2,036 research outputs found

    Molecular identification of six species of Calliphoridae (Diptera) with forensic interest in Bogotá, Colombia

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    Taxonomic identification of the species involved in the processes of cadaveric decomposition is a fundamental procedure in forensic entomological analysis. Among the species involved in the processes of decay, those of the Calliphoridae family are particularly important because they come to the body in the early stages of decomposition. The aim of this research is to identify six species of Calliphoridae (Calliphora nigribasis, Calliphora vicina, Compsomyopsis verena, Sarconesiopsis magellanica, Chrysomia albiceps and Roraimomusca roraima) with forensic interest found in Bogotá. For that, sequences of 599 bp from mitochondrial gene COII wereas obtained. The identification was made by analysis of genetic distances under Jukes-Cantor model. The results showed levels of interspecific distances greater than 3.7%, while intraspecifics levels does not exceed 2.3%. The genetic distances obtained were used to construct a phenogram under the Maximum Likelihood model and the topology of that tree agrees with the current taxonomic organization for the family Calliphoridae family

    Influence of a Reef Flat on Beach Profiles Along the Atlantic Coast of Morocco

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    The North Atlantic coast of Morocco is characterised by a flat rocky outcrop in the south (Asilah Beach) and a sandy beach free of rocky outcrops in the north (Charf el-Akab). These natural beaches were monitored for a period of two years (April 2005-January 2007) and two different profiles (one for each beach) were analysed based on differences in the substrate. Topographic data were analysed using statistics and empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs) to determine beach slope and volumetric changes over time. Several morphologic phenomena were identified (accretion/erosion and seasonal tilting of beach profiles around different hinge points), attesting to their importance in explaining variability in the data. Periods of accretion were similar in both profiles, but the volumetric rate of change was faster in the sand-rich (SR) profile than in the reef flat (RF) profile. Moreover, the erosion rate for the SR profile was greater than the RF profile (135.18 m(3)/year vs. 55.39 m(3)/year). Therefore, the RF acted as a geological control on the evolution of its profile because of wave energy attenuation. Thus, special attention should be given to the RF profile, which has larger slopes, less amounts of mobilised sand, and slower erosion/accretion rates than the SR profile

    Disparate miRNA expression in serum and plasma of patients with acute myocardial infarction: a systematic and paired comparative analysis

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    Despite the promising value of miRNAs in the diagnostic and prognostic of cardiovascular disease (CVD), recent meta-analyses did not support their potential. Methodological variances in studies may interfere with miRNA profle and afect their results. This study determines if the blood starting material is a source of variance in miRNA profle by performing a paired comparison in plasma and serum of the expression of primary miRNAs associated with CVD. Circulating miRNA yield was similar in both plasma and serum, although a signifcant increase was observed in patients with Non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) compared to control volunteers. When normalized by the expression of miR-484, diferent patterns of miRNA expression between serum and plasma. Although NSTEMI modifed the expression of miR-1 and miR-208 in both serum and plasma, plasma displayed a higher variance than serum (Levene's test p<0.01). For miR-133a and miR-26a, diferences were only detected in serum (p=0.0240), and conversely, miR-499a showed diferences only in plasma of NSTEMI (p=0.001). Interestingly, miR-21 showed an opposite pattern of expression, being increased in serum (2−ΔΔCt : 5.7, p=0.0221) and decreased in plasma (2−ΔΔCt : 0.5, p=0.0107). Plasma and serum exhibit diferent patterns of circulating miRNA expression in NSTEMI and suggest that results from studies with diferent starting material could not be comparable

    Long-term follow-up of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) with stent-graft

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    PURPOSEWe aimed to retrospectively evaluate the long-term clinical and patency results after the placement of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts (TIPS) using stent-graft. Many studies show the clinical results and the patency follow-up of TIPS with stent-graft in the short and medium term. However, few studies show long-term results.METHODSBetween 2002 and 2016, TIPS with stent-grafts were placed in 132 patients. The median age was 59.5 years. The median Model for End-stage Liver Disease (MELD) score was 13, and 71% were Child-Pugh B. Indications for TIPS were bleeding (83%) and ascites or hydrothorax (17%). The technical and clinical success rates were calculated, as were the rates of patency, survival and complications. The median follow-up period was 43 months.RESULTSThe technical success rate was 98%, and the clinical success rates were 85% in patients with indication for bleeding and 95% in patients with indication for ascites or hydrothorax. Primary patency did not decrease from 66% after 6 years (95% confidence interval [CI], 56.2%–75.8%) primary assisted patency remained stable at 87% after 6 years (95% CI, 77.2%–96.8%) and secondary patency did not decrease from 98% after 4 years (95% CI, 95.1%–100%). The median overall survival was 42.8 months (95% CI, 33.8–51.8 months). A total of 54 patients suffered some type of complication, minor (28 patients) or major (26 patients), during the follow-up.CONCLUSIONThe clinical success rate was high. The choice of the maximum initial limit of portosystemic gradient and the diameter of the post-TIPS shunt, together with the number of shunt reductions, are important to be able to compare results between publications. In our study, the patency rates did not decrease after 6 years; hence, long-term follow-up of these patients may not be necessary

    Determination of essential biomarkers in lung cancer: a real-world data study in Spain.

