The Role of Cell Division Orientation during Zebrafish Early Development

The development of multicellular organisms is dependent on the tight coordination between tissue growth and morphogenesis. The stereotypical orientation of cell divisions has been proposed to be a fundamental mechanism by which proliferating and growing tissues take shape. However, the actual contribution of stereotypical cell division orientation (SDO) to tissue morphogenesis is unclear. In zebrafish, cell divisions with stereotypical orientation have been implicated in both body axis elongation and neural rod formation, although there is little direct evidence for a critical function of SDO in either of these processes. Making use of extended time-lapse, multi-photon microscopy and a careful three-dimensional analysis of cell division orientation, we show that SDO is required for neural rod midline formation during neurulation, but dispensable for body axis elongation during gastrulation. Our data indicate that SDO during both gastrulation and neurulation is dependent on the non-canonical Wnt receptor Frizzled 7 (Fz7), and that interfering with cell division orientation leads to severe defects in neural rod midline formation, but not body axis elongation. These findings suggest a novel function for Fz7 controlled cell division orientation in neural rod midline formation during neurulation. They also shed new light on the field of cell division orientation by uncoupling it from tissue elongation

Hacia una nueva cultura del agua en México: organización indígena y campesina. El caso de la presa Villa Victoria

El objetivo del presente artículo es describir la insostenibilidad en la gestión del agua en México y la respuesta de los movimientos sociales indígenas en defensa del agua y los recursos naturales. La conciencia de estos grupos indígenas, sus reivindicaciones y sus propuestas de cambio mediante planes de desarrollo rural sostenibles realizados y gestionados por ellos mismos, suponen un acercamiento a la visión de futuro de La Nueva Cultura del Agua. El estudio de caso se ha realizado en la Presa Villa Victoria y en la Región Mazahua colindante a dicho cuerpo de agua. Se analizó información cartográfica, estadística y documental, así como la obtenida a través del diálogo con informantes de la zona en estudio.n. El objetivo del presente artículo es describir la insostenibilidad en la gestión del agua en México y la respuesta de los movimientos sociales indígenas en defensa del agua y los recursos naturales. La conciencia de estos grupos indígenas, sus reivindicaciones y sus propuestas de cambio mediante planes de desarrollo rural sostenibles realizados y gestionados por ellos mismos, suponen un acercamiento a la visión de futuro de La Nueva Cultura del Agua. El estudio de caso se ha realizado en la Presa Villa Victoria y en la Región Mazahua colindante a dicho cuerpo de agua. Se analizó información cartográÀca, estadística y documental, así como la obtenida a través del diálogo con informantes de la zona en estudio

Radiofrequency-induced heating versus mechanical stapler for pancreatic stump closure: in vivo comparative study

Purpose: To assess the capacity of two methods of surgical pancreatic stump closure in terms of reducing the risk of pancreatic fistula formation (POPF): radiofrequencyinduced heating versus mechanical stapler. Materials and Methods: Sixteen pigs underwent a laparoscopic transection of the neck of the pancreas. Pancreatic anastomosis was always avoided in order to work with an experimental model prone to pancreatic fistula formation (POPF). Pancreatic stump closure was conducted either by stapler (ST Group, n=8) or radiofrequency energy (RF Group, n=8). Both groups were compared for incidence of POPF and histopathologic alterations of the pancreatic remnant. Results: Six animals (75%) in the ST Group and one (14%) in the RF Group were diagnosed of POPF (p=0.019). One animal in the RF Group and three animals in the ST Group had a pseudocyst in close contact with both pancreas stumps. On day 30 postoperative, almost complete atrophy of the exocrine distal pancreas was observed when the main pancreatic duct was efficiently sealed. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that RF-induced heating is more effective at closing the pancreatic stump than mechanical stapler and leads to the complete atrophy of the distal remnant pancreas.This work was supported by the Spanish 'Programa Estatal de Investigacion, Desarrollo e Innovacion Orientada a los Retos de la Sociedad' under grant TEC2014-52383-C3-R (TEC2014-52383-C3-3-R). F.B., R.Q. and E.B. declare stock ownership in Apeiron Medical S.L., a company that has a license for the patent US 8.303.584.B2, on which the device tested in this study is based. The other authors report no conflict of interests or financial ties to disclose. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.Burdío Pinilla, F.; Dorcaratto, D.; Hernandez, L.; Andaluz, A.; Moll, X.; Quesada-Diez, R.; Poves, I.... (2016). Radiofrequency-induced heating versus mechanical stapler for pancreatic stump closure: in vivo comparative study. International Journal of Hyperthermia. 32(3):272-280. https://doi.org/10.3109/02656736.2015.113684527228032

Retinol binding Protein-4 circulating levels were higher in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease vs. histologically normal liver from morbidly obese women.

