A Digital Cancer Ecosystem to Deliver Health and Psychosocial Education as Preventive Intervention

Health education and psychosocial interventions prevent emotional distress, and the latter has been shown to have an impact on survival. In turn, digital health education interventions may help promote equity by reaching a higher number of cancer patients, both because they avoid journeys to the hospital, by and having a better efficiency. A total of 234 women recently diagnosed with breast cancer in a comprehensive cancer center used the digital ecosystem ICOnnecta't from March 2019 to March 2021. ICOnnecta't consists of four care levels, provided to patients according to their level of distress. The second level of this intervention consists of an educational campus, which was analyzed to track users' interests and their information-seeking behavior. Overall, 99 out of 234 women (42.3%) used the educational campus. There were no significant differences in sociodemographic and clinical variables between the campus users and non-users. Among users, the median number of resources utilized per user was four (interquartile range: 2-9). Emotional and medical resources were the contents most frequently viewed and the audiovisual format the most consulted (p < 0.01). Resources were used mainly within the first three months from enrolment. Users who were guided to visit the virtual campus were more active than spontaneous users. Offering an early holistic health educational platform inside a digital cancer ecosystem, with health professionals involved, can reach more patients, promoting equity in the access of cancer information and prevention, from the very beginning of the disease

Responses to salinity stress in bivalves: Evidence of ontogenetic changes in energetic physiology on Cerastoderma edule

Estuarine bivalves are especially susceptible to salinity fluctuations. Stage-specific sensibilities may influence the structure and spatial distribution of the populations. Here we investigate differences on the energetic strategy of thread drifters (3–4 mm) and sedentary settlers (9–10 mm) of Cerastoderma edule over a wide range of salinities. Several physiological indicators (clearance, respiration and excretion rates, O:N) were measured during acute (2 days) and acclimated responses (7 days of exposure) for both size classes. Our results revealed a common lethal limit for both developmental stages (Salinity 15) but a larger physiological plasticity of thread drifters than sedentary settlers. Acclimation processes in drifters were initiated after 2 days of exposure and they achieved complete acclimation by day 7. Sedentary settlers delay acclimation and at day 7 feeding activity had not resumed and energetic losses through respiration and excretion were higher at the lowest salinity treatment. Different responses facing salinity stress might be related to differences in habitat of each stage. For sedentary settlers which occupy relatively stable niches, energy optimisation include delaying the initiation of the energetically expensive acclimation processes while drifters which occupy less stable environments require a more flexible process which allow them to optimize energy acquisition as fast as possible.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad | Ref. CTM2014–51935-RXunta de Galicia | Ref. POS-B/2016/032Xunta de Galicia | Ref. GRC2013–00

Automatic differentiation of Eucalyptus species through Sentinel-2 images, Worldview-3 images and LiDAR data

Eucalyptus constitutes one of the most common tree genera used in forest plantations worldwide. In Europe, Eucalyptus trees are especially common in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, E. nitens and E. globulus being the most commonly cultivated species. Each species presents particularities that lend to different exploitation strategies and industrial usages. Therefore, updated knowledge about the abundance and spatial distribution of the different species is important for forest planning. This is a special challenge for areas where forest land is highly fragmented. Remote sensing has been used to efficiently monitor the distribution of the Eucalyptus genera, however little research has been able to map specific Eucalyptus species. This study evaluates the efficiency of Sentinel-2 data, Worldview-3 images, and Airborne LiDAR data in the differentiation of E. nitens and E. globulus. Supervised classifications were performed using neural networks for these data sets both individually and in combination. The highest accuracies were obtained when using Sentinel-2 data in combination with LiDAR point clouds and when using Sentinel-2 data in a multitemporal approach. The best time of year to differentiate between the two species is during the emergence of spring shoots. Worldview-3 images have a moderate capacity to differentiate between the two species, although this is increased when textural metrics are included. This study can serve as the basis for generating Eucalyptus species distribution maps, which will allow for improved forest management and planning.Xunta de GaliciaAgencia Estatal de Investigación | Ref. PID2019-111581RB-I00Universidade de Vigo/CISU

