37 research outputs found
Medicine 5th course student’s attitudes towards mental health
Introducción. El estigma social que persiste hacia la enfermedad mental puede estar presente en los estudiantes de medicina
e impactar en la forma de considerar ésta y la psiquiatría como especialidad.
Objetivo. Investigar la actitud hacia la enfermedad mental y la psiquiatría en una muestra de estudiantes.
Sujetos y métodos. Se realizó una encuesta estructurada, voluntaria y anónima a los 27 estudiantes de quinto curso
del grado de medicina de la Universidad San Pablo-CEU de Madrid. La encuesta incluía un cuestionario sobre el nivel de
familiaridad hacia la enfermedad mental, el cuestionario de actitud hacia la enfermedad mental (AMI) y el cuestionario
adaptado de Balon sobre la actitud hacia la psiquiatría.
Resultados. Un total de 22 alumnos respondió la encuesta (72,7% mujeres). Estos alumnos presentaron una alta familiaridad
con la enfermedad mental (puntuación media: 7,27; máximo: 11). El 81,8% refirieron una actitud positiva hacia la
enfermedad mental (escala AMI). Las puntuaciones de la escala de Balon también mostraron un nivel alto de acuerdo en
los méritos globales de la psiquiatría y en la eficacia de ésta. Tampoco las respuestas respecto al rol y función del psiquiatra
y a la carrera profesional revelaron una postura negativa. No hubo relación entre la familiaridad y la actitud hacia la
enfermedad mental o hacia la psiquiatría.
Conclusiones. En esta muestra no se evidencia la existencia de estigma hacia la enfermedad mental o hacia la psiquiatría.
Posteriores estudios en muestras más amplias y evaluaciones de la enseñanza de la psiquiatría son necesarios para profundizar
en este tema
The TOR Signaling Network in the Model Unicellular Green Alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
Cell growth is tightly coupled to nutrient availability. The target of rapamycin (TOR) kinase transmits nutritional and environmental cues to the cellular growth machinery. TOR functions in two distinct multiprotein complexes, termed TOR complex 1 (TORC1) and TOR complex 2 (TORC2). While the structure and functions of TORC1 are highly conserved in all eukaryotes, including algae and plants, TORC2 core proteins seem to be missing in photosynthetic organisms. TORC1 controls cell growth by promoting anabolic processes, including protein synthesis and ribosome biogenesis, and inhibiting catabolic processes such as autophagy. Recent studies identified rapamycin-sensitive TORC1 signaling regulating cell growth, autophagy, lipid metabolism, and central metabolic pathways in the model unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. The central role that microalgae play in global biomass production, together with the high biotechnological potential of these organisms in biofuel production, has drawn attention to the study of proteins that regulate cell growth such as the TOR kinase. In this review we discuss the recent progress on TOR signaling in algae.España, MINECO BFU2015-68216-
El Deterioro Cognitivo: un Factor a Tener en Cuenta en la Evaluación e Intervención de Pacientes con Dolor Crónico.
El dolor crónico constituye un grave problema de salud
pública, dada su elevada prevalencia y las consecuencias
personales y sociales que produce. La presencia de dolor
crónico se ha asociado con un deterioro cognitivo leve, sobre
todo en los pacientes afectados por fibromialgia o dolor
neuropático, habiéndose relacionado esto con la concurrencia
en estos pacientes, de otros procesos, como la
ansiedad, la depresión, los trastornos del sueño y el consumo
de ciertos fármacos, todos ellos habituales en los pacientes
con dolor crónico.
En esta revisión, hacemos un repaso del complejo proceso
de la cognición así como de los distintos elementos
que lo integran. Asimismo, revisamos los mecanismos mediante
los que el dolor crónico puede afectar el proceso de
la cognición y el modo en el que este puede verse afectado
por la concurrencia de otras patologías, o por los fármacos
habitualmente utilizados para su tratamiento.
Finalmente se plantea la necesidad de evaluar el deterioro
cognitivo en los pacientes con dolor crónico, con el objetivo
de evitar la progresión de la enfermedad cognitiva
hacia un cuadro de deterioro más grave, así como de contribuir
a mejorar la respuesta terapéutica al dolor y el aumento
de la calidad de vida de los pacientes.Chronic pain constitutes a serious public health problem
due to its high prevalence and the social and personal consequences.
The presence of chronic pain has been associated
with mild cognitive impairment, especially in patients
with fibromyalgia and neuropathic pain, and it has been also
related with other disease like anxiety, depression, sleep
disorders and the use of certain drugs, usually taken on
these patients.
This document revises the complex issue of the cognitive
process and the several elements that comprise it. Likewise,
we review the different mechanisms by which pain affect
cognitive process and the way it could be affected by
other disease, or by drugs commonly used on treatment.
