Dynamics of physical and chemical variables of the final pots of Torrent de Pareis (NW Mallorca, Balearic Islands)

Abstract not availabl

Contribution to the knowledge of the flora and fauna of the sea bed of Cala Rafeubetx (SW of Mallorca, Balearic Islands)

Abstract not availabl

Fate of d‑fagomine after oral administration to rats

D-Fagomine is an iminosugar found in buckwheat that is capable of inhibiting the adhesion of potentially pathogenic bacteria to epithelial mucosa and of reducing postprandial blood glucose concentration. This paper evaluates the excretion and metabolism of orally administered D-fagomine in rats and compares outcomes with the fate of 1-deoxynojirimycin. D-Fagomine and 1- deoxynojirimycin show similar absorption and excretion kinetics. D-Fagomine is partly absorbed (41-84%, dose 2 mg/kg body weight) and excreted in urine within 8 h while non-absorbed fraction is cleared in feces within 24 h. D-Fagomine is partially methylated (about 10% in urine and 3% in feces). The concentration of D-fagomine in urine from 1 to 6 h after administration is higher than 10 mg/L, the concentration that inhibits adhesion of Escherichia coli. Orally administered D-fagomine is partially absorbed and then rapidly excreted in urine were it reaches a concentration that may be protective against urinary tract infections

Could hand-eye laterality profiles affect sport performance? A systematic review

Laterality effects on sports performance have been a field of interest for the sports sciences, especially in asymmetrical sports, which require the preferential use of one side of the body. Some sports in particular involve the visual system and ocular laterality, due to the need to clearly focus on a dynamic object (ball, opponent, projectile, etc.). The relationship between manual and ocular laterality results in two perceptual-motor profiles, one where the dominant hand and eye are ipsilateral (uncrossed hand-eye laterality profile, UC-HELP), and the other where they are contralateral (crossed hand-eye laterality profile, C-HELP). A systematic review of the literature was carried out to determine the prevalence of hand-eye laterality profiles in the different sports modalities and their relationship with psychological factors and sports performance. Searches of PsycInfo, Medline, Scopus and grey literature identified 14 studies (2,759 participants) regarding hand-eye laterality in sports that met the eligibility criteria. Previous studies have estimated that between 10-30% of the general population exhibit a C-HELP, and 70-90% have an UC-HELP. The results of the reviewed studies indicate that in some sports the percentage of C-HELP is higher in regular and high-level athletes than in the normal population: golf (52.55%), soccer (53%), tennis (42%) and team sports (50.7%). In target sports (archery and shooting) athletes with an UC-HELP seem to have an advantage given the significant concentration of this profile in the highest performing populations (82.3%). In basketball, cricket and golf, the literature reviewed also reported biomechanical differences in the execution of some techniques between the two profiles. We did not find any study in our review that related hand-eye laterality with cognitive, tactical, or psychological aspects of athletes. These results should be taken with great caution due to the potential bias linked to the methodologies used in the investigations, the heterogeneity in the assessment of hand-eye laterality, the few studies available on the subject and the indirect nature of many of the observed relationships between performance and laterality. For further investigation, we propose a standardized terminology and protocol of hand-eye laterality assessment in sports. The advancement in knowledge about hand-eye laterality profiles, along with the study of the relationship with psychological or tactical-sports patterns, can contribute to more effective development plans for athletes and can be a complement to talent detection

Bioactive conformational ensemble server and database. A public framework to speed up in silico drug discovery.

Modern high-throughput structure-based drug discovery algorithms consider ligand flexibility, but typically with low accuracy, which results in a loss of performance in the derived models. Here we present the Bioactive Conformational Ensemble (BCE) server and its associated database. The server creates conformational ensembles of drug-like ligands and stores them in the BCE database, where a variety of analyses are offered to the user. The workflow implemented in the BCE server combines enhanced sampling molecular dynamics with self-consistent reaction field quantum mechanics (SCRF/QM) calculations. The server automatizes all the steps to transform 1D or 2D representation of drugs into three dimensional molecules, which are then titrated, parametrized, hydrated and optimized before being subjected to Hamiltonian replica-exchange (HREX) molecular dynamics simulations. Ensembles are collected and subjected to a clustering procedure to derive representative conformers, which are then analyzed at the SCRF/QM level of theory. All structural data is organized in a noSQL database accessible through a graphical interface and in a programmatic manner through a REST API. The server allows the user to define a private workspace and offers a deposition protocol as well as input files for "in house" calculations in those cases where confidentiality is a must. The database and the associated server are available at https://mmb.irbbarcelona.org/BC

Partnerships between schools and socio-educational support organizations around school support.