We aimed to analyze the retinol binding protein-4 (RBP4) messenger RNA (mRNA) expression profiles in adipose tissues and liver of morbidly obese (MO) women with or without nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), and to study the relationships with other pro- and anti-inflammatory adipokines in vivo and in vitro. We performed a cross-sectional analysis of subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and liver samples from four lean and 45 MO women with or without NAFLD by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and real-time reverse transcription-PCR. We also studied RBP4 expression in HepG2 hepatocytes under various inflammatory stimuli. Circulating RBP4 levels were higher in MO women, and specifically, in MO subjects with NAFLD compared with normal liver controls (lean and MO). RBP4 liver expression was higher in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)-moderate/severe than in NASHmild. Overall RBP4 gene expression was higher in liver than in adipose tissues. Among them, the higher expression corresponded to SAT. VAT expression was lower in the MO cohort. In HepG2, RBP4 mRNA expression was reduced by tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and increased by adiponectin treatment. In conclusion, the results obtained in MO women with NAFLD, brings up the use of RBP4 and other adipokines as a panel of noninvasive molecular biomarkers when NAFLD is suspected. Further studies are needed with other obesity groups.Fil: Terra, Ximena. Universitat Rovira i Virgil. Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia; EspañaFil: Auguet, Teresa. Universitat Rovira i Virgil. Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia; España. Hospital Universitari Joan XXIII. Servei Medicina Interna,; EspañaFil: Broch, Montserrat. Universitat Rovira i Virgil. Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia; EspañaFil: Sabench, Fátima. Hospital Sant Joan de Reus. Servei de Cirurgia,; EspañaFil: Hernandez, Mercè. Hospital Sant Joan de Reus. Servei de Cirurgia,; EspañaFil: Pastor, Rosa M.. Hospital Universitari Joan XXIII. Laboratori de Bioquímica; EspañaFil: Quesada, Isabel María. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Mendoza. Instituto de Medicina y Biología Experimental de Cuyo; Argentina. Universitat Rovira i Virgil. Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia; EspañaFil: Lunna, Ana. Universitat Rovira i Virgil. Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia; EspañaFil: Aguilar, Carmen. Universitat Rovira i Virgil. Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia; EspañaFil: Del Castillo, Daniel. Hospital Sant Joan de Reus. Servei de Cirurgia, ; EspañaFil: Richard, Cristobal. Universitat Rovira i Virgil. Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia; España. Hospital Universitari Joan XXIII. Servei Medicina Interna,; Españ

External Validation of SAFE Score to Predict Atrial Fibrillation Diagnosis after Ischemic Stroke: A Retrospective Multicenter Study

Diagnóstico; Fibrilación auricular; Ictus isquémicoDiagnòstic; Fibril·lació auricular; Ictus isquèmicDiagnosis; Atrial fibrillation; Ischemic strokeIntroduction: The screening for atrial fibrillation (AF) scale (SAFE score) was recently developed to provide a prediction of the diagnosis of AF after an ischemic stroke. It includes 7 items: age ≥ 65 years, bronchopathy, thyroid disease, cortical location of stroke, intracranial large vessel occlusion, NT-ProBNP ≥250 pg/mL, and left atrial enlargement. In the internal validation, a good performance was obtained, with an AUC = 0.88 (95% CI 0.84-0.91) and sensitivity and specificity of 83% and 80%, respectively, for scores ≥ 5. The aim of this study is the external validation of the SAFE score in a multicenter cohort. Methods: A retrospective multicenter study, including consecutive patients with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack between 2020 and 2022 with at least 24 hours of cardiac monitoring. Patients with previous AF or AF diagnosed on admission ECG were excluded. Results: Overall, 395 patients were recruited for analysis. The SAFE score obtained an AUC = 0.822 (95% CI 0.778-0.866) with a sensitivity of 87.2%, a specificity of 65.4%, a positive predictive value of 44.1%, and a negative predictive value of 94.3% for a SAFE score ≥ 5, with no significant gender differences. Calibration analysis in the external cohort showed an absence of significant differences between the observed values and those predicted by the model (Hosmer-Lemeshow's test 0.089). Conclusions: The SAFE score showed adequate discriminative ability and calibration, so its external validation is justified. Further validations in other external cohorts or specific subpopulations of stroke patients might be required.We acknowledge FIBAO (Biomedical Research Foundation) and Adrián Aparicio Mota for their assistance with statistical analysis. Adrián Aparicio (a FIBAO statistician) analyzed the collected data. The project was the winner of the IV research grant “STROKE PROJECT 2020” from the Spanish Society of Neurology

