A Straightforward Cytometry-Based Protocol for the Comprehensive Analysis of the Inflammatory Valve Infiltrate in Aortic Stenosis

Aortic stenosis (AS) is a frequent cardiac disease in old individuals, characterized by valvular calcification, fibrosis, and inflammation. Recent studies suggest that AS is an active inflammatory atherosclerotic-like process. Particularly, it has been suggested that several immune cell types, present in the valve infiltrate, contribute to its degeneration and to the progression toward stenosis. Furthermore, the infiltrating T cell subpopulations mainly consist of oligoclonal expansions, probably specific for persistent antigens. Thus, the characterization of the cells implicated in the aortic valve calcification and the analysis of the antigens to which those cells respond to is of utmost importance to develop new therapies alternative to the replacement of the valve itself. However, calcified aortic valves have been only studied so far by histological and immunohistochemical methods, unable to render an in-depth phenotypical and functional cell profiling. Here we present, for the first time, a simple and efficient cytometry-based protocol that allows the identification and quantification of infiltrating inflammatory leukocytes in aortic valve explants. Our cytometry protocol saves time and facilitates the simultaneous analysis of numerous surface and intracellular cell markers and may well be also applied to the study of other cardiac diseases with an inflammatory component

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

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

XVI International Congress of Control Electronics and Telecommunications: "Techno-scientific considerations for a post-pandemic world intensive in knowledge, innovation and sustainable local development"

Este título, sugestivo por los impactos durante la situación de la Covid 19 en el mundo, y que en Colombia lastimosamente han sido muy críticos, permiten asumir la obligada superación de tensiones sociales, políticas, y económicas; pero sobre todo científicas y tecnológicas. Inicialmente, esto supone la existencia de una capacidad de la sociedad colombiana por recuperar su estado inicial después de que haya cesado la perturbación a la que fue sometida por la catastrófica pandemia, y superar ese anterior estado de cosas ya que se encontraban -y aún se encuentran- muchos problemas locales mal resueltos, medianamente resueltos, y muchos sin resolver: es decir, habrá que rediseñar y fortalecer una probada resiliencia social existente - producto del prolongado conflicto social colombiano superado parcialmente por un proceso de paz exitoso - desde la tecnociencia local; como lo indicaba Markus Brunnermeier - economista alemán y catedrático de economía de la Universidad de Princeton- en su libro The Resilient Society…La cuestión no es preveerlo todo sino poder reaccionar…aprender a recuperarse rápido.This title, suggestive of the impacts during the Covid 19 situation in the world, and which have unfortunately been very critical in Colombia, allows us to assume the obligatory overcoming of social, political, and economic tensions; but above all scientific and technological. Initially, this supposes the existence of a capacity of Colombian society to recover its initial state after the disturbance to which it was subjected by the catastrophic pandemic has ceased, and to overcome that previous state of affairs since it was found -and still is find - many local problems poorly resolved, moderately resolved, and many unresolved: that is, an existing social resilience test will have to be redesigned and strengthened - product of the prolonged Colombian social conflict partially overcome by a successful peace process - from local technoscience; As Markus Brunnermeier - German economist and professor of economics at Princeton University - indicates in his book The Resilient Society...The question is not to foresee everything but to be able to react...learn to recover quickly.Bogot

Prejudice in practitioners who work with socially excluded people in Andalusia: A dual process approach

It is assumed that the professional profile of those who work with socially excluded people is not compatible with the maintenance of prejudices against the group they help. The current study tested this hypothesis regarding the Dual Process Cognitive-Motivational Model of Duckitt (2001) and Duckitt and Sibley (2010). Data from 565 Andalusian professionals were collected in a cross-sectional survey, using measures of socio-demographics, personality, values, ideological attitudes, political position, and prejudice. The model fitted to data reproduced the basic relations in the hypothesized model, although its explanatory power was limited. Prejudice was significantly explained by both paths (authoritarianism and dominance), leading to the conclusion that the reduced level of prejudice held by professionals corresponds to the perception of socially excluded people as a dissident group. This suggests that professional identity as a broad construct may moderate the variance in prejudice. Finally, these findings also suggest that the professional development of social workers should be promoted

Predictores del prejuicio en profesionales que trabajan con colectivos en exclusión social

Este artículo analiza los predictores del prejuicio de profesionales que trabajan con personas en exclusión social en Andalucía (España). Para ello, se realizó un estudio descriptivo, correlacional y predictivo con diseño transversal, en el que se midieron diversos tipos de variables que podían anticipar las actitudes hacia las personas en exclusión. La muestra fue seleccionada mediante un procedimiento no probabilístico de tipo incidental, contando finalmente con 565 profesionales. Los resultados indican que, si bien el prejuicio es débil en el conjunto del colectivo, una quinta parte de él percibió a las personas en exclusión como un grupo amenazante y devaluado socialmente, configurándose como correlatos y predictores del sesgo determinados valores (autotrascendencia, autopromoción y conservación) como algunas actitudes ideológicas (autoritarismo y dominancia), la extraversión y la posición política. Del estudio emerge una representación de estos profesionales como un grupo sin pronunciamientos exacerbados, de corte progresista y solidario, que no justifica el sistema, pero que tampoco evidencia un posicionamiento contundente frente a las actitudes sesgadas. Las conclusiones se completan, por una parte, con la comprensión contextualizada del prejuicio y, por otra, con la identificación de dos ámbitos aplicados (selección y formación) que deben revisarse en relación con la introducción de innovaciones

Predictores del prejuicio en profesionales que trabajan con colectivos en exclusión social

Este artículo analiza los predictores del prejuicio de profesionales que trabajan con personas en exclusión social en Andalucía (España). Para ello, se realizó un estudio descriptivo, correlacional y predictivo con diseño transversal, en el que se midieron diversos tipos de variables que podían anticipar las actitudes hacia las personas en exclusión. La muestra fue seleccionada mediante un procedimiento no probabilístico de tipo incidental, contando finalmente con 565 profesionales. Los resultados indican que, si bien el prejuicio es débil en el conjunto del colectivo, una quinta parte de él percibió a las personas en exclusión como un grupo amenazante y devaluado socialmente, configurándose como correlatos y predictores del sesgo determinados valores (autotrascendencia, autopromoción y conservación) como algunas actitudes ideológicas (autoritarismo y dominancia), la extraversión y la posición política. Del estudio emerge una representación de estos profesionales como un grupo sin pronunciamientos exacerbados, de corte progresista y solidario, que no justifica el sistema, pero que tampoco evidencia un posicionamiento contundente frente a las actitudes sesgadas. Las conclusiones se completan, por una parte, con la comprensión contextualizada del prejuicio y, por otra, con la identificación de dos ámbitos aplicados (selección y formación) que deben revisarse en relación con la introducción de innovaciones