Spatiotemporal Characteristics of the Largest HIV-1 CRF02_AG Outbreak in Spain: Evidence for Onward Transmissions

Background and Aim: The circulating recombinant form 02_AG (CRF02_AG) is the predominant clade among the human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) non-Bs with a prevalence of 5.97% (95% Confidence Interval-CI: 5.41–6.57%) across Spain. Our aim was to estimate the levels of regional clustering for CRF02_AG and the spatiotemporal characteristics of the largest CRF02_AG subepidemic in Spain.Methods: We studied 396 CRF02_AG sequences obtained from HIV-1 diagnosed patients during 2000–2014 from 10 autonomous communities of Spain. Phylogenetic analysis was performed on the 391 CRF02_AG sequences along with all globally sampled CRF02_AG sequences (N = 3,302) as references. Phylodynamic and phylogeographic analysis was performed to the largest CRF02_AG monophyletic cluster by a Bayesian method in BEAST v1.8.0 and by reconstructing ancestral states using the criterion of parsimony in Mesquite v3.4, respectively.Results: The HIV-1 CRF02_AG prevalence differed across Spanish autonomous communities we sampled from (p < 0.001). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that 52.7% of the CRF02_AG sequences formed 56 monophyletic clusters, with a range of 2–79 sequences. The CRF02_AG regional dispersal differed across Spain (p = 0.003), as suggested by monophyletic clustering. For the largest monophyletic cluster (subepidemic) (N = 79), 49.4% of the clustered sequences originated from Madrid, while most sequences (51.9%) had been obtained from men having sex with men (MSM). Molecular clock analysis suggested that the origin (tMRCA) of the CRF02_AG subepidemic was in 2002 (median estimate; 95% Highest Posterior Density-HPD interval: 1999–2004). Additionally, we found significant clustering within the CRF02_AG subepidemic according to the ethnic origin.Conclusion: CRF02_AG has been introduced as a result of multiple introductions in Spain, following regional dispersal in several cases. We showed that CRF02_AG transmissions were mostly due to regional dispersal in Spain. The hot-spot for the largest CRF02_AG regional subepidemic in Spain was in Madrid associated with MSM transmission risk group. The existence of subepidemics suggest that several spillovers occurred from Madrid to other areas. CRF02_AG sequences from Hispanics were clustered in a separate subclade suggesting no linkage between the local and Hispanic subepidemics

HuertAula Comunitaria de Agroecología "Cantarranas" UCM: Cuatro años sembrando, germinando, creciendo y madurando.

La agroecología es el manejo ecológico de los recursos naturales a través de formas de acción social colectiva que presentan alternativas a la actual crisis global. Frente a la unidimensionalidad de la globalización y la agricultura industrial, la agroecología plantea el establecimiento de dinámicas de transformación hacia sociedades sostenibles: producción ecológica local, distribución alternativa de los productos, consumo responsable, conocimiento de la alimentación,… La soberanía alimentaria es el derecho de los pueblos a definir sus propias políticas y estrategias de producción, distribución, venta y consumo de alimentos en un marco de desarrollo sostenible. La soberanía alimentaria se centra en construir un marco internacional y políticas nacionales desde las que trabajar para reducir la pobreza rural y erradicar el hambre y la desnutrición. Con este proyecto buscamos la consolidación de un grupo de innovación interdisciplinar que, tras organizar conjuntamente actividades formativas innovadoras de carácter temporal desde 2007 y durante 3 años en la UCM, hace tres cursos decidimos dar el salto hacia un espacio permanente de encuentro y construcción colectiva de conocimiento e iniciamos el proyecto de innovación "Creación de un huertoi agroecológico comunitario y un aula rural en el Campus de Moncloa". El año pasado ampliamos el proyecto de innovación ("Huerta agroecológica comunitaria y aula rural de Cantarranas: espacio educativo para la construcción colectiva y horizontal de la soberanía alimentaria, la educación ambiental y la integración social, como herramientas para la transformación social") hacia la inclusión social a través de la participación en el proyecto de personas con discapacidad/diversidad funcional (enfermedad mental y discapacidad intelectual), colaborando con diversas asociaciones internas y externas a la UCM que deseaban que sus usuarios participen en el Huerto Agroecológico Comunitario y Aula Rural, e incluyendo a los alumnos de la UCM de Terapia Ocupacional, de Psicología y de Trabajo Social para la realización de prácticas en planificación e implementación de programas. Y, así mismo, ampliamos el alcance del proyecto con actividades dirigidas hacia los y las más peques, incluyendo una actividad dentro de la Escuela de Verano UCM: visitas guiadas y talleres de educación ambiental para niños/as de 5 a 12 años, involucrando a nuestros hijos/as en el disfrute y beneficios de participar en un huerto comunitario. Durante este año, continuaremos con estas dos líneas de trabajo. Como miembros de la Red de Huertos Urbanos Comunitarios de Madrid (ReHdMad!), hemos recibido el reconocimiento del Comité Habitat de Naciones Unidas que nos ha seleccionado como buenas prácticas europeas de habitabilidad en el Concurso Internacional celebrado este año en Dubai: Este año, considerando el descenso de la cantidad de dinero asociada a la convocatoria de proyectos de innovación, hemos decidido reestructurar el proyecto y concentrarlo en tres líneas de trabajo que creemos que consolidarán, no sólo los objetivos de la Huerta y Aula Comunitaria de Agroecología, sino que además fortalecerán los vínculos que se han ido creando con varios colectivos, instituciones y asociaciones que han venido colaborando en este proyecto en estos dos últimos años (Departamento de Medioambiente y Banco de Semillas y del INIA, Red de Huertos Urbanos Comunitarios de Madrid (ReHdMad!), y diferentes colectivos que trabajan con personas con diversidad funcional

