Praderas de fanerógamas marinas en la bahía de Cádiz: conservación y gestión

Comunicación técnicaLa bahía de Cádiz es un humedal costero protegido por figuras de protección nacionales (Parque Natural) e internacionales (LIC, Convención Ramsar) dada su importancia ecológica. La biodiversidad biológica incluye numerosas especies de macroalgas, invertebrados, peces y aves. Un hecho de singular importancia, y poco conocido por las administraciones públicas, es que en este humedal conviven 3 de las 4 especies de fanerógamas marinas, o más estrictamente angiospermas marinas, de Europa. Las praderas de Cymodocea nodosa y Zostera noltii junto con escasos rodales de Zostera marina, proporcionan numerosos servicios ecológicos que están siendo estudiados por el grupo de Estructura y Dinámica de Ecosistemas Acuáticos de la Universidad de Cádiz. Desde hace 15 años hemos desarrollado proyectos tanto nacionales como internacionales en la bahía con el fin de poner en práctica bases ecológicas para la gestión de estas praderas como parte integrante del ecosistema. Estas herramientas abarcan desde un nivel ecofisiológico muy reduccionista (tasas fotosintéticas, incorporación de nutrientes), hasta un nivel más holista (mapas de cobertura, efecto a gran escala de variables ambientales, utilización de información para la estimación de la calidad ecológica de la masa de agua). Las actuaciones desarrolladas incluyen la consolidación de una red de voluntariado (FAMAR) para la recogida y análisis de la información. El trabajo que se presenta resume la información disponible, con series de datos recogidos y analizados durante la última década, para la gestión de las praderas y el estado de conservación de las mismas. Se incluyen además algunas perspectivas para la gestión.Proyecto ECOLAGUNES del programa europeo Interreg del espacio SUDOE (SOE1/P2/F153), proyecto IMACHYDRO, del Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (CTM2008-00012/MAR), proyectos de excelencia de la Junta de Andalucía FUNDIV (P07-RNM-02516), PAMBIO (P08-RNM-03783) y BAHÍA (P06-RNM0163713 página

Henoch-Schönlein purpura in northern Spain: clinical spectrum of the disease in 417 patients from a single center

The severity of clinical features and the outcomes in previous series of patients reported with Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) vary greatly, probably due to selection bias. To establish the actual clinical spectrum of HSP in all age groups using an unselected and wide series of patients diagnosed at a single center, we performed a retrospective review of 417 patients classified as having HSP according to the criteria proposed by Michel et al. Of 417 patients, 240 were male and 177 female, with a median age at the time of disease diagnosis of 7.5 years (interquartile range [IQR], 5.3-20.1 yr). Three-quarters of the patients were children or young people aged 20 years or younger (n = 315), and one-quarter were adults (n = 102). The most frequent precipitating events were a previous infection (38%), usually an upper respiratory tract infection, and/or drug intake (18.5%) shortly before the onset of the vasculitis. At disease onset the most common manifestations were skin lesions (55.9%), nephropathy (24%), gastrointestinal involvement (13.7%), joint symptoms (9.1%), and fever (6.2%). Cutaneous involvement occurring in all patients, mainly purpuric skin lesion, was the most common manifestation when the vasculitis was fully established, followed by gastrointestinal (64.5%), joint (63.1%), and renal involvement (41.2%). The main laboratory findings were leukocytosis (36.7%), anemia (8.9%), and increased serum IgA levels (31.7%). The most frequent therapies used were corticosteroids (35%), nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (14%), and cytotoxic agents (5%). After a median follow-up of 12 months (IQR, 2-38 mo), complete recovery was observed in most cases (n = 346; 83.2%), while persistent, usually mild, nephropathy was observed in only 32 (7.7%) cases. Relapses were observed in almost a third of patients (n = 133; 31.9%).In conclusion, although HSP is a typical vasculitis affecting children and young people, it is not uncommon in adults. The prognosis is favorable in most cases, depending largely on renal involvement

