GIS applications in the geoarchaeological characterization of the Paleolithic site of Las Delicias (Madrid, Spain) and 3D representation of results

[ES] En los años 2008 y 2009 se llevaron a cabo varias campañas de excavación arqueológica en el yacimiento paleolítico al aire libre de Las Delicias, situado en el valle del Manzanares (Madrid, España). La información obtenida en campo se procesó mediante SIG, representándose los resultados en 3D. Se ha conseguido una base de datos topográficos y arqueológicos asociada mediante SIG a planimetrías 3D, que a nivel microespacial servirá para estudios posteriores sobre la génesis de los depósitos y su grado de conservación, la intensidad de desplazamiento de las piezas, la detección de remontajes de piezas líticas y la planificación de futuras campañas de excavación en el yacimiento.[EN] The open-air Palaeolithic site of Las Delicias, located in the Manzanares river valley (Madrid, Spain), has been the object of recent archaeological excavations during 2008 and 2009. Field data gathered at the site has been processed through Geographic Information Systems software, and results have been represented in 3D. We have achieved a topographic and archaeological database which has been associated with 3D planimetries through GIS. At the micro-spatial level, this database will allow future studies on different topics, such as the genesis of the deposits and their conservation, displacement patterns of the archaeological objects, refitting of lithic pieces and planning of future excavation seasons at the site.La excavación arqueológica en Las Delicias ha sido financiada por la Dirección General de Patrimonio Histórico de la Comunidad de Madrid. La participación de Manuel Alcaraz-Castaño se ha visto favorecida por la concesión de una ayuda FPU-MEC (referencia AP2006-1121). La participación de Mario López-Recio y Javier Baena se enmarca en el proyecto “Algo más que bifaces: hacia la definición técnica y tecnológica de los conjuntos líticos del Pleistoceno de la región de Madrid” (HAR2010-20151).López-Fraile, FJ.; Alcaraz-Castaño, M.; López-Recio, M.; Baena, J.; Morín, J.; Roca, M.; Rodríguez-Avello, L.... (2014). Aplicaciones SIG en la caracterización geoarqueológica del yacimiento paleolítico de Las Delicias (Madrid, España) y visualización en 3D de los resultados. Virtual Archaeology Review. 5(10):32-43. https://doi.org/10.4995/var.2014.4206OJS324351

Development and Validation of a Mobile Application as an Adjuvant Treatment for People Diagnosed with Long COVID-19: Protocol for a Co-Creation Study of a Health Asset and an Analysis of Its Effectiveness and Cost-Effectiveness

Objective: To analyse the overall effectiveness and cost-efficiency of a mobile application (APP) as a community health asset (HA) with recommendations and recovery exercises created bearing in mind the main symptoms presented by patients in order to improve their quality of life, as well as other secondary variables, such as the number and severity of ongoing symptoms, physical and cognitive functions, affective state, and sleep quality. Methods: The first step was to design and develop the technologic community resource, the APP, following the steps involved in the process of recommending health assets (RHA). After this, a protocol of a randomised clinical trial for analysing its effectiveness and cost-efficiency as a HA was developed. The participants will be assigned to: (1st) usual treatment by the primary care practitioner (TAU), as a control group; and (2nd) TAU + use of the APP as a HA and adjuvant treatment in their recovery + three motivational interviews (MI), as an interventional group. An evaluation will be carried out at baseline with further assessments three and six months following the end of the intervention. Discussion: Although research and care for these patients are still in their initial stages, it is necessary to equip patients and health care practitioners with tools to assist in their recovery. Furthermore, enhanced motivation can be achieved through telerehabilitation (TR)

