Los edificios de paneles más altos de España

RESUMEN Este artículo describe el proceso constructivo de un conjunto de 484 viviendas realizadas con paneles prefabricados portantes de hormigón. Dicho conjunto edi¿catorio, de 20 plantas de altura, se compone de diversos bloques que integran además, locales comerciales, o¿cinas, trasteros, 4 plantas de garaje e instalaciones comunes. El principal interés de este edi¿cio consiste en haber alcanzado veinte plantas sobre rasante y 4 más de sótano con el sistema constructivo de paneles prefabricados de hormigón INDAGSA; el cual dispone de un Documento de Idoneidad Técnica emitido por el IETcc, con el número DIT 452. Las obras de INDAGSA son conocidas por ser precisas, ordenadas y limpias; debido a estas características, se pudieron establecer visitas no sólo para doctorandos de la ETSAM, sino para estudiantes de la Cátedra de sistemas industrializados y prefabricados. A través de la descripción del sistema constructivo, podremos mostrar una perspectiva global de las posibilidades de los sistemas de paneles prefabricados de hormigón y las capacidades evolutivas de éstos

Using a sclerochronological approach to determine a climate-growth relationship for waved whelk, Buccinum undatum, in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic

Using growth rings observed in statoliths, the size-at-age relationship was modeled for waved whelk (Buccinum undatum) populations within the Mid-Atlantic Bight. A total of 45 sites in the Mid-Atlantic were sampled between 2016 and 2019 using a scallop dredge, and a subset of the whelk collected were aged (n = 318). Lab-reared individuals and back-calculation methods were used to fill missing juvenile observations. The Mid-Atlantic Bight population appears to differ in the fit of growth curves, compared to other assessed populations, due to a timing difference in hatching. Growth curves for whelk from the Mid-Atlantic Bight show that maturity is reached between 4 and 6 years of age. A statolith chronology spanning a 10-year period was developed using a mixed-effects modeling approach. The chronology was used to explore the influence of temperature variation on growth during ecologically relevant periods. Growth increased with higher annual temperatures however specific seasonal bottom temperature had varying effects on growth. Increasing bottom temperature during summer, the anticipated egg-development and hatching period in this region, resulted in an age-dependent decline in growth with a positive effect on younger whelk and a negative effect on older whelk growth. Higher summer temperatures provide larger time-windows for growth, facilitating increased growth in early life stages. It appears that whelk in this region possess sufficient growth plasticity to adapt to warmer conditions throughout the year, but increased warming during specific seasons may depress growth in older individuals, potentially affecting fitness and population persistence. Understanding these temperature-growth dynamics are critical for disentangling the effects of climate change on whelk growth, allowing for population predictions in the future

Endophytic Bacteria and Essential Oil from Origanum vulgare ssp. vulgare Share Some VOCs with an Antibacterial Activity

Medicinal aromatic plants’ essential oils (EOs) are mixtures of volatile compounds showing antimicrobial activity, which could be exploited to face the emerging problem of multi-drug resistance. Their chemical composition can depend on the interactions between the plant and its endophytic microbiota, which is known to synthesize volatile organic compounds (VOCs). However, it is still not clear whether those volatile metabolites can contribute to the composition of the aroma profile of plants’ EOs. The aims of this study were to characterize medicinal plant O. vulgare ssp. vulgare bacterial endophyte VOCs, evaluating their ability to antagonize the growth of opportunistic human pathogens belonging to the Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) and compare them with O. vulgare EO composition. Many of the tested endophytic strains showed (i) a bactericidal and/or bacteriostatic activity against most of Bcc strains and (ii) the production of VOCs with widely recognized antimicrobial properties, such as dimethyl disulfide, dimethyl trisulfide, and monoterpenes. Moreover, these monoterpenes were also detected in the EOs extracted from the same O. vulgare plants from which endophytes were isolated. Obtained results suggest that endophytes could also play a role in the antibacterial properties of O. vulgare ssp. vulgare and, potentially, in determining its aromatic composition

Deep hypothermia prevents striatal alterations produced by perinatal asphyxia: Implications for the prevention of dyskinesia and psychosis

