The role of gas infall in the evolution of disc galaxies

Spiral galaxies are thought to acquire their gas through a protracted infall phase resulting in the inside-out growth of their associated discs. For field spirals, this infall occurs in the lower density environments of the cosmic web. The overall infall rate, as well as the galactocentric radius at which this infall is incorporated into the star-forming disc, plays a pivotal role in shaping the characteristics observed today. Indeed, characterising the functional form of this spatio-temporal infall in-situ is exceedingly difficult, and one is forced to constrain these forms using the present day state of galaxies with model or simulation predictions. We present the infall rates used as input to a grid of chemical evolution models spanning the mass spectrum of discs observed today. We provide a systematic comparison with alternate analytical infall schemes in the literature, including a first comparison with cosmological simulations. Identifying the degeneracies associated with the adopted infall rate prescriptions in galaxy models is an important step in the development of a consistent picture of disc galaxy formation and evolution

Cortical Auditory Adaptation in the Awake Rat and the Role of Potassium Currents

Responses to sound in the auditory cortex are influenced by the preceding history of firing. We studied the time course of auditory adaptation in primary auditory cortex (A1) from awake, freely moving rats. Two identical stimuli were delivered with different intervals ranging from 50 ms to 8 s. Single neuron recordings in the awake animal revealed that the response to a sound is influenced by sounds delivered even several seconds earlier, the second one usually yielding a weaker response. To understand the role of neuronal intrinsic properties in this phenomenon, we obtained intracellular recordings from rat A1 neurons in vitro and mimicked the same protocols of adaptation carried out in awake animals by means of depolarizing pulses of identical duration and intervals. The intensity of the pulses was adjusted such that the first pulse would evoke a similar number of spikes as its equivalent in vivo. A1 neurons in vitro adapted with a similar time course but less than in awake animals. At least two potassium currents participated in the in vitro adaptation: a Na +-dependent K + current and an apamin-sensitive K + current. Our results suggest that potassium currents underlie at least part of cortical auditory adaptation during the awake state.Fil: Abolafia, Juan M.. INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACIONES BIOMEDICAS AUGUST PI I SUNYER (IDIBAPS);Fil: Vergara, Ramiro Oscar. INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACIONES BIOMEDICAS AUGUST PI I SUNYER (IDIBAPS); . Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Neurociencia de Alicante; España. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Arnold, M. M.. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Neurociencia de Alicante; España. INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACIONES BIOMEDICAS AUGUST PI I SUNYER (IDIBAPS);Fil: Reig, R.. INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACIONES BIOMEDICAS AUGUST PI I SUNYER (IDIBAPS);Fil: Sanchez Vives, M. V.. INSTITUTO DE INVESTIGACIONES BIOMEDICAS AUGUST PI I SUNYER (IDIBAPS)

Pesquería artesanal de elasmobranquios en la costa Pacifico de Baja California Sur, México, implicaciones para su gestión

