Grupos de Investigación

Distinct mutational pattern of myelodysplastic syndromes with and without 5q- treated with lenalidomide

Fri, 01 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT

[EN]Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a heterogeneous group of clonal stem cell disorders characterised by ineffective haematopoiesis leading to peripheral blood cytopenias and an increased risk of transformation to acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) (Haferlach et al., 2014; Makishima et al., 2017). One of the most common cytogenetic alterations is the deletion of the long arm of chromosome 5q [del(5q)], which can be found isolated or with other alterations (10–30% of patients with MDS). Lenalidomide (LEN) has been approved for the treatment of patients with del(5q) low-risk MDS and transfusion dependence. Almost 50% of patients with del(5q) will show a complete cytogenetic remission and 70% of them will reach transfusion independence (List et al., 2006). LEN has also been approved for MDS non-del(5q) transfusion dependent and resistant to erythropoietin-stimulating agents (Santini et al., 2016), suggesting that other factors besides del(5q) modulate response to LEN (Negoro et al., 2016). Herein, we aimed to define the mutational spectrum of patients with MDS with and without del(5q) and define a signature of mutations influencing response to LEN. We collected peripheral blood and/or bone marrow samples from patients with MDS treated with LEN from eight institutions at the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute (on behalf of the MDS Spanish Group and the MDS French Group) according to the institutional ethic committees and the revised Declaration of Helsinki. We collected 74 samples from patients with MDS at diagnosis or treatment- naïve with LEN follow-up treatment of two or more cycles; 32 patients presented with del(5q), while 42 patients did not have del(5q) in their karyotype (Table S1). The World Health Organization (WHO) classification (2017), Revised International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-R) and International Working Group response criteria (IWGc) (Cheson et al., 2006; Greenberg et al., 2012; Dolatshad et al., 2015) were used to classify patients. Responders to LEN included patients with complete and partial response, haematological response and cytogenetic response, while non-responders included patients with treatment failure, stable disease or relapse. We combined results of multi amplicon targeted sequencing with Ion Torrent (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Waltham, MA, USA) (28 cases) and captured-based targeted sequencing with MiSeq (Illumina, San Diego, CA, USA) (46 cases). Amplicon and capture custom panels included 39 and 82 most recurrently mutated genes in MDS, respectively (Table S2). Capture libraries were generated using the KAPA Library Preparation Kit (Kapa Biosystems, Wilmington, MA, USA), enriched with the SeqCap EZ capture chemistry (Roche, Basel, Switzerland) and sequenced on MiSeq sequencers following a 150 base pairs (bp) paired-end reads Illumina standard protocol. Average coverage per gene was 777×. Reads were aligned against human genome build 19 (hg19) using Burrows-Wheeler Aligner (BWA) 0.7.12 and post-alignment was performed using Genome Analysis Toolkit (GATK) 3.4.46 software package. Libraries for the amplicon-based panel were prepared with Ampliseq (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.) and sequenced in an ion torrent proton sequencer according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Average coverage per genes was 567×. Primary bioinformatic analysis [SAMtools 1.2 (http://www.htslib.org/), VarScan 2.4.0 (http://dkoboldt.github.io/varscan/), and ANNOtate VARiation (https://doc-openbio.readthedocs.io/projects/annovar/en/latest/)] was performed and followed by an in-house protocol (Ibáñez et al., 2016). Variants at highly variable regions, with low coverage (<100×), or a minor allele frequency >1% according to available population databases [Exome Aggregation Consortium (ExAC), Exome Variant Server, 1000 Genomes Project] were filtered out. Mutations were called when the variant allelic frequency (VAF) was >5%. Continuous variable comparisons were performed with Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, while Fisher’s exact test was used to compare variables. Survival curves were calculated using the Kaplan–Meier method and log-rank test were used for comparisons. Two-sided P values < 0·05 were considered as statistically significant.

Filamentation-assisted isolated attosecond pulse generation

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

[EN]The advancement of attosecond science relies on achieving stable generation of isolated attosecond pulses (IAPs), which are essential for capturing ultrafast dynamics in atoms, molecules and solids. Our study in an extended gas medium demonstrates filamentation-assisted spatiotemporal reshaping of the infrared driving pulse, enabling transient phase-matching gating and the generation of bright, high-contrast IAPs. Our experimental and theoretical results reveal that a semi-infinite gas cell naturally forms a stable propagation region, where the driving pulse undergoes controlled self-compression and spatial cleaning. In an argon-filled gas cell, filamentation reduces the duration of Ytterbium-based 1030 nm pulses from 4.7 fs to 3.5 fs, while simultaneously producing high-contrast IAPs of 200 as, at 65 eV, with an excellent output beam profile. Similar filamentation-assisted transient gating is observed in neon and helium, yielding pulses of 69 as at 100 eV and 65 as at 135 eV. This filamentation-enabled transient phase-matching mechanism opens a simple and robust route to provide high-contrast attosecond sources, advancing both post-compression techniques and attosecond-based technologies.

