Wing morphometrics for identification of forensically important blowflies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) in Iberian Peninsula

Calliphoridae is a family of Diptera of great forensic interest because some of its species belong to the sarcosaprophagous diptera community, as their larvae are necrophagous or necrophilous. In the Iberian Peninsula there are six species that stand out, as they are the first insects to arrive at carrion: Calliphora vicina, Calliphora vomitoria, Lucilia sericata, Lucilia caesar, Chrysomya albiceps and Chrysomya megacephala. To differentiate among these blowflies, we compared the value of using traditional and geometric morphometrics by performing a morphometric analysis of the wings (shape and size). A total of 600 individuals were considered, segregated by species and sex equally. Seventeen landmarks per wing were recognized, and then centroid size and shape analyses were performed using geometric morphometrics, and size using traditional morphometrics, to identify species and sex. The results showed differences in shape among the species and it was found that landmarks 2 to 11 were the most variable, while the landmarks located at the base of the wings were relatively stable. However, according to both traditional and geometric morphometrics, no significant differences were found among species in wing size (Calliphora vicina, Chrysomya megacephala and Lucilia caesar were indistinguishable), but females were larger than males (except for the two Chrysomya species). Our results indicate that the use of geometric morphometrics to analyze wing configuration (shape) is an easy-to-use tool that helps to distinguish among common blowfly species of forensic importance.AMS was supported by projects of University of Alicante (No. GRE09-27) and Generalitat Valenciana (No. GV2011/039)

Psychological Responses According to Gender during the Early Stage of COVID-19 in Spain

Background: Current research has pointed out an increased risk of mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic in women compared to men, however the reason for this difference remains unclear. The aim of this research is to study early psychological responses to the pandemic in the Spanish general population, focusing on gender differences. Methods: Nine to 14 days after the declaration of a state of emergency an online survey was conducted assessing sociodemographic, health, behavioral and COVID-19-related variables. Mental health status was evaluated by the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), and the Self-Care Scale (SCS). Results: The study included 3520 respondents: 2611 women and 909 men. Women scored significantly higher in DASS-21 and IES-R (p < 0.05) and were more likely to somatize, suffer from hypochondriasis, sleeping disturbances and claustrophobia (p < 0.05). Being a woman can be considered a risk factor for intrusive thoughts, avoidance mechanisms, stress and anxiety (Odd Ratio = 2.7/2.3/2.3/1.6). The risk of presenting posttraumatic symptoms and emotional distress was greater in women (Odd Ratio = 6.77/4.59). General linear models to predict IES-R and DASS-21 scores clarified which variables were gender specific, such as main concerns. Conclusions: This study provides evidence that at early stages of the pandemic, women mental health was more impacted and that both genders show different concerns. Gender perspective in secondary and tertiary prevention strategies must be taken into account when facing the distress associated with the pandemicS

Role of drug transporters in the sensitivity of acute myeloid leukemia to sorafenib

[EN]Chemoresistance often limits the success of the pharmacological treatment in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. Although positive results have been obtained with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), such as sorafenib, especially in patients with Fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3)-positive AML, the success of chemotherapy is very heterogeneous.The sensitivity to sorafenib-induced cell death (MTT test and anexin V/7-AAD method) was evaluated in five different cell lines: MOLM-13, OCI-AML2, HL-60, HEL and K-562. The transportome was characterized by measuring mRNA using RT-qPCR. Drug uptake/efflux was determined by flow cytometry using specific substrates and inhibitors. The cytostatic response to sorafenib was: MOLM-13»OCI-AML2>HL- 60>HEL≈K-562. Regarding efflux pumps, MDR1 was highly expressed in HEL>K- 562≈MOLM-13, but not in OCI-AML2 and HL-60. BCRP and MPR3 expression was low in all cell lines, whereas MRP4 and MRP5 expression was from moderate to high. Flow cytometry studies demonstrated that MRP4, but not MRP5, was functional

Application of machine learning techniques to help in the feature selection related to hospital readmissions of suicidal behavior

Producción CientíficaSuicide was the main source of death from external causes in Spain in 2020, with 3,941 cases. The importance of identifying those mental disorders that influenced hospital readmissions will allow us to manage the health care of suicidal behavior. The feature selection of each hospital in this region was carried out by applying Machine learning (ML) and traditional statistical methods. The results of the characteristics that best explain the readmissions of each hospital after assessment by the psychiatry specialist are presented. Adjustment disorder, alcohol abuse, depressive syndrome, personality disorder, and dysthymic disorder were selected for this region. The most influential methods or characteristics associated with suicide were benzodiazepine poisoning, suicidal ideation, medication poisoning, antipsychotic poisoning, and suicide and/or self-harm by jumping. Suicidal behavior is a concern in our society, so the results are relevant for hospital management and decision-making for its prevention.Publicación en abierto financiada por el Consorcio de Bibliotecas Universitarias de Castilla y León (BUCLE), con cargo al Programa Operativo 2014ES16RFOP009 FEDER 2014-2020 DE CASTILLA Y LEÓN, Actuación:20007-CL - Apoyo Consorcio BUCL

