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Frog ‘N’ Roll: novel synthetic peptides selective against Gram-negative pathogens
No full textAntimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global public health concern that is becoming a ‘silent’ pandemic. Novel treatment strategies are urgently needed to counteract this growing threat. To this end, Ageitos et al. leverage the natural antibacterial armamentarium of frogs to develop novel optimized synthetic peptides selective against Gram-negative pathogens
Quantitative Ultrasound Characterization of Intensity-Dependent Changes in Muscle Tissue During Percutaneous Electrolysis
Get PDFPercutaneous electrolysis is a physiotherapeutic technique based on the application of galvanic current to induce structural and biochemical changes in musculoskeletal tissues. Although widely used in tendinopathies, its application in muscle tissue, particularly regarding optimal dosage, remains poorly understood. This study aimed to evaluate the dose-dependent effects of galvanic current on cadaveric muscle tissue (medial gastrocnemius) using quantitative ultrasound analysis, and to identify objective biomarkers to guide dosage. Methods: An experimental model was employed, applying galvanic current at varying intensities (0–10.0 mA) to 29 samples of cadaveric medial gastrocnemius. Quantitative ultrasound parameters were measured, including geometric and textural features. Correlation analyses and simple and multiple linear regressions were performed to assess the relationship between current intensity and ultrasound variables. Additionally, dose segmentation into three groups (low: 0–1.0 mA, medium: 1.0–4.0 mA, high: >4.0 mA) allowed for comparative statistical analysis using Kruskal–Wallis and post hoc Mann–Whitney U tests. Results: Significant dose–response relationships were observed in key ultrasound parameters, including A_Number, A_Area, A_Perimeter, and A_Contrast (p < 0.001). Regression analysis revealed that a combination of A_Area, A_Number, and A_Perimeter accounted for 66.7% of the variance in applied dose (R2 = 0.667, p < 0.001), leading to the creation of the predictive variable Muscle_Electrolysis_Dose. Comparative analysis confirmed significant differences between low-, medium-, and high-dose groups, particularly between lower and higher doses. Conclusions: Quantitative ultrasound effectively detects structural changes in muscle tissue following percutaneous electrolysis. The results support the development of objective, image-based criteria for optimizing galvanic current dosage, enhancing the precision and personalization of treatment
Impulsivity in Male Episodic Cluster Headache
Get PDFBackground: Cluster headache (CH) is the most prevalent trigeminal‐autonomic cephalalgia. Research evidence supports the hypothesized involvement of the posterior hypothalamus, the trigeminal‐vascular system, and other central pain‐processing regions in the pathogenesis of pain. Because of the role of the hypothalamus, CH patients should be at greater risk of developing an altered emotional response. Impulsivity is associated with depression, bipolar disorders, suicide attempts, and addictive disorders, which can be frequent in CH.Objective: Our objective is to evaluate the prevalence of impulsivity in CH patients.Methods: This is a cross‐sectional observational study. Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS‐11) was administered to evaluate impulsivity.Results: Fifty CH patients outside the bout and 60 matched controls were included. Patients were recruited from an outpatient headache unit. The percentage of episodic CH patients with a diagnosis of impulsivity (BIS‐11 ≥ 73) was 14.2% compared to 1.6% in the control group (p = 0.02). The mean score on the BIS‐11 was 58.5 (SD: 14.3) in the case group and 57.1 (SD: 9.2) in the control group. Although the global score on the scale did not differ between both groups, there were differences in cognitive (16.2 [SD: 4.4] vs. 14.5 [SD: 3.5]; p = 0.01) but not in motor and nonplanning impulsivity.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that CH patients have greater cognitive impulsivity. If impulsivity plays an important role in the risk of suicide and substance use disorders, early detection and an effective multidisciplinary management could reduce CH‐related burden and impact
Virtualized Point Cloud Rendering
