PREDIRCAM eHealth platform for individualized telemedical assistance for lifestyle modification in the treatment of obesity, diabetes, and cardiometabolic risk prevention: a pilot study (PREDIRCAM 1)

Background: Healthy diet and regular physical activity are powerful tools in reducing diabetes and cardiometabolic risk. Various international scientific and health organizations have advocated the use of new technologies to solve these problems. The PREDIRCAM project explores the contribution that a technological system could offer for the continuous monitoring of lifestyle habits and individualized treatment of obesity as well as cardiometabolic risk prevention. Methods: PREDIRCAM is a technological platform for patients and professionals designed to improve the effectiveness of lifestyle behavior modifications through the intensive use of the latest information and communication technologies. The platform consists of a web-based application providing communication interface with monitoring devices of physiological variables, application for monitoring dietary intake, ad hoc electronic medical records, different communication channels, and an intelligent notification system. A 2-week feasibility study was conducted in 15 volunteers to assess the viability of the platform. Results: The website received 244 visits (average time/session: 17 min 45 s). A total of 435 dietary intakes were recorded (average time for each intake registration, 4 min 42 s ± 2 min 30 s), 59 exercises were recorded in 20 heart rate monitor downloads, 43 topics were discussed through a forum, and 11 of the 15 volunteers expressed a favorable opinion toward the platform. Food intake recording was reported as the most laborious task. Ten of the volunteers considered long-term use of the platform to be feasible. Conclusions: The PREDIRCAM platform is technically ready for clinical evaluation. Training is required to use the platform and, in particular, for registration of dietary food intake

Multi-Omics Integration Highlights the Role of Ubiquitination in CCl4-Induced Liver Fibrosis

Liver fibrosis is the excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix proteins that occurs in chronic liver disease. Ubiquitination is a post-translational modification that is crucial for a plethora of physiological processes. Even though the ubiquitin system has been implicated in several human diseases, the role of ubiquitination in liver fibrosis remains poorly understood. Here, multi-omics approaches were used to address this. Untargeted metabolomics showed that carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced liver fibrosis promotes changes in the hepatic metabolome, specifically in glycerophospholipids and sphingolipids. Gene ontology analysis of public deposited gene array-based data and validation in our mouse model showed that the biological process “protein polyubiquitination” is enriched after CCl4-induced liver fibrosis. Finally, by using transgenic mice expressing biotinylated ubiquitin (bioUb mice), the ubiquitinated proteome was isolated and characterized by mass spectrometry in order to unravel the hepatic ubiquitinated proteome fingerprint in CCl4-induced liver fibrosis. Under these conditions, ubiquitination appears to be involved in the regulation of cell death and survival, cell function, lipid metabolism, and DNA repair. Finally, ubiquitination of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) is induced during CCl4-induced liver fibrosis and associated with the DNA damage response (DDR). Overall, hepatic ubiquitome profiling can highlight new therapeutic targets for the clinical management of liver fibrosis.This work was supported by grants from Gobierno Vasco-Departamento de Salud 2013111114 (to M.L.M.-C.), ELKARTEK 2016, Departamento de Industria del Gobierno Vasco (to M.L.M.-C.), Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades MICINN: SAF2017-87301-R, SAF2017-88041-R, RTI2018-096759-A-100 and SAF2016-76898-P integrado en el Plan Estatal de Investigación Cientifica y Técnica y Innovación, cofinanciado con Fondos FEDER (to M.L.M.-C., J.M.M., T.C.D. and U.M. respectively); AECC Bizkaia (M.S.-M.); Asociación Española contra el Cáncer (T.C.D.), Fundación Científica de la Asociación Española Contra el Cancer (AECC Scientific Foundation) Rare Tumor Calls 2017 (to M.L.M., J.M.B., M.A.A., J.J.G.M.), La Caixa Foundation Program (to M.L.M.), 2018 BBVA Foundation Grants for Scientific Research Teams (to M.L.M.-C.). This research was also funded by the CIBERehd (EHD15PI05/2016) and “Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias, Instituto de Salud Carlos III”, Spain (PI16/00598 and PI19/00819, co-funded by European Regional Development Fund/European Social Fund, “Investing in your future”); Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (SAF2016-75197-R); “Junta de Castilla y Leon” (SA063P17); AECC Scientific Foundation (2017/2020), Spain; “Centro Internacional sobre el Envejecimiento” (OLD-HEPAMARKER, 0348_CIE_6_E), Spain; University of Salamanca Foundation, Spain (PC-TCUE18-20_051), and Fundació Marato TV3 (Ref. 201916-31), Spain (to J.J.G.M.). The UPV/EHU Lab and the Proteomics Platform are members of Proteored, PRB3 and is supported by grant PT17/0019, of the PE I + D + i 2013-2016, funded by ISCIII and ERDF. Ciberehd_ISCIII_MINECO is funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III. We thank MINECO for the Severo Ochoa Excellence Accreditation to CIC bioGUNE (SEV-2016-0644)

