Treatment of hyperphosphatemia with sevelamer hydrochloride in hemodialysis patients: A comparison with calcium acetate

Treatment of hyperphosphatemia with sevelamer hydrochloride in hemodialysis patients: A comparison with calcium acetate.BackgroundSevelamer hydrochloride is a recently approved calcium- and aluminium-free phosphate binder. A randomized study comparing sevelamer and calcium acetate was performed to assess the control of hyperphosphatemia in hemodialysis patients.MethodsAdministration of phosphate binders was discontinued during a two-week washout period. The patients were then randomized to receive sevelamer or calcium acetate. The laboratory tests were performed monthly for 34 weeks.ResultsThere was a statistically significant decrease of serum phosphorus in both sevelamer and calcium acetate treatments. In addition, sevelamer improved the lipid profile.ConclusionThis study confirms that sevelamer is effective at lowering serum phosphorus in hemodialysis patients and that it has several striking properties that could be beneficial in atherosclerosis in dialysis patients

Implications of the Orb2 Amyloid Structure in Huntington’s Disease

Huntington’s disease is a progressive, autosomal dominant, neurodegenerative disorder caused by an expanded CAG repeat in the huntingtin gene. As a result, the translated protein, huntingtin, contains an abnormally long polyglutamine stretch that makes it prone to misfold and aggregating. Aggregation of huntingtin is believed to be the cause of Huntington’s disease. However, understanding on how, and why, huntingtin aggregates are deleterious has been hampered by lack of enough relevant structural data. In this review, we discuss our recent findings on a glutamine-based functional amyloid isolated from Drosophila brain and how this information provides plausible structural insight on the structure of huntingtin deposits in the brain

Evaluación de una técnica de RT-PCR específica para la detección del serotipo 8 del virus de la lengua azul en cabras

El virus de la lengua azul (vLA) es un Orbivirus transmitido por mosquitos hematófagos del género Culicoides. En el norte de España ha aparecido recientemente el serotipo 8, afectando a ovejas y vacas. Los serotipos de vLA son tan distintos entre sí, que las vacunas no ofrecen protección cruzada. Por tanto, es fundamental identificar cual afecta al animal para aplicar la vacuna correcta. En estudios recientes se ha desarrollado un ensayo de RT PCR para detectar el serotipo 8 de vLA en vacas y ovejas. En este estudio hemos evaluado dicha técnica para la detección específica del serotipo 8 en cabras. Se analizaron 15 sueros de cabras infectadas y sobrenadantes de cultivos celulares infectados con el serotipo 8. Las muestras de sueros analizados no dieron resultados positivos.Bluetongue virus (BTV) is an Orbivirus transmitted by haematophagous insects of the genus Culicoides. In the north of the Iberian Peninsula, BTV-8 has appeared recently, affecting sheep and cattle. Bluetongue serotypes are so different among them, that vaccines do not offer cross-protection. Thus, it is important to detect which serotype is affecting an animal, in order to apply the correct vaccine. An RT-PCR assay has been developed recently to detect BTV-8 in cattle and sheep. In this study we have evaluated this RT-PCR technique as a diagnostic tool for the specific detection of BTV- 8 in goats. Sera samples from 15 infected goats and supernatants from BTV-8 infected cell cultures were analyzed. No positive results were obtained for the analyzed samples

Effect of the dietary supplementation with sunflower oil and incremental levels of marine algae on the rumen bacterial community in dairy sheep

1 page.-- Contributed to: 7th Rowett-INRA Symposium. Gut microbiology: new insight into gut microbial ecosystems (Aberdeen, Reino Unido, Jun 23-25, 2010).In lactating ruminants, the dietary supplementation with lipids rich in linoleic acid, such as sunflower oil (SO), and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)...Peer reviewe

