Ultrastructural examination of cryodamage in Paracentrotus lividus eggs during cryopreservation.

This study examinates the challenges of cryopreserving sea urchin (Paracentrotus lividus) eggs, a task hindered by factors like low membrane permeability and high sensitivity to cryoprotective agents (CPAs). While successful cryopreservation has been achieved for some marine invertebrates, eggs remain problematic due to their unique characteristics. The study explores the impact of various CPAs and cryopreservation techniques on sea urchin eggs, employing scanning and transmission electron microscopy to analyze cellular damage. The findings reveal that exposure to low CPA concentrations (0.5 M) did not induce significant damage to eggs. However, high concentrations (3 M) proved highly detrimental. Every cryopreservation approach investigated in this study resulted in irreversible damage to the sea urchin eggs, rendering them nonviable for future use. The research sheds light on the importance of understanding the structural alterations induced by CPAs and cryopreservation methods. This knowledge is essential for refining cryopreservation methods, potentially paving the way for successful preservation of these challenging cells.

Exploring the feasibility of cryopreserving larvae of the common cockle (Cerastoderma edule) for hatchery production.

The decline of natural populations of the common cockle (Cerastoderma edule) through the European coast is posing a threat to local small-scale fisheries. These declines are primarily attributed to the prevalence of several pathogens and the disseminated neoplasia in cockle populations. The institution of a biobank of cryopreserved larvae could enhance hatchery production and help the restocking. The present work aimed at the development of a cryopreservation protocol for larvae of the common cockle using the mollusk cryopreservation protocols designed in our laboratory. Toxicity bioassays and short-term cryopreservation experiments were performed for protocol optimization according with cellular tolerance. Once settled, the viability of cryopreserved larvae was studied long term. Toxicity tests evidenced high tolerance of larvae against detrimental effects of Cryoprotecting Agents (CPAs). Cryopreservation of 48 h-old D-larva showed a 100% survival when increasing the equilibrium time from 15 to 60 min and using Propylene-Glycol (PG) + 0.4 M Trehalose (TRE) in Filtered Sea Water (FSW) and 60 min of exposure to CPA solution before slow-cooling. However, when cryopreserving the older larvae, the variation in equilibrium times hardly showed any effect but 10% Ethylene-Glycol (EG) + 0.4 M TRE and 60 min of exposure yielded the best relative survivorship (100%). Cryopreservation caused a significant delay on the growth rate of the latest larval stage. However, cryopreserved larvae survived to day 4-6, while 30 ± 12.17% of control larvae developed into pediveliger stage, of which 50% settled and transformed into juvenile cockles. These results demonstrated the role of the cell-type specificity in cryopreservation and highlight the importance of studying potential long-term effects of this tool to ensure the viability of the protocols.

Reproductive performance of rabbit females from three paternal lines with a different potential for growth rate and resilience.

A total of 197 nulliparous rabbits (from three paternal lines) were used to test potential strategies to overcome the consequences on reproduction associated with the selection for high growth rate. The R line was selected for growth rate during the growing period for 37 generations, the RF line was founded through a high selection intensity of elite animals of the R line, and the RFLP line, which was obtained by backcrossing RF animals with the LP line (a long-lived productive maternal line, characterised by high resilience). BW, perirenal fat thickness, fertility, daily feed intake, milk yield and blood metabolites of females were controlled from 1st artificial insemination to 3rd parturition. Litter size, litter weight, individual weight and feed ingestion of kits were controlled from birth to weaning. Our results show that RF females were significantly lighter than R and RFLP females throughout the trial (-5.0%; P < 0.05). Furthermore, RF animals had a higher fertility rate than RFLP females, at first cycle (+10.5 percentage points; P < 0.05). However, RFLP had a higher fertility rate than RF females at second cycle (+21.5 percentage points; P < 0.01). On average, RFLP females had higher perirenal fat thickness than R females at parturition (+3.0%; P < 0.05) and higher daily feed intake than of R and RF females during gestation and late lactation (+9.7 and +8.7%, respectively; P < 0.05). RFLP females produced more milk than R and RF females in the two first lactations (+18.5%; P < 0.001). In the first three parturitions, R females delivered fewer kits born alive (-1.7 kits than RF and RFLP; P < 0.05). In addition, R females' blood had a higher concentration of glutamine and glutamate than RFLP (+24 and +22.7%, respectively; P < 0.05). RFLP litters were heavier than both R and RF litters throughout lactation. However, R kits were heavier at birth than RF and RFLP (+7.9%). Results suggest that the foundation of a paternal line using elite animals could generate females with better early reproductive performance. In addition, backcrossing the RF line with a maternal LP line resulted in a genetic line whose females had a different resource allocation strategy to foster reproduction during the studied period.