Venom complexity in a pitviper produced by facultative parthenogenesis

Facultative parthenogenesis (FP) is asexual reproduction in plant and animal species that would otherwise reproduce sexually. This process in vertebrates typically results from automictic development (likely terminal fusion) and is phylogenetically widespread. In squamate reptiles and chondrichthyan fishes, FP has been reported to occur in nature and can result in the production of reproductively viable offspring; suggesting that it is of ecological and evolutionary significance. However, terminal fusion automixis is believed to result in near genome-wide reductions in heterozygosity; thus, FP seems likely to affect key phenotypic characters, yet this remains almost completely unstudied. Snake venom is a complex phenotypic character primarily used to subjugate prey and is thus tightly linked to individual fitness. Surprisingly, the composition and function of venom produced by a parthenogenetic pitviper exhibits a high degree of similarity to that of its mother and conspecifics from the same population. Therefore, the apparent loss of allelic diversity caused by FP appears unlikely to have a significant impact on the prey-capturing ability of this snake. Accordingly, the pitviper offspring produced by FP retained complex phenotypic characteristics associated with fitness. This result reinforces the potential ecological and evolutionary importance of FP and questions our understanding of the inheritance of venom-associated genes

Screening the olive tree phyllosphere: Search and find potential antagonists against Pseudomonas savastanoi pv. savastanoi

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.02051/full#supplementary-materialOlive knot (OK) is a widespread bacterial disease, caused byPseudomonas savastanoipv.savastanoi(Pss), which currently has not effective control methods. The use of naturally occurring microbial antagonists, such as bacteria, as biocontrol agents could be a strategy to manage this disease. The objective of this work was to select bacteria from olive tree phyllosphere able to antagonizePssusingin vitroandin plantaexperiments. The elucidation of their modes of action and the potential relationship between antagonism and bacteria origin has been investigated, as well. To this end, 60 bacterial isolates obtained from the surface and inner tissues of different organs (leaves, twigs, and knots), from two olive cultivars of varying susceptibilities to OK, were screened for theirin vitroantagonistic effect againstPss. A total of 27 bacterial strains were able to significantly inhibitPssgrowth, being this effect linked to bacteria origin. Strains from OK-susceptible cultivar and colonizing the surface of plant tissues showed the strongest antagonistic potential. The antagonistic activity was potentially due to the production of volatile compounds, siderophores and lytic enzymes.Bacillus amyloliquefaciensP41 was the most effective antagonistic strain and their capacity to control OK disease was subsequently assayed usingin plantaexperiments. This strain significantly reduces OK disease severity (43.7%), knots weight (55.4%) and population size ofPss(26.8%), while increasing the shoot dry weight (55.0%) and root water content (39.6%) ofPss-infected olive plantlets. Bacterial isolates characterized in this study, in particularB. amyloliquefaciensP41, may be considered as promising biocontrol candidates for controlling OK disease.This work was funded by FEDER funds through COMPETE (Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade), national funds through FCT (Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia) and by Horizon 2020, the European Union's Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, within the project PRIMA/0002/2018 (INTOMED - Innovative tools to combat crop pests in the Mediterranean), and the Mountain Research Center - CIMO (UIDB/00690/2020 and UIDB/04046/2020)

Clinical effectiveness of routine first-trimester combined screening for pre-eclampsia in Spain with the addition of placental growth factor

Pre-eclampsia affects 2%-8% of pregnancies and is one of the leading causes of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. First-trimester screening using an algorithm that combines maternal characteristics, mean arterial blood pressure, uterine artery pulsatility index and biomarkers (pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A and placental growth factor) is the method that achieves a greater diagnostic accuracy. It has been shown that daily salicylic acid administration before 16 weeks in women at a high risk for pre-eclampsia can reduce the incidence of preterm pre-eclampsia. However, no previous studies have evaluated the impact of routine first-trimester combined screening for pre-eclampsia with placental growth factor after being implemented in the clinical practice. This was a multicenter cohort study conducted in eight different maternities across Spain. Participants in the reference group were prospectively recruited between October 2015 and September 2017. Participants in the study group were retrospectively recruited between March 2019 and May 2021. Pre-eclampsia risk was calculated between 11 +0 and 13 +6 weeks using the Gaussian algorithm combining maternal characteristics, mean arterial pressure, uterine arteries pulsatility index, pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A and placental growth factor. Patients with a risk greater than 1/170 were prescribed daily salicylic acid 150 mg until 36 weeks. Patients in the reference group did not receive salicylic acid during gestation. A significant reduction was observed in preterm pre-eclampsia (OR 0.47; 95% CI: 0.30-0.73), early-onset (<34 weeks) pre-eclampsia (OR 0.35; 95% CI: 0.16-0.77), preterm small for gestational age newborn (OR 0.57; 95% CI: 0.40-0.82), spontaneous preterm birth (OR 0.72; 95% CI: 0.57-0.90), and admission to intensive care unit (OR 0.55; 95% CI: 0.37-0.81). A greater treatment adherence resulted in a significant reduction in adverse outcomes. Routine first-trimester screening for pre-eclampsia with placental growth factor leads to a reduction in preterm pre-eclampsia and other pregnancy complications. Aspirin treatment compliance has a great impact on the effectiveness of this screening program. Routine first-trimester combined screening for pre-eclampsia in Spain with the addition of placental growth factor resulted in a significant reduction of pre-eclampsia and other pregnancy complications

