¿Qué pasa si me pica una araña radioactiva? Actividad sobre transformaciones con los verbos de cambio

The objective of this practical exercise is to provide an amusing way to learn how to use verbs of change. First, students must describe in detail an image of a character (provided on cards with pictures of people or monsters on them). They then receive another card which describes a situation that causes their character to transform. Now the students must give another description of their character, paying particular attention to the transformations it has undergone

Effects of High-Fat Diet and Maternal Binge-Like Alcohol Consumption and Their Influence on Cocaine Response in Female Mice Offspring

Backgroud: Prenatal alcohol exposure is a leading cause of neurobehavioral and neurocognitive deficits collectively known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), including eating disorders and increased risk for substance abuse as very common issues. In this context, the present study aimed to assess the interaction between alcohol exposure during gestation and lactation periods (PLAE) and a high fat diet (HFD) during childhood and adolescence. Methods: Pregnant C57BL/6 mice underwent a procedure for alcohol binge drinking during gestation and lactation periods. Subsequently, PLAE female offspring were fed with a HFD for 8 weeks and thereafter, nutrition-related parameters as well as their response to cocaine were assessed. Results: In our model, feeding young females with a HFD increased their triglyceride blood levels but did not induce an overweight compared to those fed with a standard diet. Moreover, PLAE affected how females responded to the fatty diet as they consumed less amount of food than water-exposed offspring, consistent with a lower gain of body weight. HFD increased the psychostimulant effects of cocaine. Surprisingly, PLAE reduced the locomotor responses to cocaine without modifying cocaine-induced reward. Moreover, PLAE prevented the striatal overexpression of cannabinoid 1 receptors induced by a HFD and induced an alteration of myelin damage biomarker in the prefrontal cortex, an effect that was mitigated by a HFD-based feeding. Conclusion: Therefore, in female offspring, some effects triggered by one of these factors, PLAE or a HFD, were blunted by the other, suggesting a close interaction between the involved mechanisms

The Renal Range of the κ/λ sFLC Ratio: Best Strategy to Evaluate Multiple Myeloma in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease

Background: Monoclonal serum free light chains (sFLC) are a well-known cause of renal impairment (RI) in patients with multiple myeloma (MM). As an indicator of monoclonality, sFLC ratio has acquired a key role in the diagnosis and monitorization of the disease. However, its interpretation is altered in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). This study aims to evaluate the modification of the sFLC ratio reference range in patients with CKD, and propose an optimal range for patients with CKD. Methods: Serum FLC κ/λ ratio and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were retrospectively analyzed in 113 control patients (without hematologic disease), 63 patients with MM in complete remission and 347 patients with active MM. The three groups included patients with CKD (eGFR < 90). Results: In the group of patients without active MM (n = 176), the sFLC ratio increased at different stages of CKD without pathological significance, with an increase in the number of false positives specially when eGFR is ≤55 ml/ min. An optimal range was established for patients with eGFR ≤55 ml/min/1.73 m2: 0.82-3,6 with maximum sensitivity + specificity for that group with an improvement in the Area under the curve (AUC), 0.91 (0.84-0.97) compared with the current ranges proposed by Katzmann and Hutchinson. Conclusions: This study confirms the influence of eGFR on the interpretation of the sFLC ratio, showing a decreasing specificity in progressive CKD stages when using the reference sFLC range (Katzmann), especially in patients with eFGR ≤55. According to our results, we suggest a modified optimal range (0.82-3,6) for eGFR ≤55 ml/ min/1.73 m2. It is necessary to validate this modified range in larger and prospective studies

¿Qué pasa si me pica una araña radioactiva? Actividad sobre transformaciones con los verbos de cambio

Esta propuesta práctica tiene como objetivo conseguir de forma lúdica el aprendizaje significativo de los verbos de cambio. Primero, a partir de un estímulo gráfico (tarjetas con imágenes de personas o monstruos), los estudiantes tienen que realizar una descripción exhaustiva de los mismos. Después, reciben otra tarjeta con una situación que propicia una transformación. A continuación, los estudiantes deberán realizar de nuevo una descripción detallada haciendo hincapié en las transformaciones sufridas por el personaje

Effects of high-fat diet and maternal binge-like alcohol consumption and their influence on cocaine response in female mice offspring

