Lanthanides in granulometric fractions of Mediterranean soils. Can they be used as fingerprints of provenance?

Highlights Are lanthanides from fine sand and clay genetically related to the geological materials? Lanthanide concentrations of fine sand and clay fit chronofunctions Pearson's r of lanthanide couples decreases when separation increases in the periodic table Free forms of clay are scavengers of lanthanides and concentrate HREE and ceriumSample preparation and chemical analysis were conducted by Emma Humphreys-Williams and Stanislav Strekopytov (Imaging and Analysis Centre, Natural History Museum, London, UK). This work was supported by a grant from Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad de España (‘Tipologías de Suelos Mediterráneos versus Cuarzo. En la frontera del conocimiento edafogenético’; Ref. CGL2016-80308-P). The authors thank Professor Margaret A. Oliver, an anonymous editor and two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments and suggestions that improved the final manuscript. We also thank Robert Abrahams (Bsc) for revising the English language.There is geochemical interest in the lanthanides because they behave like a group that is closely related to the parent materials during surface processes, although they also undergo fractionation as a result of supergene dynamics. We analysed lanthanide concentrations (ICPms) in the granulometric fractions fine sand, clay and free forms of clay (FFclay‐CDB and FFclay‐Ox: extracted with citrate‐dithionite‐sodium bicarbonate and with ammonium oxalate, respectively) from a soil chronosequence of Mediterranean soils. There was a relative enrichment of heavy rare earth elements (HREE) in the clay fraction and its free forms with respect to fine sand. The clay free forms behaved as scavengers of lanthanides, and oxidative scavenging of cerium (Ce) in FFclay‐CDB was also detected. Lanthanide concentrations (lanthanum to gadolinium in fine sand; terbium to lutetium in clay) varied with soil age, and chronofunctions were established. There was a strong positive collinearity between most of the lanthanide concentrations. Furthermore, the value of the correlation index (Pearson's r ) of the concentrations between couples of lanthanides (r CLC) decreased significantly with increasing separation between the elements in the periodic table; this has never been described in soils. Several geochemical properties and indices in the fine sand and clay soil fractions and in the geological materials of the Guadalquivir catchment showed, on the one hand, a genetic relation between them all, enabling the lanthanides to be used as fingerprints of provenance; on the other hand, fractionation between fine sand and clay showed these are actively involved in soil lanthanide dynamics.Secretaría de Estado de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación. Grant Number: CGL2016‐80308‐

Magnetic, electronic, and structural investigation of the strongly correlated Y1−x_{1-x}Smx_xCo5_5 system

SmCo$_5$ and YCo$_5$ are isostructural compounds both showing large magnetocrystalline anisotropy, where the former originates mainly from the crystal-electric field and magnetic interactions. We investigate the contribution of both interactions by partially substituting Y by Sm in as-cast polycrystalline Y$_{1-x}$Sm$_{x}$Co$_5$ (with $x$=0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4) and measuring their structural, magnetic, and electrical properties through X-ray diffraction, magnetization, and electrical transport measurements. Our results suggest an interplay between microstructure strain in as-cast samples and the electronic and magnetic interactions

A quantum magnetic analogue to the critical point of water

At the familiar liquid-gas phase transition in water, the density jumps discontinuously at atmospheric pressure, but the line of these first-order transitions defined by increasing pressures terminates at the critical point, a concept ubiquitous in statistical thermodynamics. In correlated quantum materials, a critical point was predicted and measured terminating the line of Mott metal-insulator transitions, which are also first-order with a discontinuous charge density. In quantum spin systems, continuous quantum phase transitions (QPTs) have been investigated extensively, but discontinuous QPTs have received less attention. The frustrated quantum antiferromagnet SrCu$_2$(BO$_3$)$_2$ constitutes a near-exact realization of the paradigmatic Shastry-Sutherland model and displays exotic phenomena including magnetization plateaux, anomalous thermodynamics and discontinuous QPTs. We demonstrate by high-precision specific-heat measurements under pressure and applied magnetic field that, like water, the pressure-temperature phase diagram of SrCu$_2$(BO$_3$)$_2$ has an Ising critical point terminating a first-order transition line, which separates phases with different densities of magnetic particles (triplets). We achieve a quantitative explanation of our data by detailed numerical calculations using newly-developed finite-temperature tensor-network methods. These results open a new dimension in understanding the thermodynamics of quantum magnetic materials, where the anisotropic spin interactions producing topological properties for spintronic applications drive an increasing focus on first-order QPTs.Comment: 8+4 pages, 4+3 figure

