An intensive isolation program carried out in three replicated composting piles allowed the identification of the resident and transient components of the composting microbiome. More than 4000 ...bacterial strains were isolated, enzymatically characterized and identified by partial sequencing of their 16S rRNA gene. While microorganisms isolated under mesophilic conditions were prominent throughout the process, thermophilic stages gathered the highest total counts and spore-forming bacteria prevailed at the bio-oxidative phase of composting. Enzymatic capabilities related to the degradation of polymeric materials were exhibited by most of the isolates and as a result of these activities, more soluble compounds could be made available to the entire composting microbiota. A high proportion of isolates showed to be thermotolerant as they were detected at mesophilic and thermophilic phases. Isolated strains belonged to 187 bacterial species. Biodiversity was greater at the central stages of composting and mesophilic, thermophilic and cooling phases shared 50% of species.
Interrupted time series (ITS) is a powerful and increasingly popular design for evaluating public health and health service interventions. The design involves analyzing trends in the outcome of ...interest and estimating the change in trend following an intervention relative to the counterfactual (the expected ongoing trend if the intervention had not occurred). There are two key components to modeling this effect: first, defining the counterfactual; second, defining the type of effect that the intervention is expected to have on the outcome, known as the impact model. The counterfactual is defined by extrapolating the underlying trends observed before the intervention to the postintervention period. In doing this, authors must consider the preintervention period that will be included, any time-varying confounders, whether trends may vary within different subgroups of the population and whether trends are linear or nonlinear. Defining the impact model involves specifying the parameters that model the intervention, including for instance whether to allow for an abrupt level change or a gradual slope change, whether to allow for a lag before any effect on the outcome, whether to allow a transition period during which the intervention is being implemented, and whether a ceiling or floor effect might be expected. Inappropriate model specification can bias the results of an ITS analysis and using a model that is not closely tailored to the intervention or testing multiple models increases the risk of false positives being detected. It is important that authors use substantive knowledge to customize their ITS model a priori to the intervention and outcome under study. Where there is uncertainty in model specification, authors should consider using separate data sources to define the intervention, running limited sensitivity analyses or undertaking initial exploratory studies.
Hybrid ternary blends comprising two polymers and one mineral (nano)filler are increasingly studied because they are starting to be widely used to respond to industrial issues. The objective of this ...review is to gather information on these particular systems. Concerning first thermodynamic effects of fillers on the phase separation of an immiscible polymer blend, Flory–Huggins theory demonstrate stabilization. This theory was particularly taken up and developed for the case of two polymers and one filler by Lipatov and Nesterov in the 90s. More recently, Ginzburg generalized this theory to the case of unfavorable enthalpic interactions between a particle and the two polymers. They showed that the amount of particles had to attain a certain threshold to stabilize the system and the lower the particle radius, the higher the stable zone area. Generally speaking, all the phenomena regarding the morphology of polymer blends are governed by thermodynamics and/or kinetic effects, as well as the localization of nanoparticles. The main discussed thermodynamically controlling parameter of the localization is the wetting parameter ωAB. However, because of the viscosity of the system, the equilibrium dictated by ωAB may never be reached. Hence, concerning the kinetic effects, the final localization of fillers in a polymer pair is guided by the sequence of mixing of the components, the viscosity ratio, the composition, the temperature, the shear rate and the time of mixing. When the particles are placed at the interface between two polymers, coalescence can be suppressed or/and interfacial tension can be reduced. In that case, particles are known to play the role of a compatibilizer. In a ternary system, (i) the shape of the particle (spheres, rods or “onions-shape”), (ii) the particle radius (Rp) versus the radius of gyration of the polymers (Rg) and (iii) the surface chemistry of the particles affect the final localization of the particles (thus, the compatibilizing effect) and the final properties of the material, such as mechanical, conductive, magnetic and thermal properties. This review details recent works for which those four above mentioned properties are improved by incorporating different kind of fillers in polymer blends.