Artisanal fisheries in Mexico account for approximately 40% of the total national catch. In 2009, Baja California Sur (BCS) had the second largest catch of elasmobranchs on the Mexican Pacific coast. This paper characterizes and describes the artisanal elasmobranch fishery of Pacific coast of BCS from 2000 to 2010. Sixty artisanal camps were documented, of which 45 targeted elasmobranchs, using primarily gillnets and longlines. We identified 52 elasmobranch species. Gillnetting accounted for 73.5% of the fishing effort and most frequently captured Rhinobatos productus, Mustelus henlei and Myliobatis californica. Longline fishing accounted for 26.5% of effort, most frequently capturing Prionace glauca and Isurus oxyrinchus. The prevalence of juveniles of several species (e.g., Cephaloscyllium ventriosum, Galeorhinus galeus, Isurus oxyrinchus, and Myliobatis californica) within landings suggests that fishing effort may be opportunistically directed at breeding or nursery areas. Despite the dominance of species with wide distributions, we observed a significant biogeographic pattern in the abundance of some species relative to Bahia Magdalena. Results of the present study will be useful to detect changes in the structure of commercially exploited elasmobranch populations, and to provide useful indications for management purposes.La pesquería artesanal en México soporta aproximadamente el 40% de la captura total nacional. En 2009 Baja California Sur (BCS) fue el segundo estado con mayor registro de captura de elasmobranquios de todo el Pacifico Mexicano. En el presente trabajo se realizó la caracterización y descripción de la pesquería artesanal de elasmobranquios en la costa Pacífico de BCS del 2000 al 2010. Se registraron 60 campos artesanales, de los cuales en 45 se capturaron elasmobranquios usando como artes de pesca redes y palangres. Se identificaron 52 especies de elasmobranquios. Las redes representaron el 73.5% del esfuerzo pesquero, las especies que se capturaron con mayor frecuencia fueron Rhinobatos productus, Mustelus henlei y Myliobatis californica. Por otra parte los palangres representaron el 26.5% del esfuerzo pesquero, las especies capturadas con mayor frecuencia fueron, Prionace glauca e Isurus oxyrinchus. La presencia de especímenes juveniles de varias especies en los desembarques (p. ej. Cephaloscyllium ventriosum, Galeorhinus galeus, Isurus oxyrinchus, Myliobatis californica) sugiere que el esfuerzo pesquero podría ser oportunista dirigido a las zonas de crianza o de reproducción. A pesar del dominio de especies con distribuciones amplias, se observó un patrón biogeográfico significativo en la abundancia de algunas especies al sur y al norte de Bahía Magdalena. Los resultados del presente estudio serán de utilidad para poder detectar los posibles cambios en la estructura poblacional de los elasmobranquios explotados comercialmente

Integrating the STOP-BANG Score and Clinical Data to Predict Cardiovascular Events After Infarction A Machine Learning Study

BACKGROUND: OSA conveys worse clinical outcomes in patients with coronary artery disease. The STOP-BANG score is a simple tool that evaluates the risk of OSA and can be added to the large number of clinical variables and scores that are obtained during the management of patients with myocardial infarction (MI). Currently, machine learning (ML) is able to select and integrate numerous variables to optimize prediction tasks. RESEARCH QUESTION: Can the integration of STOP-BANG score with clinical data and scores through ML better identify patients who experienced an in-hospital cardiovascular event after acute MI? STUDY DESIGN AND METHOD: This is a prospective observational cohort study of 124 patients with acute MI of whom the STOP-BANG score classified 34 as low (27.4%), 30 as intermediate (24.2%), and 60 as high (48.4%) OSA-risk patients who were followed during hospitalization. ML implemented feature selection and integration across 47 variables (including STOP-BANG score, Killip class, GRACE score, and left ventricular ejection fraction) to identify those patients who experienced an in-hospital cardiovascular event (ie, death, ventricular arrhythmias, atrial fibrillation, recurrent angina, reinfarction, stroke, worsening heart failure, or cardiogenic shock) after definitive MI treatment. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to compare ML performance against STOP-BANG score, Killip class, GRACE score, and left ventricular ejection fraction, independently. RESULTS: There were an increasing proportion of cardiovascular events across the low, intermediate, and high OSA risk groups (P = .005). ML selected 7 accessible variables (ie, Killip class, leukocytes, GRACE score, c reactive protein, oxygen saturation, STOP-BANG score, and N-terminal prohormone of B-type natriuretic peptide); their integration outperformed all comparators (area under the curve, 0.83 [95% CI, 0.74-0.90]; P <.01). INTERPRETATION: The integration of the STOP-BANG score into clinical evaluation (considering Killip class, GRACE score, and simple laboratory values) of subjects who were admitted for an acute MI because of ML can significantly optimize the identification of patients who will experience an in-hospital cardiovascular event

Prevention of diet-induced obesity by apple polyphenols in Wistar rats through regulation of adipocyte gene expression and DNA methylation patterns

