Do we have friendly services to meet the needs of young women exposed to intimate partner violence in the Madrid region?

Introduction: Women experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) do not tend to go very frequently to formal support services. The objective of this study is to identify barriers related to the accessibility, acceptability, equity, appropriateness and effectiveness of IPV services from the perspective of the professionals working in the IPV public services. Methods: A qualitative study was carried out in the Madrid region based on 13 semi-structured interviews of young women who had survived IPV as well as 17 interviews with professionals. A thematic content analysis was performed, guided by the dimensions proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) for friendly services for young people. Results: From the perspective of the young women and professionals, barriers were identified for all the dimensions of the WHO's friendly services for young people: accessibility: lack of information and support from the social setting, scarce dissemination of the services, economic cost, non-adapted schedules, inadequate locations or lack of services in settings close to young people; acceptability: lack of protocols to guarantee confidentiality, lack of speed in the provision of services or their referral, unwelcoming environments or unsympathetic professional malpractice; equity: discriminatory professional attitudes towards groups with different social status and lack of protocols to ensure the care of these groups; appropriateness: unmet needs and lack of multidisciplinary teams; and effectiveness: shortage of time, resources, competent professionals, protocols and coordination. Conclusions: Strategies are needed to make the necessary changes to promote friendly services for the care of young people exposed to IPV. Additionally, it must be emphasized that resources are needed to raise awareness and disseminate IPV services, as well as to train professionals in this area. Patient or Public Contribution: This paper is based on professionals' perspectives of public IPV-related services of different areas such as Psychology, Social Work, Nursing, Psychiatry, Social Education and young women exposed to IPV. They either work in the public administration at the local, regional or state level or in NGOs in Spain.This study was funded by the Health Institute Carlos III (Ref. PI17CIII/00022)

Prototype Drop Tests of Cube and Cubipod Armor Units

In this paper, an experimental methodology is described to assess the structural strength of unreinforced concrete armor units (CAUs). The methodology is applied to measure the structural integrity under impact loads of the new Cubipod CAU compared with the conventional cube CAU. The casting systems and clamps are described for manufacturing and handling the 15-t conventional cubic block and 16-t Cubipod prototypes used for the drop tests. Two separate reinforced concrete platforms were used for overturning and for free-fall tests, respectively. Compared with conventional cubes of similar size and concrete strength, Cubipods withstand drops that are more than 50% higher. Two extreme free-fall tests confirmed the structural robustness of Cubipod armor units. Manufacturing cycle time, as well as storage and handling procedures, are similar for both Cubipods and conventional cubic blocks. © 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.The writers are grateful for the logistic support provided by the Port Authority of Alicante and the consortium TMS. Financial support was received from CDTI (CUBIPOD Project). The writers also thank Roman Goumy for his assistance during the prototype drop tests and Debra Westall for revising the manuscript.Medina, JR.; Gómez-Martín, ME.; Corredor-Molguero, A.; Torres-Samper, R.; Miñana, JV.; Fernández, E.; Menéndez, CF.... (2011). Prototype Drop Tests of Cube and Cubipod Armor Units. Journal of Waterway, Port, Coastal, and Ocean Engineering. 137(2):54-63. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)WW.1943-5460.0000064S5463137

Toxoplasma gondii Seropositivity Interacts with Catechol-O-methyltransferase Val105/158Met Variation Increasing the Risk of Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a heterogeneous and severe psychotic disorder. Epidemiological findings have suggested that the exposure to infectious agents such as Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is associated with an increased risk for schizophrenia. On the other hand, there is evidence involving the catechol- O-methyltransferase (COMT) Val105/158Met polymorphism in the aetiology of schizophrenia since it alters the dopamine metabolism. A case–control study of 141 patients and 142 controls was conducted to analyse the polymorphism, the prevalence of anti-T. gondii IgG, and their interaction on the risk for schizophrenia. IgG were detected by ELISA, and genotyping was performed with TaqMan Real- Time PCR. Although no association was found between any COMT genotype and schizophrenia, we found a significant association between T. gondii seropositivity and the disorder ( 2 = 11.71; p-value < 0.001). Furthermore, the risk for schizophrenia conferred by T. gondii was modified by the COMT genotype, with those who had been exposed to the infection showing a different risk compared to that of nonexposed ones depending on the COMT genotype ( 2 for the interaction = 7.28, p-value = 0.007). This study provides evidence that the COMT genotype modifies the risk for schizophrenia conferred by T. gondii infection, with it being higher in those individuals with the Met/Met phenotype, intermediate in heterozygous, and lower in those with the Val/Val phenotype.Junta de Andalucia P06-CTS-01686Spanish Ministry of Health via the Instituto de Salud Carlos III FIS PS09/01671 PI13/01967 PI18/00467Programa Operativo FEDER B-CTS-361-UGR1

