Locally Grown Crops and Immunocastration in Fattening Heavy Pigs: Effects on Performance and Welfare

This study aimed to explore dietary replacement soybean meal (SBM) with local pea seeds (PS-L) and the effects of surgically castrated (CM) or immunocastration (IM) in heavy male pigs, on growth performance, feeding behaviour, and tail and ear lesions. Four treatments were arranged factorially (2 × 2), with two sexes and two dietary treatments (96 pigs in eight pens). The inclusion of PS-L was 25%, 30%, and 40% during three phases (40-80 kg, 80-110 kg, and 110-140 kg, respectively). No difference in average daily feed intake (ADFI) and body-weight (BW) between PS-L and SBM could be demonstrated (p > 0.05), but PS-L diet decreased the average daily gain (ADG) at 110-140 kg of BW (p < 0.001) and increased feed conversion rate (FCR) (p < 0.05). The ADG was higher (p < 0.01) in IM than CM in all fattening periods, and the FCR in IM was lower (p < 0.05) than in barrows. IM pigs had lower dressing percentage than CM (p < 0.01). Pigs fed a PS-L diet ate faster but increased their passive behaviour compared with those fed SBM. In conclusion, the PS-L diet did not reduce BW and improved passive behaviour, and IM grew more efficiently, regardless of diet.This research was funded by Operation Grant code 16.01.01 (Cooperation for Innovation) through the Catalan Rural Development Programme 2014–2020

Protocol de prevenció i control de brots de toxiinfecció alimentària

Toxiinfecció alimentària; Control alimentari; Seguretat dels alimentsToxiinfección alimentaria; Control alimentario; Seguridad de los alimentosFood poisoning; Food control; Food safetyLes toxiinfeccions alimentàries constitueixen un important problema de salut, i la investigació dels brots que ocasionen és un aspecte fonamental de la vigilància epidemiològica d’aquest problema. Amb aquesta nova edició del protocol es pretén posar al dia la investigació d’aquests tipus de brots per tal millorar-ne la prevenció i el control

Protocol de vigilància epidemiològica per a la prevenció i el control de l’hepatitis C

Hepatitis C; Malalties transmissibles; PrevencióHepatitis C; Enfermedades trasmisibles; PrevenciónHepatitis C; Communicable diseases; PreventionProtocolo de actuación dirigido a los profesionales de la salud para el control y la prevención de la hepatitits CProtocol d'actuació dirigit als professionals de la salut per al control i la prevenció de l'hepatitis CProtocol of action aimed at health professionals to the control and prevention of hepatitis

Aprenentatge autònom de l'alumne i eines per al docent mitjançant l'ús de GeoGebra. Assignatures de Matemàtiques I i II dels Graus d’ADE i d’ECO de la Universitat de Barcelona

Línies d’innovació vinculades: 216231 - Moodle / 201995 - Avaluació formativa / 235623 - Project-based learning, PBL / 020691 - Estudi de casos / 025424 – SimulacionsL’objectiu del nostre projecte ha estat millorar la docència de les assignatures de Matemàtiques dels Graus d’Economia (ECO) i d’Administració i Direcció d’Empreses (ADE), introduint a la docència el software gratuït GeoGebra. El projecte va sorgir en el context de la implantació dels graus, en un moment en què vèiem que ja no podríem seguir fent les classes de pràctiques a les aules d’informàtica amb el programa Derive, que disposaríem de menys hores de docència i que a les aules només hi hauria un ordinador per al professor i un canó de projecció. En aquelles circumstàncies vam pensar que la capacitat de GeoGebra per donar vida a funcions i vectors podia ajudar-nos a explicar els conceptes teòrics de les assignatures de Matemàtiques d’una manera tan atractiva com intuïtiva. Hem elaborat un conjunt de materials (applets) per a les assignatures de Matemàtiques I i Matemàtiques II dels graus d’ADE i d’ECO. Gràcies a la plataforma Moodle hem pogut posar aquestes applets a disposició d’alumnes i professors

Student’s autonomous learning and tools for teachers by means of the use of GeoGebra. Mathematics I and II subjects of the degrees in ADE and ECO of the University of Barcelona

