Heavy Metal Tolerance of Microorganisms Isolated from Coastal Marine Sediments and Their Lead Removal Potential

In this study, 338 microorganisms, comprising 271 bacteria and 67 fungi, were isolated from sediment samples collected from underexplored Pacific and Caribbean regions of Colombia. Screening trials were conducted on selected strains (n = 276) to assess their tolerance to cadmium (Cd2+), lead (Pb2+), and zinc (Zn2+), leading to the identification of six bacteria capable of withstanding 750 mg·L−1 of each heavy metal ion. Three promising microorganisms, identified as Enterobacter sp. INV PRT213, Pseudomonas sp. INV PRT215, and Stenotrophomonas sp. INV PRT216 were selected for lead removal experiments using LB broth medium supplemented with 400 mg·L−1 Pb2+. Among these, Pseudomonas sp. INV PRT215 exhibited significant potential, removing 49% of initial Pb2+ after 240 min of exposure (16.7 g wet biomass·L−1, pH 5, 30 °C). Infrared spectra of Pb-exposed biomass showed changes in functional groups, including carbonyl groups of amides, carboxylate, phosphate, hydroxyl, and amine groups, compared to the not-exposed control. These changes suggested interactions between the metal and functional groups in the biomass. The findings of this study highlight the potential of microorganisms derived from coastal marine environments as promising candidates for future applications in bioremediation of polluted environments contaminated with heavy metals

Laparoscopic versus laparotomy approach to endometrial cancer: A prospective study

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare laparoscopic (LPS) and laparotomy (LPT) approaches for endometrial cancer, and to assess intraoperative and postoperative results, disease-free survival and overall survival. Methods: We designed a prospective observational study, every patient diagnosed of endometrial cancer and subsidiary to surgical staging was included. Total hysterectomy, bilateral adnexectomy, pelvic lymphadenectomy were performed in every case. Paraaortic lymphadenectomy was performed depending on tumor histology. Results: 70 patients with endometrial cancer were enrolled, 49 (70%) were treated laparoscopically and 21 (30%) laparotomically. There was not statistical significant difference in the mean operative time, it was 183.06 ± 21.03 min (range 120 - 230) in the LPS group and 195.24 ± 28.39 min (range 130 - 240) in the LPT group, mean difference 12.16 (95% CI ﹣0.2 - 24). There was no difference in the number of lymph nodes resected. Mean blood loss was lower in the LPS group. There were less postoperative complications, 3 (6.12%) in the LPS group and 7 (33.3%) in the LPT group (p < 0.01). Mean hospital stay was significantly shorter in the LPS group 4.29 ± 1.62 days vs 8.81 ± 3.37 days in the LPT group (p < 0.01), mean difference 4.52 (95% CI 3.3 - 5.7). Overall survival was similar in both groups. Conclusion: Laparoscopic approach for endometrial cancer offers similar results in terms of survival and oncological radicality as the laparotomic approach and a lower rate of complications, a quicker convalescence time and a shorter hospital stay.Objetivo: El objetivo de este estudio fue comparar los abordajes laparoscópico (LPS) y laparotomía (LPT)para el cáncer de endometrio, y para evaluar los resultados intraoperatorios y posoperatorios, la supervivencia libre de enfermedad y la supervivencia global. Métodos: Se diseñó un estudio observacional prospectivo, se incluyeron todas las pacientes diagnosticadas de cáncer de endometrio y subsidiarias a la estadificación quirúrgica. En todos los casos se realizó histerectomía total, anexectomía bilateral, linfadenectomía pélvica. Se realizó linfadenectomía paraaórtica dependiendo de la histología del tumor. Resultados: se incluyeron 70 pacientes con cáncer de endometrio, 49 (70%) fueron tratadas por vía laparoscópica y 21 (30%) por vía laparotómica. No hubo diferencia estadísticamente significativa en el tiempo operatorio medio, fue 183,06 ± 21,03 min (rango 120 - 230) en el grupo LPS y 195,24 ± 28,39 min (rango 130 - 240) en el grupo LPT, diferencia media 12,16 (95 % IC ﹣0,2 - 24). No hubo diferencia en el número de ganglios linfáticos resecados. La pérdida de sangre media fue menor en el grupo LPS. Hubo menos complicaciones postoperatorias, 3 (6,12%) en el grupo LPS y 7 (33,3%) en el grupo LPT (p < 0,01). La estancia hospitalaria media fue significativamente más corta en el grupo LPS 4,29 ± 1,62 días frente a 8,81 ± 3,37 días en el grupo LPT (p < 0,01), diferencia de medias 4,52 (IC 95% 3,3 - 5,7). La supervivencia global fue similar en ambos grupos. Conclusión: El abordaje laparoscópico del cáncer de endometrio ofrece resultados similares en supervivencia y radicalidad oncológica al abordaje laparotómico y menor tasa de complicaciones, menor tiempo de convalecencia y menor estancia hospitalaria