The outcome of boosting mitochondrial activity in alcohol-associated liver disease is organ-dependent.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) accounts for 70% of liver-related deaths in Europe, with no effective approved therapies. Although mitochondrial dysfunction is one of the earliest manifestations of alcohol-induced injury, restoring mitochondrial activity remains a problematic strategy due to oxidative stress. Here, we identify methylation-controlled J protein (MCJ) as a mediator for ALD progression and hypothesize that targeting MCJ may help in recovering mitochondrial fitness without collateral oxidative damage. APPROACH AND RESULTS C57BL/6 mice [wild-type (Wt)] Mcj knockout and Mcj liver-specific silencing (MCJ-LSS) underwent the NIAAA dietary protocol (Lieber-DeCarli diet containing 5% (vol/vol) ethanol for 10 days, plus a single binge ethanol feeding at day 11). To evaluate the impact of a restored mitochondrial activity in ALD, the liver, gut, and pancreas were characterized, focusing on lipid metabolism, glucose homeostasis, intestinal permeability, and microbiota composition. MCJ, a protein acting as an endogenous negative regulator of mitochondrial respiration, is downregulated in the early stages of ALD and increases with the severity of the disease. Whole-body deficiency of MCJ is detrimental during ALD because it exacerbates the systemic effects of alcohol abuse through altered intestinal permeability, increased endotoxemia, and dysregulation of pancreatic function, which overall worsens liver injury. On the other hand, liver-specific Mcj silencing prevents main ALD hallmarks, that is, mitochondrial dysfunction, steatosis, inflammation, and oxidative stress, as it restores the NAD + /NADH ratio and SIRT1 function, hence preventing de novo lipogenesis and improving lipid oxidation. CONCLUSIONS Improving mitochondrial respiration by liver-specific Mcj silencing might become a novel therapeutic approach for treating ALD.This work was supported by grants from Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Programa Retos-Colaboración RTC2019-007125-1 (for Jorge Simon and Maria Luz Martinez-Chantar); Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad, Retos a la Sociedad AGL2017- 86927R (for F.M.); Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Proyectos de Investigación en Salud DTS20/00138 and DTS21/00094 (for Jorge Simon and Maria Luz Martinez-Chantar, and Asis Palazon. respectively); Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias co-founded by European Regional Development Fund/European Social Fund, “Investing in your future” PI19/00819, “Una manera de hacer Europa” FIS PI20/00765, and PI21/01067 (for Jose J. G. Marin., Pau Sancho-Bru,. and Mario F. Fraga respectively); Departamento de Industria del Gobierno Vasco (for Maria Luz Martinez-Chantar); Asturias Government (PCTI) co-funding 2018-2023/ FEDER IDI/2021/000077 (for Mario F. Fraga.); Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades MICINN: PID2020-117116RB-I00, CEX2021-001136-S PID2020-117941RB-I00, PID2020-11827RB-I00 and PID2019-107956RA-100 integrado en el Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y Innovación, cofinanciado con Fondos FEDER (for Maria Luz Martinez-Chantar, Francisco J Cubero., Yulia A Nevzorova and Asis Palazon); Ayudas Ramón y Cajal de la Agencia Estatal de Investigación RY2013-13666 and RYC2018- 024183-I (for Leticia Abecia and Asis Palazon); European Research Council Starting Grant 804236 NEXTGEN-IO (for Asis Palazon); The German Research Foundation SFB/TRR57/P04, SFB1382-403224013/ A02 and DFG NE 2128/2-1 (for Francisco J Cubero and Yulia A Nevzorova); National Institute of Health (NIH)/National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) 1U01AA026972-01 (For Pau Sancho-Bru); Junta de Castilla y León SA074P20 (for Jose J. G. Marin); Junta de Andalucía, Grupo PAIDI BIO311 (for Franz Martin); CIBERER Acciones Cooperativas y Complementarias Intramurales ACCI20-35 (for Mario F. Fraga); Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte FPU17/04992 (for Silvia Ariño); Fundació Marato TV3 201916-31 (for Jose J. G. Marin.); Ainize Pena-Cearra is a fellow of the University of the Basque Country (UPV/ EHU); BIOEF (Basque Foundation for Innovation and Health Research); Asociación Española contra el Cáncer (Maria Luz Martinez-Chantar and Teresa C. Delgado.); Fundación Científica de la Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer (AECC Scientific Foundation) Rare Tumor Calls 2017 (for Maria Luz Martinez-Chantar); La Caixa Foundation Program (for Maria Luz Martinez-Chantar); Proyecto Desarrollo Tecnologico CIBERehd (for Maria Luz Martinez-Chantar); Ciberehd_ISCIII_MINECO is funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III.S

Clonal chromosomal mosaicism and loss of chromosome Y in elderly men increase vulnerability for SARS-CoV-2

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19) had an estimated overall case fatality ratio of 1.38% (pre-vaccination), being 53% higher in males and increasing exponentially with age. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, we found 133 cases (1.42%) with detectable clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations (mCA) and 226 males (5.08%) with acquired loss of chromosome Y (LOY). Individuals with clonal mosaic events (mCA and/or LOY) showed a 54% increase in the risk of COVID-19 lethality. LOY is associated with transcriptomic biomarkers of immune dysfunction, pro-coagulation activity and cardiovascular risk. Interferon-induced genes involved in the initial immune response to SARS-CoV-2 are also down-regulated in LOY. Thus, mCA and LOY underlie at least part of the sex-biased severity and mortality of COVID-19 in aging patients. Given its potential therapeutic and prognostic relevance, evaluation of clonal mosaicism should be implemented as biomarker of COVID-19 severity in elderly people. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, individuals with clonal mosaic events (clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations and/or loss of chromosome Y) showed an increased risk of COVID-19 lethality

