New records of recently described chemosymbiotic bivalves for mud volcanoes within the European waters (Gulf of Cádiz)

Chemosymbiotic bivalves are important members of cold seep communities and information on their distribution in theEuropean waters is still quite scarce. This study reports the presence of living populations and shell remains of some recently described bivalves such as Lucinoma asapheus, Solemya elarraichensis and Acharax gadirae as well as Bathymodiolus sp. in the mud volcanoes of the Spanish Atlantic waters. Living populations of these species were thus far only found in Anastasya, Aveiro and Almazán mud volcanoes, together with other chemosymbiotic metazoa (Siboglinum spp.), suggesting the presence of moderate seepage activity. In other mud volcanoes (Albolote, Gazul), the benthic communities are dominated by sessile filter feeders on authigenic carbonates (chimneys, slabs) and only the shell remains of some chemosymbiotic bivalves were found, indicating earlier or very low seepage conditions. The present study elaborates on the known distribution of L. asapheus and S. elarraichensis to the European waters of the Gulf of Cádiz

Knowledge and practices of tour guides in Cuzco on the prevention and treatment of traveler's diarrhea

Objectives: To describe the knowledge and practices among tour guides in Cuzco, Peru regarding prevention and treatment of traveler's diarrhea. Methods: The main tour guide association in Cuzco organized a mandatory re-certification course for tour guides in February 2004. We invited tour guides attending this course to participate in the study. Those aged 18 to 50 who had worked as a tour guide for at least one year were asked to complete a brief anonymous questionnaire. Results: A total of 173 questionnaires were returned; 137 met the inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. The median age was 31 years (interquartile range (IQR): 28-34 years), and 56.7% were male. The median number of foreign languages spoken by subjects included was 1, being English (91.9%) the most common, followed by French (17.9%) and Italian (16.8%). The median time working as a tour guide was 4 years (IQR: 2-8 years). Tour guidance was a full-time job for 47.1% of the subjects, and for 82.4% Inca Trail was the most commonly covered route. Traveler's diarrhea was considered a food-borne disease by 85.4%, but only 60.6% considered it a water-borne disease. The majority of subjects identified raw salads (84.4%), cold sauces (81.5%) and tap water (81.1%) as risky products whereas hot soups (77 8%) and bread (75.0%) were mainly considered as safe. Most of the tour guides considered bloody stools (84.8%) and fever (60.6%) as indications to seek medical attention. The medications most frequently recommended by tour guides were oral re-hydration solutions ( 85.1%), trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole (26.1%) and loperamide (20.1%). Conclusions: Tour guides have a basic knowledge about traveler's diarrhea. However, more training is necessary to improve management while trekking outside of Cuzco The recommendation to seek pharmacists should be particularly addressed

アセット・マネジャーのパフォーマンス評価に関する考察 ~不動産ファンドのタイミング能力と物件選別能力の優劣及びその要因~

Estradiol and some selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) are neuroprotective in a variety of experimental models of neurodegeneration, reduce the inflammatory response of glial cells, reduce anxiety and depression, promote cognition and modulate synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus of rodents. In this study we have assessed whether estradiol and two SERMs currently used in clinics, tamoxifen and raloxifene, affect medial prefrontal cortex function and morphology. Rats were ovariectomized and six days later some animals received a subcutaneous injection of the estrogenic compounds. In a first experiment animals were treated with estradiol benzoate or sesame oil vehicle. In a second experiment animals received raloxifene, tamoxifen or dimethyl sulfoxide as vehicle. Twenty four hours after the pharmacological treatment, animals were challenged to solve an allocentric working memory paradigm in a "Y" maze. Twenty trials consisting of a study phase and a test phase were conducted according to a delayed match-to-sample procedure in a single one-day session. Animals that were not submitted to behavioral test were used for Golgi analysis of the prefrontal cortex. Rats treated with estradiol benzoate, tamoxifen or raloxifene performed better in the Y maze and showed a significant increase in the numerical density of dendritic spines in secondary apical dendrites of layer III pyramidal neurons from the prelimbic/infralimbic prefrontal cortex, compared to their respective control groups. These findings suggest that estradiol, tamoxifen and raloxifene improve prefrontal cortex-related cognitive performance and modulate prefrontal cortex morphology in ovariectomized rats. Zapotitlán 2012 Elsevier Inc