The addition of Lactobacillus spp. negatively affects Mycoplasma bovis viability in bovine cervical mucus

© The Author(s). 2020 Open Access This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This document is the Published version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in BMC Veterinary Research. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/10.1186/s12917-020-02454-9Background Mycoplasma bovis is an important pathogen for the cattle industry worldwide causing significant economic losses. Several transmission routes, including those related to reproduction, have been described. Indeed, the pathogen can colonize the female reproductive tract after artificial insemination (AI) with contaminated semen. Lactobacillus spp.-based probiotics have been used for vaginal dysbiosis treatment in women and cows although their role in controlling cervico-vaginal infections due to M. bovis is unknown. The objective of the present work is to assess the viability of M. bovis (PG45, NCTC 10131) in experimentally contaminated cervical mucus after the addition of Lactobacillus spp. at different concentrations as a competing agent and pH acidifier. Results The addition of probiotic at a concentration higher than 108 colony forming units (CFU/mL had a detrimental effect (P < 0.05) on mycoplasma viability in cervical mucus. This coincided with a significant LAB growth and an important decrease in pH from 8.4 to 5.6 (P < 0.05). However, after the addition of less concentrated probiotic, M. bovis survival was not affected and there was no significant LAB growth despite the drop of pH from 8.4 to 6.73 (P < 0.05). Conclusion The addition of concentrations higher than 108 CFU/mL of Lactobacillus spp. negatively affects M. bovis viability in bovine cervical mucus under in vitro conditions. Although the effect observed on the pathogen viability seems to be related to the pH decrease after LAB proliferation in cervical mucus, further studies are necessary to elucidate if other factors are implicated. Nevertheless, the administration of Lactobacillus spp.-based probiotics might be used in the future to control M. bovis proliferation in the cervico-vaginal tract of cows

Cellular integrin ¿5ß1 and exosomal adam17 mediate the binding and uptake of exosomes produced by colorectal carcinoma cells

Approximately 25% of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients develop peritoneal metastasis, a condition associated with a bleak prognosis. The CRC peritoneal dissemination cascade involves the shedding of cancer cells from the primary tumor, their transport through the peritoneal cavity, their adhesion to the peritoneal mesothelial cells (PMCs) that line all peritoneal organs, and invasion of cancer cells through this mesothelial cell barrier and underlying stroma to establish new metastatic foci. Exosomes produced by cancer cells have been shown to influence many processes related to cancer progression and metastasis. In epithelial ovarian cancer these extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been shown to favor different steps of the peritoneal dissemination cascade by changing the functional phenotype of cancer cells and PMCs. Little is currently known, however, about the roles played by exosomes in the pathogenesis and peritoneal metastasis cascade of CRC and especially about the molecules that mediate their interaction and uptake by target PMCs and tumor cells. We isolated exosomes by sizeexclusion chromatography from CRC cells and performed cell-adhesion assays to immobilized exosomes in the presence of blocking antibodies against surface proteins and measured the uptake of fluorescently-labelled exosomes. We report here that the interaction between integrin 5 1 on CRC cells (and PMCs) and its ligand ADAM17 on exosomes mediated the binding and uptake of CRC-derived exosomes. Furthermore, this process was negatively regulated by the expression of tetraspanin CD9 on exosome

TIPICO IX: report of the 9th interactive infectious disease workshop on infectious diseases and vaccines.

