Context: Kisspeptin, encoded by the KISS1 gene, is a key stimulatory factor of GnRH secretion and puberty onset. Inactivating mutations of its receptor (KISS1R) cause isolated hypogonadotropic ...hypogonadism (IHH). A unique KISS1R-activating mutation was described in central precocious puberty (CPP).
Objective: Our objective was to investigate KISS1 mutations in patients with idiopathic CPP and normosmic IHH.
Patients: Eighty-three children with CPP (77 girls) and 61 patients with IHH (40 men) were studied. The control group consisted of 200 individuals with normal pubertal development.
Methods: The promoter region and the three exons of KISS1 were amplified and sequenced. Cells expressing KISS1R were stimulated with synthetic human wild-type or mutant kisspeptin-54 (kp54), and inositol phosphate accumulation was measured. In a second set of experiments, kp54 was preincubated in human serum before stimulation of the cells.
Results: Two novel KISS1 missense mutations, p.P74S and p.H90D, were identified in three unrelated children with idiopathic CPP. Both mutations were absent in 400 control alleles. The p.P74S mutation was identified in the heterozygous state in a boy who developed CPP at 1 yr of age. The p.H90D mutation was identified in the homozygous state in two unrelated girls with CPP. In vitro studies revealed that the capacity of the P74S and H90D mutants to stimulate IP production was similar to the wild type. After preincubation of wild-type and mutant kp54 in human serum, the capacity to stimulate signal transduction was significantly greater for P74S compared with the wild type, suggesting that the p.P74S variant is more stable. Only polymorphisms were found in the IHH group.
Conclusion: Two KISS1 mutations were identified in unrelated patients with idiopathic CPP. The p.P74S variant was associated with higher kisspeptin resistance to degradation in comparison with the wild type, suggesting a role for this mutation in the precocious puberty phenotype.
A mutation in the KISS1 gene (P74S), identified in a boy with central precocious puberty, results in higher kisspeptin resistance to degradation in vitro.
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•Ethanol increased the drying rate by 106.58% and reduced the drying time by 34.85%•Drying reduced wall thickness by 45.95%; ethanol use, by 67.59%.•Acerola waste drying: without ...ethanol, mixed regime; with ethanol, external regime.•Ethanol drying maintained bioactives compounds compared to the drying without ethanol.
The acerola seed is an agro-industrial waste. It is a high moisture content product, rich in bioactive compounds. Drying is an alternative to make this waste available in a safe condition. The use of ethanol as a pretreatment could improve the drying process besides reducing the operation time. This study aimed to investigate the influence of ethanol pretreatment (ET) on the content of bioactive compounds, cell wall thickness, and color. The drying kinetics was studied, and the influence of external and internal resistance was discussed. The samples were immersed in ethanol for 2 min with subsequent convective drying (40 °C and 60 °C; 1 m s−1) until they reached the equilibrium condition. The ET reduced the drying time up to 36.36 %. The external and mixed control of mass transfer were identified as the governing regimes for drying this material, depending on the use of ethanol. ET led to an increase in effective diffusivity, a reduction in cell wall thickness, and preservation of the color of the dried waste. The ET positively impacted the conservation of ascorbic acid compared to untreated dried samples but was not relevant to phenolic compounds, carotenoids, and antioxidant activity. The drying process increased the bioactivity of the anthocyanins. The best condition was drying at 60 °C, pretreated with ethanol.
We report on layer-by-layer (LbL) films of chitosans (CHI) and hyaluronic acid (HA) whose properties could be controlled by employing chitosans with different degrees of deacetylation (DD¯ ≈ 85%; ...65%; 40%) and high average molecular weight (ca. 106 g/mol). In spite of their high molecular weight, these chitosans are soluble within a wide pH range, including physiological pH. HA/CHI LbL films produced from polymer solutions at pH 4.5 were thinner, smoother, more hydrophilic than those prepared at pH 7.2. This is attributed to the more extended conformation adopted by chitosan due to its very high charge density at low pH, favoring a compact chain packing during the film formation and resulting in lower film thickness and roughness. The smoother HA/CHI LbL films obtained at pH 4.5 were effective against Escherichia coli, while the thicker, rougher LbL films fabricated at pH 7.2 could be used in the controlled released of Rose Bengal dye. In summary, the tuning of only two parameters, i.e. solution pH and DD¯ of chitosans, provides access to a library of HA/CHI LbL films for tailored, diversified applications.
