Phonological fluency norms for Spanish middle-aged and older adults provided by the SCAND initiative (P, M, & R)

Objective: Verbal fluency tests are quick and easy to administer neuropsychological measures and are regularly used in neuropsychological assessment. Additionally, phonological fluency is a widely used paradigm that is sensitive to cognitive impairment. This paper offers normative data of phonological verbal fluency (letters P, M, R) for Spanish middle- and older-aged adults, considering sociodemographic factors, and different measures such as the total number of words, errors (perseveration and intrusions), and 15 sec-segmented scores. Method: A total of 1165 cognitively unimpaired participants aged between 50 and 89 years old, participated in the study. Data for P were obtained for all participants. Letters M and R were also administered to a subsample of participants (852) aged 60 to 89 years. In addition, errors and words produced every 15 seconds were collected in the subsample. To verify the effect of sociodemographic variables, linear regression was used. Adjustments were calculated for variables that explained at least 5% of the variance (R2 ≥ .05). Results: Means and standard deviations by age, scaled scores, and percentiles for all tests across different measures are shown. No determination coefficients equal to or greater than .05 were found for sex or age. The need to establish adjustments for the educational level was only found in some of the measures. Conclusions: The current norms provide clinically useful data to evaluate Spanish-speaking natives from Spain aged from 50 to 89 years. Specific patterns of cognitive impairment can be analyzed using these normative data and may be important in neuropsychological assessmentObjective: Verbal fluency tests are quick and easy to administer neuropsychological measures and are regularly used in neuropsychological assessment. Additionally, phonological fluency is a widely used paradigm that is sensitive to cognitive impairment. This paper offers normative data of phonological verbal fluency (letters P, M, R) for Spanish middle- and older-aged adults, considering sociodemographic factors, and different measures such as the total number of words, errors (perseveration and intrusions), and 15 sec-segmented scores. Method: A total of 1165 cognitively unimpaired participants aged between 50 and 89 years old, participated in the study. Data for P were obtained for all participants. Letters M and R were also administered to a subsample of participants (852) aged 60 to 89 years. In addition, errors and words produced every 15 seconds were collected in the subsample. To verify the effect of sociodemographic variables, linear regression was used. Adjustments were calculated for variables that explained at least 5% of the variance (R2 ≥ .05). Results: Means and standard deviations by age, scaled scores, and percentiles for all tests across different measures are shown. No determination coefficients equal to or greater than .05 were found for sex or age. The need to establish adjustments for the educational level was only found in some of the measures. Conclusions: The current norms provide clinically useful data to evaluate Spanish-speaking natives from Spain aged from 50 to 89 years. Specific patterns of cognitive impairment can be analyzed using these normative data and may be important in neuropsychological assessmentS

Revisión bibliográfica: patrones radiológicos en patologías pulmonares de etiología infecciosa

Las enfermedades infecciosas del aparato por el tractor ha sido históricamente una de las más importantes entorno a las causas de insuficiencia respiratoria aguda, sepsis, y muerte. Generalmente las patologías de carácter infecciosas vienen acompañados en el sistema respiratorio de signos y síntomas variados que preceden a la insuficiencia respiratoria o síndrome de distrés respiratorio del adulto, existen muchas patologías en esta rama y cada vez son más frecuentes las enfermedades que nacen gracias a múltiples factores medioambientales. En la última experiencia del COVID 19, demostró cuán vulnerable somos ante este tipo de patologías. La importancia de exámenes diagnósticos que nos permitan apuntar tratamiento efectivo cada vez se ha hecho más evidente, este artículo busca resaltar los principales patrones a observar en los exámenes complementarios de imágenes enfocados a la patología así infecciosas respiratorias

Revisión bibliográfica: secuencia de entubación rápida, una técnica que no solo los anestesiólogos deben dominar

