Efficiency in the estimation of technical coefficients and interregional multipliers: the Jahn methodology versus the GRAS and Gravity-RAS methodologie

The use of location quotients for the estimation of regional input-output tables has been found to be a useful and efficient tool to estimate intra-regional production multipliers. Building on this tool, more complex procedures have been developed that simultaneously estimate inter-regional coefficients. This paper assesses the capacity of this extended methodology (called the Jahn methodology) to obtain both intra-regional and inter-regional multipliers for the Spanish case, using the Input-Output Table (IOT) of Spain 2015 to estimate those corresponding to the Spanish regions of Andalusia, the Basque Country and Navarra for the same year and whose results are available via survey. In order to contrast their reliability, efficiency and accuracy, the results obtained with this procedure are then compared with other methodologies widely used for their recognised efficiency, the GRAS and Gravity-RAS methodologies.El uso de cocientes de localización para la estimación de tablas input output regionales se ha considerado como una herramienta útil y eficiente en la estimación de multiplicadores de producción intrarregionales. A partir de esta herramienta, se han desarrollado procedimientos más complejos que estiman simultáneamente coeficientes interregionales. En este trabajo se evalúa la capacidad de esta metodología ampliada (que denominamos metodología Jahn) para la obtención de multiplicadores tanto intrarregionales como interregionales para el caso español, estimando a partir de la Tabla Input-Output (TIO) de España 2015 las correspondientes a las de las regiones españolas de Andalucía; País Vasco y Navarra para el mismo año y para las que disponemos de sus resultados mediante encuesta. Para contrastar su fiabilidad, eficiencia y precisión, los resultados obtenidos con el procedimiento anterior se comparan con otras metodologías ampliamente utilizadas por su reconocida eficiencia, las metodologías GRAS y Gravity-RAS

Nephrotic Syndrome and Idiopathic Membranous Nephropathy Associated with Autosomal-Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease

We report the case of a 38-year-old male with autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) and concomitant nephrotic syndrome secondary to membranous nephropathy (MN). A 3-month course of prednisone 60 mg daily and losartan 100 mg daily resulted in resistance. Treatment with chlorambucil 0.2 mg/kg daily, low-dose prednisone, plus an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) and an angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) for 6 weeks resulted in partial remission of his nephrotic syndrome for a duration of 10 months. After relapse of the nephrotic syndrome, a 13-month course of mycophenolate mofetil (MFM) 2 g daily and low-dose prednisone produced complete remission for 44 months. After a new relapse, a second 24-month course of MFM and low-dose prednisone produced partial to complete remission of proteinuria with preservation of renal function. Thirty-six months after MFM withdrawal, complete remission of nephrotic-range proteinuria was maintained and renal function was preserved. This case supports the idea that renal biopsy is needed for ADPKD patients with nephrotic-range proteinuria in order to exclude coexisting glomerular disease and for appropriate treatment/prevention of renal function deterioration. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of nephrotic syndrome due to MN in a patient with ADPKD treated with MFM, with remission of proteinuria and preservation of renal function after more than 10 years. Findings in this patient also suggest that MFM might reduce cystic cell proliferation and fibrosis, preventing progressive renal scarring with preservation of renal function

Viability of AMURA biomarkers from single-shell diffusion MRI in clinical studies

Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) is the most employed method to assess white matter properties using quantitative parameters derived from diffusion MRI, but it presents known limitations that restrict the evaluation of complex structures. The objective of this study was to validate the reliability and robustness of complementary diffusion measures extracted with a novel approach, Apparent Measures Using Reduced Acquisitions (AMURA), with a typical diffusion MRI acquisition from a clinical context in comparison with DTI with application to clinical studies. Fifty healthy controls, 51 episodic migraine and 56 chronic migraine patients underwent single-shell diffusion MRI. Four DTI-based and eight AMURA-based parameters were compared between groups with tract-based spatial statistics to establish reference results. On the other hand, following a region-based analysis, the measures were assessed for multiple subsamples with diverse reduced sample sizes and their stability was evaluated with the coefficient of quartile variation. To assess the discrimination power of the diffusion measures, we repeated the statistical comparisons with a region-based analysis employing reduced sample sizes with diverse subsets, decreasing 10 subjects per group for consecutive reductions, and using 5,001 different random subsamples. For each sample size, the stability of the diffusion descriptors was evaluated with the coefficient of quartile variation. AMURA measures showed a greater number of statistically significant differences in the reference comparisons between episodic migraine patients and controls compared to DTI. In contrast, a higher number of differences was found with DTI parameters compared to AMURA in the comparisons between both migraine groups. Regarding the assessments reducing the sample size, the AMURA parameters showed a more stable behavior than DTI, showing a lower decrease for each reduced sample size or a higher number of regions with significant differences. However, most AMURA parameters showed lower stability in relation to higher coefficient of quartile variation values than the DTI descriptors, although two AMURA measures showed similar values to DTI. For the synthetic signals, there were AMURA measures with similar quantification to DTI, while other showed similar behavior. These findings suggest that AMURA presents favorable characteristics to identify differences of specific microstructural properties between clinical groups in regions with complex fiber architecture and lower dependency on the sample size or assessing technique than DTI