Search for the Higgs boson decays H → ee and H → eμ in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Artículo escrito por un elevado número de autores, sólo se referencian el que aparece en primer lugar, el nombre del grupo de colaboración, si le hubiera, y los autores pertenecientes a la UAMSearches for the Higgs boson decays H→eeand H→eμare performed using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1collected with the ATLAS detector in ppcollisions at √s=13 TeV at the LHC. No significant signals are observed, in agreement with the Standard Model expectation. For a Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV, the observed (expected) upper limit at the 95% confidence level on the branching fraction β(H→ee)is 3.6 ×10−4(3.5 ×10−4) and on β(H→eμ)is 6.2 ×10−5(5.9 ×10−5). These results represent improvements by factors of about five and six on the previous best limits on β(H→ee)and β(H→eμ)respectivelyWe acknowledge the support of ANPCyT, Argentina; YerPhI, Armenia; ARC, Australia; BMWFW and FWF, Austria; ANAS, Azerbaijan; SSTC, Belarus; CNPq and FAPESP, Brazil; NSERC, NRC and CFI, Canada; CERN; CONICYT, Chile; CAS, MOST and NSFC, China; COLCIENCIAS, Colombia; MSMT CR, MPO CR and VSC CR, Czech Republic; DNRF and DNSRC, Denmark; IN2P3-CNRS, CEA-DRF/IRFU, France; SRNSFG, Georgia; BMBF, HGF, and MPG, Germany; GSRT, Greece; RGC, Hong Kong SAR, China; ISF and Benoziyo Center, Israel; INFN, Italy; MEXT and JSPS, Japan; CNRST, Morocco; NWO, Netherlands; RCN, Norway; MNiSW and NCN, Poland; FCT, Portugal; MNE/IFA, Romania; MES of Russia and NRC KI, Russian Federation; JINR; MESTD, Serbia; MSSR, Slovakia; ARRS and MIZŠ, Slovenia; DST/NRF, South Africa; MINECO, Spain; SRC and Wallenberg Foundation, Sweden; SERI, SNSF and Cantons of Bern and Geneva, Switzerland; MOST, Taiwan; TAEK, Turkey; STFC, United Kingdom; DOE and NSF, United States of America. In addition, individual groups and members have received support from BCKDF, CANARIE, CRC and Compute Canada, Canada; COST, ERC, ERDF, Horizon 2020, and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, European Union; Investissements d' Avenir Labex and Idex, ANR, France; DFG and AvH Foundation, Germany; Herakleitos, Thales and Aristeia programmes co-financed by EU-ESF and the Greek NSRF, Greece; BSF-NSF and GIF, Israel; CERCA Programme Generalitat de Catalunya, Spain; The Royal Society and Leverhulme Trust, United Kingdo

Isolation of RNA from milk somatic cells as an alternative to biopsies of mammary tissue for nutrigenomic studies in dairy ewes

11 páginas, 4 tablas, 1 figura.Nutrigenomic studies of mammary lipogenesis in ruminants often rely on the use of mammary tissue (MT) collected either by biopsy or at slaughter. However, isolating RNA from milk would be a useful and cost-effective technique that may avoid distress to the animal and facilitate the collection of samples in time series experiments. This assay was therefore conducted to test the hypothesis that RNA extracted from milk somatic cells (MSC) in dairy sheep would be a feasible alternative to the performance of MT biopsies for nutrigenomic analyses. To meet this objective, 8 lactating Assaf ewes were divided in 2 groups and offered a total mixed ration without supplementation (control) or supplemented with 2.4% dry matter of fish oil, which was known not only to elicit milk fat depression but also to downregulate the expression of some candidate genes involved in mammary lipogenesis. Total RNA was extracted from MSC and biopsied MT to examine whether the potential changes in the abundance of transcripts was similarly detected with both RNA sources. Milk fatty acid profile was also analyzed by gas chromatography, and variations in mRNA abundance were determined by reverse transcription quantitative PCR. Values of RNA integrity number were always ≥7.7. The expected and designed decrease of milk fat concentration with fish oil (−29%), was associated with a lower transcript abundance of genes coding for enzymes involved in fatty acid activation (ACSS1), de novo synthesis (ACACA and FASN), uptake from plasma lipids (LPL), and esterification of fatty acids to glycerol (LPIN1), as well as of a transcription factor that may regulate their expression (INSIG1). Stable mRNA levels were showed in other candidate genes, such as FABP3, GPAT4, or SCD. Changes due to the dietary treatment were similarly detected with both RNA sources (MSC and MT biopsies), which supports the initial hypothesis and would validate the use of milk as an alternative RNA source for nutrigenomic analyses in dairy sheep.This work was supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO, Spain; AGL2014-54587, co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, European Union). P. G. Toral gratefully acknowledges receipt of a postdoctoral research contract from the MINECO (Juan de la Cierva program).Peer reviewe

Growth of InP on GaAs (001) by hydrogen-assisted low-temperature solid-source molecular beam epitaxy

Direct heteroepitaxial growth of InP layers on GaAs (001) wafers has been performed by solid-source molecular beam epitaxy assisted by monoatomic hydrogen (H∗). The epitaxial growth has been carried out using a two-step method: for the initial stage of growth the temperature was as low as 200 °C and different doses of H∗ were used; after this, the growth proceeded without H∗ while the temperature was increased slowly with time. The incorporation of H∗ drastically increased the critical layer thickness observed by reflection high-energy electron diffraction; it also caused a slight increase in the luminescence at room temperature, while it also drastically changed the low-temperature luminescence related to the presence of stoichiometric defects. The samples were processed by rapid thermal annealing. The annealing improved the crystalline quality of the InP layers measured by high-resolution x-ray diffraction, but did not affect their luminescent behavior significantly

Comparison of ruminal lipid metabolism in dairy cows and goats fed diets supplemented with starch, plant oil or fish oil

