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Vitamin C is an essential nutrient for the adequate function and maturation of the immune system. In vitro studies show that the development, proliferation, and functioning of T cells requires vitamin C, especially for natural killer (NK) cells. Their deficiency during the acute phase post-transplantation could cause greater morbidity and mortality in these patients. A prospective clinical trial using high-dose vitamin C was performed to determine if vitamin C supplementation improves reconstitution of NK lymphocytes after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).We enrolled 24 patients who underwent autologous HSCT for multiple myeloma and lymphoma. Patients were randomized to receive standard treatment or standard treatment plus 20 g vitamin C once daily (1 - 10 days) and 500 mg twice daily (11 - 100 days) after transplantation.NK and CD3Our results suggest that high-dose vitamin C supplementation is an effective and safe therapeutic option to decrease the frequency of infections and enhance immune reconstitution after HSCT.

Unlike other fields of knowledge in which research is synonymous of progress, in the educational field, research is not seen as a pillar to improve teaching practice. Taking this problem as a starting point, open responses of 264 Spanish teachers from all educational stages were analysed on the reasons why teachers do not give importance to educational research, as well as the possible proposals to improve this situation. After an inductive analysis, the findings suggest that there was a total of 19 reasons why teachers do not give importance to educational research, and 15 proposals to improve their involvement, being these categories accepted unanimously regardless the educational stage of the teachers. On the one hand, the main reasons why educational research does not impact on teaching practice were 4: lack of training, lack of time, teachers’ comfort zone and difficulty of transference of the results to the classroom. On the other hand, the main proposals to improve this situation were also 4: training throughout the university degree and throughout working life, changing the distribution of time (fewer hours of teaching and more hours of research), distribution of incentives (economic, merits ...), and proposal of practical and real topics of what the teachers need in class.

En los últimos años estamos asistiendo a un cambio de paradigma en el que el emprendimiento ha dejado de ser un fenómeno exclusivamente empresarial para convertirse en un fenómeno también educativo. El docente emprendedor se caracteriza por ser una persona creativa, innovadora, flexible, capaz de asumir riesgos y orientar su práctica hacia la mejora educativa. En esta investigación se plantea la hipótesis de que tener una alta percepción de importancia, implicación y competencia en la investigación educativa puede contribuir significativamente al desarrollo de competencias docentes emprendedoras, al proporcionarles los conocimientos y herramientas suficientes para orientar su práctica y permitirles tomar las mejores decisiones. Para probar esta hipótesis participaron en este estudio 397 docentes mediante la cumplimentación de la Escala de Percepción hacia la Investigación Educativa y la Escala de competencias emprendedoras. Los resultados de un análisis de moderación revelaron una serie de beneficios potenciales para los profesores universitarios y no universitarios. En concreto, se valoró cómo tener una mayor implicación en la investigación educativa y tener una mayor competencia en la investigación educativa contribuía a mejorar la autoeficacia y la proactividad; y la capacidad de afrontar riesgos y dificultades; ambas, dimensiones relacionadas con la enseñanza del emprendimiento.

Understanding how excitatory (E) and inhibitory (I) inputs are integrated by neurons requires monitoring their subthreshold behavior. We probed the subthreshold dynamics using optogenetic depolarizing pulses in hippocampal neuronal assemblies in freely moving mice. Excitability decreased during sharp-wave ripples coupled with increased I. In contrast to this “negative gain,” optogenetic probing showed increased within-field excitability in place cells by weakening I and unmasked stable place fields in initially non–place cells. Neuronal assemblies active during sharp-wave ripples in the home cage predicted spatial overlap and sequences of place fields of both place cells and unmasked preexisting place fields of non–place cells during track running. Thus, indirect probing of subthreshold dynamics in neuronal populations permits the disclosing of preexisting assemblies and modes of neuronal operations.

Interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs) are transient abnormal electrophysiological events commonly observed in epilepsy patients but are also present in other neurological disease, such as Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Understanding the role IEDs have on the hippocampal circuit is important for our understanding of the cognitive deficits seen in epilepsy and AD. We characterize and compare the IEDs of human epilepsy patients from microwire hippocampal recording with those of AD transgenic mice with implanted multi-layer hippocampal silicon probes. Both the local field potential features and firing patterns of pyramidal cells and interneurons were similar in mouse and human. We found that as IEDs emerged from the CA3-1 circuits, they recruited pyramidal cells and silenced interneurons, followed by post-IED suppression. IEDs suppressed the incidence and altered the properties of physiological sharp-wave ripples (SPW-Rs), altered their physiological properties, and interfered with the replay of place field sequences in a maze. In addition, IEDs in AD mice inversely correlated with daily memory performance. Together, our work implicates that IEDs may present a common and epilepsy-independent phenomenon in neurodegenerative diseases that perturbs hippocampal-cortical communication and interferes with memory.Significant StatementPrevalence of neurodegenerative diseases and the number of people with dementia is increasing steadily. Therefore, novel treatment strategies for learning and memory disorders are urgently necessary. IEDs, apart from being a surrogate for epileptic brain regions, have also been linked to cognitive decline. Here we report that IEDs in human epilepsy patients and AD mouse models have similar local field potential characteristics and associated firing patterns of pyramidal cells and interneurons. Mice with more IEDs displayed fewer hippocampal SPW-Rs, poorer replay of spatial trajectories, and decreased memory performance. IED suppression is an unexplored target to treat cognitive dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases.

SummaryCortical GABAergic interneurons (INs) represent a diverse population of mainly locally projecting cells that provide specialized forms of inhibition to pyramidal neurons and other INs. Most recent work on INs has focused on subtypes distinguished by expression of Parvalbumin (PV), Somatostatin (SST), or Vasoactive Intestinal Peptide (VIP). However, a fourth group that includes neurogliaform cells (NGFCs) has remained enigmatic due to a lack of genetic tools. Here, we show that these INs can be accessed experimentally using intersectional genetics with the geneId2. We find that outside of layer 1 (L1), the majority of Id2 INs are NGFCs that express high levels of neuropeptide Y (NPY) and exhibit a late-spiking firing pattern, with extensive local connectivity. While much sparser, non-NGFC Id2 INs had more variable properties, with most cells corresponding to a diverse group of INs that strongly expresses the neuropeptide CCK.In vivo, using silicon probe recordings, we observed several distinguishing aspects of NGFC activity, including a strong rebound in activity immediately following the cortical down state during NREM sleep. Our study provides insights into IN diversity and NGFC distribution and properties, and outlines an intersectional genetics approach for further study of this neglected group of INs.

This research aims to identify and reflect on the reasons behind the choice of an alternative education centre for the stage of Early Childhood Education in Spain. For this purpose, it is used a biographical-narrative methodology based on a multiple case study made up of 24 families. That way, four major motivational categories are identified: promotion of the integral development of the person, opposition to the traditional school, search for happiness in childhood and trust in the principles pedagogical. Analysed families especially value a comprehensive education beyond its instrumental purpose, they consider public school as the extreme opposite to the principles and values defended from alternative projects. It concludes by pointing out how these motivations, in addition to having a pedagogical sense, respond to a broader strategy to reproduce their identity and lifestyles.

Chronic esophageal conditions (CEC) are associated with significant disease-related burden, disability, and costs. Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) constructs are intended to capture the physical, mental, social, and emotional aspects of a patient's life and how health status impacts these domains. The Northwestern Esophageal Quality of Life (NEQOL) can be used among esophageal diseases while maintaining sensitivity to specific conditions. We aimed to translate, cross-cultural adapt, and validate the NEQOL into Spanish.After language and cross-cultural adaptation, the NEQOL was applied to an outpatient clinic-based population in a single tertiary center. We analyzed the internal consistency, construct, criterion validity, and test-retest reliability of the questionnaire. The criterion validity was tested against the SF-12 questionnaire.After completing the translation process, no item was considered problematic. A total of 385 patients were included in the validation study. The internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) for the total NEQOL-S score was 0.89. The NEQOL-S questionnaire showed moderate test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.828; 95% CI 0.755-0.881; p 0.001). Criterion validity showed good coherence when correlated with the SF-12 survey (RThe translated and cross-culturally adapted NEQOL-S showed good psychometric properties that allow its use in Spanish-speaking patients suffering from CEC.

