A clock and wavefront mechanism for somite formation

Somitogenesis, the sequential formation of a periodic pattern along the antero-posterior axis of vertebrate embryos, is one of the most obvious examples of the segmental patterning processes that take place during embryogenesis and also one of the major unresolved events in developmental biology. In this article, we develop a mathematical formulation of a new version of the Clock and Wavefront model proposed by Pourquié and co-workers (Dubrulle, J., McGrew, M.J., Pourquié, O., 2001. FGF signalling controls somite boundary position and regulates segmentation clock control of spatiotemporal Hox gene activation. Cell 106, 219–232). Dynamic expression of FGF8 in the presomitic mesoderm constitutes the wavefront of determination which sweeps along the body axis interacting as it moves with the segmentation clock to gate cells into somites. We also show that the model can mimic the anomalies formed when progression of the wavefront is disturbed and make some experimental predictions that can be used to test the hypotheses underlying the model

Pilot-scale continuous flow granular reactor for the treatment of extremely low-strength recirculating aquaculture system wastewater

To avoid toxic ammonium and nitrite concentrations in aquaculture systems is crucial to maintain the fish production. When recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) operate in freshwater farms during the dry seasons, the concentrations of these pollutants increase. The objective of the present study is the evaluation of a Continuous Flow Granular Reactor (CFGR) for the treatment of freshwater RAS stream at pilot-scale during two consecutive dry seasons. The CFGR was fed with a extremely low-strength recirculation stream of a trout farm (0.12–1.84 mg NH4+-N/L and 2.2–8.14 mg C/L). Two different configurations were evaluated. The first configuration consisted on a CFGR fed from the bottom, being the up-flow velocity the only shear force to mix the biomass. The second configuration incorporated a mechanical stirrer and a sieve to improve the biomass mixing and retention. The CFGR was operated at short hydraulic retention times (HRT) which ranged from 11 to 68 min. The configuration with a mechanical stirrer and sieve was optimal in terms of biomass retention and nitrogen removal performance. Despite the low nitrogen and organic matter concentrations, granulation was achieved in 55 days, with an average granule diameter up to 0.47 mm. Ammonium and nitrite removal percentages up to 81% and 100% were achieved, respectively. The ammonium and nitrite production rate in the trout farm were lower than the removal achieved by the CFGR, which makes the implementation of this system appropriated to maintain the concentration of these compounds below toxic levels for rainbow trout.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Utility of a thematic network in primary health care: a controlled interventional study in a rural area

BACKGROUND: UniNet is an Internet-based thematic network for a virtual community of users (VCU). It supports a virtual multidisciplinary community for physicians, focused on the improvement of clinical practice. This is a study of the effects of a thematic network such as UniNet on primary care medicine in a rural area, specifically as a platform of communication between specialists at the hospital and doctors in the rural area. METHODS: In order to study the effects of a thematic network such as UniNet on primary care medicine in a rural area, we designed an interventional study that included a control group. The measurements included the number of patient displacements due to disease, number of patient hospital stays and the number of prescriptions of drugs of low therapeutic utility and generic drug prescriptions by doctors. These data were analysed and compared with those of the control center. RESULTS: Our study showed positive changes in medical practice, reflected in the improvement of the evaluated parameters in the rural health area where the interventional study was carried out, compared with the control area. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of UniNet as a potential medium to improve the quality of medical care in rural areas. CONCLUSION: The rural doctors had an effective, useful, user-friendly and cheap source of medical information that may have contributed to the improvement observed in the medical quality indices

The Spanish Mediterranean Fishing Guilds (Cofradias): An Example of Collaborative Management with a Key Role in Sustainable Fisheries