This study was conducted to determine the mechanisms implicated in the beneficial effects of apple polyphenols (APs) against diet-induced obesity in Wistar rats, described in a previous study from our group. Supplementation of high-fat sucrose diet with AP prevented adiposity increase by inhibition of adipocyte hypertrophy. Rats supplemented with AP exhibited improved glucose tolerance while adipocytes isolated from these rats showed an enhanced lipolytic response to isoproterenol. AP intake led to reduced Lep, Plin, and sterol regulatory element binding transcription factor 1 (Srebf1) mRNA levels and increased aquaporin 7 (Aqp7), adipocyte enhancer binding protein 1 (Aebp1), and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma co-activator 1 alpha (Ppargc1a) mRNA levels in epididymal adipocytes. In addition, we found different methylation patterns of Aqp7, Lep, Ppargc1a, and Srebf1 promoters in adipocytes from apple-supplemented rats compared to high-fat sucrose fed rats. The administration of AP protects against body weight gain and fat deposition and improves glucose tolerance in rats. We propose that AP exerts the antiobesity effects through the regulation of genes involved in adipogenesis, lipolysis, and fatty acid oxidation, in a process that could be mediated in part by epigenetic mechanisms

Adipose tissue glycogen accumulation is associated with obesity-linked inflammation in humans

Objective: glycogen metabolism has emerged as a mediator in the control of energy homeostasis and studies in murine models reveal that adipose tissue might contain glycogen stores. Here we investigated the physio(patho)logical role of glycogen in human adipose tissue in the context of obesity and insulin resistance. Methods: we studied glucose metabolic flux of hypoxic human adipoctyes by nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry-based metabolic approaches. Glycogen synthesis and glycogen content in response to hypoxia was analyzed in human adipocytes and macrophages. To explore the metabolic effects of enforced glycogen deposition in adipocytes and macrophages, we overexpressed PTG, the only glycogen-associated regulatory subunit (PP1-GTS) reported in murine adipocytes. Adipose tissue gene expression analysis was performed on wild type and homozygous PTG KO male mice. Finally, glycogen metabolism gene expression and glycogen accumulation was analyzed in adipose tissue, mature adipocytes and resident macrophages from lean and obese subjects with different degrees of insulin resistance in 2 independent cohorts. Results: we show that hypoxia modulates glucose metabolic flux in human adipocytes and macrophages and promotes glycogenesis. Enforced glycogen deposition by overexpression of PTG re-orients adipocyte secretion to a pro-inflammatory response linked to insulin resistance and monocyte/lymphocyte migration. Furthermore, glycogen accumulation is associated with inhibition of mTORC1 signaling and increased basal autophagy flux, correlating with greater leptin release in glycogen-loaded adipocytes. PTG-KO mice have reduced expression of key inflammatory genes in adipose tissue and PTG overexpression in M0 macrophages induces a pro-inflammatory and glycolytic M1 phenotype. Increased glycogen synthase expression correlates with glycogen deposition in subcutaneous adipose tissue of obese patients. Glycogen content in subcutaneous mature adipocytes is associated with BMI and leptin expression. Conclusion: our data establish glycogen mishandling in adipose tissue as a potential key feature of inflammatory-related metabolic stress in human obesity

La espectroscopía de infrarrojo cercano (NIRS) en el seguimiento de la madurez del cultivo de la caña de azúcar (Saccharum spp.)

