On the geometric growth in a class of homogeneous multitype Markov chain

In this paper, we investigate the geometric growth of homogeneous multitype Markov chains whose states have nonnegative integer coordinates. Such models are considered in a situation similar to the supercritical case for branching processes. Finally, our general theoretical results are applied to a class of controlled multitype branching process in which the control is random.

Stochastic Monotonicity and Continuity Properties of the Extinction Time of Bellman-Harris Branching Processes: An Application to Epidemic Modelling

The aim of this paper is to study the stochastic monotonicity and continuity properties of the extinction time of Bellman-Harris branching processes depending on their reproduction laws. Moreover, we show their applications in an epidemiological context, obtaining an optimal criterion to establish the proportion of susceptible individuals in a given population that must be vaccinated in order to eliminate an infectious disease. First the spread of infection is modelled by a Bellman-Harris branching process. Finally, we provide a simulation-based method to determine the optimal vaccination policies.

On the L2-convergence of a superadditive bisexual Galton-Watson branching process

In this paper the L2-convergence of a superadditive bisexual Galton–Watson branching process is studied. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the convergence of the suitably normed process are given. In the final section, a result about one of the most important bisexual models is proved.

On the class of controlled branching processes with random control functions

In this paper, the class of controlled branching processes with random control functions introduced by Yanev (1976) is considered. For this class, necessary and sufficient conditions are established for the process to become extinct with probability 1 and the limit probabilistic behaviour of the population size, suitably normed, is investigated.

Efficacy and safety of D. pteronyssinus immunotherapy in local allergic rhinitis: a double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial

The effects of allergen immunotherapy (AIT) on local allergic rhinitis (LAR) are largely unknown. We conducted the first randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled (DBPC), phase II trial of D. pteronyssinus (DP) subcutaneous AIT (DP-AIT) on LAR (clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT02123316). Thirty-six LAR patients received Pangramin PLUS DP or placebo for 24 months. The primary endpoints were symptoms, medication scores, and medication-free days. The secondary included skin test, serum specific IgE and IgG4, nasal allergen provocation test (NAPT), and adverse events. AIT-DP produced significant improvements in both primary and secondary endpoints vs placebo. After 12 months of AIT-DP, we detected a significant and marked increase in allergen tolerance with negative NAPT in 50% of patients, and significant increases of serum sIgG4. Immunotherapy was well tolerated; no systemic reactions were reported. This study demonstrated that AIT-DP is a safe and clinically effective treatment for LAR, confirming that LAR is a new indication for AIT.

Study of patients diagnosed with advanced HIV in the HAART era – OMEGA Cohort

Our objective is to analyse patients diagnosed with late-stage HIV infection in the highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) area. A prospective, observational study of all patients with an initial CD4<50 × 106/L was carried out. Epidemiological, clinical and HAART-associated data were analysed. Survival rates were estimated and pairs of survival curves were compared. The statistical program used was SPSS® (version 10). In all, 349 HIV-infected patients were diagnosed, 117 (33.5%) had late-stage disease, mean CD4 23.9 × 106/L and mean viral load (VL) 5.38 log10. In 98 men, mean age 39.5 years, percentage of AIDS cases at their first attendance was 83.8%. The median follow-up period was 28 months and 27 died. Pneumocystis carinii was the most frequent cause of AIDS (24.4%) and death (18.5%). Survival rates at 12, 24 and 36 months were 95.6%, 85.8% and 72.4%. HAART was started in 82.1%. VLs <50 copies/mL at one, two and three years of treatment were 55.2%, 55.7% and 58.0%. Resource utilization included 0.58 hospitalization/patient/year and 0.07 events/patient/year. HAART-related complications were as follows: 50% lipodystrophy, 9.7% hypertension, 22.2% hyperglycaemia, 26.4% hypercholesterolaemia, 31.9% hypertrygliceridaemia and 18.1% mixed hyperlipaemia. Over one-third of our patients have advanced HIV infection at diagnosis. However, the outcome is favourable, with a good immunovirological response and few new opportunistic events. HAART-related complications were frequent.

Alterations in chromosomal synapses and DNA repair in apoptotic spermatocytes of Mus m. domesticus

We investigated whether apoptotic spermatocytes from the mouse Mus m. domesticus presented alterations in chromosomal synapses and DNA repair. To enrich for apoptotic spermatocytes, the scrotum's temperature was raised by partially exposing animals for 15 min to a 42ºC water bath. Spermatocytes in initial apoptosis were identified in situ by detecting activated Caspase-9.  SYCP1 and SYCP3 were markers for evaluating synapses or the structure of synaptonemal complexes and Rad51 and γH2AX for detecting DNA repair and chromatin remodeling. Apoptotic spermatocytes were concentrated in spermatogenic cycle stages III-IV (50.3%), XI-XII (44.1%) and IX-X (4.2%). Among apoptotic spermatocytes, 48% were in middle pachytene, 44% in metaphase and 6% in diplotene. Moreover, apoptotic spermatocytes showed several structural anomalies in autosomal bivalents, including splitting of chromosomal axes and partial asynapses between homologous chromosomes. gH2AX and Rad51 were atypically distributed during pachytene and as late as diplotene and associated with asynaptic chromatin, single chromosome axes or discontinuous chromosome axes. Among apoptotic spermatocytes at pachytene, 70% showed changes in the structure of synapses, 67% showed changes in gH2AX and Rad51 distribution and 50% shared alterations in both synapses and DNA repair. Our results showed that apoptotic spermatocytes from Mus m. domesticus contain a high frequency of alterations in chromosomal synapses and in the recruitment and distribution of DNA repair proteins. Together, these observations suggest that these alterations may have been detected by meiotic checkpoints triggering apoptosis.

