Noncommutative Particles in Curved Spaces

We present a formulation in a curved background of noncommutative mechanics, where the object of noncommutativity $\theta^{\mu\nu}$ is considered as an independent quantity having a canonical conjugate momentum. We introduced a noncommutative first-order action in D=10 curved spacetime and the covariant equations of motions were computed. This model, invariant under diffeomorphism, generalizes recent relativistic results.Comment: 1+15 pages. Latex. New comments and results adde

Essential genetic findings in neurodevelopmental disorders

Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) represent a growing medical challenge in modern societies. Ever-increasing sophisticated diagnostic tools have been continuously revealing a remarkably complex architecture that embraces genetic mutations of distinct types (chromosomal rearrangements, copy number variants, small indels, and nucleotide substitutions) with distinct frequencies in the population (common, rare, de novo). Such a network of interacting players creates difficulties in establishing rigorous genotype-phenotype correlations. Furthermore, individual lifestyles may also contribute to the severity of the symptoms fueling a large spectrum of gene-environment interactions that have a key role on the relationships between genotypes and phenotypes.Herein, a review of the genetic discoveries related to NDDs is presented with the aim to provide useful general information for the medical community.This work was financed by FEDER - Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional funds through the COMPETE 2020 - Operacional Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI), Portugal 2020, and by Portuguese funds through FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, in the framework of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007274 to i3S and UID/ BIM/04501/2013 and UID/BIM/04501/2019 to iBiMED, as well as by national funds (OE), through FCT, in the scope of the framework contract foreseen in the numbers 4, 5, and 6 of the article 23, of the Decree-Law 57/2016, of August 29, changed by Law 57/2017, of July 19 to RMS, and by FCT research project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-29723. ARC and CS hold FCT PhD fellowships (SFRH/BD/141702/2018-ARC and SFRH/BD/137925/2018-CS). Funders had no role in the design, collection, analysis, interpretation of the data, and writing of the manuscript

Immunoglobulin genes implicated in glioma risk

Both genetic and environmental factors are thought to be causal in gliomagenesis. Several genes have been implicated in glioma development, but the putative role of a major immunity-related gene complex member, immunoglobulin heavy chain γ (IGHG) has not been evaluated. Prior observations that IGHG-encoded γ marker (GM) allotypes exhibit differential sensitivity to an immunoevasion strategy of cytomegalovirus, a pathogen implicated as a promoter of gliomagenesis, has lead us to hypothesize that these determinants are risk factors for glioma. To test this hypothesis, we genotyped the IGHG locus comprising the GM alleles, specifically GM alleles 3 and 17, of 120 glioma patients and 133 controls via TaqMan® genotyping assay. To assess the associations between GM genotypes and the risk of glioma, we applied an unconditional multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusted for potential confounding variables. In comparison to subjects who were homozygous for the GM 17 allele, the GM 3 homozygotes were over twice as likely, and the GM 3/17 heterozygotes were over three times as likely, to develop glioma. Similar results were achieved when analyzed by combining the data corresponding to alleles GM 3 and GM 3/17 in a dominant model. The GM 3/17 genotype and the combination of GM 3 and GM 3/17 were found to be further associated with over 3 times increased risk for high-grade astrocytoma (grades III-IV). Allele frequency analyses also showed an increased risk for gliomas and high-grade astrocytoma in association with GM 3. Our findings support the premise that the GM 3 allele may present risk for the development of glioma, possibly by modulating immunity to cytomegalovirus

Comparison of diurnal variations, gestational age and gender related differences in fetal heart rate (FHR) parameters between appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA) and small-for-gestational-age (SGA) fetuses in the home environment

