The educational level of the Spanish population and regions: 1960-2011

En este trabajo se construyen series anuales del nivel educativo de la población para España y sus regiones durante el periodo 1960-2011 utilizando la información que proporcionan los censos de población. Estas series actualizan y mejoran las elaboradas en de la Fuente y Doménech (2006), lo que permite comparar con datos de 2011 la situación de las regiones españolas con la de otros países de la OCDE. Trabajando con información desagregada por tramos de edad encontramos que, de mantenerse los patrones actuales de escolarización y en ausencia de grandes flujos migratorios, las perspectivas de una mayor convergencia educativa entre regiones son escasas.In this paper we compute annual series of the educational level of the Spanish population and regions from 1960 to 2011 using the information provided by the population censuses. This new data set updates and improves previous estimates by de la Fuente and Domenech (2006), also allowing the comparison in 2011 with other OECD countries. Working with the information disaggregated by ages we find that, based on current patterns of schooling and in the absence of large migration flows, the prospects for further educational convergence between regions are scarce

Cross-country data on skills and the quality of schooling: A selective survey

Scores in standardized international student achievement tests and some recent adult literacy studies provide interesting data on the quality of educational outputs and on the skill level of the population that can be a useful complement to the data on the quantity of schooling which have been most commonly used in the growth literature. This paper describes the most recent available primary data on the subject, reviews different attempts to organize, standardize, and summarize them, and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the existing indicators and their potential usefulness as explanatory variables in empirical analyses of the determinants of income and welfare levels and growth rates. A final section investigates the distribution of these indicators across a sample of 21 OECD countries

Rayman, un ejemplo de Interoperabilidad a través de estándares Geo-espaciales de la información meteorológica

La observación de los fenómenos atmosféricos permite conocer además del clima de una región, los meteoros que se producen en ella. La utilidad de la información recolectada, unida a su posición, es notoria en muchas actividades profesionales relacionadas con la edificación, la construcción, la aeronáutica, las ciencias de la vida, la fauna, la flora, el turismo, las ciencias del mar, la agricultura, la biología así como para las energías renovables. El acceso a las observaciones meteorológicas mediante estándares geo-espaciales, como los definidos por el OGC, permite que los Sistemas de Información Geográfica (SIG) puedan usar dichos datos conjuntamente con otros para generar productos de valor añadido o herramientas de ayuda en la toma de decisiones. En este trabajo se enumeran algunos campos de aplicación de la meteorología y se describen dos iniciativas gubernamentales a nivel Europeo y nacional que persiguen el acceso estandarizado a la información, así como la interoperabilidad. Una vez expuesto el marco normativo que se avecina, se describe la actividad de estandarización geo-espacial promovida por el consorcio OpenGis (OGC) y en especial el acceso Web a las observaciones de los sensores. A continuación se describen las principales formas de diseminación de la información meteorológica utilizadas actualmente: imágenes, tablas, meteogramas, rosas de los vientos, etc., para identificar varios casos de uso en los que estos tipos de acceso no satisfacen las necesidades. Se presenta la solución diseñada para Red Eléctrica de España S.A. en el proyecto de I+D+i RAYMAN, para la carga periódica de información en un almacén de datos espaciales, la posibilidad de explotarla tanto directamente, mediante Sistemas de Información Geográfica (SIG), como mediante servicios OGC. El trabajo finaliza con la enumeración de los resultados obtenidos y las conclusiones. Éstas apuntan la necesidad de que las agencias meteorológicas ofrezcan las observaciones realizadas por estaciones automáticas mediante servicios Web estandarizados e interoperable

Physical fitness in young top level table tennis players: differences between sex, age and playing style

