A statistical study carried out by researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) and the Complutense University of Madrid predicts a recovery of the Spanish labour market and a decrease in unemployment, except in agriculture, despite the general economic trend and the chaos caused by COVID-19
A statistical study carried out by researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) and the Complutense University of Madrid predicts a recovery of the Spanish labour market and a decrease in unemployment, except in agriculture, despite the general economic trend and the chaos caused by COVID-19.
José Aureliano Martín, a researcher and lecturer in Economics and Business at the University of Granada, and César Pérez, a lecturer at Complutense and Head of the Statistical Unit of Spain’s Institute of Fiscal Studies, are conducting on-going research to forecast the trajectory of unemployment during the pandemic.
Martín explains that the initial phase of the study was carried out during the first wave of COVID-19, when the need was identified to source the most accurate statistical system to make forecasts about the impact of the pandemic on employment. Such a system needed to have the capacity to differentiate between economic trends and the influence of the virus.
“We opted for the ARIMA model, with an intervention function, which can offer significant stability because it makes predictions based on the historical evolution of a single variable while taking into account the extraordinary and unknown phenomena that can occur at any moment in time,” explains Martín, a member of the UGR’s Innovation, Sustainability, and Business Development Research Group (ISDE).
The researcher defends this choice of statistical model, explaining that it is quite distinct from classical approaches, which would be bound to fail as there are no parallels with which to compare. “There has never been a pandemic like this one—not even in the crisis of ’29,” he observes.
In the first phase of the study, this predictive model dealing with the impact of the pandemic on the labour market successfully outlined a scenario in which agriculture and the primary sector acted as ‘protective dykes’ against the unemployment figures. When generating the forecasts, the two researchers incorporated February (pre-COVID) data into the historical employment data, to differentiate between the trend that the economy would have followed without the pandemic and the effect of the coronavirus.
“When we added the data differentiated by sector, the forecasts proved correct, albeit always with a slight margin of error,” says Martín. Having now incorporated the unemployment figures for October 2020 into this system, Martín maintains that the labour market is showing stability, confidence, and an upward trend toward recovery: “There are already some predictions that the economy is beginning to show signs of recovery, despite the gravity of the situation.” Martín insists that the data from Spain’s Public Employment Service (SEPE) for October indicate that “employment is sustaining its recovery despite the pandemic.”
According to the model, based on national data, in the coming months, the country will see a general trend toward a “sustained decrease in unemployment” in almost all sectors, except for agriculture—and that will be the case even in the service sector, despite restrictions and closures in some parts of Spain.
Media enquiries:
José Aureliano Martín Segura
Department of Business Organisation II
Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Granada
Scientists from the University of Granada and GENYO have discovered a mechanism via which our cells protect themselves against these transposable or mobile genetic elements, known as ‘LINE-1’, which are involved in the development and progression of many types of cancer
The results of this research have recently been published in Nature Communications
Scientists from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology II of the University of Granada (UGR) and the Pfizer-University of Granada-Andalusian Government Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research (GENYO) have discovered a mechanism via which our cells protect themselves against ‘jumping genes’ or transposable (mobile) genetic elements known as LINE-1 or L1.
These are DNA sequences that have the ability to ‘jump’ from one site to another within our genome. By inserting themselves randomly anywhere in the genome, the ‘jumps’ can cause diseases ranging from haemophilia to muscular dystrophy or cancer. In fact, L1s are known to be mobilized during the development of various types of cancer and may even cause it.
Although this study stems from basic research—research that produces knowledge that provides a better understanding of the biology and genetics of cancer—it could pave the way to an improvement in cancer treatments or to the design of new diagnostic or therapeutic strategies.
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules that regulate gene expression and play an important role in the control of cell proliferation (and therefore in preventing the onset of tumours). In this study, which has recently been published in the prestigious Nature Communications, the scientists discovered a previously-unknown role of ‘let-7’ (one of the most important microRNAs in the animal kingdom): maintaining genome integrity by restricting the ‘jumps’ or retrotranspositions made by L1.
DNA: An instruction book
Pablo Tristán, a researcher atGENYO and lead author of this work, explains that “our genome, our DNA, is the instruction book for our body. Within this book, the instructions for making proteins (the molecules that perform most of the functions of cells) are the genes. Yet, despite their importance, genes only occupy 2% of our genome, while half of the remaining 98% is made up of mobile genetic elements—DNA sequences that have the ability to ‘jump’ from one site to another within our genome. Fortunately for us, almost all of them have acquired mutations that prevent them from moving, and there is only one family left capable of making the proteins it needs to jump: the L1 elements”.
The possible role of miRNAs as regulators of the mobile elements, and whether this regulation is important in the development of cancer, are under-studied topics. “We aimed to study whether any of these microRNAs could control L1 retrotranspositions and, therefore, if alterations in microRNA levels (a common feature in cancer) could contribute to the increase in L1 retrotranspositions observed in tumours”, explains Sara Rodríguez Heras, ‘Ramón y Cajal’ Research Fellow at the UGR’s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology II, who led the research project from GENYO.
In this study, the researchers demonstrated that lung cancer samples containing new L1 copies, distributed randomly throughout the genome, contain very low levels of the let-7 miRNA, which is known for its role as a tumour suppressor.
More L1 ‘jumps’
Tristán continues: “Next, we used various molecular and cellular biology techniques to demonstrate that, indeed, a reduction in the levels of this microRNA leads to an increase in L1 retrotransposition in cultured cells”. In turn, if the levels of let-7 are increased, the number of copies of L1 that accumulate is reduced.
“Furthermore, using biochemical techniques, we discovered the molecular mechanism by which this occurs, which is basically that let-7 specifically recognises this mobile genetic element and reduces the production of one of the proteins made by L1 that is essential for generating the new insertion”, explains Rodríguez Heras.
In short, the researchers discovered the previously-unknown role of the tumour-suppressing miRNA let-7 family, to maintain the integrity of the genome and protect it from the mutagenic activity of mobile genetic elements.