Robots applied to education can offer us many advantages in the learning of students from the early educational stages, from the childhood stage. In addition to entertaining, they are a very powerful tool to motivate students and learn. Educational robotics in Early Childhood Education involves the initiation of computational thinking and support for the development of basic spatial notions (front, back, left, and right). In this paper, different activities are presented to develop spatial reasoning effectively. For the activities proposed we use the blue-bot robot as the application of educational robotics in a teaching and learning context. It is a small, very intuitive robot that draws the attention of children due to its attractive and transparent design. With this robot, programming languages consist only of five movement commands. With blue-bot robot in a playful way as a tool for the effective development of space rationing. This investigation is a qualitative research work, the application of robotic activities has been carried out with a sample of 21 children aged between 6-7 years. Five sessions were held, and participant observation was used in each session. After the application and considering the results and motivation of the young students, we can affirm that the activities and workshops were very beneficial to introduce basic spatial notions using educational robotics. Children showed connections between content learnings with valuable social practices through experiencing.

Pyramidal cells and GABAergic interneurons fire together in balanced cortical networks. In contrast to this general rule, we describe a distinct neuron type in mice and rats whose spiking activity is anti-correlated with all principal cells and interneurons in all brain states but, most prevalently, during the down state of non-REM (NREM) sleep. We identify these down state-active (DSA) neurons as deep-layer neocortical neurogliaform cells that express ID2 and Nkx2.1 and are weakly immunoreactive to neuronal nitric oxide synthase. DSA neurons are weakly excited by deep-layer pyramidal cells and strongly inhibited by several other GABAergic cell types. Spiking of DSA neurons modified the sequential firing order of other neurons at down–up transitions. Optogenetic activation of ID2(+)Nkx2.1(+) interneurons in the posterior parietal cortex during NREM sleep, but not during waking, interfered with consolidation of cue discrimination memory. Despite their sparsity, DSA neurons perform critical physiological functions.

Background Cyanoacrylate (CYA) injection can be performed using a standard upper endoscopy technique or under endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) guidance alone or in combination with coils. There is little information available on the economic impact of these treatment methods. Aim To compare the cost-effectiveness of treating gastric varices by CYA injection via upper endoscopy vs coils plus CYA guided by EUS. Methods This was an observational, descriptive, and retrospective study. Patients were allocated into two groups: A CYA group and coils plus CYA group. The baseline characteristics were compared, and a cost analysis was performed. Results Overall, 36 patients were included (19 in the CYA group and 17 in the coils + CYA group). All patients in the CYA group had acute bleeding. They underwent a higher mean number of procedures (1.47 vs 1, P = 0.025), and the mean volume of glue used was 2.15 vs 1.65 mL, P = 0.133. The coils + CYA group showed a higher technical success rate (100% vs 84.2%), with a complication rate similar to the CYA group. The majority of CYA patients required hospitalization, and although the mean total per procedure cost was lower (United States $ 1350.29 vs United States $ 2978), the mean total treatment cost was significantly different (United States $ 11060.89 for CYA vs United States $ 3007.13 for coils + CYA, P = 0.03). Conclusion The use of EUS-guided coils plus cyanoacrylate is more cost-effective than cyanoacrylate injection when the total costs are evaluated. Larger, randomized trials are needed to validate the cost-effectiveness of the EUS-guided approach to treat gastric varices.

