SNP discovery and association study for growth, fatness and meat quality traits in Iberian crossbred pigs.

Iberian pigs and its crosses are produced to obtain high-quality meat products. The objective of this work was to evaluate a wide panel of DNA markers, selected by biological and functional criteria, for association with traits related to muscle growth, fatness, meat quality and metabolism. We used 18 crossbred Iberian pigs with divergent postnatal growth patterns for whole genome sequencing and SNP discovery, with over 13 million variants being detected. We selected 1023 missense SNPs located on annotated genes and showing different allele frequencies between pigs with makerdly different growth patterns. We complemented this panel with 192 candidate SNPs obtained from literature mining and from muscle RNAseq data. The selected markers were genotyped in 480 Iberian × Duroc pigs from a commercial population, in which phenotypes were obtained, and an association study was performed for the 1005 successfully genotyped SNPs showing segregation. The results confirmed the effects of several known SNPs in candidate genes (such as LEPR, ACACA, FTO, LIPE or SCD on fatness, growth and fatty acid composition) and also disclosed interesting effects of new SNPs in less known genes such as LRIG3, DENND1B, SOWAHB, EPHX1 or NFE2L2 affecting body weight, average daily gain and adiposity at different ages, or KRT10, NLE1, KCNH2 or AHNAK affecting fatness and FA composition. The results provide a valuable basis for future implementation of marker-assisted selection strategies in swine and contribute to a better understanding of the genetic architecture of relevant traits.

Ha sido el 2020 un año perdido en la formación de cirugía ortopédica y traumatología? Percepción de los residentes / Has 2020 been a lost year in orthopedic surgery and trauma training? Residents’ perceptions

Objetivo: La pandemia de la COVID-19 ha afectado a la formación sanitaria especializada a todos los niveles. El aprendizaje en el ámbito quirúrgico se ha visto gravemente afectado y hasta ahora no se ha valorado el impacto en la formación de residentes de traumatología. Material y métodos: Se hizo llegar mediante enlace web y redes sociales una encuesta en línea de 17 preguntas a los residentes de cirugía ortopédica y traumatología de todo el territorio español entre el 10 de febrero y el 28 de febrero de 2021. Se analizaron los efectos de la pandemia de la COVID-19 en la actividad asistencial y formativa de los residentes. Resultados: Un total de 307 residentes de cirugía ortopédica y traumatología de toda España respondieron la encuesta. El 77,2% de los encuestados tuvo que suspender sus rotaciones. De estos, al 67,5% le gustaría retomar las rotaciones perdidas durante la pandemia. Un 69,7% de las cirugías programadas fueron suspendidas. La actividad quirúrgica estuvo completamente parada una media de 8 semanas. El 66,8% de los residentes considera que se ha visto afectada su formación quirúrgica y que esto repercutirá en su futuro laboral. El 49,5% considera insuficiente la oferta formativa en línea. Del total de encuestados, el 52,1% considera que el impacto de la situación de pandemia respecto a su situación formativa ha sido malo o muy malo. Conclusiones: La recogida de datos muestra un impacto negativo sobre la formación asistencial y teórica. Este estudio pone de manifiesto la necesidad de continuar ofreciendo una formación de calidad y maximizar las oportunidades de aprendizaje.(AU)

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected specialized healthcare training at all levels. Surgical learning has been severely affected, and the impact on orthopedic surgery residency training has so far not been assessed. Material and methods: An online survey of 17 questions was sent via web link to orthopedic surgery residents throughout Spain between February 10, 2021 and February 28, 2021. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the care and training activities of residents were analyzed. Results: A total of 307 orthopedic surgery residents from all over Spain responded to the online survey. A total of 77.2% of the respondents had to suspend their rotations. Of these, 67.5% would like to resume the rotations they missed during the pandemic. A total of 69.7% of scheduled surgeries were suspended. Surgical activity was completely stopped for an average of 8 weeks. 66.8% of the residents consider that their surgical training has been affected and this will have repercussions on their future work. 49.5% considered the online training offered to be insufficient. Of the total number of respondents, 52.1% considered that the impact of the pandemic situation on their training situation was bad or very bad. Conclusions: The data collection shows a negative impact on both theoretical and clinical training. This study highlights the need to continue offering quality training by maximizing learning opportunities.(AU)

[Translated article] Has 2020 been a lost year in orthopaedic surgery and trauma training? Residents’ perceptions / Ha sido el 2020 un año perdido en la formación de cirugía ortopédica y traumatología? Percepción de los residentes