The Gaia mission

Gaia is a cornerstone mission in the science programme of the EuropeanSpace Agency (ESA). The spacecraft construction was approved in 2006, following a study in which the original interferometric concept was changed to a direct-imaging approach. Both the spacecraft and the payload were built by European industry. The involvement of the scientific community focusses on data processing for which the international Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC) was selected in 2007. Gaia was launched on 19 December 2013 and arrived at its operating point, the second Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth-Moon system, a few weeks later. The commissioning of the spacecraft and payload was completed on 19 July 2014. The nominal five-year mission started with four weeks of special, ecliptic-pole scanning and subsequently transferred into full-sky scanning mode. We recall the scientific goals of Gaia and give a description of the as-built spacecraft that is currently (mid-2016) being operated to achieve these goals. We pay special attention to the payload module, the performance of which is closely related to the scientific performance of the mission. We provide a summary of the commissioning activities and findings, followed by a description of the routine operational mode. We summarise scientific performance estimates on the basis of in-orbit operations. Several intermediate Gaia data releases are planned and the data can be retrieved from the Gaia Archive, which is available through the Gaia home page. http://www.cosmos.esa.int/gai

La tradición tecnológica achelense en la cuenca media del río Tajo

The first Acheulean evidences in the Iberian Peninsula, are date approximately 1 Ma before present, although up to MIS 15-13 its presence in the middle basin of the Tagus river does not extend significantly. In this contribution, we present the relevant results of the technological study of the lithic series from Pinedo, Cien Fanegas and Tafesa sites located in the middle basin of the Tagus. This study together with the IRSL (post-Infrared Stimulated Luminiscence) and ESR dates of the terrace deposits at + 25-30m of the Tagus (Pinedo and Cien Fanegas in the vicinity of Toledo) indicate the perdurance of the Acheulian technological schemes during the late Middle Pleistocene (MIS 11-8). This circumstance is similar to other places of the Iberian Central Plateau and south-western France. The technological characteristics of these lithic series (composite of pebble tools, bifaces, trihedrals pieces, picks and cleavers) together with a non-standardized flaking systems (centripetal and multipolar) does not have a chronological meaning, but probably responds to technological traditions that can be dated in the final part of the Middle Pleistocene for the inner area of the Iberian Peninsula.Las primeras evidencias achelenses en la Península Ibérica, tecnocomplejo de origen africano, se remontan a 1 Ma aproximadamente, si bien hasta el MIS 15-13 no se extiende de forma significativa en la cuenca media del Tajo. Mediante el estudio tecnológico de las muestras líticas de Pinedo, Cien Fanegas y Tafesa en la cuenca media del Tajo y las dataciones IRSL (post-Infrared Stimulated Luminiscence) y ESR de los depósitos de terrazas a +25-30m del Tajo en Pinedo y Cien Fanegas en las inmediaciones de Toledo se evidencia una perduración de esquemas tecnológicos achelenses en fechas recientes (MIS 11-8) dentro del tramo final del Pleistoceno Medio, similar a otros enclaves de la Meseta Central y del suroeste de Francia. Las características tecnológicas de estas series líticas (compuestas por cantos tallados, bifaces, triedros, picos triédricos, hendedores) y débitage no estandarizado (centrípeto y multipolar) no tiene un significado cronológico, sino que responde a tradiciones tecnológicas que perduran hasta el final del Pleistoceno Medio para el caso del interior de la Península Ibérica.The first Acheulean evidences in the Iberian Peninsula, are date approximately 1 Ma before present, although up to MIS 15-13 its presence in the middle basin of the Tagus river does not extend significantly. In this contribution, we present the relevant results of the technological study of the lithic series from Pinedo, Cien Fanegas and Tafesa sites located in the middle basin of the Tagus. This study together with the IRSL (post-Infrared Stimulated Luminiscence) and ESR dates of the terrace deposits at + 25-30m of the Tagus (Pinedo and Cien Fanegas in the vicinity of Toledo) indicate the perdurance of the Acheulian technological schemes during the late Middle Pleistocene (MIS 11-8). This circumstance is similar to other places of the Iberian Central Plateau and south-western France. The technological characteristics of these lithic series (composite of pebble tools, bifaces, trihedrals pieces, picks and cleavers) together with a non-standardized flaking systems (centripetal and multipolar) does not have a chronological meaning, but probably responds to technological traditions that can be dated in the final part of the Middle Pleistocene for the inner area of the Iberian Peninsula