Inhibition of the anammox activity by aromatic compounds

The short-term effect of several aromatic compounds (o-cresol, p-nitrophenol, o-chlorophenol and quinoline) was evaluated over granular anammox sludge cultivated over 2 years in a Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR). The anammox granular sludge had an average size of 1.0 ± 0.2 mmand was enriched in Brocadia sp. Specific Anammox Activity (SAA) batch tests with this granular biomass were carried out in the presence of o-cresol, p-nitrophenol, o-chlorophenol, quinoline and their mixtures. The anammox biomass was never exposed to the tested aromatic compounds, prior to the SAA tests. The concentration and the mixture of aromatic compounds had a strong effect over the loss of the anammox activity. The higher the concentrations of the aromatic compounds, the higher the reduction of the SAA. Quinoline and p-nitrophenol have a lower negative effect compared to o-cresol and o- chlorophenol. The Luong inhibition model seems to adjust better the inhibition of anammox biomass by the tested aromatic compounds. Depending on the aromatic compound, toxic or inhibitory effect was measured. o-Cresol and o-chlorophenol caused a toxic effect whereas p-nitrophenol and quinoline produced an inhibitory effect. In general, synergistic effects were observed when mixtures of aromatic compounds were studied

Efectividad y seguridad de la quimioterapia de inducción en el tratamiento del cáncer de colon en el Hospital San Juan de Dios durante los años 2010 y 2011

La neoplasia colorrectal es un proceso maligno que implica varias alteraciones genéticas y fenotípicas que favorecen la proliferación de células malignas que terminan generando una lesión rígida que puede ser detectada por técnicas como la proctoscopia. El presente estudio analiza los posibles beneficios de la quimioterapia de inducción en pacientes diagnosticados con este tumor. Se realizó un análisis retrospectivo de 20 pacientes tratados del año 2010 al 2011, en donde la mediana de seguimiento fue de 69.5 meses. La quimioterapia de inducción se le aplicó al 30% de la población del estudio. Aunque no hay diferencias estadísticamente significativas en la sobrevida entre los dos grupos, se demostró un “downstaging” positivo en un 30% de la población estudiada y la ausencia de la recurrencias locales y sistémicas en el 80% de los pacientes.Colorectal neoplasia is a malignant process involving several genetic and phenotypic alterations favoring the proliferation of malignant cells that end up generating a rigid lesion can be detected by techniques such as proctoscopy. This study analyzes the potential benefits of induction chemotherapy in patients diagnosed with this tumor. A retrospective analysis of 20 patients treated from 2010 to 2011, where the median follow-up was 69.5 months was performed. Induction chemotherapy was applied to 30% of the study population. Although no statistically significant differences in survival for patients receiving induction chemotherapy and that a "downstaging" positive no, it was shown by 30% of the study population and the absence of local and systemic recurrences in 80% from the patients.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Docencia::Salud::Facultad de Farmaci

Malformations of the craniocervical junction (chiari type I and syringomyelia: classification, diagnosis and treatment)

Chiari disease (or malformation) is in general a congenital condition characterized by an anatomic defect of the base of the skull, in which the cerebellum and brain stem herniate through the foramen magnum into the cervical spinal canal. The onset of Chiari syndrome symptoms usually occurs in the second or third decade (age 25 to 45 years). Symptoms may vary between periods of exacerbation and remission. The diagnosis of Chiari type I malformation in patients with or without symptoms is established with neuroimaging techniques. The most effective therapy for patients with Chiari type I malformation/syringomyelia is surgical decompression of the foramen magnum, however there are non-surgical therapy to relieve neurophatic pain: either pharmacological and non-pharmacological. Pharmacological therapy use drugs that act on different components of pain. Non-pharmacological therapies are primarly based on spinal or peripheral electrical stimulation

Comparing the microstructure and photovoltaic performance of 3 perylene imide acceptors with similar energy levels but different packing tendencies