Desarrollo de herramientas docentes y materiales prácticos para la enseñanza virtual de asignaturas de Fisiología Humana para alumnos de Grado y Máster

Memoria ID-139. Ayudas de la Universidad de Salamanca para la innovación docente, curso 2020-2021

COVIDGR Dataset and COVID-SDNet Methodology for Predicting COVID-19 Based on Chest X-Ray Images

Currently, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), one of the most infectious diseases in the 21st century, is diagnosed using RT-PCR testing, CT scans and/or Chest X-Ray (CXR) images. CT (Computed Tomography) scanners and RT-PCR testing are not available in most medical centers and hence in many cases CXR images become the most time/cost effective tool for assisting clinicians in making decisions. Deep learning neural networks have a great potential for building COVID-19 triage systems and detecting COVID-19 patients, especially patients with low severity. Unfortunately, current databases do not allow building such systems as they are highly heterogeneous and biased towards severe cases. This article is three-fold: (i) we demystify the high sensitivities achieved by most recent COVID-19 classification models, (ii) under a close collaboration with Hospital Universitario Clínico San Cecilio, Granada, Spain, we built COVIDGR-1.0, a homogeneous and balanced database that includes all levels of severity, from normal with Positive RT-PCR, Mild, Moderate to Severe. COVIDGR-1.0 contains 426 positive and 426 negative PA (PosteroAnterior) CXR views and (iii) we propose COVID Smart Data based Network (COVID-SDNet) methodology for improving the generalization capacity of COVID-classification models. Our approach reaches good and stable results with an accuracy of 97.72%±0.95% , 86.90%±3.20% , 61.80%±5.49% in severe, moderate and mild COVID-19 severity levels. Our approach could help in the early detection of COVID-19. COVIDGR-1.0 along with the severity level labels are available to the scientific community through this link https://dasci.es/es/transferencia/open-data/covidgr/This work was supported by the project DeepSCOP-Ayudas Fundación BBVA a Equipos de Investigación Científica en Big Data 2018, COVID19_RX-Ayudas Fundación BBVA a Equipos de Investigación Científica SARS-CoV-2 y COVID-19 2020, and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology under the project TIN2017-89517-P. S. Tabik was supported by the Ramon y Cajal Programme (RYC-2015-18136). A. Gómez-Ríos was supported by the FPU Programme FPU16/04765. D. Charte was supported by the FPU Programme FPU17/04069. J. Suárez was supported by the FPU Programme FPU18/05989. E.G was supported by the European Research Council (ERC Grant agreement 647038 [BIODESERT])

Visual memory dysfunction as a neurocognitive endophenotype in bipolar disorder patients and their unaffected relatives. Evidence from a 5-year follow-up Valencia study

BACKGROUND: Scarce research has focused on Visual Memory (VM) deficits as a possible neurocognitive endophenotype of bipolar disorder (BD). The main aim of this longitudinal, family study with healthy controls was to explore whether VM dysfunction represents a neurocognitive endophenotype of BD. METHODS: Assessment of VM by Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (ROCF) was carried out on a sample of 317 subjects, including 140 patients with BD, 60 unaffected first-degree relatives (BD-Rel), and 117 genetically-unrelated healthy controls (HC), on three occasions over a 5-year period (T1, T2, and T3). BD-Rel group scores were analyzed only at T1 and T2. RESULTS: Performance of BD patients was significantly worse than the HC group (p < 0.01). Performance of BD-Rel was also significantly different from HC scores at T1 (p < 0.01) and T2 (p?=?0.05), and showed an intermediate profile between the BD and HC groups. Only among BD patients, there were significant differences according to sex, with females performing worse than males (p?=?0.03). Regarding other variables, education represented significant differences only in average scores of BD-Rel group (p?=?0.01). LIMITATIONS: Important attrition in BD-Rel group over time was detected, which precluded analysis at T3. CONCLUSIONS: BD patients show significant deficits in VM that remain stable over time, even after controlling sociodemographic and clinical variables. Unaffected relatives also show stable deficits in VM. Accordingly, the deficit in VM could be considered a potential endophenotype of BD, which in turn may be useful as a predictor of the evolution of the disease. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings.VB-M is supported by the national grant PI16/01770 (PROBILIFE Study), from the ISCIII. RTS was supported in part by grant PROMETEOII/2015/021 from Generalitat Valenciana and the national grands PI14/00894, PI17/00719 and PIE14/00031 from ISCIII-FEDER. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Immune defects associated with lower SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine response in aged people