There is increasing interest in the influence of place on health, and the need to distinguish between environmental and individual level factors. For environmental-level factors, current evidence ...tends to show associations through cross-sectional and uncontrolled longitudinal analyses rather than through more robust study designs that can provide stronger causal evidence. We restricted this systematic review to randomised (or cluster) randomised controlled trials and controlled before-and-after studies of changes to the built environment. Date of search was December 2016. We identified 14 studies. No evidence was found of an effect on mental health from ‘urban regeneration’ and ‘improving green infrastructure’ studies. Beneficial effects on quality-of-life outcomes from ‘improving green infrastructure’ were found in two studies. One ‘improving green infrastructure’ study reported an improvement in social isolation. Risk-of-bias assessment indicated robust data from only four studies. Overall, evidence for the impact of built environment interventions on mental health and quality-of-life is weak. Future research requires more robust study designs and interdisciplinary research involving public health, planning and urban design experts.
•Comprehensive systematic review of built environment interventions & mental health.•Weak evidence for the impact of built environment interventions on mental health.•Guidance on reducing risk of bias for these studies is provided.•Strategies, using innovative methods, are needed to improve evidence in this field.
Background
In staged liver resections, associating liver partition and portal ligation for staged hepatectomy (ALPPS) achieves sufficient hypertrophy of the future liver remnant (FLR) in 7 days. This ...is based on portal vein ligation and transection, and on occlusion of intrahepatic collaterals. This article presents a new surgical technique for achieving rapid hypertrophy of the FLR, which also involves adding intrahepatic collateral occlusion to portal vein transection.
Methods
Patients scheduled for two‐stage liver resection for primary or secondary liver tumours, in whom the FLR was considered too small, were enrolled prospectively. In the first stage, a tourniquet was placed around the parenchymal transection line, and the right portal vein was ligated and cut (associating liver tourniquet and portal ligation for staged hepatectomy, ALTPS). The tourniquet was placed on the umbilical ligament if a staged right trisectionectomy was planned, and on Cantlie's line for staged right hepatectomy.
Results
From September 2011, 22 ALTPS procedures were carried out (right trisectionectomy in 15, right hepatectomy in 7). Median FLR at 7 days increased from 410 to 700 ml (median increase 61 (range 33–189) per cent). The median duration of the first stage was 125 min and no patient received a blood transfusion. The median duration of the second stage was 150 min and five patients required a blood transfusion. Fourteen patients had complications, most frequently infected collections, and five patients developed postoperative liver failure. Two patients died.
Conclusion
The ALTPS technique achieved adequate hypertrophy of the FLR after 7 days. It may provide a less aggressive modification of the ALPPS procedure.
Simplification of the ALPPS procedure
Gentamicin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic widely used against infections by Gram-negative microorganisms. Nephrotoxicity is the main limitation to its therapeutic efficacy. Gentamicin nephrotoxicity ...occurs in 10-20% of therapeutic regimes. A central aspect of gentamicin nephrotoxicity is its tubular effect, which may range from a mere loss of the brush border in epithelial cells to an overt tubular necrosis. Tubular cytotoxicity is the consequence of many interconnected actions, triggered by drug accumulation in epithelial tubular cells. Accumulation results from the presence of the endocytic receptor complex formed by megalin and cubulin, which transports proteins and organic cations inside the cells. Gentamicin then accesses and accumulates in the endosomal compartment, the Golgi and endoplasmic reticulum (ER), causes ER stress, and unleashes the unfolded protein response. An excessive concentration of the drug over an undetermined threshold destabilizes intracellular membranes and the drug redistributes through the cytosol. It then acts on mitochondria to unleash the intrinsic pathway of apoptosis. In addition, lysosomal cathepsins lose confinement and, depending on their new cytosolic concentration, they contribute to the activation of apoptosis or produce a massive proteolysis. However, other effects of gentamicin have also been linked to cell death, such as phospholipidosis, oxidative stress, extracellular calcium-sensing receptor stimulation, and energetic catastrophe. Besides, indirect effects of gentamicin, such as reduced renal blood flow and inflammation, may also contribute or amplify its cytotoxicity. The purpose of this review was to critically integrate all these effects and discuss their relative contribution to tubular cell death.
Apoptotic cell death inhibits oncogenesis at multiple stages, ranging from transformation to metastasis. Consequently, in order for cancer to develop and progress, apoptosis must be inhibited. Cell ...death also plays major roles in cancer treatment, serving as the main effector function of many anti-cancer therapies. In this review, we discuss the role of apoptosis in the development and treatment of cancer. Specifically, we focus upon the mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis-the most commonly deregulated form of cell death in cancer. In this process, mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilisation or MOMP represents the defining event that irrevocably commits a cell to die. We provide an overview of how this pathway is regulated by BCL-2 family proteins and describe ways in which cancer cells can block it. Finally, we discuss exciting new approaches aimed at specifically inducing mitochondrial apoptosis in cancer cells, outlining their potential pitfalls, while highlighting their considerable therapeutic promise.
The Little Ice Age in Iberian mountains Oliva, M.; Ruiz-Fernández, J.; Barriendos, M. ...
Earth-science reviews,
February 2018, 2018-02-00, Letnik:
177
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The Little Ice Age (LIA) is known as one of the coldest stages of the Holocene. Most records from the Northern Hemisphere show evidence of significantly colder conditions during the LIA, which in ...some cases had substantial socio-economic consequences. In this study we investigated the magnitude and timing of climate variability during the LIA in the mountains of the Iberian Peninsula, based on a wide range of natural records (including from glacial, periglacial, and lacustrine/peatland areas; fluvial/alluvial deposits; speleothems; and tree rings), historical documents, and early instrument data. The onset of the LIA commenced in approximately CE1300, and cold conditions with alternating moisture regimes persisted until approximately CE1850; the environmental responses ranged from rapid (e.g. tree rings) to delayed (e.g. glaciers). The colder climate of the LIA was accompanied by severe droughts, floods, and cold/heat waves that showed significant spatio-temporal variation across the Iberian mountains. Several phases within the LIA have been detected, including (a) 1300–1480: increasing cooling with moderate climate oscillations; (b) 1480–1570: relatively warmer conditions; (c) 1570–1620: gradual cooling; (d) 1620–1715: coldest climate period of the LIA, particularly during the Maunder Minimum, with temperatures approximately 2°C below those at present; (e) 1715–1760: warmer temperatures and a low frequency of extreme events; (f) 1760–1800: climate deterioration and more climate extremes (i.e. cold and heat waves, floods and droughts); (g) 1800–1850: highly variable climate conditions alternating with stability (1800–1815), extreme events (1815–1835), and a slight trend of warming associated with intense hydrometeorological events (1835–1850); (h) since 1850: a gradual staggered increase in temperature of approximately 1°C. Post-LIA warming has led to substantial changes in geo-ecological dynamics, mainly through shrinking of the spatial domain affected by cold climate processes.
In this work, a synchronization scheme for networks of complex systems is presented. The proposed synchronization scheme uses a control law obtained with some definitions from graph theory and ...solving the Model-Matching Problem for complex networks. In particular, Rössler, Chen, Lorenz and Lü chaotic systems are used as complex chaotic systems into complex networks. Particular cases with regular and irregular networks of six identical chaotic systems are implemented, with some well-known topologies as star and ring small-world, and tree topologies. Highlighting, the obtained control law is applied to synchronize an irregular network of six different chaotic systems in a tree topology. The usefulness and advantages of the proposed synchronization scheme are highlighted performing numerical simulations of the chaotic complex networks.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Background: Adequate sleep is a critical factor for adolescent's health and health-related behaviors. Objective: (a) to describe sleep duration in European adolescents from nine countries, (b) to ...assess the association of short sleep duration with excess adiposity and (c) to elucidate if physical activity (PA), sedentary behaviors and/or inadequate food habits underlie this association. Design: A sample of 3311 adolescents (1748 girls) aged 12.5-17.49 years from 10 European cities in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Spain and Sweden was assessed in the Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence Study between 2006 and 2008. We measured anthropometric data, sleep duration, PA (accelerometers and questionnaire), television watching and food habits (Food Frequency Questionnaire). Results: Average duration of daily sleep was 8 h. Shorter sleepers showed higher values of BMI, body fat, waist and hip circumferences and fat mass index (P<0.05), particularly in females. Adolescents who slept <8 h per day were more sedentary, as assessed by accelerometry, and spent more time watching TV (P<0.05). The proportion of adolescents who eat adequate amounts of fruits, vegetables and fish was lower in shorter sleepers than in adolescents who slept 8 h per day, and so was the probability of having adequate food habits (P<0.05). Correlation analysis indicated that short sleep is associated with higher obesity parameters. Conclusions: In European adolescents, short sleep duration is associated with higher adiposity markers, particularly in female adolescents. This association seems to be related to both sides of the energy balance equation due to a combination of increased food intake and more sedentary habits.
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