Leveraging on Digital Signage Networks to Bring Connectivity IOT Devices

The number of Internet-connected devices exceeds the world’s population by more than three times and this figure is expected to be doubled within the next five years. The Internet of Things is a concept that describes this trend and outlines certain aspects of design and functionality that new devices should incorporate for a successful integration into the Internet. In this respect, Digital Signage networks traditionally used for audiovisual media, accomplish many of the characteristics of the Internet of Things devices: interoperability, mobility, scalability and ubiquity, both in terms of access and control of devices and regarding the information they generate. This paper raises the power to employ a proposed Digital Signage network as a substrate to connect other types of devices that can benefit from the advantages of this kind of networks. For that aim, the main problems for this integration are discussed, mainly those related to the bidirectional tunneling scheme used in the proposed Digital Signage solution. The effects of this tunneling approach are analyzed in scenarios with bandwidth constraints, and different solutions are proposed. Tunneling performance in mobility is improved, to increase the amount of Internet of Things devices and applications that can benefit from this type of network. El número de dispositivos conectados a Internet supera actualmente a la población mundial por más de tres veces y se espera que esta cifra se duplique en los próximos cinco años. El Internet de las Cosas es un concepto que describe esta tendencia y perfila ciertos aspectos de diseño y funcionalidad que los nuevos dispositivos deben incorporar para lograr una integración exitosa en Internet. En este sentido, las redes digital signage utilizadas tradicionalmente para los medios de comunicación audiovisual cumplen muchas de las características requeridas en el contexto del Internet de las Cosas: interoperabilidad, movilidad, escalabilidad y ubicuidad; relativas tanto al acceso y control de dispositivos como a la información que estos generan. En este trabajo se plantea el poder de emplear la red digital signage propuesta como sustrato para poder conectar otros tipos de dispositivos para que así puedan aprovechar las ventajas de estas redes. Para ese fin, se discuten los principales problemas existentes en esta integración, prestando especial atención al esquema de túnel bidireccional utilizado en la solución digital signage propuesta. Los efectos de este enfoque de tunelación se analizan en escenarios con limitaciones de ancho de banda y se proponen diferentes soluciones. Con ello se consigue mejorar el rendimiento del túnel en movilidad, facilitando la integración de más dispositivos al Internet de las Cosas al permitir que puedan integrarse en este tipo de redes

Generation and trapping of a mesoderm biased state of human pluripotency

We postulate that exit from pluripotency involves intermediates that retain pluripotency while simultaneously exhibiting lineage-bias. Using a MIXL1 reporter, we explore mesoderm lineage-bias within the human pluripotent stem cell compartment. We identify a substate, which at the single cell level coexpresses pluripotent and mesodermal gene expression programmes. Functionally these cells initiate stem cell cultures and exhibit mesodermal bias in differentiation assays. By promoting mesodermal identity through manipulation of WNT signalling while preventing exit from pluripotency using lysophosphatidic acid, we ‘trap’ and maintain cells in a lineage-biased stem cell state through multiple passages. These cells correspond to a normal state on the differentiation trajectory, the plasticity of which is evidenced by their reacquisition of an unbiased state upon removal of differentiation cues. The use of ‘cross-antagonistic’ signalling to trap pluripotent stem cell intermediates with different lineage-bias may have general applicability in the efficient production of cells for regenerative medicine

A novel HPV 16 L1-based chimeric virus-like particle containing E6 and E7 seroreactive epitopes permits highly specific detection of antibodies in patients with CIN 1 and HPV-16 infection

