Los rumiantes, debido a las características fermentativas de su sistema digestivo, generan y emiten metano a la atmósfera, un gas de efecto invernadero que contribuye al calentamiento global. Debido ...a la importancia que tiene la ganadería en España, es necesario plantear estrategias que reduzcan dichas emisiones. Una de ellas, es la utilización de almidones vítreos en la formulación de dietas de rumiantes. Su menor degradabilidad ruminal, da lugar a una disminución de la producción de metano. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar el comportamiento fermentativo de un sistema de mezclas cebada/maíz, así como, de un concentrado comercial de cebo de terneros con diferentes niveles de maíz. Para ello, se llevó a cabo un análisis in vitro de producción de gas y metano. Las mezclas de cebada/maíz se fermentaron durante 18h y los concentrados durante 18 y 96h. Para las mezclas ceba/maíz, la menor producción de gas se obtuvo con 100% maíz (207,97ml/g), aumentando el metano 0,11mlCH4/g por cada punto porcentual de cebada añadido. Respecto a los concentrados, tras 18h de fermentación la menor producción de gas y metano se asoció al control y al concentrado con mayor nivel de maíz respectivamente. Tras la fermentación 96h el concentrado con mayor nivel de maíz registro los mayores niveles de producción de gas y metano. Ambos cereales muestran diferentes perfiles fermentativos y metanogénicos in vitro, limitando la producción de gas y metano al incluir maíz en concentrado de terneros.
Ruminants are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions because of their fermentative digestive system produces certain end products such as methane. Livestock plays a crucial role in Spain, It therefore seems necessary to develop strategies to reduce these emissions. One of them is the use of vitreous starches in ruminants feed, as their low degradability in the rumen leads to a decrease in methane production. The study aimed to evaluate the effects on ruminal fermentation of different levels of inclusion of corn starch in a barley/corn mixture system, as well as a commercial calf feedstuff based on in vitro analysis of gas and methane production. The barley/corn mixtures were fermented for 18h, while the feedstuffs were fermented for 18 and 96h. For the barley/corn mixtures, the lowest gas production level was observed in the 100% corn (207,97ml/g), increasing methane production by 0,11ml methane/g for each percentage point of barley added. In the feedstuff, after 18h fermentation, the lower gas and methane production was associated to the control and the higher maize concentrate respectively. After 96h of fermentation, the highest gas and methane production level corresponded to the highest starch level. Both cereals show different fermentative and methanogenic profiles in vitro, limiting gas and methane production when corn is included in calf concentrate.
Understanding the breeding patterns of Aedes aegypti in households and the factors associated with infestation are important for implementing vector control. The baseline survey of a cluster ...randomised controlled trial of community mobilisation for dengue prevention in Mexico and Nicaragua collected information about the containers that are the main breeding sites, identified possible actions to reduce breeding, and examined factors associated with household infestation. This paper describes findings from the Mexican arm of the baseline survey.
In 2010 field teams conducted household surveys and entomological inspections in 11,995 households from 90 representative communities in the three coastal regions of Guerrero State, Mexico. We characterized Ae. aegypti breeding sites and examined the effect of two preventive measures: temephos application in water containers, and keeping the containers covered. We examined associations with household infestation, using bivariate and multivariate analysis adjusted for clustering effects.
We conducted entomological inspections in 11,995 households. Among 45,353 water containers examined, 6.5% (2958/45,353) were positive for larvae and/or pupae. Concrete tanks (pilas) and barrels (tambos) together accounted for 74% of pupal productivity. Both covering water containers and inserting temephos were independently associated with a lower risk of presence of larvae or pupae, with the effect of covering (OR 0.22; 95% CIca 0.15-0.27) stronger than that of temephos (OR 0.66; 95% CIca 0.53-0.84). Having more than four water containers was associated with household infestation in both rural areas (OR 1.42; 95% CIca 1.17-1.72) and urban areas (1.81; 1.47-2.25), as was low education of the household head (rural: 1.27; 1.11-1.46, and urban: 1.39; 1.17-1.66). Additional factors in rural areas were: household head without paid work (1.31; 1.08-1.59); being in the Acapulco region (1.91; 1.06-3.44); and using anti-mosquito products (1.27; 1.09-1.47). In urban areas only, presence of temephos was associated with a lower risk of household infestation (0.44; 0.32-0.60).
Concrete tanks and barrels accounted for the majority of pupal productivity. Covering water containers could be an effective means of Ae. aegypti vector control, with a bigger effect than using temephos. These findings were useful in planning and implementing the Camino Verde trial intervention in Mexico.
Interindividual clinical variability in the course of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is vast. We report that at least 101 of 987 patients with life-threatening ...coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia had neutralizing immunoglobulin G (IgG) autoantibodies (auto-Abs) against interferon-ω (IFN-ω) (13 patients), against the 13 types of IFN-α (36), or against both (52) at the onset of critical disease; a few also had auto-Abs against the other three type I IFNs. The auto-Abs neutralize the ability of the corresponding type I IFNs to block SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro. These auto-Abs were not found in 663 individuals with asymptomatic or mild SARS-CoV-2 infection and were present in only 4 of 1227 healthy individuals. Patients with auto-Abs were aged 25 to 87 years and 95 of the 101 were men. A B cell autoimmune phenocopy of inborn errors of type I IFN immunity accounts for life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia in at least 2.6% of women and 12.5% of men.
