Oral microbiome and systemic antineoplastics in cancer treatment:a systematic review

Oral mucositis is one of the most common side effects in cancer patients receiving systemic antineoplastics. However, the underlying biological mechanisms leading to this condition are still unclear. For this reason, it has been hypothesised that systemic antineoplastics may cause an imbalance on the oral microbiota that subsequently triggers oral mucosa damage. A systematic review was performed following the PRISMA protocol and the PICO question established was: patients diagnosed with cancer, who are candidates for receiving systemic antineoplastics (P=Patients), that undergo oral microbiome determinations (I=Intervention), before and after systemic antineoplastics administration (C=Comparison), to analyse changes in the oral microbiome composition (O=Outcome). The bibliographic search was carried out in PubMed and other scientific repositories. Out of 166 obtained articles, only 5 met eligibility criteria. Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) was the most frequent type of cancer (40 %) among the participants. Only one of the studies included a control group of healthy subjects. Heterogeneity in the protocols and approaches of the included studies hindered a detailed comparison of the outcomes. However, it was stated that a decrease in bacteria ? diversity is often associated with oral mucositis. On the other hand, fungal diversity was not associated with oral mucositis although ? diversity was lower at baseline on patients developing oral candidiasis. There is insufficient scientific evidence of oral microbiological changes in patients undergoing systemic antineoplastics. Further investigations ought to be carried out to identify microorganisms that might play a key role in the pathogenesis of oral mucosa damage in patients undergoing systemic antineoplastics

Diversificación morfológica de los primates platirrinos: una aproximación craneofuncional comparativa

Evolutionary history of platyrrhines resulted in an outstanding morphological variation of their craniofacial structures. The early divergence of lineages and the occupation of varied niches are potential causes for this diversity. Our work aims to explore the patterns of morphological variation in the skull of platyrrhines of South America and to test the hypothesis that explains shape diversity as a function of size change. Here, skull lateral radiographs of 12 species of platyrrhines -each species represented a different genus- were analyzed using an approach that combines the craniofunctional theory and methodological tools from geometric morphometric. Results showed that morphological differentiation between genera can be only partially explained by their phylogenetic structure and there may be other ecological factors involved. Additionally, major cranial components presented a relatively independent variation between them, being the facial shape more influenced by the size than the neurocranium. In sum, craniofunctional theory and geometric morphometric gave some clues to formulate hypothesis about development and functional processes related to the origin and maintenance of macroevolutionary patterns of morphological diversity.Instituto de Genética VeterinariaFacultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

Building-Scale Wastewater-Based Epidemiology for SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance at Nursing Homes in A Coruña, Spain

Financiado para publicación en acceso aberto: Universidade da Coruña/CISUG[Abstract] Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has become an effective tool in the surveillance of infectious diseases such as COVID-19. In this work, we performed a brief study of monitoring the SARS-CoV-2 viral load in wastewater from six nursing homes located in the metropolitan area of A Coruña (Spain) between December 2020 and March 2021. The main objective was to detect SARSCoV- 2 outbreaks among residents and study the efficacy of the vaccination campaign. SARS-CoV-2 viral load (RNA copies per L of wastewater) was determined by reverse-transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) using the quantification cycle (Cq) values for the nucleocapsid (N) gene. Our results showed that the increase in viral load preceded the increase in clinical cases, favoring an early warning system that detects COVID-19 outbreaks in advance, making it possible to contain and stop the transmission of the virus among residents. In addition, the efficacy of the new COVID-19 vaccines was evidenced, since after the vaccination campaign in nursing homes in A Coruña, it was observed that many residents did not present any symptoms of the disease, although they excreted high amounts of virus in their feces. WBE is a cost-effective strategy that should be implemented in all cities to prevent new emerging diseases or future pandemic threats.EDAR Bens S.A.; INV04020EDAR Bens S.A.; INV12120EDAR Bens S.A.; INV05921EDAR Bens S.A.; INV148721Xunta de Galicia; IN607A 2016/22Xunta de Galicia; ED431C-2016/015Xunta de Galicia; ED431C-2020/14Xunta de Galicia; ED431C 2021/53Xunta de Galicia; ED431G 2019/01Xunta de Galicia; COV20/00604Funding for open access charge: Universidade da Coruña/CISUG. This work was mainly supported by the grant INV00821 from Consellería de Política Social (Xunta de Galicia, Spain) to M.P. The team was also supported by EDAR Bens S.A., A Coruña, Spain (grant references INV04020, INV12120, INV05921, and INV148721 to M.P.), by the National Plan for Scientific Research, Development and Technological Innovation funded by the Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII), Spain—General Subdirection of Assessment and Promotion of the Research-European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) “A way of making Europe” [grant references PI15/00860 to G.B., PI17/01482 and PI20/00413 to M.P.], by the Galician Innovation Agency (GAIN) (Xunta de Galicia, Spain) [grant references IN607A 2016/22 to G.B., ED431C-2016/015 and ED431C-2020/14 to R.C., ED431C 2021/53 to S.L., and ED431G 2019/01 and COV20/00604 to R.C. and S.L., by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation (MINECO), Spain (grant references MTM2017-82724-R to R.C.), by the Spanish Network of Research in Infectious Diseases (CIBERINFEC, ISCIII, reference CB21/13/00055), and by the European Virus Archive Global (EVA-GLOBAL) project that has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 871029. S.R.-F. was financially supported by REIPI RD16/0016/006, K.C.-P. by IN607A 2016/22 and the Spanish Association against Cancer (AECC), and J.A.V. by IN607A 2016/22

