Kupfer-type immunological synapses in vivo : Raison D'être of SMAC

T cells engage with antigen-presenting cells to form immunological synapses. These intimate contacts are characterized by the complex arrangement of molecules at the intercellular interface, which has been described as the supramolecular activation cluster (SMAC). However, due to T cells functioning without SMAC formation and the difficulties of studying these complex arrangements in vivo, its biological importance has been questioned. In light of recent data, we focus this review on the putative functionality of SMACs in T-cell synaptic contacts in vivo and emphasize the therapeutic potential of SMAC manipulation in immune-driven diseases

Measuring the water content in wood using step-heating thermography and speckle patterns-preliminary results

The relationship between wood and its degree of humidity is one of the most important aspects of its use in construction and restoration. The wood presents a behavior similar to a sponge, therefore, moisture is related to its expansion and contraction. The nondestructive evaluation (NDE) of the amount of moisture in wood materials allows to define, e.g., the restoration procedures of buildings or artworks. In this work, an integrated study of two non-contact techniques is presented. Infrared thermography (IRT) was able to retrieve thermal parameters of the wood related to the amount of water added to the samples, while the interference pattern generated by speckles was used to quantify the expansion and contraction of wood that can be related to the amount of water. In twenty-seven wooded samples, a known quantity of water was added in a controlled manner. By applying advanced image processing to thermograms and specklegrams, it was possible to determine fundamental values controlling both the absorption of water and the main thermophysical parameters that link the samples. On the one hand, results here shown should be considered preliminary because the experimental values obtained by IRT need to be optimized for low water contents introduced into the samples. On the other hand, speckle interferometry by applying an innovative procedure provided robust results for both high and low water contents.This work was supported in part by the Spanish Economy and Competitiveness Minister under project TEC2016-76021-C2-2-R; Jose Castillejo Grant CAS17-00216 by the Spanish Minister of Education, Culture and Sports

Influence of quality of life related to perceived foot health between in a rural an urban population: A case–control research

Foot problems are very common in the community. Studies indicate that between 18% and 63% of people have foot pain or stiffness and that foot problems have a large impact on people's functional decline and a significant detrimental impact on measures of quality of life related to health. The general objective of this research was to compare foot health in people from the rural population compared to people from the urban population and its relationship with quality of life. A case–control descriptive study was developed with a sample of 304 patients, 152 patients from the rural population and 152 patients from the urban population. Quality of life was measured through the SF-36 Health Questionnaire in its Spanish version. The rural population group had a mean age of 46.67 ± 13.69 and the urban population group 49.02 ± 18.29. Regarding the score of the lowest levels of quality of life related to foot problems, the rural population group compared to the urban population group showed: for body pain (52.21 ± 30.71 vs. 67.80 ± 25.28, p < 0.001); and for mental health (69.58 ± 18.98 vs. 64.60 ± 14.88, p < 0.006). Differences between groups were analysed using Student's t-test for independent samples, which showed statistical significance (p < 0.05). This research offers evidence that the rural population presents better levels of mental health and lower levels of bodily pain in the domains of the SF-36 Health Questionnaire comparing with the urban population.Departamento de Biología Ambiental y Salud Públic

Phagocytic glioblastoma-associated microglia and macrophages populate invading pseudopalisades

Altres ajuts: This project was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, and the European Regional Development Fund (Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, FEDER;), Generalitat de Catalunya, Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and by the Asociación Española Contra el Cancer (AECC).Hypoxic pseudopalisades are a pathological hallmark of human glioblastoma, which is linked to tumour malignancy and aggressiveness. Yet, their function and role in the tumour development have scarcely been explored. It is thought that pseudopalisades are formed by malignant cells escaping from the hypoxic environment, although evidence of the immune component of pseudopalisades has been elusive. In the present work, we analyse the immunological constituent of hypoxic pseudopalisades using high-resolution three-dimensional confocal imaging in tissue blocks from excised tumours of glioblastoma patients and mimic the hypoxic gradient in microfluidic platforms in vitro to understand the cellular motility. We visualize that glioblastoma-associated microglia and macrophages abundantly populate pseudopalisades, displaying an elongated kinetic morphology across the pseudopalisades, and are oriented towards the necrotic focus. In vitro experiments demonstrate that under hypoxic gradient, microglia show a particular motile behaviour characterized by the increase of cellular persistence in contrast with glioma cells. Importantly, we show that glioblastoma-associated microglia and macrophages utilize fibres of glioma cells as a haptotactic cue to navigate along the anisotropic structure of the pseudopalisades and display a high phagocytic activity at the necrotic border of the pseudopalisades. In this study, we demonstrate that glioblastoma-associated microglia and macrophages are the main immune cells of pseudopalisades in glioblastoma, travelling to necrotic areas to clear the resulting components of the prothrombotic milieu, suggesting that the scavenging features of glioblastoma-associated microglia and macrophages at the pseudopalisades serve as an essential counterpart for glioma cell invasion. In this article, Saavedra-Lopez and colleagues described that glioblastoma-associated microglia and macrophages infiltrate hypoxic pseudopalisades, a well-known invading niche of extremely aggressive brain tumours. They show these highly motile immune cells with great phagocytic capacity as a counterpart of the glioma cell invasion

