Sex and stature estimation on the tibia:a virtual pilot study on a contemporary Hispanic population

Sex and stature estimation represent two pillars in the creation of the biological profile, providing crucial demographic information that forensic anthropologists use for the identification of unknown skeletonized remains. This pilot study evaluates population data proposing a virtual sex and stature estimation method for a Hispanic population using the tibia. Ninety-two CT scans from the New Mexico Decedent Image Database were used to generate 3D models of the left tibia (forty-seven males, forty-five females). Tibial length, proximal and distal breadth were the parameters taken. Intra-observer error was assessed using an intra-class correlation coefficient. Sex differences were explored, and discriminant function and regression analysis used to develop sex and stature estimation formulae, respectively. High repeatability was demonstrated. Sex estimation accuracies ranged between 83.7 per cent and 93.5 per cent, with proximal and distal breadth showing the highest correct classification rates. Stature estimation produced errors between 5.51 cm and 7 cm, with the validation test providing errors falling within the predicted standard error of the estimate reported by the original equations. This study suggests the potential for accurate sex and stature estimation in the Hispanic sample. Although a larger sample is needed to corroborate the preliminary results, the proposed methods might assist in the identification of future forensic cases

La conciliación de la vida familiar y laboral : comentario de la Sentencia de 19 de diciembre de 2022 del TSJ de Madrid.

La sentencia de la Sala de lo Social del TSJ Madrid (sección 5ª) núm. 731/2022, de 19 de diciembre, resuelve el recurso de suplicación número 385/2022, interpuesto por la trabajadora contra la sentencia del Juzgado de lo Social del mismo asunto que desestimaba su petición de adaptación laboral para poder atender al mayor de sus dos hijos, ambos menores de edad, en lo que respecta a la actividad extraescolar de fútbol. El TSJ de Madrid pondera los intereses de ambas partes y concluye que no procede acceder a lo solicitado por la trabajadora al concebir el tribunal la actividad extraescolar como facultativa. También es objeto de análisis en este comentario el deber de corresponsabilidad parental, la conciliación de la vida familiar y laboral del artículo 34.8 ET y la igualdad laboral entre trabajadores y trabajadoras.The judgment of the Labour Room of TSJ Madrid (section 5) no. 731/2022, of December 19, resolves the appeal number 385/2022, filed by the worker against the Labour Court of the same matter that dismissed her request for work adaptation to be able to care for the eldest of her two children, both minors, with regard to extracurricular football activity. The TSJ of Madrid weighs the interests of both parties and concludes that it is not appropriate to accede to what was requested by the worker when the court conceives the extracurricular activity as optional. Also analyzed in this commentary is the duty of parental co-responsibility, the reconciliation of family and work life in article 34.8 ET and labor equality between male and female workers

Estudio del papel en la resistencia a antiangiogénicos en cáncer renal de células claras (CRCC) de los polimorfismos de nucleótido único (SNPs)

