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Patients with lung cancer are especially vulnerable to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) with a greater than sevenfold higher rate of becoming infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) COVID-19, a greater than threefold higher hospitalization rate with high complication rates, and an estimated case fatality rate of more than 30%. The reasons for the increased vulnerability are not known. In addition, beyond the direct impact of the pandemic on morbidity and mortality among patients with lung cancer, COVID-19, with its disruption of patient care, has also resulted in substantial impact on lung cancer screening and treatment/management.COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective in people with lung cancer. On the basis of the available data, patients with lung cancer should continue their course of cancer treatment and get vaccinated against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. For unknown reasons, some patients with lung cancer mount poor antibody responses to vaccination. Thus, boosting vaccination seems urgently indicated in this subgroup of vulnerable patients with lung cancer. Nevertheless, many unanswered questions regarding vaccination in this population remain, including the magnitude, quality, and duration of antibody response and the role of innate and acquired cellular immunities for clinical protection. Additional important knowledge gaps also remain, including the following: how can we best protect patients with lung cancer from developing COVID-19, including managing care in patient with lung cancer and the home environment of patients with lung cancer; are there clinical/treatment demographics and tumor molecular demographics that affect severity of COVID-19 disease in patients with lung cancer; does anticancer treatment affect antibody production and protection; does SARS-CoV-2 infection affect the development/progression of lung cancer; and are special measures and vaccine strategies needed for patients with lung cancer as viral variants of concern emerge.

Among non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, there is one molecularly defined subgroup harboring activating mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor gene ( EGFR ), which results in constitutive activation of its intrinsic kinase activity. Consistent data have demonstrated that these patients have a better outcome when treated with specific tyrosine-kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs). Therefore, analysis of EGFR mutational status for treatment guidance is mandatory in this context.

Introduction: The discovery of driver mutations in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has led to the development of genome-based personalized medicine. Fifteen to 20% of adenocarcinomas harbor an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) activating mutation associated with responses to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). Individual laboratories' expertise and the availability of appropriate equipment are valuable assets in predictive molecular pathology, although the choice of methods should be determined by the nature of the samples to be tested and whether the detection of only well-characterized EGFR mutations or rather, of all detectable mutations, is required.Areas covered: The EGFR mutation testing landscape is manifold and includes both screening and targeted methods, each with their own pros and cons. Here we review one of these companion tests, the Roche cobas (R) EGFR mutation test v2, from a methodological point of view, also exploring its liquid-biopsy applications.Expert commentary: The Roche cobas (R) EGFR mutation test v2, based on real time RT-PCR, is a reliable option for testing EGFR mutations in clinical practice, either using tissue-derived DNA or plasma-derived cfDNA. This application will be valuable for laboratories with whose purpose is purely diagnostic and lacking high-throughput technologies.

Paper presented at eht European Materials Research Society Spring Symposium (2014), which was held in Lille (France) on May 26-30th 2014., Solution processable metal oxides come out as an enabling technology for the low-temperature preparation of high-performance layers on flexible plastic substrates. Major efforts are focused on semiconductors, where synthetic solution methods are investigated to reduce the temperature of formation of the oxide. Crystallinity improves the electric characteristics of the semiconductor oxides in comparison with amorphous ones. But, this is mandatory for the properties of some oxides. It is for inorganic ferroelectrics, where a non-centrosymetric crystal structure is responsible for the functional response. The handicap is their high crystallization temperature. However, the use of ferroelectrics in flexible devices would make real applications not possible before (e.g. smart skin, flexible sensitive displays) associated to their intrinsic multifunctionality. In this scenario, solution techniques offer the unique advantage of tailoring the solution chemistry to decrease the Gibbs free energy barrier for the formation of the oxide. Synthetic methods in solution will be shown in this talk to stabilize non-equilibrium phases at room temperature or to reduce the formation temperature of electronic oxide films (mostly ferroelectrics) directly on flexible plastic substrates. The properties of these films will be compared with those of the materials already used in flexible electronics (amorphous/nanocrystalline oxides and organic dielectrics)., Financed by Spanish Project MAT2010-15365.

This study sought to determine pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (proBNP), BNP, N-terminal proBNP (NT-proBNP) and GATA-4 in the same cardiac tissue, the correlation among them, and the influence of ischemic etiology on their levels.

L’objectiu general d’aquest treball és analitzar la interacció entre l’alumne de 4t d’ESO i els nens de cicle inicial de primària en el racó de ciències, on s’aplica la tutoria entre alumnes d’edats diferents. Es volen aportar raons justificades que permetin introduir, fomentar i millorar aquest tipus de tutoria com a activitat d’ensenyament-aprenentatge en el context escolar del treball de les ciències. Es pretén confirmar que es tracta d’una activitat enriquidora per a tots els participants i que pot ser utilitzada com a instrument d’atenció a la diversitat a l’aula de ciències. S'analitzen els modes comunicatius i el tipus de discurs del tutor per tal d'identificar els estils comunicatius. S'aprofundeix també en el coneixement de la tutoria entre alumnes d'edats diferents a l'aula com a estratègia instruccional.

En aquest treball s’estudia l’habilitat cognitivolingüística dels alumnes de 4t d’ESO davant del repte de descriure un objecte des del punt de vista de diferents disciplines científiques. Es tracta d’una activitat d’aula realitzada durant tres cursos lectius per introduir l’assignatura de física i química, i modificada en el seu disseny per les docents en base als resultats observats. Es proposa als alumnes mirar una mateixa imatge des de diverses perspectives que corresponen a les diferents àrees de ciències. S’analitzen les descripcions tant des del punt de vista lingüístic com dels continguts de la disciplina, i s’identifiquen les dificultats de l’alumnat en seleccionar els aspectes rellevants, organitzar-los i caracteritzar-los adequadament.

The association between the severity of chronic hepatitis C and the variability of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) genome remains controversial, but to our knowledge few data are available to date regarding T-cell epitope coding regions in transplant patients. In the current study, we identified 21 human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A2-positive Spanish patients with chronic hepatitis C, 14 immunosuppressed liver transplant recipients, and 7 immunocompetent controls. Alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, viral load, and rate of fibrosis progression were determined. Genetic distances of HCV isolates and variations in epitopes of the HCV nonstructural 3 protein (NS3-1393 LIFCHSKKK and NS3-1406 KLVALGINAV) were compared between patients with slow or fast progression of fibrosis. Isolates from transplant patients with fast progression were found to be more divergent (P =.03), had a higher mean value of synonymous (dS) variations (P =.02), and some were differentiated in a phylogenetic tree, compared with isolates from patients with slow progression. The HLA-A2-restricted NS3-1406 epitope was found to be more variable (20 of 21 isolates differed from the prototype) compared with the A3-restricted NS3-1392 epitope (19% vs. 1.25% variation). A shift in the viral peptide was not detected in a subset of transplant patients, but was evident in two of three nontransplant patients with follow-up. There was no correlation noted between a particular amino acid variation and fibrosis progression (slow or fast) in either transplant or nontransplant patients. The results of the current study suggest that 1) there may be different HCV-1b strains in our geographic area, 2) immunosuppression appears to have little effect in amino acid variation at the HCV NS3-1406 epitope, and 3) variations over time might be more frequent in nonimmunosuppressed patients.