Identification and characterization of novel factors that act in the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay pathway in nematodes, flies and mammals

Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) is a surveillance mechanism that degrades mRNAs harboring premature termination codons (PTCs). We have conducted a genome-wide RNAi screen in Caenorhabditis elegans that resulted in the identification of five novel NMD genes that are conserved throughout evolution. Two of their human homologs, GNL2 (ngp-1) and SEC13 (npp-20), are also required for NMD in human cells. We also show that the C. elegans gene noah-2, which is present in Drosophila melanogaster but absent in humans, is an NMD factor in fruit flies. Altogether, these data identify novel NMD factors that are conserved throughout evolution, highlighting the complexity of the NMD pathway and suggesting that yet uncovered novel factors may act to regulate this process

Graphene oxide electrodeposited electrode enhances start-up and selective enrichment of exoelectrogens in bioelectrochemical systems

15 p.This study seeks to assess the impact that the anodic electrodeposition of graphene oxide (GO) has on the start-up process and on the development of microbial communities on the anode of BESs. The GO electrodeposited electrodes were characterised in abiotic conditions to verify the extent of the modifcation and were then transferred to a bioelectrochemical reactor. Results showed that the modifed electrode allowed for a reduced start-up time compared to the control electrode. After three months, high throughput sequencing was performed, revealing that electrochemically reduced graphene oxide acts as a selective agent toward exoelectrogenic bacteria as Geobacter. Overall, this study shows that GO modifed electrodes enhance bioflm build up in BES. This research was possible thanks to the financial support of the ‘Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad’ project ref: CTQ2015-68925-R, cofinanced by FEDER funds. Ana Sotres thanks the regional ‘Junta de Castilla y León’ for the postdoctoral contract associated with project ref: LE060U16, cofinanced by FEDER fundsS

Electrodos de carbono modificados por electro-reducción de óxido de grafeno para su aplicación en sistemas bio-electroquímicos

Modificación de electrodos de carbono con óxido de grafeno para la mejora del rendimiento en sistemas bioelectroquímicos. This research was supported by the regional government ‘Junta de Castilla y León, Consejería de Educación’, project reference: LE060U16, co-financed by FEDER fund

A semi-pilot microbial electrolysis cell (MEC) for hydrogen production and pig-slurry valorization

The amounts of slurry and manure produced each year are steadily rising as a result of an increasing demand for livestock products, which are expected to almost double by 2050 [1]. This two byproducts of farm-activity are commonly used as a fertilizer for crops production. However, their direct disposal may also overcome soils capacity to absorb nutrients in some areas [2], thus giving to rise to health and environmental issues. This demands the use of feasible and efficient waste management technologies that help to limit the impact of these wasteThis project has received funding from the Bio Based Industries Joint Undertaking under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 66812

Using GitHub in the design of e-activities for software refactoring

[ES]El objetivo de este trabajo es diseñar, planificar, aplicar y evaluar actividades docentes que ayuden en el proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje del concepto de refactorización. La metodología didáctica seguida se basa en dos pilares. El primero es en un aprendizaje progresivo del concepto de refactorización mediante e-actividades definidas en diferentes niveles de conocimiento de la taxonomía de Bloom (conocer, comprender, aplicar, analizar, sintetizar). El segundo es la utilización de recursos en las e-actividades, que estén relacionados con los que el estudiante podrá encontrarse al ejercer su carrera profesional orientada al desarrollo del software: entornos de desarrollo integrados y repositorios de gestión de proyectos. El resultado del trabajo es la definición de un conjunto de e-actividades de refactorización de código Java, donde se utiliza de diferentes formas según el tipo de e-actividad, la funcionalidad del versionado del repositorio de proyectos de código abierto GitHub. Bajo estas premisas se diseñan cinco tipos de e-actividades: lecturas y comprensión, pruebas objetivas, aprendizaje basado en problemas, estudio de casos y seminarios virtuales. Las e-actividades diseñadas se aplican en el contexto de una asignatura de Ingeniería del Software del Grado en Ingeniería Informática de la Universidad de Burgos. El trabajo concluye analizando preliminarmente algunas consecuencias de la experiencia, tanto desde la perspectiva de utilizar estas nuevas e-actividades en el proceso de enseñanza aprendizaje, como desde la perspectiva de carga de trabajo que supone al docente y al estudiante

Tunable electroactive oligothiophene-naphthalimide semiconductors via end-capped engineering: cumulative effects beyond the linker

Aiming to obtain novel functional semiconducting materials for their use in organic electronics, the combination of strong donor moieties with electron-withdrawing units is one of the most useful strategies to obtain ambipolar semiconductors with tunable properties. Nowadays most of the efforts headed to efficient materials are based on small changes in the alkyl pendant chains or by replacing single atoms. However, a precise design of new functional materials is still challenging. For this reason, in this work we present a new synthetic approach for achieving redox amphoteric organic semiconductors by tuning their opto-electrochemical properties via rational chemical modifications. All these materials present low-lying LUMO levels, lower than −4.00 eV with broad absorption up to 800 nm in the UV-Vis-NIR spectra. In addition, they have been characterized by DFT, absorption and Raman vibrational spectroscopies, while their charge stabilization abilities are studied by means of spectroelectrochemical techniques. The results point out to a quite complex electronic scenario that goes beyond the expected cumulative effects of the independent molecular units constituting the final molecular assembly.Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málaga / CBU

Treatment of hypertriglyceridemia and HIV: fenofibrate-induced changes in the expression of chemokine genes in circulating leukocytes

Fenofibrate changed the expression of chemokine genes in circulating leukocytes of HIV-infected patients with hypertriglyceridemia. The data suggest that fenofibrate when effective in the treatment of lipoprotein abnormalities, may act as a modulator of systemic inflammation. This particular action, therefore, may also influence the clinical course of the disease

Emergent bimodal firing patterns implement different encoding strategies during gamma-band oscillations

Upon sensory stimulation, primary cortical areas readily engage in narrow-band rhythmic activity between 30 and 90 Hz, the so-called gamma oscillations. Here we show that, when embedded in a balanced network, type-I excitable neurons entrained to the collective rhythm show a discontinuity in their firing-rates between a slow and a fast spiking mode. This jump in the spiking frequencies is characteristic to type II neurons, but is not present in the frequency-current curve (f-I curve) of isolated type I neurons. Therefore, this rate bimodality arises as an emerging network property in type I population models. We have studied the mechanisms underlying the generation of these two firing modes, in order to reproduce the spiking activity of in vivo cortical recordings, which is known to be highly irregular and sparse. We have also analyzed the relation between afferent inputs and the single unit activity, and between the latter and the local field potential (LFP) phase, in order to establish how the collective dynamics modulates the spiking activity of the individual neurons. Our results reveal that the inhibitory-excitatory balance allows two encoding mechanisms, for input rate variations and LFP phase, to coexist within the network