Modulation of stress factors for cryopreservation of Paracentrotus lividus (Lamarck 1816) larvae.

In the present work we modulated two stress factors salinity and temperature, whose ranges have been previously determined by bioassays using six pre-treatments (18 °C-29.5‰; 18 °C-35‰; 18 °C-39‰ and 20 °C-29.5‰; 20 °C-35‰; 20 °C-39‰), in order to obtain a successful cryopreservation protocol for pluteus larvae of the sea urchin P. lividus (Lamarck 1816). Toxicity tests were performed with different cryoprotectants in a range of 0.5-3 M. Best results pointed out to METH and Me2SO as those more suitable for cryopreservation. First an exploratory cryopreservation experiment with Me2SO supplemented with 0.04 M trehalose (TRE) was tested following the protocol for cryopreservation of embryos (8-h blastula) of Bellas and Paredes, 2011, which did not give satisfactory results. A cryopreservation experiment was performed with both cryoprotectants supplemented with 0.04 M trehalose on 4-arm pluteus larvae (48 h-old) developed in these pre-treatment conditions, followed by a simpler and shorter protocol with a cooling rate of 1 °C/min to -35 °C, achieving for the first time the successful cryopreservation of P. lividus larvae. When larvae were incubated in low salinity or low temperature pre-treatments, they showed delayed larval development and abnormalities. In contrast, pretreatments with high temperature and salinity showed good results. Dimethyl sulfoxide with trehalose proved to be the only effective cryoprotectant for successful cryopreservation of P. lividus larvae. The success of dimethyl sulfoxide is consistent with that described for other cases in previous literature, where dimethyl sulfoxide, although not the least toxic compound, gave the best cryopreservation result.

Long-term study on survival and development of successive generations of Mytilus galloprovincialis cryopreserved larvae.

Shellfish aquaculture needs the development of new tools for the improvement of good practices avoiding the reliance on natural spat collection to increase production efficiently. The aim of this work was to improve the cryopreservation protocol for Mytilus galloprovincialis larvae described in Paredes et al. (in: Wolkers, Oldenhof (eds) Cryopreservation and freeze-drying protocol, methods in molecular biology, Humana Press, 2021, pp 2180, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-0783-1_18 ). Moreover, the capability of producing adult mussels from cryopreserved 72 h-old D-larvae and potential long-term effects of cryopreservation through progenies were evaluated. The selection of 72-h old D-larvae for cryopreservation yielded 75% of recovery, higher than 50% from trochophores. The best combination was 10% Ethylene-Glycol + 0.4 M Trehalose in Filtered Sea Water (FSW) with cooling at - 1 °C/min and a water bath at 35 °C for thawing. Sucrose (SUC) solutions did not improve larval recovery (p > 0.05). At settlement, 5.26% of cryopreserved F1 larvae survived and over 70% settled. F2 cryopreservation produced 0.15% survival of spat and settlement varied from 35 to 50%. The delay of shell size showed on cryopreserved larvae declined throughout larval rearing without significant differences with controls from settlement point (p > 0.05). Long-term experiments showed that it is possible to obtain adult mussels from cryopreserved larvae and this tool does not compromise the quality of following progenies, neither for cryopreservation nor post-thawing development of them.

BoviPure® density-gradient centrifugation procedure enhances the quality of fresh and cryopreserved dog epididymal spermatozoa.

