Alberto Molano | Universidad del Cauca (original) (raw)
Papers by Alberto Molano
En este trabajo se describe el cotejo de un par de huellas, por medio de un software de verifica... more En este trabajo se describe el cotejo de un par de huellas, por medio de un software de verificación que compara una huella contra otra, el cual es el primer paso para el diseño de sistemas de identificación donde se compara una huella contra n-huellas de una base de datos.
Para ello se han explorado en la literatura, distintos algoritmos para solucionar este problema, se decidió para el mejoramiento de las huellas el uso del filtro de Gabor, el cual es el más reportado y ofrece buenos rendimientos para la eliminación del ruido, seguido de todos los procesos para la aplicación de este filtro como son: la normalización el
histograma de grises, la estimación de la dirección de las crestas y su frecuencia local. Por otra parte está el problema de extraer características a las huellas, en esta etapa se eligió las mismas características que usan los dactiloscopistas para la comparación de huellas, es decir la detección de minucias tales como terminaciones y bifurcaciones, la cual se obtiene del adelgazamiento de la imagen filtrada, con una post-etapa de eliminación de falsas minucias. Finalmente se llega a la comparación de huellas mediante sus minucias, en este punto se usan dos algoritmos una llamada comparación con alineación previa y la otra comparación mediante grafos, ambas son buenas y ofrecen buenos resultados
Current Alzheimer Research, 2010
The study aimed to describe the prevalence of Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in Alzheimer&am... more The study aimed to describe the prevalence of Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in Alzheimer's disease (AD), amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and controls using the 12-item Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) and to analyze the relationships between neuropsychiatric symptoms with specific neuropsychological tests. We prospectively studied 485 patients from the Memory Unit in Cruces Hospital (Spain), 344 met the criteria of NINCDS-ADRDA for probable AD (99 were classified as mild and 245 as moderate-severe), 91 for MCI and 50 were controls. Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE) and CDR (Clinical Dementia Rating) were used to evaluate global cognitive function and to classify the severity of cognitive impairment. The neuropsychological test battery included memory test, verbal fluency, visuoespatial skills and daily living scales. The 12-items Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) version was used to assess neuropsychiatric symptoms. All patients underwent a neuroimaging study (CT scan and/or MRI). Patients were not treated with antidementia or psychotropic drugs. Apathy and depression were more prevalent NPS in moderate-severe AD (78.4% and 44.1%, respectively), mild AD (64.6% and 41.4%, respectively) and MCI (50.5% and 33%, respectively) patients than in controls (6% and 8%, respectively). The prevalence and the mean scores of all symptoms increased along the severity of the disease, except for sleep and appetite disorders. In patients with mild AD a relationship was found between the presence of NPS and RDRS-2 scale (p = 0.003); and between NPS and RDRS-2 (p = 0.029) and SS-IQCODE scales (p = 0.039) in moderate-severe patients. NPS were more prevalent in AD and MCI patients than in controls. In AD and MCI patients apathy and depression were the most prevalent NPS. The prevalence and the mean scores of all symptoms gradually increased along the severity of the disease, except for sleep and appetite disorders. We have no found a relationship between neuropsycological test and the presence of NPS, but in patients with mild and moderate-severe AD there is a relationship with daily living scales.
Current Alzheimer Research, 2010
The study aimed to describe the prevalence of Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in Alzheimer&am... more The study aimed to describe the prevalence of Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in Alzheimer's disease (AD), amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and controls using the 12-item Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) and to analyze the relationships between neuropsychiatric symptoms with specific neuropsychological tests. We prospectively studied 485 patients from the Memory Unit in Cruces Hospital (Spain), 344 met the criteria of NINCDS-ADRDA for probable AD (99 were classified as mild and 245 as moderate-severe), 91 for MCI and 50 were controls. Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE) and CDR (Clinical Dementia Rating) were used to evaluate global cognitive function and to classify the severity of cognitive impairment. The neuropsychological test battery included memory test, verbal fluency, visuoespatial skills and daily living scales. The 12-items Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) version was used to assess neuropsychiatric symptoms. All patients underwent a neuroimaging study (CT scan and/or MRI). Patients were not treated with antidementia or psychotropic drugs. Apathy and depression were more prevalent NPS in moderate-severe AD (78.4% and 44.1%, respectively), mild AD (64.6% and 41.4%, respectively) and MCI (50.5% and 33%, respectively) patients than in controls (6% and 8%, respectively). The prevalence and the mean scores of all symptoms increased along the severity of the disease, except for sleep and appetite disorders. In patients with mild AD a relationship was found between the presence of NPS and RDRS-2 scale (p = 0.003); and between NPS and RDRS-2 (p = 0.029) and SS-IQCODE scales (p = 0.039) in moderate-severe patients. NPS were more prevalent in AD and MCI patients than in controls. In AD and MCI patients apathy and depression were the most prevalent NPS. The prevalence and the mean scores of all symptoms gradually increased along the severity of the disease, except for sleep and appetite disorders. We have no found a relationship between neuropsycological test and the presence of NPS, but in patients with mild and moderate-severe AD there is a relationship with daily living scales.
