Publications by authors named "Maria Rodriguez-Martinez"
Digital twins represent a key technology for precision health. Medical digital twins consist of computational models that represent the health state of individual patients over time, enabling optimal therapeutics and forecasting patient prognosis. Many health conditions involve the immune system, so it is crucial to include its key features when designing medical digital twins.
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- - RNA-sequencing has improved our knowledge of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but there's still a lack of understanding about specific cell types and how they regulate the disease, particularly fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS).
- - This research identified 28 transcription factors (TFs) that regulate RA FLS, with BACH1 being the most significant; it plays a key role in fatty acid metabolism and ferroptosis, with six of these TFs being newly associated with RA.
- - BACH1's role was validated through experiments showing that knocking it down in RA FLS affected essential functions like cell adhesion and movement, highlighting its potential as a therapeutic target for RA.
Background: The development of haemophilic arthropathy causes joint damage that leads to functional impairment that limits the performance of activities in patients with haemophilia. The aim was to identify the best predictive model for performing instrumental activities of daily living in adult patients with haemophilia arthropathy.
Methods: Cross-sectional cohort study.
Early Occupational Therapy Intervention Programme and Coping Strategies and Burden in Caregivers of People with Sub-Acute Stroke: A Randomised Controlled Trial.
Patricia García-Pérez María Carmen Rodríguez-Martínez Alejandro Gallardo-Tur Encarnación Blanco-Reina Carlos de la Cruz-Cosme
J Pers Med
August 2024
Article Synopsis
- Caregivers of stroke patients often face significant stress and may cope by disengaging from the situation.
- A study in Spain tested an early occupational therapy intervention (EOTIPS) to see if it could help both stroke patients and their caregivers during the transition from hospital to home.
- Results showed that caregivers who participated in EOTIPS reported a significant reduction in their burden and improved coping strategies, highlighting its potential as a valuable support tool.
Article Synopsis
- - Pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a serious blood cancer with a high chance of returning after treatment, making it tough to target for immunotherapy due to varying cell types in patients.
- - Researchers developed a new computational tool that uses single-cell flow cytometry data from 21 pediatric AML patients to accurately identify cancerous cells and their developmental stages, achieving a classification accuracy of 90%.
- - The study found significant changes in the immunophenotypes of cancer cells between diagnosis and relapse, especially in patients with specific genetic alterations, providing insights that could help in designing more effective personalized treatments for AML.
Article Synopsis
- Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease affecting synovial tissues, but the specifics of the disease's regulatory mechanisms at the cellular level remain unclear.
- The study utilized RNA-seq databases to create a new method for identifying cell type-specific regulatory networks in RA, comparing these findings to osteoarthritis to uncover differences in gene regulation.
- Key regulatory factors were identified across various cell types in RA, revealing that fibroblast-like synoviocytes and B cells are influenced by multiple transcription factor clusters, while monocytes are primarily driven by a single cluster, hinting at potential new treatment targets for RA.
Article Synopsis
- Occupational therapy significantly aids stroke patients in regaining independence and improving their quality of life post-discharge.
- A study in Spain assessed the Early Occupational Therapy Intervention Program (EOTIPS) with 60 stroke patients, comparing outcomes between an experimental group receiving EOTIPS and a control group.
- Results showed that the EOTIPS group had improved quality of life, functional independence, cognitive skills, and lower depression symptoms compared to the control group.
Article Synopsis
- * Understanding the gene regulatory networks (GRNs) involved in B cell development can shed light on these pathologies, especially with advancements in single-cell transcriptomics that provide detailed gene expression data.
- * A stochastic model was developed to analyze the influence of key gene regulators (BCL6, IRF4, BLIMP1) and external signals (BCR and CD40) on B cell differentiation, successfully matching mRNA levels seen in different B cell stages, which may help validate GRN structures and improve our understanding of regulatory
Exploring the interplay of frailty, physical function, physical activity, nutritional status, and their association with quality of life and depressive symptoms in older adults with the frailty phenotype.