Suspended monolayer graphene under true uniaxial deformation

2D crystals, such as graphene, exhibit the higher strength and stiffness of any other known man-made or natural material. So far, this assertion has been primarily based on modelling predictions and on bending experiments in combination with pertinent modelling. True uniaxial loading of suspended graphene is not easy to accomplish; however such an experiment is of paramount importance in order to assess the intrinsic properties of graphene without the influence of an underlying substrate. In this work we report on uniaxial tension of graphene up to moderate strains of 0.8% ca.. This has been made possible by sandwiching the graphene flake between two polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) layers and by suspending its central part by the removal of a section of PMMA with e-beam lithography. True uniaxial deformation is confirmed by the measured large phonon shifts with strain by Raman spectroscopy and the indication of lateral buckling (similar to what is observed for thin macroscopic membranes under tension). Finally, we also report on how the stress is transferred to the suspended specimen through the adhesive grips and determine the value of interfacial shear stress that is required for efficient axial loading in such a system

Proliferación masiva de cianobacterias en el embalse de Ullibarri-Gamboa

Se realizó un estudio de microalgas totales, cianobacterias y cianotoxinas en el agua que AMVISA capta desde el embalse de Ullibarri- Gamboa durante el año 2004. Se observó un gran proliferación (bloom) de cianobacterias durante los meses de Noviembre y Diciembre, principalmente debida a Gomphosphaeria sp.. Como consecuencia se detectaron microcistinas, a concentraciones inferiores al máximo permitido por la legislación. Al mismo tiempo se realizaron muestreos en la estación de tratamiento de aguas potables (ETAP) para estimar la reducción de microalgas totales, cianobacterias y microcistinas conseguida con los tratamientos efectuados.Agradecer a Francisco Javier del Río, Jefe del Área de Tratamiento y Control de Calidad de AMVISA, por ser el que puso las inquietudes y consiguió los medios para trabajar en este mundo de las microalgas del embalse. Agradecer a todo el grupo de trabajo del Departamento de Genética de la Facultad de Veterinaria de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid el apoyo y asesoramiento prestado durante todos estos años

Sponge-like molecular cage for purification of fullerenes

Since fullerenes are available in macroscopic quantities from fullerene soot, large efforts have been geared toward designing efficient strategies to obtain highly pure fullerenes, which can be subsequently applied in multiple research fields. Here we present a supramolecular nanocage synthesized by metal-directed self-assembly, which encapsulates fullerenes of different sizes. Direct experimental evidence is provided for the 1:1 encapsulation of C 60, C 70, C 76, C 78 and C 84, and solid state structures for the host-guest adducts with C 60 and C 70 have been obtained using X-ray synchrotron radiation. Furthermore, we design a washing-based strategy to exclusively extract pure C 60 from a solid sample of cage charged with a mixture of fullerenes. These results showcase an attractive methodology to selectively extract C 60 from fullerene mixtures, providing a platform to design tuned cages for selective extraction of higher fullerenes. The solid-phase fullerene encapsulation and liberation represent a twist in host-guest chemistry for molecular nanocage structures

Generation, Spectroscopic, and Chemical Characterization of an Octahedral Iron(V)-Nitrido Species with a Neutral Ligand Platform

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High RAC3 expression levels are required for induction and maintaining of cancer cell stemness