Changes in Immune Response during Pig Gestation with a Focus on Cytokines

Pigs have the highest percentage of embryonic death not associated with specific diseases of all livestock species, at 20–45%. During gestation processes, a series of complex alterations can arise, including embryonic migration and elongation, maternal immunological recognition of pregnancy, and embryonic competition for implantation sites and subsequent nutrition requirements and development. Immune cells and cytokines act as mediators between other molecules in highly complex interactions between various cell types. However, other non-immune cells, such as trophoblast cells, are important in immune pregnancy regulation. Numerous studies have shed light on the crucial roles of several cytokines that regulate the inflammatory processes that characterize the interface between the fetus and the mother throughout normal porcine gestation, but most of these reports are limited to the implantational and peri-implantational periods. Increase in some proinflammatory cytokines have been found in other gestational periods, such as placental remodeling. Porcine immune changes during delivery have not been studied as deeply as in other species. This review details some of the immune system cells actively involved in the fetomaternal interface during porcine gestation, as well as the principal cells, cytokines, and molecules, such as antibodies, that play crucial roles in sow pregnancy, both in early and mid-to-late gestation

Description and analysis of spatial patterns in geometric morphometric data

The development of techniques for the acquisition of high-resolution 3D images, such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, has opened new avenues to the study of complex morphologies. Detailed descriptions of internal and external traits can be now obtained, allowing the intensive sampling of surface points. In this paper, we introduce a morphometric and statistical framework, grounded on Procrustes and Procrustes-like techniques as well as standard spatial statistics, to explicitly describe and incorporate the spatial pattern of these surface points into the analyses. We exemplified this approach by analyzing ontogenetic changes in a sample of human brain endocasts and inter-specific differences between primate skulls. An intensive sampling of points on 3D surfaces was performed by automatic techniques and the morphometric variation among specimens was measured by the residuals obtained after the alignment of points. Our results showed that shape changes in both examples are spatially structured. Different results were attained by using methods that incorporate or not the spatial structure in the evaluation of the effect of specific biological factors on shape variation. Particularly, these analyses indicated that the effect of biological factors acting at local scales can be confounded with more systemic factors (by example, the effect of the diet on the facial skeleton) if the spatial structure is not taken into account. Overall, our results suggest that the intensive description of shape differences among structures using densely sampled points on 3D surfaces combined with spatial statistical methods can be used to explore problems not widely addressed in morphological studies.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

Deletions of specific exons of FHOD3 detected by next-generation-sequencing are associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Despite new strategies, such as evaluating deep intronic variants and new genes in whole-genome-sequencing studies, the diagnostic yield of genetic testing in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is still around 50%. FHOD3 has emerged as a novel disease-causing gene for this phenotype, but the relevance and clinical implication of copy-number-variations (CNVs) have not been determined. In this study, CNVs were evaluated using a comparative depth-of-coverage strategy by NGS in 5493 hypertrophic cardiomyopathy probands and 2973 disease-controls. We detected three symmetrical deletions in FHOD3 that involved exons 15 and 16 in three HCM families (no CNVs were detected in the control group). These exons are part of the diaphanous inhibitory domain of FHOD3 protein, considered a cluster of mutations for HCM. The clinical characteristics of the affected carriers were consistent with those reported in FHOD3 in previous studies. This study highlights the importance of performing CNV analysis systematically in NGS genetic testing panels for HCM, and reinforce the relevance of the FHOD3 gene in the disease. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Servicios de Documentación y webs radiofónicas: un maridaje necesario en el entorno digital

This paper analyzes the main characteristics of the information, products and services offered by the websites of eight Spanish broadcasters: COPE, Onda Cero, RNE, Cadena Ser, Catalunya Radio, RAC1, Radio Galega, and Canal Sur Radio. The aim of the research is to assess the importance given by these broadcasters to their websites as a platform for broadcasting their rich patrimony of sound material, as well as to the integration of other content and innovative technology-based products through their Information and Documentation Services (IDS). Among other findings, the study reveals a marked under-utilization of networks’ potential for taking advantage of their audio assets. At the same time they demonstrate the need for IDSs to intervene more directly in order to halt websites from becoming mere storehouses for programs and other items.<br><br>Este artículo analiza las principales características en cuanto a información, productos y servicios de los sitios web de ocho emisoras del estado español: COPE, Onda Cero, RNE, Cadena Ser, Catalunya Ràdio, RAC1, Radio Galega y Canal Sur Radio. El objetivo de la investigación es evaluar la importancia que estos operadores otorgan a sus sitios en Internet como plataformas de difusión del patrimonio sonoro, así como a la inclusión de otros contenidos y productos adicionales novedosos de base tecnológica gracias al trabajo de los Servicios de Información y Documentación (SID). Entre otras conclusiones, el estudio revela una marcada infrautilización del potencial que ofrece la red para explotar el sonido radiofónico, al tiempo que evidencia la necesidad de una intervención más directa por parte de los SID para neutralizar la conversión de la mayoría de las webs en simples almacenes de programas y espacios

