Physiological responses to acute cold exposure in young lean men

The aim of this study was to comprehensively describe the physiological responses to an acute bout of mild cold in young lean men (n = 11, age: 23 ± 2 years, body mass index: 23.1 ± 1.2 kg/m2) to better understand the underlying mechanisms of non-shivering thermogenesis and how it is regulated. Resting energy expenditure, substrate metabolism, skin temperature, thermal comfort perception, superficial muscle activity, hemodynamics of the forearm and abdominal regions, and heart rate variability were measured under warm conditions (22.7 ± 0.2ÊC) and during an individualized cooling protocol (air-conditioning and water cooling vest) in a cold room (19.4 ± 0.1ÊC). The temperature of the cooling vest started at 16.6ÊC and decreased ~ 1.4ÊC every 10 minutes until participants shivered (93.5 ± 26.3 min). All measurements were analysed across 4 periods: warm period, at 31% and at 64% of individualÂs cold exposure time until shivering occurred, and at the shivering threshold. Energy expenditure increased from warm period to 31% of cold exposure by 16.7% (P = 0.078) and to the shivering threshold by 31.7% (P = 0.023). Fat oxidation increased by 72.6% from warm period to 31% of cold exposure (P = 0.004), whereas no changes occurred in carbohydrates oxidation. As shivering came closer, the skin temperature and thermal comfort perception decreased (all P<0.05), except in the supraclavicular skin temperature, which did not change (P>0.05). Furthermore, the superficial muscle activation increased at the shivering threshold. It is noteworthy that the largest physiological changes occurred during the first 30 minutes of cold exposure, when the participants felt less discomfort.The study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (PTA 12264-I), Fondo de InvestigacioÂn Sanitaria del Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI13/01393), and Retos de la Sociedad (DEP2016-79512-R), Fondos Estructurales de la UnioÂn Europea (FEDER), by the Spanish Ministry of Education (FPU 13/04365 and 15/04059), by the FundacioÂn Iberoamericana de NutricioÂn (FINUT), by the Redes temaÂticas de investigacioÂn cooperativa RETIC (Red SAMI

Value of procalcitonin, C-reactive protein, and neopterin in exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

The identification of biological markers in order to assess different aspects of COPD is an area of growing interest. The objective of this study was to investigate whether levels of procalcitonin (PCT), C-reactive protein (CRP), and neopterin in COPD patients could be useful in identifying the etiological origin of the exacerbation and assessing its prognosis. We included 318 consecutive COPD patients: 46 in a stable phase, 217 undergoing an exacerbation, and 55 with pneumonia. A serum sample was collected from each patient at the time of being included in the study. A second sample was also collected 1 month later from 23 patients in the exacerbation group. We compared the characteristics, biomarker levels, microbiological findings, and prognosis in each patient group. PCT and CRP were measured using an immunofluorescence assay. Neopterin levels were measured using a competitive immunoassay. PCT and CRP showed significant differences among the three patient groups, being higher in patients with pneumonia, followed by patients with exacerbation (P < 0.0001). For the 23 patients with paired samples, PCT and CRP levels decreased 1 month after the exacerbation episode, while neopterin increased. Neopterin showed significantly lower levels in exacerbations with isolation of pathogenic bacteria, but no differences were found for PCT and CRP. No significant differences were found when comparing biomarker levels according to the Gram result: PCT (P = 0.191), CRP (P = 0.080), and neopterin (P = 0.109). However, median values of PCT and CRP were high for Streptococcus pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, and enterobacteria. All biomarkers were higher in patients who died within 1 month after the sample collection than in patients who died later on. According to our results, biomarker levels vary depending on the clinical status. However, the identification of the etiology of infectious exacerbation by means of circulating biomarkers is encouraging, but its main disadvantage is the absence of a microbiological gold standard, to definitively demonstrate their value. High biomarker levels during an exacerbation episode correlate with the short-term prognosis, and therefore their measurement can be useful for COPD management

Interplay between genetics and lifestyle on pain susceptibility in women with fibromyalgia: the al-Ándalus project

