Association between the PNPLA3 (rs738409 C>G) variant and hepatocellular carcinoma: Evidence from a meta-analysis of individual participant data.

The incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is increasing in Western countries. Although several clinical factors have been identified, many individuals never develop HCC, suggesting a genetic susceptibility. However, to date, only a few single-nucleotide polymorphisms have been reproducibly shown to be linked to HCC onset. A variant (rs738409 C>G, encoding for p.I148M) in the PNPLA3 gene is associated with liver damage in chronic liver diseases. Interestingly, several studies have reported that the minor rs738409[G] allele is more represented in HCC cases in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) and alcoholic liver disease (ALD). However, a significant association with HCC related to CHC has not been consistently observed, and the strength of the association between rs738409 and HCC remains unclear. We performed a meta-analysis of individual participant data including 2,503 European patients with cirrhosis to assess the association between rs738409 and HCC, particularly in ALD and CHC. We found that rs738409 was strongly associated with overall HCC (odds ratio [OR] per G allele, additive model=1.77; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.42-2.19; P=2.78 × 10(-7) ). This association was more pronounced in ALD (OR=2.20; 95% CI: 1.80-2.67; P=4.71 × 10(-15) ) than in CHC patients (OR=1.55; 95% CI: 1.03-2.34; P=3.52 × 10(-2) ). After adjustment for age, sex, and body mass index, the variant remained strongly associated with HCC. Conclusion: Overall, these results suggest that rs738409 exerts a marked influence on hepatocarcinogenesis in patients with cirrhosis of European descent and provide a strong argument for performing further mechanistic studies to better understand the role of PNPLA3 in HCC development.

La importància de les vacunes. Un conflicte entre llibertat individual i protecció social

Els grups contraris a les vacunes guanyen adeptes, i la seva actitud comença a ser una amenaça per a la salut publica, atès que contribueix que hi hagi rebrots de malalties que ja s'havien eradicat a Catalunya.

La salud bucodental de los españoles mayores de 64 años. Impacto en el estado de salud individual

Introducción: los cambios epidemiológicos sufridos en los países occidentales en el siglo XX han propiciado un aumento del número absoluto y de la proporción de ancianos en todos ellos. Pacientes y Método: se realizó un estudio descriptivo transversal de prevalencia de enfermedades bucodentales en una población de 3.460 individuos en 7 Comunidades Autónomas españolas, tanto institucionalizados (10%) como no institucionalizados (90%). Resultados: la edad media de los encuestados fue de 73,6±7 años. Un 31,4% de los individuos del estudio eran desdentados totales. Los individuos dentados presentaban un promedio de 14,8±8 dientes. El CAOD de los individuos de la muestra fue de 20,8±10, siendo de 23,7±9,8 en los institucionalizados. La última visita al dentista había sido de media 4 años y medio antes, pero los institucionalizados hacía 7 años. Discusión: es totalmente inaceptable que la prevención y el tratamiento las enfermedades bucodentales. especialmente entre las personas de edad más avanzada, se sigan considerando como un aspecto totalmente optativo para el mantenimiento de la salud del individuo. Estudios epidemiológicos. bacteriológicos e Inmunológicos demuestran que la enfermedad periodontal o la caries pueden ser las causantes de un importante aumento de la morbi-mortalidad especialmente entre las personas de más edad.

Avian haemosporidian persistence and co-infection in great tits at the individual level.

BACKGROUND: Many studies have tracked the distribution and persistence of avian haemosporidian communities across space and time at the population level, but few studies have investigated these aspects of infection at the individual level over time. Important aspects of parasite infection at the individual level can be missed if only trends at the population level are studied. This study aimed to determine how persistent Haemosporida are in great tit individuals recaptured over several years, whether parasitaemia differed by parasite lineage (mitochondrial cytochrome b haplotype) and how co-infection (i.e. concurrent infection with multiple genera of parasites) affects parasitaemia and body mass. METHODS: Parasite prevalence was determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), quantitative PCR were used to assess parasitaemia and sequencing was employed to determine the identity of the lineages using the MalAvi database. RESULTS: Haemosporidian prevalence was high over sampled years with 98% of 55 recaptured individuals showing infection in at least one year of capture. Eighty-two percent of all positive individuals suffered co-infection, with an overall haemosporidian lineage diversity of seventeen. Plasmodium and Haemoproteus parasites were found to be highly persistent, with lineages from these genera consistently found in individuals across years and with no differences in individual parasitaemia being recorded at subsequent captures. Conversely, Leucocytozoon parasites showed higher turnover with regard to lineage changes or transitions in infection status (infected vs non-infected) across years. Parasitaemia was found to be lineage specific and there was no relationship between Plasmodium parasitaemia or host body condition and the presence of Leucocytozoon parasites. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study suggest that different genera of haemosporidian parasites interact differently with their host and other co-infecting parasites, influencing parasite persistence most likely through inter-parasite competition or host-parasite immune interactions. Even-though co-infections do not seem to result in increased virulence (higher parasitaemia or poorer host body condition), further investigation into infection potential of these parasites, both individually and as co-infections, is necessary.