16 páginas, 5 tablas, 1 figura.Direct comparison of cow and goat performanceand milk fatty acid responses to diets known to inducemilk fat depression (MFD) in the bovine revealsrelevant species-by-diet interactions in ruminal lipidmetabolism. Thus, this study was conducted to inferpotential mechanisms responsible for differences in therumen microbial biohydrogenation (BH) due to dietand ruminant species. To meet this objective, 12 cowsand 15 goats were fed a basal diet (control), a similardiet supplemented with 2.2% fish oil (FO), or a dietcontaining 5.3% sunflower oil and additional starch(+38%; SOS) according to a 3 × 3 Latin square designwith 25-d experimental periods. On the last day of eachperiod, fatty acid composition (by gas chromatography)and bacterial community (by terminal-RFLP),as well as fermentation characteristics, were measuredin rumen fluid samples. Results showed significant differencesin the response of cows and goats to dietarytreatments, although variations in some fermentationparameters (e.g., decreases in the acetate-to-propionateratio due to FO or SOS) were similar in both species.Main alterations in ruminal BH pathways potentiallyresponsible for MFD on the SOS diet (i.e., the shiftfrom trans-11 to trans-10 18:1 and related increases intrans-10,cis-12 18:2) tended to be more pronounced incows, which is consistent with an associated MFD onlyin this species. However, changes linked to FO-inducedMFD (e.g., decreases in 18:0 and increases in totaltrans-18:1) were stronger in caprine rumen fluid, whichmay explain their unexpected susceptibility (althoughless marked than in bovine) to the negative effect ofFO on milk fat content. Altogether, these results suggestthat distinct ruminal mechanisms lead to eachtype of diet-induced MFD and confirm a pronouncedinteraction with species. With regard to microbiota,differences between cows and goats in the compositionof the rumen bacterial community might be behindthe disparity in the microorganisms affected by theexperimental diets (e.g., Ruminococcaceae, Lachnospiraceae,and Succinivibrionaceae in the bovine, andPseudobutryrivibrio, Clostridium cluster IV, Prevotella,and Veillonellaceae in the caprine), which hinderedthe assignation of bacterial populations to particularBH steps or pathways. Furthermore, most relevantvariations in microbial groups corresponded to as yetuncultured bacteria and suggest that these microorganismsmay play a predominant role in the ruminal lipidmetabolism in both cows and goats.This study was supported by INRA (UMR1213; France) and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO; AGL2014-54587). P. G. Toral was granted a postdoctoral fellowship from Fundación Alfonso Martín Escudero (Madrid, Spain) and a research contract from the MINECO (Juan de la Cierva program).Peer reviewe

Supporting clinical information management by NFC technology

Tele-monitorization is a problem with aging people living alone since the vital signs control is complicated for them. In this sense, some initiatives by adapting technologies make easy these controls. In this work we present a solution consist of the Near Field Communications technology adaptability. Mobile phones NFC enabled serving as a middleware between measure devices and people. In addition, a proposal for managing clinical information and medicine prescription are presented.Tele-monitorization is a problem with aging people living alone since the vital signs control is complicated for them. In this sense, some initiatives by adapting technologies make easy these controls. In this work we present a solution consist of the Near Field Communications technology adaptability. Mobile phones NFC enabled serving as a middleware between measure devices and people. In addition, a proposal for managing clinical information and medicine prescription are presented

Leguminosas bioactivas para mejorar el perfil lipídico de la carne de cordero

6 páginas, 2 figuras, 1 tabla.La utilización de leguminosas forrajeras en la dieta de los rumiantes puede ofrecer importantes ventajas. Además de su elevado valor proteico, algunas especies como la esparceta o el trébol rojo, contienen compuestos bioactivos que podrían mejorar la calidad nutricional de la carne. Entre ellos, destacan los taninos en la esparceta y la polifenol oxidasa en el trébol rojo. Ahora bien, la climatología de muchas áreas limita su aprovechamiento en verde. En este estudio, mostramos que la utilización de la esparceta y el trébol rojo conservados mediante ensilado podría ser una buena alternativa para la alimentación de corderos, al aumentar la concentración de ácidos grasos poliinsaturados (PUFA) en la carne a través de su efecto sobre el metabolismo lipídico ruminal. Aunque el mecanismo de acción de los compuestos bioactivos presentes en estos forrajes probablemente sea distinto, sus efectos sobre el perfil de ácidos grasos de la carne parecen ser similares y aditivos.Este trabajo forma parte del proyecto Legume Plus, financiado por la Comisión Europea a través de una Red de Formación Inicial Marie Curie (PITN GA- 2011- 289377) PG . Toral disfruta de un contrato Ramón y Cajal, financiado por el Ministerio de Economía, lndustria y Competitividad.Peer reviewe