Background and ImportanceCytomegalovirus (CMV) is one of the most common pathogens in immunocompromised patients. Patients who develop severe CMV infection should be treated with antiviral agents ...until symptoms are resolved and plasma CMV load is controlled. Management of these patients is sometimes difficult due to resistance or ineffectiveness.Aim and ObjectivesTo describe the response to combined treatment with letermovir, ganciclovir and anti-CMV immunoglobulins (Ig) for CMV infection in an immunocompromised patient refractory to monotherapy treatments.Material and MethodsWe describe the case of a 72-year-old male diagnosed with Good’s syndrome (thymoma-associated immunodeficiency), who developed enterocolitis and systemic infection by CMV. Initially, treatment with IV ganciclovir produced clinical and virological response, but later relapse occurred and resistance to ganciclovir was detected. IV Foscarnet was initiated, obtaining response. After switching to oral letermovir (secondary prophylaxis) having low plasma CMV levels, the patient showed virological failure and foscarnet therapy was reinitiated. After a transient response, foscarnet proved to be insufficient (alone or in combination with ganciclovir) to stop a progressive rise in CMV plasma levels. To control CMV and facilitate intravenous to oral switch, combined treatment with oral letermovir and IV ganciclovir was proposed, added to anti-CMV Ig that the patient was already receiving monthly since the onset of CMV infection.Effectiveness of this triple therapy was assessed by reduction of CMV plasma load.ResultsWhen absence of letermovir resistance was confirmed, combined off-label use of letermovir, ganciclovir and anti-CMV Ig was approved. The authorisation was based on the absence of therapeutic alternatives and the support of several cases reflecting the good results of this triple therapy.Despite an initial peak in CMV viral load, triple therapy exhibited a good virological response (CMV <1000 copies/ml) and tolerance. No renal or bone marrow toxicity was detected. IV Ganciclovir was later replaced by valganciclovir for home treatment, maintaining low levels of CMV <300 copies/ml.Abstract 5PSQ-131 Figure 1Conclusion and RelevanceThis is the first case of letermovir-ganciclovir-antiCMV Ig combined therapy in a patient with acquired immune deficiency. Previously, it was used in a small cohort of transplant patients. Therefore, this triple therapy should be considered as a possible therapeutic alternative for refractory CMV infection, even if resistant to ganciclovir.References and/or AcknowledgementsConflict of InterestNo conflict of interest
The determination in a sample of the activity concentration of a specific radionuclide by gamma spectrometry needs to know the full energy peak efficiency (FEPE) for the energy of interest. The ...difficulties related to the experimental calibration make it advisable to have alternative methods for FEPE determination, such as the simulation of the transport of photons in the crystal by the Monte Carlo method, which requires an accurate knowledge of the characteristics and geometry of the detector. The characterization process is mainly carried out by Canberra Industries Inc. using proprietary techniques and methodologies developed by that company. It is a costly procedure (due to shipping and to the cost of the process itself) and for some research laboratories an alternative in situ procedure can be very useful. The main goal of this paper is to find an alternative to this costly characterization process, by establishing a method for optimizing the parameters of characterizing the detector, through a computational procedure which could be reproduced at a standard research lab. This method consists in the determination of the detector geometric parameters by using Monte Carlo simulation in parallel with an optimization process, based on evolutionary algorithms, starting from a set of reference FEPEs determined experimentally or computationally. The proposed method has proven to be effective and simple to implement. It provides a set of characterization parameters which it has been successfully validated for different source-detector geometries, and also for a wide range of environmental samples and certified materials.
•A computational method for characterizing an HPGe spectrometer has been developed.•Detector characterized using as reference photopeak efficiencies obtained experimentally or by Monte Carlo calibration.•The characterization obtained has been validated for samples with different geometries and composition.•Good agreement with the certified values of references material is obtained.•The method has been successfully tested for environmental samples.