Objective: To determine the viability of the near infrared spectroscopy methodology to estimate the maturity of sugarcane (Saccharum spp.). Design/methodology/approximation: The management of the parameters to evaluate the maturity were the total soluble solids (ºBrix) and Pol (%). This work was carried out at the Obispo Colombres Agroindustrial Experimental Station in Tucumán, Argentina, where 1265 juice samples were collected from sugar cane in the laboratory, where the total soluble solids (ºBrix) and Pol (%) were examined with the usual methods and to obtain the spectra of the juice samples, the near infrared spectrophotometer FOSS NIR Systems model 6500 for liquids was used. And the prediction model for ºBrix and Pol (%) in juices, was generated from the mathematical treatment SNV and Detrend and arrangements 1,4,4,1 and 2,4,4,1 (derived, GAP and smoothed, respectively). Results: The prediction models generated for ºBrix and Pol (%) have standard calibration error values ??(SEC) of 0.126 and 0.296; standard prediction error (SEP) of 0.181 and 0.327; and calibration correlation coefficient (R2) of 0.997 and 0.991, respectively. Limitations/implications: The study was carried out at the Obispo Colombres Agroindustrial Experimental Station in Tucumán, Argentina, for reasons of logistics between Public and Private Institutions in Mexico. Findings/Conclusions: These results indicate that the models developed for ºBrix and Pol (%) can be used as a cheaper alternative to conventional procedures in the determination of maturity since it improves the speed in the determinations, does not use chemical reagents and requires less workforce.Objetivo: Fue determinar la viabilidad de la metodología de espectroscopía del infrarrojo cercano para estimar la madurez de la caña de azúcar (Saccharum spp.). Diseño/metodología/aproximación: El manejado de los parámetros para evaluar la madurez fueron los sólidos solubles totales (ºBrix) y Pol (%). Este trabajo se realizó en la Estación Experimental Agroindustrial Obispo Colombres en Tucumán, Argentina, donde se colectaron 1265 muestras de jugos de caña de azúcar en laboratorio, donde se examinaron los sólidos solubles totales (ºBrix) y Pol (%) con los métodos habituales y para la obtención de los espectros de las muestras de jugo se utilizó el espectrofotómetro de infrarrojo cercano FOSS NIR Systems modelo 6500 para líquidos. Y el modelo de predicción para ºBrix y Pol (%) en jugos, se generó a partir del tratamiento matemático SNV y Detrend y arreglos 1,4,4,1 y 2,4,4,1 (derivada, GAP y suavizados, respectivamente). Resultados: Los modelos de predicción generados para ºBrix y Pol (%), tienen valores de error estándar de calibración (SEC) de 0.126 y 0.296; error estándar de predicción (SEP) de 0.181 y 0.327; y coeficiente de correlación de la calibración (R2) de 0.997 y 0.991, respectivamente. Limitaciones/implicaciones: El estudio se realizó en la Estación Experimental Agroindustrial Obispo Colombres en Tucumán, Argentina, por motivos de logística entre Instituciones Públicas y Privadas en México. Hallazgos/Conclusiones: Estos resultados indican que los modelos desarrollados para ºBrix y Pol (%) se pueden utilizar como una alternativa más económica a los procedimientos convencionales en la determinación de la madurez ya que mejora la velocidad en las determinaciones, no emplea reactivos químicos y requiere de menor mano de obra

Causes of hOCT1-dependent cholangiocarcinoma resistance to sorafenib and sensitization by tumor-selective gene therapy

Although the multi-tyrosine kinase inhibitor sorafenib is useful in the treatment of several cancers, cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is refractory to this drug. Among other mechanisms of chemoresistance, impaired uptake through human organic cation transporter type 1 (hOCT1) (gene SLC22A1) has been suggested. Here we have investigated the events accounting for this phenotypic characteristic and have evaluated the interest of selective gene therapy strategies to overcome this limitation. Gene expression and DNA methylation of SLC22A1 were analyzed using intrahepatic (iCCA) and extrahepatic (eCCA) biopsies (Copenhagen and Salamanca cohorts; n = 132) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)-CHOL (n = 36). Decreased hOCT1 mRNA correlated with hypermethylation status of the SLC22A1 promoter. Treatment of CCA cells with decitabine (demethylating agent) or butyrate (histone deacetylase inhibitor) restored hOCT1 expression and increased sorafenib uptake. MicroRNAs able to induce hOCT1 mRNA decay were analyzed in paired samples of TCGA-CHOL (n = 9) and Copenhagen (n = 57) cohorts. Consistent up-regulation in tumor tissue was found for miR-141 and miR-330. High proportion of aberrant hOCT1 mRNA splicing in CCA was also seen. Lentiviral-mediated transduction of eCCA (EGI-1 and TFK-1) and iCCA (HuCCT1) cells with hOCT1 enhanced sorafenib uptake and cytotoxic effects. In chemically induced CCA in rats, reduced rOct1 expression was accompanied by impaired sorafenib uptake. In xenograft models of eCCA cells implanted in mouse liver, poor response to sorafenib was observed. However, tumor growth was markedly reduced by cotreatment with sorafenib and adenoviral vectors encoding hOCT1 under the control of the BIRC5 promoter, a gene highly up-regulated in CCA. Conclusion: The reason for impaired hOCT1-mediated sorafenib uptake by CCA is multifactorial. Gene therapy capable of selectively inducing hOCT1 in tumor cells can be considered a potentially useful chemosensitization strategy to improve the response of CCA to sorafenib