Impact of ankylosing spondylitis on foot health and quality of life: an observational case–control study.

Background: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic, inflammatory, and autoimmune disease. This condition primarily affects the axial skeleton and presents direct foot involvement, such as Achilles enthesitis or plantar fascia involvement. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the impact of foot health on the quality of life of individuals with AS compared to a control group without AS. Materials and methods: A sample of 112 subjects was recruited, with a mean age of 46.80 ± 10.49 years, divided into two groups: 56 individuals with AS (cases) and 56 individuals without AS (controls). Demographic data were collected, and the scores obtained in the Foot Health Status Questionnaire domains were recorded.Results: Of the participants, 27.79% (N = 30) were men and 73.21% (N = 82) were women. The mean age in the group was 46.80 ± 10.49. Significant differences (p < 0.05) were found in the domains of foot function, foot pain, footwear, overall foot health, general health-related physical activity, and social capacity between the AS group and the control group. Conclusion: Individuals with AS exhibited a decreased quality of life, as indicated by their Foot Health Status Questionnaire scores

Estrategias claves para la selección de personal en la empresa Las Mazamorras de Urabá

Encuesta semiestructurada y entrevista semiestructuradaEste proyecto está enfocado a las principales estrategias de selección de personal utilizadas por la empresa Las Mazamorras de Urabá, para lo cual se ha empezado con un diagnóstico que permita identificar las diferentes técnicas y procesos utilizados por la empresa para cubrir las vacantes existentes y retener al mejor talento, además se detallan las tendencias y formas más adecuadas de selección de personal, reducción de los tiempos en estos procesos y también mejorar la visión de posibles candidatos a ocupar las vacantes y así tomar las mejores decisiones, si bien la empresa no tiene un proceso definido y estructurado para seleccionar su personal si adelantan procesos de entrevistas por recomendaciones directas o sugerencias de algún amigo, de igual forma durante el proyecto se logra conocer el clima laboral de la empresa y se sugieren algunas recomendaciones para mejorar los procesos.This project is focused on the main personnel selection strategies used by the company Las Mazamorras de Urabá, for which it has begun with a diagnosis that allows identifying the different techniques and processes used by the company to fill existing vacancies and retain employees. best talent, the trends and the most appropriate forms of personnel selection are detailed, reduction of time in these processes and also improve the vision of possible candidates to fill vacancies and thus make the best decisions, although the company does not have a Defined and structured process to select your staff if they carry out interview processes based on direct recommendations or suggestions from a friend, in the same way, during the project, it is possible to know the company's work environment and some recommendations are suggested to improve the processes

Immunometabolic Profile Associated with Progressive Damage of the Intestinal Mucosa in Adults Screened for Colorectal Cancer: Association with Diet

Environmental factors such as diet and lifestyle have been shown to influence the development of some intestinal mucosal lesions that may be precursors of colorectal cancer (CRC). The presence of these alterations seems to be associated with misbalanced immunological parameter levels. However, it is still unclear as to which immunological parameters are altered in each phase of CRC development. In this work, we aimed to study the potential relationships of immunological and metabolic parameters with diet in a CRC-related lesion context. Dietary information was obtained using an annual semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) from 93 volunteers classified via colonoscopy examination according to the presence of intestinal polyps or adenocarcinoma. Cytokines, chemokines, and adipokines were determined from serum samples. We observed a reduction in adiponectin according to the damage to the mucosa, accompanied by an increase and decrease in C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 10 (CXCL10) and resistin, respectively, in CRC cases. The presence of aberrant crypt foci (ACF) in the polyp group was associated with higher tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-&alpha;) concentrations. Vegetables were directly correlated with adiponectin and resistin levels, while the opposite occurred with red meat. A bioactive compound, soluble pectin, showed a negative association with TNF-&alpha;. Future dietary strategies could be developed to modulate specific immunological parameters in the context of CRC

