An Interregional Econometric Model for Market Services Employment in 120 EEC Regions

We present a complete set of data of employment and value-added at 6 sectors classification, calculated having into account OECD National Accounts, regional data from Eurostat and our own estimations when necessary for former EEC12 countries, for the years. We fit and analyze an interregional econometric model for market services employment in 120 EEC regions in the year 1985 and compare its results with another models estimated for the period 1985-98. Our main conclusion is that value-added in industry and non-market sectors are the most important explanatory variables with positive impact on the increase of value-added and employment of the market services sector, and thus we think that European Union should try to help the increase of these factors in the regions under average. This recommendation is specially interesting before the forthcoming expansions of European Union after 2002.Employment; Europe; Models

Sulfonic groups induce formation of filopodia in mesenchymal stem cells

Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are an integral part of the extracellular matrix and glycocalix, i.e. the closest cellular environment. They are abundant in –OH groups and their bioactivity is also associated with the presence of negatively charged –SO3H functionalities. Therefore, we have investigated and discussed the influence of these functional units on mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) behaviour using single component and mixed self-assembled monolayers of alkanethiols with –SO3H and –OH end groups. In the absence of serum, MSCs attachment, spreading, cytoskeleton organisation and motility were significantly influenced by the surface chemistry. We found that the sulfonic groups induce starlike cell shape with very intense actin staining and a high density net of filopodia that enlarge from the base of lamellipodia structures. Moreover, this response is concentration dependent and is apparent only for very short culture time in the presence of serum.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Delivery of the 135kb human frataxin genomic DNA locus gives rise to different frataxin isoforms

© 2015 Elsevier Inc. Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA) is the most common form of hereditary ataxia caused by recessive mutations in the FXN gene. Recent results have indicated the presence of different frataxin isoforms due to alternative gene expression mechanisms. Our previous studies demonstrated the advantages of using high-capacity herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) amplicon vectors containing the entire FXN genomic locus (iBAC-FXN) as a gene-delivery vehicle capable of ensuring physiologically-regulated and long-term persistence. Here we describe how expression from the 135. kb human FXN genomic locus produces the three frataxin isoforms both in cultured neuronal cells and also in vivo. Moreover, we also observed the correct expression of these frataxin isoforms in patient-derived cells after delivery of the iBAC-. FXN. These results lend further support to the potential use of HSV-1 vectors containing entire genomic loci whose expression is mediated by complex transcriptional and posttranscriptional mechanisms for gene therapy applications.Spanish National Research Plan (SAF 2012-38042) and the Autonomous Government of Madrid (S2010/BMD-2331). The Center for Biomedical Research on Rare Diseases (“Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red sobre Enfermedades Raras”, CIBERER) is an initiative supported by the “Instituto de Salud Carlos III”.Peer Reviewe

Food Insecurity in Portugal Among Middle- and Older-Aged Adults at a Time of Economic Crisis Recovery: Prevalence and Determinants

Background: To characterize the scenario of food insecurity in Portugal at a time of economic crisis recovery is of the utmost relevance. Objective: This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and to identify the determinants of food insecurity during economic crisis recovery in a population-based urban sample of middle- and older-aged Portuguese adults. Methods: A cross-sectional study including 604 participants of the EPIPorto cohort was conducted. Data on sociodemographic characteristics and on food security status were collected. Food security status was assessed using the US Household Food Security Survey Module: Six-Item Short Form. Logistic regression models, crude and adjusted for sex, age, education, and household income perception, were performed. Results: The prevalence of food insecurity was 16.6%. Women (odds ratio [OR] = 1.96; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.09-3.54), those less educated (OR = 5.46; 95% CI: 2.84-10.46), and those who had the perception of an insufficient household income (OR = 10.39; 95% CI: 5.00-21.56) were more likely to belong to a food insecure household. Unmarried individuals (OR = 1.79; 95% CI: 1.05-3.06) and lower white-collar workers (OR = 2.22; 95% CI: 1.03-4.77) were also more prone to live within a food insecure household, regardless of sex, age, education, and household income perception. Conclusions: The obtained information is valuable for the development of intervention strategies to reduce food insecurity in middle- and older-aged adults, suggesting that women, unmarried, less educated individuals, less skilled workers, and lower income families should be targeted.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by contributions from Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway through the European Economic Area Grants, under the Public Health Initiatives Programme (PT 06, grant number 118SI2). This study was also funded by the Unidade de Investigação em Epidemiologia - Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto (EPIUnit) (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006862; Ref.UID/DTP/04750/2013), the PhD Grant SFRH/BD/117371/2016 (IM), PhD Grant SFRH/BD/92370/2013 (TM), and the Postdoc Grant SFRH/BPD/88729/2012 (RL)), co-funded by the FCT and the POCH/FSE Program; and the FCT Investigator contract IF/01060/2015 (ACS). This study is also a result of the project DOCnet (NORTE-01- 0145-FEDER- 000003) supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

Artemisia thuscula Cav.: antibacterial, antifungal activity of the plant extracts and associated endophytes