Conflictos rurales y edificios. La Meseta del Duero (siglos XI-XIII)

Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

[EN] This study examines conflicts surrounding buildings within the rural context of the Duero Plateau. These conflicts can be analysed from various perspectives, but this work focuses on integrating them into the role of ‘micropolitics’ in organizing rural society during this period. The concept refers to local decision-making and political management practices, often informal yet prevalent in local populations. A key aspect is collective action, involving diverse groups (families, clients, local communities) and generating tensions among different collectives. During the high medieval period in this region, resident communities were the most visible actors in collective actions, though not the only ones. This study emphasizes the role of these rural communities due to their visibility and strongly rooted identity, which included distinct political notions.

Not only Food. Marine, Terrestrial and Freshwater Molluscs in Archaeological Sites

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

[EN] Proceedings of the 2nd Meeting of the ICAZ Archaeomalocology Working Group (Santander, February 19th-22nd 2008).

Shell Midden people in Northern Iberia. New data from the Mesolithic rock shelter of J3 (Basque Country, Spain).

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

[EN] In the course of a sondage dug in the rock shelter of J3, in the Jaizkibel mountains (at the north-western tip of Guipúzcoa), the body of a adult man was located buried inside a shell midden. This shell midden had not been disturbed and presented internal stratigraphy features. In any case, the outer edge of the shell midden does show some interesting interdigitation with the adjacent habitational layers, with evidence of different stages of occupation. Within the shell midden itself, under the individual buried there, it was possible to observe layers without any ceramics, whereas the layers covering said individual included ceramic fragments. This individual has been dated to 8300 BP and therefore corresponds to a Mesolithic context

Archaeological Data On The Exploitation Of The Goose Barnacle Pollicipes Pollicipes (Gmelin, 1790) in Europe

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

[EN] Barnacles of the species Pollicipes pollicipes are crustaceans that nowadays live on wave-beaten rocky substrates in the intertidal and low-shore zones on the coasts of Atlantic Europe and North Africa. At the present time, the exploitation of this species is profitable, especially in northern Spain where this seafood is highly valued, as well as expensive. However, the gathering of this resource, which is carried out manually by the percebeiros or ‘‘goose barnacle fishers’’ entails great risks. The exploitation of goose barnacles is, however, not a recent activity, as evidence of it has been seen in southwest Europe in the Mesolithic (about 8000 BP), and above all from the early Neolithic (about 6000 BP). This paper analyses the archaeological evidence of barnacles (tergum, scutum and carina, calcareous plates located in the capitulum) that have been found at one Spanish Neolithic site located in the north of the Iberian Peninsula (Los Gitanos Cave, in Cantabrian Spain).

Shell beads of the Last Hunther-Gatherers and Earliest Farmersin South-Western Europe

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

[EN] This paper analyses the suspended objects of adornment made from marine mollusc shells that have been recorded at Mesolithic and Neolithic sites in southwest Europe. Particular attention will be given to taxonomic determination, technological aspects and the strategies utilised to obtain the raw materials for these objects. The distribution of certain species and the types of ornamentation used by the last hunter-gatherers and first farming communities will also be discussed.

Magdalenian Personal Ornaments on the Move: a Review of the Current Evidence in Central Europe

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

[EN] The Magdalenian is the period in the Upper Palaeolithic in which the greatest number of beads and pendants has been documented. Few sites with levels of this period have not provided examples of this type of artefact. The variety of raw materials used to make them (animal’s teeth, marine or fossil molluscs, antler, ivory, etc.) and the decoration on some of them, inform us of contacts between regions remote from each other. This paper reviews the different types of pendants that have been recorded from Magdalenian sites, with the aim of roughly establishing the network of contacts that existed among the groups of hunter-gatherers in Central Europe. It studies the context in which these artefacts were found, in well recorded stratigraphies at sites researched in recent decades. The study of certain types (marine shells from Atlantic and Mediterranean sources, certain kinds of perforated objects made in jet, such as discs and “Gönnersdorf type” schematic female figures, reindeer teeth sawn off at the alveoli, or discs made from scapulae) enable us to infer the existence of complex networks of long-distance contacts between human groups in the Late Glacial.

