Sexual dimorphism in brown adipose tissue activation and white adipose tissue browning

The present narrative review gathers the studies reported so far, addressing sex differences in the effects of cold exposure, feeding pattern and age on brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis and white adipose tissue (WAT) browning. In rodents, when exposed to decreasing temperatures, females activate thermogenesis earlier. Results obtained in humans go in the same line, although they do not provide results as solid as those obtained in rodents. Regarding the effects of overfeeding, interesting sex differences on BAT thermogenic capacity have been reported, and the greater or lower sensitivity of each sex to this dietary situation seems to be dependent on the type of feeding. In the case of energy restriction, females are more sensitive than males. In addition, sex differences have also been observed in thermogenesis changes induced by phenolic compound administration. During sexual development, an increase in BAT mass and BAT activity takes place. This phenomenon is greater in boys than in girls, probably due to its relation to muscle-mass growth. The opposite situation takes place during ageing, a lifespan period where thermogenic capacity declines, this being more acute in men than in women. Finally, the vast majority of the studies have reported a higher susceptibility to developing WAT browning amongst females. The scarcity of results highlights the need for further studies devoted to analysing this issue, in order to provide valuable information for a more personalised approach

Sexual Dimorphism in Brown Adipose Tissue Activation and White Adipose Tissue Browning

The present narrative review gathers the studies reported so far, addressing sex differences in the effects of cold exposure, feeding pattern and age on brown adipose tissue (BAT) thermogenesis and white adipose tissue (WAT) browning. In rodents, when exposed to decreasing temperatures, females activate thermogenesis earlier. Results obtained in humans go in the same line, although they do not provide results as solid as those obtained in rodents. Regarding the effects of overfeeding, interesting sex differences on BAT thermogenic capacity have been reported, and the greater or lower sensitivity of each sex to this dietary situation seems to be dependent on the type of feeding. In the case of energy restriction, females are more sensitive than males. In addition, sex differences have also been observed in thermogenesis changes induced by phenolic compound administration. During sexual development, an increase in BAT mass and BAT activity takes place. This phenomenon is greater in boys than in girls, probably due to its relation to muscle-mass growth. The opposite situation takes place during ageing, a lifespan period where thermogenic capacity declines, this being more acute in men than in women. Finally, the vast majority of the studies have reported a higher susceptibility to developing WAT browning amongst females. The scarcity of results highlights the need for further studies devoted to analysing this issue, in order to provide valuable information for a more personalised approach.This study was supported by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CIBERobn) under Grant CB12/03/30007 and CB06/03/0025, and FIS PI20/00106 (co-funded by FEDER)

El proceso constructivo de los teatros del canal del arquitecto Juán Navarro Baldeweg

El artículo que se presenta estudia y valora el sistema constructivo, y su desarrollo, de las obras de los Teatros del Canal, obra del Catedrático de Proyectos de la Escuela de Arquitectura de Madrid, Prof. Navarro Baldeweg, que se están llevando a cabo en Madrid, siendo la Promotora y Propietaria el Canal de Isabel II de la Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid. Se trata de un conjunto de tres edifi cios, dos teatros y un centro coreográfi co, cada uno con soluciones constructivas diferenciadas. Este artículo es el resultado del trabajo llevado a cabo durante el Curso 2006- 07 en el Seminario de “Industrialización de la Construcción”, que bajo la dirección del Catedrático Prof. del Águila se desarrolla dentro del Programa de Doctorado del Departamento de “Construcción y Tecnología Arquitectónicas” de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. El trabajo comprende dos partes bien diferenciadas: La primera de introducción, prólogo (redactado por el Prof. Navarro) y una descripción general de los edifi cios; la segunda, desarrollando las diferentes partes constructivas del mismo, desde los distintos tipos de estructuras utilizados, pasando por las fachadas “colgadas” a modo de telones, a los aspectos múltiples de interior, desde la acústica, al mobiliario especial y a los acabados y todo ello no puramente descriptivo, sino también de una manera crítica para que sirva como una consecuencia con valor didáctica para los alumnos-autores. - This present article studies and chriticizes the building system and the developement of the theater and dance complex of Canal (Teatros del Canal, Madrid), designed by Juan Navarro Baldeweg, Principal Professor of Architectural Design at Madrid School of Architecture Polytechnic University. These theaters are being built in the center of Madrid city. The owner and developer of this complex is Canal de Isabel II (the water supply company of Madrid regional Government). The project consist in a three building complex, two theatres and a choreographic centre, put together by a back service block, each of them with it’s own different building solutions. This article is the result of the work done during the term 2006-07 of the Seminar of “Industrialization of Building Process” that, under the direction of the Principal Professor Alfonso del Águila, takes place within the Ph. D. Program of the Department of Construction and Architectural Technology set in Madrid School of Architecture Polytechnic University. The work includes two different parts: the fi rst one, which introduces is a prologue written by Prof. Navarro and a general description of the building. The second part describes its different construction areas, ranging from the different structural solutions, the hung façades pretending to be theatre curtains, some aspects of the interior design, as acoustics, special furniture and fi nishes, not in a mere descriptive way, but also from a critical manner with the intention to be a consequence with didactical value for the students/ authors