The european urology residents education programme hands-on training format: 4 years of hands-on training improvements from the European School of Urology

Background: The European School of Urology (ESU) started the European Urology Residents Education Programme (EUREP) in 2003 for final year urology residents, with hands-on training (HOT) added later in 2007. Objective: To assess the geographical reach of EUREP, trainee demographics, and individual quality feedback in relation to annual methodology improvements in HOT. Design, setting, and participants: From September 2014 to October 2017 (four EUREP courses) several new features have been applied to the HOT format of the EUREP course: 1:1 training sessions (2015), fixed 60-min time slots (2016), and standardised teaching methodology (2017). The resulting EUREP HOT format was verified by collecting and prospectively analysing the following data: total number of participants attending different HOT courses; participants’ age; country of origin; and feedback obtained annually. Results and limitations: A total of 796 participants from 54 countries participated in 1450 HOT sessions over the last 4 yr. This included 294 (20%) ureteroscopy (URS) sessions, 237 (16.5%) transurethral resection (TUR) sessions, 840 (58%) basic laparoscopic sessions, and 79 (5.5%) intermediate laparoscopic sessions. While 712 residents (89%) were from Europe, 84 (11%) were from non-European nations. Of the European residents, most came from Italy (16%), Germany (15%), Spain (15%), and Romania (8%). Feedback for the basic laparoscopic session showed a constant improvement in scores over the last 4 yr, with the highest scores achieved last year. This included feedback on improvements in tutor rating (p = 0.017), organisation (p < 0.001), and personal experience with EUREP (p < 0.001). Limitations lie in the difficulties associated with the use of an advanced training curriculum with wet laboratory or cadaveric courses in this format, although these could be performed in other training centres in conjunction with EUREP. Conclusions: The EUREP trainee demographics show that the purpose of the course is being achieved, with excellent feedback reported. While European trainees dominate the demographics, participation from a number of non-European countries suggests continued ESU collaboration with other national societies and wider dissemination of simulation training worldwide.EUREP is supported by educational grant from Olympus.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Measurement of the Lifetime Difference Between B_s Mass Eigenstates

We present measurements of the lifetimes and polarization amplitudes for B_s --> J/psi phi and B_d --> J/psi K*0 decays. Lifetimes of the heavy (H) and light (L) mass eigenstates in the B_s system are separately measured for the first time by determining the relative contributions of amplitudes with definite CP as a function of the decay time. Using 203 +/- 15 B_s decays, we obtain tau_L = (1.05 +{0.16}/-{0.13} +/- 0.02) ps and tau_H = (2.07 +{0.58}/-{0.46} +/- 0.03) ps. Expressed in terms of the difference DeltaGamma_s and average Gamma_s, of the decay rates of the two eigenstates, the results are DeltaGamma_s/Gamma_s = (65 +{25}/-{33} +/- 1)%, and DeltaGamma_s = (0.47 +{0.19}/-{0.24} +/- 0.01) inverse ps.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables; as published in Physical Review Letters on 16 March 2005; revisions are for length and typesetting only, no changes in results or conclusion