The influence of semantic and phonological factors on syntactic decisions: An event-related brain potential study

During language production and comprehension, information about a word's syntactic properties is sometimes needed. While the decision about the grammatical gender of a word requires access to syntactic knowledge, it has also been hypothesized that semantic (i.e., biological gender) or phonological information (i.e., sound regularities) may influence this decision. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured while native speakers of German processed written words that were or were not semantically and/or phonologically marked for gender. Behavioral and ERP results showed that participants were faster in making a gender decision when words were semantically and/or phonologically gender marked than when this was not the case, although the phonological effects were less clear. In conclusion, our data provide evidence that even though participants performed a grammatical gender decision, this task can be influenced by semantic and phonological factors

A tumor-associated heparan sulfate-related glycosaminoglycan promotes the generation of functional regulatory T cells

14 p.-8 fig.Functional Tregs play a key role in tumor development and progression, representing a major barrier to anticancer immunity. The mechanisms by which Tregs are generated in cancer and the influence of the tumor microenvironment on these processes remain incompletely understood. Herein, by using NMR, chemoenzymatic structural assays and a plethora of in vitro and in vivo functional analyses, we demonstrate that the tumoral carbohydrate A10 (Ca10), a cell-surface carbohydrate derived from Ehrlich’s tumor (ET) cells, is a heparan sulfate-related proteoglycan that enhances glycolysis and promotes the development of tolerogenic features in human DCs. Ca10-stimulated human DCs generate highly suppressive Tregs by mechanisms partially dependent on metabolic reprogramming, PD-L1, IL-10, and IDO. Ca10 also reprograms the differentiation of human monocytes into DCs with tolerogenic features. In solid ET-bearing mice, we found positive correlations between Ca10 serum levels, tumor size and splenic Treg numbers. Administration of isolated Ca10 also increases the proportion of splenic Tregs in tumor-free mice. Remarkably, we provide evidence supporting the presence of a circulating human Ca10 counterpart (Ca10H) and show, for the first time, that serum levels of Ca10H are increased in patients suffering from different cancer types compared to healthy individuals. Of note, these levels are higher in prostate cancer patients with bone metastases than in prostate cancer patients without metastases. Collectively, we reveal novel molecular mechanisms by which heparan sulfate-related structures associated with tumor cells promote the generation of functional Tregs in cancer. The discovery of this novel structural-functional relationship may open new avenues of research with important clinical implications in cancer treatment.The authors’ laboratories were supported by grants FEI 16_60 from Art.83 4154605 (138/2012)(24/2013), SAF-2017-84978-R from MINECO (Spain) and PID2020-114396RB-I00 from Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Spain) to OP and PID2021-123781OB-C22 to FJC funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 (Spain) and RTC-2015-3805-1 from MINECO to Inmunotek SL.Peer reviewe

Riparian plant litter quality increases with latitude

Plant litter represents a major basal resource in streams, where its decomposition is partly regulated by litter traits. Litter-trait variation may determine the latitudinal gradient in decomposition in streams, which is mainly microbial in the tropics and detritivore-mediated at high latitudes. However, this hypothesis remains untested, as we lack information on large-scale trait variation for riparian litter. Variation cannot easily be inferred from existing leaf-trait databases, since nutrient resorption can cause traits of litter and green leaves to diverge. Here we present the first global-scale assessment of riparian litter quality by determining latitudinal variation (spanning 107 degrees) in litter traits (nutrient concentrations; physical and chemical defences) of 151 species from 24 regions and their relationships with environmental factors and phylogeny. We hypothesized that litter quality would increase with latitude (despite variation within regions) and traits would be correlated to produce 'syndromes' resulting from phylogeny and environmental variation. We found lower litter quality and higher nitrogen: phosphorus ratios in the tropics. Traits were linked but showed no phylogenetic signal, suggesting that syndromes were environmentally determined. Poorer litter quality and greater phosphorus limitation towards the equator may restrict detritivore-mediated decomposition, contributing to the predominance of microbial decomposers in tropical streams.We thank the many assistants who helped with field work (Ana Chara-Serna, Francisco Correa-Araneda, Juliana Franca, Lina Giraldo, Stephanie Harper, Samuel Kariuki, Sylvain Lamothe, Lily Ng, Marcus Schindler, etc.), Cristina Grela Docal for helping with leaf chemical analyses, and Fernando Hiraldo (former director of EBD-CSIC) for his support. The study was funded by start-up funds from the Donana Biological Station (EBD-CSIC, Spain) and from Ikerbasque to LB, the Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) strategic project ID/MAR/04292/2013 granted to MARE (Portugal), the 'BIOFUNCTION' project (CGL2014-52779-P) from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) and FEDER to LB and J. Pozo, and Basque Government funds (IT302-10) to J. Pozo

Spread of a SARS-CoV-2 variant through Europe in the summer of 2020.