Influenza A H1N1 Community-Acquired Pneumonia: Characteristics and Risk Factors—A Case-Control Study

Introduction. Influenza A H1N1 community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a quite frequent respiratory disease. Despite being considered more serious than other CAPs, there are very few studies comparing its characteristics with noninfluenza CAP. We aim to establish the differences between pneumonia due to H1N1 virus and pneumonia not caused by H1N1 influenza virus and to determine the probability that a pneumonia is due to an H1N1 virus infection based on the most relevant variables. Methods. We used a case-control study where cases were H1N1 CAP patients with confirmed microbiological diagnosis and controls were patients with CAP admitted to hospital. H1N1 and other influenza types were discarded among controls. We calculated the probability of being a case or control using multivariate logistic regression. Results. We included 99 cases and 270 controls. Cases were younger than controls (53 vs 71 years, respectively). Mortality was much higher for H1N1 patients (13% vs 0.3%), and admission to intensive care unit was more frequent for H1N1 cases. The variables most associated with presenting H1N1 CAP were bilateral affectation on chest X-rays (OR: 5.70; 95% CI 2.69–10.40), followed by presence of arthromyalgias, with cases presenting close to three times more arthromyalgias compared to controls. Low leukocytes count and high AST values were also significantly associated with H1N1 CAP. H1N1 CAPs are characterized by bilateral affectation, low leukocyte count, presence of arthromyalgias, and high AST. Conclusions. A few and easy to obtain clinical parameters might be extremely useful to distinguish H1N1 CAP from CAPs of other origin.S

Modeling the Number of People Infected With SARS-COV-2 From Wastewater Viral Load in Northwest Spain

Financiado para publicación en acceso aberto: Universidade da Coruña/CISUG[Abstract] The quantification of the SARS-CoV-2 RNA load in wastewater has emerged as a useful tool to monitor COVID–19 outbreaks in the community. This approach was implemented in the metropolitan area of A Coruña (NW Spain), where wastewater from a treatment plant was analyzed to track the epidemic dynamics in a population of 369,098 inhabitants. Viral load detected in the wastewater and the epidemiological data from A Coruña health system served as main sources for statistical models developing. Regression models described here allowed us to estimate the number of infected people (R2 = 0.9), including symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals. These models have helped to understand the real magnitude of the epidemic in a population at any given time and have been used as an effective early warning tool for predicting outbreaks in A Coruña municipality. The methodology of the present work could be used to develop a similar wastewater-based epidemiological model to track the evolution of the COVID–19 epidemic anywhere in the world where centralized water-based sanitation systems exist.This work was supported by EDAR Bens S.A., A Coruña, Spain [grant references INV04020, INV12120 and INV05921 to MP], the National Plan for Scientific Research, Development and Technological Innovation 2013-2016 funded by the ISCIII, Spain - General Subdirection of Assessment and Promotion of the Research-European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) “A way of making Europe” [grant numbers PI15/00860 to GB, PI17/01482 and PI20/00413 to MP], the GAIN, Xunta de Galicia, Spain [grant number IN607A 2016/22 to GB, ED431C-2016/015 and ED431C-2020/14 to RC, ED431C 2017/58 to SL, ED431G 2019/01 to RC and SL, and ED431C 2017/66 to MCV], MINECO, Spain [grant number MTM2017-82724-R to RC], Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain [grant number PID2020-113578RB-100 to RC], and the Spanish Network for Research in Infectious Diseases [REIPI RD16/0016/006 to GB]. The work was also supported by the European Virus Archive Global (EVA-GLOBAL) project that has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 - Research and Innovation Framework Programme under grant agreement no 871029. SR-F was financially supported by REIPI RD16/0016/006, KC-P by IN607A 2016/22 and the Spanish Association against Cancer (AECC) and JAV by IN607A 2016/22. Funding for open access charge: Universidade da Coruña/CISUGEDAR Bens S.A.; INV04020EDAR Bens S.A.; INV12120EDAR Bens S.A.; INV05921Xunta de Galicia; IN607A 2016/22Xunta de Galicia; ED431C-2016/015Xunta de Galicia; ED431C-2020/14Xunta de Galicia; ED431C 2017/58Xunta de Galicia; ED431G 2019/01Xunta de Galicia; ED431C 2017/6