269 research outputs found
Compassionate communities: design and preliminary results of the experience of Vic (Barcelona, Spain) caring city
yesBackground: A program of Compassionate City or Community (CC) has been designed and developed in
the City of Vic (43,964 habitants, Barcelona, Spain), based on The Compassionate City Charter and other public
health literature and experiments, with the joint leadership of the City Council and the Chair of Palliative
Care at the University of Vic, and as an expansion of a comprehensive and integrated system of palliative care.
Methods: The program started with an assessment of needs of the city as identified by 48 social
organizations with a foundational workshop and a semi-structured survey. After this assessment, the mission,
vision, values and aims were agreed. The main aims consisted in promoting changes in social and cultural
attitudes toward the end of life (EoL) and providing integrated care for people with advanced chronic
conditions and social needs such as loneliness, poverty, low access to services at home, or conflict. The
selected slogan was âLiving with meaning, dignity, and support the end of lifeâ.
Results: The program for the first year has included 19 activities (cultural, training, informative, and
mixed) and followed by 1,260 attendants, and the training activities were followed by 147 people. Local
and regional sponsors are funding the initiative. After a year, a quantitative and qualitative evaluation was
performed, showing high participation and satisfaction of the attendants and organizations. In the second
year, the care for particular vulnerable people defined as targets (EoL and social factors described before) will
start with volunteers with more organizations to join the project.
Conclusions: The key identified factors for the initial success are: the strong joint leadership between
social department of the Council and the University; clear aims and targets; high participation rates;
the limited size of the geographical context; which allowed high participation and recognition; and the
commitment to evaluate results
The Walnuts and Healthy Aging study (WAHA): Protocol for a Nutritional Intervention Trial with Walnuts on Brain Aging
Introduction: An unwanted consequence of population aging is the growing number of elderly at risk of neurodegenerative disorders, including dementia and macular degeneration. As nutritional and behavioral changes can delay disease progression, we designed the Walnuts and Healthy Aging (WAHA) study, a two-center, randomized, 2-year clinical trial conducted in free-living, cognitively healthy elderly men and women. Our interest in exploring the role of walnuts in maintaining cognitive and retinal health is based on extensive evidence supporting their cardio-protective and vascular health effects, which are linked to bioactive components, such as n-3 fatty acids and polyphenols. Methods: The primary aim of WAHA is to examine the effects of ingesting walnuts daily for 2 years on cognitive function and retinal health, assessed with a battery of neuropsychological tests and optical coherence tomography, respectively. All participants followed their habitual diet, adding walnuts at 15% of energy (â30-60 g/day) (walnut group) or abstaining from walnuts (control group). Secondary outcomes include changes in adiposity, blood pressure, and serum and urinary biomarkers in all participants and brain magnetic resonance imaging in a subset. Results: From May 2012 to May 2014, 708 participants (mean age 69 years, 68% women) were randomized. The study ended in May 2016 with a 90% retention rate. Discussion: The results of WAHA might provide high-level evidence of the benefit of regular walnut consumption in delaying the onset of age-related cognitive impairment and retinal pathology. The findings should translate into public health policy and sound recommendations to the general population
Evidence for the strangeness-changing weak decay
Using a collision data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity
of 3.0~fb, collected by the LHCb detector, we present the first search
for the strangeness-changing weak decay . No
hadron decay of this type has been seen before. A signal for this decay,
corresponding to a significance of 3.2 standard deviations, is reported. The
relative rate is measured to be
, where and
are the and fragmentation
fractions, and is the branching
fraction. Assuming is bounded between 0.1 and
0.3, the branching fraction would lie
in the range from to .Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, All figures and tables, along with any
supplementary material and additional information, are available at
https://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2015-047.htm
Study of the production of and hadrons in collisions and first measurement of the branching fraction
The product of the () differential production
cross-section and the branching fraction of the decay () is
measured as a function of the beauty hadron transverse momentum, ,
and rapidity, . The kinematic region of the measurements is and . The measurements use a data sample
corresponding to an integrated luminosity of collected by the
LHCb detector in collisions at centre-of-mass energies in 2011 and in 2012. Based on previous LHCb
results of the fragmentation fraction ratio, , the
branching fraction of the decay is
measured to be \begin{equation*} \mathcal{B}(\Lambda_b^0\rightarrow J/\psi
pK^-)= (3.17\pm0.04\pm0.07\pm0.34^{+0.45}_{-0.28})\times10^{-4},
\end{equation*} where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is
systematic, the third is due to the uncertainty on the branching fraction of
the decay , and the
fourth is due to the knowledge of . The sum of the
asymmetries in the production and decay between and
is also measured as a function of and .
