Online video tracking for activity-dependent stimulation in neuroethology

Poster presentation from Twentieth Annual Computational Neuroscience Meeting: CNS*2011. Stockholm, Sweden. 23-28 July 2011This work was supported by grants MICINN BFU2009-08473 and TIN 2010- 19607, Spanish-Brazilian Cooperation PHB2007-0008 and Brazilian agencies FAPESP, CNPq and CAPES

The impact of different risk measures in the portfolio selection of oil producing projects

The portfolio selection process for projects involving the exploration and production of oil is a complex task, passing through different steps until and optimum solution is achieved, revealing the best portfolio. This paper presents a methodology for portfolio selection considering semi-standard deviation as a measure of risk. The methodology is applied to a set of six oil production projects located in the Campos Basin, where the risk minimization is subject to a certain return. Genetic algorithms are used as the optimization tool.. The portfolio selection was performed by maximization of the certainty equivalent, for different values of risk aversion coefficients. The results show that the semi-standard deviation presents better sensitivity in portfolio selection with projects that have a large magnitude of risk and return.O processo de seleção de portfólios de projetos na exploração e produção de petróleo é uma tarefa bastante complexa, que passa por diferentes etapas até atingir o ponto final, que é a seleção do portfólio ótimo. A etapa de mensuração do risco do investimento abrange diferentes tipos de métricas com impactos diferenciados na escolha do portfólio. Esse trabalho apresenta a metodologia para a seleção de portfólios considerando o semidesvio-padrão como medida de risco. A metodologia é aplicada para um conjunto de seis projetos de produção de petróleo localizados na bacia de Campos, onde é feita a minimização do risco sujeito a um determinado retorno. Como ferramenta de otimização é utilizada a técnica de algoritmos genéticos. A seleção de portfólios foi feita pela maximização do equivalente-certo, para diferentes valores de coeficientes de aversão ao risco. Os resultados mostram que o semidesvio-padrão, apresenta maior sensibilidade na seleção de portfólios com projetos que apresentam grandes magnitudes de risco e retorno.305313Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq

Clinical practice guidelines for the management of non-specific low back pain in primary care: an updated overview

Objective: The aim of this study was to provide an overview of the recommendations regarding the diagnosis and treatment contained in current clinical practice guidelines for patients with non-specific low back pai

Real-world assessment and characteristics of men with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in primary care and urology clinics in Spain

Objectives: To describe the real-world demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) as a result of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in Spain. Methodology: This observational, retrospective, multicentre study conducted in primary care and urology clinics in Spain included men aged ≥50 years diagnosed (≤8 years prior to study visit) with LUTS caused by BPH. The primary endpoint was demographic and clinical characteristics; secondary endpoints included disease progression and diagnostic tests across both healthcare settings. Results: A total of 670 patients were included (primary care: n = 435; urology: n = 235). Most patients had moderate/severe LUTS (74.6%) and prostate volume >30 cc (81.7%), with no differences between settings. More patients had prostate-specific antigen (PSA) ≥1.5 ng/mL in primary care (74.5%) versus urology (67.7%). Progression criteria were prevalent (48.9%). Clinical criteria were more commonly used than the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) to evaluate LUTS at diagnosis (primary care: clinical criteria 73.0%; IPSS: 26.9%; urology: clinical criteria 76.5%; IPSS: 23.4%). Proportion of patients with moderate/severe LUTS at diagnosis was lower using clinical criteria than IPSS, and the proportion of patients with 'worsening' LUTS (diagnosis to study visit) was higher when using clinical criteria versus IPSS. In both healthcare settings, the most commonly used diagnostic tests were general and urological clinical history and PSA. Conclusion: Demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with BPH in Spain were similar in primary care and urology; however, assessment criteria to evaluate LUTS severity differ and are not completely aligned with clinical guideline recommendations. Increased use of recommended assessments may enhance optimal BPH management

Predictive factors and early biomarkers of response in multiple sclerosis patients treated with natalizumab

There are an increasing number of treatments available for multiple sclerosis (MS). The early identification of optimal responders to individual treatments is important to achieve individualized therapy. With this aim, we performed a multicenter retrospective longitudinal study including 186 MS patients treated with natalizumab who were followed for 2 years. We analyzed the following variables at recruitment: sex, current age, age at disease onset, disease duration, EDSS, number of T2 and Gd + lesions, IgG and IgM oligoclonal bands, HLA class II (DR, DRB, DQA, DQB, and DRB1*15:01), IgG and IgM antibody titers against human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6) and the antibody response to Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) through the measurement of the anti-EBNA-1 and anti-VCA IgG titers, in relation to clinical response (no relapses or disability progression), and to NEDA-3 (no evidence of disease activity in terms of clinical response and no changes in MRI scans either) after 2-years follow-up. Baseline EDSS score, baseline EBNA-1 IgG titers and percentage change of HHV6 IgG titers between baseline and 6 month visits were significantly different in clinical responders and in NEDA-3 status (all of them remained significant in the multivariate analysis). We identified three variables for the early identification of natalizumab optimal responders in a rapid and cost-effective approach