Average ranges of particulate matter (PM
10 and PM
2.5) concentrations and chemical composition in Spain show significant variations across the country, with current PM
10 levels at several ...industrial and traffic hotspots exceeding recommended pollution limits. Such variations and exceedances are linked to patterns of anthropogenic and natural PM emissions, climate, and reactivity/stability of particulate species. PM
10 and PM
2.5 concentrations reach 14–22
μg
PM
10
m
−3 and 8–12
μg
PM
2.5
m
−3 at most rural/regional background sites, 25–30
μg
PM
10
m
−3 and 15–20μg
PM
2.5
m
−3 at suburban sites, 30–46
μg
PM
10
m
−3 and 20–30
μg
PM
2.5
m
−3 at urban background and industrial sites, and 46–50
μg
PM
10
m
−3 and 30–35
μg
PM
2.5
m
−3 at heavy traffic hotpots. Spatial distributions show sulphate and carbon particle levels reach maxima in industrialised areas and large cities (where traffic emissions are higher), and nitrate levels increase from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean (independent of the regional NO
x
emissions). African dust outbreaks have an influence on the number of exceedances of the daily limit value, but its additional load on the mean annual PM
10 levels is only highly significant in Southern Iberia and Canary and Balearic islands. The marine aerosol contribution is near one order of magnitude higher in the Canaries compared to the other regions. Important temporal influences include PM intrusion events from Africa (more abundant in February–March and spring–summer), regional-scale pollution episodes, and weekday versus weekend activity. Higher summer insolation enhances (NH
4)
2SO
4 but depletes particulate NO
3
− (as a consequence of the thermal instability of ammonium nitrate in summer) and Cl
− (due to HCl volatilisation resulting from the interaction of gaseous HNO
3 with the marine NaCl), as well as generally increasing dry dust resuspension under a semi-arid climate. Average trace metal concentrations rise with the highest levels at industrial and traffic hotspots sites, in some cases (Ti, Cr, Mn, Cu, Zn, As, Sn, W, and Pb) exceeding rural background levels by over an order of magnitude.
Neurons are post-mitotic cells that allocate huge amounts of energy to the synthesis of new organelles and molecules, neurotransmission and to the maintenance of redox homeostasis. In neurons, ...autophagy is not only crucial to ensure organelle renewal but it is also essential to balance nutritional needs through the mobilization of internal energy stores. A delicate crosstalk between the pathways that sense nutritional status of the cell and the autophagic processes to recycle organelles and macronutrients is fundamental to guarantee the proper functioning of the neuron in times of energy scarcity. This review provides a detailed overview of the pathways and processes involved in the balance of cellular energy mediated by autophagy, which when defective, precipitate the neurodegenerative cascade of Parkinson's disease, frontotemporal dementia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Alzheimer's disease.
We discuss the properties of 137 cataclysmic variables (CVs) which are included in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) spectroscopic data base, and for which accurate orbital periods have been ...measured. 92 of these systems are new discoveries from SDSS and were followed-up in more detail over the past few years. 45 systems were previously identified as CVs because of the detection of optical outbursts and/or X-ray emission, and subsequently re-identified from the SDSS spectroscopy. The period distribution of the SDSS CVs differs dramatically from that of all the previously known CVs, in particular it contains a significant accumulation of systems in the orbital period range 80--86 min. We identify this feature as the elusive "period minimum spike" predicted by CV population models, which resolves a long-standing discrepancy between compact binary evolution theory and observations. We show that this spike is almost entirely due to the large number of CVs with very low accretion activity identified by SDSS. The optical spectra of these systems are dominated by emission from the white dwarf photosphere, and display little or no spectroscopic signature from the donor stars, suggesting very low-mass companion stars. We determine the average absolute magnitude of these low-luminosity CVs at the period minimum to be =11.6+-0.7. Comparison of the SDSS CV sample to the CVs found in the Hamburg Quasar Survey and the Palomar Green Survey suggests that the depth of SDSS is the key ingredient resulting in the discovery of a large number of intrinsically faint short-period systems.
We aimed to describe and characterize the gut microbiota composition and diversity in children with obesity according to their metabolic health status.
Anthropometry, Triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, ...HOMA-IR, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP) were evaluated (and z-score calculated) and faecal samples were collected from 191 children with obesity aged from 8 to 14. All children were classified depending on their cardiometabolic status in either a “metabolically healthy” (MHO; n = 106) or “metabolically unhealthy” (MUO; n = 85) group. Differences in gut microbiota taxonomies and diversity between groups (MUO vs MHO) were analysed. Alpha diversity index was calculated as Chao1 and Simpson’s index, and β-diversity was calculated as Adonis Bray–Curtis index. Spearman’s correlations and logistic regressions were performed to study the association between cardiometabolic health and the microbiota.
Children in the MUO presented significantly lower alpha diversity and richness than those in the MHO group (Chao1 index p = 0.021, Simpson’s index p = 0.045, respectively), whereas microbiota β-diversity did not differ by the cardiometabolic health status (Adonis Bray–Curtis, R2 = 0.006; p = 0.155). The MUO group was characterized by lower relative abundances of the genera Christensenellaceae R7 group (MHO:1.42% 0.21–2.94; MUO:0.47% 0.02–1.60, p < 0.004), and Akkermansia (MHO:0.26% 0.01–2.19; MUO:0.01% 0.00–0.36, p < 0.001) and higher relative abundances of Bacteroides (MHO:10.6% 4.64–18.5; MUO:17.0% 7.18–27.4, p = 0.012) genus. After the adjustment by sex, age, and BMI, higher Akkermansia (OR: 0.86, CI: 0.75–0.97; p = 0.033), Christensenellaceae R7 group (OR: 0.86, 95% CI: 075–0.98; p = 0.031) and Chao1 index (OR: 0.86, CI: 0.96–1.00; p = 0.023) represented a lower risk of the presence of one or more altered cardiovascular risk factors.
Lower proportions of Christensenellaceae and Akkermansia and lower diversity and richness seem to be indicators of a metabolic unhealthy status in children with obesity.
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