An Innovative and Easy Method for Iron-Doped Titania Synthesis

In this work, photocatalytically active titanium oxide nanoparticles were synthesized for the treatment of contaminated water under visible light. Various Ag, Sr and Fe-based synthesis and doping techniques (mainly hydrothermal and sol-gel methods) were performed. Adsorptive and photocatalytic properties were studied by testing in batch mode for the decontaminating a synthetic methylene blue solution (used as a model contaminant) using a simple 13 W LED bulb as the light source. The best material in terms of both activity (high removal kinetics) and simplicity of synthesis was found to be titanium oxide doped with Fe via "solid-state"method. This method enabled the synthesis of titania nanoparticles about 70 nanometers in size with Fe3+ effectively substituting titanium atoms (Ti4+) in the crystalline bulk of titania. The pseudo-first-order kinetic model was found to represent the behavior of the experimental data

Higher levels of osteoprotegerin and immune activation/immunosenescence markers are correlated with concomitant bone and endovascular damage in HIV-suppressed patients

HIV-infected patients appear to have a significantly greater risk of non-AIDS comorbidities such as osteoporosis and atherosclerosis. Subjects with osteoporosis are at a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease than those with normal bone mass, therefore a possible relation between these two conditions can be hypothesized. In the setting of HIV infection, several factors might contribute to bone disease and endothelial dysfunction. The aim of our study was to evaluate the relationship between bone and cardiovascular disease and to investigate the role of traditional factors, T-cell phenotype and osteoprotegerin in HIV positive subjects on effective antiretroviral therapy. We included 94 HIV positive subjects on antiretroviral therapy with virological suppression and 41 healthy subjects matched for age and gender as a control group. Carotid-Intima Media Thickness (c-IMT) and bone mineral density (BMD) were performed by ultrasound and DEXA, respectively. CD4+/CD8+ T-cell activation, senescence and osteoprotegerin plasma levels were measured by flow-cytometry and ELISA, respectively. Among HIV positive patients, 56.4% had osteopenia/osteoporosis and 45.7% had pathological c-IMT (>0.9mm). Subjects with pathological c-IMT and BMD exhibited higher CD4+ and CD8+ activated, CD8+ senescent and osteoprotegerin than subjects with normal c-IMT and BMD. HIV positive subjects with osteopenia/osteoporosis had higher c-IMT than subjects with normal BMD, and linear regression analysis showed a negative correlation between BMD and c-IMT. Several factors are implicated in the pathogenesis of non-AIDS comorbidities in HIV positive patients. Osteoprotegerin together with inflammation and immunosenescence in HIV positive patients could affect bone and vascular system and could be considered as a possible common link between these two diseases

In silico and in vitro approaches allow the identification of the Prosystemin molecular network

Tomato Prosystemin (ProSys), the precursor of Systemin, a small peptidic hormone, is produced at very low concentration in unchallenged plants, while its expression greatly increases in response to several different stressors triggering an array of defence responses. The molecular mechanisms that underpin such a wide array of defence barriers are not fully understood and are likely correlated with the intrinsically disordered (ID) structure of the protein. ID proteins interact with different protein partners forming complexes involved in the modulation of different biological mechanisms. Here we describe the ProSys-protein network that shed light on the molecular mechanisms underpinning ProSys associated defence responses. Three different approaches were used. In silico prediction resulted in 98 direct interactors, most clustering in phytohormone biosynthesis, transcription factors and signal transduction gene classes. The network shows the central role of ProSys during defence responses, that reflects its role as central hub. In vitro ProSys interactors, identified by Affinity Purification-Mass Spectrometry (AP-MS), revealed over three hundred protein partners, while Bimolecular Fluorescent Complementation (BiFC) experiments validated in vivo some interactors predicted in silico and in vitro. Our results demonstrate that ProSys interacts with several proteins and reveal new key molecular events in the ProSys-dependent defence response of tomato plant

De Novo Transcriptome Assembly of Cucurbita Pepo L. Leaf Tissue Infested by Aphis Gossypii

Zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.), extensively cultivated in temperate areas, belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family and it is a species with great economic value. One major threat related to zucchini cultivation is the damage imposed by the cotton/melon aphid Aphis gossypii Glover (Homoptera: Aphididae). We performed RNA-sequencing on cultivar "San Pasquale" leaves, uninfested and infested by A. gossypii, that were collected at three time points (24, 48, and 96 h post infestation). Then, we combined all high-quality reads for de novo assembly of the transcriptome. This resource was primarily established to be used as a reference for gene expression studies in order to investigate the transcriptome reprogramming of zucchini plants following aphid infestation. In addition, raw reads will be valuable for new experiments based on the latest bioinformatic tools and analytical approaches. The assembled transcripts will serve as an important reference for sequence-based studies and for primer design. Both datasets can be used to support/improve the prediction of protein-coding genes in the zucchini genome, which has been recently released into the public domain

