Development of a molecular technique for microsatellite instability for use in colon cancer

El Cáncer Colorrectal (CCR) es la segun-da causa de muerte por cáncer en Argentina, con más de 11.000 nuevos casos por año. Entre el 3 y el 8% de los casos son producidos por mutaciones heredables. El síndrome más común es el Síndrome de Lynch o Cán-cer Colorrectal Hereditario no Polipósico (CCHNP). Los pacientes afectados tienen un riesgo superior al 80% de desarrollar cáncer de colon y en mujeres, el riesgo de cáncer de endometrio es de 60%. También se encuentra incrementado el riesgo de padecer cáncer de estómago, ovario, intestino delgado, vías biliares y riñón. La patogé-nesis del CCHNP se relaciona con fallas en el sistema de reparación del ADN que lleva a la acumulación de muta-ciones de nucleótido único y cambios en la longitud de secuencias repetitivas, fenómeno conocido como Inesta-bilidad de Microsatélites (MSI). Alta Inestabilidad de mi-crosatélites (MSI-High) se presenta en más del 85% de casos de CCHNP. Además, puede detectarse en el 10-15% de los casos de CCR no asociados a CCHNP debido a metilación de los genes de las enzimas de reparación del ADN. Los tumores colorrectales con MSI tienen carac-terísticas histológicas definidas, mejor pronóstico que los tumores sin MSI y diferente respuesta a la quimioterapia. El descubrimiento de MSI en CCR ha incrementado el co-nocimiento de la diversidad de los CCR y colabora en el diagnóstico, tratamiento y asesoramiento genético. Objetivo: diseñar una técnica molecular para el análisis de MSI de bajo costo y adecuar los algoritmos para me-jorar el diagnóstico de Síndrome de Lynch en la región

Dinosaur bonebed amber from an original swamp forest soil

Dinosaur bonebeds with amber content, yet scarce, offer a superior wealth and quality of data on ancient terrestrial ecosystems. However, the preserved palaeodiversity and/or taphonomic characteristics of these exceptional localities had hitherto limited their palaeobiological potential. Here, we describe the amber from the Lower Cretaceous dinosaur bonebed of Ariño (Teruel, Spain) using a multidisciplinary approach. Amber is found in both a root layer with amber strictly in situ and a litter layer mainly composed of aerial pieces unusually rich in bioinclusions, encompassing 11 insect orders, arachnids, and a few plant and vertebrate remains, including a feather. Additional palaeontological data¿charophytes, palynomorphs, ostracods¿ are provided. Ariño arguably represents the most prolific and palaeobiologically diverse locality in which fossiliferous amber and a dinosaur bonebed have been found in association, and the only one known where the vast majority of the palaeontological assemblage suffered no or low-grade pre-burial transport. This has unlocked unprecedentedly complete and reliable palaeoecological data out of two complementary windows of preservation¿the bonebed and the amber¿from the same site

CIBERER : Spanish national network for research on rare diseases: A highly productive collaborative initiative

Altres ajuts: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII); Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación.CIBER (Center for Biomedical Network Research; Centro de Investigación Biomédica En Red) is a public national consortium created in 2006 under the umbrella of the Spanish National Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII). This innovative research structure comprises 11 different specific areas dedicated to the main public health priorities in the National Health System. CIBERER, the thematic area of CIBER focused on rare diseases (RDs) currently consists of 75 research groups belonging to universities, research centers, and hospitals of the entire country. CIBERER's mission is to be a center prioritizing and favoring collaboration and cooperation between biomedical and clinical research groups, with special emphasis on the aspects of genetic, molecular, biochemical, and cellular research of RDs. This research is the basis for providing new tools for the diagnosis and therapy of low-prevalence diseases, in line with the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) objectives, thus favoring translational research between the scientific environment of the laboratory and the clinical setting of health centers. In this article, we intend to review CIBERER's 15-year journey and summarize the main results obtained in terms of internationalization, scientific production, contributions toward the discovery of new therapies and novel genes associated to diseases, cooperation with patients' associations and many other topics related to RD research

Nuevos yacimientos de icnitas de dinosaurio en Formiche Alto (Teruel)

Three new dinosaur tracksites found in Formiche Alto (Teruel) are described in this paper: El Molino, Camino de Cabra y Barranco de los Arcos. These sites are near Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary in age (Villar del Arzobispo Formation, ranging from Tithonian to Berriasian). The outcrops show higher number of manus prints than pes. The footprints are attributed both to small and large sauropod dinosaurs but there are some tridactyl tracks too. The presence of sauropod footprints from the Villar del Arzobispo Formation is also common in other sites recorded in the province of Teruel

