A Synchrotron as Accelerator of Science Development in Central America and the Caribbean

Central America and the Caribbean (CAC) need science development efforts through ambitious projects that require strong regional collaboration. Inspiration can be drawn from initiatives in regions with similar problems. The bottleneck is the scarcity of public research centers and little or no research in private universities. An interesting proposal is the creation of a Dominican "Silicon Beach". The "Central American Science and Technology Fund" should focus on objectives capable of attracting the attention of the non-academic sector, first and foremost policy makers, but also civil society in general. The successful experience of SESAME (" Synchrotron Light for Experimental Science and Applications in Middle East ") offers an interesting basis for reflection, as it allows scientific research and short-term practical and social applications. Only two of the more than 60 existing synchrotrons are in Latin America, both in Brazil. Together with other similar projects in the South, such as the African Light Source (AFLS), and with the support of SESAME, LNLS and other synchrotrons in the South, it could lead to interesting South-South cooperation, which could be supported by the European Union or the NSF.As David Gross reminded, Science drives Technology, Technology drives Innovation, and this ends up in the welfare of society. A regional synchrotron may be the way to make this a reality in the Great Caribbean Region, as a first historical example of a large regional facility there

Differences between adjusted vs. non- adjusted loads in velocity-based training: consequences for strength training control and programming

Strength and conditioning specialists commonly deal with the quantification and selection the setting of protocols regarding resistance training intensities. Although the one repetition maximum (1RM) method has been widely used to prescribe exercise intensity, the velocity-based training (VBT) method may enable a more optimal tool for better monitoring and planning of resistance training (RT) programs. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of two RT programs only differing in the training load prescription strategy (adjusting or not daily via VBT) with loads from 50 to 80% 1RM on 1RM, countermovement (CMJ) and sprint. Twenty-four male students with previous experience in RT were randomly assigned to two groups: adjusted loads (AL) (nD13) and non-adjusted loads (NAL) (nD11) and carried out an 8-week (16 sessions) RT program. The performance assessment pre- and post-training program included estimated 1RM and full load-velocity profile in the squat exercise; countermovement jump (CMJ); and 20-m sprint (T20). Relative intensity (RI) and mean propulsive velocity attained during each training session (Vsession) was monitored. Subjects in the NAL group trained at a significantly faster Vsession than those in AL (p < 0.001) (0.88 - 0.91 vs. 0.67- 0.68 m/s, with a 15% RM gap between groups for the last sessions), and did not achieve the maximum programmed intensity (80% RM). Significant differences were detected in sessions 3- 4, showing differences between programmed and performed Vsession and lower RI and velocity loss (VL) for the NAL compared to the AL group (p < 0.05). Although both groups improved 1RM, CMJ and T20, NAL experienced greater and significant changes than AL (28.90 vs.12.70%, 16.10 vs. 7.90% and -1.99 vs. - 0.95%, respectively). Load adjustment based on movement velocity is a useful way to control for highly individualised responses to training and improve the implementation of RT programs

Grafting of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes with Chicken Feather Keratin

Keratin, obtained from chicken feathers, was grafted on the surface of commercially available carbon nanotubes. The original procedure developed allows a covalent interaction between some specific chemical groups characteristic of the keratin, with some functional groups introduced on purpose on the surface of the nanotubes, as revealed by infrared and Raman spectroscopies, which also allowed to determine structural changes introduced during the process, such as crystallinity, which lead to changes in other properties, as well

Splicing factor SF3B1 is overexpressed and implicated in the aggressiveness and survival of hepatocellular carcinoma