The Ninth Interactive Infectious Disease workshop TIPICO was held on November 22-23, 2018, in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. This 2-day academic experience addressed current and topical issues in the field of infectious diseases and vaccination. Summary findings of the meeting include: cervical cancer elimination will be possible in the future, thanks to the implementation of global vaccination action plans in combination with appropriate screening interventions. The introduction of appropriate immunization programs is key to maintain the success of current effective vaccines such as those against meningococcal disease or rotavirus infection. Additionally, reduced dose schedules might improve the efficiency of some vaccines (i.e., PCV13). New vaccines to improve current preventive alternatives are under development (e.g., against tuberculosis or influenza virus), while others to protect against infectious diseases with no current available vaccines (e.g., enterovirus, parechovirus and flaviviruses) need to be developed. Vaccinomics will be fundamental in this process, while infectomics will allow the application of precision medicine. Further research is also required to understand the impact of heterologous vaccine effects. Finally, vaccination requires education at all levels (individuals, community, healthcare professionals) to ensure its success by helping to overcome major barriers such as vaccine hesitancy and false contraindications

Nanostructured porous silicon micropatterns as a tool for substrate-conditioned cell research

The localized irradiation of Si allows a precise patterning at the microscale of nanostructured materials such as porous silicon (PS). PS patterns with precisely defined geometries can be fabricated using ion stopping masks. The nanoscale textured micropatterns were used to explore their influence as microenvironments for human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). In fact, the change of photoluminescence emission from PS upon aging in physiological solution suggests the intense formation of silanol surface groups, which may play a relevant role in ulterior cell adhesion. The experimental results show that hMSCs are sensitive to the surface micropatterns. In this regard, preliminary β-catenin labeling studies reveal the formation of cell to cell interaction structures, while microtubule orientation is strongly influenced by the selective adhesion conditions. Relevantly, Ki-67 assays support a proliferative state of hMSCs on such nanostructured micropatterns comparable to that of standard cell culture platforms, which reinforce the candidature of porous silicon micropatterns to become a conditioning structure for in vitro culture of hMSCsThe authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from MICINN under research project MAT2008-06858-C02-01/NAN and Comunidad de Madrid (Spain) under Project Microseres. Technical support from L García Pelayo is greatly appreciate

Body mass index interacts with a genetic-risk score for depression increasing the risk of the disease in high-susceptibility individuals

