Developmental Eye Movement (DEM) and King-Devick (K-D) Performance in Multiple Sclerosis

Eye movement disorders have been reported in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) as saccadic disturbances. Several methods have been described for the assessment of saccades, including the K-D and DEM tests. The performance of these tests also involves attention, language, and other brain areas which have been reported to be altered in MS patients. The aim of the study was to determine how developmental eye movement (DEM) and King-Devick (K-D) tests are affected in MS-patients. It was also to analyze whether a resolved episode of optic neuritis (ON) has a negative influence. Subjects with MS showed worse outcomes (higher times) in DEM test (72 (26) s and a K-D test (56 (22) s compared to healthy subjects (64 (7) s and 55 (11) s, respectively). However, a previous ON episode did not worsen the MS-times of DEM (80 (33) s or of K-D (62 (33) s. Horizontal saccades with the DEM showed differences between subjects with MS (with and without ON) and healthy ones (p < 0.05), whereas no such differences were found in the vertical saccades. According to the DEM instructions, MS patients would present heterogeneous oculomotor and non-visual disturbances. Regarding the K-D test, only the third card (the most complex one) showed differences (p < 0.05) between groups. These tests can capture impairment of attention, language, and other areas that correlate with suboptimal brain function in addition to the oculomotor dysfunctions present in subjects with MS.The author David P. Piñero has been supported by the Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Competitiveness of Spain within the program Ramón y Cajal, RYC‐2016‐20471

Dynamic Pupillary Response in Multiple Sclerosis Patients with and without Optic Neuritis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurodegenerative disease that affects the central nervous system which produces abnormalities in visual function, as disturbed pupillary responses, even after an episode of optic neuritis (ON). The aim was to assess different parameters of the pupillary response in MS subjects with and without ON. Therefore, 24 eyes of healthy age-matched subjects were included, 22 eyes of subjects with MS (MS group), and 13 subjects with MS with previous ON (MSON group). Pupillary parameters (ratio pupil max/min; latency; velocity and duration; contraction and dilation; and amplitude of contraction) were recorded with the MYAH topographer. Statistical analysis was performed by IBM SPSS Statistics, and parametrical or non-parametrical tests were used according to the normality of the data. MS patients did not significantly differ from healthy patients in any of the parameters analyzed (p > 0.05). Only patients with previous ON were different from healthy patients in the amplitude (40.71 ± 6.73% vs. 45.22 ± 3.29%, respectively) and latency of contraction (0.35 ± 0.13 s vs. 0.26 ± 0.05 s, respectively). The time to recover 75% of the initial diameter was abnormal in 9% of the MS subjects and 12% of MSON subjects. Based on the results of this study, the contraction process, especially latency and amplitude, was found to be affected in subjects with MS and previous ON. The degree of disability and the relation of the decrease in pupil response with other indicators of MS disease should be further investigated considering other comorbidities such as ON in the affection

Species Distribution Models at Regional Scale: Cymodocea nodosa Seagrasses

Despite their ecological and socio-economic importance, seagrasses are often overlooked in comparison with terrestrial ecosystems. In the Canarian archipelago (Spain), Cymodocea nodosa is the best-established species, sustaining the most important marine ecosystem and providing ecosystem services (ES) of great relevance. Nevertheless, we lack accurate and standardized information regarding the distribution of this species and its ES supply. As a first step, the use of species distribution models is proposed. Various machine learning algorithms and ensemble model techniques were considered along with freely available remote sensing data to assess Cymodocea nodosa’s potential distribution. In a second step, we used InVEST software to estimate the ES provision by this phanerogam on a regional scale, providing spatially explicit monetary assessments and a habitat degradation characterization due to human impacts. The distribution models presented great predictive capabilities and statistical significance, while the ES estimations were in concordance with previous studies. The proposed methodology is presented as a useful tool for environmental management of important communities sensitive to human activities, such as C. nodosa meadows.En prensa0,64

Diferencias interoculares medidas mediante microperimetría: comparativa entre sujetos normales y ambliopes

Objetivo: Analizar mediante microperimetría (MP) las diferencias interoculares que existen en sujetos normales, y comparar estos resultados con los de una muestra de sujetos ambliopes. Métodos: Se midieron mediante MP ambos ojos de una muestra de 237 sujetos normales. Las diferencias interoculares se obtuvieron mediante la resta de los valores de cada ojo para: sensibilidad media (Sm), índices P1 y P2, área de la elipse de fijación (BCEA95 y BCEA63), y diámetro horizontal y vertical de esta elipse (H y V). La diferencia interocular normal se estableció mediante el límite superior del IC del 95% de los individuos. Los resultados obtenidos, son comparados con los de 6 sujetos amblíopes, planteándonos dos hipótesis: el ojo dominante (OD) muestra mejores resultados que el ojo amblíope (OA) y esta diferencia es mayor a la encontrada en normales. Resultados: Las diferencias interoculares encontradas en normales fueron: 1.02 dB para Sm, 4.80% y 1.20% para P1 y P2, 3.30°² y 0.37°² para BCEA95 y BCEA63, 0.37° para H y 0.39° para V. En cuanto a los ambliopes, 5/6 sujetos mostraron mayor Sm en el OD, siendo esta diferencia mayor a la encontrada en normales. El análisis de fijación revela que las diferencias interoculares en ambliopes no difieren de las encontradas en normales. Conclusiones: La Sm se ve afectada en el caso de sujetos con ambliopía, encontrando una diferencia entre ojos mayor a la encontrada en normales. En el caso de la fijación, no se encontraron diferencias más allá de las encontradas en normales