Following its emergence in late 2019, the spread of SARS-CoV-21,2 has been tracked by phylogenetic analysis of viral genome sequences in unprecedented detail3–5. Although the virus spread globally in early 2020 before borders closed, intercontinental travel has since been greatly reduced. However, travel within Europe resumed in the summer of 2020. Here we report on a SARS-CoV-2 variant, 20E (EU1), that was identified in Spain in early summer 2020 and subsequently spread across Europe. We find no evidence that this variant has increased transmissibility, but instead demonstrate how rising incidence in Spain, resumption of travel, and lack of effective screening and containment may explain the variant’s success. Despite travel restrictions, we estimate that 20E (EU1) was introduced hundreds of times to European countries by summertime travellers, which is likely to have undermined local efforts to minimize infection with SARS-CoV-2. Our results illustrate how a variant can rapidly become dominant even in the absence of a substantial transmission advantage in favourable epidemiological settings. Genomic surveillance is critical for understanding how travel can affect transmission of SARS-CoV-2, and thus for informing future containment strategies as travel resumes. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited

Effectiveness of an intervention for improving drug prescription in primary care patients with multimorbidity and polypharmacy:Study protocol of a cluster randomized clinical trial (Multi-PAP project)

This study was funded by the Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias ISCIII (Grant Numbers PI15/00276, PI15/00572, PI15/00996), REDISSEC (Project Numbers RD12/0001/0012, RD16/0001/0005), and the European Regional Development Fund ("A way to build Europe").Background: Multimorbidity is associated with negative effects both on people's health and on healthcare systems. A key problem linked to multimorbidity is polypharmacy, which in turn is associated with increased risk of partly preventable adverse effects, including mortality. The Ariadne principles describe a model of care based on a thorough assessment of diseases, treatments (and potential interactions), clinical status, context and preferences of patients with multimorbidity, with the aim of prioritizing and sharing realistic treatment goals that guide an individualized management. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a complex intervention that implements the Ariadne principles in a population of young-old patients with multimorbidity and polypharmacy. The intervention seeks to improve the appropriateness of prescribing in primary care (PC), as measured by the medication appropriateness index (MAI) score at 6 and 12months, as compared with usual care. Methods/Design: Design:pragmatic cluster randomized clinical trial. Unit of randomization: family physician (FP). Unit of analysis: patient. Scope: PC health centres in three autonomous communities: Aragon, Madrid, and Andalusia (Spain). Population: patients aged 65-74years with multimorbidity (≥3 chronic diseases) and polypharmacy (≥5 drugs prescribed in ≥3months). Sample size: n=400 (200 per study arm). Intervention: complex intervention based on the implementation of the Ariadne principles with two components: (1) FP training and (2) FP-patient interview. Outcomes: MAI score, health services use, quality of life (Euroqol 5D-5L), pharmacotherapy and adherence to treatment (Morisky-Green, Haynes-Sackett), and clinical and socio-demographic variables. Statistical analysis: primary outcome is the difference in MAI score between T0 and T1 and corresponding 95% confidence interval. Adjustment for confounding factors will be performed by multilevel analysis. All analyses will be carried out in accordance with the intention-to-treat principle. Discussion: It is essential to provide evidence concerning interventions on PC patients with polypharmacy and multimorbidity, conducted in the context of routine clinical practice, and involving young-old patients with significant potential for preventing negative health outcomes. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov, NCT02866799Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Base de datos de abejas ibéricas

Las abejas son un grupo extremadamente diverso con más de 1000 especies descritas en la península ibérica. Además, son excelentes polinizadores y aportan numerosos servicios ecosistémicos fundamentales para la mayoría de ecosistemas terrestres. Debido a los diversos cambios ambientales inducidos por el ser humano, existen evidencias del declive de algunas de sus poblaciones para ciertas especies. Sin embargo, conocemos muy poco del estado de conservación de la mayoría de especies y de muchas de ellas ignoramos cuál es su distribución en la península ibérica. En este trabajo presentamos un esfuerzo colaborativo para crear una base de datos de ocurrencias de abejas que abarca la península ibérica e islas Baleares que permitirá resolver cuestiones como la distribución de las diferentes especies, preferencia de hábitat, fenología o tendencias históricas. En su versión actual, esta base de datos contiene un total de 87 684 registros de 923 especies recolectados entre 1830 y 2022, de los cuales un 87% presentan información georreferenciada. Para cada registro se incluye información relativa a la localidad de muestreo (89%), identificador y colector de la especie (64%), fecha de captura (54%) y planta donde se recolectó (20%). Creemos que esta base de datos es el punto de partida para conocer y conservar mejor la biodiversidad de abejas en la península ibérica e Islas Baleares. Se puede acceder a estos datos a través del siguiente enlace permanente: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6354502ABSTRACT: Bees are a diverse group with more than 1000 species known from the Iberian Peninsula. They have increasingly received special attention due to their important role as pollinators and providers of ecosystem services. In addition, various rapid human-induced environmental changes are leading to the decline of some of its populations. However, we know very little about the conservation status of most species and for many species, we hardly know their true distributions across the Iberian Peninsula. Here, we present a collaborative effort to collate and curate a database of Iberian bee occurrences to answer questions about their distribution, habitat preference, phenology, or historical trends. In total we have accumulated 87 684 records from the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands of 923 different species with 87% of georeferenced records collected between 1830 and 2022. In addition, each record has associated information such as the sampling location (89%), collector and person who identified the species (64%), date of the capture (54%) and plant species where the bees were captured (20%). We believe that this database is the starting point to better understand and conserve bee biodiversity in the Iberian Peninsula. It can be accessed at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6354502Esta base de datos se ha realizado con la ayuda de los proyectos EUCLIPO (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-028360/EUCLIPO) y SAFEGUARD (ref. 101003476 H2020 -SFS-2019-2).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