Bibliography:
Pablo Tristán-Ramos, Alejandro Rubio-Roldan, Guillermo Peris, Laura Sánchez, Suyapa Amador-Cubero, Sebastien Viollet, Gael Cristofari & Sara R. Heras (2020), ‘The tumor suppressor microRNA let-7 inhibits human LINE-1 retrotransposition’, Nature Communications 11, 5712. Online: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19430-4
Sara Rodríguez and Pablo Tristán, researchers from the UGR and GENYO
The research group (photographed before the coronavirus pandemic)
Simplified visual of the results of the study. A miRNA let-7 family (shown in red) is capable of controlling the ‘jumps’ of the mobile genetic element LINE-1 (shown in white) from one site to another within our DNA (shown in black).
Media enquiries:
Sara Rodriguez Heras
‘Ramón y Cajal’ Research Fellow
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology II, University of Granada
Pfizer-University of Granada-Andalusian Government Centre for Genomics and Oncological Research (GENYO)
Scientists from the Universities of Granada and Jaén are studying the physical evidence found in the mummified remains of a woman who suffered severe trauma to the pelvis in 1878–1797 BC, linking them to a medical treatment described in various Egyptian medical papyri of the time
During the Qubbet el-Hawa Project, led by the University of Jaén (UJA) in Aswan (Egypt), in which scientists from the University of Granada (UGR) are participating, researchers have found evidence of the oldest gynaecological treatment on record, performed on a woman who lived in Ancient Egypt some 4,000 years ago and died in 1878–1797 BC.
During the 2017 archaeological dig organised in Qubbet el-Hawa, on the western bank of the River Nile, Andalusian researchers found a vertical shaft dug into the rock in tomb QH34, leading to a burial chamber with ten intact skeletons.
Mummification techniques were not very effective at that time, at least at this site in Upper Egypt. However, the individuals buried there generally belonged to the upper classes of society meaning that they would have been given special care. These particular mummies are very well-preserved and are wrapped in thick layers of linen strips, sometimes bearing remnants of dried soft tissue.
“The mummies had grave goods (usually necklaces of different types); in some cases, their faces were covered with cartonnage masks; and they were preserved inside two rectangular sarcophagi, one inside the other. These featured hieroglyphic inscriptions and were typically badly damaged due to termite infestation,” explains Miguel Botella, forensic anthropologist and Emeritus Professor at the UGR, who conducted the analyses.
The last mummy buried
One of the mummies excavated by the team of anthropologists was perhaps the last to be buried in the chamber. It belonged to a woman of high social class, whose name, Sattjeni, has been preserved in the remains of the outer coffin. That name must have been common among the upper classes of the region, perhaps explaining why she was named Sattjeni A.
Between her bandaged legs, in the lower part of the pelvis and beneath the linen wrappings, the researchers found a ceramic bowl with signs of use, containing charred organic remains. The analysis of the skeletal remains was carried out by a team of anthropologists from the UGR (coordinated by Professor Botella) and it confirmed that the woman had survived a serious fracture in her pelvis, perhaps caused by a fall, which must have caused severe pain.
It is highly likely that, to alleviate these pains, the woman was treated with fumigations, as described in medical papyri of the time describing solutions to gynaecological problems.
“The most interesting feature of the discovery made by the researchers from the University of Jaén is not only the documentation of a palliative gynaecological treatment, something that is quite unique in Egyptian archaeology, but also the fact that this type of treatment by fumigation was described in contemporary medical papyri. But, until now, there had been no evidence found to prove that such treatment was actually carried out,” explains the UJA’s Dr. Alejandro Jimenez, an expert in Egyptology and director of the Qubbet el-Hawa Project. This work has now been published by one of the most prestigious academic journals in Egyptology, Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Spracheund Altertumskunde.
The project was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Research, Fundación Gaselec, Fundación Palarq, the Calderón Group, and the Spanish Association of Egyptology.
The mummified remains of Sattjeni A. The mummy was on its side with the legs slightly bent. In front of the head is the polychrome funerary mask
Important damage to the pubis
Right hip fracture with joint alteration
Miguel Botella, Emeritus Professor of the UGR, in tomb QH34 next to the mummy of Sattjeni A
Researchers from the University of Granada in Qubbet el-Hawa (Aswan)
Media enquiries:
Miguel Botella
Department of Legal Medicine, Toxicology and Physical Anthropology, University of Granada
A team of researchers from the University of Granada, the University of Lyon (France), and the University of the Western Cape (South Africa) have used a simple epidemiological model to predict that the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain will last until March, with about 55,000 fatalities
A team of researchers from the University of Granada (UGR), the University of Lyon (France), and the University of the Western Cape (South Africa) have used a simple epidemiological model to predict that the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain will last until March 2021, with about 55,000 fatalities.
“In the first wave, an exponential behaviour was observed, with the daily fatality rate increasing very rapidly; in the second wave, the increase is not exponential, it is much less rapid, almost linear, which indicates that it will be a longer wave that will last until March”, explains José Enrique Amaro, Professor at the Department of Atomic, Molecular and Nuclear Physics of the UGR.
His calculations project 50,000 deaths by January 10, setting the peak of the death curve in March, with about 55,000 victims—forecasts that could change depending on any new measures introduced.
“The predictions must be approached with caution because it is impossible to achieve 100% accuracy months in advance”, warns the expert, who updates the data from the second wave in Spain and analyses them with different models.
At the beginning of the pandemic in Spain, Professor Amaro developed a method to analyse the evolution of the coronavirus, using a formula that simplified the SIR model—used by many scientists with proven accuracy—and which he later extended to calculate the daily death rate.
In a joint collaboration with the UGR, Professor Amaro brought together researchers from the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town and the University of Lyon to examine various epidemiological models used to try to anticipate the effect of the pandemic.
The team modified the SIR statistical model to ascertain how the death rate is likely to evolve, without the need to know the number of infected people—a figure that is much less reliable than the number of deaths.
The results of the research, published in the prestigious journal Applied Mathematical Modeling, indicate that, to determine how the final phase of the pandemic will play out, it is necessary to factor-in the temporal variations in the indices of propagation and interaction attributed to measures such as quarantines, social distancing, or facemasks.
