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Background: Colorectal cancer has high incidence and associated mortality worldwide. Screening programs are recommended for men and women over 50. Intermediate screens such as fecal immunochemical testing (FIT) select patients for colonoscopy with suboptimal sensitivity. Additional biomarkers could improve the current scenario. Methods: We included 2,893 individuals with a positive FIT test. They were classified as cases when a high-risk lesion for colorectal cancer was detected after colonoscopy, whereas the control group comprised individuals with low-risk or no lesions. 65 colorectal cancer risk genetic variants were genotyped. Polygenic risk score (PRS) and additive models for risk prediction incorporating sex, age, FIT value, and PRS were generated. Results: Risk score was higher in cases compared with controls [per allele OR = 1.04; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.02–1.06; P < 0.0001]. A 2-fold increase in colorectal cancer risk was observed for subjects in the highest decile of risk alleles (≥65), compared with those in the first decile (≤54; OR = 2.22; 95% CI, 1.59–3.12; P < 0.0001). The model combining sex, age, FIT value, and PRS reached the highest accuracy for identifying patients with a high-risk lesion [cross-validated area under the ROC curve (AUROC): 0.64; 95% CI, 0.62–0.66]. Conclusions: This is the first investigation analyzing PRS in a two-step colorectal cancer screening program. PRS could improve current colorectal cancer screening, most likely for higher at-risk subgroups. However, its capacity is limited to predict colorectal cancer risk status and should be complemented by additional biomarkers. Impact: PRS has capacity for risk stratification of colorectal cancer suggesting its potential for optimizing screening strategies alongside with other biomarkers.

Background Population-based studies characterising outcomes of COVID-19 in European settings are limited, and effects of socio-economic status (SES) on outcomes have not been widely investigated. Aim We describe the epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 cases, highlighting incidence and mortality rate differences across SES during the first wave in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Methods This population-based study reports individual-level data of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases diagnosed from 24 February to 4 May 2020, notified to the Public Health Agency of Barcelona and followed until 15 June 2020. We analysed end-of-study vital status and the effects of chronic conditions on mortality using logistic regression. Geocoded addresses were linked to basic health area SES data, estimated using the composed socio-economic index. We estimated age-standardised incidence, hospitalisation, and mortality rates by SES. Results Of 15,554 COVID-19-confirmed cases, the majority were women (n = 9,028; 58%), median age was 63 years (interquartile range: 46–83), 8,046 (54%) required hospitalisation, and 2,287 (15%) cases died. Prevalence of chronic conditions varied across SES, and multiple chronic conditions increased risk of death (≥ 3, adjusted odds ratio: 2.3). Age-standardised rates (incidence, hospitalisation, mortality) were highest in the most deprived SES quartile (incidence: 1,011 (95% confidence interval (CI): 975–1,047); hospitalisation: 619 (95% CI: 591–648); mortality: 150 (95% CI: 136–165)) and lowest in the most affluent (incidence: 784 (95% CI: 759–809); hospitalisation: 400 (95% CI: 382–418); mortality: 121 (95% CI: 112–131)). Conclusions COVID-19 outcomes varied markedly across SES, underscoring the need to implement effective preventive strategies for vulnerable populations.

SeqCOVID-Spain consortium: Álvaro Chiner-Oms, Irving Cancino-Muñoz, Mariana G. López, Manuela Torres-Puente, Inmaculada Gómez-Navarro, Santiago Jiménez-Serrano, Jordi Pérez-Tur, Darío García de Viedma, Laura Pérez-Lago, Marta Herranz, Jon Sicilia, Pilar Catalán-Alonso, Julia Suárez González, Patricia Muñoz, Mireia Coscolla, Paula Ruiz-Rodríguez, Fernando González-Candelas, Iñaki Comas, Lidia Ruiz-Roldán, María Alma Bracho, Neris García-González, Llúcia Martínez Priego, Inmaculada Galán-Vendrell, Paula Ruiz-Hueso, Griselda De Marco, María Loreto Ferrús-Abad, Sandra Carbó-Ramírez, Giuseppe D’Auria, Galo Adrian Goig, Juan Alberola, Jose Miguel Nogueira, Juan José Camarena, David Navarro, Eliseo Albert, Ignacio Torres, Maitane Aranzamendi Zaldumbide, Óscar Martínez Expósito, Nerea Antona Urieta, María de Toro, María Pilar Bea-Escudero, Jose Antonio Boga, Cristian Castelló-Abietar, Susana Rojo-Alba, Marta Elena Álvarez-Argüelles, Santiago Melón, Elisa Martró, Antoni E. Bordoy, Anna Not, Adrián Antuori, Anabel Fernández-Navarro, Andrés Canut-Blasco, Silvia Hernáez Crespo, Maria Luz Cordón Rodríguez, Maria Concepción Lecaroz Agara, Carmen Gómez-González, Amaia Aguirre-Quiñonero, José Israel López-Mirones, Marina Fernández-Torres, Maria Rosario Almela-Ferrer, Ana Carvajal, Juan Miguel Fregeneda-Grandes, Héctor Argüello, Gustavo Cilla Eguiluz, Milagrosa Montes Ros, Luis Piñeiro Vázquez, Ane Sorarrain, José María Marimón, José J. Costa-Alcalde, Rocío Trastoy, Gema Barbeito Castiñeiras, Amparo Coira, María Luisa Pérez del Molino, Antonio Aguilera, Begoña Palop-Borrás, Inmaculada de Toro Peinado, Maria Concepción Mediavilla Gradolph, Mercedes Pérez-Ruiz, Mirian Fernández-Alonso, Jose Luis del Pozo, Oscar González-Recio, Mónica Gutiérrez-Rivas, Jovita Fernández-Pinero, Miguel Ángel Jiménez Clavero, Begoña Fuster Escrivá, Concepción Gimeno Cardona, María Dolores Ocete Mochón, Rafael Medina-Gonzalez, José Antonio Lepe, Verónica González Galán, Ángel Rodríguez-Villodres, Nieves Gonzalo Jiménez, Jordi Reina, Carla López-Causapé, Maria Dolores Gómez-Ruiz, Eva M. Gonzalez-Barbera, José Luis López-Hontangas, Vicente Martín, Antonio J. Molina, Tania Fernandez-Villa, Ana Milagro Beamonte, Nieves Felisa Martínez-Cameo, Yolanda Gracia-Grataloup, Rosario Moreno-Muñoz, Maria Dolores Tirado Balaguer, José María Navarro-Marí, Irene Pedrosa-Corral, Sara Sanbonmatsu-Gámez, Antonio Oliver, Mónica Parra Grande, Bárbara Gómez Alonso, Francisco José Arjona Zaragozí, Maria Carmen Pérez González, Francisco Javier Chamizo López, Ana Bordes-Benítez, Núria Rabella, Ferran Navarro, Elisenda Miró, Antonio Rezusta, Alexander Tristancho, Encarnación Simarro Córdoba, Julia Lozano-Serra, Lorena Robles Fonseca, Álex Soriano, Francisco Javier Roig Sena, Hermelinda Vanaclocha Luna, Isabel Sanmartín, Daniel García-Souto, Ana Pequeño-Valtierra, Jose M. C. Tubio, Javier Temes, Jorge Rodríguez-Castro, Martín Santamarina García, Manuel Rodríguez-Iglesias, Fátima Galán-Sanchez, Salud Rodríguez-Pallares, José Manuel Azcona-Gutiérrez, Miriam Blasco-Alberdi, Alfredo Mayor, Alberto L. García-Basteiro, Gemma Moncunill, Carlota Dobaño, Pau Cisteró, Oriol Mitjà, Camila González-Beiras, Martí Vall-Mayans, Marc Corbacho-Monné, Andrea Alemany, Cristina Muñoz-Cuevas, Guadalupe Rodríguez-Rodríguez, Rafael Benito, Sonia Algarate, Jessica Bueno, Andrea Vergara-Gómez, Miguel J. Martínez, Jordi Vila, Elisa Rubio, Aida Peiró-Mestres, Jessica Navero-Castillejos, David Posada, Diana Valverde, Nuria Estévez, Iria Fernández-Silva, Loretta de Chiara, Pilar Gallego-García, Nair Varela, Ulises Gómez-Pinedo, Mónica Gozalo-Margüello, Maria Eliecer Cano García, José Manuel Méndez-Legaza, Jesus Rodríguez-Lozano, María Siller, Daniel Pablo-Marcos, Maria Montserrat Ruiz-García, Antonio Galiana, Judith Sánchez-Almendro, Maria Isabel Gascón Ros, Cristina Juana Torregrosa-Hetland, Eva María Pastor Boix, Paloma Cascales Ramos, Pedro Luis Garcinuño Enríquez, Salvador Raga Borja, Julia González Cantó, Olalla Martínez Macias, Adolfo de Salazar, Laura Viñuela González, Natalia Chueca, Federico García, Cristina Gómez-Camarasa, Amparo Farga Martí, Rocío Falcón, Victoria Domínguez-Márquez, Anna M. Planas, Israel Fernández-Cádenas, Maria Ángeles Marcos, Carmen Ezpeleta, Ana Navascués, Ana Miqueleiz Zapatero, Manuel Segovia, Antonio Moreno-Docón, Esther Viedma, Raúl Recio Martínez, Irene Muñoz-Gallego, Sara Gonzalez-Bodi, Maria Dolores Folgueira, Jesús Mingorance, Elias Dahdouh, Fernando Lázaro-Perona, María Rodríguez-Tejedor, María Pilar Romero-Gómez, Julio García-Rodríguez, Juan Carlos Galán, Mario Rodríguez-Dominguez, Laura Martínez-García, Melanie Abreu Di Berardino, Manuel Ponce-Alonso, Jose Maria González-Alba, Ivan Sanz-Muñoz, Diana Pérez San José, Maria Gil Fortuño, Juan B. Bellido-Blasco, Alberto Yagüe Muñoz, Noelia Hernández Pérez, Helena Buj Jordá, Óscar Pérez Olaso, Alejandro González Praetorius, Nora Mariela Martínez Ramírez, Aida Ramírez Marinero, Eduardo Padilla León, Alba Vilas Basil, Mireia Canal Aranda, Albert Bernet Sánchez, Alba Bellés Bellés, Eric López González, Iván Prats Sánchez, Mercè García-González, Miguel José Martínez-Lirola, Manuel Ángel Rodríguez Maresca, Maria Teresa Cabezas Fernández, María Eugenia Carrillo Gil, Maria Paz Ventero Martín, Carmen Molina Pardines, Nieves Orta Mira, María Navarro Cots, Inmaculada Vidal Catalá, Isabel García Nava, Soledad Illescas Fernández-Bermejo, José Martínez-Alarcón, Marta Torres-Narbona, Cristina Colmenarejo, Lidia García-Agudo, Jorge A. Pérez García, Martín Yago López, María Ángeles Goberna Bravo, Victoria Simón García, Gonzalo Llop Furquet, Agustín Iranzo Tatay, Sandra Moreno-Marro, Noelia Lozano Rodríguez, Amparo Broseta Tamarit, Juan José Badiola Díez, Amparo Martínez-Ramírez, Ana Dopazo, Sergio Callejas, Alberto Benguría, Begoña Aguado, Antonio Alcamí, Marta Bermejo Bermejo, Ricardo Ramos-Ruíz, Víctor Manuel Fernández Soria, Fernando Simón Soria & Mercedes Roig Cardells, The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the world radically since 2020. Spain was one of the European countries with the highest incidence during the first wave. As a part of a consortium to monitor and study the evolution of the epidemic, we sequenced 2,170 samples, diagnosed mostly before lockdown measures. Here, we identified at least 500 introductions from multiple international sources and documented the early rise of two dominant Spanish epidemic clades (SECs), probably amplified by superspreading events. Both SECs were related closely to the initial Asian variants of SARS-CoV-2 and spread widely across Spain. We inferred a substantial reduction in the effective reproductive number of both SECs due to public-health interventions (Re, This work was mainly funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III project COV20/00140, with additional funding by Spanish National Research Council project CSIC-COV19-021, Ministerio de Ciencia project PID2019-104477RB-100, ERC StG 638553 and ERC CoG 101001038 to I.C., and BFU2017-89594R to F.G.C. M.C. is supported by Ramón y Cajal program from Ministerio de Ciencia and grants RTI2018-094399-A-I00 and Generalitat Valenciana (Regional Government) project SEJI/2019/011. We gratefully acknowledge Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Lab and all the international researchers and institutions that submitted sequenced SARS-CoV-2 genomes to the GISAID’s EpiCov Database (Supplementary Table 1), as an important part of our analyses has been made possible by the sharing of their work. We also thank Unidad de Bioinformática y Estadística, Centro de Investigación Príncipe Felipe, for allowing us to use the Computer Cluster to perform some of the bioinformatic analysis.

Campylobacter jejuni is the causal agent of the food-borne infection with the highest incidence in Europe. Both poultry and wild birds are a major reservoir. To gain insight into the population structure, virulence potential, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a collection of 150 isolates from three different ecological niches (broilers, wild birds, and human patients) was studied. Despite the high genetic diversity found, the population structure defined two distinct clusters, one formed mostly by broiler and human isolates and another one by most wild bird isolates. The ST-21 complex exhibits highest prevalence (in humans and broilers), followed by ST-1275 complex (only in wild birds). The ST-48, -45, and -354 complexes were found in all three niches, but represent only 22 out of 150 studied strains. A higher occurrence of AMR and multidrug resistance was detected among broiler and human isolates. Moreover, significant differences were found in the distribution of certain putative virulence genes. Remarkably, many wild bird strains were negative for either cdtA, cdtB, or cdtC from the canonical strain 81-176, whereas all broiler and human strains were positive. These data suggest that the different variants of the cdt genes might be relevant for the efficient colonization of certain hosts by C. jejuni. Our study contributes to the understanding of the role of the diverse Campylobacter reservoirs in the transmission of campylobacteriosis to humans info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

The ability of the new VITEK 2Neisseria-Haemophilus card (bioMerieux) for the identification ofNeisseria, Haemophilus and other fastidious Gram-negative organisms was compared with 16S rRNA gene sequencing and others reference methods, in a clinical microbiology laboratory. The VITEK 2 NH card correctly identified 100 isolates (95%) of 105 isolates. Four isolates were misidentified (1Campylobacter coli, 1Campylobacter jejuni, 1Neisseria meningitidis and 1Haemophilus influenzae) and oneC. coli was unidentified. With its extended database and results available within 6 hours, this card could be considered a useful tool for routine use in clinical microbiology laboratory.

La cartografía de enfermedades infecciosas en periodos sucesivos plantea la necesidad de su extensión al caso dinámico.En este trabajo proponemos la concatenación temporal de modelos autoregresivos espaciales para abordar el análisis de mortalidad por meningitis en España en el peíódo 1950-1990 con datos agregados a nivel provincial.Para la estimación y selección del modelo usamos técnicas basadas en la función de verosimilitud The authors want to thank the referees for comments and suggestions.This work has been partially supported by the Dirección General de Investigación Científica y Técnica(DGICYT)and Generalitat Valenciana (projects PB96-0776 and GV99-621-01).

El progrés científic segueix sovint uns camins que no estan exempts de risc i veiem com moltes novetats tecnològiques, inicialment acollides amb entusiasme, es converteixen en armes de dos talls, representant alhora un benefici i un risc: aquest és el cas de l'energia nuclear.

Curs 2014-2015, Cancer research is continuously shedding light into these worldwide leading diseases. It is mandatory to have higher knowledge in cancer biology to consequently find out new candidate biomarkers and therapeutics. Among all of them, Colorectal cancer is the most commonly seen of human malignant cancers and has the third highest mortality rate[1]. Since the release of the first human genome sequence in 2004, new techniques have revolutionised the study of genetics and its possible applications. A broad type of studies has been carried out; being Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms and Copy Number Variants the most intensively studied analysis. However, other kinds of mutations involving larger parts of the genome, the so-called structural variants, have been substantially less analyzed due to technical limitations. High-throughput sequencing methods seem to have lowered these restrictions. In this study, gene fusions have been searched in whole exome sequencing samples taking 42 paired normal and cancer tissues. Beginning with short-read files obtained with the mentioned method, they have been aligned against a reference genome to later be analyzed with Breakdancer, a structural variant calling algorithm. After some filtering criteria performed in order to remove a high proportion of false positives, a highly probable list of 22 balanced structural variants (translocations and/or inversions) has been manually studied to get a final result of 20 chromosomal rearrangements, 8 of which are considered gene fusions. In addition, it has been found that one recurrent translocation seen in recent studies is indeed a false positive. Further studies taking into account these results may contribute to the findings of new biomarkers for certain subtypes of colorectal cancer., Director/a: Victor Moreno, co-director: Mireia Olivella

