A review of an emerging tool to estimate population parameters: the close-kin mark-recapture method

Knowing the number of individuals in a population is fundamental for the sustainable management of exploited marine resources but estimating this parameter is often extremely challenging, especially in large, highly mobile and dispersed populations. Abundance estimation traditionally relies on multiple data types that include the relationship between fishery catches and effort (Catch Per Unit Effort or CPUE), scientific research surveys and demographic models that are developed to estimate past and current stock dynamics, but uncertainty is often high. Close-kin mark-recapture (CKMR) is an alternative method for estimating abundance and other demographic parameters (e.g. population trend, survival rates, connectivity), using kinship relationships determined from genetic samples. This methodology is based on a simple concept - the larger the population the less likely to find relatives and vice versa - and was proposed two decades ago although regained considerable attention recently. Refinements in the statistical methodology and advances in high throughput sequencing methods have boosted the efficiency of genomic analysis, promising to revolutionize the field of fisheries stock assessments. In theory, it can be applied to almost any species, provided that there is sufficient information about the life-history/biology of the organism and that the populations are not so small as to be almost extinct or so large that finding relatives becomes extremely difficult. Thus, it has the potential to provide baseline data for the many exploited fish stocks that remain largely unassessed and to reduce uncertainty in those that are regularly evaluated. Here, we provide an overview of the method in the context of fisheries assessments, analyze the advances and synthetize the field studies published in the last five years. Moreover, we evaluate the readiness, viability and maturity of the method to infer demographic parameters in species spanning diverse life histories. We evaluate technical considerations and requirements for a successful application and analyze the main challenges and limitations preventing a broader implementation

Health and environment from adaptation to adaptivity: a situated relational account

The definitions and conceptualizations of health, and the management of healthcare have been challenged by the current global scenarios (e.g., new diseases, new geographical distribution of diseases, effects of climate change on health, etc.) and by the ongoing scholarship in humanities and science. In this paper we question the mainstream definition of health adopted by the WHO—‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’ (WHO in Preamble to the constitution of the World Health Organization as adopted by the international health conference, The World Health Organization, 1948)—and its role in providing tools to understand what health is in the contemporary context. More specifically, we argue that this context requires to take into account the role of the environment both in medical theory and in the healthcare practice. To do so, we analyse WHO documents dated 1984 and 1986 which define health as ‘coping with the environment’. We develop the idea of ‘coping with the environment’, by focusing on two cardinal concepts: adaptation in public health and adaptivity in philosophy of biology. We argue that the notions of adaptation and adaptivity can be of major benefit for the characterization of health, and have practical implications. We explore some of these implications by discussing two recent case studies of adaptivity in public health, which can be valuable to further develop adaptive strategies in the current pandemic scenario: community-centred care and microbiologically healthier buildings

Health and environment from adaptation to adaptivity: a situated relational account

The definitions and conceptualizations of health, and the management of healthcare have been challenged by the current global scenarios (e.g., new diseases, new geographical distribution of diseases, effects of climate change on health, etc.) and by the ongoing scholarship in humanities and science. In this paper we question the mainstream definition of health adopted by the WHO—‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’ (WHO in Preamble to the constitution of the World Health Organization as adopted by the international health conference, The World Health Organization, 1948)—and its role in providing tools to understand what health is in the contemporary context. More specifically, we argue that this context requires to take into account the role of the environment both in medical theory and in the healthcare practice. To do so, we analyse WHO documents dated 1984 and 1986 which define health as ‘coping with the environment’. We develop the idea of ‘coping with the environment’, by focusing on two cardinal concepts: adaptation in public health and adaptivity in philosophy of biology. We argue that the notions of adaptation and adaptivity can be of major benefit for the characterization of health, and have practical implications. We explore some of these implications by discussing two recent case studies of adaptivity in public health, which can be valuable to further develop adaptive strategies in the current pandemic scenario: community-centred care and microbiologically healthier buildings

State-of-the-art of data analyses in environmental DNA approaches towards its applicability to sustainable fisheries management

An increasing number of studies using marine environmental DNA (eDNA) approaches are showing its potential application in marine fisheries management by helping and simplifying some of the labor-intensive traditional surveys required to assess exploited populations and ecosystem status. eDNA approaches (i.e. metabarcoding and targeted) can support to ecosystem-based fisheries management by providing information on species composition; surveillance of invasive, rare and/or endangered species; and providing estimates of species abundance. Due to these potential uses in fisheries and conservation sciences, the number of studies applying eDNA approaches in marine habitats has expanded in the very last few years. However, a lack of consistency across studies when applying pipelines for data analyses, makes results difficult to compare among them. Such lack of consistency is partially caused by poor knowledge in the management of raw sequences data, and analytical methods allowing comparative results. Hence, we review here the essential steps of eDNA data processing and analyses to get sound, reproducible, and comparable results, providing a set of bioinformatics tools useful for each step. Altogether this review presents the state of the art of eDNA data analyses towards a comprehensive application in fisheries management promoting sustainability

Editorial: Prospects and challenges for the implementation of HTS genetic methods in fisheries research surveys and stock assessments

3 pages.-- This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY)Peer reviewe

PrediCTC, liquid biopsy in precision oncology: a technology transfer experience in the Spanish health system.

