Heritability of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis burden and its genetic correlation with development time in a population of Common toad (Bufo spinosus)

Despite the important threat that emerging pathogens pose for the conservation of biodiversity as well as human health, very little is known about the adaptive potential of host species to withstand infections. We studied the quantitative genetic architecture responsible for the burden of the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in a population of common toads in conjunction with other life-history traits (i.e., body size and development rate) that may be affected by common selective pressures. We found a significant heritable component that is associated with fungal burden, which may allow for local adaptation to this pathogen to proceed. In addition, the high genetic correlation found between fungal burden and development time suggests that both traits have to be taken into account in order to assess the adaptive response of host populations to this emerging pathogen.Our research was supported by the following grants: Spanish Ministry of Education reference CGL2011-23443, Ministry of Competitivity and Economy reference BES-2012-055220, and Spanish Organization of National Parks reference MARM 428/211.Peer reviewe

PRECONCENTRATION OF COPPER FROM DIFFERENT SAMPLES BY DISPERSIVE LIQUID-LIQUID MICROEXTRACTION

Sample preparation is a critical step of any analytical protocol. Nowadays the goals to be reached are the best results, in the shortest time, with minimal contamination, low reagent consumption and generation of minimal waste. Dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction is a miniaturized sample preparation procedure inside Green Chemistry because the low volume of dissolvent employed. All parameters that influence on the preconcentration of copper have been optimized. The detection limit was 7.9 μg L-1. The proposed method was successfully applied to the preconcentration and determination of copper in food, vegetation, and water samples and in two standard reference materials

Flujo de trabajo para la experimentación colaborativa en Ingeniería del Software guiada por búsqueda

La Ingeniería del Software Guiada por Búsqueda persigue reformular problemas de Ingeniería del Software que a menudo comprenden objetivos en conflicto, como problemas de optimización. Así, las técnicas que se aplican en esta disciplina buscan una o un conjunto de soluciones casi-óptimas en un espacio de soluciones candidatas con la ayuda de una función de aptitud que les permita distinguir las mejores soluciones. La naturaleza estocástica de los algoritmos de optimización requiere de la repetición de las búsquedas para mitigar los efectos de la aleatoriedad. A la hora de comparar algoritmos, el investigador comparará los resultados con mejor calidad (mejores valores en la función de aptitud, en indicadores de calidad y rendimiento) devueltos en las búsquedas, lo que conlleva un trabajo adicional por parte del investigador. La sobrecarga que implica esta actividad puede aminorarse si la experimentación se enfoca de manera colaborativa. Este artículo propone un flujo de trabajo para la experimentación colaborativa basado en resultados e indicadores de calidad y rendimiento

Impacto de las métricas CK en la refactorización

Las métricas CK a nivel de diseño orientado a objetos, son las que alcanzan un mayor consenso sobre la identificación de la necesidad de una refactorización. Para estimar el impacto de estas métricas de calidad en la refactorización en este trabajo nos basamos en la reducción de la entropía. Para ellos se parte de los datos validados de refactorizaciones y de métricas de código de varios proyectos open source. Las valoraciones obtenidas se combinan para ordenar las métricas y proponemos un método para medir su influencia incluso en aquellas situaciones en las que no todas las métricas puedan ser valoradas o cuando esta valoración no alcance unas tasas suficientemente representativas. Los resultados obtenidos están en la misma línea de trabajos previos de otros autores, siendo de mayor influencia las medidas de complejidad y acoplamiento y de menor aquellas m etricas relativas a la herencia y la cohesión

El penjall estel en cirurgia de la mà

S'exposen els criteris bàsics del penjall " e s t e l " en cirurgia de la mà, des de la descripció anatòmica de la zona fins a les indicacions, amb referència a la tècnica quirúrgica. Es demostra la fiabilitat del penjall i la possibilitat d'estendre'l a altres aplicacions

Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 Expression Is Associated with the Absence of Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Patients

Biomarkers; Neoadjuvant chemotherapy; Triple-negative breast cancerBiomarcadores; Quimioterapia neoadyuvante; Cáncer de mama triple negativoBiomarcadors; Quimioteràpia neoadjuvant; Càncer de mama triple negatiuTriple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is particularly challenging due to the weak or absent response to therapeutics and its poor prognosis. The effectiveness of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) response is strongly influenced by changes in elements of the tumor microenvironment (TME). This work aimed to characterize the residual TME composition in 96 TNBC patients using immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization techniques and evaluate its prognostic implications for partial responders vs. non-responders. Compared with non-responders, partial responders containing higher levels of CD83+ mature dendritic cells, FOXP3+ regulatory T cells, and IL-15 expression but lower CD138+ cell concentration exhibited better OS and RFS. However, along with tumor diameter and positive nodal status at diagnosis, matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) expression in the residual TME was identified as an independent factor associated with the impaired response to NAC. This study yields new insights into the key components of the residual tumor bed, such as MMP-9, which is strictly associated with the lack of a pathological response to NAC. This knowledge might help early identification of TNBC patients less likely to respond to NAC and allow the establishment of new therapeutic targets.This research was supported by grants from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI13/02501 and PI11/0488) co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). ML acknowledges support from the “PATH-IMAGE” project, which was funded by ERDF (agreement 2903/335-41)

Cervical spinal cord injury by a low-impact trauma as an unnoticed cause of cardiorespiratory arrest

