Characterization of a bacteriocin produced by a clinical isolate of Shigella flexneri 2

This study was conducted to determine the emergence of antibiotic resistant/producer strains, focusing the efforts in the search for new antimicrobial compounds. A total of 15,131 fecal samples (CI) were analyzed from patients from acute diarrhea (2015-2017 period) and observed that 1,794 were positive for either E. coli, Shigella or Salmonella presence. The ability of 388 Shigella isolates to produce antimicrobial peptides was determined by deferred-antagonism assay. Here, we observed that 9.02% of the Shigella isolates produced an antimicrobial agent able to inhibit the E. coli AB133 strain growth. The CI172 strain was selected as producer for its antimicrobial characterization. This antagonist compound (ShpCI172) was produced during exponential growth phase and displayed a restricted action spectrum. It is also thermo-resistant and has about 3 kDa molecular mass. The ShpCI172 can be classified as a microcin, since CI172 did not display cross immunity with other well-known microcins. This is the first report where the production of a microcin by a Shigella flexneri 2 strains is described. The use of ShpCI172 microcin may contribute to preventing or controlling diarrheal diseases. This finding represents an important contribution in the biotechnology field for its application in the development of new antibiotics and/or food preservatives agents.Fil: Torrez Lamberti, Monica Florencia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas; ArgentinaFil: Lopez, Fabian Enrique. Universidad Nacional de Chilecito; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas; ArgentinaFil: Bianchi, A. M.. Hospital del Niño Jesús; ArgentinaFil: Pescaretti, María de Las Mercedes. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas; ArgentinaFil: Delgado, Monica Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas; Argentin

Can the Holmes-Rahe Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS) Be Used as a Suicide Risk Scale? An Exploratory Study

The objective of this research was to examine whether the Holmes-Rahe Social Readjustment Rating Scale, a life event scale, can be used to identify suicide attempters. The Holmes-Rahe Social Readjustment Rating Scale\u27s ability to identify suicide attempters was tested in 1183 subjects (478 suicide attempters, 197 psychiatric inpatients, and 508 healthy controls) using the Fisher Linear Discriminant Analysis and traditional psychometric methods. The Fisher Linear Discriminant Analysis outperformed traditional psychometric approaches (area under the curve: 0.85 vs. 0.78; p \u3c 0.05) and indicated that this scale may be used to identify suicide attempters. The life events that better characterized suicide attempters were change in frequency of arguments, marital separation, and personal injury. The Holmes-Rahe Social Readjustment Rating Scale may help identify suicide attempters