Splicing alterations represent an actionable cancer hallmark. Splicing factor 3B subunit 1 (SF3B1) is a crucial splicing factor that can be targeted pharmacologically (e.g. pladienolide-B). Here, we show that SF3B1 is overexpressed (RNA/protein) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in two retrospective (n = 154 and n = 172 samples) and in five in silico cohorts (n > 900 samples, including TCGA) and that its expression is associated with tumor aggressiveness, oncogenic splicing variants expression (KLF6-SV1, BCL-XL) and decreased overall survival. In vitro, SF3B1 silencing reduced cell viability, proliferation and migration and its pharmacological blockade with pladienolide-B inhibited proliferation, migration, and formation of tumorspheres and colonies in liver cancer cell lines (HepG2, Hep3B, SNU-387), whereas its effects on normal-like hepatocyte-derived THLE-2 proliferation were negligible. Pladienolide-B also reduced the in vivo growth and the expression of tumor-markers in Hep3B-induced xenograft tumors. Moreover, SF3B1 silencing and/or blockade markedly modulated the activation of key signaling pathways (PDK1, GSK3b, ERK, JNK, AMPK) and the expression of cancer-associated genes (CDK4, CD24) and oncogenic SVs (KLF6-SV1). Therefore, the genetic and/or pharmacological inhibition of SF3B1 may represent a promising novel therapeutic strategy worth to be explored through randomized controlled trials.Las alteraciones en el splicing son un rasgo distintivo del cáncer. La subunidad 1 del factor de splicing 3B (SF3B1) es un factor de splicing crucial que puede ser objeto de tratamiento farmacológico (por ejemplo, pladienolide-B). En este estudio demostramos que SF3B1 está sobreexpresado (ARN/proteína) en el carcinoma hepatocelular (CHC) en dos cohortes retrospectivas (n = 154 y n = 172 muestras) y en cinco cohortes in silico (n > 900 muestras, incluyendo TCGA) y que su expresión está asociada con la agresividad tumoral, la expresión de variantes de splicing oncogénicas (KLF6-SV1, BCL-XL) y la disminución de la supervivencia global. In vitro, el silenciamiento de SF3B1 redujo la viabilidad, proliferación y migración celular, y su bloqueo farmacológico con pladienolide-B inhibió la proliferación, migración y formación de esferas tumorales y colonias en líneas celulares de cáncer de hígado (HepG2, Hep3B, SNU-387), mientras que sus efectos sobre la proliferación de THLE-2 derivadas de hepatocitos de tipo normal fueron insignificantes. Pladienolide-B también redujo el crecimiento in vivo y la expresión de marcadores tumorales en tumores xenoinjertados inducidos por Hep3B. Además, el silenciamiento y/o bloqueo de SF3B1 moduló notablemente la activación de vías de señalización clave (PDK1, GSK3b, ERK, JNK, AMPK) y la expresión de genes asociados al cáncer (CDK4, CD24) y de SV oncogénicos (KLF6-SV1)

Adherence to the Western, Prudent and Mediterranean dietary patterns and breast cancer risk: MCC-Spain study

Objective To externally validate the previously identified effect on breast cancer risk of the Western, Prudent and Mediterranean dietary patterns. Study design MCC-Spain is a multicase-control study that collected epidemiological information on 1181 incident cases of female breast cancer and 1682 control cases from 10 Spanish provinces. Three dietary patterns derived in another Spanish case-control study were analysed in the MCC-Spain study. These patterns were termed Western (high intakes of fatty and sugary products and red and processed meat), Prudent (high intakes of low-fat dairy products, vegetables, fruits, whole grains and juices) and Mediterranean (high intake of fish, vegetables, legumes, boiled potatoes, fruits, olives, and vegetable oil, and a low intake of juices). Their association with breast cancer was assessed using logistic regression models with random province-specific intercepts considering an interaction with menopausal status. Risk according to tumour subtypes ? based on oestrogen (ER), progesterone (PR) and human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2) receptors (ER+/PR+&HER2-; HER2+; ER-/PR-&HER2-) ? was evaluated with multinomial regression models. Main outcome measures Breast cancer and histological subtype. Results Our results confirm most of the associations found in the previous case-control study. A high adherence to the Western dietary pattern seems to increase breast cancer risk in both premenopausal women (OR4thvs.1stquartile(95%CI):1.68(1.02;2.79); OR1SD-increase(95%CI): 1.19(1.01;1.40)) and postmenopausal women (OR4thvs.1stquartile(95%CI):1.48(1.07;2.05); OR1SD-increase(95%CI): 1.14(1.01;1.28)). While high adherence to the Prudent pattern did not show any effect on breast cancer, the Mediterranean dietary pattern seemed to be protective, but only among postmenopausal women (OR4thvs.1stquartile (95%CI):0.72(95% CI 0.53;0.98); p-int = 0.075). There were no significant differences by tumour subtype. Conclusion Dietary recommendations based on a departure from the Western dietary pattern in favour of the Mediterranean diet could reduce breast cancer risk in the general population.The study was funded by Carlos III Institute of Health grants (PI12/00488, PI12/00265, PI12/00715, PI12/01270, PI09/00773 and PI08/1770), by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (IJCI-2014-20900) and by Consejería de Salud de la Junta de Andalucía (PI-0571- 2009 and PI-0306-2011) competitive calls including peer review for scientific quality. Additional funding was provided by the Spanish Federation of Breast Cancer Patients (FECMA: EPY 1169- 10), the Association of Women with Breast Cancer from Elche (AMACMEC:EPY 1394/15), the Marqués de Valdecilla foundation (grant API 10/09), ) and by Acción Transversal del Cancer, approved by the Spanish Ministry Council on October 11, 2007. None of the funders played any role in conducting research or writing the paper