BoviPure® is a salt solution containing colloidal silica particles coated with silane used to select sperm (e.g., ruminants) by density-gradient centrifugation (DGC). This research assessed the suitability of the BoviPure-DGC and swim-up methods for selecting dog epididymal sperm in fresh, chilled and frozen-thawed samples on post-treatment sperm quality. Sperm samples (n = 60 epididymides) were recovered by retrograde flushing from thirty orchiectomized adult dogs. Thereafter, 20 sperm pools, containing sperm aliquots of three randomly selected animals, were used for chilling (at 5 ºC for 24 h) and freezing (in liquid nitrogen vapors). Sperm selection by BoviPure-DCG and swim-up was performed in both individual and pooled samples, including non-selected samples as controls. Overall, after BoviPure-DGC selection a higher sperm retrieval rate was obtained than the swim-up selection in both individual (P < 0.05) and pooled (P < 0.01) samples. BoviPure-DGC improved (P < 0.05) the total (TM) and progressive (PSM) sperm motilities, curvilinear (VCL) and straight-line (VSL) velocities, linearity (LIN), wobble (WOB), beat-cross frequency (BCF), and integrity of plasmatic (IPM) and acrosomal (IAM) membranes of individual samples in comparison with non-selected samples. In pooled samples, however, the BoviPure-DGC improved (P < 0.05) the PSM, VCL, WOB, and IPM of chilled and frozen-thawed samples. The swim-up method improved (P < 0.05) only some kinematic variables of the individual (VCL, WOB and BCF) and cryopreserved pooled samples (VCL and ALH) in comparison with non-selected samples. In conclusion, BoviPure-DGC was more effective for recovering and selecting both fresh and cryopreserved dog epididymal sperm than the swim-up procedure improving the kinematic variables, and membranes intactness.

Larval cryopreservation as new management tool for threatened clam fisheries.

Cryopreservation is the only reliable method for long-term storage of biological material that guarantees genetic stability. This technique can be extremely useful for the conservation of endangered species and restock natural populations for declining species. Many factors have negatively affected the populations of high economical value shellfish in Spain and, as a result, many are declining or threatened nowadays. This study was focused on early-life stages of Venerupis corrugata, Ruditapes decussatus and Ruditapes philippinarum to develop successful protocols to enhance the conservation effort and sustainable shellfishery resources. Firstly, common cryoprotecting agents (CPAs) were tested to select the suitable permeable CPA attending to toxicity. Cryopreservation success using different combinations of CPA solutions, increasing equilibrium times and larval stages was evaluated attending to survival and shell growth at 2 days post-thawing. Older clam development stages were more tolerant to CPA toxicity, being ethylene-glycol (EG) and Propylene-glycol (PG) the least toxic CPAs. CPA solution containing EG yielded the highest post-thawing survival rate and the increase of equilibration time was not beneficial for clam larvae. Cryopreservation of trochophores yielded around 50% survivorship, whereas over 80% of cryopreserved D-larvae were able to recover after thawing.

Vitrification and Ultra-Rapid Laser Warming of Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

BACKGROUND: As fundamental model organisms, yeasts have been used for the study and understanding of cryopreservation and freezing damage mechanisms, in particular Saccharomyces cerevisiae. OBJECTIVE: As cryopreservation success requires optimization of the cooling and warming rates, the objective was to test how ultra-rapid warming could improve yeast cell cryopreservation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: S. cerevisiae cells were exposed to concentrations of vitrification solutions containing a combination of permeating and non-permeating cryoprotectants (EAFS) and to a simple 1 M sucrose solution prior to vitrification (cooling rate 69,000°C min-1). Cells were then warmed ultra-rapidly with a laser (warming rate 107°C min-1). RESULTS: When using a vitrification solution (0.33xEAFS) survival was 80 ± 16%. When using only a non-permeating solute (1 M sucrose) for cryoprotection, the results were slightly lower, viz. 61 ± 26 %. CONCLUSION: These results add information to the study of the effect of numerous cooling and warming rates for baker´s yeast cryopreservation and provide further examples of the application of vitrification and ultra-fast laser warming. Ultra-rapid warming seems to be applicable to a wide range of cells and tissues from diverse species.

High-resolution anoscopy, is there a benefit in proceeding directly to the operating room?

BACKGROUND: The development of high-resolution anoscopy (HRA) has advanced our ability to detect anal dysplasia. Historically, HRA is performed in a clinical setting and subsequent ablation is performed in the clinical setting or operating room. The aim of this study was to determine the most effective venue for the performance of HRA. METHODS: Following institutional review board (IRB) approval, the correlation between anal cytology and HRA performed in the clinic versus in the operating room was evaluated. Data were extracted from our IRB-approved prospective HRA database over the time period of 2013-2017. RESULTS: One hundred twenty-eight HRAs were compared (101 in the clinical setting, 27 in the operating room). There was a statistically significant difference in the correlation between anal cytology and HRA pathology for procedures performed in the clinical setting (55% [56/101]) versus those performed in the operating room (82% [22/27]) (p = 0.014). More biopsies were obtained in the operating room than in the clinic setting (3 vs. 1, p < 0.0001). The majority of patients who had HRA in a clinical setting with subsequent HRA in the operating room stated that they preferred to have their HRAs performed in the operating room due to discomfort from the HRA procedure. CONCLUSIONS: Detection rates for anal dysplasia on HRA, are significantly higher when performed in the operating room. To prevent discomfort in the clinical setting, patients with high-grade dysplasia on anal pap testing may benefit from proceeding directly to the operating room for concurrent HRA and ablation.

Major challenges in cryopreservation of sea urchin eggs.

Cryopreservation of gametes, embryos and larvae of marine invertebrates has been investigated in many studies throughout the years. There are many favorable studies on sperm cryopreservation but oocytes are still under research as no successful results have been sustainably obtained for this type of cells. The preservation of both maternal and paternal gametes separately would provide a reliable source of genetic material for their application to conservation, aquaculture and fundamental research. Unfortunately to date, it has not been possible to cryopreserve eggs from marine organisms. The aim of this review is to go over the factors that have been historically considered as obstacles for oocyte cryopreservation in aquatic organisms and discern those that may specifically apply to eggs of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus.

Ética de la Salud Pública: propuesta sobre los principios fundamentales que guían las responsabilidades éticas del estado en el contexto pandemia COVID-19

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that the number of cases of COVID-19 multiplied by 13 outside China, with a threefold increase in the number of affected countries. The WHO expressed its concern about the alarming levels of spread and severity of the outbreak, declaring the pandemic. This pandemic context is generating a social pact that seeks to ensure collective protection over individual freedoms. To meet the challenge, Governments must make decisions based on the principles that govern the State- These should consider the differences and particularities of those affected, without diverting attention from collective social protection. The following is a proposal on the ethical principles that should guide a State that makes decisions in public health emergencies.

Effect of different housing systems (single and group penning) on the health and welfare of commercial female rabbits.

In recent decades, concern about rabbit welfare and sustainability has increased. The housing system is a very important factor for animal welfare. However, information about how different available housing types for female rabbits affect their health status is scarce, but this is an important factor for their welfare. Hence, the objective of this study was to evaluate the health status of female rabbits in five common housing systems: three different single-housing systems with distinct available surfaces and heights; a single-housing system with a platform; a collective system. Female rabbits in the collective and platform cages had greater cortisol concentrations in hair than those in the single-housing system with no platform. Haptoglobin concentrations and kit mortality rates during lactation were greater for the collective-cage female rabbits. The collective group had more culled females and more lesions than in the other groups. The main reasons for culling in all the groups were reproduction problems and presence of abscesses, and the collective group of females was the most affected. In conclusion, it appears that keeping females together in collective systems negatively affects their health status and welfare, while single-housing systems imply lower kit mortality rates during lactation and cortisol concentrations, and fewer lesions in female rabbits.

[Proposal on the principles that should guide the ethical responsibilities of the state during the COVID-19 pandemic]. / Ética de la Salud Pública: propuesta sobre los principios fundamentales que guían las responsabilidades éticas del estado en el contexto pandemia COVID-19.

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that the number of cases of COVID-19 multiplied by 13 outside China, with a threefold increase in the number of affected countries. The WHO expressed its concern about the alarming levels of spread and severity of the outbreak, declaring the pandemic. This pandemic context is generating a social pact that seeks to ensure collective protection over individual freedoms. To meet the challenge, Governments must make decisions based on the principles that govern the State- These should consider the differences and particularities of those affected, without diverting attention from collective social protection. The following is a proposal on the ethical principles that should guide a State that makes decisions in public health emergencies.

Effect of early development on semen parameters and lifespan of rabbit males selected by high growth rate.