This simplified model was used to study the daily death curve in the most badly-affected European countries during the first wave of the pandemic and has shown that the same trends are repeated, which suggests a universal behaviour of the coronavirus.
Media enquiries:
José Enrique Amaro Soriano
Department of Atomic, Molecular and Nuclear Physics, University of Granada
Time crystals are a strange phase of matter that emulates a crystalline structure in the fourth dimension, time, rather than in space, and was recently proposed by Frank Wilczek, Nobel Laureate in Physics, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Scientists from the University of Granada (UGR), Spain, and the University of Tübingen (UT), Germany have discovered a way to create time crystals, a new phase of matter that emulates a crystalline structure in the fourth dimension, time, rather than in space, from rare fluctuations in many-particle physical systems.
Time crystals are a new state of matter recently proposed by Frank Wilczek, Nobel Laureate in Physics, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
In time crystals, whose existence was first proposed in 2012, the atoms repeat a pattern through the fourth dimension, time, unlike normal crystals (such as a diamond), whose atoms are arranged in a repetitive spatial structure. Thus, these new time crystals are characterised by an enduring periodic motion in time.
In this study, recently published in the journal Physical Review Letters of the American Physical Society—one of the most prestigious publications in the world in the field of physics—the UGR researchers demonstrate that certain dynamical phase transitions that appear in the fluctuations or rare events of many physical systems spontaneously break time-translation symmetry.
Researchers Rubén Hurtado Gutiérrez and Carlos Pérez Espigares and lecturer Pablo Hurtado, from the UGR’s Department of Electromagnetism and Matter Physics, in collaboration with researcher Federico Carollo of the UT, have proposed a new way to use this natural phenomenon to create time crystals.
To perform the simulations in this study, the scientists used PROTEUS, the supercomputer belonging to the «Carlos I» Institute of Theoretical and Computational Physics (iC1) of the UGR. PROTEUS (https://proteus.ugr.es/) is one of the most powerful general scientific calculation supercomputers in Spain, with a calculation capacity of more than 90 TeraFlops, more than 2,300 processing cores, 7.5 Terabytes of RAM, and 380 TeraBytes of data storage.
As Pablo Hurtado explains, the concept of time has challenged physicists and philosophers alike since ancient times. To paraphrase Saint Augustine of Hippo, “What, then is time? If no-one asks me, I know what it is. If I wish to explain it to he who asks, I do not know.”
“Einstein’s relativity taught us that time is somehow flexible and that it is inextricably linked to space in a whole that we know as SpaceTime. This Einsteinian unification is, however, partial, since time continues to be special in many ways”, observes the UGR researcher. Examples abound: we can move back and forth between any two points in space, yet we cannot visit the past; time has an arrow—pointing toward entropy increase—while space has no such arrow, etc. What’s more, time symmetries also exhibit interesting peculiarities”.
In their paper, the UGR scientists propose a hitherto unexplored route to building time crystals, based on the recent observation of spontaneous breaking of continuous time-translation symmetry in fluctuations of many-particle systems. These dynamic phase transitions (DPTs) appear in trajectory space when a physical system is conditioned to make a rare (or improbable) fluctuation in certain observables, such as the particle stream.
Using spectral analysis tools, the scientists unequivocally demonstrated the relationship between these DPTs and time crystals. Interestingly, these rare events can be made typical by transforming the microscopic dynamic of the particles, which can be interpreted in terms of the original dynamics supplemented by a smartexternal field. This enables the previously highly improbable temporal crystal behaviour to be exploited in a practical way.
Based on these observations, the researchers proposed a nonequilibrium fluid model that exhibits a time-crystal-like phase transition, breaking time-translation symmetry and displaying rigidity, robust coherent periodic motion, and long-range spatio-temporal order. In this paper, they also discuss how to create these time crystals in the laboratory from colloidal fluids in optical traps and under external packing fields generated with optical tweezers.
“These results are important because, at a fundamental level, they open an unexplored path to better understand time and its symmetries, while, on a practical level, they teach us new ways to create time crystals. This is especially relevant in fields such as metrology, for the design of more precise clocks, or in quantum computing, where time crystals can be used to simulate ground states or design quantum computers that are more resistant to decoherence, with the technological possibilities that this entails,” say the researchers.
Researchers have solved the enigma of the inter-continental transport of microorganisms via iberulites (‘giant’ atmospheric particles potentially inhalable by humans) and atmospheric dust, with the consequent risk of disease transmission that this implies
Researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) have discovered that some microorganisms, such as bacteria, can travel from one continent to another ‘hidden’ in atmospheric dust.
Scientists from the UGR’s Department of Edaphology and Agricultural Chemistry, Department of Applied Physics, and Centre for Scientific Instrumentation have deciphered the enigma of the inter-continental transport of microorganisms via iberulites (‘giant’ atmospheric particles potentially inhalable by humans) and atmospheric dust, with the consequent risk of disease transmission that this implies.
Iberulites are giant polymineralic atmospheric bioaerosols, measuring on average one hundred microns approximately (although they can reach up to 250 µm). They travel across continents, defying the laws of gravity and transporting live microorganisms (acting rather like a launch vehicle). They were discovered in 2008 by researchers from the Department of Edaphology and Agricultural Chemistry of the UGR and the Andalusian Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research and Training (IFAPA).
NASA made the discovery public on its website in October of that year. But it is not until now that the UGR’s multidisciplinary scientific team has revealed the mechanism by which bacteria are involved in the genesis and formation of atmospheric iberulites.
The researchers analysed atmospheric dust deposits found in the city of Granada, the composition of which is heterogeneous comprising predominantly clay, quartz, and carbonate minerals and, to a lesser degree, iron oxides. In addition to this mineral component, a biological component was found in this dust: bacteria, diatoms, planktonic organisms, and even brochosomes (microscopic granules secreted by insects such as grasshoppers). The dust originated from the Sahara Desert (north-northeast Africa) and local/regional soils. Atmospheric interactions between these two components and clouds produce the iberulites (polymineralic bioaggregates), whose composition has now, for the first time, been studied.
