The Janus Role of Adhesion in Chondrogenesis

Tackling the first stages of the chondrogenic commitment is essential to drive chondrogenic differentiation to healthy hyaline cartilage and minimize hypertrophy. During chondrogenesis, the extracellular matrix continuously evolves, adapting to the tissue adhesive requirements at each stage. Here, we take advantage of previously developed nanopatterns, in which local surface adhesiveness can be precisely tuned, to investigate its effects on prechondrogenic condensation. Fluorescence live cell imaging, immunostaining, confocal microscopy and PCR analysis are used to follow the condensation process on the nanopatterns. Cell tracking parameters, condensate morphology, cell-cell interactions, mechanotransduction and chondrogenic commitment are evaluated in response to local surface adhesiveness. Results show that only condensates on the nanopatterns of high local surface adhesiveness are stable in culture and able to enter the chondrogenic pathway, thus highlighting the importance of controlling cell-substrate adhesion in the tissue engineering strategies for cartilage repair

Regenerative Therapies in Dry Eye Disease: From Growth Factors to Cell Therapy

Dry eye syndrome is a complex and insidious pathology with a high level of prevalence among the human population and with a consequently high impact on quality of life and economic cost. Currently, its treatment is symptomatic, mainly based on the control of lubrication and inflammation, with significant limitations. Therefore, the latest research is focused on the development of new biological strategies, with the aim of regenerating affected tissues, or at least restricting the progression of the disease, reducing scar tissue, and maintaining corneal transparency. Therapies range from growth factors and cytokines to the use of different cell sources, in particular mesenchymal stem cells, due to their multipotentiality, trophic, and immunomodulatory properties. We will review the state of the art and the latest advances and results of these promising treatments in this pathology

Musculoskeletal Pain and Non-Classroom Teaching in Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Analysis of the Impact on Students from Two Spanish Universities

[EN] The lockdown, due to the coronavirus, has led to a change in lifestyle and physical activity in Spanish university students. The objective of this study was to analyze the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain and changes in physical activity and self-perceived stress in the student bodies of two Spanish Universities during the lockdown. A cross-sectional study was carried out in a sample of 1198 students (70.6% women). The main instruments used for measuring were the Standardized Kuorinka Modified Nordic Questionnaire and the Perceived stress scale (the questionnaire regarding the practice of physical activity). A reduction in the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain (p < 0.001) was identified in the sample of men and women, an increase (12.5%) in the frequency of carrying out physical activity from moderate to frequent, and the preference for strength training (15.1%), especially among women, was identified. All of this may be taken into account by health institutions when implementing measures to encourage physical activity in both suitable amounts and types, which improves the quality of life of the students.S

RGD-Dendrimer-Poly(L-lactic) Acid Nanopatterned Substrates for the Early Chondrogenesis of Human Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Derived from Osteoarthritic and Healthy Donors

Aiming to address a stable chondrogenesis derived from mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) to be applied in cartilage repair strategies at the onset of osteoarthritis (OA), we analyzed the effect of arginine-glycine-aspartate (RGD) density on cell condensation that occurs during the initial phase of chondrogenesis. For this, we seeded MSC-derived from OA and healthy (H) donors in RGD-dendrimer-poly(L-lactic) acid (PLLA) nanopatterned substrates (RGD concentrations of 4 × 10−9, 10−8, 2.5 × 10−8, and 10−2 w/w), during three days and compared to a cell pellet conventional three-dimensional culture system. Molecular gene expression (collagens type-I and II-COL1A1 and COL2A1, tenascin-TNC, sex determining region Y-box9-SOX9, and gap junction protein alpha 1-GJA1) was determined as well as the cell aggregates and pellet size, collagen type-II and connexin 43 proteins synthesis. This study showed that RGD-tailored first generation dendrimer (RGD-Cys-D1) PLLA nanopatterned substrates supported the formation of pre-chondrogenic condensates from OA- and H-derived human bone marrow-MSCs with enhanced chondrogenesis regarding the cell pellet conventional system (presence of collagen type-II and connexin 43, both at the gene and protein level). A RGD-density dependent trend was observed for aggregates size, in concordance with previous studies. Moreover, the nanopatterns' had a higher effect on OA-derived MSC morphology, leading to the formation of bigger and more compact aggregates with improved expression of early chondrogenic markers

