Pretreatment with statins improves early outcome in patients with first-ever ischaemic stroke: a pleiotropic effect of statins or a beneficial effect of hypercholesterolemia?

Background: Data from different studies suggest a favourable association between pretreatment with statins or hypercholesterolemia and outcome after ischaemic stroke. We examined whether there were differences in in-hospital mortality according to the presence or absence of statin therapy in a large population of first-ever ischaemic stroke patients and assessed the influence of statins upon early death and spontaneous neurological recovery. Methods: In 2,082 consecutive patients with first-ever ischaemic stroke collected from a prospective hospital-based stroke registry during a period of 19 years (1986-2004), statin use or hypercholesterolemia before stroke was documented in 381 patients. On the other hand, favourable outcome defined as grades 0-2 in the modified Rankin scale was recorded in 382 patients. Results: Early outcome was better in the presence of statin therapy or hypercholesterolemia (cholesterol levels were not measured) with significant differences between the groups with and without pretreatment with statins in in-hospital mortality (6% vs 13.3%, P = 0.001) and symptom-free (22% vs 17.5%, P = 0.025) and severe functional limitation (6.6% vs 11.5%, P = 0.002) at hospital discharge, as well as lower rates of infectious respiratory complications during hospitalization. In the logistic regression model, statin therapy was the only variable inversely associated with in-hospital death (odds ratio 0.57) and directly associated with favourable outcome (odds ratio 1.32).

Chemisorption of atomic aluminum on Si(111): Evidence for an adsorbate-induced relaxation based on ab initio cluster-model calculations

Interaction models of atomic Al with Si4H9, Si4H7, and Si6H9 clusters have been studied to simulate Al chemisorption on the Si(111) surface in the atop, fourfold atop, and open sites. Calculations were carried out using nonempirical pseudopotentials in the framework of the ab initio Hartree-Fock procedure. Equilibrium bond distances, binding energies for adsorption, and vibrational frequencies of the adatoms are calculated. Several basis sets were used in order to show the importance of polarization effects, especially in the binding energies. Final results show the importance of considering adatom-induced relaxation effects to specify the order of energy stabilities for the three different sites, the fourfold atop site being the preferred one, in agreement with experimental findings.

Resurrecting Disney: Tracing Walt Disney‘s ever-present spirit in feature animated films of the Michael Eisner era (1984-2004)

El treball Ressuscitant a Disney: Rastrejant el sempre present esperit de Walt Disney en els llargmetratges animats de l'era Michael Eisner (1984-2004) pretén definir i analitzar les característiques, tant respecte al procés creatiu com en la definició de contingut, integrades en els clàssics originals de Disney per, a continuació, demostrar que aquestes van ser recuperades i implementades de nou després de la mort de Walt Disney -amb lleus adaptacions- per donar lloc a una segona edat d'or de l'animació

Age-Related Tooth Wear Differs between Forest and Savanna Primates

Tooth wear in primates is caused by aging and ecological factors. However, comparative data that would allow us to delineate the contribution of each of these factors are lacking. Here, we contrast age-dependent molar tooth wear by scoring percent of dentine exposure (PDE) in two wild African primate populations from Gabonese forest and Kenyan savanna habitats. We found that forest-dwelling mandrills exhibited significantly higher PDE with age than savanna yellow baboons. Mandrills mainly feed on large tough food items, such as hard-shell fruits, and inhabit an ecosystem with a high presence of mineral quartz. By contrast, baboons consume large amounts of exogenous grit that adheres to underground storage organs but the proportion of quartz in the soils where baboons live is low. Our results support the hypothesis that not only age but also physical food properties and soil composition, particularly quartz richness, are factors that significantly impact tooth wear. We further propose that the accelerated dental wear in mandrills resulting in flatter molars with old age may represent an adaptation to process hard food items present in their environment.

enControl wear

Aquest projecte s'endinsa en l'ecosistema Android Wear, ampliant l'aplicació d'smart home "enControl" als dispositius smart watch. Durant el projecte s'han seguit totes les fases de desenvolupament de l'aplicació: des dels primers dissenys fins a la implementació final que funciona correctament.

Comparative effects of macro-sized aluminum oxide and aluminum oxide nanoparticles on erythrocyte hemolysis: influence of cell source, temperature and size

Al2O3 is the most abundantly produced nanomaterial and has been used in diverse fields, including the medical, military and industrial sectors. As there are concerns about the health effects of nanoparticles, it is important to understand how they interact with cells, and specifically with red blood cells. The hemolysis induced by three commercial nano-sized aluminum oxide particles (nanopowder 13 nm, nanopowder <50 nm and nanowire 2-6 nm × 200-400 nm) was compared to aluminum oxide and has been studied on erythrocytes from humans, rats and rabbits, in order to elucidate the mechanism of action and the influence of size and shape on hemolytic behavior. The concentrations inducing 50% hemolysis (HC50) were calculated for each compound studied. The most hemolytic aluminum oxide particles were of nanopowder 13, followed by nanowire and nanopowder 50. The addition of albumin to PBS induced a protective effect on hemolysis in all the nano-forms of Al2O3, but not on Al2O3. The drop in HC50 correlated to a decrease in nanomaterial size, which was induced by a reduction of aggregation Aluminum oxide nanoparticles are less hemolytic than other oxide nanoparticles, and behave differently depending on the size and shape of the nanoparticles. The hemolytic behavior of aluminum oxide nanoparticles differs from that of aluminum oxide.

Comparative effects of macro-sized aluminum oxide and aluminum oxide nanoparticles on erythrocyte hemolysis: influence of cell source, temperature and size

Al2O3 is the most abundantly produced nanomaterial and has been used in diverse fields, including the medical, military and industrial sectors. As there are concerns about the health effects of nanoparticles, it is important to understand how they interact with cells, and specifically with red blood cells. The hemolysis induced by three commercial nano-sized aluminum oxide particles (nanopowder 13 nm, nanopowder <50 nm and nanowire 2-6 nm × 200-400 nm) was compared to aluminum oxide and has been studied on erythrocytes from humans, rats and rabbits, in order to elucidate the mechanism of action and the influence of size and shape on hemolytic behavior. The concentrations inducing 50% hemolysis (HC50) were calculated for each compound studied. The most hemolytic aluminum oxide particles were of nanopowder 13, followed by nanowire and nanopowder 50. The addition of albumin to PBS induced a protective effect on hemolysis in all the nano-forms of Al2O3, but not on Al2O3. The drop in HC50 correlated to a decrease in nanomaterial size, which was induced by a reduction of aggregation Aluminum oxide nanoparticles are less hemolytic than other oxide nanoparticles, and behave differently depending on the size and shape of the nanoparticles. The hemolytic behavior of aluminum oxide nanoparticles differs from that of aluminum oxide.