Inequalities and Asymmetries in the Development of Angola’s Provinces: The Impact of Colonialism and Civil War

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Liquorice alters adipocyte–breast cancer cell crosstalk by modulating oxidative stress and suppressing aromatase and renin–angiotensin signalling

Obesity is recognised to be a risk factor for breast cancer since adipose tissue influences the tumour microenvironment. This study aims to investigate the effect of the secretome of 3T3-L1 adipocytes untreated or treated with liquorice root extract (LRE), containing flavonoids, phenolic acids, and saponins on MCF-7 breast cancer cells. By treating adipocytes with LRE, the secretion of certain pro-tumorigenic factors like IGFBP-6, resistin, and VEGF was reduced. MCF-7 cells exposed to conditioned medium from LRE-treated adipocytes exhibited an increase in reactive oxygen species levels, downregulation of the Nrf2 antioxidant pathway, and increased autophagy. Those conditions reduced cell viability, migration, and colony formation. Additionally, there was downregulation of genes associated with oestrogen signalling and tumour-related processes, including CYP19A1 (aromatase), ERα, Her2, and components of the renin–angiotensin system (RAS). These findings suggest that LRE can modulate the adipocyte secretome to influence breast cancer cell behaviour under obesity-related in vitro conditions.

Producción Científica

Danila Cianciosi mail , Yasmany Armas Diaz mail , Bei Yang mail , Zexiu Qi mail , Ge Chen mail , José L. Quiles mail jose.quiles@uneatlantico.es, Massimiliano Gasparrini mail , Manuela Cassotta mail manucassotta@gmail.com, Rubén Calderón Iglesias mail ruben.calderon@uneatlantico.es, Maurizio Battino mail maurizio.battino@uneatlantico.es, Francesca Giampieri mail francesca.giampieri@uneatlantico.es,

Cianciosi

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An Integrated Machine Learning and Genomic Framework for Precise Detection of Gastric Cancer

This study presents a novel integrative approach for the analysis of high-dimensional gene expression data, leveraging the complementary strengths of unsupervised clustering and supervised classification. Using K-means clustering, the dataset is stratified into three distinct clusters, revealing intrinsic biological patterns and relationships. The resulting cluster assignments are subsequently employed as pseudo-labels to train machine learning models, including support vector machines, random forest, and a stacking ensemble classifier. To validate and enhance the robustness of clustering, complementary methodologies such as hierarchical clustering and DBSCAN are employed, with results visualized through PCA-driven dimensionality reduction. The high predictive accuracy achieved by the classifiers underscores the separability and reliability of the identified clusters. Furthermore, feature importance analysis highlighted key genetic determinants within each cluster, offering actionable insights into potential biomarkers and critical genomic features. This framework bridges the gap between exploratory unsupervised learning and predictive supervised modeling, providing a scalable and interpretable methodology for analyzing complex genomic datasets. Its applicability extends to biomarker discovery, patient stratification, and other precision medicine applications, emphasizing its utility in advancing genomic research and clinical practice.

Producción Científica

Eshmal Iman mail , Sohail Jabbar mail , Shabana Ramzan mail , Ali Raza mail , Farwa Raoof mail , Stefanía Carvajal-Altamiranda mail stefania.carvajal@uneatlantico.es, Vivian Lipari mail vivian.lipari@uneatlantico.es, Imran Ashraf mail ,

Iman

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A novel approach for disease and pests detection in potato production system based on deep learning

Vulnerability of potato crops to diseases and pest infestation can affect its quality and lead to significant yield losses. Timely detection of such diseases can help take effective decisions. For this purpose, a deep learning-based object detection framework is designed in this study to identify and classify major potato diseases and pests under real-world field conditions. A total of 2,688 field images were collected from two research farms in Punjab, Pakistan, across multiple growth stages in various seasonal conditions. Excluding 285 symptoms-free images from the earliest collection led to 2,403 images which were annotated into four biotic-stress classes: blight disease (n = 630), leaf spot disease (n = 370), leafroll virus (viral symptom complex; n = 888), and Colorado potato beetle (larvae/adults; n = 515), indicating class imbalance. Several state-of-the-art models were used including YOLOv8 variants (n/s/m), YOLOv7, YOLOv5, and Faster R-CNN, and the results are discussed in relation to recent potato disease classification studies involving cropped leaf images. Stratified splitting (70% training, 20% validation, 10% testing) was applied to preserve class distribution across all subsets. YOLOv8-medium achieve the best performance with mean average precision (mAP)@0.5 of 98% on the held-out test images. Results for stable 5-fold cross-validation show a mean mAP@0.5 of 97.8%, which offers a balance between accuracy and inference time. Model robustness was evaluated using 5-fold cross-validation and repeated training with different random seeds, showing a low variance of ±0.4% mAP. Results demonstrate promising outcomes under the real-world field conditions, while, broader cross-region and cross-season validation is intended for the future.