This study was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Health, the Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII), and the European Regional Development Fund (grants PS09/02272, PS09/02147, PS09/01095, PS09/00849, PS09/00461, and PI12-02755); the Andalusian Council of Health (grant PI-0569-2010); the Spanish Network of Primary Care Research, redIAPP (grant RD06/ 0018); the Aragon group (grant RD06/0018/0020); the Bizkaya group (grant RD06/0018/0018); the Castilla-Leon group (grant RD06/0018/0027); the Mental Health Barcelona Group (grant RD06/0018/0017); the Mental Health, Services and Primary Care Malaga group (grant RD06/0018/0039); and the projects "PI18/00238" and "PI18/00467" funded by the Institute of Health Carlos III (Co-funded by European Regional Development Fund/European Social Fund "A way tomake Europe"/"Investing in your future"). This study was performed as part of a PhD thesis conducted within the Official Doctoral Programme in Biomedicine of the University of Granada, Spain. Augusto Anguita-Ruiz was supported by a Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and Institute of Health Carlos III fellowship (IFI17/00048). Juan Antonio Zarza-Rebollo received financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (BES-2017-082698). Ana M. Perez-Gutierrez was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and Institute of Health Carlos III (FI19/00228). Elena Lopez-Isac received financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation Juan de la Cierva Incorporacion Program (IJC2019040080-I), and Margarita Rivera was supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness Ramon y Cajal Program (RYC-2014-15774). The authors thank the Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII), the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), the Andalusian Council of Health and Andalusian Health Service (SAS), the Primary Care Prevention and Health Promotion Research Network (redIAPP), the Biomedical Research Institute of Malaga (IBIMA), and the Biomedical Research Centre (CIBM) from the University of Granada for their economic and logistic support. The authors thank all the patients and General Practitioners who participated in the trial.Depression is strongly associated with obesity among other chronic physical diseases. The latest mega- and meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies have identified multiple risk loci robustly associated with depression. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether a genetic-risk score (GRS) combining multiple depression risk single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) might have utility in the prediction of this disorder in individuals with obesity. A total of 30 depression-associated SNPs were included in a GRS to predict the risk of depression in a large case-control sample from the Spanish PredictD-CCRT study, a national multicentre, randomized controlled trial, which included 104 cases of depression and 1546 controls. An unweighted GRS was calculated as a summation of the number of risk alleles for depression and incorporated into several logistic regression models with depression status as the main outcome. Constructed models were trained and evaluated in the whole recruited sample. Non-genetic-risk factors were combined with the GRS in several ways across the five predictive models in order to improve predictive ability. An enrichment functional analysis was finally conducted with the aim of providing a general understanding of the biological pathways mapped by analyzed SNPs. We found that an unweighted GRS based on 30 risk loci was significantly associated with a higher risk of depression. Although the GRS itself explained a small amount of variance of depression, we found a significant improvement in the prediction of depression after including some non-genetic-risk factors into the models. The highest predictive ability for depression was achieved when the model included an interaction term between the GRS and the body mass index (BMI), apart from the inclusion of classical demographic information as marginal terms (AUC = 0.71, 95% CI = [0.65, 0.76]). Functional analyses on the 30 SNPs composing the GRS revealed an over-representation of the mapped genes in signaling pathways involved in processes such as extracellular remodeling, proinflammatory regulatory mechanisms, and circadian rhythm alterations. Although the GRS on its own explained a small amount of variance of depression, a significant novel feature of this study is that including non-genetic-risk factors such as BMI together with a GRS came close to the conventional threshold for clinical utility used in ROC analysis and improves the prediction of depression. In this study, the highest predictive ability was achieved by the model combining the GRS and the BMI under an interaction term. Particularly, BMI was identified as a trigger-like risk factor for depression acting in a concerted way with the GRS component. This is an interesting finding since it suggests the existence of a risk overlap between both diseases, and the need for individual depression genetics-risk evaluation in subjects with obesity. This research has therefore potential clinical implications and set the basis for future research directions in exploring the link between depression and obesityassociated disorders. While it is likely that future genome-wide studies with large samples will detect novel genetic variants associated with depression, it seems clear that a combination of genetics and non-genetic information (such is the case of obesity status and other depression comorbidities) will still be needed for the optimization prediction of depression in high-susceptibility individuals.Instituto de Salud Carlos III Spanish Government Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII) European Commission PS09/02272 PS09/02147 PS09/01095 PS09/00849 PS09/00461 PI12-02755Andalusian Council of Health PI-0569-2010Spanish Network of Primary Care Research, redIAPP RD06/ 0018Gobierno de Aragon RD06/0018/0020Bizkaya group RD06/0018/0018Castilla-Leon group RD06/0018/0027Mental Health Barcelona Group RD06/0018/0017Mental Health, Services and Primary Care Malaga group RD06/0018/0039Instituto de Salud Carlos III PI18/00238 PI18/00467 FI19/00228European Regional Development Fund/European Social Fund "A way tomake Europe"/"Investing in your future"Ministry of Economy and CompetitivenessInstitute of Health Carlos III fellowship IFI17/00048Spanish Government BES-2017-082698Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation Juan de la Cierva Incorporacion Program IJC2019040080-IMinistry of Economy and Competitiveness Ramon y Cajal Program RYC-2014-15774Andalusian Council of HealthAndalusian Health Service (SAS)Primary Care Prevention and Health Promotion Research Network (redIAPP)Biomedical Research Institute of Malaga (IBIMA)Biomedical Research Centre (CIBM) from the University of GranadaEuropean Commissio

Engineering of silicon surfaces at the micro- and nanoscales for cell adhesion and migration control

The engineering of surface patterns is a powerful tool for analyzing cellular communication factors involved in the processes of adhesion, migration, and expansion, which can have a notable impact on therapeutic applications including tissue engineering. In this regard, the main objective of this research was to fabricate patterned and textured surfaces at micron- and nanoscale levels, respectively, with very different chemical and topographic characteristics to control cell–substrate interactions. For this task, one-dimensional (1-D) and two-dimensional (2-D) patterns combining silicon and nanostructured porous silicon were engineered by ion beam irradiation and subsequent electrochemical etch. The experimental results show that under the influence of chemical and morphological stimuli, human mesenchymal stem cells polarize and move directionally toward or away from the particular stimulus. Furthermore, a computational model was developed aiming at understanding cell behavior by reproducing the surface distribution and migration of human mesenchymal stem cells observed experimentally