Factores pronósticos como estimación de riesgo de recidiva en mujeres con cáncer de mama temprano

Objetivos: identificar los factores pronósticos en pacientes con cáncer de mama y verificar la relación entre estos factores y el riesgo de recidiva. Material y métodos: se incluyeron en el estudio 215 mujeres con diagnóstico histopatológico de cáncer de mama tratadas en el Hospital Clínico Universitario de Zaragoza. Se excluyeron a pacientes gestantes. El seguimiento se realizó, desde mayo del 2000 hasta julio del 2008. Resultados: la edad media fue de 55,8 años. La localización más repetida fue en el cuadrante superior externo de la mama izquierda (26%). El tamaño tumoral es menor de 2 cm (T1) en el 54,9% de pacientes. El tipo histológico más habitual es el carcinoma ductal infiltrante (91,2%). El Grado II es el de mayor frecuencia, en el 44,2% de los casos. La media de ganglios axilares localizados fue de 8,5. Los receptores de estrógenos encontrados fueron un 64,2% negativos y un 35,8% positivos. Los receptores de progesterona fueron negativos en el 66% de los casos y positivos en el 34% de ellos. Conclusiones: Las recidivas son estadísticamente significativas en relación con los factores pronósticos estudiados, excepto en el caso de los receptores hormonales

Spatio-temporal analysis of geomorphic recovery along an altered ephemeral stream using automated image processing

Ephemeral rivers in the Mediterranean region have been exposed to significant human disturbance over the last century. Recently, there has been a growing interest in restoring their morpho-sedimentary condition, backed by the European Water Framework Directive. Previous research has highlighted the severe geomorphic impacts of sediment extraction, such as reduced channel width and riverbed incision, but the recovery of these channels during annual flows remains poorly understood. This study presents a methodological framework to investigate geomorphologic recovery (signs of landform change) and constraints in the Rambla de Cervera (eastern Spain) from 2018 to 2021. Aerial imagery, LiDAR topography, and field surveys were used for stream segmentation, fluvial landform classification, temporal landform change, and comparison with flow characteristics from a 2D hydraulic model. The study identified three groups of segments with different channel types and recovery mechanisms. Upstream (G1), unconfined valley settings showed minor changes, indicating morphological stability. Middle segments in confined valleys (G2) showed greater alluvial channel recovery and vegetation encroachment in response to flood/no-flood periods. Downstream segments (G3), incised on cemented gravel, were highly responsive to floods but lacked landform stability due to high energy conditions. The findings suggest that channel recovery during annual floods is slow and occurs mainly downstream in degraded areas (G3). Increased sediment flux from upstream and additional sediment storage in new forms are required to recover these channels. This analysis underscores the challenge of interpreting short-term morpho-dynamic changes for long-term river recovery, but provides insight into the morpho-sedimentary conditions required to accelerate recovery of ephemeral streams

Tool for the quantitative evaluation of a Facebook app-based informal training process

The study of the impact of Facebook in academy has been mainly based on the qualitative evaluation of the academic performance and motivation of students. This work takes as starting point the use of the Facebook app Sigma in the Universidad Técnica de Ambato. Students of this university share educative resources through Sigma. This constitutes an informal learning process. We have proposed to construct Gamma, a tool for the generation of statistics and charts that illustrates the impact of the social network in the resulting learning process. This paper presents the results of the study of how Gamma is valued by those who like to do informal learning. It was checked that 1) Gamma gives feedback about the value of educative resources and social actions and that 2) it allows the quantitative measurement of the impact of using Facebook in the informal learning process. As an added value, Gamma supports the communication between supporters and detractors of the use of Facebook in the academia

Basin-wide hydromorphological analysis of ephemeral streams using machine learning algorithms‡