The effects of the Nordic hamstring exercise on sprint performance and eccentric knee flexor strength: A systematic review and meta-analysis of intervention studies among team sport players

Objectives: The primary aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the Nordic hamstring exercise (NHE) on sprint performance (i.e., 5, 10 and 20 m) and explore associations between study characteristics and sprint outcomes in team sport players. Secondary aims were to (1) investigate the effects of the NHE on eccentric strength of the knee flexors (ESKF) with categorical subgroup analysis to determine differences between recreationally, well-trained individuals and young athletes, (2) determine the relation between ESKF and sprint performance in team sport players, and (3) explore the effect of study characteristics (i.e., weekly volume, time duration and body mass) on ESKF.Methods: Electronic databases were searched until the 20th of June 2020. 17 studies met the inclusion criteria. Random-effects meta-analyses were used to determine the mean difference (MD) or standardized change of mean difference (SCMD) between NHE and control group for sprint time and ESKF, respectively.Results: NHE interventions showed a positive effect on sprint performance (-0.04 s [-0.08, -0.01]). Sub-group meta-analyses indicated no significant differences in 5 and 20 m sprint performance (MDsprint(5m)= -0.02 s [-0.10, 0.06]) and (MD (sprint(20m))= -0.05 s [-0.30, 0.19]), respectively. A significant difference was however found for 10 m sprint performance (MDsprint(10m) = -0.06 s [-0.10, -0.01]). Meta-analysis on the effects of the NHE on ESKF showed a significant benefit of 0.83 SCMD [0.55, 1.12] in favour of the intervention group.Conclusions: Studies with some concerns or high risk of bias show that training programs involving the NHE can have small beneficial effects on sprint performance in team sport players. Studies with some concerns or high risk of bias showed moderate beneficial effects on ESKF among a sample of relatively untrained individuals. However, for well-trained team sport players, the improvements in ESKF were less consistent, suggesting a higher training intensity during the NHE may be required to induce adaptations. (C) 2021 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Effects of ankle position during the Nordic Hamstring exercise on range of motion, heel contact force and hamstring muscle activation

One of the main benefits of the Nordic Hamstring Exercise (NHE) is that it can be performed without the need of any extra material. However, numerous technical execution variables such as the ankle and pelvis position can influence the performance. The primary aims of this study were to investigate the effects of ankle position (i.e., plantar or dorsal flexion) on Nordic Hamstring Break Point (NHBP), repetition time and heel contact force. A secondary aim was to investigate differences in biceps femoris long head and semitendinosus muscle activation. Male professional field hockey players (n = 12) volunteered for the study. Paired t-tests were used to analyse the effect of ankle position on muscle NHBP, eccentric peak torque and repetition time. Ankle dorsal flexion resulted in a higher NHBP (p = 0.002, effect size [ES] = 1.48 [0.57 to 2.38]), repetition time (p = 0.004, ES = 0.98 [0.24 to 1.72]) and both absolute and relative heel contact force (p = 0.028, ES = 0.67 [0.01 to 1.34], p = 0.017, ES = 0.76 [0.07 to 1.44], respectively) compared to plantar flexion. Muscle activation was not significant different. This study showed a higher NHBP, absolute and relative heel contact force and repetition time with a dorsal flexed ankle vs. a plantar flexed ankle in the NHE, without changes in hamstrings muscle activation

Aportaciones de los yacimientos de Riodeva (Teruel, España) a la filogenia de los saurópodos europeos

En el término municipal de Riodeva se han excavado hasta el momento tres yacimientos de dinosaurios situados en sedimentos de la Formación Villar del Arzobispo, de edad Titónico-Berriasiense. En ellos se han recuperado restos de tres individuos de saurópodos per tenecientes al menos a dos taxones diferentes, determinados como Diplodocinae indet. y como Eusauropoda indet. Los restos hallados en Riodeva corroboran las propuestas apuntadas en trabajos anteriores acerca de la presencia del clado Diplodocinae y de eusaurópodos basales en la Península Ibérica. El registro de estos taxones proporciona nuevos datos para documentar la evolución de los saurópodos durante el Jurásico Superior y el Cretácico Inferior en Europ