Immunology Letters, 2009
The cytokine TWEAK demonstrates potent kidney proinflammatory and proliferative effects. Recently... more The cytokine TWEAK demonstrates potent kidney proinflammatory and proliferative effects. Recently, we have shown that interactions of TWEAK with its receptor Fn14 are instrumental in the pathogenesis of nephritis in the chronic graft-versus-host (cGVH) induced model of lupus. Fn14 is expressed by macrophages and resident kidney cells; we hypothesized that TWEAK binding to both cell types contributes to the pathogenesis of lupus nephritis. To address this question, we generated bone marrow chimaeras and compared the progression of nephritis during cGVH induced lupus in mice expressing Fn14 only on bone marrow-derived cells, versus mice displaying Fn14 only on non-bone marrow-derived cells. While Fn14 deficiency did not significantly affect autoantibody titers, Fn14 deficiency on bone marrowderived cells did not inhibit nephritis initiation in mice with Fn14 sufficient non-hematopoeitic cells. Conversely, expression of Fn14 only on bone marrow-derived cells resulted in a delayed, milder disease course. To further explore the role of macrophages, we depleted macrophages during cGVH induction. Surprisingly, we found that macrophage depleted mice displayed significantly increased titers of anti-DNA antibodies and worse kidney disease. We conclude that the presence of Fn14 on resident kidney cells alone may be sufficient to initiate nephritis in this murine model of lupus.
Immunology Letters, 2008
The intracellular enzyme indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), which degrades the rare and essential... more The intracellular enzyme indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), which degrades the rare and essential amino acid tryptophan and converts it into a series of biologically active catabolites, has been linked to the regulation of immune tolerance by specific dendritic cell subsets, and to the downmodulation of exacerbated immune responses. Although the immunoregulatory effects of IDO may be in part due to generalized suppression of cell proliferation caused by tryptophan starvation, there is also evidence that tryptophan catabolites could be directly responsible for some of the observed effects. In this report, we investigated the consequences of IDO activity, particularly with regard to the effects of tryptophan-derived catabolites, on the cytokine responses of activated invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells, a specialized T cell subset known to have immunoregulatory properties. Our results showed that pharmacologic inhibition of IDO skewed cytokine responses of iNKT cells towards a Th1 profile. In contrast, the presence at low micromolar concentrations of the tryptophan catabolites l-kynurenine, 3-hydroxy-kynurenine, or 3-hydroxy-anthranilic acid shifted the cytokine balance towards a Th2 pattern. These findings have implications for our current understanding of immunoregulation, and the mechanisms by which iNKT cells participate in the modulation of immune responses.
Infection and Immunity, 2004
The mycobacterial cell wall component lipoarabinomannan (LAM) has been described as a virulence f... more The mycobacterial cell wall component lipoarabinomannan (LAM) has been described as a virulence factor of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and modification of the terminal arabinan residues of this compound with mannose caps (producing mannosyl-capped LAM [ManLAM]) in M. tuberculosis or with phosphoinositol caps (producing phosphoinositol-capped LAM [PILAM]) in Mycobacterium smegmatis has been implicated in various functions associated with these lipoglycans. A structure-function analysis was performed by using LAMs and their biosynthetic precursor lipomannans (LMs) isolated from different mycobacterial species on the basis of their capacity to induce the production of interleukin-12 (IL-12) and/or apoptosis of macrophage cell lines. Independent of the mycobacterial species, ManLAMs did not induce IL-12 gene expression or apoptosis of macrophages, whereas PILAMs induced IL-12 secretion and apoptosis. Interestingly, uncapped LAM purified from Mycobacterium chelonae did not induce IL-12 secretion or apoptosis. Furthermore, LMs, independent of their mycobacterial origins, were potent inducers of IL-12 and apoptosis. The precursor of LM, phosphatidylmyo-inositol dimannoside, had no activity, suggesting that the mannan core of LM was required for the activity of LM. The specific interaction of LM with Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR-2) but not with TLR-4 suggested that these responses were mediated via the TLR-2 signaling pathway. Our experiments revealed an important immunostimulatory activity of the biosynthetic LAM precursor LM. The ratio of LAM to LM in the cell wall of mycobacteria may be an important determinant of virulence, and enzymes that modify LM could provide targets for development of antituberculosis drugs and for derivation of attenuated strains of M. tuberculosis.