This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (I + D+i DEP2010-15639, I + D+i DEP2013-40908-R to M.D.-F.; BES-2014-067612 to F.E.-L.), the Spanish Ministry of Education (FPU13/03410 to D.S.-T.; FPU15/0002 to B.G.-C.), the Consejeria de Turismo, Comercio y Deporte, Junta de Andalucia (CTCD-201000019242-TRA to M.D.-F.), the Consejeria de Salud, Junta de Andalucia (PI-0520-2016 to M.D.-F.) and the University of Granada, Plan Propio de Investigacion 2016, Excellence actions: Units of Excellence; Unit of Excellence on Exercise and Health (UCEES). The funders of the present study did not have any role in the study design, data collection and analyses, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.Objectives. It is widely acknowledged that the experience of pain is promoted by both genetic susceptibility and environmental factors such as engaging in physical activity (PA), and that pain-related cognitions are also important. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to test the association of 64 polymorphisms (34 candidate genes) and the gene–gene, gene–PA and gene–sedentary behaviour interactions with pain and pain-related cognitions in women with FM. Methods. Saliva samples from 274 women with FM [mean (S.D.) age 51.7 (7.7) years] were collected for extracting DNA. We measured PA and sedentary behaviour by accelerometers for a week, pain with algometry and questionnaires, and pain-related cognitions with questionnaires. To assess the robustness of the results, a meta-analysis was also performed. Results. The rs6311 and rs6313 polymorphisms (5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 2A, HTR2A) were individually related to algometer scores. The interaction of rs4818 (catechol-O-methyltransferase, COMT) and rs1799971 (opioid receptor l gene, OPRM1) was related to pain catastrophizing. Five gene–behaviour interactions were significant: the interactions of sedentary behaviour with rs1383914 (adrenoceptor alpha 1A, ADRA1A), rs6860 (charged multivesicular body protein 1A, CHMP1A), rs4680 (COMT), rs165599 (COMT) and rs12994338 (SCN9A) on bodily pain subscale of the Short Form 36. Furthermore, the meta-analysis showed an association between rs4680 (COMT) and severity of FM symptoms (codominant model, P-value 0.032). Conclusion. The HTR2A gene (individually), COMT and OPRM1 gene–gene interaction, and the interactions of sedentary behaviour with ADRA1A, CHMP1A, COMT and SCN9A genes were associated with pain-related outcomes. Collectively, findings from the present study indicate a modest contribution of genetics and gene– sedentary behaviour interaction to pain and pain catastrophizing in women with FM. Future research should examine whether reducing sedentary behaviour is particularly beneficial for reducing pain in women with genetic susceptibility to pain.Spanish Government I + D+i DEP2010-15639 I + D+i DEP2013-40908-R BES-2014-067612 FPU13/03410 FPU15/0002Junta de Andalucia CTCD-201000019242-TRA PI-0520-2016University of Granada, Plan Propio de InvestigacionUnit of Excellence on Exercise and Health (UCEES

Tuberculosis treatment adherence and fatality in Spain

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The adherence to long tuberculosis (TB) treatment is a key factor in TB control programs. Always some patients abandon the treatment or die. The objective of this study is to identify factors associated with defaulting from or dying during antituberculosis treatment.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Prospective study of a large cohort of TB cases diagnosed during 2006-2007 by 61 members of the Spanish Society of Pneumology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR). Predictive factors of completion outcome (cured plus completed treatment vs. defaulters plus lost to follow-up) and fatality (died <it>vs. </it>the rest of patients) were based on logistic regression, calculating odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 1490 patients included, 29.7% were foreign-born. The treatment outcomes were: cured 792 (53.2%), completed treatment 540 (36.2%), failure 2 (0.1%), transfer-out 33 (2.2%), default 27 (1.8%), death 27 (1.8%), lost to follow-up 65 (4.4%), other 4 (0.3%). Completion outcome reached 93.5% and poor adherence was associated with: being an immigrant (OR = 2.03; CI:1.06-3.88), living alone (OR = 2.35; CI:1.05-5.26), residents of confined institutions (OR = 4.79; CI:1.74-13.14), previous treatment (OR = 2.93; CI:1.44-5.98), being an injecting drug user (IDU) (OR = 9.51; CI:2.70-33.47) and treatment comprehension difficulties (OR = 2.93; CI:1.44-5.98). Case fatality was 1.8% and it was associated with the following variables: age 50 or over (OR = 10.88; CI:1.12-105.01), retired (OR = 12.26;CI:1.74-86.04), HIV-infected (OR = 9.93; CI:1.48-66.34), comprehension difficulties (OR = 4.07; CI:1.24-13.29), IDU (OR = 23.59; CI:2.46-225.99) and Directly Observed Therapy (DOT) (OR = 3.54; CI:1.07-11.77).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Immigrants, those living alone, residents of confined institutions, patients treated previously, those with treatment comprehension difficulties, and IDU patients have poor adherence and should be targeted for DOT. To reduce fatality rates, stricter monitoring is required for patients who are retired, HIV-infected, IDU, and those with treatment comprehension difficulties.</p

