Search

This case series reports eight eyes with keratoconus treated with laser implantation of one or two segments of progressive thickness corneal intrastromal ring (PT-ICRS). In this case series, it was evident that the insertion of PT-ICRS induces more pronounced corneal flattening at the thickest point, causing a reduction in distortion (coma) and lower astigmatism, resulting in a remarkable improvement in vision. Compared to the implementation of traditional intrastromal rings, the PT-ICRS variant showed superior results despite the small sample size. However, the same degree of asymmetry enhancement was not observed in cases in which a 330° PT-ICRS was implanted, despite the improvement in visual results when replacing a 320° traditional ring with a 330° PT-ICRS. These conclusions are limited as this is a case series with few cases.

Abstract Cells crucially rely on the interactions of biomolecules at their plasma membrane to maintain homeostasis. Yet, a methodology to systematically quantify biomolecular organisation, measuring diffusion dynamics and oligomerisation, represents an unmet need. Here, we introduce the brightness-transit statistics (BTS) method based on fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy and combine information from brightness and transit times to elucidate biomolecular diffusion and oligomerisation in both cell-free in vitro and in vitro systems incorporating living cells. We validate our approach in silico with computer simulations and experimentally using oligomerisation of EGFP tethered to supported lipid bilayers. We apply our pipeline to study the oligomerisation of CD40 ectodomain in vitro and endogenous CD40 on primary B cells. While we find a potential for CD40 to oligomerize in a concentration or ligand depended manner, we do not observe mobile oligomers on B cells. The BTS method combines sensitive analysis, quantification, and intuitive visualisation of dynamic biomolecular organisation.

Accelerated longitudinal designs (ALDs) provide an opportunity to capture long developmental periods in a shorter time framework using a relatively small number of assessments. Prior literature has investigated whether univariate developmental processes can be characterized with data obtained from ALDs. However, many important questions in psychology and related sciences imply working with several variables that are intercorrelated as they unfold over time, such as cognitive and cortical development. Therefore, bivariate developmental models are required. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of continuous-time bivariate Latent Change Score (CT-BLCS) models for recovering the trajectories of two interdependent developmental processes using data from diverse ALDs. Through a Monte Carlo simulation study, the efficacy of different sampling designs and sample sizes was examined. The study fills a gap in the literature by examining the performance of ALDs in bivariate systems, providing specific recommendations for future application of ALDs for studying interrelated developmental variables.

Abstract Our research aimed to elucidate the mechanism by which aurintricarboxylic acid (ATA) inhibits plasma membrane Ca2+-ATPase (PMCA), a crucial enzyme responsible for calcium transport. Given the pivotal role of PMCA in cellular calcium homeostasis, understanding how it is inhibited by ATA holds significant implications for potentially regulating physiopathological cellular processes in which this pump is involved. Our experimental findings revealed that ATA employs multiple modes of action to inhibit PMCA activity, which are influenced by ATP but also by the presence of calcium and magnesium ions. Specifically, magnesium appears to enhance this inhibitory effect. Our experimental and in-silico results suggest that, unlike those reported in other proteins, ATA complexed with magnesium (ATA·Mg) is the molecule that inhibits PMCA. In summary, our study presents a novel perspective and establishes a solid foundation for future research efforts aimed at the development of new pharmacological molecules both for PMCA and other proteins.

This article examines the emergence of ideas about corporeal hechos [facts] in the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Caribbean. The establishment of facts around the human flesh in the early modern Caribbean and their circulation occurred in multiple social and cultural spaces but was prominent in the world of slave trading. This development depended on the creation of categories for the fixation of the flesh in the public discourse that appeared in governmental, judicial, and private records in locales in Europe and the Americas. At the same time, the development of this Caribbean tradition of facts required the circulation of these ideas and categories as inscribed in procedures of tacit knowledge related to bodies, practices that were evident in the work of slave-trading communities in the region. The creation of bodily facts emerged, in the end, from techniques that inscribed human bodies in accounts and transactions of all sorts moving across the Atlantic.