[EN] The management of Spanish coastal fisheries is based on a mixed model where the centralised action of the government is combined with the self-organisation of fishers in cofradias (guilds). These institutions have economic and political functions, intermediating between the State and the fishing sector and mediating in the conflicts that may occur. They also have welfare and mutualist tasks. This original and traditional co-management model is part of the social capital of traditional Spanish fishing. The aim of this article is to explore the possibilities of these Spanish fishers' organisations in order to improve the legitimacy of the fishery system and the sustainability of fisheries. Our hypothesis is that updating and adapting some aspects of the cofradias model could produce efficient forms of collaborative management and lead to improvements in the sustainability of fisheries. To validate this hypothesis the study analysed 69 face-to-face interviews in 21 Spanish-Mediterranean guilds. The analysis focused on three core aspects: the control of fishing resources; the integration of fishing knowledge in the management system; and, finally, the guilds contribution to the legitimacy of the system in the eyes of the fishers.This work was supported by National Plan for Scientific and Technological Research and Innovation (Spanish Economy and Competitiveness Ministry). Research Project CSO2016-76135-P. There is no conflict of interest declared in this article.Herrera-Racionero, P.; Lizcano, E.; Miret Pastor, LG.; Mascarell, Y. (2019). The Spanish Mediterranean Fishing Guilds (Cofradias): An Example of Collaborative Management with a Key Role in Sustainable Fisheries. Fisheries. 44(4):172-182. https://doi.org/10.1002/fsh.10224S172182444Alegret J. L.1999.Gestión comunitaria cogestión y mercado. La evolución histórica de la gestión de la pesca en el Mediterráneo español. Pages109–124inG.Allut andJ.Pascual editors. Antropología de la pesca/Santiago de Compostela: Asociación Galega de Antropoloxía.La pesca a la Mediterrània 2016 Universidad de Alicante Alicante J. L Alegret J. L. Sánchez Lizaso Les confraries de pescadors a Espanya 47 54Andalusian Decree 86/2004 of March 2 2004 about Fishers Guilds and their Institutions. Available:https://www.juntadeandalucia.es/boja/2004/52/3Ariza, E., Pons, F., & Breton, F. (2016). Is «socio-ecological culture» really being taken into account to manage conflicts in the coastal zone? Inputs from Spanish Mediterranean beaches. Ocean & Coastal Management, 134, 183-193. doi:10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2016.10.006Catalan Law 22/2002 of July 12 2002 of Fishers Guilds. «DOGC» n. 3684. Available:https://www.boe.es/buscar/pdf/2002/BOE-A-2002-15890-consolidado.pdfCochrane, K. L., & Garcia, S. M. (Eds.). (2009). A Fishery Manager’s Guidebook. doi:10.1002/9781444316315Corral-Quintana, S., Legna-de la Nuez, D., Legna Verna, C., Hernández, J. H., & Romero-Manrique de Lara, D. (2016). How to improve strategic decision-making in complex systems when only qualitative information is available. Land Use Policy, 50, 83-101. doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2015.09.0045. European Comission.2013.Commission implementing regulation6. (EU) Nº 1419/2013. Availablehttp://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32013R1419&from=ES(May2017)European Commission.2014.Coastal zones: achieving sustainable management. Availablehttp://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/pdf/coastal_zones_sustainable_management_46si_en.pdf(May 2017).European Parliament.2012.Common position on the role of the RACS in the future Common Fisheries Policy Reform. Available:http://www.europarl.europa.eu/document/activities/cont/201203/20120322ATT41696/20120322ATT41696EN.pdf(May 2017).Frangoudes, K., Marugán-Pintos, B., & Pascual-Fernández, J. J. (2008). From open access to co-governance and conservation: The case of women shellfish collectors in Galicia (Spain). Marine Policy, 32(2), 223-232. doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2007.09.007Herrera-Racionero, P., Lizcano-Fernández, E., & Miret-Pastor, L. (2015). «Us» and «them». Fishermen from Gandía and the loss of institutional legitimacy. Marine Policy, 54, 130-136. doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2014.12.018Jentoft, S. (2000). Legitimacy and disappointment in fisheries management. Marine Policy, 24(2), 141-148. doi:10.1016/s0308-597x(99)00025-1Kosamu, I. B. M. (2015). Conditions for sustainability of small-scale fisheries in developing countries. Fisheries Research, 161, 365-373. doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2014.09.002Law 2/2007 of March 12 2007 of Marine Fishery and Aquaculture of Murcia region. Available inhttps://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2008/07/21/pdfs/A31793-31815.pdf(November 2018)Long, R. D., Charles, A., & Stephenson, R. L. (2015). Key principles of marine ecosystem-based management. Marine Policy, 57, 53-60. doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2015.01.013Mackinson, S., Wilson, D. C., Galiay, P., & Deas, B. (2011). Engaging stakeholders in fisheries and marine research. Marine Policy, 35(1), 18-24. doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2010.07.003MAGRAMA (Ministry of Agriculture Food and Environment).2015.Estadísticas pesqueras: Pesca marítima. Availablehttp://www.magrama.gob.es/es/estadistica/temas/estadisticas-pesqueras/pesca-maritima/(July 2017)Martínez-Novo, R., Lizcano, E., Herrera-Racionero, P., & Miret-Pastor, L. (2016). Innovation or ‘Inventions’? The conflict between latent assumptions in marine aquaculture and local fishery. Public Understanding of Science, 27(2), 214-228. doi:10.1177/0963662516651358Noy, C. (2008). Sampling Knowledge: The Hermeneutics of Snowball Sampling in Qualitative Research. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 11(4), 327-344. doi:10.1080/13645570701401305Ostrom, E. (2009). A General Framework for Analyzing Sustainability of Social-Ecological Systems. Science, 325(5939), 419-422. doi:10.1126/science.1172133Pita, P., Fernández-Vidal, D., García-Galdo, J., & Muíño, R. (2016). The use of the traditional ecological knowledge of fishermen, cost-effective tools and participatory models in artisanal fisheries: Towards the co-management of common octopus in Galicia (NW Spain). Fisheries Research, 178, 4-12. doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2015.07.021Producer organisations are officially recognised bodies set up by fishery or aquaculture producers. They play an essential role in running the European Common Fisheries Policy.State Marine Fishery Law: Law 3/2001 of March 26 2001. BOE (State Official Gazette) number 75. Available:https://www.boe.es/buscar/doc.php?id=BOE-A-2001-600