Los polimorfismos de nucleótido único son pequeñas variaciones en la secuencia de nuestros genes que, aun careciendo de significado patológico, son reponsables de parte de las diferencias fenotípicas interindividuales. Estas variaciones sí pueden implicar cambios en la actividad de las proteínas resultantes que, aunque pasen desapercibidas en la vida cotidiana, desembocarían en importantes diferencias en situaciones de estrés, como por ejemplo la administración de fármacos con una estrecha ventana terapéutica. Dado que los antiangiogénicos actúan inhibiendo el crecimiento del endotelio vascular, constituido por células sanas carentes de mutaciones, los polimorfismos representan un mecanismo plausible de resistencia a dichos fármacos. En la presente tesis se recogen los resultados de una intensa línea de investigación desarrollada por nuestro grupo en el campo de los SNPs y la predicción de eficacia y toxicidad en cáncer renal. Para ello pusimos en marcha en 2007 un estudio observacional prospectivo, denominado SUT-REN-07, en el que recogimos de forma sistemática muestras de sangre periférica para la extracción de ADN germinal y tejido tumoral parafinado de más de 100 pacientes con cáncer renal de células claras metastásico que fueran a recibir sunitinib dentro de la práctica asistencial.. Gracias a dicho estudio hemos podido completar tres grandes trabajos, que constituyen el cuerpo de esta tesis doctoral. Como principal hallazgo, hemos identificado dos SNPs en el gen VEGFR3 asociados a resistencia a sunitinib y un tercero, en el enzima CYP3A5, asociado a un mayor riesgo de reducción de dosis. También estudiamos los niveles de expresión proteica, determinados por inmunohistoquímica, de diferentes genes relacionados con la hipoxia y la proteína VEGFR3. Interesantemente, la baja expresión de VEGFR3 se asoció con la presencia de los SNPs de resistencia previamente mencionados. Por ultimo, conseguimos validar en nuestra serie, los hallazgos realizados por un grupo independiente en los que determinados SNPs en el gen IL-8 condicionaban también resistencia a antiangiogénicos

Age estimation on two Mediterranean samples using rib histomorphometry

Estimation of age is a crucial step for the identification of unknown individuals. Age is commonly assessed through macroscopic analytical methods based on the gross-examination of age degenerative changes in the skeleton. The choice of the methods relies on the taphonomic condition of the human remains and/or the skeletal element that is available. In cases of very fragmented bones, microscopic techniques remain one of the few approaches to estimate age. Thus, many histological age estimation methods have been developed for different bones and on different samples in the last forty years. Numerous intrinsic and extrinsic factors influence bone remodelling rates and have shown to affect the accuracy of histological aging methods. The present study investigates rib thin-sections from two Mediterranean samples, aiming to explore the applicability and reliability of histological methods in estimating age within these samples. Standard ribs were obtained from males and females (N = 88, Mean age = 60, SD = 17.90) from two samples, Cretans (Greece) and Greek- Cypriots (Republic of Cyprus). The costal elements were processed histologically according to standard protocols and thirteen raw and composite histomorphometric parameters (frequency number of intact and fragmentary osteons, total osteons, osteon population densities – including OPD(I) and OPD(F) – cortical area, total area, endosteal area, relative cortical area, osteon area, osteon perimeter and osteon circularity) were assessed. Intra- and inter-observer errors were examined. Due to the fragmented nature of the costal elements, sampling error was calculated as a means to explore whether the histological variables vary among six different topographical locations along the rib length. A validation study was carried out by applying four existing histological age prediction equations on the entire dataset and on the sub-datasets (sex and samples separately) in order to verify whether population-specific formulae are required for the Mediterranean samples. The relationship between the histological variables and age, as well as sex and samples, was determined through several statistical tests. Lastly, simple and multiple regression analyses were performed testing all possible combinations of variables. The best models ii were finally selected according to prediction power and goodness of fit indicators. The results from intra- and inter-observer errors indicated that most of the histological parameters achieved high levels of repeatability. The preliminary outcome from the sampling error pilot study suggested low variability among the six thin-sections from each rib. According to the validation study, three of the four age prediction equations resulted in high underestimation of age, indicating that population-specific formulae are needed to provide more accurate age estimates. Most of the histological variables showed a statistically significant correlation with age with some differences observed by sex and by sample. Forty-one models were generated concluding that osteon densities along with rib and osteon measurements formulae produced the most accurate results. The best model generated from the entire dataset included OPD and osteon circularity with a standard error of the estimate of 10.45 years. When sex and samples were separated, the best model selected included OPD and osteon perimeter producing a standard error of the estimate of 8 years for Cypriots. This research demonstrates that quantitative bone histology is a feasible method to estimate age on the Mediterranean samples obtaining errors rates that are in accordance with macroscopic ageing techniques. Inter-population variation in remodeling rates is suggested; however, the inclusion of other bones presenting different remodelling dynamics (such as femora) is recommended to further explore this hypothesis. This study contributes to the creation of population-specific standards for Cretans and Cypriots