Evaluación del manejo del dolor postquirúrgico en pacientes adultos de una clínica de tercer nivel de Pereira Colombia

El dolor es la primera manifestación clínica del postoperatorio. El objetivo del presente trabajo es evaluar el nivel de dolor percibido por pacientes adultos en el postquirúrgico mediante una Escala Visual Analógica en la Clínica Los Rosales de Pereira

Association of diabetes and diabetes treatment with incidence of breast cancer

[EN] The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of diabetes and diabetes treatment with risk of postmenopausal breast cancer.Histologically confirmed incident cases of postmenopausal breast (N = 916) cancer were recruited from 23 Spanish public hospitals. Population-based controls (N = 1094) were randomly selected from primary care center lists within the catchment areas of the participant hospitals. ORs (95 % CI) were estimated using mixed-effects logistic regression models, using the recruitment center as a random effect term. Breast tumors were classified into hormone receptor positive (ER+ or PR+), HER2+ and triple negative (TN). Diabetes was not associated with the overall risk of breast cancer (OR 1.09; 95 % CI 0.82–1.45), and it was only linked to the risk of developing TN tumors: Among 91 women with TN tumors, 18.7 % were diabetic, while the corresponding figure among controls was 9.9 % (OR 2.25; 95 % CI 1.22–4.15). Regarding treatment, results showed that insulin use was more prevalent among diabetic cases (2.5 %) as compared to diabetic controls (0.7 %); OR 2.98; 95 % CI 1.26–7.01. They also showed that, among diabetics, the risk of developing HR+/HER2− tumors decreased with longer metformin use (ORper year 0.89; 95 % CI 0.81–0.99; based on 24 cases and 43 controls). This study reinforces the need to correctly classify breast cancers when studying their association with diabetes. Given the low survival rates in women diagnosed with TN breast tumors and the potential impact of diabetes control on breast cancer prevention, more studies are needed to better characterize this association.S