To characterise the iberulites and solve the mystery of their existence and formation, the researchers analysed their mineral composition, elemental composition, size of atmospheric dust, and the air mass origin for this particular region, as well as the atmospheric formation mechanisms involving bacteria.
They found that, in broad terms, iberulites originate in the troposphere as a result of various hydrodynamic processes that enable interaction to take place between dust grains, microorganisms of that dust that rise from Saharan soils (which act as condensation nuclei), and water-vapour molecules from clouds. The droplet of water formed in these condensation nuclei agglutinates dust particles of different sizes in its interior together with bacteria in suspension.
During the trajectory taken by the droplet through the air, a series of gravitational forces create a coherent structure inside, producing a wall or external covering (micro-laminate or clay rind) while, inside, the mineral particles are arranged in an orderly pattern (the smallest on the outside and the largest at the centre of the iberulite).
Giant aerosols
At the same time, due to hydrodynamic forces, a vortex is created at the north pole of the increasingly complex droplet of water, which is what lends these giant aerosols their characteristic appearance. This is the basic structure of the iberulite, which enables it to react with other atmospheric components, leaving behind a reliable trace of the places through which it has passed.
Alberto Molinero García, a researcher at the Department of Edaphology and Agricultural Chemistry at the UGR and one of the authors of this study, explains: “Bacteria can survive in iberulites because these provide a nutritious medium, a microhabitat rich in nutrients, and they protect the bacteria from ultraviolet radiation. This is demonstrated by the bacterial polymeric exudates that, rather like mucilaginous mucus, act as a ‘glue’ between the mineral particles, preventing their disaggregation and increasing their resistance to fragility in the turbulent phenomena of the atmosphere.”
This enables the iberulites and microorganisms to travel great inter-continental distances on atmospheric currents such as the Saharan Air Layer (SAL). In atmospheric transport, the iberulite is in contact with a reactive medium—the atmosphere—where interactions take place with the gases naturally present, such as nitrogen and sulphur compounds.
A worldwide phenomenon
The UGR researcher points out that iberulites are not exclusive to this region of Spain: they may exist throughout the world, primarily in those regions where dust is carried in from desert regions.
“They have been found in Saudi Arabia, Volgograd (Russia), and possibly in the far-eastern part of China, Japan, Korea, and also in the US,” says Molinero. The new aerosols identified in Granada derive from the Sahara, which is a powerful emitter of atmospheric dust (it is estimated that the Sahara sends between 400 and 700 million tons of dust around the world per year).
This dust, together with the iberulites and the bacteria incorporated by the different atmospheric currents, can reach as far as the Amazon, the Caribbean, or the Himalayas. However, the dust coming into the Mediterranean is characterised by having followed a specific and well-known atmospheric trajectory.
Using all the data they have gathered, the UGR scientists will model the inhalation of the microscopic particles smaller than 10 microns (PM10) of which iberulites consist, as well as their penetration into the respiratory tract and the destination of the bacteria that are transported.
Bibliography:
Párraga, J., Martín-García, J. M., Delgado, G., Molinero-García, A., Cervera-Mata, A., Guerra, I., Fernández-González, M.V., Martín-Rodríguez, F.J., Lyamani, H., Casquero-Vera, J.A., Valenzuela, A., Olmo, F.J. and Delgado, R. (2021). ‘Intrusions of dust and iberulites in Granada basin (Southern Iberian Peninsula): Genesis and formation of atmospheric iberulites, Atmospheric Research, 105260.
Figure 1. Sequence of iberulite formation in the atmosphere with bacterial involvement (left) and the appearance of an iberulite under electron microscopy (right). Figure courtesy of the journal Atmospheric Research, 248, 15 January 2021, 105260.
Figure 2. Presence of bacteria and products of their activity (SEM and HRTEM images). a) Presence of a chain of bacteria with filament (F) in the upper horizon of a soil close to the sampling area; b) Iberulite with unknown biological specimen attached to it (represented by rectangle); c) detail of b), colonisation of previous biological specimen by nanobacteria (B); d) HRTEM image of intact microbial cells (B) embedded in the clay matrix of a polished section of an unstained iberulite; e) aggregation of mineral particles in a sample of atmospheric dust collected in “wetfall deposition” (“red rain”). Bacterial biofilms (EPSs) that cement particles; f) surface detail of iberulite collected in “dry deposition”. Very fine bacterial filament (pilum or flagellum) (F) that crosses and stabilises the surface of the iberulite (similar to the “filaments” that connect the bacteria in the photomicrograph a). Images b), c), and d) are of samples collected in dry deposition in the summer of 2015; image e), summer 2016 in wetfall deposition; image f), summer 2010. All samples were taken at the sampling site. Figure courtesy of the journal Atmospheric Research, 248, 15 January 2021, 105260.
The UGR researchers who participated in this work, seen here in the Faculty of Pharmacy.
Media enquiries:
Alberto Molinero Garcia
Department of Edaphology and Agricultural Chemistry, University of Granada
The UGR has coordinated a monographic publication on COVID-19 that deals with various ethical issues related to the pandemic, addressing crucial challenges in the new world scenario from a multidisciplinary perspective: from the theoretical–deliberative to the applied, and from practical philosophy and ethics to medicine and epidemiology, via anthropology or psychology, among other disciplines
A team of researchers from various specialisations and different countries and academic institutions, coordinated by Ester Massó Guijarro, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Granada (UGR), have analysed the relationship between ethics and health in times of pandemic crisis, underlining the importance of care and social justice. The results of their research are now available in the latest volume of the journal Enrahonar, published by the University of Barcelona.
A total of 12 texts make up this special issue, all freely accessible from the journal website (https://revistes.uab.cat/enrahonar/issue/view/72/showToc). The publication deals with various ethical issues associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing crucial challenges in the new world scenario, with an emphasis on health from the perspective of care and social justice. The work takes a multidisciplinary approach, from the theoretical–deliberative to the applied, and from practical philosophy and ethics to medicine and epidemiology, via anthropology or psychology, among other disciplines.