Cristina Casals Juan Corral-Pérez Laura Ávila-Cabeza-de-Vaca Andrea González-Mariscal Yolanda Carrión-Velasco
Int J Geriatr Psychiatry
March 2024
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates how frailty, physical function, activity levels, and nutrition affect the quality of life and depression in older adults.
- Conducted with 235 older adults in Spain, various assessments were used to evaluate frailty, physical function, activity, nutrition, and mental health.
- Key findings show that fatigue and slow walking speed negatively impact quality of life and increase depressive symptoms, while better nutrition and moderate physical activity act as protective factors.
Article Synopsis
- * Findings reveal that only 34.5% of youth meet physical activity recommendations, with varying participation in organized sports, active play, and sedentary behaviors, while girls are generally less active than boys.
- * Despite some positive parenting and school involvement in physical activity, significant gaps exist, highlighting the need for improved opportunities for movement among children in Mexico.
Article Synopsis
- RNA-sequencing has improved understanding of the pathways involved in Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), yet there is limited knowledge about cell-specific regulatory networks in the disease.
- This study focused on fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS), identifying 28 transcription factors (TFs) central to RA, including six novel TFs like BACH1, which plays a key regulatory role.
- BACH1's role was validated through experiments showing that its knockdown altered gene expression, reduced cell adhesion and mobility, and disrupted key cellular structures in RA FLS, suggesting it could be a target for new RA treatments.
Article Synopsis
- Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation in synovial tissues, yet there is limited understanding of the key transcription factors (TFs) and regulatory networks involved.
- The study utilized existing RNA-seq data from RA synovial tissues to develop a new method for analyzing cell type-specific gene regulatory networks, comparing RA to osteoarthritis.
- Key findings revealed 18, 16, 19, and 11 important regulators for fibroblast-like synoviocytes, T cells, B cells, and monocytes, respectively, with distinct TF clusters driving FLS and B cell functions, while monocytes were influenced by a single driver cluster, potentially opening new avenues for RA treatment.
Development and Validation of a Highly Sensitive Multiplex Immunoassay for SARS-CoV-2 Humoral Response Monitorization: A Study of the Antibody Response in COVID-19 Patients with Different Clinical Profiles during the First and Second Waves in Cadiz, Spain.
Lucia Olvera-Collantes Noelia Moares Ricardo Fernandez-Cisnal Juan P Muñoz-Miranda Pablo Gonzalez-Garcia Maria P Rodriguez-Martinez
Microorganisms
December 2023
Article Synopsis
- The COVID-19 pandemic continues to challenge healthcare systems with emerging waves, necessitating new preventive tools and therapies.
- A novel immunoassay using Bio-Plex technology has been developed to simultaneously detect multiple IgG antibodies against different SARS-CoV-2 antigens, showcasing high sensitivity and specificity.
- This multiplex immunoassay serves as a robust tool for monitoring humoral immunity and can aid in epidemiological surveillance, particularly in analyzing antibody responses among unvaccinated COVID-19 patients in Cadiz, Spain.
Article Synopsis
- * A scoping review aimed to explore the role of occupational therapy in managing haemophilia, highlighting its therapeutic potential.
- * No specific occupational therapy interventions for haemophilia were identified, but existing measurement tools and the need for multidisciplinary treatment underscore its importance for improving patients' autonomy and quality of life.
Proteomic-based stratification of intermediate-risk prostate cancer patients.
Life Sci Alliance
February 2024
Article Synopsis
- * A study analyzed 1,348 tumor and benign samples from 278 patients, identifying F5, TMEM126B, and EARS2 as potential biomarkers linked to biochemical recurrence.
- * An 18-protein risk score was developed to effectively categorize patients into low- and high-risk groups for biochemical recurrence, showing promise for improving prostate cancer management independent of Gleason grades.
Article Synopsis
- The review aims to evaluate the origins of tension headaches, considering both peripheral (outside the brain) and central (inside the brain) factors to clarify the best treatment approaches.
- Tension headaches are influenced by various factors, with correlations found between issues in the jaw and neck muscles and the development of headaches, but the exact cause remains unclear.
