FUNCTIONAL STUDIES OF THE LC PROTEIN IN VESIVIRUSES OF THE CALICIVIRIDAE

Viruses of the family Caliciviridae are non-enveloped, single-stranded, positive sense RNA viruses. Feline calicivirus (FCV), a virus in the genus Vesivirus, is used as a model to study basic mechanisms of replication of caliciviruses because it grows well in cell culture and it has a reverse genetics system. A feature unique to vesiviruses is the presence of a ~14-18 kDa protein of unknown function designated as leader of the capsid (LC) that is expressed as part of a capsid precursor encoded in open reading frame 2 (ORF2). The ORF2 precursor contains the LC fused to the major capsid protein, VP1, which is proteolytically cleaved by the viral protease to release the LC and the mature VP1. The LC is not found in purified virions, and therefore does not appear to have a structural role, but it has previously been associated with promoting the human norovirus RNA replicon when provided in trans. In order to study the role of the LC in virus replication I employed the reverse genetics system to generate recombinant full-length FCV genomes, and performed transient expression experiments with the LC alone. By applying deletional mutagenesis and scanning alanine mutagenesis to the LC coding sequence I identified regions and conserved residues critical for viral replication and virus spread. Transient expression of the LC caused cells to round and die, and the same residues important for virus spread were important for the cell-rounding phenotype. Immunoprecipitation of recombinant LC in FCV infected cells identified the cellular protein annexin A2 as a binding partner, providing a potential mechanism for the cell-rounding phenotype observed in transient expression experiments. Understanding the role of the LC in FCV replication is important because there are currently no antiviral drugs available for FCV and there are numerous reports of vaccine failure. Additionally, elucidating the mechanism responsible for the enhancement of the Norwalk virus replicon may provide new insight into the establishment of a cell culture system for the human noroviruses, which is the leading cause of viral gastroenteritis outbreaks

A Metadata-Enabled Scientific Discourse Platform

Scientific papers and scientific conferences are still, despite the emergence of several new dissemination technologies, the de-facto standard in which scientific knowledge is consumed and discussed. While there is no shortage of services and platforms that aid this process (e.g. scholarly search engines, websites, blogs, conference management programs), a widely accepted platform used to capture and enrich the interactions of research community has yet to appear. As such, we aim to create new ways for the members and interested people working in research communities to interact; before, during and after their conferences. Furthermore, to serve as a base to these interactions, we want not only to obtain, format and manage a body of legacy and new papers related to this community but also to aggregate several useful information and services to the environment of a discourse platform

The effect of a newborn on Spanish households' expenditure

Master in Economics: Empirical Applications and Policies. Academic Year: 2019-2020This article aims to carry out an analysis of the effects of a newborn on Spanish households expenditure in 2014 and 2015. A standard difference-in-differences (DID) estimator would then compare the change in expenditure of those households that have a child in the second period with those that do not. However, both groups of households are different in characteristics that affect household expenditure. The semi-parametric difference-in-differences (SDID) estimator proposed by Abadie (2005) provides a simple two-step procedure to account for non-parallel trends and has been implemented into Stata software by Houngbedji (2016). Our results show that there is a positive effect on the allocation of income that households spend on raising children

Bayesian joint spatio-temporal analysis of multiple diseases

In this paper we propose a Bayesian hierarchical spatio-temporal model for the joint analysis of multiple diseases which includes specific and shared spatial and temporal effects. Dependence on shared terms is controlled by disease-specific weights so that their posterior distribution can be used to identify diseases with similar spatial and temporal patterns. The model proposed here has been used to study three different causes of death (oral cavity, esophagus and stomach cancer) in Spain at the province level. Shared and specific spatial and temporal effects have been estimated and mapped in order to study similarities and differences among these causes. Furthermore, estimates using Markov chain Monte Carlo and the integrated nested Laplace approximation are compared.Peer Reviewe

Time trends in the impact factor of Public Health journals

BACKGROUND: Journal impact factor (IF) is linked to the probability of a paper being cited and is progressively becoming incorporated into researchers' curricula vitae. Furthermore, the decision as to which journal a given study should be submitted, may well be based on the trend in the journal's overall quality. This study sought to assess time trends in journal IF in the field of public, environmental and occupational health. METHODS: We used the IFs of 80 public health journals that were registered by the Science Citation Index from 1992 through 2003 and had been listed for a minimum period of the previous 3 years. Impact factor time trends were assessed using a linear regression model, in which the dependent variable was IF and the independent variable, the year. The slope of the model and its statistical significance were taken as the indicator of annual change. RESULTS: The IF range for the journals covered went from 0.18 to 5.2 in 2003. Although there was no statistical association between annual change and mean IF, most of the fastest growing journals registered mean IFs in excess of 1.5, and some represented emerging areas of public health research. Graphs displaying IF trends are shown. CONCLUSION: In view of the delay between the publication of IFs and that of any given paper, knowing the trend in IF is essential in order to make a correct choice of journal

Changes in period and cohort effects on haematological cancer mortality in Spain, 1952-2006

