Estudio de factores de predictibilidad: Expresión de IGF1-R, p73, MMR (MLH-1, MSH-2), COX-2 y VEGF en el cáncer colorrectal estenosante y no estenosante

El cáncer colorrectal (CCR) es la tercera neoplasia más frecuente y la cuarta causa de mortalidad por cáncer en el mundo, con índices de supervivencia que oscilan entre el 30 y el 65%, según la zona geográfica de residencia. El CCR es el responsable del 60- 90% de todos los casos de obstrucción del colon, siendo la estenosis el problema quirúrgico agudo más común, su efecto debe verse afectado por la localización del tumor. El propósito de este estudio fue la búsqueda de dianas potenciales en grupos de alto riesgo, precisando las causas por las que este tipo de neoplasias debutan como obstrucción intestinal y su efecto en el pronóstico vital del enfermo. Para ello, mediante técnicas inmunohistoquímicas, analizamos la expresión de IGF1-R, p73, MMR (MLH1, MSH2), COX-2 y VEGF en especímenes de CCR, pertenecientes a pacientes con un tiempo de seguimiento de 5 años. El CCR obstructivo se ha presentado como un factor predictor clínico y vital del paciente, asociándose a un estadio más avanzado de la enfermedad. Nuestro modelo experimental sugiere que VEGF, COX-2, IGF-1R, p73 e índice de proliferación celular, tienen un impacto potencial en la carcinogénesis y en la historia natural de la neoplasia. La patología obstructiva, con un diámetro ostensiblemente mayor del tumor, la invasión de nodos linfáticos adyacentes, la presencia de valores elevados de VEGF, p73, y Ki- 67, son importantes elementos en el índice de riesgos de la recurrencia de la enfermedad y en la supervivencia. La detección de niveles de antígeno carcinoembrionario postoperatorio fue una buena herramienta suplementaria en el seguimiento oncológico.Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common malignancy and the fourth leading cause of cancer mortality in the world, with survival rates ranging between 30 and 65% depending on the geographical area of residence. The CRC is responsible for 60-90% of all cases of colon obstruction, stenosis being the most common acute surgical problem, its effect should be affected by the location of the tumor. The purpose of this study was to search for potential targets in high-risk groups, specifying the reasons why this type of tumor debut as intestinal obstruction and its effect on the prognosis of the patient. We analysed, using immunohistochemical staining, the expression of IGF1-R, p73, MMR (MLH1, MSH2), COX-2 and VEGF in specimens of CRC, belonging to patients with follow-up time of 5 years. Obstructive CRC has been presented as a clinical and vital predictor of patient, associated to a more advanced stage of the disease. Our experimental model suggests that VEGF, COX-2, IGF-1R, p73 and cell proliferation index, have potential in carcinogenesis and in the natural history of neoplasia. The obstructive disease with a markedly greater tumour diameter, invasion of adjacent lymph nodes, the presence of high levels of VEGF, p73 and Ki-67 are important elements in the index risk of recurrence of the disease and the survival of patients. The detection of carcinoembryonic antigen levels after surgery was a good supplementary tool in monitoring for cancer

Contribution of the Defective BRCA1, BRCA2 and CHEK2 Genes to the Familial Aggregation of Breast Cancer: a Simulation Study Based on the Swedish Family-Cancer Database

The known breast cancer susceptibility genes only account for 20% to 25% of the excess familial risk of the disease [1]. The present study assessed the contribution of BRCA1/2 mutations and CHEK2 variants to the relative risk of breast cancer for women with affected mothers or sisters. The familial relative risks were estimated by Poisson regression based on the Swedish Family-Cancer Database. The Database was also used to calculate the distribution of life expectancy, the number of daughters per family and the age specific cumulative risk of female breast cancer. This information, together with the penetrances of BRCA1, BRCA2 and CHEK2 from the literature, was used to simulate the familial clustering of breast cancer under different scenarios. The excess risk explained by BRCA1, BRCA2 and CHEK2 decreased steeply with the age at diagnosis of the cancers. Around 40% of the familial risk for cases diagnosed before the age of 50 years was associated with BRCA1/2 mutations. In contrast, roughly 85% of the familial risk of breast cancer diagnosed before the age of 69 years remained unexplained. The contribution of CHEK2 to familial breast cancer was small

REDPETUR: collaborative experience

REDPETUR is a competency-based teaching network in the field of internships in tourism studies. Its goal is to successfully address the role of these studies in society and optimize the public resources used. This Network has carried out a series of activities, thanks to the financing of the Integral Teaching Plan of the University of Malaga, which have contributed to the adaptation of training in pandemic times using information technologies (IT) such as Virtual Campus and Icaro platform (an ecosystem which connects companies, students and teachers). In addition, from a Delphi analysis this network has set the foundations for collaboration between tourism faculties sharing generated content to ensure their students gain practical experience to complete their education.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

A bellboy robot: Study of the effects of robot behaviour on user engagement and comfort

