European registry on helicobacter pylori management: Effectiveness of first and second-line treatment in Spain

The management of Helicobacter pylori infection has to rely on previous local effectiveness due to the geographical variability of antibiotic resistance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of first and second-line H. pylori treatment in Spain, where the empirical prescription is recommended. A multicentre prospective non-interventional registry of the clinical practice of European gastroenterologists concerning H. pylori infection (Hp-EuReg) was developed, including patients from 2013 until June 2019. Effectiveness was evaluated descriptively and through a multivariate analysis concerning age, gender, presence of ulcer, proton-pump in-hibitor (PPI) dose, therapy duration and compliance. Overall, 53 Spanish hospitals were included, and 10, 267 patients received a first-line therapy. The best results were obtained with the 10-day bismuth single-capsule therapy (95% cure rate by intention-to-treat) and with both the 14-day bismuth-clarithromycin quadruple (PPI-bismuth-clarithromycin-amoxicillin, 91%) and the 14-day non-bismuth quadruple concomitant (PPI-clarithromycin-amoxicillin-metronidazole, 92%) therapies. Second-line therapies were prescribed to 2448 patients, with most-effective therapies being the triple quinolone (PPI-amoxicillin-levofloxacin/moxifloxacin) and the bismuth-levofloxacin quadruple schemes (PPI-bismuth-levofloxacin-amoxicillin) prescribed for 14 days (92%, 89% and 90% effective-ness, respectively), and the bismuth single-capsule (10 days, 88.5%). Compliance, longer duration and higher acid inhibition were associated with higher effectiveness. “Optimized” H. pylori therapies achieve over 90% success in Spain

Common Genetic Denominators for Ca++-Based Skeleton in Metazoa: Role of Osteoclast-Stimulating Factor and of Carbonic Anhydrase in a Calcareous Sponge

Calcium-based matrices serve predominantly as inorganic, hard skeletal systems in Metazoa from calcareous sponges [phylum Porifera; class Calcarea] to proto- and deuterostomian multicellular animals. The calcareous sponges form their skeletal elements, the spicules, from amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC). Treatment of spicules from Sycon raphanus with sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl) results in the disintegration of the ACC in those skeletal elements. Until now a distinct protein/enzyme involved in ACC metabolism could not been identified in those animals. We applied the technique of phage display combinatorial libraries to identify oligopeptides that bind to NaOCl-treated spicules: those oligopeptides allowed us to detect proteins that bind to those spicules. Two molecules have been identified, the (putative) enzyme carbonic anhydrase and the (putative) osteoclast-stimulating factor (OSTF), that are involved in the catabolism of ACC. The complete cDNAs were isolated and the recombinant proteins were prepared to raise antibodies. In turn, immunofluorescence staining of tissue slices and qPCR analyses have been performed. The data show that sponges, cultivated under standard condition (10 mM CaCl2) show low levels of transcripts/proteins for carbonic anhydrase or OSTF, compared to those animals that had been cultivated under Ca2+-depletion condition (1 mM CaCl2). Our data identify with the carbonic anhydrase and the OSTF the first two molecules which remain conserved in cells, potentially involved in Ca-based skeletal dissolution, from sponges (sclerocytes) to human (osteoclast)

Gestión del conocimiento. Perspectiva multidisciplinaria. Volumen 10

El libro “Gestión del Conocimiento. Perspectiva Multidisciplinaria”, Volumen 10, de la Colección Unión Global, es resultado de investigaciones. Los capítulos del libro, son resultados de investigaciones desarrolladas por sus autores. El libro es una publicación internacional, seriada, continua, arbitrada de acceso abierto a todas las áreas del conocimiento, que cuenta con el esfuerzo de investigadores de varios países del mundo, orientada a contribuir con procesos de gestión del conocimiento científico, tecnológico y humanístico que consoliden la transformación del conocimiento en diferentes escenarios, tanto organizacionales como universitarios, para el desarrollo de habilidades cognitivas del quehacer diario. La gestión del conocimiento es un camino para consolidar una plataforma en las empresas públicas o privadas, entidades educativas, organizaciones no gubernamentales, ya sea generando políticas para todas las jerarquías o un modelo de gestión para la administración, donde es fundamental articular el conocimiento, los trabajadores, directivos, el espacio de trabajo, hacia la creación de ambientes propicios para el desarrollo integral de las instituciones

The Seventeenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys: Complete Release of MaNGA, MaStar, and APOGEE-2 Data

This paper documents the seventeenth data release (DR17) from the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys; the fifth and final release from the fourth phase (SDSS-IV). DR17 contains the complete release of the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey, which reached its goal of surveying over 10,000 nearby galaxies. The complete release of the MaNGA Stellar Library accompanies this data, providing observations of almost 30,000 stars through the MaNGA instrument during bright time. DR17 also contains the complete release of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 survey that publicly releases infrared spectra of over 650,000 stars. The main sample from the Extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS), as well as the subsurvey Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey data were fully released in DR16. New single-fiber optical spectroscopy released in DR17 is from the SPectroscipic IDentification of ERosita Survey subsurvey and the eBOSS-RM program. Along with the primary data sets, DR17 includes 25 new or updated value-added catalogs. This paper concludes the release of SDSS-IV survey data. SDSS continues into its fifth phase with observations already underway for the Milky Way Mapper, Local Volume Mapper, and Black Hole Mapper surveys

El ECTS y una Universidad que aprende

El proceso de Convergencia Europea que está viviendo la Universidad Española, trae consigo una adaptación del sistema de créditos que se centra en el trabajo del alumnado, para definir los programas de estudio. Esto supone, entre otros aspectos, un replanteamiento de las metodologías utilizadas por el profesorado y, por tanto, un cambio en la concepción del proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje en la Educación Superior. Ante este reto, es necesario conocer cuál es la situación actual de la práctica educativa universitaria. Presentamos los primeros resultados de un estudio exploratorio realizado en la Universidad de La Laguna, con la intención de contrastar la realidad actual con las demandas planteadas desde el modelo de Bolonia para la creación del Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior

Effect of nitrogen supply and Rhizobia symbiosis in the isotopic composition of essential plant elements, nutrient content, TCA cycle activity and respiratory energy balance of Lotus japonicus

Resumen de la comunicación oral presentada en: I Spanish-Portuguese Congress on Beneficial Plant-Microbe Interactions (BeMiPlant) and XVIII National Meeting of the Spanish Society of Nitrogen Fixation (XVIII SEFIN). Oeiras, Portugal, 17-19 octubre (2022)This work was supported by FONDECYT No. 1191118 from National Agency for Research and Development (ANID) and the Chilean Scholarship Program/Becas de doctorado nacional/2017–21180329

Biological nitrogen fixation improves production of ATP and nitrogen status in Lotus japonicus

1 página - Poster presentado en Iberian Plant Biology 2023. XVIII Portuguese-Spanish Congress on Plant Biology and the XXV Meeting of the Spanish Society of Plant Biology. 9-12 Julio 2023, Braga, Portugal.There is a lack of studies unravelling the effect of legume‐rhizobia interactions on plant respiratory energy efficiency. In plants, the existence of the alternative oxidase pathway (AOP) in the mETC confers metabolic flexibility by regulating the dissipation of reducing equivalents from TCA cycle, helping to maintain redox status and nutrient balance but decreasing yield of respiration. It is thought that carbon requirements of the symbiont and nitrogen transfer to the plant from nodules may affect the activities of both cytochrome oxidase pathway (COP) and AOP in plant organs for the benefit of plant yield in N poor soils. The main objective of this research was to create different plant N status by growing plants of WT Lotus japonicus at 5 mM and 10 mM KNO3, and in symbiosis with Mesorhizobium meliloti (0 mM KNO3). Besides, plants displaying spontaneous nodule formation (snf) mutations were grown at 1 mM KNO3. By isotope‐ratio mass spectrometry, we evaluated discrimination against 18O during respiration, and δ13C and δ14N in plant organs to determine ATP synthesis, changes in plant C economy, and N transfer from nodules. By high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectrometry, we also determined the content of NADH and nutrients as proxies of changes in TCA cycle activity and in plant nutrient economy. Our results indicated that nitrogen is vital in the modulation of respiratory metabolism, and that symbiosis improves production of ATP via COP, probably due to an incremented photosynthetic demand of symbiont for inorganic carbon and improved N status. Overall, our results shed some light into the complexity of legume‐rhizobia interactions involving plant respiration and essential plant nutrients