Cardiac resynchronization therapy and valvular cardiomyopathy after corrective surgery

Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) has been shown to have clinical benefits in certain groups of patients with advanced heart failure (HF). However, patients with valvular cardiomyopathy are underrepresented in randomized clinical studies. The aim of this study was to assess the medium-term (i.e., at 6 months) effects of CRT in patients with HF exclusively due to valvular disease. The study included 40 consecutive patients who underwent CRT device implantation. At 6 months, there were improvements in functional class, left ventricular remodeling, and intraventricular dyssynchrony parameters in treated patients. In this particular subgroup of patients, the benefits of CRT were similar to those observed in patients with HF due to other etiologies

Les Disparitats en els creixements de Cerdanyola del Vallès, Rubí i Sant Cugat del Vallès : tres vies en el procés de consolidació urbana del sud del Vallès Occidental : 1960-1991

El present estudi va ser guardonat el 1994 amb el I Premi GAUSAC de Recerca atorgat pel Grup d'Estudis Locals de Sant Cugat del Vallès i està publicat el mateix any a la revista Gausac, núm 4, publicació del Grup d'Estudis Locals de Sant Cugat del VallèsEn aquest estudi s'analitza a una escala local l'evolució demogràfica i urbanística de tres municipis de la Regió Metropolitana de Barcelona situats a la segona corona perifèrica: Cerdanyola del Vallès, Rubí i Sant Cugat del Vallès. La pregunta que dirigeix la recerca és si les disparitats en els creixements i la realitat territorial actual d'aquests municipis cal atribuir-los als efectes de la immigració exterior dels anys seixanta i setanta, o bé, si són potenciades per la implantació del nou model de creixement metropolità, basat en la mobilitat residencial de la població. La resposta aportada és que el nou espai emergent metropolità es basa en diferències existents amb anterioritat però a més les potencia. Cada municipi segueix camins evolutius diferents dins del nou marc metropolità en funció de l'oferta immobiliària i de la demanda dels immigrants. Això duu a la diferenciació dels calendaris evolutius i de l'ús del territori resultant, i a l'heterogeneïtat de les estructures social i demogràfica de la població que hi resideix.En este estudio se analiza a una escala local la evolució demográfica y urbanística de tres municipios de la Región Metropolitana de Barcelona situados en la segunda corona periférica: Cerdanyola del Vallès, Rubí y Sant Cugat del Vallès. La investigación inquiere si las disparidades en los crecimientos y la realidad territorial actual de estos municipios responden a los efectos de la inmigración exterior de los años sesenta y setenta, o bien, son potenciadas por la implantación del nuevo modelo de crecimiento metropolitano, basado en la movilidad residencial de la población. La respuesta aportada es que el nuevo espacio emergente metropolitano se basa en las diferencias provocadas con la dinámica anterior pero las potencia extraordinariamente. Cada municipio sigue caminos de evolución diferentes dentro del nuevo marco metropolitano, en función de la oferta inmobiliaria y de la demanda de los inmigrantes. Esta relación circular conduce a la diferenciación de los calendarios evolutivos y del uso del territorio resultante, y a la heterogeneidad de las estructuras social y demográfica de la población.The authors analyze the demographic and housing evolution of three municipalities located at the second ring of the Barcelona Metropolitan Region. They want to answer the following question: What's the cause of the divergences in their growth paths? Two alternatives are considered: a) The impact of 60's-70's in-migration from the rest of Spain, and b) the impact of the new metropolitan growth model in relation with residential mobility and deconcentration. The new metropolitan spatial framework that raises in the last years not only has his roots in the past divergence trends, but reinforce them. Every analyzed town has its own evolution in relation with the housing market and the residential demand. That results in different types of in-migrants. This is the basic process which drives to the social and demographic heterogeneity of population and of housing morphology.Dans ce travail, les auteurs analysent, au niveau local, l'évolution démographique et urbaine de trois municipalités situées dans le seconde périmètre de la Région Métropolitaine de Barcelone. Les auteurs se demandent si les disparités qu'il y a entre les niveaux de croissance et la réalité territoriale de ces municipalités correspondent aux effets de l'immigration d'origine espagnole des années 1960 et 1970 ou, au contraire, si elles sont drainées par le nouveau modèle de croissance métropolitaine fondé sur la mobilité résidentielle de la population. La réponse suggérée est que le nouvel espace métropolitain répond non seulement aux anciennes différences, mais qu'il les accentue. Chaque municipalité développe sa propre évolution à l'intérieur du nouvel espace métropolitain émergeant en fonction du marché immobilier et de la demande des immigrants. Ce processus mène à une différenciation des calendriers évolutifs et d'usage du territoire et vers une hétérogénéité sociale et démographique des structures de la population résidente

