Osteopontin and anti-osteopontin antibodies as potential biomarkers of immune activation in patients with allergic diseases: a comprehensive approach

Rationale: Osteopontin (OPN) is a pleomorphic cytokine known to influence a wide range of immune cells; allergic asthma was previously associated with high circulating OPN levels. The aim was to evaluate OPN as a possible biomarker of immune activation in allergic patients belonging to two different ethnic groups: Caucasians and South-East Asians. B. Method: Serum OPN levels were measured by ELISA test in a series of 121 Italian adult patients affected by allergic asthma, allergic rhinitis, Hymenoptera venom allergy, food allergy, allergic contact dermatitis and IgE-mediated hypersensitivity to B-lactams. 116 healthy subjects served as controls. 576 ethnic Chinese subjects were recruited at the National University of Singapore as cross-sectional cohort of an epidemiological study on the national prevalence of allergic diseases, and OPN levels were detected by Luminex and ELISA assays. C. Results: In the Italian cohort, OPN levels were significantly higher in cases compared to controls (P=0.0010 by the Mann-Whitney test). Statistically higher OPN levels were found in asthma (P=0.0269) and food allergy (P=0.046) groups in comparison to controls. No significant differences were found (P=0.597) between Singaporeans with "lifetime asthma" (i.e., subjects presenting asthma at least once in their life) and healthy controls. However, a strong gender effect was shown, in both cases (P<0.0001) and controls (P<0.0001), with males presenting higher OPN levels in comparison to females. Consequently, the mRNA expression levels of OPN gene (SPP1) were checked with illumina chips in whole blood of males and females, and no differences were found. Several experiments with Western Blots were performed to verify if possible post-transcriptional/post-translational modifications of OPN could explain these finding

Valle Giumentina (Abruzzes, Italie)

Données scientifiques produites : Valle Giumentina par l’EFRGéolocalisation par l’EFRValle Giumentina par le CEPAM Chroniques de l’EFR : Chroniques 2020 Extraire et lire les archives sédimentaires de Valle Giumentina Valle Giumentina est un gisement des Abruzzes du Paléolithique ancien et moyen de plein air, connu grâce aux travaux approfondis des années 1950 menés par le préhistorien A.M. Radmilli et le géographe J. Demangeot. Sept horizons archéologiques avaient été mis au jour au sein d’un..

FUSULINOIDEANS FROM THE PUENTELLÉS FORMATION (UPPER CARBONIFEROUS, NW SPAIN): DISCUSSION ON PHYLOGENY, PALEOECOLOGY AND PALEOBIOGEOGRAPHY

The Cantabrian Zone is the only area in Western Europe that contains marine successions of Kasimovian and Gzhelian (late Late Carboniferous, late Pennsylvanian) age. These successions yield fusulinoideans that are presently the subject of an in depth-study by members of a IUGS SCCS working group intending to find stratigraphic markers for the subdivision of the Carboniferous System. The youngest fusulinoidean faunas of the Cantabrian Zone are recorded in the Puentellés Formation, a succession of calcareous strata consisting of two members. The lower member is made up of reworked and re-sedimented carbonates, which form shallow turbidite deposits showing frequent lateral changes of facies, whereas the upper member corresponds to autochthonous limestones, mainly consisting of dark mudstones, skeletal wackestones and thick-bedded boundstones. Generally speaking, the lower member is late Kasimovian in age while the upper one is early Gzhelian. However, there are also a few successions of late Kasimovian age that show sedimentary facies similar to those of the upper member. The fusulinoidean assemblages from the lower member are dominated by elongated species of the genus Ferganites, which sometimes occur with Schubertella and Staffella species. Rauserites, Tumefactus, Jigulites, Quasifusulina, as well as certain Ferganites species showing obese shell, mainly appear in strata belonging to the upper member.Detailed analyses of the fusulinoideans from the Cantabrian Zone have allowed several questions related to their paleoecology, biostratigraphy, and paleobiogeography to be ascertained. First, it has been shown that the Ferganites accumulated in the strata of the lower member could have lived in near-shore and high-energy environments. The presence of some relevant forms (e. g. Rauserites cf. rossicus, and Jigulites sp.) allow a correlation between the Cantabrian successions and the standard stratigraphic units of the Russian Platform. Moreover, the composition of the fusulinoidean assemblages clearly shows the biogeographic affinities of the Cantabrian Zone with the Carnic Alps and the Central Asian regions. On the contrary, these assemblages differ greatly from those in other western Eurasian areas, such as the Russian Platform and the Donets Basin, suggesting that these areas were not well-connected with the Paleo-Tethys.&nbsp;&nbsp; Some observations give rise to relevant questions on more general aspects dealing with the latest Carboniferous fusulinoideans while yielding, at the same time, preliminary data for solving them. This is the case of the phrenotheca, an inner partition existing in some fusulinoidean shells whose functional role is still uncertain. The abundance in the Cantabrian Zone strata of Tumefactus specimens showing phrenotheca provides information for reconstructing its geometry as well as enabling speculation on its likely function. Another problematic aspect concerns the origin and distribution of the genus Triticites. It is noteworthy that this genus seems to be absent from both the Cantabrian Zone and most Eurasian areas, bringing up the question of whether the American and the Eurasian Triticites really had a common ancestor. The possibilities involved are discussed here.&nbsp

