Variabilidad en la presentación del Síndrome de Brown-McLean

Case report: We report two aphakic patients with Brown-McLean syndrome. Discussion: One patient was affected by Marfan syndrome, after having undergone lens subluxation surgery and aphakia 23 years previously. The other patient was aphakic due to cataract surgery with complications three years before. Our cases demonstrate that this syndrome can show a variety of clinical characteristics, but peripheral corneal edema is always present. A full understanding of the clinical signs of presentation is of great importance in order to detect this syndrom

Molecular simulation of methane hydrate growth confined into a silica pore

Financiaciado para publicación en acceso aberto: Universidade de Vigo/CISUGThe growth of a methane hydrate seed within a silica slit pore of fixed width has been studied using All- Atom Molecular Dynamics (AA-MD). An AA force field has been used to describe the molecules of the solid silica substrate, with a-quartz crystalline structure. The crystallisation of hydrates in confined geometries is not well understood yet, and the objective of this work is to study the hydrate growth inside a silica pore using molecular simulation. Both NVT and NpT ensembles were used in the AA-MD simulations to analyse the hydrate growth from an initial seed. Results showed that the boundary conditions imposed by the nanometric slit pore yielded a hydrate with structural defects, filling the accessible space between the silica walls. The water molecules which were not incorporated to the initial seed hydrate formed a high density water layer trapped between the silica walls and the crystallised hydrate. These results provide an interesting insight into the hydrate crystallisation process in confined geometries, resembling those found in natural hydrate deposits.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación | Ref. PID2021-125081NB-I00FEDER | Ref. SOE2/P1/P0823Xunta de Galicia | Ref. FSE-GALICIA 2014–2020Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia | Ref. UIDB/50011/2020Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia | Ref. UIDP/50011/2020Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia | Ref. LA/ P/0006/2020Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación | Ref. PID2019-105898GA-C22Comunidad de Madrid | Ref. APOYOJOVENES- 01HQ1S-129-B5E4M

Real-time monitoring of PtaHMGB activity in poplar transactivation assays

Precise control of gene expression is essential to synchronize plant development with the environment. In perennial plants, transcriptional regulation remains poorly understood, mainly due to the long time required to perform functional studies. Transcriptional reporters based on luciferase have been useful to study circadian and diurnal regulation of gene expression, both by transcription factors and chromatin remodelers. The high mobility group proteins are considered transcriptional chaperones that also modify the chromatin architecture. They have been found in several species, presenting in some cases a circadian expression of their mRNA or protein. Results: Transactivation experiments have been shown as a powerful and fast method to obtain information about the potential role of transcription factors upon a certain reporter. We designed and validated a luciferase transcriptional reporter using the 5? sequence upstream ATG of Populus tremula × alba LHY2 gene. We showed the robustness of this reporter line under long day and continuous light conditions. Moreover, we confirmed that pPtaLHY2::LUC activity reproduces the accumulation of PtaLHY2 mRNA. We performed transactivation studies by transient expression, using the reporter line as a genetic background, unraveling a new function of a high mobility group protein in poplar, which can activate the PtaLHY2 promoter in a gate-dependent manner. We also showed PtaHMGB2/3 needs darkness to produce that activation and exhibits an active degradation after dawn, mediated by the 26S proteasome. Conclusions: We generated a stable luciferase reporter poplar line based on the circadian clock gene PtaLHY2, which can be used to investigate transcriptional regulation and signal transduction pathway. Using this reporter line as a genetic background, we established a methodology to rapidly assess potential regulators of diurnal and circadian rhythms. This tool allowed us to demonstrate that PtaHMGB2/3 promotes the transcriptional activation of our reporter in a gate-dependent manner. Moreover, we added new information about the PtaHMGB2/3 protein regulation along the day. This methodology can be easily adapted to other transcription factors and reporters

Short-term effectiveness of a mobile phone app for increasing physical activity and adherence to the mediterranean diet in primary care: A randomized controlled trial (EVIDENT II study)

