ESTUDIO COMPARATIVO DEL DESARROLLO DE LA ALFABETIZACIÓN EN POBLACIONES DE EDUCACIÓN PRIMARIA Y PREESCOLAR

A comparative study about early literacy of 33 children from elementary school and 27 children from kindergarden was carried out, applying the Instrumento de Observación de los Logros de la Lectoescritura Inicial (Escamilla, Andrade, Basurto y Ruíz, 1996). The purpose of the present work was to characterize the level of early literacy considering the knowledge of the language written in both groups. The groups were evaluated in the first two weeks of the month of September and of October of the school cycle 2011-2012. In the results it was observed that they were only significant differences in the identification of letters. The results are discussed in relation to the concept of early literacy

Millimagnitude Photometry for Transiting Extrasolar Planetary Candidates IV: The Puzzle of the Extremely Red OGLE-TR-82 Primary Solved

We present precise new V, I, and K-band photometry for the planetary transit candidate star OGLE-TR-82. Good seeing V-band images acquired with VIMOS instrument at ESO VLT allowed us to measure V=20.6+-0.03 mag star in spite of the presence of a brighter neighbour about 1" away. This faint magnitude answers the question why it has not been possible to measure radial velocities for this object. One transit of this star has been observed with GMOS-S instrument of GEMINI-South telescope in i and g-bands. The measurement of the transit allows us to verify that this is not a false positive, to confirm the transit amplitude measured by OGLE, and to improve the ephemeris. The transit is well defined in i-band light curve, with a depth of A_i=0.034 mag. It is however, less well defined, but deeper (A_g=0.1 mag) in the g-band, in which the star is significantly fainter. The near-infrared photometry obtained with SofI array at the ESO-NTT yields K=12.2+-0.1 and V-K=8.4+-0.1, so red that it is unlike any other transit candidate studied before. Due to the extreme nature of this object, we have not yet been able to measure velocities for this star, but based on the new data we consider two different possible configurations:(1) a nearby M7V star, or (2) a blend with a very reddened distant red giant. The nearby M7V dwarf hypothesis would give a radius for the companion of R_p=0.3+-0.1 R_J, i.e. the size of Neptune. Quantitative analysis of near-IR spectroscopy finally shows that OGLE-TR-82 is a distant, reddened metal poor early K giant. This result is confirmed by direct comparison with stellar templates that gives the best match for a K3III star. Therefore, we discard the planetary nature of the companion. Based on all the new data, we conclude that this system is a main-sequence binary blended with a background red giant.Comment: 26 pages, 9 figures, ApJ accepte

Millimagnitude Photometry for Transiting Extrasolar Planetary Candidates: II. Transits of OGLE-TR-113-b in the Optical and Near-IR

We present precise V and Ks-band transit photometry for the planetary host star OGLE-TR-113. Using the Ks-band photometry, we confirm the dwarf nature of OGLE-TR-113, and obtain new estimates for its effective temperature, distance and reddening. We employ the V-band photometry to obtain planetary and orbit parameters from the transit fit, a= (0.0232 \pm 0.0038) AU, orbital period P= (1.4324752 \pm 0.0000015) days, i= 86.7 - 90, R_p= (1.09 \pm 0.09) R_J. These values are in excellent agreement with previous works. Assuming a mass M_p= (1.32 \pm 0.19) M_J for the planet we obtain its mean density \rho= (1.26 \pm 0.50) g cm^{-3}, also in agreement with previous works. The transit observed in the Ks-band has a larger scatter and we find its amplitude to be consistent with that in the V-band. In this way, we find an independent confirmation of the planetary nature of OGLE-TR-113b.Comment: 26 pages, 10 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

Outcome of transplantation for acute lymphoblastic leukemia in children with down syndrome

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106900/1/pbc24918.pd

Outcome of Transplantation for Acute Myelogenous Leukemia in Children with Down Syndrome

AbstractData on outcomes of allogeneic transplantation in children with Down syndrome and acute myelogenous leukemia (DS-AML) are scarce and conflicting. Early reports stress treatment-related mortality as the main barrier; a recent case series points to posttransplantation relapse. We reviewed outcome data for 28 patients with DS-AML reported to the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research between 2000 and 2009 and performed a first matched-pair analysis of 21 patients with DS-AML and 80 non-DS AML controls. The median age at transplantation for DS-AML was 3 years, and almost half of the cohort was in second remission. The 3-year probability of overall survival was only 19%. In multivariate analysis, adjusting for interval from diagnosis to transplantation, risks of relapse (hazard ratio [HR], 2.84; P < .001; 62% versus 37%) and transplant-related mortality (HR, 2.52; P = .04; 24% versus 15%) were significantly higher for DS-AML compared to non-DS AML. Overall mortality risk (HR, 2.86; P < .001; 21% versus 52%) was significantly higher for DS-AML. Both transplant-related mortality and relapse contribute to higher mortality. Excess mortality in DS-AML patients can only effectively be addressed through an international multicenter effort to pilot strategies aimed at lowering both transplant-related mortality and relapse risks

