Microbiota analysis of biofilms on experimental abutments mimicking dental implants: an in vivo model

Background: the microbiota colonizing dental implants has been said to be similar to the microbiome surrounding teeth. In the absence of inflammation, a biofilm with pathologic bacteria can cover implant surfaces exposed to the oral cavity, for example, due to a remodeling process. The aim of the present study is to identify microbiota surrounding exposed dental implants in patients with and without a history of periodontitis through a deep-sequencing approach. Methods: an experimental abutment with the same surface and structure as a commercially available dental implant was used. Bacterial DNA was isolated, and the 16S ribosomal RNA gene was amplified and sequenced. Multiplexed tag-encoded sequencing of DNA from the samples was performed, and the reads were processed by metagenomic rapid annotation.Results: a wide variety of bacteria, 96 species, were identified. The most frequently found bacteria were Fusobacterium nucleatum and Prevotella denticola. Some species generally associated with periodontitis were found to a greater extent in patients without a history of periodontitis. Some bacteria that have never been described as part of the oral microbiome were identified in the present sample.Conclusions: analysis of data suggests that the bacteria surrounding exposed dental implants form a diverse microbiome regardless of the periodontal profile of patients. Further research is needed to clarify the role of these microorganisms in the oral environment

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Evaluation of circulating type I procollagen propeptides in patients with Paget's disease of bone

We evaluated circulating aminoterminal and carboxyterminal propeptides of type I procollagen and total alkaline phosphatase levels in eighty consecutive patients affected by Paget's disease of bone. We compared the biochemical data with the extent of bone disease calculated on the basis of the bone scintigraphic indices. Serum aminoterminal propeptide of type I procollagen levels were high in 77% of patients, serum carboxyterminal propeptide of type I procollagen levels in 22% and serum total alkaline phosphatase levels in 76%. We found significant correlations between the three markers studied. The three biochemical markers correlated significantly with the bone scintigraphic activity indices, but the highest correlation coefficient was between the aminoterminal propeptide and total alkaline phosphatase. We conclude that there is a discrepancy between serum levels of the propeptides studied in relation to Paget's disease of bone. The sensitivity of the carboxyterminal propeptide of type I procollagen in this disease is low. In contrast the aminoterminal propeptide may be as sensitive a marker for the evaluation of this disorder as total alkaline phosphatase, and in addition may be more specific

El compromís de l'estudiant davan del seu procés d'aprenentatge. 'Compromís per aprendre'

Per afavorir que els estudiants siguin responsables del seu aprenentatge i augmentar el seu grau de compromís, a l'assignatura de Fisiologia i Fisiopatologia I (Grau de Farmàcia) s'han realitzat enquestes als estudiants. El grau de compromís expressat pels estudiants s'ha relacionat amb indicadors qualitatius com ara les qualificacions obtingudes. Els resultats indiquen que la implicació dels estudiants és encara força baixa i per tant es conclou que cal estimular encara més la seva participació i el seu compromís

El compromís de l’estudiant com a estratègia per a la millora de l’aprenentatge en l’assignatura de Fisiologia i Fisiopatologia I

Per a què el procés d’aprenentatge en educació superior es doni de forma activa, cal la implicació tant de professors com d’alumnes. El professorat universitari, apart de les tasques docents tradicionals, planifica tota una sèrie d’activitats per afavorir la interpretació de la informació per part de l’alumne i la generació del coneixement. Tot i això, si es pretén que els alumnes adquireixin determinades actituds i coneixements, cal fer èmfasi sobre el què es vol que facin. Així, aquest treball té com a objectiu general afavorir, a través de la reflexió, que els estudiants a l’assignatura de Fisiologia i Fisiopatologia I (Grau de Farmàcia) es responsabilitzin del seu aprenentatge i potenciar el seu grau de compromís del que cal i s’espera que facin. Per assolir aquest objectiu, s’han realitzat enquestes (grau de compromís) als estudiants a l’inici i al final de curs. Els resultats obtinguts amb l’anàlisi del grau de compromís expressat pels estudiants, s’han relacionat amb les qualificacions obtingudes en les diferents activitats plantejades durant el curs i amb l’avaluació final. L’anàlisi final, indica que la implicació dels estudiants és encara força baixa i per tant es conclou que cal estimular encara més la seva participació i el seu compromís.Programa de Millora i Innovació Docent, UB, 2014PID-UB/011.Grup d’Innovació Docent “Ensenyar a aprendre Fisiologia (GIDCUB-11/EAF) Grup d’Innovació Docent “Alternatives metodològiques en Fisiologia i Fisiopatologia” GIDCUB-11/MFF Grup d’Innovació Docent “Unitat de Laboratoris Docents” GIDCUB-11/UL