[ES] La creación y consolidación de alianzas entre centros escolares y organizaciones de apoyo socioeducativo se presenta como condición de éxito para los aprendizajes y el desarrollo escolar. El presente estudio pretende identificar condiciones favorables para la configuración de alianzas entre centros escolares y organizaciones de apoyo socioeducativo. Para ello se ha empleado un diseño de investigación secuencial y métodos cualitativos para analizar las percepciones de 16 organizaciones de apoyo socioeducativo, situadas entre Estados Unidos y España y en relación a la configuración de alianzas sólidas con los centros escolares. En la primera fase del estudio se han realizado 11 entrevistas semi-estructuradas y 3 grupos de discusión y en una segunda fase se han analizado 4 buenas prácticas para contrastar los resultados preliminares. Los resultados indican que el desarrollo de alianzas entre instituciones está mediado por la calidad del soporte escolar, las visiones de los equipos profesionales, la coordinación entre instituciones y la evaluación de procesos y actuaciones. Estos hallazgos han permitido ofrecer un marco interpretativo para identificar elementos favorecedores u obstaculizadores para la construcción de alianzas y, por consiguiente, para el éxito del soporte escolar. En este orden se subraya que el logro del éxito educativo, en entornos de complejidad y diversidad sociocultural, necesita de la colaboración entre instituciones, capaces de identificar fortalezas y debilidades institucionales, analizar oportunidades y amenazas de los contextos y establecer procesos y actuaciones colectivas. [EN] The creation and consolidation of partnerships between schools and socio-educational support organizations is considered a success key factor both for learning and for the development of academic support. The present study aims to identify favorable conditions for the configuration of partnerships between schools and socio-educational support organizations. This work has applied a sequential research design as well as qualitative techniques to analyse the perceptions of 16 socio-educational support organizations in United States and Spain regarding the configuration of solid partnerships with schools. During the first phase of this study, 11 semi-structured interviews have been carried out alongside 3 discussion groups. In a second phase, 4 good practices have been analysed in order to verify the preliminary results obtained. The final results derived from this study show that the development of partnerships between institutions is mediated by the quality of the academic support, the vision of the professional teams, the coordination among institutions and the evaluation of processes and actions. These findings have allowed us to offer an interpretative framework to identify favourable and distorting elements for the construction of partnerships and, consequently, for the success of academic support. Hence, we may highlight that the goal of educational success in contexts of complexity and social and cultural diversity benefits from the collaboration between institutions, which are able to identify institutional strengths and weaknesses, to analyse context’s opportunities and threats and to plan collective processes and actions

Factors associated with the variability in caregiver assessments of the capacities of the patients with Alzheimer"s disease

Abstract Background: Several studies have identified certain caregiver factors that can produce variability in their assessments of the capacities of patients with Alzheimer"s disease (AD). Objectives: To identify the caregiver variables associated with variability in their ratings of patients" capacities. Methods: Consecutive sample of 221 out-patients with AD and their family caregivers. The capacities evaluated by caregivers were: the degree of functional disability, using the Disability Assessment for Dementia (DAD); psychological and behavioral symptoms, via the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI); anosognosia, with the Anosognosia Questionnaire Dementia (AQ-D); and quality of life, using the Quality of Life in AD (QOL-AD). The relationship between these measures and caregiver gender, burden, depression, and health was analyzed by means of a bivariate analysis, calculating the effect size (Cohen"s d), and subsequently by a regression analysis, calculating the contribution coefficient (CC). Results: The greatest variability in caregiver assessments was observed in relation to patients with early-stage dementia, where caregiver burden was the main factor associated with a more negative evaluation (d = 1.02 to 1.25). Depression in the caregiver was associated with less variability and only in the assessments of patients with moderate dementia (d = 0.38 to 0.69). In the regression analysis, caregiver factors were associated with greater variance in scores on the NPI (CC = 37.4%) and QOL-AD (CC = 27.2%), and lower variance in AQ-D (CC = 21.6%) and DAD (CC = 10.3%) scores. Conclusions: Caregiver burden and depression were associated with more negative assessments of patients" psychological and behavioral symptoms and quality of life. Key words: Alzheimer"s disease, family caregivers, functional capacity, neuropsychiatric symptoms, anosognosia, quality of life

Structure versus function: correlation between outer retinal and choroidal thicknesses measured by swept-source OCT with multifocal electroretinography and visual acuity

