Comment on 'The Molecular Evolutionary Patterns of the Insulin/FOXO Signaling Pathway'

Letter to the Editor on Wang M, Wang Q, Wang Z, Zhang X, Pan Y. The molecular evolutionary patterns of the insulin/FOXO signaling pathwa

Incremento de peso en pacientes con fibrosis quística: ¿es siempre beneficioso?

Introduction: The primary objective of this study was to find out the prevalence of overweight and obese status, as well as their association to pulmonary function, total cholesterol and vitamin D in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Materials and methods: This is a multicenter descriptive and cross-sectional study. Twelve Spanish hospitals participated. 451 patients with CF were included. Adults were classified according to body mass index (BMI) and children were classified according to BMI percentiles (WHO tables). Pearson’s correlation, Anova, Student’s t-test and multiple linear regression were conducted. Results: Mean age was 12.3 (range 4-57) years old, 51% were male and 18% had pancreatic sufficiency. Participants were classified in five nutritional status categories: 12% were malnourished; 57%, at nutritional risk; 24%, normally nourished; 6%, overweight; and 1%, obese. Pulmonary function in overweight or obese patients (91 ± 19%) was better than in malnourished patients (77 ± 24%) (p = 0.017). However, no difference was observed between those at nutritional risk (86 ± 19%) or normally nourished (90 ± 22%) groups. Overweight and obese patients had higher levels of total cholesterol (p = 0.0049), a greater proportion of hypercholesterolemia (p = 0.001), as well as lower levels of 25 OH vitamin D (p = 0.058). Conclusions: Prevalence of overweight and obese was 6 and 1%. Excess weight status does not offer any benefit in pulmonary function in comparison to normally nourished patientsIntroducción y objetivos: conocer la prevalencia de sobrepeso y obesidad, así como su asociación con la función pulmonar, el colesterol total y la vitamina D en pacientes con fi brosis quística (FQ). Material y métodos: estudio multicéntrico descriptivo y transversal. Participaron 12 hospitales españoles. Fueron incluidos 451 pacientes con FQ, clasifi cados según el índice de masa corporal (IMC) en adultos y el IMC percentilado (tablas OMS) en niños. Análisis estadístico: C.Pearson, Anova, t de Student y regresión lineal múltiple. Resultados: la mediana de edad fue 12,3 (rango 4-57) años. Un 51% eran varones y el 18%, sufi cientes pancreáticos (SP). El 12% estaba desnutrido; el 57%, en riesgo nutricional; el 24%, normonutrido; el 6% presentaba sobrepeso; y un 1%, obesidad. La función pulmonar en los pacientes con sobrepeso (91 ± 19%) era mejor que en los desnutridos (77 ± 24%) (p = 0,017), sin embargo, no se observaron diferencias con respecto a los que estaban en riesgo nutricional (86 ± 19%) o normonutridos (90 ± 22%). Los pacientes con sobrepeso tenían más elevado el colesterol total (p = 0,0049), mayor proporción de hipercolesterolemia (p = 0,001), así como niveles más bajos de 25 OH vitamina D (p = 0,058). Conclusiones: la prevalencia de sobrepeso y obesidad fue del 6 y el 1%. El sobrepeso y la obesidad no ofrecen benefi cio sobre la función pulmonar en comparación con los normonutrido

HGF, IL-1α, and IL-27 Are Robust Biomarkers in Early Severity Stratification of COVID-19 Patients

Producción CientíficaPneumonia is the leading cause of hospital admission and mortality in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We aimed to identify the cytokines responsible for lung damage and mortality. We prospectively recruited 108 COVID-19 patients between March and April 2020 and divided them into four groups according to the severity of respiratory symptoms. Twenty-eight healthy volunteers were used for normalization of the results. Multiple cytokines showed statistically significant differences between mild and critical patients. High HGF levels were associated with the critical group (OR = 3.51; p < 0.001; 95%CI = 1.95–6.33). Moreover, high IL-1α (OR = 1.36; p = 0.01; 95%CI = 1.07–1.73) and low IL-27 (OR = 0.58; p < 0.005; 95%CI = 0.39–0.85) greatly increased the risk of ending up in the severe group. This model was especially sensitive in order to predict critical status (AUC = 0.794; specificity = 69.74%; sensitivity = 81.25%). Furthermore, high levels of HGF and IL-1α showed significant results in the survival analysis (p = 0.033 and p = 0.011, respectively). HGF, IL-1α, and IL 27 at hospital admission were strongly associated with severe/critical COVID-19 patients and therefore are excellent predictors of bad prognosis. HGF and IL-1α were also mortality biomarkers.Instituto de Salud Carlos III (grant COV20/00491