Purpose: Management of metastatic disease in oncology includes monitoring of therapy response principally by imaging techniques like CT-Scan. In addition to some limitations, the irruption of liquid biopsy and its application in personalized medicine has encouraged the development of more efficient technologies for prognosis and follow-up of patients in advanced disease. Methods: PrediCTC constitutes a panel of genes for the assessment of Circulating Tumor Cells (CTC) in metastatic colorectal cancer patients, with demonstrated improved efficiency compared to CT-Scan for the evaluation of early therapy response in a multicenter prospective study. In this work, we designed and developed a technology transfer strategy to define the market opportunity for an eventual implementation of PrediCTC in the clinical practice. Results: This included the definition of the regulatory framework, the analysis of the regulatory roadmap needed for CE mark, a benchmarking study, the design of a product development strategy, a revision of intellectual property, a cost-effectiveness study and an expert panel consultation. Conclusion: The definition and analysis of an appropriate technology transfer strategy and the correct balance among regulatory, financial and technical determinants are critical for the transformation of a promising technology into a viable technology, and for the decision of implementing liquid biopsy in the monitoring of therapy response in advanced disease.pre-print533 K

Proyecto de trayectoria pedagógicas individuales

Fil: Ponciano, Elio. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Colegio Universitario CentralFil: Osorio, Roxana. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Colegio Universitario CentralFil: Burgos, Rosa. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Colegio Universitario CentralFil: Bonfanti, Silvina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Colegio Universitario CentralFil: Osorio, Lucía. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Colegio Universitario CentralFil: Martín, Carolina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Colegio Universitario CentralFil: Roccasanlva, Andrea. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Colegio Universitario CentralFil: Papini, Julieta. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Colegio Universitario CentralFil: Salcedo, Susana. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Colegio Universitario CentralFil: Saborido, Laura. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Colegio Universitario Centra

Dibujando sonrisas & encías sanas III : Autocuidado de las encías y salud periodontal

Constituye un reto modificar hábitos y conductas perjudiciales para la salud bucal de los adolescentes a través de programas educativos, por tal motivo, es importante generar y aplicar actividades de extensión que traten esta problemática. Objetivo: Elaborar un programa educativo para la prevención de la enfermedad periodontal en adolescentes.Facultad de Odontologí

The evolution of the ventilatory ratio is a prognostic factor in mechanically ventilated COVID-19 ARDS patients

Background: Mortality due to COVID-19 is high, especially in patients requiring mechanical ventilation. The purpose of the study is to investigate associations between mortality and variables measured during the first three days of mechanical ventilation in patients with COVID-19 intubated at ICU admission. Methods: Multicenter, observational, cohort study includes consecutive patients with COVID-19 admitted to 44 Spanish ICUs between February 25 and July 31, 2020, who required intubation at ICU admission and mechanical ventilation for more than three days. We collected demographic and clinical data prior to admission; information about clinical evolution at days 1 and 3 of mechanical ventilation; and outcomes. Results: Of the 2,095 patients with COVID-19 admitted to the ICU, 1,118 (53.3%) were intubated at day 1 and remained under mechanical ventilation at day three. From days 1 to 3, PaO2/FiO2 increased from 115.6 [80.0-171.2] to 180.0 [135.4-227.9] mmHg and the ventilatory ratio from 1.73 [1.33-2.25] to 1.96 [1.61-2.40]. In-hospital mortality was 38.7%. A higher increase between ICU admission and day 3 in the ventilatory ratio (OR 1.04 [CI 1.01-1.07], p = 0.030) and creatinine levels (OR 1.05 [CI 1.01-1.09], p = 0.005) and a lower increase in platelet counts (OR 0.96 [CI 0.93-1.00], p = 0.037) were independently associated with a higher risk of death. No association between mortality and the PaO2/FiO2 variation was observed (OR 0.99 [CI 0.95 to 1.02], p = 0.47). Conclusions: Higher ventilatory ratio and its increase at day 3 is associated with mortality in patients with COVID-19 receiving mechanical ventilation at ICU admission. No association was found in the PaO2/FiO2 variation

Clustering COVID-19 ARDS patients through the first days of ICU admission. An analysis of the CIBERESUCICOVID Cohort

Background Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) can be classified into sub-phenotypes according to different inflammatory/clinical status. Prognostic enrichment was achieved by grouping patients into hypoinflammatory or hyperinflammatory sub-phenotypes, even though the time of analysis may change the classification according to treatment response or disease evolution. We aimed to evaluate when patients can be clustered in more than 1 group, and how they may change the clustering of patients using data of baseline or day 3, and the prognosis of patients according to their evolution by changing or not the cluster.Methods Multicenter, observational prospective, and retrospective study of patients admitted due to ARDS related to COVID-19 infection in Spain. Patients were grouped according to a clustering mixed-type data algorithm (k-prototypes) using continuous and categorical readily available variables at baseline and day 3.Results Of 6205 patients, 3743 (60%) were included in the study. According to silhouette analysis, patients were grouped in two clusters. At baseline, 1402 (37%) patients were included in cluster 1 and 2341(63%) in cluster 2. On day 3, 1557(42%) patients were included in cluster 1 and 2086 (57%) in cluster 2. The patients included in cluster 2 were older and more frequently hypertensive and had a higher prevalence of shock, organ dysfunction, inflammatory biomarkers, and worst respiratory indexes at both time points. The 90-day mortality was higher in cluster 2 at both clustering processes (43.8% [n = 1025] versus 27.3% [n = 383] at baseline, and 49% [n = 1023] versus 20.6% [n = 321] on day 3). Four hundred and fifty-eight (33%) patients clustered in the first group were clustered in the second group on day 3. In contrast, 638 (27%) patients clustered in the second group were clustered in the first group on day 3.Conclusions During the first days, patients can be clustered into two groups and the process of clustering patients may change as they continue to evolve. This means that despite a vast majority of patients remaining in the same cluster, a minority reaching 33% of patients analyzed may be re-categorized into different clusters based on their progress. Such changes can significantly impact their prognosis