Using membrane computing for obtaining homology groups of binary 2D digital images

Membrane Computing is a new paradigm inspired from cellular communication. Until now, P systems have been used in research areas like modeling chemical process, several ecosystems, etc. In this paper, we apply P systems to Computational Topology within the context of the Digital Image. We work with a variant of P systems called tissue-like P systems to calculate in a general maximally parallel manner the homology groups of 2D images. In fact, homology computation for binary pixel-based 2D digital images can be reduced to connected component labeling of white and black regions. Finally, we use a software called Tissue Simulator to show with some examples how these systems wor

Atmospheric Neutrino Oscillations and New Physics

We study the robustness of the determination of the neutrino masses and mixing from the analysis of atmospheric and K2K data under the presence of different forms of phenomenologically allowed new physics in the nu_mu--nu_tau sector. We focus on vector and tensor-like new physics interactions which allow us to treat, in a model independent way, effects due to the violation of the equivalence principle, violations of the Lorentz invariance both CPT conserving and CPT violating, non-universal couplings to a torsion field and non-standard neutrino interactions with matter. We perform a global analysis of the full atmospheric data from SKI together with long baseline K2K data in the presence of nu_mu -> nu_tau transitions driven by neutrino masses and mixing together with sub-dominant effects due to these forms of new physics. We show that within the present degree of experimental precision, the extracted values of masses and mixing are robust under those effects and we derive the upper bounds on the possible strength of these new interactions in the nu_mu--nu_tau sector.Comment: 22 pages, LaTeX file using RevTEX4, 5 figures and 4 tables include

Acrysof® toric intraocular lens implantation in cataract surgery

Aim: To assess the medium term outcomes of Acrysof® toric intraocular lens implantation in 54 patients (54 eyes). Methods: Uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA), best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), preoperative astigmatism, residual postoperative astigmatism, and global average and model-specific intraocular lens (IOL) rotation grade were analyzed. Results: At 2-months of follow-up,the mean UCVA was 0.83 (SD: 0.14) Snellen scale, with 73.9% of the patients ≥0.8, and 32.6% with 1.0. Mean BCVA achieved was 0.94 (SD: 0.10). Mean preoperatory astigmatism was –2.25 diopters (D) (SD: 0.78), and mean postoperative astigmatism was -0.32 D (SD: 0.56), with significant differences between both groups (p<0.001). Model-specific mean residual astigmatism was –0.1 D for T3, –0.27 D for T4 and –0.43 D for T5, without significant differences between the three models (p=0.483). Mean IOL-axis rotation grade was 3.87±3.25 degrees, with 91.6% of implanted lens within 10° of predicted axis. Discussion: T3, T4 and T5 Acrysof® Toric intraocular lenses can correct preoperative astigmatism with a high success rate in terms of UCVA, and residual postoperative astigmatism, with minimum IOL-rotation grade at 2 months follow-up period

Perioperative management of children with glycogen storage disease type II-Pompe disease

Background: Pompe disease is a rare metabolic disorder caused by a deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme acid α-glucosidase. Glycogen accumulation damages skeletal, cardiac, and smooth muscles, causing a progressive and debilitating muscle weakness and cardiomyopathy. As life expectancy has much improved since the introduction of enzyme replacement therapy an increasing number of patients are referred for surgical procedures. Due to the potential cardiopulmonary complications, these patients form a high-risk group for the anesthesiologist. Aims: In this study, we investigated the incidence of perioperative complications in children with Pompe disease treated in our hospital since the introduction of enzyme replacement therapy. Methods: Anesthetic and perioperative data of children with Pompe disease treated between 1999 and 2015 in the Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, were collected, retrospectively. Results: Of the 65 children with Pompe disease, 34 patients underwent in total 77, mostly low-risk, surgical procedures. Twenty-one children had the classic infantile form and 13 had a nonclassic presentation of Pompe disease. In 13 (16.8%) procedures, 1 or more perioperative complications occurred. Perioperative desaturation was the main complication (12.9%), followed by arrhythmia (3.8%) and heart failure requiring diuretic treatment (2.6%). One child died 2 days postoperatively, but this was considered unrelated to the procedure. Conclusion: Despite the potentially high anesthetic risk for children with Pompe disease under enzym