Caveolin-1 is a risk factor for postsurgery metastasis in preclinical melanoma models

Melanomas are highly lethal skin tumours that are frequently treated by surgical resection. However, the efficacy of such procedures is often limited by tumour recurrence and metastasis. Caveolin-1 (CAV1) has been attributed roles as a tumour suppressor, although in late-stage tumours, its presence is associated with enhanced metastasis. The expression of this protein in human melanoma development and particularly how the presence of CAV1 affects metastasis after surgery has not been defined. CAV1 expression in human melanocytes and melanomas increases with disease progression and is highest in metastatic melanomas. The effect of increased CAV1 expression can then be evaluated using B16F10 murine melanoma cells injected into syngenic immunocompetent C57BL/6 mice or human A375 melanoma cells injected into immunodeficient B6Rag1−/− mice. Augmented CAV1 expression suppresses tumour formation upon a subcutaneous injection, but enhances lung metastasis of cells injected into the tail vein in both models. A procedure was initially developed using B16F10 melanoma cells in C57BL/6 mice to mimic better the situation in patients undergoing surgery. Subcutaneous tumours of a defined size were removed surgically and local tumour recurrence and lung metastasis were evaluated after another 14 days. In this postsurgery setting, CAV1 presence in B16F10 melanomas favoured metastasis to the lung, although tumour suppression at the initial site was still evident. Similar results were obtained when evaluating A375 cells in B6Rag1−/− mice. These results implicate CAV1 expression in melanomas as a marker of poor prognosis for patients undergoing surgery as CAV1 expression promotes experimental lung metastasis in two different preclinical models

Characterization of pharmacists’ interventions in asthma management: A systematic review

© 2018 American Pharmacists Association® Objective: Pharmacists have adopted an active role in asthma management. This review aimed to analyze the intervention dose, understood as the “amount of program delivered,” and core components of the intervention provided by pharmacists in asthma management. Data sources: A literature search was conducted in December 2016 using PubMed. Study selection: A 2-stage approach was used. At the first stage, systematic reviews of pharmacists’ interventions in asthma management were identified. At the second stage, primary studies included in the systematic reviews were selected. Data extraction: The DEPICT-2 (Descriptive Elements of Pharmacist Intervention Characterization Tool) was used for data extraction. In addition GINA (Global Initiative for Asthma) guidelines were used as a reference to classify the interventions’ core components. Results: Thirty-one studies were included. In most of the studies, the pharmacist–patient intervention occurred at the community pharmacy setting (n = 22). The most common core components used in pharmacists’ interventions were the provision of drug information and patient counseling (n = 27). Pharmacists’ interventions frequently were targeted at assessing and improving the use of patient's inhaler technique (n = 27). Educational materials and written action plans were the materials most commonly used in the interventions (n = 20). The duration (n = 13) and the frequency (n = 16) of the intervention were the most frequent information about the intervention dose measure reported. Conclusion: Pharmacists’ interventions in asthma management are complex. Structured educational programs and patient counseling appear to be the most frequent core components of pharmacists’ interventions. Interventions were focused on providing information about the condition and on inhaler technique assessment and training. However, most studies failed to report the intervention dose sufficiently to be reproduced. The reporting of this indicator is crucial to ensure the reproducibility of the interventions assessed and their implementation in practice. (Registration number CRD42016029181.

New records of recently described chemosymbiotic bivalves for mud volcanoes within the European waters (Gulf of Cádiz)

Chemosymbiotic bivalves are important members of cold seep communities and information on their distribution in theEuropean waters is still quite scarce. This study reports the presence of living populations and shell remains of some recently described bivalves such as Lucinoma asapheus, Solemya elarraichensis and Acharax gadirae as well as Bathymodiolus sp. in the mud volcanoes of the Spanish Atlantic waters. Living populations of these species were thus far only found in Anastasya, Aveiro and Almazán mud volcanoes, together with other chemosymbiotic metazoa (Siboglinum spp.), suggesting the presence of moderate seepage activity. In other mud volcanoes (Albolote, Gazul), the benthic communities are dominated by sessile filter feeders on authigenic carbonates (chimneys, slabs) and only the shell remains of some chemosymbiotic bivalves were found, indicating earlier or very low seepage conditions. The present study elaborates on the known distribution of L. asapheus and S. elarraichensis to the European waters of the Gulf of Cádiz

A parametric description of the 3D structure of the Galactic bar/bulge using the VVV survey