Genotype, environment and their interaction on olive

Resumen del trabajo presentado en la 6th International Conference on the Olive Tree and Olive Products, celebrada en Sevilla (España) del 15 al 19 de octubre de 2018.The wide olive genetic patrimony has revealed high variability for most of the agronomic and oil quality traits of interest in olive growing. Few studies, however, have addressed the interaction of this variability with the environment, a subject of particular interest considering the natural high instability of the Mediterranean climate and the challenge of the predicted climate change. The current work presents results on the interaction between genotype and environment from multi-environment trials of olive cultivars and breeding selections, planted in different edaphoclimatic conditions of Andalusia, Southern Peninsular Spain and Canary Islands. For most of the agronomic and oil quality characters evaluated (flowering phenology, flower quality, pattern of oil accumulation, fatty acid composition and phenol content and composition), significant genotype and environment effects have been observed. For example, olive cultivars grown in Tenerife under much milder winter temperatures than in the Iberian Peninsula showed substantially earlierflowering and oil accumulation. Only in the case of flowering phenology was no significant genotype effect found. Furthermore, a strong genotype x environment effect was highly consistent in all characters considered. Regarding resistance to disease, such as Verticillium wilt, the variability of results from both natural and artificial inoculations also tends to indicate a considerable environmental effect and the need for careful testing of disease evolution. All this information strongly suggests the necessity of comparative trials of olive cultivars for both adequate choice of cultivar and final selection in breeding programs

Adenda

PublishedEl Semillero de Investigación en Filosofía Colombiana y Latinoamericana, Ficla, es un espacio que reflexiona en torno a las ideas y a los pensadores de nuestra América. Aunque no se detiene estrictamente en la filosofía, trasciende a otros espacios, la literatura, la música, las artes, y, como queremos destacar en este libro, en la poesía. Ella está en movimiento, diría Paz, o es un “temblor panamericano”, diríamos bajo la custodia de Benedetti; es el trasegar de las letras más nobles que tiene nuestro terruño. Por “noble” no se debe entender un acto de buena fe, la mala fe (sartriana) juega un rol importante; es así que la revelación dada en estas letras rebela al más desinteresado lector

Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease in Severe Obesity and Concordance between Invasive (Biopsy) and Noninvasive (OWLiver®) Diagnoses

