Las actividades musicales preferidas de la voz de los propios niños y niñas de cuatro años. Un estudio de caso

Esta investigación, que forma parte de un estudio más extenso, tiene como objetivo conocer de la voz de los propios niños y niñas cuál es su actividad musical preferida. Con esta finalidad, se selecciona una muestra de cinco niños y niñas de cuatro años de edad que asisten a la misma escuela de música y centro escolar en la provincia de Tarragona. La profesora de sensibilización musical ejerce a su vez de investigadora. Los datos para este objetivo se recogen mediante dos técnicas: la entrevista, que se realiza en casa de cada uno de los participantes y se apoya en diferentes imágenes para facilitar la expresión de los pequeños, y la narrativa visual, en la que se les pide dibujar su actividad musical preferida y compartirla con los demás. Los resultados reflejan las preferencias fluctuantes de los participantes con una clara predilección por aquellas actividades que implican hacer música con instrumentos u objetos sonoros y aquellas que conllevan una respuesta a la música mediante el juego.The goal of this research, which is part of a larger study, was to find out favorite musical activities from children themselves. To this end, we selected a sample of five four-year-olds who attended the same music school and preschool in the province of Tarragona. The teacher responsible for developing musical awareness simultaneously acted as a researcher. Two methods were used to collect data: interviews, which were conducted at each of the participants' homes and supported by different images to help the children express themselves; and visual narratives, where the children were asked to draw their favorite musical activity and share it with the others. The results reflect the fluctuating preferences of the participants, but with a clear predilection for those activities that involve making music with instruments or through sound effects and those that entail a response to music through games

Assessment of cytotoxicity in ten strains of Gambierdiscus australes from Macaronesian Islands by neuro-2a cell-based assays

Within the dinoflagellate genus Gambierdiscus several species are well-known producers of ciguatoxins (CTXs) and maitotoxins (MTXs). These compounds are potent marine toxins that accumulate through the food chain, leading to a foodborne disease known as ciguatera when contaminated fish is consumed. Given the threat that the presence of these toxins in seafood may pose to human health and fisheries, there is an evident necessity to assess the potential toxicity of Gambierdiscus sp. in a particular area. Thus, the purpose of this work was to evaluate the production of CTX and MTX of 10 strains of Gambierdiscus australes isolated from the Selvagem Grande Island (Madeira, Portugal) and El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain). The strains were first characterized by light microscopy and species were confirmed by molecular biology, being identified as G. australes. Following the species identification, CTX and MTX production of G. australes extracts was evaluated at the exponential growth phase using neuro-2a cell-based assays. Additionally, the production of MTX was also investigated in two of the G. australes strains collected at the stationary growth phase. Interestingly, 9 out of 10 strains were found to produce CTX-like compounds, ranging from 200 to 697 fg equiv. CTX1B cell−1. None of the G. australes strains showed MTX-like activity at the exponential phase, but MTX production was observed in two strains at the stationary growth phase (227 and 275 pg equiv. MTX cell−1). Therefore, the presence of G. australes strains potentially producing CTX and MTX in these Macaronesian Islands was confirmed.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 Expression Is Associated with the Absence of Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Patients

Biomarkers; Neoadjuvant chemotherapy; Triple-negative breast cancerBiomarcadores; Quimioterapia neoadyuvante; Cáncer de mama triple negativoBiomarcadors; Quimioteràpia neoadjuvant; Càncer de mama triple negatiuTriple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is particularly challenging due to the weak or absent response to therapeutics and its poor prognosis. The effectiveness of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) response is strongly influenced by changes in elements of the tumor microenvironment (TME). This work aimed to characterize the residual TME composition in 96 TNBC patients using immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization techniques and evaluate its prognostic implications for partial responders vs. non-responders. Compared with non-responders, partial responders containing higher levels of CD83+ mature dendritic cells, FOXP3+ regulatory T cells, and IL-15 expression but lower CD138+ cell concentration exhibited better OS and RFS. However, along with tumor diameter and positive nodal status at diagnosis, matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) expression in the residual TME was identified as an independent factor associated with the impaired response to NAC. This study yields new insights into the key components of the residual tumor bed, such as MMP-9, which is strictly associated with the lack of a pathological response to NAC. This knowledge might help early identification of TNBC patients less likely to respond to NAC and allow the establishment of new therapeutic targets.This research was supported by grants from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI13/02501 and PI11/0488) co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). ML acknowledges support from the “PATH-IMAGE” project, which was funded by ERDF (agreement 2903/335-41)