Understanding the physical fitness of table tennis (TT) players could be interesting in improving the training process and evaluating talent. This study aimed to assess the physical fitness of U14 TT players and differentiate between sex, age and playing style. A total of 352 players (203 males and 149 females) aged between 9 and 13 years participated in the present study. Furthermore, the sample was divided according to playing style: offensive (OFF) and mixed + defensive (M + D). A battery of tests was carried out to assess cardiorespiratory capacity, speed, strength, flexibility and power. Both sexes reported significant differences in cardiorespiratory capacity and speed (p < 0.05). Concerning age, there were substantial differences in cardiorespiratory capacity, speed, strength and power, with older players obtaining better results (p < 0.05). Finally, concerning playing style, differences were reported in cardiorespiratory capacity, higher in OFF style group, and flexibility, higher in the M + D style group. Finally, there were relationships between playing style and cardiorespiratory fitness and flexibility. Physical fitness evolves with increasing age as a function of sex. This is the first study to assess fitness in a large sample of TT players as a function of playing style

Influencia del índice de masa corporal en el desarrollo de la agilidad durante la infancia

El nivel de desarrollo de la agilidad resulta fundamental para conocer la evolución de la motricidad durante el periodo de la infancia. La agilidad es una capacidad física que interviene en la mejora del ritmo y la sincronización del movimiento, ya sea en situaciones cotidianas de la vida o en contextos deportivos. El sobrepeso o la obesidad infantil pueden ser factores que dificulten el desarrollo de esta capacidad. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar mediante el test de Illinois el nivel de agilidad para posteriormente asociar posibles correlaciones con el IMC. Un total de 65 niños (10,25±1,33 años) participaron en esta investigación. Los niños que resentaban normopeso obtuvieron niveles de agilidad superiores respecto a aquellos que presentaban índices de sobrepeso u obesidad. Un peso inadecuado puede tener una influencia directa sobre un incorrecto desarrollo de la agilidad

Analysis of Differentially Expressed MicroRNAs in Serum and Lung Tissues from Individuals with Severe Asthma Treated with Oral Glucocorticoids

Biomarker; Individuals with severe asthma; Oral corticosteroidsBiomarcador; Persones amb asma greu; Corticosteroides oralsBiomarcador; Personas con asma grave; Corticosteroides oralesNowadays, microRNAs (miRNAs) are increasingly used as biomarkers due to their potential contribution to the diagnosis and targeted treatment of a range of diseases. The aim of the study was to analyze the miRNA expression profiles in serum and lung tissue from patients with severe asthma treated with oral corticosteroids (OCS) and those without OCS treatment. For this purpose, serum and lung tissue miRNAs of OCS and non-OCS asthmatic individuals were evaluated by miRNAs-Seq, and subsequently miRNA validation was performed using RT-qPCR. Additionally, pathway enrichment analysis of deregulated miRNAs was conducted. We observed altered expression by the next-generation sequencing (NGS) of 11 miRNAs in serum, of which five (hsa-miR-148b-3p, hsa-miR-221-5p, hsa-miR-618, hsa-miR-941, and hsa-miR-769-5p) were validated by RT-qPCR, and three miRNAs in lung tissue (hsa-miR-144-3p, hsa-miR-144-5p, and hsa-miR-451a). The best multivariate logistic regression model to differentiate individuals with severe asthma, treated and untreated with OCS, was to combine the serum miRNAs hsa-miR-221-5p and hsa-miR-769-5p. Expression of hsa-miR-148b-3p and hsa-miR-221-5p correlated with FEV1/FVC (%) and these altered miRNAs act in key signaling pathways for asthma disease and the regulated expression of some genes (FOXO3, PTEN, and MAPK3) involved in these pathways. In conclusion, there are miRNA profiles differentially expressed in OCS-treated individuals with asthma and could be used as biomarkers of OCS treatment.This work was supported by ISCIII—Instituto de Salud Carlos III, FIS (Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria—Spanish Health Research Fund) grants PI18/00167, PI21/00896, and FI19/00067; Ciber de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES); RTC-2017-6501-1 (Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades), a Carlos III Institute of Health Initiative; and FEDER funds (Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional)

Characterization of endogenous Kv1.3 channel isoforms in T cells

Producción CientíficaVoltage-dependent potassium channel Kv1.3 plays a key role on T-cell activation; however, lack of reliable antibodies has prevented its accurate detection under endogenous circumstances. To overcome this limitation, we created a Jurkat T-cell line with endogenous Kv1.3 channel tagged, to determine the expression, location, and changes upon activation of the native Kv1.3 channels. CRISPR-Cas9 technique was used to insert a Flag-Myc peptide at the C terminus of the KCNA3 gene. Basal or activated channel expression was studied using western blot analysis and imaging techniques. We identified two isoforms of Kv1.3 other than the canonical channel (54 KDa) differing on their N terminus: a longer isoform (70 KDa) and a truncated isoform (43 KDa). All three isoforms were upregulated after T-cell activation. We focused on the functional characterization of the truncated isoform (short form, SF), because it has not been previously described and could be present in the available Kv1.3−/− mice models. Overexpression of SF in HEK cells elicited small amplitude Kv1.3-like currents, which, contrary to canonical Kv1.3, did not induce HEK proliferation. To explore the role of endogenous SF isoform in a native system, we generated both a knockout Jurkat clone and a clone expressing only the SF isoform. Although the canonical isoform (long form) localizes mainly at the plasma membrane, SF remains intracellular, accumulating perinuclearly. Accordingly, SF Jurkat cells did not show Kv1.3 currents and exhibited depolarized resting membrane potential (VM), decreased Ca2+ influx, and a reduction in the [Ca2+]i increase upon stimulation. Functional characterization of these Kv1.3 channel isoforms showed their differential contribution to signaling pathways involved in formation of the immunological synapse. We conclude that alternative translation initiation generates at least three endogenous Kv1.3 channel isoforms in T cells that exhibit different functional roles. For some of these functions, Kv1.3 proteins do not need to form functional plasma membrane channels.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (grant PID 2020‐118517RB‐I00)Junta de Castilla y León (grants VA172P20) and (CLU-2019-02)Funds from Institut Curie, INSERM,Agence Nationale de la Recherche RetroTact (ANR‐20CE15‐0009‐01,ANR‐10‐IDEX‐0001‐02 PSL*, and ANR‐11‐LABX‐0043)Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale FRM (EQU202003010280

Myocardin-Dependent Kv1.5 Channel Expression Prevents Phenotypic Modulation of Human Vessels in Organ Culture

Objective: We have previously described that changes in the expression of Kv channels associate to phenotypic modulation (PM), so that Kv1.3 /Kv1.5 ratio is a landmark of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) phenotype. Moreover, we demonstrated that the Kv1.3 functional expression is relevant for PM in several types of vascular lesions. Here, we explore the efficacy of Kv1.3 inhibition for the prevention of remodeling in human vessels, and the mechanisms linking the switch in Kv1.3 /Kv1.5 ratio to PM. Approach and Results: Vascular remodeling was explored using organ culture and primary cultures of VSMCs obtained from human vessels. We studied the effects of Kv1.3 inhibition on serum-induced remodeling, as well as the impact of viral vector-mediated overexpression of Kv channels or myocardin knock-down. Kv1.3 blockade prevented remodeling by inhibiting proliferation, migration and extracellular matrix (ECM) secretion. PM activated Kv1.3 via downregulation of Kv1.5. Hence, both Kv1.3 blockers and Kv1.5 overexpression inhibited remodeling in a non-additive fashion. Finally, myocardin knock-down induced vessel remodeling and Kv1.5 downregulation and myocardin overexpression increased Kv1.5, while Kv1.5 overexpression inhibited PM without changing myocardin expression. Conclusions: We demonstrate that Kv1.5 channel gene is a myocardin-regulated, VSMCs contractile marker. Kv1.5 downregulation upon PM leaves Kv1.3 as the dominant Kv1 channel expressed in dedifferentiated cells. We demonstrated that the inhibition of Kv1.3 channel function with selective blockers or by preventing Kv1.5 downregulation can represent an effective, novel strategy for the prevention of intimal hyperplasia and restenosis of the human vessels used for coronary angioplasty procedures.This work was supported by grant BFU2016-75360-R from the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO), to MTPG and JRLL and Junta de Castilla y León Grant VA114P17 to MTPG. MAM and JS are predoctoral fellows of the UVa-Santander. KS was supported by the Swedish Research Council (2017-01225_3

