Body image disturbance as a vulnerability factor in adolescence

52 p.La adolescencia es la etapa más vulnerable en relación con las alteraciones de la imagen corporal (IC) y la de mayor riesgo para el desarrollo de trastornos de la conducta alimentaria (TCA). La distorsión e insatisfacción con la IC junto con comportamientos para la pérdida desmesurada de peso son considerados factores de riesgo para el desarrollo de TCA. El objetivo genérico es determinar la relación entre la insatisfacción y distorsión de la IC y el riesgo de padecer TCA en adolescentes. Como objetivos específicos se pretende estudiar si el género y el IMC condicionan la percepción de la IC, conocer la prevalencia de riesgo de TCA y factores que puedan ser condicionantes para su desarrollo en la muestra estudiada. Se realiza un estudio observacional descriptivo en una muestra de 80 alumnos mayores de 14 años sanos de un mismo centro educativo de la Comunidad de Madrid. Tras la realización del estudio se concluye que las mujeres y los alumnos con mayor IMC presentan mayor insatisfacción y deseo de menor volumen corporal. La prevalencia de riesgo de TCA en la población estudiada es del 38,75%, siendo mayor la prevalencia de riesgo en mujeres que en varones. Los adolescentes con mayor riesgo de TCA presentan mayor insatisfacción, distorsión y discrepancia con su IC. El nivel intelectual familiar y el alto rendimiento escolar, medido con el número de libros es un factor protector ante el riesgo de TCA. La presencia de hábitos saludables no se comporta como factor protector de TCA nuestra muestra.Adolescence is the most vulnerable stage in relation to body image (BI) disorders and the most at risk for the development of eating disorders (ED). Distortion and dissatisfaction with BI together with excessive weight loss behaviors are considered risk factors for the development of ED. The generic objective is to determine the relationship between dissatisfaction and distortion of the CI and the risk of developing ED in adolescents. The specific objectives were to study whether gender and BMI condition the perception of CI, to determine the prevalence of risk of ED and factors that may be conditioning factors for its development in the sample studied. A descriptive observational study was carried out in a sample of 80 healthy students over 14 years of age from the same educational center in the Community of Madrid. After the study, it was concluded it was concluded that women and students with higher BMI presented greater dissatisfaction and desire for less body volume. The prevalence of risk of ED in the population studied was 38.75%, with a higher prevalence of risk in females than in males. Adolescents at higher risk of ED have La alteración de la imagen corporal como factor de vulnerabilidad en la adolescencia 3 greater dissatisfaction, distortion and discrepancy with their CI. The intellectual level of the family and high school performance, measured by the number of books, is a protective factor against the risk of ED. The presence of healthy habits does not behave as a protective factor for ED in our sample.Grado en Medicin

Development of a microRNA Delivery Scaffold System for Bone Tissue Engineering

Although bone has an intrinsic capacity for self repair, the healing of large bone defects that typically present in humans often involves complications which result in failure to heal, leading to delayed or non-union of the defect. Due to limitations of current therapeutic approaches of autografting and allografting, the use of tissue engineered scaffolds has emerged. Despite some success with this approach, these scaffolds often require a further stimulus to promote complete healing of large bone defects. microRNAs (miRNAs) have recently emerged as promising therapeutics to stimulate bone repair, owing to their ability to intercept entire gene cohorts. However, the development of a safe and efficient localised delivery system is required for successful clinical translation of miRNA therapeutics to bone tissue engineering (TE). The overall goal of the research presented in this thesis was to determine the potential of using in-house synthesised nano-sized hydroxyapatite particles (nHA) to act as non-viral vectors for the delivery of a series of miRNAs to human (h)MSCs and to determine the combination leading to optimal osteogenesis and angiogenesis before ultimately producing miRNA-activated scaffolds capable of mediating enhanced osteogenesis by human MSCs. In the study presented in Chapter 2 of this thesis, nHA particles combined with reporter miRNAs demonstrated potential as highly efficient and minimally cytotoxic non-viral vectors for the delivery of miRNA enhancers and inhibitors (miR-mimics and antagomiRs) to human MSCs. Single administration of low miRNA doses rendered very pronounced silencing activities to a level comparable to viral and lipid-based vectors and ultimately, a 20 nM dose was brought forward for further study. In Chapter 3, efficient nHA-based delivery of antagomiR-133a, antagomiR-16 and a miR-210 mimic, three targets identified to have particular therapeutic potential, enhanced osteogenesis by human MSCs. AntagomiR-133a emerged as the optimal osteo-therapeutic, while both antagomiR-16 and the miR-210 mimic were deemed worthy of further investigation.In Chapter 4, the coll-nHA scaffolds demonstrated significant potential for the efficient localised delivery of both miR-mimics and antagomiRs to human MSCs, representing the first non-viral, non-lipid, ‘off-the shelf’ 3D system developed in the field. Additionally, antagomiR-133a activated scaffolds upregulated Runx2 and orchestrated accelerated calcium deposition, thus showcasing the osteo-therapeutic potential of this innovative strategy for bone TE applications. In Chapter 5, while the miR-210 mimic showed a limited pro-angiogenic therapeutic efficacy, the combinatorial delivery of the miR-210 mimic with antagomiR-16 demonstrated significant potential to simultaneously enhance the angiogenesis and osteogenesis capabilities of human MSCs. This dual formulation presents the first combinatorial miRNA approach harnessing these two processes and sits within seminal reports on the recently emergent field of combinatorial miRNA delivery. Collectively, this thesis has demonstrated that nHA particles are able to deliver miRNAs with superior efficiency than that reported for other non-viral systems. When applied in 3D, a miRNA-activated coll-nHA scaffold with significantly enhanced therapeutic potential was achieved. Together with the demonstration of successful combinatorial miRNA delivery to harness both angiogenesis and osteogenesis, this underlines the immense potential of extending this platform to different fields of TE beyond osteogenesis and bone repair