Carbon nanotube scaffolds with controlled porosity as electromagnetic absorbing materials in the gigahertz range

Control of the microscopic structure of CNT nanocomposites allows modulation of the electromagnetic shielding in the gigahertz range. The porosity of CNT scaffolds has been controlled by two freezing protocols and a subsequent lyophilization step: fast freezing in liquid nitrogen and slow freezing at -20 °C. Mercury porosimetry shows that slowly frozen specimens present a more open pore size (100-150 μm) with a narrow distribution whereas specimens frozen rapidly show a smaller pore size and a heterogeneous distribution. 3D-scaffolds containing 3, 4, 6 and 7% CNT were infiltrated with epoxy and specimens with 2, 5 and 8 mm thicknesses were characterized in the GHz range. Samples with the highest pore size and porosity presented the lowest reflected power (about 30%) and the highest absorbed power (about 70%), which allows considering them as electromagnetic radiation absorbing materials.

Artrodesis radio-escafo-lunar. Experiencia en el ámbito laboral

Introducción: La artrodesis radio-escafo-lunar (RSL) es un procedimiento quirúrgico paliativo utilizado para el tratamiento de artrosis radiocarpiana en pacientes con la articulación mediocarpiana preservada. Esta técnica reduce el dolor asociado a la artrosis radiocarpiana y preserva la función de la articulación mediocarpiana.

Material y método: Se realizó un estudio descriptivo retrospectivo, de una serie de 45 pacientes intervenidos en nuestro hospital desde 2005 a 2015. En todos los casos se llevó a cabo la intervención quirúrgica mediante artrodesis RSL con agujas de Kirschner (AK) e injerto autólogo de cresta ilíaca. Se evaluó la fuerza, rango de movilidad, dolor, tasas de seudoartrosis y de conversión a artrodesis total y el tipo de incapacidad que obtuvo el paciente al final del proceso.

Resultados: Se obtuvo un déficit de fuerza de puño del 49% respecto a la mano contralateral. El rango de movilidad postoperatorio fue de 20° flexión, 25° extensión, 7° desviación radial y 14° desviación ulnar. Se obtuvo un resultado favorable en cuanto a la reducción del dolor, según la escala analógica visual (EVA) posquirúrgica. La tasa de conversión a artrodesis total fue de un 15,5% y el fracaso de consolidación de un 13,3%.

El 83% de los casos obtuvo una incapacidad parcial y el 27% una incapacidad total.

Conclusión: La artrodesis RSL en una técnica quirúrgica paliativa satisfactoria para el tratamiento del dolor que obtiene una tasa de consolidación alta y que mantiene la movilidad de la articulación mediocarpiana. Sin embargo, la mayoría de los pacientes obtienen algún tipo de incapacidad laboral tras su realización.

MicroRNAs involved in the browning process of adipocytes

The present review focuses on the role of miRNAs in the control of white adipose tissue browning, a process which describes the recruitment of adipocytes showing features of brown adipocytes in white adipose tissue. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of short non-coding RNAs (19-22 nucleotides) involved in gene regulation. Although the main effect of miRNAs is the inhibition of the translational machinery, thereby preventing the production of the protein product, the activation of protein translation has also been described in the literature. In addition to modifying translation, miRNAs binding to its target mRNAs also trigger the recruitment and association of mRNA decay factors, leading to mRNA destabilization, degradation, and thus to the decrease in expression levels. Although a great number of miRNAs have been reported to potentially regulate genes that play important roles in the browning process, only a reduced number of studies have demonstrated experimentally an effect on this process associated to changes in miRNA expressions, so far. These studies have shown, by using either primary adipocyte cultures or experimental models of mice (KO mice, mice overexpressing a specific miRNA), that miR-196a, miR-26, and miR-30 are needed for browning process development. By contrast, miR-155, miR-133, miR-27b, and miR-34 act as negative regulators of this process [corrected]. Further studies are needed to fully describe the miRNA network-involved white adipose tissue browning regulation.

Antifungal activity of mango peel and seed extracts against clinically pathogenic and food spoilage yeasts

The antioxidant and antifungal (antiyeast) properties of mango (Mangifera indica) peel and seed by-products were investigated. Nine extracts were obtained using three cultivars and two extraction methods. Significant differences between cultivars and extraction methods were detected in their bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity. The antifungal property was determined using agar diffusion and broth micro-dilution assays against 18 yeast species of the genera Candida, Dekkera, Hanseniaspora, Lodderomyces, Metschnikowia, Pichia, Schizosaccharomyces, Saccharomycodes and Zygosaccharomyces. All mango extracts showed antifungal activity. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) values were lower for seed than for peel extracts. MICs and MFCs ranged from values <0.1 to 5 and 5 to >30 mgGAE/mL, respectively. The multivariate analysis showed a relationship between antifungal activity, the capacity to inhibit lipid peroxidation and total phenol content. These properties were associated with high levels of proanthocyanidins, gallates and gallotannins in the extracts.