Drug Discovery Today: Disease Mechanisms, 2006
ABSTRACT David Scott – University of Mariland School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA Terry L. Delovit... more ABSTRACT David Scott – University of Mariland School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA Terry L. Delovitch – The John P. Robarts Research Institute, London, Canada
Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences, 2005
A form of -galactosylceramide, KRN7000, activates CD1d-restricted V14-invariant (V14i) natural ki... more A form of -galactosylceramide, KRN7000, activates CD1d-restricted V14-invariant (V14i) natural killer (NK) T cells and initiates multiple downstream immune reactions. We report that substituting the C26:0 N-acyl chain of KRN7000 with shorter, unsaturated fatty acids modifies the outcome of V14i NKT cell activation. One analogue containing a diunsaturated C20 fatty acid (C20:2) potently induced a T helper type 2-biased cytokine response, with diminished IFN- production and reduced V14i NKT cell expansion. C20:2 also exhibited less stringent requirements for loading onto CD1d than KRN7000, suggesting a mechanism for the immunomodulatory properties of this lipid. The differential cellular response elicited by this class of V14i NKT cell agonists may prove to be useful in immunotherapeutic applications. cytokines | inflammation | autoimmunity | immunoregulation
i Agradecimientos Agradezco a Dios por ser mi apoyo incondicional en todo lo que hago, infinitas ... more i Agradecimientos Agradezco a Dios por ser mi apoyo incondicional en todo lo que hago, infinitas gracias le doy a Él por darme una familia maravillosa.
En este trabajo se describe el cotejo de un par de huellas, por medio de un software de verifica... more En este trabajo se describe el cotejo de un par de huellas, por medio de un software de verificación que compara una huella contra otra, el cual es el primer paso para el diseño de sistemas de identificación donde se compara una huella contra n-huellas de una base de datos.
Para ello se han explorado en la literatura, distintos algoritmos para solucionar este problema, se decidió para el mejoramiento de las huellas el uso del filtro de Gabor, el cual es el más reportado y ofrece buenos rendimientos para la eliminación del ruido, seguido de todos los procesos para la aplicación de este filtro como son: la normalización el
histograma de grises, la estimación de la dirección de las crestas y su frecuencia local. Por otra parte está el problema de extraer características a las huellas, en esta etapa se eligió las mismas características que usan los dactiloscopistas para la comparación de huellas, es decir la detección de minucias tales como terminaciones y bifurcaciones, la cual se obtiene del adelgazamiento de la imagen filtrada, con una post-etapa de eliminación de falsas minucias. Finalmente se llega a la comparación de huellas mediante sus minucias, en este punto se usan dos algoritmos una llamada comparación con alineación previa y la otra comparación mediante grafos, ambas son buenas y ofrecen buenos resultados
Current Alzheimer Research, 2010
The study aimed to describe the prevalence of Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in Alzheimer&am... more The study aimed to describe the prevalence of Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in Alzheimer's disease (AD), amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and controls using the 12-item Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) and to analyze the relationships between neuropsychiatric symptoms with specific neuropsychological tests. We prospectively studied 485 patients from the Memory Unit in Cruces Hospital (Spain), 344 met the criteria of NINCDS-ADRDA for probable AD (99 were classified as mild and 245 as moderate-severe), 91 for MCI and 50 were controls. Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE) and CDR (Clinical Dementia Rating) were used to evaluate global cognitive function and to classify the severity of cognitive impairment. The neuropsychological test battery included memory test, verbal fluency, visuoespatial skills and daily living scales. The 12-items Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) version was used to assess neuropsychiatric symptoms. All patients underwent a neuroimaging study (CT scan and/or MRI). Patients were not treated with antidementia or psychotropic drugs. Apathy and depression were more prevalent NPS in moderate-severe AD (78.4% and 44.1%, respectively), mild AD (64.6% and 41.4%, respectively) and MCI (50.5% and 33%, respectively) patients than in controls (6% and 8%, respectively). The prevalence and the mean scores of all symptoms increased along the severity of the disease, except for sleep and appetite disorders. In patients with mild AD a relationship was found between the presence of NPS and RDRS-2 scale (p = 0.003); and between NPS and RDRS-2 (p = 0.029) and SS-IQCODE scales (p = 0.039) in moderate-severe patients. NPS were more prevalent in AD and MCI patients than in controls. In AD and MCI patients apathy and depression were the most prevalent NPS. The prevalence and the mean scores of all symptoms gradually increased along the severity of the disease, except for sleep and appetite disorders. We have no found a relationship between neuropsycological test and the presence of NPS, but in patients with mild and moderate-severe AD there is a relationship with daily living scales.