Routing, Modulation and Spectrum Assignment Algorithm Using Multi-Path Routing and Best-Fit

Producción CientíficaElastic Optical Networks (EONs) are a promising optical technology to deal with the ever-increasing traffic and the vast number of connected devices of the next generation of the Internet, associated to paradigms like the Internet of Things (IoT), the Tactile Internet or the Industry 4.0, to name just a few. In this kind of optical network, each optical circuit or lightpath is provisioned by means of superchannels of variable bandwidth. In this manner, only the necessary bandwidth to accommodate the demand is allocated, improving the spectrum usage. When establishing a connection, the EON control layer determines the modulation format to be used and allocates a portion of the spectrum in a sequence of fibers from the source to the destination node providing the user-demanded bandwidth. This is known as the routing, modulation level and spectrum assignment (RMSA) problem. In this work, we firstly review the most important contributions in that area, and then, we propose a novel RMSA algorithm, multi-path best-fit (MP-BF), which uses a split spectrum multi-path strategy together with a spectrum assignment technique (best-fit), and which jointly exploit the flexibility of EONs. A simulation study has been conducted comparing the performance of EONs when using MP-BF with other proposals from the literature. The results of this study show that, by using MP-BF, the network can increase its performance in terms of lightpath request blocking ratio and supported traffic load, without affecting the energy per bit or the computation time required to find a solution

Concurrent validity of supraclavicular skin temperature measured with iButtons and infrared thermography as a surrogate marker of brown adipose tissue

We are grateful to Ms. Carmen Sainz-Quinn for assistance with the English language. We are grateful to Alberto Quesada-Aranda for helping with the development of the Temperatus software (Free trial in http://profth.ugr.es/temperatus).This study is part of a Ph.D. Thesis conducted in the Biomedicine Doctoral Studies of the University of Granada, Spain.Brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenic activity is commonly assessed with a positron emission tomography with computed tomography scan (PET/CT). This technique has several limitations and alternative techniques are needed. Supraclavicular skin temperature measured with iButtons and infrared thermography (IRT) has been proposed as an indirect marker of BAT activity. We studied the concurrent validity of skin temperature measured with iButtons vs. IRT and the association of supraclavicular skin temperature measured with iButtons and IRT with BAT. We measured skin temperature upon a shivering threshold test with iButtons and IRT in 6 different regions in 12 participants (n = 2 men). On a separate day, we determined supraclavicular skin temperature with an iButton and IRT after 2 h of a personalized cooling protocol. Thereafter, we quantified BAT volume and activity by PET/CT. We observed that the absolute differences between the devices were statistically different from 0 (all P < 0.05) after the shivering threshold test. Moreover, we did not find any association between supraclavicular skin temperature measured with iButtons or IRT and BAT 18F-FDG activity (r = −0.213; P = 0.530 and r = −0.079; P = 0.817). However, we observed a negative association of supraclavicular skin temperature measured by IRT with BAT 18F-FDG volume (r = −0.764; P = 0.006), but not with supraclavicular skin temperature measured with iButtons (r = −0.546; P = 0.082). In light of these results, we concluded that the measurement of skin temperature obtained by iButtons and IRT are not comparable. Furthermore, it seems that supraclavicular skin temperature is not associated with BAT 18F-FDG activity, but it appears to be negatively associated with BAT 18F-FDG volume in the case of IRT.This study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness via the Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria del Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI13/01393), Retos de la Sociedad (DEP2016-79512-R), PTA 12264-I, and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Spanish Ministry of Education (FPU 13/04365, FPU14/04172, FPU15/05337, and FPU15/04059), by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation-MINECO (RYC-2014-16938), the Fundación Iberoamericana de Nutrición (FINUT), the Redes Temáticas de Investigación Cooperativa RETIC (Red SAMID RD16/0022), the AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation, the University of Granada Plan Propio de Investigación 2016 -Excellence actions: Unit of Excellence on Exercise and Health (UCEES) - and Plan Propio de Investigación 2018 - Programa Contratos-Puente, and the Junta de Andalucía, Consejería de Conocimiento, Investigación y Universidades (ERDF, ref. SOMM17/6107/UGR). This study is part of a Ph.D

