Early Gabapentin Treatment during the Latency Period Increases Convulsive Threshold, Reduces Microglial Activation and Macrophage Infiltration in the Lithium-Pilocarpine Model of Epilepsy

The lithium-pilocarpine model of epilepsy reproduces several features of temporal lobe epilepsy in humans, including the chronological timeline of an initial latency period followed by the development of spontaneous seizures. Epilepsy therapies in humans are implemented, as a rule, after the onset of the spontaneous seizures. We here studied the potential effect on epileptogenesis of starting an early treatment during the latency period, in order to prevent the development of spontaneous seizures. Adult male Wistar rats were treated with 3 mEq/kg LiCl, and 20 h later 30 mg/kg pilocarpine. Once status epilepticus (SE) was achieved, it was allowed to last for 20 min, and then motor seizures were controlled with the administration of 20 mg/kg diazepam. At 1DPSE (DPSE, days post-status epilepticus), animals started to receive 400 mg/kg/day gabapentin or saline for 4 days. At 5DPSE, we observed that SE induced an early profuse microglial and astroglial reactivity, increased synaptogenic trombospondin-1 expression and reduced AQP4 expression in astroglial ending feet. Blood brain barrier (BBB) integrity seemed to be compromised, as infiltrating NG2+ macrophages and facilitated access to the CNS was observed by transplanting eGFP+ blood cells and bone marrow-derived progenitors in the SE animals. The early 4-day gabapentin treatment successfully reduced microglial cell reactivity and blood-borne cell infiltration, without significantly altering the mRNA of proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β and TNFα immediately after the treatment. After 21DSPE, another group of animals that developed SE and received 4 days of gabapentin treatment, were re-exposed to subconvulsive accumulative doses of pilocarpine (10 mg/kg/30 min) and were followed by recording the Racine scale reached. Early 4-day gabapentin treatment reduced the Racine scale reached by the animals, reduced animal mortality, and reduced the number of animals that achieved SE (34% vs. 72%). We conclude that early gabapentin treatment following SE, during the latency period, is able to reduce neuroinflammation and produces a persistent effect that limits seizures and increases convulsive threshold, probably by restricting microglial reactivity and spurious synaptogenesis.Fil: Rossi, Alicia Raquel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia ; ArgentinaFil: Murta, Verónica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia ; ArgentinaFil: Auzmendi, Jerónimo Andrés. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia ; ArgentinaFil: Ramos, Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia ; Argentin

Perceived social support in male laryngectomized patients

En este trabajo, se realiza un estudio sobre el apoyo social percibido en una muestra de hombres operados de cáncer de laringe, realizando comparaciones con una muestra de hombres sanos, y valorando la percepción de las parejas de los hombres de ambas muestras. Los objetivos son evaluar el apoyo social percibido por los hombres operados de cáncer de laringe y establecer las diferencias respecto al apoyo social percibido entre el grupo de hombres sanos y el de operados de cáncer de laringe. La muestra se compone de 25 hombres operados de cáncer de laringe, 25 hombres sanos, 15 mujeres que eran pareja de los hombres diagnosticados de cáncer de laringe y 15 mujeres que eran pareja de los hombres sanos. Para la evaluación del apoyo social percibido, utilizamos el ISEL de Cohen et al (1983). Principalmente, encontramos que los hombres laringectomizados perciben el apoyo informacional como el menos accesible para ellos, siendo el instrumental y el emocional los que perciben en mayor medida. Entre los hombres laringectomizados y los hombres sanos, tan solo encontramos diferencias respecto a la percepción del apoyo social de tipo instrumental.It is studied the level of perceived social support in a sample of male subjects operated for larynx cancer by conducting comparisons with a sample of healthy males and assessing the perception of the partners of both groups of men. The objectives are to assess the perceived social support by men operated for larynx cancer and establish the differences with respect to the perceived social support between the group of healthy males and that of the cancer patients. The sample consisted of 25 males operated for larynx cancer, 25 healthy males, 15 female partners of the males diagnosed with cancer and 15 female partners of the healthy males. To assess perceived social support, we used the ISEL of Cohen et al (1983). Our main finding was that laryngectomized males perceive informational support as the least accessible to them, while they perceive instrumental and emotional support the most. Between laryngectomized and healthy males we only found differences in relation to the perception of social support of an instrumental nature

Coping with the Stress through Individual and Contextual Resilient Factors in Primary School Settings

