Modelado matemático de un patrón de invasión tumoral a través de ecuaciones de reacción-difusión y fractales DLA (diffusion limited aggregation)

Siendo el cáncer una enfermedad altamente compleja, es necesario que su estudio se encuadre dentro de la biología de sistemas. En el caso del tumor mamario, ha sido ampliamente establecida la importancia del estroma, y específicamente del adipocito, como uno de los principales reguladores de la progresión tumoral. Recientemente hemos presentado un modelo matemático basado en una ecuaciónde reacción-difusión-convección que logra describir y predecir el crecimiento e infiltración de esferoides multicelulares de una línea tumoral epitelial mamaria inmersos en un gel tridimensional de colágeno I (modelo in vitro de un microtumor de estadio avascular infiltrando una matriz hospedadora). En el presente trabajo se presenta una derivación de ese modelo que logra describir en este caso un patrón de diferente al anterior resultante de la incorporación de medio condicionado proveniente de adipocitos al microambiente tumoral de los esferoides. El modelo describe la zona de infiltración tumoral a través de un término de proliferación celular, una fuente de células en la superficie delesferoide y un componente difusivo de la invasión. La descripción del tipo de invasión en este caso se logra incorporando una difusión espacialmente variable dependiente de una matriz fractal generada por una variante del método de DLA (diffusion limited aggregation). Los valores de los principales parámetrosdel modelo se estiman a partir de datos experimentales. Las simulaciones obtenidas se ajustan cualitativa y semicuantitativamente a los resultados in vitro, según muestran los análisis de fractalidad realizados por los métodos de boxcounting y lagunaridad. La potencialidad de esta interacción teórico-experimental es muy amplia para estudiar las relaciones entre un tumor y su microambitente circundante.Fil: Luján, Emmanuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Física del Plasma. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Física del Plasma; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Centro de Simulación Computacional para Aplicaciones Tecnológicas; ArgentinaFil: Soto, Daniela. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; ArgentinaFil: Rosito, María S.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Soba, Alejandro. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Guerra, Liliana Noemi. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Luján; ArgentinaFil: Marshall, Guillermo Ricardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Física del Plasma. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Física del Plasma; ArgentinaFil: Suárez, Cecilia Ana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Física del Plasma. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Física del Plasma; Argentin

Northernmost record of dusky dolphin Lagenorhynchus obscurus in coastal waters off northern Peru (4°S)

Dusky dolphin Lagenorhynchus obscurus is distributed primarily in cool coastal waters at several continental margins and island borders in the Southern Hemisphere. Off Peru, the northernmost record of this species has been in front of the coast of Salaverry (ca., 6°S). In this paper, we report for the first-time a pod of dusky dolphin at the coast of Los Órganos (4°9.517’S; 81°11.958’W) northern Peru, thus extending the potential distributional range ca., 350 km towards the equator. A group of between 10 to 20 adult individuals was sighted on 17 October 2017, during a whale-watching excursion. Digital photographs and film allowed us to confirm the species based on body morphology and coloration. The sighted group was moving around the area without heading to a given direction. This record constitutes the northernmost record of dusky dolphin in Peru and arguably in the Southern Hemisphere

Tutoría académica universitaria apoyada mediante WhatsApp: conocer sus ventajas y salvar sus desventajas

This paper describes a teaching research and innovation project whose aim is to assess the effect of using the WhatsApp application for monitoring and academic tutoring of university students of the Faculty of Education of Murcia and Extremadura. The data were collected through two questionnaires filled out by the students before and after the development of the subjects and application of the project, a discussion group with the teachers and the analysis of the content of the messages sent through the application. The results obtained were analyzed taking into account the use and use of the application, the satisfaction of the participants and the advantages and disadvantages described. The results show that proper use of the application is made, more than conventional tutoring, its advantages are enhanced and its disadvantages are weakened and both teachers and students show high levels of satisfaction. Therefore, we can conclude that we are facing a tool with a high potential for supporting academic tutoring.El presente artículo describe un proyecto de investigación e innovación docente que tiene como objetivo valorar el efecto del uso de la aplicación WhatsApp para el seguimiento y tutoría académica de los estudiantes universitarios de la Facultad de Educación de Murcia y de Extremadura. Los datos fueron recogidos a través de dos cuestionarios cumplimentados por los estudiantes antes y después del desarrollo de las asignaturas y aplicación del proyecto, un grupo de discusión con los docentes y el análisis del contenido de los mensajes enviados a través de la aplicación. Se analizaron los resultados obtenidos teniendo en cuenta la utilización y el  uso de la aplicación, la satisfacción de los participantes y las ventajas e inconvenientes descritos. Los resultados muestran que se realiza un uso adecuado de la aplicación, se utiliza más que la tutoría convencional, se potencian sus ventajas y se debilitan sus inconvenientes y tanto las docentes como los estudiantes muestran altos niveles de satisfacción. Por tanto, podemos concluir que estamos ante una herramienta con un alto potencial para el apoyo a la tutoría académica