Instantaneous Wave-Free Ratio for the Assessment of Intermediate Left Main Coronary Artery Stenosis: Correlations With Fractional Flow Reserve/Intravascular Ultrasound and Prognostic Implications: The iLITRO-EPIC07 Study

Background: There is little information available on agreement between fractional flow reserve (FFR) and instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR) in left main coronary artery (LMCA) intermediate stenosis. Besides, several meta-analyses support the use of FFR to guide LMCA revascularization, but limited information is available on iFR in this setting. Our aims were to establish the concordance between FFR and iFR in intermediate LMCA lesions, to evaluate with intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) in cases of FFR/iFR discordance, and to prospectively validate the safety of deferring revascularization based on a hybrid decision-making strategy combining iFR and IVUS. Methods: Prospective, observational, multicenter registry with 300 consecutive patients with intermediate LMCA stenosis who underwent FFR and iFR and, in case of discordance, IVUS and minimal lumen area measurements. Primary clinical end point was a composite of cardiovascular death, LMCA lesion-related nonfatal myocardial infarction, or unplanned LMCA revascularization. Results: FFR and iFR had an agreement of 80% (both positive in 67 and both negative in 167 patients); in case of disagreement (31 FFR+/iFR- and 29 FFR-/iFR+) minimal lumen area was & GE;6 mm(2) in 8.7% of patients with FFR+ and 14.6% with iFR+. Among the 300 patients, 105 (35%) underwent revascularization and 181 (60%) were deferred according to iFR and IVUS. At a median follow-up of 20 months, major adverse cardiac events incidence was 8.3% in the defer group and 13.3% in the revascularization group (hazard ratio, 0.71 [95% CI 0.30-1.72]; P=0.45). Conclusions: In patients with intermediate LMCA stenosis, a physiology-guided treatment decision is feasible either with FFR or iFR with moderate concordance between both indices. In case of disagreement, the use of IVUS may be useful to indicate revascularization. Deferral of revascularization based on iFR appears to be safe in terms of major adverse cardiac events

Evaluation of cytokines as robust diagnostic biomarkers for COVID-19 detection

Producción CientíficaAntigen tests or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification are currently COVID-19 diagnostic tools. However, developing complementary diagnosis tools is mandatory. Thus, we performed a plasma cytokine array in COVID-19 patients to identify novel diagnostic biomarkers. A discovery–validation study in two independent prospective cohorts was performed. The discovery cohort included 136 COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients recruited consecutively from 24 March to 11 April 2020. Forty-five cytokines’ quantification by the MAGPIX system (Luminex Corp., Austin, TX, USA) was performed in plasma samples. The validation cohort included 117 patients recruited consecutively from 15 to 25 April 2020 for validating results by ELISA. COVID-19 patients showed different levels of multiple cytokines compared to non-COVID-19 patients. A single chemokine, IP-10, accurately identified COVID-19 patients who required hospital admission (AUC: 0.962; 95%CI (0.933–0.992); p < 0.001)). The results were validated in an independent cohort by multivariable analysis (OR: 25.573; 95%CI (8.127–80.469); p < 0.001) and AUROC (AUC: 0.900; 95%CI (0.846–0.954); p < 0.001). Moreover, showing IP-10 plasma levels over 173.35 pg/mL identified COVID-19 with higher sensitivity (86.20%) than the first SARS-CoV-2 PCR. Our discover–validation study identified IP-10 as a robust biomarker in clinical practice for COVID-19 diagnosis at hospital. Therefore, IP-10 could be used as a complementary tool in clinical practice, especially in emergency departments.Instituto de Salud Carlos III (grant COV20/00491)Consejo Superior de Investigaciones científicas (grant CSIC-COV19-016/202020E155)Junta de Castilla y León (project COVID 07.04.467B04.74011.0)IBGM excellence programme (grant CLU-2029-02