Life history theory suggests that different body development dynamics may influence survival and future reproductive performance of organisms. The present work studied how these dynamics could influence seminal traits and lifespan of rabbit males selected for growth rate and intended for AI. To achieve this goal, a total of 550 rabbit males were controlled from birth, evaluated both during the testing phase (four consecutive weeks after reaching 147 days of life) and the productive phase (377 of them from the end of the testing phase until 2 years of life). In order to obtain individuals with different body development dynamics, we pre-selected males based on their live weight (LW) at 0, 28, 63 and 147 days and on their average daily gain (ADG) between each period (0-28, 28-63 and 63-147 days). Libido and main seminal traits (semen volume, motility, concentration, and production, as well as normal apical ridge and abnormalities of spermatozoa) were controlled during the testing phase. Semen volume, motility and concentration were subsequently controlled during the productive phase, as well as the length of the male life, calculated as the number of days a rabbit was present at the farm between age 147 and day of death, culling or censoring; set to 2 years of life). The birth weight, the ADG between 0 and 28 days and between 28 and 63 days were positively related to some seminal parameters measured during the testing phase (semen volume, concentration, production and motility; P < 0.05), while the ADG between 63 and 147 days was negatively related to the seminal productivity throughout the productive life of the males (an increment of 10 g per day on ADG reduced the number of profitable ejaculates by 4.9%; P < 0.05). In addition, a higher growth between 0 and 28 and between 63 and 147 days increased the risk of death or culling of males during the productive phase (P < 0.05). In conclusion, an adequate body development early in life seems to have a positive effect on the degree of sexual maturity with which male rabbits begin their reproductive life, but reaching the reproduction onset with excessive weight can reduce their reproductive performance and lifespan.

[Temporal variation in the place of death in Chile from 1997 to 2014]. / Tendencia de las defunciones ocurridas en mayores de 1 año según lugar de ocurrencia y su relación con características sociodemográficas, Chile 1997-2014.

BACKGROUND: The place of death is a fundamental indicator for the debate on equity and access to health care. AIM: To describe the place of death of the deceased population over 1 year of age in Chile between the years 1997 and 2014. To analyze tendencies in this variable and its association with socio-demographic characteristics. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Time series study covering deaths occurred between 1997 and 2014 in Chile. National death records were used, provided by the Department of Health Statistics and Information (DEIS) of the Chilean Ministry of Health. The following variables were chosen: place of death (home, hospital, other), sex, marital status, age, level of education, activity and area of residence. Temporal trends were evaluated using Prais Winsten regressions. Logistic regression was used to assess the association of the place of death with socio-demographic characteristics. RESULTS: Between 1997 and 2014 there were 1,576,392 deaths, at a mean age of 69 years (p25-p75:60-83 years). No temporal variations in the place of death were observed with the Prais Winsten regression, hospital (P-W coefficient (coef) = 0.06 (confidence intervals (CI): -0.30; 0.19), p = 0.64), home (P-W coef = -0.03 (CI: -0.15; 0.09), p = 0.57), and other places (P-W coef = 0.07; (CI: -0.08 - 0.22), p = 0.32). The multivariate analysis showed that being women under 70 years of age, being married or widowed, having a higher educational level, being inactive and living in a rural area were factors associated with a greater chance of dying at home. CONCLUSIONS: No significant temporal variation in the place of death was observed.

Sarcoma de Ewing, análisis de supervivencia a los 6 años con terapia multidisciplinar / Ewing sarcoma, analysis of survival at 6 years with multidisciplinary therapy