4 páginas, 2 tablas.In this paper we are presenting preliminary results for the antifungal and antibacterian activity of the Artemisia thuscula Cav. all together with the endophytic communities encountered in symbiosis with this specie. This plant is endemic for the Canary Islands and it is recognised for its traditional medicinal use (like other species of the same genus in the rest of the world) and for being a functional repellent of insects. The ethanol extracts tested showed an interesting activity against the phytopathogenic fungi Fusarium monilforme, F. solani and F. oxysporum and antibiotic activity against 2 Gram-positive bacteria: Bacillus cereus and Streptomyces griseus, in an primary screening. The diversity of endophytes found in this plant, especially in the roots, showed promising results supporting further work on this species.This publication has been financed by the project: ‘Bioprospection of endophytes in medicinal plants for biopesticides production’ MCIN- FCCI. 2009. Ref. ACI2009-0900Peer reviewe

Reliable resolution of ambiguous hepatitis C virus genotype 1 results with the Abbott HCV Genotype Plus RUO assay

Hepatitis C; Genotype; Abbott HCVHepatitis C; Genotip; Abbott HCVHepatitis C; Genotipo; Abbott HCVAccurate subtyping of hepatitis C virus genotype 1 (HCV-1) remains clinically and epidemiologically relevant. The Abbott HCV Genotype Plus RUO (GT Plus) assay, targeting the core region, was evaluated as a reflex test to resolve ambiguous HCV-1 results in a challenging sample collection. 198 HCV-1 specimens were analysed with GT Plus (38 specimens with and 160 without subtype assigned by the Abbott RealTime Genotype II (GT II) assay targeting the 5'NC and NS5B regions). Sanger sequencing of the core and/or NS5B regions were performed in 127 specimens without subtype assignment by GT II, with "not detected" results by GT Plus, or with mixed genotypes/subtypes. The remaining GT Plus results were compared to LiPA 2.0 (n = 45) or just to GT II results if concordant (n = 26). GT Plus successfully assigned the subtype in 142/160 (88.8%) samples. "Not detected" results indicated other HCV-1 subtypes/genotypes or mismatches in the core region in subtype 1b. The subtyping concordance between GT Plus and either sequencing or LiPA was 98.6% (140/142). Therefore, combined use of GT II and GT Plus assays represents a reliable and simple approach which considerably reduced the number of ambiguous HCV-1 results and enabled a successful subtyping of 98.9% of all HCV-1 samples

Fetal stem cells obtained from amniotic fluid and wharton's jelly expanded using platelet lysate for tissue engineering applications

Extra-embryonic tissues, such as amniotic fluid (AF) and Wharton´s Jelly (WJ) of umbilical cord, offer many advantages over both embryonic and adult stem cell sources. These tissues are routinely discarded at parturition and the extracorporeal nature of these cell sources facilitates isolation, as well as the comparatively large volume and ease of physical manipulation theoretically increases the number of stem cells that can be isolated. Autologous approaches to use MSCs, namely from bone marrow, have difficulties regarding the limited availability of large amounts of cells from the patient. Fetal stem cells appear to have even more pronounced immunomodulatory properties than adult MSCs (1, 2). This allogeneic escape mechanism may be of therapeutic value, because transplantation of allogeneic human MSCs in stock would be readily available, as opposed to the culture of autologous cells for subsequent transplantation. Cell expansion protocols are based on the use of media supplemented with fetal bovine serum (FBS) as a source of nutrientes and growth factors. The animal serum is not completely safe, once there is a possibility of contamination by animal viroses, prions or others contaminants and it is described that FBS used systematically in MSCs subcultivation induces more humoral immune response (3). Additionally anti-FBS antibodies could be detected in patients after receiving MSCs expanded in FBS (4). Platelet lysate (PL) has enormous possibilities in cell therapy, namely because of the high concentration of growth factors that promotes higher cell expansion, such as tissue regeneration (5). A recent study showed that proliferation of MSCs was much higher on PL gel compared to tissue culture plastic (6). The immunomodulatory properties of MSCs are maintained when expanded in culture medium supplemented with PL (7) Based on these premises we isolated fetal stem cells from AF obtained from amniocentesis and WJ from umbilical cords. These cells were plated and expanded in low density numbers in basal culture medium with FBS or either supplemented with PL. In each passage cells were counted for proliferation kinetics and prepared for flow cytometry analysis. Expanded populations were analysed both population size and complexity and for the MSCs well-known surface markers (CD34, CD45, CD73, CD44, CD106, CD105, CD29, CD90, CD31) and markers related with immune response (HLADR, 80, 83, 86) and embryonic markers SSEA-4 and TRA-1-60

Statistics anxiety in university students in assessment situations

[EN] Many students have feelings of state anxiety when exams, and these feelings probably affect their performance. Statistics courses have been identified as producing the most anxiety. The purpose of our study is to measure statistics anxiety throughout an academic course (pre-test and three assessments) in order to observe its change and analyze the relationship between statistics anxiety and academic achievement. The sample is composed of 30 Psychology students taking a course in research designs and statistics (26.7% men and 73.3% women) with a mean age of 20.31 years (SD = 3.76). The results show that the students begin with a high level of statistics anxiety that gradually declines as the course progresses and they study the course materials. Moreover, the final achievement in the subject maintains an inverse relationship with the level of statostics anxiety. The recommendation is to present the detailed contents of the teaching guide on the first day of the course in order to reduce students' anxiety and uncertainty when beginning a statistics course.http://ocs.editorial.upv.es/index.php/HEAD/HEAD18Frias-Navarro, D.; Monterde-I-Bort, H.; Navarro-Gonzalez, N.; Molina-Palomero, O.; Pascual-Soler, M.; Perezgonzalez, J.; Longobardi, C. (2018). Statistics anxiety in university students in assessment situations. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 337-345. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAD18.2018.7990OCS33734