Variability in the Beneficial Effects of Phenolic Compounds: A Review

When analysing the beneficial effects of phenolic compounds, several factors that exert a clear influence should be taken into account. The content of phenolic compounds in foods is highly variable, directly affecting individual dietary intake. Once ingested, these compounds have a greater or lesser bioaccessibility, defined as the amount available for absorption in the intestine after digestion, and a certain bioavailability, defined as the proportion of the molecule that is available after digestion, absorption and metabolism. Among the external factors that modify the content of phenolic compounds in food are the variety, the cultivation technique and the climate. Regarding functional foods, it is important to take into account the role of the selected food matrix, such as dairy matrices, liquid or solid matrices. It is also essential to consider the interactions between phenolic compounds as well as the interplay that occurs between these and several other components of the diet (macro- and micronutrients) at absorption, metabolism and mechanism of action levels. Furthermore, there is a great inter-individual variability in terms of phase II metabolism of these compounds, composition of the microbiota, and metabolic state or metabotype to which the subject belongs. All these factors introduce variability in the responses observed after ingestion of foods or nutraceuticals containing phenolic compounds.This study was supported by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CIBERobn) under Grant CB12/03/30007

Spinophilin loss correlates with poor patient prognosis in advanced stages of colon carcinoma

[Purpose+ The genomic region 17q21 is frequently associated with microsatellite instability and LOH in cancer, including gastric and colorectal carcinomas. This region contains several putative tumor suppressor genes, including Brca1, NM23, prohibitin, and spinophilin (Spn, PPP1R9B, neurabin II). The scaffold protein Spn is one of the regulatory subunits of phosphatase-1 (PP1) that targets PP1 to distinct subcellular locations and couples PP1 to its target. Thus, Spn may alter cell-cycle progression via the regulation of the phosphorylation status of the retinoblastoma protein, a direct target of PP1. Therefore, we analyzed whether Spn levels were reduced in colorectal carcinomas and whether Spn levels correlated with prognosis or response to therapy.[Experimental Design] By means of immunohistochemistry or quantitative PCR, we studied the levels of Spn in stages II, III, and IV colorectal carcinoma tumors and correlated to other clinicopathologic features as well as prognosis or response to therapy.[Results] Spn was lost in a percentage of human gastric, small intestine, and colorectal carcinomas. In patients with colorectal carcinoma, tumoral Spn downregulation correlated with a more aggressive histologic phenotype (poorer tumor differentiation and higher proliferative Ki67 index). Consistent with this observation, lower Spn protein expression levels were associated with faster relapse and poorer survival in patients with stage III colorectal carcinoma, particularly among those receiving adjuvant fluoropyrimidine therapy. We validated this result in an independent cohort of patients with metastatic colorectal carcinoma treated with standard chemotherapy. Although patients that achieved an objective tumor response exhibited Spn levels similar to nontumoral tissue, nonresponding patients showed a significant reduction in Spn mRNA levels.[Conclusions] Our data suggest that Spn downregulation contributes to a more aggressive biologic behavior, induces chemoresistance, and is associated with a poorer survival in patients with advanced stages of colorectal carcinoma. © 2013 American Association for Cancer Research.This work was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (SAF2009-08605), Fondo de Investigacion Sanitaria (PI12/00137), Consejeria de Ciencia e Innovacion, and Consejeria de Salud of the Junta de Andalucia (CTS-6844 and PI-0142). A. Carnero's laboratory is also funded by a fellowship from Fundacion Oncologica FERO. P. Estevez-Garcia and I. Lopez-Calderero are supported by Rio Ortega Fellowships and S. Molina-Pinelo is supported by a Sara Borrell fellowship. R. Garcia-Carbonero is funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministerio de Sanidad, Spain (PI 10.02164).Peer Reviewe