[Abstract] While it is widely recognized that microstructure plays an important role in the performance of organic photovoltaics (OPV), systematic studies are often challenging, as varying the molecular packing through typical chemical means (such as sidechain tuning) often affects the molecular energy levels, thus preventing a clear correlation. In this work we present the synthesis of three perylene imide (PI) based electron acceptors with almost identical energy levels, but distinct packing tendencies. We confirm our initial hypothesis by measuring solution and solid-state absorption, and cyclic voltammetry as well as characterizing the films by grazing incidence wide angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS). In a second step, we repeat the characterization of the three materials in blends with two polymer donors, namely PCDTBT or PBDBT, whose energy levels are well aligned with those of the PI acceptors, and which, additionally, exhibit different degrees of structural order. We show how the initial strong difference between acceptors is partially blurred in blends, but still critical. Finally, we correlate our structural data with OPV devices made with the corresponding six blends. Our data suggest that a good donor acceptor marriage should ensure good energy alignment but also exhibit complementary crystallization tendencies of the two components.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación; CEX2019-000917-SMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación; PGC2018-095411-B-I00Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación; PID2019-106268GB-C33MInisterio de Ciencia e Innovación; PID2019-110305GB-I00Universidad Complutense de Madrid; INV.GR.00.1819.10759Universidad Complutense de Madrid; CT20/19-CT21/19/PEJD-2018-POST/IND-8661PAIJunta de Andalucía; UMA18-FEDERJA-08

Aplicación de las técnicas geoarqueológicas en el estudio del proceso histórico entre el V y III milenios a.n.e. en la comarca de la Janda (Cádiz)

Studies of the prehistory of the area of La Janda (province of Cadiz) were carried out at the beginning of this century from the perspective of Cultural Historicism. Our group has done systematic archaeological surveys and rescue excavations during this decade, with the aim of studying the historical process of the hunter-gatherer, tribal and early class societies that lived in the Atlantic Band of Cadiz. The application of geoarchaeological and archaeometric techniques to the study of the archaeological products and the mineralogical and petrological analyses of the raw materials, as well as the geological ones, allow us to glimpse interesting aspects about the historical and economic process of these social formations.Los trabajos sobre la Prehistoria de la comarca de La Janda (provincia de Cádiz) fueron realizados a principios de siglo desde el Historicismo Cultural. En la presente década nuestro grupo ha llevado a cabo prospecciones arqueológicas sistemáticas y excavaciones de urgencia, con el fin de conformar el proceso histórico de las sociedades cazadoras-recolectoras, tribales y clasistas iniciales, que habitaron la Banda Atlántica de Cádiz. La aplicación de técnicas geoarqueológicas al estudio de los productos arqueológicos y el análisis mineralógico y petrológico, tanto de las materias primas utilizadas como de los materiales geológicos, permiten vislumbrar interesantes aspectos sobre el proceso histórico y económico de dichas formaciones sociales

Vaccine breakthrough infections with SARS-CoV-2 Alpha mirror mutations in Delta Plus, Iota, and Omicron

Replication of SARS-CoV-2 in the human population is defined by distributions of mutants that are present at different frequencies within the infected host and can be detected by ultra-deep sequencing techniques. In this study, we examined the SARS-CoV-2 mutant spectra of amplicons from the spike-coding (S-coding) region of 5 nasopharyngeal isolates derived from patients with vaccine breakthrough. Interestingly, all patients became infected with the Alpha variant, but amino acid substitutions that correspond to the Delta Plus, Iota, and Omicron variants were present in the mutant spectra of the resident virus. Deep sequencing analysis of SARS-CoV-2 from patients with vaccine breakthrough revealed a rich reservoir of mutant types and may also identify tolerated substitutions that can be represented in epidemiologically dominant variants.This work was supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (COVID-19 Research Call COV20/00181) and co-financed by the European Development Regional Fund “A way to achieve Europe.” The work was also supported by grants CSIC-COV19-014 from the CSIC, project 525/C/2021 from the Fundació La Marató de TV3; PID2020-113888RB-I00 from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación; BFU2017-91384-EXP from the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (MCIU);PI18/00210 and PI21/00139 from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III; and S2018/BAA-4370 (PLATESA2) from the Comunidad de Madrid/ FEDER. This research work was also funded by the European Commission – NextGenerationEU (regulation EU 2020/2094), through the CSIC’s Global Health Platform (PTI Salud Global). CP and PM are supported by the Miguel Servet programme of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CPII19/00001 and CP16/00116, respectively), cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). CIBERehd is funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III. Institutional grants from the Fundación Ramón Areces and Banco Santander to the CBMSO are also acknowledged. The team at CBMSO belongs to the Global Virus Network (GVN). BMG is supported by predoctoral contract PFIS FI19/00119 from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo), cofinanced by the Fondo Social Europeo (FSE). CGC is supported by predoctoral contract PRE2018- 083422 from the MCIU. BS was supported by a predoctoral research fellowship (Doctorados Industriales, DI-17-09134) from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO).Peer reviewe