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The presence of IgG antibodies to HPV-16 L1-virus like particles (VLPs) in serum has been reported as a result of persistent exposure to the virus and as a marker of disease progression. However, detection of VLP-specific antibodies in sera does not always indicate a malignant lesion as positive results may also be due to a nonmalignant viral infection. Furthermore, malignant lesions are associated with an increased antibody titer for E6 and E7 proteins. The aim of this study was to develop an ELISA using a novel chimeric virus-like particle (cVLP) encoding an L1 protein fused with a string of HPV-16 E6 and E7 seroreactive epitopes to its C-terminus to be used for detection of HPV-16 specific antibodies in patients with cervical intraepithelial lesion grade 1 (CIN 1).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The sera of 30 patients with CIN 1 who also tested positive for HPV-16 DNA and of 30 age-matched normal donors negative for HPV infection were tested for the presence of IgG antibodies specific for either VLP-L1 (HPV-16 L1), gVLP (derived from Gardasil), or cVLP by ELISA. The cVLP-reactive sera yielded two distinct groups of results: (H) reactivity levels that presented very strong cVLP-specific titers, and (L) reactivity levels with significantly lower titers similar to those obtained with VLP-L1 and gVLP antigens. Additionally, the sera that presented the higher cVLP titers closely matched those that had significantly stronger reactivity to E6 and E7 epitopes. Interestingly, the samples with the highest titers corresponded to patients with the higher numbers of sexual partners and pregnancies. On the other hand only 4 out of the 12 sera that harbored antibodies with VLP neutralizing ability corresponded to the group with high cVLP antibody titers.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We report for the first time that chimeric particles containing HPV-16 L1 protein fused with E6 and E7 seroreactive epitopes enable much better detection of IgG antibodies in the sera of CIN 1 patients positive for HPV-16 infection than those obtained with VLPs containing only the HPV-16 L1 protein. We also found that the sera with higher cVLP antibody titers corresponded to patients with more sexual partners and pregnancies, and not always with to those with a high neutralizing activity. This novel assay could help in the development of a tool to evaluate cervical cancer risk.</p

Revealing the Complete Chloroplast Genome of an Andean Horticultural Crop, Sweet Cucumber (Solanum muricatum), and Its Comparison with Other Solanaceae Species

Sweet cucumber (Solanum muricatum) sect. Basarthrum is a neglected horticultural crop native to the Andean region. It is naturally distributed very close to other two Solanum crops of high importance, potatoes, and tomatoes. To date, molecular tools for this crop remain undetermined. In this study, the complete sweet cucumber chloroplast (cp) genome was obtained and compared with seven Solanaceae species. The cp genome of S. muricatum was 155,681 bp in length and included a large single copy (LSC) region of 86,182 bp and a small single-copy (SSC) region of 18,360 bp, separated by a pair of inverted repeats (IR) regions of 25,568 bp. The cp genome possessed 87 protein-coding genes (CDS), 37 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, eight ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, and one pseudogene. Furthermore, 48 perfect microsatellites were identified. These repeats were mainly located in the noncoding regions. Whole cp genome comparative analysis revealed that the SSC and LSC regions showed more divergence than IR regions. Similar to previous studies, our phylogenetic analysis showed that S. muricatum is a sister species to members of sections Petota + Lycopersicum + Etuberosum. We expect that this first sweet cucumber chloroplast genome will provide potential molecular markers and genomic resources to shed light on the genetic diversity and population studies of S. muricatum, which will allow us to identify varieties and ecotypes. Finally, the features and the structural differentiation will provide us with information about the genes of interest, generating tools for the most precise selection of the best individuals of sweet cucumber, in less time and with fewer resources

Revealing the Complete Chloroplast Genome of an Andean Horticultural Crop, Sweet Cucumber <i>(Solanum muricatum)</i>, and Its Comparison with Other Solanaceae Species

Sweet cucumber (Solanum muricatum) sect. Basarthrum is a neglected horticultural crop native to the Andean region. It is naturally distributed very close to other two Solanum crops of high importance, potatoes, and tomatoes. To date, molecular tools for this crop remain undetermined. In this study, the complete sweet cucumber chloroplast (cp) genome was obtained and compared with seven Solanaceae species. The cp genome of S. muricatum was 155,681 bp in length and included a large single copy (LSC) region of 86,182 bp and a small single-copy (SSC) region of 18,360 bp, separated by a pair of inverted repeats (IR) regions of 25,568 bp. The cp genome possessed 87 protein-coding genes (CDS), 37 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, eight ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, and one pseudogene. Furthermore, 48 perfect microsatellites were identified. These repeats were mainly located in the noncoding regions. Whole cp genome comparative analysis revealed that the SSC and LSC regions showed more divergence than IR regions. Similar to previous studies, our phylogenetic analysis showed that S. muricatum is a sister species to members of sections Petota + Lycopersicum + Etuberosum. We expect that this first sweet cucumber chloroplast genome will provide potential molecular markers and genomic resources to shed light on the genetic diversity and population studies of S. muricatum, which will allow us to identify varieties and ecotypes. Finally, the features and the structural differentiation will provide us with information about the genes of interest, generating tools for the most precise selection of the best individuals of sweet cucumber, in less time and with fewer resources