Los sustantivos realizativos en el marco de la teoría sentido-texto: aplicación a la terminología económica del español

Los últimos años de recesión económica han provocado que se hayan convertido en términos de uso cotidiano muchos de los que están vinculados al campo de la economía y las finanzas, en buena parte por la relevancia que ha adquirido este lenguaje especializado en los medios de comunicación. Sin embargo, el significado asociado a este uso generalizado se desvía en ocasiones del sentido que tienen estas palabras para los expertos.Para conocer el grado de desviación podemos servirnos de la combinatoria léxica: debemos averiguar si todas las colocaciones (como subir la prima de riesgo) tienen los mismos matices para expertos y no expertos. En este sentido es especialmente útil el recurso a las funciones léxicas, herramienta de la Teoría Sentido-Texto que permite analizar la combinatoria léxica de un modo coherente y sistemático. Además, y con respecto al léxico que nos interesa, resulta pertinente estudiar un rasgo semántico especialmente productivo, ‘lo esperable’, de ‘la finalidad’ o ‘el objetivo de algo’. En esta investigación se ha podido apreciar que la mayoría de los sustantivos económicos analizados posee en su significado ese rasgo de ‘lo esperable’, por lo que se encuadrarían dentro de los denominados sustantivos realizativos (Barrios, 2010). Este rasgo es importante al redactar una definición (bolígrafo: instrumento para escribir), y resulta relativamente claro en el caso de sustantivos concretos, pero no siempre se ve claro en el caso de sustantivos abstractos: si en prima se puede intuir (cantidad extra que se ha de pagar en función de un riesgo) en crisis resulta difícil apreciarlo (disminución de la tasa de crecimiento de la producción)..

Randomized phase II clinical trial of ruxolitinib plus simvastatin in COVID19 clinical outcome and cytokine evolution.

Background: Managing the inflammatory response to SARS-Cov-2 could prevent respiratory insufficiency. Cytokine profiles could identify cases at risk of severe disease. Methods: We designed a randomized phase II clinical trial to determine whether the combination of ruxolitinib (5 mg twice a day for 7 days followed by 10 mg BID for 7 days) plus simvastatin (40 mg once a day for 14 days), could reduce the incidence of respiratory insufficiency in COVID-19. 48 cytokines were correlated with clinical outcome. Participants: Patients admitted due to COVID-19 infection with mild disease. Results: Up to 92 were included. Mean age was 64 ± 17, and 28 (30%) were female. 11 (22%) patients in the control arm and 6 (12%) in the experimental arm reached an OSCI grade of 5 or higher (p = 0.29). Unsupervised analysis of cytokines detected two clusters (CL-1 and CL-2). CL-1 presented a higher risk of clinical deterioration vs CL-2 (13 [33%] vs 2 [6%] cases, p = 0.009) and death (5 [11%] vs 0 cases, p = 0.059). Supervised Machine Learning (ML) analysis led to a model that predicted patient deterioration 48h before occurrence with a 85% accuracy. Conclusions: Ruxolitinib plus simvastatin did not impact the outcome of COVID-19. Cytokine profiling identified patients at risk of severe COVID-19 and predicted clinical deterioration.post-print5586 K

Osteon shape variation in the femoral diaphysis:A geometric-morphometric approach on human cortical bone microstructure in an elderly sample

