Differences in physical properties of two clay soils

We studied the physical properties of two clay soils (J1 and J2) having relatively similar texture but differing cultivation properties J2 being more sensitive to dry and wet conditions. The general assumption that the productivity of heavy clay soils is mainly threatened by excessive wetness holds in both fields

Effects of softwood biochars on soil biota in medium-term field experiments in Finland

Biochar soil amendment could be used to sequester carbon, enhance soil fertility and potentially increase crop yields. It can have significant impacts on soil organic carbon levels and physicochemical conditions, which consequently affect soil micro- and macro-biota. It is therefore important to understand how key biological components in the soil such as microbial and earthworm communities response to biochar application in the long-term. This study was conducted in Southern Finland in a fertile Stagnosol and a nutrient deficient Umbrisol, four and five years after biochar amendment, respectively. Biochars were produced from spruce (Picea abies (L.) H.Karst.) and pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), and applied at the rates of 10 and 30 t ha-1, respectively. Earthworms and soil samples for microbial analyses were collected in September 2015. Soil microbial communities were studied by using phospholipid fatty acid profiling and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. Casts from the sampled earthworms were collected to investigate the consumption of biochar and the potential of earthworm bioturbation to affect biochar distribution. Additionally, greenhouse gas emissions from soil were measured. Biochar and fertilizer treatments or their interaction had no statistically significant effects on the earthworm abundance, community composition or greenhouse gas emissions in either field. Earthworms had ingested biochar as earthworm casts from biochar treated-plots contained significantly more black carbon than those in the control plots, demonstrating that earthworm bioturbation is a potentially important factor in the translocation of applied biochar in the soil profile. Microbial community structure data will be presented in the final presentation.Non peer reviewe

Quality of life of patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma initiating first-line chemotherapy in routine practice

Background: Despite advances in surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, pancreatic adenocarcinoma often progresses rapidly and causes death. The physical decline of these patients is expected to impact their quality of life (QoL). Therefore, in addition to objective measures of effectiveness, the evaluation of health-related QoL should be considered a matter of major concern when assessing therapy outcomes. Methods: Observational, prospective, multicenter study including patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma who started first-line chemotherapy in 12 Spanish centers. Treatment and clinical characteristics were recorded at baseline. Patients' health-related quality of life, ECOG, and Karnofsky index were measured at baseline, at Days 15 and 30, and every four weeks up to 6months of chemotherapy. Health-related quality of life was measured using the EORTC-QLQ-C30 and EQ-5D questionnaires. Other endpoints included overall survival and progression-free survival. Results: The study sample included 116 patients (median age of 65years). Mean (SD) scores for the QLQ-C30 global health status scale showed a significant increasing trend throughout the treatment (p=0.005). Patients with either a Karnofsky index of 70-80 or ECOG 2 showed greater improvement in the QLQ-C30 global health status score than the corresponding groups with better performance status (p 50 at baseline had significantly greater overall survival and progression-free survival (p=0.005 and p=0.021, respectively). No significant associations were observed regarding the EQ-5D score. Conclusions: Most metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients receiving first-line chemotherapy showed an increase in health-related quality of life scores throughout the treatment. Patients with lower performance status and health-related quality of life at baseline tended to greater improvement. The EORTC QLQ-C30 scale allowed us to measure the health-related quality of life of metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients receiving first-line chemotherapy

Glycogen Synthase Kinase (GSK) 3β phosphorylates and protects nuclear myosin 1c from proteasome-mediated degradation to activate rDNA transcription in early G1 cells