Objective To assess the influence of gender, time of the day and gestational age on fetal heart rate (FHR) parameters between appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA) and small-for-gestational age (SGA) fetuses using a portable fetal ECG monitor employed in the home setting. Methods We analysed and compared the antenatal FHR data collected in the home setting on 61 healthy pregnant women with singleton pregnancies from 24 weeks gestation. Of the 61 women, 31 had SGA fetuses (estimated fetal weight below the tenth gestational centile) and 30 were pregnant with AGA fetuses. FHR recordings were collected for up to 20 h. Two 90 min intervals were deliberately chosen retrospectively with respect to signal recording quality, one during day-time and one at night-time for comparison. Results Overall, success rate of the fetal abdominal ECG in the AGA fetuses was 75.7% compared to 48.6% in the SGA group. Based on randomly selected episodes of heart rate traces where recording quality exceeded 80% we were able to show a marginal difference between day and night-time recordings in AGA vs. SGA fetuses beyond 32 weeks of gestation. A selection bias in terms of covering different representation periods of fetal behavioural states cannot be excluded. In contrast to previous studies, we neither controlled maternal diet and activity nor measured maternal blood hormone and heart rate as all mothers were monitored in the home environment. Conclusion Based on clinically unremarkable, but statistically significant differences in the FHR parameters between the AGA and SGA group we suggest that further studies with large sample size are required to assess the clinical value of antenatal fetal ECG monitoring

Heterogeneities in leishmania infantum infection : using skin parasite burdens to identify highly infectious dogs

Background: The relationships between heterogeneities in host infection and infectiousness (transmission to arthropod vectors) can provide important insights for disease management. Here, we quantify heterogeneities in Leishmania infantum parasite numbers in reservoir and non-reservoir host populations, and relate this to their infectiousness during natural infection. Tissue parasite number was evaluated as a potential surrogate marker of host transmission potential. Methods: Parasite numbers were measured by qPCR in bone marrow and ear skin biopsies of 82 dogs and 34 crab-eating foxes collected during a longitudinal study in Amazon Brazil, for which previous data was available on infectiousness (by xenodiagnosis) and severity of infection. Results: Parasite numbers were highly aggregated both between samples and between individuals. In dogs, total parasite abundance and relative numbers in ear skin compared to bone marrow increased with the duration and severity of infection. Infectiousness to the sandfly vector was associated with high parasite numbers; parasite number in skin was the best predictor of being infectious. Crab-eating foxes, which typically present asymptomatic infection and are non-infectious, had parasite numbers comparable to those of non-infectious dogs. Conclusions: Skin parasite number provides an indirect marker of infectiousness, and could allow targeted control particularly of highly infectious dogs

Effects of the functional HOTAIR rs920778 and rs12826786 genetic variants in glioma susceptibility and patient prognosis

Abnormal expression of the long non-coding RNA HOX transcript antisense intergenic RNA (HOTAIR) is oncogenic in several human cancers, including gliomas. The HOTAIR single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs920778 (C > T) and rs12826786 (C > T) present in the intronic enhancer and promoter regions of HOTAIR, respectively, are associated with expression, cancer susceptibility, and patient prognosis in some tumor types. However, the relevance of these HOTAIR SNPs has not been studied in glioma. Here, we report a case-control study comprising 177 Portuguese glioma patients and 199 cancer-free controls. All subjects were genotyped by PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). No statistically significant differences were found in the genotype or allele distributions of either rs920778 or rs12826786 between glioma patients and controls, suggesting these SNPs are not associated with glioma risk. No significant associations were found between rs920778 variants and HOTAIR expression levels, while rs12826786 CT genotype was associated with increased intratumoral HOTAIR RNA levels when compared to TT genotype (p-value = 0.04). Univariate (Log-rank) and multivariate (Cox proportional) analyses showed both rs920778 CT and rs12826786 CT genotypes were significantly associated with longer overall survival of WHO grade III anaplastic oligodendroglioma patients. Our results suggest that HOTAIR SNPs rs920778 and rs12826786 do not play a significant role in glioma susceptibility, but may be important prognostic factors in anaplastic oligodendroglioma patients. Future studies are warranted to validate and expand these findings, and to further dissect the importance of these SNPs in glioma.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Strain- and Adsorption-Dependent Electronic States and Transport or Localization in Graphene