Evaluation of two different granular sludge reactor configurations for the treatment of freshwater aquaculture streams

Two aerobic distinct granular sludge reactors were operated to treat freshwater aquaculture streams at laboratory-scale: An Expanded Granular Sludge Bed(EGSB)reactor operated in continuous mode and an Aerobic Granular Sludge -Sequencing Batch Reactor(AGS-SBR) operated as a sequencing batch reactor. Both units were fed with low ammonium concentrations (2.5 mg N/L). Granular biomass accumulated in both reactors. With the imposed operational conditions, nitrogen removal was of 10 -20 % and 80 % for the EGSB and AGS-SBR, respectively.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Analysis of incidence, risk factors and clinical outcome of thromboembolic and bleeding events in 431 allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation recipients

This is an open-access paper.-- et al.Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation recipients have an increasing risk of both hemorrhagic and thrombotic complications. However, the competing risks of two of these life-threatening complications in these complex patients have still not been well defined. We retrospectively analyzed data from 431 allogeneic transplantation recipients to identify the incidence, risk factors and mortality due to thrombosis and bleeding. Significant clinical bleeding was more frequent than symptomatic thrombosis. The cumulative incidence of a bleeding episode was 30.2% at 14 years. The cumulative incidence of a venous or arterial thrombosis at 14 years was 11.8% and 4.1%, respectively. The analysis of competing factors for venous thrombosis revealed extensive chronic graft-versus-host disease to be the only independent prognostic risk factor. By contrast, six factors were associated with an increased risk of bleeding; advanced disease, ablative conditioning regimen, umbilical cord blood transplantation, anticoagulation, acute III-IV graft-versus-host disease, and transplant-associated microangiopathy. The development of thrombosis did not significantly affect overall survival (P=0.856). However, significant clinical bleeding was associated with inferior survival (P<0.001). In allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, significant clinical bleeding is more common than thrombotic complications and affects survival.Peer Reviewe

