Scientists from Spain discovered the way to eliminate HIV virus from patients blood and body with stem cells.

Referential image. Six patients infected with HIV eliminated the virus from their blood after undergoing stem cell transplants. Photo: Pixnio.

Scientists from the Institute for AIDS Research IrsiCaixa in Barcelona and the Gregorio Marañón Hospital in Madrid have managed to get six HIV-infected patients to have the virus removed from their blood and tissues after undergoing stem cell transplants.

The research, published on October 15, 2018 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, confirmed that the six patients who received a stem cell transplant have the virus undetectable in blood and tissues and even one of them does not even have antibodies, which indicates that HIV may have been eliminated from your body. 

The patients maintain the antiretroviral treatment, but the researchers believe that the origin of the stem cells - umbilical cord and bone marrow -, as well as the time elapsed to achieve the complete replacement of the recipient cells by those of the donor - eighteen months in one of cases- could have contributed to a potential disappearance of HIV, which opens the door to designing new treatments to cure AIDS. IrsiCaixa researcher Maria Salgado, coprimera author of the article, together with Mi Kwon, hematologist of the Hospital Gregorio Marañón, explained that the reason that currently drugs do not cure HIV infection is the viral reservoir, consisting of cells infected by the viruses that remain dormant and can not be detected or destroyed by the immune system. 

This study pointed to certain factors associated with stem cell transplantation that could help to eliminate this reservoir from the body. Until now, stem cell transplantation is recommended exclusively to treat serious hematologic diseases. The study was based on the case of The Berlin Patient: Timothy Brown, a person with HIV who in 2008 underwent a stem cell transplant to treat leukemia. The donor had a mutation called CCR5 Delta 32 that made their blood cells immune to HIV, since it prevents the virus from entering them. Brown stopped taking antiretroviral medication and today, 11 years later, the virus still does not appear in his blood, which is considered the only person in the world cured of HIV. 

Since then, scientists are investigating possible mechanisms of HIV eradication associated with stem cell transplantation. To do this, the IciStem consortium created a unique cohort in the world of people infected with HIV who underwent a transplant to cure a blood disease, with the ultimate goal of designing new strategies for cure. "Our hypothesis was that, in addition to the CCR5 Delta 32 mutation, other mechanisms associated with transplantation influenced the eradication of HIV in Timothy Brown," said Salgado. 

The study included six participants who had survived at least two years after receiving the transplant, and all donors lacked the CCR5 Delta 32 mutation in their cells. "We selected these cases because we wanted to focus on the other possible causes that could help eliminate the virus," explained Mi Kwon. 

After the transplant, all the participants maintained the antiretroviral treatment and achieved the remission of their hematological disease after the withdrawal of the immunosuppressive drugs. After various analyzes, the researchers saw that 5 of them had an undetectable reservoir in blood and tissues and that in the sixth the viral antibodies had completely disappeared 7 years after the transplant.

According to Salgado, "this fact could be proof that HIV is no longer in his blood, but this can only be confirmed by stopping the treatment and checking whether the virus reappears or not." The only participant with a detectable HIV reservoir received an umbilical cord blood transplant - the rest was from bone marrow - and it took 18 months to replace all of their cells with the donor cells. The next step will be to conduct a clinical trial, controlled by doctors and researchers, to stop antiretroviral medication in some of these patients and to provide new immunotherapies to check for viral rebound and confirm if the virus has been eradicated from the body.

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Ferrari to build Ferrari Land in Spain.

Francisco De Jesùs.

PortAventura Entertainment S.A.U., a subsidiary of Investindustrial, has signed a licencing agreement with Ferrari to build Ferrari Land, a new Prancing Horse theme park, inside the PortAventura resort and theme park outside Barcelona in Spain. 

Ferrari Land will cover 75,000 square metres and include a variety of new and exciting attractions for Prancing Horse enthusiasts of all ages, including Europe’s highest and fastest vertical accelerator. An opportunity for the whole family to experience and discover the world of Ferrari. 

More good news is that the first Ferrari-themed hotel is also to be built inside PortAventura and will be a luxury five-star establishment with 250 rooms, restaurants and a driving simulator. 

The project will involve an overall investment of 100 million euro and the Ferrari theme park itself officially opens in 2016. PortAventura already welcomes 4,000,000 visitors a year, of whom 50% come from outside Spain.