Current Alzheimer Research, 2010
The study aimed to describe the prevalence of Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in Alzheimer&am... more The study aimed to describe the prevalence of Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in Alzheimer's disease (AD), amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and controls using the 12-item Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) and to analyze the relationships between neuropsychiatric symptoms with specific neuropsychological tests. We prospectively studied 485 patients from the Memory Unit in Cruces Hospital (Spain), 344 met the criteria of NINCDS-ADRDA for probable AD (99 were classified as mild and 245 as moderate-severe), 91 for MCI and 50 were controls. Mini-mental State Examination (MMSE) and CDR (Clinical Dementia Rating) were used to evaluate global cognitive function and to classify the severity of cognitive impairment. The neuropsychological test battery included memory test, verbal fluency, visuoespatial skills and daily living scales. The 12-items Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) version was used to assess neuropsychiatric symptoms. All patients underwent a neuroimaging study (CT scan and/or MRI). Patients were not treated with antidementia or psychotropic drugs. Apathy and depression were more prevalent NPS in moderate-severe AD (78.4% and 44.1%, respectively), mild AD (64.6% and 41.4%, respectively) and MCI (50.5% and 33%, respectively) patients than in controls (6% and 8%, respectively). The prevalence and the mean scores of all symptoms increased along the severity of the disease, except for sleep and appetite disorders. In patients with mild AD a relationship was found between the presence of NPS and RDRS-2 scale (p = 0.003); and between NPS and RDRS-2 (p = 0.029) and SS-IQCODE scales (p = 0.039) in moderate-severe patients. NPS were more prevalent in AD and MCI patients than in controls. In AD and MCI patients apathy and depression were the most prevalent NPS. The prevalence and the mean scores of all symptoms gradually increased along the severity of the disease, except for sleep and appetite disorders. We have no found a relationship between neuropsycological test and the presence of NPS, but in patients with mild and moderate-severe AD there is a relationship with daily living scales.
Immunology Letters, 2009
The cytokine TWEAK demonstrates potent kidney proinflammatory and proliferative effects. Recently... more The cytokine TWEAK demonstrates potent kidney proinflammatory and proliferative effects. Recently, we have shown that interactions of TWEAK with its receptor Fn14 are instrumental in the pathogenesis of nephritis in the chronic graft-versus-host (cGVH) induced model of lupus. Fn14 is expressed by macrophages and resident kidney cells; we hypothesized that TWEAK binding to both cell types contributes to the pathogenesis of lupus nephritis. To address this question, we generated bone marrow chimaeras and compared the progression of nephritis during cGVH induced lupus in mice expressing Fn14 only on bone marrow-derived cells, versus mice displaying Fn14 only on non-bone marrow-derived cells. While Fn14 deficiency did not significantly affect autoantibody titers, Fn14 deficiency on bone marrowderived cells did not inhibit nephritis initiation in mice with Fn14 sufficient non-hematopoeitic cells. Conversely, expression of Fn14 only on bone marrow-derived cells resulted in a delayed, milder disease course. To further explore the role of macrophages, we depleted macrophages during cGVH induction. Surprisingly, we found that macrophage depleted mice displayed significantly increased titers of anti-DNA antibodies and worse kidney disease. We conclude that the presence of Fn14 on resident kidney cells alone may be sufficient to initiate nephritis in this murine model of lupus.
