Some histopathological and clinical correlations in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is an important health problem that causes high mortality and morbidity. Correlations between some clinical and histopathological parameters were studied in 37 oral SCC. Some interesting aspects in oral SCC arising from precancerous lesions were found such as smaller size and a lower TNM stage at the moment of diagnosis. Histological and clinical differences were also found between tumors invading deep tissues by little groups of dissociated malignant cells and those invading by big masses of malignant cells. The possible significance of the intensity of peritumoral eosinophilic infiltrate was also studied.Le carcinome squameux de la cavité orale constitue un problème important de santé, qui est responsable d’une mortalité et d’une morbidité élevées. Nous avons étudié 37 carcinomes squameux de la cavité orale à travers un suivi clinique et une étude des corrélations entre les variables cliniques et histopathologiques. Nous avons relevé différents aspects intéressants en ce qui concerne les carcinomes squameux de la cavité orale qui procédaient de lésions précancéreuses comme leur petite dimention et le bas stade TNM au moment du diagnostic. Nous avons également trouvé des différences cliniques et histopathologiques entre les tumeurs qui envahissent les tissus adjecents en petits groupes et ceux qui le font en grandes masses de cellules malignes. Finalement, nous avons étudié la signification possible de l’intensité de l’infiltrat à eosinophiles peritumoral

Performance of Slow-Growing Chickens Fed with Tenebrio molitor Larval Meal as a Full Replacement for Soybean Meal

Insect larval meal is an increasingly common protein source in poultry systems. In this study, the effect of replacing soybean meal with Tenebrio molitor larval meal on the performance of slow-growing chickens was assessed. A total of 128 one-day-old chickens (Colorield) were randomly divided into a control group (C) (n = 64), fed with soybean meal, and an experimental group (TM) (n = 64), fed with T. molitor larvae meal. The chicks were slaughtered after 95 days. Three different isoenergetic and isoproteic diets (F1, F2 and F3) were used for each group. The F1 diet resulted in higher body weight gain and higher feed and water intakes in group C, but a lower feed conversion ratio. Contrarily, diets F2 and F3 did not produce differences in the studied parameters between the two groups, except for body weight gain in the case of diet F2, which was highest in group C. Therefore, weight gain and feed and water intakes were significantly higher in group C, but there were no differences in feed conversion ratio or live weight. In conclusion, the total replacement of soybean meal with T. molitor larvae meal resulted in a reduction in feed intake and a consequent reduction in weight. During this period, partial rather than total substitution may be recommended. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Effect of microalgae incorporation on physicochemical and textural properties in wheat bread formulation

[EN] The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the incorporation of different microalgae on physicochemical and textural properties of bread. Four species of microalgae Isochrysis galbana, Tetraselmissuecica, Scenedesmus almeriensis, and Nannochloropsis gaditana were used in this study. Properties such as water activity, pH, microbiological counts, viscosity, and color were analyzed to determine the effect of microalgae addition on sourdough. The technological quality of breads was analyzed in terms of physicochemical properties, color, texture profile, and porosity. The main effect of microalgae addition was changes in bread color, crust, and crumb that implies an increase of browning and an evolution to more green-yellow tonalities. The textural parameters of breads such as hardness, chewiness, and resilience are not modified by microalgae addition.García-Segovia, P.; Pagán Moreno, MJ.; Lara, IF.; Martínez Monzó, J. (2017). Effect of microalgae incorporation on physicochemical and textural properties in wheat bread formulation. Food Science and Technology International. 23(5):437-447. doi:10.1177/1082013217700259S43744723

Effects of ammonium nitrate, cesium chloride and tetraethylammonium on high-affinity potassium uptake in habanero pepper plantlets (Capsicum chinense Jacq.)

