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BACKGROUND: Captures and seasonal abundance of Xylotrechus arvicola (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in relation to climatic factors were studied in vineyards between the years 2013 and 2020. Insects captures from vine wood in two Vitis vinifera varieties were evaluated every year by counting the number of insects captured with CROSSTRAP®. The captured insects were grouped (by sex and total) into ranges of 10 days and compared to climatic data (daily average, temperature and rainfall) for each cultivar and year. RESULTS: The capture periods spanned from 1 June and 31 July, with the period from 1 to 30 June having the greatest number of insect captures, as long as weather conditions were favourable, i.e. temperature above 20.00 °C and accumulated rainfall in 10 days lower than 0.40 mm, verified through the analysis of parameter estimates, in which, only the temperature parameter was significantly. CONCLUSIONS: The study provided useful information for the integrated pest management of X. arvicola through mass trapping in vineyards when temperature exceeds 20.00 °C and the accumulated rainfall is less than 0.40 mm in 10 days to obtain peak captures. This is the first quantitative study of X. arvicola control associated with temperature and rainfall in Vitis vinifera. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the burden of asthma in Argentina and the strategies for managing the disease. Epidemiological studies have shown that over 10% of the population in Argentina, approximately 4.5 million people, have varying degrees of bronchial asthma. While mortality rates due to asthma have been decreasing since the 2000s, there is still a need to reduce morbidity and mortality rates further. The article highlights the discrepancies in international guidelines for asthma management and the need for a precise definition of mild asthma. The National Ministry of Health has published a guide for the management of mild asthma, but there are still challenges in providing access to medication and specialized care, particularly for those without health insurance coverage. The prevalence of severe asthma in Argentina is estimated to affect more than 160,000 people, and there are controversies in its management based on local recommendations. The article also mentions the lack of coverage for certain biological drugs for severe eosinophilic asthma and the need for the approval of the National Asthma Law to improve access to medication and healthcare providers. The role of various associations in advocating for asthma as a public health problem is emphasized. [Extracted from the article]

In Chagas disease (ChD) caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, new biomarkers to predict chronic cardiac pathology are urgently needed. Previous studies in chagasic patients with mild symptomatology showed that antibodies against the immunodominant R3 epitope of sCha, a fragment of the human basic helix‐loop‐helix transcription factor like 5, correlated with cardiac pathology. To validate sCha as a biomarker and to understand the origin of anti‐sCha antibodies, we conducted a multicenter study with several cohorts of chagasic patients with severe cardiac symptomatology. We found that levels of antibodies against sCha discriminated the high risk of sudden death, indicating they could be useful for ChD prognosis. We investigated the origin of the antibodies and performed an alanine scan of the R3 epitope. We identified a minimal epitope MRQLD, and a BLAST search retrieved several T. cruzi antigens. Five of the hits had known or putative functions, of which phosphonopyruvate decarboxylase showed the highest cross‐reactivity with sCha, confirming the role of molecular mimicry in the development of anti‐sCha antibodies. Altogether, we demonstrate that the development of antibodies against sCha, which originated by molecular mimicry with T. cruzi antigens, could discriminate electrocardiographic alterations associated with a high risk of sudden death. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is associated with a high risk of cardiovascular events and death and is postulated to be a critical socioeconomic cost in the future. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged as potential candidates for new biomarker discovery related to their protein and nucleic acid cargo. In search of new prognostic and therapeutic targets in PAD, we determined the prothrombotic activity, the cellular origin and the transcriptomic profile of circulating EVs. This prospective study included control and PAD patients. Coagulation time (Procoag-PPL kit), EVs cellular origin and phosphatidylserine exposure were determined by flow cytometry in platelet-free plasma (n = 45 PAD). Transcriptomic profiles of medium/large EVs were generated using the MARS-Seq RNA-Seq protocol (n = 12/group). The serum concentration of the differentially expressed gene S100A9, in serum calprotectin (S100A8/A9), was validated by ELISA in control (n = 100) and PAD patients (n = 317). S100A9 was also determined in EVs and tissues of human atherosclerotic plaques (n = 3). Circulating EVs of PAD patients were mainly of platelet origin, predominantly Annexin V positive and were associated with the procoagulant activity of platelet-free plasma. Transcriptomic analysis of EVs identified 15 differentially expressed genes. Among them, serum calprotectin was elevated in PAD patients (p < 0.05) and associated