Can the Cytokine Profile According to ABO Blood Groups Be Related to Worse Outcome in COVID-19 Patients? Yes, They Can

Producción CientíficaSevere status of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is extremely associated to cytokine release. Moreover, it has been suggested that blood group is also associated with the prevalence and severity of this disease. However, the relationship between the cytokine profile and blood group remains unclear in COVID-19 patients. In this sense, we prospectively recruited 108 COVID-19 patients between March and April 2020 and divided according to ABO blood group. For the analysis of 45 cytokines, plasma samples were collected in the time of admission to hospital ward or intensive care unit and at the sixth day after hospital admission. The results show that there was a risk of more than two times lower of mechanical ventilation or death in patients with blood group O (log rank: p = 0.042). At first time, all statistically significant cytokine levels, except from hepatocyte growth factor, were higher in O blood group patients meanwhile the second time showed a significant drop, between 20% and 40%. In contrast, A/B/AB group presented a maintenance of cytokine levels during time. Hepatocyte growth factor showed a significant association with intubation or mortality risk in non-O blood group patients (OR: 4.229, 95% CI (2.064–8.665), p < 0.001) and also was the only one bad prognosis biomarker in O blood group patients (OR: 8.852, 95% CI (1.540–50.878), p = 0.015). Therefore, higher cytokine levels in O blood group are associated with a better outcome than A/B/AB group in COVID-19 patients.Instituto de Salud Carlos III (grant COV20/00491)Junta de Castilla y León (grant 18IGOF

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13

Evidence for the Higgs-boson Yukawa coupling to tau leptons with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for H → τ τ decays are presented, based on the full set of proton-proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC during 2011 and 2012. The data correspond to integrated luminosities of 4.5 fb−1 and 20.3 fb−1 at centre-of-mass energies of √s = 7 TeV and √s = 8 TeV respectively. All combinations of leptonic (τ → `νν¯ with ` = e, µ) and hadronic (τ → hadrons ν) tau decays are considered. An excess of events over the expected background from other Standard Model processes is found with an observed (expected) significance of 4.5 (3.4) standard deviations. This excess provides evidence for the direct coupling of the recently discovered Higgs boson to fermions. The measured signal strength, normalised to the Standard Model expectation, of µ = 1.43 +0.43 −0.37 is consistent with the predicted Yukawa coupling strength in the Standard Model

Vitamin d and chronic lung colonization in pediatric and young adults cystic fibrosis patients