An open access database for the evaluation of heart sound algorithms

This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article published in Physiological Measurement. IOP Publishing Ltd is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it. The Version of Record is available online at https://doi.org/10.1088/0967-3334/37/12/2181In the past few decades, analysis of heart sound signals (i.e. the phonocardiogram or PCG), especially for automated heart sound segmentation and classification, has been widely studied and has been reported to have the potential value to detect pathology accurately in clinical applications. However, comparative analyses of algorithms in the literature have been hindered by the lack of high-quality, rigorously validated, and standardized open databases of heart sound recordings. This paper describes a public heart sound database, assembled for an international competition, the PhysioNet/Computing in Cardiology (CinC) Challenge 2016. The archive comprises nine different heart sound databases sourced from multiple research groups around the world. It includes 2435 heart sound recordings in total collected from 1297 healthy subjects and patients with a variety of conditions, including heart valve disease and coronary artery disease. The recordings were collected from a variety of clinical or nonclinical (such as in-home visits) environments and equipment. The length of recording varied from several seconds to several minutes. This article reports detailed information about the subjects/patients including demographics (number, age, gender), recordings (number, location, state and time length), associated synchronously recorded signals, sampling frequency and sensor type used. We also provide a brief summary of the commonly used heart sound segmentation and classification methods, including open source code provided concurrently for the Challenge. A description of the PhysioNet/CinC Challenge 2016, including the main aims, the training and test sets, the hand corrected annotations for different heart sound states, the scoring mechanism, and associated open source code are provided. In addition, several potential benefits from the public heart sound database are discussed.This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant R01-EB001659 from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) and R01GM104987 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.Liu, C.; Springer, DC.; Li, Q.; Moody, B.; Abad Juan, RC.; Li, Q.; Moody, B.... (2016). An open access database for the evaluation of heart sound algorithms. Physiological Measurement. 37(12):2181-2213. doi:10.1088/0967-3334/37/12/2181S21812213371

Correlation between biological responses in vitro and in vivo to Ca-doped sol-gel coatings assessed using proteomic analysis

Poor correlation between the results of in vitro testing and the subsequent in vivo experiments hinders the design of biomaterials. Thus, new characterisation methods are needed. This study used proteomic and histological techniques to analyse the effects of Ca-doped biomaterials in vitro and in vivo and verify the correlation between the two systems. The sol-gel route was employed to synthesise coatings functionalised with 0.5 and 5 wt% of CaCl2. Morphology of the coatings was examined using SEM; the Ca2+ ion release from the materials was analysed by means of ICP-AES spectroscopy. The osteogenic and inflammatory responses were inspected in vitro in human osteoblasts (HOb) and TPH-1 monocytes. The in vivo experiments used a rabbit model. The nLC-MS/MS-based proteomic methods were utilised to analyse the proteins adhering to the material samples incubated with human serum or examine protein expression in the tissues close to the implants. Ca-doped biomaterials caused a remarkable increase in the adsorption of coagulation-related proteins, both in vitro (PLMN, THRB, FIBA and VTNC) and in vivo (FBLN1, G1U978). Enhanced affinity to these materials was also observed for proteins involved in inflammation (CO5, C4BPA, IGHM and KV302 in vitro; CARD6, DDOST and CD14 in vivo) and osteogenic functions (TETN, PEDF in vitro; FBN1, AHSG, MYOC in vivo). The results obtained using different techniques were well matched, with a good correlation between the in vitro and in vivo experiments. Thus, the proteomic analysis of biological responses to biomaterials in vitro is a useful tool for predicting their impact in vivo

Neuroanatomic-based detection algorithm for automatic labeling of brain structures in brain injury

The number and grade of injured neuroanatomic structures and the type of injury determine the degree of impairment after a brain injury event and the recovery options of the patient. However, the body of knowledge and clinical intervention guides are basically focused on functional disorder and they still do not take into account the location of injuries. The prognostic value of location information is not known in detail either. This paper proposes a feature-based detection algorithm, named Neuroanatomic-Based Detection Algorithm (NBDA), based on SURF (Speeded Up Robust Feature) to label anatomical brain structures on cortical and sub-cortical areas. Themain goal is to register injured neuroanatomic structures to generate a database containing patient?s structural impairment profile. This kind of information permits to establish a relation with functional disorders and the prognostic evolution during neurorehabilitation procedures

Application of Multi-core and GPU Architectures on Signal Processing: Case Studies

In this article part of the techniques and developments we are carrying out within the INCO2 group are reported. Results follow the interdisciplinary approach with which we tackle signal processing applications. Chosen case studies show different stages of development: We present algorithms already completed which are being used in practical applications as well as new ideas that may represent a starting point, and which are expected to deliver good results in a short and medium term