The genetic basis of inter-individual variation in recovery from traumatic brain injury.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the leading causes of death among young people, and is increasingly prevalent in the aging population. Survivors of TBI face a spectrum of outcomes from short-term non-incapacitating injuries to long-lasting serious and deteriorating sequelae. TBI is a highly complex condition to treat; many variables can account for the observed heterogeneity in patient outcome. The limited success of neuroprotection strategies in the clinic has led to a new emphasis on neurorestorative approaches. In TBI, it is well recognized clinically that patients with similar lesions, age, and health status often display differences in recovery of function after injury. Despite this heterogeneity of outcomes in TBI, restorative treatment has remained generic. There is now a new emphasis on developing a personalized medicine approach in TBI, and this will require an improved understanding of how genetics impacts on long-term outcomes. Studies in animal model systems indicate clearly that the genetic background plays a role in determining the extent of recovery following an insult. A candidate gene approach in human studies has led to the identification of factors that can influence recovery. Here we review studies of the genetic basis for individual differences in functional recovery in the CNS in animals and man. The application of in vitro modeling with human cells and organoid cultures, along with whole-organism studies, will help to identify genes and networks that account for individual variation in recovery from brain injury, and will point the way towards the development of new therapeutic approaches

Flow Induced by Dual-Turbine of Different Diameters in a Gas-Liquid Agitation System: the Agitation and Turbulence Indices

Flow induced by a dual turbine stirred tank was characterized measuring local velocities with a LDV and drawing the main velocity fields and the maps of turbulence intensities. The hydrodynamic regime studied in all the experiments was the so-called merging flow regime. Two impeller configurations were studied. In the first one, two disk style turbine of the same dimensions (configuration A) were used, while in the second one, the dimensions of the upper turbine were 20 % proportionally smaller than those of the lower turbine (configuration B). The agitation and turbulence indices were used to evaluate, as a first order approximation, the power consumption distribution between convective and turbulent flows. The comparison of the two-phase agitation systems studied showed that configuration B seems to be more efficient than configuration A, since both induce a similar global convective flow, but the first one assures a significant reduction of power consumption. The distribution of power consumption between convective and turbulent flows was evaluated using the agitation index and a new global parameter: turbulence ind

A novel chromosome segregation mechanism during female meiosis.

In a wide range of eukaryotes, chromosome segregation occurs through anaphase A, in which chromosomes move toward stationary spindle poles, anaphase B, in which chromosomes move at the same velocity as outwardly moving spindle poles, or both. In contrast, Caenorhabditis elegans female meiotic spindles initially shorten in the pole-to-pole axis such that spindle poles contact the outer kinetochore before the start of anaphase chromosome separation. Once the spindle pole-to-kinetochore contact has been made, the homologues of a 4-μm-long bivalent begin to separate. The spindle shortens an additional 0.5 μm until the chromosomes are embedded in the spindle poles. Chromosomes then separate at the same velocity as the spindle poles in an anaphase B-like movement. We conclude that the majority of meiotic chromosome movement is caused by shortening of the spindle to bring poles in contact with the chromosomes, followed by separation of chromosome-bound poles by outward sliding

Habitat selection by native and stocked trout (Salmo trutta L.) in Northeast streams, Portugal

Underwater observations were made during the summer season in three successive years to assess the effect of supplemental stocking of brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) in two headwater streams of northeastern Portugal. Significant differences were found in microhabitat used. Focal point position, total depth and cover were the variables contributing to the discrimination between stocked and native trout. Preference curves executed for native and stocked trout of the same age (1+), exhibited a distinct pattern in the capacity to explore the available microhabitat resources. In both streams, stocked trout tended to occupy deeper pools, while holding higher focal positions. All size classes of native trout show an overlap in microhabitat use, but smaller ones (< 10.0 cm), which showed a preference for shallow habitats with fast currents, typically riffle conditions. These results do not display obvious effects of competition on habitat exploitation between stocked and native trout but additional information related to feeding, reproduction and other biotic interactions is necessary to define adequate management strategies of salmonid streams

Living objects: towards flexible big data sharing

Data sharing and especially enabling third parties to build new services using large amounts of shared data is clearly a trend for the future and a main driver for innovation. However, sharing data is a challenging and involved process today: The owner of the data wants to maintain full and immediate control on what can be done with it, while users are interested in offering new services which may involve arbitrary and complex processing over large volumes of data. Currently, flexibility in building applications can only be achieved with public or non-sensitive data, which is released without restrictions. In contrast, if the data provider wants to impose conditions on how data is used, access to data is centralized and only predefined functions are provided to the users. We advocate for an alternative that takes the best of both worlds: distributing control on data among the data itself to provide flexibility to consumers. To this end, we exploit the well-known concept of object, an abstraction that couples data and code, and make it act and react according to the circumstances.Facultad de Informátic

Living objects: towards flexible big data sharing

Data sharing and especially enabling third parties to build new services using large amounts of shared data is clearly a trend for the future and a main driver for innovation. However, sharing data is a challenging and involved process today: The owner of the data wants to maintain full and immediate control on what can be done with it, while users are interested in offering new services which may involve arbitrary and complex processing over large volumes of data. Currently, flexibility in building applications can only be achieved with public or non-sensitive data, which is released without restrictions. In contrast, if the data provider wants to impose conditions on how data is used, access to data is centralized and only predefined functions are provided to the users. We advocate for an alternative that takes the best of both worlds: distributing control on data among the data itself to provide flexibility to consumers. To this end, we exploit the well-known concept of object, an abstraction that couples data and code, and make it act and react according to the circumstances.Facultad de Informátic