Children face school stress as students through all educational stages. A negative association between resilience and stress has been demonstrated by many authors, but most of these studies have been carried out in higher educational stages. So, the aim of the present study is, on the one hand, to find out the level of stress of primary school children and also the types of stressful situations in school settings, and on the other hand, to analyze the effect of individual and contextually resilient factors on their level of school stress. The study involved 427 children between 6 and 12 years of age, who were administered the IECI school stress scale and the RES-PRIM Resilience questionnaire for children. Descriptive analyses, correlations, and regression analyses were performed on the data. Results showed an average level of school stress, with the most stressful situations being: participating in too many activities, concentration problems, and nervousness when being asked by the teacher in class. Predictive analysis showed that part of the school stress could be explained by both individual factors (self-esteem, introspection, future purpose, and social skills) and resilient contextual factors (teacher support, parental support, and peer support). It is concluded that it is necessary to pay more attention to the transitions between different educational stages with programs that reinforce academic information and encourage the development of individual resilient skills, stressing the importance of the role of teachers, peers, and parents as support groups.This study was funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation (Spain) (PID2020-115167GA-I00) and the Universitat Jaume I of Castellón (UJI-B2020-29)

Nestinþ cells direct inflammatory cell migration in atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is a leading death cause. Endothelial and smooth muscle cells participate in atherogenesis, but it is unclear whether other mesenchymal cells contribute to this process. Bone marrow (BM) nestinþ cells cooperate with endothelial cells in directing monocyte egress to bloodstream in response to infections. However, it remains unknown whether nestinþ cells regulate inflammatory cells in chronic inflammatory diseases, such as atherosclerosis. Here, we show that nestinþ cells direct inflammatory cell migration during chronic inflammation. In Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) knockout mice fed with high-fat diet, BM nestinþ cells regulate the egress of inflammatory monocytes and neutrophils. In the aorta, nestinþ stromal cells increase B30 times and contribute to the atheroma plaque. Mcp1 deletion in nestinþ cells—but not in endothelial cells only— increases circulating inflammatory cells, but decreases their aortic infiltration, delaying atheroma plaque formation and aortic valve calcification. Therefore, nestin expression marks cells that regulate inflammatory cell migration during atherosclerosis.Pro-CNIC FoundationSevero Ochoa Center of Excellence award SEV-2015-0505 to CNICWellcome Trust and MRC to the Cambridge Stem Cell InstituteMinisterio de Economía y Competitividad (RETIC Grant RD12/0042/0028 to V.A.; SAF2012-40127 to J.M-G.; Plan Nacional Grant SAF-2011-30308, Ramón y Cajal Program Grant RYC-2009-04703 and Spanish Cell Therapy Network TerCel to S.M-F.)Marie Curie Career Integration Program Grant (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-294096)ConSEPOC-Comunidad de Madrid Grant (S2010/BMD-2542)National Health Institute Blood and Transplant (United Kingdom)Horizon2020 (ERC-2014-CoG-64765)Horizon2020 (ERC-2014-CoG-64765

A remarkable new species of Agoristenidae (Arachnida, Opiliones) from Córdoba, Colombia

A new species of Leiosteninae (Opiliones, Agoristenidae) from the Colombian Caribbean, Avima tuttifrutti sp. nov. García & Pastrana-M., is described and illustrated, based on two males from the montante forests of Tierralta (Córdoba department). The new species differs externally from other species of Avima by having one yellow hump on mesotergal area IV and green coloration on dorsal scutum. SEM images of the penis and a map showing its distribution are offered. This species represents the first record of a harvestman from the department of Córdoba and the eighth species of the subfamily recorded from the country

Validation of PleaseApp: a digital tool for the assessment of receptive pragmatic abilities in children with neurodevelopmental disorders

Background: Pragmatic skills allow children to use language for social purposes, that is, to communicate and interact with people. Most children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) face pragmatic difficulties during development. Nevertheless, pragmatic skills are often only partially assessed because the existing instruments usually focus on specific aspects of pragmatics and are not always adapted to children with communication difficulties. In this sense, digital tools (e.g., apps) are an optimal method to compensate for some difficulties. Moreover, there is a lack of pragmatic tools measuring the receptive domain. Therefore, the present study aims to validate PleaseApp as a digital instrument that measures eight pragmatic skills by presenting the design of the assessment tool and its psychometric properties. Methods: PleaseApp was designed based on previous empirical studies of developmental pragmatics in children with and without NDD. PleaseApp assesses eight receptive pragmatic skills: figurative language, narrative, reference, indirect speech acts, visual and verbal humor, gesture-speech integration, politeness, and complex intentionality. The study involved 150 typically developing children between 5 and 12  years of age. Results: A confirmatory factor analysis proposes an eight-factor model with no underlying factor structure. The eight tests that compose PleaseApp have obtained a model with a good fit and with adequate reliability and validity indices. Discussion: PleaseApp is an objective, valid, and reliable tool for assessing pragmatic skills in children with NDD. In this sense, it helps to assess whether a child has acquired pragmatic skills correctly according to his/her age and clarify the specific problems a child has in eight different components to plan personal and personalized interventions

Communicative problems in schoolchildren. Differences between parents and teachers

