How Nanophotonic Label-Free Biosensors Can Contribute to Rapid and Massive Diagnostics of Respiratory Virus Infections : COVID-19 Case

Altres ajuts: Generalitat de Catalunya /CERCAThis ACS article is provided to You under the terms of this Standard ACS AuthorChoice License. License: https://pubs.acs.org/page/policy/authorchoice_termsofuse.htmlThe global sanitary crisis caused by the emergence of the respiratory virus SARS-CoV-2 and the COVID-19 outbreak has revealed the urgent need for rapid, accurate, and affordable diagnostic tests to broadly and massively monitor the population in order to properly manage and control the spread of the pandemic. Current diagnostic techniques essentially rely on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which provide the required sensitivity and specificity. However, its relatively long time-to-result, including sample transport to a specialized laboratory, delays massive detection. Rapid lateral flow tests (both antigen and serological tests) are a remarkable alternative for rapid point-of-care diagnostics, but they exhibit critical limitations as they do not always achieve the required sensitivity for reliable diagnostics and surveillance. Next-generation diagnostic tools capable of overcoming all the above limitations are in demand, and optical biosensors are an excellent option to surpass such critical issues. Label-free nanophotonic biosensors offer high sensitivity and operational robustness with an enormous potential for integration in compact autonomous devices to be delivered out-of-the-lab at the point-of-care (POC). Taking the current COVID-19 pandemic as a critical case scenario, we provide an overview of the diagnostic techniques for respiratory viruses and analyze how nanophotonic biosensors can contribute to improving such diagnostics. We review the ongoing published work using this biosensor technology for intact virus detection, nucleic acid detection or serological tests, and the key factors for bringing nanophotonic POC biosensors to accurate and effective COVID-19 diagnosis on the short term

Avaliando o papel da procrastinação acadêmica e bem-estar subjetivo na predição da satisfação com o programa de pós-graduação

The present study aimed to know the extent to which academic procrastination and subjective well-being are related to satisfaction with post-graduation. Participants were 263 postgraduate students, with a mean age of 29 years (SD = 6.48), with the majority of males (67.3%), single (60.1%) and the master (58%), who responded to the Academic Procrastination Scale, Scale of Satisfaction with the Postgraduate Program, Life Satisfaction Scale, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule and demographic questions. The results indicated that academic procrastination (-) and subjective well-being (+) predicted satisfaction with post-graduation. This tested model showed adequate fit indicators (χ²/g. l = 3.18, GFI = 0.98, CFI = 0.97, RMSEA = 0.048 and Pclose = 0.09). It may be concluded that academic procrastination and subjective well-being are important variables to understand the satisfaction with the postgraduate, favoring interventions that provide better adaptation to the postgraduate context.show the validity of the MBPQS to assess the sensitivity of caregivers of children with ASDEl presente estudio tiene por objeto conocer en qué medida la procrastinación académica y el bienestar subjetivo están relacionados con la satisfacción con la posgraduación. Los participantes del estudio fueron 263 estudiantes de posgrado, con edad media de 29 años (DE = 6.48), siendo la mayoría del sexo masculino (67.3%), soltera (60.1%) y en el máster (58%), los cuales respondieron a la Escala de Procrastinación Académica, Escala de Satisfacción con el Programa de Postgrado, Escala de Satisfacción con la Vida, Escala de Afectos Positivos y. Negativos y preguntas demográficas. Los resultados indicaron que la procrastinación académica (-) y el bienestar subjetivo (+) predijeron la satisfacción con el programa de postgrado. Este modelo probado presentó indicadores de ajuste adecuados (χ² / gl = 3.18, GFI = 0.98, AGFI = 0.93, CFI = 0.97, RMSEA = 0.091 y Pclose = 0.09). Se concluye que la procrastinación académica y el bienestar subjetivo son variables importantes para comprender la satisfacción con el programa de postgrado, favoreciendo intervenciones que proporcionen una mejor adaptación al contexto de postgrado.O presente estudo objetivou conhecer em que medida a procrastinação acadêmica e o bem-estar subjetivo estão relacionadas com satisfação com a pós-graduação. Participaram 263 pós-graduandos, com idade média de 29 anos (DP = 6.48), sendo a maioria do sexo masculino (67.3%), solteira (60.1%) e no mestrado (58%), os quais responderam a Escala de Procrastinação Acadêmica, Escala de Satisfação com o Programa de Pós-Graduação, Escala de Satisfação com a Vida, Escala de Afetos Positivos e Negativos e perguntas demográficas. Os resultados indicaram que a procrastinação acadêmica se correlacionou negativamente com o bem-estar subjetivo e positivamente com a satisfação com a pós-graduação, sendo desta última preditor. Tal modelo testado apresentou indicadores de ajuste adequados [χ² (4) =12.73, χ²/gl = 3.18, GFI = 0.98, AGFI = 0.93, CFI = 0.97, RMSEA= 0.091 (IC90%=0.038-0.150) e Pclose = 0.09]. Conclui-se que a procrastinação acadêmica e bem-estar subjetivo são variáveis importantes para compreender a satisfação com a pós-graduação, favorecendo intervenções que proporcionem melhor adaptação ao contexto de pós-graduação

