To treat or not to treat: comparison of different criteria used to determine whether weight loss is to be recommended

Background  

Excess body fat is a major risk factor for disease primarily due to its endocrine activity. In recent years several criteria have been introduced to evaluate this factor. Nevertheless, treatment need is currently assessed only on the basis of an individual's Body Mass Index (BMI), calculated as body weight (in kg) divided by height in m². The aim of our study was to determine whether application of the BMI, compared to adiposity-based criteria, results in underestimation of the number of subjects needing lifestyle intervention.     

High Throughput Primer Walking of cDNA Clones

Primer walking of cloned DNA is a standard research tool. It has been used in the past to determine the sequence of individual clones of interest. With the expansion of DNA sequencing capacity the need to be able to walk larger numbers of clones has become necessary. Our laboratory is a mid-sized genomics facility. In conjunction with the Advanced Biomedical Computing Center (ABCC) we have developed methods for automating the primer selection, DNA sequencing, contig assembly and sequence analysis for clones arrayed in microtiter format. This approach has allowed us to walk 475 clones (five microtiter plates) selected from a cDNA library.     

Genotoxic effect of Physalis angulata L. (Solanaceae) extract on human lymphocytes treated in vitro

Physalis angulata L (Solanaceae) is a medicinal plant from North of Brazil, whose different extracts and infusions are commonly used in the popular medicine for the treatment of malaria, asthma, hepatitis, dermatitis and rheumatism. However, the genotoxic effects of P. angulata on human cells is not well known. The main purpose of the present study was to evaluate the in vitro genotoxic effects of aqueous extract of P. angulata using the comet assay and the micronucleus assay in human lymphocytes provided from 6 healthy donors. Treatments with P. angulata extracts were performed in vitro in order to access the extent of DNA damage. The comet assay has shown that treatments with P. angulata at 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 6.0 microg/mL in culture medium were genotoxic. Lymphocytes treated with P. angulata at the concentrations of 3.0 and 6.0 microg/mL in culture medium showed a statistically significant increase in the frequency of micronucleus (p<0.05), however, the cytokinesis blocked proliferation index (CBPI) was not decreased after P. angulata treatment. In conclusion, the present work demonstrated the genotoxic effects of P. angulata extract on human lymphocytes in vitro.     

MTranslatability

Machine Translation of arbitrary input is difficult,but the output quality can be improved significantlyif writers create documents with MT in mind. Thisarticle deals with ``MTranslatability' – translatabilityof texts by MT systems. It identifies characteristics oftext that decrease MTranslatability and suggests waysto improve them. It also illustrates the effect of writingfor MTranslatability by showing before-and-after picturesof output from various commercially available MT systems,and gives an overview of tools that help identify and correctthe problems.     

Second Life as a support element for learning electronic related subjects: A real case

Looking for more active and motivating methodological alternatives from the students’ perspective, which promote analysis and investigation abilities that make the student a more participative agent and some learning processes are facilitated, a practical study was conducted in the University of La Sabana (Chía, Colombia), in Computing Engineering (INF) and Agroindustrial Production Engineering (IPA) academic programs under the guiding question: Is Second Life an attractive tool for students, does it increment motivation, promote participation and facilitate learning processes in electronic related subjects in Engineering degrees?Second Life (SL) platform was then used as a traditional on-site class complement in electronic related subjects. A follow up was conducted with several groups during a year and a half, some students followed the subject with the traditional on-site methodology and others did it following a mixed methodology that combined traditional on-site lessons with virtual sessions trough SL, making a comparison and applying a quantitative as well as a qualitative methodology for the information analysis and recollection.After the specified study period it was found that using SL as part of the methodology, increments motivation toward electronic related subjects, and promotes participation and investigation, due to the fact that this tool makes learning possible in a funnier, more interactive and deeper way than if it had been taught in a master class. Having real-time access from a virtual classroom to all types of audiovisual information, helps more senses get involved in the learning process, making it more effective; nevertheless a weakness was detected related to the attention and concentration: students tend to get distracted, because their classroom is the computer and from there they have access not only to the many worlds of SL but to all the social networks and the Internet in general.     

Monitoring and improving Greek banking services using Bayesian Networks: An analysis of mystery shopping data

Mystery shopping is a well known marketing technique used by companies and marketing analysts to measure quality of service, and gather information about products and services. In this article, we analyse data from mystery shopping surveys via Bayesian Networks in order to examine and evaluate the quality of service offered by the loan departments of Greek Banks. We use mystery shopping visits to collect information about loan products and services and, by this way, evaluate the customer satisfaction and plan improvement strategies that will assist banks to reach their internal standards. Bayesian Networks not only provide a pictorial representation of the dependence structure between the characteristics of interest but also allow to evaluate, interpret and understand the effects of possible improvement strategies.     

