El ácido úrico se asocia con características de un síndrome de resistencia insulínica en los niños obesos en etapas perdurables

Elevated plasma uric acid levels are associated with obesity and could be an expression of insulin-resistant state. The aim of the present study was to evaluate plasma uric acid in obese and normal-weight children exclusively at prepubertal stage and its relationship with anthropometric measurements, intake, and features of the insulin resistance syndrome. A study was performed in 34 obese and 20 normal- weight prepubertal children. Nutrient intake was determined using a 72 h recall questionnaire and a consumption food frequency questionnaire. Anthropometric parameters and fasting plasma lipids, glucose, insulin, leptin, adiponectin, tumour necrosis factor (TNF-α) and uric acid were measured. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify association of anthropometric parameters, nutrient intake and insulin resistance syndrome variables (arterial blood pressure, plasma glucose, insulin, homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance index- HOMA- triacylglycerols and, HDL-cholesterol) with uric acid. Plasma uric concentration was significantly higher in the obese group than in the control group and when adjusted by sex, age and BMI was positively associated with tricipital skinfold and insulin resistance, and negatively with adiponectin. In multiple regression analysis, BMI, HDL-cholesterol and adiponectin were independent predictors of plasma uric acid. In conclusion, elevated levels of uric acid in obese children, compared with lean subjects, at the prepubertal period, seems to be an early metabolic alteration that is associated with other features of insulin resistance syndrome.Los niveles elevados de ácido úrico plasmáticos se asocian a la obesidad y pueden ser la expresión de un estado de resistencia insulínica. El objetivo de este estudio ha sido evaluar la concentración plasmática de ácido úrico en niños obesos y normales, exclusivamente en edad prepuberal, y determinar su relación con las medidas antropométricas, la ingesta dietética y los parámetros asociados al síndrome de resistencia insulínica. El estudio se llevó a cabo en 34 niños obesos y 20 controles en edad prepuberal a los cuales se les estimó su ingesta dietética mediante el registro de un cuestionario de ingesta de alimentos de 72 h y un cuestionario de frecuencia de consumo de alimentos y se determinaron, además de los parámetros antropométricos, la glucosa, la insulina, la leptina, la adiponectina y el factor de necrosis tumoral alfa (TNF-α) plasmáticos. Se realizó un análisis de regresión múltiple para identificar la asociación entre los niveles de ácido úrico y los parámetros antropométricos, la ingesta de nutrientes y las variables clásicas relacionadas con el síndrome de resistencia insulínica (hipertensión, glucosa, insulina, índice de resistencia insulínica HOMA, triglicéridos y HDL-colesterol plasmáticos), así como con leptina, adiponectina y TNF-α. La concentración plasmática de ácido úrico fue significativamente más elevada en los niños obesos que en los controles y, cuando se ajustó por sexo, edad e índice de masa corporal, los niveles de ácido úrico se asociaron con el pliegue tricipital y la resistencia inulínica, y negativamente con la adiponectina. En el análisis de regresión múltiple, el índice de masa corporal, el HDL-colesterol y la adiponectina fueron predictores independientes del ácido úrico plasmático. En conclusión, los niveles elevados de ácido úrico en niños obesos en edad prepuberal, comparado con los de los niños normales, representan una alteración metabólica temprana asociada con la resistencia insulínica.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs, the Spanish National Program for Scientific Research, Development, and Technological Innovation (I+D+I), and the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Spanish National Health Research Institute), FEDER co-financed Project No. PI 051968. Mercedes Gil-Campos was a research scientist appointed on a training contract funded by the Carlos III Health Research Institute

Your Teammate Just Sent You a New Message! The Effects of Using Telegram on Individual Acquisition of Teamwork Competence

Students’ acquisition of teamwork competence has become a priority for educational institutions. The development of teamwork competence in education generally relies in project-based learning methodologies and challenges. The assessment of teamwork in project-based learning involves, among others, assessing students’ participation and the interactions between team members. Project-based learning can easily be handled in small-size courses, but course management and teamwork assessment become a burdensome task for instructors as the size of the class increases. Additionally, when project-based learning happens in a virtual space, such as online learning, interactions occur in a less natural way. This study explores the use of instant messaging apps (more precisely, the use of Telegram) as team communication space in project-based learning, using a learning analytics tool to extract and analyze student interactions. Further, the study compares student interactions (e.g., number of messages exchanged) and individual teamwork competence acquisition between traditional asynchronous (e.g., LMS message boards) and synchronous instant messaging communication environments. The results show a preference of students for IM tools and increased participation in the course. However, the analysis does not find significant improvement in the acquisition of individual teamwork competence

Solución Abierta de Barrido y Pulsación en Dispositivos Móviles Accesible para Personas con DFiscapacidad Física