Introducción: El ser cuidador primario informal de un paciente con indicación médica de trasplante de células progenitoras hematopoyéticas puede tener consecuencias negativas en su salud mental y calidad de vida. Objetivo: Describir las intervenciones psicológicas disponibles para el cuidador primario de pacientes sometidos a trasplante de células hematopoyéticas. Metodología: Se realizó una búsqueda sistematizada de los últimos 10 años con los términos MeSH: psychotherapy AND caregive AND stem cell transplantation en las principales bases de datos médicas y de psicología, para su análisis se empleó la estrategia: Problema, Intervención, Comparación y Outcomes (PICO). Resultados: Se identificaron 122 artículos, de ellos diez cumplieron los criterios de inclusión. Las intervenciones provenían de profesionales de enfermería o trabajo social; el 50% incluyó diadas (paciente y cuidador primario), mostraron una tendencia de duración corta, enfocada al periodo posterior al trasplante. Se basan en el entrenamiento en solución de problemas, manejo de estrés, atención plena y expresión emocional. Las intervenciones lograron la disminución de la depresión, ansiedad y estrés en el cuidador; pero no alcanzaron permanencia en la significancia estadística de dichos restablecimientos. Discusión: De acuerdo con lo observado en las publicaciones y por su impacto positivo en la salud mental, se recomienda la implementación de intervenciones psicológicas en cuidadores de pacientes con trasplante de células progenitoras hematopoyéticas. Conclusión: El apoyo psicológico brindado al cuidador generalmente es de profesionales de la salud que no pertenecen al área de la psicología, con resultados clínicos favorables en las etapas más críticas de su estado mental.

Background Gastric variceal bleeding is a life-threating condition with challenging management. We aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS)-guided coil embolization and cyanoacrylate injection versus EUS-guided coil embolization alone in the management of gastric varices. Methods A single-center, parallel-randomized controlled trial involving 60 participants with gastric varices (GOV II and IGV I) who were randomly allocated to EUS-guided coil embolization and cyanoacrylate injection (n = 30) or EUS-guided coil embolization alone (n = 30). The primary end points were the technical and clinical success rates of both procedures. The secondary end points were the reappearance of gastric varices during follow-up, along with rebleeding, the need for reintervention, and complication and survival rates. Results The technical success rate was 100 % in both groups. Immediate disappearance of varices was observed in 86.7 % of patients treated with coils and cyanoacrylate, versus 13.3 % of patients treated with coils alone (P Conclusions EUS-guided coil embolization with cyanoacrylate injection achieved excellent clinical success, with lower rates of rebleeding and reintervention than coil treatment alone. Multicenter studies are required to define the most appropriate technique for gastric variceal obliteration.

BACKGROUND Accurate detection of gastric infection by Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) and premalignant lesions are important for effective provision of treatment, preventing the development of gastric neoplasia. Optical enhancement systems with optical magnification improved the identification of mucosal superficial and vascular patterns in patients with dyspepsia. AIM To evaluate an optical enhancement system with high-definition magnification, for diagnosis of normal gastric mucosa, H. pylori-associated gastritis, and gastric atrophy. METHODS A cross-sectional, nonrandomized study from November 2015 to April 2016 performed in a single-tertiary academic center from Ecuador. Seventy-two consecutive patients with functional dyspepsia according to the Rome III criteria, were tested for H. pylori using a stool antigen test and were assigned to an Hp+ group or an Hp− control group. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy with high-definition optical magnification and digital chromoendoscopy was performed, and patients were classified into 4 groups, in accordance to the microvascular-architecture pattern of the mucosa. Interobserver and intraobserver agreement among operators were calculated. RESULTS Of the 72 participants, 35 were Hp+ and 37 were Hp−. Among 10 patients with normal mucosal histology in biopsy samples, 90% had a Type I pattern of microvascular architecture by endoscopy. Among participants with type IIa and type IIb patterns, significantly more were Hp+ than Hp− (32 vs 8), and most (31 out of 40) had histological diagnoses of chronic active gastritis. Two of the three participants with a histological diagnosis of atrophy had a type III microvascular pattern. The type I pattern predicted normal mucosa, type IIa–IIb predicted H. pylori infection, and type III predicted atrophy with sensitivities of 90.0%, 91.4%, and 66.7%, respectively. The intraobserver and interobserver agreements had kappa values of 0.91 and 0.89, respectively. CONCLUSION High-definition optical magnification with digital chromoendoscopy is useful for diagnosis of normal gastric mucosa and H. pylori-associated gastritis with high accuracy, but further studies are needed to determine whether endoscopic diagnosis of gastric atrophy is feasible.