Background: The use of mobile phone apps for improving lifestyles has become generalized in the population, although little is still known about their effectiveness in improving health. Objective: We evaluate the effect of adding an app to standard counseling on increased physical activity (PA) and adherence to the Mediterranean diet, 3 months after implementation. Methods: A randomized, multicenter clinical trial was carried out. A total of 833 participants were recruited in six primary care centers in Spain through random sampling: 415 in the app+counseling group and 418 in the counseling only group. Counseling on PA and the Mediterranean diet was given to both groups. The app+counseling participants additionally received training in the use of an app designed to promote PA and the Mediterranean diet over a 3-month period. PA was measured with the 7-day Physical Activity Recall (PAR) questionnaire and an accelerometer; adherence to the Mediterranean diet was assessed using the Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener questionnaire. Results: Participants were predominantly female in both the app+counseling (249/415, 60.0%) and counseling only (268/418, 64.1%) groups, with a mean age of 51.4 (SD 12.1) and 52.3 (SD 12.0) years, respectively. Leisure-time moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) by 7-day PAR increased in the app+counseling (mean 29, 95% CI 5-53 min/week; P=.02) but not in the counseling only group (mean 17.4, 95% CI ''18 to 53 min/week; P=.38). No differences in increase of activity were found between the two groups. The accelerometer recorded a decrease in PA after 3 months in both groups: MVPA mean ''55.3 (95% CI ''75.8 to ''34.9) min/week in app+counseling group and mean ''30.1 (95% CI ''51.8 to ''8.4) min/week in counseling only group. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet increased in both groups (8.4% in app+counseling and 10.4% in counseling only group), with an increase in score of 0.42 and 0.53 points, respectively (P<.001), but no difference between groups (P=.86). Conclusions: Leisure-time MVPA increased more in the app+counseling than counseling only group, although no difference was found when comparing the increase between the two groups. Counseling accompanied by printed materials appears to be effective in improving adherence to the Mediterranean diet, although the app does not increase adherence

Impact of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring on reclassification of hypertension prevalence and control in older people in Spain

This is the submitted version of the following article: Impact of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring on reclassification of hypertension prevalence and control in older people in Spain, Journal of Clinical Hypertension 17.6:453-61 which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jch.12525. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with the Wiley Self-Archiving Policy wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id- 820227.htmlAmbulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) accurately classifies blood pressure (BP) status but its impact on the prevalence and control of hypertension is little known. The authors conducted a cross-sectional study in 2012 among 1047 individuals 60 years and older from the follow-up of a population cohort in Spain. Three casual BP measurements and 24-hour ABPM were performed under standardized conditions. Approximately 68.8% patients were hypertensive based on casual BP (≥140/90 mm Hg or current BP medication use) and 62.1% based on 24-hour ABPM (≥130/80 mm Hg or current BP medication use) (P=.009). The proportion of patients with treatment-eligible hypertension who met BP goals increased from 37.4% based on the casual BP target to 54.1% based on the 24-hour BP target (absolute difference, 16.7%; P<.01). These results were consistent across alternative BP thresholds. Therefore, compared with casual BP, 24-hour ABPM led to a reduction in the proportion of older patients recommended for hypertension treatment and a substantial increase in the proportion of those with hypertension controlData collection was funded by Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria (FIS) grants 09/1626 and 12/1166 (Ministry of Health of Spain) and by the ‘Cátedra UAM de Epidemiología y Control del Riesgo Cardiovascular’. Specific funding for this analysis was obtained from FIS grant PI13/02321

A novel method for the absolute fluorescence yield measurement by AIRFLY

One of the goals of the AIRFLY (AIR FLuorescence Yield) experiment is to measure the absolute fluorescence yield induced by electrons in air to better than 10% precision. We introduce a new technique for measurement of the absolute fluorescence yield of the 337 nm line that has the advantage of reducing the systematic uncertainty due to the detector calibration. The principle is to compare the measured fluorescence yield to a well known process - the Cerenkov emission. Preliminary measurements taken in the BFT (Beam Test Facility) in Frascati, Italy with 350 MeV electrons are presented. Beam tests in the Argonne Wakefield Accelerator at the Argonne National Laboratory, USA with 14 MeV electrons have also shown that this technique can be applied at lower energies.Comment: presented at the 5th Fluorescence Workshop, El Escorial - Madrid, Spain, 16 - 20 September 200

Temperature and Humidity Dependence of Air Fluorescence Yield measured by AIRFLY

The fluorescence detection of ultra high energy cosmic rays requires a detailed knowledge of the fluorescence light emission from nitrogen molecules over a wide range of atmospheric parameters, corresponding to altitudes typical of the cosmic ray shower development in the atmosphere. We have studied the temperature and humidity dependence of the fluorescence light spectrum excited by MeV electrons in air. Results for the 313.6 nm, 337.1 nm, 353.7 nm and 391.4 nm bands are reported in this paper. We found that the temperature and humidity dependence of the quenching process changes the fluorescence yield by a sizeable amount (up to 20%) and its effect must be included for a precise estimation of the energy of ultra high energy cosmic rays.Comment: presented at the 5th Fluorescence Workshop, El Escorial - Madrid, Spain, 16 - 20 September 2007, to appear in Nuclear Instruments and Methods