Tuberculine reaction measured by infrared thermography

Setting: The infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis gives a delayed immune response, measured by the tuberculine skin test. We present a new technique for evaluation based on automatic detection and measurement of skin temperature due to infrared emission.; Design: 34 subjects (46.8+/-16.9 years) (12/22, M/F) with suspected tuberculosis disease were examined with an IR thermal camera, 48h after tuberculin skin injection.; Results: In 20 subjects, IR analysis was positive for tuberculine test. Mean temperature of injection area was higher, around 1 degrees C, for the positive group (36.2+/-1.1 degrees C positive group; 35.1+/-1.6 degrees C negative group, p < 0.02 T test for unpaired groups).; Conclusion: IR image analysis achieves similar estimation of tuberculin reaction as the visual evaluation, based on higher temperature due to increased heat radiation from the skin lesion.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Deciphering the constrained total energy expenditure model in humans by associating accelerometer‑measured physical activity from wrist and hip

Thanks to Dr. Herman Pontzer (Duke University) for his valuable feedback. We also thank the following agencies for their funding: Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico (11180361 to R.F.-V.); Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport (FPU15/04059 to J.M.A.A.; FPU15/02645 to J.H.M.; FPU14/04172 to F.J.A.-G.); University of Granada (Plan Propio de Investigación 2019 [Programa Contratos-Puente] to F.J.A.-G.; Plan Propio de Investigación 2016 [Excellence actions: Unit of Excellence on Exercise and Health UCEES]); Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (ACTIBATE study; ACTIVEBRAINS study); Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria del Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI13/01393 to ACTIBATE study); Junta de Andalucía, Consejería de Conocimiento, Investigación y Universidades and European Regional Development Funds (FEDER: ref. SOMM17/6107/UGR to ACTIBATE study); Redes Temáticas de Investigación Cooperativa RETIC (Red SAMID RD16/0022 to ACTIBATE study); EXERNET Research Network on Exercise and Health in Special Populations (DEP2005-00046/ACTI); Fundación Iberoamericana de Nutrición (ACTIBATE study); AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation (ACTIBATE study); PTA 12264-I to FIT-AGEING study.Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi. org/10.1038/s41598-021-91750-x.The constrained total energy expenditure (TEE) model posits that progressive increases in physical activity (PA) lead to increases in TEE; but after certain PA threshold, TEE plateaus. Then, a compensatory reduction in the expenditure of non-essential activities constrains the TEE. We hypothesized that high PA levels as locomotion associate with a compensatory attenuation in arm movements. We included 209 adults (64% females, mean [SD] age 32.1 [15.0] years) and 105 children (40% females, age 10.0 [1.1] years). Subjects wore, simultaneously, one accelerometer in the non-dominant wrist and another in the hip for ≥ 4 days. We analyzed the association between wrist-measured (arm movements plus locomotion) and hip-measured PA (locomotion). We also analyzed how the capacity to dissociate arm movements from locomotion influences total PA. In adults, the association between wrist-measured and hip-measured PA was better described by a quadratic than a linear model (Quadratic-R2 = 0.54 vs. Linear-R2 = 0.52; P = 0.003). Above the 80th percentile of hip-measured PA, wrist-measured PA plateaued. In children, there was no evidence that a quadratic model fitted the association between wrist-measured and hip-measured PA better than a linear model (R2 = 0.58 in both models, P = 0.25). In adults and children, those with the highest capacity to dissociate arm movements from locomotion—i.e. higher arm movements for a given locomotion—reached the highest total PA. We conclude that, in adults, elevated locomotion associates with a compensatory reduction in arm movements (probably non-essential fidgeting) that partially explains the constrained TEE model. Subjects with the lowest arm compensation reach the highest total PA.AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation PTA 12264-IEXERNET Research Network on Exercise and Health in Special Populations DEP2005-00046/ACTIFundación Iberoamericana de NutriciónFondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico 11180361 FONDECYTMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad MINECOInstituto de Salud Carlos III PI13/01393 ISCIIIUniversidad de Granada UGREuropean Regional Development Fund RD16/0022,SOMM17/6107/UGR ERDFConsejería de Conocimiento, Investigación y Universidad, Junta de AndalucíaVicerrectorado de Investigación y Transferencia, Universidad de Granada Health [UCEES]),Plan Propio de Investigación 2016 (Excellence actions: Unit of Excellence on Exercise,Plan Propio de Investigación 2019 (Programa Contratos-Puente