MKK6 controls T3-mediated browning of white adipose tissue

El aumento de la capacidad termogénica del tejido adiposo para mejorar el gasto de energía del organismo se considera una estrategia terapéutica prometedora para combatir la obesidad. Aquí nosotros informe que la expresión del activador MAPK p38 MKK6 está elevada en el tejido adiposo blanco de individuos obesos. Usando animales knockout y shRNA, mostramos que la eliminación de Mkk6 aumenta el gasto de energía y la capacidad termogénica del tejido adiposo blanco, protegiendo a los ratones contra la obesidad inducida por la dieta y el desarrollo de la diabetes. La eliminación de Mkk6 aumenta la expresión de UCP1 estimulada por T3 en los adipocitos, lo que aumenta su capacidad termogénica. De manera mecánica, demostramos que, en el tejido adiposo blanco, p38 se activa mediante una ruta alternativa que involucra AMPK, TAK y TAB. Nuestros resultados identifican MKK6 en los adipocitos como un posible objetivo terapéutico para reducir la obesidad.Increasing the thermogenic capacity of adipose tissue to enhance organismal energy expenditure is considered a promising therapeutic strategy to combat obesity. Here, we report that expression of the p38 MAPK activator MKK6 is elevated in white adipose tissue of obese individuals. Using knockout animals and shRNA, we show that Mkk6 deletion increases energy expenditure and thermogenic capacity of white adipose tissue, protecting mice against diet-induced obesity and the development of diabetes. Deletion of Mkk6 increases T3-stimulated UCP1 expression in adipocytes, thereby increasing their thermogenic capacity. Mechanistically, we demonstrate that, in white adipose tissue, p38 is activated by an alternative pathway involving AMPK, TAK, and TAB. Our results identify MKK6 in adipocytes as a potential therapeutic target to reduce obesity.• Guadalupe Sabio Buzo y Rebeca Acin Pérez pertenecen a Programa Ramón y Cajal • Elisa Manieri pertenece a Caixa • Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. Proyecto FPI BES-2014-069332, para Valle Montalvo Romeral • Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. Proyecto FPI BES-2011-043428, para Edgar Bernardo • Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad y FEDER SAF2016-79126-R y Comunidad de Madrid S2010 / BMD-2326, para Guadalupe Sabio Buzo • ISCIII y FEDER, PI10 / 01692 e I3SNS-INT12 / 049, para Miguel Marcos Martín • Junta de Castilla y León GRS 681 / A / 11, para Lourdes Hernández Cosido • Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. BFU2015-70664-R, Xunta de Galicia 2015-CP080 y PIE13 / 00024, y ERC281408, para Rubén Nogueiras Pozo • Unión Europea. Becas europeas UE0 / MCA1108 y UE0 / MCA1201; y la Comunidad de Madrid CAM / API1009, para Rubén Nogueiras Pozo • Junta de Extremadura y FEDER BR15164, para Francisco Centeno Velázquez • Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad. . BFU2013-46109-R, para Clara V. Álvarez Villamarín • European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no. ERC 260464peerReviewe

Mechanism-related circulating proteins as biomarkers for clinical outcome in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma receiving sunitinib

