Impact of microwave radiation on in vitro starch digestibility, structural and thermal properties of rice flour: From dry to wet treatments

Producción CientíficaMicrowave radiation (MW) is an environment-friendly technology used to physically modify flours. Rice flour was MW-treated at different moisture content (MC) (3 %, 8 %, 13 %, 15 %, 20 % and 30 %). In vitro starch digestibility was determined and related to the changes caused by MW treatment to flours' structure and thermal properties, which were influenced by MC. A reduction of 49 % and 65 % in the gelatinization enthalpy of samples treated at 20 % and 30 % MC denoted a partial gelatinization. A loss of granular crystallinity in treated samples was confirmed by XR-diffraction and FTIR, particularly at 15 %, 20 % and 30 % MC. MW promoted the formation of random-coil, α-helix and β-turn protein structure, and the disappearance of LF-β-sheet. Morphological differences were found between samples treated at 8 % MC (loss of polygonal structure, protein layer covering granules' surface and small holes) and 30 % MC (rounded and aggregated granules, covered with exudate amylose). In vitro starch digestibility revealed that samples treated at 20 % and 30 % MC showed 40 % and 47 % higher rapidly digestible starch, 48 % and 70 % lower slowly digestible starch and 90 % lower resistant starch than the untreated flour. Flour MC in MW-treatment allowed the modulation of structural and thermal characteristics of rice flour and consequently its starch hydrolysis rate.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (PID2019-110809RB-I00)Junta de Castilla y León/ FEDER (VA195P20)National Science Centre (NCN Poland) and Norway Grants (UMO-2020/ 37/KST5/03602

Generation of three human iPSC lines from PLAN (PLA2G6-associated neurodegeneration) patients

Neurodegeneració; MutacióNeurodegeneración; MutaciónNeurodegeneration; MutationThe human iPSC cell lines, PLANFiPS1-Sv4F-1 (RCPFi004-A), PLANFiPS2-Sv4F-1 (RCPFi005-A), PLANFiPS3-Sv4F-1 RCPFi006-A), derived from dermal fibroblast from three patients suffering PLAN (PLA2G6-associated neurodegeneration; MIM 256600) caused by mutations in the PLA2G6 gene, was generated by non-integrative reprogramming technology using OCT3/4, SOX2, CMYC and KLF4 reprogramming factors. The pluripotency was assessed by immunocytochemistry and RT-PCR. Differentiation capacity was verified in vitro. This iPSC line can be further differentiated toward affected cells to better understand molecular mechanisms of disease and pathophysiology.This work was supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) - Subdirección General de Evaluación y Fomento de la Investigación [PI18/00147to CE and PI18/01319 to BPD], and by the Generalitat Valenciana [PROMETEO/2018/135], within the framework of the National R + D + I Plan co-funded with ERDF funds. CM has a CIPF-PhD fellowship [P.I.06/2017]. Part of the equipment employed in this work has been funded by Generalitat Valenciana and co-financed with ERDF funds (OP ERDF of Comunitat Valenciana 2014–2020)

Protein and lipid enrichment of quinoa (cv.Titicaca) by dry fractionation. Techno-functional, thermal and rheological properties of milling fractions

Producción CientíficaSeparated particle fractions of quinoa flour showed wide variations in the proximate composition and functionality. The fine fraction showed the most similar functional, pasting and rheological properties to the whole grain quinoa flour. The medium size fraction, with the desired particle size for pasta making and an efficient supercritical oil extraction (~500 μm) resulted to be richer in protein, lipids and ash while the coarse fraction was enriched in carbohydrates. Techno-functional, pasting and thermal properties of the quinoa fractions were strongly influenced by their different particle size and composition. However, the rheological properties of gels made from the fine and medium fractions were very similar to each other despite their different composition, and in turn, very similar to those of gels made from whole quinoa. On the contrary, the coarse fraction led to much more consistent gels with elastic and viscous moduli ten and twenty times higher than the standard, whole grain quinoa flour. Therefore, it can be concluded that dry fractionation of quinoa grains is a feasible procedure to tailoring the nutritional profile of the flour and its techno-functional and rheological properties.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad and the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) (AGL2015-63849-C2-2-R)Junta de Castilla y León/FEDER (VA072P17

Profile and characteristics of the adequacy of blood transfusions in Trauma Intensive Care. A cross sectional multicenter study

