The rapid and aggressive spread of artemisinin-resistant Plasmodium falciparum carrying the C580Y mutation in the kelch13 gene is a growing threat to malaria elimination in Southeast Asia, but there ...is no evidence of their spread to other regions. We conducted cross-sectional surveys in 2016 and 2017 at two clinics in Wewak, Papua New Guinea (PNG) where we identified three infections caused by C580Y mutants among 239 genotyped clinical samples. One of these mutants exhibited the highest survival rate (6.8%) among all parasites surveyed in ring-stage survival assays (RSA) for artemisinin. Analyses of kelch13 flanking regions, and comparisons of deep sequencing data from 389 clinical samples from PNG, Indonesian Papua and Western Cambodia, suggested an independent origin of the Wewak C580Y mutation, showing that the mutants possess several distinctive genetic features. Identity by descent (IBD) showed that multiple portions of the mutants' genomes share a common origin with parasites found in Indonesian Papua, comprising several mutations within genes previously associated with drug resistance, such as mdr1, ferredoxin, atg18 and pnp. These findings suggest that a P. falciparum lineage circulating on the island of New Guinea has gradually acquired a complex ensemble of variants, including kelch13 C580Y, which have affected the parasites' drug sensitivity. This worrying development reinforces the need for increased surveillance of the evolving parasite populations on the island, to contain the spread of resistance.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
This paper investigates whether the use of participatory budgeting in Brazilian municipalities during 1990–2004 affected the pattern of municipal expenditures and had any impact on living conditions. ...It shows that municipalities using participatory budgeting favored an allocation of public expenditures that closely matched popular preferences and channeled a larger fraction of their budgets to investments in sanitation and health services. This change is accompanied by a reduction in infant mortality rates. This suggests that promoting a more direct interaction between service users and elected officials in budgetary policy can affect both how local resources are spent and living standard outcomes.
The main objective of this paper is to start from the concept of fake news applied, in this case, not to journalistic information, but to the field of companies to determine how information and ...institutional communication can be distorted, and even attacked, by the dissemination of unverified (or malicious) information through the enormous dissemination provided by new technologies derived from the Internet, mainly social networks. This virality brought about by the digitalization of information and data can lead to truly damaging discredit for the trust of organizations among their different audiences. Precisely, the relational perspective (Grunig & Hung-Baesecke, 2015; Ledingham, 2015) maintains that the nature of public relations lies in its ability to manage relationships between an organization and its public of interest or stakeholders (Grunig, 2009) through through a strategically planned process (Otero and Pulido-Polo, 2018; Almiron & Xifra, 2019; Page & Parnel, 2019; Smith, 2017) capable of placing before public opinion (Greenhill, 2020) the excellence of organizational behavior. The purpose of this process is none other than to generate trust in the public, but its main obstacle, since the origin of public relations, has been public misinformation.To achieve the main objective of this paper, an exploratory methodological design is carried out, of a qualitative nature, in two phases: data collection and analysis. For the collection of data, the techniques of direct observation, participant observation and the use of data from secondary sources, eminently bibliographical, are used. To the review of the consulted sources, a systematic search of the terms is added: 'fake news', 'fake news + company/organization', 'corporate disinformation', 'disinformation + company/organization' (in English, Spanish and Portuguese) in the scientific databases Mendeley and Google Scholar. For the analysis, carried out between April 1, 2021 and March 31, 2022 by the undersigned researchers, a data matrix was created in Excel and the Atlas.ti software, version 21.0.8, was used. , from NK Qualitas. Finally, a total population of 239,700 files is obtained which, based on the data systematization criterion with a representative sample, represents a study corpus of n=23,970. The results show that almost 60% of the articles are indexed in the Journal Citation Report or Scopus databases, are concentrated in the areas "Information and Documentation", "Social Sciences" or "Miscellaneous" and revolve around the politics (almost 60%), “Economy” (19%), “Diseases and public health” (16%) and “Art, heritage and culture” (3%). Likewise, the most mentioned concepts are “Disinformation + fake news” (73%), “fact-checking” (13%) and “deepfakes” (8%). Interestingly, the percentages have been similar (around 2%) in the cases of the terms not searched for but found “legislation”, “media literacy” or “educommunication” and “corporate misinformation”. The conclusions show that there is disinformation whenever there is an attempt to manipulate, confuse or deceive with information of doubtful, misleading or false origin; that the concept of corporate disinformation is still to be developed; that, indeed, the dissemination of fake news affects the public perception of the organizations and that the use of artificial intelligence is revealed as an important tool for the development of new mechanisms for detecting fake news.
This research study examines the attitudes of Portuguese higher education students regarding compulsory digital and distance learning university courses during the second semester of the academic ...year 2019–2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The methodology was quantitative, being the undergraduate and postgraduate students surveyed to find their perceptions about distance and online education in Portugal. The findings of the study highlighted the relationship between distance and online learning. The key concern of the respondents is related to the formal and contextual dimensions of the online class regime. The values examined, taken as a whole, allow us to conclude that with this teaching regime, in terms of awareness, there is acceptance and benefit. The sense of ambiguity in which this transformation took place, as well as the climate surrounding this phase, are worth noting. The teaching and evaluation methodologies used have been embraced and show a very wide range of choices on the part of the teaching teams and the students’ various interests, just as in the teaching regime of the classroom. The fact that students feel the need for face-to-face classes, however, is of great importance for practical and laboratory classes. This reality, which is a challenge to face in the future, is hard to overcome.
Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease triggered by dietary gluten in genetically susceptible individuals that primarily affects the small intestinal mucosa. The sole treatment is a gluten-free diet ...that places a social and economic burden on patients and fails, in some, to lead to symptomatic or mucosal healing. Thus, an alternative treatment has long been sought after. Clinical studies on celiac disease have shown an association between the presence of certain microbes and disease outcomes. However, the mechanisms that underlie the effects of microbes in celiac disease remain unclear. Recent studies have employed disease models that have provided insights into disease mechanisms possibly mediated by bacteria in celiac disease. Here, we have reviewed the bacteria and related mechanisms identified so far that might protect from or incite the development of celiac disease. Evidence indicates bacteria play a role in celiac disease and it is worth continuing to explore this, particularly since few studies, to the best of our knowledge, have focused on establishing a mechanistic link between bacteria and celiac disease. Uncovering host-microbe interactions and their influence on host responses to gluten may enable the discovery of pathogenic targets and development of new therapeutic or preventive approaches.
Purpose
Most MR spectroscopy (MRS) pulse sequences rely on broadband excitation with water saturation and typically focus on upfield signals. By contrast, the downfield spectrum, which contains many ...potentially useful resonances, is typically not targeted because conventional water‐suppressed techniques indirectly saturate the labile protons through exchange. Relaxation‐enhanced MRS (RE‐MRS) uses frequency‐selective excitation while actively avoiding bulk water perturbation, thereby enabling high‐quality downfield spectroscopy. However, RE‐MRS typically requires very long (typically >40 ms) echo times (TEs) due to its localization module, which inevitably decreases sensitivity and filters shorter T2 components. Here, we overcome this limitation by combining RE‐MRS and image selected in vivo spectroscopy (ISIS) localization, abbreviated iRE‐MRS, which in turn allows very short TEs (5 ms using our hardware).
Methods
Experiments were performed in vitro for validation as well as and in in vivo rat brains at 9.4T.
Results
The new iRE‐MRS methodology was validated in phantoms where good performance was noted. When the downfield spectrum was investigated at short TEs in in vivo rat brains, iRE‐MRS provided very high sensitivity; the ensuing downfield spectra encompassed numerous broad peaks, as well as a broad baseline. All downfield spectral peaks were highly attenuated by increasing TEs as well as by applying water saturation, although to different extent. The signal ratios also varied between TEs, suggesting that exchange rates are different among the downfield signals.
Conclusions
Short‐TE iRE 1H downfield MRS opens new directions in the investigation of in vivo downfield metabolites and their role on healthy and disease processes.
The interaction between peptides and biological membranes is of fundamental importance in the mechanism of numerous membrane-mediated cellular processes, including antimicrobial peptide action, ...hormone-receptor interactions, drug bioavailability across the blood-brain barrier, and viral fusion processes ....
Purpose
Enhanced cell proliferation in tumors can be associated with altered metabolic profiles and dramatic microenvironmental changes. Downfield magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) has received ...increasing attention due to its ability to report on labile resonances of molecules not easily detected in upfield 1H MRS. Image‐selected‐in‐vivo‐spectroscopy‐relaxation enhanced MRS (iRE‐MRS) was recently introduced for acquiring short echo‐time (TE) spectra. Here, iRE‐MRS was used to investigate in‐vivo downfield spectra in glioma‐bearing mice.
Methods
Experiments were performed in vivo in an immunocompetent glioma mouse model at 9.4 T using a cryogenic coil. iRE‐MRS spectra were acquired in N = 6 glioma‐bearing mice (voxel size = 2.23 mm3) and N = 6 control mice. Spectra were modeled by a sum of Lorentzian peaks simulating known downfield resonances, and differences between controls and tumors were quantified using relative peak areas.
Results
Short TE tumor spectra exhibited large qualitative differences compared to control spectra. Most peaks appeared modulated, with strong attenuation of NAA (∼7.82, 7.86 ppm) and changes in relative peak areas between 6.75 and 8.49 ppm. Peak areas tended to be smaller for DF6.83, DF7.60, DF8.18 and NAA; and larger for DF7.95 and DF8.24. Differences were also detected in signals resonating above 8.5 ppm, assumed to arise from NAD+.
Conclusions
In‐vivo downfield 1H iRE‐MRS of mouse glioma revealed differences between controls and tumor bearing mice, including in metabolites which are not easily detectable in the more commonly investigated upfield spectrum. These findings motivate future downfield MRS investigations exploring pH and exchange contributions to these differences.
The main objective of this investigation is to study the relationship between compulsive smartphone use and burnout, and the potential mediating effect of negative work−family interaction and ...loneliness in this relationship. An online questionnaire was applied to a sample of 228 Portuguese workers, from various sectors, aged between 19 and 60 years (mean = 32.32); (standard deviation = 9.25), mostly female (64.5%; n = 154). The data were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics. The main results show that the compulsive use of the smartphone is positively and expressively related (β = 0.258; p < 0.001) to burnout, with compulsive users reporting more symptoms of burnout. In addition, this study shows the mediating power of negative work−family interaction and loneliness, in the relationship between compulsive smartphone use and burnout, with this effect being positive and significant (B = 0.072; 95% CI 0.026; 0.145; B = 0.068; 95% CI 0.008; 0.141). These results highlight the need for individuals and organizations to use smartphones with caution, as well as reinforce that companies must develop a way to prevent and treat possible risk factors associated with this phenomenon.
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