New cancer vaccine based on the CA10 tumour carbohydrate

Tesis inédita de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Medicina, leída el 16/12/2020«Cáncer» es un término genérico que designa un amplio grupo de enfermedades que pueden afectar a cualquier parte del organismo; también se habla de «tumores» o «neoplasias» malignas. La transformación maligna de una célula sana en una tumoral es un proceso complejo que no sólo implica cambios genéticos y epigenéticos que conllevan a la pérdida de control en la división, sino que también se producen modificaciones en otros genes cuyos productos pueden dar lugar a la aparición de antígenos específicos o asociados a tumores. Los carbohidratos como componentes mayoritarios de la membrana celular también sufren procesos de glicosilación incompleta o aberrante dando lugar a la aparición de antígenos carbohidratos asociados a tumores. El carbohidrato tumoral A10 (Ca10) es una macromolécula de alto peso molecular que contiene el epítopo de naturaleza sacarídica definido por el anticuerpo monoclonal A10. Este epítopo de tipo carbohidrato se encuentra expresado en la superficie de membrana de células del tumor de Ehrlich (ET) y en tumores epiteliales humanos de origen glandular. En modelos murinos, la inmunización con células ET desvitalizadas genera una respuesta de anticuerpos IgM específicos frente a carbohidratos de la superficie de estas células, que median una protección frente al crecimiento de este tumor. Además, la resistencia natural frente al desarrollo del tumor de Ehrlich se correlaciona con los niveles de IgM natural frente carbohidratos de la superficie de las células ET. Esta inmunidad es posible transferirla de un animal a otro mediante inmunización pasiva, inoculando sueros procedentes de ratones inmunizados con células desvitalizadas o administrando el anticuerpo monoclonal A10...Cancer is a generic term for a large group of diseases that can affect any part of the body. Other terms used are malignant tumours and neoplasms. The malignant transformation of a normal cell into a tumor cell is a complex process that not only involves genetic and epigenetic changes which lead to loss of control in division, but also changes in other genes whose products can lead to the appearance of specific or tumor-associated antigens. Carbohydrates, as the major components of the cell membrane, also presents incomplete or aberrant glycosylation processes, giving rise to the appearance of tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens The A10 tumor carbohydrate (Ca10) is a high molecular weight macromolecule that contains the saccharide epitope defined by the monoclonal antibody A10. This carbohydrate epitope is expressed on the membrane surface of Ehrlich tumor cells (ET) and is associated with human glandular epithelial tumors. In murine models, immunization with devitalized ET produce an IgM response against tumor surface carbohydrates, associated with antitumor resistance against Ehrlich. Furthermore, natural resistance against ET tumor growth is correlated with the presence of natural IgM against Ehrlich surface carbohydrates. This immunity could be passively transferred to mice by inoculating sera from devitalized cells immunized mice or by administering the monoclonal antibody A10...Fac. de MedicinaTRUEunpu

Revista de psicodidáctica

Resumen basado en el de la publicaciónTítulo, resumen y palabras clave, en español y en inglésBasándose en un modelo de eficacia docente compuesto por seis dimensiones (clima de aprendizaje seguro, manejo eficiente del aula, claridad de la instrucción, enseñanza activa, diferenciación y estrategias de enseñanza – aprendizaje), se examina la percepción que posee el alumnado universitario acerca de la eficacia docente de sus profesores y profesoras, así como el influjo de esta percepción en su compromiso académico. Los resultados sugieren diferencias atendiendo al sexo del profesorado y al tipo de estudios que se estén cursando. Así, los profesores varones reciben una mejor percepción que las mujeres, y también aquéllos que imparten docencia en estudios de Artes y Humanidades, Ciencias Sociales y Jurídicas y Ciencias de la Salud son percibidos más positivamente. En relación al compromiso del alumnado, los resultados confirman el poder predictivo de las dimensiones manejo eficiente del aula, enseñanza activa y diferenciación.ES