"Dos hombres y medio": la "sitcom" y el paraíso de la masculinidad

Las relaciones familiares han sido el telón de fondo de las series de televisión desde su origen. Series legendarias como La casa de la pradera (NBC, 1974-1983), El show de Bill Cosby (NBC, 1984-1992) o Los Simpson (FOX, 1989-) han dado grandes audiencias a televisiones de todo el mundo. Conforme los tiempos van cambiando, las historias van adaptándose a nuevos estilos de vida y, a veces, esos relatos desdibujan o reinterpretan la naturaleza originaria de lo que representan. Tal es el caso de Frasier (NBC, 1993¬2004) o de Modern Family (ABC, 2009-). Se dice que la televisión es reflejo de la sociedad, pero también hay que admitir que la televisión conforma los estilos de vida de quienes la ven. El término ‘familia’ no se limita al hecho de vivir en un domicilio común. Se refiere, sobre todo, a los vínculos que se establecen entre las personas que comparten su vida y que dan garantía de unidad, afecto y seguridad a los individuos que habitan bajo un mismo techo. Existen pues convivencias o comunidades de tipo familiar que participan de los rasgos de la familia al poner todo en común. Pero no necesariamente se organizan como estructuras jerárquicas donde se infunde la paternidad y la maternidad. De este tipo de comunidades basadas en la amistad trata, por ejemplo, la serie de televisión Friends (NBC, 1994-2004). El adjetivo ‘familiar’ implica una serie de valores universales y permanentes, comunes a todos los países, como la protección, la construcción de la propia identidad basada en las relaciones, en la alteridad y en la aceptación mutua. En cambio, lo que distingue radicalmente a la familia de otras convivencias de carácter familiar son el ejercicio de la autoridad y la aceptación de la subordinación durante la educación y el aprendizaje. Es el primer escenario del crecimiento madurativo de las personas. La convivencia familiar está basada en una cierta estabilidad que da lugar a conflictos propios. Esos conflictos son la base dramática de las series de televisión y el motivo de conexión y disfrute con cualquier audiencia. La representación de las relaciones familiares explica el éxito comercial de estos contenidos convirtiéndolos en puntos de referencia con los que el público se identifica con independencia de su situación actual1. Al estudiar los rasgos familiares presentes en las obras de ficción se descubren desviaciones patéticas que permiten interpretar el sentido de la serie. Con el estudio de lo patético en los contenidos de los medios se puede dar razón de las incoherencias 1 M. MEDINA, “Explotación económica de las series familiares de televisión”, Comunicación y Sociedad, XX (1), 2007, pp. 51-85. internas de estos productos que, a veces, no les han impedido alcanzar éxitos comerciales y que apuntan a visiones muy agudas de los cambios culturales2. En el presente capítulo queremos reflexionar sobre las relaciones que se establecen en la serie Dos hombres y medio [Two men and a half -CBS, 2003-2005] y, sobre todo, el concepto de masculinidad que presenta. Es una comedia estadounidense que se ha emitido en más de cincuenta países y ha contado con más de doce temporadas. Por un lado, se observa que la fuente de comicidad es el patetismo de los dos personajes principales que han perdido su rol paterno para desarrollar el filial, frente a la ironía del hijo adolescente, que asume la paternidad a pesar de su corta edad. Por otra parte, el patetismo se apoya en la crítica a lo que denominamos el “paraíso de la masculinidad en la postmodernidad”. Ese paraíso, resultado de años de un feminismo beligerante, se basa en una vida sin especiales ataduras y una búsqueda constante de relaciones seudo-amorosas que son fruto de una ansiedad interminable y generan una inestabilidad permanente3. Estos rasgos son comunes en la sociedad actual y desdibujan la estabilidad que aportan relaciones basadas en un compromiso sólido y constructivo. Los productos audiovisuales se crean gracias a unos estándares que funcionan y una idea preconcebida de las relaciones humanas. Por tanto, son elaborados por un equipo de profesionales y se producen para que la audiencia los vea y goce con su consumo. El presente análisis narrativo irá acompañado de un breve apunte sobre los rasgos de producción que permiten entender la obra audiovisual en su contexto y un análisis de los datos de audiencia de la serie emitida en España de 2010 a 2014. Antes del análisis, se ofrece una revisión de estudios académicos, que permite conocer otros enfoques de análisis narrativo de los programas de televisión y de esta serie en particular

CARWASH WASTEWATERS: CHARACTERISTICS, VOLUMES, AND TREATABILITY BY GRAVITY OIL SEPARATION

The aim of this research was to determine the characteristics, volumes and treatability of Full-service carwash wastewaters in Toluca (Mexico State). The average water use for Exterior-only wash was 50 L per small-size car and 170 L per medium-size vehicle (pick up, van or light truck). The Full-service wash (exterior, engine and chassis) required 170 L per small-size car and 300 L per light truck. Wastewaters were generally emulsified and contained high contaminant loads (in average, 1100 mg/L oil and grease, 4500 mg/L COD and 3500 mg/L Total Suspended Solids). Gravity oil separators used in the car washing facilities were able to reduce the pollutant loads (showing a 80 % efficiency) but usually not enough to meet the sewer discharge standards or reuse requirements. The data provided by the study are useful for screening the applicable technologies and setting the design capacity of the reclaim systems that are needed in the Mexican car washing sector

Inactivation of nuclear GSK3 beta by Ser(389) phosphorylation promotes lymphocyte fitness during DNA double-strand break response