For example, in ‘Childbirth and abortion in times of coronavirus: The impact of the pandemic on sexual and reproductive rights’, Massó and her fellow researcher Rosana Triviño Caballero explore the threats posed by the COVID-19 crisis for both pregnant people and their babies, as well as assessing the new opportunities for bringing greater visibility to these situations of injustice.
In another text, ‘No country for old men? Age as a triage criterion during the COVID-19 pandemic’, UGR researcher Jon Rueda Etxebarria talks about the ageism and gerontophobia that have seeped into the triage variables followed during the pandemic.
In the article by Lydia María de Tienda Palop, entitled ‘What does “war on coronavirus” mean?’, we find an analysis of the current concept of human safety, which has brought about changes such as the use of a wartime lexicon in public discourse. Other fundamental topics covered in the monograph are those of vulnerability and the role of frameworks for deliberation in the pandemic, as captured in titles such as ‘Vulnerability and deliberation in times of epidemic’ (Lydia Feito Grande) or ‘Health emergency: Two frameworks for deliberation’ (Mª Teresa López de la Vieja de la Torre and David Rodríguez-Arias Vailhen), even from a narrative ethics perspective (‘Contagion: Nothing spreads like fear’ by Miguel Melguizo Jiménez, Maite Cruz Piqueras, and Maribel Tamayo Velázquez). The work also addresses the crucial issue of ‘Ethics and health data protection in pandemics: A reference to the case of applications for contact tracking’ (María Belén Andreu Martínez and Txetxu Ausín Díez).
The monograph highlights the importance of the ethical analysis of the possible COVID-19 vaccine in ‘“Haste makes waste”. An ethical analysis of the COVID-19 vaccine: Development, allocation and reticence’ (Maite Cruz Piqueras, Joaquín Hortal Carmona, and Javier Padilla Bernáldez) and provides a general reflection on the pharmaceutical industry (‘Essential drugs, patents and compulsory licenses: Doha is not the answer’, by María Julia Bertomeu and Salvador Bergel). It also examines the intersectional-discrimination dimension of the pandemic, with an emphasis on functional diversity (‘COVID-19. When tragedy turns into opportunity: In search of an inclusive bioethics’, Soledad Arnau Ripollés) and childhood (‘Invisibility as a problem: First approaches to the situation of children under the COVID-19 pandemic confinement policy in Argentina’, by María Jimena Mantilla).
In Massó’s words, this is “almost a campaign monographic—put together urgently, not unlike those hospitals that were set up in a sea of sweat and tarpaulins—with a sense of emergency and emergence, reflecting some of the most crucial controversies that concern and confront us as a human community”.
The impulse behind this volume comes from the ESPACyOS network on Health Ethics for Action, Care and Social Observation of which many of the authors of the publication are members. This network is linked to the ‘FiloLab’ Scientific Unit of Excellence and was promoted by David Rodríguez-Arias, a senior lecturer at the UGR’s Department of Philosophy I.
As Massó points out , “the pandemic crisis thus also invites us to reconsider vulnerability as a human condition from the perspective of philosophy, human rights, and many other fields—a fragility that, in turn, leads us to the impure concept of compassion. Because empathy is not enough”.
The project entitled The Philosophical Laboratory on the Pandemic and the Anthropocene—created by the Spanish Philosophy Network (REF) with the aim of bringing together reflections and hosting philosophical debates on the pandemic—has launched an informative video entitled ‘Philosophy and Public Health’, in which Triviño and Massó discuss this work (https://youtu.be/qsJ-2uHcbGU).
Bibliography:
Massó Guijarro, Ester (ed.) (2020), ‘Ética y salud en tiempos de pandemia: reflexiones sobre cuidados y justicia social’. Monograph. Enrahonar. An International Journal of Theoretical and Practical Reason 65. Online: https://revistes.uab.cat/enrahonar/article/view/v65-masso
The UGR is collaborating with the New Zealand-based scientific organization Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research to seek new, more robust and efficient methods for determining the hydrological behaviour of the earth’s surface, which will enable the water resources of the planet to be managed more sustainably
The development of tools to estimate the hydrological properties of soil on a large scale is a worldwide challenge. Now, the University of Granada (UGR) is collaborating with researchers from New Zealand and France to develop new methodologies for determining the hydrological behaviour of the earth’s surface, which will contribute to improving the management of water resources on the planet.
Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research is devoted to the study and care of ecosystems, with a special interest in the protection of biodiversity, water, and soil. In 2018, the organization formally agreed to strengthen its cultural and scientific ties with the UGR.
At present, one of the major limitations of climate models is related to the hydrological characterization of the soil. It is there that the boundary conditions between the atmosphere and the earth’s surface are found—that is, the soil is responsible for the distribution of water in the hydrological cycle, in that it determines the amount of water that runs off the surface to then sustain plant life, evaporate into the atmosphere, or drain away into the groundwater.
Hydrological properties are those that describe the storage and transmission of water in the pore system of the soil matrix. Despite the extensive theoretical knowledge about soil water dynamics that has been accumulated, insights on this subject are still limited by the technical difficulty and high cost of accurately measuring the parameters on which the soil’s hydraulic function depends. Consequently, such measurement is unfeasible for large areas of land.
Soil water parameters
The research conducted at the UGR to date has successfully addressed some of the limitations of the existing techniques, simplifying procedures and costs and reducing error margins in the estimation of soil water properties. One of the most innovative pieces of research at the UGR has enabled scientists to generalize the procedures for directly deriving the water parameters for any type of retention curve and hydraulic conductivity without any need for additional information on the soil texture.
Indirect methods for estimating water properties draw on the basic information that is typically available, such as particle-size distribution. Such information is available globally on a different scale, thanks to the tremendous efforts of the international research community. The development of models for estimating other properties based on the available data is quite common. These models assume that soil particles are spherical and have constant density, regardless of their size. They describe the pore system of the soil in terms of a set of capillary tubes in which the porosity is evenly arranged across all particle sizes.