Next generation bone tissue engineering: non-viral miR-133a inhibition using collagen-nanohydroxyapatite scaffolds rapidly enhances osteogenesis.

Bone grafts are the second most transplanted materials worldwide at a global cost to healthcare systems valued over $30 billion every year. The influence of microRNAs in the regenerative capacity of stem cells offers vast therapeutic potential towards bone grafting; however their efficient delivery to the target site remains a major challenge. This study describes how the functionalisation of porous collagen-nanohydroxyapatite (nHA) scaffolds with miR-133a inhibiting complexes, delivered using non-viral nHA particles, enhanced human mesenchymal stem cell-mediated osteogenesis through the novel focus on a key activator of osteogenesis, Runx2. This study showed enhanced Runx2 and osteocalcin expression, as well as increased alkaline phosphatase activity and calcium deposition, thus demonstrating a further enhanced therapeutic potential of a biomaterial previously optimised for bone repair applications. The promising features of this platform offer potential for a myriad of applications beyond bone repair and tissue engineering, thus presenting a new paradigm for microRNA-based therapeutics

Vital pulp therapy in a 9-years-old patient : a clinical case

Abstract in proceedings of the Fourth International Congress of CiiEM: Health, Well-Being and Ageing in the 21st Century, held at Egas Moniz’ University Campus in Monte de Caparica, Almada, from 3–5 June 2019.This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Meta-análisis de los efectos del Levosimendan en la mortalidad y estancia hospitalaria: Giovanni Landoni, Guiuseppe Biondi-Zoccai, Massimiliano Greco, Elena Bignami, Effects of levosimenan on mortality and hospitalization. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies. Crit Care Med 2012 Vol 40(2):634-46.

Tras múltiples publicaciones (recientemente unas 200/año) acerca de los beneficios del tratamiento con levosimendan, por fin se presenta un riguroso y amplio meta-análisis que confirma que levosimendan es capaz de reducir la mortalidad en adultos no sólo en cirugía cardiaca, sino también en pacientes hospitalizados por insuficiencia cardiaca. Este meta-análisis incluye 45 ensayos clínicos randomizados con un total de 5.480 pacientes (2.915 tratados con levosimendan y 2.565 en el grupo control, tratados bien con placebo o Dobutamina). De estos 45 estudios, 23 se realizaron en pacientes hospitalizados en cardiología, 17 en pacientes intervenidos de cirugía cardiaca, 2 en pacientes sépticos, 2 en cardiología intervencionista y 1 en cirugía vascular; 16 de estos estudios son multicéntricos. La pauta de administración (empleo de dosis bolo y duración de la perfusión) también es heterogénea para los distintos estudios

Occurrence of killer Candida glabrata clinical isolates

"In this work we characterized the occurrence of killer activity in 64 Candida glabrata clinical isolates under different conditions. We found that only 6.25 % of the clinical isolates tested were positive for killer activity against a Saccharomyces cerevisiae W303 sensitive strain. Sensitivity of killer activity to different values of pH and temperatures was analyzed. We found that the killer activity presented by all isolates was resistant to every pH and temperature tested, although optimal activity was found at a range of pH values from 4 to 7 and at 37ºC. We did not observe extrachromosomal genetic elements associated with killer activity in any of the positive C. glabrata isolates. The killer effect was due to a decrease in viability and DNA fragmentation in sensitive yeast.