- Further research is needed to fully understand the mechanisms behind tension headaches, particularly how initial triggers lead to headache attacks, potentially involving vascular and musculoskeletal factors.
Article Synopsis
- - Situs inversus is a rare condition where major organs are mirrored from their usual positions, often found incidentally during medical procedures or imaging.
- - A case study discusses a 68-year-old male patient with pneumonia who was found to have situs inversus totalis while in the ICU for respiratory failure.
- - The disorder presents unique challenges in critical care, such as confusion during imaging, procedures, and patient monitoring, highlighting the importance of recognizing this condition for effective treatment.
Article Synopsis
- * This study examined GCs in human lymph nodes responding to unknown antigens, rather than in traditional mouse models with specific antigens.
- * The researchers found diverse B-cell clones in individual GCs but also identified shared clones, suggesting that these GCs can evolve similarly even when responding to different antigens.
Article Synopsis
- - The systematic review aims to explore how occupational therapy supports children with additional needs or disabilities in school settings by analyzing existing literature.
- - A thorough search across multiple databases identified 1954 studies, but only 18 met the criteria, showing varied occupational therapy interventions in educational environments.
- - Key findings indicate the effectiveness of occupational therapists in schools, the importance of teamwork among professionals, and the necessity of motivating students with special needs for better inclusion; however, more consistent and larger studies are needed to strengthen these results.
Article Synopsis
- The therapeutic alliance is essential for effective rehabilitation outcomes, particularly in neurological recovery, but its dynamics are not fully understood.
- This systematic review examined the role of this alliance by analyzing 9 qualitative studies, involving 182 participants, through methods like interviews and focus groups.
- Key factors influencing the therapeutic alliance include recognition as an individual, collaboration, empathy, empowerment, trust, professional skills, hope maintenance, and family involvement.
Article Synopsis
- Biomechanical methods help analyze posture and movement in woodwind musicians to understand their physical demands during performances.
- A systematic review, following PRISMA guidelines, examined 1625 articles, ultimately selecting 16 studies with 390 participants to focus on these methods.
- The review highlighted the use of various techniques like pressure sensors and electromyography but noted that the diversity of studies made it hard to compare results, emphasizing a need for more rigorous future research.
Article Synopsis
- Interpreting machine learning model predictions is critical, especially in fields like medicine where errors can have serious consequences; this has spurred interest in creating models that are both powerful and interpretable.
- A new neural network called MonoNet is introduced, designed to maintain performance while being more transparent by ensuring monotonic relationships between features and outputs.
- MonoNet has been tested on various datasets, including biological data, demonstrating effective classification while offering insights into important biomarkers, and its code is available for public use.
Article Synopsis
- The adaptive immune system can produce a variety of antibodies by duplicating and modifying B cells, leading to diverse immune responses against different antigens.
- This study compares three methods for identifying clonal relationships within B-cell receptor sequences and highlights significant differences in how clonal definitions impact the analysis of B-cell diversity.
- Despite the differing methods affecting clonal definitions, diversity patterns measured across samples remain consistent, with the Shannon entropy emerging as the most reliable metric for assessing clonal diversity; the team also offers their methods as a free Python library called cdiversity.
Article Synopsis
- Interpretability in machine learning is vital for critical applications like healthcare and law, where decisions can significantly affect individuals, leading to the development of FLAN (Feature-wise Latent Additive Networks), a new type of deep neural network that processes features independently for better understanding.
- FLAN shows strong performance on challenging biological datasets, including TCR-epitope binding prediction, even with imposed structural constraints that enhance its interpretability and yield valuable biological insights, such as identifying important marker genes.
- The code and example data for FLAN are publicly accessible on GitHub, allowing others to explore and utilize this model in their research.
Article Synopsis
- Sequencing B-cell and T-cell receptors helps us learn about the immune response but doesn't give details on their affinity or specificity.
- A new multiscale model is presented to better understand B-cell repertoires by comparing simulated results with actual experimental data.
- Findings indicate that clonal abundance doesn't necessarily correlate with affinity, and even low-abundance clones may possess high affinity, guiding future research approaches.