IntroductionMajor trauma is one of the major health care problems facing modern society, trauma systems require careful planning to achieve an ideal level of coverage for the population. The Patient Blood Management Program is an integrated and global strategy to provide patient care that aims to assess and address, when possible, the etiology of blood abnormalities rather than transfuse without treating the underlying cause. We aimed to describe the factors that are associated with the clinical decision to transfuse polytraumatized patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).MethodWe performed a cross sectional multicenter study of patients admitted to ICUs for trauma in 14 Spanish hospitals from September 2020 to December 2021.ResultsA total of 69 patients were treated in the emergency room due to polytrauma, 46% of them were considered serious in the initial triage. Thirty were caused by a fall from considerable height (43.47%), followed by 39 patients admitted due to trac accidents (56.52%). The location of the trauma was mainly cranioencephalic, followed by thoracic trauma. Of the 69 patients, 25 received a blood transfusion during their ICU stay (36.23%).DiscussionNo significant differences were observed between transfused and non-transfused patients, except for the severity scales, where transfused patients have a higher score on all the scales assessed in the ICU except for the Revised Trauma Score. As we can see, the incidence of kidney failure was also different between the groups analyzed, reaching 44.00% in transfused patients and 13.64% in the group of patients without blood transfusion, p = 0.005. In this sense, 92.00% of the transfusions performed were inadequate according to the criteria of Hb in blood prior to the decision to transfuse (Hb < 9). Our data support the need to consider clinical practice guidelines regarding blood transfusion and its practices

Qualitative Analysis by Experts of the Essential Elements of the Nursing Practice Environments Proposed by the TOP10 Questionnaire of Assessment of Environments in Primary Health Care

Background: A short TOP10 scale based on the Practice Environment Scale-Nursing Work Index questionnaire measures the characteristics of nursing work environments. Positive environments result in better quality care and health outcomes. Objective: To identify a small number of core elements that would facilitate more effective interventions by nurse managers, and compare them with the essential elements proposed by the TOP10. Method: Qualitative research by a nominal group of eight experts. The content analysis was combined with descriptive data. Results: Ten most important items were selected and analyzed by the expert group. A high level of consensus in four items (2, 15, 20, 31) and an acceptable consensus in five items was reached (6, 11, 14, 18, 26). The tenth item in the top ten was selected from content analysis (19). The expert group agreed 90% with the elements selected as essential to the TOP10. Conclusion: The expert group achieved a high level of consensus that supports 90% of the essential elements of primary care settings proposed by the TOP10 questionnaire. Organizational changes implemented by managers to improve working environments must be prioritized following our results, so care delivery and health outcomes can be further improved

Blood donations and transfusions during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain: Impact according to autonomous communities and hospitals

Worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a decline in blood donations, between 30% and 70% in some of the most affected countries. In Spain, during the initial eight weeks after the State of Emergency was decreed on 14 March 2020, in the weekly reports of the Health Ministry, an average decrease of 20% was observed between 11 and week 25 compared with the 2018 donation. We aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on blood donations and blood distribution in four autonomous communities, and to explore the evolution of the consumption of blood components (BCs) in ten hospitals of six autonomous communities. We performed a prospective study of grouped cohorts on the donation and distribution of blood in four regional transfusion centers in four autonomous communities in Spain, and a retrospective study of the consumption of blood components in ten hospitals in six autonomous communities. Regarding donations, there was no significant decrease in donations, with differences between autonomous communities, which started between 1 and 15 March 2020 (−11%). The increase in donations in phase II (from 26 May 2020) stands out. Regarding consumption, there was a significant reduction in the consumption of packed red blood cells (RBCs) (24.5%), plasma (45.3%), and platelets (25.3%) in the central period (16 March–10 May). The reduction in the consumption of RBCs was significant in the period from 1–15 March. Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the donation and consumption of BCs

Profile and characteristics of the adequacy of blood transfusions in Trauma Intensive Care. A cross sectional multicenter study