Background: Cardiorespiratory arrest (CA) secondary to traumatic cervical spinal cord injury can occur in minor accidents with low-impact trauma and may be overlooked as the cause of CA in patients admitted in the coronary care unit. Case summary: We present two patients admitted to the coronary care unit because of suspected CA of cardiac origin. Both patients were found in CA with asystole, one after collapsing in a shopping mall and falling down a few steps and the other in the street next to his bicycle. They underwent early pharmacologically induced coma and hypothermia precluding neurological examination. Both patients remained in coma after rewarming, with preserved brainstem reflexes but absent motor response to pain. One patient had post-anoxic myoclonus in the face without limb involvement. In both patients, median nerve somatosensory evoked potentials demonstrated bilateral absence of thalamocortical N19 responses and abnormal cervicomedullary junction potentials (N13 wave). Extensive diagnostic work-up did not find a cardiac cause of the CA, pulmonary thromboembolism, or intracranial haemorrhage. In both patients, cervical spinal cord injury was diagnosed incidentally 5 and 6 days after CA, when a brain magnetic resonance imaging performed to assess post-anoxic brain injuries detected spinal cord hyperintensities with fracture and luxation of the odontoid. Both patients died 11 and 8 days after CA. Discussion: Low-impact traumatic cervical spinal cord injury should be considered in the diagnostic work-up of patients with CA of unknown cause

El llibre viatger

Treball de l'alumnat del Grau d'Educació Primària de la Facultat d'Educació de la UB. Proposta d'activitat emmarcada al projecte de recerca EDU201S-69332-R "Desarrollo de las competencias para la educación multilingüe". Any: 2017. Tutors: Juli Palou i Margarida CambraLa proposta d’activitat de “El llibre viatger” està destinada a una escola on conviuen una gran varietat de llengües. Tanmateix, també es pot aplicar a una escola amb menys diversitat lingüística. L’objectiu principal de l’activitat és aprofitar aquesta diversitat de llengües i conèixer i aprendre nou lèxic de material de la vida quotidiana de l’aula. D’aquesta manera, es donarà protagonisme als nens i nenes que parlin altres llengües, ja que podran posar en pràctica les noves paraules en el seu dia a dia i podran ajudar als seus companys i, fins i tot, a la mestra. Així doncs, es potenciarà l’autoestima, la motivació i l’interès per aprendre

Association of HLA Class I and Class II genes with bcr-abl transcripts in leukemia patients with t(9;22) (q34;q11)

BACKGROUND: Based on the site of breakpoint in t(9;22) (q34;q11), bcr-abl fusion in leukemia patients is associated with different types of transcript proteins. In this study we have seen the association of HLA genes with different types of bcr-abl transcripts. The association could predict the bcr-abl peptide presentation by particular HLA molecules. METHODS: The study included a total of 189 patients of mixed ethnicity with chronic myelogenous leukemia and acute lymphocytic leukemia who were being considered for bone marrow transplantation. Typing of bcr-abl transcripts was done by reverse transcriptase PCR method. HLA typing was performed by molecular methods. The bcr-abl and HLA association was studied by calculating the relative risks and chi-square test. RESULTS: Significant negative associations (p < 0.05) were observed with HLA-A*02 (b2a2, e1a2), -A*68 (b2a2, b3a2, e1a2), -B*14 (b2a2, b3a2, e1a2), -B*15 (b2a2, b3a2), -B*40 (b2a2), -DQB1*0303 (b2a2, b3a2), -DQB1*0603 (b2a2), -DRB1*0401 (e1a2), -DRB1*0701 (b3a2), and -DRB1*1101 (b2a2). CONCLUSIONS: The negative associations of a particular bcr-abl transcript with specific HLA alleles suggests that these alleles play a critical role in presenting peptides derived from the chimeric proteins and eliciting a successful T-cell cytotoxic response. Knowledge of differential associations between HLA phenotypes and bcr-abl fusion transcript types would help in developing better strategies for immunization with the bcr-abl peptides against t(9;22) (q34;q11)-positive leukemia

Outcomes of off-label drug uses in hospitals: a multicentric prospective study

Purpose: The study aims to assess the clinical evidence, outcome and cost of off-label use of medicines in the hospital setting. Methods: A multicentric prospective cohort study of patients treated with off-label medicines was carried out in five tertiary hospitals from May 2011 to May 2012. Information on clinical characteristics of patients, drugs, outcomes and costs was collected. Patients were followed up to 6 months, and information was assessed by reviewing clinical records and interviewing physicians. Results: A total of 226 patients were included. The median (interquartile range (IQR)) age of patients was 46 (3362) years; 59 % were women. Patients had received a median of three previous treatments, and a lack of response (or suboptimal) was the main reason for off-label use (72.1 %). A total of 232 off-label medicines were administered for 102 different indications. The most frequent medicines were rituximab (49; 21.1 %), botulinum toxin (25; 10.7 %) and omalizumab (14; 6.0 %). In 117 (51.8 %) cases, the level of clinical evidence for their use was low. A partial clinical response was observed in 82 patients (36.3 %), complete response in 71 (31.4 %) and stabilization in 11 (4.9 %). A total of 58 (26.5 %) patients had adverse effects, which in 11 (4.9 %) were severe. The median (IQR) cost per patient was 2,943.07 (541.95,872.54). Conclusions: There was a high variability of off-label medicines and indications. Although the clinical evidence of off-label medicines was often low, clinical response was observed in many patients with previous multiple treatment failure, but at the expense of some adverse effects and a high cost. Registers of patients would be helpful for clinical decisions, although clinical trials are needed