Caracterización hidrogeoquímica de los manantiales del área geotermal de Ixtapan de la Sal-Tonatico (México)

La composición química del agua subterránea es el resultado de continuos procesos de interacción entre el agua de precipitación, que se infiltra en el terreno, y los minerales presentes en las rocas por donde circula. Parte de las características químicas del agua son adquiridas en la zona no saturada y otras más a lo largo de su recorrido dentro de la zona saturada, hasta donde pueden ser captadas o bien emerger como agua de manantial. Estos últimos según sus características, puede ser empleados para consumo humano, como generadores de energía o bien para fines recreativos, como es el caso de los manantiales termales de Ixtapan de la Sal y Tonatico. Los estudios hidrogeoquímicos de manantiales termales han permitido ampliar el conocimiento del origen, edad, composición físico-química de las aguas, de las condiciones de recarga y posibles mezclas de agua, así como identificar los procesos que tienen lugar en el acuífero y que permiten obtener una visión más completa del comportamiento del acuífero. También permiten deducir las características de la roca, composición mineralógica, textura, porosidad, grado de alteración, fracturación y compactación, tiempo de residencia o de contacto, temperatura y presión..

Beyond Prejudice as Simple Antipathy: Hostile and Benevolent Sexism Across Cultures

The authors argue that complementary hostile and benevolent componen:s of sexism exist ac ro.ss cultures. Male dominance creates hostile sexism (HS). but men's dependence on women fosters benevolent sexism (BS)-subjectively positive attitudes that put women on a pedestal but reinforce their subordination. Research with 15,000 men and women in 19 nations showed that (a) HS and BS are coherenl constructs th at correlate positively across nations, but (b) HS predicts the ascription of negative and BS the ascription of positive traits to women, (c) relative to men, women are more likely to reject HS than BS. especially when overall levels of sexism in a culture are high, and (d) national averages on BS and HS predict gender inequal ity across nations. These results challenge prevailing notions of prejudice as an antipathy in that BS (an affectionate, patronizing ideology) reflects inequality and is a cross-culturally pervasive complement to HS

Oral and general health conditions involved in periodontal status during pregnancy: a prospective cohort study

Purpose: Pregnancy is a period in a woman’s life that has important consequences on oral health, particularly for gingival health. Present study aims to identify women at higher risk of developing periodontal disease (gingivitis and periodontitis) during late pregnancy and evaluate how this condition evolves during this period. Methods: Prospective cohort study was designed with pregnant women who were assessed during the first and third trimesters of gestation in a southern Spanish public hospital. Data regarding gingival and periodontal health, oral hygiene, and overall health status (obesity and diabetes mellitus) were collected. Reporting followed STROBE checklist. Results: Significantly higher number of women had the periodontal and gingival disease in the third trimester of gestation compared with in early pregnancy. In the third trimester of gestation, 42 (28.6%) and 63 (42.9%) of women presented symptoms of periodontal disease and gingival disease, respectively. Obesity (OR 2.834; 95%CI 0.919–8.741), worse oral hygiene during the first trimester of gestation (OR: 4.031; 95%CI 2.12–7.65), and periodontal disease during early pregnancy (OR: 15.104; 95%CI 3.60–63.36) most effectively predicted periodontal disease during late pregnancy. Conclusions: Pregnancy is associated with exacerbated periodontal and gingival disease symptoms throughout the different trimesters of gestation. Obesity and oral hygiene during early pregnancy were the risk factors that most contributed to the aforementioned changes in periodontal disease.Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y UniversidadesRevisión por pare

Lack of Association of the ABO Blood Group with COVID-19 risk and Severity in Hospitalized Patients in Louisville, KY

Background: The potential association of the ABO blood group with the risk of COVID-19 and its severity has attracted a lot of interest since the start of the pandemic. While a number of studies have reported an increased risk associated with blood type A and a reduced risk with type O, other studies have did not found a significant effect. This study aimed to define the prevalence of different ABO blood groups in hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the Louisville, KY area and to investigate whether an association exists between the blood group and disease severity. Methods: This was a retrospective observational study of 380 patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection hospitalized to eight of the adult hospitals in the city of Louisville. Patients were divided into four different groups according to their ABO blood type. Demographic characteristics and clinical variables, including laboratory data as well as clinical outcomes were compared. Results: Type O was the most common blood group among the hospitalized patients (51%) followed by type A (31%), B (14%) and AB (4%). The observed blood group distribution among the patients was not significantly different from the distribution expected when compared to a population of similar racial/ethnic composition. No significant associations were found between the blood group and comorbidities, inflammatory biomarkers as well as with recorded outcomes, including the mortality rate and the length of the hospital stay. Conclusions: The data from hospitalized patients in Louisville is is not consistent with the ABO blood group having a significant effect as a risk or severity factor for COVID-19, but it is representative in COVID-19 or its severityof its prevalence among different racial/ethnic populations

Manager gender, entrepreneurial orientation and SMEs export and import propensities: evidence for Spanish businesses

