Empleo de recubrimientos comestibles con base en almidón de papa y yuca en la conservación del mango cv. Zapote

Se evaluó el uso de la aplicación de un recubrimiento comestible con base de almidón de yuca nativa y almidón de papa, en concentraciones de 4 y 10 %, al mango, en estado verde. Inicialmente fueron desinfectados en hipoclorito de sodio a 200 ppm, por un tiempo de 3 minutos. El tratamiento (1), corresponde a 4% de almidón de yuca, en combinación, de 20% de glicerol, en cuanto a materia seca y 5% de lecitina de soya, el tratamiento (2) contiene 10% de almidón de papa en combinación de lecitina de soja (5%) y glicerol (20%) en cuanto a materia seca. Los resultados obtenidos en la evolución de las características fisicoquímicas del mango variedad zapote fueron analizados estadísticamente empleando el paquete SPSS versión 13, aplicándose el análisis de la varianza (ANOVA), y nivel de significancia del 5%. Las variables de respuesta que se estudiaron fueron color, pérdida de peso, forma-tamaño, firmeza, pH, SST, acidez, tasa de respiración con el fin de establecer si el tipo y la concentración de almidón influyen significativamente en la conservación del mango en estado verde almacenado a granel a condiciones de ambiente de Pamplona. Al evaluar la influencia de los recubrimientos en la conservación del mango variedad zapote se obtuvo que al emplear almidón de yuca al 4% y sorbato de potasio al 0,05% en el recubrimiento comestible se logra controlar la maduración organoléptica por un periodo de 12 días, extendiéndose 6 días de vida útil en almacenamiento a granel en condiciones ambientales de Pamplona

Is the unusual near-threshold potential behavior in elastic scattering of weakly bound nuclei a precision error?

We present the first example of a rigorous uncertainty quantification on elastic Nucleus-Nucleus scattering at energies near the Coulomb barrier. Experimental data has been analyzed using an energy dependent effective optical model potential with physical constraints imposed. We confirm the compatibility of these uncertainties with the well known Coulomb threshold anomaly, explained in terms of a dispersive relation, and contrast our results with previous analyses that suggest otherwise.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

A Mathematical Description of the Bone Marrow Dynamics during CAR T-Cell Therapy in B-Cell Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has demonstrated high rates of response in recurrent B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in children and young adults. Despite this success, a fraction of patients' experience relapse after treatment. Relapse is often preceded by recovery of healthy B cells, which suggests loss or dysfunction of CAR T-cells in bone marrow. This site is harder to access, and thus is not monitored as frequently as peripheral blood. Understanding the interplay between B cells, leukemic cells, and CAR T-cells in bone marrow is paramount in ascertaining the causes of lack of response. In this paper, we put forward a mathematical model representing the interaction between constantly renewing B cells, CAR T-cells, and leukemic cells in the bone marrow. Our model accounts for the maturation dynamics of B cells and incorporates effector and memory CAR T-cells. The model provides a plausible description of the dynamics of the various cellular compartments in bone marrow after CAR T infusion. After exploration of the parameter space, we found that the dynamics of CAR T product and disease were independent of the dose injected, initial B-cell load, and leukemia burden. We also show theoretically the importance of CAR T product attributes in determining therapy outcome, and have studied a variety of possible response scenarios, including second dosage schemes. We conclude by setting out ideas for the refinement of the model.This work was partially supported by the Fundacion Espanola para la Ciencia y la Tecnologia (UCA PR214), the Asociacion Pablo Ugarte (APU, Spain), Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha (SBPLY/17/180501/000154), Ministry of Science and Technology, Spain (PID2019110895RB-I00), and Inversion Territorial Integrada de la Provincia de Cadiz (ITI-0038-2019)

FLRT2 and FLRT3 Cooperate in Maintaining the Tangential Migratory Streams of Cortical Interneurons during Development

Neuron migration is a hallmark of nervous system development that allows gathering of neurons from different origins for assembling of functional neuronal circuits. Cortical inhibitory interneurons arise in the ventral telencephalon and migrate tangentially forming three transient migratory streams in the cortex before reaching the final laminar destination. Although migration defects lead to the disruption of inhibitory circuits and are linked to aspects of psychiatric disorders such as autism and schizophrenia, the molecular mechanisms controlling cortical interneuron development and final layer positioning are incompletely understood. Here, we show that mouse embryos with a double deletion of FLRT2 and FLRT3 genes encoding cell adhesion molecules exhibit an abnormal distribution of interneurons within the streams during development, which in turn, affect the layering of somatostatin+ interneurons postnatally. Mechanistically, FLRT2 and FLRT3 proteins act in a noncell-autonomous manner, possibly through a repulsive mechanism. In support of such a conclusion, double knockouts deficient in the repulsive receptors for FLRTs, Unc5B and Unc5D, also display interneuron defects during development, similar to the FLRT2/FLRT3 mutants. Moreover, FLRT proteins are chemorepellent ligands for developing interneurons in vitro, an effect that is in part dependent on FLRT-Unc5 interaction. Together, we propose that FLRTs act through Unc5 receptors to control cortical interneuron distribution in a mechanism that involves cell repulsion.This work was supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (BFU2010-1805, BFU2013-48563-P, and PGC2018-101910-B-I00 to J.E. and BES-2014-067618 to P.M.-O.), FP7-PEOPLE-2011-CIG (PCIG9-GA-2011-293980 to J.E.), the Max-Planck Society (R.K.), and the Jade Plus Fellowship Program 2011–2014 (C.F.). We thank Tristan Rodríguez (Sox1-Cre line) and Anne Eichmann (Unc5Blx line) for the transgenic mice; Michèle Studer for the vasointestinal peptide probe; Eve Seuntjens and Veronique van den Berghe for scientific discussion; Inmaculada Segura for reading the manuscript; Serafí Cambray, Alex Espinós, Ma José Menal, Inma Montoliu, Montse Ortega, Noel Pérez, Sònia Rius, Marc Tarrés, and the University of Lleida Scientific and Technical Services for technical assistance, and the University of Lleida animal house staff facility for animal care

NKG2D-CAR memory T cells target pediatric T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in vitro and in vivo but fail to eliminate leukemia initiating cells

Introduction Refractory/relapsed pediatric acute leukemia are still clinically challenging and new therapeutic strategies are needed. Interactions between Natural Killer Group 2D (NKG2D) receptor, expressed in cytotoxic immune cells, and its ligands (NKG2DL), which are upregulated in leukemic blasts, are important for anti-leukemia immunosurveillance. Nevertheless, leukemia cells may develop immunoescape strategies as NKG2DL shedding and/or downregulation. Methods In this report, we analyzed the anti-leukemia activity of NKG2D chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) redirected memory (CD45RA ⁻ ) T cells in vitro and in a murine model of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). We also explored in vitro how soluble NKG2DL (sNKG2DL) affected NKG2D-CAR T cells’ cytotoxicity and the impact of NKG2D-CAR T cells on Jurkat cells gene expression and in vivo functionality. Results In vitro , we found NKG2D-CAR T cells targeted leukemia cells and showed resistance to the immunosuppressive effects exerted by sNKG2DL. In vivo , NKG2D-CAR T cells controlled T cell leukemia burden and increased survival of the treated mice but failed to cure the animals. After CAR T cell treatment, Jurkat cells upregulated genes related to proliferation, survival and stemness, and in vivo , they exhibited functional properties of leukemia initiating cells. Discussion The data here presented suggest, that, in combination with other therapeutic approaches, NKG2D-CAR T cells could be a novel treatment for pediatric T-ALL

Anti-CXCR4 Antibody Combined With Activated and Expanded Natural Killer Cells for Sarcoma Immunotherapy

Sarcoma is one of the most severe forms of pediatric cancer and current therapies -chemotherapy and surgery- fail to eradicate the disease in half of patients. Preclinical studies combining new therapeutic approaches can be useful to design better therapies. On one hand, it is known that CXCR4 expression is implicated in rhabdomyosarcoma progression, so we analyzed relapses and chemotherapy-resistant rhabdomyosarcoma tumors from pediatric patients and found that they had particularly high levels of CXCR4 expression. Moreover, in assays in vitro, anti-CXCR4 blocking antibody (MDX1338) efficiently reduced migration and invasion of alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma RH30 cells. On the other hand, activated and expanded natural killer (NKAE) cell therapy showed high cytotoxicity against sarcoma cells in vitro and completely inhibited RH30 tumor implantation in vivo. Only the combination of MDX1338 and NKAE treatments completely suppressed metastasis in mice. In this study, we propose a novel therapeutic approach based on anti-CXCR4 blocking antibody in combination with NKAE cell therapy to prevent rhabdomyosarcoma tumor implantation and lung metastasis. These results provide the first evidence for the efficacy of this combined immunotherapy for preventing sarcoma disease dissemination.This work was supported in part by the National Health Service of Spain, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), FONDOS FEDER grant (FIS) PI15/00973; Asociacion Espanola Contra el Cancer to AP-M; CRIS Foundation to Beat Cancer grant to JV, LF, and AE; and Patients' Support Associations Fundacion Mari Paz Jimenez Casado and La Sonrisa de Alex to MV and the research project

The efficacy of acupuncture and decompression splints in the treatment of temporomandibular joint pain-dysfunction syndrome

Objectives: The goal of the present study was to evaluate the results of applying acupuncture or occlusal decompression splints in the treatment of patients diagnosed with the temporomandibular joint pain-dysfunction syndrome. Design of the study: We conducted a randomized clinical trial including 20 patients to whom the mentioned treatments were applied. Results were evaluated through an analogue pain scale, measurements of mouth opening and jaw lateral deviation in millimetres, and assessment of sensitivity to pressure on different points: preauricular, masseter muscle, temporal muscle and trapezius. Parameters were evaluated before and 30 days after the treatment. For standardized pressure, we used a pressure algometer. Results: Patients treated with decompression splints showed reductions in subjective pain and pain upon pressure on temporal, masseter and trapezius muscles, as well as increased mouth opening after the treatment. Patients treated with acupuncture showed pain reduction in the short term and improvements in all of the evaluated para- meters (stronger pressure was required to produce pain; mouth opening was improved). Conclusion: Acupuncture was an effective complement and/or an acceptable alternative to decompression splints in the treatment of myofascial pain and temporomandibular joint pain-dysfunction syndrome

On the use of evolutionary time series analysis for segmenting paleoclimate data

Recent studies propose that different dynamical systems, such as climate, ecological and financial systems, among others, present critical transition points named to as tipping points (TPs). Climate TPs can severely affect millions of lives on Earth so that an active scientific community is working on finding early warning signals. This paper deals with the development of a time series segmentation algorithm for paleoclimate data in order to find segments sharing common statistical patterns. The proposed algorithm uses a clustering-based approach for evaluating the solutions and six statistical features, most of which have been previously considered in the detection of early warning signals in paleoclimate TPs. Due to the limitations of classical statistical methods, we propose the use of a genetic algorithm to automatically segment the series, together with a method to compare the segmentations. The final segments provided by the algorithm are used to construct a prediction model, whose promising results show the importance of segmentation for improving the understanding of a time series

DataSheet_1_NKG2D-CAR memory T cells target pediatric T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in vitro and in vivo but fail to eliminate leukemia initiating cells.pdf [Dataset]

[Introduction]: Refractory/relapsed pediatric acute leukemia are still clinically challenging and new therapeutic strategies are needed. Interactions between Natural Killer Group 2D (NKG2D) receptor, expressed in cytotoxic immune cells, and its ligands (NKG2DL), which are upregulated in leukemic blasts, are important for anti-leukemia immunosurveillance. Nevertheless, leukemia cells may develop immunoescape strategies as NKG2DL shedding and/or downregulation.[Methods]: In this report, we analyzed the anti-leukemia activity of NKG2D chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) redirected memory (CD45RA-) T cells in vitro and in a murine model of T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). We also explored in vitro how soluble NKG2DL (sNKG2DL) affected NKG2D-CAR T cells’ cytotoxicity and the impact of NKG2D-CAR T cells on Jurkat cells gene expression and in vivo functionality.[Results]: In vitro, we found NKG2D-CAR T cells targeted leukemia cells and showed resistance to the immunosuppressive effects exerted by sNKG2DL. In vivo, NKG2D-CAR T cells controlled T cell leukemia burden and increased survival of the treated mice but failed to cure the animals. After CAR T cell treatment, Jurkat cells upregulated genes related to proliferation, survival and stemness, and in vivo, they exhibited functional properties of leukemia initiating cells.[Discussion]: The data here presented suggest, that, in combination with other therapeutic approaches, NKG2D-CAR T cells could be a novel treatment for pediatric T-ALL.Peer reviewe

Escala Breve de Ansiedad ante la Evaluación Académica (EBAEA-3): Brief Scale of Anxiety of the Academic Evaluation (EBAEA-3)

Resumen: Los objetivos: analizar las propiedades psicométricas de una escala breve de ansiedad ante la evaluación académica y comprobar si hay diferencias entre los alumnos que cursan una materia del área de metodología o de otras áreas. La muestra está formada por 404 alumnos de Psicología (M = 21.03 años, DT = 5.45). El 56.4% reciben formación en metodología y el 43.6% en otras áreas. Los resultados señalan que los estudiantes que reciben formación en materias metodológicas informan de un mayor grado de ansiedad ante la evaluación y perciben que tienen menor autoeficacia. Las implicaciones de los hallazgos están vinculadas con la enseñanza de los contenidos de metodología y alerta a los docentes sobre la necesidad de actuar para controlar esas percepciones. Palabras clave: ansiedad en educación; ansiedad ante la evaluación; medida, fiabilidad; validez   Abstract: The objectives: to analyze the psychometric properties of a brief scale of pre-test anxiety and discover whether there are differences between students taking subjects in the area of methodology or in other areas. The sample is composed of 404 Psychology students (M = 21.03 years, SD = 5.45). Of them, 56.4% receive training in methodology and 43.6% in other areas. The results show that the students who receive training in methodological subjects report a greater degree of pre-test anxiety and perceive themselves as having less self-efficacy. The implications of the findings are linked to the teaching of the methodology contents, and they warn professors about the need to take steps to control these perceptions.  Keywords: anxiety in education, pre-test anxiety, assessment, reliability, validity