177Lu-Bombesin-PLGA (paclitaxel): A targeted controlled-release nanomedicine for bimodal therapy of breast cancer

The gastrin-releasing peptide receptor (GRPr) is overexpressed in>75% of breast cancers. 177Lu-Bombesin (177Lu-BN) has demonstrated the ability to target GRPr and facilitate efficient delivery of therapeutic radiation doses to malignant cells. Poly(D,L‑lactide‑co‑glycolide) acid (PLGA) nanoparticles can work as smart drug controlled- release systems activated through pH changes. Considering that paclitaxel (PTX) is a first-line drug for cancer treatment, this work aimed to synthesize and chemically characterize a novel polymeric PTX-loaded nanosystem with grafted 177Lu-BN and to evaluate its performance as a targeted controlled-release nanomedicine for concomitant radiotherapy and chemotherapy of breast cancer. PLGA(PTX) nanoparticles were synthesized using the single emulsification-solvent evaporation method with PVA as a stabilizer in the presence of PTX. Thereafter, the activation of PLGA carboxylic groups for BN attachment through the Lys1-amine group was performed. Results of the chemical characterization by FT-IR, DLS, HPLC and SEM/TEM demonstrated the successful synthesis of BN-PLGA(PTX) with a hydrodynamic diameter of 163.54 ± 33.25 nm. The entrapment efficiency of paclitaxel was 92.8 ± 3.6%. The nanosystem showed an adequate controlled release of the anticancer drug, which increased significantly due to the pH change from neutral (pH=7.4) to acidic conditions (pH=5.3). After labeling with 177Lu and purification by ultrafiltration, 177Lu-BN-PLGA(PTX) was obtained with a radiochemical purity of 99 ± 1%. In vitro and in vivo studies using MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells (GRPr-positive) demonstrated a 177Lu-BNPLGA( PTX) specific uptake and a significantly higher cytotoxic effect for the radiolabeled nanosystem than the unlabeled BN-PLGA(PTX) nanoparticles. Using a pulmonary micrometastasis MDA-MB-231 model, the added value of 177Lu-BN-PLGA(PTX) for tumor imaging was confirmed. The 177Lu-BN-PLGA(PTX) nanomedicine is suitable as a targeted paclitaxel delivery system with concomitant radiotherapeutic effect for the treatment of GRPr-positive breast cancer.This study was partially supported by the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT-CB-A1S38087) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (CRP-F22064, Contract 18358). It was carried out as part of the activities of the “Laboratorio Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo de Radiofármacos, CONACyT

The Effect of Physical Activity and High Body Mass Index on Health-Related Quality of Life in Individuals with Metabolic Syndrome

[EN] The main objective of this study was to examine the relationship between the level of physical activity (PA) and the degree of obesity with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in individuals with metabolic syndrome (MetS) who participated in the Predimed-Plus study. A total of 6875 subjects between 55 and 75 years of age with MetS were selected and randomized in 23 Spanish centers. Subjects were classified according to categories of body mass index (BMI). PA was measured with the validated Registre Gironi del Cor (REGICOR) questionnaire and subjects were classified according to their PA level (light, moderate, vigorous) and the HRQoL was measured with the validated short-form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire. By using the ANOVA model, we found a positive and statistically significant association between the level of PA and the HRQoL (aggregated physical and mental dimensions p < 0.001), but a negative association with higher BMI in aggregated physical dimensions p < 0.001. Furthermore, women obtained lower scores compared with men, more five points in all fields of SF-36. Therefore, it is essential to promote PA and body weight control from primary care consultations to improve HRQoL, paying special attention to the differences that sex incurs.SIThe Predimed-Plus trial was supported by the Spanish government’s official funding agency for biomedical research, ISCIII, through the Fondo de Investigación para la Salud (FIS), which is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (three coordinated FIS projects led by Jordi Salas-Salvadó and Josep Vidal, including the following projects: PI13/00673, PI13/00492, PI13/00272, PI13/01123, PI13/00462, PI13/00233, PI13/02184, PI13/00728, PI13/01090, PI13/01056, PI14/01722, PI14/0147, PI14/00636, PI14/00972, PI14/00618, PI14/00696, PI14/01206, PI14/01919, PI14/00853, PI14/01374, PI16/00473, PI16/00662, PI16/01873, PI16/01094, PI16/00501, PI16/00533, PI16/00381, PI16/00366, PI16/01522, PI16/01120, PI17/00764, PI17/01183, PI17/00855, PI17/01347, PI17/00525, PI17/01827, PI17/00532, PI17/00215, PI17/01441, PI17/00508, PI17/01732, PI17/00926, PI19/00957, PI19/00386, PI19/00309, PI19/01032, PI19/00576, PI19/00017, PI19/01226, PI19/00781, PI19/01560, PI19/01,332), the Special Action Project entitled: Implementación y evaluación de una intervención intensiva sobre la actividad física Cohorte PREDIMED-PLUS grant to Jordi Salas-Salvadó, the European Research Council (Advanced Research Grant 2013–2018; 340918) grant to Miguel Ángel Martínez-Gonzalez, the Recercaixa grant to Jordi Salas-Salvadó (2013ACUP00194), grants from the Consejería de Salud de la Junta de Andalucía (PI0458/2013; PS0358/2016; PI0137/2018), the PROMETEO/2017/017 grant from the Generalitat Valenciana, the SEMERGEN grant and FEDER funds (CB06/03 and CB12/03), Olga Castaner is funded by the JR17/00,022 grant, ISCIII. Christopher Papandreou is supported by a postdoctoral fellowship granted by the Autonomous Government of Catalonia (PERIS 2016–2020 Incorporació de Científics i Tecnòlegs, SLT002/0016/00,428). María Rosa Bernal-Lopez was supported by “Miguel Servet Type I” program (CP15/00028) from the ISCIII-Madrid (Spain), cofinanced by the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional-FEDER, Ignacio M.Giménez-Alba is supported by a FPU predoctoral contract (reference FPU18/01703) from the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Spain