Healthcare workers hospitalized due to COVID-19 have no higher risk of death than general population. Data from the Spanish SEMI-COVID-19 Registry

Aim To determine whether healthcare workers (HCW) hospitalized in Spain due to COVID-19 have a worse prognosis than non-healthcare workers (NHCW). Methods Observational cohort study based on the SEMI-COVID-19 Registry, a nationwide registry that collects sociodemographic, clinical, laboratory, and treatment data on patients hospitalised with COVID-19 in Spain. Patients aged 20-65 years were selected. A multivariate logistic regression model was performed to identify factors associated with mortality. Results As of 22 May 2020, 4393 patients were included, of whom 419 (9.5%) were HCW. Median (interquartile range) age of HCW was 52 (15) years and 62.4% were women. Prevalence of comorbidities and severe radiological findings upon admission were less frequent in HCW. There were no difference in need of respiratory support and admission to intensive care unit, but occurrence of sepsis and in-hospital mortality was lower in HCW (1.7% vs. 3.9%; p = 0.024 and 0.7% vs. 4.8%; p<0.001 respectively). Age, male sex and comorbidity, were independently associated with higher in-hospital mortality and healthcare working with lower mortality (OR 0.211, 95%CI 0.067-0.667, p = 0.008). 30-days survival was higher in HCW (0.968 vs. 0.851 p<0.001). Conclusions Hospitalized COVID-19 HCW had fewer comorbidities and a better prognosis than NHCW. Our results suggest that professional exposure to COVID-19 in HCW does not carry more clinical severity nor mortality

A Cohen type inequality for Laguerre-Sobolev expansions with a mass point outside their oscillatory regime

Let consider the Sobolev type inner product \langle f, g\rangle_S = \int_0^{\infty} f(x)g(x)d \mu (x) + Mf(c)g(c) + Nf^{\prime}(c) g^{\prime}(c), where d\mu (x) = x^{\alpha} e^{-x}dx, \alpha > -1, is the Laguerre measure, c < 0, and M, N \geq 0. In this paper we get a Cohen-type inequality for Fourier expansions in terms of the orthonormal polynomials associated with the above Sobolev inner product. Then, as an immediate consequence, we deduce the divergence of Fourier expansions and Cesàro means of order \delta in terms of this kind of Laguerre--Sobolev polynomials.Supported by Fundaçao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT) of Portugal, ref. SFRH/BPD/91841/2012, and partially supported by Dirección General de Investigación Científica, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain, grant MTM 2012-36732-C03-01. Supported by the Research Fellowship Program, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MTM 2009-12740-C03-01

Purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of the CBS-domain pair from the Methanococcus jannaschii protein MJ0100

