Guide to the classics: Don Quixote, the world’s first novel – and one of the best

Completed by Cervantes when he was in prison, Don Quixote is the tale of a man so passionate about reading he leaves home to live the life of his fictional heroes

Guide to the classics: Don Quixote, the world’s first novel – and one of the best

Completed by Cervantes when he was in prison, Don Quixote is the tale of a man so passionate about reading he leaves home to live the life of his fictional heroes

Obesity- and gender-dependent role of endogenous somatostatin and cortistatin in the regulation of endocrine and metabolic homeostasis in mice

Somatostatin (SST) and cortistatin (CORT) regulate numerous endocrine secretions and their absence [knockout (KO)-models] causes important endocrine-metabolic alterations, including pituitary dysregulations. We have demonstrated that the metabolic phenotype of single or combined SST/CORT KO-models is not drastically altered under normal conditions. However, the biological actions of SST/CORT are conditioned by the metabolic-status (e.g. obesity). Therefore, we used male/female SST- and CORT-KO mice fed low-fat (LF) or high-fat (HF) diet to explore the interplay between SST/CORT and obesity in the control of relevant pituitary-axes and whole-body metabolism. Our results showed that the SST/CORT role in the control of GH/prolactin secretions is maintained under LF- and HF-diet conditions as SST-KOs presented higher GH/prolactin-levels, while CORT-KOs displayed higher GH- and lower prolactin-levels than controls under both diets. Moreover, the impact of lack of SST/CORT on the metabolic-function was gender- and diet-dependent. Particularly, SST-KOs were more sensitive to HF-diet, exhibiting altered growth and body-composition (fat/lean percentage) and impaired glucose/insulin-metabolism, especially in males. Conversely, only males CORT-KO under LF-diet conditions exhibited significant alterations, displaying higher glucose-levels and insulin-resistance. Altogether, these data demonstrate a tight interplay between SST/CORT-axis and the metabolic status in the control of endocrine/metabolic functions and unveil a clear dissociation of SST/CORT rolesThis work was supported by the following grants: Junta de Andalucía (CTS-1406, BIO-0139), ISCIII-FIS [PI13/00651 and PIE14/00005 (co-funded by European Regional Development Fund/European Social Fund “Investing in your future”)], MINECO (BFU2013–43282-R), “Miguel Servet” Program, CIBERobn and Ayuda Merck Serono 2013S

España en Europa - Europa en España (1986-2006)

Aquesta publicació té per objectiu oferir un balanç dels primers vint anys des de l'adhesió d'Espanya a l'Europa comunitària en termes de «europeïtzació», una formulació que és objecte de creixent atenció per part dels estudiosos del procés d'integració europea. Per això s'analitzen tant la incidència d'Espanya a la Unió Europea com la d'aquesta en el sistema institucional, els processos polítics i les polítiques públiques espanyoles. El resultat reflecteix el grau creixent de simbiosi que, amb alguns matisos, s'ha anat generant entre ambdós nivells al llarg d'aquests anys.La presente publicación tiene por objetivo ofrecer un balance de los primeros veinte años desde la adhesión de España a la Europa comunitaria en términos de «europeización», una formulación que es objeto de creciente atención por parte de los estudiosos del proceso de integración europea. Para ello se analizan tanto la incidencia de España en la Unión Europea como la de ésta en el sistema institucional, los procesos políticos y las políticas públicas españolas. El resultado refleja el grado creciente de simbiosis que, con algunos matices, se ha ido generando entre ambos niveles a lo largo de estos años

Circulating carotenoids are associated with favorable lipid and fatty acid profiles in an older population at high cardiovascular risk