Congelacion de tejido ovárico. Método lento

A number of options are currently available to preserve fertility in cancer patients: embryo cryopreservation, oocyte cryopreservation or ovarian tissue cryopreservation. The choice if the most suitable strategy for preserving fertility depends on different parameters: the type and timing of chemotherapy, the type of cancer, the patient=s age and the partner status. The cryopreservation of ovarian tissue is the only option for prepubertal girls, and for women who cannot delay the start of chemotherapy. Ovarian tissue can be frozen in three different forms: as fragments of ovarian cortex, as the entire ovary with its vascular pedicle or as isolated follicles. Human ovarian tissue can be successfully cryopreserved, by slow programmed freezing methods, with good survival and function after thawing. Ovarian cryopreservation and transplantation procedures have so far been almost exclusively limited to avascular cortical fragments, in both experimental and clinical studies, and, for now, this is the only procedure that has yielded five live births in humans after autologous transplantation. The main drawback of this method is that the graft is completely dependent on the establishment of neovascularisation and, as a result, a significant proportion of follicles are lost due to ischemic damage by the time neovascularisation is achieved. Therefore, reducing the ischemic interval between transplantation and revascularisation is essential to maintaining the viability and function of the graft. Cryopreservation and transplantation of intact ovary with vascular anastomosis would allow immediate revascularisation of the transplant

Efficacy of in vitro fertilization after chemotherapy.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate if in vitro fertilization (IVF) with embryo cryopreservation can be proposed to patients immediately after one or two regimens of chemotherapy. DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: Academic research center and IVF unit. PATIENT(S): Eleven young patients diagnosed with cancer between September 1999 and April 2003 who wanted to preserve their fertility via IVF. INTERVENTION(S): Stimulation and IVF before or soon after chemotherapy treatment. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The number and quality of embryos obtained after stimulation in cancer patients undergoing IVF before or soon after chemotherapeutic treatment. RESULT(S): Four patients underwent IVF in the interval between two regimens of chemotherapy. Two of them had no follicular development; one underwent follicular puncture but no oocytes were retrieved; and, in one, six oocytes were harvested but only one good quality embryo was obtained. In the seven patients who underwent IVF before starting chemotherapy, between 4 and 11 embryos were obtained per patient, the majority being good quality embryos. CONCLUSION(S): Because the efficacy of IVF is dramatically reduced after even one round of chemotherapy, IVF should be performed before chemotherapy. For those who require immediate chemotherapy, ovarian tissue cryopreservation and/or oocyte cryopreservation could be used before treatment

Expression of Aquaglyceroporins in Spermatozoa from Wild Ruminants Is Influenced by Photoperiod and Thyroxine Concentrations

This work identified the presence of AQPs in frozen-thawed sperm of wild ruminants and assessed the influence of the interaction between photoperiod and thyroxine on AQP expression, and on testosterone secretion. Thyroxine and melatonin were administered to ibexes. In a second experiment, performed in mouflons, circulating thyroxine was reduced via treatment with propylthiouracil (PTU), and an artificial long day (LD) photoperiod established. In the ibexes, the melatonin treatment increased the blood plasma testosterone concentration, reduced the cryoresistance ratio (CR) for sperm viability and the presence of an intact acrosome, and increased the percentage of sperm with AQP7 in the acrosome and of AQP3 and AQP10 in the midpiece. In the mouflons, neither the PTU treatment, the LD, nor the combination of both affected the CR of any sperm variable. The percentage of sperm with AQP3 increased in the post-acrosome region but decreased in the tail in the LD+PTU group. The percentage of sperm with AQP10 in the principal piece and endpiece was lower in the PTU+LD group than in the control and LD groups. The influence of photoperiod/melatonin on AQP expression might be indirectly exerted through changes in the testosterone concentration, and thus ultimately affect sperm cryoresistance.Funding Agencies|MCINN/AEI/FEDER; EUEuropean Commission [AGL2017-85753-R, PID2020-113288RB-I00]; Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and UniversitiesSpanish Government [PRX19/00149]; Swedish Research Council FORMAS, Stockholm, Sweden [2017-00946, 2019-00288]</p