It is necessary to assess mild cognitive impairment on
chronic pain patients, in order to prevent the develop and
the evolution of cognitive disease to a more severe impairment,
as well as help to improve therapeutic response to
pain and increase health related quality of life of patients
Investigating the effect of target of rapamycin kinase inhibition on the Chlamydomonas reinhardtii phosphoproteome: from known homologs to new targets
Recuperado de: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/310102v1Target of rapamycin (TOR) kinase is a conserved regulator of cell growth whose activity is modulated in response to nutrients, energy and stress. Key proteins involved in the pathway are conserved in the model photosynthetic microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, but the substrates of TOR kinase and downstream signaling network have not been elucidated. Our study provides a new resource for investigating the phosphorylation networks governed by the TOR kinase pathway in Chlamydomonas. We used quantitative phosphoproteomics to investigate the effects of inhibiting Chlamydomonas TOR kinase on dynamic protein phosphorylation. Wild-type and AZD-insensitive Chlamydomonas strains were treated with TOR-specific chemical inhibitors (rapamycin, AZD8055 and Torin1), after which differentially affected phosphosites were identified. Our quantitative phosphoproteomic dataset comprised 2547 unique phosphosites from 1432 different proteins. Inhibition of TOR kinase caused significant quantitative changes in phosphorylation at 258 phosphosites, from 219 unique phosphopeptides. Our results include Chlamydomonas homologs of TOR signaling-related proteins, including a site on RPS6 with a decrease in phosphorylation. Additionally, phosphosites on proteins involved in translation and carotenoid biosynthesis were identified. Follow-up experiments guided by these phosphoproteomic findings in lycopene beta/epsilon cyclase showed that carotenoid levels are affected by TORC1 inhibition and carotenoid production is under TOR control in algae.National Science Foundation CAREER MCB-155252
A nationwide study of chronic pain prevalence in the general Spanish population, identifying clinical subgroups through cluster analysis.
Objective. This study aims to assess the prevalence
of chronic pain, its characteristics, and its
impact on the general Spanish population. Also,
to establish chronic pain patient subgroups according
to the characteristics of pain and to identify
variables specifically associated with each subgroup.
Design. Telephone-based, cross-sectional nationwide
study.
Subjects. A sample of 1,957 individuals representative
of the Spanish population.
Methods. Data were collected through telephone
interviews. A subject was considered to have
chronic pain if they had suffered pain (at least 4 days
a week) during the last 3 months. The subjects were
divided into two subgroups through a cluster analysis,
and a regression model was established to
determine the variables most specifically associated
with these subgroups.
Results. The prevalence of chronic pain was 16.6%
(95% confidence interval: 14.9–18.3) and among
these subjects, more than 50% referred to limitations
in their daily activities, 30% felt sad and/or
anxious, and 47.2% indicated that their pain was
affecting their family life. Two subgroups of subjects
with pain were identified: 1) characterized by generalized
pain in more than one location and of a long
evolution (150 months); and 2) characterized by pain
localized to only one site with a shorter duration
(100 months). Individuals who felt anxious because
of their pain and those who considered that their
pain was affecting their family were more likely to
belong to group 1.
Conclusions. Pain affects an important proportion
of the Spanish adult population and that it has a
strong personal impact. Two pain groups were
clearly distinguished by their clinical characteristics
Living with opioids: A qualitative study with patients with chronic low back pain
Background Opioids are one of the most prescribed treatments for chronic pain (CP). However, their long-term use (>3 months) has been surrounded by controversy, due to loss of beneficial effects. Objective To explore the experiences of people with chronic non-malignant low back pain in Spain undergoing long-term treatment with opioids. Design Qualitative study. Setting and participants We conducted 15 semi-structured interviews at the Pain Clinic with persons taking opioid treatment. Methods The interviews were analysed by qualitative content analysis as described by Graneheim and Lundman, and developed categories and themes discussed in light of a biomedicalization framework. Main results We developed one overarching theme-Living with opioids: dependence and autonomy while seeking relief-and three categories:The long pathway to opioids due to the invisibility of pain; Opioids: from blind date to a long-term relationship; andWhat opioids cannot fix. Discussion The long and difficult road to find effective treatments was a fundamental part of coping with pain, involving long-term relationships with the health system. This study reflects the benefits, and drawbacks of opioids, along with struggles to maintain autonomy and make decisions while undergoing long-term treatment with opioids. The paper also highlights the consequences of pain in the economy, family and social life of patients. Conclusions Patients' experiences should be considered to a greater extent by health-care professionals when giving information about opioids and setting treatment goals. Greater consideration of the social determinants of health that affect CP experiences might lead to more effective solutions to CP