The objective of our project has been to improve the teaching in mathematics subjects of the degrees in Economics (ECO) and Business management (ADE) by incorporating the GeoGebra free software. The project started when university degrees were being implemented. At that time, we realized that we could no longer use the Derive software because the practical lectures in the computer rooms were cancelled and only the teacher's computer attached to a projector remained. On the top of that, the time devoted to lectures was reduced. Under those constraints, we thought that the ability of GeoGebra to give functions and vectors life could help us in explaining the theoretical concepts of the mathematics subjects in an appealing and intuitive manner. We have created several applets for the subjects Mathematics I and Mathematics II of the degrees in ECO and ADE. Thanks to the Moodle platform we have been able to put these applets at students’ and teachers’ disposal

Blood Biomarkers to Predict Long-Term Mortality after Ischemic Stroke

Altres ajuts: This work has been funded by La Fundació La Marató (Reg. 84/240 proj. 201702).Stroke is a major cause of disability and death globally, and prediction of mortality represents a crucial challenge. We aimed to identify blood biomarkers measured during acute ischemic stroke that could predict long-term mortality. Nine hundred and forty-one ischemic stroke patients were prospectively recruited in the Stroke-Chip study. Post-stroke mortality was evaluated during a median 4.8-year follow-up. A 14-biomarker panel was analyzed by immunoassays in blood samples obtained at hospital admission. Biomarkers were normalized and standardized using Z -scores. Multiple Cox regression models were used to identify clinical variables and biomarkers independently associated with long-term mortality and mortality due to stroke. In the multivariate analysis, the independent predictors of long-term mortality were age, female sex, hypertension, glycemia, and baseline National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score. Independent blood biomarkers predictive of long-term mortality were endostatin > quartile 2, tumor necrosis factor receptor-1 (TNF-R1) > quartile 2, and interleukin (IL)-6 > quartile 2. The risk of mortality when these three biomarkers were combined increased up to 69%. The addition of the biomarkers to clinical predictors improved the discrimination (integrative discriminative improvement (IDI) 0.022 (0.007-0.048), p quartile 3 was an independent predictor of mortality due to stroke. Altogether, endostatin, TNF-R1, and IL-6 circulating levels may aid in long-term mortality prediction after stroke

Regional marine climate scenarios in the NE Atlantic sector close to the Spanish shores

[EN] We present an overview of the changes expected during the 21st century in key marine parameters (sea surface temperature, sea surface salinity, sea level and waves) in the sector of the NE Atlantic Ocean close to the Spanish shores. Under the A1B scenario, open-sea surface temperatures would increase by 1°C to 1.5°C by 2050 as a consequence of global ocean warming. Near the continental margin, however, the global temperature rise would be counteracted by an enhancement of the seasonal upwelling. Sea surface salinity is likely to decrease in the future, mainly due to the advection of high-latitude fresher waters from ice melting. Mean sea level rise has been quantified as 15-20 cm by 2050, but two contributions not accounted for by our models must be added: the mass redistribution derived from changes in the large-scale circulation (which in the NE Atlantic may be as large as 15 cm in 2050 or 35 cm by 2100) and the increase in the ocean mass content due to the melting of continental ice (for which estimates are still uncertain). The meteorological tide shows very small changes, and therefore extreme sea levels would be higher in the 21st century, but mostly due to the increase in mean sea level, not to an increase in the storminess. The wave projections point towards slightly smaller significant wave heights, but the changes projected are of the same order as the natural variability.[ES]En este trabajo se presenta una visión de conjunto de los cambios esperados en el siglo XXI en los principales parámetros marinos (temperatura y salinidad superficiales, nivel del mar y oleaje) en el sector NE del Océano Atlántico más cercano a las costas españolas. Bajo el escenario A1B, se prevé que la temperatura superficial en mar abierto suba del orden de 1-1.5°C para el año 2050, como consecuencia del calentamiento global del océano. Cerca del margen continental, sin embargo, el aumento de la temperatura superficial podría ser contrarrestado por un aumento del afloramiento estacional. La salinidad superficial es probable que disminuya en el futuro, debido principalmente a la advección desde latitudes más altas de aguas provenientes de la fusión de hielos polares. El aumento del nivel del mar obtenido de los modelos se ha cuantificado en 15 a 20 cm para el año 2050, pero esa estima no incluye dos contribuciones adicionales que deben ser añadidas: la redistribución de masa derivada de los cambios en la circulación a gran escala (que en el Atlántico NE se ha estimado en unos 15 cm para 2050 i en 35 cm para 2100) y el aumento de masa debido a la fusión de hielos continentales (para el cual las estimas son todavía inciertas). La marea meteorológica muestra cambios muy pequeños, y por tanto el aumento de los niveles extremos del mar en el siglo XXI serán debidos principalmente al aumento del nivel medio, no a un aumento en la intensidad de las tormentas. Las proyecciones de oleaje apuntan a olas de altura significante ligeramente más pequeñas; de todos modos, los cambios proyectados son del mismo orden que la variabilidad natural.The computational work of this paper was carried out in the framework of two projects: VANIMEDAT-2 (CTM2009-10163-C02-01), funded by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) and the E-Plan of the Spanish Government; and ESCENARIOS, funded by the Agencia Estatal de Meteorología (AEMET). Some of the analysis and summary efforts were carried out in the framework of the subsequent project CLIMPACT (CGL2014-54246-C2-1-R), also funded by MINECO

