Direct and indirect air particle cytotoxicity in human alveolar epithelial cells

Air particulate matter has been associated with adverse impact on the respiratory system leading to cytotoxic and proinflammatory effects. The biological mechanisms behind these associations may be initiated by inhaled small size particles, particle components (soluble fraction) and/or mediators released by particle-exposed cells (conditioned media). The effect of Urban Air Particles from Buenos Aires (UAP-BA) and Residual Oil Fly Ash (ROFA) a surrogate of ambient air pollution, their soluble fractions (SF) and conditioned media (CM) on A549 lung epithelial cells was examined. After 24h exposure to TP (10 and 100 μg/ml), SF or CM, several biological parameters were assayed on cultured A549 cells. We tested cell viability by MTT, superoxide anion (O2-) generation by NBT and proinflammatory cytokine (TNF α, IL-6 and IL-8) production by ELISA. UAP-BA particles or its SF (direct effect) did not modify cell viability and generation of O2- for any of the doses tested. On the contrary, UAP-BA CM (indirect effect) reduced cell viability and increased both generation of O2- and IL-8 production. Exposure to ROFA particles, SF or ROFA CM reduced proliferation and O2- but, stimulated IL-8. It is worth to note that UAP-BA and ROFA depicted distinct effects on particle-exposed A549 cells implicating morphochemical dependence. These in vitro findings support the hypothesis that particle-induced lung inflammation and disease may involve lung-derived mediators.Fil: Orona, Nadia Soledad. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Escuela de Ciencia y Tecnología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Astort, Francisco. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Escuela de Ciencia y Tecnología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Maglione, Guillermo Alberto. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Escuela de Ciencia y Tecnología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Saldiva, P. H. N.. Iira, National Research Council, Brazil; . Institute of Integrated Risk Analysis; BrasilFil: Yakisich, J. S.. Karolinska Huddinge Hospital. Karolinska Institutet; SueciaFil: Tasat, Deborah Ruth. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Escuela de Ciencia y Tecnología; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Odontología; Argentin

Propagación in vivo e in vitro de Prosopis sp. (algarrobo), Tabebuia billbergii (guayacán negro), Loxopterigium huasango (hualtaco) y Alnus acuminata (aliso)

El Laboratorio de Micropropagación Vegetal del Área Agropecuaria y de Recursos Naturales Renovables, de la Universidad Nacional de Loja, inició, en el presente año, el proyecto de investigación: Generación de protocolos para la propagación in vivo e in vitro de genotipos élites de especies forestales nativas y promisorias para la reforestación en la Región Sur del Ecuador; comprendiendo las especies Prosopis sp. (“algarrobo”), Tabebuia bill- bergii = Handroanthus billbergii (“guayacán negro”), Loxopterigium huasango (“hualtaco”) y Alnus acuminata (“aliso”), con el objetivo de propagarlas utilizando varios métodos: semilla, regeneración natural, estacas, acodos aéreos y cultivos in vitro (cultivo de semillas, brotamiento múltiple, enraizamiento de novo, organogénesis y embriogénesis somática). Se colectó semillas y estacas de las cuatro especies comprendidas en el estudio, en diversas localidades de la provincia de Loja (Ecuador) y regiones de Piura y Lambayeque (Perú). Se realizaron diversos ensayos sobre escarificación de semillas y tipos de sustratos, así como la siembra de estacas, tomadas de diferentes partes de plantas seleccionadas y en varios tipos de sustratos, en condiciones de invernadero. En cultivos in vitro de Prosopis sp. se tiene avances significativos en la germinación de semillas, en medio de cultivo MS (Murashige y Skoog, 1962), suplementado con varias concentraciones de giberelinas (AG3); brotamiento múltiple, a partir de ápices caulinares, en varias concentraciones de las citocininas benzil amninopurina (BAP), kinetina (KIN),thidiazurón (TDZ) y 2-isopentenil adenina (2iP); el enraizamiento de novo, en varias concentraciones de las auxinas ácido 3-indola- cético (AIA), ácido naftalenacético (ANA) y ácido indolbutírico (AIB) y la inducción de callos en diversos tipos de explantes (hipocótilos, raíces, cotiledones y ápices caulinares) en varias concentraciones de las auxinas AIA, ANA, ácido 2.4-diclorofenoxiacético (2.4-D) y ácido 3.6-dicloro-2-metoxibenzoico (DICAMBA); en T. billberghii y L. huasango, se tienen resultados preliminares sobre germinación de semillas. En A. acuminata se ha avanzado en la germinación de semillas, brotamiento múltiple y enraizamiento de novo, así como en la elongación y enraizamiento de ápices caulinares de plantas de invernadero, faltando desarrollar un protocolo eficiente de aclimatación de plántulas in vitro