Clinical characteristics and outcome of drug-induced liver injury in the older patients: from the young-old to the oldest-old

Old patients with hepatotoxicity have been scarcely studied in idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury (DILI) cohorts. We sought for the distinctive characteristics of DILI in older patients across age groups. A total of 882 DILI patients included in the Spanish DILI Registry (33% ≥65 years) were categorized according to age: “young” (<65y); “young-old” (65-74y); “middle-old” (75-84y); and “oldest-old” (≥85y). All elderly groups had increasingly higher comorbidity burden (p<0.001) and polypharmacy (p<0.001). There was a relationship between jaundice and hospitalization (p<0.001), and both were more prevalent in the elderly age groups, especially in the oldest-old (88% and 69%, respectively) and the DILI episode was more severe (p=0.029). The proportion of females decreased across age groups from the young to the middle-old, yet in the oldest-old there was a distinct female predominance. Pattern of liver injury shifted towards cholestatic with increasing age among top culprit drugs amoxicillin- clavulanate, atorvastatin, levofloxacin, ibuprofen, and ticlopidine. The best cut-off point for increased odds of cholestatic DILI was 65y. Older patients had increased non-liver related mortality (p=0.030) as shown by the predictive capacity of MELD (OR=1.116; p<0.001), and comorbidity burden (OR=4.188; p=0.001) in the 6-month mortality. Older patients with DILI exhibited an increasingly predominant cholestatic phenotype across a range of culprit drugs other that amoxicillin-clavulanate, with increased non-liver related mortality and require a different approach to predict outcome. The oldest DILI patients exhibited a particular phenotype with more severe DILI episodes and need to be considered when stratifying older DILI populations.The present study has been supported by grants of Instituto de Salud Carlos III cofounded by Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional - FEDER (contract numbers: PI 18/01804; PT17/0017/0020) and Agencia Española del Medicamento. SCReN and CIBERehd are funded by ISCIII. JSC holds a Rio Hortega (CM17/00243) and MR a “Joan Rodes” (JR16/00015) research contract from the National Health System, ISCIII. RAW held a University of Málaga visiting scientist scholarship

Evolution of CRISPR-associated endonucleases as inferred from resurrected proteins

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-associated Cas9 is an effector protein that targets invading DNA and plays a major role in the prokaryotic adaptive immune system. Although Streptococcus pyogenes CRISPR–Cas9 has been widely studied and repurposed for applications including genome editing, its origin and evolution are poorly understood. Here, we investigate the evolution of Cas9 from resurrected ancient nucleases (anCas) in extinct firmicutes species that last lived 2.6 billion years before the present. We demonstrate that these ancient forms were much more flexible in their guide RNA and protospacer-adjacent motif requirements compared with modern-day Cas9 enzymes. Furthermore, anCas portrays a gradual palaeoenzymatic adaptation from nickase to double-strand break activity, exhibits high levels of activity with both single-stranded DNA and single-stranded RNA targets and is capable of editing activity in human cells. Prediction and characterization of anCas with a resurrected protein approach uncovers an evolutionary trajectory leading to functionally flexible ancient enzymes.This work has been supported by grant nos. PID2019-109087RB-I00 (to R.P.-J.) and RTI2018-101223-B-I00 and PID2021-127644OB-I00 (to L.M.) from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 964764 (to R.P.-J.). The content presented in this document represents the views of the authors, and the European Commission has no liability in respect to the content. We acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Foundation for the Promotion of Research of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. A.F. acknowledges Spanish Center for Biomedical Network Research on Rare Diseases (CIBERE) intramural funds (no. ER19P5AC756/2021). F.J.M.M. acknowledges research support by Conselleria d’Educació, Investigació, Cultura i Esport from Generalitat Valenciana, research project nos. PROMETEO/2017/129 and PROMETEO/2021/057. M.M. acknowledges funding from CIBERER (grant no. ER19P5AC728/2021). The work has received funding from the Regional Government of Madrid (grant no. B2017/BMD3721 to M.A.M.-P.) and from Instituto de Salud Carlos III, cofounded with the European Regional Development Fund ‘A way to make Europe’ within the National Plans for Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation 2017–2020 and 2021–2024 (nos. PI17/1659, PI20/0429 and IMP/00009; to M.A.M.-P. B.P.K. was supported by an MGH ECOR Howard M. Goodman Award and NIH P01 HL142494