BACKGROUND: In contrast to other haematological cancers, mortality from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and multiple myeloma increased dramatically during the second half of the 20th century in most developed countries. This widespread upward trend remains controversial, as it may be attributable either to progressive improvements in diagnosis and certification or to increasing exposures to little-known but relevant risk factors. METHODS: To assess the relative contribution of these factors, we analysed the independent effects of age, death period, and birth cohort on haematological cancer mortality rates in Spain across the period 1952-2006. Weighted joinpoint regression analyses were performed to detect and estimate changes in period and cohort curvatures. RESULTS: Although mortality rates were consistently higher among men, trends across periods and cohorts were virtually identical in both sexes. There was an early period trend reversal in the 1960s for Hodgkin's disease and leukaemia, which was delayed to the 1980s for multiple myeloma and the 1990s for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Birth cohort patterns showed a first downturn for generations born in the 1900s and 1910s for all haematological cancers, and a second trend reversal for more recent cohorts born in the 1950s and 1960s for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and leukaemia. CONCLUSIONS: The sustained decline in Hodgkin's disease mortality and the levelling off in leukaemia seem to be driven by an early period effect linked to improvements in disease treatment, whereas the steep upward trends in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and multiple myeloma mortality in Spain are more likely explained by a cohort effect linked to better diagnosis and death certification in the elderly. The consistent male excess mortality across all calendar periods and age groups points to the importance of possible sex-related genetic markers of susceptibility in haematological cancers.The study was supported in part by a research grant from the Spanish Health Research Fund (FIS PI11/00871). The study sponsor had no role in the study design; the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; the writing of the manuscript; and the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.S

Solid-tumor mortality in the vicinity of uranium cycle facilities and nuclear power plants in Spain.

To ascertain solid tumor mortality in towns near Spain's four nuclear power plants and four nuclear fuel facilities from 1975 to 1993, we conducted a mortality study based on 12,245 cancer deaths in 283 towns situated within a 30-km radius of the above installations. As nonexposed areas, we used 275 towns lying within a 50- to 100-km radius of each installation, matched by population size and sociodemographic characteristics (income level, proportion of active population engaged in farming, proportion of unemployed, percentage of illiteracy, and province). Using log-linear models, we examined relative risk for each area and trends in risk with increasing proximity to an installation. The results reveal a pattern of solid-tumor mortality in the vicinity of uranium cycle facilities, basically characterized by excess lung [relative risk (RR) 1.12, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.02-1.25] and renal cancer mortality (RR 1.37, 95% CI, 1.07-1.76). Besides the effects of natural radiation, these results could well be evincing the influence on public health exerted by the environmental impact of mining. No such well-defined pattern appeared in the vicinity of nuclear power plants. Monitoring of cancer incidence and mortality is recommended in areas surrounding nuclear fuel facilities and nuclear power plants, and more specific studies are called for in areas adjacent to installations that have been fully operational for longer periods. In this regard, it is important to use dosimetric information in all future studies

Integración Semántica de fuentes de datos e información personal de alto valor

Presentación realizada en el marco del Proyecto: Yo Digital: educación y desarrollo de infraestructuras en ciberseguridad y privacidad.CONACYT - Consejo Nacional de Ciencias y TecnologíaPROCIENCI

Spatial distribution of Parkinson's disease mortality in Spain, 1989-1998, as a guide for focused aetiological research or health-care intervention

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Aetiologically, genetic and environmental factors having an uneven spatial distribution may underlie Parkinson's disease (PD). Undiagnosis of PD in selected regions might have limited access to treatment with levodopa and simultaneously, if present at death, determined PD underreporting at the death record. The purpose of this study was to describe and analyse municipal mortality due to PD in Spain in aetiological and interventional perspective.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>PD mortality at a municipal level was modelled using the Besag-York- Molliè autoregressive spatial model, combining demographic information with cause-of-death diagnostic data (International Classification of Diseases 9^thRevision (ICD-9) code 332.0). Municipal relative risks (RRs) were independently estimated for women, men and both sexes, and plotted on maps depicting smoothed RR estimates and the distribution of the posterior probability of RR>1.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A south-north gradient, with large geographical areas suggesting clustered towns with high mortality, was seen in Asturias, the Basque Country, Balearic Islands and, particularly, in the Lower Ebro valley around Tarragona. Similarly, there was a suggestion that lowest mortality was clustered in the south-east and south-west. We identified some isolated or clustered municipalities with high mortality that were situated near industrial plants reported to be associated with environmental xenobiotic emissions. However, the same pattern was also observed for some cities with low mortality.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Municipal PD mortality in Spain was unevenly distributed. Patterns were roughly similar to reported provincial PD mortality and use of levodopa. While the overall pattern appears to result from spatially selective PD undiagnosis, and can not be ascribed to industrial emissions, it can not be excluded that selected "hot spots" reflect genetic factors and/or environmental exposures inducing parkinsonism. A few municipal populations, located in low-mortality-risk areas in the vicinity of polluting plants or registering high excess PD mortality, might constitute a priority for conducting direct etiological studies. Additionally, interventions aimed to reduce potential PD undiagnosis might be most appropriate in the South.</p