Este trabajo de investigación tiene como objetivo esencial ofrecer una solución de accesibilidad a los dispositivos móviles táctiles para personas con discapacidad física con afección en los miembros superiores. El diseño, desarrollo y validación de la solución detallada está basado en una plataforma abierta y de bajo coste como Android que, mediante la interconexión de conmutadores comerciales y el uso de un sistema de barrido con realimentación por voz sintetizada, permite al usuario acceder a todas las funciones básicas de la telefonía móvil. El análisis de los requisitos de usuario es un eje central de este trabajo para lo cual se ha contado con la participación de la Asociación de Lesionados Medulares y Grandes Discapacitados Físicos (ASPAYM), de la Asociación de Padres de Alumnos Minusválidos (APAM) y del Centro de Referencia Estatal de Atención al Daño Cerebral (CEADAC). El sistema resultante preserva las expectativas de autonomía personal y privacidad demandadas

A low frequency of losses in 11q chromosome Is associated with better outcome and lower rate of genomic mutations in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.-- et al.To analyze the impact of the 11q deleted (11q-) cells in CLL patients on the time to first therapy (TFT) and overall survival (OS), 2,493 patients with CLL were studied. 242 patients (9.7%) had 11q-. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) studies showed a threshold of 40% of deleted cells to be optimal for showing that clinical differences in terms of TFT and OS within 11q- CLLs. In patients with ≥40% of losses in 11q (11q-H) (74%), the median TFT was 19 months compared with 44 months in CLL patients with <40% del(11q) (11q-L) (P<0.0001). In the multivariate analysis, only the presence of 11q-L, mutated IGHV status, early Binet stage and absence of extended lymphadenopathy were associated with longer TFT. Patients with 11q-H had an OS of 90 months, while in the 11q-L group the OS was not reached (P = 0.008). The absence of splenomegaly (P = 0.02), low LDH (P = 0.018) or β2M (P = 0.006), and the presence of 11q-L (P = 0.003) were associated with a longer OS. In addition, to detect the presence of mutations in the ATM, TP53, NOTCH1, SF3B1, MYD88, FBXW7, XPO1 and BIRC3 genes, a select cohort of CLL patients with losses in 11q was sequenced by next-generation sequencing of amplicons. Eighty %of CLLs with 11qshowed mutations and fewer patients with low frequencies of 11q- had mutations among genes examined (50% vs 94.1%, P = 0.023). In summary, CLL patients with <40% of 11qhad a long TFT and OS that could be associated with the presence of fewer mutated genes.This work was supported by grants from the Spanish Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias FIS 09/01543, PI12/00281 and PI15/01471, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) "Una manera de hacer Europa", Proyectos de Investigación del SACYL 355/A/09, GRS/1172/A15, COST Action EuGESMA (BM0801), Fundación Manuel Solórzano, Obra Social Banca Cívica (Caja Burgos), Fundación Española de Hematología y Hemoterapia (FEHH), and by grants (RD12/0036/0069 and RD12/0036/0044) from Red Temática de Investigación Cooperativa en Cáncer (RTICC), Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) "Una manera de hacer Europa" (CEI 2010-1-0010). The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme [FP7/2007-2013] under Grant Agreement n°306242-NGS-PTL. María Hernández-Sánchez is fully supported by an Ayuda Predoctoral de la Junta de Castilla y León from the Fondo Social Europeo (JCYL-EDU/346/2013 Ph.D. scholarship). Vera Grossmann was supported by MLL Munich and Alexander Kohlmann was supported by MLL Munich and AstraZeneca in terms of salary.Peer Reviewe

Dietary Patterns and Their Association with Body Composition and Cardiometabolic Markers in Children and Adolescents: Genobox Cohort

Diet is a key factor for obesity development; however, limited data are available on dietary cluster analysis in children with obesity. We aimed to assess the associations between dietary patterns and obesity and several cardiometabolic markers. Anthropometry, bioelectrical impedance, blood pressure and plasma biomarkers of oxidative stress, inflammation and endothelial damage were determined in 674 Caucasian children, aged 5–16, with normal or excess weight. Using a food frequency questionnaire and cluster analysis, two consistent dietary patterns were shown, labeled as health conscious (HC) and sweet and processed (SP). The HC pattern included a greater proportion of participants with overweight/obesity than the SP cluster (80.1% vs. 63.8%). However, children with obesity within the HC cluster, showed less abdominal fat, through waist to hip (0.93 vs. 0.94) and waist to height (0.61 vs. 0.63) indexes (p < 0.01). Univariate general models showed several additional di erences in cardiometabolic risk biomarkers in the global and stratified analyses, with a healthier profile being observed mainly in the HC cluster. However, multivariate models questioned these findings and pointed out the need for further studies in this field. Anyhow, our findings support the benefits of a healthy diet and highlight the importance of dietary patterns in the cardiometabolic risk assessment of children with overweight/obesity, beyond weight control.Plan Nacional de Investigacion Cientifica, Desarrollo e Innovacion Tecnologica (I+D+I), Instituto de Salud Carlos III-Health Research Funding (FONDOS FEDER) PI05/1968 PI11/01425 PI11/02042 PI11/02059 PI16/01301 PI16/01205 PI1600871CIBEROBN Network CB15/00131 CB15/00043Juan de la Cierva-Formacion from the Spanish Government FJCI-2017-34967 FJCI-2014-19795Vice-Rectorate of Research and Transfer of the University of Granada, Spai