Living at a geographically higher elevation is associates with lower risk oof metabolic syndrome: prospective analysis of the SUN Cohort

Living in a geographically higher altitude affects oxygen availability. The possible connection between environmental factors and the development of metabolic syndrome (MetS) feature is not fully understood, being the available epidemiological evidence still very limited. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the longitudinal association between altitude and incidence of MetS and each of its components in a prospective Spanish cohort, The Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra (SUN) project. Our study included 6860 highly educated subjects (university graduates) free from any MetS criteria at baseline. The altitude of residence was imputed with the postal code of each individual subject residence according to the data of the Spanish National Cartographic Institute and participants were categorized into tertiles. MetS was defined according to the harmonized definition. Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the association between the altitude of residence and the risk of MetS during follow-up. After a median follow-up period of 10 years, 462 incident cases of MetS were identified. When adjusting for potential confounders, subjects in the highest category of altitude (>456m) exhibited a significantly lower risk of developing MetS compared to those in the lowes ttertile (<122m) of altitude of residence [Model2:Hazardratio=0.75(95%Confidenceinterval:0.58–0.97);pfortrend=0.029]. Living at geographically higher altitude was associated with alower risk of developing MetS in the SUN project. Our findings suggest that geographical elevation may be an important factor linked to metabolic diseases

Surgical treatment for colorectal cancer: Analysis of the influence of an enhanced recovery programme on long-term oncological outcomes-a study protocol for a prospective, multicentre, observational cohort study

Introduction The evidence currently available from enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) programmes concerns their benefits in the immediate postoperative period, but there is still very little evidence as to whether their correct implementation benefits patients in the long term. The working hypothesis here is that, due to the lower response to surgical aggression and lower rates of postoperative complications, ERAS protocols can reduce colorectal cancer-related mortality. The main objective of this study is to analyse the impact of an ERAS programme for colorectal cancer on 5-year survival. As secondary objectives, we propose to analyse the weight of each of the predefined items in the oncological results as well as the quality of life. Methods and analysis A multicentre prospective cohort study was conducted in patients older than 18 years of age who are scheduled to undergo surgery for colorectal cancer. The study involved 12 hospitals with an implemented enhanced recovery protocol according to the guidelines published by the Spanish National Health Service. The intervention group includes patients with a minimum implementation level of 70%, and the control group includes those who fail to reach this level. Compliance will be studied using 18 key performance indicators, and the results will be analysed using cancer survival indicators, including overall survival, cancer-specific survival and relapse-free survival. The time to recurrence, perioperative morbidity and mortality, hospital stay and quality of life will also be studied, the latter using the validated EuroQol Five questionnaire. The propensity index method will be used to create comparable treatment and control groups, and a multivariate regression will be used to study each variable. The Kaplan-Meier estimator will be used to estimate survival and the log-rank test to make comparisons. A p value of less than 0.05 (two-tailed) will be considered to be significant. Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval for this study was obtained from the Aragon Ethical Committee (C.P.-C.I. PI20/086) on 4 March 2020. The findings of this study will be submitted to peer-reviewed journals (BMJ Open, JAMA Surgery, Annals of Surgery, British Journal of Surgery). Abstracts will be submitted to relevant national and international meetings.The present research study was awarded a Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación health research project grant (PI19/00291) from the Carlos III Institute of the Spanish National Health Service as part of the 2019 call for Strategic Action in Health

Morbid liver manifestations are intrinsically bound to metabolic syndrome and nutrient intake based on a machine-learning cluster analysis

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is one of the most important medical problems around the world. Identification of patient ' s singular characteristic could help to reduce the clinical impact and facilitate individualized management. This study aimed to categorize MetS patients using phenotypical and clinical variables habitually collected during health check-ups of individuals considered to have high cardiovascular risk. The selected markers to categorize MetS participants included anthropometric variables as well as clinical data, biochemical parameters and prescribed pharmacological treatment. An exploratory factor analysis was carried out with a subsequent hierarchical cluster analysis using the z-scores from factor analysis. The first step identified three different factors. The first was determined by hypercholesterolemia and associated treatments, the second factor exhibited glycemic disorders and accompanying treatments and the third factor was characterized by hepatic enzymes. Subsequently four clusters of patients were identified, where cluster 1 was characterized by glucose disorders and treatments, cluster 2 presented mild MetS, cluster 3 presented exacerbated levels of hepatic enzymes and cluster 4 highlighted cholesterol and its associated treatments Interestingly, the liver status related cluster was characterized by higher protein consumption and cluster 4 with low polyunsaturated fatty acid intake. This research emphasized the potential clinical relevance of hepatic impairments in addition to MetS traditional characterization for precision and personalized management of MetS patients