The morphometric acclimation to depth explains the long-term resilience of the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa in a shallow tidal lagoon

Cadiz Bay is a shallow mesotidal lagoon with extensive populations of the seagrass Cymodocea nodosa at intertidal and shallow subtidal elevations. This work aims to understand the mechanisms behind the resilience of this species to gradual sea level rise by studying its acclimation capacity to depth along the shallow littoral, and therefore, to gradual variations in the light environment. To address this objective, these populations have been monitored seasonally over a 10 year period, representing the longest seasonal database available in the literature for this species. The monitoring included populations at 0.4, -0.08 and -0.5 m LAT. The results show that C. nodosa has a strong seasonality for demographic and shoot dynamic properties - with longer shoots and larger growth in summer (high temperature) than in winter (low temperature), but also some losses. Moreover, shoots have different leaf morphometry depending on depth, with small and dense shoots in the intertidal areas (0.4 m) and sparse large shoots in the subtidal ones (-0.08 and 0.5 m). These differences in morphometry and shoot dynamic properties, combined with the differences in shoot density, explain the lack of differences in meadow production balance (i.e. meadow growth - meadow losses) between the intertidal (0.4 m) and the deepest population (-0.5 m), supporting the long term resilience of Cymodocea nodosa in Cadiz Bay. This study contributes to the understanding of the mechanisms behind seagrass stability and resilience, which is particularly important towards predicting the effects of climate change on these key coastal ecosystems, and also highlights the value of continuous long-term monitoring efforts to evaluate seagrass trajectories

Beneficios del uso de vitamina C en el paciente séptico: ¿qué tanto la apoya la evidencia esta indicación?

Objetivo: resumir y analizar la evidencia más reciente sobre el efecto de la administración de vitamina C en el paciente con sepsis. Métodos: revisión narrativa. Se realizó una búsqueda bibliográfica, utilizando los términos de búsqueda “Vitamina C” y “Sepsis”, además de sinónimos, los cuales fueron combinados con los operadores “AND” y “OR”, en las bases de datos PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, y MEDLINE. Resultados: basados en los últimos estudios celulares y moleculares, se ha evidenciado que la vitamina C posee propiedades antioxidantes, antiinflamatorias, y microbicidas, pudiéndose obtener cierto beneficio de su uso en sepsis. Mientras algunos ensayos controlados aleatorizados han encontrado un incremento del riesgo de hasta el 20% de morir o presentar falla orgánica persistente, otros han observado una disminución de la mortalidad de hasta un 40%, además de la estancia hospitalaria y duración de ventilación mecánica. Conclusión: a la fecha, la evidencia es heterogénea respecto al posible beneficio en el uso de vitamina C intravenosa como terapia sola o combinada en el manejo del paciente con sepsis o shock séptico. Mientras los ensayos controlados aleatorizados parecieran demostrar ausencia de beneficio, principalmente respecto a mortalidad o persistencia de falla orgánica a los 28 días, algunos meta-análisis tienden a mostrar una reducción del riesgo de muerte. Por lo tanto, sigue faltando evidencia que amplíe este panorama

Association of HLA-B*41:02 with Henoch-Schönlein Purpura (IgA Vasculitis) in Spanish individuals irrespective of the HLA-DRB1 status