Producción CientíficaThis paper provides the results of various trial experiments in a hotel environment carried out using Sacarino, an interactive bellboy robot. We analysed which aspects of the robot design and behaviour are relevant in terms of user engagement and comfort when interacting with our social robot. The experiments carried out focused on the influence over proxemics, duration and effectiveness of the interaction taking into account three dichotomous factors related with the robot design and behaviour: robot embodiment (with/without robotic body), status of the robot (awake/asleep) and who starts communication (robot/user). Results show that users tend to maintain a personal distance when interacting with an embodied robot and that embodiment engages users in maintaining longer interactions. On the other hand, including a greeting model in a robot is useful in terms of engaging users to maintain longer interactions, and that an active-looking robot is more attractive to the participants, producing longer interactions than in the case of a passive-looking robot.Junta de Castilla y León (Programa de apoyo a proyectos de investigación-Ref. VA036U14)Junta de Castilla y León (Programa de apoyo a proyectos de investigación-Ref. VA013A12-2)Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (Grant DPI2014-56500-R

Cycle scheduling for in vitro fertilization with oral contraceptive pills versus oral estradiol valerate: a randomized, controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Both oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) and estradiol (E(2)) valerate have been used to schedule gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles and, consequently, laboratory activities. However, there are no studies comparing treatment outcomes directly between these two pretreatment methods. This randomized controlled trial was aimed at finding differences in ongoing pregnancy rates between GnRH antagonist IVF cycles scheduled with OCPs or E(2) valerate. METHODS: Between January and May 2012, one hundred consecutive patients (nonobese, regularly cycling women 18–38 years with normal day 3 hormone levels and <3 previous IVF/ICSI attempts) undergoing IVF with the GnRH antagonist protocol were randomized to either the OCP or E(2) pretreatment arms, with no restrictions such as blocking or stratification. Authors involved in data collection and analysis were blinded to group assignment. Fifty patients received OCP (30 μg ethinyl E(2)/150 μg levonorgestrel) for 12–16 days from day 1 or 2, and stimulation was started 5 days after stopping OCP. Similarly, 50 patients received 4 mg/day oral E(2) valerate from day 20 for 5–12 days, until the day before starting stimulation. RESULTS: Pretreatment with OCP (mean±SD, 14.5±1.7 days) was significantly longer than with E(2) (7.8±1.9 days). Stimulation and embryological characteristics were similar. Ongoing pregnancy rates (46.0% vs. 44.0%; risk difference, –2.0% [95% CI –21.2% to 17.3%]), as well as implantation (43.5% vs. 47.4%), clinical pregnancy (50.0% vs. 48.0%), clinical miscarriage (7.1% vs. 7.7%), and live birth (42.0% vs. 40.0%) rates were comparable between groups. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to directly compare these two methods of cycle scheduling in GnRH antagonist cycles. Our results fail to show statistically significant differences in ongoing pregnancy rates between pretreatment with OCP and E(2) for IVF with the GnRH antagonist protocol. Although the study is limited by its sample size, our results may contribute to a future meta-analysis. An interesting future direction would be to extend our study to women with decreased ovarian reserve, as these are the patients in whom an increase in oocyte yield—due to the hypothetical beneficial effect of steroid pretreatment on follicular synchronization—could more easily be demonstrated. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov http://NCT01501448

Morphometric analysis of the dorsum linguae in patients with Oral Lichen Planus

Objective: Morphometric study of the dorsum linguae in patients with Oral Lichen Planus (OLP).Material and Method: In 236 patients with a clinicopathologic diagnosis of OLP, 111 were found to have involvement of the dorsum linguae. For the purposes of the study, 41 of these cases were used, due to the availability of photographic records fulfilling quality conditions according to objective criteria. The experimental variable was defined as the proportion of affected dorsum linguae measured and calculated using the MIP4(R) computer software.Results: In 236 patients with OLP, the mucosa of the dorsum linguae was affected in 47.6% of the cases (total 111). The proportion of affected area was studied in 41 of these cases, 8 men (19.5%) and 33 women (80.5%). In 73% of these cases, the affected area was less than 50% of the total surface of the dorsum linguae. There were no statistically significant differences (p=0.495) in relation to age and proportion of lingual surface affected. On the other hand, significant statistical differences were found between the period of disease evolution and area of lingual involvement (p=0.044).Conclusion: Lingual involvement is frequent in patients with OLP, and manifests as de-papillate areas to the left and right of the median sulcus of tongue (occasionally linked by an isthmus) and having a certain “ butterfly wing” symmetr