However, in the case of natural soil, the geometry of the pores varies in line with the size of the particles, giving rise to a complex relationship between the radius of the particles and that of the pores. Another of the most significant advances made by the UGR researchers has been to improve such models, on the hypothesis that the geometry of the pore size and its distribution depend on the size of the soil particles. Hence, using a physical model, the water retention curve can be predicted from the particle-size distribution.
In this new approach, the rearrangement of soil particles is estimated by introducing a mixing function that modulates their size distribution, while the total porosity is limited by the saturated water content. Unlike the models developed previously, the model is valid for all types of soil, not only those with a marginal clay fraction.
The results of this research are being published in some of the highest-impact international journals in this specialist area and will continue contributing to advances in the modelling of the processes that take place on the earth’s surface. Furthermore, they will deliver important benefits for the use of water and soil resources globally, as well as helping to improve climate-model forecasts.
Bibliography:
Fernández-Gálvez, J., Pollacco, J.A.P., Lassabatere, L., Angulo-Jaramillo, R., & Carrick, S. (2019), ‘A general Beerkan Estimation of Soil Transfer parameters method predicting hydraulic parameters of any unimodal water retention and hydraulic conductivity curves: Application to the Kosugi soil hydraulic model without using particle size distribution data’, Advances in Water Resources 129: 118–30. Online:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2019.05.005
Pollacco. J.A.P., Fernández-Gálvez, J., & Carrick, S. (2020), ‘Improved prediction of water retention curves for fine texture soils using an intergranular mixing particle size distribution model’, Journal of Hydrology 584, 124597. Online:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2020.124597
Image caption:
Soil mosaic in Canterbury (New Zealand)
Media enquiries:
Jesus Fernandez Galvez
Department of Regional Geographic Analysis and Physical Geography, University of Granada
This is the world’s first whole-brain study to be conducted on women who have suffered intimate partner violence using structural magnetic resonance imaging.
This Wednesday, the 25th of November, is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
The BELIEVE project’s research team at the University of Granada (UGR) has found a series of brain alterations related to intimate partner violence among female survivors. Recently, they published these findings in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, making this the world’s first study to use Structural Magnetic Resonance imaging to assess ‘whole brain’ alterations in women who have experienced intimate partner violence.
This study, which was carried out at the Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC abbreviation in Spanish), is the first to assess structural differences between female survivors and women who have not experienced intimate partner violence. The majority of neuroimaging studies carried out thus far with female survivors have focused on specific brain areas related to post-traumatic stress. The BELIEVE project’s study, however, has extended previous findings by assessing potential alterations in all brain regions.
Researchers Miguel Pérez and Natalia Hidalgo (UGR) explain that, “while it is well known that intimate partner violence is related to different types of consequences in female victims, only a few studies have been conducted on the brain alterations related to this type of violence.”
The study included 60 women between the ages of 18 and 62 (28 of whom were female survivors of intimate partner violence). Participants underwent Structural Magnetic Resonance imaging at the CIMCYC (UGR) in which whole-brain analyses were conducted, that is, 160 brain areas.
The results of this study showed structural differences between women who had not experienced intimate partner violence and female survivors in terms of area, volume and thickness in the lateral sulcus and the temporal, frontal, occipital, parietal and limbic areas. Female survivors of intimate partner violence showed less volume and surface area principally in the left and right temporal sulcus , the inferior frontal gyrus, the left anterior cingulate cortex, and the right precuneus.
In addition, morphological analyses showed a relationship between alterations in these regions and different potential causal mechanisms, such as adverse childhood experiences, posttraumatic stress as a results of partner violence, strangulation attempts, traumatic brain injury, and severity of violence.
“In our study, we found that a large number of survivors of intimate partner violence showed brain alterations. We also found that these alterations were associated with adverse childhood experiences, posttraumatic stress, strangulation attempts, and traumatic brain injuries caused by their partners. The alterations found may be explained by these possible causal mechanisms”, indicated Dr. Hidalgo.
One of the main contributions of these results is, precisely, the discovery of the complex relationship between different variables related to intimate partner violence and their association with brain differences between female survivors and women who have not experienced partner violence. Despite the fact that these alterations may have a significant impact on the daily lives of these women, they are typically neither studied nor evaluated among female survivors.
This Wednesday, the 25th of November, is the International Day for Eliminating Violence Against Women.
Reference:
Structural Brain Alterations in Female Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence. Julia C. Daugherty, Juan Verdejo-Román, Miguel Pérez-García and Natalia Hidalgo-Ruzzante. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 1-34. doi 0886260520959621.
Two of the researchers from the University of Granada who have carried out this work: Miguel Pérez and Natalia A. Hidalgo.
Contacto:
Natalia A. Hidalgo Ruzzante
Department of Developmental Psychology and Education
The Mind, Brain, and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC abbreviation in Spanish) at the University of Granada
This study, published in the journal Cells, is based on others (all of which employed experimental models) previously conducted by researchers at the Biomedical Research Centre of the University of Granada, the ‘López-Neyra’ Institute of Parasitology and Biomedicine, and the ‘Virgen de las Nieves’ University Hospital in Granada
The results are still “a long way from being applied to sick patients, for scientific and ethical reasons,” the UGR researchers explain
Scientists from the University of Granada (UGR) and the ‘Virgen de las Nieves’ University Hospital in Granada have found that a combination of basal mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and radiation-activated MSCs could be used to treat septic shock and pneumonia triggered by SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
This study (see reference 1), which builds on others previously conducted by researchers at the Biomedical Research Centre of the University of Granada, the ‘López-Neyra’ Institute of Parasitology and Biomedicine, and the ‘Virgen de las Nieves’ University Hospital in Granada (see references 2 and 3), was published recently in the journal Cells. However, the results remain “a long way from being applied to sick patients, for scientific and ethical reasons,” according to the researchers.
MSCs are a type of stem cells present in a wide variety of tissues (bone marrow, blood from the human umbilical cord, skin, adipose tissue or muscle tissue, for instance). They are capable of producing different specialised cells found in the tissues of the body human. For example, they can differentiate (or specialise) into cartilage cells (chondrocytes), bone cells (osteoblasts), and fat cells (adipocytes).