Análisis arqueomalacológico de la cueva de Altamira (Santillana del Mar, Cantabria): excavaciones de J. González Echagaray y L. G. Freeman

Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

[EN] This paper presents the results obtained through the study of the marine malacological remains recovered during J. González Echegaray and L. G. Freeman’s archaeological excavations at Altamira Cave in the early 1980s. This research has been carried out mainly from the taxonomic, quantitative, taphonomic and biometric points of view. Finally, the information obtained has been compared with the results of earlier excavations at Altamira and other sites in Cantabrian Spain with levels dated in the Solutrean and Magdalenian periods

La cueva de Linatzeta (Lastur, Deba, Gipuzkoa). Un nuevo contexto para el estudio del Mesolítico en Gipuzkoa

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

[EN] We present the preliminary results of the Linatzeta cave excavation project (Lastur, Deba, Gipuzkoa). Since its discovery in 1999, an occupational layer dating of the Mesolithic, and two burial layers have been recorded. The results obtained make this archaeological site an important context for the study of the last hunter-gatherers´s way of life in this region.

Food & More: Marine Mollusks Exploitation during the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic in Cantabrian Spain and in the Ebro Valley

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

[EN] This paper focuses on the exploitation of marine mollusks within a cultural and an ecological context, from the archaeological excavations in the prehistoric sites in the Cantabrian Region (North of Spain) and along the Ebro Valley. This research analyzes different species, on one hand used as ornaments or tools and, on the other hand as food, during the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic. These mollusks are examined for taxonomic diversity among cultural phases. Our research focuses on two main issues: the first one refers to which species of mollusks were selected and transformed into personal ornaments and the second to which ones were collected for their dietary interest

Un nouveau crustacé identifié sur le site gaulois de Port Blanc (île d´Hoëdic, Morbihan): le pouce-pied Pollicipes pollicipes (Gmelin, 1790)

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Investigaciones sobre los restos de percebes en el yacimiento galo de Port Blanc

Ressources complémentaires et mobilité dans le Magdalénien Cantabrique. Nouvelles données sur les mammifères marins, les crustacés, les mollusques et les roches organogènes de la Grotte de Las Caldas (Asturies, Espagne)

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

[EN] Some animal and mineral resources, rarely identified in the levels of the Cantabrian Magdalenian, were exploited by the Paleolithic populations of the Nalón Valley (western Asturias) at the end of the Pleistocene. In this research, we present some of them, preserved in the Las Caldas Cave: dental remains and representations of marine mammals, marine crustaceans and molluscs, and diverse remains of amber and jet. These were selected, collected in ecosystems far away from the cave and, finally, transformed by the groups. These remains seem to complement the common resources exploited in Magdalenian paleoeconomy (e.g., ungulates, birds, fish, small carnivores, vegetables, flint, quartzite, quartz) recovered and exploited biotopes closest to the site. Our aim is thus to confirm a certain mobility of these communities towards the specific sources of raw material in search of subsistence resources potentially used in the activities of these communities (e.g., food, technology, social and symbolic expression, exchange).

Nuevas evidencias de restos de mamíferos marinos en el Magdaleniense: los datos de La Cueva de Las Caldas (Asturias, España)

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT

[EN] This paper studies, from the technological point of view, a number of pendants made from the teeth of marine mammals (seal, sperm whale and pilot whale) recovered in middle Magdalenian levels at Cueva de Las Caldas. It also reviews other evidence of these animals that has been found in archaeological contexts and discusses the coastal-inland relationships of hunter-gatherer groups in Europe in the Palaeolithic

Moluscos, crustáceos y equinodermos: restos de origen marino en los yacimientos arqueológicos

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

[EN] This paper presents some of the results of recent archaeozoological research carried out at a number of sites in Cantabrian Spain. It provides data about various types of marine remains (molluscs, crabs, goose barnacles, acorn barnacles and sea urchins) and reflects on the different kinds of information they provide (palaeo-economy, palaeoclimate, etc).

Limpets & Periwinkles in Cantabrian Spain between 22,000 and 15,000 Cal BC: Archaeomalacological Remains at Altamira Cave

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Limpets & Periwinkles in Cantabrian Spain between 22,000 and 15,000 Cal BC: Archaeomalacological remains at Altamira Cave. This paper presents the archaeomalacological study of the excavations at Altamira Cave. It examines, on one hand, the molluscs found by H. Obermaier’s excavations (1924-1925) and, on the other hand, those recovered by J. González Echegaray and L. G. Freeman’s research (1908-1981). As well as classifying the two collections, the NR and MNI are calculated and the superficial alterations, caused by marine organisms (epifauna), humans, etc. are analysed. The two collections are compared, using the biometrics of the most representative species (Patella vulgata and Littorina littorea) in the two levels of the deposit (Solutrean and early Magdalenian), and the conclusion is reached that the archaeomalacological material was collected selectively during the older excavations. Through the biometric analysis of the P. vulgata specimens from Altamira and other sites in Cantabrian Spain with the same chronology, it can be seen that the size of the limpets remained very similar in the Solutrean and early Magdalenian. Finally, the existence of coastal and inland sites with remains of marine molluscs in the two periods is discussed.