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Several proteins that promote angiogenesis are overexpressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and have been implicated in disease pathogenesis. Sunitinib has antiangiogenic activity and is an oral multitargeted inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor receptors (VEGFRs)-1, -2, and -3, platelet-derived growth factor receptors (PDGFRs)-α and -β, stem-cell factor receptor (KIT), and other tyrosine kinases. In a phase II study of sunitinib in advanced HCC, we evaluated the plasma pharmacodynamics of five proteins related to the mechanism of action of sunitinib and explored potential correlations with clinical outcome.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Patients with advanced HCC received a starting dose of sunitinib 50 mg/day administered orally for 4 weeks on treatment, followed by 2 weeks off treatment. Plasma samples from 37 patients were obtained at baseline and during treatment and were analyzed for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A, VEGF-C, soluble VEGFR-2 (sVEGFR-2), soluble VEGFR-3 (sVEGFR-3), and soluble KIT (sKIT).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>At the end of the first sunitinib treatment cycle, plasma VEGF-A levels were significantly increased relative to baseline, while levels of plasma VEGF-C, sVEGFR-2, sVEGFR-3, and sKIT were significantly decreased. Changes from baseline in VEGF-A, sVEGFR-2, and sVEGFR-3, but not VEGF-C or sKIT, were partially or completely reversed during the first 2-week off-treatment period. High levels of VEGF-C at baseline were significantly associated with Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST)-defined disease control, prolonged time to tumor progression (TTP), and prolonged overall survival (OS). Baseline VEGF-C levels were an independent predictor of TTP by multivariate analysis. Changes from baseline in VEGF-A and sKIT at cycle 1 day 14 or cycle 2 day 28, and change in VEGF-C at the end of the first off-treatment period, were significantly associated with both TTP and OS, while change in sVEGFR-2 at cycle 1 day 28 was an independent predictor of OS.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Baseline plasma VEGF-C levels predicted disease control (based on RECIST) and were positively associated with both TTP and OS in this exploratory analysis, suggesting that this VEGF family member may have utility in predicting clinical outcome in patients with HCC who receive sunitinib.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov: <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00247676">NCT00247676</a></p

RICORS2040 : The need for collaborative research in chronic kidney disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a silent and poorly known killer. The current concept of CKD is relatively young and uptake by the public, physicians and health authorities is not widespread. Physicians still confuse CKD with chronic kidney insufficiency or failure. For the wider public and health authorities, CKD evokes kidney replacement therapy (KRT). In Spain, the prevalence of KRT is 0.13%. Thus health authorities may consider CKD a non-issue: very few persons eventually need KRT and, for those in whom kidneys fail, the problem is 'solved' by dialysis or kidney transplantation. However, KRT is the tip of the iceberg in the burden of CKD. The main burden of CKD is accelerated ageing and premature death. The cut-off points for kidney function and kidney damage indexes that define CKD also mark an increased risk for all-cause premature death. CKD is the most prevalent risk factor for lethal coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the factor that most increases the risk of death in COVID-19, after old age. Men and women undergoing KRT still have an annual mortality that is 10- to 100-fold higher than similar-age peers, and life expectancy is shortened by ~40 years for young persons on dialysis and by 15 years for young persons with a functioning kidney graft. CKD is expected to become the fifth greatest global cause of death by 2040 and the second greatest cause of death in Spain before the end of the century, a time when one in four Spaniards will have CKD. However, by 2022, CKD will become the only top-15 global predicted cause of death that is not supported by a dedicated well-funded Centres for Biomedical Research (CIBER) network structure in Spain. Realizing the underestimation of the CKD burden of disease by health authorities, the Decade of the Kidney initiative for 2020-2030 was launched by the American Association of Kidney Patients and the European Kidney Health Alliance. Leading Spanish kidney researchers grouped in the kidney collaborative research network Red de Investigación Renal have now applied for the Redes de Investigación Cooperativa Orientadas a Resultados en Salud (RICORS) call for collaborative research in Spain with the support of the Spanish Society of Nephrology, Federación Nacional de Asociaciones para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades del Riñón and ONT: RICORS2040 aims to prevent the dire predictions for the global 2040 burden of CKD from becoming true

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Mitochondrial DNA impact on joint damaged process in a conplastic mouse model after being surgically induced with osteoarthritis.