with increased amputation risk before and after covariate adjustment (mean follow-up 3.6 years, p < 0.01). The combination of calprotectin with hs-CRP in the multivariate analysis further improved risk stratification (p < 0.01). Furthermore, S100A9 was also expressed in femoral plaque derived EVs and tissues. In summary, we found that PAD patients release EVs, mainly of platelet origin, highly positive for AnnexinV and rich in transcripts related to platelet biology and immune responses. Amputation risk prediction improved with calprotectin and was significantly higher when combined with hs-CRP. Our results suggest that EVs can be a promising component of liquid biopsy to identify the molecular signature of PAD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to examine the local embryo effect on the transcriptomic response of the epithelial cells of the oviduct in vivo. Fifteen heifers were synchronized and artificially inseminated to a standing heat. All heifers were slaughtered on Day 2.5 after oestrus. The oviducts from 13 animals were isolated, trimmed free of tissue and divided between ampulla/isthmus. The ipsilateral isthmus was divided into smaller sections (2 cm). Each section was sequentially flushed until the embryo was located (4/13) and then opened and scraped longitudinally to obtain the epithelial cells. Cells were snap‐frozen in LN2 for gene expression analysis. All recovered embryos were found at the beginning of the isthmus. The 2 cm sections selected for the transcriptomic analysis were as follows: embryo section (in which the embryo was found); proximal section (through which the embryo had passed); distal section (on the uterine side of the embryo); and contralateral section (section from the contralateral isthmus). The expression pattern of eight genes (STK32A, KERA, QRFPR, MCTP1, PRELP, VAT1L, SOCS3 and CCL20) differentially expressed between the isthmus of pregnant (multiple embryo model) and cyclic heifers were assessed by RT‐qPCR. One‐way ANOVA and t test was used for statistical analysis. Comparisons between ipsilateral and contralateral oviduct or along the ipsilateral oviduct resulted in no differences for all genes. Despite the failure to detect a site‐specific response of a single embryo on the abundance of distinct transcripts in the bovine oviduct in vivo on Day 2.5, the current methodology with proposed modifications would be useful for future studies to examine the local embryo effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contents: Ascorbic acid (AC) used as antioxidant in embryo culture is very sensitive and degrades unavoidably in aqueous solution. Methyl‐β‐cyclodextrin (CD) improved the stability of AC in solution to elevated temperature, light, humidity and oxidation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the complex AC‐CD during in vitro maturation (IVM) or in vitro culture (IVC) on oocyte developmental competence and subsequent embryo development and quality. AC‐CD (100 µM) was added to IVM media, and maturation level and embryo development were examined. Matured oocytes, their cumulus cells and produced blastocysts were snap‐frozen for gene expression analysis by RT‐qPCR. Besides, in vitro‐produced zygotes were cultured with 100 µM of AC‐CD and blastocysts were as well snap‐frozen for gene expression analysis. A group without AC‐CD (control−) and other with CD (control+) were included. No differences were found on maturation, cleavage or blastocyst rates. However, in matured oocytes, AC‐CD downregulated BAX, GPX1 and BMP15. In cumulus cells, AC‐CD downregulated BAX/BCL2 and GSTA4 while upregulated BCL2 and CYP51A1. The expression of SL2A1, FADS1, PNPLA and MTORC1 was downregulated in blastocysts derived from oocytes matured with AC‐CD, while in blastocysts derived from zygote cultured with AC‐CD, CYP51A1 and IGF2R were downregulated and PNPLA2 was upregulated. In conclusion, AC‐CD in both IVM and IVC media may reduce accumulated fat by increasing lipolysis and suppressing lipogenesis in blastocysts derived from both oocytes and zygotes cultured with AC‐CD, suggesting that CD improves the quality of embryos and bioavailability of AC during IVM and IVC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contents The objective was to examine the effect of lactation on uterine involution in post-partum dairy cows. Holstein primiparous cows were used (n = 19, mean age: 3.9 ± 0.1 years). At calving, cows were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups, lactating (n = 11) or non-lactating (i.e. dried off at calving, n = 8). Examination of the reproductive tract was carried out by ultrasonography twice weekly until week 7 post-partum. Blood samples were collected twice weekly for the analysis of progesterone to indicate the resumption of cyclicity and metabolites indicative of energy status. Uterine involution was assessed in terms of size of the uterine horns, uterine body diameter and uterine fluid volume as assessed by the amount of non-echogenic material measured by ultrasound and position of the uterus. Vaginal mucous score was taken on day 28 post-partum for the assessment of uterine inflammation. Resumption of cyclicity (serum progesterone > 1 ng/ml) had occurred in both groups on average by day 21 post-partum. Concentrations of non-esterified fatty acids and beta-hydroxybutyrate were higher, whereas concentrations of glucose, insulin and IGF-1 were lower (p < 0.05) in lactating compared to non-lactating cows. Lactating cows had a