Variable, diversity and joining (V(D)J) recombination and immunoglobulin class switch recombination (CSR) are key processes in adaptive immune responses that naturally generate DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and trigger a DNA repair response. It is unclear whether this response is associated with distinct survival signals that protect T and B cells. Glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK3 beta) is a constitutively active kinase known to promote cell death. Here we show that phosphorylation of GSK3 beta on Ser(389) by p38 MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) is induced selectively by DSBs through ATM (ataxia telangiectasia mutated) as a unique mechanism to attenuate the activity of nuclear GSK3 beta and promote survival of cells undergoing DSBs. Inability to inactivate GSK3 beta through Ser(389) phosphorylation in Ser(389)Ala knockin mice causes a decrease in the fitness of cells undergoing V(D)J recombination and CSR. Preselection-Tcrb repertoire is impaired and antigen-specific IgG antibody responses following immunization are blunted in Ser(389)GSK3 beta knockin mice. Thus, GSK3 beta emerges as an important modulator of the adaptive immune response.We thank Dr T. Honjo and Dr K. Otsu for the generation of the original AID deficient mice and the p38 flox/flox mice, respectively. We thank C. Charland for flow cytometry analysis and cell sorting, the Vermont Cancer Center DNA Sequencing Facility and the University of Vermont College of Med. Microscopy Imaging Center for their services. We thank Dr D.R. Green and Dr R.C. Budd for helpful discussion regarding the mechanisms of cell death and reagents. This work was supported by NIH grant R01 AI051454 (M.R. and T.M.T.), P20 GM103496 (T.M.T.) NIH grant R37 GM41052 (M.S.K.) and Lake Champlain Cancer Research Organization (M.R.).S

A Mediterranean lifestyle reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease in the “Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra” (SUN) cohort

Background and aims: A healthy lifestyle is essential to prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, beyond dietary habits, there is a scarcity of studies comprehensively assessing the typical traditional Mediterranean lifestyle with a multi-dimensional index. We assessed the association between the Mediterranean lifestyle (measured with the MEDLIFE index including diet, physical activity, and other lifestyle factors) and the incidence of CVD. Methods and results: The “Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra” (SUN) project is a prospective, dynamic and multipurpose cohort of Spanish university graduates. We calculated a MEDLIFE score, composed of 28 items on food consumption, dietary habits, physical activity, rest, social habits, and conviviality, for 18,631 participants by assigning 1 point for each typical Mediterra- nean lifestyle factor achieved, for a theoretically possible final score ranging from 0 to 28 points. During an average follow-up of 11.5 years, 172 CVD cases (myocardial infarction, stroke or cardio- vascular death) were observed. An inverse association between the MEDLIFE score and the risk of primary cardiovascular events was observed, with multivariable-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) Z 0.50; (95% confidence interval, 0.31e0.81) for the highest MEDLIFE scores (14e23 points) compared to the lowest scores (0e9 points), p (trend) Z 0.004. Conclusion: A higher level of adherence to the Mediterranean lifestyle was significantly associ- ated with a lower risk of CVD in a Spanish cohort. Public health strategies should promote the Mediterranean lifestyle to preserve cardiovascular health

A Simulation Study of an Inverse Controller for Closed and Semiclosed-Loop Control in Type 1 Diabetes

Background: Closed-loop control algorithms in diabetes aim to calculate the optimum insulin delivery to maintain the patient in a normoglycemic state, taking the blood glucose level as the algorithm's main input. The major difficulties facing these algorithms when applied subcutaneously are insulin absorption time and delays in measurement of subcutaneous glucose with respect to the blood concentration. Methods: This article presents an inverse controller (IC) obtained by inversion of an existing mathematical model and validated with synthetic patients simulated with a different model and is compared with a proportional-integral-derivative controller. Results: Simulated results are presented for a mean patient and for a population of six simulated patients. The IC performance is analyzed for both full closed-loop and semiclosed-loop control. The IC is tested when initialized with the heuristic optimal gain, and it is compared with the performance when the initial gain is deviated from the optimal one (±10%). Conclusions: The simulation results show the viability of using an IC for closed-loop diabetes control. The IC is able to achieve normoglycemia over long periods of time when the optimal gain is used (63% for the full closed-loop control, and it is increased to 96% for the semiclosed-loop control

