Amaranthaceae

Hierbas, subarbustos o arbustos. Hojas simples, opuestas o alternas, sin estípulas. Inflorescencia elemental cimosa, reunida en panojas o pseudoespigas. Flores perfectas o menos frecuente imperfectas, actinomorfas, pequeñas, inconspicuas, con 1 bráctea y 2 bractéolas. Perigonio (2-4-) 5, generalmente libre, papiráceo o escarioso. Estambres (2-4-) 5 epitépalos; filamentos libres o soldados formando una cúpula, en la cual se encuentran a veces pseudoestaminodios que alternan con los estambres; anteras dorsifijas, monotecas o ditecas de dehiscencia longitudinal. Ovario súpero, 1-3-carpelar, 1-locular, 1 ovulo campilótropo de placentación basal (multiovulado en la Tribu Celosieae), estilo simple o nulo; estigma capitado, 2-3-lobado o partido. Fruto generalmente seco, monospermo, indehiscente o dehiscente. Semilla 1, raro más, lenticular o subglobosa, a veces con arilo; embrión curvo, endosperma harinoso

Rapid real-time PCR detection of Listeria monocytogenes in enriched food samples based on the ssrA gene, a novel diagnostic target

A real-time PCR assay was designed to detect a 162-bp fragment of the ssrA gene in Listeria monocytogenes. The specificity of the assay for L. monocytogenes was confirmed against a panel of 6 Listeria species and 26 other bacterial species. A detection limit of 1-10 genome equivalents was determined for the assay. Application of the assay in natural and artificially contaminated culture enriched foods, including soft cheese, meat, milk, vegetables and fish, enabled detection of 1-5 CFU L. monocytogenes per 25g/ml of food sample in 30h. The performance of the assay was compared with the Roche Diagnostics 'LightCycler foodproof Listeria monocytogenes Detection Kit'. Both methods detected L. monocytogenes in all artificially contaminated retail samples (n=27) and L. monocytogenes was not detected by either system in 27 natural retail food samples. The method developed in this study has the potential to enable the specific detection of L. monocytogenes in a variety of food types in a time-frame considerably faster than current standard methods. The potential of the ssrA gene as a nucleic acid diagnostic (NAD) target has been demonstrated in L. monocytogenes. We are currently developing NAD tests based on the ssrA gene for a range of common foodborne and clinically relevant bacterial pathogens

External Validation of SAFE Score to Predict Atrial Fibrillation Diagnosis after Ischemic Stroke: A Retrospective Multicenter Study

Diagnóstico; Fibrilación auricular; Ictus isquémicoDiagnòstic; Fibril·lació auricular; Ictus isquèmicDiagnosis; Atrial fibrillation; Ischemic strokeIntroduction: The screening for atrial fibrillation (AF) scale (SAFE score) was recently developed to provide a prediction of the diagnosis of AF after an ischemic stroke. It includes 7 items: age ≥ 65 years, bronchopathy, thyroid disease, cortical location of stroke, intracranial large vessel occlusion, NT-ProBNP ≥250 pg/mL, and left atrial enlargement. In the internal validation, a good performance was obtained, with an AUC = 0.88 (95% CI 0.84-0.91) and sensitivity and specificity of 83% and 80%, respectively, for scores ≥ 5. The aim of this study is the external validation of the SAFE score in a multicenter cohort. Methods: A retrospective multicenter study, including consecutive patients with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack between 2020 and 2022 with at least 24 hours of cardiac monitoring. Patients with previous AF or AF diagnosed on admission ECG were excluded. Results: Overall, 395 patients were recruited for analysis. The SAFE score obtained an AUC = 0.822 (95% CI 0.778-0.866) with a sensitivity of 87.2%, a specificity of 65.4%, a positive predictive value of 44.1%, and a negative predictive value of 94.3% for a SAFE score ≥ 5, with no significant gender differences. Calibration analysis in the external cohort showed an absence of significant differences between the observed values and those predicted by the model (Hosmer-Lemeshow's test 0.089). Conclusions: The SAFE score showed adequate discriminative ability and calibration, so its external validation is justified. Further validations in other external cohorts or specific subpopulations of stroke patients might be required.We acknowledge FIBAO (Biomedical Research Foundation) and Adrián Aparicio Mota for their assistance with statistical analysis. Adrián Aparicio (a FIBAO statistician) analyzed the collected data. The project was the winner of the IV research grant “STROKE PROJECT 2020” from the Spanish Society of Neurology

Página web del grupo bilingüe de la Facultad de Educación para la enseñanza de las ciencias: elaboración, explotación y juicio crítico de los estudiantes de cara a la internacionalización de la docencia

Elaboración de una página web con material didáctico de Ciencias para el grupo bilingüe de Educación, que además sirve para ofrecer información para estudiantes que pudieran estar interesados en formar parte del grupo, incluyendo estudiantes extranjeros

Habilidades sociales para las nuevas organizaciones

Las habilidades sociales han aumentado su importancia en las nuevas organizaciones. En el artículo se exponen algunos de los actuales contextos que requieren un aumento de los recursos interactivos y relacionales por parte de los trabajadores. En primer lugar, el rápido e imprevisible cambio interactivo de las organizaciones obliga al aumento de las competencias técnicas y las habilidades sociales. Asimismo, las nuevas tecnologías, la importancia de los equipos y la toma de decisiones colectiva han aumentado haciendo necesaria y compleja la competencia y habilidad para comunicarse. Por otra parte, los planteamientos actuales de la salud organizacional y las organizaciones saludables señalan las habilidades sociales como mecanismos imprescindibles. En esta línea, el dinamismo competitivo de las organizaciones ha creado multitud de contextos que pueden actuar como factores de riesgo para la salud de los trabajadores y la organización. En este marco, las habilidades sociales actúan como factores de recuperación y equilibrio. Finalmente, las nuevas organizaciones se caracterizan por su virtualidad, interculturalidad y globalidad haciendo necesario el desarrollo y aprendizaje de nuevas habilidades sociales.Social skills are becoming increasingly important for new organizations. This article presents some present-day contexts that require stronger interactive and relational resources from workers. The first is the rapid and unpredictable interactive change in organizations that demand enhanced technical competences and social skills. Likewise, new technologies, the importance of teams and collective decision making have continued to expand and have made the competence and the ability to communicate more necessary and complex. Besides, in current approaches to organizational health and healthy organizations, social skills constitute essential mechanisms. Moreover, the competitive dynamics present in organizations has created a multitude of contexts that can act as risk factors for the health of workers and organizations. In this situation, social skills have served as factors promoting balance and recovery. Finally, new organizations are characterized by their intercultural, global, and virtual nature, which makes it necessary to develop and learn new social skills

Estudio para la implantación de Programas en Inglés en los títulos de grado de la ETSI Agrónomos de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

Universities are offering more and more courses and programmes in an additional language. At HEPCLIL, therefore, we would like to debate the methodological im - plications of these changes, giving voice to practical classroom experiences and initiatives. We would also like to act as a platform for cutting-edge research on CLIL in higher education. What impact does teaching in an additional language have on content or language learning? What are the effects on teachers and stu - dents in higher education

Brain structural covariance networks in obsessive-compulsive disorder: a graph analysis from the ENIGMA Consortium.

Brain structural covariance networks reflect covariation in morphology of different brain areas and are thought to reflect common trajectories in brain development and maturation. Large-scale investigation of structural covariance networks in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) may provide clues to the pathophysiology of this neurodevelopmental disorder. Using T1-weighted MRI scans acquired from 1616 individuals with OCD and 1463 healthy controls across 37 datasets participating in the ENIGMA-OCD Working Group, we calculated intra-individual brain structural covariance networks (using the bilaterally-averaged values of 33 cortical surface areas, 33 cortical thickness values, and six subcortical volumes), in which edge weights were proportional to the similarity between two brain morphological features in terms of deviation from healthy controls (i.e. z-score transformed). Global networks were characterized using measures of network segregation (clustering and modularity), network integration (global efficiency), and their balance (small-worldness), and their community membership was assessed. Hub profiling of regional networks was undertaken using measures of betweenness, closeness, and eigenvector centrality. Individually calculated network measures were integrated across the 37 datasets using a meta-analytical approach. These network measures were summated across the network density range of K = 0.10-0.25 per participant, and were integrated across the 37 datasets using a meta-analytical approach. Compared with healthy controls, at a global level, the structural covariance networks of OCD showed lower clustering (P < 0.0001), lower modularity (P < 0.0001), and lower small-worldness (P = 0.017). Detection of community membership emphasized lower network segregation in OCD compared to healthy controls. At the regional level, there were lower (rank-transformed) centrality values in OCD for volume of caudate nucleus and thalamus, and surface area of paracentral cortex, indicative of altered distribution of brain hubs. Centrality of cingulate and orbito-frontal as well as other brain areas was associated with OCD illness duration, suggesting greater involvement of these brain areas with illness chronicity. In summary, the findings of this study, the largest brain structural covariance study of OCD to date, point to a less segregated organization of structural covariance networks in OCD, and reorganization of brain hubs. The segregation findings suggest a possible signature of altered brain morphometry in OCD, while the hub findings point to OCD-related alterations in trajectories of brain development and maturation, particularly in cingulate and orbitofrontal regions

Life-threatening influenza pneumonitis in a child with inherited IRF9 deficiency

Life-threatening pulmonary influenza can be caused by inborn errors of type I and III IFN immunity. We report a 5-yr-old child with severe pulmonary influenza at 2 yr. She is homozygous for a loss-of-function IRF9 allele. Her cells activate gamma-activated factor (GAF) STAT1 homodimers but not IFN-stimulated gene factor 3 (ISGF3) trimers (STAT1/STAT2/IRF9) in response to IFN-α2b. The transcriptome induced by IFN-α2b in the patient's cells is much narrower than that of control cells; however, induction of a subset of IFN-stimulated gene transcripts remains detectable. In vitro, the patient's cells do not control three respiratory viruses, influenza A virus (IAV), parainfluenza virus (PIV), and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). These phenotypes are rescued by wild-type IRF9, whereas silencing IRF9 expression in control cells increases viral replication. However, the child has controlled various common viruses in vivo, including respiratory viruses other than IAV. Our findings show that human IRF9- and ISGF3-dependent type I and III IFN responsive pathways are essential for controlling IAV

Altered structural brain asymmetry in autism spectrum disorder in a study of 54 datasets

Altered structural brain asymmetry in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been reported. However, findings have been inconsistent, likely due to limited sample sizes. Here we investigated 1,774 individuals with ASD and 1,809 controls, from 54 independent data sets of the ENIGMA consortium. ASD was significantly associated with alterations of cortical thickness asymmetry in mostly medial frontal, orbitofrontal, cingulate and inferior temporal areas, and also with asymmetry of orbitofrontal surface area. These differences generally involved reduced asymmetry in individuals with ASD compared to controls. Furthermore, putamen volume asymmetry was significantly increased in ASD. The largest case-control effect size was Cohen's d = -0.13, for asymmetry of superior frontal cortical thickness. Most effects did not depend on age, sex, IQ, severity or medication use. Altered lateralized neurodevelopment may therefore be a feature of ASD, affecting widespread brain regions with diverse functions. Large-scale analysis was necessary to quantify subtle alterations of brain structural asymmetry in ASD