El presente artículo tiene por tarea hacer una aproximación a la lectura de En todos los rincones imperiales. Apropiaciones de tierras baldías y composiciones de propiedades agrarias en América y Filipinas (siglos xvi-xix), obra coordinada por Sergio Carrera y Juan Manuel Pérez Zevallos (México, El Colegio de México, 2022). La riqueza y variedad de cuestiones que aborda el libro es muy grande, por lo que a partir de este texto se establece un diálogo con sus capítulos y su introducción, que se inscriben en temas de la basta posesión y propiedad de la tierra y las riquezas naturales en Hispanoamérica –además de tender puentes analíticos con Filipinas y el mundo luso-brasileño–, insertos en sus interrogantes económicosociales coloniales y de largo plazo. En este sentido, el diálogo aquí desarrollado atraviesa por los conceptos de soberanía, las nociones de posesión y poseedor en el Antiguo Régimen, la cesión de dominio, la composición americana y sus objetivos, así como la evolución de esta. Además, se reflexiona sobre la participación de los indígenas americanos en las llamadas composiciones, cuestiones sobre las nociones de la propiedad y los propietarios, para cerrar con la política agraria de los Borbones.

Abstract Molecular simulations are an important tool for research in physics, chemistry, and biology. The capabilities of simulations can be greatly expanded by providing access to advanced sampling methods and techniques that permit calculation of the relevant underlying free energy landscapes. In this sense, software that can be seamlessly adapted to a broad range of complex systems is essential. Building on past efforts to provide open-source community-supported software for advanced sampling, we introduce PySAGES, a Python implementation of the Software Suite for Advanced General Ensemble Simulations (SSAGES) that provides full GPU support for massively parallel applications of enhanced sampling methods such as adaptive biasing forces, harmonic bias, or forward flux sampling in the context of molecular dynamics simulations. By providing an intuitive interface that facilitates the management of a system’s configuration, the inclusion of new collective variables, and the implementation of sophisticated free energy-based sampling methods, the PySAGES library serves as a general platform for the development and implementation of emerging simulation techniques. The capabilities, core features, and computational performance of this tool are demonstrated with clear and concise examples pertaining to different classes of molecular systems. We anticipate that PySAGES will provide the scientific community with a robust and easily accessible platform to accelerate simulations, improve sampling, and enable facile estimation of free energies for a wide range of materials and processes.

Fascioliasis, only foodborne trematodiasis of worldwide distribution, is caused by Fasciola hepatica and F. gigantica, liver flukes transmitted by freshwater snails. Southern and southeastern Asia is an emerging hot spot of F. gigantica, despite its hitherto less involvement in human infection. In Vietnam, increasing cases have been reported since 1995, whereas only sixteen throughout 1800–1994. A database was created to include epidemiological data of fascioliasis patients from the 63 Vietnam provinces throughout 1995–2019. Case profiles were based on serology, symptoms, eosinophilia, imaging techniques, stool egg finding, and post-specific-treatment recovery. Radio broadcasting about symptoms and costless diagnosis/treatment led patients to hospitals after symptom onset. Yearly case numbers were modelled and spatio-temporally analyzed. Missing data and confounders were assessed. The countrywide spread has no precedent. It started in the central coast, including 53,109 patients, mostly adults and females. Seasonality, linked to vegetable consumption, peaks in June, although the intensity of this peak differs according to relief/climatic zones. Incidence data and logistic regression curves are obtained for the first time in human fascioliasis. Fasciolid hybrids accompanying the spreading F. gigantica flukes, and climate change assessed by risk index correlations, are both ruled out as outbreak causes. Human-guided movements of livestock from an original area prove to be the way used by fasciolids and lymnaeid vectors to expand geographically. Radix viridis, a highly efficient transmitting and colonizing vector, played a decisive role in the spread. The use of irrigated crop fields, widely inhabited by R. viridis, for livestock grazing facilitated the transmission and spread of the disease. General physician awareness and diagnostic capacity improvement proved the successful impact of such knowledge transfer in facilitating and increasing patient infection detection. Information, education and communication to the public by radio broadcasting demonstrated to be very helpful. Fasciola gigantica is able to cause epidemic and endemic situations similar to F. hepatica. The magnitude of the human outbreak in Vietnam is a health wake-up call for southern and southeastern countries of Asia which present the highest human population densities with increasing food demands, uncontrolled livestock inter-country exchange, foreign import practices, and monsoon's increasing climate change impact.