The previously published branching fraction of , relative to that of , is updated.
The branching fractions of are determined.Comment: 29 pages, 19figures. All figures and tables, along with any
supplementary material and additional information, are available at
https://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2015-032.htm
Search for the rare decays and
A search for the rare decay of a or meson into the final
state is performed, using data collected by the LHCb experiment
in collisions at and TeV, corresponding to an integrated
luminosity of 3 fb. The observed number of signal candidates is
consistent with a background-only hypothesis. Branching fraction values larger
than for the decay mode are
excluded at 90% confidence level. For the decay
mode, branching fraction values larger than are excluded at
90% confidence level, this is the first branching fraction limit for this
decay.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and
additional information, are available at
https://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2015-044.htm
Measurements of long-range near-side angular correlations in TeV proton-lead collisions in the forward region
Two-particle angular correlations are studied in proton-lead collisions at a
nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy of TeV, collected
with the LHCb detector at the LHC. The analysis is based on data recorded in
two beam configurations, in which either the direction of the proton or that of
the lead ion is analysed. The correlations are measured in the laboratory
system as a function of relative pseudorapidity, , and relative
azimuthal angle, , for events in different classes of event
activity and for different bins of particle transverse momentum. In
high-activity events a long-range correlation on the near side, , is observed in the pseudorapidity range . This
measurement of long-range correlations on the near side in proton-lead
collisions extends previous observations into the forward region up to
. The correlation increases with growing event activity and is found
to be more pronounced in the direction of the lead beam. However, the
correlation in the direction of the lead and proton beams are found to be
compatible when comparing events with similar absolute activity in the
direction analysed.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and
additional information, are available at
https://lhcbproject.web.cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/LHCbProjectPublic/LHCb-PAPER-2015-040.htm
Dietary a-Linolenic acid, Marine x-3 fatty acids, and mortality in a population with high fish consumption: findings from the PREevenciĂłn con DIeta MEDiterrĂĄnea (PREDIMED) study
Epidemiological evidence suggests a cardioprotective role of αâlinolenic acid (ALA), a plantâderived Ïâ3 fatty acid. It is unclear whether ALA is beneficial in a background of high marine x-3 fatty acids (long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids)
intake. In persons at high cardiovascular risk from Spain, a country in which fish consumption is customarily high, we investigated
whether meeting the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids recommendation for dietary ALA (0.7% of total
energy) at baseline was related to all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality. We also examined the effect of meeting the
societyâs recommendation for long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (â„500 mg/day).
Methods and Results-âWe longitudinally evaluated 7202 participants in the PREvenci on con DIeta MEDiterr anea (PREDIMED) trial.
Multivariable-adjusted Cox regressionmodels were fitted to estimate hazard ratios. ALA intake correlated towalnut consumption (r=0.94).
During a 5.9-y follow-up, 431 deaths occurred (104 cardiovascular disease, 55 coronary heart disease, 32 sudden cardiac death, 25
stroke). The hazard ratios formeeting ALArecommendation (n=1615, 22.4%) were 0.72 (95% CI 0.56â0.92) for all-causemortality and 0.95
(95% CI 0.58â1.57) for fatal cardiovascular disease. The hazard ratios formeeting the recommendation for long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated
fatty acids (n=5452, 75.7%) were 0.84 (95% CI 0.67â1.05) for all-causemortality, 0.61 (95% CI 0.39â0.96) for fatal cardiovascular disease,
0.54 (95% CI 0.29â0.99) for fatal coronary heart disease, and 0.49 (95% CI 0.22â1.01) for sudden cardiac death. The highest reduction in
all-cause mortality occurred in participants meeting both recommendations (hazard ratio 0.63 [95% CI 0.45â0.87]).