Background: To correlate retina-choroidal anatomy as assessed via swept-source OCT (SS-OCT) with retinal function as determined by best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and multifocal electroretinogram (mfERG). Methods: Thirty-three eyes from 33 patients including 16 with neovascular AMD (nvAMD) and 17 controls were included. Patients were included in the present study after a complete ophthalmologic examination, including BCVA, slit-lamp study, intraocular pressure measurement, dilated fundus examination after tropicamide instillation, SD-OCT, SS-OCT, fundus photographs and mfERG. Age, sex, BCVA, number of anti-VEGF intravitreal injections in the nvAMD group, were recollected. Outer retinal and choroidal thickness were determined at the fovea and 500 μm temporal, superior, nasal and inferior. First-order response from mfERG was collected. P1 amplitude was recorded in R1, R2 and the average of R1 + R2. The measurements recollected from the SS-OCT, mfERG and BCVA were compared. Results: Better BCVA was found with thicker outer retina foveal thickness (r = 0.349; P = 0.047), with thicker subfoveal choroidal thickness (r = 0.443; P = 0.010), and with higher amplitude in P1 at R1 (r = 0.346; P = 0.037). Outer retina foveal thickness did not correlate with P1 amplitude at R1 (r = 0.072; P = 0.692), R2 (r = 0.265; P = 0.137) either with the average P1 amplitude at R1 + R2 (r = 0.253; P = 0.156). A thicker subfoveal choroidal thickness was related with higher amplitude in P1 at R1 (r = 0.383; P = 0.028), R2 (r = 0.409; P = 0.018) and the average of R1 + R2 (r = 0.419; P = 0.015). Conclusions: Choroidal thickness demonstrated a positive correlation with retinal function in the sample studied, so a thicker choroid is related to a better retinal function measured with mfERG and BCVA

Internal limiting membrane peeling versus nonpeeling to prevent epiretinal membrane development in primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment: A swept-source optical coherence tomography study with a new postoperative classification system

Purpose: To determine whether internal limiting membrane peeling in primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment prevents epiretinal membrane (ERM) development. Secondarily, we propose a classification system for postoperative ERMs. Methods: Retrospective, interventional, comparative case series. Consecutive eyes with primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (n = 140) treated by a single surgeon. The presence of postoperative ERMs was assessed with swept-source optical coherence tomography. Results: An ERM was detected in 26 eyes (46.4%) in the nonpeeling group and in one eye (1.8%) in the internal limiting membrane peeling group (P <= 0.001). The median visual acuity significantly improved in both groups (P <= 0.001). Inner retinal dimples were observed in 41.1% of eyes in the internal limiting membrane peeling group versus 0% in the nonpeeling group (P <= 0.001), and they were not correlated with visual acuity (r = 0.011;P= 0.941). Based on swept-source optical coherence tomography findings, we identified three different types of ERMs: 7 (26.9%) were classified as Type 1, 12 (46.1%) as Type 2, and 7 (26.9%) as Type 3. Superficial retinal plexus deformations observed on optical coherence tomography angiography and en face images were detected in 100% of Type 3 ERMs, 41.6% of Type 2, and 0% of Type 1 (chi(2)= 14.3;P= 0.001). Interestingly, all of the patients who presented these alterations also had metamorphopsia. Conclusion: Internal limiting membrane peeling in primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment seems to prevent postoperative ERM development. Swept-source optical coherence tomography analysis is helpful to define and classify different types of ERMs and to establish the surgical indication for their removal

Preoperative study of the inner segment/outer segment junction of photoreceptors by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography as a prognostic factor in patients with epiretinal membranes

Objective: to demonstrate whether the preoperative integrity of the inner segment/outer segment (IS/OS) junction of photoreceptors studied by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) is a prognostic factor in epiretinal membrane surgery. Methods: we retrospectively studied patients with an idiopathic epiretinal membrane who underwent a 23-gauge vitrectomy to remove this membrane. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and SD-OCT scans were examined before and 6 months after the surgery. We studied the retinal microstructure, especially the IS/OS junction of the photoreceptors, and evaluated the intergroup differences between patients with an intact layer and those with an irregular or disrupted layer. We applied both the Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney tests for statistical analysis. Results: in total, 51 eyes from 51 enrolled patients were examined in this study. The postoperative BCVA was significantly better for eyes that had an intact IS/OS junction than for eyes that had an irregular or disrupted IS/OS junction, as preoperatively observed with SD-OCT scans (P < 0.001). We also observed an important association between disrupted IS/OS junctions and the presence of cystic macular edema (P < 0.01). Conclusion: the presence of an intact IS/OS junction on the preoperative SD-OCT scan was an important predictor of better visual recovery after epiretinal membrane surgery