Circulating non-esterified fatty acids as biomarkers for fat content and composition in pigs

Circulating non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) can reflect the composition of dietary fat or adipose tissues depending on the fasting conditions. Therefore, circulating NEFA may be valuable as biomarkers for meat quality traits, such as intramuscular fat content and fatty acid composition in finishing pigs. Genetic variants that regulate lipid metabolism can also modulate the circulating NEFA. We conducted an experiment with 150 heavy Duroc pigs to evaluate fluctuations in the circulating NEFA composition due to age, fasting duration and two genetic polymorphisms, one in the leptin receptor (LEPR; rs709596309) and one in the stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD; rs80912566) gene. Circulating NEFA were more saturated and less monounsaturated than the subcutaneous and intramuscular adipose tissues. Absolute circulating NEFA content was more influenced by fasting duration than age. The SCD polymorphism did not impact NEFA content or composition. The LEPR polymorphism affected the content but not the fatty acid composition. Circulating oleic acid NEFA content after a short fasting was positively correlated with intramuscular fat content and, after a long fasting, with intramuscular oleic acid content. We conclude that circulating NEFA reflect environmental and genetic metabolic changes but are of limited value as biomarkers for intramuscular fat content and fatty acid composition.This Research was founded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the European Union Regional Development Funds (grants AGL2012-33529, AGL2015-65846-R, and RTI2018-101346-B-I00)

Evaluation of a multiplex panel for the diagnosis of acute infectious diarrhea in immunocompromised hematologic patients

Introduction: diarrhea is a frequent complication in hematologic patients, being an infectious cause frequently suspected. Rapid and accurate detection of gastrointestinal pathogens is vital in immunocompromised hosts. The aim of this study was to compare routine diagnostic methods versus a multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for the diagnosis of infectious diarrhea in immunocompromised hematologic patients. Material and methods: we conducted a prospective observational study from March 2015 to January 2016 to compare conventional methods for the diagnosis of infectious diarrhea with FIlmArray GI Panel (BioFire-bioMérieux, France). Samples from adult immunocompromised hematologic patients with acute diarrhea were collected. In cases with discordant results, a second multiplex assay was performed (Allplex, Seegene, Korea). The result was considered positive or negative when the same result was obtained by at least two of the methods. Results: a total of 95 samples were obtained from 95 patients (median age of 52 years (46-64)). Sixty-one (64%) episodes were hospital-acquired and 34 (36%) were community-acquired diarrhea. Twenty-five (26%) patients had a positive microbiological result, being Clostridium difficile the most frequent pathogen, followed by Campylobacter spp and norovirus. The concordance between FilmArray methods was good (k = 0.79). The FilmArray GI panel showed a sensitivity of 95%, a specificity of 100% for positive results. The time required to obtain results was markedly reduced with the use of multiplex PCR methods. Conclusions: multiplex molecular panels provide a rapid and sensitive tool for the diagnosis of infectious diarrhea, thereby allowing more timely clinical decisions in immunocompromised hematologic patients