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Europe: Samsung Galaxy S5 price listed on retailers: Amazon Spain and Clove UK.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

The recently unveiled Samsung Galaxy S5 at MWC 2014 in  Barcelona is already listed in two online retailer sites:

1) The Galaxy S5 is listed for pre-order on Clove UK, and for registration for notification on Amazon Spain. The Clove UK price for the Galaxy S5 is GBP 550 (US$921.-) International version, though the retailer has specified the price could change by launch. This is the price for the 16GB variant, and available in White, Blue, Black and Golden.

2)On Amazon Spain, the Samsung Galaxy S5 has been given a price tag of EUR 729 (US$ 1.006,07) International version however, users will only be able to register for further notification, and not place an order yet. The price given is for the 16GB built-in storage variant, and available in all four-colour variants.

Notably, the Xperia Z2 was on Monday listed for pre-order in several European nations, on official country-specific Sony pages. For the Xperia Z2, prices were lowest in Germany, where Sony had listed it at EUR 599 (US$827.-)

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MWC 2014: Abertis and SIGFOX Announce Their Partnership to Deploy the World's First Internet of Things Network in Spain.

MWC 2014: Abertis and SIGFOX Announce Their Partnership to Deploy the World's First Internet of Things Network in Spain.

Francisco De Jesùs.

The world's only dedicated Internet of Things network will be deployed nationwide in Spain on Abertis Telecom infrastructures and will thus connect Spain to the SIGFOX global network, already available in France, the Netherlands and Russia.

Eighteen months after launching its network in France, and after expanding the network to the Netherlands and Russia, SIGFOX announces the expansion of the network to Spain. Abertis Telecom's extensive network of telecommunication towers is ideal for rolling out the SIGFOX network, which will be deployed by Abertis. In addition the Abertis wholesale offering in Spain will be key to developing the local ecosystem in a wide range of Internet of Things sectors.

The partnership between Abertis and SIGFOX will enable Abertis to provide a two-way connectivity solution tailor-made for the Internet of Things. The SIGFOX network is attracting major interest from numerous sectors, including energy, smart cities, environmental monitoring, security, healthcare and transport, which are all very active sectors in Spain.

SIGFOX's existing customers and ecosystem partners are equally excited about this collaboration, since they will now also be able to distribute their solutions across the vast majority of Spain thanks to the high node density of Abertis's antenna network. The hundreds of on-going SIGFOX partner projects will now be able to take advantage of the integrated global distribution channel, allowing the same device to operate in any country where SIGFOX is deployed.

This partnership, which marks a major milestone in the worldwide rollout of the SIGFOX network, is the result of months of close collaboration and knowledge exchange between the two companies to design a network fulfilling the requirements for an Internet of Things. 

If the industry analysts' estimate of an Internet of Things with 50 billion devices by 2020 is to become a reality, then it is crucial that a new type of connectivity solution be found to remove the cost and energy consumption barriers currently blocking the full realisation of the Internet of Things. The collaboration between Abertis and SIGFOX further validates the expert opinions: the Internet of Things needs a new and tailor-made network, with low energy consumption and simplicity of use, while remaining very cost effective (modem, subscription, IT integration).

"Spain is very active within M2M and the Internet of Things and already has numerous players. We are proud that Abertis has agreed to be our strategic partner in Spain and we could not have thought of a better enabler for making it possible," said Ludovic Le Moan, CEO of SIGFOX.

According to Alex Mestre, Abertis Telecom's Director of Business Development: "The Internet of Things holds an amazing potential to improve our everyday life and our society. This partnership with SIGFOX will help us provide a solution to our customers when facing this explosion of connected devices and supporting them in their mobility and communications needs."

The network rollout in Spain will begin in February 2014 and the Abertis and SIGFOX teams are ready to assist customers and the ecosystem in parallel with the network rollout.

About SIGFOX

SIGFOX is the first and only cellular network operator dedicated to the Internet of Things. By removing the cost and energy barriers of connectivity for low throughput connected devices, SIGFOX unleashes the full potential of the Internet of Things. SIGFOX enables large-scale connection of objects through a simple, low-energy-consuming and cost-effective subscription-based connectivity solution. The cellular-based solution allows two-way communications without the need for application-specific network infrastructures and thus removes the installation complexity for the end users. Solution providers can build their products once and connect them on-demand, globally. SIGFOX contributes to wireless communication networks what Twitter contributes to web communications, i.e., the ability to communicate the essential information at low cost.