Sustainable river management now encompasses a much wider concept that includes hydromorphological and fluvial habitat studies. In ephemeral streams, the geomorphological characterization of channels is complex due to episodic flows and riparian vegetation dynamics. Stream channel survey and classification at the watershed scale provide the basis for geomorphological conservation, process interpretation, assessing sensitivity to disturbance, and identifying reaches that supply and store sediment. Here, we present a stream classification based on a two-step approach: (1) automatic river segmentation based on spatial variability in channel/valley morphology from topographic measurements (LiDAR, light, detection and ranging), and (2) fluvial landform and vegetation density mapping derived from multispectral open-source satellite images (Sentinel-2) using support vector machine (SVM) and Random Forest (RF) algorithms. These analyses provide continuous, quantitative spatial values of geometric (channel/valley width, slope gradient, and route distance), landform (active channel and gravel bars with five densities of vegetation cover), and hydraulic (specific stream power) variables. Four stream types were identified in the Rambla de la Viuda catchment (~1500 km2), an ephemeral gravel-bed river in eastern Spain. The spatial distribution of channel types is explained by differences in geometry (active channel width, valley width, and slope gradient) and a hydraulic parameter (specific stream power). The landforms/vegetation patterns provided insight on causal relationships between erosion and deposition processes during high flow periods and the time since the most recent large disruptive flood event. Channel type distribution provided first-order predictions about the location of reaches that supply and store sediment and thus information on sediment continuity along the river. Dam effects on downstream reaches resulted in geomorphological disequilibrium, producing narrowing of the active channel, slope reduction, and a decrease of gravel bar areal extension. The proposed catchment scale analysis provides a comprehensive and replicable methodology for environmental planning in Mediterranean ephemeral streams to guide further hydromorphological surveys at the reach scale.</p

Effects of Plantago ovata Husk on Levodopa (with Carbidopa) Bioavailability in Rabbits with Autonomic Gastrointestinal Disorders

P. 1434-1442Gastrointestinal dysfunction is common in Parkinson’s disease. Fiber therapy could be used to reduce the symptoms of gastrointestinal motility disorders. In a previous study, we showed that slowed gastrointestinal motility modified levodopa pharmacokinetics: area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) and maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) decreased and the elimination was delayed. In this study, we evaluated whether or not the hydrosoluble fiber Plantago ovata husk is useful in improving levodopa pharmacokinetics in rabbits with autonomic gastrointestinal disorders induced by the administration of the anticholinergic biperiden. Levodopa carbidopa (20:5 mg/kg), biperiden (100 g/ kg), and P. ovata husk (at two different doses: 100 and 400 mg/kg) were administered orally to rabbits for two periods of time (7 or 14 days). In all groups of animals, the AUC values were approximately 50% higher on the final day of treatment than on day 1. Cmax was also higher, with the greater increase at the 400 mg/kg dose of fiber, which resulted in a boost of approximately 35%. On day 1 of treatment and with both doses of fiber, AUC values were very similar to those obtained in previous work in rabbits with normal gastrointestinal motility, but the Cmax was lower. However, after 7 or 14 days, the AUC values were higher, but Cmax remained lower. The greatest differences were observed in plasma concentration before drug administration (Cmin), for which the highest increase was obtained with the dose of 400 mg/kg fiber on day 14 of treatment (349.8%). P. ovata husk could be beneficial in patients with Parkinson’s disease because it regulates stool transit in the intestine and because it improves levodopa pharmacokinetics when gastrointestinal peristalsis is slowed. These changes could lead to a possible delay in the onset of dyskinesias and to changes in prognosis.S

Influence of two commercial fibers in the pharmacokinetics of ethinylestradiol in rabbits

P. 870-874Fiber formulations are used in human nutrition owing to their beneficial properties for health. It is probable that ingestion of fiber coincides with the oral administration of drugs, and a modification of its oral absorption, and therefore of its pharmacokinetics, can appear. In the present study, the compartmental and noncompartmental pharmacokinetic parameters of ethinylestradiol (EE) in rabbits after oral administration were determined. It was also studied whether the presence of two different fiber formulations [A, wheat bran (76.5%), fruit fiber (12%) and guar gum (2%) and B, Plantago ovata seeds (65%) and P. ovata seed cuticles (2.2%)] in the gastrointestinal tract modified the pharmacokinetics of EE when administered at the same time. Three groups of rabbits were used: control, fiber A and fiber B. The animals in all three groups received 1 mg/kg b. wt. EE. The estrogen was administered alone in the control group and in the presence of 4 g of fiber A and fiber B, respectively, in the other two groups. After compartmental (two-compartment open model) and noncompartmental analyses of plasma concentrations, statistical analysis revealed that the presence of fiber (both A and B) decreased between 29% and 35% the extent of EE absorbed (represented by the pharmacokinetic parameters area under the curve and the maximum plasma concentration) without affecting the rate of the absorption process (represented by the time to reach maximum concentration and the absorption rate constant).S

The BdGAMYB protein from Brachypodium distachyon interacts with BdDOF24 and regulates transcription of the BdCathB gene upon seed germination

