41 research outputs found
Analysis of Magnetoencephalography Signals from Alzheimer’s Disease Patients Using Granger Causality
Producción CientíficaThe aim of this study was to analyze resting-state
magnetoencephalography (MEG) activity in Alzheimer’s
disease (AD) by means of Granger Causality (GC), an effective
connectivity measure that provides an estimation of the
information flow between brain regions. For this task, five
minutes of MEG recordings were acquired with a 148-channel
whole-head magnetometer from 36 AD patients and 26 healthy
controls. Abnormalities in AD connectivity were found in the
five typical frequency bands: delta (δ, 1-4 Hz), theta (θ, 4-8 Hz),
alpha (α, 8-13 Hz), beta (β, 13-30 Hz), and gamma (γ, 30-65
Hz). Noteworthy increments in delta band and decrements in
beta and gamma bands revealed disrupted connections in AD
brain activity. Our analyses suggest that GC may be useful to
characterize the brain impairment in AD.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (TEC2014-53196-R)Junta de Castilla y León (VA059U13 y BIO/VA08/15
Alterations of Effective Connectivity Patterns in Mild Cognitive Impairment: An MEG Study
Producción CientíficaNeuroimaging techniques have demonstrated over the years their ability to
characterize the brain abnormalities associated with different neurodegenerative diseases.
Among all these techniques, magnetoencephalography (MEG) stands out by its high temporal
resolution and noninvasiveness. The aim of the present study is to explore the coupling
patterns of resting-state MEG activity in subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). To
achieve this goal, five minutes of spontaneous MEG activity were acquired with a 148-
channel whole-head magnetometer from 18 MCI patients and 26 healthy controls. Interchannel
relationships were investigated by means of two complementary coupling measures:
coherence and Granger causality. Coherence is a classical method of functional connectivity,
while Granger causality quantifies effective (or causal) connectivity. Both measures were
calculated in the five conventional frequency bands: delta (d, 1-4 Hz), theta (q, 4-8 Hz), alpha
(a, 8-13 Hz), beta (b, 13-30 Hz), and gamma (g, 30-45Hz). Our results showed that
connectivity values were lower for MCI patients than for controls in all frequency bands.
However, only Granger causality revealed statistically significant differences between groups
(p-values < 0.05, FDR corrected Mann-Whitney U-test), mainly in the beta band. Our results
support the role of MCI as a disconnection syndrome, which elicits early alterations in
effective connectivity patterns. These findings can be helpful to identify the neural substrates
involved in prodromal stages of dementia.This research was supported by ‘Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad’ and ‘European Regional Development Fund’ under project TEC2014-53196-R, by ‘European Commission’ and ‘European Regional Development Fund’ under project ‘Análisis y correlación entre el genoma completo y la actividad cerebral para la ayuda en el diagnóstico de la enfermedad de Alzheimer’ (‘Cooperation Programme Interreg V-A Spain-Portugal POCTEP 2014-2020’), and by ‘Consejería de Educación de la Junta de Castilla y León’ under project VA037U16. Pablo Núñez was in receipt of a ‘Promoción de empleo joven e implantación de la Garantía Juvenil en I+D+i’ grant from ‘Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad’ and University of Valladolid
Evaluación continua con Goodle-GMS a más de 800 alumnos en Ingeniería Química
El objetivo de esta experiencia ha sido la de establecer un sistema de evaluación continua en asignaturas con gran cantidad de alumnos
de forma que no supongan un excesivo trabajo para el docente, que permita generar una retroalimentación a los alumnos rápida, de
forma que estimule el trabajo de los estudiantes. La experiencia ha sido realizada simultáneamente a 859 alumnos matriculados de
la asignatura Química, correspondiente a 1º de los Grados de Ingeniería de la Energía (85), Ingeniería Aeroespacial (137), Ingeniería
de las Tecnologías Industriales (459) e Ingeniería Química (141), durante el segundo cuatrimestre en la Escuela Técnica Superior de
Ingeniería de la Universidad de Sevilla.L'objectiu d'aquesta experiència ha estat la d'establir un sistema d'avaluació contínua en assignatures amb gran quantitat d'alumnes de manera
que no suposin un excessiu treball per al docent, que permeti generar una retroalimentació als alumnes ràpida, de manera que estimuli
el treball dels estudiants. L'experiència ha estat realitzada simultàniament a 859 alumnes matriculats de l'assignatura Química, corresponent
a 1r dels Graus d'Enginyeria de l'Energia (85), Enginyeria Aeroespacial (137), Enginyeria de les Tecnologies Industrials (459) i Enginyeria
Química (141), durant el segon quadrimestre a l'Escola Tècnica Superior d'Enginyeria de la Universitat de Sevilla. S'han plantejat 5 problemes
personalitzats als alumnes, en funció del seu DNI, de manera que s'han lliurat i corregit mitjançant la plataforma Goodle-GMS.The objective of this experience has been to establish a system of continuous assessment in subjects with large numbers of students so they
do not involve too much work for teachers and allow providing scope for quick feedback to the students so that stimulates the students' work.