La secuencia entubación rápida es una técnica muy utilizada en los servicios de emergencia, cuidados intensivos, y quirófano central esta técnica lo que hace básicamente es aislar la vía aérea para poder garantizar una correcta ventilación y perfusión del paciente en estado crítico. Es una técnica básicamente dominada por los servicios de anestesiología pero debe de ser una práctica rutinaria de todos los médicos que hacen emergencia en las casas de salud, proveer al paciente de una vía aérea accesible, permeable y eficaz puede ser la diferencia entre la vida y la muerte. Consta de 7 pasos los cual es se resumirán en el siguiente trabajo de revisión bibliográfica con la finalidad de una forma práctica plasmar los principales elementos en torno a este particular

Calidad de agua de riego. Variación espacial y temporal en el canal Principal del Este del dique Las Pirquitas, provincia de Catamarca

El canal Principal del Este, correspondiente a uno de los subsistemas de riego, atraviesa en toda su extensión distintas zonas urbanas, utilizándose el agua de riego que conduce para otros fines como ser recreación, riego de parques, consumo humano y para el consumo animal ocasional. Respecto de la calidad del agua que transporta este canal, la información sobre sus características físico-químicas no se encuentra disponible. Por ello se planteó la determinación de la calidad del agua con fines de riego de este canal principal en distintos puntos a lo largo de su longitud, a modo de repeticiones, en distintas épocas del año para conocer su variación espacial y temporal. Los resultados obtenidos permitieron afirmar que la calidad del agua, por sus características físico-químicas, es aceptable a lo largo de todo el año.The channel Principal del Este, corresponding to one of the subsystems of irrigation, through its various extension throughout urban areas, leading irrigation water for other purposes such as recreation, parks irrigation, human consumption and animal feed used occasional. In reference to water quality that transports this channel, information of their physical chemical characteristics is not available. Therefore the determination of the water quality of this main channel at different points along its length, for repetitions in different seasons to meet their spatial and temporal variation was raised. The results allowed to state that the water quality, for their physicochemical characteristics, is acceptable throughout the year.EEA CatamarcaFil: Demin, Pablo Enrique. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Catamarca; ArgentinaFil: Barrera Rivera, Maria Belen. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Catamarca; ArgentinaFil: Assán, Marcelo. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Delgado, Eber. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Baravalle, Fernando. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Gorosito, Stella Maris. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Segovia, Federico. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Curarello, Juan Ignacio. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Catamarca; Argentin

Eficiencia de conducción del sistema de riego del embalse Las Pirquitas en la Provincia de Catamarca, Argentina = Conduction efficiency of irrigation system of the reservoir Las Pirquitas in the Catamarca Province, Argentina

La provincia de Catamarca posee un clima árido en la mayor parte de su territorio, lo cual hace indispensable el riego para la producción. En la zona central de esta provincia se encuentra uno de los sistemas de riego mediante canales más importantes de la misma, el cual es abastecido de agua por el embalse Las Pirquitas. Este sistema de riego consta de tres canales principales, dos de los cuales son los más importantes por el caudal que transportan y la longitud que poseen. El desconocimiento de las pérdidas por infiltración de estos canales es uno de los problemas en la zona, por ello se planteó la determinación de la eficiencia de conducción de estos canales. Para esta determinación se dividieron esquemáticamente los dos canales principales en trayectos y en cada uno de ellos se utilizó el método de caudal de entrada y salida. Las mediciones de caudal se realizaron con el método de sección y velocidad, para esta última se utilizó un molinete. Los resultados permitieron conocer que en general las eficiencias en los dos canales principales son aceptables, a pesar de la antigüedad de cincuenta y seis años de uno de los canales.In the province of Catamarca, irrigation is essential for production since the region have arid climate in most of its territory. In the central area of the province exist one of the irrigation systems by means of channels, which is supplied with water by the reservoir Las Pirquitas. Irrigation system has three main channels, two of them are most important for flow transporting and length. Knowledge of losses by infiltration in these channels is need; therefore determining conduit efficiency of these channels was performed. In these study two main channels was schematically divided on segments, where input and output flow was measurements. Flow measurements were performed using section and velocity method, velocity was estimate using water velocity meter. Results allowed to know that the efficiencies are acceptable, although fifty-six years of age from a channel.EEA CatamarcaFil: Demin, Pablo Enrique. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Catamarca; ArgentinaFil: Barrera Rivera, Maria Belen. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Catamarca; ArgentinaFil: Assán, Marcelo. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Delgado, Eber. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Baravalle, Fernando. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Gorosito, Stella Maris. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Segovia, Federico. Universidad Nacional de Catamarca. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Curarello, Juan Ignacio. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Catamarca; Argentin