Prognostic Implications of the Residual Tumor Microenvironment after Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Patients without Pathological Complete Response

Neoadjuvant therapy; Relapse; Triple-negative breast cancerTerapia neoadyuvante; Recaída; Cáncer de mama triple negativoTeràpia neoadjuvant; Recaiguda; Càncer de mama triple negatiuWith a high risk of relapse and death, and a poor or absent response to therapeutics, the triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) subtype is particularly challenging, especially in patients who cannot achieve a pathological complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). Although the tumor microenvironment (TME) is known to influence disease progression and the effectiveness of therapeutics, its predictive and prognostic potential remains uncertain. This work aimed to define the residual TME profile after NAC of a retrospective cohort with 96 TNBC patients by immunohistochemical staining (cell markers) and chromogenic in situ hybridization (genetic markers). Kaplan–Meier curves were used to estimate the influence of the selected TME markers on five-year overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) probabilities. The risks of each variable being associated with relapse and death were determined through univariate and multivariate Cox analyses. We describe a unique tumor-infiltrating immune profile with high levels of lymphocytes (CD4, FOXP3) and dendritic cells (CD21, CD1a and CD83) that are valuable prognostic factors in post-NAC TNBC patients. Our study also demonstrates the value of considering not only cellular but also genetic TME markers such as MUC-1 and CXCL13 in routine clinical diagnosis to refine prognosis modelling.This research was supported by grants from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI13/02501 and PI11/0488) co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). ML acknowledges support from the “PATH-IMAGE” project, which was funded by ERDF (agreement 2903/335-41)

Circulating pyruvate is a potent prognostic marker for critical COVID-19 outcomes

