DNA sequence variation of drought-response candidate genes in Austrocedrus chilensis

Background: Austrocedrus chilensis (D. Don) Pic. Ser. et Bizzarri commonly known as Patagonian cypress is a member of the Cupressaceae family, characterized by a high adaptive potential for growing in marginal areas and good timber quality. The species grows over a wide area and under a wide range of rainfall. This study assessed adaptive genetic variation at SNP level in candidate genes involved in response to drought stress. Results: A total of 18 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were found among 1,428 bp. Average nucleotide diversity value (π = 0.00312) was similar to those previously reported in other Cupressaceae. The Fst average among genes and populations was 0.163 and the lowest differentiation was observed in continuous and humid populations. A number of neutrality tests were applied to find evidence of positive selection in our candidate gene set, but only AcAQP2 gene in Pedregoso and San Ramón populations revealed significant departures from neutrality with positive values suggesting balancing selection. Conclusions: In this study we report the levels of nucleotide diversity searched in some drought stress candidate genes in Austrocedrus chilensis and the selective factors that may be acting on this species.Fil: Pomponio, Maria Florencia. Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria. Centro Nacional de Inv. Agropecuarias. Centro de Invest.de Recursos Naturales. Instituto de Recursos Biologicos; ArgentinaFil: Torales, Susana. Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria. Centro Nacional de Inv. Agropecuarias. Centro de Invest.de Recursos Naturales. Instituto de Recursos Biologicos; ArgentinaFil: Gallo, Leonardo. Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria. Centro Reg.patagonia Norte. Estacion Exptal.agrop.s.c.de Bariloche. Grupo de Genetica Forestal; ArgentinaFil: Pastorino, Mario Juan. Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria. Centro Reg.patagonia Norte. Estacion Exptal.agrop.s.c.de Bariloche. Grupo de Genetica Forestal; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Marchelli, Paula. Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria. Centro Reg.patagonia Norte. Estacion Exptal.agrop.s.c.de Bariloche. Grupo de Genetica Forestal; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Cervera, María Teresa. Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria. Centro de Investigación Forestal; EspañaFil: Marcucci Poltri, Susana Noemí. Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria. Centro Nacional de Inv. Agropecuarias. Centro de Invest.de Cs.veterinarias y Agronomicas. Instituto de Biotecnologia; Argentin

DNA methylation and adaptive response in forest tree species

Progressive increase of temperatures as well as longer seasonal drought periods revealed by climate studies correspond to fast environmental changes that forest species face with their actual genetic background. Natural selective processes cannot develop an adaptive response within this time frame. Thus the capability of forest tree species to adapt to the new environments will depend on their genetic background, but also rely on their phenotypic plasticity. Several reports have shown the involvement of epigenetic modifiers as the basis of the phenotypic plasticity, and in particular to the adaptation to abiotic stresses. DNA methylation (methylation of cytosine residues)is one the most important epigenetic modification in eukaryotes. Itis involved in specific biological processes such as gene transcription regulation, gene silencing, mobile element control or genome imprinting.Therefore, there is a great interest in analyzing cytosine methylation levels and distribution within the genom

Factors associated with mortality in patients with autoimmune diseases admitted to the Intensive Care Unit in Bogota, Colombia.

Patients with autoimmune diseases (ADs) are a challenge for the intensivist; it is hard to differentiate among infection, disease activity, and combinations of both, leading to high mortality. This study is a retrospective analysis of 124 critically ill patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) in a university hospital between 2008 and 2016. Bivariate case-control analysis was performed, using patients who died as cases; later, analysis using a logistic regression model with variables that were associated with mortality was conducted. Four variables were consistently associated with mortality in the logistic regression model and had adequate prediction value (Hosmer and Lemeshow statistic = 0.760; Nagelkerke R-squared = 0.494). The risk of death was found to be statistically associated with the following: shock at admission to ICU [odds ratio (OR): 7.56; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.78-31.97, p = 0.006], hemoglobin level <8 g/dL (OR: 16.12; 95% CI: 3.35-77.52, p = 0.001), use of cytostatic agents prior to admission to the ICU (OR: 8.71; 95% CI: 1.23-61.5, p = 0.03), and low levels ofcomplement C3 (OR: 5.23; 95% CI: 1.28-21.35, p = 0.02). These variables can guide clinicians in the early identification of patients with AD with increased risk of death during hospitalization, leading to initial therapies seeking to improve survival. These results should be evaluated prospectively in future studies to establish their predictive power

Safety and immediate humoral response of COVID-19 vaccines in chronic kidney disease patients:the SENCOVAC study