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous research groups around the world believe it is possible to increase people’s biological resistance to SARS-CoV-2 by using MSC-based therapeutic procedures. At present, there are also many clinical trials underway to verify the results of this type of cell therapy among COVID-19 patients.
In previous studies (reference 2), scientists from the UGR’s Biomedical Research Centre (CIBM) have demonstrated that the combination of radiation therapy and radiation- activated MSCs dramatically reduces the size of tumours implanted in murine research models (strains of mice), both in the irradiated tumour and in its metastasis.
“These findings have led us to conclude that radiation-activated MSCs enhance the action of radiotherapy through the secretion of microvesicles and proteins into the extracellular medium. From there, either free or encapsulated in minuscule structures called exosomes, they reach tumour sites located at a distance from the irradiated tumour and exert powerful antitumor effects,” explains Ruiz de Almodóvar.
Tumour radiosensitisation
Among the substances secreted by the activated MSCs, researchers have been able to identify exosomes heavily loaded with annexin A1 as elements potentially responsible for tumour radiosensitisation. The annexin A1 protein is being widely studied in infection, inflammation, and hypoxia scenarios, and its therapeutic applications have been extensively documented by the researchers who conducted the present study (reference 1).
Knowing of the pharmacological properties of annexin A1 and the epithelial and endothelial wound-healing functions characteristic of mesenchymal cells, “we believe that the combination of their different actions may be supremely important in the treatment of septic shock and pneumonia caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection,” explains Ruiz de Almodóvar.
He continues: “We therefore anticipate that the simultaneous administration of both treatments (basal MSCs and radiation-activated MSCs) can facilitate control of the infection and inflammation processes in the lung and, by exosome transfer via blood and lymphatic flow, solve or mitigate the problems of disseminated intravascular coagulation and sepsis, which cause multiple organ dysfunction syndrome and are life-threatening among patients severely affected by COVID-19. ”
The researchers from the UGR and the ‘Virgen de las Nieves’ Hospital emphasise that these results “are simply a hypothesis and we need to carry out more experimental work and secure official approval of the treatment. But, as soon as we are sure that treatment with radiation-activated MSCs is safe and effective, we will be able to offer this cell therapy to patients affected by COVID-19. ”
Bibliography:
Isabel Tovar, Rosa Guerrero, Jesús J. López-Peñalver, José Expósito, & José M. Ruiz de Almodóvar (2020), ‘Rationale for the use of radiation-activated mesenchymal stromal/stem cells in acute respiratory distress syndrome’, Cells 9. Online: doi:10.3390/cells9092015
V. de Araújo Farias, F. O’Valle, S. Serrano-Saenz, P. Anderson, E. Andres, J. Lopez-Penalver, I. Tovar, A. Nieto, A. Santos, F. Martin, J. Expósito, F. J. Oliver & J. M. Ruiz de Almodóvar (2018), ‘Exosomes derived from mesenchymal stem cells enhance radiotherapy-induced cell death in tumor and metastatic tumor foci’, Mol Cancer 17(1), 122. Online: doi:10.1186/s12943-018-0867-0
V. de Araújo Farias, I. Tovar, R. Del Moral, F. O’Valle, J. Expósito, F. J. Oliver and J. M. Ruiz de Almodóvar (2019), ‘Enhancing the bystander and abscopal effects to improve radiotherapy outcomes’, Front Oncol, 9, 1381. Online: doi:10.3389/fonc.2019.01381
A). SEM images of mesenchymal stem cells in culture. B) 1. Image of microvesicle (diameter: 460 nm) and 2. Cluster of exosomes (mean diameter: 140nm) secreted by MSC cells. The images were obtained using the AURIGA (Carl Zeiss SMT) high-resolution scanning electron microscope (HRSEM)
Media enquiries:
José Mariano Ruiz de Almodóvar
Professor of Radiology, University of Granada (retired)
Associate Professor of Radiology, University of Granada, and Head of the Oncology Radiation Service, ‘Virgen de las Nieves’ University HospitalEmail: jose.exposito.sspa@juntadeandalucia.es
A study conducted by researchers from the Department of Optics of the University of Granada reveals that alcohol consumption impairs visual function and adversely affects driving performance
Forty subjects participated in the study, the results of which have been published in the journal Scientific Reports. They took part in three experimental sessions on different days: one session with zero alcohol consumption, another in which they consumed 300 ml of wine, and a third in which they consumed 450 ml
A study carried out by researchers from the Department of Optics of the University of Granada (UGR) has revealed that alcohol consumption impairs visual function and adversely affects driving performance. It was found to decrease contrast sensitivity (that is, the ability to discern image contrasts) and create a veiling luminance over the individual’s vision, by increasing the retinal straylight (intraocular scattered light that reaches the retina).
A total of 40 subjects (aged 28, on average) participated in this study, the results of which have been published in the journal Scientific Reports. The alcoholic beverage consumed in the experiment was red wine from the province of Granada (Pago de Almaraes, Benalúa de Guadix), and a precision breathalyser was used to measure the level of alcohol in exhaled air. The Local Police Force of Granada and Drager Iberia both collaborated in the study and loaned the breathalyser used in the experiments.
Each of the participants took part in three sessions on different days: one session with zero alcohol consumption, another in which they consumed 300 ml of wine, and a third in which they consumed 450 ml. Two groups were then established, based on the average Breath Alcohol Content (BrAC)—concentration of alcohol in exhaled air—that the participants presented in the third session, in which they consumed 450ml of alcohol. The participants were assigned to the two groups in line with the legal limit for driving in most countries, which is a BrAC reading of 0.25mg/l: low BrAC (those who presented a reading of 0.25mg/l or less) vs. high BrAC (those who exceeded the legal limit for driving—that is, over 0.25mg/l).
In each session, two visual functions were evaluated: contrast sensitivity and straylight. Participants were asked to perform a series of tasks using a driving simulator, from which information was extracted to assess their driving performance. The simulator-based test contained three different scenarios: dual carriageway, mountain road, and inner-city driving.
