295 research outputs found

    Impact of using a privacy model on smart buildings data for CO2 prediction

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    There is a constant trade-off between the utility of the data collected and processed by the many systems forming the Internet of Things (IoT) revolution and the privacy concerns of the users living in the spaces hosting these sensors. Privacy models, such as the SITA (Spatial, Identity, Temporal, and Activity) model, can help address this trade-off. In this paper, we focus on the problem of CO2CO_2 prediction, which is crucial for health monitoring but can be used to monitor occupancy, which might reveal some private information. We apply a number of transformations on a real dataset from a Smart Building to simulate different SITA configurations on the collected data. We use the transformed data with multiple Machine Learning (ML) techniques to analyse the performance of the models to predict CO2CO_{2} levels. Our results show that, for different algorithms, different SITA configurations do not make one algorithm perform better or worse than others, compared to the baseline data; also, in our experiments, the temporal dimension was particularly sensitive, with scores decreasing up to 18.9%18.9\% between the original and the transformed data. The results can be useful to show the effect of different levels of data privacy on the data utility of IoT applications, and can also help to identify which parameters are more relevant for those systems so that higher privacy settings can be adopted while data utility is still preserved

    ABC 2 -SPH risk score for in-hospital mortality in COVID-19 patients: development, external validation and comparison with other available scores

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    Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; 2019-nCoV; Hospitalitzacions; MortalitatCoronavirus SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; 2019-nCoV; Hospitalizaciones; MortalidadCoronavirus SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; 2019-nCoV; Hospitalizations; MortalityObjectives The majority of available scores to assess mortality risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in the emergency department have high risk of bias. Therefore, this cohort aimed to develop and validate a score at hospital admission for predicting in-hospital mortality in COVID-19 patients and to compare this score with other existing ones. Methods Consecutive patients (≥ 18 years) with confirmed COVID-19 admitted to the participating hospitals were included. Logistic regression analysis was performed to develop a prediction model for in-hospital mortality, based on the 3978 patients admitted between March–July, 2020. The model was validated in the 1054 patients admitted during August–September, as well as in an external cohort of 474 Spanish patients. Results Median (25–75th percentile) age of the model-derivation cohort was 60 (48–72) years, and in-hospital mortality was 20.3%. The validation cohorts had similar age distribution and in-hospital mortality. Seven significant variables were included in the risk score: age, blood urea nitrogen, number of comorbidities, C-reactive protein, SpO 2 /FiO 2 ratio, platelet count, and heart rate. The model had high discriminatory value (AUROC 0.844, 95% CI 0.829–0.859), which was confirmed in the Brazilian (0.859 [95% CI 0.833–0.885]) and Spanish (0.894 [95% CI 0.870–0.919]) validation cohorts, and displayed better discrimination ability than other existing scores. It is implemented in a freely available online risk calculator (https://abc2sph.com/). Conclusions An easy-to-use rapid scoring system based on characteristics of COVID-19 patients commonly available at hospital presentation was designed and validated for early stratification of in-hospital mortality risk of patients with COVID-19.This study was supported in part by Minas Gerais State Agency for Research and Development ( Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais – FAPEMIG ) [grant number APQ-00208-20], National Institute of Science and Technology for Health Technology Assessment ( Instituto de Avaliação de Tecnologias em Saúde – IATS )/ National Council for Scientific and Technological Development ( Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico – CNPq ) [grant number 465518/2014-1], and CAPES Foundation ( Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior ) [grant number 88887.507149/2020-00]. AS was supported by a postdoctoral grant “Juan Rodés” (JE18/00022) from Instituto de Salud Carlos III through the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Spain

    Histochemical Evaluation of Human Prostatic Tissues with Cratylia mollis Seed Lectin