The chemistry and biological activity of the Hyacinthaceae

Covering: 1914 to 2012The Hyacinthaceae (sensu APGII), with approximately 900 species in about 70 genera, can be divided into three main subfamilies, the Hyacinthoideae, the Urgineoideae and the Ornithogaloideae, with a small fourth subfamily the Oziroëoideae, restricted to South America. The plants included in this family have long been used in traditional medicine for a wide range of medicinal applications. This, together with some significant toxicity to livestock has led to the chemical composition of many of the species being investigated. The compounds found are, for the most part, subfamily-restricted, with homoisoflavanones and spirocyclic nortriterpenoids characterising the Hyacinthoideae, bufadienolides characterising the Urgineoideae, and cardenolides and steroidal glycosides characterising the Ornithogaloideae. The phytochemical profiles of 38 genera of the Hyacinthaceae will be discussed as well as any biological activity associated with both crude extracts and compounds isolated. The Hyacinthaceae of southern Africa were last reviewed in 2000 (T. S. Pohl, N. R. Crouch and D. A. Mulholland, Curr. Org. Chem., 2000, 4, 1287-1324; ); the current contribution considers the family at a global level

CIBERER : Spanish national network for research on rare diseases: A highly productive collaborative initiative

Altres ajuts: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII); Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación.CIBER (Center for Biomedical Network Research; Centro de Investigación Biomédica En Red) is a public national consortium created in 2006 under the umbrella of the Spanish National Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII). This innovative research structure comprises 11 different specific areas dedicated to the main public health priorities in the National Health System. CIBERER, the thematic area of CIBER focused on rare diseases (RDs) currently consists of 75 research groups belonging to universities, research centers, and hospitals of the entire country. CIBERER's mission is to be a center prioritizing and favoring collaboration and cooperation between biomedical and clinical research groups, with special emphasis on the aspects of genetic, molecular, biochemical, and cellular research of RDs. This research is the basis for providing new tools for the diagnosis and therapy of low-prevalence diseases, in line with the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) objectives, thus favoring translational research between the scientific environment of the laboratory and the clinical setting of health centers. In this article, we intend to review CIBERER's 15-year journey and summarize the main results obtained in terms of internationalization, scientific production, contributions toward the discovery of new therapies and novel genes associated to diseases, cooperation with patients' associations and many other topics related to RD research

Desarrollo y caracterización del TiO2:mn para ser empleado como dosímetro TL en aplicaciones médicas de las radiaciones ionizantes

Tesis (Doctorado en Tecnología Avanzada), Instituto Politécnico Nacional, CICATA, Unidad Legaria, 2007, 1 archivo PDF, (91 páginas). tesis.ipn.m

España en los mercados internacionales de capital. Análisis del grado de integración financiera

Este artículo analiza el grado de integración de España en los mercados internacionales de capital en el período anterior a la creación de la unión monetaria, a partir de una derivación del enfoque cantidades, y mediante la aplicación de los contrastes de raíces unitarias y de la teoría de la cointegración. Igualmente se considera la posible existencia de cambios estructurales en el comportamiento a largo plazo de las variables, mediante los contrastes de Rappoport y Reichlin sobre integrabilidad, y de Gregory y Hansen sobre cointegración con cambio de régimen