IntroductionMajor trauma is one of the major health care problems facing modern society, trauma systems require careful planning to achieve an ideal level of coverage for the population. The Patient Blood Management Program is an integrated and global strategy to provide patient care that aims to assess and address, when possible, the etiology of blood abnormalities rather than transfuse without treating the underlying cause. We aimed to describe the factors that are associated with the clinical decision to transfuse polytraumatized patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).MethodWe performed a cross sectional multicenter study of patients admitted to ICUs for trauma in 14 Spanish hospitals from September 2020 to December 2021.ResultsA total of 69 patients were treated in the emergency room due to polytrauma, 46% of them were considered serious in the initial triage. Thirty were caused by a fall from considerable height (43.47%), followed by 39 patients admitted due to trac accidents (56.52%). The location of the trauma was mainly cranioencephalic, followed by thoracic trauma. Of the 69 patients, 25 received a blood transfusion during their ICU stay (36.23%).DiscussionNo significant differences were observed between transfused and non-transfused patients, except for the severity scales, where transfused patients have a higher score on all the scales assessed in the ICU except for the Revised Trauma Score. As we can see, the incidence of kidney failure was also different between the groups analyzed, reaching 44.00% in transfused patients and 13.64% in the group of patients without blood transfusion, p = 0.005. In this sense, 92.00% of the transfusions performed were inadequate according to the criteria of Hb in blood prior to the decision to transfuse (Hb < 9). Our data support the need to consider clinical practice guidelines regarding blood transfusion and its practices

IAA : Información y actualidad astronómica (20)

Sumario : ¿Cómo se forma un Sol?.-- El observatorio virtual.-DECONSTRUCCIÓN Y otros ENSAYOS Estrellas peculiares.-- ACTUALIDAD.-- ENTRE BASTIDORES.-- CIENCIA: PILARES E INCERTIDUMBRES.-- HISTORIAS DE ASTRONOMÍA. Pero, ¿quién inventó el telescopio?.-- ACTIVIDADES IAA.Esta revista se publica con la ayuda de la Accion Complementaria CCT003-05-00325 del Programa Nacional de Fomento de la Cultura Cientifica y Tecnologica.N

SOCS3 deregulation contributes to aberrant activation of the JAK/STAT pathway in precursor T-cell neoplasms

Despite the Janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of transcription (JAK/STAT) pathway being frequently altered in T-ALL/LBL, no specific therapy has been approved for T-ALL/LBL patients with constitutive signalling by JAK/STAT, so there is an urgent need to identify pathway members that may be potential therapeutic targets. In the present study, we searched for JAK/STAT pathway members potentially modulated through aberrant methylation and identified SOCS3 hypermethylation as a recurrent event in T-ALL/LBL. Additionally, we explored the implications of SOCS3 deregulation in T-ALL/LBL and demonstrated that SOCS3 counteracts the constitutive activation of the JAK/STAT pathway through different molecular mechanisms. Therefore, SOCS3 emerges as a potential therapeutic target in T-ALL/LBLComunidad de Madrid, Grant/Award Number: B2017/BMD-3778; LINFOMAS-CM; Fundación Científica Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer, Grant/Award Number: PROYE18054PIRI; Fundación Ramón Areces, Grant/Award Number: CIVP19S7917; Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Fundación Jiménez Díaz; Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Grant/ Award Number: RTI2018- 093330-B-I00 and MCIU/FEDER; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Grant/Award Number: SAF2015-70561-R and MINECO/FEDE

Related Factors of Anemia in Critically Ill Patients : A Prospective Multicenter Study

Anemia is common in critically ill patients; almost 95% of patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) have hemoglobin levels below normal. Several causes may explain this phenomenon as well as the tendency to transfuse patients without adequate cause: due to a lack of adherence to protocols, lack of supervision, incomplete transfusion request forms, or a lack of knowledge about the indications, risks, and costs of transfusions. Daily sampling to monitor the coagulation parameters and the acid-base balance can aggravate anemia as the main iatrogenic factor in its production. We studied the association and importance of iatrogenic blood loss and other factors in the incidence of anemia in ICUs. We performed a prospective, observational, multicenter study in five Spanish hospitals. A total of 142 patients with a median age of 58 years (IQI: 48-69), 71.83% male and 28.17% female, were admitted to ICUs without a diagnosis of iatrogenic anemia. During their ICU stay, anemia appeared in 66.90% of the sample, 95 patients, (95% CI: 58.51-74.56%). Risk factors associated with the occurrence of iatrogenic anemia were arterial catheter insertion (72.63% vs. 46.81%, p -value = 0.003), venous catheter insertion (87.37% vs. 72.34%, p -value = 0.023), drainages (33.68% vs. 12. 77%, p -value = 0.038), and ICU stay, where the longer the stay, the higher the rate of iatrogenic anemia (p -value < 0.001). We concluded that there was a statistical significance in the production of iatrogenic anemia due to the daily sampling for laboratory monitoring and critical procedures in intensive care units. The implementation of patient blood management programs could address these issue