Introducción y objetivos: conocer la situación en la que se encuentran los pacientes con fibrosis quística en relación con sus niveles de vitamina D y su asociación con las colonizaciones pulmonares crónicas. Material y métodos: estudio multicéntrico transversal. Participaron 12 hospitales nacionales. De noviembre a abril del 2012 al 2014 se incluyeron 377 pacientes con fibrosis quística. Se consideraron insuficientes niveles de vitamina D < 30 ng/ml. Presentar al menos dos cultivos positivos en el último año fue considerado un criterio de colonización crónica. Resultados: los pacientes tenían una mediana de edad de 8,9 años (2 meses—20 años). Un 65% presentaban niveles insuficientes de vitamina D. Se observó una correlación inversa entre edad y niveles de vitamina D (r = -0,20 p < 0,001). Los diagnosticados por cribado eran más jóvenes y tenían niveles de vitamina D más altos. Los niveles de vitamina D presentaron una correlación inversa con el número de colonizaciones pulmonares (r = -0,16 p = 0,0015). Ajustando por edad, función pancreática y diagnóstico mediante cribado, la colonización por S. Aureus en menores de seis años y por Pseudomonas sp. en los mayores de esa edad, incrementaban el riesgo de presentar niveles insuficientes de vitamina D: OR 3,17 (IC95% 1,32-7,61) (p=0,010) y OR 3,77 (IC95% 1,37- 10,37)(p = 0,010), respectivamente. Conclusiones: a pesar de una suplementación adecuada, más de la mitad de nuestros pacientes no alcanzan niveles óptimos de vitamina D. La colonización crónica por Pseudomonas sp. en escolares y adolescentes y por S. Aureus en lactantes y preescolares se asocia de forma independiente con la deficiencia de vitamina D.Introduction and objectives: evaluate vitamin D status and its association with chronic lung colonisation in Cystic Fibrosis patients. Material and methods: descriptive cross-sectional multicenter study. From November 2012 to April 2014, at 12 national hospitals, 377 patients with Cystic Fibrosis were included. Vitamin D levels < 30 ng/ml were classified as insufficient. Chronic colonisation was considered if they had at least two positive cultures in the past year. Results: the median age was 8.9 years (2 months to 20 years). 65% had insufficient levels of vitamin D. There was an inverse correlation between age and vitamin D levels (r = -0.20 p < 0.001). Those diagnosed by screening, were younger and had higher levels of vitamin D. There was an inverse correlation between the number of colonisations and vitamin D levels (r = -0.16 p = 0.0015). Adjusting for age, pancreatic status and diagnosis by screening, colonization by S. aureus in <6 years and Pseudomonas sp. in > 6 years, increased the risk of insufficient levels of vitamin D: OR 3.17 (95% CI 1.32 to 7.61) (p = 0.010) and OR 3.77 (95% CI 1.37 to 10 , 37) (p = 0.010), respectively. Conclusions: despite adequate supplementation, more than half of our patients did not achieve optimal levels of vitamin D. Regardless of age, diagnosis by screening or pancreatic status, chronic colonization by Pseudomonas sp. in children and adolescents and S. Aureus in infants and preschoolars increases the risk of developing vitamin D deficiency in these patients.S

5to. Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad. Memoria académica

El V Congreso Internacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación para la Sociedad, CITIS 2019, realizado del 6 al 8 de febrero de 2019 y organizado por la Universidad Politécnica Salesiana, ofreció a la comunidad académica nacional e internacional una plataforma de comunicación unificada, dirigida a cubrir los problemas teóricos y prácticos de mayor impacto en la sociedad moderna desde la ingeniería. En esta edición, dedicada a los 25 años de vida de la UPS, los ejes temáticos estuvieron relacionados con la aplicación de la ciencia, el desarrollo tecnológico y la innovación en cinco pilares fundamentales de nuestra sociedad: la industria, la movilidad, la sostenibilidad ambiental, la información y las telecomunicaciones. El comité científico estuvo conformado formado por 48 investigadores procedentes de diez países: España, Reino Unido, Italia, Bélgica, México, Venezuela, Colombia, Brasil, Estados Unidos y Ecuador. Fueron recibidas un centenar de contribuciones, de las cuales 39 fueron aprobadas en forma de ponencias y 15 en formato poster. Estas contribuciones fueron presentadas de forma oral ante toda la comunidad académica que se dio cita en el Congreso, quienes desde el aula magna, el auditorio y la sala de usos múltiples de la Universidad Politécnica Salesiana, cumplieron respetuosamente la responsabilidad de representar a toda la sociedad en la revisión, aceptación y validación del conocimiento nuevo que fue presentado en cada exposición por los investigadores. Paralelo a las sesiones técnicas, el Congreso contó con espacios de presentación de posters científicos y cinco workshops en temáticas de vanguardia que cautivaron la atención de nuestros docentes y estudiantes. También en el marco del evento se impartieron un total de ocho conferencias magistrales en temas tan actuales como la gestión del conocimiento en la universidad-ecosistema, los retos y oportunidades de la industria 4.0, los avances de la investigación básica y aplicada en mecatrónica para el estudio de robots de nueva generación, la optimización en ingeniería con técnicas multi-objetivo, el desarrollo de las redes avanzadas en Latinoamérica y los mundos, la contaminación del aire debido al tránsito vehicular, el radón y los riesgos que representa este gas radiactivo para la salud humana, entre otros