Food groups, diet quality and colorectal cancer risk in the Basque Country

BACKGROUND The results obtained to date concerning food groups, diet quality and colorectal cancer (CRC) risk vary according to criteria used and the study populations. AIM To study the relationships between food groups, diet quality and CRC risk, in an adult population of the Basque Country (North of Spain). METHODS This observational study included 308 patients diagnosed with CRC and 308 ageand sex-matched subjects as controls. During recruitment, dietary, anthropometric, lifestyle, socioeconomic, demographic and health status information was collected. Adherence to the dietary recommendations was evaluated utilizing the Healthy Eating Index for the Spanish Diet and the MedDietScore. Conditional logistic regressions were used to evaluate the associations of food group intakes, diet quality scores, categorized in tertiles, with CRC risk. RESULTS The adjusted models for potential confounding factors showed a direct association between milk and dairy products consumption, in particular high-fat cheeses [odds ratio (OR) third tertile vs first tertile = 1.87, 95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.11-3.16], and CRC risk. While the consumption of fiber-containing foods, especially whole grains (OR third tertile vs first tertile = 0.62, 95%CI: 0.39-0.98), and fatty fish (OR third tertile vs first tertile = 0.53, 95%CI: 0.27-0.99) was associated with a lower risk for CRC. Moreover, higher MD adherence was associated with a reduced CRC risk in adjusted models (OR third tertile vs first tertile = 0.40, 95%CI: 0.20-0.80). CONCLUSION Direct associations were found for high-fat cheese, whereas an inverse relation was reported for fiber-containing foods and fatty fish, as well as adherence to a Mediterranean dietary pattern.Supported by the Department of Health and Consumer Affairs, Basque Government, No. 2011111153; Saiotek, Basque Government, No. S-PE12UN058; Pre-doctoral grant from the Basque Government, No. PRE_2015_2_0084; and United States Department of Agriculture—Agricultural Research Service, No. 58-1950-4-003

Integrando escalas y métodos LTER para comprender la dinámica global de un espacio protegido de montaña: el Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido.

Los espacios protegidos, por el hecho de albergar una gran geo-biodiversidad y asegurar una baja intervención humana, constituyen lugares muy adecuados para el seguimiento de organismos y procesos a escala ecológica, así como para la obtención de series temporales largas a escala geológica. En el marco de la red LTER-España, el Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido (PNOMP) y el Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología-CSIC están impulsando estudios para la detección de cambios a distintas escalas mediante variados métodos y aproximaciones. Destacamos aquí los más consolidados, entre los que se encuentran los análisis de registros de sedimentos en lagos, espeleotemas en cuevas, la dinámica de uno de los pocos glaciares activos de la Península ibérica, el análisis físico-químico de aguas corrientes e ibones de alta montaña, el registro del cambio climático actual en árboles longevos, la afección que éste ejerce sobre masas actuales de pinos en el límite superior del bosque y de abetales en zonas húmedas, la matorralización de algunos pastos y los procesos mecanicistas que subyacen, la reorganización de la diversidad florística en pastos tras el abandono paulatino o drástico de la ganadería, la biodiversidad de las comunidades alpinas y la dinámica poblacional de especies amenazadas o indicadoras de hábitats o de motores de cambio global. Los seguimientos ecológicos actuales muestran que tanto el cambio climático como el de usos del suelo están teniendo una considerable trascendencia en la fisionomía y la estructura de algunos de los ambientes más icónicos y frecuentes del parque (deterioro del glaciar, termofilización de la flora en cumbres alpinas, densificación del bosque en su límite superior, pérdida de productividad en algunos pastos supraforestales, etc.). También sugieren una importante variabilidad espacial en los procesos (por ej. en el PNOMP conviven pastos matorralizados y pastos muy estables), y evidencian que los cambios observados no siempre siguen los paradigmas establecidos (por ej., las especies amenazadas mantienen dinámicas poblacionales estables). La integración de resultados parciales proporcionados por cada aproximación relativiza la importancia de las percepciones que cada estudio destaca por separado, y permite medir los cambios actuales en el marco de referencia de los cambios a escala geológica.Predecir la resistencia y resiliencia de los ecosistemas o las poblaciones de seres vivos para enfrentarse a los futuros cambios ambientales es complicado, no sólo por la falta de conocimientos disponibles sino también porque las respuestas que observamos no siempre son tan rápidas o lineales como se espera. La modelización constituye una herramienta cada vez más utilizada, pero requiere de evidencias reales para validar sus pronósticos, por lo que la observación de los procesos que actúan en el PNOMP ha de incluir un esfuerzo continuado de monitorización multiescalar y multidisciplinar de los distintos componentes de la geo, hidro-, crio- y biosfera, sin olvidar el componente humano. Entender la complejidad supone conectar las interacciones que existen entre todos los sistemas y ponderar sus efectos según las escalas de trabajo

Gene–Diet Interactions in Colorectal Cancer: Survey Design, Instruments, Participants and Descriptive Data of a Case–Control Study in the Basque Country