Get PDFRemote sensing technologies, such as LiDAR, produce billions of points that commonly exceed the storage capacity of the GPU, restricting their processing and rendering. Level of detail (LoD) techniques have been widely investigated, but building the LoD structures is also time-consuming. This study proposes a GPU-driven culling system focused on determining the number of points visible in every frame. It can manipulate point clouds of any arbitrary size while maintaining a low memory footprint in both the CPU and GPU. Instead of organizing point clouds into hierarchical data structures, these are split into groups of points sorted using the Hilbert encoding. This alternative alleviates the occurrence of anomalous groups found in Morton curves. Instead of keeping the entire point cloud in the GPU, points are transferred on demand to ensure real-time capability. Accordingly, our solution can manipulate huge point clouds even in commodity hardware with low memory capacities. Moreover, hole filling is implemented to cover the gaps derived from insufficient density and our LoD system. Our proposal was evaluated with point clouds of up to 18 billion points, achieving an average of 80 frames per second (FPS) without perceptible quality loss. Relaxing memory constraints further enhances visual quality while maintaining an interactive frame rate. We assessed our method on real-world data, comparing it against three state-ofthe- art methods, demonstrating its ability to handle significantly larger point clouds. The code is available on https://github.com/Krixtalx/Nimbus
Study of the normal response to the upper limb neurodynamic test 2b and 1 in asymptomatic violin and viola players
Get PDFBackground: Professional musicians exhibit a high prevalence of work-related musculoskeletal disorders, with nerve entrapment syndromes and dysfunctions of the peripheral nervous system accounting for a significant proportion of these issues. The radial and median nerves of the upper limb are among the most commonly injured nerves due to mechanical and repetitive work. The upper limb neurodynamic test for the radial nerve (ULNT2b) and the upper limb neurodynamic test for the median nerve (ULNT1) are two of the most frequently used tests to assess the mechanosensitivity of these nerves. Currently, there are no studies that describe the normal responses in populations of violinists and violists.
Purpose: Study of the normal response to the ULNT2b and ULNT1 in asymptomatic violin and viola players.
Study design: A prospective epidemiological study of consecutive cases was designed, characterized as observational, descriptive, comparative, cross-sectional, and double-blind, following the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines.
Methods: The normal responses of the ULNT2b and ULNT1 tests were reported in violin and viola musicians. The range of motion (ROM) in degrees was recorded with structural differentiation, along with the location and characteristics of the reported symptom.
Results: The total sample consisted of 56 cases (n=56). In the ULNT2b, the mean range of motion (ROM) was 10.1° ± 16.2, with the most prevalent symptoms being tightness in the dorsal aspect of the forearm. In the ULNT1, the mean ROM was 115.4° ± 39.4, with tightness in the palmar aspect of the forearm being the most commonly reported symptom.
Conclusions: Asymptomatic viola and violin players exhibit greater mechanosensitivity in the radial and median nerves during the ULNT2b and ULNT1 compared to an asymptomatic population. Furthermore, there are no significant differences in the responses of both tests concerning ROM, affected areas, or symptoms, regardless of sex, instrument, or side
Advances in Ligand‐Driven Pd‐Catalyzed C─H Functionalizations: Recent Insights and Updates
Get PDFThe activation of C─H bonds mediated by transition metals has become an essential tool for synthetic chemists, enabling more efficient, selective, and sustainable processes. This progress has been driven by the elimination of precursor prefunctionalization, shortening and reducing the cost of syntheses. However, challenges remain in this methodology, both in terms of activity and selectivity. The introduction of DG to achieve maximum selectivity represents the core of this issue, as it fails to overcome the problem of prefunctionalization, and reaction control remains dependent on substrate design. Recently, we have witnessed a revolution in this field, as activity and selectivity of new processes are no longer controlled by the substrate but by the catalyst. It is the design of the catalyst itself—particularly the ligands—that determines whether the reaction occurs, its rate, and selectivity. This review analyzes the crucial role of ligands in Pd‐catalyzed C─H functionalizations in the period from 2022 to the present, focusing on five types of ligands:(i) mono‐N‐protected amino acids (MPAAs); (ii) pyridones; (iii) pyridines, related N‐heterocycles; (iv) thioacids; (v) phosphines and NHCs. For each category, its role, how the reaction is accelerated, and the origin of its selectivity is analyzed
¿Qué aporta la información magnética de las rocas sedimentarias e ígneas de la Zona Axial Pirenaica a su evolución cinemática?