Objetivo: La pandemia de la COVID-19 ha afectado a la formación sanitaria especializada a todos los niveles. El aprendizaje en el ámbito quirúrgico se ha visto gravemente afectado y hasta ahora no se ha valorado el impacto en la formación de residentes de traumatología. Material y métodos: Se hizo llegar mediante enlace web y redes sociales una encuesta en línea de 17 preguntas a los residentes de cirugía ortopédica y traumatología de todo el territorio español entre el 10 de febrero y el 28 de febrero de 2021. Se analizaron los efectos de la pandemia de la COVID-19 en la actividad asistencial y formativa de los residentes. Resultados: Un total de 307 residentes de cirugía ortopédica y traumatología de toda España respondieron la encuesta. El 77,2% de los encuestados tuvo que suspender sus rotaciones. De estos, al 67,5% le gustaría retomar las rotaciones perdidas durante la pandemia. Un 69,7% de las cirugías programadas fueron suspendidas. La actividad quirúrgica estuvo completamente parada una media de 8 semanas. El 66,8% de los residentes considera que se ha visto afectada su formación quirúrgica y que esto repercutirá en su futuro laboral. El 49,5% considera insuficiente la oferta formativa en línea. Del total de encuestados, el 52,1% considera que el impacto de la situación de pandemia respecto a su situación formativa ha sido malo o muy malo. Conclusiones: La recogida de datos muestra un impacto negativo sobre la formación asistencial y teórica. Este estudio pone de manifiesto la necesidad de continuar ofreciendo una formación de calidad y maximizar las oportunidades de aprendizaje.(AU)

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected specialized healthcare training at all levels. Surgical learning has been severely affected, and the impact on orthopedic surgery residency training has so far not been assessed. Material and methods: An online survey of 17 questions was sent via web link to orthopedic surgery residents throughout Spain between February 10, 2021 and February 28, 2021. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the care and training activities of residents were analyzed. Results: A total of 307 orthopedic surgery residents from all over Spain responded to the online survey. A total of 77.2% of the respondents had to suspend their rotations. Of these, 67.5% would like to resume the rotations they missed during the pandemic. A total of 69.7% of scheduled surgeries were suspended. Surgical activity was completely stopped for an average of 8 weeks. 66.8% of the residents consider that their surgical training has been affected and this will have repercussions on their future work. 49.5% considered the online training offered to be insufficient. Of the total number of respondents, 52.1% considered that the impact of the pandemic situation on their training situation was bad or very bad. Conclusions: The data collection shows a negative impact on both theoretical and clinical training. This study highlights the need to continue offering quality training by maximizing learning opportunities.(AU)

[Translated article] Has 2020 been a lost year in orthopaedic surgery and trauma training? Residents' perceptions.

OBJECTIVE: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected specialised healthcare training at all levels. Surgical learning has been severely affected, and the impact on orthopaedic surgery residency training has so far not been assessed. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An online survey of 17 questions was sent via web link to orthopaedic surgery residents throughout Spain between February 10, 2021 and February 28, 2021. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the care and training activities of residents were analysed. RESULTS: A total of 307 orthopaedic surgery residents from all over Spain responded to the online survey. A total of 77.2% of the respondents had to suspend their rotations. Of these, 67.5% would like to resume the rotations they missed during the pandemic. A total of 69.7% of scheduled surgeries were suspended. Surgical activity was completely stopped for an average of 8 weeks. 66.8% of the residents consider that their surgical training has been affected and this will have repercussions on their future work. 49.5% considered the online training offered to be insufficient. Of the total number of respondents, 52.1% considered that the impact of the pandemic situation on their training situation was bad or very bad. CONCLUSIONS: The data collection shows a negative impact on both theoretical and clinical training. This study highlights the need to continue offering quality training by maximising learning opportunities.

[Has 2020 been a lost year in orthopedic surgery and trauma training? Residents' perceptions]. / ¿Ha sido el 2020 un año perdido en la formación de cirugía ortopédica y traumatología? Percepción de los residentes.

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected specialized healthcare training at all levels. Surgical learning has been severely affected, and the impact on orthopedic surgery residency training has so far not been assessed. Material and methods: An online survey of 17 questions was sent via web link to orthopedic surgery residents throughout Spain between February 10, 2021 and February 28, 2021. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the care and training activities of residents were analyzed. Results: A total of 307 orthopedic surgery residents from all over Spain responded to the online survey. A total of 77.2% of the respondents had to suspend their rotations. Of these, 67.5% would like to resume the rotations they missed during the pandemic. A total of 69.7% of scheduled surgeries were suspended. Surgical activity was completely stopped for an average of 8 weeks. 66.8% of the residents consider that their surgical training has been affected and this will have repercussions on their future work. 49.5% considered the online training offered to be insufficient. Of the total number of respondents, 52.1% considered that the impact of the pandemic situation on their training situation was bad or very bad. Conclusions: The data collection shows a negative impact on both theoretical and clinical training. This study highlights the need to continue offering quality training by maximizing learning opportunities.

