Identification of new putative driver mutations and predictors of disease evolution in chronic lymphocytic leukemia

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Floral morphology and development in Aragoa (Plantaginaceae) and related members of the order Lamiales

Inflorescence and floral morphology and development were investigated in Aragoa (Plantaginaceae) and related genera. Each inflorescence of Aragoa is a reduced, axillary raceme, on which the actinomorphic floral apices generally arise successively. The inflorescences of Aragoa and Plantago are polytelic and lateral. The five sepals emerge from the abaxial to the adaxial side of the floral apex, but at maturity, the calyx is actinomorphic. The four stamens arise simultaneously and before emergence of the petals. The four petals emerge unidirectionally united, but the corolla becomes actinomorphic. Aestivation is cochlear ascendent. The two united carpels initiate simultaneously. The abaxial-adaxial inception of the calyx and corolla during early floral development in genera such as Aragoa, Digitalis, Plantago, and Veronica may indicate that the zygomorphic condition is ancestral in those genera. The tetramerous corolla, which is actinomorphic during middle and late development, and the presence of four stamens are possible synapomophies of the clade (Aragoa þ Plantago). Pentamery of the calyx and corolla appears to be plesiomorphic in the broader Aragoa- Angelonia clade. Characters related to development and morphology of inflorescences and flowers of Aragoa are essentially similar to those found in Plantago, which is consistent with the molecular-based sister group relationship between these genera.Peer reviewe

Advanced hybrid system for ammonium valorization as liquid fertilizer from treated urban wastewaters: validation of natural zeolites pretreatment and liquid-liquid membrane contactors at pilot plant scale

This study evaluates a hybrid system combining zeolites as a sorption stage and a hollow fiber membrane contactor (HFMC) for ammonia (NH3) recovery from treated urban wastewater. Ion exchange with zeolites was selected as an advanced pretreatment and concentration step before the HFMC. The system was tested with wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent (mainstream, 50 mg N-NH4/L) and anaerobic digestion centrates (sidestream, 600–800 mg N-NH4/L) from another WWTP. Natural zeolite, primarily clinoptilolite, demonstrated effective desorption of retained ammonium using a 2% NaOH solution in a closed-loop configuration, resulting in an ammonia-rich brine that enabled over 95% NH3 recovery using polypropylene HFMCs. A 1 m3/h demonstration plant processed both urban wastewaters, which were pretreated by ultrafiltration, removing over 90% of suspended solids and 60–65% of COD. The 2% NaOH regeneration brines (2.4–5.6 g N-NH4/L) were treated in a closed-loop HFMC pilot system, producing 10–15% N streams with potential use as liquid fertilizers. The resulting ammonium nitrate was free of heavy metals and organic micropollutants, making it suitable for use as liquid fertilizer. This comprehensive N management solution for urban wastewater applications can contribute to local economies while achieving reduced N discharge and circularity goals.LIFE ENRICH | Ref. LIFE16 ENV/ES/000375Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación | Ref. PID2020-114401RB-C21Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad | Ref. CTM2017-85346-RGeneralitat de Cataluña | Ref. 2017-SGR-312Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación | Ref. RYC2021-030966-

A Three-Gene Expression Signature Identifies a Cluster of Patients with Short Survival in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia.

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a lymphoproliferative disorder characterized by its heterogeneous clinical evolution. Despite the discovery of the most frequent cytogenomic drivers of disease during the last decade, new efforts are needed in order to improve prognostication. In this study, we used gene expression data of CLL samples in order to discover novel transcriptomic patterns associated with patient survival. We observed that a 3-gene expression signature composed of SCGB2A1, KLF4, and PPP1R14B differentiate a group of circa 5% of cases with short survival. This effect was independent of the main cytogenetic markers of adverse prognosis. Finally, this finding was reproduced in an independent retrospective cohort. We believe that this small gene expression pattern will be useful for CLL prognostication and its association with CLL response to novel drugs should be explored in the future

Predictors of administrative innovation: functions and organizational methods - Mexican and Colombian hospitals

Objectiv e To determine to what extent functions and organizational methods influence on administrative innovation. Design/methodology/approach This research is quantitative approach, with a not experimental and transversal design. The hypothesis was supported by using a transactional study with a sample of Mexican and Colombian hospitals through the perception of their high and medium level managers. The hospital sampling was by convenience. Findings Organizational functions and methods are associated and are predictors of administrative innovation. Practical implications As long as the hospital encourages the development of training and knowledge methods, autonomy methods for employees are developed, and when performance appraisal takes place in hospital, new methods will be able to develop and organize the routines and the management procedures, allocation of responsibilities and power among employees could be developed, as well as to develop new structure concepts for workplace, organizational practices and external relationships

