Aplicación de la resonancia magnética funcional en la evaluación prequirúrgica en neurocirugía

Setenes Jornades de Foment de la Investigació de la FCHS (Any 2001-2002)La resonancia magnética funcional presenta un gran potencial en la evaluación prequirúrgica de las funciones cognitivas básicas motoras, lingüísticas y mnésicas. Sus resultados se basan en el denominado efecto BOLD (blood oxigenation level dependency) (Ogawa y cols., 1993), que permite visualizar e identificar áreas de incremento metabólico basándonos en el consumo neuronal de oxígeno, in vivo y de forma no invasiva. Las activaciones funcionales específicas se obtienen a partir de la realización de una serie de protocolos por parte del paciente. Su aplicación ha resultado útil para definir la localización anatómica de una estructura cortical a partir de su identificación funcional; definir la distancia entre una determinada función y la lesión que va a ser tratada; e identificar los efectos de la lesión en la representación cortical de la función (Sunaert y Yousry., 2001; Gaillard, 2000

Sensibilidad a la recompensa y cambio de set: la dopamina como sustrato en la impulsividad

Setenes Jornades de Foment de la Investigació de la FCHS (Any 2001-2002)El objetivo de esta investigación fue estudiar la relación entre la dopamina y el sistema de activación conductual (SAC) como sistema biológico conductual de la impulsividad como dimensión de personalidad. Para ello se ha estudiado la relación entre una tarea experimental sensible a la dopamina, el cambio de set, y la escala de sensibilidad a la recompensa (SR; Torrubia y cols., 2001). Método: Cuarenta y nueve participantes de sexo masculino cumplimentaron el cuestionario de sensibilidad al castigo - sensibilidad a la recompensa (SPSRQ; Torrubia, Ávila, Moltó y Caseras, 2001), donde la sensibilidad a la recompensa es una medida de actividad del SAC, y completaron una tarea de cambio de set (Hayes y cols, 1998). Resultados: El análisis de regresión jerárquico mostraba como la SR era un predictor en la ejecución de cambio de set (ß=-.31, p < .03). Discusión: Los datos mostraron la relación entre la conducta de cambio de set y la Sensibilidad a la Recompensa, una medida de impulsividad en la teoría de Gray. Estos resultados implican un sustrato dopaminérgico en la dimensión de personalidad de impulsividad y, por tanto, en la conducta impulsiva

Hipoactivación en el área parahipocampal durante una tarea de “codificación/ recuperación”: estudio diferencial mediante RMf de pacientes con EA y DCL

Vuitenes Jornades de Foment de la Investigació de la FCHS (Any 2002-2003

ABO blood group phenotypes influence parity specific immunity to Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Malawian women

Background: Blood group O has been significantly associated with increased placental malaria infection in primiparae and reduced risk of infection in multiparae in the Gambia, an area with markedly seasonal malaria transmission. This study analyses the association between ABO blood group phenotypes in relation to placental malaria pathology and birth outcomes in southern Malawi, an area with perennial malaria transmission. Methods: A cross- sectional study of 647 mother/ child pairs delivering in Montfort Hospital, Chikwawa District between February- June 2004 and January- July 2005 was undertaken. Maternal peripheral and cord blood samples were obtained at delivery. Placental tissue was obtained and malaria histology classified as active, past or no malaria infection. Birth anthropometry was recorded. ABO blood group was measured by agglutination. Results: In primiparae, blood group O was significantly associated with increased risk of active placental infection ( OR 2.18, 95% CI 1.15 - 4.6, p = 0.02) and an increased foetal- placental weight ratio compared to non- O phenotypes ( 5.68 versus 5.45, p = 0.03) In multiparae blood group O was significantly associated with less frequent active placental infection ( OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.36 - 0.98, p = 0.04), and a higher newborn ponderal index compared to non- O phenotypes ( 2.65 versus 2.55, p = 0.007). In multivariate regression parity was independently associated with increased risk of placental malaria ( active andpast infection) in primiparae with blood group O ( p = 0.034) and reduced risk in multiparae with the same phenotype ( p = 0.015). Conclusion: Parity related susceptibility to placental malaria is associated with the mothers ABO phenotype. This interaction influences foetal and placental growth and could be an important modifying factor for pregnancy outcomes. The biological explanation could relate to sialic acid dependent placental membrane differences which vary with ABO blood group

The Perceptions of Children and Adolescents with Cancer Regarding Nurses’ Communication Behaviors during Needle Procedures

Background: Communicating with children and adolescents with cancer during a needle procedure can prove challenging for healthcare professionals. Objective: Our aim was to explore the perceptions of children and adolescents with cancer regarding communication with nurses during needle procedures. Method: Thus was a qualitative phenomenological study. Data were gathered through seven in-depth interviews with a convenience sample of children and adolescents with cancer. Data were analyzed using a grounded theory approach to identify themes in the participants' narratives. Results: The analysis revealed three themes describing participants' experience: (1) nurses need to explain clearly what they are going to do while also allowing children to express their emotions without feeling coerced; (2) nurses need to be honest and approachable and relate to children as active participants in the treatment process; and (3) it is distressing to hear other children who are undergoing a needle procedure cry out in pain. Further application of the constant comparison method yielded a core theme: (4) the pressures faced by oncology nurses lead them to focus on the technical side of procedures at the expense of their young patients' communication needs. Conclusions: We suggest that hospital managers need to ensure that oncology nurses have sufficient training in communication skills and are confident in their ability to respect and respond to the communication preferences and needs of patients

Reading salt activates gustatory brain regions: fMRI evidence for semantic grounding in a novel sensory modality