Tratado de derechos reales. Tomo II Propiedad y posesión

La presente investigación está referida al análisis de los dos principales derechos reales: la posesión y la propiedad, y es la continuación de la investigación concluida denominada Tratado de derechos reales, tomo I, teoría de los bienes y los derechos reales. Esta parte de la investigación corresponde al desarrollo de dos de sus principales instituciones. Así, se comienza con el análisis sociojurídico de la posesión (poder hecho) como derecho transitorio (temporal y momentáneo), para luego entrar al desarrollo de la propiedad (poder de derecho) como derecho definitivo (permanente y total), ambas instituciones reconocidas como situaciones jurídicas de gran trascendencia en las relaciones jurídicas patrimoniales, protegidas por la ley a través de mecanismos de defensa

Genetic association study of childhood aggression across raters, instruments, and age

Genòmica; Comportament humàGenómica; Comportamiento humanoGenomics; Human behaviourChildhood aggressive behavior (AGG) has a substantial heritability of around 50%. Here we present a genome-wide association meta-analysis (GWAMA) of childhood AGG, in which all phenotype measures across childhood ages from multiple assessors were included. We analyzed phenotype assessments for a total of 328 935 observations from 87 485 children aged between 1.5 and 18 years, while accounting for sample overlap. We also meta-analyzed within subsets of the data, i.e., within rater, instrument and age. SNP-heritability for the overall meta-analysis (AGGoverall) was 3.31% (SE = 0.0038). We found no genome-wide significant SNPs for AGGoverall. The gene-based analysis returned three significant genes: ST3GAL3 (P = 1.6E–06), PCDH7 (P = 2.0E–06), and IPO13 (P = 2.5E–06). All three genes have previously been associated with educational traits. Polygenic scores based on our GWAMA significantly predicted aggression in a holdout sample of children (variance explained = 0.44%) and in retrospectively assessed childhood aggression (variance explained = 0.20%). Genetic correlations (rg) among rater-specific assessment of AGG ranged from rg = 0.46 between self- and teacher-assessment to rg = 0.81 between mother- and teacher-assessment. We obtained moderate-to-strong rgs with selected phenotypes from multiple domains, but hardly with any of the classical biomarkers thought to be associated with AGG. Significant genetic correlations were observed with most psychiatric and psychological traits (range |rg|: 0.19–1.00), except for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Aggression had a negative genetic correlation (rg = ~−0.5) with cognitive traits and age at first birth. Aggression was strongly genetically correlated with smoking phenotypes (range |rg|: 0.46–0.60). The genetic correlations between aggression and psychiatric disorders were weaker for teacher-reported AGG than for mother- and self-reported AGG. The current GWAMA of childhood aggression provides a powerful tool to interrogate the rater-specific genetic etiology of AGG.We very warmly thank all participants, their parents, and teachers for making this study possible. The project was supported by the “Aggression in Children: Unraveling gene-environment interplay to inform Treatment and InterventiON strategies” project (ACTION). ACTION received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no 602768. Cohort-specific acknowledgements and funding information may be found in the Supplementary text

Spanish adaptation and validation of the empowerment of parents in the intensive care-neonatology (EMPATHIC-N) questionnaire

Introduction Parental satisfaction is rarely measured in the neonatal intensive care unit due to a lack of specific assessment tools. The Empowerment of Parents in The Intensive Care-Neonatology (EMPATHIC-N) questionnaire is an instrument to assess satisfaction in relation to family-centred care that has been validated in several countries, but not Spain. Objectives To perform the translation and cultural adaptation of the EMPATHIC-N to Spanish followed by its validation for the purpose of assessing satisfaction in parents with children admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit. Material and methods The questionnaire first underwent forward and backward translation and transcultural adaptation by a panel of experts through a standardized process based on the Delphi method, followed by a pilot study in 8 parents and then a cross-sectional study in the neonatal intensive care unit of a tertiary care hospital to assess the reliability and converging validity of the Spanish version. Results The study proved the comprehensibility, validity, feasibility, applicability and usefulness of the Spanish version of the EMPATHIC-N in the field of paediatric health after being evaluated by 19 professionals and 60 parents. The content validity was found to be excellent (0.93). The reliability and convergent validity of the Spanish version of the EMPHATIC-N was analysed in a sample of 65 completed questionnaires. The Cronbach α for each domain was greater than 0.7, indicating a high internal consistency. We assessed validity by analysing the correlation of the 5 domains with the with the 4 general satisfaction items. The validity was found to be adequate (rs, 0.4−0.76; P < .01). Conclusions The Spanish version of the EMPATHIC-N questionnaire is a comprehensible, useful, valid and reliable instrument to measure satisfaction in the parents of children admitted to neonatal care units

