399 research outputs found
Thyroid-Associated Orbitopathy and Biomarkers: Where We Are and What We Can Hope for the Future.
Thyroid-associated orbitopathy (TAO) is the most common autoimmune disease of the orbit. It occurs more often in patients presenting with hyperthyroidism, characteristic of Graves' disease, but may be associated with hypothyroidism or euthyroidism. The diagnosis of TAO is based on clinical orbital features, radiological criteria, and the potential association with thyroid disease. To date, there is no specific marker of the orbital disease, making the early diagnosis difficult, especially if the orbital involvement precedes the thyroid dysfunction.
The goal of this review is to present the disease and combine the available data in the literature concerning investigation of TAO biomarkers.
Despite the progress done in the understanding of TAO disease, some important pieces are still missing. Typically, for the future, major efforts have to be done in the discovery of new biomarkers, validation of the suspected candidates on multicenter cohorts with standardized methodologies, and establishment of their clinical performances on the specific clinical application fields in order to improve not only the management of the TAO patients but also the therapeutic options and follow-up
Reproductive activity of the tropical arrow squid Doryteuthis pleiaround SĂŁo SebastiĂŁo Island (SE Brazil) based on a 10-year fisheries monitoring
Monthly samples of Doryteuthis plei were obtained from the small-scale hand-jigging fishery aroundSĂŁo SebastiĂŁo Island (24âŠS), Brazil, across seven fishing seasons (NovemberâApril) during the period2002â2012, with the aim of identifying the exploited population patterns with emphasis on thereproductive activity. In order to explore the process of development of reproductive organs, the size-at-maturity, and the spatialâtemporal factors explaining maturation, an analysis of the sex-ratio, maturity,gonado-somatic index (GSI), concentration of spermatophores, biometric relationships, and two GAMLSS(Generalized Additive Model for Location Scale and Shape) was applied. D. plei recruited to local fisheriesat around 161 mm mantle length (ML), males being, on average, 1.6 times larger than females. Femalesappeared more frequently during the first three months of the fishing season while males tended to bemore frequent at the end of the season, confirming the existence of female post-spawning mortality. Thepresence of high proportions of mature squid was found throughout the fishing seasons for both sexes.The size-at-maturity was estimated at 143.3 mm ML in females, and 210 mm ML, in males. Both sta-tistical models indicated robust non-linear correlation between gonad weight, biometric variables, andspatialâtemporal factors (p < 0.001). Ovary weight mostly correlated with accessory glands weight, whiletestis weight correlated with ML. In both sexes, depth was found to be a significant variable explainingmaturation, with higher gonads weight between 15 m and 20 m, and especially in the islandâs South andSoutheastern areas. Statistical models also evidenced a significant peak of gonad weight in February andMarch, for females, and in March, for males. Inter-annual variation showed a peak of gonad weight inthe fishing season 2011â2012. Overall, findings based on long-term monitoring should assist resourcemanagement (e.g. for seasonal, size, and spawning area protection) which seems potentially valuable forlong-term sustainability of local fishing communities
In vitro activities of amphotericin B, terbinafine, and azole drugs against clinical and environmental isolates of apergillus terreus Sensu Stricto
The antifungal susceptibilities of 40 clinical and environmental isolates of A. terreus sensu stricto to amphotericin B, terbinafine, itraconazole, and voriconazole were determined in accordance with CLSI document M38-A2. All isolates had itraconazole and voriconazole MICs lower than epidemiologic cutoff values, and 5% of the isolates had amphotericin B MICs higher than epidemiologic cutoff values. Terbinafine showed the lowest MICs. No significant differences were found when MICs of clinical and environmental isolates were compared.Fil: FernĂĄndez, Mariana Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Instituto de Medicina Regional; ArgentinaFil: Rojas, Florencia Dinorah. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Instituto de Medicina Regional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas; ArgentinaFil: Cattana, Maria Emilia. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Instituto de Medicina Regional; ArgentinaFil: Sosa, Maria de Los Angeles. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Instituto de Medicina Regional; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Instituto de Medicina Regional; ArgentinaFil: Iovannitti, Cristina A.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Oficina de CoordinaciĂłn Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones en MicrobiologĂa y ParasitologĂa MĂ©dica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones en MicrobiologĂa y ParasitologĂa MĂ©dica; ArgentinaFil: Lass Flörl, Cornelia. Medical University Of Innsbruck; AustriaFil: Giusiano, Gustavo Emilio. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Instituto de Medicina Regional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas; Argentin
Evaluation of Cytotoxicity and Genotoxicity of Acacia aroma Leaf Extracts
Acacia aroma, native plant from San Luis, Argentina, is commonly used as antiseptic and for healing of wounds. The present study was conducted to investigate the in vitro cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of hot aqueous extract (HAE) and ethanolic extract (EE) of A. aroma. The cytotoxic activity was assayed by neutral red uptake assay on Vero cell. Cell treatment with a range from 100 to 5000 g/mL of HAE and EE showed that 500 g/mL and 100 g/mL were the maximum noncytotoxic concentrations, respectively. The CC50 was 658 g/mL for EE and 1020 g/mL for HAE. The genotoxicity was tested by the single-cell gel electrophoresis comet assay. The results obtained in the evaluation of DNA cellular damage exposed to varied concentrations of the HAE showed no significant genotoxic effect at range of 1â20 mg/mL. The EE at 20 mg/mL showed moderate genotoxic effect related to the increase of the DNA percentage contained in tail of the comet; DNA was classified in category 2. At concentrations below 5 mg/mL, the results of cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Acacia aroma guarantee the safety at cell and genomic level. However further studies are needed for longer periods including animal models to confirm the findings.Fil: Mattana, Claudia Maricel. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de QuĂmica, BioquĂmica y Farmacia; ArgentinaFil: Cangiano, Maria de Los Angeles. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de QuĂmica, BioquĂmica y Farmacia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas; ArgentinaFil: Alcaraz, MarĂa Luciana. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de QuĂmica, BioquĂmica y Farmacia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas; ArgentinaFil: Sosa, A.. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de QuĂmica, BioquĂmica y Farmacia; ArgentinaFil: Escobar, Franco Matias. Universidad Nacional de RĂo Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas FisicoquĂmicas y Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas; ArgentinaFil: Sabini, C.. Universidad Nacional de RĂo Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas FisicoquĂmicas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Sabini, Liliana Ines. Universidad Nacional de RĂo Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas FisicoquĂmicas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Laciar, Analia Liliana. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de QuĂmica, BioquĂmica y Farmacia; Argentin
Single bend wiring on surfaces
The following problem of rectilinear routing is studied: given pairs of points on a surface and a set of permissible orthogonal paths joining them, whether is it possible to choose a path for each pair avoiding all intersections. We prove that if each pair has one or two possible paths to join it, then the problem is solvable in quadratic time, and otherwise it is NP-complete. From that result, we will obtain that the problem of finding a surface of minimum genus on which the wires can be laid out with only one bend is NP-hard
Audiovisual Tool for understanding Audio concepts for being used in bachelorâs degree programmes
[EN] In the Audio Signal Processing field, there exists difficulties in order to explain different concepts such as, compression, masking, quantization, sampling, among others. Further, most of these concepts require the use of audio laboratories and multiple practical session that must carry out students. Another issue is that there are students that are not able to internalize these concepts straightforwardly and require more practical sessions. In order to address these problems, we have developed an audiovisual tool, designed with Matlab, that can be used for professors and students. This tool allows to analyze, test and apply the audio concepts to real audio signals. The developed tool has been successfully experienced by professors of the audio signal processing field that recommend its use in upcoming academic courses.This research has been partly funded by TIN2014-53495-R, BES-2013-063783, BES-2013-