The chapter generalizes results on influence of uniaxial strain and adsorption on the electron states and charge transport or localization in graphene with different configurations of imperfections (point defects): resonant (neutral) adsorbed atoms either oxygen- or hydrogen-containing molecules or functional groups, vacancies or substitutional atoms, charged impurity atoms or molecules, and distortions. To observe electronic properties of graphene-admolecules system, we applied electron paramagnetic resonance technique in a broad temperature range for graphene oxides as a good basis for understanding the electrotransport properties of other active carbons. Applied technique allowed observation of possible metal-insulator transition and sorption pumping effect as well as discussion of results in relation to the granular metal model. The electronic and transport properties are calculated within the framework of the tight-binding model along with the Kubo-Greenwood quantum-mechanical formalism. Depending on electron density and type of the sites, the conductivity for correlated and ordered adsorbates is found to be enhanced in dozens of times as compared to the cases of their random distribution. In case of the uniaxially strained graphene, the presence of point defects counteracts against or contributes to the band-gap opening according to their configurations. The band-gap behaviour is found to be nonmonotonic with strain in case of a simultaneous action of defect ordering and zigzag deformation. The amount of localized charge carriers (spins) is found to be correlated with the content of adsorbed centres responsible for the formation of potential barriers and, in turn, for the localization effects. Physical and chemical states of graphene edges, especially at a uniaxial strain along one of them, play a crucial role in electrical transport phenomena in graphene-based materials.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figure

Gene Expression Responses Linked to Reproduction Effect Concentrations (EC10,20,50,90) of Dimethoate, Atrazine and Carbendazim, in Enchytraeus albidus

BACKGROUND: Molecular mechanisms of response to pesticides are scarce and information on such responses from soil invertebrates is almost inexistent. Enchytraeus albidus (Oligochaeta) is a standard soil ecotoxicology model species for which effects of many pesticides are known on survival, reproduction and avoidance behaviour. With the recent microarray development additional information can be retrieved on the molecular effects. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Experiments were performed to investigate the transcription responses of E. albidus when exposed to three pesticides - dimethoate (insecticide), atrazine (herbicide) and carbendazim (fungicide) - in a range of concentrations that inhibited reproduction by 10%, 20%, 50% and 90% (EC(10), EC(20), EC(50) and EC(90), respectively). The goal of this study was to further identify key biological processes affected by each compound and if dose-related. All three pesticides significantly affected biological processes like translation, regulation of the cell cycle or general response to stress. Intracellular signalling and microtubule-based movement were affected by dimethoate and carbendazim whereas atrazine affected lipid and steroid metabolism (also by dimethoate) or carbohydrate metabolism (also by carbendazim). Response to DNA damage/DNA repair was exclusively affected by carbendazim. CONCLUSIONS: Changes in gene expression were significantly altered after 2 days of exposure in a dose-related manner. The mechanisms of response were comparable with the ones for mammals, suggesting across species conserved modes of action. The present results indicate the potential of using gene expression in risk assessment and the advantage as early markers

Timeless standards for species delimitation

published_or_final_versio

Adopting a healthy lifestyle when pregnant and obese - an interview study three years after childbirth

Background: Obesity during pregnancy is increasing and is related to life-threatening and ill-health conditions in both mother and child. Initiating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle when pregnant with body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/m2 can improve health and decrease risks during pregnancy and of long-term illness for the mother and the child. To minimise gestational weight gain women with BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 in early pregnancy were invited to a lifestyle intervention including advice and support on diet and physical activity in Gothenburg, Sweden. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of women with BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 regarding minimising their gestational weight gain, and to assess how health professionals' care approaches are reflected in the women's narratives. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 women who had participated in a lifestyle intervention for women with BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 during pregnancy 3 years earlier. The interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed in full. Thematic analysis was used. Results: The meaning of changing lifestyle for minimising weight gain and of the professional's care approaches is described in four themes: the child as the main motivation for making healthy changes; a need to be seen and supported on own terms to establish healthy routines; being able to manage healthy activities and own weight; and need for additional support to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Conclusions: To support women with BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 to make healthy lifestyle changes and limit weight gain during pregnancy antenatal health care providers should 1) address women's weight in a non-judgmental way using BMI, and provide accurate and appropriate information about the benefits of limited gestational weight gain; 2) support the woman on her own terms in a collaborative relationship with the midwife; 3) work in partnership to give the woman the tools to self-manage healthy activities and 4) give continued personal support and monitoring to maintain healthy eating and regular physical activity habits after childbirth involving also the partner and family