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Future generation mobile communications running on mm-wave frequencies will require great robustness against frequency selective channels. In this paper, we evaluate the transmission performance of ...4.9 Gb/s wavelet-coded orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signals on a 10 km fiber plus 58 m wireless radio-over-fiber link using a mm-wave radio frequency carrier. The results show that a 2 × 128 wavelet-coded OFDM system achieves a bit-error rate of 1e-4 with nearly 2.5 dB less signal-to-noise ratio than a convolutional coded OFDM system with equivalent spectral efficiency for 8 GHz-wide signals with 512 subcarriers on a carrier frequency of 86 GHz. Our findings confirm the Tzannes' theory that wavelet coding enables high diversity gains with a low complexity receiver and, most notably, without compromising the system's spectral efficiency.
Bovine anaplasmosis causes considerable economic losses in dairy cattle production systems worldwide, ranging from $300 million to $900 million annually. It is commonly detected through rectal ...temperature, blood smear microscopy, and packed cell volume (PCV). Such methodologies are laborious, costly, and difficult to systematically implement in large-scale operations. The objectives of this study were to evaluate (1) rumination and activity data collected by Hr-Tag sensors (SCR Engineers Ltd.) in heifer calves exposed to anaplasmosis; and (2) the predictive ability of recurrent neural networks in early identification of anaplasmosis. Additionally, we aimed to investigate the effect of time series length before disease diagnosis (5, 7, 10, or 12 consecutive days) on the predictive performance of recurrent neural networks, and how early anaplasmosis disease can be detected in dairy calves (5, 3, and 1 d in advance). Twenty-three heifer calves aged 119 ± 15 (mean ± SD) d and weighing 148 ± 20 kg of body weight were challenged with 2 × 107 erythrocytes infected with UFMG1 strain (GenBank no. EU676176) isolated from Anaplasma marginale. After inoculation, animals were monitored daily by assessing PCV. The lowest PCV value (14 ± 1.8%) and the finding of rickettsia on blood smears were used as a criterion to classify an animal as sick (d 0). Rumination and activity data were collected continuously and automatically at 2-h intervals, using SCR Heatime Hr-Tag collars. Two time series were built including last sequence of −5, −7, −10, or −12 d preceding d 0 or a sequence of 5, 7, 10, or 12 d randomly selected in a window from −50 to −15 d before d 0 to ensure a sequence of days in which PCV was considered normal (32 ± 2.4%). Long short-term memory was used as a predictive approach, and a leave-one-animal-out cross-validation (LOAOCV) was used to assess prediction quality. Anaplasmosis disease reduced 34 and 11% of rumination and activity, respectively. The accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of long short-term memory in detecting anaplasmosis ranged from 87 to 98%, 83 to 100%, and 83 to 100%, respectively, using rumination data. For activity data, the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity varied from 70 to 98%, 61 to 100%, and 74 to 100%, respectively. Predictive performance did not improve when combining rumination and activity. The use of longer time-series did not improve the performance of models to predict anaplasmosis. The accuracy and sensitivity in predicting anaplasmosis up to 3 d before clinical diagnosis (d 0) were greater than 80%, confirming the possibility for early identification of anaplasmosis disease. These findings indicate the great potential of wearable sensors in early identification of anaplasmosis diseases. This could positively affect the profitability of dairy farmers and animal welfare.
The peach tree (
Prunus persica), after mechanical injury or infection by microorganisms, produces a copious gum exudate on its trunk and branches. After aqueous extraction, peach gum (cv. ...‘chimarrita’) yielded a soluble aqueous extract (AE) and a particle-rich hydrogel fraction (RG). After freeze-drying, AE was solubilized in water and added to excess ethanol to give a polysaccharide (POLY) precipitate. RG, AE, and POLY were composed of Ara, Xyl, Man, Gal, and uronic acids in 46:14:2:32:6, 54:12:1:27:6, and 47:13:1:33:6 molar ratios respectively, with traces of Rha. The
13C NMR spectra of all fractions were similar, with C-1 signals of α-
l-Ara
f (δ 109.6–107.4) and main ones from β-
d-Gal
p units (δ 103.7, 103.2), suggesting the presence of arabinogalactan-type polysaccharides. Rheological analyses were carried out with AE and POLY. Solutions of both fractions at 4% (w/v) had a non-Newtonian shear-thinning behavior, however that of AE showed higher apparent viscosity than that of POLY. The presence of salts decreased the apparent viscosity of AE dispersion. Dynamic oscillatory analyses showed that 4% (w/v) AE and POLY had a gel-like structure, being AE hydrogel a stronger gel when compared with POLY. This suggests that other compounds, in addition to polysaccharide, are involved in the gel network in aqueous dispersions of AE. Weaker gels were formed with 2% (w/v) AE in water and 4% (w/v) AE in various salt solutions. These results showed that the peach gum had an interesting rheological behavior and that it could have a future application.
