COMPARACIÓN DE LA EFICACIA DE TRES MEDIOS DE CULTIVO in vitro PARA EL DESARROLLO DE Blastocystis spp

Blastocystis is a chromist that can be found in the intestinal tract of animals and humans, and is currently considered an emerging pathogen with zoonotic potential. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of three in vitro media culture which are considered appropriate for the development of Blastocystis: Jones, Pavlova and Boeck-Drbohlav modified (BDM). It was used 54 stool samples from Blastocystis positive pigs diagnosed by the spontaneous sedimentation technique. The number of microorganisms inoculated was divided in three categories: low, intermediate and high. Each sample was cultivated for duplicate in the three media and after 72 hours of incubation the pathogens were counted using the Neubauer chamber. Results showed that the Jones media was the more efficient, followed by Pavlova and BDM; moreover, better results were obtained when the level of microorganisms was low. The cystic form was the most commonly observed in stool samples, whereas in culture media was the vacuolar followed by the granular form.Blastocystis es un cromista que puede ser hallado en el tracto intestinal de animales y humanos y que ha pasado a ser considerado un patógeno emergente y de potencial zoonótico. El objetivo del trabajo fue comparar la eficacia de tres medios de cultivo in vitro, considerados como apropiados para el desarrollo del Blastocystis: Jones, Pavlova y Boeck-Drbohlav modificado (MBDM). Se utilizaron 54 muestras de heces de cerdos diagnosticados como positivos a Blastocystis por el método de sedimentación espontánea. El número de microorganismos inoculados fue clasificado como alto, intermedio y bajo. Las muestras fueron cultivadas por duplicado en los tres medios y al cabo de 72 h de incubación se procedió al recuento de microrganismos con la cámara de Neubauer. Los resultados indicaron que el medio Jones fue el más eficiente, seguido de los medios Pavlova y MBDM; asimismo, se obtuvieron mejores resultados en el cultivo cuando el nivel de microrganismos fue bajo. La forma quística fue la más comúnmente observada en las muestras de heces, mientras que en los medios de cultivo fue la vacuolar, seguida de la forma granular

Indicators of Good Practices of Service-Learning University

The proliferation of innovative experiences in university education has been confirmed in different forums, as well as the evidence of their impact in research. However, the available tools are limited when trying to address the quality assessment of University Service-Learning (USL) projects. We present a tool for the evaluation of your SL projects. The goal of the Matrix is to specify the essential and secondary indicators needed to develop good practices in USL: IM_USL. A protocol is established to carry out its assessment. Dimensions and phases indicators of a project are specied, as well as the agents or people involved in it. This tool tries to guide the development of USL projects and to specify different points to improve. The application of the IM_USL will allow you to explore, exhaustively, each of the dimensions and indicators that make up a USL project, regarding both the AGENTS involved and the PHASES that make up a programme. In order to gather information on the reality of the projects, the phases and agents involved in a USL project will be reviewed in particular, determining the level of achievement of the indicators that compose it and of the dimensions that specify the particularities of each indicator. Finally, a series of questions are proposed to guide the process of analysis and reflection on the quality of the evaluated project. As a result, we will be able to obtain an X-ray of the quality of the project and the possible aspects for improvement.Funding: Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. Grant: I+D 2019. REFERENCIA DEL PROYECTO/AEI/10.13039/50110001103

Experiencias en el desarrollo del Plan de Coordinación Docente del Grado en Ingeniería Informática

Una buena coordinación del equipo docente implicado en cualquier titulación es indispensable para la correcta consecución, por parte de los estudiantes, de las competencias específicas y transversales recogidas en su plan de estudios. Dos años después de la implantación, por inmersión, de la nueva titulación de Grado en Ingeniería Informática adaptada al Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior (EEES), compartimos en este trabajo nuestras experiencias y reflexiones en la puesta en marcha del Plan de Coordinación que había sido definido. En particular, concretamos las acciones de coordinación llevadas a cabo, haciendo hincapié en las herramientas de las que nos hemos servido. También identificamos las fortalezas y debilidades detectadas, así como las dificultades encontradas, proponiendo líneas de actuación futuras.A good coordination of the teaching staff involved in a degree is essential for the achievement by students of the transversal and generic skills considered in the corresponding syllabus. Two years after the complete implantation of the new degree in Computing, which has been adapted to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), in this paper we detail our experiences and thoughts on the implementation of the Coordination Plan initially proposed. In particular, we focus on the coordination tasks carried out and the tools that we have used. We also identify the strengths and weaknesses observed and the handicaps found. Finally, we propose some lines of future work

Tumor cells in light-chain amyloidosis and myeloma show distinct transcriptional rewiring of normal plasma cell development