This article aims to design and validate a scale of perception towards educational research. The instrument, which was applied to a sample of 324 university and non-university teachers, is made up of three dimensions: Value towards educational research, Involvement with educational research, and Competence in educational research. The results revealed excellent goodness-of-fit and reliability values, making its use relevant for the academic and educational field. In addition, statistically significant differences were found in the three dimensions of the instrument in favour of university teachers. These results provide important theoretical and practical implications. El presente artículo tiene como objetivo diseñar y validar una escala de percepción hacia la investigación educativa. El instrumento, que se aplicó con una muestra de 324 profesores universitarios y no universitarios, está formado por tres dimensiones: Valor hacia la investigación educativa, Implicación con la investigación educativa y Competencia en investigación educativa. Los resultados arrojaron unos valores de bondad de ajuste y fiabilidad excelentes, haciendo que su uso sea pertinente para el ámbito académico y educativo. Asimismo, se hallaron diferencias estadísticamente significativas en las tres dimensiones del instrumento a favor del profesorado universitario. Estos resultados aportan implicaciones teóricas y prácticas relevantes.

Hippocampal place cells receive a disparate collection of excitatory and inhibitory currents that endow them with spatially selective discharges and rhythmic activity. Using a combination of in vivo intracellular and extracellular recordings with opto/chemogenetic manipulations and computational modeling, we investigate the influence of inhibitory and excitatory inputs on CA1 pyramidal cell responses. At the cell bodies, inhibition leads and is stronger than excitation across the entire theta cycle. Pyramidal neurons fire on the ascending phase of theta when released from inhibition. Computational models equipped with the observed conductances reproduce these dynamics. In these models, place field properties are favored when the increased excitation is coupled with a reduction of inhibition within the field. As predicted by our simulations, firing rate within place fields and phase locking to theta are impaired by DREADDs activation of interneurons. Our results indicate that decreased inhibitory conductance is critical for place field expression., We would like to thank T. Hainmueller, N. Nitzan, A. Fernandez-Ruiz, I. Zutshi, E. Cid, and the rest of the members of the Buzsáki and de la Prida laboratories for helpful comments on the project. This work was supported by the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) postdoctoral fellowship (EMBO ALTF 1161–2017) and Human Frontiers Science Program (HFSP) postdoctoral fellowship (LT0000717/2018) to M.V., NIH grants (R01MH122391, U19NS104590, and U19NS107616) to G.B., and a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation CIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 “ERDF A way of making Europe” (RTI2018–098581-B-I00) to L.M.P. A.N.O. is supported by a PhD fellowship (FPU17/03268) and by a short-term visit fellowship (EST19/00828) from the Spanish Ministry of Education.

Persimmon byproduct upcycling was performed by solvent-assisted extraction (SAE) to obtain dietary fiber (DF). The effect of SAE on DF modulation was studied on specific beneficial and pathogenic strains before and after the in vitro digestion process. Overall, digested DF samples extracted using acetone as a solvent (dCET) showed higher (p < 0.05) prebiotic activity scores (PASs) in beneficial bacteria such as Bifidobacterium bifidum, Lactobacillus casei, Lactococcus lactis, and Streptococcus salivarius. Moreover, dCET reduced the tested pathogenic strain populations. Initial cell attachment (ICA) inhibitory activity on biofilm formation by Pseudomonas putida, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subitilis was observed for dCET, as well as inhibition of preformed (PFB) S. aureus biofilms. dCET combined with the antibiotics kanamycin (K) or gentamycin (G) exhibited synergistic effects against all tested pathogens, displaying bactericidal effects against S. aureus. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC-DAD) analysis showed that after hydrolysis, the released gallic acid could have been responsible for the antimicrobial properties registered in DF from the persimmon byproduct. The obtained results provided information about the potential of upcycled persimmon fiber fractions as possible prebiotics, although further research must be performed with complex microbial populations and in vivo studies., This research was financed by Ministry of Science Innovation and Universities through the funded project ‘Industrial symbiosis in the integral use of persimmon (Diospyros kaki); Bioeconomy example '(CTM2017-88978-R). The authors gratefully acknowledge Miss Laura Agulló and Mitra Sol Technologies S.L. for the given technical assistance.