Background: Prenatal alcohol exposure is a leading cause of neurobehavioral and neurocognitive deficits collectively known as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, including eating disorders and increased risk for substance abuse as very common issues. In this context, the present study aimed to assess the interaction between prenatal and lactation alcohol exposure (PLAE) and a high-fat diet (HFD) during childhood and adolescence. Methods: Pregnant C57BL/6 mice underwent a procedure for alcohol binge drinking during gestation and lactation periods. Subsequently, PLAE female offspring were fed with an HFD for 8 weeks, and thereafter, nutrition-related parameters as well as their response to cocaine were assessed. Results: In our model, feeding young females with an HFD increased their triglyceride blood levels but did not induce overweight compared with those fed with a standard diet. Moreover, PLAE affected how females responded to the fatty diet as they consumed less food than water-exposed offspring, consistent with a lower gain of body weight. HFD increased the psychostimulant effects of cocaine. Surprisingly, PLAE reduced the locomotor responses to cocaine without modifying cocaine-induced reward. Moreover, PLAE prevented the striatal overexpression of cannabinoid 1 receptors induced by an HFD and induced an alteration of myelin damage biomarker in the prefrontal cortex, an effect that was mitigated by an HFD-based feeding. Conclusion: Therefore, in female offspring, some effects triggered by one of these factors, PLAE or an HFD, were blunted by the other, suggesting a close interaction between the involved mechanisms.This study was supported by Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (grant nos. SAF2016-46135-R, SAF2016-75966-R-FEDER, SAF2017-83813-C3-1-R), Ministerio de Sanidad, Asuntos Sociales e Igualdad (Retic-ISCIII, RD16/017/010), and Plan Nacional sobre Drogas 2018I007, 2016I004). Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y la Nutrición (CIBEROBN) (grant CB06/03/0001 to D.S.). Fundació LaMarató de TV3 (grant 201627–30 to D.S.). L.D.C. received FPU grants from the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (15/02492). J.C., D.P., R.L.A., and E.E. belong to institutionally-recognized research consolidated groups 2017SGR979 and O.V. to 2017SGR109. The funding sources had no further involvement in the study

Correction to: Comparative effectiveness and safety of non-vitamin K antagonists for atrial fibrillation in clinical practice: GLORIA-AF Registry

International audienceIn this article, the name of the GLORIA-AF investigator Anastasios Kollias was given incorrectly as Athanasios Kollias in the Acknowledgements. The original article has been corrected

Patterns of oral anticoagulant use and outcomes in Asian patients with atrial fibrillation: a post-hoc analysis from the GLORIA-AF Registry

Background: Previous studies suggested potential ethnic differences in the management and outcomes of atrial fibrillation (AF). We aim to analyse oral anticoagulant (OAC) prescription, discontinuation, and risk of adverse outcomes in Asian patients with AF, using data from a global prospective cohort study. Methods: From the GLORIA-AF Registry Phase II-III (November 2011-December 2014 for Phase II, and January 2014-December 2016 for Phase III), we analysed patients according to their self-reported ethnicity (Asian vs. non-Asian), as well as according to Asian subgroups (Chinese, Japanese, Korean and other Asian). Logistic regression was used to analyse OAC prescription, while the risk of OAC discontinuation and adverse outcomes were analysed through Cox-regression model. Our primary outcome was the composite of all-cause death and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). The original studies were registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01468701, NCT01671007, and NCT01937377. Findings: 34,421 patients were included (70.0&nbsp;±&nbsp;10.5 years, 45.1% females, 6900 (20.0%) Asian: 3829 (55.5%) Chinese, 814 (11.8%) Japanese, 1964 (28.5%) Korean and 293 (4.2%) other Asian). Most of the Asian patients were recruited in Asia (n&nbsp;=&nbsp;6701, 97.1%), while non-Asian patients were mainly recruited in Europe (n&nbsp;=&nbsp;15,449, 56.1%) and North America (n&nbsp;=&nbsp;8378, 30.4%). Compared to non-Asian individuals, prescription of OAC and non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC) was lower in Asian patients (Odds Ratio [OR] and 95% Confidence Intervals (CI): 0.23 [0.22-0.25] and 0.66 [0.61-0.71], respectively), but higher in the Japanese subgroup. Asian ethnicity was also associated with higher risk of OAC discontinuation (Hazard Ratio [HR] and [95% CI]: 1.79 [1.67-1.92]), and lower risk of the primary composite outcome (HR [95% CI]: 0.86 [0.76-0.96]). Among the exploratory secondary outcomes, Asian ethnicity was associated with higher risks of thromboembolism and intracranial haemorrhage, and lower risk of major bleeding. Interpretation: Our results showed that Asian patients with AF showed suboptimal thromboembolic risk management and a specific risk profile of adverse outcomes; these differences may also reflect differences in country-specific factors. Ensuring integrated and appropriate treatment of these patients is crucial to improve their prognosis. Funding: The GLORIA-AF Registry was funded by Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH