The hematopoietic stem-cell niche in health and leukemia

Research in the last decade has shown that hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) interact with and are modulated by a complex multicellular microenvironment in the bone marrow, which includes both the HSC progeny and multiple non-hematopoietic cell types. Intense work is gradually throwing light on the composition of the HSC niche and the molecular cues exchanged between its components, which has implications for HSC production, maintenance and expansion. In addition, it has become apparent that bidirectional interactions between leukemic cells and their niche play a previously unrecognized role in the initiation and development of hematological malignancies. Consequently, targeting of the malignant niche holds considerable promise for more specific antileukemic therapies. Here we summarize the latest insights into HSC niche biology and recent work showing multiple connections between hematological malignancy and alterations in the bone marrow microenvironment.We thank members of the SM-F group for helpful discussions. This work was supported by core support grants from the Wellcome Trust and MRC to the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (SAF-2011-30308), Pro-CNIC Foundation, Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence award SEV-2015-0505 to CNIC, TerCel (Spanish Cell Therapy Network), Ramon y Cajal Program grants RYC-2011-09726 to AS-A and RYC-2009-04703 to SM-F), Marie Curie Career Integration Program grants (FP7-PEOPLE-2011-RG-294262/294096) to AS-A and SM-F; and a ConSEPOC-Comunidad de Madrid grant (S2010/BMD-2542) and Horizon2020 (ERC-2014-CoG-64765 grant to SM-F. This research was partly funded by a European Hematology Association Research Fellowship awarded to AS-A and an International Early Career Scientist Grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to SM-F.S

Managing patients taking edoxaban in dentistry

Anticoagulation therapy is used in several conditions to prevent or treat thromboembolism. A new group of oral anticoagulants with clear advantages over classic dicoumarin oral anticoagulants (warfarin and acenocoumarol) has been developed in recent years. The Food and Drug Administration has approved edoxaban, dabigatran, rivaroxaban and apixaban. Their advantages include: predictable pharmacokinetics, drug interactions and limited food, rapid onset of action and short half-life. However, they lack a specific reversal agent. This paper examines the available evidence regarding rivaroxaban and sets out proposals for clinical guidance of dental practitioners treating these patients in primary dental care. A literature search was conducted through July 2016 for publications in PubMed and Cochrane Library using the keywords “edoxaban”, “dabigatran”, “rivaroxaban”, “apixaban”, “new oral anticoagulants”, “novel oral anticoagulants”, “bleeding” and “dental treatment” with the “and” boolean operator in the last 10 years. The number of patients taking edoxaban is increasing. There is no need for regular coagulation monitoring of patients on edoxaban therapy. For patients requiring minor oral surgery procedures, interruption of edoxaban is not generally necessary. Management of patients on anticoagulation therapy requires that dentists can accurately assess the patient prior to dental treatments. Their increased use means that oral care clinicians should have a sound understanding of the mechanism of action, pharmacology, reversal strategies and management of bleeding in patients taking edoxaban. There is a need for further clinical studies in order to establish more evidence-based guidelines for dental patients requiring edoxaban

(Ap)Praising Vetements: the Celebrity Digital Surface and the Making of a Leading Fashion Brand

In this paper, I situate the meteoric rise of the Parisian fashion collective Vetements within the paratextual circulation of celebrity images that have accompanied the press, media, and publicity coverage for this brand. I argue that “selling out” is a pithy turn-of-phrase that is useful for understanding Vetements’ aesethetic and business sensibilities. As the literalness of the translation of Vetements into “clothes” makes clear, Vetements strips the wide-eyed lure of luxury fashion –one that evokes both the extravagancy of the runway or red carpet and the expert craftsmanship of couture—and replaces it with a form of what I am calling spectacular mundanity, offering products that are simultaneously more and less real than your mother’s weathered, vintage Champion hoodie. The brand’s exchange value, I argue, is made extravagant not through any notion of intrinsic worth, as is the case with couture and the logics of congealed labor and expert craft held therein, but rather through the symbolic surplus value generated through the brand’s proximity to celebrity culture and its discursively constructed status as an “it brand”

Simplest relationship between local field potential and intracellular signals in layered neural tissue.

The relationship between the extracellularly measured electric field potential resulting from synaptic activity in an ensemble of neurons and intracellular signals in these neurons is an important but still open question. Based on a model neuron with a cylindrical dendrite and lumped soma, we derive a formula that substantiates a proportionality between the local field potential and the total somatic transmembrane current that emerges from the difference between the somatic and dendritic membrane potentials. The formula is tested by intra- and extracellular recordings of evoked synaptic responses in hippocampal slices. Additionally, the contribution of different membrane currents to the field potential is demonstrated in a two-population mean-field model. Our formalism, which allows for a simple estimation of unknown dendritic currents directly from somatic measurements, provides an interpretation of the local field potential in terms of intracellularly measurable synaptic signals. It is also applicable to the study of cortical activity using two-compartment neuronal population models

El cuestionario como medio de evaluación en la implementación de nuevos procesos de enseñanza/aprendizaje en la Electrónica de Potencia

Las Nuevas Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación (NTIC) invaden los medios educacionales, comunicacionales y empresariales. Y eso hace que, al mundo que conocemos tradicionalmente ("real"), se sumen los entornos "virtuales" y de comunicaciones. Aplicadas al entorno educativo, las NTIC favorecen estilos docentes más flexibles y personalizados, fomentan la participación y el trabajo en equipo, estimulan el interés y motivación, facilitan el aprendizaje autónomo y mejoran el rendimiento académico de los estudiantes, produciéndose diversos cambios y modificaciones en los procesos de enseñanza/aprendizaje, que son analizados y estudiados en este trabajo.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Towards student wellness in the new teaching/learning process of Power Electronics

