New poly(ionic liquid)s based on poly(azomethine-pyridinium) salts and its use as heterogeneous catalysts for CO2 conversion

A fast and simple synthetic route towards a new family of poly(ionic liquids) based on aromatic crosslinked poly(azomethine-pyridinium) salts is described. These new polymers were prepared in one step from new diamine methyl pyridinium salts and isopthaldehyde, in 30 min under microwave irradiation. By this method, poly(azomethine-pyridinium) containing chloride (Cl), bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (TFSI) and hexaflorophosphate (PF6) as counter-anions were synthetized. This new pyridinium poly(ionic liquid)s were obtained as insoluble powders showing high thermal stability. The poly(azomethine-pyridinium)s were tested as heterogeneous catalysts in the cycloaddition of CO2 to epichlorohydrin to obtain chloropropylene carbonate. The polymers containing chloride anion shows high content of catalytically active sites and the best performance of the series, with 100% selectivity towards the chloropropylene carbonate in a reaction without solvent at 3 bar of CO2, 100 °C and low catalyst loading (0.5 mol%).Spanish Government, MINECO (Projects MAT2014-52085-C2-2-P and MAT2017-82288-C2-2-P, MAT2017-83373-R

Serum vascular endothelial growth factor b and metabolic syndrome incidence in the population based cohort [email protected] study

Background/Objectives Although vascular endothelial growth factor b (VEGFb) might have an impact on the development of obesity, diabetes and related disorders, the possible relationship between VEGFb serum levels and the incidence of these metabolic complications in humans is still unknown. The aim of our study was to evaluate the association between VEGFb serum levels and the new-onset of metabolic syndrome (MS) and its components in the Spanish adult population after 7.5 years of follow-up. Subjects/Methods A total of 908 subjects from the [email protected] cohort study without MS at cross-sectional stage according to International Diabetes Federation (IDF) or Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP-III) criteria were included. Additionally, five sub-populations were grouped according to the absence of each MS component at baseline. Socio-demographic, anthropometric and clinical data were recorded. The Short Form of International Physical Activity Questionnaire (SF-IPAQ) was used to estimate physical activity. A fasting blood extraction and an oral glucose tolerance test were performed. Serum determinations of glucose, lipids, hsCRP and insulin were made. VEGFb levels were determined and categorized according to the 75th percentile of the variable. New cases of MS and its components were defined according to ATPIII and IDF criteria. Results A total of 181 or 146 people developed MS defined by IDF or ATP-III criteria respectively. Serum triglyceride levels, hs-CRP and systolic blood pressure at the baseline study were significantly different according to the VEGFb categories. Adjusted logistic regression analysis showed that the likelihood of developing MS and abdominal obesity was statistically reduced in subjects included in the higher VEGFb category. Conclusion Low serum levels of VEGFb may be considered as early indicators of incident MS and abdominal obesity in the Spanish adult population free of MS, independently of other important predictor variables.This investigation has been supported by CIBERDEM (Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad-ISCIII), Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e IgualdadISCIII, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (research grants PI20/01322, PI18/01165, PI17/02136, PI14/00710) and cofunding by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) "A way to build Europe". LifeScan Espana (Madrid, Spain) kindly donated the glucometers and test strips for capillary glucose measurements. Cristina MaldonadoAraque is a researcher in the `Rio Hortega' program (CM19/00186) financed by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III. Natalia Colomo is a member of the regional "Accion B para clinicos investigadores" research program of the Consejeria de Salud of the Junta de Andalucia, Spain (B-0002-17). Gemma Rojo-Martinez belongs to the Nicolas Monardes research program of the Consejeria de Salud (C-0060-2012; Junta de Andalucia, Spain)

Cohort profile: the MCC-Spain follow-up on colorectal, breast and prostate cancers: study design and initial results

PURPOSE: Since 2016, the multicase-control study in Spain (MCC-Spain) has focused towards the identification of factors associated with cancer prognosis. Inception cohorts of patients with colorectal, breast and prostate cancers were assembled using the incident cases originally recruited. PARTICIPANTS: 2140 new cases of colorectal cancer, 1732 of breast cancer and 1112 of prostate cancer were initially recruited in 12 Spanish provinces; all cancers were incident and pathologically confirmed. Follow-up was obtained for 2097 (98%), 1685 (97%) and 1055 (94.9%) patients, respectively. FINDINGS TO DATE: Information gathered at recruitment included sociodemographic factors, medical history, lifestyle and environmental exposures. Biological samples were obtained, and 80% of patients were genotyped using a commercial exome array. The follow-up was performed by (1) reviewing medical records; (2) interviewing the patients by phone on quality of life; and (3) verifying vital status and cause of death in the Spanish National Death Index. Ninety-seven per cent of recruited patients were successfully followed up in 2017 or 2018; patient-years of follow-up were 30 914. Most colorectal cancers (52%) were at clinical stage II or lower at recruitment; 819 patients died in the follow-up and the 5-year survival was better for women (74.4%) than men (70.0%). 71% of breast cancers were diagnosed at stages I or II; 206 women with breast cancer died in the follow-up and the 5-year survival was 90.7%. 49% of prostate cancers were diagnosed at stage II and 32% at stage III; 119 patients with prostate cancer died in the follow-up and the 5-year survival was 93.7%. FUTURE PLANS: MCC-Spain has built three prospective cohorts on highly frequent cancers across Spain, allowing to investigate socioeconomic, clinical, lifestyle, environmental and genetic variables as putative prognosis factors determining survival of patients of the three cancers and the inter-relationship of these factors