COVID-19; Cuantificación fluorométrica; PiruvatoCOVID-19; Quantificació fluoromètrica; PiruvatCOVID-19; Fluorometric quantification; PyruvateBackground: Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) disease is driven by an unchecked immune response to the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus which alters host mitochondrial-associated mechanisms. Compromised mitochondrial health results in abnormal reprogramming of glucose metabolism, which can disrupt extracellular signalling. We hypothesized that examining mitochondrial energy-related signalling metabolites implicated in host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection would provide potential biomarkers for predicting the risk of severe COVID-19 illness. Methods: We used a semi-targeted serum metabolomics approach in 273 patients with different severity grades of COVID-19 recruited at the acute phase of the infection to determine the relative abundance of tricarboxylic acid (Krebs) cycle-related metabolites with known extracellular signaling properties (pyruvate, lactate, succinate and α-ketoglutarate). Abundance levels of energy-related metabolites were evaluated in a validation cohort (n=398) using quantitative fluorimetric assays. Results: Increased levels of four energy-related metabolites (pyruvate, lactate, a-ketoglutarate and succinate) were found in critically ill COVID-19 patients using semi-targeted and targeted approaches (p<0.05). The combined strategy proposed herein enabled us to establish that circulating pyruvate levels (p<0.001) together with body mass index (p=0.025), C-reactive protein (p=0.039), D-Dimer (p<0.001) and creatinine (p=0.043) levels, are independent predictors of critical COVID-19. Furthermore, classification and regression tree (CART) analysis provided a cut-off value of pyruvate in serum (24.54 µM; p<0.001) as an early criterion to accurately classify patients with critical outcomes. Conclusion: Our findings support the link between COVID-19 pathogenesis and immunometabolic dysregulation, and show that fluorometric quantification of circulating pyruvate is a cost-effective clinical decision support tool to improve patient stratification and prognosis prediction.This work has been developed in the framework of the COVIDOMICS’ project supported by Direcció General de Recerca i Innovació en Salut (DGRIS), Departament de Salut, Generalitat de Catalunya (PoC-6-17 and PoC1-5). The research was also funded by the Programa de Suport als Grups de Recerca AGAUR (2017SGR948), the SPANISH AIDS Research Network [RD16/0025/0006]-ISCIII-FEDER (Spain) and the Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Infecciosas-ISCIII [CB21/13/00020], Madrid, Spain. LR is supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) under grant agreement “CD20/00105” through the program “Contratos Sara Borrell”. FV is supported by grants from the Programa de Intensificación de Investigadores (INT20/00031)-ISCIII and by “Premi a la Trajectòria Investigadora dels Hospitals de l’ICS 2018”. AR is supported by a grant from IISPV through the project “2019/IISPV/05” (Boosting Young Talent), by GeSIDA through the “III Premio para Jóvenes Investigadores 2019” and by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) under grant agreement “CP19/00146” through the Miguel Servet Program. This study was also supported by grants SAF2015–65019-R and RTI2018–093919-B-100 (to SF-V.) funded by MCIN/AEI and by “ERFD A way of making Europe”; PI19/01337 to FV, PI20/00095 to VC.-M, PI20/00326 to AR and PI20/00338 to JV funded by ISCIII, cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), and from Fundación Bancaria Caixa d’Estalvis i Pensions de Barcelona (HR20-00051 to SF-V). The Spanish Biomedical Research Center in Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Disorders (CIBERDEM) (CB07708/0012) is an initiative of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III. SF-V acknowledges support from the Miguel Servet tenure-track program (CP10/00438 and CPII16/00008) from the Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria, cofinanced by the ERDF. VC-M acknowledges support from the Ramón y Cajal program (RYC2019-026490-I) from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, cofinanced by the ERDF. The work was also supported by Consejeria de Salud y Familia (COVID-0005-2020), Consejeria de Transformacion Economica, Industria, Conocimiento y Universidades Junta de Andalucia (CV20-85418to ER-M) and Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) under grant agreement CP19/00159 to AGV “a way to make Europe”. ER-M was supported by the Spanish Research Council (CSIC). The funders have no roles in study design, data collection, data analysis, interpretation or the writing of this research

Assessment of in vivo versus in vitro biofilm formation of clinical methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates from endotracheal tubes

Our aim was to demonstrate that biofilm formation in a clinical strain of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) can be enhanced by environment exposure in an endotracheal tube (ETT) and to determine how it is affected by systemic treatment and atmospheric conditions. Second, we aimed to assess biofilm production dynamics after extubation. We prospectively analyzed 70 ETT samples obtained from pigs randomized to be untreated (controls, n = 20), or treated with vancomycin (n = 32) or linezolid (n = 18). A clinical MRSA strain (MRSA-in) was inoculated in pigs to create a pneumonia model, before treating with antibiotics. Tracheally intubated pigs with MRSA severe pneumonia, were mechanically ventilated for 69 ± 16 hours. All MRSA isolates retrieved from ETTs (ETT-MRSA) were tested for their in vitro biofilm production by microtiter plate assay. In vitro biofilm production of MRSA isolates was sequentially studied over the next 8 days post-extubation to assess biofilm capability dynamics over time. All experiments were performed under ambient air (O2) or ambient air supplemented with 5% CO2. We collected 52 ETT-MRSA isolates (placebo N = 19, linezolid N = 11, and vancomycin N = 22) that were clonally identical to the MRSA-in. Among the ETT-MRSA isolates, biofilm production more than doubled after extubation in 40% and 50% under 5% CO2 and O2, respectively. Systemic antibiotic treatment during intubation did not affect this outcome. Under both atmospheric conditions, biofilm production for MRSA-in was at least doubled for 9 ETT-MRSA isolates, and assessment of these showed that biofilm production decreased progressively over a 4-day period after extubation. In conclusion, a weak biofilm producer MRSA strain significantly enhances its biofilm production within an ETT, but it is influenced by the ETT environment rather than by the systemic treatment used during intubation or by the atmospheric conditions used for bacterial growth