New Recurrent Structural Aberrations in the Genome of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Based on Exome-Sequencing Data

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is the most frequent lymphoproliferative syndrome in Western countries, and it is characterized by recurrent large genomic rearrangements. During the last decades, array techniques have expanded our knowledge about CLL’s karyotypic aberrations. The advent of large sequencing databases expanded our knowledge cancer genomics to an unprecedented resolution and enabled the detection of small-scale structural aberrations in the cancer genome. In this study, we have performed exome-sequencing-based copy number aberration (CNA) and loss of heterozygosity (LOH) analysis in order to detect new recurrent structural aberrations. We describe 54 recurrent focal CNAs enriched in cancer-related pathways, and their association with gene expression and clinical evolution. Furthermore, we discovered recurrent large copy number neutral LOH events affecting key driver genes, and we recapitulate most of the large CNAs that characterize the CLL genome. These results provide “proof-of-concept” evidence supporting the existence of new genes involved in the pathogenesis of CLL.S

Efectos del trabajo de “core ” en el dolor lumbar: estudio de dos casos

El dolor lumbar es una patología extremadamente común que puede llegar a ser muy invalidante. Se trata de la primera causa de discapacidad en nuestro país. El manejo de los pacientes con dolor lumbar es complejo, puesto que muchos no responden a la medicación o solo de forma parcial. Existen alternativas no farmacológicas en su tratamiento, como es el caso del ejercicio físico y, especialmente, trabajo de fuerza isométrica de la musculatura abdominal. Se han seleccionado dos casos con dolor lumbar y se les ha indicado unas pautas de ejercicios a realizar por su cuenta en casa y se ha medido su evolución a lo largo de las 12 semanas en 3 ocasiones (0-6-12). El objetivo es mejorar los parámetros estudiados (dolor, discapacidad y calidad de vida) y reducir la ingesta medicamentosa.<br /

Efficiency improvement of HF communications using cognitive radio principles

Cognitive Radio principles can be applied to HF communications to make a more efficient use of the extremely scarce spectrum. In this contribution we focus on analyzing the usage of the available channels done by the legacy users, which are regarded as primary users since they are allowed to transmit without resorting any smart procedure, and consider the possibilities for our stations -over the HFDVL (HF Data+Voice Link) architecture- to participate as secondary users. Our goal is to enhance an efficient use of the HF band by detecting the presence of uncoordinated primary users and avoiding collisions with them while transmitting in different HF channels using our broad-band HF transceiver. A model of the primary user activity dynamics in the HF band is developed in this work. It is based on Hidden Markov Models (HMM) which are a powerful tool for modelling stochastic random processes, and is trained with real measurements from the 14 MHz band

Evaluación de algunos aspectos de la biocompatibilidad de biomateriales in vitro

Los biomateriales para uso médico se han ido desarrollando de acuerdo a los avances en los campos de la medicina, bioquímica, farmacia y las ciencias de los materiales. Estos deben ser biocompatibles, por eso es necesario desarrollar un grupo de ensayos biológicos encaminados a este fin. Las pruebas de citotoxicidad in vitro tienen aplicabilidad general y uso extensamente difundido en la evaluación de un amplio rango de materiales. Se ha encontrado cierta relación entre la citotoxicidad no específica del biomaterial in vitro y su efecto irritante in vivo. En nuestro laboratorio se aplicó el método descrito por Stanley HR (1985) para la evaluación toxicológica de biomateriales, habiéndose evaluado hasta la fecha diferentes materiales obtenidos en el Centro de Biomateriales de la Universidad de La Habana, entre ellos: el obturante dental Obtudent Fotocurado (FC), el sellante dental Cubridem Autocurado (AC), el adhesivo tisular Tisuacryl y los cementos óseos Biograft-G y Apafill-G. El Obtudent FC resultó citotóxico, sin embargo su citotoxicidad se encontró en el rango de la de sus análogos comerciales. La citotoxicidad del Cubridem AC y del Tisuacryl no se diferenció significativamente de los niveles encontrados para sus controles comerciales, al igual que el Biograft-G, aunque en este caso el resultado fue ligeramente citotóxico según la clasificación de Stanley. El Apafill-G no resultó citotóxico.Peer Reviewe