Inactivation of the waterborne pathogen Cryptosporidium parvum by photo-Fenton process under natural solar conditions
Cryptosporidiumis an important genus of emerging enteropathogens responsible for waterborne outbreaksworldwide. This parasite has a robust infective form (oocyst), which is highly resistant to the environmentalconditions and to the conventional disinfection treatments of water. This work evaluates for thefirst time thephoto-Fenton process againstCryptosporidium parvum.For that, a factorial design was used to study the com-bined effects of the Fe2+/H2O2concentration (5/10, 10/20 and 20/50 mg L−1), pH (3, 5.5 and 8) and exposuretime (2, 4 and 6 h) on the oocyst survival in distilled water under natural sunlight. The oocyst viability wasdetermined by inclusion/exclusion of thefluorogenic vital dye propidium iodide. The variables Fe2+/H2O2concentration and exposure time showed statistically significant effects on the oocyst viability, as did the in-teraction of pH with Fe2+/H2O2concentration. The maximum oocyst inactivation rates corresponded to thecombination of the highest concentration of Fe2+/H2O2(20/50 mg L−1), the lowest pH value (3) and longestexposure times (4 and 6 h) (3.68 ± 1.38% and 6.39 ± 2.65%, respectively,vs91.67 ± 3.63%, initial oocystviability). Although further studies are needed to evaluate the influence of the water matrix and optimize thephoto-Fenton process, the results obtained demonstrate the efficacy of this advanced oxidation process againstC.parvumoocysts. The inactivation of this enteropathogen would probably ensure elimination of other less re-sistant infectious agents, providing an appropriate protection for the environment and, consequently, for humanand animal healthThis Special Issue is dedicated to honor the retirement of Prof. CésarPulgarin at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL,Switzerland), a keyfigure in the area of Catalytic Advanced OxidationProcesses. This work was supported by the European Union ́s Horizon2020 Research and Innovation [grant number 688928]S
Efficient Heterologous Transformation of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii npq2 Mutant with the Zeaxanthin Epoxidase Gene Isolated and Characterized from Chlorella zofingiensis
In the violaxanthin cycle, the violaxanthin de-epoxidase and zeaxanthin epoxidase catalyze the inter-conversion between violaxanthin and zeaxanthin in both plants and green algae. The zeaxanthin epoxidase gene from the green microalga Chlorella zofingiensis (Czzep) has been isolated. This gene encodes a polypeptide of 596 amino acids. A single copy of Czzep has been found in the C. zofingiensis genome by Southern blot analysis. qPCR analysis has shown that transcript levels of Czzep were increased after zeaxanthin formation under high light conditions. The functionality of Czzep gene by heterologous genetic complementation in the Chlamydomonas mutant npq2, which lacks zeaxanthin epoxidase (ZEP) activity and accumulates zeaxanthin in all conditions, was analyzed. The Czzep gene was adequately inserted in the pSI105 vector and expressed in npq2. The positive transformants were able to efficiently convert zeaxanthin into violaxanthin, as well as to restore their maximum quantum efficiency of the PSII (Fv/Fm). These results show that Chlamydomonas can be an efficient tool for heterologous expression and metabolic engineering for biotechnological applications
Synergism between Inositol Polyphosphates and TOR Kinase Signaling in Nutrient Sensing, Growth Control, and Lipid Metabolism in Chlamydomonas
The networks that govern carbon metabolism and control intracellular carbon partitioning in photosynthetic cells are poorly
understood. Target of Rapamycin (TOR) kinase is a conserved growth regulator that integrates nutrient signals and
modulates cell growth in eukaryotes, though the TOR signaling pathway in plants and algae has yet to be completely
elucidated. We screened the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii using insertional mutagenesis to find mutants
that conferred hypersensitivity to the TOR inhibitor rapamycin. We characterized one mutant, vip1-1, that is predicted to
encode a conserved inositol hexakisphosphate kinase from the VIP family that pyrophosphorylates phytic acid (InsP6) to
produce the low abundance signaling molecules InsP7 and InsP8. Unexpectedly, the rapamycin hypersensitive growth arrest
of vip1-1 cells was dependent on the presence of external acetate, which normally has a growth-stimulatory effect on
Chlamydomonas. vip1-1 mutants also constitutively overaccumulated triacylglycerols (TAGs) in a manner that was synergistic
with other TAG inducing stimuli such as starvation. vip1-1 cells had reduced InsP7 and InsP8, both of which are dynamically
modulated in wild-type cells by TOR kinase activity and the presence of acetate. Our data uncover an interaction between the
TOR kinase and inositol polyphosphate signaling systems that we propose governs carbon metabolism and intracellular
pathways that lead to storage lipid accumulationPeer reviewe