Risk of gastric cancer in the environs of industrial facilities in the MCC-Spain study

Background: Gastric cancer is the fifth most frequent tumor worldwide. In Spain, it presents a large geographic variability in incidence, suggesting a possible role of environmental factors in its etiology. Therefore, epidemiologic research focused on environmental exposures is necessary. Objectives: To assess the association between risk of gastric cancer (by histological type and tumor site) and residential proximity to industrial installations, according to categories of industrial groups and specific pollutants released, in the context of a population-based multicase-control study of incident cancer conducted in Spain (MCC-Spain). Methods: In this study, 2664 controls and 137 gastric cancer cases from 9 provinces, frequency matched by province of residence, age, and sex were included. Distances from the individuals' residences to the 106 industries located in the study areas were computed. Logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) for categories of distance (from 1 km to 3 km) to industries, adjusting for matching variables and potential confounders. Results: Overall, no excess risk of gastric cancer was observed in people living close to the industrial installations, with ORs ranging from 0.73 (at ≤2.5 km) to 0.93 (at ≤1.5 km). However, by industrial sector, excess risks (OR; 95%CI) were found near organic chemical industry (3.51; 1.42-8.69 at ≤2 km), inorganic chemical industry (3.33; 1.12-9.85 at ≤2 km), food/beverage sector (2.48; 1.12-5.50 at ≤2 km), and surface treatment using organic solvents (3.59; 1.40-9.22 at ≤3 km). By specific pollutant, a statistically significant excess risk (OR; 95%CI) was found near (≤3 km) industries releasing nonylphenol (6.43; 2.30-17.97) and antimony (4.82; 1.94-12.01). Conclusions: The results suggest no association between risk of gastric cancer and living in the proximity to the industrial facilities as a whole. However, a few associations were detected near some industrial sectors and installations releasing specific pollutants.The authors thank all those who took part in this study by providing questionnaire data. This study was funded by: Scientific Foundation of the Spanish Association Against Cancer (Fundación Científica de la Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer (AECC) e grants EVP-1178/14 and GCTRA18022MORE); “Acción Transversal del Cáncer”, approved on the Spanish Ministry Council on October 11, 2007; Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP); Spain’s Health Research Fund (Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria - FIS 12/01416); Carlos III Institute of Health (ISCIII) grants, co-funded by ERDF fundsea way to build Europee (grants PI08/0533, PI08/1359, PI08/1770, PS09/00773, PS09/01286, PS09/01662, PS09/01903, PS09/02078, PI11/00226, PI11/01403, PI11/01810, PI11/01889, PI11/02213, PI12/00150, PI12/00265, PI12/00488, PI12/00715, PI12/01270, PI14/00613, PI14/01219, PI15/00069, PI15/00914, PI15/01032, PI17-00092, PI17CIII/00034); the Fundación Marqués de Valdecilla (API 10/09); the Junta de Castilla y León (LE22A10-2); the Consejería de Salud of the Junta de Andalucía (PI-0571-2009, PI-0306-2011, salud201200057018tra); the Conselleria de Sanitat of the Generalitat Valenciana (AP_061/10); the Recercaixa (2010ACUP 00310); the European Commission grants FOOD-CT-2006-036224-HIWATE; the Catalan Government-Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR) grants 2017SGR723 and 2014SGR850; the Catalan Government DURSI grant 2014SGR647; the Fundación Caja de Ahorros de Asturias; and the University of Oviedo. ISGlobal acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the “Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa 2019-2023” Program (CEX2018-000806-S), and support from the Generalitat de Catalunya through the CERCA Program.N