Epidemiologic studies have revealed inconsistent evidence of gene-diet interaction in relation to colorectal cancer (CRC). The aim of this study was to analyze them in a sample of cases and controls from the population-based bowel cancer screening program of the Osakidetza/Basque Health Service. This study analyzed dietetic, genetic, demographic, socioeconomic factors and lifestyles. In the present manuscript, the survey design, sampling, instruments, measurements and related quality management were presented. Moreover, we analyze di erences between cases and controls in some data, especially those related to diet. The participants were 308 cases and 308 age- and sex-matched subjects as controls. Cases were more likely than controls to have overweight/obesity (67.5% vs. 58.1%, p < 0.05), a lower intake of vitamin B2 (0.86 0.23 vs. 0.92 0.23 mg/1000 kcal, p < 0.01) and calcium:phosphorus ratio (0.62 0.12 vs. 0.65 0.13, p < 0.01). A higher proportion of cases than controls did not meet the Nutritional Objectives for saturated fatty acids (85.7% vs. 67.5%, p < 0.001) or cholesterol (35.4% vs. 25.0%, p < 0.01). In conclusion, the present study provides valuable data for analyzing the complexity of gene-diet interaction in relation to CRC. The results presented here suggest that overweight/obesity and a high intake of certain dietary components, especially saturated fatty acids and cholesterol, are more frequent in cases than in controls.This research was supported by the Department of Health and Consumer A airs of the Basque Government (2011111153) and Saiotek program of the Basque Government (S-PE12UN058). I.A.-L. was founded by a pre-doctoral grant from the Basque Government (PRE_2014_1_161, PRE_2015_2_0084, EP_2016_1_0098, EP_2016_1_0098 and PRE_2017_2_0006). The U.S. Department of Agriculture—Agricultural Research Service (ARS), under Agreement No. 58-1950-4-003. CIBERehd is funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III

Transmitted drug resistance to antiretroviral drugs in Spain during the period 2019–2021

To evaluate the prevalence of transmitted drug resistance (TDR) to nucleoside and nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI, NNRTI), protease inhibitors (PI), and integrase strand transfer inhibitors (INSTI) in Spain during the period 2019-2021, as well as to evaluate transmitted clinically relevant resistance (TCRR) to antiretroviral drugs. Reverse transcriptase (RT), protease (Pro), and Integrase (IN) sequences from 1824 PLWH (people living with HIV) were studied. To evaluate TDR we investigated the prevalence of surveillance drug resistance mutations (SDRM). To evaluate TCRR (any resistance level >= 3), and for HIV subtyping we used the Stanford v.9.4.1 HIVDB Algorithm and an in-depth phylogenetic analysis. The prevalence of NRTI SDRMs was 3.8% (95% CI, 2.8%-4.6%), 6.1% (95% CI, 5.0%-7.3%) for NNRTI, 0.9% (95% CI, 0.5%-1.4%) for PI, and 0.2% (95% CI, 0.0%-0.9%) for INSTI. The prevalence of TCRR to NRTI was 2.1% (95% CI, 1.5%-2.9%), 11.8% for NNRTI, (95% CI, 10.3%-13.5%), 0.2% (95% CI, 0.1%-0.6%) for PI, and 2.5% (95% CI, 1.5%-4.1%) for INSTI. Most of the patients were infected by subtype B (79.8%), while the majority of non-Bs were CRF02_AG (n = 109, 6%). The prevalence of INSTI and PI resistance in Spain during the period 2019-2021 is low, while NRTI resistance is moderate, and NNRTI resistance is the highest. Our results support the use of integrase inhibitors as first-line treatment in Spain. Our findings highlight the importance of ongoing surveillance of TDR to antiretroviral drugs in PLWH particularly with regard to first-line antiretroviral therapy

Riesgo quirúrgico tras resección pulmonar anatómica en cirugía torácica. Modelo predictivo a partir de una base de datos nacional multicéntrica

Introduction: the aim of this study was to develop a surgical risk prediction model in patients undergoing anatomic lung resections from the registry of the Spanish Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery Group (GEVATS). Methods: data were collected from 3,533 patients undergoing anatomic lung resection for any diagnosis between December 20, 2016 and March 20, 2018. We defined a combined outcome variable: death or Clavien Dindo grade IV complication at 90 days after surgery. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed by logistic regression. Internal validation of the model was performed using resampling techniques. Results: the incidence of the outcome variable was 4.29% (95% CI 3.6-4.9). The variables remaining in the final logistic model were: age, sex, previous lung cancer resection, dyspnea (mMRC), right pneumonectomy, and ppo DLCO. The performance parameters of the model adjusted by resampling were: C-statistic 0.712 (95% CI 0.648-0.750), Brier score 0.042 and bootstrap shrinkage 0.854. Conclusions: the risk prediction model obtained from the GEVATS database is a simple, valid, and reliable model that is a useful tool for establishing the risk of a patient undergoing anatomic lung resection