Optimization of dc SQUID voltmeter and magnetometer circuits

We calculate the signal-to-noise ratio in a dc SQUID system as a function of source impedance, taking into account the effects of current and voltage noise sources in the SQUID. The optimization of both tuned and untuned voltmeters and magnetometers is discussed and typical sensitivities are predicted using calculated noise spectra. The calculations are based on an ideal symmetric dc SQUID with % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafeart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr% 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4baFfea0dXde9vqpa0lb9% cq0dXdb9IqFHe9FjuP0-iq0dXdbba9pe0lb9hs0dXda91qaq-xfr-x% fj-hmeGabaqaciGacaGaaeqabaWaaeaaeaaakeaacqaHYoGycqGH9a% qpcaaIYaacbaGaa8htaiaa-LeadaWgaaWcbaacbiGaa4hmaaqabaGc% caGGVaGaeuOPdy0aaSbaaSqaaiaa+bdaaeqaaOGaeyypa0JaaGymaa% aa!3D23!\[\beta = 2LI_0 /\Phi _0 = 1\] and moderate noise rounding % MathType!MTEF!2!1!+-% feaafeart1ev1aaatCvAUfeBSjuyZL2yd9gzLbvyNv2CaerbuLwBLn% hiov2DGi1BTfMBaeXatLxBI9gBaerbd9wDYLwzYbItLDharqqtubsr% 4rNCHbGeaGqiVu0Je9sqqrpepC0xbbL8F4baFfea0dXde9vqpa0lb9% cq0dXdb9IqFHe9FjuP0-iq0dXdbba9pe0lb9hs0dXda91qaq-xfr-x% fj-hmeGabaqaciGacaGaaeqabaWaaeaaeaaakeaaiiGacqWFOaakcq% WFtoWrcqWF9aqpcqWFYaGmcqaHapaCcaWGRbWaaSbaaSqaaiaadkea% aeqaaGqaaOGaa4hvaiaac+cacaGFjbWaaSbaaSqaaerbbjxAHXgaiu% GacaqFWaaabeaakiab-z6agnaaBaaaleaacaqGGaacbiGaaWhmaaqa% baGccqGH9aqpcaaIWaGaaiOlaiaaicdacaaI1aGaaiykaaaa!471A!\[(\Gamma = 2\pi k_B T/I_0 \Phi _{{\rm{ }}0} = 0.05)\], where ₀ is the flux quantum, T is the temperature, L is the SQUID inductance, and I ₀ is the critical current of each junction. The optimum noise temperatures of tuned and untuned voltmeters are found to be 2.8(L/R)T and 8(L/R)T (1 + 1.5² + 0.7⁴)^1/2/² respectively, where /2 is the signal frequency, assumed to be much less than the Josephson frequency, and is the coupling coefficient between the SQUID and its input coil. It is found that tuned and untuned magnetometers can be characterized by optimum effective signal energies given by (16k _B TLE/² R)[1 + (1 + 1.5² + 0.7²)^1/2 + 0.75²] and 2k_B T _iR_iB/² L _p respectively, where B is the bandwidth, R _i is the resistance representing the losses in the tuned circuit at temperature T _i and L _p is the inductance of the pickup coil.This work was supported by the Division of Materials Sciences, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy, and by the U.S. Office of Naval Research.Guggenheim Fellow.     

A Novel Human Neutralizing mAb Recognizes Delta,Gamma and Omicron Variants of SARS-CoV-2 and Can Be Used in Combination with Sotrovimab

The dramatic experience with SARS-CoV-2 has alerted the scientific community to be ready to face new epidemics/pandemics caused by new variants. Among the therapies against the pandemic SARS-CoV-2 virus, monoclonal Antibodies (mAbs) targeting the Spike glycoprotein have represented good drugs to interfere in the Spike/ Angiotensin Converting Enzyme-2 (ACE-2) interaction, preventing virus cell entry and subsequent infection, especially in patients with a defective immune system. We obtained, by an innovative phage display selection strategy, specific binders recognizing different epitopes of Spike. The novel human antibodies specifically bind to Spike-Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) in a nanomolar range and interfere in the interaction of Spike with the ACE-2 receptor. We report here that one of these mAbs, named D3, shows neutralizing activity for virus infection in cell cultures by different SARS-CoV-2 variants and retains the ability to recognize the Omicron-derived recombinant RBD differently from the antibodies Casirivimab or Imdevimab. Since anti-Spike mAbs, used individually, might be unable to block the virus cell entry especially in the case of resistant variants, we investigated the possibility to combine D3 with the antibody in clinical use Sotrovimab, and we found that they recognize distinct epitopes and show additive inhibitory effects on the interaction of Omicron-RBD with ACE-2 receptor. Thus, we propose to exploit these mAbs in combinatorial treatments to enhance their potential for both diagnostic and therapeutic applications in the current and future pandemic waves of coronavirus.     

An Overview of the Latest Metabolomics Studies on Atopic Eczema with New Directions for Study

Atopic eczema (AE) is an inflammatory skin disorder affecting approximately 20% of children worldwide and early onset can lead to asthma and allergies. Currently, the mechanisms of the disease are not fully understood. Metabolomics, the analysis of small molecules in the skin produced by the host and microbes, opens a window to observe the mechanisms of the disease which then may lead to new drug targets for AE treatment. Here, we review the latest advances in AE metabolomics, highlighting both the lipid and non-lipid molecules, along with reviewing the metabolites currently known to reside in the skin.