Long-term Responders after autologous stem cell transplantation in multiple myeloma

Introduction: Multiple myeloma (MM) is considered an incurable hematological neoplasm. For transplant-eligible patients, initial treatment includes an induction phase followed by an autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). Despite the introduction of several drugs in the past years, relapses still occur. Nevertheless, some patients achieve sustained responses after successful induction treatment and ASCT. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated all patients diagnosed with MM in our institution who underwent induction treatment and ASCT between 1990 and 2015. The subset of patients who achieved a sustained response (any degree) for 5 or more years after ASCT without further treatment or signs of progression were distinguished as 'long-term responders' (LTRs). In the non-LTR group, a cohort referred to as 'prolonged responders' (PLRs) showed sustained response of at least 5 years after ASCT but eventually relapsed. We collected and analyzed clinical and laboratory data. Results: Two hundred and fifty patients were diagnosed with MM and received induction treatment and ASCT at our institution in the study period. Among them, 54 (21.6%) patients met the criteria for LTR. Some diagnostic features such as a younger age, female gender, ECOG performance status of 0, lower International Staging System (ISS) stage, lower bone marrow plasma cell infiltration, and lower serum levels of calcium, C-reactive protein, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were found to be more prevalent in LTR. Female gender, an ECOG performance status of 0, a localized Durie-Salmon stage, an ISS of I-II, the absence of bone disease, and an LDH within normal range were also predictive of longer progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in the whole cohort. The depth of the response achieved after induction and ASCT as well as the administration of an IMID-based maintenance regimen may play a role in the differences observed on PFS between cohorts. A detectable M-protein with a monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS)-like behavior was detected in one-third of LTR after ASCT. Although relapses continue to occur in patients who achieve a 5-year treatment-free period after ASCT, a plateau is observed in the survival curves at approximately 21 years of follow-up

Menstrual and Reproductive Factors and Risk of Gastric and Colorectal Cancer in Spain

BACKGROUND: Sex hormones play a role in gastric cancer and colorectal cancer etiology, however, epidemiological evidence is inconsistent. This study examines the influence of menstrual and reproductive factors over the risk of both tumors. METHODS: In this case-control study 128 women with gastric cancer and 1293 controls, as well as 562 female and colorectal cancer cases and 1605 controls were recruited in 9 and 11 Spanish provinces, respectively. Population controls were frequency matched to cases by age and province. Demographic and reproductive data were directly surveyed by trained staff. The association with gastric, colon and rectal cancer was assessed using logistic and multinomial mixed regression models. RESULTS: Our results show an inverse association of age at first birth with gastric cancer risk (five-year trend: OR = 0.69; p-value = 0.006). Ever users of hormonal contraception presented a decreased risk of gastric (OR = 0.42; 95%CI = 0.26-0.69), colon (OR = 0.64; 95%CI = 0.48-0.86) and rectal cancer (OR = 0.61; 95%CI = 0.43-0.88). Postmenopausal women who used hormone replacement therapy showed a decreased risk of colon and rectal tumors. A significant interaction of educational level with parity and months of first child lactation was also observed. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest a protective role of exogenous hormones in gastric and colorectal cancer risk. The role of endogenous hormones remains unclear

Cómo poner puertas al campo : tres revisiones panorámicas sobre el uso de biomarcadores en prevención personalizada de enfermedades crónicas

Se incluye PDF de la presentación y vídeo del seminario.El seminario trata de dar respuesta a qué biomarcadores hay disponibles o en desarrollo para la prevención personalizada de enfermedades crónicas en la población general. Las revisiones realizadas resumen las principales características y conclusiones de la bibliografía sobre este tema. Abarca los tres principales grupos de enfermedades crónicas:11 tipos de cáncer, 9 enfermedades cardiovasculares y 7 enfermedades neurodegenerativas.N