Sistematización de la primera y segunda fase del proyecto alianza cafetera confía más, en la adopción de herramientas empresariales con jóvenes caficultores en los municipios de Cañasgordas y Giraldo del departamento de Antioquia

El proyecto Alianza cafeteras Confía +, surge de la unión interinstitucional entre USAID, CONTINENTAL GOLD; FIP (Fundación Ideas para la Paz) y FNC (Federación Nacional de Cafeteros) Comité Antioquia, quienes destinaron recursos financieros y humanos para desarrollar su ejecución; cuyo objeto consistió en acompañar a los jóvenes campesinos y a su núcleo familiar dedicados a la explotación del cultivo de café, en los municipios de Cañasgordas y Giraldo del Occidente de Antioquia e incentivarlos al desarrollo continuo de su labor, también se muestra la evaluación de los procesos y metodologías, con la participación activa en las reuniones, las capacitaciones en gestión empresarial y demás actividades programadas por las promotoras rurales y el servicio de extensión rural de la Federación Nacional de Cafeteros. Para mejorar las condiciones agronómicas del cultivo del café, los procesos importantes para la calidad del producto final, la implementación del manejo de las fincas cafeteras y por ende, aumentar la seguridad del caficultor frente a las instituciones y sus empleados. Disminuyendo así un problema cuyo impacto es a nivel mundial, además de llevar a los jóvenes campesinos el conocimiento de la cultura del café para convertirse en actividad generadora de ingresos económicos y ser una opción viable para implementarse como proyecto de vida cafetera.Alianza Cafeteras Confía + Project arises from an inter-institutional agreement among USAID, CONTINENTAL GOLD, FIP (Ideas for Peace Foundation), and Antioquia’s Committee of FNC (Federación Nacional de Cafeteros), which alocated financial and human resources to develop the project’s execution. The purpose of these organizations consisted on giving support to young farmers and their family nucleus, who are dedicated to the productive exploitation of coffee culture, in the municipalities of Cañasgordas and Giraldo from West Antioquia. Furthermore, within this intend to encourage the continuity of the population’s work, the project also aimed at the measurement of its impact along with active participation in project meetings, training in business management and other activities programmed by rural promoters and the Rural Extension Service of the National Federation of Coffee Growers. These efforts contributed to the improvement of the agronomic conditions of coffee plantations, the important processes for the quality of the final product, and the management of coffee farms, thus increasing safety of coffee growers in regards to the institutions and their employees. Similarly, the actions above favor reduction of a worldwide problem in addition to bringing the knowledge of coffee culture to young farmers in order to transform it into a feasible source of economic income that can be implemented as a coffee life project

Obesity Is a Marker of Reduction in QoL and Disability

The purpose of this paper is to verify the association between outcome measures of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and disability, BMI, gender, and age. Adult obese patients were clustered using HRQoL (IWQoL-Lite) and disability (WHO-DAS II) scores into three groups: mild, moderate, and high. One-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post hoc test was used to evaluate differences in age and BMI between subjects from different clusters, contingency coefficient to test the relationship between cluster groups and gender. In total, 117 patients were enrolled: subjects with higher disability and HRQoL decrement were older and had higher BMI. Women were more likely to present moderate disability and reduction in HRQoL, while men more likely presented mild disability and HRQoL reduction. Our data further confirm the connection between disability and HRQoL, high BMI and older age. These data obtained with outcomes measures might better address rehabilitation programs

A new large squalodelphinid (Cetacea, Odontoceti) from Peru sheds light on the early miocene platanistoid disparity and ecology

The South Asian river dolphin (Platanista gangetica) is the only extant survivor of the large clade Platanistoidea, having a well-diversified fossil record from the Late Oligocene to the Middle Miocene. Based on a partial skeleton collected from the Chilcatay Formation (Chilcatay Fm; southern coast of Peru), we report here a new squalodelphinid genus and species, Macrosqualodelphis ukupachai. A volcanic ash layer, sampled near the fossil, yielded the 40Ar/39Ar age of 18.78±0.08Ma (Burdigalian, EarlyMiocene). The phylogenetic analysis places Macrosqualodelphis as the earliest branching squalodelphinid. Combined with several cranial and dental features, the large body size (estimated body length of 3.5 m) of this odontocete suggests that it consumed larger prey than the other members of its family. Together with Huaridelphis raimondii and Notocetus vanbenedeni, both also found in the Chilcatay Fm, this new squalodelphinid further demonstrates the peculiar local diversity of the family along the southeastern Pacific coast, possibly related to their partition into different dietary niches. At a wider geographical scale, the morphological and ecological diversity of squalodelphinids confirms the major role played by platanistoids during the EarlyMiocene radiation of crown odontocetes