Estado del arte de la medición de la productividad y la eficiencia técnica en América Latina: Caso Nicaragua

En este artículo se plasman los resultados de una revisión bibliográfica de textos y artículos científicos que abordan la teoría de la “Productividad” y de la “Eficiencia técnica” como dos magnitudes económicas claves para determinar el crecimiento económico de una unidad productiva, un sector económico o de una nación. En el estudio se encontró que los países donde se registró una mayor contribución del progreso técnico a la variación de la productividad en el período de 50 años (de 1960-2010) analizado fueron la Argentina, el Brasil, Colombia y el Ecuador, con índices de alrededor del 0,3%.  Además, se evidencia que los 19 países analizados en este trabajo registraron una eficiencia técnica decreciente, que supone que el aporte de dicha eficiencia a la PTF fue negativo en todos los países.  En el caso de Nicaragua se notó que la PTF algunos autores la estimaron entre un 0.08 y 0.016 de ritmo de crecimiento interanual.Palabras Claves: Productividad, Eficiencia Técnica, Cambio tecnológico, Fronteras de producción.Jel Classification:   F:64; P:28; Q:54

Stone Age Yersinia pestis genomes shed light on the early evolution, diversity, and ecology of plague

[Significance] The bacterium Yersinia pestis has caused numerous historically documented outbreaks of plague and research using ancient DNA could demonstrate that it already affected human populations during the Neolithic. However, the pathogen’s genetic diversity, geographic spread, and transmission dynamics during this early period of Y. pestis evolution are largely unexplored. Here, we describe a set of ancient plague genomes up to 5,000 y old from across Eurasia. Our data demonstrate that two genetically distinct forms of Y. pestis evolved in parallel and were both distributed across vast geographic distances, potentially occupying different ecological niches. Interpreted within the archeological context, our results suggest that the spread of plague during this period was linked to increased human mobility and intensification of animal husbandry.The bacterial pathogen Yersinia pestis gave rise to devastating outbreaks throughout human history, and ancient DNA evidence has shown it afflicted human populations as far back as the Neolithic. Y. pestis genomes recovered from the Eurasian Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age (LNBA) period have uncovered key evolutionary steps that led to its emergence from a Yersinia pseudotuberculosis-like progenitor; however, the number of reconstructed LNBA genomes are too few to explore its diversity during this critical period of development. Here, we present 17 Y. pestis genomes dating to 5,000 to 2,500 y BP from a wide geographic expanse across Eurasia. This increased dataset enabled us to explore correlations between temporal, geographical, and genetic distance. Our results suggest a nonflea-adapted and potentially extinct single lineage that persisted over millennia without significant parallel diversification, accompanied by rapid dispersal across continents throughout this period, a trend not observed in other pathogens for which ancient genomes are available. A stepwise pattern of gene loss provides further clues on its early evolution and potential adaptation. We also discover the presence of the flea-adapted form of Y. pestis in Bronze Age Iberia, previously only identified in in the Caucasus and the Volga regions, suggesting a much wider geographic spread of this form of Y. pestis. Together, these data reveal the dynamic nature of plague’s formative years in terms of its early evolution and ecology.This study was funded by the Max Planck Society, Max Planck Harvard Research Center for the Archaeoscience of the Ancient Mediterranean and the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement 771234 – PALEoRIDER (to W.H.), 856453 – HistoGenes (to J.K.), and 834616 – ARCHCAUCASUS (to S.H.). The Heidelberg Academy of Science financed the genetic and archeological research on human individuals from the Augsburg region within the project WIN Kolleg: “Times of Upheaval: Changes of Society and Landscape at the Beginning of the Bronze Age. M.E. was supported by the award “Praemium Academiae” of the Czech Academy of Sciences. M.D. was supported by the project RVO 67985912 of the Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague. I.O. was supported by the Ramón y Cajal grant from Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spanish Government (RYC2019-027909-I). A. H€ubner was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft under Germany’s Excellence Strategy (EXC 2051 – Project-ID 390713860). J.F.-E. and J.A.M.-A. were supported by the Diputación Foral de Alava, IT 1223-19, Gobierno Vasco. A. Buzhilova was supported by the Center of Information Technologies and Systems (CITIS), Moscow, Russia 121041500329-0. L. M., L.B.D., and E. Khussainova were supported by the Grant AP08856654, Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan. A. Beisenov was supported by the Grant AP08857177, Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan.Peer reviewe