Conclusions-âIn participants without prior cardiovascular disease and high fish consumption, dietary ALA, supplied mainly by
walnuts and olive oil, relates inversely to all-cause mortality, whereas protection from cardiac mortality is limited to fish-derived
long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids
Lymphangioleiomyomatosis biomarkers linked to lung metastatic potential and cell stemness
Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is a rare lung-metastasizing neoplasm caused by the proliferation of smooth muscle-like cells that commonly carry loss-of-function mutations in either the tuberous sclerosis complex 1 or 2 (TSC1 or TSC2) genes. While allosteric inhibition of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) has shown substantial clinical benefit, complementary therapies are required to improve response and/or to treat specific patients. However, there is a lack of LAM biomarkers that could potentially be used to monitor the disease and to develop other targeted therapies. We hypothesized that the mediators of cancer metastasis to lung, particularly in breast cancer, also play a relevant role in LAM. Analyses across independent breast cancer datasets revealed associations between low TSC1/2 expression, altered mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) pathway signaling, and metastasis to lung. Subsequently, immunohistochemical analyses of 23 LAM lesions revealed positivity in all cases for the lung metastasis mediators fascin 1 (FSCN1) and inhibitor of DNA binding 1 (ID1). Moreover, assessment of breast cancer stem or luminal progenitor cell biomarkers showed positivity in most LAM tissue for the aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 (ALDH1), integrin-Ă3 (ITGB3/CD61), and/or the sex-determining region Y-box 9 (SOX9) proteins. The immunohistochemical analyses also provided evidence of heterogeneity between and within LAM cases. The analysis of Tsc2-deficient cells revealed relative over-expression of FSCN1 and ID1; however, Tsc2-deficient cells did not show higher sensitivity to ID1-based cancer inhibitors. Collectively, the results of this study reveal novel LAM biomarkers linked to breast cancer metastasis to lung and to cell stemness, which in turn might guide the assessment of additional or complementary therapeutic opportunities for LAM
Fruit and Vegetable Consumption is Inversely Associated with Plasma Saturated Fatty Acids at Baseline in Predimed Plus Trial
I.D.-L. is supported by the [FI_B 00256] from the FI-AGAUR Research Fellowship Program, Generalitat de Catalunya and M.M.-M is supported by the FPU17/00513 grant. a.-H. is supported by the [CD17/00122] grant and S.K.N. is supported by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Fellowship. We also thank all the volunteers for their participation in and the personnel for their contribution to the PREDIMED-Plus trial. This research was funded by CiCYT [AGL2016-75329-R] and CIBEROBN from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, ISCIII from the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades, (AEI/FEDER, UE), Generalitat de Catalunya (GC) [2017SGR196]. The PREDIMED-Plus trial was supported by the official Spanish Institutions for funding scientific biomedical research, CIBER Fisiopatologia de la Obesidad y Nutricion (CIBERobn) and Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), through the Fondo de Investigacion para la Salud (FIS), which is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (four coordinated Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias projects lead by J.S.-S. and J.V., including the following projects: PI13/00673, PI13/00492, PI13/00272, PI13/01123, PI13/00462, PI13/00233, PI13/02184, PI13/00728, PI13/01090, PI13/01056, PI14/01722, PI14/00636, PI14/00618, PI14/00696, PI14/01206, PI14/01919, PI14/00853, PI14/01374, PI14/00972, PI14/00728, PI14/01471, PI16/00473, PI16/00662, PI16/01873, PI16/01094, PI16/00501, PI16/00533, PI16/00381, PI16/00366, PI16/01522, PI16/01120, PI17/00764, PI17/01183, PI17/00855, PI17/01347, PI17/00525, PI17/01827, PI17/00532, PI17/00215, PI17/01441, PI17/00508, PI17/01732, PI17/00926 and PI19/00781), the Especial Action Project entitled Implementacion y evaluacion de una intervencion intensiva sobre la actividad fisica Cohorte PREDIMED-Plus grant to J.S.-S., European Research Council (Advanced Research Grant 2014-2019, 340918) to M.a.M.-G., the Recercaixa grant to J.S.-S. (2013ACUP00194), grants from the Consejeria de Salud de la Junta de Andalucia (PI0458/2013, PS0358/2016, and PI0137/2018), a grant from the Generalitat Valenciana (PROMETEO/2017/017), a SEMERGEN grant, Fundacio la Marato de TV3 (PI044003), 2017 SGR 1717 from Generalitat de Catalunya, a CICYT grant provided by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades (AGL2016-75329-R), and funds from the European Regional Development Fund (CB06/03 and CB12/03). Food companies Hojiblanca (Lucena, Spain) and Patrimonio Comunal Olivarero (Madrid, Spain) donated extra virgin olive oil, and the Almond Board of California (Modesto, CA, USA), American Pistachio Growers (Fresno, CA, USA), and Paramount Farms (Wonderful Company, LLC, Los Angeles, CA, USA) donated nuts. J.K. was supported by the "FOLIUM" program within the FUTURMed project entitled Talent for the medicine within the future from the Fundacio Institut d'Investigacio Sanitaria Illes Balears. This call was co-financed at 50% with charge to the Operational Program FSE 2014-2020 of the Balearic Islands. This work is partially supported by ICREA under the ICREA Academia programme to J.S.-S.Scope: Plasma fatty acids (FAs) are associated with the development of cardiovascular diseases and metabolic syndrome.
