Intrathecal cell therapy with autologous stromal cells increases cerebral glucose metabolism and can offer a new approach to the treatment of Alzheimer's type dementia

After recent observations that intrathecal administration of autologous bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) increases cerebral metabolism in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), we examined this type of cell therapy in Alzheimer's type dementia. Three patients with clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease received every 3 months 100million autologous MSCs by intrathecal route, until a total dose of 300million. During cell therapy the patients showed arrest in neurological deterioration and two of them manifested clear improvement of previous symptoms. A global increase in cerebral glucose metabolism, measured using 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG-PET), was observed after every administration of cell therapy. Our present findings suggest that intrathecal administrations of autologous MSCs can be a new strategy for the treatment of Alzheimer's dementiaWe thank the institutions supporting the development of our cell therapy program, in particular Mapfre and Rafael del Pino Foundation

Los tornillos como método suplementario de fijación de las cúpulas acetabulares: Utilidad de la digitalización de imágenes

La fijación suplementaria con tornillos de los componentes acetabulares hemisféricos no cementados es utilizada para proporcionar estabilidad primaria al implante. No obstante su empleo se asocia a un mayor riesgo de lesiones neurovasculares, complicaciones propias de los tornillos e incremento de osteolisis. Se han estudiado retrospectivamente las radiografías de 30 cúpulas cotiloideas no cementadas modelo Bihapro, suplementadas con tornillos, con un seguimiento mínimo de 5 años. Se utilizó, además, un programa de análisis y procesamiento de imágenes por ordenador. No se produjeron lesiones neurovasculares o viscerales, no se apreció ninguna movilización de la cúpula y sólo se observó un caso e osteolisis alrededor de un tornillo en un paciente sometido a cirugía de revisión. La digitalización de imágenes es una técnica que permite entre otras ventajas graduar densidades óseas periprotésicas facilitando un diagnóstico precoz de zonas líticas y microdeslizamientos protésicos, eliminando la subjetividad del observador.The supplementary fixation with screws non-cemented acetabular hemispheric components is used to provide primary stability to the implants. However, their use has been associated to a bigger risk of neurological and vascular damage, characteristic complications of the screws and osteolysis. The X-rays of 30 non-cemented acetabular cups model Bihapro supplemented with screws have been studied retrospectively with a 5 year-old minimum follow-up. It was also used an analysis program and computer store of images. No neurological or vascular damage took place. Any mobilization of the cup was not appreciated and only in one case of an osteolytic area was observed around a screw in a patient who unfderwent revision surgery. The digitalization of images is a technique that allows among other advantages to graduate periprosthetic bone densities facilitating an early diagnose of lytic areas and prosthetic micromovements eliminating the observer's subjectivity

Osteopoiquilia: A propósito de 2 casos

La osteopoiquilosis es una rara displasia ósea esclerosante. Su diagnóstico es normalmente hecho de forma accidental de radiografías que muestran múltiples áreas escleróticas en diversos huesos del esqueleto. Su diagnóstico diferencial se realiza con la melorreostosis, osteopatía estriada y metástasis osteobásticas, en base a la clínica, radiología y gammagrafía. Histológicamente aparecen condensaciones focales de hueso lamelar compacto dentro de la esponjosa. Nosotros recogemos 2 casos de osteopoiquilosis y se hace a su vez un recuerdo.Osteopoikilosis, is a rare sclerosing bone dysplasia. The diagnosis is usually made incidentally from radiographs with show multiple sclerotic areas in several bones of the body. The differential diagnosis from melorheostosis, osteophatia striata and specially from osteoblastic bone metastases, on the basis of the clinical, radiological and radionuclide scanning characteristics. Histologically, there are focal condensations of compact lamellar bone within the spongiosa. We report two case osteopoikilosis

The Spanish Pancreatic Club recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of chronic pancreatitis: Part 1 (diagnosis)

Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is a relatively uncommon, complex and heterogeneous disease. The absence of a gold standard applicable to the initial phases of CP makes its early diagnosis difficult. Some of its complications, particularly chronic pain, can be difficult to manage. There is much variability in the diagnosis and treatment of CP and its complications amongst centers and professionals. The Spanish Pancreatic Club has developed a consensus on the management of CP. Two coordinators chose a multidisciplinary panel of 24 experts on this disease. A list of questions was drafted, and two experts reviewed each question. Then, a draft was produced and shared with the entire panel of experts and discussed in a face-to-fac

Clínica jurídica, una forma de aprendizaje-servicio para la protección de Derechos humanos

[spa] El artículo explica los primeros pasos dados en el desarrollo del proyecto "Clínica jurídica: una forma de aprendizaje-servicio para la protección de derechos humanos" en la Universidad de Valladolid, cuyo principal objetivo consiste en la formación de juristas socialmente comprometidos.[eng] The paper explains the first steps given on the development of the Project “Clínica jurídica: una forma de aprendizaje-servicio para la protección de derechos humanos“ at the University of Valladolid which main aim would be a social engaged lawyers training

Broad-band high-resolution rotational spectroscopy for laboratory astrophysics

We present a new experimental set-up devoted to the study of gas phase molecules and processes using broad-band high spectral resolution rotational spectroscopy. A reactor chamber is equipped with radio receivers similar to those used by radio astronomers to search for molecular emission in space. The whole range of the Q (31.5-50 GHz) and W bands (72-116.5 GHz) is available for rotational spectroscopy observations. The receivers are equipped with 16 × 2.5 GHz fast Fourier transform spectrometers with a spectral resolution of 38.14 kHz allowing the simultaneous observation of the complete Q band and one-third of the W band. The whole W band can be observed in three settings in which the Q band is always observed. Species such as CH3CN, OCS, and SO2 are detected, together with many of their isotopologues and vibrationally excited states, in very short observing times. The system permits automatic overnight observations, and integration times as long as 2.4 × 105 s have been reached. The chamber is equipped with a radiofrequency source to produce cold plasmas, and with four ultraviolet lamps to study photochemical processes. Plasmas of CH4, N2, CH3CN, NH3, O2, and H2, among other species, have been generated and the molecular products easily identified by the rotational spectrum, and via mass spectrometry and optical spectroscopy. Finally, the rotational spectrum of the lowest energy conformer of CH3CH2NHCHO (N-ethylformamide), a molecule previously characterized in microwave rotational spectroscopy, has been measured up to 116.5 GHz, allowing the accurate determination of its rotational and distortion constants and its search in space.We thank the European Research Council for funding support under Synergy Grant ERC-2013-SyG, G.A. 610256 (NANOCOSMOS). IT, VJH, and JLD acknowledge additional partial support from the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) through grant FIS2016-77726-C3-1-P. JAMG, LM, and GS acknowledge additional partial support from the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) through grant MAT2017-85089-C2-1R. We thank David López Romero for his help during the process of installation, commissioning, and cleaning of the chamber. We would like to thank Kremena Makasheva for the useful comments and suggestions during the experiments with Hexamethyldisiloxane. We would also like to thank Rosa Lebrón, Jesús Quintanilla, and Cristina Soria for providing us with the sample of N-ethylformamide. Sandra I. Ramírez acknowledges support from the FONCICYT under grant number 291842. Celina Bermúdez thanks the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia Innovación y Universidades for the Juan de la Cierva grant FJCI-2016-27983

Predicting the length of mechanical ventilation in acute respiratory disease syndrome using machine learning: The PIONEER Study