This paper investigates the role of manager gender in SMEs’ decisions to get involved in exporting and importing activities, using a sample of 1,405 Spanish SMEs. We borrow insights from international entrepreneurship theories and feminist theories to set testable hypotheses regarding how managerial gender and entrepreneurial orientation (proactiveness, risk-taking and innovativeness) may influence SMEs export and import propensities. Using a bivariate probit model and controlling for other managerial and business characteristics, results reveal that there are not significant disparities in exporting propensities between men- and women-run businesses. However, female-led SMEs show a lower importing propensity, in comparison to male-led counterparts. In addition, the three entrepreneurial orientation dimensions (proactiveness, risk-taking and innovativeness) are important drivers for participating in overseas markets, and do not depend upon the manager gender. This work provides new empirical evidence on the comparison between men- and women-run SMEs as regards export/import behavior and thus, it contributes to improve our knowledge on the role of gender in SMEs internationalization. The role of manager’s gender in SMEs import propensity has not been investigated so far, and this is the main novelty of our research.We acknowledge fnancial support from Grant ECO2017-86793-R funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ERDF A way of making Europe”; from Generalitat Valenciana (project PROMETEU/2019/095); from Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (ECO2014-55745-R) and from Instituto de Estudios Fiscales del Ministerio de Hacienda (Spanish Treasury Ministry). Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málaga / CBUA

Assessing Phototoxicity in a Mammalian Cell Line: How Low Levels of Blue Light Affect Motility in PC3 Cells.

Phototoxicity is a significant constraint for live cell fluorescence microscopy. Excessive excitation light intensities change the homeostasis of the observed cells. Erroneous and misleading conclusions may be the problematic consequence of observing such light-induced pathophysiology. In this study, we assess the effect of blue light, as commonly used for GFP and YFP excitation, on a motile mammalian cell line. Tracking PC3 cells at different light doses and intensities, we show how motility can be used to reliably assess subtle positive and negative effects of illumination. We further show that the effects are a factor of intensity rather than light dose. Mitotic delay was not a sensitive indicator of phototoxicity. For early detection of the effect of blue light, we analysed the expression of genes involved in oxidative stress. This study addresses the need for relatively simple and sensitive methods to establish a dose-response curve for phototoxicity in mammalian cell line models. We conclude with a working model for phototoxicity and recommendations for its assessment

CD32 is expressed on cells with transcriptionally active HIV but does not enrich for HIV DNA in resting T cells

The persistence of HIV reservoirs, including latently infected, resting CD4+ T cells, is the major obstacle to cure HIV infection. CD32a expression was recently reported to mark CD4+ T cells harboring a replication-competent HIV reservoir during antiretroviral therapy (ART) suppression. We aimed to determine whether CD32 expression marks HIV latently or transcriptionally active infected CD4+ T cells. Using peripheral blood and lymphoid tissue of ART-treated HIV+ or SIV+ subjects, we found that most of the circulating memory CD32+ CD4+ T cells expressed markers of activation, including CD69, HLA-DR, CD25, CD38, and Ki67, and bore a TH2 phenotype as defined by CXCR3, CCR4, and CCR6. CD32 expression did not selectively enrich for HIV- or SIV-infected CD4+ T cells in peripheral blood or lymphoid tissue; isolated CD32+ resting CD4+ T cells accounted for less than 3% of the total HIV DNA in CD4+ T cells. Cell-associated HIV DNA and RNA loads in CD4+ T cells positively correlated with the frequency of CD32+ CD69+ CD4+ T cells but not with CD32 expression on resting CD4+ T cells. Using RNA fluorescence in situ hybridization, CD32 coexpression with HIV RNA or p24 was detected after in vitro HIV infection (peripheral blood mononuclear cell and tissue) and in vivo within lymph node tissue from HIV-infected individuals. Together, these results indicate that CD32 is not a marker of resting CD4+ T cells or of enriched HIV DNA–positive cells after ART; rather, CD32 is predominately expressed on a subset of activated CD4+ T cells enriched for transcriptionally active HIV after long-term ART

Effector-Triggered Immune Response in Arabidopsis thaliana Is a Quantitative Trait

We identified loci responsible for natural variation in Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis) responses to a bacterial pathogen virulence factor, HopAM1. HopAM1 is a type III effector protein secreted by the virulent Pseudomonas syringae strain Pto DC3000. Delivery of HopAM1 from disarmed Pseudomonas strains leads to local cell death, meristem chlorosis, or both, with varying intensities in different Arabidopsis accessions. These phenotypes are not associated with differences in bacterial growth restriction. We treated the two phenotypes as quantitative traits to identify host loci controlling responses to HopAM1. Genome-wide association (GWA) of 64 Arabidopsis accessions identified independent variants highly correlated with response to each phenotype. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping in a recombinant inbred population between Bur-0 and Col-0 accessions revealed genetic linkage to regions distinct from the top GWA hits. Two major QTL associated with HopAM1-induced cell death were also associated with HopAM1-induced chlorosis. HopAM1-induced changes in Arabidopsis gene expression showed that rapid HopAM1-dependent cell death in Bur-0 is correlated with effector-triggered immune responses. Studies of the effect of mutations in known plant immune system genes showed, surprisingly, that both cell death and chlorosis phenotypes are enhanced by loss of EDS1, a regulatory hub in the plant immune-signaling network. Our results reveal complex genetic architecture for response to this particular type III virulence effector, in contrast to the typical monogenic control of cell death and disease resistance triggered by most type III effectors