Nuclear myosin 1c (NM1) mediates RNA polymerase I (pol I) transcription activation and cell cycle progression by facilitating PCAF-mediated H3K9 acetylation, but the molecular mechanism by which NM1 is regulated remains unclear. Here, we report that at early G1 the glycogen synthase kinase (GSK) 3β phosphorylates and stabilizes NM1, allowing for NM1 association with the chromatin. Genomic analysis by ChIP-Seq showed that this mechanism occurs on the rDNA as active GSK3β selectively occupies the gene. ChIP assays and transmission electron microscopy in GSK3β-/- mouse embryonic fibroblasts indicated that at G1 rRNA synthesis is suppressed due to decreased H3K9 acetylation leading to a chromatin state incompatible with transcription. We found that GSK3β directly phosphorylates the endogenous NM1 on a single serine residue (Ser-1020) located within the NM1 C-terminus. In G1 this phosphorylation event stabilizes NM1 and prevents NM1 polyubiquitination by the E3 ligase UBR5 and proteasome-mediated degradation. We conclude that GSK3β-mediated phosphorylation of NM1 is required for pol I transcription activation

Quality of life of patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma initiating first-line chemotherapy in routine practice

Despite advances in surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, pancreatic adenocarcinoma often progresses rapidly and causes death. The physical decline of these patients is expected to impact their quality of life (QoL). Therefore, in addition to objective measures of effectiveness, the evaluation of health-related QoL should be considered a matter of major concern when assessing therapy outcomes. Observational, prospective, multicenter study including patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma who started first-line chemotherapy in 12 Spanish centers. Treatment and clinical characteristics were recorded at baseline. Patients' health-related quality of life, ECOG, and Karnofsky index were measured at baseline, at Days 15 and 30, and every four weeks up to 6 months of chemotherapy. Health-related quality of life was measured using the EORTC-QLQ-C30 and EQ-5D questionnaires. Other endpoints included overall survival and progression-free survival. The study sample included 116 patients (median age of 65 years). Mean (SD) scores for the QLQ-C30 global health status scale showed a significant increasing trend throughout the treatment (p = 0.005). Patients with either a Karnofsky index of 70-80 or ECOG 2 showed greater improvement in the QLQ-C30 global health status score than the corresponding groups with better performance status (p ≤ 0.010). Pain, appetite, sleep disturbance, nausea, and constipation significantly improved throughout the treatment (p < 0.005). Patients with QLQ-C30 global health status scores ≥50 at baseline had significantly greater overall survival and progression-free survival (p = 0.005 and p = 0.021, respectively). No significant associations were observed regarding the EQ-5D score. Most metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients receiving first-line chemotherapy showed an increase in health-related quality of life scores throughout the treatment. Patients with lower performance status and health-related quality of life at baseline tended to greater improvement. The EORTC QLQ-C30 scale allowed us to measure the health-related quality of life of metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients receiving first-line chemotherapy

Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels and vitamin D receptor variants in melanoma patients from the Mediterranean area of Barcelona

BACKGROUND: Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (Vitamin D) insufficiency and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on its receptor, Vitamin D receptor (VDR), have been reported to be involved in melanoma susceptibility in populations mostly from northern countries. OBJECTIVE: To investigate 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels and VDR SNPs in melanoma patients from sunny area of Barcelona, two studies were carried out. The first study evaluated the levels of Vitamin D at time of melanoma diagnosis and the second one analyzed the association between VDR genetic variants and risk of having a high nevus number, the strongest phenotypic risk factor for melanoma. METHODS: The levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 in 81 melanoma patients at diagnosis were measured. In a second group of melanoma patients, including 150 with low and 113 with high nevus number, 11 VDR SNPs were analyzed for their association with nevus number. RESULTS: In the first study, 68% of patients had insufficient levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (<25 ng/ml). Autumn-winter months and fair phototype were associated with 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 insufficiency; after multivariate analysis, season of sampling remained the only independent predictor of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels. In the second study, VDR variant rs2189480 (P = 0.006) was associated with risk of high nevus number whereas rs2239179 (P = 0.044) and rs7975128 (P = 0.0005) were protective against high nevus number. After Bonferroni adjustment only rs7975128 remained significant. In stratified analysis, SNP rs7975128 was found protective against multiple melanomas (P = 0.021). CONCLUSION: This study showed that even in Barcelona, a sunny Mediterranean area, 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels were sub-optimal in the majority of melanoma patients at diagnosis. The involvement of VDR in nevi and, in turn, in melanoma susceptibility has also been suggested. Larger studies are needed to confirm our findings