A WFC3 Grism Emission Line Redshift Catalog in the GOODS-South Field

We combine HST/WFC3 imaging and G141 grism observations from the CANDELS and 3D-HST surveys to produce a catalog of grism spectroscopic redshifts for galaxies in the CANDELS/GOODS-South field. The WFC3/G141 grism spectra cover a wavelength range of 1.1<lambda<1.7 microns with a resolving power of R~130 for point sources, thus providing rest-frame optical spectra for galaxies out to z~3.5. The catalog is selected in the H-band (F160W) and includes both galaxies with and without previously published spectroscopic redshifts. Grism spectra are extracted for all H-band detected galaxies with H<24 and a CANDELS photometric redshift z_phot > 0.6. The resulting spectra are visually inspected to identify emission lines and redshifts are determined using cross-correlation with empirical spectral templates. To establish the accuracy of our redshifts, we compare our results against high-quality spectroscopic redshifts from the literature. Using a sample of 411 control galaxies, this analysis yields a precision of sigma_NMAD=0.0028 for the grism-derived redshifts, which is consistent with the accuracy reported by the 3D-HST team. Our final catalog covers an area of 153 square arcmin and contains 1019 redshifts for galaxies in GOODS-S. Roughly 60% (608/1019) of these redshifts are for galaxies with no previously published spectroscopic redshift. These new redshifts span a range of 0.677 < z < 3.456 and have a median redshift of z=1.282. The catalog contains a total of 234 new redshifts for galaxies at z>1.5. In addition, we present 20 galaxy pair candidates identified for the first time using the grism redshifts in our catalog, including four new galaxy pairs at z~2, nearly doubling the number of such pairs previously identified.Comment: 25 Pages, 9 Figures, submitted to A

New insights into the classification and nomenclature of cortical GABAergic interneurons.

A systematic classification and accepted nomenclature of neuron types is much needed but is currently lacking. This article describes a possible taxonomical solution for classifying GABAergic interneurons of the cerebral cortex based on a novel, web-based interactive system that allows experts to classify neurons with pre-determined criteria. Using Bayesian analysis and clustering algorithms on the resulting data, we investigated the suitability of several anatomical terms and neuron names for cortical GABAergic interneurons. Moreover, we show that supervised classification models could automatically categorize interneurons in agreement with experts' assignments. These results demonstrate a practical and objective approach to the naming, characterization and classification of neurons based on community consensus