Objetivo: El objetivo de este estudio es presentar nuestra serie de casos de sarcoma de Ewing y los datos de supervivencia obtenidos a medio plazo utilizando un protocolo de terapia multidisciplinar. Material, método y resultados: Cuarenta y un sarcomas de Ewing fueron diagnosticados, tratados y evolucionados en nuestro centro entre 2004 y 2009 con una media de edad de 18,29 años. Hasta un 78% correspondieron a Ewing óseo siendo el fémur la localización más frecuente. El 68% presentó un estadio localizado en el momento del diagnóstico. Al final del seguimiento la supervivencia no llegó al 40% de los pacientes, falleciendo la mayoría en los primeros 5 años de seguimiento. Discusión: En España, el sarcoma de Ewing es el tumor óseo maligno primario más frecuente en la infancia, por delante del osteosarcoma. Su tasa de supervivencia ha aumentado mucho en los últimos 40 años, mejoría atribuible fundamentalmente al uso agresivo de la quimioterapia y al tratamiento mutidisciplinar, pero su pronóstico sigue siendo muy pobre sobre todo en aquellos que presentan metástasis al diagnóstico, principal factor pronóstico adverso. Dada su alta mortalidad, son muchos los autores que lo consideran como una enfermedad diseminada desde el principio, con micrometástasis no detectables que son las que condicionan la supervivencia final. Conclusiones: El diagnóstico precoz y el tratamiento multidisciplinar en centros de referencia son las mejores estrategias con las que contamos en la actualidad para proporcionarles a los pacientes las máximas posibilidades de curación de esta enfermedad

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to present our series of Ewing sarcoma cases and the survival data obtained in the medium term, using a multidisciplinary therapy protocol. Material, methods and results: Forty-one Ewing sarcomas were diagnosed, treated and followed-up in our hospital between 2004 and 2009 with an average age of 18.29 years. Seventy-eight percent were to Ewing sarcoma of the bone, the femur being the most frequent location. Sixty-eight percent had a localized stage at the time of diagnosis. At the end of follow-up, 40% of the patients did not survive, most died within the first 5 years of follow-up. Discussion: In Spain, Ewing sarcoma is the most common primary malignant bone tumour in childhood, ahead of osteosarcoma. Its survival rate has increased greatly in the last 40 years, improvement attributable mainly to the aggressive use of chemotherapy and to multidisciplinary treatment, but its prognosis remains very poor, especially for those with metastasis at diagnosis, the main adverse prognostic factor. Because of its high mortality, many authors consider it a disseminated disease from the beginning, with non- detectable micrometastasis that condition final survival. Conclusions: Early diagnosis and multidisciplinary therapy in referral centres are the best strategies currently available to us to provide these patients the maximum possibilities of cure of this disease

Consequences of rearing feeding programme on the performance of rabbit females from 1st to 2nd parturition.

To evaluate how rearing programmes could affect resources allocation and reproductive performance of primiparous rabbit females, a total of 118 rabbit females were used to evaluate the effects of five rearing feeding programmes on their performance from 1st to 2nd parturition: CAL, fed ad libitum C diet (11.0 MJ digestible energy (DE), 114 g digestible protein (DP) and 358 g NDF/kg dry matter (DM) until 1st parturition; CR, fed ad libitum with C diet until 12 weeks of age and then C diet restricted (140 g/day) until 1st parturition; F, fed ad libitum with F diet (8.7 MJ DE, 88 g DP and 476 NDF/kg DM) until 1st parturition; FC, fed with F diet ad libitum until 16 weeks of age, and C diet ad libitum until 1st parturition; FCF, fed with F diet ad libitum until 16 weeks of age, then C diet ad libitum until 20 weeks and then F diet ad libitum until 1st parturition. From 1st parturition, C diet was ad libitum offered to all the experimental groups until 2nd parturition. CAL females presented lower feed intake than females of F, FC and FCF groups in the 1st week of lactation (on av. -16.6%; P<0.05). During 1st lactation, the perirenal fat thickness change in CAL females was not different from 0 (+0.02 mm), while in the other four groups it increased (on av. +0.44 mm; P<0.05). Plasma of females fed with F diet during rearing (F, FC and FCF) had lower non-esterified fatty acids content than those exclusively fed with C diet (-0.088 and -0.072 mmol/l compared to CAL and CR, respectively; P<0.05). FCF litters had higher weight than F litters at day 21 of lactation (+247 g; P<0.05), but FCF litter had significantly lower weight than FC litters at weaning (+170 g; P<0.05). CR females had the shortest average interval between the 1st and 2nd parturition (49 days) and FCF females the longest (+ 9 days compared to CR; P<0.05). At 2nd parturition, liveborn litters of F females were larger and heavier than litters of FCF females (+2.22 kits and +138 g; P<0.05), probably due to the lower mortality at birth of F litters (-16.5 percentage points; P<0.05). In conclusion, rearing females on fibrous diets seems to increase the ability of primiparous rabbit females to obtain resources, especially at the onset of lactation.

