87 research outputs found

    Dry selection and wet evaluation for the rational discovery of new anthelmintics

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    Helminths infections remain a major problem in medical and public health. In this report, atom-based 2D bilinear indices, a TOMOCOMD-CARDD (QuBiLs-MAS module) molecular descriptor family and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) were used to find models that differentiate among anthelmintic and non-anthelmintic compounds. Two classification models obtained by using non-stochastic and stochastic 2D bilinear indices, classified correctly 86.64% and 84.66%, respectively, in the training set. Equation 1(2) correctly classified 141(135) out of 165 [85.45%(81.82%)] compounds in external validation set. Another LDA models were performed in order to get the most likely mechanism of action of anthelmintics. The model shows an accuracy of 86.84% in the training set and 94.44% in the external prediction set. Finally, we carry out an experiment to predict the biological profile of our ‘in-house’ collections of indole, indazole, quinoxaline and cinnoline derivatives (∼200 compounds). Subsequently, we selected a group of nine of the theoretically most active structures. Then, these chemicals were tested in an invitro assay and one good candidate (VA5-5c) as fasciolicide compound (100% of reduction at concentrations of 50 and 10 mg/L) was discovered.Yovani Marrero-Ponce acknowledges the support from USFQ with partial finance of project ID5455Peer Reviewe

    First year of energetic particle measurements in the inner heliosphere with Solar Orbiter's Energetic Particle Detector

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    Context. Solar Orbiter strives to unveil how the Sun controls and shapes the heliosphere and fills it with energetic particle radiation. To this end, its Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) has now been in operation, providing excellent data, for just over a year. Aims. EPD measures suprathermal and energetic particles in the energy range from a few keV up to (near-) relativistic energies (few MeV for electrons and about 500 MeV nuc−1 for ions). We present an overview of the initial results from the first year of operations and we provide a first assessment of issues and limitations. In addition, we present areas where EPD excels and provides opportunities for significant scientific progress in understanding how our Sun shapes the heliosphere. Methods. We used the solar particle events observed by Solar Orbiter on 21 July and between 10 and 11 December 2020 to discuss the capabilities, along with updates and open issues related to EPD on Solar Orbiter. We also give some words of caution and caveats related to the use of EPD-derived data. Results. During this first year of operations of the Solar Orbiter mission, EPD has recorded several particle events at distances between 0.5 and 1 au from the Sun. We present dynamic and time-averaged energy spectra for ions that were measured with a combination of all four EPD sensors, namely: the SupraThermal Electron and Proton sensor (STEP), the Electron Proton Telescope (EPT), the Suprathermal Ion Spectrograph (SIS), and the High-Energy Telescope (HET) as well as the associated energy spectra for electrons measured with STEP and EPT. We illustrate the capabilities of the EPD suite using the 10 and 11 December 2020 solar particle event. This event showed an enrichment of heavy ions as well as 3He, for which we also present dynamic spectra measured with SIS. The high anisotropy of electrons at the onset of the event and its temporal evolution is also shown using data from these sensors. We discuss the ongoing in-flight calibration and a few open instrumental issues using data from the 21 July and the 10 and 11 December 2020 events and give guidelines and examples for the usage of the EPD data. We explain how spacecraft operations may affect EPD data and we present a list of such time periods in the appendix. A list of the most significant particle enhancements as observed by EPT during this first year is also provided.Ministerio de Economía y CompetitividadAgencia Estatal de Investigació

    Nicotinamide as potential biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease: A translational study based on metabolomics

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    Introduction: The metabolic routes altered in Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain are poorly understood. As the metabolic pathways are evolutionarily conserved, the metabolic profiles carried out in animal models of AD could be directly translated into human studies.Methods: We performed untargeted Nuclear Magnetic Resonance metabolomics in hippocampus of McGill-R-Thy1-APP transgenic (Tg) rats, a model of AD-like cerebral amyloidosis and the translational potential of these findings was assessed by targeted Gas Chromatography-Electron Impact-Mass Spectrometry in plasma of participants in the German longitudinal cohort AgeCoDe.Results: In rat hippocampus 26 metabolites were identified. Of these 26 metabolites, nine showed differences between rat genotypes that were nominally significant. Two of them presented partial least square-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) loadings with the larger absolute weights and the highest Variable Importance in Projection (VIP) scores and were specifically assigned to nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) and nicotinamide (Nam). NAD levels were significantly decreased in Tg rat brains as compared to controls. In agreement with these results, plasma of AD patients showed significantly reduced levels of Nam in respect to cognitively normal participants. In addition, high plasma levels of Nam showed a 27% risk reduction of progressing to AD dementia within the following 2.5 years, this hazard ratio is lost afterwards.Discussion: To our knowledge, this is the first report showing that a decrease of Nam plasma levels is observed couple of years before conversion to AD, thereby suggesting its potential use as biomarker for AD progression

    Association of a single nucleotide polymorphism combination pattern of the Klotho gene with non-cardiovascular death in patients with chronic kidney disease

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    Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with an elevated risk of all-cause mortality, with cardiovascular death being extensively investigated. However, non-cardiovascular mortality represents the biggest percentage, showing an evident increase in recent years. Klotho is a gene highly expressed in the kidney, with a clear influence on lifespan. Low levels of Klotho have been linked to CKD progression and adverse outcomes. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the Klotho gene have been associated with several diseases, but studies investigating the association of Klotho SNPs with noncardiovascular death in CKD populations are lacking. The main aim of this study was to assess whether 11 Klotho SNPs were associated with non-cardiovascular death in a subpopulation of the National Observatory of Atherosclerosis in Nephrology (NEFRONA) study (n ¼ 2185 CKD patients). After 48 months of follow-up, 62 cardiovascular deaths and 108 non-cardiovascular deaths were recorded. We identified a high non-cardiovascular death risk combination of SNPs corresponding to individuals carrying the most frequent allele (G) at rs562020, the rare allele (C) at rs2283368 and homozygotes for the rare allele (G) at rs2320762 (rs562020 GG/AG þ rs2283368 CC/CT þ rs2320762 GG). Among the patients with the three SNPs genotyped (n ¼ 1016), 75 (7.4%) showed this combination. Furthermore, 95 (9.3%) patients showed a low-risk combination carrying all the opposite genotypes (rs562020 AA þ rs2283368 TT þ rs2320762 GT/TT). All the other combinations [n ¼ 846 (83.3%)] were considered as normal risk. Using competing risk regression analysis, we confirmed that the proposed combinations are independently associated with a higher fhazard ratio [HR] 3.28 [confidence interval (CI) 1.51-7.12]g and lower [HR 6 × 10- (95% CI 3.3 × 10--1.1 × 10-)] risk of suffering a non-cardiovascular death in the CKD population of the NEFRONA cohort compared with patients with the normal-risk combination. Determination of three SNPs of the Klotho gene could help in the prediction of non-cardiovascular death in CKD

    Executive Function in Pediatric Bipolar Disorder and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: In Search of Distinct Phenotypic Profiles

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    Representaciones sobre teletrabajo durante la pandemia Covid-19

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    El objetivo de la presente investigación es comprender cuales son las representaciones que se construyen socialmente sobre teletrabajo a partir de su irrupción y crecimiento en el contexto de la pandemia del Covid-19. Esta tesina se realizó en un contexto de emergencia. La proliferación del teletrabajo debido al Aislamiento Social, Preventivo y Obligatorio ha generado nuevos interrogantes y la posibilidad de establecer una comparación entre la modalidad laboral presencial y el teletrabajo. Se indagaron las representaciones de los empleados de una empresa privada multinacional con 150 años en el mercado argentino. La investigación se realizó con metodología cuantitativa. Para recolectar la información se aplicó el método de encuesta. Se administró un cuestionario compuesto por preguntas abiertas y cerradas, a la totalidad de los empleados de la sede ubicada en AMBA de la empresa seleccionada como caso de estudio. Este trabajo pretende ser un aporte a una problemática actual. Se trató de conocer desde la óptica de los propios trabajadores cómo se percibe al teletrabajo que a causa de la pandemia modificó sus rutinas diarias de una manera repentina. La mirada que tenían previamente los trabajadores sobre el teletrabajo estaba basada en la experiencia previa en una situación de “normalidad”, en algunos aspectos las representaciones que tenían se vieron modificadas y en otros se ha corroborado lo que pensaban previamente. La pandemia generó la oportunidad de cuestionar esa supuesta normalidad y de pensar la cotidianeidad desde otro ángulo en donde se valoren las relaciones sociales, los vínculos y la posibilidad de pensar nuevas políticas para el futuro del trabajoFil: Arán, Eliana V. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales. Buenos Aires, Argentin
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