A short RNA stem–loop is necessary and sufficient for repression of gene expression during early logarithmic phase in trypanosomes

We have compared the transcriptomes of cultured procyclic Trypanosoma brucei cells in early and late logarithmic phases and found that ∼200 mRNAs were differentially regulated. In late log phase cells, the most upregulated mRNA encoded the nucleobase transporter NT8. The 3′ untranslated region (UTR) of NT8 contains a short stem–loop cis-element that is necessary for the regulation of NT8 expression in response to external purine levels. When placed in the 3′-UTR of an unregulated transcript, the cis-element is sufficient to confer regulation in response to purines. To our knowledge, this is the first example of a discrete RNA element that can autonomously regulate gene expression in trypanosomes in response to an external factor and reveals an unprecedented purine-dependent signaling pathway that controls gene expression in eukaryotes.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación [BFU 2009-07510 to A.M.E.]; The Wellcome Trust [085956 to M.C.]; The Royal Society Joint Project [2008/R2 to M.C. and A.M.E.] Funding for open access charge: The Wellcome Trust.Peer reviewe

Depletion of the RNA-binding protein RBP33 results in increased expression of silenced RNA polymerase II transcripts in Trypanosoma brucei.

We have characterized the RNA-binding protein RBP33 in Trypanosoma brucei, and found that it localizes to the nucleus and is essential for viability. The subset of RNAs bound to RBP33 was determined by immunoprecipitation of ribonucleoprotein complexes followed by deep sequencing. Most RBP33-bound transcripts are predicted to be non-coding. Among these, over one-third are located close to the end of transcriptional units (TUs) or have an antisense orientation within a TU. Depletion of RBP33 resulted in an increase in the level of RNAs derived from regions that are normally silenced, such as strand-switch regions, retroposon and repeat sequences. Our work provides the first example of an RNA-binding protein involved in the regulation of gene silencing in trypanosomes.This is the final published version. It's also available from PLOS at http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0107608

Depósitos periglaciales en la vertiente septentrional de la Sierra de Lújar. Implicaciones neotectónicas

En la vertiente septentrional de la Sierra de Lújar afloran depósitos cuaternarios antiguos, colgados varias decenas de metros sobre los cauces actuales. Están representados por encostramientos que configuran morfológicamente un paleorelieve bien conservado, y por grèzes litées subyacentes. En esta nota se discute el origen y significado de estos depósitos periglaciales que llegan a alcanzar cotas relativamente bajas, dada la latitud del sector estudiado y su escasa distancia -sólo 20 km- de la costa mediterránea. Se plantea la hipótesis de un hundimiento importante en tiempos recientes, asociado a las fallas que jalonan el Corredor de las Alpujarras.In the northern side of Sierra de Lújar outcrop ancient quaternary deposits overhanging several tens of meters the present river system. They are represented by hardened crusts, morphologically constituting a well preserved paleotopography, and by underlying grèzes litées. In this paper we discuss the origin and meaning of these periglacial deposits occurring at rather low heights, considering the latitude of the surveyed area, located, in the other hand, at hardly 20 km from the mediterranean coast. We put forward the hypothesis of a significant subsidence in recent times, related to the fault system of the Alpujarras Corridor

The RNA-binding protein RBP33 dampens non-productive transcription in trypanosomes

In-depth analysis of the transcriptomes of several model organisms has revealed that genomes are pervasively transcribed, giving rise to an abundance of non-canonical and mainly antisense RNA polymerase II-derived transcripts that are produced from almost any genomic context. Pervasive RNAs are degraded by surveillance mechanisms, but the repertoire of proteins that control the fate of these non-productive transcripts is still incomplete. Trypanosomes are single-celled eukaryotes that show constitutive RNA polymerase II transcription and in which initiation and termination of transcription occur at a limited number of sites per chromosome. It is not known whether pervasive transcription exists in organisms with unregulated RNA polymerase II activity, and which factors could be involved in the process. We show here that depletion of RBP33 results in overexpression of similar to 40% of all annotated genes in the genome, with a marked accumulation of sense and antisense transcripts derived from silenced regions. RBP33 loss does not result in a significant increase in chromatin accessibility. Finally, we have found that transcripts that increase in abundance upon RBP33 knockdown are significantly more stable in RBP33-depleted trypanosomes, and that the exosome complex is responsible for their degradation. Our results provide strong evidence that RBP33 dampens non-productive transcription in trypanosomes

5G-MoNArch use case for ETSI ENI: elastic resource management and orchestration

Proceeding of: 2018 IEEE Conference on Standards for Communications and Networking (CSCN)5G networks will grant spectacular improvements of the most relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) while allowing resource multi-tenancy through network slicing. However, the other side of the coin is represented by the huge increase of the management complexity and the need for efficient algorithms for resource orchestration. Therefore, the management and orchestration of the network through Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) algorithms is considered a promising solution, as it allows to reduce the human interaction (usually expensive and error-prone) and scale to large scenario composed by thousands of slices in heterogeneous environments. In this paper, we provide a review of the current standardization efforts in this field, mostly due to the work performed by the Experiential Network Intelligence (ENI) industry specification group (ISG) within the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). Then, we thoroughly describe an exemplary use case on elastic network management and orchestration through learning solutions proposed by the 5GPPP project 5G-MoNArch and recently approved at ETSI ENI