Although light-chain amyloidosis (AL) and multiple myeloma (MM) are characterized by tumor plasma cell (PC) expansion in bone marrow (BM), their clinical presentation differs. Previous attempts to identify unique pathogenic mechanisms behind such differences were unsuccessful, and no studies have investigated the differentiation stage of tumor PCs in patients with AL and MM. We sought to define a transcriptional atlas of normal PC development in secondary lymphoid organs (SLOs), peripheral blood (PB), and BM for comparison with the transcriptional programs (TPs) of tumor PCs in AL, MM, and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS). Based on bulk and single-cell RNA sequencing, we observed 13 TPs during transition of normal PCs throughout SLOs, PB, and BM. We further noted the following: CD39 outperforms CD19 to discriminate newborn from long-lived BM-PCs; tumor PCs expressed the most advantageous TPs of normal PC differentiation; AL shares greater similarity to SLO-PCs whereas MM is transcriptionally closer to PB-PCs and newborn BM-PCs; patients with AL and MM enriched in immature TPs had inferior survival; and protein N-linked glycosylation–related TPs are upregulated in AL. Collectively, we provide a novel resource to understand normal PC development and the transcriptional reorganization of AL and other monoclonal gammopathies

Flow cytometry for fast screening and automated risk assessment in systemic light-chain amyloidosis

Early diagnosis and risk stratification are key to improve outcomes in light-chain (AL) amyloidosis. Here we used multidimensional-flow-cytometry (MFC) to characterize bone marrow (BM) plasma cells (PCs) from a series of 166 patients including newly-diagnosed AL amyloidosis (N = 94), MGUS (N = 20) and multiple myeloma (MM, N = 52) vs. healthy adults (N = 30). MFC detected clonality in virtually all AL amyloidosis (99%) patients. Furthermore, we developed an automated risk-stratification system based on BMPCs features, with independent prognostic impact on progression-free and overall survival of AL amyloidosis patients (hazard ratio: ≥ 2.9;P ≤ .03). Simultaneous assessment of the clonal PCs immunophenotypic protein expression profile and the BM cellular composition, mapped AL amyloidosis in the crossroad between MGUS and MM; however, lack of homogenously-positive CD56 expression, reduction of B-cell precursors and a predominantly-clonal PC compartment in the absence of an MM-like tumor PC expansion, emerged as hallmarks of AL amyloidosis (ROC-AUC = 0.74;P < .001), and might potentially be used as biomarkers for the identification of MGUS and MM patients, who are candidates for monitoring pre-symptomatic organ damage related to AL amyloidosis. Altogether, this study addressed the need for consensus on how to use flow cytometry in AL amyloidosis, and proposes a standardized MFC-based automated risk classification ready for implementation in clinical practice

Correction : Chaparro et al. Incidence, Clinical Characteristics and Management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Spain: Large-Scale Epidemiological Study. J. Clin. Med. 2021, 10, 2885

The authors wish to make the following corrections to this paper [...]

Incidence, Clinical Characteristics and Management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Spain : Large-Scale Epidemiological Study

(1) Aims: To assess the incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in Spain, to describe the main epidemiological and clinical characteristics at diagnosis and the evolution of the disease, and to explore the use of drug treatments. (2) Methods: Prospective, population-based nationwide registry. Adult patients diagnosed with IBD-Crohn's disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC) or IBD unclassified (IBD-U)-during 2017 in Spain were included and were followed-up for 1 year. (3) Results: We identified 3611 incident cases of IBD diagnosed during 2017 in 108 hospitals covering over 22 million inhabitants. The overall incidence (cases/100,000 person-years) was 16 for IBD, 7.5 for CD, 8 for UC, and 0.5 for IBD-U; 53% of patients were male and median age was 43 years (interquartile range = 31-56 years). During a median 12-month follow-up, 34% of patients were treated with systemic steroids, 25% with immunomodulators, 15% with biologics and 5.6% underwent surgery. The percentage of patients under these treatments was significantly higher in CD than UC and IBD-U. Use of systemic steroids and biologics was significantly higher in hospitals with high resources. In total, 28% of patients were hospitalized (35% CD and 22% UC patients, p < 0.01). (4) Conclusion: The incidence of IBD in Spain is rather high and similar to that reported in Northern Europe. IBD patients require substantial therapeutic resources, which are greater in CD and in hospitals with high resources, and much higher than previously reported. One third of patients are hospitalized in the first year after diagnosis and a relevant proportion undergo surgery

All-cause mortality in the cohorts of the Spanish AIDS Research Network (RIS) compared with the general population: 1997Ł2010