Algoritmo de encaminamiento para redes de sensores inalámbricas utilizando técnicas de agregación

La supervisión y control de entornos de distinta índole implica la necesidad de medir variables propias del ambiente. Cuando los sitios en que deben hacerse estas mediciones son de difícil acceso se suele recurrir a redes inalámbricas de sensores inteligentes (RISI). En este trabajo se propone un algoritmo de encaminamiento jerárquico en dos niveles que realiza una recolección periódica de datos del ambiente. En el primer nivel se definen clusters cuyas cabeceras se rotan para lograr un consumo de energía más uniforme. Se divide la red en una cuadrícula que se utiliza para ubicar las cabeceras y aplicar técnicas de agregación. En el segundo nivel se define la estructura de comunicación intercluster. Para el envío de los datos hacia la estación base se trabaja en dos rondas bien definidas, una de establecimiento del árbol de encaminamiento y otra de envío de la información recolectada. Finalmente, se consideran dos tipos de fallos críticos para la red: fallo en la elección de cabeceras y fallo en la estructura de comunicación entre cabeceras. En ambos casos se proponen soluciones para mitigar los efectos adversos en el funcionamiento del sistema.Different environments supervision and control needs local variables measurements. When the places where these measurements are going to be made are of hard access it is used to use Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN). A hierarchical routing algorithm in two levels is proposed in this work to periodically collect the environment’s data. Clusters which headers are rotated to uniform the power consumption are defined in the first level. The environment is divided in a grid which is used to locate the headers and to apply aggregation techniques. An intercluster communication structure is defined in the second level. Two well defined rounds are used to send the data to the base station, one to define the enrouting tree and the other to send the collected data. Finally, two kinds of critical network failures are considered: fail in the header election and fail in the inter header communication structure. In both cases solutions are proposed to mitigate the negative effects on the system performance.II Workshop de Arquitecturas, Redes y Sistemas OperativosRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Algoritmo de encaminamiento para redes de sensores inalámbricas utilizando técnicas de agregación

La supervisión y control de entornos de distinta índole implica la necesidad de medir variables propias del ambiente. Cuando los sitios en que deben hacerse estas mediciones son de difícil acceso se suele recurrir a redes inalámbricas de sensores inteligentes (RISI). En este trabajo se propone un algoritmo de encaminamiento jerárquico en dos niveles que realiza una recolección periódica de datos del ambiente. En el primer nivel se definen clusters cuyas cabeceras se rotan para lograr un consumo de energía más uniforme. Se divide la red en una cuadrícula que se utiliza para ubicar las cabeceras y aplicar técnicas de agregación. En el segundo nivel se define la estructura de comunicación intercluster. Para el envío de los datos hacia la estación base se trabaja en dos rondas bien definidas, una de establecimiento del árbol de encaminamiento y otra de envío de la información recolectada. Finalmente, se consideran dos tipos de fallos críticos para la red: fallo en la elección de cabeceras y fallo en la estructura de comunicación entre cabeceras. En ambos casos se proponen soluciones para mitigar los efectos adversos en el funcionamiento del sistema.Different environments supervision and control needs local variables measurements. When the places where these measurements are going to be made are of hard access it is used to use Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN). A hierarchical routing algorithm in two levels is proposed in this work to periodically collect the environment’s data. Clusters which headers are rotated to uniform the power consumption are defined in the first level. The environment is divided in a grid which is used to locate the headers and to apply aggregation techniques. An intercluster communication structure is defined in the second level. Two well defined rounds are used to send the data to the base station, one to define the enrouting tree and the other to send the collected data. Finally, two kinds of critical network failures are considered: fail in the header election and fail in the inter header communication structure. In both cases solutions are proposed to mitigate the negative effects on the system performance.II Workshop de Arquitecturas, Redes y Sistemas OperativosRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Comparative 454 pyrosequencing of transcripts from two olive genotypes during fruit development