Get PDFSe presenta información paleomagnética de las rocas devónicas de la Zona Axial en su parte occidental (valle del Aspe) y zona central (alrededor de Laspaúles y Domo de Orri), además de las rocas ígneas pérmicas del Macizo de Anayet, ofitas triásicas en la falla Norpirenaica y peridotitas mesozoicas, junto con dos estaciones en rocas del Cretácio superior localizadas justo al sur de la Falla Norpirenaica. Los resultados de las rocas del Devónico sugieren remagnetizaciones ocurridas posteriormente al tiempo de depósito. Las muestras de los sills basálticos de Anayet sugieren la presencia de un basculamiento posterior a la magnetiación pues la inclinación es mayor de la esperada. Los resultados de las ofitas son muy homogéneos y con una dirección paleomagnética similar a la remagnetización postpliegue que se ha documentado en las Sierras Interiores. Sin embargo, las peridotitas muestran una magnetización variable con diferentes direcciones paleomagnéticas. Estos resultados abren la posibilidad de reconstrucciones de la estratificación al momento de adquisición de la remagnetización
Distribution of lamb carcass condemnations due to jaundice over six years in a slaughterhouse in the Northeast of Spain
No full textSince 2020, an increase in carcass condemnations in lambs due to jaundice has been noticed in some slaughterhouses in the Northeastern region of Spain. Therefore, data from 479,055 “Ternasco” lambs (2–3 months old lambs with a live weight of 21–23 kg) slaughtered at Mercazaragoza slaughterhouse (Zaragoza, Spain) were analysed. The data belonged to two companies and were collected between January 2018 and December 2023. The criteria studied included the company of origin, date of slaughter and the cause of condemnation. A total of 2661 lambs (0.56 %) were condemned, with 943 of them being condemned due to jaundice (0.20 %). Jaundice was the main cause of carcass condemnation, accounting for 35.44 % of total condemnation during the study period, with a progressive increase from 2018 to 2021, followed by a slight stabilisation in the subsequent years. A clear pattern was also evident, with more than half (57.69 %) of these condemnations occurring between May and August each year, becoming particularly pronounced from 2020 onwards. Condemnations due to jaundice were the main cause of carcass condemnation in both companies. Based on the seasonality associated with the active period of ticks and previous studies performed in the area, the possible implication of Anaplasma ovis infection in affected lambs is discussed. Further studies are needed to understand the underlying causes and their significance
Computer vision for automatic identification of blastocyst structures and blastocyst formation time in In-Vitro Fertilization
Get PDFEmbryo selection is an indispensable step to ensure the success of In-Vitro Fertilization; however, this decision is a time-consuming, laborious, and highly subjective task for embryologists. In the best scenarios, when implanting an embryo of the best quality, the probability of pregnancy rate is just 34.1%. Automatic segmentation provides detailed, quantitative, and objective information about the embryo, reducing the workload of embryologists and enhancing the success rate of embryo implantation. As such, it represents a valuable resource in the field of assisted reproduction. Towards that aim, we present different computer vision methods that are able to automatically segment the different structures of the blastocyst — the first morphologically differentiated state of the embryo — with a Dice Score up to 0.89. Furthermore, our methods can identify the precise moment of the expanded blastocyst formation with a mean error of less than 4 h. We openly release the code so that anyone can use it and replicate the results. As a summary, this work aims to make the analysis of blastocysts more reliable and comparable, thereby advancing our understanding of embryo implantation
Micromegas with GEM preamplification for enhanced energy threshold in low-background gaseous time projection chambers
Get PDFBackground We develop the concept of a Micromegas readout plane with an additional GEM preamplification stage placed a few millimetres above it to increase the maximum effective gain of the combined readout. Methods We implement it and test it in realistic conditions for its application to low-background dark matter searches like the TREX-DM experiment. For this, we use a Micromegas of Microbulk type, built with radiopure materials. Results We report on GEM effective extra gain factors of about 90, 50 and 20 in 1, 4 and 10 bar of Ar-1%iC4H10. These results are obtained in a small test chamber allowing for systematic scanning of voltages and pressures. In addition, a TREX-DM full-scale set-up has also been built and tested, featuring a replica of the fully-patterned TREX-DM Microbulk readout. Conclusions The results here obtained show promise to lower the threshold of the experiment down to 50 eV ee , corresponding to substantially enhanced sensitivity to low-mass WIMPs