Metabolic Factors and Their Influence on the Clinical Course and Response to HCV Treatment

Nowadays, direct-acting antivirals (DAA) have been used for hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment leading to cure in 90–95% of non-cirrhotic patients depending on genotype, treatment experience, and regimen used. It was observed rates of antiviral response above 90% in compensated cirrhotic patients that should be treated for long time and/or ribavirin may be required. Metabolic syndrome, obesity, and insulin resistance are increasing worldwide and further contribute to hepatic steatosis and have long been recognized as a cause of lipid deposition in the liver. These factors affect the rate of antiviral response to interferon-based therapy, but it seems not impact DAA treatment. The effect of HCV eradication on hepatic steatosis and progression to fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma warrants further study in the era of direct-acting antivirals. Other factors that could be related to increase liver damage are vitamin D and associated polymorphisms. Patients with low concentration of total vitamin D [25(OH)D] presented high degree of fibrosis and high values of total cholesterol and triglycerides. In this chapter, we review the challenges and metabolic pathology associated with HCV infection and, discuss the influence of some metabolic factors which can cause liver damage

Ocurrence of Nyssomyia intermedia (Lutz & Neiva) (Diptera: Psychodidae) in Paraná State, south of Brazil

Nyssomyia intermedia s. lat. tem sido citada por vários autores no Paraná. No entanto, alguns estudos apontam que esse táxon corresponde a Nyssomyia neivai (Pinto). Em coletas realizadas em galinheiro e em ambiente de mata, com armadilhas, entre novembro de 2005 e outubro de 2006, em Adrianópolis, Morretes e Pontal do Paraná, localizados na região de Mata Atlântica na Serra do Mar e no litoral do Paraná, sete fêmeas de Nyssomyia intermedia s. str. (Lutz & Neiva) foram encontradas juntamente com outras 14 espécies de flo ebotomíneos, confirmando a ocorrência de N.intermedia em área de costa e de mata Atlântica do Paraná.The occurrence of Nyssomyia intermedia s.lat. in the state of Paraná, Brazil, has been registered by several authors; however, studies have identified this taxon as belonging, in Paraná, to Nyssomyia neivai (Pinto). During captures with traps in a hen-house and forested areas, from November 2005 to October 2006, in Adrianópolis, Morretes and Pontal do Paraná, situated in the Atlantic forest domain, Paraná state, seven females of Nyssomyia intermedia s.str. (Lutz & Neiva) were collected together with other 14 sand floy species. Thus the occurrence of N. intermedia on the coast and in areas of Atlantic forest in Paraná is confirmed

Métrica Induzida da Correntropia Complexa Comparada ao NESTA no Problema de Amostragem Compressiva / Induced Complex Correntropy Metric Compared to NESTA on the Compressive Sampling Problem

Esse artigo compara ao algoritmo de Nesterov (NESTA) o desempenho da métrica induzida da correntropia complexa (Complex Correntropy Induced Metric - CCIM) enquanto uma aproximação de l0 num problema de amostragem compressiva. As simulações mostram que a CCIM é capaz de reconstruir um vetor esparso complexo usando menos medidas do que o NEST

Valuation of Dynamic Reactive Power Support Services for Transmission Access

Abstract-Competitive procurement of reactive power support services is rapidly becoming a reality for deregulated electricity markets. It has resulted in a great need to quantify the value of reactive power support from var sources. This paper presents research results on the development of new concepts and schemes for equitable reactive power support valuation. Performance characteristics of the proposed method are determined and practical application issues are addressed. The validity of the method is verified through sensitivity studies. This work emphasizes that the valuation of reactive power support services should be based on their contributions to system security and stability. The dynamic var is the primary concern for the reactive power valuation problem

The 9p21.3 risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is explained by a rare high-impact variant in CDKN2A