Nowadays, university education has undergone a significant change to new models that encourage the active role of students in the learning process. Moreover, the European Higher Education Area means an important change in the teaching/learning process: it is necessary to involve more efficiently to the students and encourage their independent study and active participation. This new framework includes the increase in the development and use of new Information and Communication Technology in education and the analysis of the academic performance of students and their sensation of engagement and burnout. In the particular case of Power Electronics, a new teaching methodology, based on a set of new software multimedia interactive tools, is designed and developed to use for the teaching and learning of this subject. The evaluation process consists of several questionnaires: for both students and lecturers, in order to evaluate the quality of these multimedia interactive tools; and only for students, so as to check their stress levels. This subjective information will be complemented with a detailed analysis of the obtained marks of the students and with the sensation of engagement and burnout, measured in terms of academic stress. Finally, a comparison between theses students and the previous ones that could not use these new educational tools will determine the achievement of the foreseen objectives.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

The importance of the student wellness in the new teaching/learning process

Nowadays, the European Higher Education Area means an important change in the teaching/learning process: it is necessary to involve more efficiently to the students. Moreover, university education has undergone a significant change to new models that encourage the active role of students in the teaching/learning process. This new framework includes the increase in the development and use of new Information and Communication Technology in education and the analysis of the academic performance of students and their sensation of engagement and burnout. In the case study in this paper, a new teaching methodology is implemented and it is based on a kit of new software interactive tools for Power Electronics. The main objective of this experience consists of the design, development and implementation of a new multimedia resources in order to use them in the teaching/learning process of the subject. To evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of this new methodology and the compliance with the objectives, several surveys have been designed, for both students and lecturers. These results are complemented with the study of the student stress levels, information that will be complemented with an in-depth analysis of the got marks of the students and with the sensation of engagement and burnout, measured in terms of academic stress.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Circulating miRNAs as Biomarkers of Obesity and Obesity-Associated Comorbidities in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review

Early detection of obesity and its associated comorbidities in children needs priority for the development of effective therapeutic intervention. Circulating miRNAs (microRNAs) have been proposed as biomarkers for obesity and its comorbidities; therefore, we conducted a systematic review to summarize results of studies that have quantified the profile of miRNAs in children and adolescents with obesity and/or associated disorders. Nine studies aiming to examine differences in miRNA expression levels between children with normal weight and obesity or between obese children with or without cardiometabolic diseases were included in this review. We identified four miRNAs overexpressed in obesity (miR-222, miR-142–3, miR-140-5p, and miR-143) and two miRNAs (miR-122 and miR-34a) overexpressed in children with obesity and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and/or insulin resistance. In conclusion, circulating miRNAs are promising diagnostic biomarkers of obesity-associated diseases such as NAFLD and type 2 diabetes already in childhood. However, more studies in children, using massive search technology and with larger sample sizes, are required to draw any firm conclusions.This research was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Industry and Competitiveness (DEP2016-78377-R) and by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), M.O. is supported by a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, grant number; BES-2017-080770 and the APC was funded by additional support from the University of Granada, UGR Research and Knowledge Transfer Fund (PPIT) 2016, Excellence Actions Programme, and Excellence Actions Programe. C.M.A. and I.L.G. are part of the “URG Plan propio de Investigación 2016” and the “Excellence actions: Unit of Excellence on Exercise and Health (UCEES), University of Granada

El diseño como técnica para la docencia de microprocesadores

La formación en hardware de microprocesadores es una materia con una dificultad particular para muchos estudiantes. Una de las razones de ello es la utilización de dispositivos comerciales como elementos docentes. Esta metodología permite que los estudiantes aprendan a utilizar los dispositivos. Sin embargo la docencia en Ingeniería Electrónica, no puede ser que los estudiantes aprendan a usar los dispositivos. Utilizando dispositivos comerciales exclusivamente para la docencia, los estudiantes no ven los esquemas de las distintas partes del :P puesto que los fabricantes no lo suministran. En este trabajo se describe cómo la técnica de diseño es útil para que los estudiantes puedan realizar su propio :P. Con ello se logra que tengan un conocimiento profundo del funcionamiento y la arquitectura del mismo. Este método se utiliza en la EPS de la Universidad de Málaga hace años y los resultados son excelentes.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Técnica “Hazlo Tú Mismo” para la creación de un entorno personal de aprendizaje en el estudio de los microprocesadores

El aprendizaje de la arquitectura hardware de los dispositivos microprocesadores no suele ser una tarea grata para muchos estudiantes. En muchas ocasiones, los estudiantes no son capaces de enlazar los conocimientos que ya han adquirido en otras asignaturas con las explicaciones que el profesor desarrolla. La técnica DIY (Do It Yourself: Hazlo Tú Mismo, HTM) se utiliza exitosamente en la docencia de microprocesadores para evitar descripciones de partes que resultan poco ilustradas, aburridas y difíciles de entender por parte de muchos estudiantes y que, sin embargo, ya conocen. Por medio de esta técnica los estudiantes construyen su microprocesador, entendiendo la funcionalidad de cada una de las partes electrónicas que lo componen. Esta técnica presenta dos características importantes: logra una interactividad sinérgica elevada y permite la utilización de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación (TIC).Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech