Universal model for the skin colouration patterns of neotropical catfishes of the genus Pseudoplatystoma

Fish skin colouration has been widely studied because it involves a variety of processes that are important to the broad field of the developmental biology. Mathematical modelling of fish skin patterning first predicted the existence of morphogens and helped to elucidate the mechanisms of pattern formation. The catfishes of the genus Pseudoplatystoma offer a good biological study model, since its species exhibit the most spectacular and amazing variations of colour patterns on the skin. They present labyrinths, closed loops (or cells), alternate spots and stripes, only spots and combinations of these. We have extended a well known mathematical model to study the skin of Pseudoplatystoma. The basic model is a two component, non-linear reaction diffusion system that presents a richness of bifurcations. The extended model assumes that there are two interacting cell/tissue layers in which morphogens diffuse and interact giving rise to the skin colouration pattern. We have found that by varying only two parameters we are able to accurately reproduce the distinct patterns found in all species of Pseudoplatystoma. The histological analysis of skin samples of two species of this genus, with different patterns, revealed differences on the disposition of the colouration cells that are consistent with our theoretical predictions.Fil: Scarabotti, Pablo Augusto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto Nacional de Limnología. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto Nacional de Limnología; ArgentinaFil: Govezensky, Tzipe. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; MéxicoFil: Bolcatto, Pablo Guillermo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada del Litoral; ArgentinaFil: Barrio, Rafael Ángel. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; Méxic

Cytochrome P450/ABC transporter inhibition simultaneously enhances ivermectin pharmacokinetics in the mammal host and pharmacodynamics in Anopheles gambiae

Mass administration of endectocides, drugs that kill blood-feeding arthropods, has been proposed as a complementary strategy to reduce malaria transmission. Ivermectin is one of the leading candidates given its excellent safety profile. Here we provide proof that the effect of ivermectin can be boosted at two different levels by drugs inhibiting the cytochrome or ABC transporter in the mammal host and the target mosquitoes. Using a mini-pig model, we show that drug-mediated cytochrome P450/ABC transporter inhibition results in a 3-fold increase in the time ivermectin remains above mosquito-killing concentrations. In contrast, P450/ABC transporter induction with rifampicin markedly impaired ivermectin absorption. The same ketoconazole-mediated cytochrome/ABC transporter inhibition also occurs outside the mammal host and enhances the mortality of Anopheles gambiae. This was proven by using the samples from the mini-pig experiments to conduct an ex-vivo synergistic bioassay by membrane-feeding Anopheles mosquitoes. Inhibiting the same cytochrome/xenobiotic pump complex in two different organisms to simultaneously boost the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic activity of a drug is a novel concept that could be applied to other systems. Although the lack of a dose-response effect in the synergistic bioassay warrants further exploration, our study may have broad implications for the control of parasitic and vector-borne diseases

Mineralizaciones auroargentíferas en el área La Josefina, Santa Cruz

El prospecto La Josefina abarca un área situada en el sector suroeste del departamento Deseado, con las siguientes coordenadas geográficas: 47º49’ a 47º55” de latitud sur y 69º18’ a 69º26’ de longitud oeste. Se accede a la misma, desde Gobernador Gregores, por la Ruta Provincial 12 que une a dicha localidad con Pico Truncado, por una distancia de 140 km, hasta arribar a la huella de acceso que conduce a las estancias La Josefina y Piedra Labrada. Desde allí se recorren 15 km al oeste y luego otros 10 km al suroeste, hasta el casco de la estancia Piedra Labrada y 5 km al noroeste, para acceder al de La Josefina.Instituto de Recursos MineralesConsejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y TécnicasComisión de Investigaciones Científicas de la provincia de Buenos Aire

Flower Development as an Interplay between Dynamical Physical Fields and Genetic Networks

In this paper we propose a model to describe the mechanisms by which undifferentiated cells attain gene configurations underlying cell fate determination during morphogenesis. Despite the complicated mechanisms that surely intervene in this process, it is clear that the fundamental fact is that cells obtain spatial and temporal information that bias their destiny. Our main hypothesis assumes that there is at least one macroscopic field that breaks the symmetry of space at a given time. This field provides the information required for the process of cell differentiation to occur by being dynamically coupled to a signal transduction mechanism that, in turn, acts directly upon the gene regulatory network (GRN) underlying cell-fate decisions within cells. We illustrate and test our proposal with a GRN model grounded on experimental data for cell fate specification during organ formation in early Arabidopsis thaliana flower development. We show that our model is able to recover the multigene configurations characteristic of sepal, petal, stamen and carpel primordial cells arranged in concentric rings, in a similar pattern to that observed during actual floral organ determination. Such pattern is robust to alterations of the model parameters and simulated failures predict altered spatio-temporal patterns that mimic those described for several mutants. Furthermore, simulated alterations in the physical fields predict a pattern equivalent to that found in Lacandonia schismatica, the only flowering species with central stamens surrounded by carpels

