Human exceptional longevity: transcriptome from centenarians is distinct from septuagenarians and reveals a role of Bcl-xL in successful aging

24 páginas, 7 figuras. Borras C, et al. Human exceptional longevity: transcriptome from centenarians is distinct from septuagenarians and reveals a role of Bcl-xL in successful aging. Aging (Albany NY). 2016 Oct 28;8(12):3185-3208. doi: 10.18632/aging.101078.Centenarians not only enjoy an extraordinary aging, but also show a compression of morbidity. Using functional transcriptomic analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PMBC) we identified 1721 mRNAs differentially expressed by centenarians when compared with septuagenarians and young people. Sub-network analysis led us to identify Bcl-xL as an important gene up-regulated in centenarians. It is involved in the control of apoptosis, cellular damage protection and also in modulation of immune response, all associated to healthy aging. Indeed, centenarians display lower plasma cytochrome C levels, higher mitochondrial membrane potential and also less cellular damage accumulation than septuagenarians. Leukocyte chemotaxis and NK cell activity are significantly impaired in septuagenarians compared with young people whereas centenarians maintain them. To further ascertain the functional role of Bcl-xL in cellular aging, we found that lymphocytes from septuagenarians transduced with Bcl-xL display a reduction in senescent-related markers. Finally, to demonstrate the role of Bcl-xL in longevity at the organism level, C. elegans bearing a gain of function mutation in the Bcl-xL ortholog ced-9, showed a significant increase in mean and maximal life span. These results show that mRNA expression in centenarians is unique and reveals that Bcl-xL plays an important role in exceptional aging.This work was supported by grants SAF2013-44663-R, from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (MEC); ISCIII2012-RED-43-029 from the “Red Tematica de investigacion cooperative en envejecimiento y fragilidad” (RETICEF); PROMETEOII/2014/056 from "Conselleria d’Educació, Cultura I Esport de la Generalitat Valenciana"; and EU Funded CM1001 and FRAILOMIC-HEALTH.2012.2.1.1-2 (To J.V) APM-03/15 from Conselleria de Sanitat, AICO/2016/067 and from Conselleria d’Educació, Cultura i Esport de la Generalitat Valenciana, Intramural Grant from INCLIVA (to C.B.),VAL i+d Fellowship from Generalitat Valenciana (to C.L.-F.) and Marie Curie Career Integration Grant (to N.F). This study has been co-financed by FEDER funds from the European Union.Peer reviewe

Metric character of the quantum Jensen-Shannon divergence

In a recent paper, the generalization of the Jensen-Shannon divergence in the context of quantum theory has been studied [Majtey et al., Phys. Rev. A 72, 052310 (2005)]. This distance between quantum states has shown to verify several of the properties required for a good distinguishability measure. Here we investigate the metric character of this distance. More precisely we show, formally for pure states and by means of a numerical procedure for mixed states, that its square root verifies the triangle inequality.Facultad de Ciencias ExactasInstituto de Física La Plat

Uso de Hangouts como recurso educativo en abierto en MOOC [Using Hangouts as an Open Educational Resource in MOOC ]

El uso de herramientas de herramientas como los Hangouts de Google, permiten involucrar al participante en su aprendizaje, a través de videoconferencias en las que participen proponiendo experiencias e ideas, de esta manera se estimula la interacción entre pares. Aplicar estas herramientas en entornos con elevado número de participantes como son los Cursos Masivos Abiertos en Línea, permitirá aprovecha la inteligencia colectiva del grupo ofreciendo como resultado nuevos recursos. Este artículo muestra la experiencia en un curso masivo que hace uso de los Hangouts como herramientas y recursos convirtiéndose en contenido para este. Se muestran también los resultados de una experiencia piloto que propone un Hangout entre los participantes de dos cursos distintos del mismo departamento con una temática similar. [Through tools like Google Hangouts, students can be involved in their learning in a Massive Online Open Courses, inviting them to participate through videoconferences in which they propose their experiences and ideas, encouraging interaction with their peers. In this way, the collective intelligence of all group participants will be used, creating open educational resources useful for the educational community and specifically for upcoming editions. This paper shows the experience in a massive course that makes use of Hangouts as tools and resources becoming content for this. It also shows the results of a pilot experience that proposes a Hangout between the participants of two different courses of the same department with a similar theme.