RAC3 is a transcription coactivator, usually overexpressed in several tumors and required to maintain the pluripotency in normal stem cells. In this work we studied the association between RAC3 overexpression on cancer cell stemness and the capacity of this protein to induce cancer stem properties in non tumoral cells. We performed in vitro and in vivo experiments using two strategies: by overexpressing RAC3 in the non tumoral cell line HEK293 and by silencing RAC3 in the human colorectal epithelial cell line HCT116 by transfection. Furthermore, we analysed public repository microarrays data from human colorectal tumors in different developmental stages. We found that RAC3 overexpression was mainly associated to CD133+ sidepopulation of colon cancer cells and also to early and advanced stages of colon cancer, involving increased expression of mesenchymal and stem markers. In turn, RAC3 silencing induced diminished tumoral properties and cancer stem cells as determined by Hoechst efflux, tumorspheres and clonogenic growth, which correlated with decreased Nanog and OCT4 expression. In non tumoral cells, RAC3 overexpression induced tumoral transformation; mesenchymal phenotype and stem markers expression. Moreover, these transformed cells generated tumors in vivo. Our results demonstrate that RAC3 is required for maintaining and induction of cancer cell stemness.Fil: Panelo, Laura Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas; ArgentinaFil: Soares Machado, Mileni. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas; ArgentinaFil: Rubio, Maria Fernanda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Jaworski, Felipe Martín. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Alvarado, Cecilia Viviana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas; ArgentinaFil: Paz, Leonardo A.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas; ArgentinaFil: Urtreger, Alejandro Jorge. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Oncología ; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Vazquez, Elba Susana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química Biológica de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Costas, Monica Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones Médicas; Argentin

Functional Metagenomics of the Bronchial Microbiome in COPD

Altres ajuts: Sociedad Catalana de Neumología; Fundació Catalana de Neumología; Fundació Parc Tauli; Marató de TV3; Sociedad Española de Neumología y Cirugía Torácica; Fundación Menarini; Generalitat Valenciana (Spain) [Prometeo/2009/092] i Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES)The course of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is frequently aggravated by exacerbations, and changes in the composition and activity of the microbiome may be implicated in their appearance. The aim of this study was to analyse the composition and the gene content of the microbial community in bronchial secretions of COPD patients in both stability and exacerbation. Taxonomic data were obtained by 16S rRNA gene amplification and pyrosequencing, and metabolic information through shotgun metagenomics, using the Metagenomics RAST server (MG-RAST), and the PICRUSt (Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States) programme, which predict metagenomes from 16S data. Eight severe COPD patients provided good quality sputum samples, and no significant differences in the relative abundance of any phyla and genera were found between stability and exacerbation. Bacterial biodiversity (Chao1 and Shannon indexes) did not show statistical differences and beta-diversity analysis (Bray-Curtis dissimilarity index) showed a similar microbial composition in the two clinical situations. Four functional categories showed statistically significant differences with MG-RAST at KEGG level 2: in exacerbation, Cell growth and Death and Transport and Catabolism decreased in abundance [1.6 (0.2-2.3) vs 3.6 (3.3-6.9), p = 0.012; and 1.8 (0-3.3) vs 3.6 (1.8-5.1), p = 0.025 respectively], while Cancer and Carbohydrate Metabolism increased [0.8 (0-1.5) vs 0 (0-0.5), p = 0.043; and 7 (6.4-9) vs 5.9 (6.3-6.1), p = 0.012 respectively]. In conclusion, the bronchial microbiome as a whole is not significantly modified when exacerbation symptoms appear in severe COPD patients, but its functional metabolic capabilities show significant changes in several pathways

Supramolecular fullerene sponges as catalytic masks for regioselective functionalization of C60

Isomer-pure poly-functionalized fullerenes are required to boost the development of fullerene chemistry in all fields. On a general basis, multi-adduct mixtures with uncontrolled regioselectivity are obtained, and the use of chromatographic purification is prohibitively costly and time consuming, especially in the production of solar cells. Single-isomer poly-functionalized fullerenes are only accessible via stoichiometric, multistep paths entailing protecting-unprotecting sequences. Herein, a nanocapsule is used as a supramolecular tetragonal prismatic mask to exert full control on the reactivity and the equatorial regioselectivity of Bingel-Hirsch cyclopropanation reactions of a confined C guest. Thus, equatorial bis-, tris-, and tetrakis-C homo-adducts are exclusively obtained in a stepwise manner. Furthermore, isomer-pure equatorial hetero-tetrakis-adducts or hetero-Th-hexakis-adducts are synthesized at will in one-pot synthesis for the first time. This work provides a synthetically valuable path to produce a plethora of new pure-isomer poly-functionalized C-based compounds as candidates for testing in solar cell devices and biomedical applications