European Registry on Helicobacter pylori Management: Effectiveness of First and Second-Line Treatment in Spain

The management of Helicobacter pylori infection has to rely on previous local effectiveness due to the geographical variability of antibiotic resistance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of first and second-line H. pylori treatment in Spain, where the empirical prescription is recommended. A multicentre prospective non-interventional registry of the clinical practice of European gastroenterologists concerning H. pylori infection (Hp-EuReg) was developed, including patients from 2013 until June 2019. Effectiveness was evaluated descriptively and through a multivariate analysis concerning age, gender, presence of ulcer, proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) dose, therapy duration and compliance. Overall, 53 Spanish hospitals were included, and 10,267 patients received a first-line therapy. The best results were obtained with the 10-day bismuth single-capsule therapy (95% cure rate by intention-to-treat) and with both the 14-day bismuth-clarithromycin quadruple (PPI-bismuth-clarithromycin-amoxicillin, 91%) and the 14-day non-bismuth quadruple concomitant (PPI-clarithromycin-amoxicillin-metronidazole, 92%) therapies. Second-line therapies were prescribed to 2448 patients, with most-effective therapies being the triple quinolone (PPI-amoxicillin-levofloxacin/moxifloxacin) and the bismuth-levofloxacin quadruple schemes (PPI-bismuth-levofloxacin-amoxicillin) prescribed for 14 days (92%, 89% and 90% effectiveness, respectively), and the bismuth single-capsule (10 days, 88.5%). Compliance, longer duration and higher acid inhibition were associated with higher effectiveness. "Optimized" H. pylori therapies achieve over 90% success in Spain

Zoonotic "Enterocytozoon bieneusi" genotypes in free-ranging and farmed wild ungulates in Spain

Microsporidia comprises a diverse group of obligate, intracellular, and spore-forming parasites that infect a wide range of animals. Among them, Enterocytozoon bieneusi is the most frequently reported species in humans and other mammals and birds. Data on the epidemiology of E. bieneusi in wildlife are limited. Hence, E. bieneusi was investigated in eight wild ungulate species present in Spain (genera Ammotragus, Capra, Capreolus, Cervus, Dama, Ovis, Rupicapra, and Sus) by molecular methods. Faecal samples were collected from free-ranging (n = 1058) and farmed (n = 324) wild ungulates from five Spanish bioregions. The parasite was detected only in red deer (10.4%, 68/653) and wild boar (0.8%, 3/359). Enterocytozoon bieneusi infections were more common in farmed (19.4%, 63/324) than in wild (1.5%, 5/329) red deer. A total of 11 genotypes were identified in red deer, eight known (BEB6, BEB17, EbCar2, HLJD-V, MWC_d1, S5, Type IV, and Wildboar3) and three novel (DeerSpEb1, DeerSpEb2, and DeerSpEb3) genotypes. Mixed genotype infections were detected in 15.9% of farmed red deer. Two genotypes were identified in wild boar, a known (Wildboar3) and a novel (WildboarSpEb1) genotypes. All genotypes identified belonged to E. bieneusi zoonotic Groups 1 and 2. This study provides the most comprehensive epidemiological study of E. bieneusi in Spanish ungulates to date, representing the first evidence of the parasite in wild red deer populations worldwide. Spanish wild boars and red deer are reservoir of zoonotic genotypes of E. bieneusi and might play an underestimated role in the transmission of this microsporidian species to humans and other animal

estudos artísticos

Como é característica fundadora do projeto CSO – criadores sobre outras obras – os artistas são aqui convidados a comunicar o seu conhecimento sobre outros artistas, dentro de um descentramento que toma os idiomas ibéricos como uma plataforma territorial de emergência, e de resistência, também. É uma área cultural periférica, alternativa, que se afirma em crescente grandeza. Dentro deste dispositivo comunicativo, a revista Croma delimita mais ainda o seu tema, nos artistas que de algum modo fazem incorporar a implicação social, a interação e a criação e formação de novos públicos como um dos componentes estruturantes da sua obra. Surgem na Croma obras intervenientes, que provocam, e que convocam, que estabelecem pontes, ou que as ameaçam. São obras em que a componente relacional (N. Bourriaud) ou formativa e integradora (P. Freire) assumem uma atualidade constante e renovada. Os artigos reunidos neste quinto número da Revista Croma propõem, no seu conjunto uma intenção de proximidade, de confronto com realidades, de inconformismo, de procura e de questionamento identitário. Dos seus múltiplos países e das suas diversificadas abordagens a variadas técnicas, os vinte e cinco artigos aqui apresentados complementam o poder do desassossego e da inquietação poética: os artistas falam connosco, através de outros artistas, que os souberam ver e ouvir.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

MODELO DE DIFERENCIACIÓN CELULAR EN LA FLORACIÓN DE Arabidopsis thaliana

Abordamos el problema de diferenciación celular suponiendo que las células reciben del medio en el que se encuentran información espacio-temporal que les permite cambiar la expresión de sus genes a través de la interacción entre campos físicos macroscópicos y sus redes genéticas. La idea fundamental es que la red genética de cada célula responda a la evolución dinámica de los campos macroscópicos, que rompen la simetría del espacio-tiempo, y de esa forma provean información a la red para expresar los genes de forma selectiva. Así, describimos un modelo de coevolución entre dos sistemas físicos que reaccionan químicamente para describir la floración de Arabidopsis thaliana, ya que esta planta ha sido uno de los organismos más estudiados y donde podemos usar una gran cantidad de datos, tanto de la evolución temporal de los órganos como de la actividad de la genética responsable

Modelo de diferenciación celular en la floración de Arabidopsis thaliana

We address the cell differentiation problem assuming that cells receive space-time information from the environment that allows them to change their gene expression through the interaction between macroscopic physical fields and their genetic networks. The fundamental idea is that every cell´s genetic network responds to the dynamical evolution of the macroscopic fields that break the space-time symmetry and provide information for selective gene expression. Hence, we use a coevolution model between two physical systems reacting chemically in order to describe the inflorescence of Arabidopsis thaliana since this plant has been one of the most studied organisms and there is an enormous quantity of experimental data about the time evolution of its organs and also about the gene activity responsible for those changes.Abordamos el problema de diferenciación celular suponiendo que las células reciben del medio en el que se encuentran información espacio-temporal que les permite cambiar la expresión de sus genes a través de la interacción entre campos físicos macroscópicos y sus redes genéticas. La idea fundamental es que la red genética de cada célula responda a la evolución dinámica de los campos macroscópicos, que rompen la simetría del espacio-tiempo, y de esa forma provean información a la red para expresar los genes de forma selectiva. Así, describimos un modelo de coevolución entre dos sistemas físicos que reaccionan químicamente para describir la floración de Arabidopsis thaliana, ya que esta planta ha sido uno de los organismos más estudiados y donde podemos usar una gran cantidad de datos, tanto de la evolución temporal de los órganos como de la actividad de la genética responsable

Flower development as an interplay between dynamical physical field and genetic networks

In this paper we propose a model to describe the mechanisms by which undifferentiated cells attain gene configurations underlying cell fate determination during morphogenesis. Despite the complicated mechanisms that surely intervene in this process, it is clear that the fundamental fact is that cells obtain spatial and temporal information that bias their destiny. Our main hypothesis assumes that there is at least one macroscopic field that breaks the symmetry of space at a given time. This field provides the information required for the process of cell differentiation to occur by being dynamically coupled to a signal transduction mechanism that, in turn, acts directly upon the gene regulatory network (GRN) underlying cell-fate decisions within cells. We illustrate and test our proposal with a GRN model grounded on experimental data for cell fate specification during organ formation in early Arabidopsis thaliana flower development. We show that our model is able to recover the multigene configurations characteristic of sepal, petal, stamen and carpel primordial cells arranged in concentric rings, in a similar pattern to that observed during actual floral organ determination. Such pattern is robust to alterations of the model parameters and simulated failures predict altered spatio-temporal patterns that mimic those described for several mutants. Furthermore, simulated alterations in the physical fields predict a pattern equivalent to that found in Lacandonia schismatica, the only flowering species with central stamens surrounded by carpels