La construcción de territorialidades del agua en Uruguay. Un enfoque desde la Hidrogeografía

Desde la segunda mitad del siglo XX, la Geografía abordó la investigación en agua y recursos hídricos, posteriormente la investigación científica se reorientó hacia la gestión sustentable del agua, convirtiendo a la Geografía en una disciplina relevante en la gestión integrada de cuencas hidrográficas. De esta manera, la Hidrogeografía, (que difiere de la hidrología y de la hidráulica) se consolidó con el objetivo de analizar los territorios y la territorialidad del agua. En este contexto, se establece un debate sobre el agua, centrándolo entre la intersección de los derechos humanos, las reglas del mercado y su totalidad territorial. Este trabajo analiza el caso de Uruguay, donde la privatización del agua fue revertida a través de un proceso de iniciativa ciudadana. A partir de este hecho político se creó un segundo nivel de institucionalidad en la gestión del agua: los Consejos Regionales y Comisiones de Cuenca, de manera participativa, avanzando en la generación de propuestas desde la visión crítica de la Hidrogeografía. En el proceso, se inició una disputa epistemológica entre las condiciones de implementación y se cuestionó la participación social como categoría central de análisis. La Hidrogeografía postula la construcción de un sistema de territorialidades, confrontado las orientaciones clásicas de la hidrología y de la biología, generando una disputa epistemológica en la producción de conocimiento en torno al agua. Posteriormente, se generaron situaciones de tensión para ocupar los espacios institucionales para la toma de decisiones, principalmente con la intención de influir en las políticas públicas.Since the second half of the twentieth century, Geography addressed the issue of water researching on water resources. At the end of the last century, the scientific research was reoriented towards the sustainable management of water, turning Geography as an important discipline in the Integrated Watershed Management. In this way, the Hydrogeography, (which differs from Hydrology and Hydraulics), is consolidated with the objective of analyzing water territories. The main challenge in hydrogeological investigation is the generation of knowledge about the territoriality of water. In this context, a debate on water between human rights, market rules and its territorial totality is established. This paper analyzes the case of Uruguay, where the privatization of water was reversed through a process of citizen initiative. From this political fact, a second level of institutionality in water management was created: the Regional Councils and Commissions of Watershed in a participatory manner, advancing in the generation of proposals from the critical vision of Hydrogeography. In the process, an epistemological dispute begins among the implementation conditions and the social participation as a central category of analysis is questioned. The construction of a territorialities system to understand the water dynamics and environmental systems, postulated from Hydrogeography in the first stage, confronted with the classical orientations of Hydrology and Biology, generating an epistemological dispute over the field of knowledge generation in water. Subsequently, a dispute to occupy the institutional spaces for decisions was generated, principally with the intention of influencing in decisions policies

Efficient coupling integrals computation of waveguide step discontinuities using BI-RME and Nyström methods

This paper describes a novel technique for the very efficient and accurate computation of the coupling integrals of waveguide step discontinuities between arbitrary cross section waveguides. This new technique relies on solving the Integral Equation (IE) that provides the well-known Boundary Integral - Resonant Mode Expansion (Bi-RME) method by the Nystrom approach, instead of using the traditional Galerkin version of the Method of Moments (MoM), thus providing large savings on computational costs. Comparative benchmarks between the results provided by the new technique and the original BI-RME method are successfully presented

Plasma assisted deposition of single and multistacked TiO2 hierarchical nanotubes photoanodes

We present herein an evolved methodology for the growth of nanocrystalline hierarchical nanotubes combining physical vapor deposition of organic nanowires (ONWs) and plasma enhanced chemical vacuum deposition of anatase TiO2 layers. The ONWs act as vacuum removable 1D and 3D templates, with the whole process occurring at temperatures ranging from RT to 250 °C. As a result, a high density of hierarchical nanotubes with tunable diameter, length and tailored wall microstructures are formed on a variety of processable substrates as metal and metal oxide films or nanoparticles including transparent conductive oxides. The reiteration of the process leads to the development of an unprecedented 3D nanoarchitecture formed by stacking the layers of hierarchical TiO2 nanotubes. As a proof of concept, we present the superior performance of the 3D nanoarchitecture as a photoanode within an excitonic solar cell with efficiencies as high as 4.69% for a nominal thickness of the anatase layer below 2.75 ¿m. Mechanical stability and straightforward implementation in devices are demonstrated at the same time. The process is extendable to other functional oxides fabricated by plasma-assisted methods with readily available applications in energy harvesting and storage, catalysis and nanosensingJunta de Andalucia(FQM 1851 and FQM-2310)España Mineco 201560E055 MAT2016-79866-R MAT2013-40852-R MAT2013-4MAT2013-47192-C3-3-R2900-