INTRODUCTION: A study was conducted to determine whether the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) B alleles are implicated in the susceptibility to Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) in the largest series of Caucasian HSP patients ever assessed for genetic studies. METHODS: The study population was composed of 349 Spanish patients diagnosed with HSP fulfilling the American College of Rheumatology and the Michel et al. classification criteria, and 335 sex and ethnically matched controls. HLA-B phenotypes were determined by sequencing-based typing (SBT) and analyzed by chi-square or Fisher exact test. RESULTS: A statistically significant increase of HLA-B*41:02 allele in HSP patients when compared with controls was found (8.3% versus 1.5% respectively; P = 0.0001; OR (odds ratio) =5.76 [2.15-19.3]). These results remained statistically significant after adjusting for Bonferroni correction (P = 0.0028). An internal validation also confirmed the susceptibility effect on HSP associated with HLA-B*41:02 (OR = 5.70 [1.98-16.44]). Since a former study described an association between HLA-DRB1*01:03 and HSP susceptibility, we also evaluated the implication of HLA-B*41:02 independently of HLA-DRB1*01:03. Interestingly, the association remained statistically significant (P = 0.0004, OR = 4.97 [1.8-16.9]). No HLA-B association with specific HSP clinical features was found. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates that HLA-B*41:02 is associated with the susceptibility to HSP in Spanish patients irrespective of HLA-DRB1 status.This study was supported by a grant from ‘Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias’ PI12/00193 (Spain). RLM is a recipient of a Sara Borrell postdoctoral fellowship from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III at the Spanish Ministry of Health (Spain) (CD12/00425). FG and BU are supported by funds from the RETICS Program (RIER) (RD12/0009/0013).Ye

A genome-wide association study follow-up suggests a possible role for PPARG in systemic sclerosis susceptibility

Introduction: A recent genome-wide association study (GWAS) comprising a French cohort of systemic sclerosis (SSc) reported several non-HLA single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) showing a nominal association in the discovery phase. We aimed to identify previously overlooked susceptibility variants by using a follow-up strategy.<p></p> Methods: Sixty-six non-HLA SNPs showing a P value <10-4 in the discovery phase of the French SSc GWAS were analyzed in the first step of this study, performing a meta-analysis that combined data from the two published SSc GWASs. A total of 2,921 SSc patients and 6,963 healthy controls were included in this first phase. Two SNPs, PPARG rs310746 and CHRNA9 rs6832151, were selected for genotyping in the replication cohort (1,068 SSc patients and 6,762 healthy controls) based on the results of the first step. Genotyping was performed by using TaqMan SNP genotyping assays. Results: We observed nominal associations for both PPARG rs310746 (PMH = 1.90 × 10-6, OR, 1.28) and CHRNA9 rs6832151 (PMH = 4.30 × 10-6, OR, 1.17) genetic variants with SSc in the first step of our study. In the replication phase, we observed a trend of association for PPARG rs310746 (P value = 0.066; OR, 1.17). The combined overall Mantel-Haenszel meta-analysis of all the cohorts included in the present study revealed that PPARG rs310746 remained associated with SSc with a nominal non-genome-wide significant P value (PMH = 5.00 × 10-7; OR, 1.25). No evidence of association was observed for CHRNA9 rs6832151 either in the replication phase or in the overall pooled analysis.<p></p> Conclusion: Our results suggest a role of PPARG gene in the development of SSc

Nueva guía visual de la fauna y flora marina del intermareal de La Caleta y roquedos intermareales asociados.

Nueva guía visual de las especies de animales (54 especies) y macroalgas (52 especies) más habituales y/o curiosas de los roquedos del intermareal de La Caleta (Cádiz) y roquedos intermareales asociados. Se incluyen mas del doble de las especies que aparecían en la guía publicada en 2019. Dos de las especies de animales añadidas fueron recientemente descritas como nuevas para la Ciencia a partir de material encontrado en La Caleta (en parte).Universidad de Cádiz Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación Fundación Española de Ciencia y Tecnología (FECYT) Campus de Excelencia Internacional del MAR (CEIMAR)108 pagina