Managing Decisions Regarding Rural Expressway Routes and Associated Highway Bypasses, 2009

For several years, the Iowa Department of Transportation has constructed bypasses along rural highways. Most bypasses were constructed on the state’s Commercial Industrial Network (CIN). Now that work on the CIN has been completed and the system is open to traffic, it is possible to study the impacts of bypasses. In the past, construction of highway bypasses has led community residents and business people to raise concerns about the loss of business activity. For policy development purposes, it is essential to understand the impacts that a bypass might have on safety, the community, and economics. By researching these impacts, policies can be produced to help to alleviate any negative impacts and create a better system that is ultimately more cost-effective. This study found that the use of trade area analysis does not provide proof that a bypass can positively or negatively impact the economy of a rural community. The analysis did show that, even though the population of a community may be stable for several years and per capita income is increasing, sales leakage still occurs. The literature, site visits, and data make it is apparent that a bypass can positively affect a community. Some conditions that would need to exist in order to maximize a positive impact include the installation of signage along the bypass directing travelers to businesses and services in the community, community or regional plans that include the bypass in future land development scenarios, and businesses adjusting their business plans to attract bypass users. In addition, how proactive a community is in adapting to the bypass will determine the kinds of effects felt in the community. Results of statistical safety analysis indicate that, at least when crashes are separated by severity, bypasses with at-grade accesses appear to perform more poorly than either the bypasses with fully separated accesses or with a mix of at-grade and fully separated accesses. However, the benefit in terms of improved safety of bypasses with fully separated accesses relative to bypasses with a mixed type of accesses is not statistically conclusive.

Direct Observation of Magnetic Metastability in Individual Iron Nanoparticles

X-ray photoemission electron microscopy combined with x-ray magnetic circular dichroism is used to study the magnetic properties of individual iron nanoparticles with sizes ranging from 20 down to 8 nm. While the magnetocrystalline anisotropy of bulk iron suggests superparamagnetic behavior in this size range, ferromagnetically blocked particles are also found at all sizes. Spontaneous transitions from the blocked state to the superparamagnetic state are observed in single particles and suggest that the enhanced magnetic energy barriers in the ferromagnetic particles are due to metastable, structurally excited states with unexpected life times

Direct Observation of Magnetic Metastability in Individual Iron Nanoparticles

X-ray photoemission electron microscopy combined with x-ray magnetic circular dichroism is used to study the magnetic properties of individual iron nanoparticles with sizes ranging from 20 down to 8 nm. While the magnetocrystalline anisotropy of bulk iron suggests superparamagnetic behavior in this size range, ferromagnetically blocked particles are also found at all sizes. Spontaneous transitions from the blocked state to the superparamagnetic state are observed in single particles and suggest that the enhanced magnetic energy barriers in the ferromagnetic particles are due to metastable, structurally excited states with unexpected life times

Individual tree measurements by means of digital aerial photogrammetry

University of Helsinki, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, Department of Forest Resource Management

Eficacia de la psicoterapia individual en mujeres maltratadas por su pareja: valoración de una experiencia

Este estudio evalúa la eficacia de la Psicoterapia Psicoanalítica Focal y Breve (PPFB) en 46 mujeres maltratadas por su pareja atendidas en la Unitat d’Atenció Especialitzada per a Dones Maltractades (UNADOM) de la Fundació Vidal i Barraquer de Barcelona, a través del Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II (MCMI-II). La UNADOM es un servicio de asistencia público y gratuito subvencionado por la Generalitat de Catalunya destinado a mujeres maltratadas que necesitan atención psicológica en régimen ambulatorio. Se tuvieron en cuenta los resultados obtenidos en el MCMI-II en la fase inicial de evaluación y una vez finalizado el tratamiento. Los resultados revelan que al inicio de la terapia las tres escalas básicas de personalidad que obtuvieron la media más elevada fueron la Dependiente, la Autodestructiva y la Fóbica. En cambio, una vez finalizada la terapia individual, estas mismas escalas presentaban puntuaciones medias inferiores y estadísticamente significativas. Tan sólo la escala Compulsiva mostraba puntuaciones superiores al punto de corte TB>75. Se discuten los resultados obtenidos y se insta a que futuros trabajos proporcionen mayor evidencia empírica de las complejas interacciones que se producen entre los dos miembros de la pareja en situaciones de maltrato para poder diseñar estrategias de prevención y de tratamientos eficaces y realistas.

Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program, December 31, 2015

Individual assistance grant program is by the Department of Human Services and based on the activities from the previous fiscal year.

A numeric model to simulate solar individual ultraviolet exposure.

Exposure to solar ultraviolet (UV) light is the main causative factor for skin cancer. UV exposure depends on environmental and individual factors. Individual exposure data remain scarce and development of alternative assessment methods is greatly needed. We developed a model simulating human exposure to solar UV. The model predicts the dose and distribution of UV exposure received on the basis of ground irradiation and morphological data. Standard 3D computer graphics techniques were adapted to develop a rendering engine that estimates the solar exposure of a virtual manikin depicted as a triangle mesh surface. The amount of solar energy received by each triangle was calculated, taking into account reflected, direct and diffuse radiation, and shading from other body parts. Dosimetric measurements (n = 54) were conducted in field conditions using a foam manikin as surrogate for an exposed individual. Dosimetric results were compared to the model predictions. The model predicted exposure to solar UV adequately. The symmetric mean absolute percentage error was 13%. Half of the predictions were within 17% range of the measurements. This model provides a tool to assess outdoor occupational and recreational UV exposures, without necessitating time-consuming individual dosimetry, with numerous potential uses in skin cancer prevention and research.