Paper-based ZnO self-powered sensors and nanogenerators by plasma technology

Nanogenerators and self-powered nanosensors have shown the potential to power low-consumption electronics and human-machine interfaces, but their practical implementation requires reliable, environmentally friendly and scalable, processes for manufacturing and processing. This article presents a plasma synthesis approach for the fabrication of piezoelectric nanogenerators (PENGs) and self-powered sensors on paper substrates. Polycrystalline ZnO nanocolumnar thin films are deposited by plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition on common paper supports using a microwave electron cyclotron resonance reactor working at room temperature yielding high growth rates and low structural and interfacial stresses. Applying Kinetic Monte Carlo simulation, we elucidate the basic shadowing mechanism behind the characteristic microstructure and porosity of the ZnO thin films, relating them to an enhanced piezoelectric response to periodic and random inputs. The piezoelectric devices are assembled by embedding the ZnO films in PMMA and using Au electrodes in two different configurations: laterally and vertically contacted devices. We present the response of the laterally connected devices as a force sensor for low-frequency events with different answers to the applied force depending on the impedance circuit, i.e. load values range, a behaviour that is theoretically analyzed. The vertical devices reach power densities as high as 80 nW/cm2 with a mean power output of 20 nW/cm2. We analyze their actual-scenario performance by activation with a fan and handwriting. Overall, this work demonstrates the advantages of implementing plasma deposition for piezoelectric films to develop robust, flexible, stretchable, and enhanced-performance nanogenerators and self-powered piezoelectric sensors compatible with inexpensive and recyclable supportsComment: 30 pages, 8 figures in main tex

Bacterial cellulose/graphene oxide aerogels with enhanced dimensional and thermal stability

We present a novel method for processing bacterial cellulose/graphene oxide (BC/GO) aerogels with multifunctional properties. The addition of a small amount of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) to the aqueous dispersion of the nanomaterials during the gelification process affected the water freezing temperature of the system and thereby affecting the porous structure of the aerogel obtained after liophilization. The possibility to obtain small and elongated pore with axial orientation allowed a significant improvement of the structural stability of the aerogels. Moreover, the aerogels reduction by thermal treatment with ammonia gas induced crosslinking between the different nanophases, thus given an incremental factor for the mechanical performance of the aerogels under harsh conditions. The resulting aerogels also showed significant improvements in terms of thermal stability and electrical conductivity. These multifunctional BC/GO aerogels present high potential as sustainable and ecological alternative materials for lightweight packaging, filters for atmosphere and water treatment, or energy applications.in publicatio

An unprecedented stimuli-controlled single-crystal reversible phase transition of a metal-organic framework and its application to a novel method of guest encapsulation

The flexibility and unexpected dynamic behavior of a third-generation metal- organic framework are described for the first time. The synthetic strategy is based on the flexibility and spherical shape of dipyridyl-based carborane linkers that act as pillars between rigid Co/BTB (BTB: 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate) layers, providing a 3D porous structure (1). A phase transition of the solid can be induced to generate a new, nonporous 2D structure (2) without any loss of the carborane linkers. The structural transformation is visualized by snapshots of the multistep single-crystal-to-single-crystal transformation by single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction. Poor hydrogen bond acceptors such as MeOH, CHCl3 or supercritical CO2 induce such a 3D to 2D transformation. Remarkably, the transformation is reversible and the 2D phase 2 is further converted back into 1 by heating in dimethylformamide. The energy requirements involved in such processes are investigated using periodic density functional theory calculations. As a proof of concept for potential applications, encapsulation of C60 is achieved by trapping this molecule during the reversible 2D to 3D phase transition, whereas no adsorption is observed by straight solvent diffusion into the pores of the 3D phase

The Role of Surface Recombination on the Performance of Perovskite Solar Cells:Effect of Morphology and Crystalline Phase of TiO₂ Contact

Herein, the preparation of 1D TiO2 nanocolumnar films grown by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition is reported as the electron selective layer (ESL) for perovskite solar devices. The impact of the ESL architecture (1D and 3D morphologies) and the nanocrystalline phase (anatase and amorphous) is analyzed. For anatase structures, similar power conversion efficiencies are achieved using an ESL either the 1D nanocolumns or the classical 3D nanoparticle film. However, lower power conversion efficiencies and different optoelectronic properties are found for perovskite devices based on amorphous 1D films. The use of amorphous TiO2 as electron selective contact produces a bump in the reverse scan of the current–voltage curve as well as an additional electronic signal, detected by impedance spectroscopy measurements. The dependence of this additional signal on the optical excitation wavelength used in the IS experiments suggests that it stems from an interfacial process. Calculations using a drift-diffusion model which explicitly considers the selective contacts reproduces qualitatively the main features observed experimentally. These results demonstrate that for a solar cell in which the contact is working properly the open-circuit photovoltage is mainly determined by bulk recombination, whereas the introduction of a “bad contact” shifts the balance to surface recombination.</p