Fractal signatures of the COVID-19 spread.

Recent quantitative approaches for studying several aspects of urban life and infrastructure have shown that scale properties allow the understanding of many features of urban infrastructure and of human activity in cities. In this paper, we show that COVID-19 virus contamination follows a similar pattern in different regions of the world. The superlinear power-law behavior for the number of contamination cases as a function of the city population, with exponent of the order of 1.

Calculation of the EPR g-tensor from auxiliary density functional theory.

The working equations for the calculation of the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) g-tensor within the framework of the auxiliary density functional theory (ADFT) are presented. The scheme known as gauge including atomic orbitals (GIAOs) is employed to treat the gauge origin problem. This ADFT-GIAO formulation possesses an inherent high computational performance, allowing for the calculation of the EPR g-tensor of molecules containing some hundreds of atoms in reasonable computational time employing moderate computational resources.

Selection of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma for liver transplantation: Past and future.

The aim of liver transplantation (LT) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is to ensure a rate of disease-free survival similar to that of patients transplanted due to benign disease. Therefore, we are forced to adopt strict criteria when selecting candidates for LT and prioritizing patients on the waiting list (WL), to have clarified indications for bridging therapy for groups at risk for progression or recurrence, and to establish certain limits for downstaging therapies. Although the Milan criteria (MC) remain the standard and most employed criteria for indication of HCC patients for LT by far, in the coming years, criteria will be consolidated that take into account not only data regarding the size/volume and number of tumors but also their biology.

Angiotensin-converting enzymes (ACE and ACE2) are downregulated in renal tumors.

The angiotensin-converting enzymes (ACE and ACE2) are highly expressed in renal tubules and play an important role in the regulation of renal function by the intrarenal renin-angiotensin system (iRAS). Dysregulation of these cell-surface peptidases has been associated with renal injury. Most of these studies, however, have focused on non-neoplastic kidney diseases.

Expression of cannabinoid receptors in human kidney.

The presence of CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptors and their physiological role in the kidney has been described in animal models but not in humans. Our aim in this study was to evaluate the presence of these receptors in human kidney, adult and fetal. For this purpose, RT-PCR, western-blot and immunohisto-chemical assays were performed.