The results indicate that driving performance worsens after alcohol consumption, and especially so among those with a higher wine intake.
Driving performance on the mountain road
The deterioration in driving performance was more marked on the mountain-road section of the simulated itinerary, due to the complexity of the route. The variables most affected were those that determine the position of the car on the road and the reaction time in braking responses. It was found that driving performance after alcohol consumption depends on the individual’s sensitivity to contrast and straylight, indicating that these visual functions can partially predict driving performance under these conditions.
The published article forms part of the doctoral thesis of Miriam Casares López, which is being supervised by José Juan Castro Torres, Associate Professor at the Department of Optics of the UGR. Both are researchers with the Laboratory of Vision Sciences and Applications, whose Principal Investigator, Professor Rosario González Anera, has authored other research papers linking vision with driving performance.
As Miriam Casares points out, “alcohol consumption has become so commonplace and natural when we socialise that sometimes we don’t stop to reflect on the major consequences it can have on our health and safety. That’s why we believe this work is so important, especially considering that the visual tests we have to perform to pass the driving test or renew our driving license do not take into account these aspects of visual function.”
José Juan Castro concludes: “We believe the results of this study are relevant to driving-related matters, given that alcohol consumption is related to approximately 30% of traffic accidents in countries such as Spain or the United States. Furthermore, the importance of driving-related aspects of vision other than visual acuity becomes even more evident under these experimental conditions, so it is important to study how vision affects driving performance especially after alcohol consumption, which, sadly, remains a contributory factor in a significant percentage of traffic accidents.”
Bibliography:
Casares-López, M., Castro-Torres, J.J., Martino, Ortiz-Peregrina, S., Ortiz, C., & Anera, R.G. (2020), ‘Contrast sensitivity and retinal straylight after alcohol consumption: Effects on driving performance’, Scientific Reports 10, 13599. Online: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-70645-3
One of the participants, during the measurement of intraocular scattering
A study participant using the driving simulator
The precision breathalyser used in the study, ready for testing
The study, which aimed to determine the effects of a regular exercise programme, demonstrated the importance of maintaining aerobic capacity among this population, which is known to present a high cardiovascular risk
A group of researchers, including from the University of Granada (UGR), has recently presented the results of a study into patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), a systemic autoimmune disease that carries a high cardiovascular risk. The conclusions show the importance of maintaining cardiorespiratory fitness or aerobic capacity, with physical exercise being the best tool to achieve this.
The project, which began in 2017, is called ‘Effects of a Physical Exercise Programme on Subclinical Arteriosclerosis and Inflammation in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus’ (EXERCITALS). It aimed to investigate the effects of a 12-week programme of progressive, individualized, and specially-adapted aerobic training on arterial stiffness and inflammation in women with this type of lupus. The effects of exercise on physical fitness and variables such as fatigue, depression, or quality of life—all of which are usually affected in these patients—were also evaluated.
Blanca Gavilán Carrera, one of the UGR researchers working on the project, explains that the study was conducted within the Internal Medicine service of the ‘Virgen de las Nieves’ University Hospital in Granada and was funded by the Department of Health of the Regional Government of Andalusia.
The study, led by the internist José Antonio Vargas Hitos, involved collaboration between experts from Sport Sciences at the Universities of Granada and Almería, such as Alberto Soriano Maldonado, and from Medicine in Granada, such as Juan Jiménez Alonso, Juan Diego Mediavilla García, and José Mario Sabio Sánchez.
Results and next steps
The main results of the project, published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, indicate that the patients who took part in the exercise programme substantially increased their aerobic capacity compared to another group that was only given information about healthy lifestyle choices. Arterial stiffness and inflammation were not adversely affected, hence such a programme would constitute a safe intervention that does not negatively affect these cardiovascular risk factors.
Another publication, this time in the journal Disability and Rehabilitation,indicates that taking part in this training programme significantly reduced fatigue levels among participants, even though depressive symptoms, stress, sleep quality, or quality of life did not change substantially compared to the group that did no training. Furthermore, the increase in aerobic capacity post-exercise was found to be partially responsible for the reduction in general fatigue observed after the intervention.
Gavilán Carrera notes that previous studies related to this project also demonstrated that “although age is the main factor that causes the arteries to become hardened and increases the risk of arteriosclerosis, higher levels of cardiorespiratory fitness are associated with a lower annual increase in arterial stiffness.”
“Overall, the results of this project underline how important it is for people with systemic autoimmune diseases, such as LES, to maintain cardiorespiratory fitness, and that exercise is the only tool able to achieve this—or even improve fitness levels,” explains Gavilán Carrera.
This study has, once again, been funded by the Department of Health of the Regional Government of Andalusia as a research project in the area of rare diseases, entitled «Physical Activity and Fitness as Predictors of Health in women with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Cohort study with 2-year follow-up.” José Vargas Hitos remains the Principal Investigator.
In the next year or two, a follow-up study will be conducted on the patients who have participated. This will provide a better understanding of the role of physical activity and fitness as health markers in this population.
Bibliography:
Blanca Gavilán Carrera, José Antonio Vargas Hitos, Pablo Morillas de Laguno, Antonio Rosales Castillo, Sergio Sola Rodríguez, José Luis Callejas Rubio, José Mario Sabio & Alberto Soriano Maldonado (2020) ‘Effects of 12-week aerobic exercise on patient-reported outcomes in women with systemic lupus erythematosus’, Disability and Rehabilitation. Online: https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2020.1808904
Alberto Soriano Maldonado, Pablo Morillas de Laguno, José Mario Sabio, Blanca Gavilán Carrera, Antonio Rosales Castillo, Cristina Montalbán Méndez, Luis Manuel Sáez Urán, José Luis Callejas Rubio & José Antonio Vargas Hitos (2018), ‘Effects of 12-week aerobic exercise on arterial stiffness, inflammation, and cardiorespiratory fitness in women with systemic LUPUS Erythematosus: Non-randomized controlled trial’, JournalofClinicalMedicine 7(12). Online: https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm7120477
Media enquiries:
Blanca Gavilán Carrera
Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada
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