Single-cell derived clones from human adipose stem cells present different immunomodulatory properties

Human adipose mesenchymal stem cells are a heterogeneous population, where cell cultures derived from single cell-expanded clones present varying degrees of differential plasticity. This work focuses on the immunomodulatory/anti-inflammatory properties of these cells. To this end, 5 single cell clones were isolated (generally called 1.X and 3.X) from 2 volunteers. Regarding the expression level of the lineage-characteristic surface antigens, clones 1.10 and 1.22 expressed the lowest amounts, while clones 3.10 and 3.5 expressed more CD105 than the rest and clone 1.7 expressed higher amounts of CD73 and CD44. Regarding cytokine secretion, all clones were capable of spontaneously releasing high levels of IL-6 and low to moderate levels of IL-8. These differences can be explained in part by the distinct methylation profile exhibited by the clones. Furthermore and after lipopolysaccharide stimulation, clone 3.X produced the highest amounts of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β, while clones 1.10 and 1.22 highly expressed IL-4 and IL-5. In co-culture experiments, clones 1.X are altogether more potent inhibitors than clones 3.X for proliferation of total, CD3+T, CD4+T and CD8+T lymphocytes and NK cells. The results of this work indicates that adipose stem cell population is heterogeneous in cytokine production profile, and that isolation, characterization and selection of the appropriate cell clone is a more exact method for the possible treatment of different patients or pathologies.Instituto de Salud Carlos IIIFEDER (PS09/01093), Fundacion Salud 2000-Merck Serono, Generalitat Valenciana (PROMETEO/2012/007) and “Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición” CIBERobn (CB12/03/30038) to ER, and VALi+d (APOSTD/2012/021) from Generalitat Valenciana to MIA

Toward the integration of monitoring in the orchestration of across spaces learning situations

Technologies such as augmented Reality (AR), 3D Virtual Worlds (3DVWs) and mobile phones are extending education to other spaces beyond the classroom or the Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs). However, the richness of across-spaces learning situations that could be conducted in all these spaces is hampered by the difficulties (encompassed under the “orchestration” metaphor) that teachers face to carry them out. Monitoring can help in such orchestration, and it has been highly explored in face-to-face and blended learning. Nevertheless, in ubiquitous environments it is usually limited to activities taking place in a specific type of space (e.g., outdoors). In this paper we propose an orchestration system which supports the monitoring of learning situations that may involve web, AR-enabled physical and 3DVW spaces. The proposal was evaluated in three authentic studies, in which a prototype of the system provided monitoring through a web dashboard, an AR app, and a Virtual Globe

L'Evolució de la població de Catalunya en el període 1986-1991 : estancament demogràfic i canvis en la distribució territorial de la població

El present treball té com a objectiu l'estudi dels canvis esdevinguts als diferents components del creixement de la població (natalitat, mortalitat, migracions) i els efectes que han tingut sobre l'estructura de la població catalana i la seva distribució espacial, durant el període 1986-1991, dintre del context de canvis iniciats el 1975. Els nivells territorials considerats ha estat el conjunt de Catalunya, les 41 comarques, els municipis de més de 5.000 habitants i capitals comarcals, i els municipis menors de 5.000 habitants tractats de forma agregada per cada comarca.El objetivo de este trabajo es el estudio de los cambios ocurridos en los diferentes componentes del crecimiento de la población (natalidad, mortalidad, migraciones) i los efectos que han causado en la estructura de la población catalana y en su distribución espacial, durante el periodo 1986-1991, dentro del contexto de los cambios inciados en 1975. Los niveles territoriales considerados han sido el conjunto de Cataluña, las 41 comarcas, los municipios mayores de 5.000 habitantes y las capitales comarcales, y los municipios menores de 5.000 habitantes tratados de forma agregada para cada comarca.L'objectif du présent travail est l'étude des changements survenus dans les différentes composantes de la croissance de la population (natalité, mortalité, migrations) et des effets que ceux-ci ont eu sur la structure de la population catalane et sa distribution spaciale, au cours de la période 1986-1991, dans le contexte des changements amorcés en 1975. Les niveaux territoriaux considérés sont l'ensemble de la Catalogne, les 41 comarques, les municipalités de plus de 5.000 habitants et les capitales de comarques, et les municipalités de moins de 5.000 habitants qui ont été traitées de forme agrégée dans chaque comarque.The aim of this work is to study the changes that occured in the different components of population growth (natality, mortality and migration) and their effects on catalan demographic structure and territorial distribution, during the 1986-1991 period, within the context of the changes initiated in 1975. The territorial levels considered are the whole Catalonia, its 41 regions (comarques), the municipalities with more than 5.000 inhabitants and regions capitals, and the municipalities with less than 5.000 inhabitants which were handled in aggregate form for each region