© 2017 The Authors. We study the structure of the inner Milky Way using the latest data release of the VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea (VVV) survey. The VVV is a deep near-infrared, multi-colour photometric survey with a coverage of 300 square degrees towards the bulge/bar. We use red clump (RC) stars to produce a high-resolution dust map of the VVV's field of view. From dereddened colour-magnitude diagrams, we select red giant branch stars to investigate their 3D density distribution within the central 4 kpc. We demonstrate that our best-fitting parametric model of the bulge density provides a good description of the VVV data, with a median percentage residual of 5 per cent over the fitted region. The strongest of the otherwise lowlevel residuals are overdensities associated with a low-latitude structure as well as the so-called X-shape previously identified using the split RC. These additional components contribute only ~5 per cent and ~7 per cent respectively to the bulge mass budget. The best-fitting bulge is 'boxy' with an axial ratio of [1:0.44:0.31] and is rotated with respect to the Sun-Galactic Centre line by at least 20°. We provide an estimate of the total, full sky, mass of the bulge of MbulgeChabrier= 2.36 × 1010M⊙for a Chabrier initial mass function. We show that there exists a strong degeneracy between the viewing angle and the dispersion of the RC absolute magnitude distribution. The value of the latter is strongly dependent on the assumptions made about the intrinsic luminosity function of the bulge

The Caveolin-1 Connection to Cell Death and Survival

Nunez, S (Nunez, S.)[ 1,4 ] 1. Fac Med, CEMC, Lab Comunicac Celulares, Santiago, Chile. 4. Univ Talca, Fac Hlth Sci, Talca, ChileCaveolins are a family of membrane proteins required for the formation of small plasma membrane invaginations called caveolae that are implicated in cellular trafficking processes. In addition to this structural role, these scaffolding proteins modulate numerous intracellular signaling pathways; often via direct interaction with specific binding partners. Caveolin-1 is particularly well-studied in this respect and has been attributed a large variety of functions. Thus, Caveolin-1 also represents the best-characterized isoform of this family with respect to its participation in cancer. Rather strikingly, available evidence indicates that Caveolin-1 belongs to a select group of proteins that function, depending on the cellular settings, both as tumor suppressor and promoter of cellular traits commonly associated with enhanced malignant behavior, such as metastasis and multi-drug resistance. The mechanisms underlying such ambiguity in Caveolin-1 function constitute an area of great interest. Here, we will focus on discussing how Caveolin-1 modulates cell death and survival pathways and how this may contribute to a better understanding of the ambiguous role this protein plays in cancer

Algorithm for the comparison of human periodic movements using wearable devices

In the context of teaching-learning of motor skills in a virtual environment, videos are generally used. The person who wants to learn a certain movement watches a video and tries to perform the activity. In this sense, feedback is rarely thought of. This article proposes an algorithm in which two periodic movements are compared, the one carried out by an expert and the one carried out by the person who is learning, in order to determine how closely these two movements are performed and to provide feedback from them. The algorithm starts from the capture of data through a wearable device that yields data from an accelerometer; in this case, the data of the expert and the data of the person who is learning are captured in a dataset of salsa dance steps. Adjustments are made to the data in terms of Pearson iterations, synchronization, filtering, and normalization, and DTW, linear regression, and error analysis are used to make the corresponding comparison of the two datasets. With the above, it is possible to determine if the cycles of the two signals coincide and how closely the learner’s movements resemble those of the expert

Gen-Z ambassadors: students supporting persons with Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers in the Rio Grande Valley

Background: Youth participation in policy, research, education and community development initiatives is a right embedded in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC, General Assembly, 1989). However, avenues for youth participation in health promotion and care remains limited. Our Ambassadors program prepares high-school students on the Texas-Mexico border to understand and empathize with persons with Alzheimer’s disease (PwAD) and to empower their family and caregivers, consummating the UNCRC in the service of transformative community change actions. Methods: Our long-term objective is youth participation, defined as practices that involve collaboration between students and various community stakeholders in AD. The initial phase of the program is the design of a curriculum for early high school students to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes required for that participation. We used a cooperative strategy (a high school students-faculty collaborative), guided by empowerment and ecological theories to achieve optimal youth advancement in the context of the UNCRC social, health and cultural rights of children. Results: The GenZ Ambassadors curricular units were identified through an iterative process in which faculty documented their activities with youth and tested sessions ranging from the biological basis and clinical presentations of AD to family impact, principles of caregiving, youth as change agents, building intergenerational partnerships, and self-reflection exercises. Ambassadors selected settings and strategies designed to empower their peers and to transform communities by skill and confidence building. Discussion: The process implemented and content analysis revealed a variety of themes that benefited persons with AD and their caregivers in the Rio Grande Valley. Several strategies will be tested to generate interactive training materials and culturally and age-competent as well as delivery strategies, including peer-to-peer delivery