Maternal undernutrition and offspring sex determine birth-weight, postnatal development and meat characteristics in traditional swine breeds.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine how maternal undernutrition during pregnancy and offspring birth-weight can affect the postnatal development of offspring under farm conditions, which may lead to consequences in its meat and carcass quality. The current study involved a total of 80 litters from Iberian sows fed a diet fulfilling daily requirements (n = 47; control) or providing 70% daily requirements (n = 33; underfed) from d 38 to d 90 of gestation when fetal tissue development begins. After birth, piglets born live were classified as low birth-weight (LBW; < 1 kg) and normal birth-weight (NBW; ≥1 kg). During the growing phase, 240 control and 230 underfed pigs (50% males and females) distributed by BW category and sex were studied until the slaughter. RESULTS: At birth and weaning, there were significant differences in all morphological measures and weight between NBW and LBW piglets as expected (P < 0.0005), but few effects of the gestational feed restriction. During the growing phase, NBW pigs continued with higher weight than LBW pigs on all the days of evaluation (P < 0.05), even though control-LBW-females and LBW-males showed a catch-up growth. However, underfed pigs showed slower growth and higher feed conversion ratio than control pigs (P < 0.0001) at 215 days old. Moreover, the average daily weight gain (ADWG) for the overall period was greater for NBW, male and control pigs than for their LBW, female and underfed pigs (P < 0.0001, P< 0.0005 and P< 0.05, respectively) and NBW pigs were slaughtered at a younger age than LBW pigs (P < 0.0001). After slaughtering, control pigs also had higher carcass yield and backfat depth than underfed pigs (P < 0.0005) and the maternal nutritional effect caused main changes in the polar lipid fraction of liver and loin. The fatty acid composition of loin in control pigs had higher C18:1n-9 and n-3 FA concentrations, as well as lower ∑n-6/∑n-3 ratio, than in underfed pigs (P < 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: In brief, results showed that the effects of maternal nutritional restriction appeared and increased with offspring age, causing worse developmental patterns for underfed pigs than for control pigs.

Efficiency and demographics of a high-yield dairy ewe farm with two managing systems involving five or 10 lambings per year.

This study assessed milk productivity, demographic characteristics and workload distribution on a single high-yield dairy ewe farm in Spain (Avila, Spain; continental climate, latitude of 40.90 N, altitude of 900 m) over a 7-year period considering a transition from a herd management system involving five lambings per year (5LY) to a system involving 10 lambings per year (10LY). The 5LY system was practiced on the farm from 2010 to 2012 and the 10LY system from 2014 to 2015, with 2009 and 2013 being considered transition years. During this period, 27 415 lactations were recorded from an average of 3746 Lacaune sheep/year. Several productivity parameters were higher in 2014 to 2015 than in 2010 to 2012: milk yield/lactation (370±156 v. 349±185 l), lactation length (218±75 v. 192±75 days) and dry period length (53.5±38.3 v. 69.1±34.8 days) (all P<0.0001). During 2014 to 2015, investment in new lambing facilities was possible, workload was distributed more uniformly throughout the year, workload per worker was smaller, rate of ewe culling was lower (35.39±0.53% v. 42.51±7.51%), ewe longevity was greater and higher-order lactations were more numerous (P<0.0001). On the other hand, during 2010 to 2012, daily production was higher (1.73±1.66 v. 1.70±0.62 l/day; P=0.038), the interlambing period was shorter (283±50 v. 302±44 days; P<0.0001) and lambings/ewe per year were greater (1.42±0.01 v. 1.30±0.01; P<0.05). These results suggest that a 10LY herd management system can be compatible with profitability, productivity and good animal and worker's welfare on a high-yield dairy farm, and may even be associated with better outcomes than a 5LY system.

Fetal growth-retardation and brain-sparing by malnutrition are associated to changes in neurotransmitters profile.

The present study assesses possible changes in the levels of different neurotransmitters (catecholamines and indoleamines) in fetuses affected by nutrient shortage. Hence, we determined the concentration of catecholamines and indoleamines at the hypothalamus of 56 swine fetuses obtained at both 70 and 90days of pregnancy (n=33 and 23 fetuses, respectively). The degree of fetal development and the fetal sex affected the neurotransmitters profile at both stages. At Day 70, there were found higher mean concentrations of l-DOPA in both female and male fetuses with severe IUGR; male fetuses with severe IUGR also showed higher concentrations of TRP than normal male littermates. At Day 90 of pregnancy, the differences between sexes were more evident. There were no significant effects from either severe IUGR on the neurotransmitter profile in male fetuses. However, in the females, a lower body-weight was related to lower concentrations of l-DOPA and TRP and those female fetuses affected by severe IUGR evidenced lower HVA concentration. In conclusion, the fetal synthesis and use of neurotransmitters increase with time of pregnancy but, in case of IUGR, both catecholamines and indoleamines pathways are affected by sex-related effects.