Immunology Letters, 2008
The intracellular enzyme indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), which degrades the rare and essential... more The intracellular enzyme indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), which degrades the rare and essential amino acid tryptophan and converts it into a series of biologically active catabolites, has been linked to the regulation of immune tolerance by specific dendritic cell subsets, and to the downmodulation of exacerbated immune responses. Although the immunoregulatory effects of IDO may be in part due to generalized suppression of cell proliferation caused by tryptophan starvation, there is also evidence that tryptophan catabolites could be directly responsible for some of the observed effects. In this report, we investigated the consequences of IDO activity, particularly with regard to the effects of tryptophan-derived catabolites, on the cytokine responses of activated invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells, a specialized T cell subset known to have immunoregulatory properties. Our results showed that pharmacologic inhibition of IDO skewed cytokine responses of iNKT cells towards a Th1 profile. In contrast, the presence at low micromolar concentrations of the tryptophan catabolites l-kynurenine, 3-hydroxy-kynurenine, or 3-hydroxy-anthranilic acid shifted the cytokine balance towards a Th2 pattern. These findings have implications for our current understanding of immunoregulation, and the mechanisms by which iNKT cells participate in the modulation of immune responses.
Infection and Immunity, 2004
The mycobacterial cell wall component lipoarabinomannan (LAM) has been described as a virulence f... more The mycobacterial cell wall component lipoarabinomannan (LAM) has been described as a virulence factor of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and modification of the terminal arabinan residues of this compound with mannose caps (producing mannosyl-capped LAM [ManLAM]) in M. tuberculosis or with phosphoinositol caps (producing phosphoinositol-capped LAM [PILAM]) in Mycobacterium smegmatis has been implicated in various functions associated with these lipoglycans. A structure-function analysis was performed by using LAMs and their biosynthetic precursor lipomannans (LMs) isolated from different mycobacterial species on the basis of their capacity to induce the production of interleukin-12 (IL-12) and/or apoptosis of macrophage cell lines. Independent of the mycobacterial species, ManLAMs did not induce IL-12 gene expression or apoptosis of macrophages, whereas PILAMs induced IL-12 secretion and apoptosis. Interestingly, uncapped LAM purified from Mycobacterium chelonae did not induce IL-12 secretion or apoptosis. Furthermore, LMs, independent of their mycobacterial origins, were potent inducers of IL-12 and apoptosis. The precursor of LM, phosphatidylmyo-inositol dimannoside, had no activity, suggesting that the mannan core of LM was required for the activity of LM. The specific interaction of LM with Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR-2) but not with TLR-4 suggested that these responses were mediated via the TLR-2 signaling pathway. Our experiments revealed an important immunostimulatory activity of the biosynthetic LAM precursor LM. The ratio of LAM to LM in the cell wall of mycobacteria may be an important determinant of virulence, and enzymes that modify LM could provide targets for development of antituberculosis drugs and for derivation of attenuated strains of M. tuberculosis.
Drug Discovery Today: Disease Mechanisms, 2006
ABSTRACT David Scott – University of Mariland School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA Terry L. Delovit... more ABSTRACT David Scott – University of Mariland School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA Terry L. Delovitch – The John P. Robarts Research Institute, London, Canada
Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences, 2005
A form of -galactosylceramide, KRN7000, activates CD1d-restricted V14-invariant (V14i) natural ki... more A form of -galactosylceramide, KRN7000, activates CD1d-restricted V14-invariant (V14i) natural killer (NK) T cells and initiates multiple downstream immune reactions. We report that substituting the C26:0 N-acyl chain of KRN7000 with shorter, unsaturated fatty acids modifies the outcome of V14i NKT cell activation. One analogue containing a diunsaturated C20 fatty acid (C20:2) potently induced a T helper type 2-biased cytokine response, with diminished IFN- production and reduced V14i NKT cell expansion. C20:2 also exhibited less stringent requirements for loading onto CD1d than KRN7000, suggesting a mechanism for the immunomodulatory properties of this lipid. The differential cellular response elicited by this class of V14i NKT cell agonists may prove to be useful in immunotherapeutic applications. cytokines | inflammation | autoimmunity | immunoregulation
i Agradecimientos Agradezco a Dios por ser mi apoyo incondicional en todo lo que hago, infinitas ... more i Agradecimientos Agradezco a Dios por ser mi apoyo incondicional en todo lo que hago, infinitas gracias le doy a Él por darme una familia maravillosa.