GABAergic medium spiny neurons are the main neuronal population in the striatum. Calbindin is preferentially expressed in medium spiny neurons involved in the indirect pathway. The aim of the present work is to analyze the effect of perinatal asphyxia on different subpopulations of GABAergic neurons in the striatum and to assess the outcome of deep therapeutic hypothermia. The uterus of pregnant rats was removed by cesarean section and the fetuses were exposed to hypoxia by immersion in water (19 min) at 37°C (perinatal asphyxia). The hypothermic group was exposed to 10°C during 30 min after perinatal asphyxia. The rats were euthanized at the age of one month (adolescent/adult rats), their brains were dissected out and coronal sections were immunolabeled for calbindin, calretinin, NeuN, and reelin. Reelin+ cells showed no staining in the striatum besides subventricular zone. The perinatal asphyxia (PA) group showed a significant decrease in calbindin neurons and a paradoxical increase in neurons estimated by NeuN staining. Moreover, calretinin+ cells, a specific subpopulation of GABAergic neurons, showed an increase caused by PA. Deep hypothermia reversed most of these alterations probably by protecting calbindin neurons. Similarly, there was a reduction of the diameter of the anterior commissure produced by the asphyxia that was prevented by hypothermic treatment.Fil: Vazquez, Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia "Prof. Eduardo de Robertis". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia; ArgentinaFil: Acuña, Andres. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia "Prof. Eduardo de Robertis". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia; ArgentinaFil: Soliño, Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia "Prof. Eduardo de Robertis". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia; ArgentinaFil: López Costa, Juan José. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia "Prof. Eduardo de Robertis". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia; ArgentinaFil: Kargieman, Lucila. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias; ArgentinaFil: Loidl, Cesar Fabian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia "Prof. Eduardo de Robertis". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia; Argentin

Molecular Analyses of Circadian Gene Variants Reveal Sex-Dependent Links Between Depression and Clocks

An extensive literature links circadian irregularities and/or sleep abnormalities to mood disorders. Despite the strong genetic component underlying many mood disorders, however, previous genetic associations between circadian clock gene variants and major depressive disorder (MDD) have been weak. We applied a combined molecular/functional and genetic association approach to circadian gene polymorphisms in sex-stratified populations of control subjects and case subjects suffering from MDD. This approach identified significant sex-dependent associations of common variants of the circadian clock genes hClock, hPer3 and hNpas2 with major depression and demonstrated functional effects of these polymorphisms on the expression or activity of the hCLOCK and hPER3 proteins, respectively. In addition, hCLOCK expression is affected by glucocorticoids, consistent with the sex-dependency of the genetic associations and the modulation of glucocorticoid-mediated stress response, providing a mechanism by which the circadian clock controls outputs that may affect psychiatric disorders. We conclude that genetic polymorphisms in circadian genes (especially hClock and hPer3, where functional assays could be tested) influence risk of developing depression in a sex- and stress-dependent manner. These studies support a genetic connection between circadian disruption and mood disorders, and confirm a key connection between circadian gene variation and major depression

Subjective utility moderates bidirectional effects of conflicting motivations on pain perception

Minimizing pain and maximizing pleasure are conflicting motivations when pain and reward co-occur. Decisions to prioritize reward consumption or pain avoidance are assumed to lead to pain inhibition or facilitation, respectively. Such decisions are a function of the subjective utility of the stimuli involved, i.e. the relative value assigned to the stimuli to compare the potential outcomes of a decision. To test perceptual pain modulation by varying degrees of motivational conflicts and the role of subjective utility, we implemented a task in which healthy volunteers had to decide between accepting a reward at the cost of receiving a nociceptive electrocutaneous stimulus or rejecting both. Subjective utility of the stimuli was assessed by a matching task between the stimuli. Accepting reward coupled to a nociceptive stimulus resulted in decreased perceived intensity, while rejecting the reward to avoid pain resulted in increased perceived intensity, but in both cases only if a high motivational conflict was present. Subjective utility of the stimuli involved moderated these bidirectional perceptual effects: the more a person valued money over pain, the more perceived intensity increased or decreased. These findings demonstrate pain modulation when pain and reward are simultaneously present and highlight the importance of subjective utility for such modulation

One year of surgical mask testing at the University of Bologna labs:Lessons learned from data analysis

The outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic highlighted the worldwide lack of surgical masks and personal protective equipment, which represent the main defense available against respiratory diseases as COVID-19. At the time, masks shortage was dramatic in Italy, the first European country seriously hit by the pandemic: aiming to address the emergency and to support the Italian industrial reconversion to the production of surgical masks, a multidisciplinary team of the University of Bologna organized a laboratory to test surgical masks according to European regulations. The group, driven by the expertise of chemical engineers, microbiologists, and occupational physicians, set-up the test lines to perform all the functional tests required. The laboratory started its activity on late March 2020, and as of the end of December of the same year 435 surgical mask prototypes were tested, with only 42 masks compliant to the European standard. From the analysis of the materials used, as well as of the production methods, it was found that a compliant surgical mask is most likely composed of three layers, a central meltblown filtration layer and two external spunbond comfort layers. An increase in the material thickness (grammage), or in the number of layers, does not improve the filtration efficiency, but leads to poor breathability, indicating that filtration depends not only on pure size exclusion, but other mechanisms are taking place (driven by electrostatic charge). The study critically reviewed the European standard procedures, identifying the weak aspects; among the others, the control of aerosol droplet size during the bacterial filtration test results to be crucial, since it can change the classification of a mask when its performance lies near to the limiting values of 95 or 98%

Extreme genetic fragility of the HIV-1 capsid

Genetic robustness, or fragility, is defined as the ability, or lack thereof, of a biological entity to maintain function in the face of mutations. Viruses that replicate via RNA intermediates exhibit high mutation rates, and robustness should be particularly advantageous to them. The capsid (CA) domain of the HIV-1 Gag protein is under strong pressure to conserve functional roles in viral assembly, maturation, uncoating, and nuclear import. However, CA is also under strong immunological pressure to diversify. Therefore, it would be particularly advantageous for CA to evolve genetic robustness. To measure the genetic robustness of HIV-1 CA, we generated a library of single amino acid substitution mutants, encompassing almost half the residues in CA. Strikingly, we found HIV-1 CA to be the most genetically fragile protein that has been analyzed using such an approach, with 70% of mutations yielding replication-defective viruses. Although CA participates in several steps in HIV-1 replication, analysis of conditionally (temperature sensitive) and constitutively non-viable mutants revealed that the biological basis for its genetic fragility was primarily the need to coordinate the accurate and efficient assembly of mature virions. All mutations that exist in naturally occurring HIV-1 subtype B populations at a frequency >3%, and were also present in the mutant library, had fitness levels that were >40% of WT. However, a substantial fraction of mutations with high fitness did not occur in natural populations, suggesting another form of selection pressure limiting variation in vivo. Additionally, known protective CTL epitopes occurred preferentially in domains of the HIV-1 CA that were even more genetically fragile than HIV-1 CA as a whole. The extreme genetic fragility of HIV-1 CA may be one reason why cell-mediated immune responses to Gag correlate with better prognosis in HIV-1 infection, and suggests that CA is a good target for therapy and vaccination strategies

ERα-LBD, an isoform of estrogen receptor alpha, promotes breast cancer proliferation and endocrine resistance

Estrogen receptor alpha (ER alpha) drives mammary gland development and breast cancer (BC) growth through an evolutionarily conserved linkage of DNA binding and hormone activation functions. Therapeutic targeting of the hormone binding pocket is a widely utilized and successful strategy for breast cancer prevention and treatment. However, resistance to this endocrine therapy is frequently encountered and may occur through bypass or reactivation of ER-regulated transcriptional programs. We now identify the induction of an ER alpha isoform, ER alpha-LBD, that is encoded by an alternative ESR1 transcript and lacks the activation function and DNA binding domains. Despite lacking the transcriptional activity, ER alpha-LBD is found to promote breast cancer growth and resistance to the ER alpha antagonist fulvestrant. ER alpha-LBD is predominantly localized to the cytoplasm and mitochondria of BC cells and leads to enhanced glycolysis, respiration and stem-like features. Intriguingly, ER alpha-LBD expression and function does not appear to be restricted to cancers that express full length ER alpha but also promotes growth of triple-negative breast cancers and ER alpha-LBD transcript (ESR1-LBD) is also present in BC samples from both ER alpha(+) and ER alpha(-) human tumors. These findings point to ER alpha-LBD as a potential mediator of breast cancer progression and therapy resistance

Structure of a Novel Shoulder-to-Shoulder p24 Dimer in Complex with the Broad-Spectrum Antibody A10F9 and Its Implication in Capsid Assembly

10.1371/journal.pone.0061314PLoS ONE84