Monitoring and evaluation of nursing practices through the sisep application

El avance tecnológico y la consecuente incorporación de las TICs en el ámbito docente ha conllevado la aparición de nuevas herramientas para facilitar a los docentes el proceso de seguimiento y evaluación del alumnado. De igual forma, dicho avance ha contribuido a la adquisición de un modelo de aprendizaje más proactivo e individualizado por parte del alumnado. El presente proyecto pretende implementar una herramienta informática denominada “Seguimiento y Evaluación de Practicas” (SISEP) en las asignaturas de prácticas clínicas de la titulación de Grado en Enfermería para optimizar el seguimiento y la evaluación de los alumnos durante el desarrollo de sus prácticas externas, así como mejorar el proceso de adquisición de competencias y habilidades. La metodología ha consistido en la elaboración de material didáctico para dicha aplicación y la posterior evaluación del grado de satisfacción de los distintos roles implicados en su uso mediante un cuestionario autoadministrado de elaboración propia. El grado de satisfacción con respecto a la aplicación fue alto, señalando que contribuye de forma decisiva en la adquisición de competencias, aunque no en todos los casos los usuarios han considerado su interfaz como completamente sencilla o intuitiva.The technological advance and consequent incorporation of IT in the teaching field has entailed the appearance of new tools to facilitate teachers the process of monitoring and evaluating students. In the same way, this advance has contributed to the acquisition of a more proactive and individualized learning model on the students' side. The present project intends to implement a computer tool called “Monitoring and Evaluation of Practices” (SISEP) in the subjects of clinical practices of the degree in Nursing in order to optimize the monitoring and evaluation of students during the development of their external practices, as well as improving the process of acquiring skills and abilities. The methodology used consisted in the elaboration of the teaching material and the later evaluation of the degree of satisfaction from the different roles involved through the use of a self-administered, self-produed questionnaire. The degree of satisfaction regarding the application was high, pointing out its decisive contribution to the acquisition of skills, even if not all users have found its interface clear or intuitive enough

La gestión de centros de enseñanza obligatoria en Iberoamerica - RedAGE

La presente aportación recoge la visión de los especialistas de once países iberoamericanos sobre aspectos de gestión relevantes en los niveles de la educación obligatoria. Muchas de las aportaciones se pueden calificar de ensayos, otras de investigaciones y algunas de análisis críticos sobre un aspecto considerado significativo. Su realización se vincula al encuentro de especialistas realizado durante los días 8 al 10 de junio de 2009 en el marco de la Red de Apoyo a la Gestión Educativa (Red AGE). Los representantes de las organizaciones miembro presentaron y debatieron durante el mismo documentos sobre la situación actual de la gestión educativa en sus respectivos países, que constituyen la base sobre la que se han realizado las aportaciones definitivas que recoge el presente texto

Cross-disease Meta-analysis of Genome-wide Association Studies for Systemic Sclerosis and Rheumatoid Arthritis Reveals IRF4 as a New Common Susceptibility Locus

Objectives: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are autoimmune diseases that share clinical and immunological characteristics. To date, several shared SSc- RA loci have been identified independently. In this study, we aimed to systematically search for new common SSc-RA loci through an inter-disease meta-GWAS strategy. Methods: We performed a meta-analysis combining GWAS datasets of SSc and RA using a strategy that allowed identification of loci with both same-direction and opposingdirection allelic effects. The top single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were followed-up in independent SSc and RA case-control cohorts. This allowed us to increase the sample size to a total of 8,830 SSc patients, 16,870 RA patients and 43,393 controls. Results: The cross-disease meta-analysis of the GWAS datasets identified several loci with nominal association signals (P-value < 5 x 10-6), which also showed evidence of association in the disease-specific GWAS scan. These loci included several genomic regions not previously reported as shared loci, besides risk factors associated with both diseases in previous studies. The follow-up of the putatively new SSc-RA loci identified IRF4 as a shared risk factor for these two diseases (Pcombined = 3.29 x 10-12). In addition, the analysis of the biological relevance of the known SSc-RA shared loci pointed to the type I interferon and the interleukin 12 signaling pathways as the main common etiopathogenic factors. Conclusions: Our study has identified a novel shared locus, IRF4, for SSc and RA and highlighted the usefulness of cross-disease GWAS meta-analysis in the identification of common risk loci