Movilizando terceras opciones en España: La comunicación política de los partidos minoritarios en Twitter

In a context in which traditional parties are losing popular support, minor parties stand as relevant components of contemporary democracies. Such relevance implies that research should approach their communication strategies as an object of study in itself. Ignored by mainstream media, minor parties need to take advantage of the Internet and social media to compete with major parties. This paper analyzes Spanish minor parties’ social-media communication in the context of the April 2019 election. A sample of 1,498 tweets was content-analyzed, gathered from the official Twitter profiles of the by then four main national minor parties: PACMA, the Communist Party of the Spanish Peoples, Zero Cuts, and VOX. Results indicate a lack of party-citizen interaction and dialogue, as well as the fact that mobilization tweets focus on traditional campaign-boosting functions.Es un escenario donde los partidos tradicionales pierden apoyo popular, los partidos minoritarios se erigen como sujetos relevantes en las democracias contemporáneas. Esta relevancia implica que desde la investigación académica la comunicación de los partidos minoritarios deba estudiarse en sus propios términos. Ignorados por los medios de comunicación tradicionales, los partidos minoritarios necesitan aprovechar las ventajas que suponen la web y las RRSS para competir con los grandes partidos. Este trabajo analiza la comunicación en redes sociales de los partidos minoritarios españoles en las elecciones generales de abril de 2019, con una muestra de 1.498 tuits recogidos de los perfiles oficiales de Twitter de los (por entonces) cuatro principales partidos minoritarios: PACMA, el Partido Comunista de los Pueblos de España, Recortes Cero y VOX. Los resultados indican falta de interacción y diálogo partidos-ciudadanos, con tuits de movilización centrados en las funciones tradicionales de impulso de la campaña

Adsorption of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by natural, synthetic and modified clays

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are of major scientific concern owing to their widespread presence in environmental compartments and their potential toxicological effects on humans and biota. In this study, the adsorption capacity of natural (montmorillonite (Mt)), synthetic (Na-Mica-4), and modified (with octadecylamine and octadecyltrimethylamine (ODA-Mt, ODA-Mica-4, and ODTMA-Mt and ODTMA-Mica-4)) clays were assessed and compared for the removal of 16 PAHs. Materials were synthesized and characterized by X-Ray diffraction, Zeta potential, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The results showed its correct preparation and the incorporation of PAHs in the structure of the clays after the adsorption tests. The proposed materials were effective PAH adsorbents, with adsorption percentages close to 100%, in particular those using Mt. Mt and Na-Mica-4 presented a better adsorption capacity than their organofunctionalized derivatives, indicating that the adsorption of PAHs may occur both in the surface part and in the interlayer. The proposed adsorbents take the advantage of being a low cost and highly effective. They can be an interesting alternative for wastewater treatment and soil remediation to prevent PAH contamination.Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness CTM2017-82778-

IgE-reactivity pattern of tomato seed and peel nonspecific lipid-transfer proteins after in vitro gastrointestinal digestion

The influence of gastrointestinal digestion on the immunological properties of three different nonspecific lipid-transfer proteins (nsLTPs) described in tomato fruit has been assessed using an in vitro system mimicking the stomach and intestine digestion conditions. Tomato peel/pulp nsLTP, Sola l 3, was degraded after digestion, although the immunoglobulin E (IgE) recognition of intact protein and a 10 kDa band were still observed after 30 min of duodenal digestion in the presence of phosphatidylcholine. The tomato seed nsLTP, Sola l 7, showed a higher stability than the other seed allergen, Sola l 6, during digestion. Sola l 7 showed an IgE immunoreactive 6.5 kDa band in immunoblotting analysis, retaining up to 7% of its IgE-binding capacity in inhibition ELISA test after 60 min of duodenal digestion and keeping intact its ability to activate basophils after digestion. These results suggest that the tomato seed allergen Sola l 7 might be considered as an important allergen in the induction of allergic responses to tomato due to its high stability against gastrointestinal digestion.This work was supported by grants SAF2017-86483-R from the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad and PI13/00928 Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), ISCIII cofounded by Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional – FEDER for the Thematic Networks and Co-operative Research Centres; RIRAAF RD16/0006/0024 and ARADyAL (RD16/0006/0001; RD16/0006/0013; RD16/0006/0014); and EAACI Exchange Research Fellowship 2016. The authors would like to thank the excellent technical support of Sara Abián. S.B. was supported by a Juan de la Cierva Incorporación contract from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades.Peer reviewe