Chikungunya virus infections among travellers returning to Spain, 2008 to 2014

Since the first documented autochthonous transmission of chikungunya virus in the Caribbean island of Saint Martin in 2013, the infection has been reported within the Caribbean region as well as North, Central and South America. The risk of autochthonous transmission of chikungunya virus becoming established in Spain may be elevated due to the large numbers of travellers returning to Spain from countries affected by the 2013 epidemic in the Caribbean and South America, as well as the existence of the Aedes albopictus vector in certain parts of Spain. We retrospectively analysed the laboratory diagnostic database of the National Centre for Microbiology, Institute of Health Carlos III (CNM-ISCIII) from 2008 to 2014. During the study period, 264 confirmed cases, of 1,371 suspected cases, were diagnosed at the CNM-ISCIII. In 2014 alone, there were 234 confirmed cases. The highest number of confirmed cases were reported from the Dominican Republic (n = 136), Venezuela (n = 30) and Haiti (n = 11). Six cases were viraemic in areas of Spain where the vector is present. This report highlights the need for integrated active case and vector surveillance in Spain and other parts of Europe where chikungunya virus may be introduced by returning travellers

Genetic Structure of the Spanish Population

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Genetic admixture is a common caveat for genetic association analysis. Therefore, it is important to characterize the genetic structure of the population under study to control for this kind of potential bias.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study we have sampled over 800 unrelated individuals from the population of Spain, and have genotyped them with a genome-wide coverage. We have carried out linkage disequilibrium, haplotype, population structure and copy-number variation (CNV) analyses, and have compared these estimates of the Spanish population with existing data from similar efforts.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In general, the Spanish population is similar to the Western and Northern Europeans, but has a more diverse haplotypic structure. Moreover, the Spanish population is also largely homogeneous within itself, although patterns of micro-structure may be able to predict locations of origin from distant regions. Finally, we also present the first characterization of a CNV map of the Spanish population. These results and original data are made available to the scientific community.</p

Consumption of aspartame and other artificial sweeteners and risk of cancer in the Spanish multicase‐control study (MCC‐Spain)

Use of artificial sweeteners (AS) such as aspartame, cyclamate, saccharin and sucralose is widespread. We evaluated the association of use of aspartame and other AS with cancer. In total 1881 colorectal, 1510 breast, 972 prostate and 351 stomach cancer and 109 chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) cases and 3629 population controls from the Spanish Multicase-Control (MCC-Spain) study were recruited (2008-2013). The consumption of AS, from table-top sweeteners and artificially sweetened beverages, was assessed through a self-administered and validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Sex-specific quartiles among controls were determined to compare moderate consumers ( third quartile) vs non consumers (reference category), distinguishing aspartame-containing products and other AS. Unconditional logistic regression models were used to estimate adjusted OR and 95%CI, and results were stratified by diabetes status. Overall, we found no associations between the consumption of aspartame or other AS and cancer. Among participants with diabetes, high consumption of other AS was associated with colorectal cancer (OR=1.58, 95% CI 1.05-2.41, P trend=.03) and stomach cancer (OR=2.27 [0.99-5.44], P trend=.06). High consumption of aspartame, was associated with stomach cancer (OR=2.04 [0.7-5.4], P trend=.05), while a lower risk was observed for breast cancer (OR=0.28 [0.08-0.83], P trend=.03). In some cancers, the number of cases in participants with diabetes were small and results should be interpreted cautiously. We did not find associations between use of AS and cancer, but found associations between high consumption of aspartame and other AS and different cancer types among participants with diabetes

Evidence-based Guidelines for the Management of Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency After Pancreatic Surgery

To provide evidence-based recommendations for the management of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) after pancreatic surgery

GrassPlot - a database of multi-scale plant diversity in Palaearctic grasslands

GrassPlot is a collaborative vegetation-plot database organised by the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG) and listed in the Global Index of Vegetation-Plot Databases (GIVD ID EU-00-003). GrassPlot collects plot records (releves) from grasslands and other open habitats of the Palaearctic biogeographic realm. It focuses on precisely delimited plots of eight standard grain sizes (0.0001; 0.001;... 1,000 m(2)) and on nested-plot series with at least four different grain sizes. The usage of GrassPlot is regulated through Bylaws that intend to balance the interests of data contributors and data users. The current version (v. 1.00) contains data for approximately 170,000 plots of different sizes and 2,800 nested-plot series. The key components are richness data and metadata. However, most included datasets also encompass compositional data. About 14,000 plots have near-complete records of terricolous bryophytes and lichens in addition to vascular plants. At present, GrassPlot contains data from 36 countries throughout the Palaearctic, spread across elevational gradients and major grassland types. GrassPlot with its multi-scale and multi-taxon focus complements the larger international vegetationplot databases, such as the European Vegetation Archive (EVA) and the global database " sPlot". Its main aim is to facilitate studies on the scale-and taxon-dependency of biodiversity patterns and drivers along macroecological gradients. GrassPlot is a dynamic database and will expand through new data collection coordinated by the elected Governing Board. We invite researchers with suitable data to join GrassPlot. Researchers with project ideas addressable with GrassPlot data are welcome to submit proposals to the Governing Board

INFOBIOMED Training Challenge: una novedosa iniciativa de formación multidisciplinaria impulsada por la Red de Excelencia INFOBIOMED

INFOBIOMED training challenge: A novel multidisciplinary training initiative fostered by the INFOBIOMED Network of Excellenc