Because many words are typically used in the context of their referent objects and actions, distributed cortical circuits for these words may bind information about their form with perceptual and motor aspects of their meaning. Previous work has demonstrated such semantic grounding for sensorimotor, visual, auditory and olfactory knowledge linked to words, which is manifest in activation of the corresponding areas of the cortex. Here we explore the brain basis of gustatory semantic links of words whose meaning is primarily related to taste. In a blocked fMRI design, Spanish taste words and control words matched for a range of factors (including valence, arousal, imageability, frequency of use, number of letters and syllables) were presented to 59 right-handed participants in a passive reading task. Whereas all the words activated the left inferior frontal (BA44/45) and the posterior middle and superior temporal gyri (BA21/22), taste-related words produced a significantly stronger activation in these same areas, and also in the anterior insula, frontal operculum, lateral orbitofrontal gyrus and thalamus among others. As these areas comprise primary and secondary gustatory cortices, we conclude that the meaning of taste words is grounded in distributed cortical circuits reaching into areas that process taste sensation

Brain networks alterations in cocaine use and gambling disorders during emotion regulation

Cocaine use disorder (CUD) and gambling disorder (GD) share clinical features and neural alterations, including emotion regulation deficits and dysfunctional activation in related networks. However, they also exhibit differential aspects, such as the neuroadaptive effects of long-term drug consumption in CUD as compared to GD. Neuroimaging research aimed at disentangling their shared and specific alterations can contribute to improve understanding of both disorders. We compared CUD (N = 15), GD (N = 16) and healthy comparison (HC; N = 17) groups using a network-based approach for studying temporally coherent functional networks during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of an emotion regulation task. We focused our analysis in limbic, ventral frontostriatal, dorsal attentional (DAN) and executive networks (FPN), given their involvement in emotion regulation and their alteration in CUD and GD. Correlations with measures of emotional experience and impulsivity (UPPS-P) were also performed. The limbic network was significantly decreased during emotional processing both for CUD and GD individuals compared to the HC group. Furthermore, GD participants compared to HC showed an increased activation in the ventral frontostriatal network during emotion regulation. Finally, networks' activation patterns were modulated by impulsivity traits. Functional network analyses revealed both overlapping and unique effects of stimulant and gambling addictions on neural networks underpinning emotion regulation

Impacto de la innovación en la docencia y el aprendizaje de los estudiantes del Grado de Farmacia: Aplicación al Servicio Profesional Farmacéutico de los Sistemas Personalizados de Dosificación. Impacto de la innovación en la docencia y el aprendizaje de los estudiantes del Grado de Farmacia

Se analizó el impacto de la innovación en la docencia y el aprendizaje de los estudiantes del Grado de Farmacia (n=344). La actuación innovadora supuso realizar un estudio "pre" y "post" a los Grupos Intervención y un estudio "post" a los Grupos Control. Las preguntas-guía aplicadas fueron un total de siete. No se encontraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre los dos grupos (p=0,1484), pero si entre las puntuaciones medianas obtenidas en las preguntas-guía 5, 6 y 7

Type IV collagen drives alveolar epithelial-endothelial association and the morphogenetic movements of septation

Background: Type IV collagen is the main component of the basement membrane that gives strength to the blood-gas barrier (BGB). In mammals, the formation of a mature BGB occurs primarily after birth during alveologenesis and requires the formation of septa from the walls of the saccule. In contrast, in avians, the formation of the BGB occurs rapidly and prior to hatching. Mutation in basement membrane components results in an abnormal alveolar phenotype; however, the specific role of type IV collagen in regulating alveologenesis remains unknown. Results: We have performed a microarray expression analysis in late chick lung development and found that COL4A1 and COL4A2 were among the most significantly upregulated genes during the formation of the avian BGB. Using mouse models, we discovered that mutations in murine Col4a1 and Col4a2 genes affected the balance between lung epithelial progenitors and differentiated cells. Mutations in Col4a1 derived from the vascular component were sufficient to cause defects in vascular development and the BGB. We also show that Col4a1 and Col4a2 mutants displayed disrupted myofibroblast proliferation, differentiation and migration. Lastly, we revealed that addition of type IV collagen protein induced myofibroblast proliferation and migration in monolayer culture and increased the formation of mesenchymal-epithelial septal-like structures in co-culture. Conclusions: Our study showed that type IV collagen and, therefore the basement membrane, play fundamental roles in coordinating alveolar morphogenesis. In addition to its role in the formation of epithelium and vasculature, type IV collagen appears to be key for alveolar myofibroblast development by inducing their proliferation, differentiation and migration throughout the developing septum

CCR7 as a novel therapeutic target in t-cell PROLYMPHOCYTIC leukemia

T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia (T-PLL) is a poor prognostic disease with very limited options of efficient therapies. Most patients are refractory to chemotherapies and despite high response rates after alemtuzumab, virtually all patients relapse. Therefore, there is an unmet medical need for novel therapies in T-PLL. As the chemokine receptor CCR7 is a molecule expressed in a wide range of malignancies and relevant in many tumor processes, the present study addressed the biologic role of this receptor in T-PLL. Furthermore, we elucidated the mechanisms of action mediated by an anti-CCR7 monoclonal antibody (mAb) and evaluated whether its anti-tumor activity would warrant development towards clinical applications in T-PLL. Our results demonstrate that CCR7 is a prognostic biomarker for overall survival in T-PLL patients and a functional receptor involved in the migration, invasion, and survival of leukemic cells. Targeting CCR7 with a mAb inhibited ligand-mediated signaling pathways and induced tumor cell killing in primary samples. In addition, directing antibodies against CCR7 was highly effective in T-cell leukemia xenograft models. Together, these findings make CCR7 an attractive molecule for novel mAb-based therapeutic applications in T-PLL, a disease where recent drug screen efforts and studies addressing new compounds have focused on chemotherapy or small molecules.Peer reviewe