Geometric morphometrics (GMM) have been applied to understand morphological variation in biological structures. However, research studying cortical bone through geometric histomorphometrics (GHMM) is scarce. This research aims to develop a landmark-based GHMM protocol to depict osteonal shape variation in the femoral diaphysis, exploring the role of age and biomechanics in bone microstructure. Proximal, midshaft, and distal anatomical segments from the femoral diaphysis of six individuals were assessed, with 864 secondary intact osteons from eight periosteal sampling areas being manually landmarked. Observer error was tested using Procrustes ANOVA. Average osteonal shape and anatomical segment-specific variation were explored using principal component analysis. Osteon shape differences between segments were examined using canonical variate analysis (CVA). Sex differences were assessed through Procrustes ANOVA and discriminant function analysis (DFA). The impact of osteonal size on osteonal shape was investigated. High repeatability and reproducibility in osteon shape landmarking were reported. The average osteon shape captured was an elliptical structure, with PC1 reflecting more circular osteons. Significant differences in osteon shape were observed between proximal and distal segments according to CVA. Osteon shape differed between males and females, with DFA showing 52% cross-validation accuracies. No effect of size on shape was reported. Osteonal shape variation observed in this study might be explained by the elderly nature of the sample as well as biomechanical and physiological mechanisms playing different roles along the femoral diaphysis. Although a larger sample is needed to corroborate these findings, this study contributes to the best of our knowledge on human microanatomy, proposing a novel GHMM approach

Age estimation for two Mediterranean populations:rib histomorphometry applied to forensic identification and bone remodelling research

Numerous intrinsic and extrinsic factors influence bone remodelling rates and have shown to affect the accuracy of histological aging methods. The present study investigates the rib cortex from two Mediterranean skeletal collections exploring the development of population-specific standards for histomorphometric age-at-death estimation. Eighty-eight standard ribs from two samples, Cretans and Greek-Cypriots, were processed histologically. Thirteen raw and composite histomorphometric parameters were assessed and observer error tested. The correlation between age and the parameters and the differences between sex and population subsamples were explored through group comparisons and analysis of covariance. General linear models assessed through data fit indicators and cross-validation were generated from the total dataset, and by sex and population subsamples. Most of the histological variables showed a statistically significant correlation with age with some differences observed by sex and by sample. From the twelve models generated, the optimal model for the whole sample included osteon population density (OPD), osteon perimeter, and osteon circularity producing an error of 10.71 years. When sex and samples were separated, the best model selected included OPD and osteon perimeter producing an error of 8.07 years for Greek-Cypriots. This research demonstrates the feasibility of quantitative bone histology to estimate age, obtaining errors rates in accordance with macroscopic ageing techniques. Sex and sample population differences need further investigation and inter-population variation in remodelling rates is suggested. Moreover, this study contributes to the creation of population-specific standards for Cretans and Greek-Cypriots

Osteon shape variation in the femoral diaphysis:A geometric-morphometric approach on human cortical bone microstructure in an elderly sample

Geometric morphometrics (GMM) have been applied to understand morphological variation in biological structures. However, research studying cortical bone through geometric histomorphometrics (GHMM) is scarce. This research aims to develop a landmark-based GHMM protocol to depict osteonal shape variation in the femoral diaphysis, exploring the role of age and biomechanics in bone microstructure. Proximal, midshaft, and distal anatomical segments from the femoral diaphysis of six individuals were assessed, with 864 secondary intact osteons from eight periosteal sampling areas being manually landmarked. Observer error was tested using Procrustes ANOVA. Average osteonal shape and anatomical segment-specific variation were explored using principal component analysis. Osteon shape differences between segments were examined using canonical variate analysis (CVA). Sex differences were assessed through Procrustes ANOVA and discriminant function analysis (DFA). The impact of osteonal size on osteonal shape was investigated. High repeatability and reproducibility in osteon shape landmarking were reported. The average osteon shape captured was an elliptical structure, with PC1 reflecting more circular osteons. Significant differences in osteon shape were observed between proximal and distal segments according to CVA. Osteon shape differed between males and females, with DFA showing 52% cross-validation accuracies. No effect of size on shape was reported. Osteonal shape variation observed in this study might be explained by the elderly nature of the sample as well as biomechanical and physiological mechanisms playing different roles along the femoral diaphysis. Although a larger sample is needed to corroborate these findings, this study contributes to the best of our knowledge on human microanatomy, proposing a novel GHMM approach