Costos directos de producción en la rentabilidad del cultivo de la papaya en la provincia de Mariscal Cáceres

The research is mainly focused on establishing the domain of direct production costs and profitability of papaya cultivation in the Province of Mariscal Cáceres. It is justified, because it will help us to contrast the praxis with the theory developed on the influence of agricultural products based on the costs of production. The objective is to determine the influence of direct production costs and profitability of papaya cultivation in the Province of Mariscal Cáceres. The type of applicative study developed at the correlational descriptive level, cross-sectional design, was used. As data collection techniques, observation has been established on the production costs in one hectare of papaya cultivation. The survey, to collect information from the 50 producers. The interviews, developed informally with producers. It is concluded that, it was possible to identify the direct and indirect costs of the production of the papaya crop as it is in year 1 installation and in year 2 maintenance.La investigación se centra principalmente en establecer el dominio de los costos directos de producción y la rentabilidad del cultivo de la papaya en&nbsp; la Provincia de Mariscal Cáceres. Se justifica, por que nos servirá para contrastar la praxis con la teoría desarrollada sobre la influencia de productos agrarios basados en los costos de la producción. El objetivo es determinar la influencia de los costos directos de producción y la rentabilidad del cultivo de la papaya en la Provincia de Mariscal Cáceres. Se apeló al tipo de estudio aplicativo desarrollado en el nivel descriptivo correlacional, diseño transversal. Como técnicas de recolección de datos se ha establecido la observación, sobre los costos de la producción en una hectárea del cultivo de la papaya. La encuesta, para recoger información de los 50 productores. Las entrevistas, desarrolladas de modo informal a productores. Se concluye que, se logró identificar los costos directos e indirectos de la producción del cultivo de la papaya como es en el año 1 instalación y en el año 2 mantenimiento

Learning styles in undergraduate students of health sciences and intercultural university from universidad veracruzana

Introducción: Durante años, se ha analizado el proceso del aprendizaje. Los resultados, generan diferentes opiniones de su origen, teorías y principios de cómo el cerebro obtiene el conocimiento y genera diversas opciones para almacenarlo y clasificarlo. Generándose así, el término “Estilo de aprendizaje”, refiriendóse al hecho de que cada persona, al aprender, utiliza su método o estrategia. Objetivo: Determinar el ó los estilos de aprendizaje en estudiantes de licenciaturas de Ciencias de la Salud, región Xalapa y Universidad Veracruzana Intercultural (UVI). Metodología: Estudio cuantitativo, descriptivo, transversal y comparativo. Población y muestra: Alumnos inscritos en el período agosto 2019-enero 2020. La muestra fue probabilística estratificada por licenciatura, con una confiabilidad de 95%. Instrumento: Honey-Alonso de Estilos de Aprendizaje (CHAEA) en línea, consta de 80 ítems dicotómicos, distribuidos aleatoriamente, evalúa cuatro estilos de aprendizaje (activo, reflexivo, teórico y pragmático). Resultados: Los estilos son similares en enfermería, medicina, psicología y UVI con 50% y 52% en el estilo reflexivo, para odontología y bioanálisis 48.1% y 45.6% respectivamente, asimismo para nutrición es el 31.4%. Conclusión: El estilo de aprendizaje encontrado en los estudiantes de ciencias de salud y UVI es el reflexivo, aunque se observaron diversas combinaciones e inclusive individuos con hasta cuatro estilos.Introduction: For years, the learning process has been analyzed. The results generate different opinions of its origin, theories and principles of how the brain obtains knowledge and generates various options to store and classify it. Thus generating the term "Learning Style", referring to the fact that each person, when learning, uses their method or strategy. Objective: To determine the learning style (s) in undergraduate students of Health Sciences, Xalapa region and Intercultural Universidad Veracruzana (UVI). Methodology: Quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional and comparative study. Population and sample: Students enrolled in the period August 2019-January 2020. The sample was probabilistic stratified by degree, with a reliability of 95%. Instrument: Honey-Alonso of Learning Styles (CHAEA) online, consists of 80 dichotomous items, randomly distributed, assesses four learning styles (active, reflective, theoretical and pragmatic). Results: The styles are similar in nursing, medicine, psychology and ICU with 50% and 52% in the reflective style, for dentistry and bioanalysis 48.1% and 45.6% respectively, also for nutrition it is 31.4%. Conclusion:The learning style found in health sciences and ICU students is reflective, although various combinations were observed and even individuals with up to four styles