Producción Científica

Ahmed Abbas mail , Saif Ur Rehman mail , Khalid Mahmood mail , Santos Gracia Villar mail santos.gracia@uneatlantico.es, Luis Alonso Dzul López mail luis.dzul@uneatlantico.es, Aseel Smerat mail , Imran Ashraf mail ,

Abbas

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Fish consumption and brain structure: a comprehensive systematic review of observational studies

Background Age-related structural changes in the human brain, including cortical atrophy, reductions in grey and white matter volumes, and the accumulation of small vessel–related lesions such as white matter hyperintensities (WMH) and cerebral microbleeds, represent critical biological substrates underlying cognitive decline and dementia. Fish consumption has been associated with slower cognitive decline and reduced risk of dementia, but a comprehensive evaluation of its relation with brain structures is lacking. Aims The aim of this study was to systematically review current scientific literature providing evidence of relation between fish intake and brain structures in human studies. Methods Studies indexed in two major electronic databases have been screened based on a combination of keywords and MeSH terms. Studies were eligible whether they assessed fish consumption in relation to brain structures in the adult populations. Results A total of 24 studies conducted predominantly on older adults met inclusion criteria. Most brain volume measures were obtained via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedures. Higher fish consumption was associated with reduced severity of white matter hyperintensities (a biomarker of cerebral small vessel disease and white matter damage) and cerebral micro-bleed, preservation of certain brain areas volumes (i.e., hippocampus, temporal lobe and periventricle white matter) and cortical thickness of specific areas (i.e., precuneus, parietal, and cingulate grey matter), among others, compared to lower intake. Some analyses found no association and isolated findings suggested possible adverse associations that were not consistently replicated. Studies reporting null findings may underline the possible relevance of the overall diet (i.e., adherence to the Mediterranean diet). Conclusions Inclusion of fish in a healthy and balanced diet is associated with better white matter grades on MRI and slower progression of white matter hyperintensities and reduction of vascular-related lesions of the aging brain, suggesting a potential role in preventing neurocognitive deterioration. Heterogeneity across studies underscores the need for additional studies.

Producción Científica

Justyna Godos mail , Giuseppe Caruso mail , Agnieszka Micek mail , Alberto Dolci mail , Zoltan Ungvari mail , Andrea Lehoczki mail , Lisandra León Brizuela mail , Evelyn Frias-Toral mail , Andrea Di Mauro mail , Mario Siervo mail , Michelino Di Rosa mail , Giuseppe Grosso mail ,

Godos

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Adherence to the Mediterranean diet, inflammatory biomarkers and cognitive status in older Italian adults

Background: Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is viewed as a transitional stage between normal brain aging and dementia and is characterized by subtle cognitive deficits without significant impairment in daily functioning. Growing evidence supports the contribution of neuroinflammation and modifiable lifestyle factors, including diet, in the progression of cognitive decline.Aim: This study aimed to investigate the association between adherence to the Mediterranean diet, neuroinflammatory biomarkers, and MCI status in older adults.Design: Ninety-two participants were enrolled in this cross-sectional study, including 37 subjects with MCI. Dietary intake was assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and adherence to the Mediterranean diet explored through the MedDietScore. Plasma levels of TGF-β1 and TNF-α were measured by ELISA. Cognitive status was evaluated using the Mini Mental Examination (MMSE) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), both adjusted for age and education. Statistical analyses included non-parametric tests, correlation analysis, and logistic regression models.Results: MCI patients showed significantly reduced plasma levels of TGF-β1 and increased TNF-α concentrations compared to other participants. After adjustment for potential confounding factors, greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with a lower likelihood of MCI in a dose–response manner (highest versus lowest adherence quartile, odds ratio: 0.07, 95% confidence interval: 0.01–0.60). Additional adjustment for inflammatory biomarkers attenuated the associations, suggesting a potential mediating role.Conclusion: Our findings showed that higher adherence to Mediterranean diet is associated with lower likelihood of being MCI. Such a relation might be, at least in part, mediated by inflammatory biomarkers. Overall, these results support the role of dietary modulation in preventive strategies against cognitive decline and progression into MCI.

Producción Científica

Margherita Grasso mail , Francesca L’Episcopo mail , Annamaria Fidilio mail , Marco Antonio Olvera-Moreira mail , Giuseppe Toscano mail , Stefano Muratore mail , Margherita Drago mail , Sabrina Musso mail , Veronica Bentivegna mail , Lucrezia Costanzo mail , Melannie Toral-Noristz mail , Raynier Zambrano-Villacres mail , Lisandra León Brizuela mail , Giuseppe Lanza mail , Raffaele Ferri mail , Filippo Caraci mail ,

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