The experience was carried out simultaneously to 859 students enrolled for the course Chemistry, corresponding to first course of Energy Engineering
(85), Aerospace Engineering (137) Engineering Industrial Technologies (459) and Chemical Engineering (141), during the second
semester in the School of Engineering of the University of Seville
Associations of serum phthalate metabolites with thyroid hormones in GraMo cohort, Southern Spain
These results would not have been achieved without the selfless collaboration of the staff from Santa Ana and San Cecilio Hospitals and the participants who took part in the study. Dr. JP Arrebola is under contract within the Ramon y Cajal Program (RYC-2016-20155, Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad, Spain) and Dr. C Donat-Vargas is under contract within the Atraccion de Talento (from the community of Madrid, Spain) . This study was supported by research grants from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI20/01568, PI16/01858) .The general population is continuously exposed to phthalates via various consumer products. Epidemiological research relating phthalate exposure to thyroid function during non-developmental periods is limited. This study aimed to investigate the associations between specific serum phthalate metabolites and indicators of thyroid function in adults. We measured 10 serum phthalate metabolites and thyroid hormones - total triiodothymnine (TT3), free thyroxine (FT4) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) - in a subsample of 207 adults from the GraMo cohort. This subsample was made up of men and women (in equal proportions) of middle age (49 +/- 17 years) and from Southern Spain (province of Granada). Data on age, sex, body mass index, residence area, tobacco use, alcohol consumption and attained education were obtained from a questionnaire. Phthalate metabolites were log-transformed and categorized into tertiles. Cross-sectional associations of each metabolite with thyroid hormones were analyzed using multivariable-adjusted linear regression models. The mixture effect of metabolite phthalates was assessed using weighted quantile sum regression. After multivariable-adjustment, the following phthalate metabolites were significantly associated with TT3 in a dose-response manner: MMP (beta = 0.90: 95% confidence interval 0.68,1.12), MEP (beta = 0.67: 0.44, 0.90), MiBP (beta = 0.49: 0.21, 0.77), MiDP (beta = 0.27: 0.03, 0.52), MBzP (beta = 0.51: 0.28, 0.73), MEHP (beta = -0.59: -0.82, -0.35) and MiNP (beta = -0.43: -0.71, -0.14), when comparing highest vs. lowest exposed. The sum of all metabolites was also linked to FT4 levels. No significant associations were observed for TSH except for MiNP. Although phthalate metabolites with different molecular weight showed opposite associations, overall metabolite concentrations seem to associate with increased TT3 and FT4 serum levels. The cross-sectional nature of this analysis limits causal inference.Ramon y Cajal Program (Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad, Spain) RYC-2016-20155Instituto de Salud Carlos III
European Commission PI20/01568
PI16/0185
Analysis of Spontaneous EEG Activity in Alzheimer’s Disease Using Cross-Sample Entropy and Graph Theory
Producción CientíficaThe aim of this pilot study was to analyze
spontaneous electroencephalography (EEG) activity in
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) by means of Cross-Sample Entropy
(Cross-SampEn) and two local measures derived from graph
theory: clustering coefficient (CC) and characteristic path
length (PL). Five minutes of EEG activity were recorded from
37 patients with dementia due to AD and 29 elderly controls.
Our results showed that Cross-SampEn values were lower in
the AD group than in the control one for all the interactions
among EEG channels. This finding indicates that EEG activity
in AD is characterized by a lower statistical dissimilarity
among channels. Significant differences were found mainly for
fronto-central interactions (p < 0.01, permutation test).
Additionally, the application of graph theory measures
revealed diverse neural network changes, i.e. lower CC and
higher PL values in AD group, leading to a less efficient brain
organization. This study suggests the usefulness of our
approach to provide further insights into the underlying brain
dynamics associated with AD.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (TEC2014-53196-R)Junta de Castilla y León (proyecto VA037U16 y BIO/VA08/15
Página web del grupo bilingüe de la Facultad de Educación para la enseñanza de las ciencias: elaboración, explotación y juicio crítico de los estudiantes de cara a la internacionalización de la docencia
Elaboración de una página web con material didáctico de Ciencias para el grupo bilingüe de Educación, que además sirve para ofrecer información para estudiantes que pudieran estar interesados en formar parte del grupo, incluyendo estudiantes extranjeros
Public healthcare costs associated with long-term exposure to mixtures of persistent organic pollutants in two areas of Southern Spain: A longitudinal analysis
Background: Polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine pesticides are persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that had been banned or restricted in many countries, including Spain. However, their ubiquity still poses environmental and human health threats.