Decreased salivary lactoferrin levels are specific to Alzheimer's disease

Background: Evidences of infectious pathogens in Alzheimer's disease (AD) brains may suggest a deteriorated innate immune system in AD pathophysiology. We previously demonstrated reduced salivary lactoferrin (Lf) levels, one of the major antimicrobial proteins, in AD patients. Methods: To assess the clinical utility of salivary Lf for AD diagnosis, we examine the relationship between salivary Lf and cerebral amyloid-beta (A beta) load using amyloid-Positron-Emission Tomography (PET) neuroimaging, in two different cross-sectional cohorts including patients with different neurodegenerative disorders. Findings: The diagnostic performance of salivary Lf in the cohort 1 had an area under the curve [AUC] of 0.95 (0.911-0.992) for the differentiation of the prodromal AD/AD group positive for amyloid-PET (PET+) versus healthy group, and 0.97 (0.924-1) versus the frontotemporal dementia (FTD) group. In the cohort 2, salivary Lf had also an excellent diagnostic performance in the health control group versus prodromal AD comparison: AUC 0.93 (0.876-0.989). Salivary Lf detected prodromal AD and AD dementia distinguishing them from FTD with over 87% sensitivity and 91% specificity. Interpretation: Salivary Lf seems to have a very good diagnostic performance to detect AD. Our findings support the possible utility of salivary Lf as a new non-invasive and cost-effective AD biomarker.This study was supported by Dr. Carro grants from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (FIS15/00780, FIS18/00118), FEDER, Comunidad de Madrid (S2017/BMD-3700; NEUROMETAB-CM), and CIBERNED (PI2016/01). This study was also supported by research grants from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (SAF201785310-R to Dr. Cantero, PSI2017-85311-P to Dr. Atienza); International Centre on ageing CENIE-POCTEP (0348_CIE_6_E to Dr. Atienza); and CIBERNED (CB06/05/1111 to Dr. Cantero). Dr. Bueno receives research funding from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain (PIE16/00021, PI17/01799). The H2H-Spain Study was supported in Spain by grant PIE16/00021 from Instituto Carlos III, Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, and additional funds from the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC). The CNIC is supported by the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness and the Pro CNIC Foundation, and is a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence (SEV-2015-0505). The funders had no role in the conceptualisation, study design, data collection analysis and preparation of this manuscript

HLA association with the susceptibility to anti-synthetase syndrome

Objective: To investigate the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) association with anti-synthetase syndrome (ASSD). Methods: We conducted the largest immunogenetic HLA-DRB1 and HLA-B study to date in a homogeneous cohort of 168 Caucasian patients with ASSD and 486 ethnically matched healthy controls by sequencing-based-typing. Results: A statistically significant increase of HLA-DRB1*03:01 and HLA-B*08:01 alleles in patients with ASSD compared to healthy controls was disclosed (26.2% versus 12.2%, P=1.56E-09, odds ratio-OR [95% confidence interval-CI]=2.54 [1.84-3.50] and 21.4% versus 5.5%, P=18.95E-18, OR [95% CI]=4.73 [3.18-7.05]; respectively). Additionally, HLA-DRB1*07:01 allele was significantly decreased in patients with ASSD compared to controls (9.2% versus 17.5%, P=0.0003, OR [95% CI]=0.48 [0.31-0.72]). Moreover, a statistically significant increase of HLA-DRB1*03:01 allele in anti-Jo-1 positive compared to anti-Jo-1 negative patients with ASSD was observed (31.8% versus 15.5%, P=0.001, OR [95% CI]=2.54 [1.39-4.81]). Similar findings were observed when HLA carrier frequencies were assessed. The HLA-DRB1*03:01 association with anti-Jo-1 was unrelated to smoking history. No HLA differences in patients with ASSD stratified according to the presence/absence of the most representative non-anti-Jo-1 anti-synthetase autoantibodies (anti-PL-12 and anti-PL-7), arthritis, myositis or interstitial lung disease were observed. Conclusions: Our results support the association of the HLA complex with the susceptibility to ASSD