Human iPSC derived disease model of MERTK-associated retinitis pigmentosa

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) represents a genetically heterogeneous group of retinal dystrophies affecting mainly the rod photoreceptors and in some instances also the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells of the retina. Clinical symptoms and disease progression leading to moderate to severe loss of vision are well established and despite significant progress in the identification of causative genes, the disease pathology remains unclear. Lack of this understanding has so far hindered development of effective therapies. Here we report successful generation of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) from skin fibroblasts of a patient harboring a novel Ser331Cysfs*5 mutation in the MERTK gene. The patient was diagnosed with an early onset and severe form of autosomal recessive RP (arRP). Upon differentiation of these iPSC towards RPE, patient-specific RPE cells exhibited defective phagocytosis, a characteristic phenotype of MERTK deficiency observed in human patients and animal models. Thus we have created a faithful cellular model of arRP incorporating the human genetic background which will allow us to investigate in detail the disease mechanism, explore screening of a variety of therapeutic compounds/reagents and design either combined cell and gene- based therapies or independent approaches.This work was supported by Andalusian Health Council (PI-0324-2013), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI13/01331), Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness-FEDER BFU2012-36845, Instituto de Salud Carlos III RETICS RD12/0034/0010 and Academy of Finland (218050; 272808)

Detailed Characterization of Mesenchymal Stem/Stromal Cells from a Large Cohort of AML Patients Demonstrates a Definitive Link to Treatment Outcomes

Altres ajuts: Health Canada's Genomics Research and Development Initiative Phase VI (H4080-144541-2014-2019); Obra Social La Caixa-Fundació Josep Carreras and the Generalitat de Catalunya (SGR330); Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer (AECC-CI-2015)Bone marrow mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (BM-MSCs) are key components of the hematopoietic niche thought to have a direct role in leukemia pathogenesis. BM-MSCs from patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have been poorly characterized due to disease heterogeneity. We report a functional, genetic, and immunological characterization of BM-MSC cultures from 46 AML patients, stratified by molecular/cytogenetics into low-risk (LR), intermediate-risk (IR), and high-risk (HR) subgroups. Stable MSC cultures were successfully established and characterized from 40 of 46 AML patients irrespective of the risk subgroup. AML-derived BM-MSCs never harbored tumor-specific cytogenetic/molecular alterations present in blasts, but displayed higher clonogenic potential than healthy donor (HD)-derived BM-MSCs. Although HD- and AML-derived BM-MSCs equally provided chemoprotection to AML cells in vitro, AML-derived BM-MSCs were more immunosuppressive/anti-inflammatory, enhanced suppression of lymphocyte proliferation, and diminished secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Multivariate analysis revealed that the level of interleukin-10 produced by AML-derived BM-MSCs as an independent prognostic factor negatively affected overall survival. Collectively our data show that AML-derived BM-MSCs are not tumor related, but display functional differences contributing to therapy resistance and disease evolution. In this article, Díaz de la Guardia and colleagues report a functional, genetic, and immunological characterization of BM-MSC cultures from 46 AML patients, stratified by molecular/cytogenetics into low-risk (LR), intermediate-risk (IR), and high-risk (HR) subgroups. BM-MSCs never harbored tumor-specific cytogenetic/molecular alterations present in blasts, and IL-10 produced by AML-derived BM-MSCs is an independent prognostic factor negatively impacting on overall survival

Target genes, variants, tissues and transcriptional pathways influencing human serum urate levels.