Comparing the microstructure and photovoltaic performance of 3 perylene imide acceptors with similar energy levels but different packing tendencies

While it is widely recognized that microstructure plays an important role in the performance of organic photovoltaics (OPV), systematic studies are often challenging, as varying the molecular packing through typical chemical means (such as sidechain tuning) often affects the molecular energy levels, thus preventing a clear correlation. In this work we present the synthesis of three perylene imide (PI) based electron acceptors with almost identical energy levels, but distinct packing tendencies. We confirm our initial hypothesis by measuring solution and solid-state absorption, cyclic voltammetry as well as characterizing the films by grazing incident wide angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS). In a second step, we repeat the characterization of the three materials in blends with two polymer donors, namely PCDTBT or PBDBT, whose energy levels are well aligned with those of the PI acceptors, and which, additionally, exhibit different degrees of structural order. We show how the initial strong difference between acceptors is partially blurred in blends, but still critical. Finally, we correlate our structural data with OPV devices made with the corresponding six blends. Our data suggest that a good donor acceptor marriage should ensure good energy alignment but also exhibit complementary crystallization tendencies of the two components.The authors acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the Severo Ochoa” Program for Centers of Excellence in R&D (No. CEX2019-000917-S), and projects PGC2018-095411-B-I00, PID2019-106268GB-C33 and PID2019-110305GB-I00, as well as the European Commission through the Horizon 2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie ITN Programme, SEPOMO, Grant Number: 722651, and the UCM (INV.GR.00.1819.10759). E.G. specially acknowledges Comunidad de Madrid and Universidad Complutense de Madrid for a post-doctoral contract (CT20/19- CT21/19/PEJD-2018-POST/IND-8661PAI). M.J.A.N. acknowledges URJC for a post-doctoral contract. R.P.O and A.H. also acknowledge support from Junta de Andalucía (projects UMA18-FEDERJA-080). We acknowledge support of the publication fee by the CSIC Open Access Publication Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI).Peer reviewe

Propuesta de mejora del Sistema Interno de Garantía de Calidad de la Facultad de Medicina

La garantía de calidad en el ámbito universitario puede considerarse como la atención sistemática, estructurada y continua a las titulaciones ofertadas. La garantía de calidad se compromete a poner en marcha los medios que aseguren y demuestren la calidad de los programas formativos que se desarrollan en cada una de las titulaciones ofrecidas por la Universidad y así cumplir con la obligación que tiene con la sociedad. El presente proyecto nace como fruto de la responsabilidad adquirida para el cumplimiento de las funciones encomendadas y, con el objetivo de seguir adoptando una estrategia de mejora continua de la calidad de la docencia y satisfacción de los colectivos implicados en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje (Profesorado, Estudiantes y PAS)

SARS-CoV-2 mutant spectra reveal differences between COVID-19 severity categories