Paving the Way for Reliable Alzheimer’s Disease Blood Diagnosis by Quadruple Electrochemical Immunosensing

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common neurodegenerative disorder, demands new cost-effective and easy-to-use strategies for its reliable detection, mainly in the preclinical stages. Here, we report the first immunoplatform for the electrochemical multidetermination of four candidate protein biomarkers in blood, neurofilament light chain (NfL), Tau, phosphorylated Tau (p-Tau) and TAR DNA-Binding Protein 43 (TDP-43). It involves implementation of sandwich-type immunoassays and enzymatic labelling with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) on the surface of magnetic microbeads (MBs). Amperometric detection is performed after depositing the magnetic immunoconjugates on disposable quadruple transduction platforms by monitoring the enzymatic reduction of H2O2 mediated by hydroquinone (HQ). The immunoplatform achieved LOD values smaller than the content of target biomarkers in plasma of healthy subjects, with RSD values

HCV-coinfection is related to an increased HIV-1 reservoir size in cART-treated HIV patients: a cross-sectional study

In HIV-1/HCV-coinfected patients, chronic HCV infection leads to an increased T-lymphocyte immune activation compared to HIV-monoinfected patients, thereby likely contributing to increase HIV-1 reservoir that is the major barrier for its eradication. Our objective was to evaluate the influence of HCV coinfection in HIV-1 viral reservoir size in resting (r) CD4+ T-cells (CD25-CD69-HLADR-). Multicenter cross-sectional study of 97 cART-treated HIV-1 patients, including 36 patients with HIV and HCV-chronic co-infection without anti-HCV treatment, 32 HIV patients with HCV spontaneous clearance and 29 HIV-monoinfected patients. rCD4+ T-cells were isolated and total DNA was extracted. HIV viral reservoir was measured by Alu-LTR qPCR. Differences between groups were calculated with a generalized linear model. Overall, 63.9% were men, median age of 41 years and Caucasian. Median CD4+ and CD8+ T-lymphocytes were 725 and 858 cells/mm 3 , respectively. CD4+ T nadir cells was 305 cells/mm 3 . Proviral HIV-1 DNA size was significantly increased in chronic HIV/HCV-coinfected compared to HIV-monoinfected patients (206.21 ± 47.38 vs. 87.34 ± 22.46, respectively; P = 0.009), as well as in spontaneously clarified HCV co-infected patients when compared to HIV-monoinfected individuals (136.20 ± 33.20; P = 0.009). HIV-1/HCV co-infected patients showed a larger HIV-1 reservoir size in comparison to HIV-monoinfected individuals. This increase could lead to a greater complexity in the elimination of HIV-1 reservoir in HIV-1/HCV-coinfected individuals, which should be considered in the current strategies for the elimination of HIV-1 reservoir.Financial support was provided by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III to VB (PI15CIII/00031), by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness to MC (SAF2016–78480-R) and The SPANISH AIDS Research Network RD16CIII/0002/0001, RD16CIII/0002/0002 and RD16/0025/0013 - ISCIII – FEDER. MRLP is supported by ISCIII - Subdirección General de Evaluacion and European Funding for Regional Development (FEDER) (PIE 13/00040 and RD12/0017/0017 RETIC de SIDA). C.P. is supported by the Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) (grant number SFRH/ BPD/77448/2011 is part of the EDCTP2 programme supported by the European Union). V.B., A.F.R. and N.R. are supported by the Miguel Servet programme from Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria (ISCIII) (grant number CP13/00098, CP14/CIII/00010 and CP14/00198, respectively)