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    Background: The survival of patients with lung cancer has substantially increased in the last decade by about 15%. This increase is, basically, due to targeted therapies available for advanced stages and the emergence of immunotherapy itself. This work aims to study the situation of biomarker testing in Spain. Patients and Methods: The Thoracic Tumours Registry (TTR) is an observational, prospective, registry-based study that included patients diagnosed with lung cancer and other thoracic tumours, from September 2016 to 2020. This TTR study was sponsored by the Spanish Lung Cancer Group (GECP) Foundation, an independent, scientific, multidisciplinary oncology society that coordinates more than 550 experts and 182 hospitals across the Spanish territory. Results: 9,239 patients diagnosed with stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) between 2106 and 2020 were analysed. 7,467 (80.8%) were non-squamous and 1,772 (19.2%) were squamous. Tumour marker testing was performed in 85.0% of patients with non-squamous tumours vs 56.3% in those with squamous tumours (p-value <0.001). The global testing of EGFR, ALK, and ROS1 was 78.9%, 64.7%, 35.6% respectively, in non-squamous histology. PDL1 was determined globally in the same period (46.9%), although if we focus on the last 3 years it exceeds 85%. There has been a significant increase in the last few years of all determinations and there are even close to 10% of molecular determinations that do not yet have targeted drug approval but will have it in the near future. 4,115 cases had a positive result (44.5%) for either EGFR, ALK, KRAS, BRAF, ROS1, or high PDL1. Conclusions: Despite the lack of a national project and standard protocol in Spain that regulates the determination of biomarkers, the situation is similar to other European countries. Given the growing number of different determinations and their high positivity, national strategies are urgently needed to implement next-generation sequencing (NGS) in an integrated and cost-effective way in lung cancer

    Herramientas de Aprendizaje para el Diseño 3D de Estructuras y Procesos Químicos mediante Programas Informáticos Gratuitos/Libres

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    El objetivo propuesto en este proyecto de innovación docente fue el diseño, elaboración y evaluación de videos tutoriales on-line sobre el manejo de programas informáticos libres/gratuitos para el dibujo de moléculas químicas de interés farmacéutico, nomenclatura, cálculo de fórmulas y el diseño espacial de estructuras tridimensionales, que permitan que el alumno del Grado en Farmacia aprenda el manejo de programas siendo este un apoyo para la realización de su TFG y la defensa de mismo (Póster). Por otro lado, también se planteó el facilitar y animar a que los alumnos de cuarto y quinto curso del Grado en Farmacia presenten comunicaciones en el Congreso de Investigación para Estudiantes Pregraduados de Ciencias de la Salud celebrado todos los años en la UCM

    Hypothalamic AMPK-ER Stress-JNK1 Axis Mediates the Central Actions of Thyroid Hormones on Energy Balance

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    Thyroid hormones (THs) act in the brain to modulate energy balance. We show that central triiodothyronine (T3) regulates de novo lipogenesis in liver and lipid oxidation in brown adipose tissue (BAT) through the parasympathetic (PSNS) and sympathetic nervous system (SNS), respectively. Central T3 promotes hepatic lipogenesis with parallel stimulation of the thermogenic program in BAT. The action of T3 depends on AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-induced regulation of two signaling pathways in the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus (VMH): decreased ceramide-induced endoplasmic reticulum(ER) stress, which promotes BAT thermogenesis, and increased c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) activation, which controls hepatic lipid metabolism. Of note, ablation of AMPK alpha 1 in steroidogenic factor 1 (SF1) neurons of the VMH fully recapitulated the effect of central T3, pointing to this population in mediating the effect of central THs on metabolism. Overall, these findings uncover the underlying pathways through which central T3 modulates peripheral metabolism.Peer reviewe

    Gaia Early Data Release 3: Summary of the contents and survey properties

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    Context. We present the early installment of the third Gaia data release, Gaia EDR3, consisting of astrometry and photometry for 1.8 billion sources brighter than magnitude 21, complemented with the list of radial velocities from Gaia DR2. Aims. A summary of the contents of Gaia EDR3 is presented, accompanied by a discussion on the differences with respect to Gaia DR2 and an overview of the main limitations which are present in the survey. Recommendations are made on the responsible use of Gaia EDR3 results. Methods. The raw data collected with the Gaia instruments during the first 34 months of the mission have been processed by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium and turned into this early third data release, which represents a major advance with respect to Gaia DR2 in terms of astrometric and photometric precision, accuracy, and homogeneity. Results. Gaia EDR3 contains celestial positions and the apparent brightness in G for approximately 1.8 billion sources. For 1.5 billion of those sources, parallaxes, proper motions, and the (GBP − GRP) colour are also available. The passbands for G, GBP, and GRP are provided as part of the release. For ease of use, the 7 million radial velocities from Gaia DR2 are included in this release, after the removal of a small number of spurious values. New radial velocities will appear as part of Gaia DR3. Finally, Gaia EDR3 represents an updated materialisation of the celestial reference frame (CRF) in the optical, the Gaia-CRF3, which is based solely on extragalactic sources. The creation of the source list for Gaia EDR3 includes enhancements that make it more robust with respect to high proper motion stars, and the disturbing effects of spurious and partially resolved sources. The source list is largely the same as that for Gaia DR2, but it does feature new sources and there are some notable changes. The source list will not change for Gaia DR3. Conclusions. Gaia EDR3 represents a significant advance over Gaia DR2, with parallax precisions increased by 30 per cent, proper motion precisions increased by a factor of 2, and the systematic errors in the astrometry suppressed by 30-40% for the parallaxes and by a factor ~2.5 for the proper motions. The photometry also features increased precision, but above all much better homogeneity across colour, magnitude, and celestial position. A single passband for G, GBP, and GRP is valid over the entire magnitude and colour range, with no systematics above the 1% leve
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