Tendencia de las defunciones ocurridas en mayores de 1 año según lugar de ocurrencia y su relación con características sociodemográficas, Chile 1997-2014 / Temporal variation in the place of death in Chile from 1997 to 2014

Background: The place of death is a fundamental indicator for the debate on equity and access to health care. Aim: To describe the place of death of the deceased population over 1 year of age in Chile between the years 1997 and 2014. To analyze tendencies in this variable and its association with socio-demographic characteristics. Material and Methods: Time series study covering deaths occurred between 1997 and 2014 in Chile. National death records were used, provided by the Department of Health Statistics and Information (DEIS) of the Chilean Ministry of Health. The following variables were chosen: place of death (home, hospital, other), sex, marital status, age, level of education, activity and area of residence. Temporal trends were evaluated using Prais Winsten regressions. Logistic regression was used to assess the association of the place of death with socio-demographic characteristics. Results: Between 1997 and 2014 there were 1,576,392 deaths, at a mean age of 69 years (p25-p75:60-83 years). No temporal variations in the place of death were observed with the Prais Winsten regression, hospital (P-W coefficient (coef) = 0.06 (confidence intervals (CI): −0.30; 0.19), p = 0.64), home (P-W coef = −0.03 (CI: −0.15; 0.09), p = 0.57), and other places (P-W coef = 0.07; (CI: −0.08 - 0.22), p = 0.32). The multivariate analysis showed that being women under 70 years of age, being married or widowed, having a higher educational level, being inactive and living in a rural area were factors associated with a greater chance of dying at home. Conclusions: No significant temporal variation in the place of death was observed.

Ewing sarcoma, analysis of survival at 6 years with multidisciplinary therapy. / Sarcoma de Ewing, análisis de supervivencia a los 6 años con terapia multidisciplinar.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to present our series of Ewing sarcoma cases and the survival data obtained in the medium term, using a multidisciplinary therapy protocol. MATERIAL, METHODS AND RESULTS: Forty-one Ewing sarcomas were diagnosed, treated and followed-up in our hospital between 2004 and 2009 with an average age of 18.29 years. Seventy-eight percent were to Ewing sarcoma of the bone, the femur being the most frequent location. Sixty-eight percent had a localized stage at the time of diagnosis. At the end of follow-up, 40% of the patients did not survive, most died within the first 5 years of follow-up. DISCUSSION: In Spain, Ewing sarcoma is the most common primary malignant bone tumour in childhood, ahead of osteosarcoma. Its survival rate has increased greatly in the last 40 years, improvement attributable mainly to the aggressive use of chemotherapy and to multidisciplinary treatment, but its prognosis remains very poor, especially for those with metastasis at diagnosis, the main adverse prognostic factor. Because of its high mortality, many authors consider it a disseminated disease from the beginning, with non- detectable micrometastasis that condition final survival. CONCLUSIONS: Early diagnosis and multidisciplinary therapy in referral centres are the best strategies currently available to us to provide these patients the maximum possibilities of cure of this disease.

Toxicity tests of cryoprotecting agents for Mytilus galloprovincialis (Lamark, 1819) early developmental stages.

Global aquaculture production of blue mussel has increased over last years. This work reaffirms the great potential of cryopreservation technique on mussel industry and overcome economic barriers a cause of a traditional and rudimentary management and continue growing. The aim of this work is to set some preliminary basis attending to toxicity of cryoprotecting agents (CPAs) on different development stages of Mytilus galloprovincialis as a start point to develop a stable cryopreservation protocol. Toxicity tests were carried out by using common CPAs (dimethyl-sulfoxide (Me2SO), glycerol, (GLY), propylene glycol (PG) and ethylene glycol (EG)) in a range from 0.5 to 3 M on fertilized egg, trochophore larva, and D-larva of Mytilus galloprovincialis. Results evidenced more resistance of older development stages to toxicity. Of all CPAs tested, toxicity testing highlights PG or EG as suitable CPAs for cryopreservation of early development stages; whereas D-larva was unaffected by any of the CPAs tested. Preliminary cryopreservation trials were developed to obtain information into cell cryoprotection. Further research should be focused on membrane permeability and other parameters, such as the balance between toxicity and cryoprotective effect of CPAs.