Satellitome analysis of Rhodnius prolixus, one of the main Chagas disease vector species

The triatomine Rhodnius prolixus is the main vector of Chagas disease in countries such as Colombia and Venezuela, and the first kissing bug whose genome has been sequenced and assembled. In the repetitive genome fraction (repeatome) of this species, the transposable elements represented 19% of R. prolixus genome, being mostly DNA transposon (Class II elements). However, scarce information has been published regarding another important repeated DNA fraction, the satellite DNA (satDNA), or satellitome. Here, we offer, for the first time, extended data about satellite DNA families in the R. prolixus genome using bioinformatics pipeline based on low-coverage sequencing data. The satellitome of R. prolixus represents 8% of the total genome and it is composed by 39 satDNA families, including four satDNA families that are shared with Triatoma infestans, as well as telomeric (TTAGG)n and (GATA)n repeats, also present in the T. infestans genome. Only three of them exceed 1% of the genome. Chromosomal hybridization with these satDNA probes showed dispersed signals over the euchromatin of all chromosomes, both in autosomes and sex chromosomes. Moreover, clustering analysis revealed that most abundant satDNA families configured several superclusters, indicating that R. prolixus satellitome is complex and that the four most abundant satDNA families are composed by different subfamilies. Additionally, transcription of satDNA families was analyzed in different tissues, showing that 33 out of 39 satDNA families are transcribed in four different patterns of expression across samples

Deficiencias en la transición de la aritmética al álgebra

En esta investigación se estudia el alcance de los conocimientos matemáticos de los alumnos que ingresan a la Universidad, partiendo del supuesto de su incidencia en el rendimiento académico y el desgranamiento. En este trabajo se analizan datos recabados mediante una prueba de diagnóstico tomada a ingresantes de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales y Agrimensura de la Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Se identifican y categorizan los errores frecuentes al operar con expresiones tanto numéricas como algebraicas. Se ha detectado que muchos estudiantes no han logrado realizar satisfactoriamente en el Nivel Medio la transición del lenguaje aritmético al algebraico. Se han identificado deficiencias en la aplicación de algoritmos y propiedades, por ejemplo, al hacer la abstracción de los procedimientos correspondientes a la suma de fracciones y el desarrollo del cuadrado de un binomio.Departamento de Ciencias Exactas y Naturale

Redes Neuronales para predecir el rendimiento académico de los alumnos ingresantes a la carrera de Bioquímica de la FACENA-UNNE en función de sus conocimientos matemáticos previos

Este trabajo tiene por objetivo desarrollar modelos de redes neuronales artificiales (RNA) para analizar la incidencia de los conocimientos matemáticos previos de los alumnos ingresantes a la carrera de Bioquímica de la FACENA-UNNE, en su rendimiento académico en el primer cuatrimestre del primer año. Se analizaron los datos del estado académico de los alumnos y de sus conocimientos matemáticos previos, siendo obtenidos estos últimos a partir de una evaluación diagnóstica, implementada en 2009, al inicio del curso de nivelación ofrecido a los ingresantes. Se diseñaron modelos de RNA de tipo Perceptrón Multicapa (PM) y Función de Base Radial (FBR), considerando como variables independientes el número de ítems correctos en cada contenido del diagnóstico. El rendimiento académico (variable dependiente) se midió en cada modelo con una variable dicotómica que toma el valor 0 ó 1, si el alumno aprobó ó no los exámenes parciales de Algebra y Geometría Analítica, materia del primer cuatrimestre del primer año. Los modelos PM y FBR permitieron obtener porcentajes de clasificación correcta total de 81,3%, y 78,8 % respectivamente, los cuales se consideran satisfactorios.This work aims to develop models of artificial neural networks (ANN) to analyze the incidence of mathematical previous knowledge of students entering the career of Biochemistry of FACENA-UNNE, in their academic performance in the first semester of the first year. We analyzed the data of students' academic status and data on mathematical previous knowledge, the latter being obtained from diagnostic evaluation, implemented in 2009, at the beginning of the leveling course offered to freshmen. ANN models of type Multilayer Perceptron (PM) and Radial Basis Function (RBF) were designed, considering as independent variables the number of correct items in each content of the diagnosis. Academic performance (dependent variable) was measured in each model with a dichotomous variable that takes the value 0 or 1, whether or not the student passed the exams in Algebra and Analytical Geometry, one subject-matter of first semester of the first year. The PM and FBR models have allowed to obtain correct overall classification rates of 81.3% and 78.8% respectively, which are considered satisfactory.Eje: Workshop Bases de datos y minería de datos (WBDDM)Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Iron Deficiency and Overload Modulate the Inflammatory Responses and Metabolism of Alveolar Macrophages

Alveolar macrophages (AM) are critical to defense against respiratory pathogens. This study evaluated cellular iron imbalance to immunometabolism in endotoxin-polarized porcine AMs (PAMs). PAMs collected from five 6-week-old pigs were treated with a basal media, iron chelator, or ferric ammonium citrate to maintain iron replete or induce iron deficiency or overload, respectively. After 24 h treatment, PAMs were challenged with saline or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) for 6 h. Cells were analyzed for gene, protein, and untargeted metabolome. Cytokines were determined in culture media. Data were assessed using two-way ANOVA. Treatments successfully induced iron deficiency and overload. The mRNA of DMT1 and ZIP14 was increased up to 300-fold by LPS, but unaffected by iron. Surprisingly, both iron deprivation and overload attenuated LPS-induced inflammation, showing less TNFα production and lower mRNA of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines than iron-replete PAMs. Forty-eight metabolites were altered by either or both main effects. LPS enhanced the glycolysis and polyol pathways. Iron deprivation disrupted the TCA cycle. Iron overload increased intracellular cholesterol. Interestingly, iron deprivation augmented, whereas iron overload diminished, LPS-induced itaconic acid production, which has anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties. Therefore, iron-deficient PAMs may be more resistant to intracellular pathogens which use PAMs as a conduit for infection

Iron Deficiency and Overload Modulate the Inflammatory Responses and Metabolism of Alveolar Macrophages.

Alveolar macrophages (AM) are critical to defense against respiratory pathogens. This study evaluated cellular iron imbalance to immunometabolism in endotoxin-polarized porcine AMs (PAMs). PAMs collected from five 6-week-old pigs were treated with a basal media, iron chelator, or ferric ammonium citrate to maintain iron replete or induce iron deficiency or overload, respectively. After 24 h treatment, PAMs were challenged with saline or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) for 6 h. Cells were analyzed for gene, protein, and untargeted metabolome. Cytokines were determined in culture media. Data were assessed using two-way ANOVA. Treatments successfully induced iron deficiency and overload. The mRNA of DMT1 and ZIP14 was increased up to 300-fold by LPS, but unaffected by iron. Surprisingly, both iron deprivation and overload attenuated LPS-induced inflammation, showing less TNFα production and lower mRNA of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines than iron-replete PAMs. Forty-eight metabolites were altered by either or both main effects. LPS enhanced the glycolysis and polyol pathways. Iron deprivation disrupted the TCA cycle. Iron overload increased intracellular cholesterol. Interestingly, iron deprivation augmented, whereas iron overload diminished, LPS-induced itaconic acid production, which has anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties. Therefore, iron-deficient PAMs may be more resistant to intracellular pathogens which use PAMs as a conduit for infection