Unlocking the Complete Chloroplast Genome of a Native Tree Species from the Amazon Basin, Capirona (<i>Calycophyllum Spruceanum</i>, Rubiaceae), and Its Comparative Analysis with Other Ixoroideae Species

Capirona (Calycophyllum spruceanum Benth.) belongs to subfamily Ixoroideae, one of the major lineages in the Rubiaceae family, and is an important timber tree. It originated in the Amazon Basin and has widespread distribution in Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, and Brazil. In this study, we obtained the first complete chloroplast (cp) genome of capirona from the department of Madre de Dios located in the Peruvian Amazon. High-quality genomic DNA was used to construct libraries. Pair-end clean reads were obtained by PE 150 library and the Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform. The complete cp genome of C. spruceanum has a 154,480 bp in length with typical quadripartite structure, containing a large single copy (LSC) region (84,813 bp) and a small single-copy (SSC) region (18,101 bp), separated by two inverted repeat (IR) regions (25,783 bp). The annotation of C. spruceanum cp genome predicted 87 protein-coding genes (CDS), 8 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, 37 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, and one pseudogene. A total of 41 simple sequence repeats (SSR) of this cp genome were divided into mononucleotides (29), dinucleotides (5), trinucleotides (3), and tetranucleotides (4). Most of these repeats were distributed in the noncoding regions. Whole chloroplast genome comparison with the other six Ixoroideae species revealed that the small single copy and large single copy regions showed more divergence than inverted regions. Finally, phylogenetic analyses resolved that C. spruceanum is a sister species to Emmenopterys henryi and confirms its position within the subfamily Ixoroideae. This study reports for the first time the genome organization, gene content, and structural features of the chloroplast genome of C. spruceanum, providing valuable information for genetic and evolutionary studies in the genus Calycophyllum and beyond

Steroid Resistance Associated with High MIF and P-gp Serum Levels in SLE Patients

Approximately 30% of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) present steroid resistance (SR). Macrophage migration inhibition factor (MIF) and P-glycoprotein (P-gp) could be related to SR. This work aims to evaluate the relationship between MIF and P-pg serum levels in SR in SLE. Methods: Case&ndash;control study including 188 SLE patients who were divided into two groups (90 in the steroid-resistant group and 98 in the steroid-sensitive (SS) group) and 35 healthy controls. MIF and P-gp serum levels were determined by ELISA. Multivariable logistic regression and chi-squared automatic interaction detection (CHAID) were used to explore risk factors for SR. Results: The steroid-resistant group presented higher MIF and P-gp serum levels in comparison with the SS (p &lt; 0.001) and reference (p &lt; 0.001) groups. MIF correlated positively with P-gp (rho = 0.41, p &lt; 0.001). MIF (&ge;15.75 ng/mL) and P-gp (&ge;15.22 ng/mL) were a risk factor for SR (OR = 2.29, OR = 5.27). CHAID identified high P-gp as the main risk factor for SR and high MIF as the second risk factor in those patients with low P-gp. Conclusions: An association between MIF and P-gp serum levels was observed in SR. CHAID identified P-gp &ge; 15.22 ng/mL as the main risk factor for SR. More studies are needed to validate these results

Serum Neuropeptide Y Levels Are Associated with TNF-α Levels and Disease Activity in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Background. Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a sympathetic neurotransmitter with effects on the regulation of inflammatory cells. The role of NPY on autoimmune inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is not completely understood. Therefore, we evaluate if NPY levels are markers of disease activity in RA and if there is a correlation between NPY levels and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), leptin, and interleukin 6 (IL-6) levels. Methods. Cross-sectional design, including 108 women with RA. We assessed disease activity by DAS28-ESR (considering active disease a score of ≥2.6). Serum NPY levels and anti-CCP2 antibody, TNF-α, IL-6, and leptin levels were quantified (ELISA). Results. Sixty-eight RA had an active disease (RA-active), and 40 were in remission (RA-remission). RA-active patients had higher NPY levels vs. RA-remission (22.8±13.6 vs. 17.8±10.3; p=0.04). NPY levels correlated with increased TNF-α levels (r=0.32, p=0.001). Leptin or IL-6 did not correlate with NPY levels. In the logistic regression analysis, NPY increased the risk of disease activity (OR: 1.04, 95% CI 1.006-1.09, and p=0.03). Conclusion. Higher NPY levels are an independent marker of disease activity in RA. This study encourages the quantification of NPY levels as a surrogate marker for RA-active. Future studies evaluating the role of NPY levels interacting with other proinflammatory cytokines are required