PCNA Deubiquitylases Control DNA Damage Bypass at Replication Forks

[EN]DNA damage tolerance plays a key role in protecting cell viability through translesion synthesis and template switching-mediated bypass of genotoxic polymerase-blocking base lesions. Both tolerance pathways critically rely on ubiquitylation of the proliferating-cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) on lysine 164 and have been proposed to operate uncoupled from replication. We report that Ubp10 and Ubp12 ubiquitin proteases differentially cooperate in PCNA deubiquitylation, owing to distinct activities on PCNAlinked ubiquitin chains. Ubp10 and Ubp12 associate with replication forks in a fashion determined by Ubp10 dependency on lagging-strand PCNA residence, and they downregulate translesion polymerase recruitment and template switch events engaging nascent strands. These findings reveal PCNAK164 deubiquitylation as a key mechanism for the modulation of lesion bypass during replication, which might set a framework for establishing strand-differential pathway choices. We propose that damage tolerance is tempered at replication forks to limit the extension of bypass events and sustain chromosome replication rates

Nuevos registros para la flora ficológica marina de Cuba

From the inventory data on the marine biodiversity of Cuba´s northern and south-eastern coasts collected during the period from July 2011 to April 2012, three new genus and five new species of Cuban algae were for the first time collected: two from the phylum Rhodophyta, one from the phylum Ochrophyta and two from the phylum Chlorophyta. The three genus are Taonia, Rhipiliopsis and Apoglossum, and the five species are Taonia abbottiana, Rhipiliopsis reticulata, Apoglossum ruscifolium, Caulerpa nummularia and Liagora tsengii. The last one is considered rare since it had only been seen in its locality type and more recently found in Cozumel (Mexico). Specimens were collected on rocky substratum from 2 to 15 meters deep. A detailed description on morphology, reproduction and distribution is presented herein as well as illustrations of the five species. Specimens were deposit in the marine collections of the Coastal Ecosystems Research Center (HCIEC), with copies at the National Aquarium of Cuba (HNAC). These findings were made in poorly studied areas of the Cuban archipelago and contribute to know about their distribution in the West Atlantic.Se registran por primera vez tres nuevos géneros y cinco nuevas especies de macroalgas para Cuba, dos del phylum Rhodophyta, una de Ochrophyta y dos de Chlorophyta, a partir de inventarios de la biodiversidad marina en las costas norte y sur oriental de Cuba, durante el periodo de julio del 2011 a abril del 2012. Los tres géneros son Taonia, Rhipiliopsis y Apoglossum, y las cinco especies son Taonia abbottiana, Rhipiliopsis reticulata, Apoglossum ruscifolium, Caulerpa nummularia y Liagora tsengii. Esta última es considerada como rara dado que hasta el momento solo había sido registrada en la localidad tipo y más recientemente de la Isla Cozumel (México). Los especímenes fueron recolectados sobre sustrato rocoso entre 2 y 15 m de profundidad. Se presenta una descripción detallada de su morfología, reproducción y distribución en el Atlántico occidental, así como ilustraciones de las cinco especies. El material fue depositado en las colecciones marinas del Centro de Investigaciones de Ecosistemas Costeros (HCIEC) con duplicados en las del Acuario Nacional de Cuba (HANC). Estos hallazgos se realizaron en zonas poco estudiadas del archipiélago cubano y contribuyen a ampliar el conocimiento de su distribución en el Atlántico occidental

Homo sapiens, Chimpanzees and the Enigma of Language

ObjectivesThe present study explores the hypothesis that the anatomical bone structures of the oral cavity have probably evolved under the influence of language function. The possible changes have been evaluated by comparing two close species essentially differentiated from each other by spoken language.Materials and MethodsTwenty dry skulls and 20 mandibles of modern Caucasians were compared with 12 dry skulls and 12 mandibles of chimpanzees, with the analysis of 37 variables and the definition of new anatomical parameters.ResultsA number of highly significant differences were found between humans and chimpanzees. The human temporomandibular joint is comparatively less flat and has a more limited excursive movement range, with structural elements that seem to be lighter. A significant difference is noted in mandibular alveolar vergency and in the internal slope of the mandibular symphysis where the oral cavity’s morphology is modified, thereby increasing the free space for tongue movements in humans. The chin, which is unique to the human species, is quantified through the external slope of the mandibular symphysis with a lesser angle in humans.DiscussionIt is obvious that there are differences between humans and chimpanzees in the bone morphology of the oral cavity structures. This has been confirmed with the analysis of new variables. Together with other factors (bipedalism, habits, and genetics) speech in humans must have played an important role in the aforementioned differences between humans and chimpanzees. The number of mandibular movements involved in speech is far greater than those used in chewing, which must have conditioned the evolution of the oral structures implicated in the development of language. On average, humans weigh 70 kg and chimpanzees 44 kg. However, the majority of the variables studied in skulls and mandibles are greater in chimpanzees, which suggests that the evolution of the oral zone in humans has suffered a reduction in size with changes in shape. The refinement of the supralaryngeal vocal tract in the human species must have co-evolved with speech fairly recently. The human skull has temporomandibular joints that are comparatively less flat with a more limited movement. There is a greater lingual space and there is also a chin that suggests a muscular stimulant. This leads to the conclusion that, at least in part, speech is behind all these changes, although it is difficult to establish a cause-effect relationship