside several individual factors: age (OR 40-64= 1,78 OR 65-79= 1,87 and OR >79= 3,34), sex (OR women= 0,66), working status (OR unemployment=2,25 OR housewife/student=1,39 y OR other=2,03), health status (OR regular= 1,69 OR bad/very bad= 2,05) and chronic diseases (OR 1-3=1,56 OR 4-6=1,82 OR >6=2,59). Individual factors accounted for a very few variance at the two levels regression model (σ=0,261) and none of the regional variables improved the model. Conclusions: Individual factors do not explain enough the observed disability variations among the regions and none factor related to the geographical setting has been identified as statistically significant. analysis. Spain

Reproducibility of tumor budding assessment in pancreatic cancer based on a multicenter interobserver study.

Tumor budding has been reported to be an independent prognostic factor in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Its use in daily diagnostics would improve the prognostic stratification of patients. We performed a multicenter interobserver study to test various budding assessment methods for their reproducibility. Two serial sections of 50 resected, treatment-naïve PDACs were stained for Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&amp;E) and pancytokeratin. Tumor budding was scored by independent observers at five participating centers in Switzerland, Germany, and Canada. Pathologists assessed tumor budding on a digital platform comparing H&amp;E with pancytokeratin staining in 10 high-power fields (10HPF) and one HPF hotspot (1HPF). Additionally, tumor budding was assessed in one H&amp;E hotspot at × 20 magnification, as suggested by the International Tumor Budding Consensus Conference (ITBCC). Correlation coefficients for bud counts between centers ranged from r = 0.58648 to r = 0.78641 for H&amp;E and from r = 0.69288 to r = 0.81764 for pancytokeratin. The highest interobserver agreement across all centers was observed for pancytokeratin 10HPFs (ICC = 0.6). ICC values were 0.49, 0.48, 0.41, and 0.4 for H&amp;E in 1HPF hotspot, H&amp;E in 10HPFs, pancytokeratin in 1HPF, and H&amp;E in one hotspot at ×20, respectively (ITBCC method). This interobserver study reveals a range between moderately poor to moderate agreement levels between pathologists for the different tumor budding assessment methods in PDAC. Acceptable levels of agreement were reached with the pancytokeratin 10HPF method, which can thus be recommended for the assessment of tumor budding in PDAC resection specimens. To improve the levels of interobserver agreement, the implementation of machine learning applications should be considered

Impact of climate change on irrigation management for olive orchards at southern Spain

The irrigation management for olive orchards under future weather conditions requires the development of advanced tools for considering specific physiological and phenological components affected by the foreseen changes in climate and atmospheric [CO2]

Vasoactive intestinal peptide axis is dysfunctional in patients with Graves’ disease

Vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) is a neuropeptide with potent immunoregulatory properties. Reduced serum VIP levels and alterations in VIP receptors/signaling on immune cells have been associated with different inflammatory/autoimmune diseases. However, its role in autoimmune thyroid diseases (AITD) remains unknown. This study examined the interrelationship between VIP system, autoimmune background and thyroid hormones in peripheral immune cells in patients with AITD. Only Graves’ disease (GD) patients showed significantly lower serum VIP levels when compared to healthy subjects and to Hashimoto’s thyroiditis patients. Serum VIP levels were lower at the onset of GD, showing a significant negative correlation with thyroid hormone levels. The expression of VIP receptors, VPAC1 and VPAC2, was significantly upregulated in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from GD patients. There was an impairment of VIP signalling in these patients, probably attributable to a dysfunction of VPAC1 with preservation of VPAC2. The correlation between VPAC1 and thyroid hormone receptor expression in PBMC from healthy subjects was lost in GD patients. In summary, the VIP system is altered in peripheral immune cells of GD patients and this finding is associated with different thyroid hormone receptor patterns, showing a dynamic inter-regulation and a prominent role of VIP in this setting.This work has been supported by Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain, cofinanced by FEDER, European Union: RETICS program, Red de Investigación en Inflamación y Enfermedades Reumáticas (RD16/0012/0008, PI17/00027, PI16-02091, PIE13-0004) and from Consejería de Educación, Juventud y Deporte, Comunidad de Madrid: B2017/BMD372

Rice straw as a valuable source of cellulose and polyphenols: Applications in the food industry

Background: Rice plants generate a large amount of straw after harvesting, which is currently managed mainly by incineration or used as animal bedding, animal fodder or wrapping of materials during transport. Other technological uses, such as the production of energy and biofuels, pulp and paper production or construction materials have also been described. However, due to the current European Union (EU) restrictions, alternatives for waste management must be sought. Valorisation of rice straw is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals agenda set by the EU, since interesting biocompounds have been described in their composition and, after a successful extraction and purification, they can be used in various sectors. Scope and approach: This review gathers the most relevant works related to the valorisation of rice straw. It focuses on polyphenolic extracts and cellulose derivatives obtained by different extraction techniques, either conventional or innovative. In addition, the different applications that these compounds have in the field of food and nutrition sciences are summarized. Key findings and conclusions: Polyphenols and cellulose fractions have shown their viability to be extracted from rice straw, showing great potential as antioxidants in the food sector or as nutritional components in the development of new food or packaging materials, respectively. In conclusion, the valorisation of rice straw as a rich source of valuable compounds has been demonstrated, which currently generates serious environmental and human problems due to difficulties in its management and incineration, adding value to these underutilized residues and contributing to the circular bioeconomy concept

A high-fat high-sucrose diet affects the long-term metabolic fate of grape proanthocyanidins in rats

Purpose Polyphenol metabolites are key mediators of the biological activities of polyphenols. This study aimed to evaluate the long-term effects of a high-fat high-sucrose (HFHS) diet on the metabolism of proanthocyanidins from grape seed extract (GSE). Methods Adult female Wistar-Kyoto rats were fed a standard (STD) or HFHS diet supplemented or not with GSE for 16 weeks. PA metabolites were determined by targeted HPLC-MS/MS analysis. Results A lower concentration of total microbial-derived PA metabolites was present in urine and the aqueous fraction of faeces in the HFHS + GSE group than in the STD + GSE group. In contrast, a tendency towards the formation of conjugated (epi)catechin metabolites in the HFHS + GSE group was observed. Conclusions These results show that a HFHS diet significantly modifies PA metabolism, probably via: (1) a shift in microbial communities not counteracted by the polyphenols themselves; and (2) an up-regulation of hepatic enzymes