Bioaccessibility of lipophilic and hydrophilic marine biotoxins in seafood: An in vitro digestion approach

This study aimed to assess the bioaccessibility of different marine biotoxins in naturally contaminated shellfish and fish gonads using an in vitro digestion methodology. In general, hydrophilic toxins (domoic acid, paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins and tetrodotoxins) showed higher bioaccessibility than lipophilic ones (okadaic acid and azaspiracids). The bioaccessibility of toxins from the okadaic acid group ranged from 69% (raw European razor clams) to 74% (raw donax clams). Regarding azaspiracids, 47% of the initial content was bioaccessible in steamed blue mussel. As for hydrophilic toxins, 100% of the initial content was bioaccessible after digestion in raw shellfish and puffer fish gonads. The total tetrodotoxin bioaccessibility in puffer fish gonads decreased significantly after steaming. The profile of tetrodotoxins changed during the digestion process: TTX and 11-norTTX-6S-ol analogues decreased significantly after digestion, but the 5,6,11-trideoxy TTX analogue increased in both raw and steamed puffer fish gonads. These preliminary findings confirm the need to consider bioaccessibility data in future seafood risk assessment, as such information enables a more accurate and realistic estimation of potential seafood hazards, particularly in what concerns lipophilic toxins, therefore, constituting a crucial tool in the refinement of regulatory limits for the presence of biotoxins in seafood.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Bioaccessibility of lipophilic and hydrophilic marine biotoxins in seafood: an in vitro digestion approach

This study aimed to assess the bioaccessibility of different marine biotoxins in naturally contaminated shellfish and fish gonads using an in vitro digestion methodology. In general, hydrophilic toxins (domoic acid, paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins and tetrodotoxins) showed higher bioaccessibility than lipophilic ones (okadaic acid and azaspiracids). The bioaccessibility of toxins from the okadaic acid group ranged from 69% (raw European razor clams) to 74% (raw donax clams). Regarding azaspiracids, 47% of the initial content was bioaccessible in steamed blue mussel. As for hydrophilic toxins, 100% of the initial content was bioaccessible after digestion in raw shellfish and puffer fish gonads. The total tetrodotoxin bioaccessibility in puffer fish gonads decreased significantly after steaming. The profile of tetrodotoxins changed during the digestion process: TTX and 11-norTTX-6S-ol analogues decreased significantly after digestion, but the 5,6,11-trideoxy TTX analogue increased in both raw and steamed puffer fish gonads. These preliminary findings confirm the need to consider bioaccessibility data in future seafood risk assessment, as such information enables a more accurate and realistic estimation of potential seafood hazards, particularly in what concerns lipophilic toxins, therefore, constituting a crucial tool in the refinement of regulatory limits for the presence of biotoxins in seafood.FCT - PD/BD/113484/2015info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Psychological Well-Being in Nursing Students: A Multicentric, Cross-Sectional Study

In addition to complying with strict academic standards, nursing students must acquire relevant knowledge and skills, and learn how to carry themselves in different and often stressful professional settings. These obligations could severely affect their mental health. The purpose of this study was to examine the mental health status of undergraduate nursing students and related factors. A total of 1368 nursing students from different universities in Spain and Chile were included in this study, which took place over the 2018-2019 academic year. We assessed their levels of stress related to specific learning methodologies and determined their mental health status using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28). The results revealed that the more advanced the course was, the lower the total GHQ-28 score. The stress generated by different types of training activities had a significant effect on the total GHQ-28 score. These results suggest that nursing education could act as a protective factor against mental health disorders. Although a heavy academic workload could lead to higher levels of stress, overall, it seems that mental health is better in more advanced courses than in initial academic years