The Betic Ophiolites and the Mesozoic Evolution of the Western Tethys

The Betic Ophiolites consist of numerous tectonic slices, metric to kilometric in size, of eclogitized mafic and ultramafic rocks associated to oceanic metasediments, deriving from the Betic oceanic domain. The outcrop of these ophiolites is aligned along 250 km in the Mulhacen Complex of the Nevado-Filabride Domain, located at the center-eastern zone of the Betic Cordillera (SE Spain). According to petrological/geochemical inferences and SHRIMP (Sensitive High Resolution Ion Micro-Probe) dating of igneous zircons, the Betic oceanic lithosphere originated along an ultra-slow mid-ocean ridge, after rifting, thinning and breakup of the preexisting continental crust. The Betic oceanic sector, located at the westernmost end of the Tethys Ocean, developed from the Lower to Middle Jurassic (185-170 Ma), just at the beginning of the Pangaea break-up between the Iberia-European and the Africa-Adrian plates. Subsequently, the oceanic spreading migrated northeastward to form the Ligurian and Alpine Tethys oceans, from 165 to 140 Ma. Breakup and oceanization isolated continental remnants, known as the Mesomediterranean Terrane, which were deformed and affected by the Upper Cretaceous-Paleocene Eo-Alpine high-pressure metamorphic event, due to the intra-oceanic subduction of the Jurassic oceanic lithosphere and the related continental margins. This process was followed by the partial exhumation of the subducted oceanic rocks onto their continental margins, forming the Betic and Alpine Ophiolites. Subsequently, along the Upper Oligocene and Miocene, the deformed and metamorphosed Mesomediterranean Terrane was dismembered into different continental blocks collectively known as AlKaPeCa microplate (Alboran, Kabylian, Peloritan and Calabrian). In particular, the Alboran block was displaced toward the SW to occupy its current setting between the Iberian and African plates, due to the Neogene opening of the Algero-Provencal Basin. During this translation, the different domains of the Alboran microplate, forming the Internal Zones of the Betic and Rifean Cordilleras, collided with the External Zones representing the Iberian and African margins and, together with them, underwent the later alpine deformation and metamorphism, characterized by local differences of P-T (Pressure-Temperature) conditions. These Neogene metamorphic processes, known as Meso-Alpine and Neo-Alpine events, developed in the Nevado-Filabride Domain under Ab-Ep amphibolite and greenschists facies conditions, respectively, causing retrogradation and intensive deformation of the Eo-Alpine eclogites.This research was funded by Project CGL2009-12369 of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, co-financed with FEDER funds, and by Research Group RNM 333 of Junta de Andalucía (Spain)

Gut microbiota composition and arterial stiffness measured by pulse wave velocity: Case-control study protocol (MIVAS study)

[Introduction]: Intestinal microbiota is arising as a new element in the physiopathology of cardiovascular diseases. A healthy microbiota includes a balanced representation of bacteria with health promotion functions (symbiotes). The aim of this study is to analyse the relationship between intestinal microbiota composition and arterial stiffness. [Methods and analysis]: An observational case—control study will be developed. Cases will be defined by the presence of at least one of the following: carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV), Cardio-Ankle Vascular Index (CAVI), brachial ankle pulse wave velocity (ba or ba-PWV) above the 90th percentile, for age and sex, of the reference population. Controls will be selected from the same population as cases. The study will be developed in Primary Healthcare Centres. We will select 500 subjects (250 cases and 250 controls), between 45 and 74 years of age. Cases will be selected from a database that combines data from EVA study (Spain) and Guimarães/Vizela study (Portugal). Measurements: cf-PWV will be measured using the SphygmoCor system, CAVI, ba-PWV and Ankle-Brachial Index will be determined using VaSera device. Gut microbiome composition in faecal samples will be determined by 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing. Lifestyle will be assessed by food frequency questionnaire, adherence to the Mediterranean diet and IPAQ (International Physical Activity Questionnaire). Body composition will be evaluated by bioimpedance. [Ethics and dissemination]: The study has been approved by ‘Committee of ethics of research with medicines of the health area of Salamanca’ on 14 December 2018 (cod. 2018-11-136) and the ’Ethics committee for health of Guimaraes’ (Portugal) on 15 October 2019 (ref: 67/2019).All study participants will sign an informed consent form agreeing to participate in the study, in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki and the WHO standards for observational studies. The results of this study will allow a better description of gut microbiota in patients with arterial stiffness.The project has been funded by the Carlos III Health Institute (Spain) through the Network of preventive activities and health promotion (redIAPP, RD16/0007), co-financed with European funds for regional development (FEDER) and the Autonomous Government of Castilla y León (GRS 1820/B/18; GRS 1944/B/19 and intensification programme)