High yielding synthesis of N-ethyl dehydroamino acids

Recently we reported the use of a sequence of alkylation and dehydration methodologies to obtain N-ethyl-α, β-dehydroamino acid derivatives. The application of this N-alkylation procedure to several methyl esters of β, β-dibromo and β--bromo, β-substituted dehydroamino acids protected with standard amine protecting groups was subsequently reported. The corresponding N-ethyl, β-bromo dehydroamino acid derivatives were obtained in fair to high yields and some were used as substrates in Suzuki cross coupling reactions to give N-ethyl, β, β-disubstituted dehydroalanine derivatives. Herein, we further explore N-ethylation of β-halo dehydroamino acid derivatives using triethyloxonium tetrafluoroborate as alkylating agent but substituting N,N-diisopropylethylamine for potassium tert-butoxide as auxiliary base. In these conditions, for all β-halo dehydroamino acid derivatives, reactions were complete and the N-ethylated derivative could be isolated in high yield. This method was also applied for N-ethylation of non-halogenated dehydroamino acids. Again, with all compounds the reactions were complete and the N-ethyl dehydroamino acid derivatives could be isolated in high yields. Some of these N-ethyl dehydroamino acid methyl ester derivatives were converted in high yields to their corresponding acids and coupled to an amino acid methyl ester to give N-ethyl dehydrodipeptide derivatives in good yields. Thus, this method constitutes a general procedure for high yielding synthesis of N-ethylated dehydroamino acids, which can be further applied in peptide synthesis.Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT)-Portugal and Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER) for financial support to Chemistry Centre of University of Minho. The NMR spectrometer Bruker Avance II+ 400 is part of the National NMR Network and was purchased in the framework of the National Program for Scientific Re-equipment; contract REDE/1517/RMN/2005, with funds from POCI 2010, FEDER and FCT

Random Forest-Based Prediction of Stroke Outcome

[Abstract] We research into the clinical, biochemical and neuroimaging factors associated with the outcome of stroke patients to generate a predictive model using machine learning techniques for prediction of mortality and morbidity 3-months after admission. The dataset consisted of patients with ischemic stroke (IS) and non-traumatic intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) admitted to Stroke Unit of a European Tertiary Hospital prospectively registered. We identified the main variables for machine learning Random Forest (RF), generating a predictive model that can estimate patient mortality/morbidity according to the following groups: (1) IS + ICH, (2) IS, and (3) ICH. A total of 6022 patients were included: 4922 (mean age 71.9 ± 13.8 years) with IS and 1100 (mean age 73.3 ± 13.1 years) with ICH. NIHSS at 24, 48 h and axillary temperature at admission were the most important variables to consider for evolution of patients at 3-months. IS + ICH group was the most stable for mortality prediction [0.904 ± 0.025 of area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC)]. IS group presented similar results, although variability between experiments was slightly higher (0.909 ± 0.032 of AUC). ICH group was the one in which RF had more problems to make adequate predictions (0.9837 vs. 0.7104 of AUC). There were no major differences between IS and IS + ICH groups according to morbidity prediction (0.738 and 0.755 of AUC) but, after checking normality with a Shapiro Wilk test with the null hypothesis that the data follow a normal distribution, it was rejected with W = 0.93546 (p-value < 2.2e−16). Conditions required for a parametric test do not hold, and we performed a paired Wilcoxon Test assuming the null hypothesis that all the groups have the same performance. The null hypothesis was rejected with a value < 2.2e−16, so there are statistical differences between IS and ICH groups. In conclusion, machine learning algorithms RF can be effectively used in stroke patients for long-term outcome prediction of mortality and morbidity.This study was partially supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (SAF2017-84267-R), Xunta de Galicia (Axencia Galega de Innovación (GAIN): IN607A2018/3), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) (PI17/00540, PI17/01103), Spanish Research Network on Cerebrovascular Diseases RETICS-INVICTUS PLUS (RD16/0019) and by the European Union FEDER program. T. Sobrino (CPII17/00027), F. Campos (CPII19/00020) are recipients of research contracts from the Miguel Servet Program (Instituto de Salud Carlos III). General Directorate of Culture, Education and University Management of Xunta de Galicia (ED431G/01,252 ED431D 2017/16), “Galician Network for Colorectal Cancer Research" (Ref. ED431D 2017/23), Competitive Reference Groups (ED431C 2018/49), Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness via funding of the unique installation BIOCAI (UNLC08-1E-002, UNLC13-13–3503), European Regional Development Funds (FEDER).Xunta de Galicia; IN607A2018/3Xunta de Galicia; ED431G/01,252Xunta de Galicia; ED431D 2017/1