Sex and intrauterine growth restriction modify brain neurotransmitters profile of newborn piglets.

The current study aimed to determine, using a swine model of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), whether short- and long-term neurological deficiencies and interactive dysfunctions of Low Birth-Weight (LBW) offspring might be related to altered pattern of neurotransmitters. Hence, we compared the quantities of different neurotransmitters (catecholamines and indoleamines), which were determined by HPLC, at brain structures related to the limbic system (hippocampus and amygdala) in 14 LBW and 10 Normal Body-Weight (NBW) newborn piglets. The results showed, firstly, significant effects of sex on the NBW newborns, with females having higher dopamine (DA) concentrations than males. The IUGR processes affected DA metabolism, with LBW piglets having lower concentrations of noradrenaline at the hippocampus and higher concentrations of the DA metabolites, homovanillic acid (HVA), at both the hippocampus and the amygdala than NBW neonates. The effects of IUGR were modulated by sex; there were no significant differences between LBW and NBW females, but LBW males had higher HVA concentration at the amygdala and higher concentration of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid, the serotonin metabolite, at the hippocampus than NBW males. In conclusion, the present study shows that IUGR is mainly related to changes, modulated by sex, in the concentrations of catecholamine neurotransmitters, which are related to adaptation to physical activity and to essential cognitive functions such as learning, memory, reward-motivated behavior and stress.

Developmental Origins of Health and Disease in swine: implications for animal production and biomedical research.

The concept of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) addresses, from a large set of epidemiological evidences in human beings and translational studies in animal models, both the importance of genetic predisposition and the determinant role of maternal nutrition during pregnancy on adult morphomics and homeostasis. Compelling evidences suggest that both overnutrition and undernutrition may modify the intrauterine environment of the conceptus and may alter the expression of its genome and therefore its phenotype during prenatal and postnatal life. In fact, the DOHaD concept is an extreme shift in the vision of the factors conditioning adult phenotype and supposes a drastic change from a gene-centric perspective, only modified by lifestyle and nutritional strategies during juvenile development and adulthood, to a more holistic approach in which environmental, parental, and prenatal conditions are strongly determining postnatal development and homeostasis. The implications of DOHaD are profound in all the mammalian species and the present review summarizes current knowledge on causes and consequences of DOHaD in pigs, both for meat production and as a well-recognized model for biomedicine research.

Revisión de la literatura: lesiones cervicales no cariogénicas / Noncarious cervical lesions: a review

La pérdida de tejido dental en la región cervical ha sido comúnmente atribuida a la abrasión que produce el cepillado y a la erosión. Sin embargo, el papel de las fuerzas oclusales es, desde hace ya unos años, un factor a tener en cuenta en el desarrollo de estas lesiones cervicales. Distinguir las diferentes entidades que conducen a la génesis de estos defectos y sus posibles interrelaciones permitirá una mejoría en la prevención, el tratamiento y seguimiento de todos nuestros pacientes (AU)

The loss of dental tissue in the cervical area has been commonly attributed to abrasion caused by the brushing and erosion. However, during recent years, the role of the occlusal forces is a factor to take into account when these cervical injures develops. Determining the different entities that lead to the genesis of these defects and their possible interrelations will allow an improvement in the prevention, the treatment and monitoring of all our patients (AU)

[Intestinal calcium and vitamin D absorption in essential arterial hypertension]. / Absorción intestinal de calcio y vitamina D en la hipertensión arterial esencial.

The intestinal absorption of calcium and seric levels of calcifediol and calcitriol were studied in 27 patients with essential blood hypertension (BH) and 20 normal patients in a control group. The hypertensive patients were divided in three groups depending on the plasmatic renin activity (PRA), (high, normal, low). We found a significantly higher rate of intestinal calcium absorption in the group of patients with BH and low PRA than in the control group (22.73 +/- 19.05 and 10.7 +/- 17.13% respectively) (p less than 0.025). The seric levels of calcitriol (1,25 (OH) 2D3) were significantly higher in the group of patients with hypertension and low PRA than in the control group (48.16 +/- 5.25 and 33.13 +/- 2.9 pg/ml respectively) (p less than 0.025). The seric levels of calcifediol (25-OH-D3) were significantly lower in low PRA patients than those patients in the control group (12.37 +/- 2.44 and 21.94 +/- 2.82 ng/ml respectively) (p less than 0.025). We concluded that patients with essential blood hypertension and low PRA have significantly lower calcitriol levels than any other group, probably conditioning the greater intestinal calcium absorption shown in this group.