Background: The ability to predict a long duration of mechanical ventilation (MV) by clinicians is very limited. We assessed the value of machine learning (ML) for early prediction of the duration of MV > 14 days in patients with moderate-to-severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Methods: This is a development, testing, and external validation study using data from 1173 patients on MV ≥ 3 days with moderate-to-severe ARDS. We first developed and tested prediction models in 920 ARDS patients using relevant features captured at the time of moderate/severe ARDS diagnosis, at 24 h and 72 h after diagnosis with logistic regression, and Multilayer Perceptron, Support Vector Machine, and Random Forest ML techniques. For external validation, we used an independent cohort of 253 patients on MV ≥ 3 days with moderate/severe ARDS. Results: A total of 441 patients (48%) from the derivation cohort (n = 920) and 100 patients (40%) from the validation cohort (n = 253) were mechanically ventilated for >14 days [median 14 days (IQR 8–25) vs. 13 days (IQR 7–21), respectively]. The best early prediction model was obtained with data collected at 72 h after moderate/severe ARDS diagnosis. Multilayer Perceptron risk modeling identified major prognostic factors for the duration of MV > 14 days, including PaO2/FiO2, PaCO2, pH, and positive end-expiratory pressure. Predictions of the duration of MV > 14 days showed modest discrimination [AUC 0.71 (95%CI 0.65–0.76)]. Conclusions: Prolonged MV duration in moderate/severe ARDS patients remains difficult to predict early even with ML techniques such as Multilayer Perceptron and using data at 72 h of diagnosis. More research is needed to identify markers for predicting the length of MV. This study was registered on 14 August 2023 at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT NCT05993377)

Influence of the IL17A locus in giant cell arteritis susceptibility

Objective: Different lines of evidence have highlighted the role of IL-17A in the inflammatory process occurring in giant cell arteritis (GCA). The aim of the present study was to assess whether the IL17A locus influences GCA susceptibility and its clinical subphenotypes. Methods: We carried out a large meta-analysis including a total of 1266 biopsy-proven GCA patients and 3779 healthy controls from four European populations (Spain, Italy, Germany and Norway). Five IL17A polymorphisms (rs4711998, rs8193036, rs3819024, rs2275913 and rs7747909) were selected by tagging and genotyped using TaqMan assays. Allelic combination and dependency tests were also performed. Results: In the pooled analysis, two of the five analysed polymorphisms showed evidence of association with GCA (rs2275913: PMH=1.85E−03, OR=1.17 (1.06-1.29); rs7747909: PMH=8.49E-03, OR=1.15 (1.04-1.27)). A clear trend of association was also found for the rs4711998 variant (PMH=0.059, OR=1.11 (1.00-1.23)). An independent effect of rs2275913 and rs4711998 was evident by conditional regression analysis. In addition, the haplotype harbouring the risk alleles better explained the observed association than the polymorphisms independently (likelihood p value <10−05). Conclusions: Polymorphisms within the IL17A locus show a novel association with GCA. This finding supports the relevant role of the Th17 cells in this vasculitis pathophysiology

Costs and benefits of automation for astronomical facilities

The Observatorio Astrof\'isico de Javalambre (OAJ{\dag}1) in Spain is a young astronomical facility, conceived and developed from the beginning as a fully automated observatory with the main goal of optimizing the processes in the scientific and general operation of the Observatory. The OAJ has been particularly conceived for carrying out large sky surveys with two unprecedented telescopes of unusually large fields of view (FoV): the JST/T250, a 2.55m telescope of 3deg field of view, and the JAST/T80, an 83cm telescope of 2deg field of view. The most immediate objective of the two telescopes for the next years is carrying out two unique photometric surveys of several thousands square degrees, J-PAS{\dag}2 and J-PLUS{\dag}3, each of them with a wide range of scientific applications, like e.g. large structure cosmology and Dark Energy, galaxy evolution, supernovae, Milky Way structure, exoplanets, among many others. To do that, JST and JAST are equipped with panoramic cameras under development within the J-PAS collaboration, JPCam and T80Cam respectively, which make use of large format (~ 10k x 10k) CCDs covering the entire focal plane. This paper describes in detail, from operations point of view, a comparison between the detailed cost of the global automation of the Observatory and the standard automation cost for astronomical facilities, in reference to the total investment and highlighting all benefits obtained from this approach and difficulties encountered. The paper also describes the engineering development of the overall facilities and infrastructures for the fully automated observatory and a global overview of current status, pinpointing lessons learned in order to boost observatory operations performance, achieving scientific targets, maintaining quality requirements, but also minimizing operation cost and human resources.Comment: Global Observatory Control System GOC