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Despite its primary economic importance, genomic information on olive tree is still lacking. 454 pyrosequencing was used to enrich the very few sequence data currently available for the <it>Olea europaea </it>species and to identify genes involved in expression of fruit quality traits.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Fruits of <it>Coratina</it>, a widely cultivated variety characterized by a very high phenolic content, and <it>Tendellone</it>, an oleuropein-lacking natural variant, were used as starting material for monitoring the transcriptome. Four different cDNA libraries were sequenced, respectively at the beginning and at the end of drupe development. A total of 261,485 reads were obtained, for an output of about 58 Mb. Raw sequence data were processed using a four step pipeline procedure and data were stored in a relational database with a web interface.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Massively parallel sequencing of different fruit cDNA collections has provided large scale information about the structure and putative function of gene transcripts accumulated during fruit development. Comparative transcript profiling allowed the identification of differentially expressed genes with potential relevance in regulating the fruit metabolism and phenolic content during ripening.</p

Redes inalámbricas de sensores inteligentes

La línea de investigación abarca diversos aspectos relacionados con el diseño, simulación y prototipado de redes inalámbricas de sensores. El dominio de interés se enfoca en las actividades de supervisión ambiental. El desarrollo de una Red Inalámbrica de Sensores Inteligentes implica el estudio de aspectos relacionados con elementos software y también de la plataforma hardware de soporte. Por este motivo el equipo de trabajo integra docentes de las áreas digital e informática.Eje: Arquitectura, Redes y Sistemas OperativosRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Altered expression of mitochondrial and extracellular matrix genes in the heart of human fetuses with chromosome 21 trisomy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Down syndrome phenotype has been attributed to overexpression of chromosome 21 (Hsa21) genes. However, the expression profile of Hsa21 genes in trisomic human subjects as well as their effects on genes located on different chromosomes are largely unknown. Using oligonucleotide microarrays we compared the gene expression profiles of hearts of human fetuses with and without Hsa21 trisomy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Approximately half of the 15,000 genes examined (87 of the 168 genes on Hsa21) were expressed in the heart at 18–22 weeks of gestation. Hsa21 gene expression was globally upregulated 1.5 fold in trisomic samples. However, not all genes were equally dysregulated and 25 genes were not upregulated at all. Genes located on other chromosomes were also significantly dysregulated. Functional class scoring and gene set enrichment analyses of 473 genes, differentially expressed between trisomic and non-trisomic hearts, revealed downregulation of genes encoding mitochondrial enzymes and upregulation of genes encoding extracellular matrix proteins. There were no significant differences between trisomic fetuses with and without heart defects.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We conclude that dosage-dependent upregulation of Hsa21 genes causes dysregulation of the genes responsible for mitochondrial function and for the extracellular matrix organization in the fetal heart of trisomic subjects. These alterations might be harbingers of the heart defects associated with Hsa21 trisomy, which could be based on elusive mechanisms involving genetic variability, environmental factors and/or stochastic events.</p

Clustering dinámico para tiempo de encendido mínimo en redes inalámbricas de sensores (CLUDITEM) : Definición del árbol de encaminamiento

Las Redes Inalámbricas de Sensores Inteligentes (RISI) son particularmente útiles en ambientes hostiles o de difícil acceso, donde el mantenimiento de los nodos que las constituyen es muy dificultoso. Estas redes se auto-organizan para adaptarse a topologías cambiantes, y deben trabajar bajo fuertes restricciones de energía, tratando de maximizar su tiempo de vida útil. En este trabajo se analiza la definición del árbol de encaminamiento de un algoritmo jerárquico para adquisición periódica de datos en aplicaciones de supervisión ambiental. Sus objetivos son disminuir y distribuir adecuadamente el consumo de energía, para lo cual se utiliza clustering dinámico y se mantienen apagados los transceptores de los nodos el mayor tiempo posible. En el trabajo se describen las simulaciones realizadas y se reportan los resultados alcanzados. Además, se proponen líneas de trabajo futuro teniendo en cuenta las conclusiones obtenidas.Intelligent Wireless Sensors Networks (IWSN) are particularly useful in hard access or hostile environments, where constitutive node maintenance is very difficult. These Networks are self organized to adapt to changing topologies, and shall work under strong energy constraints trying to maximize its life time. A hierarchical algorithm routing tree definition for periodical data acquisition in environmental supervision applications is analyzed in this work. The main objectives are to diminish and to adequately distribute the energy consumption using dynamic clustering and keeping shutted off the nodes transceptors as long as possible. Simulations made and achieved results are reported in this work. Future works are proposed based on the conclusionsWorkshop de Arquitecturas, Redes y Sistemas Operativos (WARSO)Red de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI