Conferencia: Europa y el Mediterráneo

Conferencia: Europa y el Mediterráneo

Seven new loci associated with age-related macular degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a common cause of blindness in older individuals. To accelerate the understanding of AMD biology and help design new therapies, we executed a collaborative genome-wide association study, including >17,100 advanced AMD cases and >60,000 controls of European and Asian ancestry. We identified 19 loci associated at P <5 × 10(-8). These loci show enrichment for genes involved in the regulation of complement activity, lipid metabolism, extracellular matrix remodeling and angiogenesis. Our results include seven loci with associations reaching P <5 × 10(-8) for the first time, near the genes COL8A1-FILIP1L, IER3-DDR1, SLC16A8, TGFBR1, RAD51B, ADAMTS9 and B3GALTL. A genetic risk score combining SNP genotypes from all loci showed similar ability to distinguish cases and controls in all samples examined. Our findings provide new directions for biological, genetic and therapeutic studies of AMD.

Presi��n arterial en preescolares de la localidad de Usaquén en Bogotá

Introducci��n: La hipertensi��n arterial es un problema de salud pública tanto en países industrializados como en vía de desarrollo. Su prevalencia en la infancia viene en aumento por lo que es relevante determinarla en ni��os preescolares a nivel local. Objetivo: Determinar la prevalencia de hipertensi��n arterial en ni��os de tres a cinco años de una cohorte de 14 hogares infantiles del ICBF de la localidad de Usaquén en Bogotá. Materiales y métodos: Se realizó un estudio de corte transversal analítico, utilizando la base de datos de un ensayo aleatorizado y controlado del año 200913, y se evaluaron las cifras de tensi��n arterial de acuerdo a sexo, edad, talla y su correlaci��n con el IMC con un nivel de confianza del 95% y precisi��n del 1%. Se calcularon las medias, desviaciones estándar, percentiles y prevalencia. Resultados: Se obtuvo una muestra de 1035 casos, encontrándose una prevalencia de 4,5% de HTA sistólica, 10,4% de diastólica, ambas en estadio I; teniendo en cuenta tanto sistólica como diastólica, fue de 11,6% en estadio I. Se determinaron los valores de presi��n arterial sistólica y diastólica en cuartiles de acuerdo a edad, sexo y talla. El coeficiente de correlaci��n entre el IMC y los niveles de presi��n arterial sistólica y diastólica fueron de 0.0992 y 0.0362 respectivamente. Conclusi��n: La prevalencia de HTA general fue de 11,6%, predominando la diastólica en estadio I en ni��os preescolares. No se encontró correlaci��n entre el IMC y las cifras de tensi��n arterial sistólica y diastólica.

Development, characterization and use of genomic SSR markers for assessment of genetic diversity in some Saudi date palm ( Phoenix dactylifera L.) cultivars

Background: The present study was undertaken towards the development of SSR markers and assessing genetic relationships among 32 date palm ( Phoenix dactylifera L.) representing common cultivars grown in different geographical regions in Saudi Arabia. Results: Ninety-three novel simple sequence repeat markers were developed and screened for their ability to detect polymorphism in date palm. Around 71% of genomic SSRs were dinucleotide, 25% tri, 3% tetra and 1% penta nucleotide motives. Twenty-two primers generated a total of 91 alleles with a mean of 4.14 alleles per locus and 100% polymorphism percentage. A 0.595 average polymorphic information content and 0.662 primer discrimination power values were recorded. The expected and observed heterozygosities were 0.676 and 0.763 respectively. Pair-wise similarity values ranged from 0.06 to 0.89 and the overall cultivars averaged 0.41. The UPGMA cluster analysis recovered by principal coordinate analysis illustrated that cultivars tend to group according to their class of maturity, region of cultivation, and fruit color. Analysis of molecular variations (AMOVA) revealed that genetic variation among and within cultivars were 27% and 73%, respectively according to geographical distribution of cultivars. Conclusions: The developed microsatellite markers are additional values to date palm characterization tools that can be used by researchers in population genetics, cultivar identification as well as genetic resource exploration and management. The tested cultivars exhibited a significant amount of genetic diversity and could be suitable for successful breeding program. Genomic sequences generated from this study are available at the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), Sequence Read Archive (Accession numbers. LIBGSS_039019).

What I want for my Social Network privacy

Social Networks (SN) users have various privacy requirements to protect their information; to address this issue, a six-stage thematic analysis of scholarly articles related to SN user privacy concerns were synthesized. Then this research combines mixed methods research employing the strengths of quantitative and qualitative research to investigate general SN users, and thus construct a new set of ?ve primary and Twenty-?ve secondary SN user privacy requirements. Such an approach has been rarely used to examine the privacy requirements. Factor analysis results show superior agreement with theoretical predictions and signi?cant improvement over previous alternative models of SN user privacy requirements. This research presented here has the potential to provide for the development of more sophisticated privacy controls which will increase the ability of SN users to: specify their rights in SNs and to determine the protection of their own SN data.

Nanolipodendrosome-loaded glatiramer acetate and myogenic differentiation I as augmentation therapeutic strategy approaches in muscular dystrophy

Backgrond: Muscular dystrophies consist of a number of juvenile and adult forms of complex disorders which generally cause weakness or efficiency defects affecting skeletal muscles or, in some kinds, other types of tissues in all parts of the body are vastly affected. In previous studies, it was observed that along with muscular dystrophy, immune inflammation was caused by inflammatory cells invasion - like T lymphocyte markers (CD8+/CD4+). Inflammatory processes play a major part in muscular fibrosis in muscular dystrophy patients. Additionally, a significant decrease in amounts of two myogenic recovery factors (myogenic differentation 1 MyoD] and myogenin) in animal models was observed. The drug glatiramer acetate causes anti-inflammatory cytokines to increase and T helper (Th) cells to induce, in an as yet unknown mechanism. MyoD recovery activity in muscular cells justifies using it alongside this drug. Methods: In this study, a nanolipodendrosome carrier as a drug delivery system was designed. The purpose of the system was to maximize the delivery and efficiency of the two drug factors, MyoD and myogenin, and introduce them as novel therapeutic agents in muscular dystrophy phenotypic mice. The generation of new muscular cells was analyzed in SW1 mice. Then, immune system changes and probable side effects after injecting the nanodrug formulations were investigated. Results: The loaded lipodendrimer nanocarrier with the candidate drug, in comparison with the nandrolone control drug, caused a significant increase in muscular mass, a reduction in CD4+/CD8+ inflammation markers, and no significant toxicity was observed. The results support the hypothesis that the nanolipodendrimer containing the two candidate drugs will probably be an efficient means to ameliorate muscular degeneration, and warrants further investigation.

On the Origin of Steep I-V Nonlinearity in Mixed-Ionic-Electronic-Conduction-Based Access Devices

Numerical modeling is used to explain the origin of the large ON/OFF ratios, ultralow leakage, and high ON-current densities exhibited by back-end-of-the-line-friendly access devices based on copper-containing mixed-ionic-electronic-conduction (MIEC) materials. Hall effect measurements confirm that the electronic current is hole dominated; a commercial semiconductor modeling tool is adapted to model MIEC. Motion of large populations of copper ions and vacancies leads to exponential increases in hole current, with a turn-ON voltage that depends on material bandgap. Device simulations match experimental observations as a function of temperature, electrode aspect ratio, thickness, and device diameter.

Los espejos de príncipes en el "Javame al-hekayat va lavame al-ravayat" de Sadid-al-Din Mohammad Awfi: estudio, clasificaci��n y adaptaci��n al castellano de los relatos protagonizados por autoridades políticas

Objetivos y resultados: Esta tesis tiene como objetivo principal el estudio y análisis de los espejos de príncipes en la obra escrita en persa “Javāme‘ al-ḥekāyāt va lavāme‘ al-ravāyāt” (Compendio de relatos y destellos de narraciones”, en adelante, Javāme‘) de Sadid-al-Din Moḥammad ‘Awfi de Bujara (m. c. 1232 d.C), muy conocido en la literatura persa tambi��n por su Lobāb al-albāb, la primera obra conservada de reseñas de biografías de poetas persas. Para ello se han analizado las estrategias del autor para aconsejar insertando máximas en los relatos, y se ha procedido a extraer los elementos sapienciales, es decir, identificar, clasificar y analizar aquellos relatos, exordios, comentarios, digresiones y colofones repartidos en esta larga obra de temática de lo más dispar, que guarden relaci��n con el género de los espejos de príncipes o “naṣi���at al-moluk”, una de las denominaciones con las que se conoce este género en persa y árabe. Después de una lectura completa y minuciosa de la obra y la selecci��n de los relatos relacionados con los espejos de príncipes se ha procedido a traducir/adaptar los relatos protagonizados por autoridades políticas del Javāme‘. Todo esto se realiza llevando a cabo una clasificaci��n metódica y sistemática según vicio/virtud primero y por mandatarios después de los elementos gnómicos del Javāme‘ así como un análisis de los mismos en los contextos escenificados en los relatos. Se aporta así un material novedoso a la comunidad académica hispanohablante —tanto a hispanistas como a arabistas— para el estudio de los especula en la literatura persa del Medievo, textos valiosos con los que los estudiosos podrán cotejar lo que hay en español por un lado y en árabe por el otro. La clasificaci��n se llevó a cabo según los vicios y virtudes y se ha optado por estudiarlos por personajes históricos políticos dispuestos dentro de cada virtud/vicio y por orden cronológico...