Un dictamen médico del siglo XVIII. La confrontación crítica entre los doctores Thomas Exarch y Joseph Guiral sobre Pedro Zermeño

Se presenta la edición crítica de un trabajo, de naturaleza médica, publicado en 1735, y escrito por los doctores Thomas Exarch y Joseph Guiral. En sendos dictámenes, ambos doctores exponían sus ideas sobre el paciente Pedro Zermeño, aquejado de epilepsia. El trabajo expresa las ideas y el conocimiento que se tenía de esta afección en esos años, y también nos refleja el testimonio de una época, en una ciudad como Melilla y con unos personajes que llegaron a tener una gran relevancia en el campo de la Ingeniería militar española del siglo XVIII: Juan Martín Zermeño y Pedro Zermeño.It talks about the critical edition of a medical work that was published in 1735, and written by the doctors Thomas Exarch and Joseph Guiral. In these opinions, both doctors exposed their ideas about the patient Pedro Zermeño, afflicted of epilepsy. The work expresses the ideas and knowledge that was had of this illness in those years and it also reflects the testimony of an era, in a city as Melilla and with characters who managed to have a great relevancy in the field of the military Spanish Engineering of the 18th century: Juan Martín Zermeño and Pedro Zermeño

Molecular characterization of autophagic and apoptotic signaling induced by sorafenib in liver cancer cells

Sorafenib is the unique accepted molecular targeted drug for the treatment of patients in advanced stage of hepatocellular carcinoma. The current study evaluated cell signaling regulation of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, c-Jun-N-terminal kinase (JNK), Akt, and 5′AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) leading to autophagy and apoptosis induced by sorafenib. Sorafenib induced early (3–12 hr) ER stress characterized by an increase of Ser51P-eIF2α/eIF2α, C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP), IRE1α, and sXBP1, but a decrease of activating transcription factor 6 expression, overall temporally associated with the increase of Thr183,Tyr185P-JNK1/2/JNK1/2, Thr172P-AMPKα, Ser413P-Foxo3a, Thr308P-AKt/AKt and Thr32P-Foxo3a/Foxo3a ratios, and reduction of Ser2481P-mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)/mTOR and protein translation. This pattern was related to a transient increase of tBid, Bim EL, Beclin-1, Bcl-xL, Bcl-2, autophagy markers, and reduction of myeloid cell leukemia-1 (Mcl-1) expression. The progressive increase of CHOP expression, and reduction of Thr308P-AKt/AKt and Ser473P-AKt/AKt ratios were associated with the reduction of autophagic flux and an additional upregulation of Bim EL expression and caspase-3 activity (24 hr). Small interfering-RNA (si-RNA) assays showed that Bim, but not Bak and Bax, was involved in the induction of caspase-3 in sorafenib-treated HepG2 cells. Sorafenib increased autophagic and apoptotic markers in tumor-derived xenograft model. In conclusion, the early sorafenib-induced ER stress and regulation of JNK and AMPK-dependent signaling were related to the induction of survival autophagic process. The sustained drug treatment induced a progressive increase of ER stress and PERK-CHOP-dependent rise of Bim EL, which was associated with the shift from autophagy to apoptosis. The kinetic of Bim EL expression profile might also be related to the tight balance between AKt- and AMPK-related signaling leading to Foxo3a-dependent BIM EL upregulation.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad BFU2016‐75352‐PInstituto de Salud Carlos III PI15/00034, PI13/ 00021, PI16/00090, PI14/01349Ministerio de Educación FPU16/05127, FPU12/01433, FPU13/01237Junta de Andalucía CTS-6264, PI-00025-2013, PI-0127-2013, PI-0198-201

The materials production and processing facility at the Spanish National Centre for fusion technologies (TechnoFusión)

Proceedings of : The 26th Symposium of Fusion Technology (SOFT-26), Porto (Portugal),- 27 september - 1 october 2010.In response to the urgent request from the EU Fusion Program, a new facility (TechnoFusion) for research and development of fusion materials has been planned with support from the Regional Government of Madrid and the Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain. TechnoFusion, the National Centre for Fusion Technologies, aims screening different technologies relevant for ITER and DEMO environments while promoting the contribution of international companies and research groups into the Fusion Programme. For this purpose, the centre will be provided with a large number of unique facilities for the manufacture, testing (a triple-beam multi-ion irradiation, a plasma-wall interaction device, a remote handling for under ionizing radiation testing) and analysis of critical fusion materials. Particularly, the objectives, semi-industrial scale capabilities and present status of the TechnoFusion Materials Production and Processing (MPP) facility are presented. Previous studies revealed that the MPP facility will be a very promising infrastructure for the development of new materials and prototypes demanded by the fusion technology and therefore some of them will be here briefly summarized.This work has been supported by Madrid Community through the project TECHNOFUSION (S2009/ENE/1679).Publicad