Influence of MUC5B gene on antisynthetase syndrome

ABSTRACT: MUC5B rs35705950 (G/T) is strongly associated with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and also contributes to the risk of interstitial lung disease (ILD) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA-ILD) and chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis (CHP). Due to this, we evaluated the implication of MUC5B rs35705950 in antisynthetase syndrome (ASSD), a pathology characterised by a high ILD incidence. 160 patients with ASSD (142 with ILD associated with ASSD [ASSD-ILD+]), 232 with ILD unrelated to ASSD (comprising 161 IPF, 27 RA-ILD and 44 CHP) and 534 healthy controls were genotyped. MUC5B rs35705950 frequency did not significantly differ between ASSD-ILD+ patients and healthy controls nor when ASSD patients were stratified according to the presence/absence of anti Jo-1 antibodies or ILD. No significant differences in MUC5B rs35705950 were also observed in ASSD-ILD+ patients with a usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) pattern when compared to those with a non-UIP pattern. However, a statistically significant decrease of MUC5B rs35705950 GT, TT and T frequencies in ASSD-ILD+ patients compared to patients with ILD unrelated to ASSD was observed. In summary, our study does not support a role of MUC5B rs35705950 in ASSD. It also indicates that there are genetic differences between ILD associated with and that unrelated to ASSD.We are indebted to the patients and healthy controls for their essential collaboration to this study. We also thank the National DNA Bank Repository (Salamanca) for supplying part of the control samples. This study was partially supported by grants from the Foundation for Research in Rheumatology (FOREUM). RL-M is a recipient of a Miguel Servet type I programme fellowship from the ‘Instituto de Salud Carlos III’ (ISCIII), co-funded by the European Social Fund (ESF, ‘Investing in your future’) (grant CP16/00033). SR-M is supported by funds of the RETICS Program (RD16/0012/0009), co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). VP-C is supported by a pre-doctoral grant from IDIVAL (PREVAL 18/01). VM is supported by funds of a Miguel Servet type I programme (grant CP16/00033) (ISCIII, co-funded by ESF). LL-G is supported by funds of PI18/00042 (ISCIII, co-funded by ERDF). OG is Staff Personnel of Xunta de Galicia (Servizo Galego de Saude, SERGAS) through a research-staff stabilization contract (ISCIII/SERGAS). OG,is member of RETICS Programme, RD16/0012/0014 (RIER: Red de Investigación en Inflamación y Enfermedades Reumáticas) via Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) and FEDER. The work of OG (PI17/00409), was funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III and FEDER. OG is a beneficiary of a project funded by Research Executive Agency of the European Union in the framework of MSCA-RISE Action of the H2020 Programme (Project number 734899). OG is beneficiary of a grant funded by Xunta de Galicia, Consellería de Educación, Universidade e Formación Profesional and Consellería de Economía, Emprego e Industria (GAIN), GPC IN607B2019/10

Role of MUC1 rs4072037 polymorphism and serum KL-6 levels in patients with antisynthetase syndrome

Mucin 1/Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6) is proposed as a serum biomarker of several interstitial lung diseases (ILDs), including connective tissue disorders associated with ILD. However, it has not been studied in a large cohort of Caucasian antisynthetase syndrome (ASSD) patients. Consequently, we assessed the role of MUC1 rs4072037 and serum KL-6 levels as a potential biomarker of ASSD susceptibility and for the differential diagnosis between patients with ILD associated with ASSD (ASSD-ILD?+) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). 168 ASSD patients (149 ASSD-ILD?+), 174 IPF patients and 523 healthy controls were genotyped for MUC1 rs4072037 T?>?C. Serum KL-6 levels were determined in a subgroup of individuals. A significant increase of MUC1 rs4072037 CC genotype and C allele frequencies was observed in ASSD patients compared to healthy controls. Likewise, MUC1 rs4072037 TC and CC genotypes and C allele frequencies were significantly different between ASSD-ILD+ and IPF patients. Additionally, serum KL-6 levels were significantly higher in ASSD patients compared to healthy controls. Nevertheless, no differences in serum KL-6 levels were found between ASSD-ILD+ and IPF patients. Our results suggest that the presence of MUC1 rs4072037 C allele increases the risk of ASSD and it could be a useful genetic biomarker for the differential diagnosis between ASSD-ILD+ and IPF patients

Comprehensive Functional Characterization and Clinical Interpretation of 20 Splice-Site Variants of the RAD51C Gene

Hereditary breast and/or ovarian cancer is a highly heterogeneous disease with more than 10 known disease-associated genes. In the framework of the BRIDGES project (Breast Cancer Risk after Diagnostic Gene Sequencing), the RAD51C gene has been sequenced in 60,466 breast cancer patients and 53,461 controls. We aimed at functionally characterizing all the identified genetic variants that are predicted to disrupt the splicing process. Forty RAD51C variants of the intron-exon boundaries were bioinformatically analyzed, 20 of which were selected for splicing functional assays. To test them, a splicing reporter minigene with exons 2 to 8 was designed and constructed. This minigene generated a full-length transcript of the expected size (1062 nucleotides), sequence, and structure (Vector exon V1- RAD51C exons_2-8- Vector exon V2). The 20 candidate variants were genetically engineered into the wild type minigene and functionally assayed in MCF-7 cells. Nineteen variants (95%) impaired splicing, while 18 of them produced severe splicing anomalies. At least 35 transcripts were generated by the mutant minigenes: 16 protein-truncating, 6 in-frame, and 13 minor uncharacterized isoforms. According to ACMG/AMP-based standards, 15 variants could be classified as pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants: c.404G > A, c.405-6T > A, c.571 + 4A > G, c.571 + 5G > A, c.572-1G > T, c.705G > T, c.706-2A > C, c.706-2A > G, c.837 + 2T > C, c.905-3C > G, c.905-2A > C, c.905-2_905-1del, c.965 + 5G > A, c.1026 + 5_1026 + 7del, and c.1026 + 5G > T