It has been suggested that mitochondrial dysfunction and mtDNA variations may contribute to osteoarthritis (OA) pathogenesis. However, the causative link to support this claim is lacking. Here, we surgically-induced OA in conplastic mice in order to evaluate the functional consequences of mtDNA haplotypes in their joint degeneration. BL/6NZB strain was developed with C57BL/6JOlaHsd nuclear genome and NZB/OlaHsdmtDNA while BL/6C57, which is the original, was developed with C57BL/6JOlaHsd nuclear genome and C57/OlaHsdmtDNA for comparison. The surgical DMM OA model was induced in both strains. Their knees were processed and examined for histopathological changes. Cartilage expression of markers of autophagy, apoptosis, oxidative stress and senescence were also analyzed by immunohistochemistry. The joints of BL/6NZB mice that were operated presented more cellularity together with a reduced OARSI histopathology score, subchondral bone, menisci score and synovitis compared to those of BL/6C57 mice. This was accompanied with higher autophagy and a lower apoptosis in the cartilage of BL/6NZB mice that were operated. Therefore, the study demonstrates the functional impact of non-pathological variants of mtDNA on OA process using a surgically-induced OA model. Conplastic (BL/6NZB ) mice develop less severe OA compared to the BL/6C57original strain. These findings demonstrate that mitochondria and mtDNA are critical targets for potential novel therapeutic approaches to treat osteoarthritis.This work is supported by grants from Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria (CIBERCB06/01/0040-Spain, RETIC-RIER-RD16/0012/0002, PI16/02124, PI19/01206) integrated in the National Plan for Scientific Program, Development and Technological Innovation 2013–2016 and funded by the ISCIII-General Sub direction of Assessment and Promotion of Research-European Regional Development Fund (FEDER)“A way of making Europe”. MS is “Sara Borrell” researcher funded by ISCIII and FEDER (CD16/00099). IRP is funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III through a Miguel Servet-II programme (CPII17/00026). CVG is supported by Contrato Posdoctoral Xunta de Galicia (ED481D2017/023).S

Producción científica en psicología de los miembros del Sistema Nacional de Investigadores de México

Abstract The scientific research of higher education institutions and research centers has become increasingly important in recent decades, especially regarding the impact of its dissemination in Mexico. Given that the organisms that evaluate said research use the quality of the dissemination channels used as a criterion, the international criteria for publication used by journals included in the Web of Science (WoS) make them very appealing to publish in. This paper undertook to examine the scientific output of psychology in Mexico through a sample of 479 members of the SNI (Sistema Nacional de Investigadores) belonging to the field of psychology. This was done by examining by SNI level, gender and university through article records in the Web of Science. The results reveal that the number of articles from the most prolific researchers in Mexico ranges from 36 to 82, and that women, who happened to comprise 60% of the sample, outnumber men in each of the areas analyzed and show slightly greater productivity. The practical value of the study lies in gaining a quantitative overview of the scientific activity in the national field of psychology, as well as understanding its publication dynamics in the WoS, so that this information can serve as a reference with an objective criterion of quality.Resumen La investigación científica de los profesores en instituciones de educación superior y centros de investigación es uno de los quehaceres que ha cobrado mayor relevancia en las últimas décadas y sobre todo el impacto de su comunicación en México. Dado que las instancias de evaluación toman como criterio de calidad de los canales de comunicación de la investigación, son los criterios internacionales de publicación con los que cuentan las revistas incluidas en la Web of Science (WoS) lo que las hacen atractivas para publicar en ellas. El objetivo general de este estudio fue examinar la producción científica de la Psicología en México a través de los miembros del Sistema Nacional de Investigadores (SNI), a su vez se analizó por nivel de SNI, sexo y universidad a través de registros de artículos en la WoS. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 479 investigadores del área de psicología. Los resultados muestran que el número de registros de artículos de los investigadores más productivos en México oscila entre de 82 a 36 artículos, a su vez se observa que el 60% de la muestra está compuesta de mujeres y supera en cantidad a los hombres en cada una de las áreas, además cuentan con una proporción de artículos ligeramente mayor a la de los hombres. La utilidad práctica de este estudio fue conocer el panorama cuantitativo de la actividad científica, así como la dinámica de publicaciones del área de psicología en la WoS, de tal forma que pueda ser considerada como un referente con un criterio objetivo de calidad

Math anxiety and its relationship to inhibitory abilities and perceived emotional intelligence

Math anxiety has been found to be an emotional problem that has a negative effect on students' academic performance across different levels of education. This type of anxiety could be related to certain cognitive and emotional processes. A first objective was to examine the relationship between math anxiety and certain inhibitory abilities responsible of eliminating intrusive thoughts or preventing them access to consciousness. A second aim was to determine the extent in which math anxiety and students' self-perceptions of their own emotional abilities are related. To this end, 187 first-year undergraduate psychology students were administered different measures to assess math anxiety, statistics anxiety, inhibitory abilities, and perceived emotional intelligence. The results showed that students with high math anxiety were more likely to experience intrusive thoughts, were less effective at suppressing these thoughts, and reported lower scores in understanding and regulating their emotions. These cognitive mechanisms and emotional abilities are of relevance to better understand the nature of this type of anxiety