Analysis of the safety culture in a Cardiology Unit managed by processes

La cultura sobre seguridad se perfila como uno de los requisitos para evitar la aparición de efectos adversos, sin embargo no se ha estudiado en el ámbito de la cardiología. El objetivo es evaluar la cultura de seguridad en una unidad de cardiología que tiene implantado y certificado un sistema integrado de gestión de calidad y riesgos para la seguridad del paciente. Método: Se realizó un estudio observacional trasversal en 2 años consecutivos utilizando la encuesta Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture de la «Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality» en su versión española (42 ítems agrupados en 12 dimensiones) sobre todo el personal. Se comparó el porcentaje de respuestas positivas de cada dimensión en 2014 y 2015, así como con los datos a nivel nacional y en EE. UU., siguiendo las recomendaciones establecidas. Resultados: La valoración global, sobre un máximo de 5, fue de 4.5 en 2014 y de 4.7 en 2015. Identificamos 7 dimensiones como fortaleza. Las peor valoradas fueron: Dotación de personal, Apoyo de la gerencia y Trabajo en equipo entre unidades. La comparación mostró superioridad en todas las dimensiones a nivel nacional, y en 8 respecto a los datos del registro americano. Conclusiones: La cultura de seguridad en una unidad de cardiología con un sistema integrado de gestión de calidad y riesgos y seguridad del paciente es elevada, superior a la nacional en todas sus dimensiones y en la mayoría de ellas respecto al registro de EE. UU.The safety culture is one of the requirements to prevent the occurrence of adverse effects, however has not been studied in the field of cardiology. The objective is to evaluate the safety culture in a cardiology unit has implemented and certified an integrated quality and risk management for patient safety system. Methods: A transversal observational study was made in 2 consecutive years using the survey “Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture” of the “Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality” in its Spanish version (42 items grouped into 12 dimensions) in all staff. The percentage of positive responses in each dimension in 2014 and 2015 were compared, as well as national data and United States data, following the established rules. Results: The overall assessment of a possible 5, was 4.5 in 2014 and 4.7 in 2015. We identified seven dimensions as a fortress. The worst rated were: staffing, management support and teamwork between units. The comparison showed superiority in all dimensions respect to national data, and 8 respect to American data. Conclusions: The safety culture in a Cardiology Unit with an integrated quality and risk management and patient safety system is high, higher than the national in all its dimensions and in most of them respect to the United States

A Critical Assessment of Stellar Mass Measurement Methods

In this paper we perform a comprehensive study of the main sources of random and systematic errors in stellar mass measurement for galaxies using their Spectral Energy Distributions (SEDs). We use mock galaxy catalogs with simulated multi-waveband photometry (from U-band to mid-infrared) and known redshift, stellar mass, age and extinction for individual galaxies. Given different parameters affecting stellar mass measurement (photometric S/N ratios, SED fitting errors, systematic effects, the inherent degeneracies and correlated errors), we formulated different simulated galaxy catalogs to quantify these effects individually. We studied the sensitivity of stellar mass estimates to the codes/methods used, population synthesis models, star formation histories, nebular emission line contributions, photometric uncertainties, extinction and age. For each simulated galaxy, the difference between the input stellar masses and those estimated using different simulation catalogs, $\Delta\log(M)$, was calculated and used to identify the most fundamental parameters affecting stellar masses. We measured different components of the error budget, with the results listed as follows: (1). no significant bias was found among different codes/methods, with all having comparable scatter; (2). A source of error is found to be due to photometric uncertainties and low resolution in age and extinction grids; (3). The median of stellar masses among different methods provides a stable measure of the mass associated with any given galaxy; (4). The deviations in stellar mass strongly correlate with those in age, with a weaker correlation with extinction; (5). the scatter in the stellar masses due to free parameters are quantified, with the sensitivity of the stellar mass to both the population synthesis codes and inclusion of nebular emission lines studied.Comment: 33 pages, 20 Figures, Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journa

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin

Pan-cancer Alterations of the MYC Oncogene and Its Proximal Network across the Cancer Genome Atlas

Although theMYConcogene has been implicated incancer, a systematic assessment of alterations ofMYC, related transcription factors, and co-regulatoryproteins, forming the proximal MYC network (PMN),across human cancers is lacking. Using computa-tional approaches, we define genomic and proteo-mic features associated with MYC and the PMNacross the 33 cancers of The Cancer Genome Atlas.Pan-cancer, 28% of all samples had at least one ofthe MYC paralogs amplified. In contrast, the MYCantagonists MGA and MNT were the most frequentlymutated or deleted members, proposing a roleas tumor suppressors.MYCalterations were mutu-ally exclusive withPIK3CA,PTEN,APC,orBRAFalterations, suggesting that MYC is a distinct onco-genic driver. Expression analysis revealed MYC-associated pathways in tumor subtypes, such asimmune response and growth factor signaling; chro-matin, translation, and DNA replication/repair wereconserved pan-cancer. This analysis reveals insightsinto MYC biology and is a reference for biomarkersand therapeutics for cancers with alterations ofMYC or the PMN