This document is the Accepted manuscript of the following article: González-Calle, V., Iglesias-Fernández, R., Carbonero, P. et al. Planta (2014) 240: 539. The final publication is available at Springer via: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-014-2105-3.Main conclusion: BdDOF24 interacting with BdGAMYB regulates the BdCathB gene upon germination. During barley seed germination, hydrolytic enzymes (α-amylases, proteases, etc.) synthesized in the aleurone layer in response to gibberellins (GA), catalyse the mobilization of storage reserves accumulated in the endosperm during seed maturation. In Brachypodium distachyon, the BdCathB gene that encodes a Cathepsin B-like thiol-protease, orthologous to the wheat Al21 and barley HvCathB, is highly induced in germinating seeds and its expression is regulated by transcription factors (TFs) encoded by genes BdGamyb and BdDof24, orthologous to the barley HvGamyb and BPBF-HvDof24, respectively. Transcripts of both TF genes increase during germination and treatments with abscisic acid (ABA) or paclobutrazol (PAC, an inhibitor of GA biosynthesis) decrease mRNA expression of BdGamyb but do not affect that of BdDof24. Besides, proteins BdDOF24 and BdGAMYB interact in yeast-2 hybrid systems and in plant nuclei, and in transient expression assays in aleurone layers BdDOF24 is a transcriptional repressor and BdGAMYB is an activator of the BdCathB promoter, as occurs with the putative orthologous in barley BPBF-HvDOF24 and HvGAMYB. However, when both TFs are co-bombarded, BdDOF24 enhances the activation driven by BdGAMYB while BPBF-HvDOF24 strongly decreases the HvGAMYB-mediated activation of the BdCathB promoter. The different results obtained when BdDOF24 and BPBF-HvDOF24 interact with BdGAMYB and HvGAMYB are discussed.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic potential of a high fiber diet in healthy versus diabetic rabbits

P. 960568 - 960575The aim of this study was to investigate potential hypoglycaemic and hypolipidemic effects of Plantago ovata husk included in the diet, in healthy and diabetic rabbits. We also examined the effects of this fiber in other biochemical parameters. Two groups of 18 rabbits were used.The first group was fed with standard chow and the second with chow supplemented with Plantago ovata husk (3.5mg/kg/day). On day 14 diabetes mellitus was induced by the intravenous administration of alloxan (80mg/kg). After an oral glucose load (3 g), glucose, insulin, and other biochemical parameters were determined on day 14 (healthy rabbits) and on day 28 (diabetic rabbits). In healthy rabbits, fiber did not modify glucose or insulin levels but decreased significantly total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, atherogenic index, and glycosylated hemoglobin. In diabetic rabbits, fiber was more beneficial in mild diabetics than in severe diabetics with significant decreases in glucose levels and increases in insulin concentrations. In these animals fiber caused an important reduction in cholesterol, indicating a beneficial effect of Plantago ovata husk in diabetic rabbits. Although further studies in patients are necessary, we think that Plantago ovata husk offers interesting perspectives to be administered to patients with diabetes mellitus.S

Long-term treatment for emotional distress in women with breast cancer

[EN] Purpose: Breast cancer patients have many needs, including strategies to cope with the associated distress, during and after cancer treatment. Establishing and implementing adequate social and emotional support for these women, to reduce the detrimental effects of stress resulting from their treatment and disease, is the need of the hour. This study aims to assess how women, diagnosed and treated for breast cancer, combat emotional stress using mechanisms of coping and control and emotional defense, as well as to identify potential groups among them, with different long-term patterns and needs. Methods: 98 patients belonging to a local breast cancer support association (ALMOM), were enrolled in this study. A questionnaire specifically designed for them was administered, and its internal consistency and reliability assessed. A hierarchical clustering was employed to classify the women. The questionnaire focused on four sections, including personal feelings, coping strategies, environmental influences and maladaptive coping. Results: An adequate internal reliability was obtained with Cronbach's α near or greater than 0.60. Personal feelings were significant and clearly correlated with coping strategies and maladaptive coping. Three groups of women with different patterns of emotional characteristics and needs were identified: positivist, unsafe, and hopeless women, with different long-term emotional needs to be satisfied. Conclusions: Psychological therapeutic interventions should be maintained in many breast cancer patients over time, even after treatment completion, in order to consolidate adaptive and sustainable responsesS

Chemoenzymatic preparation of Chondroitin sulfates with a defined sulfation pattern

Comunicación Oral impartida en el XVII European Congress on BiotechnologyN