MAternal Mental Health in the WORKplace (MAMH@WORK): A Protocol for Promoting Perinatal Maternal Mental Health and Wellbeing.

Women are exposed to increased burden of mental disorders during the perinatal period: 13-19% experience postpartum depression. Perinatal psychological suffering affects early mother-child relationship, impacting child's emotional and cognitive development. Return-to-work brings additional vulnerability given the required balance between parenting and job demands. The MAternal Mental Health in the WORKplace (MAMH@WORK) project aims to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a brief and sustainable intervention, promoting (a) maternal mental health throughout pregnancy and first 12 months after delivery, and (b) quality of mother-child interactions, child emotional self-regulation, and cognitive self-control, while (c) reducing perinatal absenteeism and presenteeism. MAMH@WORK is a three-arm randomized controlled trial. A short-term cognitive-behavioral therapy-based (CBT-based) psychoeducation plus biofeedback intervention will be implemented by psychiatrists and psychologists, following a standardized procedure manual developed after consensus (Delphi method). Participants (n = 225, primiparous, singleton pregnant women at 28-30 weeks gestational age, aged 18-40 years, employed) will be randomly allocated to arms: CBT-based psychoeducation intervention (including mindfulness); psychoeducation plus biofeedback intervention; and control. Assessments will take place before and after delivery. Main outcomes (and main tools): mental health literacy (MHLS), psychological wellbeing (HADS, EPDS, KBS, CD-RISC, BRIEF COPE), quality of mother-child interaction, child-mother attachment, child emotional self-regulation and cognitive self-control (including PBQ, Strange Situation Procedure, QDIBRB, SGS-II, CARE-Index), job engagement (UWES), and presenteeism. Intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses will be conducted; Cohen's d coefficient, Cramer's V and odds ratio will be used to assess the effect size of the intervention. MAMH@WORK is expected to contribute to mental health promotion during the perinatal period and beyond. Its results have the potential to inform health policies regarding work-life balance and maternal mental health and wellbeing promotion in the workplace.

Role of intravenous iron in the treatment of anemia in patients with gastrointestinal tract tumors undergoing chemotherapy: a single-center, observational study.

PURPOSE: The prevalence of anemia ranges between 30% and 90% in cancer patients, affecting the health status, quality of life, and treatment outcome. Therefore, a proper diagnosis and management of anemia is crucial in these patients. Iron deficiency is diagnosed in~32%-60% of the cases. In this observational study, we evaluated the efficacy and safety of intravenous iron (ferric carboxymaltose [FCM], Ferinject®) in the treatment of iron-deficiency anemia in patients with gastrointestinal tumors undergoing palliative or adjuvant chemotherapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirty patients with gastrointestinal tumors undergoing chemotherapy diagnosed with iron-deficiency anemia were included in the study and received at least one FCM administration. The need for iron replacement therapy was evaluated by the assessment of hemoglobin and iron status parameters, and patients could be treated with FCM during 12-14 weeks. Paired t-test approach was used to evaluate the mean differences between the baseline and the end of the study. A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Data showed that there was a statistically significant increase in the mean of hemoglobin (10.3 vs 11.2 g/dL), ferritin (230.3 vs 877.0 ng/mL), transferrin saturation (13.0% vs 19.7%), and serum iron (42.3 vs 59.6 mg/mL) from the baseline to the end of the study in cancer patients. Most of the patients (n=25) were only administered one dose of FCM. There was one FCM-related adverse event during the study. CONCLUSION: FCM was well tolerated and had a positive impact in the treatment of iron-deficiency anemia in patients with gastrointestinal tract tumors undergoing chemotherapy.

El reconocimiento como propuesta metodológica de calidad en el aprendizaje / The Recognition as a Quality Methodology Proposal in the Learning Process

En el terreno de la educación, la pregunta por la formación es permanente y controvertida. Adicionalmente, con los evidentes cambios en la producción, apropiación y transmisión del conocimiento global, continúa siendo pertinente cuestionar el papel de la educación en la transformación del sujeto, en la vía de la autonomía y la toma de decisiones frente a su proceso educativo y a su responsabilidad como persona comprometida con el conocimiento como factor de desarrollo social. En este contexto, se rescatan los resultados de una investigación realizada en 1995 sobre el reconocimiento como propuesta metodológica de calidad en el aprendizaje, por considerar que sus planteamientos mantienen vigencia frente a los actuales cambios en la estructura educativa.

In the education field, the question for the holistic formation is continuous and controversial. Moreover, with the obvious changes in the global knowledge production, apprehension and transmission, is crucial asking for the role of the education in the changes of the individual toward autonomy and take decisions in relationship with the educational process and the responsibility like a person sharing with knowledge like an issue of social development. In this context, this paper, presents results of an in- vestigation made on 1995, about the recognition value like a methodology proposal of learning quality, for consider their propositions to be in force into an educational structure.

Heteroaryl substituted bis-trifluoromethyl carbinols as malonyl-CoA decarboxylase inhibitors.

A series of heteroaryl-substituted bis-trifluoromethyl carbinols were prepared and evaluated as malonyl-CoA decarboxylase (MCD) inhibitors. Some thiazole-based derivatives showed potent in vitro MCD inhibitory activities and significantly increased glucose oxidation rates in isolated working rat hearts.

In vitro high-throughput screening assay for modulators of transcription.

We developed a 96-well microtiter-plate high-throughput screening (HTS) assay for the detection of modulators of transcription. This HTS assay consists of three steps: (1) the in vitro transcription reaction; (2) modification and hybridization of RNA products; and (3) washing and quantification. During the first step, a DNA template containing the promoter of interest upstream of a cassette lacking guanosine residues in one of its strands (G-less cassette) is incubated with nuclear extract and the necessary cofactors/activators and substrates. During the second step, the in vitro synthesized transcripts are digested with RNase T1 and hybridized to two DNA oligonucleotides. One oligonucleotide is biotinylated for trapping of the RNA products to a streptavidin-coated plate, and the other is europium-labeled for detection by time-resolved fluorescence. We show that this assay is highly reproducible and robust, yielding results comparable to those obtained by standard methodologies employing radioactive nucleotide incorporation and gel electrophoresis while offering a very significant advantage in terms of throughput (>2000 assay points per operator per day). We demonstrate the usefulness of the assay for the discovery of small molecule inhibitors of transcription, and applications of this approach for the high-throughput discovery of transcriptional modulators are discussed.