The aim of our study is to assess the relationship between fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption and plasma FAs and
their subtypes.
Methods and Results: Plasma FAs are assessed in a cross-sectional analysis of a subsample of 240 subjects from the
PREDIMED-Plus study. Participants are categorized into four groups of fruit, vegetable, and fat intake according to the
food frequency questionnaire. Plasma FA analysis is performed using gas chromatography. Associations between FAs
and F&V consumption are adjusted for age, sex, physical activity, bodymass index (BMI), total energy intake, and alcohol
consumption. Plasma saturated FAs are lower in groups with high F&V consumption (-1.20 mg cLâ1 [95% CI: [-2.22, -
0.18], p-value = 0.021), especially when fat intake is high (-1.74 mg cLâ1 [95% CI: [-3.41, -0.06], p-value = 0.042). Total
FAs and n-6 polyunsaturated FAs tend to be lower in high consumers of F&V only in the high-fat intake groups.
Conclusions: F&V consumption is associated with lower plasma saturated FAs when fat intake is high. These findings
suggest that F&V consumption may have different associations with plasma FAs depending on their subtype and on the
extent of fat intake.Generalitat de Catalunya FI_B 00256Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)Consejo Interinstitucional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CICYT)European Commission AGL2016-75329-RCIBEROBN from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III
ISCIII from the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades, (AEI/FEDER, UE)Generalitat de Catalunya 2017SGR196CIBER Fisiopatologia de la Obesidad y Nutricion (CIBERobn)Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), through the Fondo de Investigacion para la Salud (FIS)European Commission PI13/00673
PI13/00492
PI13/00272
PI13/01123
PI13/00462
PI13/00233
PI13/02184
PI13/00728
PI13/01090
PI13/01056
PI14/01722
PI14/00636
PI14/00618
PI14/00696
PI14/01206
PI14/01919
PI14/00853
PI14/01374Especial Action Project entitled Implementacion y evaluacion de una intervencion intensiva sobre la actividad fisica Cohorte PREDIMED-Plus grantEuropean Research Council (ERC)
European Commission 340918Recercaixa grant 2013ACUP00194Junta de Andalucia PI0458/2013
PS0358/2016
PI0137/2018Generalitat Valenciana
European Commission PROMETEO/2017/017SEMERGEN grant, Fundacio la Marato de TV3 PI044003Generalitat de Catalunya 2017 SGR 1717Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades AGL2016-75329-R"FOLIUM" program within the FUTURMed project within Fundacio Institut d'Investigacio Sanitaria Illes BalearsICREA under the ICREA Academia programmeThe European Regional Development Fund PI17/01347
PI17/00525
PI17/01827
PI17/00532
PI17/00215
PI17/01441
PI17/00508
PI17/01732
PI17/00926
PI19/00781
CB06/03
CB12/03European Commission PI14/00972
PI14/00728
PI14/01471
PI16/00473
PI16/00662
PI16/01873
PI16/01094
PI16/00501
PI16/00533
PI16/00381
PI16/00366
PI16/01522
PI16/01120
PI17/00764
PI17/01183
PI17/00855
FPU17/00513
CD17/0012
Comparisons between Chemical Mapping and Binding to Isoenergetic Oligonucleotide Microarrays Reveal Unexpected Patterns of Binding to the Bacillus subtilis RNase P RNA Specificity Domainâ
ABSTRACT: Microarrays with isoenergetic pentamer and hexamer 20-O-methyl oligonucleotide probes with LNA (locked nucleic acid) and 2,6-diaminopurine substitutions were used to probe the binding sites on theRNase P RNA specificity domain of Bacillus subtilis. Unexpected binding patterns were revealed. Because of their enhanced binding free energies, isoenergetic probes can break short duplexes, merge adjacent loops, and/or induce refolding. This suggests new approaches to the rational design of short oligonucleotide therapeutics but limits the utility of microarrays for providing constraints for RNA structure determination. The microarray results are compared to results from chemical mapping experiments, which do provide constraints. Results from both types of experiments indicate that the RNase P RNA folds similarly in 1MNaĂŸ and 10 mMMg2ĂŸ. Binding of RNA to RNA is important for many natural func-tions, includingproteinsynthesis (1,2), translationregulation (3,4), gene silencing (5, 6), metabolic regulation (7), RNAmodification (8, 9), etc. (10-13). Binding of oligonucleotides toRNAs is impor-tant for therapeutic approaches, such as siRNA, ribozymes, and antisense therapy (14, 15).Much remains to bediscovered, however, of the rules for predicting binding sites andpotential therapeutics
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