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have provided strong evidence for inherited predisposition to childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) identifying a number of risk loci. We have previously shown common SNPs at 9p21.3 influence ALL risk. These SNP associations are generally not themselves candidates for causality, but simply act as markers for functional variants. By means of imputation of GWAS data and subsequent validation SNP genotyping totalling 2,177 ALL cases and 8,240 controls, we have shown that the 9p21.3 association can be ascribed to the rare highimpact CDKN2A p.Ala148Thr variant (rs3731249; Odds ratio=2.42, P=3.45×10−19). The association between rs3731249 genotype and risk was not specific to particular subtype of B-cell ALL. The rs3731249 variant is associated with predominant nuclear localisation of the CDKN2A transcript suggesting the functional effect of p.Ala148Thr on ALL risk may be through compromised ability to inhibit cyclin D within the cytoplasm

Data standardization of plant-pollinator interactions

Background: Animal pollination is an important ecosystem function and service, ensuring both the integrity of natural systems and human well-being. Although many knowledge shortfalls remain, some high-quality data sets on biological interactions are now available. The development and adoption of standards for biodiversity data and metadata has promoted great advances in biological data sharing and aggregation, supporting large-scale studies and science-based public policies. However, these standards are currently not suitable to fully support interaction data sharing. Results: Here we present a vocabulary of terms and a data model for sharing plant–pollinator interactions data based on the Darwin Core standard. The vocabulary introduces 48 new terms targeting several aspects of plant–pollinator interactions and can be used to capture information from different approaches and scales. Additionally, we provide solutions for data serialization using RDF, XML, and DwC-Archives and recommendations of existing controlled vocabularies for some of the terms. Our contribution supports open access to standardized data on plant–pollinator interactions. Conclusions: The adoption of the vocabulary would facilitate data sharing to support studies ranging from the spatial and temporal distribution of interactions to the taxonomic, phenological, functional, and phylogenetic aspects of plant–pollinator interactions. We expect to fill data and knowledge gaps, thus further enabling scientific research on the ecology and evolution of plant–pollinator communities, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services, and the development of public policies. The proposed data model is flexible and can be adapted for sharing other types of interactions data by developing discipline-specific vocabularies of terms.Fil: Salim, José A. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Saraiva, Antonio M.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Zermoglio, Paula Florencia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones En Recursos Naturales, Agroecologia y Desarrollo Rural. - Universidad Nacional de Rio Negro. Instituto de Investigaciones En Recursos Naturales, Agroecologia y Desarrollo Rural.; ArgentinaFil: Agostini, Kayna. Universidade Federal do São Carlos; BrasilFil: Wolowski, Marina. Universidade Federal de Alfenas; BrasilFil: Drucker, Debora P.. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria (embrapa);Fil: Soares, Filipi M.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Bergamo, Pedro J.. Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Varassin, Isabela G.. Universidade Federal do Paraná; BrasilFil: Freitas, Leandro. Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Maués, Márcia M.. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria (embrapa);Fil: Rech, Andre R.. Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri; BrasilFil: Veiga, Allan K.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Acosta, Andre L.. Instituto Tecnológico Vale; BrasilFil: Araujo, Andréa C. Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul; BrasilFil: Nogueira, Anselmo. Universidad Federal do Abc; BrasilFil: Blochtein, Betina. Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Freitas, Breno M.. Universidade Estadual do Ceará; BrasilFil: Albertini, Bruno C.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Maia Silva, Camila. Universidade Federal Rural Do Semi Arido; BrasilFil: Nunes, Carlos E. P.. University of Stirling; BrasilFil: Pires, Carmen S. S.. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuaria (embrapa);Fil: Dos Santos, Charles F.. Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Queiroz, Elisa P.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Cartolano, Etienne A.. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: de Oliveira, Favízia F. Universidade Federal da Bahia; BrasilFil: Amorim, Felipe W.. Universidade Estadual Paulista Julio de Mesquita Filho; BrasilFil: Fontúrbel, Francisco E.. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso; ChileFil: da Silva, Gleycon V.. Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia; BrasilFil: Consolaro, Hélder. Universidade Federal de Catalão; Brasi