Frailty level prediction in older age using hand grip strength functions over time

This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85099-9_29.Frailty syndrome can be defined as a clinical state in which there is a rise in individual vulnerability, developing an increase in both the dependence of the person and mortality. Frailty is completely related to age. A fundamental factor to apply rehabilitative interventions successfully resides in having a simple and reliable method capable of identifying frailty syndrome. Frailty indexes (FI) have several sources of uncertainty trough the opinion of the patients, white coat effect and external factors. Moreover, in the clinical practice, the experience of the geriatricians led them to determine an approximation of the frailty level only with a simple handshake. Hand grip strength (HGS) has been widely used in tests by investigators and therapists to be able to diagnose sarcopenia and frailty, as it is a reliable indicator of the overall muscle strength, which decreases with age. Most researches focused mainly on peak HGS, which will not give insight on how the patient’s strength was distributed over time. In the present work it is proposed to evaluate HGS behavior over a period of time, and to develop a system based on Machine Learning for the identification of frailty levels using physiological features, FI and the classical signal processing based on statistics of the HGS signals. The starting hypothesis is that it can be identified the “way” of performing HGS correlated with the level of frailty. To achieve this goal a clinical study was designed and carried out with a cohort of 70 elderly persons, in two Hospitals.This work was partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades under project RTI2018-096701-B-C22, and by the Catalonia FEDER program, resolution GAH/815/2018 under the project, PECT Garraf : Envelliment actiu i saludable i dependència.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Cryptic Oral Microbiota: What Is Its Role as Obstructive Sleep Apnea-Related Periodontal Pathogens?

Q2Q2Periodontitis has been commonly linked to periodontopathogens categorized in Socransky’s microbial complexes; however, there is a lack of knowledge regarding “other microorganisms” or “cryptic microorganisms”, which are rarely thought of as significant oral pathogens and have been neither previously categorized nor connected to illnesses in the oral cavity. This study hypothesized that these cryptic microorganisms could contribute to the modulation of oral microbiota present in health or disease (periodontitis and/or obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients). For this purpose, the presence and correlation among these cultivable cryptic oral microorganisms were identified, and their possible role in both conditions was determined. Data from oral samples of individuals with or without periodontitis and with or without OSA were obtained from a previous study. Demographic data, clinical oral characteristics, and genera and species of cultivable cryptic oral microorganisms identified by MALDI-TOF were recorded. The data from 75 participants were analyzed to determine the relative frequencies of cultivable cryptic microorganisms’ genera and species, and microbial clusters and correlations tests were performed. According to periodontal condition, dental-biofilminduced gingivitis in reduced periodontium and stage III periodontitis were found to have the highest diversity of cryptic microorganism species. Based on the experimental condition, these findings showed that there are genera related to disease conditions and others related to healthy conditions, with species that could be related to different chronic diseases being highlighted as periodontitis and OSA comorbidities. The cryptic microorganisms within the oral microbiota of patients with periodontitis and OSA are present as potential pathogens, promoting the development of dysbiotic microbiota and the occurrence of chronic diseases, which have been previously proposed to be common risk factors for periodontitis and OSA. Understanding the function of possible pathogens in the oral microbiota will require more research.https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0006-7822https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5841-3014https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8646-8725https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5576-9341https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9884-9242https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1803-9141https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1302-5429Revista Internacional - IndexadaA1N

HPV-negative Penile Intraepithelial Neoplasia (PeIN) With Basaloid Features.

