A Novel PiRNA Enhances CA19-9 Sensitivity for Pancreatic Cancer Identification by Liquid Biopsy.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest tumours worldwide, and its poor prognosis is due to an inability to detect the disease at the early stages, thereby creating an urgent need to develop non-invasive biomarkers. P-element-induced wimpy testis (PIWI) proteins work together with piwi-interacting RNAs (piRNAs) to perform epigenetic regulation and as such hold great potential as biomarkers for pancreatic cancer. PIWIL2 and PIWIL4 are associated with better prognosis, while PIWIL1 and PIWIL3 involvement appears to be associated with carcinogenesis. We aimed to discover PIWIL3- and PIWIL4-modulated piRNAs and determine their potential mechanisms in pancreatic cancer and the clinical implications. PIWIL3 or PIWIL4 was downregulated in pancreatic cancer-derived cell lines or in a non-tumour cell line. Differentially expressed piRNAs were analysed by next generation sequencing of small RNA. Nine fresh-frozen samples from solid human pancreases (three healthy pancreases, three intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms, and three early-stage pancreatic cancers) were included in the sequencing analysis. Two piRNAs associated with PIWIL3 (piR-168112 and piR-162725) were identified in the neoplastic cells; in untransformed samples, we identified one piRNA associated with PIWIL4 (pir-366845). After validation in pancreatic cancer-derived cell lines and one untransformed pancreatic cell line, these piRNAs were evaluated in plasma samples from healthy donors (n = 27) or patients with pancreatic cancer (n = 45). Interestingly, piR-162725 expression identified pancreatic cancer patients versus healthy donors in liquid biopsies. Moreover, the potential of the serum carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) biomarker to identify pancreatic cancer patients was greatly enhanced when combined with piR-162725 detection. The enhanced diagnostic potential for the early detection of pancreatic cancer in liquid biopsies of these new small non-coding RNAs will likely improve the prognosis and management of this deadly cancer.

The Dead with No Wake, Grieving with No Closure: Illness and Death in the Days of Coronavirus in Spain.

The pandemic caused by the spread of Covid-19 is giving rise to an exceptional social situation because of the great speed of propagation of the illness and the high level of mortality it has occasioned in a very short time. Moreover, the lockdown measures decreed in Spain prohibit the holding of wakes to avoid contagion, and limit funerals to three people plus the officiant. Thus, coronavirus is robbing people of the opportunity of a final farewell, stripping the dead of their dignity and worsening the grief of the living. This article investigates the situation and the social and cultural impact it has provoked. The method used takes the line of critical dialogue analysis (CDA) applied to information contained in the mass media, employing qualitative material from a related small-scale study. The results show that in countries like Spain where there is a strong Roman Catholic tradition the importance of these rituals is unquestionable. Although the country has become laicized over recent years, many traditions around death are still maintained. Hence, the impossibility of holding funerals is triggering a large number of social and personal conflicts. Furthermore, they indicate that lockdown, and the lack of rituals and of accompaniment constitute some of the most crucial stressors in the epidemic. Grief in solitude has become widespread and all the more fundamental in a society that values social support from close friends and family members. The conclusions show that the social distancing imposed by the epidemic is especially hard to bear when relatives are passing into death.

Reconciling Spirituality and Workplace: Towards a Balanced Proposal for Occupational Health.

We examined the relationship between spirituality in the workplace and occupational health and explored the benefits for employees, employers and the organisation. Using a qualitative methodology, we focused on secular organisations in the service sector to analyse this question in the context of labour relations in Europe. Our results indicate that embracing spirituality in the workplace yields a number of benefits in addition to those of a health-related nature. Religious beliefs and practices can be accommodated in the workplace provided that a balance is maintained between the needs of employers and employees.

Metáforas y paradojas de los miedos en los sujetos docentes / Metaphors and paradoxes of professors’ fears

A partir de unos testimonios de vida se abordan los miedos de docentes universitarios colombianos, toda vez que ha sido un país signado por una fuerte violencia instaurada desde la colonización, transitada por la independencia y radicalizada hasta nuestro primer decenio del siglo XXI. Esta investigación abordada entre el 2010-2012, dentro del interés potencial de conocer los Lenguajes del poder y los miedos que generan y administran. ¿En qué consisten los miedos de los docentes universitarios de Manizales y Pereira, en Colombia e impactos en su ejercicio docente? Las conclusiones nos sorprenden, los docentes hasta no ser preguntados, no son conscientes de enseñar el miedo. Identifican que el miedo es un estilo de vida y, por tanto, no sólo lo enseñan, también lo generan y lo administran. Son portadores y parteros del miedo.

We deal with the fears felt by Colombian University professors using as point of departure some life testimonies, considering that this is a country that has been characterized by a lot of violence since colonial times, going through the independence struggles and radicalizing in the first decade of the 21st Century. This research covers the period between 2010-2012, with the potential interest of knowing the language of power and the fears it generates and manages. What do the fears felt by University professors from Manizales and Pereira, Colombia consist in? What is their impact on their teaching practice? The conclusions come to us as a surprise: until they were asked, the professors were not aware of the fact that they had been feeling fear. They identify that fear is a life style and therefore, they not only teach it but also generate and manage it. They are carriers and midwives of fear.