BACKGROUND: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients are at high-risk for severe Covid-19. The multicentric, observational and prospective SENCOVAC study aims to describe the humoral response and safety of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in CKD patients. Safety and immediate humoral response results are reported here. METHODS: Four cohorts of patients were included: kidney transplant (KT) recipients, haemodialysis (HD), peritoneal dialysis (PD) and non-dialysis CKD patients from 50 Spanish centres. Adverse events after vaccine doses were recorded. At baseline and on day 28 after the last vaccine dose, anti-Spike antibodies were measured and compared between cohorts. Factors associated with development of anti-Spike antibodies were analyzed. RESULTS: 1746 participants were recruited: 1116 HD, 171 PD, 176 non-dialysis CKD patients and 283 KT recipients. Most patients (98%) received mRNA vaccines. At least one vaccine reaction developed after the first dose in 763 (53.5%) and after the second dose in 741 (54.5%) of patients. Anti-Spike antibodies were measured in the first 301 patients. At 28 days, 95% of patients had developed antibodies: 79% of KT, 98% of HD, 99% of PD and 100% of non-dialysis CKD patients (p<0.001). In a multivariate adjusted analysis, absence of an antibody response was independently associated to KT (OR 20.56, p = 0.001) and to BNT162b2 vaccine (OR 6.03, p = 0.023). CONCLUSION: The rate of anti-Spike antibody development after vaccination in KT patients was low but in other CKD patients it approached 100%; suggesting that KT patients require persistent isolation measures and booster doses of a Covid-19 vaccine. Potential differences between Covid-19 vaccines should be explored in prospective controlled studies

Nursing Care of Patients With Cirrhosis: The LiverHope Nursing Project

Cirrhosis is a complex disease that is associated with disturbances in different organs besides the liver, including kidneys, heart, arterial circulation, lungs, gut, and brain. As a consequence, patients develop a number of complications that result in frequent hospital admissions and high morbidity and mortality. Patients with cirrhosis require constant and rigorous monitoring both in and outside the hospital. In this context, the role of nurses in the care of patients with cirrhosis has not been sufficiently emphasized and there is very limited information about nursing care of patients with cirrhosis compared with other chronic diseases. The current article provides a review of nursing care for the different complications of patients with cirrhosis. Nurses with specific knowledge on liver diseases should be incorporated into multidisciplinary teams managing patients with cirrhosis, both inpatient and outpatient. Conclusion: Nurses play an important role in the management and prevention of complications of the disease and improvement in patients' quality of life and bridge the gap between clinicians and families, between primary care and hospital care, and provide medical education to patients and caregivers

Prognostic heterogeneity of adult B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukaemia patients with t(1;19)(q23;p13)/TCF3-PBX1 treated with measurable residual disease-oriented protocols

Programa para el Tratamiento de Hemopatias Malignas (PETHEMA) Group (Spanish Society of Hematology, SEHH).The prognosis of t(1;19)(q23;p13)/transcription factor 3-pre-B-cell leukaemia homeobox 1 (TCF3-PBX1) in adolescent and adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) treated with measurable residual disease (MRD)-oriented trials remains controversial. In the present study, we analysed the outcome of adolescent and adult patients with t(1;19)(q23;p13) enrolled in paediatric-inspired trials. The patients with TCF3-PBX1 showed similar MRD clearance and did not have different survival compared with other B-cell precursor ALL patients. However, patients with TCF3-PBX1 had a significantly higher cumulative incidence of relapse, especially among patients aged ≥35 years carrying additional cytogenetic alterations. These patients might benefit from additional/intensified therapy (e.g. immunotherapy in first complete remission with or without subsequent haematopoietic stem cell transplantation).This work was supported in part by CERCA/Generalitat de Catalunya SGR 2017 288 (GRC), a restricted grant from ‘La Caixa’ and Healthcare Alliance for Resourceful Medicine Offensive against Neoplasms (HARMONY)

Lifestyle in undergraduate students and demographically matched controls during the covid-19 pandemic in Spain

Few studies have used a multidimensional approach to describe lifestyle changes among undergraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic or have included controls. This study aimed to evaluate lifestyle behaviors and mental health of undergraduate students and compare them with an age and sex-matched control group. A cross-sectional web survey using snowball sampling was conducted several months after the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic in Spain. A sample of 221 students was recruited. The main outcome was the total SMILE-C score. Students showed a better SMILE-C score than controls (79.8 +- 8.1 vs. 77.2 +- 8.3; p < 0.001), although these differences disappeared after controlling for covariates. While groups did not differ in the screenings of depression and alcohol abuse, students reported lower rates of anxiety (28.5% vs. 37.1%; p = 0.042). A lower number of cohabitants, poorer self-perceived health and positive screening for depression and anxiety, or for depression only were independently associated (p < 0.05) with unhealthier lifestyles in both groups. History of mental illness and financial difficulties were predictors of unhealthier lifestyles for students, whereas totally/moderate changes in substance abuse and stress management (p < 0.05) were predictors for the members of the control group. Several months after the pandemic, undergraduate students and other young adults had similar lifestyles

Prognostic heterogeneity of adult B‐cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukaemia patients with t(1;19)(q23;p13)/ TCF3‐PBX1 treated with measurable residual disease‐oriented protocols

The prognosis of t(1;19)(q23;p13)/transcription factor 3-pre-B-cell leukaemia homeobox 1 (TCF3-PBX1) in adolescent and adult patients with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) treated with measurable residual disease (MRD)-oriented trials remains controversial. In the present study, we analysed the outcome of adolescent and adult patients with t(1;19)(q23;p13) enrolled in paediatric-inspired trials. The patients with TCF3-PBX1 showed similar MRD clearance and did not have different survival compared with other B-cell precursor ALL patients. However, patients with TCF3-PBX1 had a significantly higher cumulative incidence of relapse, especially among patients aged ≥35 years carrying additional cytogenetic alterations. These patients might benefit from additional/intensified therapy (e.g. immunotherapy in first complete remission with or without subsequent haematopoietic stem cell transplantation)