Analytical and Numerical Methods for Differential Equations and Applications

This research topic shows the large amount of different types of differential equations, thus it contains a selection of papers with recent advances in subjects as different as delay differential equations, nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs), studied analytically or numerically, or because of their applications, fractional PDEs, and q-differential equations, etc. We would like to thank all the contributors of this issue, and also the referees. They all worked hard to shed some light on these topics for young researchers who would like to investigate some of these areas. Thus, in this research topic, readers can find papers on varying numerical methods and applications

Recovery of early meteorological records from Extremadura region (SW Iberia): The ''CliPastExtrem'' (v1.0) database

In this work, we provide instrumental meteorological data recovered for the Extremadura region (interior SW Iberia), from 1826 to mid-20th century. Meteorological variables such as air temperature, atmospheric pressure, precipitation, wind direction and humidity, among others, were retrieved. In total, more than 750 000 instrumental data in 157 meteorological series belonging to 131 different locations throughout Extremadura were rescued. It must be noted that daily resolution data constitutes 80% of the database. This great effort of digitization and data collection has been carried out with the aim of contributing to a significant expansion of the length of the databases with meteorological information in this region. Therefore, this database will provide a better understanding of climate variability, trends and extreme events of the Extremadura region

Isokinetic trunk flexion–extension protocol to assess trunk muscle strength and endurance: Reliability, learning effect, and sex differences

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and the learning effect of an isokinetic trunk flexion–extension protocol designed to simultaneously assess trunk muscle strength and endurance. In addition, the effect of the participants' sex on the reliability data was examined.MethodsFifty-seven healthy and physically active young men (n = 28) and women (n = 29) performed the isokinetic protocol 5 times, separated by a week between each of the first 4 sessions and by a month between the last 2 sessions. The protocol consisted of performing 4 trials of 15 maximum flexion–extension concentric exertions at 120°/s (range of trunk motion = 50°). The absolute and relative peak torque and total work were calculated to assess trunk flexion and extension strength. In addition, endurance ratio, modified endurance ratio, fatigue final ratio, recovery ratio, and modified recovery ratio variables were used for the assessment of trunk muscle endurance in both directions.ResultsRegarding the absolute reliability, no relevant changes were found between paired-comparison sessions for most strength and endurance variables, except for total work and relative total work variables in the flexion movement in both sexes. In addition, the typical error of the isokinetic variables was lower than 10% in both males and females, and minimum detectable changes ranged from 7%–20%, with a tendency to be higher in females and in endurance variables. The strength variables showed high intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC; >0.74); however, for the endurance variables only the endurance ratio and the modified endurance ratio obtained moderate to high ICC values (0.57 < ICC < 0.82). In addition, the analysis of the variance reported no significant differences between consecutive pairs of sessions for most variables in both sexes.ConclusionOverall, these findings provide clinicians, trainers, and researchers with a 10-min single-session protocol to perform a reliable muscle strength and endurance evaluation of trunk flexor and extensor muscles, all within the same protocol

Progressions of core stabilization exercises based on postural control challenge assessment

Purpose The intensity progression of core stabilization exercises (CSEs) is usually based on personal criteria rather than on objective parameters. To develop exercise progressions for four of the most common CSEs based on the postural control challenge imposed on the participants, and to analyze the effect of participants’ sex and postural control level on these progressions. Methods Seventy-six males and females performed five variations of front bridge, back bridge, side bridge and bird-dog exercises on two force platforms. The mean velocity of the center of pressure displacement was calculated to assess exercise intensity through the measurement of the participants’ body sway (PBS). Results In general, long bridges produced higher PBS than short bridges, bridging with single leg support produced higher PBS than bridging with double leg support and bridging on a hemisphere ball produced higher PBS than bridging on the floor. The most difficult bridging variations were those performed on a hemisphere ball with single leg support. Regarding the bird-dog, two-point positions produced higher PBS than three-point positions and the positions performed on a hemisphere ball produced higher PBS than those performed on the floor. Conclusion The CSE progressions obtained by males and females were very similar. However, the participants with high trunk control showed less significant differences between exercise variations than the participants with low trunk control, which shows the need to individualize the progressions according to the participants’ training level. Overall, this study provides useful information to guide the prescription of CSE progressions in young physically active individuals

AVISPA: a web tool for the prediction and analysis of alternative splicing

Transcriptome complexity and its relation to numerous diseases underpins the need to predict in silico splice variants and the regulatory elements that affect them. Building upon our recently described splicing code, we developed AVISPA, a Galaxy-based web tool for splicing prediction and analysis. Given an exon and its proximal sequence, the tool predicts whether the exon is alternatively spliced, displays tissue-dependent splicing patterns, and whether it has associated regulatory elements. We assess AVISPA's accuracy on an independent dataset of tissue-dependent exons, and illustrate how the tool can be applied to analyze a gene of interest. AVISPA is available at http://avispa.biociphers.org

Association of common genetic variants with risperidone adverse events in a Spanish schizophrenic population

Risperidone non-compliance is often high due to undesirable side effects, whose development is in part genetically determined. Studies with genetic variants involved in the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of risperidone have yielded inconsistent results. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the putative association of genetic markers with the occurrence of four frequently observed adverse events secondary to risperidone treatment: sleepiness, weight gain, extrapyramidal symptoms and sexual adverse events. A series of 111 schizophrenia inpatients were genotyped for genetic variants previously associated with or potentially involved in risperidone response. Presence of adverse events was the main variable and potential confounding factors were considered. Allele 16Gly of ADRB2 was significantly associated with a higher risk of sexual adverse events. There were other non-significant trends for DRD3 9Gly and SLC6A4 S alleles. Our results, although preliminary, provide new candidate variants of potential use in risperidone safety prediction

Extracorporeal liver assist device to exchange albumin and remove endotoxin in acute liver failure: Results of a pivotal pre-clinical study

Background & AimsIn acute liver failure, severity of liver injury and clinical progression of disease are in part consequent upon activation of the innate immune system. Endotoxaemia contributes to innate immune system activation and the detoxifying function of albumin, critical to recovery from liver injury, is irreversibly destroyed in acute liver failure. University College London-Liver Dialysis Device is a novel artificial extracorporeal liver assist device, which is used with albumin infusion, to achieve removal and replacement of dysfunctional albumin and reduction in endotoxaemia. We aimed to test the effect of this device on survival in a pig model of acetaminophen-induced acute liver failure.MethodsPigs were randomised to three groups: Acetaminophen plus University College London-Liver Dialysis Device (n=9); Acetaminophen plus Control Device (n=7); and Control plus Control Device (n=4). Device treatment was initiated two h after onset of irreversible acute liver failure.ResultsThe Liver Dialysis Device resulted in 67% reduced risk of death in acetaminophen-induced acute liver failure compared to Control Device (hazard ratio=0.33, p=0.0439). This was associated with 27% decrease in circulating irreversibly oxidised human non-mercaptalbumin-2 throughout treatment (p=0.046); 54% reduction in overall severity of endotoxaemia (p=0.024); delay in development of vasoplegia and acute lung injury; and delay in systemic activation of the TLR4 signalling pathway. Liver Dialysis Device-associated adverse clinical effects were not seen.ConclusionsThe survival benefit and lack of adverse effects would support clinical trials of University College London-Liver Dialysis Device in acute liver failure patients

Systematic evaluation of plasma signaling cascades by functional proteomics approaches: SARS-CoV-2 infection as model

Purpose Acute phase reactants (APRs) play a critical role in inflammation. The difference in their physiological functions or the different dynamic ranges of these proteins in plasma makes it difficult to detect them simultaneously and to use several of these proteins as a tool in clinical practice. Experimental Design A novel multiplex assay has been designed and optimized to carry out a high-throughput and simultaneous screening of APRs, allowing the detection of each of them at the same time and in their corresponding dynamic range. Results Using Sars-CoV-2 infection as a model, it has been possible to profile different patterns of acute phase proteins that vary significantly between healthy and infected patients. In addition, severity profiles (acute respiratory distress syndrome and sepsis) have been established. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance Differential profiles in acute phase proteins can serve as a diagnostic and prognostic tool, among patient stratification. The design of this new platform for their simultaneous detection paves the way for them to be more extensive use in clinical practice.We gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Health Institute Carlos III (ISCIII) for the grants: FIS PI18/00682, FIS PI21/01545 and CB16/12/00400. We also acknowledge Fondos FEDER (EU) and Junta Castilla-León (COVID-19 grant COV20EDU/00187). The Proteomics Unit belongs to ProteoRed, PRB3-ISCIII, supported by grant PT17/0019/0023, of the PE I+D+I 2017–2020, funded by ISCIII and FEDER. This research work was funded by the European Commission -NextGenerationEU, through CSIC's Global Health Platform (PTI Salud Global). This research work was performed in the framework of the Nanomedicine CSIC HUB (ref. 202180E048). AL-V is supported by VIII Centenario-USAL PhD Program. PJ-V is supported by JCYL PhD Program “Nos Impulsa-JCYL” and scholarship JCYL-EDU/601/2020.Peer reviewe

Design and evaluation of a treatment programme for Spanish adolescents with overweight and obesity. The EVASYON Study

Background The prevalence of overweight and obesity (OW/OB) among adolescents worldwide has increased since the 60 s. Spain has reached one of the highest OW/OB prevalence rates among adolescents from European countries. The aim of this methodological paper is to describe the design and evaluation in the EVASYON study (Development, implementation and evaluation of the efficacy of a therapeutic programme for adolescents with OW/OB: integral education on nutrition and physical activity). Methods/Design The EVASYON was planned by a multidisciplinary team to treat OW/OB in Spanish adolescents. The EVASYON is a multi-centre study conducted in 5 hospitals in 5 Spanish cities (Granada, Madrid, Pamplona, Santander and Zaragoza) and two hundred and four OW/OB Spanish adolescents were recruited for this intervention. The treatment was implemented for approximately one-year follow-up. The adolescents were treated in groups of a maximum of 10 subjects; each group had 20 visits during the treatment period in two phases: intensive during the first 2 months (1st to 9th visits), and extensive during the last 11 months (10th to 20th visits). In order to assess the efficacy of the treatment, 8 dimensions were measured: diet; physical activity and fitness; eating behaviour; body composition; haematological profile; metabolic profile; minerals and vitamins; immuno-inflammatory markers. Moreover, genetic polymorphisms were also determined. Discussion The treatment programme developed in the EVASYON study was designed as a national pilot study to be implemented as an effective treatment for adolescents with OW/OB into the Spanish Health Care Service

SUPPA2:fast, accurate, and uncertainty-aware differential splicing analysis across multiple conditions

Supplementary methods. (PDF 315 kb