Potassium (K+) is an essential nutrient and the most abundant cation in plant cells. Plants have a wide variety of transport systems for K+ acquisition that catalyze K+ uptake across a wide spectrum of external K+ concentrations and mediate K+ movement within the plant, as well as its release into the environment. The KUP/HAK/KT transporter family plays a key role in K+ homeostasis in plant cells. The present study demonstrates that habanero pepper plantlets have a clear pattern of K+ uptake when resupplemented with K+ after K+ starvation. Habanero pepper plantlets, re-supplemented with a solution containing low concentrations of K+ after 72, 96 or 120 h of K+ starvation were able to decrease the amount of K+ in the solution at different time points. To study the effect of NH4+, we added different concentrations of NH4NO3 to the medium solution and demonstrated that NH4+ inhibited K+ uptake in a dose-dependent manner. When the plantlets were subjected to K+ starvation for 72 h and then resupplemented with 50 or 100 μM K+, exposure to K+ channel blockers (10 mM CsCl and 20 mM TEA) decreased their K+ uptake compared with the control treatment. A model demonstrating the process of K+ uptake through an NH4+-insensitive component was proposed.Key words: Potassium, high affinity transporters, channel blockers, ammonium

Oral health-related quality of life and malnutrition in patients treated for oral cancer.

This study examined whether oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) is associated with nutritional status in patients treated for oral cancer

Locomotor training through a novel robotic platform for gait rehabilitation in pediatric population: short report

[Background] Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a disorder of posture and movement due to a defect in the immature brain. The use of robotic devices as alternative treatment to improve the gait function in patients with CP has increased. Nevertheless, current gait trainers are focused on controlling complete joint trajectories, avoiding postural control and the adaptation of the therapy to a specific patient. This paper presents the applicability of a new robotic platform called CPWalker in children with spastic diplegia.[Findings] CPWalker consists of a smart walker with body weight and autonomous locomotion support and an exoskeleton for joint motion support. Likewise, CPWalker enables strategies to improve postural control during walking. The integrated robotic platform provides means for testing novel gait rehabilitation therapies in subjects with CP and similar motor disorders. Patient-tailored therapies were programmed in the device for its evaluation in three children with spastic diplegia for 5 weeks. After ten sessions of personalized training with CPWalker, the children improved the mean velocity (51.94 ± 41.97 %), cadence (29.19 ± 33.36 %) and step length (26.49 ± 19.58 %) in each leg. Post-3D gait assessments provided kinematic outcomes closer to normal values than Pre-3D assessments.[Conclusions] The results show the potential of the novel robotic platform to serve as a rehabilitation tool. The autonomous locomotion and impedance control enhanced the children’s participation during therapies. Moreover, participants’ postural control was substantially improved, which indicates the usefulness of the approach based on promoting the patient’s trunk control while the locomotion therapy is executed. Although results are promising, further studies with bigger sample size are required.The work presented in this paper has been carried out with the financial support from the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain, under Contract DPI2012-39133-C03-01.Peer reviewe

Mujeres en Bioquímica

We are pleased to present in the magazine "Encounters in Biology" the series of profiles published online in the «Portrait Gallery of Women in Biochemistry» on the SEBBM website, which began in 2011, with the centenary of the Nobel Prize awarded to Marie Curie, International Year of Chemistry. During the celebration of the 22nd IUBMB - 37th FEBS Congress and XXXV Congress of the SEBBM that took place in Seville from September 4 to 9, 2012, a traveling exhibition was inaugurated with this information in panel format.Tenemos el placer de presentar en la revista "Encuentros en la Biología" la serie de perfiles publicados on-li- ne en la «Galería de retratos de Mujeres en Bioquímica» de la web de la SEBBM, que comenzó en 2011, con el centenario del premio Nobel otorgado a Marie Curie, Año Internacional de la Química. Durante la celebra- ción del 22nd IUBMB - 37th FEBS Congress y XXXV Congreso de la SEBBM que tuvo lugar en Sevilla del 4 al 9 de septiembre de 2012 se inauguró una exposición itinerante con esta información en formato de paneles

Quality indicators in radiation oncology: proposal of the Spanish Society of Radiation Oncology (SEOR) for a continuous improvement of the quality of care in oncology.