Lifestyles, arterial aging, and its relationship with the intestinal and oral microbiota (MIVAS III study): a research protocol for a cross-sectional multicenter study

The microbiota is increasingly recognized as a significant factor in the pathophysiology of many diseases, including cardiometabolic diseases, with lifestyles probably exerting the greatest influence on the composition of the human microbiome. The main objectives of the study are to analyze the association of lifestyles (diet, physical activity, tobacco, and alcohol) with the gut and oral microbiota, arterial aging, and cognitive function in subjects without cardiovascular disease in the Iberian Peninsula. In addition, the study will examine the mediating role of the microbiome in mediating the association between lifestyles and arterial aging as well as cognitive function.Methods and analysisMIVAS III is a multicenter cross-sectional study that will take place in the Iberian Peninsula. One thousand subjects aged between 45 and 74 years without cardiovascular disease will be selected. The main variables are demographic information, anthropometric measurements, and habits (tobacco and alcohol). Dietary patterns will be assessed using a frequency consumption questionnaire (FFQ) and the Mediterranean diet adherence questionnaire. Physical activity levels will be evaluated using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), Marshall Questionnaire, and an Accelerometer (Actigraph). Body composition will be measured using the Inbody 230 impedance meter. Arterial aging will be assessed through various means, including measuring medium intimate carotid thickness using the Sonosite Micromax, conducting analysis with pulse wave velocity (PWA), and measuring pulse wave velocity (cf-PWV) using the Sphygmocor System. Additional cardiovascular indicators such as Cardio Ankle Vascular Index (CAVI), ba-PWV, and ankle-brachial index (Vasera VS-2000®) will also be examined. The study will analyze the intestinal microbiota using the OMNIgene GUT kit (OMR−200) and profile the microbiome through massive sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA), effect size (LEfSe), and compositional analysis, such as ANCOM-BC, will be used to identify differentially abundant taxa between groups. After rarefying the samples, further analyses will be conducted using MicrobiomeAnalyst and R v.4.2.1 software. These analyses will include various aspects, such as assessing α and β diversity, conducting abundance profiling, and performing clustering analysis.DiscussionLifestyle acts as a modifier of microbiota composition. However, there are no conclusive results demonstrating the mediating effect of the microbiota in the relationship between lifestyles and cardiovascular diseases. Understanding this relationship may facilitate the implementation of strategies for improving population health by modifying the gut and oral microbiota

Evaluating the use of laparoscopic gastrostomy in children with congenital heart disease in Colombia: a retrospective analysis

IntroductionCongenital Heart Disease (CHD) is the most common congenital disorder and a leading cause of infant mortality. Despite improved survival rates, patients with CHD often face malnutrition due to increased metabolic demands, feeding difficulties, and gastrointestinal dysfunction. Malnutrition in CHD is linked to poor short and long-term clinical outcomes. Gastrostomy (GT) is frequently used for long-term enteral support, and laparoscopic GT (LGT) has demonstrated advantages in children without CHD. This study evaluated a modified Georgeson's percutaneous LGT technique and its perioperative complications in children with CHD.MethodsWe performed an analytical retrospective cohort study from 2018 to 2022, including patients younger than 24 months with a diagnosis of CHD who underwent LGT. The primary outcome evaluated was the presence of complications during surgery and the first thirty postoperative days. Complications were graded using Clavien–Dindo's (CD) classification. Sociodemographic, clinical, and procedure-related variables were collected. A bivariate analysis was performed using STATA 15, and a p &lt; 0.05 was considered statistically significant.ResultsSeventy-eight patients were eligible (male 56.41%, Median age 129.5 days, weight: 4.83 kg). The median surgery time was 35 min. The complication rate was 24.36%. The most frequent complications were GT site infection (10.26%), followed by leakage (8.97%) and granuloma formation (6.41%). Conversion to open surgery was significantly associated with postoperative complications (p = 0.002).ConclusionThis modified technique is well-tolerated in children with CHD, demonstrating a low rate of CD grade 3A/3B complications and no grade 4 or 5 complications