Fractions (AE and POLY) obtained from peach gum exudate, are composed of arabinogalactan-type polysaccharides and have a gel-like behavior.
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Guidelines recommend targeted antifungal prophylaxis for liver transplant (LT) recipients based on tiers of risk, rather than universal prophylaxis. The feasibility and efficacy of tiered, targeted ...prophylaxis is not well established. We performed a retrospective study of LT recipients who received targeted prophylaxis (n = 145; voriconazole VORI; 54%, fluconazole 8%, no antifungal 38%) versus universal VORI prophylaxis (n = 237). Median durations of targeted and universal prophylaxis were 11 and 6 days, respectively (p < 0.0001). The incidence of invasive fungal infections (IFIs) in targeted and universal groups was 6.9% and 4.2% (p = 0.34). Overall, intra‐abdominal candidiasis (73%) was the most common IFI. Posttransplant bile leaks (p = 0.001) and living donor transplants (p = 0.04) were independent risk factors for IFI. IFIs occurred in 6% of high‐risk transplants who received prophylaxis and 4% of low‐risk transplants who did not receive prophylaxis (p = 1.0). Mortality rates (100 days) were 10% (targeted) and 7% (universal) (p = 0.26); attributable mortality due to IFI was 10%. Compliance with prophylaxis recommendations was 97%. Prophylaxis was discontinued for toxicity in 2% of patients. Targeted antifungal prophylaxis in LT recipients was feasible and safe, effectively prevented IFIs and reduced the number of patients exposed to antifungals. Bile leaks and living donor transplants should be considered high‐risk indications for prophylaxis.
In this retrospective study, the authors compare universal versus targeted antifungal prophylaxis in liver transplant recipients and show targeted prophylaxis to be effective, feasible, and safe, while identifying living donor transplants and bile leaks as independent risk factors for invasive fungal infection.
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•Yacon can be preserved through convective drying.•Ethanol pre-treatment efficiently reduces drying time.•Quality parameters of yacon are influenced by temperature and ethanol ...pre-treatment.•Ethanol pre-treatment promotes significant alterations in the structure of yacon.
Yacon is a highly perishable tuberous root, rich in fructooligosaccharides (FOS). Convective drying preceded by ethanol treatment (ET) is an alternative for increasing shelf life in a shorter process. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of ET and temperature (50 °C and 70 °C) on quality parameters (fructan retention, total phenolic content, antioxidant capacity, shrinkage, color and microstructural parameters) and process parameters (drying time, drying kinetics, and energy consumption) in the convective drying of yacon slices. The ET induced structural alterations in the tissues and cells that aids in the reduction of drying time up to 28.00 %. ET resulted in an increase in effective diffusivity and leaded to noteworthy reduction in energy consumption (up to 22.72 %). The quality parameters such as color, shrinkage, and total phenolic content showed no significant differences among the treatments. The use of ethanol promoted highest preservation of antioxidant activity; however, it caused degradation of FOS. The ethanol pretreated drying at 50 °C was the better condition for lower consumption and preservation of quality parameters as total phenolic content, antioxidant capacity and fructan retention, but the samples dried at 50 °C were the ones with the highest fructan retention (55.11 ± 2.19 %).
•New approach for estimating extrinsic parameters of an onboard vehicular cameras.•Method does not require any priori knowledge on road-related parameter or calibration patterns.•Experimental results ...show the good performance and accurate results of the proposed method.•Applications include augmented reality for driver assistance.
This paper presents an on-the-fly procedure for obtaining extrinsic camera parameters of onboard vehicular cameras, as well as augmented reality applications for driver assistance systems and road inspection. The proposed approach employs a lane detection algorithm to extract the lane boundaries of the road, and estimates the distance between adjacent lane markings based on the speed of the vehicle. Then, a rectangular portion of the road is used to obtain the desired extrinsic camera parameters. With the complete set of camera parameters, virtual objects can be coherently inserted into the video sequence captured by the camera, so that synthetic traffic signs may be added to increase safety. Experimental results illustrate the performance of the proposed camera calibration systems, as well as possible applications involving augmented reality.
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