Carotenoid intake has been reported to be associated with improved cardiovascular health, but there is little information on actual plasma concentrations of these compounds as biomarkers of cardiometabolic risk. The objective was to investigate the association between circulating plasma carotenoids and different cardiometabolic risk factors and the plasma fatty acid profile. This is a cross-sectional evaluation of baseline data conducted in a subcohort (106 women and 124 men) of an ongoing multi-factorial lifestyle trial for primary cardiovascular prevention. Plasma concentrations of carotenoids were quantified by liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. The associations between carotenoid concentrations and cardiometabolic risk factors were assessed using regression models adapted for interval-censored variables. Carotenoid concentrations were cross-sectionally inversely associated with serum triglyceride concentrations [-2.79 mg/dl (95% CI: -4.25, -1.34) and -5.15 mg/dl (95% CI: -7.38, -2.93), p-values = 0.0002 and <0.00001 in women and men, respectively], lower levels of plasma saturated fatty acids [-0.09% (95% CI: -0.14, -0.03) and -0.15 % (95% CI: -0.23, -0.08), p-values = 0.001 and 0.0001 in women and men, respectively], and higher levels of plasma polyunsaturated fatty acids [(0.12 % (95% CI: -0.01, 0.25) and 0.39 % (95% CI: 0.19, 0.59), p-values = 0.065 and 0.0001 in women and men, respectively] in the whole population. Plasma carotenoid concentrations were also associated with higher plasma HDL-cholesterol in women [0.47 mg/dl (95% CI: 0.23, 0.72), p-value: 0.0002], and lower fasting plasma glucose in men [-1.35 mg/dl (95% CI: -2.12, -0.59), p-value: 0.001]. Keywords: Mediterranean diet; PREDIMED-plus study; cardiovascular health; liquid chromatography; mass spectrometry; plasma carotenoids

From Rebel Girls to Chicas Raras: The Influence of Elena Fortún’s Celia in Carmen Laforet, Carmen Martín Gaite and Ana María Matute

© 2020 Ana Puchau De LeceaIn late 1920s’ Spain, Elena Fortun (pseudonym of Encarnacion Aragoneses, 1886-1952) started publishing “Celia y su mundo”, considered the best children's books series of the time. Her innovative character, Celia, tries to make sense of a world dictated by grown-ups and continually attempts to escape their impositions. Through the voice of a character belonging to two traditionally marginalized groups, children and women, Fortun found a way to transmit progressive messages to her readers. However, as she gets older, the character who broke the mould with her transgressive behaviour and convincing speech, gradually adapts to what is expected of her. The historical events reflected in the books range from the final years of Miguel Primo de Rivera's dictatorship, to the historical advances of feminism during the Republic and their loss during Franco's dictatorship after the Civil War (1936-1939). This thesis contends that the Celia series planted the seed of postwar bildungsroman for Carmen Laforet (1921-2004), Carmen Martin Gaite (1925-2000) and Ana Maria Matute (1925-2014), who read Celia in their childhood and whose novels featured teenage girls fleeing their oppressive households. The trace of Fortun’s Celia is analysed in the works: Nada (1944) and La isla y los demonios (1952), by Laforet; Entre visillos (1952) and El cuarto de atras (1978), by Martin Gaite; and Los Abel (1948) and Primera memoria (1959), by Matute. By breaking the rules of children’s literature, usually didactic and moralistic, Fortun created a character that paved the way to arguably the first generation of Spanish women writers. Celia was considered a rebel just because she could not make sense of her status quo, which continually limited her existence to that of a silent secondary character. Frustrated, Celia spoke to her girl readers who considered themselves raras for pretty much the same reasons and who created brave, nonconformist female characters years later

Marcadores inmunologicos (anticuerpos antigliadina y antiendomisio) en el estudio de niNos con talla baja

Centro de Informacion y Documentacion Cientifica (CINDOC). C/Joaquin Costa, 22. 28002 Madrid. SPAIN / CINDOC - Centro de Informaciòn y Documentaciòn CientìficaSIGLEESSpai

Marcadores inmunológicos (anticuerpos antigliadina y antiendomisio) en el estudio de niños con talla baja

Tesis doctoral inédita. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Facultad de Medicina, Departamento de Pediatría. Fecha de lectura: 27 de Octubre de 199

Cortistatin and somatostatin mRNAs are differentially regulated in response to kainate

Cortistatin (CST) is a presumptive neuropeptide that shares 11 of its 14 amino acids with somatostatin (SST). CST and SST are expressed in partially overlapping but distinct populations of cortical interneurons. In the hippocampal formation, most CST-positive cells are also positive for SST. In contrast to SST, administration of CST into the rat brain ventricles reduces locomotor activity and specifically enhances slow wave sleep. Intracerebroventricular injection of CST or SST has been shown to protect against the neurotoxic effects of kainic acid. Here, we show that CST and SST mRNAs respond differently to kainate-induced seizures. Furthermore, comparison of the upstream sequences from the CST and SST precursor genes reveal that they contain binding motifs for different transcriptional regulatory factors. Our data demonstrate that CST and SST, which are often co-expressed in the same neurons, are regulated by different stimuli.This work was supported in part by NIMH RO1 MH58543. AG-F was supported by a fellowship from Comunidad de Madrid, Spain.Peer Reviewe