Introduction: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), now termed metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), is an escalating health concern linked to obesity and type 2 diabetes. Despite liver biopsy being the gold standard, its invasiveness underscores the need for noninvasive diagnostic methods. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed to assess MASLD using the noninvasive OWLiver® serum lipidomics test in a cohort of 117 patients with severe obesity undergoing bariatric surgery, comparing outcomes with liver biopsy. Exclusions (n = 24) included insufficient data, liver disease etiology other than MASLD, corticosteroid treatment, excessive alcohol consumption, low glomerular filtration rate, and declination to participate. Comprehensive laboratory tests, demographic assessments, and liver biopsies were performed. Serum metabolites were analyzed using OWLiver®, a serum lipidomic test that discriminates between healthy liver, steatosis, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), and MASH with fibrosis ≥2 by means of three algorithms run sequentially. Results: Liver biopsy revealed a MASLD prevalence of 95.7%, with MASH present in 28.2% of cases. OWLiver® demonstrated a tendency to diagnose more severe cases. Body mass index (BMI), rather than the presence of type 2 diabetes, emerged as the sole independent factor linked to the probability of concordance. Therefore, the all-population concordance of 63.2% between OWLiver® and liver biopsy notably raised to 77.1% in patients with a BMI &lt;40 kg/m2. These findings suggest a potential correlation between lower BMI and enhanced concordance between OWLiver® and biopsy. Conclusion: This study yields valuable insights into the concordance between liver biopsy and the noninvasive serum lipidomic test, OWLiver®, in severe obesity. OWLiver® demonstrated a tendency to amplify MASLD severity, with BMI values influencing concordance. Patients with BMI &lt;40 kg/m2 may derive optimal benefits from this noninvasive diagnostic approach

Epistatic interaction of ERAP1 and HLA-B in Behçet disease: a replication study in the Spanish population

Behçet's disease (BD) is a multifactorial disorder associated with the HLA region. Recently, the ERAP1 gene has been proposed as a susceptibility locus with a recessive model and with epistatic interaction with HLA-B51. ERAP1 trims peptides in the endoplasmic reticulum to optimize their length for MHC-I binding. Polymorphisms in this gene have been related with the susceptibility to other immune-mediated diseases associated to HLA class I. Our aim was, the replication in the Spanish population of the association described in the Turkish population between ERAP1 (rs17482078) and BD. Additionally, in order to improve the understanding of this association we analyzed four additional SNPs (rs27044, rs10050860, rs30187 and rs2287987) associated with other diseases related to HLA class I and the haplotype blocks in this gene region. According to our results, frequencies of the homozygous genotypes for the minor alleles of all the SNPs were increased among patients and the OR values were higher in the subgroup of patients with the HLA-B risk factors, although differences were not statistically significant. Moreover, the presence of the same mutation in both chromosomes increased the OR values from 4.51 to 10.72 in individuals carrying the HLA-B risk factors. Therefore, although they were not statistically significant, our data were consistent with an association between ERAP1 and BD as well as with an epistatic interaction between ERAP1 and HLA-B in the Spanish population

El pensamiento reflexivo a través de las metodologías narrativas: experiencias de innovación en educación superior

Coordinació: Marta Sabariego PuigEste cuaderno es fruto de dos proyectos concedidos en las convocatorias de ayudas a la investigación en docencia universitaria (REDI- CE14-1511 y REDICE16-1660). Están centrados en el estudio de las metodologías de carácter narrativo y (auto)biográfico (Suárez, 2011) sobre el pensamiento reflexivo para el desarrollo personal y profesional del alumnado universitario. Ambos proyectos han permitido la consolidación de una comunidad de práctica, una red interuniversitaria e interdisciplinar de profesorado docente e investigador que tiene como finalidad profundizar en la base teórica, la sistematización y la validación de las experiencias de innovación para el fomento del pensamiento reflexivo a través de las metodologías narrativas. El cuaderno es el producto del análisis colectivo de las experiencias desarrolladas y los resultados obtenidos, vinculando la investigación con la innovación para una docencia de calidad que nos lleve a pensar sobre el valor de una de las vías más importantes para construir y reconstruir significados en las actividades de enseñanza y aprendizaje que se plantean en el espacio universitario: la reflexión. El texto está organizado en dos secciones. La primera recoge tres apartados teóricos sobre la fundamentación conceptual del pensamiento reflexivo, las características de los espacios de aprendizaje favorables al desarrollo de esta competencia básica para el aprendizaje en la Universidad y el valor de los dispositivos narrativos diseñados. La segunda sección engloba diez experiencias innovadoras que ilustran el desarrollo de un aprendizaje más reflexivo en el alumnado vía escritura narrativa. Finalmente, el cuaderno concluye con propuestas para contribuir a la renovación y validación de una actividad docente organizada y estructurada a este efecto en la educación superio