Alergia a la proteína de leche de vaca en la infancia: microbiota, hidrolizados y tolerancia

Trabajo presentado al XIII Workshop Sociedad Española de Microbiota, Probióticos y Prebióticos, celebrado en Valencia (España), del 7 la 9 de junio de 2022.Introducción La alergia a proteínas de leche de vaca (APLV) es la alergia alimentaria más frecuente en la infancia, habiéndose descrito posibles relaciones con la microbiota intestinal y con el tipo de alimentación. El objetivo de este trabajo es profundizar en el estudio de la microbiota intestinal en menores de un año con APLV y su relación con la adquisición de tolerancia y dieta, comparando muestras al diagnóstico y a los 6 meses de seguimiento con dieta de exclusión láctea. Metodología Se reclutaron 22 pacientes diagnosticados con APLV (14 mediados por IgE y 8 no mediados) y un grupo control de 25 niños sanos. Se recogieron muestras de heces y se realizó un análisis metataxonómico del ADNr 16S y de las regiones ITS de bifidobacterias por secuenciación. Se evaluaron las características clínico-epidemiológicas de los pacientes y se realizó un seguimiento a los 6 meses para evaluar tolerancia y el uso de distintas fórmulas terapéuticas de sustitución alimentaria. Resultados Se detectó un mayor porcentaje de secuencias pertenecientes al filo Actinobacteria (¿60%) en controles frente a casos (¿30%) al diagnóstico. Además, el patrón de abundancias relativas de bifidobacterias fue diferente entre controles y pacientes no mediados por IgE, con una menor proporción de B. longum en estos últimos. Tras la dieta de exclusión, sólo 3 de los pacientes, que estaban tomando distintos tipos de fórmulas terapéuticas, adquirió tolerancia, de los cuales 2 eran casos no mediados por IgE. Conclusiones En los pacientes APLV no IgE mediada se observaron perfiles microbianos distintos de los lactantes sanos, encontrándose a su vez en este grupo una mayor tolerancia al cabo de 6 meses. En tratamiento y seguimiento de la APLV la determinación de la microbiota intestinal puede ser clave para establecer posibles vínculos con la adquisición de tolerancia y el tipo de hidrolizado

Caracterización of Newborns under exposure and suffering conditions to SARS-COV 2

Con el objetivo de describir una serie de Neonatos en condiciones de enfermedad por coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19), en el periodo de tiempo comprendido desde la semana epidemiológica 23 a 32 y 51 a 53, atendidos en una institución Pública de Salud de III nivel de complejidad en Bogotá, D.C. se presenta la caracterización epidemiológica y clínica, evidenciando correlación entre Peso al nacer y Edad gestacional(R=0.85), con un promedio de edad de 30 días (IC95%: 17,94-42,29) (p= 0.98) y estancia en días de 8,9. Predominio del Grupo 0 Positivo y género masculino (52%). El reporte es la primera experiencia en el manejo de pacientes con diagnóstico de la COVID-19 en Colombia. Dentro de los hallazgos al examen físico el más frecuente fue la presencia de desaturación, con una saturación promedio sin oxígeno suplementario de 84%, los otros signos vitales fueron normales al igual que la perfusión distal, lo que indica que ningún paciente presentaba un compromiso severo a su ingreso. En el hemograma la única alteración encontrada fue la presencia de monocitosis con un promedio de monocitos del 12,11% (IC 8.78 – 15,45),&nbsp; la PCR no mostró alteraciones, siendo negativa con un valor promedio de 0.32 (Punto de corte: positiva &gt; 0.4).With the aim of describing a series of Newborns in conditions of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), in the period of time from epidemiological week 23 and 32 attended in a Public Health institution of III level of complexity in Bogotá, DC, epidemiological and clinical characterization is presented, showing correlation between birth weight and gestational age (R = 0.85), with an average age of 30 days (95% CI: 17.94-42.29) (p = 0.98) and stay in 8.9 days. Predominance of Group 0 Positive and male gender (52%). The report is the first experience in the management of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in Colombia. Among the findings on physical examination, the most frequent was the presence of desaturation, with an average saturation without supplemental oxygen of 84%, the other vital signs were normal, as was the distal perfusion, which indicates that no patient was severely compromised upon admission. In the hemogram, the only alteration found was the presence of monocytosis with an average of 12.11% monocytes (CI 8.78 - 15.45), CRP did not show alterations, being negative with an average value of 0.32 (Cut-off point: positive&gt; 0.4)