smaller mean uterine body diameter (p < 0.05) than non-lactating cows from days 28 to 42 post-partum (day 28: 20.2 ± 1.3 vs 24.9 ± 1.5 mm, respectively) and had a lower mean uterine fluid volume up to day 49 (p < 0.05). By day 49, there was no difference in uterine diameter (15.2 ± 1.8 vs 15.2 ± 1.6 mm) or uterine fluid volume (0.11 ± 0.38 vs 0.18 ± 0.46) between lactating and non-lactating cows, respectively. Vaginal mucous score revealed no evidence of uterine inflammation in either group. In conclusion, while lactation induced significant alterations in metabolic status, it did not have a major effect on the rate of uterine involution as defined in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cytogenetic analysis is a powerful tool for predicting recurrence in meningiomas, even among histologically benign/grade I tumors. Despite this, no study has been reported in which the impact of tumor cytogenetics on the gene expression profiles (GEP) has been analyzed in meningiomas. Here, we analyzed the GEP of 47 tumors and correlated them with the most clinical relevant cytogenetic subgroups of meningiomas, as confirmed through the analysis of 172 patients. Additionally three normal meningeal samples were also studied. Overall, our results show a clear association between the clinically relevant cytogenetic subgroups of meningiomas including diploid tumors (n = 18), isolated −22/22q− (n = 12), del(1p36) alone (n = 4) and complex karyotypes associated with del(1p36) and/or −14q (n = 13) and their GEP. Accordingly, based on the expression of 85 genes (40 of which were coded in the altered chromosomes used for patient stratification) the cytogenetic class of the tumor could be predicted with an error of <1%, a clear association being found between the GEP and patient outcome ( P = 0.03) but not tumor histopathology. In summary, we show a clear association between GEP of neoplastic cells and clinically relevant cytogenetic subgroups of meningiomas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Woven polyester upholstery fabrics, comprising multilobal filament yarn warp and textured yarn weft, were heat-set at different temperatures. The weft of these heat-set fabrics was dyed at high temperature (130 °C) using dyes of small and large molecular size, respectively, using both separate and competitive dyeing methods. The results show that the difference in dye uptake between substrates heat-set at immediately adjacent temperatures is higher in competitive dyeings than in separate dyeings. It has also been observed that dye uptake differences are always higher for dyes of large molecular size than for dyes of smaller size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies the modification of the fine structure of polyester fiber during dyeing at high temperature. Characterization of the fine structure; Differential solubility; Parameters of the fine structure of polyester substrates heat-set.

Abstract Amelanotic lentigo maligna and lentigo maligna melanoma are extremely rare tumours. Even rarer is a recurrent amelanotic lentigo maligna or amelanotic lentigo maligna melanoma at the site of a previously removed pigmented lentigo maligna. We describe two cases of recurrent amelanotic lentigo maligna melanoma manifesting as erythematous plaques evolved from previously excised pigmented lentigo maligna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The k‐nearest neighbors algorithm is characterized as a simple yet effective data mining technique. The main drawback of this technique appears when massive amounts of data—likely to contain noise and imperfections—are involved, turning this algorithm into an imprecise and especially inefficient technique. These disadvantages have been subject of research for many years, and among others approaches, data preprocessing techniques such as instance reduction or missing values imputation have targeted these weaknesses. As a result, these issues have turned out as strengths and the k‐nearest neighbors rule has become a core algorithm to identify and correct imperfect data, removing noisy and redundant samples, or imputing missing values, transforming Big Data into Smart Data—which is data of sufficient quality to expect a good outcome from any data mining algorithm. The role of this smart data gleaning algorithm in a supervised learning context are investigated. This includes a brief overview of Smart Data, current and future trends for the k‐nearest neighbor algorithm in the Big Data context, and the existing data preprocessing techniques based on this algorithm. We present the emerging big data‐ready versions of these algorithms and develop some new methods to cope with Big Data. We carry out a thorough experimental analysis in a series of big datasets that provide guidelines as to how to use the k‐nearest neighbor algorithm to obtain Smart/Quality Data for a high‐quality data mining process. Moreover, multiple Spark Packages have been developed including all the Smart Data algorithms analyzed. This article is categorized under:Technologies > Data PreprocessingFundamental Concepts of Data and Knowledge > Big Data MiningTechnologies > Classification The k‐nearest neighbors algorithm plays a key role to cope with Big Data by transforming it into Smart data that is free of redundant information, noise and/or missing values. Gleaning quality data is essential for a correct data mining process that will uncover valuable insights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]