An effective polymeric nanocarrier that allows for active targeting and selective drug delivery in cell coculture systems

In this manuscript, we report the development of a versatile, robust, and stable targeting nanocarrier for active delivery. This nanocarrier is based on bifunctionalized polymeric nanoparticles conjugated to a monoclonal antibody that allows for active targeting of either (i) a fluorophore for tracking or (ii) a drug for monitoring specific cell responses. This nanodevice can efficiently discriminate between cells in coculture based on the expression levels of cell surface receptors. As a proof of concept, we have demonstrated efficient delivery using a broadly established cell surface receptor as the target, the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), which is overexpressed in several types of cancers. Additionally, a second validation of this nanodevice was successfully carried out using another cell surface receptor as the target, the cluster of differentiation 147 (CD147). Our results suggest that this versatile nanocarrier can be expanded to other cell receptors and bioactive cargoes, offering remarkable discrimination efficiency between cells with different expression levels of a specific marker. This work supports the ability of nanoplatforms to boost and improve the progress towards personalized medicine.Health Institute Carlos III (ISCIII) DTS18/00121Junta de Andalucia-FEDER, Ministry of Economy, Knowledge, Companies and University (University of Granada) B-FQM-475-UGR18 PT18-TP-1490 AT17_6096- OTRISpanish State Research Agency RED2018-102469-TFundación Benéfica Anticáncer San Francisco Javier y Santa CándidaSpanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness PTQ-16- 08597Spanish Government FPU 16/0206

Fractal dimension analysis of malignant and benign endobronchial ultrasound nodes

Background: Endobronchial ultrasonography (EBUS) has been applied as a routine procedure for the diagnostic of hiliar and mediastinal nodes. The authors assessed the relationship between the echographic appearance of mediastinal nodes, based on endobronchial ultrasound images, and the likelihood of malignancy.; Methods: The images of twelve malignant and eleven benign nodes were evaluated. A previous processing method was applied to improve the quality of the images and to enhance the details. Texture and morphology parameters analyzed were: the image texture of the echographies and a fractal dimension that expressed the relationship between area and perimeter of the structures that appear in the image, and characterizes the convoluted inner structure of the hiliar and mediastinal nodes.; Results: Processed images showed that relationship between log perimeter and log area of hilar nodes was lineal (i.e. perimeter vs. area follow a power law). Fractal dimension was lower in the malignant nodes compared with non-malignant nodes (1.47(0.09), 1.53(0.10) mean(SD), Mann-Whitney U test p < 0.05)).; Conclusion: Fractal dimension of ultrasonographic images of mediastinal nodes obtained through endobronchial ultrasound differ in malignant nodes from non-malignant. This parameter could differentiate malignat and non-malignat mediastinic and hiliar nodes.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version