Characterization of the K2-38 planetary system: Unraveling one of the densest planets known to date

.-- Toledo-Padrón, B. et al.Context. An accurate characterization of the known exoplanet population is key to understanding the origin and evolution of planetary systems. Determining true planetary masses through the radial velocity (RV) method is expected to experience a great improvement thanks to the availability of ultra-stable echelle spectrographs. Aims. We took advantage of the extreme precision of the new-generation echelle spectrograph ESPRESSO to characterize the transiting planetary system orbiting the G2V star K2-38 located at 194 pc from the Sun with V 11.4. This system is particularly interesting because it could contain the densest planet detected to date. Methods. We carried out a photometric analysis of the available K2 photometric light curve of this star to measure the radius of its two known planets, K2-38b and K2-38c, with Pb = 4.01593 ± 0.00050 d and Pc = 10.56103 ± 0.00090 d, respectively. Using 43 ESPRESSO high-precision RV measurements taken over the course of 8 months along with the 14 previously published HIRES RV measurements, we modeled the orbits of the two planets through a Markov chain Monte Carlo analysis, significantly improving their mass measurements. Results. Using ESPRESSO spectra, we derived the stellar parameters, Teff = 5731 ± 66, log g = 4.38 ± 0.11 dex, and [Fe/H] = 0.26 ± 0.05 dex, and thus the mass and radius of K2-38, Ma = 1.03-0.02+0.04 MaS and Ra = 1.06-0.06+0.09 RaS. We determine new values for the planetary properties of both planets. We characterize K2-38b as a super-Earth with RP = 1.54 ± 0.14 RaS and Mp = 7.3-1.0+1.1 MaS, and K2-38c as a sub-Neptune with RP = 2.29 ± 0.26 RaS and Mp = 8.3-1.3+1.3 MaS. Combining the radius and mass measurements, we derived a mean density of ρp = 11.0-2.8+4.1 g cm-3 for K2-38b and ρp = 3.8-1.1+1.8 g cm-3 for K2-38c, confirming K2-38b as one of the densest planets known to date. Conclusions. The best description for the composition of K2-38b comes from an iron-rich Mercury-like model, while K2-38c is better described by a rocky-model with H2 envelope. The maximum collision stripping boundary shows how giant impacts could be the cause for the high density of K2-38b. The irradiation received by each planet places them on opposite sides of the radius valley. We find evidence of a long-period signal in the RV time-series whose origin could be linked to a 0.25-3 MJ planet or stellar activity.With funding from the Spanish government through the "María de Maeztu Unit of Excellence" accreditation (MDM-2017-0737

Effect of a dietary intervention based on the mediterranean diet on the quality of life of patients recovered from depression: analysis of the PREDIDEP randomized trial

Introduction: There is substantial evidence supporting that improving diet quality leads to improved healthrelated quality of life (HRQoL). Our major aim was to assess the effectiveness of a Mediterranean diet–based nutritional intervention to improve HRQoL in the context of a secondary prevention trial of depression. Secondarily to assess its effectiveness among adults aged 60 or more years. Methods: The PREDIDEP study is a 2-year multicentre, randomized, single-blinded nutritional trial. At baseline and at 1-year and 2-year follow-up, SF-36 health survey questionnaire was collected to evaluate participants' HRQoL (total and specific range for each of the 8 dimensions: 0 to 100 points). Mixed effect linear models were used to assess changes in HRQoL according to adherence to the Mediterranean diet. The trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03081065. Results: After 2 years of intervention, the Mediterranean Diet intervention group compared to control group (without nutritional intervention, only usual clinical care) showed an improvement in some dimensions of HRQoL such as Mental Health (7.22; 95 % CI = 2.22–12.22) (between-group difference: 6.79; 95 % CI − 0.14–13.73, p = 0.055); Vitality (9.51; 95 % CI = 4.00–15.03) (between-group difference: 9.00; 95 % CI 1.75–16.25, p = 0.020); Mental Summary Component (2.83; 95 % CI = 0.55–5.11) (between-group difference: 1.17; 95 % CI = − 1.96–4.30, p = 0.462); and General Health (10.70; 95 % CI = 5.58–15.81) (between-group difference: 6.20; 95 % CI = − 0.89–13.28, p = 0.086). Similar results were observed for participants aged 60 or more years. Conclusion: The intervention based on Mediterranean diet in patients with previous depression seems to be effective in improving HRQoL, especially the mental dimensions. This effect is also observed among participants aged 60 or more years.This study was externally funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Carlos III National Health Institute-ISCIII), PI16/01274