Este trabajo trata de dilucidar el grado de acuerdo entre padres y maestros de niños/as con Trastorno Específico del Lenguaje (TEL), cuando informan de qué componente del lenguaje está afectado y/o en qué grado. La concordancia entre diversos evaluadores es un tema en controversia, puesto que las diferentes ópticas de apreciación ocasionan diferencias en el juicio emitido. Los datos de la literatura corroboran la existencia de correlaciones escasamente significativas entre sí (Bishop 1998, Massa et al. 2008) El instrumento utilizado ha sido el inventario CCC-2 (Bishop, 2003). Se trata de un medio fácil de evaluar las dificultades de comunicación en niños mayores de 4 años. Los resultados demuestran diferencias significativas en dos de las subescalas de pragmática: Estereotipias y Contexto. El resto de las subescalas no registran diferencias significativas. Las correlaciones oscilan entre el 0.41 y el 0.57. Las conclusiones especulan sobre la atribución de las diferencias a la evaluación más contextualizada por parte de los padres. “Trabajo realizado gracias a las ayudas (EDU2010-21791) del Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación y de la Fundación Caixa-Castellón (P1-1B2010-16”).This work tries to clarify the level of agreement between parents and teachers of children with language and communication difficulties who are diagnosed with Specific Language Impairment (SLI), when they have to report which area of their language is more affected and in which degree. Agreement among different assessors is usually a matter of controversy, because different perspectives and points of view can led to differences on judgments about the same person. Previous studies confirm the existence low correlations between them, almost no significant (Bishop, 1998; Massa et al.2008). In this study parents and teachers answered the CCC-2 questionnaire (Bishop, 2003) to assess communication difficulties in children older than 4 years-old. Results showed the existence of significant differences between two pragmatic sub-scales: Stereotyped behaviours and Context, but no significant differences were found in the rest of sub-scales. Correlations between parents and teachers reached values between 0.41 and 0.57. The study concludes that it is possible that these differences are due to a more contextualized assessment made by parents. “This work was possible thanks to the grant (EDU2010-21791) by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, and the grant (P1-1B2010-16) by Fundación Caixa-Castellón”

Juan de Borja y las Empresas morales. El político “capaz de hacer que no ve”

La razón de Estado ha sido un tema ampliamente estudiado desde que Nicolas Maquiavelo definió este concepto en El príncipe en 1532, aunque la locución fuera acuñada inmediatamente por Francesco Guicciardini. Desde entonces, la razón de Estado pasó a ser una cuestión inapelable para los Estados europeos conforme a sus necesidades particulares. En el caso de la Monarquía española los principales pensadores encargados de establecer los límites morales en la práctica política fueron clérigos. Juan de Borja representa la excepción a esta regla. El objeto de este Trabajo de Fin de Grado es analizar la obra de Borja, Empresas morales, desde una perspectiva política y ponerla en relación con la experiencia de su autor en el contexto de las ideas políticas de la Europa del siglo XVI.Reason of State has been a widely studied topic since Niccolo Machiavelli defined the concept in The Prince in 1532, although the locution was immediately coined by Francesco Guicciardini. From then on, the reason of State became an unappealable issue for European states according to their particular needs. In the case of the Spanish Monarchy, the main thinkers charged with carrying out this adaptation were clerics. However, Juan de Borja was the exception to this rule. The aim of this Final Degree Project is to analyse Borja’s famous work, Empresas morales, from a political perspective and to relate it to the political experience of its author and to the political context of 16th century Europe.Departamento de Historia Moderna, Contemporánea y de América, Periodismo y Comunicación Audiovisual y PublicidadGrado en Histori

Association between CCC-2 and Structural Language, Pragmatics, Social Cognition, and Executive Functions in Children with Developmental Language Disorder

Background: Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is diagnosed when the child experiences problems in language with no known underlying biomedical condition and the information required for its correct evaluation must be obtained from different contexts. The Children’s Communication Checklist (CCC-2) covers aspects of a child’s communication related to structural language and pragmatic skills, which are linked to social cognition or executive functions. The aim of this article is to examine parents’ reports using the Spanish version of the CCC-2 questionnaire and its association with different formal assessments related to communication. Methods: 30 children with DLD (3; 10–9 years old) and 39 age-matched (AM) children with typical development were assessed using formal measures of structural language, pragmatics, social cognition, and executive functions. Parents of children with DLD answered the Spanish version of the CCC-2. Results: The performance of children with DLD was lower in all the formal assessments in comparison to AM children. The CCC-2 was significantly correlated with all the direct child assessments, although only formal measures of structural language predicted both the structural language and pragmatics scales of the CCC-2. Conclusions: The CCC-2 answered by parents was consistent with formal assessments in children with DLD, and structural language seemed to be the best predictor of all the subscales