ABSTRACTBackground: Altered interoception plays an important role in chronic stress and posttraumatic stress disorder. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of a Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TSY) intervention for improving emotional distress and psychological discomfort in women living under circumstances of social and gender vulnerability. We assessed the effect of the treatment on the interoceptive mechanisms, and whether the psychological improvements were mediated by the changes in these mechanisms.Methods: The study involved a sample of 62 women who attended public community centres dedicated to supporting women victims of gender-based violence or who were socially and economically disadvantaged because of their gender. Participants underwent a six-week TSY programme. We evaluated dropout rate, adherence, and intervention satisfaction. We measured emotional distress, psychological discomfort, interoceptive mechanisms, and two nonequivalent dependent variables to enhance internal validity. We compared pre–post differences using paired samples t-test and a structural equation model (SEM) analysis was performed to compare the changes in the outcomes with the changes in the nonequivalent dependent variables. Mediation models were adjusted to evaluate the role of changes in interoception on outcome changes.Results: Fourteen (23%) women dropped out, mainly after the first intervention session. Intervention adherence (mean attendance 5.3 over 6 sessions) and acceptability were high (mean satisfaction 3.4 over 4). We observed post-intervention improvements in anxiety, depression, psychological discomfort, body responsiveness, and interoceptive awareness. The changes in the outcomes were larger than the changes in the nonequivalent dependent variables. Additionally, we found that the changes in body responsiveness partially mediated the change in anxiety and psychological discomfort but not in depression.Conclusions: TSY could be an interesting therapeutic approach for women experiencing chronic posttraumatic stress symptomatology. Our findings underscore the role of interoceptive mechanisms in traumatic stress and emphasize the importance of addressing these aspects.

Objectives: As earthquakes occur frequently in Latin America and can cause significant disruptions in HIV care, we sought to analyze patterns of HIV care for adults at Latin American clinical sites experiencing a significant earthquake within the past two decades. Study design: Retrospective clinical cohort study. Methods: Adults receiving HIV care at sites experiencing at least a “moderate intensity” (Modified Mercalli scale) earthquake in the Caribbean, Central and South America network for HIV epidemiology (CCASAnet) contributed data from 2003 to 2017. Interrupted Time Series models were fit with discontinuities at site-specific earthquake dates (Sept. 16, 2015 in Chile; Apr. 18, 2014 and Sept. 19, 2017 in Mexico; and Aug. 15, 2007 in Peru) to assess clinical visit, CD4 measure, viral load lab, and ART initiation rates 3- and 6-months after versus before earthquakes. Results: Comparing post-to pre-earthquake periods, there was a sharp drop in median visit (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 0.79, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.68–0.91) and viral load lab (IRR = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.62–0.99) rates per week, using a 3-month window. CD4 measurement rates also decreased (IRR = 0.43; 95% CI: 0.37–0.51), though only using a 6-month window. Conclusions: Given that earthquakes occur frequently in Latin America, disaster preparedness plans must be more broadly implemented to avoid disruptions in HIV care and attendant poor outcomes.

Abstract Metal halide perovskites (MHPs) exhibit electronic and ionic characteristics suitable for memristors. However, polycrystalline thin film perovskite memristors often suffer from reliability issues due to grain boundaries, while bulk single‐crystal perovskite memristors struggle to achieve high LRS/HRS ratios. In this study, a single crystal memristive device utilizing a wide bandgap perovskite is introduced, MAPbBr3, in a high surface/thickness configuration. This thin single crystal overcomes these challenges, exhibiting a remarkable LRS/HRS ratio of up to 50 and endurance of 103 cycles, representing one of the highest reported values to date. This exceptional stability enables to analyze the electroforming process and LRS through impedance spectroscopy, providing insights into the underlying operational mechanism. As far as it is known, this is the first reported thin single‐crystal MHP memristor device and the first time that the electroforming process is recorded through impedance spectroscopy. This device's outstanding stability and performance position it as a promising candidate for high‐density data storage and neuromorphic applications.

This study evaluates the influence of opportunity-enhancing human resource practices on radical innovation and examines the mediating role of exploration capability in this relationship.