The O3N2 and N2 abundance indicators revisited: improved calibrations based on CALIFA and T e-based literature data

Astronomy and Astrophysics 559 (2013): A114 reproduced with permission from Astronomy and AstrophysicsThe use of integral field spectroscopy is since recently allowing to measure the emission line fluxes of an increasingly large number of star-forming galaxies, both locally and at high redshift. Many studies have used these fluxes to derive the gas-phase metallicity of the galaxies by applying the so-called strong-line methods. However, the metallicity indicators that these datasets use were empirically calibrated using few direct abundance data points (Te-based measurements). Furthermore, a precise determination of the prediction intervals of these indicators is commonly lacking in these calibrations. Such limitations might lead to systematic errors in determining the gas-phase metallicity, especially at high redshift, which might have a strong impact on our understanding of the chemical evolution of the Universe. The main goal of this study is to review the most widely used empirical oxygen calibrations, O3N2 and N2, by using newdirect abundance measurements. We pay special attention to (1) the expected uncertainty of these calibrations as a function of the index value or abundance derived and (2) the presence of possible systematic offsets. This is possible thanks to the analysis of the most ambitious compilation of Te-based H ii regions to date. This new dataset compiles the Te-based abundances of 603 H ii regions extracted from the literature but also includes new measurements from the CALIFA survey. Besides providing new and improved empirical calibrations for the gas abundance, we also present a comparison between our revisited calibrations with a total of 3423 additional CALIFA H ii complexes with abundances derived using the ONS calibration from the literature. The combined analysis of T e-based and ONS abundances allows us to derive their most accurate calibration to date for both the O3N2 and N2 single-ratio indicators, in terms of all statistical significance, quality, and coverage of the parameters space. In particular, we infer that these indicators show shallower abundance dependencies and statistically significant offsets compared to others'. The O3N2 and N2 indicators can be empirically applied to derive oxygen abundances calibrations from either direct abundance determinations with random errors of 0.18 and 0.16, respectively, or from indirect ones (but based on a large amount of data), reaching an average precision of 0.08 and 0.09 dex (random) and 0.02 and 0.08 dex (systematic; compared to the direct estimations), respectivelyR.A. Marino is funded by the Spanish program of International Campus of Excellence Moncloa (CEI). D. Mast thank the Plan Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo funding programs, AYA2012-31935 of the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, for the support given to this project. S.F.S thanks the the Ramón y Cajal project RyC-2011-07590 of the spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, for the support giving to this project. F.F.R.O. acknowledges the Mexican National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT) for financial support under the program Estancias Postdoctorales y Sabáticas al Extranjero para la Consolidación de Grupos de Investigación, 2010-2012. We acknowledge financial support for the ESTALLIDOS collaboration by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación under grant AYA2010- 21887-C04-03. BG-L also acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) under grant AYA2012- 39408-C02-02. J.F.-B. acknowledges financial support from the Ramón y Cajal Program and grant AYA2010-21322-C03-02 from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO), as well as to the DAGAL network from the People’s Program (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union’s Seventh Framework Program FP7/2007-2013/ under REA grant agreement number PITN-GA-2011-289313. CK has been funded by project AYA2010-21887 from the Spanish PNAYA. P.P. acknowledges support by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) under project FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-029170 (Reference FCT PTDC/FIS-AST/3214/2012), funded by FCT-MEC (PIDDAC) and FEDER (COMPETE). R.M.G.D. and R.G.B. also acknowledge support from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) under grant AyA2010-15081. V.S., L.G., and A.M.M. acknowledge financial support from the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) under program Ciência 2008 and the research grant PTDC/CTE-AST/112582/200