065034, TEC2013-47141-C4-4-R and FPU AP-2012/71274.Antoñanzas Manuel, C.; GutiĂ©rrez Parera, P.; Simarro Haro, MDLA.; Belloch, JA. (2016). Audiovisual Tool for understanding Audio concepts for being used in bachelorâs degree programmes. En 2nd. International conference on higher education advances (HEAD'16). Editorial Universitat PolitĂšcnica de ValĂšncia. 495-502. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD16.2016.2923OCS49550
Antimicrobial Activity against Escherichia coli of Cu-Ni Nanoalloy and Combination of Ag Nanoparticles, Obtained by Different Method
Escherichia coli, is a pathogenic bacterium that causes serious infections, whose therapeutic treatment is threatened by the emergence of multiple resistance to conventional antibiotics. In recent years, metal nanoparticles (NPs) have been studied for their antimicrobial capacity and their possible applications as an alternative to antibiotics against different pathogens. NPs also vary in synthesis techniques; either by chemical, physical and biological methods. The objective of this work was to study the possible antimicrobial capacity of Cu-Ni nanoalloys obtained by a method called citrate-gel. The antimicrobial capacity of the NPs mentioned above was evaluated in vitro by the agar diffusion method. Most of the NPs evaluated showed antibacterial activity against the strain of E. coli studied. When combining chemical and biological NP, synergistic effects are observed with an increase in antibacterial activity in some cases. We can conclude that NPs derived from chemical and biological synthesis could be used as antimicrobials against E. coli and when these are combined, antibacterial effects increase. In the future, these applications of nanomaterials could be used as an alternative to the use of antibiotics against infections that have limited treatmentsFil: Fernandez, Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Investigaciones en TecnologĂa QuĂmica. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de QuĂmica, BioquĂmica y Farmacia. Instituto de Investigaciones en TecnologĂa QuĂmica; ArgentinaFil: Illanez, Yamila A.. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de IngenierĂa y Ciencias Agropecuarias; ArgentinaFil: Fernandez, GastĂłn. Universidad Catolica de Cuyo - Sede San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Esquivel, Marcelo Ricardo Oscar. ComisiĂłn Nacional de EnergĂa AtĂłmica; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Comahue; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas; ArgentinaFil: Cangiano, Maria de Los Angeles. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Investigaciones en TecnologĂa QuĂmica. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de QuĂmica, BioquĂmica y Farmacia. Instituto de Investigaciones en TecnologĂa QuĂmica; Argentin
The tomato terpene synthase gene family
Compounds of the terpenoid class play numerous roles in the interactions of plants with their environment, such as attracting pollinators and defending the plant against pests. We show here that the genome of cultivated tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) contains 44 terpene synthase (TPS) genes, including 29 that are functional or potentially functional. Of these 29 TPS genes, 26 were expressed in at least some organs or tissues of the plant. The enzymatic functions of eight of the TPS proteins were previously reported, and here we report the specific in vitro catalytic activity of 10 additional tomato terpene synthases. Many of the tomato TPS genes are found in clusters, notably on chromosomes 1, 2, 6, 8, and 10. All TPS family clades previously identified in angiosperms are also present in tomato. The largest clade of functional TPS genes found in tomato, with 12 members, is the TPS-a clade, and it appears to encode only sesquiterpene synthases, one of which is localized to the mitochondria, while the rest are likely cytosolic. A few additional sesquiterpene synthases are encoded by TPS-b clade genes. Some of the tomato sesquiterpene synthases use z,z-farnesyl diphosphate in vitro as well, or more efficiently than, the e,e-farnesyl diphosphate substrate. Genes encoding monoterpene synthases are also prevalent, and they fall into three clades: TPS-b, TPS-g, and TPS-e/f. With the exception of two enzymes involved in the synthesis of ent-kaurene, the precursor of gibberellins, no other tomato TPS genes could be demonstrated to encode diterpene synthases so far
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