Adaptación y validación espanola ˜ del Empowerment of Parents in the Intensive Care-Neonatology (EMPATHIC-N)

Introduction Parental satisfaction is rarely measured in the neonatal intensive care unit due to a lack of specific assessment tools. The EMpowerment of PArents in THe Intensive Care-Neonatology (EMPATHIC-N) questionnaire is an instrument to assess satisfaction in relation to family-centred care that has been validated in several countries, but not Spain. Objectives To perform the translation and cultural adaptation of the EMPATHIC-N to Spanish followed by its validation for the purpose of assessing satisfaction in parents with children admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit. Material and methods The questionnaire first underwent forward and backward translation and transcultural adaptation by a panel of experts through a standardized process based on the Delphi method, followed by a pilot study in 8 parents and then a cross-sectional study in the neonatal intensive care unit of a tertiary care hospital to assess the reliability and converging validity of the Spanish version. Results The study proved the comprehensibility, validity, feasibility, applicability and usefulness of the Spanish version of the EMPATHIC-N in the field of paediatric health after being evaluated by 19 professionals and 60 parents. The content validity was found to be excellent (0.93). The reliability and convergent validity of the Spanish version of the EMPHATIC-N was analysed in a sample of 65 completed questionnaires. The Cronbach α for each domain was greater than 0.7, indicating a high internal consistency. We assessed validity by analysing the correlation of the 5 domains with the with the 4 general satisfaction items. The validity was found to be adequate (rs, 0.4-0.76; P < .01). Conclusions The Spanish version of the EMPATHIC-N questionnaire is a comprehensible, useful, valid and reliable instrument to measure satisfaction in the parents of children admitted to neonatal care units

The QUIJOTE experiment: project overview and first results

QUIJOTE (Q-U-I JOint TEnerife) is a new polarimeter aimed to characterize the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background and other Galactic and extragalactic signals at medium and large angular scales in the frequency range 10-40 GHz. The multi-frequency (10-20~GHz) instrument, mounted on the first QUIJOTE telescope, saw first light on November 2012 from the Teide Observatory (2400~m a.s.l). During 2014 the second telescope has been installed at this observatory. A second instrument at 30~GHz will be ready for commissioning at this telescope during summer 2015, and a third additional instrument at 40~GHz is now being developed. These instruments will have nominal sensitivities to detect the B-mode polarization due to the primordial gravitational-wave component if the tensor-to-scalar ratio is larger than r=0.05.Comment: To appear in "Highlights of Spanish Astrophysics VIII", Proceedings of the XI Scientific Meeting of the Spanish Astronomical Society, Teruel, Spain (2014

Trajectories of alcohol consumption during life and the risk of developing breast cancer

Background: Whether there are lifetime points of greater sensitivity to the deleterious effects of alcohol intake on the breasts remains inconclusive. Objective: To compare the influence of distinctive trajectories of alcohol consumption throughout a woman’s life on development of breast cancer (BC). Methods: 1278 confirmed invasive BC cases and matched (by age and residence) controls from the Epi-GEICAM study (Spain) were used. The novel group-based trajectory modelling was used to identify different alcohol consumption trajectories throughout women’s lifetime. Results: Four alcohol trajectories were identified. The first comprised women (45%) with low alcohol consumption (<5 g/day) throughout their life. The second included those (33%) who gradually moved from a low alcohol consumption in adolescence to a moderate in adulthood (5 to <15 g/day), never having a high consumption; and oppositely, women in the third trajectory (16%) moved from moderate consumption in adolescence, to a lower consumption in adulthood. Women in the fourth (6%) moved from a moderate alcohol consumption in adolescence to the highest consumption in adulthood (=15 g/day), never having a low alcohol consumption. Comparing with the first trajectory, the fourth doubled BC risk (OR 2.19; 95% CI 1.27, 3.77), followed by the third (OR 1.44; 0.96, 2.16) and ultimately by the second trajectory (OR 1.17; 0.86, 1.58). The magnitude of BC risk was greater in postmenopausal women, especially in those with underweight or normal weight. When alcohol consumption was independently examined at each life stage, =15 g/day of alcohol consumption in adolescence was strongly associated with BC risk followed by consumption in adulthood. Conclusions: The greater the alcohol consumption accumulated throughout life, the greater the risk of BC, especially in postmenopausal women. Alcohol consumption during adolescence may particularly influence BC risk. © 2021, The Author(s)