Trabajo presentado en el XVI Congreso Nacional de Virología, celebrado en Málaga (España) del 06 al 09 de septiembre de 2022.RNA virus populations are composed of complex mixtures of genomes that are termed mutant spectra. SARS-CoV-2 replicates as a viral quasispecies, and mutations that are detected at low frequencies in a host can be dominant in subsequent variants. We have studied mutant spectrum complexities of SARS-CoV-2 populations derived from thirty nasopharyngeal swabs of patients infected during the first wave (April 2020) in the Hospital Universitario Fundación Jiménez Díaz. The patients were classified according to the COVID-19 severity in mild (non-hospitalized), moderate (hospitalized) and exitus (hospitalized with ICU admission and who passed away due to COVID-19). Using ultra-deep sequencing technologies (MiSeq, Illumina), we have examined four amplicons of the nsp12 (polymerase)-coding region and two amplicons of the spike-coding region. Ultra-deep sequencing data were analyzed with different cut-off frequency for mutation detection. Average number of different point mutations, mutations per haplotype and several diversity indices were significantly higher in SARS-CoV-2 isolated from patients who developed mild disease. A feature that we noted in the SARS-CoV-2 mutant spectra from diagnostic samples is the remarkable absence of mutations at intermediate frequencies, and an overwhelming abundance of mutations at frequencies lower than 10%. Thus, the decrease of the cut-off frequency for mutation detection from 0.5% to 0.1% revealed an increasement (50- to 100 fold) in the number of different mutations. The significantly higher frequency of mutations in virus from patients displaying mild than moderate or severe disease was maintained with the 0.1% cut- off frequency. To evaluate whether the frequency repertoire of amino acid substitutions differed between SARS-CoV-2 and the well characterized hepatitis C virus (HCV), we performed a comparative study of mutant spectra from infected patients using the same bioinformatics pipelines. HCV did not show the deficit of intermediate frequency substitutions that was observed with SARS-CoV-2. This difference was maintained when two functionally equivalent proteins, the corresponding viral polymerases, were compared. In conclusion, SARS-CoV-2 mutant spectra are rich reservoirs of mutants, whose complexity is not uniform among clinical isolates. Virus from patients who developed mild disease may be a source of new variants that may acquire epidemiological relevance.This work was supported by Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spanish Ministry of Science and In-novation (COVID-19 Research Call COV20/00181), and co-financed by European Development Regional Fund ‘A way to achieve Europe’. The work was also supported by grants CSIC-COV19-014 from Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), project 525/C/2021 from Fundació La Marató de TV3, PID2020-113888RB-I00 from Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, BFU2017-91384-EXP from Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (MCIU), PI18/00210 and PI21/00139 from Instituto de Salud Carlos III, and S2018/BAA-4370 (PLATESA2 from Comunidad de Madrid/FEDER). C.P., M.C., and P.M. are supported by the Miguel Servet programme of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CPII19/00001, CPII17/00006, and CP16/00116, respectively) co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). CIBERehd (Centro de Investi-gación en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas) is funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III. Institutional grants from the Fundación Ramón Areces and Banco Santander to the CBMSO are also acknowledged. The team at CBMSO belongs to the Global Virus Network (GVN). B.M.-G. is supported by predoctoral contract PFIS FI19/00119 from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo) cofinanced by Fondo Social Europeo (FSE). R.L.-V. is supported by predoctoral contract PEJD-2019-PRE/BMD-16414 from Comunidad de Madrid. C.G.-C. is sup-ported by predoctoral contract PRE2018-083422 from MCIU. BS was supported by a predoctoral research fellowship (Doctorados Industriales, DI-17-09134) from Spanish MINECO

Differences in clinical features and mortality in very old unvaccinated patients (≥ 80 years) hospitalized with COVID-19 during the first and successive waves from the multicenter SEMI-COVID-19 Registry (Spain)

Background: Old age is one of the most important risk factors for severe COVID-19. Few studies have analyzed changes in the clinical characteristics and prognosis of COVID-19 among older adults before the availability of vaccines. This work analyzes differences in clinical features and mortality in unvaccinated very old adults during the first and successive COVID-19 waves in Spain. Methods This nationwide, multicenter, retrospective cohort study analyzes unvaccinated patients >= 80 years hospitalized for COVID-19 in 150 Spanish hospitals (SEMI-COVID-19 Registry). Patients were classified according to whether they were admitted in the first wave (March 1-June 30, 2020) or successive waves (July 1-December 31, 2020). The endpoint was all-cause in-hospital mortality, expressed as the case fatality rate (CFR). Results Of the 21,461 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, 5,953 (27.7%) were >= 80 years (mean age [IQR]: 85.6 [82.3-89.2] years). Of them, 4,545 (76.3%) were admitted during the first wave and 1,408 (23.7%) during successive waves. Patients hospitalized in successive waves were older, had a greater Charlson Comorbidity Index and dependency, less cough and fever, and met fewer severity criteria at admission (qSOFA index, PO2/FiO2 ratio, inflammatory parameters). Significant differences were observed in treatments used in the first (greater use of antimalarials, lopinavir, and macrolides) and successive waves (greater use of corticosteroids, tocilizumab and remdesivir). In-hospital complications, especially acute respiratory distress syndrome and pneumonia, were less frequent in patients hospitalized in successive waves, except for heart failure. The CFR was significantly higher in the first wave (44.1% vs. 33.3%; -10.8%; p = 95 years (54.4% vs. 38.5%; -15.9%; p < 0.001). After adjustments to the model, the probability of death was 33% lower in successive waves (OR: 0.67; 95% CI: 0.57-0.79). Conclusions Mortality declined significantly between the first and successive waves in very old unvaccinated patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Spain. This decline could be explained by a greater availability of hospital resources and more effective treatments as the pandemic progressed, although other factors such as changes in SARS-CoV-2 virulence cannot be ruled out