La carbapenemasa OXA-48 esta àmpliament estesa arreu del món i principalment en Enterobacteriaceae. A Catalunya, Klebsiella pneumoniae productora de la carbapenemasa OXA-48 es va detectar per primer cop al 2009, i des d’aleshores semblava observar-se un cert increment. L’observació d’aquest increment per part de diferents hospitals fou la raó per a iniciar aquest estudi multicèntric que inclou 11 hospitals comarcals i l’Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau i que té com a principal objectiu la caracterització, tant a nivell epidemiològic com molecular, de les soques de K. pneumoniae productores d’OXA-48 aïllades al llarg del 2012. En l’estudi es van incloure totes aquelles soques de K. pneumoniae que presentaven un fenotip de resistència als antibiòtics betalactàmics diferent al patró natural esperat. A les soques seleccionades se’ls hi va realitzar el test de Hodge modificat (THM) per poder evidenciar la presència de qualsevol enzim amb activitat enfront els carbapenèmics. D’un total de 3.901 soques de K. pneumoniae aïllades, 171 (4,4%) van ser positives per al THM. Per PCR es van confirmar com a portadores de l’OXA-48 85 soques (49,7%). El vuitanta nou percent de les 85 soques productores de l’OXA-48 coexpressaven la BLEA CTX-M-15, acompanyada o no d’OXA-1 i/o TEM-1. Es va estudiar la clonalitat d’aquestes 85 soques per macrorestricció genòmica (PFGE) i MultiLocus Sequencing Type (MLST). Per PFGE es varen observar cinc clones: A, B, C, D i E; que es van correlacionar perfectament amb les cinc seqüència tipus trobades: ST101, ST17, ST1233, ST14 i ST405. La ST1233 va ser descrita per primer cop en aquest estudi. El gen blaOXA-48 es trobat situat en un plasmidi conjugatiu del grup d’incompatibilitat IncL, (62 Kb aprox) i localitzat majoritàriament en Tn1999.2 (91,7%). Es va descartar que la resta de betalactamases trobades estiguessin en aquest plasmidi. De les 85 soques productores d’OXA-48, 75 (88,23%) tenien el gen qnrB. També es varen estudiar els gens implicats en la resistència enzimàtica als aminoglicòsids. De les 85 soques estudiades, 82 es mostraren resistents a algun dels aminoglicòsid estudiats, El fenotip majoritari, va ser la resistència a kanamicina, tobramicina i gentamicina (KTG) i s’explica per la presència dels gens aac(3’)-IIa (KTGN) i aac(6)-Ib (KTAN). Es van observat que soques genèticament relacionades (igual PFGE, ST i presencia dels mateixos gens de resistència) presentaven nivells de resistència diferents. Aquestes diferencies no es varen poder associar a l’activació de bombes d’expulsió AcrAB ni alteracions de les porines estudiades. Els resultats obtinguts per les tècniques clàssiques (PCR, Seqüenciació, PFGE i MLST) van ser comparats en 37 soques amb la nova tècnica de la seqüenciació massiva del genoma microbià (Whole Genome Sequencing: WGS) i el cgMLST (core genome MultiLocus Sequence Typing). Es resultats mostraren una bona correlació entre PFGE-MLST i cgMLST. A l’introduir les seqüències obtingudes pel WGS als webs PlasmidFinder i al ResFinder, vàrem poder identificar plasmidis recentment tipificats i la presència d’altres gens de resistència, com: strA/strB, oqxA/oqxB ,drfA, sul2, fosA, catB3, tet(A) i tet(D). Amb les seqüències obtingudes per WGS també es va obtenir les seqüències de les dianes d’acció de les quinolones, els QRDR. Nomes es varen detectar alteracions en les tres soques del ST101. En conclusió, l’increment de la prevalença de K. pneumoniae portadora d’OXA-48 a Catalunya es deu a la presència en tots els hospitals on s’han aïllat aquestes soques de l’expansió de les clones ST405 i ST101. No havent-hi trobat diferencies en l’entorn genètic del gen que es el mateix que s’ha anat a descrivint arreu. Per altra banda, podem afirmar que la WGS és una bona eina per a la descripció epidemiològica i molecular de brots produïts per a soques multiresistents., The OXA-48 carbapenemase is widely spread around the world and found mainly in Enterobacteriaceae. In Catalonia, OXA-48-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae was first detected in 2009, since then, a growing prevalence has been observed in different hospitals, which prompted the aim of this multicenter study, which includes 11 regional hospitals and the Hospital de Santa Creu i Sant Pau, is the characterization, both epidemiological and molecular, of OXA-48–producing K. pneumoniae strains isolated throughout 2012. The study included all K. pneumoniae strains with an unusual pattern of resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics. Selected strains underwent a modified Hodge test (MHT) to detect any enzyme activity against carbapenemics. A total of 3,901 K. pneumoniae strains, 171 MHT-positive strains (4.4%) were selected. PCR confirmed that 85 strains carried OXA-48 (49.7%). Eighty nine percent of the 85 OXA-48–producing strains coexpressed the ESBL CTX-M-15, with or without beta-lactamases OXA-1 and TEM-1. The clonality of these 85 OXA-48–producing strains was studied by macrorestriction analysis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Five clones were observed by PFGE: A, B, C, D and E. These five clones were perfectly correlated with the five sequence types found, ST101, ST17I, ST1233, ST14 and ST405. ST1233 is described for the first time in this study. The blaOXA-48 gene was found in a conjugative plasmid of incompatibility group IncL (aprox. 62 Kb) and located in Tn1999.2 (91.7%). The other beta-lactamase genes of these strains were not found in this plasmid. Of the 85 OXA-48–producing strains, 75 (88.23%) harboured the qnrB gene. Genes involved in enzyme-mediated resistance against aminoglycosides were also studied. Of the 85 OXA-48–producing strains, 82 showed resistance to some of the aminoglycosides studied. The major phenotype showed resistance to kanamycin, gentamicin and tobramycin (KTG), and it was explained by the presence of aac(3')-IIa (KTGN) and aac(6’)-Ib (KTAN) genes. We observed that genetically related strains (that is, closely related PFGE, identical ST and the presence of the same resistance genes) showed different levels of resistance. These differences couldn’t be due to alterations in the expression of the efflux pump AcrAB or in porins. Results obtained by classical techniques (PCR, sequencing, PFGE and MLST) in 37 strains selected were compared with those of the new techniques of massive sequencing of microbial genomes (Whole Genome Sequencing: WGS) and cgMLST (core genome MultiLocus Sequence Typing). A good correlation was found between PFGE-MLST and cgMLST, and four strains were identical by cgMLST but not by PFGE. After uploading the sequences obtained by WGS to the PlasmidFinder and ResFinder online search tools, we were able to identify recently classified plasmids and determine the presence of other resistance genes, such as: strA / strB, oqxA / oqxB, drfA, sul2, fosA, catB3, tet(A) and tet(D). The use of WGS allowed us to obtain sequences of the targets of the quinolones, the QRDR. Surprisingly, only alterations described as responsible for this resistance were detected in all three ST101 strains. In conclusion, the increase in the prevalence of OXA-48-carrying K. pneumoniae in Catalonia is due to the expansion of the ST405 and ST101 clones in all hospitals where strains were isolated. No differences in the genetic background of the blaOXA-48 gene were found, as reported elsewhere. Moreover, WGS was found to be a useful tool for the molecular and epidemiological analysis of outbreaks caused by multidrug-resistant strains.

En el presente proyecto final de carrera se muestran los procedimientos que se han llevado a cabo para promover una reducción de variantes de elementos de fijación en las piezas de acabados internos de los modelos Seat. Gran parte del procedimiento se centra en un tipo de clip que suma aproximadamente el 50% del total de fijaciones que aparece en los revestimientos internos. Dada la gran importancia de este tipo de fijación en el área, su estudio se convierte en una necesidad para poder conocer de primera mano las variables del entorno que afectan a su correcto funcionamiento. Para ello, se han analizado estadísticamente los resultados experimentales que se habían llevado a cabo previamente con el objetivo de encontrar el único elemento que mejor se adaptase a un conjunto de situaciones y poder modelar su entorno a través de expresiones matemáticas. Asimismo, en este proyecto se analizan económicamente las consecuencias de promover dicha reducción de variantes, que además proporciona ventajas y facilidades a los operarios de la línea de montaje, permitiendo indirectamente una reducción en los tiempos de montaje. En líneas de reducción y simplificación, se ha optimizado el diseño de un componente utilizado frecuentemente en acabados internos para facilitar al proyectista el desarrollo de este elemento en un tiempo altamente reducido.