Most human papillomavirus (HPV)-independent penile squamous cell carcinomas (PSCCs) originate from an intraepithelial precursor called differentiated penile intraepithelial neoplasia, characterized by atypia limited to the basal layer with marked superficial maturation. Previous studies in vulvar cancer, which has a similar dual etiopathogenesis, have shown that about one fifth of HPV-independent precursors are morphologically indistinguishable from high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSILs), the precursor of HPV-asssociated carcinomas. However, such lesions have not been described in PSCC. From 2000 to 2021, 55 surgical specimens of PSCC were identified. In all cases, thorough morphologic evaluation, HPV DNA detection, and p16, p53, and Ki-67 immunohistochemical (IHC) staining was performed. HPV-independent status was assigned based on both negative results for p16 IHC and HPV DNA. Thirty-six of the 55 PSCC (65%) were HPV-independent. An intraepithelial precursor was identified in 26/36 cases (72%). Five of them (19%) had basaloid features, morphologically indistinguishable from HPV-associated HSIL. The median age of the 5 patients was 74 years (range: 67 to 83 y). All 5 cases were p16 and DNA HPV-negative. Immunohistochemically, 3 cases showed an abnormal p53 pattern, and 2 showed wild-type p53 staining. The associated invasive carcinoma was basaloid in 4 cases and the usual (keratinizing) type in 1. In conclusion, a small proportion of HPV-independent PSCC may arise on adjacent intraepithelial lesions morphologically identical to HPV-associated HSIL. This unusual histologic pattern has not been previously characterized in detail in PSCC. p16 IHC is a valuable tool to identify these lesions and differentiate them from HPV-associated HSIL

Niraparib plus abiraterone acetate with prednisone in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer and homologous recombination repair gene alterations: second interim analysis of the randomized phase III MAGNITUDE trial

Background: Patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) and BRCA alterations have poor outcomes. MAGNITUDE found patients with homologous recombination repair gene alterations (HRR+), particularly BRCA1/2, benefit from first-line therapy with niraparib plus abiraterone acetate and prednisone (AAP). Here we report longer follow-up from the second prespecified interim analysis (IA2). Patients and methods: Patients with mCRPC were prospectively identified as HRR+ with/without BRCA1/2 alterations and randomized 1 : 1 to niraparib (200 mg orally) plus AAP (1000 mg/10 mg orally) or placebo plus AAP. At IA2, secondary endpoints [time to symptomatic progression, time to initiation of cytotoxic chemotherapy, overall survival (OS)] were assessed. Results: Overall, 212 HRR+ patients received niraparib plus AAP (BRCA1/2 subgroup, n = 113). At IA2 with 24.8 months of median follow-up in the BRCA1/2 subgroup, niraparib plus AAP significantly prolonged radiographic progression-free survival {rPFS; blinded independent central review; median rPFS 19.5 versus 10.9 months; hazard ratio (HR) = 0.55 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.39-0.78]; nominal P = 0.0007} consistent with the first prespecified interim analysis. rPFS was also prolonged in the total HRR+ population [HR = 0.76 (95% CI 0.60-0.97); nominal P = 0.0280; median follow-up 26.8 months]. Improvements in time to symptomatic progression and time to initiation of cytotoxic chemotherapy were observed with niraparib plus AAP. In the BRCA1/2 subgroup, the analysis of OS with niraparib plus AAP demonstrated an HR of 0.88 (95% CI 0.58-1.34; nominal P = 0.5505); the prespecified inverse probability censoring weighting analysis of OS, accounting for imbalances in subsequent use of poly adenosine diphosphate-ribose polymerase inhibitors and other life-prolonging therapies, demonstrated an HR of 0.54 (95% CI 0.33-0.90; nominal P = 0.0181). No new safety signals were observed. Conclusions: MAGNITUDE, enrolling the largest BRCA1/2 cohort in first-line mCRPC to date, demonstrated improved rPFS and other clinically relevant outcomes with niraparib plus AAP in patients with BRCA1/2-altered mCRPC, emphasizing the importance of identifying this molecular subset of patients