The Degree and regularity of vanishing ideals of algebraic toric sets over finite fields

Let X* be a subset of an affine space A^s, over a finite field K, which is parameterized by the edges of a clutter. Let X and Y be the images of X* under the maps x --> [x] and x --> [(x,1)] respectively, where [x] and [(x,1)] are points in the projective spaces P^{s-1} and P^s respectively. For certain clutters and for connected graphs, we were able to relate the algebraic invariants and properties of the vanishing ideals I(X) and I(Y). In a number of interesting cases, we compute its degree and regularity. For Hamiltonian bipartite graphs, we show the Eisenbud-Goto regularity conjecture. We give optimal bounds for the regularity when the graph is bipartite. It is shown that X* is an affine torus if and only if I(Y) is a complete intersection. We present some applications to coding theory and show some bounds for the minimum distance of parameterized linear codes for connected bipartite graphs

Somatostatin subtype-2 receptor-targeted metal-based anticancer complexes

Conjugates of a dicarba analogue of octreotide, a potent somatostatin agonist whose receptors are overexpressed on tumor cells, with [PtCl 2(dap)] (dap = 1-(carboxylic acid)-1,2-diaminoethane) (3), [(η 6-bip)Os(4-CO 2-pico)Cl] (bip = biphenyl, pico = picolinate) (4), [(η 6-p-cym)RuCl(dap)] + (p-cym = p-cymene) (5), and [(η 6-p-cym)RuCl(imidazole-CO 2H)(PPh 3)] + (6), were synthesized by using a solid-phase approach. Conjugates 3-5 readily underwent hydrolysis and DNA binding, whereas conjugate 6 was inert to ligand substitution. NMR spectroscopy and molecular dynamics calculations showed that conjugate formation does not perturb the overall peptide structure. Only 6 exhibited antiproliferative activity in human tumor cells (IC 50 = 63 ± 2 μ in MCF-7 cells and IC 50 = 26 ± 3 μ in DU-145 cells) with active participation of somatostatin receptors in cellular uptake. Similar cytotoxic activity was found in a normal cell line (IC 50 = 45 ± 2.6 μ in CHO cells), which can be attributed to a similar level of expression of somatostatin subtype-2 receptor. These studies provide new insights into the effect of receptor-binding peptide conjugation on the activity of metal-based anticancer drugs, and demonstrate the potential of such hybrid compounds to target tumor cells specifically. © 2012 American Chemical Society

Natural Course of the Diffusing Capacity of the Lungs for Carbon Monoxide in COPD: Importance of Sex

[Background] The value of the single-breath diffusing capacity of the lungs for carbon monoxide (Dlco) relates to outcomes for patients with COPD. However, little is known about the natural course of Dlco over time, intersubject variability, and factors that may influence Dlco progression.[Research Question] What is the natural course of Dlco in patients with COPD over time, and which other factors, including sex differences, could influence this progression?[Study Design and Methods] We phenotyped 602 smokers (women, 33%), of whom 506 (84%) had COPD and 96 (16%) had no airflow limitation. Lung function, including Dlco, was monitored annually over 5 years. A random coefficients model was used to evaluate Dlco changes over time.[Results] The mean (± SE) yearly decline in Dlco % in patients with COPD was 1.34% ± 0.015%/y. This was steeper compared with non-COPD control subjects (0.04% ± 0.032%/y; P = .004). Sixteen percent of the patients with COPD, vs 4.3% of the control subjects, had a statistically significant Dlco % slope annual decline (4.14%/y). At baseline, women with COPD had lower Dlco values (11.37% ± 2.27%; P < .001) in spite of a higher FEV1 % than men. Compared with men, women with COPD had a steeper Dlco annual decline of 0.89% ± 0.42%/y (P = .039).[Interpretation] Patients with COPD have an accelerated decline in Dlco compared with smokers without the disease. However, the decline is slow, and a testing interval of 3 to 4 years may be clinically informative. The lower and more rapid decline in Dlco values in women, compared with men, suggests a differential impact of sex in gas exchange function.[Trial Registry] ClinicalTrials.gov; No.: NCT01122758; URL: www.clinicaltrials.govThis study was funded in part by an unrestricted grant from AstraZeneca, and also by the COPD Research Program of the Spanish Respiratory Society (PII de EPOC of SEPAR).Peer reviewe

Application of the comet assay in the evaluation of the semi-synthetic n-butyl dillapiole ether in Balb/C mice.

The semi-synthetic n-butyl ether dillapiole (EBD) has a potential effect on the control of Aedes aegypti, the vector of the dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever virus. However, there are no studies on the risk of exposure to this compound to the health of humans and other animals. In this sense, the Comet Assay Test is used to detect genomic lesions that can result in mutations. Objective: evaluate the incidence of DNA damage in blood cells of isogenic mice treated with EBD