Comparative effects of A- and B-type proanthocyanidins in the prevention of urinary tract infection in mice

Resumen del póster presentado a la VI International Conference on Polyphenols and Health celebrada en Buenos Aires (Argentina) del 16 al 19 de octubre de 2013.Consumption of cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpum) is widely recommended forprophylaxis against urinary tract infections (UTI) in women. Among cranberry components, A-type proanthocyanins would be implicated in these preventive effects against UTI. However, proanthocyanidins are poorly absorbed in the small intestine, but subjected to extensive biotransformation in the colon, although studies are almost restricted to B-type proanthocyanidins. Therefore, the hypothesis of this study is that urinary metabolome from of A-type and B-type proanthocyanidins-mainly derived from their colonic catabolism-differ,and only metabolites from the A-type procyanidins have protective effects against UTI. To test this hypothesis, JAXc3H/OuJ female mice previously fed with specific diet (control, 1% cranberry extract and 1% grape seed extract) for 2 weeks, were inoculated with the uropathogenic E. coli (ATCC 53503™) to provoke infection, and maintained 2 weeks more before being sacrificed. Urine samples were collected at different times and subjected to E.coli counting, leukocytary esterase and nitrites analyses, and mieloperoxidase task. Samples of kidney and bladder tissues were also collected for E. coli counting and histopathologic analysis. Additionally, the capacity of the urine samples to inhibit bacterial adherence was tested in the T24 bladder cell line (ATCC HTB4 ™).Peer reviewe

Description of the exposure of the most-followed spanish instamom's children to social medias

There is evidence of the risk of overexposure of children on social networks by parents working as influencers. A cross-sectional study of the profiles of the sixteen most-followed Instamoms in Spain was carried out. An analysis of these profiles was performed over a full month (April 2022), three times a week, to describe the representation of influencers’ children in the posts shared by them, as well as their role in the Instamoms’ marketing. A total of 192 evaluations of the profiles were performed in the study period. The average number of children exposed by an Instamom was three, generally preschoolers and schoolchildren. The children appear in a context of the family home and accompanied by their mother. The type of advertising that accompanies the appearance of underage children is usually women or children’s clothing, but also food products, leisure, etc. Appearance of children in the posts had a statistically significant influence on followers measured by the number of likes. Results provided the identification of two Instamom clusters with differentiated behaviors in relation to appearance of children in posts. It is important to involve Social Pediatrics in the protection of the privacy and interests of children given the increase in sharenting. The authors believe that there are concerns about their explicit consent to public exposure from early childhood and about the medium and long-term effect that this may have on their future well-being

Abnormal Capillary Vasodynamics Contribute to Ictal Neurodegeneration in Epilepsy

Seizure-driven brain damage in epilepsy accumulates over time, especially in the hippocampus, which can lead to sclerosis, cognitive decline, and death. Excitotoxicity is the prevalent model to explain ictal neurodegeneration. Current labeling technologies cannot distinguish between excitotoxicity and hypoxia, however, because they share common molecular mechanisms. This leaves open the possibility that undetected ischemic hypoxia, due to ictal blood flow restriction, could contribute to neurodegeneration previously ascribed to excitotoxicity. We tested this possibility with Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy (CLE) and novel stereological analyses in several models of epileptic mice. We found a higher number and magnitude of NG2+ mural-cell mediated capillary constrictions in the hippocampus of epileptic mice than in that of normal mice, in addition to spatial coupling between capillary constrictions and oxidative stressed neurons and neurodegeneration. These results reveal a role for hypoxia driven by capillary blood flow restriction in ictal neurodegeneration

Abnormal Capillary Vasodynamics Contribute to Ictal Neurodegeneration in Epilepsy

Seizure-driven brain damage in epilepsy accumulates over time, especially in the hippocampus, which can lead to sclerosis, cognitive decline, and death. Excitotoxicity is the prevalent model to explain ictal neurodegeneration. Current labeling technologies cannot distinguish between excitotoxicity and hypoxia, however, because they share common molecular mechanisms. This leaves open the possibility that undetected ischemic hypoxia, due to ictal blood flow restriction, could contribute to neurodegeneration previously ascribed to excitotoxicity. We tested this possibility with Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy (CLE) and novel stereological analyses in several models of epileptic mice. We found a higher number and magnitude of NG2+ mural-cell mediated capillary constrictions in the hippocampus of epileptic mice than in that of normal mice, in addition to spatial coupling between capillary constrictions and oxidative stressed neurons and neurodegeneration. These results reveal a role for hypoxia driven by capillary blood flow restriction in ictal neurodegeneration