Isolation of acute myeloid leukemia blasts from blood using a microfluidic device.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the most common form of acute leukemia in adults and associated with poor prognosis. Unfortunately, most of the patients that achieve clinical complete remission after the treatment will ultimately relapse due to the persistence of minimal residual disease (MRD), that is not measurable using conventional technologies in the clinic. Microfluidics is a potential tool to improve the diagnosis by providing early detection of MRD. Herein, different designs of microfluidic devices were developed to promote lateral and vertical mixing of cells in microchannels to increase the contact area of the cells of interest with the inner surface of the device. Possible interactions between the cells and the surface were studied using fluid simulations. For the isolation of leukemic blasts, a positive selection strategy was used, targeting the cells of interest using a panel of specific biomarkers expressed in immature and aberrant blasts. Finally, once the optimisation was complete, the best conditions were used to process patient samples for downstream analysis and benchmarking, including phenotypic and genetic characterisation. The potential of these microfluidic devices to isolate and detect AML blasts may be exploited for the monitoring of AML patients at different stages of the disease.

Mounting digital casts on a virtual articulator by using two-dimensional facial photographs with a facebow: A technique.

This technique uses 3 or 4 two-dimensional (2D) photographs, including a frontal headshot with a facebow and lip retractors, a profile headshot with a facebow and lip retractors on the right or left side, and a frontal headshot with a facebow during maximum smile without retractors. These 2D photographs are used to digitally mount casts on a virtual articulator.

Assessing ozone abatement scenarios in the framework of the Spanish ozone mitigation plan.

Tropospheric ozone (O3) is a secondary air pollutant that affects human health, vegetation and climate, especially in Mediterranean countries such as Spain. In order to tackle this long-standing issue, the Spanish government recently started to design the Spanish O3 Mitigation Plan. To support this initiative and ultimately provide recommendations, we performed a first ambitious emission and air quality modeling exercise. This study presents the development of different emission scenarios - aligned with or beyond the measures planned for 2030 in Spain - and the modeling of their respective impact on the O3 pollution across Spain (in July 2019) with both MONARCH and WRF-CMAQ air quality models. The modeling experiments include a base case scenario, a so-called planned emission (PE) scenario integrating the expected emission changes related to 2030, and a set of specific emission scenarios in which additional emission changes are applied to specific sectors (on e.g., road transport, maritime traffic) on top of the PE scenario. The planned emission scenario considerably reduces daily 8-h maximum O3 concentrations (-4 µg/m3 on average), with strongest reductions in Madrid region, north of Catalonia, Valencia region, Galicia and Andalusia. The frequency of observed daily exceedances of the 120 µg/m3 daily 8-h maximum target value and 180 µg/m3 hourly information threshold could be reduced by -37 and -77 %, respectively. The results of the specific scenarios highlight road transport and maritime traffic as two key emission sectors contributing to O3 pollution, over the entire country and the Mediterranean coast, respectively, while solvent use and industry emissions have a more limited and localized impact on O3. In any case, even with the implementation of all the emission scenarios, daily exceedances of the aforementioned thresholds will still be recorded over the country.

Autism Spectrum as an Etiologic Systemic Disorder: A Protocol for an Umbrella Review.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the most common neurodevelopmental disorder with a huge prevalence increasing every year (1/44 children). Still diagnosed as a mental disorder, the last 10 years of research found possible causes, risks, genetics, environmental triggers, epigenetics, metabolic, immunological, and neurophysiological unbalances as relevant aetiology. Umbrella methodology is the highest level of scientific evidence, designed to support clinical and political decisions. A literature search for autism aetiology, pathophysiology, or causes, conducted in the last 10 years, at PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, Scopus, and the Web of Science, resulted in six umbrella reviews. Nevertheless, only one quantitative analysis reported risk factors and biomarkers but excluded genetics, experiments on animal models, and post-mortem studies. We grouped ASD's multi-factorial causes and risks into five etiological categories: genetic, epigenetic, organic, psychogenic, and environmental. Findings suggest that autism might be evaluated as a systemic disorder instead of only through the lens of mental and behavioural. The overview implications of included studies will be qualitatively analysed under ROBIS and GRADE tools. This umbrella review can provide a rational basis for a new urgent health policy to develop better and adequate integrated care services for ASD. The methodological protocol has the register CRD42022348586 at PROSPERO.

Can the Consumption of Ultra-Processed Food Be Associated with Anthropometric Indicators of Obesity and Blood Pressure in Children 7 to 10 Years Old?