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    Lectins, proteins which selectively recognize carbohydrates, have been used in histochemistry for the evaluation of changes in glycosylation in processes of cellular differentiation and/or dedifferentiation. Cratylia mollis seed lectins (Cramoll 1,4 and Cramoll 3), conjugated to horseradish peroxidase, were used as histochemical probes in human prostate tissues: normal (NP), hyperplasia (BPH), and prostate carcinoma (PCa). The staining pattern of Con-A and Cramoll 1,4 in BPH was more intense than in NP. These lectins also showed staining differences between BPH and PCa; the latter showing decreased staining intensity with an increased degree of malignancy. PNA and Cramoll 3 stained epithelial cells similarly in all diagnoses although they did present intense staining of PCa glands lumen. Corpora amylacea were not differentially recognized by any of the lectins. Cramoll 1,4 and Cramoll 3 seed lectins present themselves as candidates for histochemical probes for prostate pathologies when compared to commercial lectins such as Con-A and PNA

    Ferromagnetic Levan Composite: An Affinity Matrix to Purify Lectin

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    A simple and inexpensive procedure used magnetite and levan to synthesize a composite recovered by a magnetic field. Lectins from Canavalia ensiformis (Con A) and Cratylia mollis (Cramoll 1 and Cramoll 1, 4) did bind specifically to composite. The magnetic property of derivative favored washing out contaminating proteins and recovery of pure lectins with glucose elution. Cramoll 1 was purified by this affinity binding procedure in two steps instead of a previous three-step protocol with ammonium sulfate fractionation, affinity chromatography on Sephadex G-75, and ion exchange chromatography through a CM-cellulose column

    DNA and BSA binding, anticancer and antimicrobial properties of Co(II), Co(II/III), Cu(II) and Ag(I) complexes of arylhydrazones of barbituric acid

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    Two new cocrystalline compounds, (Hen)(H2L2)2/3H2O(2)and(Him)(H3L3)2/3H2O (2) and (Him)(H3L3)2H2O (8), were prepared by the reaction of 5-(2-(4-chlorophenyl)hydrazono)pyrimidine-2,4,6(1H,3H,5H)-trione (H3L2) and the sodium salt of 2-(2-(2,4,6-trioxotetrahydropyrimidin-5(2H)-ylidene)hydrazinyl)benzenesulfonic acid (H4L3), [Na(H3L3)(m-H2O)(H2O)2]2 (1) with protonated ethylenediamine (Hen) and imidazole (Him), respectively. By using 5-(2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)hydrazono)pyrimidine-2,4,6(1H,3H,5H)-trione (H4L1) and 1, several known CuII, CoII, CoII/III and new AgI complexes, [Cu(H2L1)(H2O)(im)]3H2O(3),[Co(H2O)6][Co(H2L1)2]23H2O (3), [Co(H2O)6]- [Co(H2L1)2]28H2O (4), [Co(H2L3)(im)3] (5), [Cu(H2L3)(im)2]H2O(6),[Ag(H2O)(mH3L3)]n(7)and[Co(H2O)6][H3L3]2H2O (6), [Ag(H2O)(m-H3L3)]n (7) and [Co(H2O)6]- [H3L3]28H2O (9), were also prepared in order to study their DNA and BSA binding, anticancer and antimicrobial properties. The complexes are able to interact with DNA and BSA with high binding constant values. In particular, complex 4 strongly intercalates DNA and binds BSA. The antimicrobial activity of all compounds, determined against a panel of reference bacterial and fungal strains, indicates that only 2 and 7 possess antimicrobial activity. The same compounds 2 and 7 show a pronounced antiproliferative activity against the human tumor cell lines A375, MDA-MB 231 and HCT116

    Exome and Tissue-Associated Microbiota as Predictive Markers of Response to Neoadjuvant Treatment in Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer

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    The clinical and pathological responses to multimodal neoadjuvant therapy in locally advanced rectal cancers (LARCs) remain unpredictable, and robust biomarkers are still lacking. Recent studies have shown that tumors present somatic molecular alterations related to better treatment response, and it is also clear that tumor-associated bacteria are modulators of chemotherapy and immunotherapy efficacy, therefore having implications for long-term survivorship and a good potential as the biomarkers of outcome. Here, we performed whole exome sequencing and 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) amplicon sequencing from 44 pre-treatment LARC biopsies from Argentinian and Brazilian patients, treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy or total neoadjuvant treatment, searching for predictive biomarkers of response (responders, n = 17; non-responders, n = 27). In general, the somatic landscape of LARC was not capable to predict a response; however, a significant enrichment in mutational signature SBS5 was observed in non-responders (p = 0.0021), as well as the co-occurrence of APC and FAT4 mutations (p < 0.05). Microbiota studies revealed a similar alpha and beta diversity of bacteria between response groups. Yet, the linear discriminant analysis (LDA) of effect size indicated an enrichment of Hungatella, Flavonifractor, and Methanosphaera (LDA score ≥3) in the pre-treatment biopsies of responders, while non-responders had a higher abundance of Enhydrobacter, Paraprevotella (LDA score ≥3) and Finegoldia (LDA score ≥4). Altogether, the evaluation of these biomarkers in pre-treatment biopsies could eventually predict a neoadjuvant treatment response, while in post-treatment samples, it could help in guiding non-operative treatment strategies.Fil: Takenaka, Isabella Kuniko T. M.. No especifíca;Fil: Bartelli, Thais F.. No especifíca;Fil: Defelicibus, Alexandre. No especifíca;Fil: Sendoya, Juan Martín. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Golubicki, Mariano. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital de Gastroenterología "Dr. Carlos B. Udaondo"; ArgentinaFil: Robbio, Juan. No especifíca;Fil: Serpa, Marianna S.. No especifíca;Fil: Branco, Gabriela P.. No especifíca;Fil: Santos, Luana B. C.. No especifíca;Fil: Claro, Laura C. L.. No especifíca;Fil: Oliveira dos Santos, Gabriel. No especifíca;Fil: Kupper, Bruna E. C.. No especifíca;Fil: da Silva, Israel T.. No especifíca;Fil: Llera, Andrea Sabina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires. Fundación Instituto Leloir. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: de Mello, Celso A. L.. No especifíca;Fil: Riechelmann, Rachel P.. No especifíca;Fil: Dias Neto, Emmanuel. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Iseas, Soledad. Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires. Hospital de Gastroenterología "Dr. Carlos B. Udaondo"; ArgentinaFil: Aguiar, Samuel. No especifíca;Fil: Nunes, Diana Noronha. No especifíca

    17-AAG-induced activation of the autophagic pathway in Leishmania is associated with parasite death

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    The heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) is thought to be an excellent drug target against parasitic diseases. The leishmanicidal effect of an Hsp90 inhibitor, 17-N-allylamino-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (17-AAG), was previously demonstrated in both in vitro and in vivo models of cutaneous leishmaniasis. Parasite death was shown to occur in association with severe ultrastructural alterations in Leishmania, suggestive of autophagic activation. We hypothesized that 17-AAG treatment results in the abnormal activation of the autophagic pathway, leading to parasite death. To elucidate this process, experiments were performed using transgenic parasites with GFP-ATG8-labelled autophagosomes. Mutant parasites treated with 17-AAG exhibited autophagosomes that did not entrap cargo, such as glycosomes, or fuse with lysosomes. ATG5-knockout (Δatg5) parasites, which are incapable of forming autophagosomes, demonstrated lower sensitivity to 17-AAG-induced cell death when compared to wild-type (WT) Leishmania, further supporting the role of autophagy in 17-AAG-induced cell death. In addition, Hsp90 inhibition resulted in greater accumulation of ubiquitylated proteins in both WT- and Δatg5-treated parasites compared to controls, in the absence of proteasome overload. In conjunction with previously described ultrastructural alterations, herein we present evidence that treatment with 17-AAG causes abnormal activation of the autophagic pathway, resulting in the formation of immature autophagosomes and, consequently, incidental parasite death
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