Microwave versus radiofrequency ablation for the treatment of liver malignancies: a randomized controlled phase 2 trial

[EN] Microwave (MWA) and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) are main ablative techniques for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and colorectal liver metastasis (MT). This randomized phase 2 clinical trial compares the effectiveness of MWA and RFA as well as morphology of corresponding ablation zones. HCC and MT patients with 1.5-4 cm tumors, suitable for ablation, were randomized into MWA or RFA Groups. The primary endpoint was short-to-long diameter ratio of ablation zone (SLR). Primary technical success (TS) and a cumulative local tumor progression (LTP) after a median 2-year follow-up were compared. Between June 2015 and April 2020, 82 patients were randomly assigned (41 patients per group). For the per-protocol analysis, five patients were excluded. MWA created larger ablation zones than RFA (p = 0.036) although without differences in SLR (0.5 for both groups, p = 0.229). The TS was achieved in 98% (46/47) and 90% (45/50) (p = 0.108), and LTP was observed in 21% (10/47) vs. 12% (6/50) (OR 1.9 [95% CI 0.66-5.3], p = 0.238) of tumors in MWA vs. RFA Group, respectively. Major complications were found in 5 cases (11%) vs. 2 cases (4%), without statistical significance. MWA and RFA show similar SLR, effectiveness and safety in liver tumors between 1.5 and 4 cm.This work was supported by a grant for medical research from Spanish Government (FIS-PI12/00799) and by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades under "Programa Estatal de I+D+i Orientada a los Retos de la Sociedad", Grant RTI2018-094357-B-C21.Radosevic, A.; Quesada, R.; Serlavos, C.; Sánchez, J.; Zugazaga, A.; Sierra, A.; Coll, S.... (2022). Microwave versus radiofrequency ablation for the treatment of liver malignancies: a randomized controlled phase 2 trial. Scientific Reports. 12(1):1-10. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-03802-xS11012

Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels and vitamin D receptor variants in melanoma patients from the Mediterranean area of Barcelona: 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels and VDR variants in melanoma patients from Barcelona

BACKGROUND: Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (Vitamin D) insufficiency and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on its receptor, Vitamin D receptor (VDR), have been reported to be involved in melanoma susceptibility in populations mostly from northern countries. OBJECTIVE: To investigate 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels and VDR SNPs in melanoma patients from sunny area of Barcelona, two studies were carried out. The first study evaluated the levels of Vitamin D at time of melanoma diagnosis and the second one analyzed the association between VDR genetic variants and risk of having a high nevus number, the strongest phenotypic risk factor for melanoma. METHODS: The levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 in 81 melanoma patients at diagnosis were measured. In a second group of melanoma patients, including 150 with low and 113 with high nevus number, 11 VDR SNPs were analyzed for their association with nevus number. RESULTS: In the first study, 68% of patients had insufficient levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (<25 ng/ml). Autumn-winter months and fair phototype were associated with 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 insufficiency; after multivariate analysis, season of sampling remained the only independent predictor of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels. In the second study, VDR variant rs2189480 (P = 0.006) was associated with risk of high nevus number whereas rs2239179 (P = 0.044) and rs7975128 (P = 0.0005) were protective against high nevus number. After Bonferroni adjustment only rs7975128 remained significant. In stratified analysis, SNP rs7975128 was found protective against multiple melanomas (P = 0.021). CONCLUSION: This study showed that even in Barcelona, a sunny Mediterranean area, 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 levels were sub-optimal in the majority of melanoma patients at diagnosis. The involvement of VDR in nevi and, in turn, in melanoma susceptibility has also been suggested. Larger studies are needed to confirm our findings