The SIGFOX network is deployed through the SIGFOX Network Operator partnership program.

For more information, see http://www.sigfox.com and follow us on Twitter @sigfox.

About Abertis

Abertis is a leading global infrastructure management Group developing its activities in toll roads and telecommunications business through its toll roads concession companies and Abertis Telecom. Abertis Telecom is a telecommunications infrastructure and media service company operating in the broadcast, satellite and mobile communications markets. With its networks and communications assets, the company provides the transmission services to the major TV station in Spain and the connectivity for leading mobile network companies and emergency services operators. Abertis Telecom will build on this experience with investments in a new smart communications network to support the mass rollout of connected objects in the context of the Internet of Things.

SOURCE SIGFOX

Video: Intel partners with FC Barcelona from Spain.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

Intel and FC Barcelona announced Dec. 12 as part of their new official technology partnership, the Intel Inside® logo will be the first-ever placement of a partner’s logo inside FC Barcelona’s jerseys. Showing the new jersey are Carles Puyol, FC Barcelona player, Sandro Rosell, FC Barcelona club president, Deborah Conrad, Intel chief marketing officer and Gerard Pique, FC Barcelona player.

“It’s more than a sponsorship to Intel,” said Deborah Conrad, Intel chief marketing officer with Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, and Neymar Jr., FC Barcelona players at the Dec. 12 announcement of Intel becoming FC Barcelona’s official technology partner.

The video has english subtitles and was made in catalan and spanish languages.

Maybe you are not aware who are FC Barcelona? They are a football (soccer) team one of the world`s best and inside play most of the actual World Cup Champion 2010 and Europe Cup Champion 2012 players. Are also actual Spain 2012/2013 League Champions

Lionel Messi, Neymar and Puyol are foreign players of the team. You can check all of them here

"The technology we are deploying and the programs we are working on together are designed to elevate FC Barcelona into one of the most technologically advanced soccer clubs in the world and to launch an ambitious slate of educational initiatives." said Deborah Conrad, Intel chief marketing officer. 

The spirit of the partnership is symbolized by the new FC Barcelona jersey, which will feature the Intel logo inside. This is the first-ever placement of a logo inside the club's jersey.

Its what's on the inside that counts! #LookInsideFCB

Music: "Made to Stray" & "Break Well" by Mount Kimbie

Press Release:

BARCELONA, Spain, Dec. 12, 2013 – Intel Corporation and FC Barcelona today announced a partnership agreement that brings together two brands with shared core values of innovation and performance, as well as to support and improve the communities they serve around the world.

"This is more than a sponsorship to Intel," said Deborah Conrad, Intel chief marketing officer. "The technology we are deploying and the programs we are working on together are designed to elevate FC Barcelona into one of the most technologically advanced soccer clubs in the world and to launch an ambitious slate of educational initiatives."

The spirit of the partnership is symbolized by the new FC Barcelona jersey, which will feature the Intel logo inside. This is the first-ever placement of a logo inside the club's jersey. The new jersey was unveiled today at FC Barcelona's training facilities by Intel's Conrad; Sandro Rosell, president of FC Barcelona; andFC Barcelona players Gerard Pique and Carles Puyol. The new jersey will be worn beginning in the La Liga match against Villareal on Dec. 14.

"It is a huge satisfaction for FC Barcelona to be able to join forces and share the values of innovation and teamwork with a company of such worldwide prestige as Intel," said Rosell.

"We are both trendsetters in our fields, and I am convinced the collaboration we are starting today will be very important. It will mean much more than a financial sponsorship."

Initiatives unveiled today include:

• Providing the latest Intel-based technology to the students at the famous La Masia academy to enable and foster a culture of creativity.
• Supplying FC Barcelona players and coaches with the latest Intel-based 2 in 1 devices, while working with the club to improve its research, training and performance via the most up-to-date technology.
• Working to improve the fan experience through new technology at Camp Nou.
• Delivering the latest technology to the education network FC Barcelona has built across the globe.
• 
  

Spain: Vodafone launches SmartPass m-payment service.

Spain: Vodafone launches SmartPass m-payment service.

Vodafone Spain has become the first operator in Spain to launch an NFC-powered mobile wallet service allowing customers to pay for goods and services with a touch or wave of their smartphone. The Vodafone Wallet app can also hold travel cards, library or gym membership cards, loyalty cards, gift cards and vouchers, the aim being to eventually replace plastic cards.

The first payment app available for the Wallet is called Vodafone SmartPass and has been developed in partnership with Visa. The app uses prepaid funds to enable customers to pay for goods with their smartphone at any Visa contactless payment terminal.

The service will initially be confined to NFC-capable smartphones from Samsung, Sony and HTC, with plans to expand the range rapidly in 2014. Vodafone also says that customers without a compatible NFC phone can apply for an NFC tag to stick to the back of their handset to use in conjunction with the SmartPass app.

Currently the app is only available on Android via Vodafone Updates and customers who install it on their phones will need to enter a password and provide their Visa card number before being allowed to use the service at 300,000-plus locations in Spain and 1.2 million in Europe.

The service will be launched in Germany in mid-December and expanded to the Netherlands, UK and Italy in spring 2014. Vodafone is also working with major European banks to integrate their card portfolios into the wallet.

Wirecard is supporting Vodafone as a technical service provider implementing the mobile payment application for various mobile phone types. Wirecard is also responsible for the creation, implementation and operations of all technical processes. Wirecard will provide NFC tags for mobile phone models which are not NFC-enabled. 

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Spain: New Crustacean Species squat lobster Discovered

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

A drawing of the newly discovered squat lobster.

Spain: New Crustacean Species squat lobster  Discovered

A new species of crustacean has been discovered in the underwater mountains off the northwest coast of Spain, scientists recently announced.

The squat lobster is orange and a little over 2 inches (5 centimeters) long. Squat lobsters are more closely related to porcelain and hermit crabs than true lobsters.

It was discovered at a depth of 4,626 feet (1,410 meters) in August 2011 by the INDEMARES research group and lives among deep corals and sea fans, according to a study published in the March issue of the journal Zootaxa.

The shy crustaceans are abundant in submarine mountains in areas that haven't been heavily fished; the corals and sea fans amid which they live tend to disappear in trawling zones, researchers said in a statement.

Given the scientific name Uroptychus cartesi, the species' closest relative can be found in the Caribbean Sea, and both species likely have a shared ancestor "who invaded the Atlantic from the Pacific and Indian Ocean a few million years ago," said study co-author Enrique Macpherson, a researcher at Spain's Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes.

The squat lobsters are homebodies and do not spread far, since their larvae spend only a few days in the free-swimming planktonic stage. They feed on smaller crustaceans and particulate matter.

The crustcean is different from other European species mainly because of its shape and the number of thorns on its shell.

Researchers named it after the scientist Joan Cartes, from Barcelona's Institute of Marine Sciences, who was the first to notice that something about these creatures looked different.

The six specimens captured were handed over to Barcelona's Institute of Marine Sciences and the National Museum of Natural History in Paris.

LTE: Spain: Eleven bidders in line for Spanish LTE spectrum.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesús.

The Spanish authorities said that 11 companies have signed-up to participate in the country’s planned LTE spectrum auction, with bids starting at EUR1.45 billion.

 In addition to existing operators Vodafone, Telefonica and Orange, a number of other participants from the Spanish ICT industry have also expressed their interest. 

According to Telecompaper, the regulator is auctioning 58 blocks in the 800MHz, 900MHz and 2.6GHz bands. The tender winner is expected to be announced by the end of this month.

Interestingly, the current reports all omit Yoigo, the Spanish arm of TeliaSonera, from the list of bidders. Yoigo last month bought an additional spectrum allocation, which it is likely to use to reduce its need to roam onto the networks of competitors. 

According to a Dow Jones Newswires report, the Spanish government is looking to raise up to EUR2 billion from the spectrum sale, the proceeds of which will be used to reduce the country’s finance needs.

 The availability of mobile broadband spectrum has been identified as a growth driver by operators in the country, and as a tool to reduce the digital divide between the connected and unconnected populations.

Palm webOS: Palm Spain selling Palm Pre and Pre Plus sim free. 355,00 €

WorldWideTech. Francisco De Jesús.

Palm Spain is selling the Palm Pre and Pre Plus sim free for 355,00 €

Link: http://eurostore.palm.com/epages/Store.sf?ObjectPath=/Shops/PalmStore&ChangeAction=ChangeCurrencyByCountry&CurrencyCountry=ES

Spain: Movistar will launch the LG Optimus WP7 in Nov 1st.

Movistar market, from 1 November, the first Windows phone devices 7, the new Microsoft operating system for mobile devices. Customers of the operator may acquire, among others, the device LG Optimus 7 in any of its usual outlets for $ 49 by hiring a voice plan and data flat rate Internet Plus.

Telefonica in Spain will market the first mobile operating system Windows Phone 7 (WP7) of Microsoft , offering its customers once again the most innovative products on the world scene. Thus, from November 1 Movistar customers can purchase any of the usual sales channels the operator for LG Optimus 7 , among others, from 0 euros.

With this launch, Telefónica, the Spanish market leader with an estimated share of 60 percent in smartphones, increasingly fills a customer needs to make available the skills and qualities of this new operating system, the unique design of a terminal LG and services more pointers of the first national carrier to stay connected.

To launch Windows 7 in Spain Phone Telefónica has developed a commercial offering varied and adapted to all mobile customers, whether new customers, customers of other companies or users of Movistar , with facilities and commercial support to eligible best and most innovative device for the best price.

In this way, new customers of Movistar and those from other moving companies can purchase the LG Optimus 7 from 49 euros hiring a voice plan of 29.90 euros / month flat rate mobile Internet Plus 15 euros / month . If the client prefers to hire voice plan of 59.90 euros / month flat rate mobile Internet Plus you can buy this new device for only $ 0.

For those who are already customers of Movistar, and thanks to customer loyalty program points to the company, the LG Optimus 7 will be available from 0 euros depending on the points accumulated and whether it engages a flat rate data. For example, registering at a rate of mobile Internet can be achieved with 0 points and 154,900 euros plus a commitment to stay for 24 months.

In addition, Movistar make special offers to renew existing customers smartphones, especially those who are staying less than 3 months to complete their commitment to stay, that loyalty will be rewarded with promotion points to redeem for the new terminal at a price more attractive.

Movistar, which in future will increase its portfolio of devices Phone Windows 7 offer from November 1 to its customers three different models with this new operating system: LG Optimus 7 HD7 HTC and Samsung Omnia 7 .

Integration into Windows applications Movistar Phone 7

Windows Phone7 the devices built-in phone portfolio shortly in the Market Place for Microsoft application / catalog mstore Movistar with applications and games for sale other multimedia content (music, TV, VOD, e-books, etc) independent of music and gaming client that Microsoft already offers in its terminals WP7, and customizing the browser links, among other functionalities of Movistar.

Phone Windows 7 allows users to do what they want in fewer steps. Using design to simplify tasks and to organize information centralization, Windows Phone 7 innovation to help people find and consume information more easily, data, web services and applications. The new devices are differentiated by providing different experiences created from the broad portfolio of Microsoft, and with Xbox Live, Office, Zune, Windows Live, Bing and more

By applying Play-To-available only in the LG Optimus 7 - users can share media files, images, audio and video, between different digital devices without having to access other menus. In this way, you can view videos and photos taken with your device in the home TV or enjoy music on your phone through your wireless speakers.

The user will have on your mobile augmented reality application ScanSearch, LG system and Voice-to-Text to access phone menus by voice only. In addition, LG Optimus 7 has an ergonomic QWERTY keyboard, 16GB memory, a 5MP camera and application "Smart Trip" for perfect photos

APPOINTMENTS:

To Guillermo Ansaldo, president of Telefonica Spain , "Windows 7 will enable Telefónica Phone consolidate its leadership in Spain in the market for smartphones. A market, which by all analysts to grow in coming years to the point that in 2013 eight out of ten devices sold in Spain will be smartphones. Hopefully both private clients and professional and business hosting these new devices with the same excitement and interest that we sell. "

In the words of Maria Garaña, president at Microsoft , "Windows Phone 7 is the result of an ambitious effort to provide a different phone, designed for consumers are becoming increasingly sophisticated and demanding, committed to their personal and professional life. Movistar is a strategic partner for the launch of Windows Phone in Spain and are sure that your customers will really enjoy a completely different experience to all that is currently on the market "

To More information:

Telefonica Spain

Press Office

Round Communication s / n

28050 - MADRID

Tel: +34 91 482 38 00

e-mail: prensa@telefonica.es

http://saladeprensa.telefonica.com

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