The immune factors associated with impaired SARS-CoV-2 vaccine response in elderly people are mostly unknown. We studied individuals older than 60 and younger than 60 years, who had been vaccinated with SARS-CoV-2 BNT162b2 mRNA, before and after the first and second dose. Aging was associated with a lower anti–RBD IgG levels and a decreased magnitude and polyfunctionality of SARS-CoV-2–specific T cell response. The dramatic decrease in thymic function in people > 60 years, which fueled alteration in T cell homeostasis, and their lower CD161+ T cell levels were associated with decreased T cell response 2 months after vaccination. Additionally, deficient DC homing, activation, and TLR-mediated function, along with a proinflammatory functional profile in monocytes, were observed in the > 60-year-old group, which was also related to lower specific T cell response after vaccination. These findings might be relevant for the improvement of the current vaccination strategies and for the development of new vaccine prototypes.This work was supported by the Consejería de Transformación Económica, Industria, Conocimiento y Universidades, Junta de Andalucía grants CV20-85418 and P20_00906 and by research contracts DOC-01659 and DOC-00963, as well as by Consejería de Salud, Junta de Andalucía research contract RH-0037-2020 and Instituto de Salud Carlos III CP19/00159, FI17/00186, FI19/00083, PI19/01127, and CM20/00243 from Fondos FEDER. ERM was supported by the Spanish Research Council (CSIC). We thank all the community volunteers, participants from the IBiS, Chema Niño, and the nursing staff from Virgen del Rocío University Hospital who have taken part in this project. We also thank Alicia Gutierrez and Esperanza Muñoz for reviewing the manuscript. In memoriam Silvio Manuel Pérez Martín.Peer reviewe

Fomento de la inserción laboral desde el aprendizaje servicio y emprendimiento social en los estudiantes del grado de trabajo social

Este proyecto ha seguido las principales líneas definidas en anteriores proyectos de innovación entre los que se encuentran: 1. El Proyecto de Innovación y Mejora de la Calidad Docente de la Convocatoria 2016/2017, con el nº 109, con el tema: “El impulso del emprendimiento como competencia transversal en los estudiantes del Grado de Trabajo Social”, premiado en la VII EDICIÓN de PREMIOS EMPRENDEDOR UNIVERSITARIO UCM, en la 4ª modalidad de Premio Innova docente. 2. El Proyecto de innovación y Mejora de la Calidad Docente de la Convocatoria 2017/2018, con el nº 54, con el tema: “ Red de Empleabilidad y Emprendimiento en los estudiantes del Grado de Trabajo Social” Se ha seguido investigando sobre el emprendimiento social como competencia transversal “iniciativa y espíritu emprendedor” en las asignaturas de: 1. Bases Teóricas del Trabajo Social, 2º Practicum (donde debe realizarse un Proyecto Social); 3. en el Trabajo Fin de Grado (TFG), ayudando a configurar el perfil profesional del alumnado, visualizando nuevas formas de dar respuesta a las necesidades de la población. En otras universidades españolas estos proyectos de innovación, son definidos en sus convocatorias como proyectos de investigación en innovación ya que la innovación conlleva un previo trabajo de investigación. Estas universidades reconocen la investigación que se realiza. En esta línea se encuentran universidades como la Universidad de Alicante, la Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), la Universidad de Barcelona, etc., que definen la convocatoria como redes de investigación e innovación. Este reconocimiento y acreditación ha sido solicitado a la Universidad Complutense el 30 de Junio de 2016 por email. La existencia de emprendedores sociales como referentes históricos que vincularon su actividad universitaria con la innovación social y el progreso de la humanidad, justifican esta línea de trabajo. En este sentido se ha continuado con el Proyecto de Aprendizaje Servicio “UCM_MEDIMAYOR_ ALUMNI”, de formación en mediación a un grupo de mayores pertenecientes al Centro de Día Peñagrande del Ayuntamiento de Madrid. La responsabilidad social de la universidad, puede encontrase en esta función ya que se ha potenciado la adquisición de competencias profesionales a través de la colaboración en la sociedad Se ha continuado trabajando el fortalecimiento del emprendimiento social relacionado con el desarrollo social y humano, para la realización de una sociedad más equitativa y participativa desde distintas iniciativas que motiven la participación y la cooperación en esta sociedad desde sus instituciones. Entre los resultados obtenidos está la presentación a los estudiantes de buenas prácticas de emprendedores sociales y de estudiantes que han conseguido su inserción laboral, con el fin de incentivar la generación de nuevas experiencias en los estudiantes del Grado de Trabajo Social. Se destaca el hecho de que 12 estudiantes han terminado con un contrato de trabajo en su centro de practicas externas

Epidemiologic Features and Control Measures during Monkeypox Outbreak, Spain, June 2022

During June 2022, Spain was one of the countries most affected worldwide by a multicountry monkeypox outbreak with chains of transmission without identified links to disease-endemic countries. We provide epidemiologic features of cases reported in Spain and the coordinated measures taken to respond to this outbreak.S