Purpose Current cancer treatment options include surgical intervention, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. The quality of the provision of each of them and their effective coordination determines the results in terms of benefit/risk. Regarding the radiation oncology treatments, there are not stabilised quality indicators to be used to perform control and continuous improvement processes for healthcare services. Therefore, the Spanish Society of Radiation Oncology has undertaken a comprehensive project to establish quality indicators for use with the information systems available in most Spanish healthcare services. Methods A two-round Delphi study examines consensus of several possible quality indicators (n = 28) in daily practice. These indicators were defined after a bibliographic search and the assessment by radiation oncology specialists (n = 8). They included aspects regarding treatment equipment, patient preparation, treatment, and follow-up processes and were divided in structure, process, and outcome indicators. Results After the evaluation of the defined quality indicators (n = 28) by an expert panel (38 radiation oncologist), 26 indicators achieved consensus in terms of agreement with the statement. Two quality indicators did not achieve consensus. Conclusions There is a high degree of consensus in Spanish Radiation Oncology specialists on which indicators in routine clinical practice can best measure quality. These indicators can be used to classify services based on several parameters (patients, equipments, complexity of the techniques used, and scientific research). Furthermore, these indicators allow assess our current situation and set improvements’ objectives.pre-print241 K

Can robotic-based top-down rehabilitation therapies improve motor control in children with cerebral palsy? A perspective on the CPWalker project

[EN] Cerebral Palsy (CP) is one of the most severe disabilities in childhood, and it demands important costs in health, education, and social services. CP is caused by damage to or abnormalities inside the developing brain that disrupt the brain's ability to control movement and maintain posture. Furthermore, CP is often associated with sensory deficits, cognition impairments, communication and motor disabilities, behavior issues, seizure disorder, pain, and secondary musculoskeletal problems. According to the literature, motor modules are peripheral measurements related to automatic motor control. There is a lack of evidence of change in motor modules in children with CP when different treatment approaches have been evaluated. Thus, new strategies are needed to improve motor control in this population. Robotic-based therapies are emerging as an effective intervention for gait rehabilitation in motor disorders such as stroke, spinal cord injury, and CP. There is vast clinical evidence that neural plasticity is the central core of motor recovery and development, and on-going studies suggest that robot-mediated intensive therapy could be beneficial for improved functional recovery. However, current robotic strategies are focused on the peripheral neural system (PNS) facilitating the performance of repetitive movements (a bottom-up approach). Since CP affects primarily brain structures, both the PNS and the central nervous system (CNS) should to be integrated in a physical and cognitive rehabilitation therapy (a top-down approach). This paper discusses perspectives of the top-down approach based on a novel robot-assisted rehabilitative system. Accordingly, the CPWalker robotic platform was developed to support novel therapies for CP rehabilitation. This robotic platform (Smart Walker + exoskeleton) is controlled by a multimodal interface enabling the interaction of CP infants with robot-based therapies. The aim of these therapies is to improve the physical skills of infants with CP using a top-down approach, in which motor related brain activity is used to drive robotic physical rehabilitation therapies. Our hypothesis is that the CPWalker concept will promote motor learning and this improvement will lead to significant improvements in automatic motor control.Lerma Lara, S.; Martínez Caballero, I.; Bayón, C.; Del Castillo, M.; Serrano, I.; Raya, R.; Belda Lois, JM.... (2016). Can robotic-based top-down rehabilitation therapies improve motor control in children with cerebral palsy? A perspective on the CPWalker project. Biomedical Research and Clinical Practice. 22-26. doi:10.15761/BRCP.1000106S222

Computation of the entropy of polynomials orthogonal on an interval.

We give an effective method to compute the entropy for polynomials orthogonal on a segment of the real axis that uses as input data only the coefficients of the recurrence relation satisfied by these polynomials. This algorithm is based on a series expression for the mutual energy of two probability measures naturally connected with the polynomials. The particular case of Gegenbauer polynomials is analyzed in detail. These results are applied also to the computation of the entropy of spherical harmonics, important for the study of the entropic uncertainty relations as well as the spatial complexity of physical systems in central potentials