Objective: To longitudinally explore public healthcare costs associated with long-term exposure to a mixture of 8 POPs in a cohort of residents of two areas of Granada Province, Southern Spain.
Methods: Longitudinal study in a subsample (n = 385) of GraMo adult cohort. Exposure assessment was performed by analyzing adipose tissue POP concentrations at recruitment. Average primary care (APC) and average hospital care (AHC) expenditures of each participant over 14 years were estimated using the data from their medical records. Data analyses were performed by robust MM regression, weighted quantile sum regression (WQS) and G-computation analysis.
Results: In the adjusted robust MM models for APC, most POPs showed positive beta coefficients, being Hexachlorobenzene (HCB) significantly associated (beta 1.87; 95% Confidence interval (95%CI): 0.17, 3.57). The magnitude of this association increased (beta: 3.72; 95%CI: 0.80, 6.64) when the analyses were restricted to semirural residents, where p-HCH was also marginally-significantly associated to APC (beta: 3.40; 95%CI: -0.10, 6.90). WQS revealed a positive but non-significant mixture association with APC (beta: 0.14; 95%CI: -0.06, 0.34), mainly accounted for by p-HCH (54%) and HCB (43%), that was borderline-significant in the semi-rural residents (beta: 0.23; 95%CI: -0.01, 0.48). No significant results were observed in G-Computation analyses.
Conclusion: Long-term exposure to POP mixtures might represent a modifiable factor increasing healthcare costs, thus affecting the efficiency of the healthcare systems. However, and owing the complexity of the potential causal pathways and the limitations of the present study, further research is warranted to fully elucidate ascertain whether interventions to reduce human exposure should be considered in healthcare policies.CIBER de Epidemiologia y Salud Publica (CIBERESP), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain PI16/01858
PI18/01573
PI20/01568European CommissionRamon y Cajal Program (Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad, Spain) RYC-2016-20,155PFIS (Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain) FI17/00310Universidad de Granada/CBU
Comprehensive description of clinical characteristics of a large systemic Lupus Erythematosus Cohort from the Spanish Rheumatology Society Lupus Registry (RELESSER) with emphasis on complete versus incomplete lupus differences
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease characterized by multiple organ involvement and pronounced racial and ethnic heterogeneity. The aims of the present work were (1) to describe the cumulative clinical characteristics of those patients included in the Spanish Rheumatology Society SLE Registry (RELESSER), focusing on the differences between patients who fulfilled the 1997 ACR-SLE criteria versus those with less than 4 criteria (hereafter designated as incomplete SLE (iSLE)) and (2) to compare SLE patient characteristics with those documented in other multicentric SLE registries. RELESSER is a multicenter hospital-based registry, with a collection of data from a large, representative sample of adult patients with SLE (1997 ACR criteria) seen at Spanish rheumatology departments. The registry includes demographic data, comprehensive descriptions of clinical manifestations, as well as information about disease activity and severity, cumulative damage, comorbidities, treatments and mortality, using variables with highly standardized definitions. A total of 4.024 SLE patients (91% with ≥4 ACR criteria) were included. Ninety percent were women with a mean age at diagnosis of 35.4 years and a median duration of disease of 11.0 years. As expected, most SLE manifestations were more frequent in SLE patients than in iSLE ones and every one of the ACR criteria was also associated with SLE condition; this was particularly true of malar rash, oral ulcers and renal disorder. The analysis-adjusted by gender, age at diagnosis, and disease duration-revealed that higher disease activity, damage and SLE severity index are associated with SLE [OR: 1.14; 95% CI: 1.08-1.20 (P < 0.001); 1.29; 95% CI: 1.15-1.44 (P < 0.001); and 2.10; 95% CI: 1.83-2.42 (P < 0.001), respectively]. These results support the hypothesis that iSLE behaves as a relative stable and mild disease. SLE patients from the RELESSER register do not appear to differ substantially from other Caucasian populations and although activity [median SELENA-SLEDA: 2 (IQ: 0-4)], damage [median SLICC/ACR/DI: 1 (IQ: 0-2)], and severity [median KATZ index: 2 (IQ: 1-3)] scores were low, 1 of every 4 deaths was due to SLE activity. RELESSER represents the largest European SLE registry established to date, providing comprehensive, reliable and updated information on SLE in the southern European population