The consumption of ultra-processed foods plays an important role in the development of obesity and hypertension. The present study investigated the association between consumption of food according to the degree of processing and anthropometric indicators of obesity and blood pressure in children. This is a cross-sectional study with 164 children aged 7-10 years. The body mass index (BMI) for age, waist circumference (WC), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) was evaluated. Food consumption was analyzed by three 24-h dietary recalls, and classified as: G1-unprocessed or minimally processed; G2-culinary ingredients and processed food; and G3-ultra-processed food. Linear regression analyses were used to investigate the associations among variables. The average energy consumption was 1762.76 kcal/day, split into 45.42%, 10.88%, and 43.70%, provided by G1, G2, and G3, respectively. Adjusted linear regression analyses identified that the caloric contribution of G1 was inversely associated with DBP, showing that for each 10% increase in the energy intake of minimally processed foods, there was a reduction of 0.96 mmHg in the DBP (ß:-0.10; 95% CI:-0.19 to -0.01; r2 = 0.20). There was no association between the caloric contribution of food groups and BMI, WC, WHtR, and SBP. Increasing consumption of G1 could be a strategy for the prevention and treatment of hypertension in schoolchildren.

A new species of Hyalella Smith, 1874 (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Hyalellidae) from Oklahoma, USA.

The genus Hyalella is endemic to the North and South America. There are currently 14 species described in North America and the Caribbean. For a long time, it had been assumed that different populations of these animals represented a single species, Hyalella azteca (Saussure, 1858). However, molecular analyses have demonstrated H. azteca sensu lato to be a complex of multiple species, so some species that occur in the United States have been mistakenly identified. Our aim in this paper was to describe a new species of Hyalella, found in Oklahoma, USA. The new species can be differentiated from the others, mainly because it presents serrated setae in the maxilla 2, because it does not have flanges on the surface of the body, presents the palm of the gnathopod 2 of the same size as the distal-posterior margin of the propodus, by shape and number of setae on the uropod 3 and telson. The description of this new species of Hyalella increases to 15 the number of species of the genus for the USA. It is important to understand the diversity of Hyalella with consideration of their possible role as bioindicators of environmental quality, and further consideration of their conservation status, and especially for species known from a single spring.

Calidad de la dieta y factores asociados en estudiantes de la escuela primaria del sistema educativo Adventista en la región suroeste de São Paulo, Brasil

Objetivo:evaluar la asociación entre la dieta y factores socioeconómicos y demográficos entre los estudiantes de la escuela primaria.Métodos:Un estudio transseccional que involucra una muestra aleatoria de 256 niños de ambos sexos, de seis a once años, del primero a quinto grado de siete escuelas adventistas ubicados en la región suroeste de Sao Paulo. Estas escuelas inscriben estudiantes sin importar su religión. Datos demográficos y socioeconómicos se obtuvieron a partir de un cuestionario autoadministrado, llevado a casa y completado por el padre o responsable del niño. La calidad de la dieta se evaluó mediante el índice de ALES. Se calcularon las odds ratio brutas y ajustadas y se utilizó la regresión logística para el análisis de las variables.Resultados:De la muestra, 33,2% tuvo una puntuación pobre en el índice ALES y el 66,8% obtuvo una buena puntuación. No hubo diferencias significativas entre la calidad de la dieta y las siguientes variables: edad, nivel socioeconómico, educación maternal, jefe de la familia, trabajo materno fuera del hogar, lactancia materna exclusiva hasta los 6 meses, y el origen de las meriendas escolares. Las variables que se mantuvieron asociadas a una dieta de buena calidad fueron: ser del sexo femenino (OR = 0.53; 95% IC, 0.30-0.92) y ser Adventista (OR = 2.52; 95% IC, 1.10-5.78).Conclusión:Los factores asociados con la buena calidad de la dieta fueron el sexo y la religión.

Objective:to evaluate the association between diet and socioeconomic and demographic factors among elementary school students.Methods:A cross-sectional study, involving a random sample of 256 children of both genders, aged between six to eleven years, from grades first through fifth of seven Adventist elementary private schools located in the southwest region of São Paulo State. These schools enroll students independent of their religion. Socioeconomic and demographic data were obtained through a self-administered questionnaire sent home and completed by the parent or legal guardian. The diet quality was assessed through ALES index. Crude and adjusted odds ratios were calculated and logistic regression was used to analyze the variables.Results:Of the sample, 33.2% showed a poor ALES index score and 66.8% had a good score. There were no statistically significant differences between diet quality and the following variables: age, socioeconomic status, maternal level of education, head of household, maternal employment outside the home, exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months, and origin of school snacks. The variables that remained associated with a good diet quality were: being female (OR = 0.53; 95% CI, 0.30-0.92) and being Adventist (OR = 2.52; 95% CI, 1.10-5.78).Conclusions:The factors associated with good diet quality were gender and religion.