Occupational Heat Exposure and Breast Cancer Risk in the MCC-Spain Study

[EN] Background: Mechanisms linking occupational heat exposure with chronic diseases have been proposed. However, evidence on occupational heat exposure and cancer risk is limited. Methods: We evaluated occupational heat exposure and female breast cancer risk in a large Spanish case-control study. We enrolled 1,738 breast cancer cases and 1,910 frequency-matched population controls. A Spanish job-exposure matrix, MatEmEsp, was used to assign estimates of the proportion of workers exposed (P >= 25% for at least 1 year) and work time with heat stress (wet bulb globe temperature ISO 7243) for each occupation. We used three exposure indices: ever versus never exposed, lifetime cumulative exposure, and duration of exposure (years). We estimated ORs and 95% confidence intervals (CI), applying a lag period of 5 years and adjusting for potential confounders. Results: Ever occupational heat exposure was associated with a moderate but statistically significant higher risk of breast cancer (OR 1.22; 95% CI, 1.01-1.46), with significant trends across categories of lifetime cumulative exposure and duration (P-trend = 0.01 and 0.03, respectively). Stronger associations were found for hormone receptor-positive disease (OR ever exposure = 1.38; 95% Cl, 1.12-1.67). We found no confounding effects from multiple other common occupational exposures; however, results attenuated with adjustment for occupational detergent exposure. Conclusions: This study provides some evidence of an association between occupational heat exposure and female breast cancer risk.SIThis study was partially funded by the “Accion Transversal del Cancer,” approved by the Spanish Ministry Council on October 11, 2007; the Instituto de Salud Carlos III-FEDER (PI08/1770, PI08/1359, PI09/00773, PI09/01286, PI09/01903, PI09/02078, PI09/01662, PI11/01403, PI11/01889, and PI12/00265); the Fundación Marqués de Valdecilla (API 10/09); the Junta de Castilla y León (LE22A10-2); the Consejería de Salud of the Junta de Andalucía (2009-S0143); the Conselleria de Sanitat of the Generalitat Valenciana (AP_061/10); the Recercaixa (2010ACUP 00310); the Regional Government of the Basque Country; the Consejería de Sanidad de la Región de Murcia; the European Commission grants FOOD-CT-2006–036224-HIWATE; the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC) Scientific Foundation; the Catalan Government DURSI grant 2014SGR647; the Secretariat for Universities and Research of the Ministry of Business and Knowledge of the Government of Catalonia (2017SGR1085); the Fundación Caja de Ahorros de Asturias; and the University of Oviedo. M.C. Turner is funded by a Ramón y Cajal fellowship (RYC-2017-01892) from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and co-funded by the European Social Fund. The authors acknowledge support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the “Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa 2019–2023” Program (CEX2018-000806-S) and support from the Generalitat de Catalunya through the CERCA Program. Statistical assistance provided by Ana Espinosa Morano was greatly appreciated

Perinatal and childhood factors and risk of breast cancer subtypes in adulthood

BACKGROUND: Accumulated exposure to hormones and growth factors during early life may influence the future risk of breast cancer (BC). This study examines the influence of childhood-related, socio-demographic and anthropometric variables on BC risk, overall and by specific pathologic subtypes. METHODS: This is a case-control study where 1539 histologically-confirmed BC cases (23-85 years) and 1621 population controls, frequency matched by age, were recruited in 10 Spanish provinces. Perinatal and childhood-related characteristics were directly surveyed by trained staff. The association with BC risk, globally and according to menopausal status and pathologic subtypes, was evaluated using logistic and multinomial regression models, adjusting for tumor specific risk factors. RESULTS: Birth characteristics were not related with BC risk. However, women with high socioeconomic level at birth presented a decreased BC risk (OR=0.45; 95% CI=0.29-0.70), while those whose mothers were aged over 39 years at their birth showed an almost significant excess risk of hormone receptor positive tumors (HR+) (OR=1.35; 95% CI=0.99-1.84). Women who were taller than their girl mates before puberty showed increased postmenopausal BC risk (OR=1.26; 95% CI=1.03-1.54) and increased HR+ BC risk (OR=1.26; 95% CI=1.04-1.52). Regarding prepubertal weight, while those women who were thinner than average showed higher postmenopausal BC risk (OR=1.46; 95% CI=1.20-1.78), associated with HR+ tumors (OR=1.34; 95% CI=1.12-1.61) and with triple negative tumors (OR=1.56; 95% CI=1.03-2.35), those who were heavier than average presented lower premenopausal BC risk (OR=0.64; 95% CI=0.46-0.90) and lower risk of epidermal growth factor receptor positive tumors (OR=0.61; 95% CI=0.40-0.93). CONCLUSION: These data reflect the importance of hormones and growth factors in the early stages of life, when the mammary gland is in development and therefore more vulnerable to proliferative stimuli