Abstract Background: Combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) has produced significant changes in mortality of HIVinfected persons. Our objective was to estimate mortality rates, standardized mortality ratios and excess mortality rates of cohorts of the AIDS Research Network (RIS) (CoRIS-MD and CoRIS) compared to the general population. Methods: We analysed data of CoRIS-MD and CoRIS cohorts from 1997 to 2010. We calculated: (i) all-cause mortality rates, (ii) standardized mortality ratio (SMR) and (iii) excess mortality rates for both cohort for 100 personyears (py) of follow-up, comparing all-cause mortality with that of the general population of similar age and gender. Results: Between 1997 and 2010, 8,214 HIV positive subjects were included, 2,453 (29.9%) in CoRIS-MD and 5,761 (70.1%) in CoRIS and 294 deaths were registered. All-cause mortality rate was 1.02 (95% CI 0.91-1.15) per 100 py, SMR was 6.8 (95% CI 5.9-7.9) and excess mortality rate was 0.8 (95% CI 0.7-0.9) per 100 py. Mortality was higher in patients with AIDS, hepatitis C virus (HCV) co-infection, and those from CoRIS-MD cohort (1997. Conclusion: Mortality among HIV-positive persons remains higher than that of the general population of similar age and sex, with significant differences depending on the history of AIDS or HCV coinfection

Spatiotemporal Characteristics of the Largest HIV-1 CRF02_AG Outbreak in Spain: Evidence for Onward Transmissions

Background and Aim: The circulating recombinant form 02_AG (CRF02_AG) is the predominant clade among the human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) non-Bs with a prevalence of 5.97% (95% Confidence Interval-CI: 5.41–6.57%) across Spain. Our aim was to estimate the levels of regional clustering for CRF02_AG and the spatiotemporal characteristics of the largest CRF02_AG subepidemic in Spain.Methods: We studied 396 CRF02_AG sequences obtained from HIV-1 diagnosed patients during 2000–2014 from 10 autonomous communities of Spain. Phylogenetic analysis was performed on the 391 CRF02_AG sequences along with all globally sampled CRF02_AG sequences (N = 3,302) as references. Phylodynamic and phylogeographic analysis was performed to the largest CRF02_AG monophyletic cluster by a Bayesian method in BEAST v1.8.0 and by reconstructing ancestral states using the criterion of parsimony in Mesquite v3.4, respectively.Results: The HIV-1 CRF02_AG prevalence differed across Spanish autonomous communities we sampled from (p &lt; 0.001). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that 52.7% of the CRF02_AG sequences formed 56 monophyletic clusters, with a range of 2–79 sequences. The CRF02_AG regional dispersal differed across Spain (p = 0.003), as suggested by monophyletic clustering. For the largest monophyletic cluster (subepidemic) (N = 79), 49.4% of the clustered sequences originated from Madrid, while most sequences (51.9%) had been obtained from men having sex with men (MSM). Molecular clock analysis suggested that the origin (tMRCA) of the CRF02_AG subepidemic was in 2002 (median estimate; 95% Highest Posterior Density-HPD interval: 1999–2004). Additionally, we found significant clustering within the CRF02_AG subepidemic according to the ethnic origin.Conclusion: CRF02_AG has been introduced as a result of multiple introductions in Spain, following regional dispersal in several cases. We showed that CRF02_AG transmissions were mostly due to regional dispersal in Spain. The hot-spot for the largest CRF02_AG regional subepidemic in Spain was in Madrid associated with MSM transmission risk group. The existence of subepidemics suggest that several spillovers occurred from Madrid to other areas. CRF02_AG sequences from Hispanics were clustered in a separate subclade suggesting no linkage between the local and Hispanic subepidemics

Differential clinical characteristics and prognosis of intraventricular conduction defects in patients with chronic heart failure

Intraventricular conduction defects (IVCDs) can impair prognosis of heart failure (HF), but their specific impact is not well established. This study aimed to analyse the clinical profile and outcomes of HF patients with LBBB, right bundle branch block (RBBB), left anterior fascicular block (LAFB), and no IVCDs. Clinical variables and outcomes after a median follow-up of 21 months were analysed in 1762 patients with chronic HF and LBBB (n = 532), RBBB (n = 134), LAFB (n = 154), and no IVCDs (n = 942). LBBB was associated with more marked LV dilation, depressed LVEF, and mitral valve regurgitation. Patients with RBBB presented overt signs of congestive HF and depressed right ventricular motion. The LAFB group presented intermediate clinical characteristics, and patients with no IVCDs were more often women with less enlarged left ventricles and less depressed LVEF. Death occurred in 332 patients (interannual mortality = 10.8%): cardiovascular in 257, extravascular in 61, and of unknown origin in 14 patients. Cardiac death occurred in 230 (pump failure in 171 and sudden death in 59). An adjusted Cox model showed higher risk of cardiac death and pump failure death in the LBBB and RBBB than in the LAFB and the no IVCD groups. LBBB and RBBB are associated with different clinical profiles and both are independent predictors of increased risk of cardiac death in patients with HF. A more favourable prognosis was observed in patients with LAFB and in those free of IVCDs. Further research in HF patients with RBBB is warranted