Biodiesel at the Crossroads: A Critical Review

The delay in the energy transition, focused in the replacement of fossil diesel with biodiesel, is mainly caused by the need of reducing the costs associated to the transesterification reaction of vegetable oils with methanol. This reaction, on an industrial scale, presents several problems associated with the glycerol generated during the process. The costs to eliminate this glycerol have to be added to the implicit cost of using seed oil as raw material. Recently, several alternative methods to convert vegetable oils into high quality diesel fuels, which avoid the glycerol generation, are being under development, such as Gliperol, DMC-Biod, or Ecodiesel. Besides, there are renewable diesel fuels known as “green diesel”, obtained by several catalytic processes (cracking or pyrolysis, hydrodeoxygenation and hydrotreating) of vegetable oils and which exhibit a lot of similarities with fossil fuels. Likewise, it has also been addressed as a novel strategy, the use of straight vegetable oils in blends with various plant-based sources such as alcohols, vegetable oils, and several organic compounds that are renewable and biodegradable. These plant-based sources are capable of achieving the effective reduction of the viscosity of the blends, allowing their use in combustion ignition engines. The aim of this review is to evaluate the real possibilities that conventional biodiesel has in order to success as the main biofuel for the energy transition, as well as the use of alternative biofuels that can take part in the energy transition in a successful way

Application of Robot Programming to the Teaching of Object-Oriented Computer Languages

Object-oriented programming (OOP) abstract concepts are often difficult to understand for students, since it is not easy to find the equivalence of such concepts in daily life. In this paper we will study if an interdisciplinary approach based on an introduction to robotics and robot programming helps the student in acquiring theOOPconcepts. For our experiments, we selected a sample of thirty individuals among students with an adequate knowledge of procedural programming. This sample was divided into two groups of fifteen students each: for the first one we used a standard introductory approach to C#, whereas for the second one we developed an experimental course that included a demonstration program that illustrated OOP basic concepts using the features of a specific type of commercial ball-shaped robot with sensing, wireless communication and output capabilities. After the courses, both groups were evaluated by completing a multiple-choice exam and aC#programming exercise. Our results show that the student group that attended the course including the robot demo showed a higher interest level (i.e. they felt more motivated) than those students that attended the standard introductory C# course. Furthermore, the students from the experimental group also achieved an overall better mark

Hydrogenation of α,β-Unsaturated Carbonyl Compounds over Covalently Heterogenized Ru(II) Diphosphine Complexes on AlPO4-Sepiolite Supports

In this work, the covalent immobilization of two ruthenium(II) complexes, i.e., [RuIICl (bpea){(S)(-)(BINAP)}](BF4), 1, and [RuIICl(bpea)(DPPE)](BF4), 2, where BINAP = 2,2’-bis(diphenylphosphino)-1,1’-binaphthyl and DPPE = 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane, have been obtained (AlPO4-Sepiolite@1 and AlPO4-Sepiolite@2) by using a N-tridentate ligand N,N-bis-(2-pyridylmethyl)ethylamine (bpea), linked to an amorphous AlPO4-Sepiolite (20/80) inorganic support. This AlPO4-sepiolite support is able to immobilize the double amount of ruthenium complex (1.65%) than the amorphous AlPO4 (0.89%). Both heterogenized complexes have been assessed as catalysts in the liquid phase hydrogenation of several substrates with carbonyl and/or olefinic double bonds using methanol as solvent, attaining good catalytic activity and high enantioselectivity (99%). The highest Turn Over Number (TON) value (748.6) was obtained over the [RuII Cl (bpea)(DPPE)](BF4) 2 catalyst, although the [RuIICl(bpea){(S)(-)(BINAP)}](BF4) 1 exhibits better reusability. In fact, the [RuIICl(bpea){(S)(-)(BINAP)}](BF4) immobilized on AlPO4-Sepiolite maintained the activity throughout 14 successive runs. Furthermore, some findings on hydrogenation mechanisms of the α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds over Ru catalysts have been also obtained

Assessment of Food Sources and the Intake of the Colourless Carotenoids Phytoene and Phytofluene in Spain.

Phytoene (PT) and phytofluene (PTF), colorless carotenoids, have largely been ignored in food science studies, food technology, and nutrition. However, they are present in commonly consumed foods and may have health-promotion effects and possible uses as cosmetics. The goal of this study is to assess the most important food sources of PT and PTF and their dietary intakes in a representative sample of the adult Spanish population. A total of 62 food samples were analyzed (58 fruit and vegetables; seven items with different varieties/color) and carotenoid data of four foods (three fruits and one processed food) were compiled. PT concentration was higher than that of PTF in all the foods analyzed. The highest PT content was found in carrot, apricot, commercial tomato juice, and orange (7.3, 2.8, 2.0, and 1.1 mg/100 g, respectively). The highest PTF level was detected in carrots, commercial tomato sauce and canned tomato, apricot, and orange juice (1.7, 1.2, 1.0, 0.6, and 0.04 mg/100 g, respectively). The daily intakes of PT and PTF were 1.89 and 0.47 mg/person/day, respectively. The major contributors to the dietary intake of PT (98%) and PTF (73%) were: carrot, tomato, orange/orange juice, apricot, and watermelon. PT and PTF are mainly supplied by vegetables (81% and 69%, respectively). Considering the color of the edible part of the foods analyzed (fruit, vegetables, sauces, and beverages), the major contributor to the daily intake of PT and PTF (about 98%) were of red/orange color.post-print1287 K