Presencia de anti-SLA en una población en tratamiento con estatinas

Hipòtesis: la presencia d'auto anticossos contra selenoproteïnes (anti-SLA) podria afavorir la lesió muscular en pacients en tractament amb estatines. S'han avaluat 26 pacients sense tractament previ amb estatines, realitzant-se una analítica bassal, als 3 i als 6 mesos. No s'han observat anticossos anti-SLA en cap, augment estadísticament significatiu del títol d'ANAs als 3 (test de Wilcoxon, p=1.00) ni las 6 mesos (prova de Friedman, p=0.657), augment estadísticament significatiu dels nivells de CK als 3 (test de "t", p=0.285) ni als 6 mesos (test de "t", p=0.298), ni símptomes de miopatia al llarg del seguiment.Hipótesis: la presencia de auto anticuerpos contra selenoproteinas (anti-SLA) podría favorecer la lesión muscular en pacientes en tratamiento con estatinas. Se han evaluado 26 pacientes sin tratamiento previo con estatinas, realizándose una analítica basal, a los 3 y a los 6 meses. No se han observado anticuerpos anti-SLA en ninguno, un aumento estadísticamente significativo del título de ANAs a los 3 (test de Wilcoxon, p=1.00) ni a los 6 meses (prueba de Friedman, p=0.657), un aumento estadísticamente significativo de los niveles de CK a los 3 (test de "t", p=0.285), ni a los 6 meses (test de "t", p=0.298), ni síntomas de miopatía a lo largo del seguimiento

Aproximación al riesgo psicosocial del burnout. Estudio de los factores implicados en el burnout en profesores de secundaria.

El tema tratado en el presente estudio teórico-práctico es el Burnout o Síndrome de estar quemado en el trabajo (SQT). En cuanto al trabajo de campo se realiza un estudio bibliográfico sobre este síndrome. En primer lugar, se exponen los diversos factores y riesgos psicosociales y se ofrece una explicación más extensa sobre el trastorno, su comparativa respecto al estrés laboral y su origen para una mejor comprensión. Además, en el desarrollo del burnout se encuentran algunos elementos que influirán de manera determinada, aunque para prevenir su aparición se tendrán que tener en cuenta una serie de estrategias de afrontamiento nombradas también en el trabajo. Tras el análisis, se realiza una investigación en profesores de educación secundaria sobre el burnout y la influencia de determinadas variables independientes sobre el mismo. Finalmente, se propondrá una reflexión sobre todo ello y la conveniencia de adoptar medidas de prevención y afrontamiento del burnout

Astrocytic p38α MAPK drives NMDA receptor-dependent long-term depression and modulates long-term memory.

NMDA receptor-dependent long-term depression (LTD) in the hippocampus is a well-known form of synaptic plasticity that has been linked to different cognitive functions. The core mechanism for this form of plasticity is thought to be entirely neuronal. However, we now demonstrate that astrocytic activity drives LTD at CA3-CA1 synapses. We have found that LTD induction enhances astrocyte-to-neuron communication mediated by glutamate, and that Ca2+ signaling and SNARE-dependent vesicular release from the astrocyte are required for LTD expression. In addition, using optogenetic techniques, we show that low-frequency astrocytic activation, in the absence of presynaptic activity, is sufficient to induce postsynaptic AMPA receptor removal and LTD expression. Using cell-type-specific gene deletion, we show that astrocytic p38α MAPK is required for the increased astrocytic glutamate release and astrocyte-to-neuron communication during low-frequency stimulation. Accordingly, removal of astrocytic (but not neuronal) p38α abolishes LTD expression. Finally, this mechanism modulates long-term memory in vivo.post-print5316 K

Perspective Chapter: Hydroxyapatite - Surface Functionalization to Prevent Bacterial Colonization

Microbial colonization is one of the main causes of implant loosening and rejection. Pathogenic contamination and the subsequent biofilm formation reduce the implant’s chance of survival and can be life-threatening to a patient. Among the many strategies employed to reduce the infection probability of bioceramics, surface functionalization plays a key role. This chapter is dedicated to describing the different strategies available to prevent bacterial colonization and the proliferation of hydroxyapatite-coated implants. Moreover, the factors intervening in the bacteria-implant interaction will be described, detailing the mechanisms involved during the contact, adhesion, and proliferation of bacteria. Finally, the characterization methods will be discussed, emphasizing the bioactivity and antibacterial assays