Evaluación de TuFormulas. Diseño y aplicación de indicadores para medir el impacto y la sostenibilidad de este recurso educativo como herramienta de enseñanza y aprendizaje

Depto. de Química en Ciencias FarmacéuticasFac. de FarmaciaFALSEsubmitte

Seven-versus 14-day course of antibiotics for the treatment of bloodstream infections by Enterobacterales: a randomized, controlled trial

[Objective] To prove that 7-day courses of antibiotics for bloodstream infections caused by members of the Enterobacterales (eBSIs) allow a reduction in patients' exposure to antibiotics while achieving clinical outcomes similar to those of 14-day schemes.[Methods] A randomized trial was performed. Adult patients developing eBSI with appropriate source control were assigned to 7 or 14 days of treatment, and followed 28 days after treatment cessation; treatments could be resumed whenever necessary. The primary endpoint was days of treatment at the end of follow-up. Clinical outcomes included clinical cure, relapse of eBSI and relapse of fever. A superiority margin of 3 days was set for the primary endpoint, and a non-inferiority margin of 10% was set for clinical outcomes. Efficacy and safety were assessed together with a DOOR/RADAR (desirability of outcome ranking and response adjusted for duration of antibiotic risk) analysis.[Results] 248 patients were assigned to 7 (n = 119) or 14 (n = 129) days of treatment. In the intention-to-treat analysis, median days of treatment at the end of follow-up were 7 and 14 days (difference 7, 95%CI 7–7). The non-inferiority margin was also met for clinical outcomes, except for relapse of fever (–0.2%, 95%CI –10.4 to 10.1). The DOOR/RADAR showed that 7-day schemes had a 77.7% probability of achieving better results than 14-day treatments.[Conclusions] 7-day schemes allowed a reduction in antibiotic exposure of patients with eBSI while achieving outcomes similar to those of 14-day schemes. The possibility of relapsing fever in a limited number of patients, without relevance to final outcomes, may not be excluded, but was overcome by the benefits of shortening treatments.This work received technical support from the Spanish Network of Research in Infectious Diseases (REIPI) and the Spanish Clinical Research Network (SCReN) of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Spanish Government (PT13/0002/0010).Peer reviewe

The evolution of the ventilatory ratio is a prognostic factor in mechanically ventilated COVID-19 ARDS patients

Background: Mortality due to COVID-19 is high, especially in patients requiring mechanical ventilation. The purpose of the study is to investigate associations between mortality and variables measured during the first three days of mechanical ventilation in patients with COVID-19 intubated at ICU admission. Methods: Multicenter, observational, cohort study includes consecutive patients with COVID-19 admitted to 44 Spanish ICUs between February 25 and July 31, 2020, who required intubation at ICU admission and mechanical ventilation for more than three days. We collected demographic and clinical data prior to admission; information about clinical evolution at days 1 and 3 of mechanical ventilation; and outcomes. Results: Of the 2,095 patients with COVID-19 admitted to the ICU, 1,118 (53.3%) were intubated at day 1 and remained under mechanical ventilation at day three. From days 1 to 3, PaO2/FiO2 increased from 115.6 [80.0-171.2] to 180.0 [135.4-227.9] mmHg and the ventilatory ratio from 1.73 [1.33-2.25] to 1.96 [1.61-2.40]. In-hospital mortality was 38.7%. A higher increase between ICU admission and day 3 in the ventilatory ratio (OR 1.04 [CI 1.01-1.07], p = 0.030) and creatinine levels (OR 1.05 [CI 1.01-1.09], p = 0.005) and a lower increase in platelet counts (OR 0.96 [CI 0.93-1.00], p = 0.037) were independently associated with a higher risk of death. No association between mortality and the PaO2/FiO2 variation was observed (OR 0.99 [CI 0.95 to 1.02], p = 0.47). Conclusions: Higher ventilatory ratio and its increase at day 3 is associated with mortality in patients with COVID-19 receiving mechanical ventilation at ICU admission. No association was found in the PaO2/FiO2 variation