The C-terminal domain of the Methanococcus jannaschii protein MJ0100 includes a CBS-domain pair and has been overexpressed, purified and crystallized. Crystals of selenomethionine-substituted (SeMet) protein were also grown

Crystallization and preliminary crystallographic analysis of merohedrally twinned crystals of MJ0729, a CBS-domain protein from Methanococcus jannaschii

Trigonal crystals of MJ0729 showing different degrees of merohedral twinning that may vary from perfect hemihedral twinning to perfect tetartohedral twinning were obtained upon slight variation of the pH

Aphasia rehabilitation:a Cochrane Systematic Review of the evidence for Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) compared with no SLT

Background: Thrombolysis with iv rt-PA has improved the prognosis for acute ischaemic stroke. Decision support during the hyperacute stroke period is needed to expedite appropriate clinical assessment of eligibility for rt-PA, and communication of risks and benefits to patients/families. Methods: A DAM was constructed to establish the likely balance of benefits and risks of thrombolytic treatment in individual patients. Probability of independence (mRS 0-2) three months post-stroke was based on a predictive equation reported in the literature (Stroke-Thrombolytic Predictive Instrument [STPI], derived from large scale trials) calibrated using data from stroke patients in the SITS-UK database. Probabilities for death at three months were derived from regression analyses of SITS-UK data; whereas, probability of symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage (SICH) used an equation derived from SITS data. Results: The DAM expresses probabilities for short-term (SICH, death, independence and dependence at 6-months) and long-term outcomes (QALYs), with and without rt-PA, as a function of 11 patient characteristics (age, gender, diabetes, previous stroke, NIHSS score, systolic BP, onset time to treatment, weight, aspirin use, blood glucose and signs of current infarction on imaging). Adding blood glucose and signs of current infarction to the S-TPI predictive equation increased prediction accuracy (area under the curve increased from 0.728 to 0.741). The DAM identifies sub-groups of patients with a different balance of risks and benefits from thrombolytic treatment, including no benefit and likely harm. Conclusion: Outcomes generated by the DAM show improved discrimination between stroke patients who may and may not maintain their independence. The DAM has been embedded within a computerised tool for supporting clinical decision making on rt-PA and risk communication (and where appropriate engagement of patients/family members in decision-making) within the hyperacute stroke period

Schwann cell autophagy, myelinophagy, initiates myelin clearance from injured nerves

Although Schwann cell myelin breakdown is the universal outcome of a remarkably wide range of conditions that cause disease or injury to peripheral nerves, the cellular and molecular mechanisms that make Schwann cell-mediated myelin digestion possible have not been established. We report that Schwann cells degrade myelin after injury by a novel form of selective autophagy, myelinophagy. Autophagy was up-regulated by myelinating Schwann cells after nerve injury, myelin debris was present in autophagosomes, and pharmacological and genetic inhibition of autophagy impaired myelin clearance. Myelinophagy was positively regulated by the Schwann cell JNK/c-Jun pathway, a central regulator of the Schwann cell reprogramming induced by nerve injury. We also present evidence that myelinophagy is defective in the injured central nervous system. These results reveal an important role for inductive autophagy during Wallerian degeneration, and point to potential mechanistic targets for accelerating myelin clearance and improving demyelinating diseas

Repensando pedagogías y prácticas interculturales en las Américas

Repensando pedagogías y prácticas interculturales en las Américas resulta un ejercicio de reflexión y documentación de proyectos de investigación y de programas de formación en educación superior que se han desarrollado con estudiantes indígenas y afrodescendientes, así como desde una lectura crítica de las políticas educativas de educación intercultural bilingüe (EIB) en Centro y Sudamérica. Buscamos poner en debate múltiples procesos educativos, políticos y epistémicos que, desde finales del siglo XX y bajo el impulso de lo que conocemos como EIB, se han desarrollado con la participación de actores diversos: docentes, académicos, activistas, comuneros, estudiantes, agencias gubernamentales y no gubernamentales