Elevated serum urate levels cause gout and correlate with cardiometabolic diseases via poorly understood mechanisms. We performed a trans-ancestry genome-wide association study of serum urate in 457,690 individuals, identifying 183 loci (147 previously unknown) that improve the prediction of gout in an independent cohort of 334,880 individuals. Serum urate showed significant genetic correlations with many cardiometabolic traits, with genetic causality analyses supporting a substantial role for pleiotropy. Enrichment analysis, fine-mapping of urate-associated loci and colocalization with gene expression in 47 tissues implicated the kidney and liver as the main target organs and prioritized potentially causal genes and variants, including the transcriptional master regulators in the liver and kidney, HNF1A and HNF4A. Experimental validation showed that HNF4A transactivated the promoter of ABCG2, encoding a major urate transporter, in kidney cells, and that HNF4A p.Thr139Ile is a functional variant. Transcriptional coregulation within and across organs may be a general mechanism underlying the observed pleiotropy between urate and cardiometabolic traits.The Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) Project was supported by the Common Fund of the Office of the Director of the National Institutes of Health, and by NCI, NHGRI, NHLBI, NIDA, NIMH, and NINDS. Variant annotation was supported by software resources provided via the Caché Campus program of the InterSystems GmbH to Alexander Teumer

Spatiotemporal Characteristics of the Largest HIV-1 CRF02_AG Outbreak in Spain: Evidence for Onward Transmissions

Background and Aim: The circulating recombinant form 02_AG (CRF02_AG) is the predominant clade among the human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) non-Bs with a prevalence of 5.97% (95% Confidence Interval-CI: 5.41–6.57%) across Spain. Our aim was to estimate the levels of regional clustering for CRF02_AG and the spatiotemporal characteristics of the largest CRF02_AG subepidemic in Spain.Methods: We studied 396 CRF02_AG sequences obtained from HIV-1 diagnosed patients during 2000–2014 from 10 autonomous communities of Spain. Phylogenetic analysis was performed on the 391 CRF02_AG sequences along with all globally sampled CRF02_AG sequences (N = 3,302) as references. Phylodynamic and phylogeographic analysis was performed to the largest CRF02_AG monophyletic cluster by a Bayesian method in BEAST v1.8.0 and by reconstructing ancestral states using the criterion of parsimony in Mesquite v3.4, respectively.Results: The HIV-1 CRF02_AG prevalence differed across Spanish autonomous communities we sampled from (p < 0.001). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that 52.7% of the CRF02_AG sequences formed 56 monophyletic clusters, with a range of 2–79 sequences. The CRF02_AG regional dispersal differed across Spain (p = 0.003), as suggested by monophyletic clustering. For the largest monophyletic cluster (subepidemic) (N = 79), 49.4% of the clustered sequences originated from Madrid, while most sequences (51.9%) had been obtained from men having sex with men (MSM). Molecular clock analysis suggested that the origin (tMRCA) of the CRF02_AG subepidemic was in 2002 (median estimate; 95% Highest Posterior Density-HPD interval: 1999–2004). Additionally, we found significant clustering within the CRF02_AG subepidemic according to the ethnic origin.Conclusion: CRF02_AG has been introduced as a result of multiple introductions in Spain, following regional dispersal in several cases. We showed that CRF02_AG transmissions were mostly due to regional dispersal in Spain. The hot-spot for the largest CRF02_AG regional subepidemic in Spain was in Madrid associated with MSM transmission risk group. The existence of subepidemics suggest that several spillovers occurred from Madrid to other areas. CRF02_AG sequences from Hispanics were clustered in a separate subclade suggesting no linkage between the local and Hispanic subepidemics