Predictive Accuracy of the Nelson Equation via BodPod Compared to Commonly Used Equations to Estimate Resting Metabolic Rate in Adults

International Journal of Exercise Science 14(2): 1166-1177, 2021. Indirect calorimetry (IC) is considered the gold standard for assessing resting metabolic rate (RMR). However, many people do not have access to IC devices and use prediction equations for RMR estimation. Equations using fat free mass (FFM) as a predictor have been developed to estimate RMR, as a strong relationship exists between FFM and RMR. One such equation is the Nelson equation which is used by the BodPod (BP). Yet, there is limited evidence whether the Nelson equation is superior to other common equations to predict RMR. To examine the agreement between predicted RMR from common RMR equations and the BP, and RMR measured via IC. Data from 48 healthy volunteers who completed both the BP and IC were collected. Agreement between RMR measured by BP, common regression equations, and indirect caloriometry was evaluated using repeated measures ANOVA, Bland-Altman analysis and root mean square error (RMSE). Predicted RMR values from common equations and BP were significantly different from IC with the exception of the World Health Organization (WHO) equation. Large limits of agreement and RMSE values demonstrate a large amount of error at the individual level. Despite the use of FFM, the Nelson equation does not appear to be superior to other common RMR equations. Although the WHO equation presented the best option within our sample, all equations performed poorly at the individual level. Clinicians should be aware that prediction equations may significantly under- or overestimate RMR compared to IC and when an accurate value of RMR is required, IC is recommended

Optimización topológica experimental de piezas obtenidas por fabricación aditiva tipo DLP

Este Trabajo de Fin de Grado pretende explicar detalladamente los pasos a seguir para poder realizar una optimización topológica experimental en una pieza obtenida por fabricación aditiva gracias a la técnica Digital Light Processing. El proceso requiere una elevada experimentación, aunque también se introducen todos los conceptos teóricos que se consideran necesarios, gracias a las numerosas referencias consultadas. Por otro lado, cabe destacar la utilización de los softwares GOM Correlate, ANSYS Workbench y ANSYS Mechanical APDL, sin los cuales hubiese sido mposible llevar a cabo este proyecto. Además, la pieza utilizada en los ensayos realizados en el laboratorio del Departamento de Resistencia de Materiales se fabricó en la Fundació CIM-UPC, por lo que todo el proceso ha sido desarrollado integramente en el entorno cercano del ETSEIB-UPC. El trabajo se divide en dos partes marcadas. En la primera de ellas, se explican los fundamentos teóricos de la fabricación aditiva, de la técnica DLP, de la optimización topológica y de la técnica Digital Image Correlation. Por otro lado, en la segunda parte, se explica todo el proceso experimental, donde tienen lugar las siguientes fases ordenadas cronológicamente: ensayo experimental de la pieza producida por fabricación aditiva tipo DLP, extracción del campo de desplazamientos con la técnica DIC, análisis y simulación por elementos finitos, y optimización topológica

Matching in vitro bioaccessibility of polyphenols and antioxidant capacity of soluble coffee by Boosted Regression Trees

The aim of this study was to evaluate changes in polyphenol profile and antioxidant capacity of five soluble coffees throughout a simulated gastro-intestinal digestion, including absorption through a dialysis membrane. Our results demonstrate that both polyphenol content and antioxidant capacity were characteristic for each type of studied coffee, showing a drop after dialysis. Twenty-seven compounds were identified in coffee by HPLC-MS, while only 14 of them were found after dialysis. Green+roasted coffee blend and chicory+coffee blend showed the highest and lowest content of polyphenols and antioxidant capacity before in vitro digestion and after dialysis, respectively. Canonical correlation analysis showed significant correlation between the antioxidant capacity and the polyphenol profile before digestion and after dialysis. Furthermore, boosted regression trees analysis (BRT) showed that only four polyphenol compounds (5-p-coumaroylquinic acid, quinic acid, coumaroyl tryptophan conjugated, and 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid) appear to be the most relevant to explain the antioxidant capacity after dialysis, these compounds being the most bioaccessible after dialysis. To our knowledge, this is the first report matching the antioxidant capacity of foods with the polyphenol profile by BRT, which opens an interesting method of analysis for future reports on the antioxidant capacity of foods.Fil: Podio, Natalia Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: López Froilán, Rebeca. Universidad Complutense de Madrid; EspañaFil: Ramirez Moreno, Esther. Universidad Autónoma de Estado de Hidalgo; México. Universidad Complutense de Madrid; EspañaFil: Bertrand, Lidwina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; ArgentinaFil: Baroni, María Verónica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos Córdoba; ArgentinaFil: Pérez Rodríguez, María L.. Universidad Complutense de Madrid; EspañaFil: Sánchez Mata, María Cortes. Universidad Complutense de Madrid; EspañaFil: Wunderlin, Daniel A.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos Córdoba; Argentin