Role of Hypoxia Inducible Factors in Alveolar Macrophage Physiology

The rapid transit from hypoxia to normoxia in the lung that follows the first breath in newborn mice coincides with alveolar macrophage (AM) terminal differentiation. Indeed, in silico analysis showed that the expression of genes involved in glycolysis and adaptation to hypoxia is gradually downregulated during AM maturation after birth, suggesting an adaptation to increased oxygen concentrations. However, whether sensing of oxygen fluctuations contributes to post-birth AM maturation and function has not been previously explored. For this purpose, we generated mice whose AMs show a deficient ability to sense oxygen after birth by deleting von Hippel-Lindau (Vhl) gene, which codifies for the master negative regulator of hypoxia inducible factors (HIF), under the control of the CD11c promoter (CD11c∆Vhl mice). VHL-deficient AMs were more glycolytic and showed a decreased oxygen consumption, compared to control WT AMs in steady state. We found that VHL-deficient AMs showed an immature-like phenotype and an altered transcriptional identity. In addition, the absence of VHL impaired AM self-renewal capacity in vivo, and also upon growth factor stimulation ex vivo. Unlike AMs transplanted from control Vhlfl/fl mice, AMs from CD11c∆Vhl mice did not reverse pulmonary alveolar proteinosis when transplanted into Csf2rb-/- mice, which spontaneously develop lung proteinosis. This result correlated with the increased lipid accumulation found in AMs lacking VHL, which also showed a decreased lipid oxidation capacity. In order to demonstrate how all these AM features are regulated by HIF, we generated mice with a deletion in Hif1a, Hif2a or both in addition to the Vhl deletion, all under the control of the CD11c promoter. HIF-1 and HIF-2 depletion differentially affected AM phenotypic maturation. However, both isoforms similarly restrain AM self-renewal. HIF-1 was essential for the glycolytic shift in VHL-deficient AMs. Finally, we found that HIF-2 depletion rescued the ability of AMs to remove the surfactant excess in vivo, pointing to its specific role regulating lipid metabolism in AMs. Thus, these results highlight the relevance of HIF regulation for AM maturation and function and contribute to clarify the molecular requirements for the adaptation of AMs to its evolving niche during maturation

Comparison of peristrophic multiplexing and a combination of angular and peristrophic holographic multiplexing in a thick PVA/acrylamide photopolymer for data storage

Two different types of multiplexing are used to store 90 holograms at the same location in a polyvinyl alcoholacrylamide photopolymer material. In the first, the 90 holograms are stored using only peristrophic multiplexing, whereas in the second a combination of angular and peristrophic multiplexing is used. The results (diffraction efficiency and dynamic range, M#) obtained with these two multiplexing techniques are compared. With the first, the dynamic range was M# = 13 and with the second M# = 8. An exposure schedule method is used to calculate the exposure time necessary to store the holograms with a more uniform, higher diffraction efficiency.This work was supported by the “Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Spain)” under projects FIS2005-05881-C02-01 and FIS2005-05881-C02-02, and by the “Generalitat Valenciana” under Project GV06/172

Desarrollo de software en Comproductive Control y Matlab para asignaturas de Control en Ingeniería Química

El principal objetivo de este trabajo es implementar programas de software utilizando CC (Comproductive Control) y Matlab que permita a los estudiantes comprender los conceptos químicos de control y que así tengan la capacidad de interpretar los cálculos y desarrollar las matemáticas propias de las asignaturas de control de procesos químicos. El CC es un programa que utiliza unos comandos muy similares a la notación que los estudiantes manejan en las clases de teoría y, por tanto, no requiere un conocimiento previo de programación para poder utilizarlo. Además, a pesar de su sencillez, permite estudiar las técnicas básicas para el control de procesos industriales. Sin embargo, el CC tiene sus limitaciones ya que solamente es capaz de simular el control de los procesos químicos más sencillos. Por este motivo, otro de los programas con los que se pretende que el estudiante se familiarice es el Matlab. Este programa está más orientado al desarrollo de algoritmos con los cuales se pueden simular el control de procesos químicos más complejos. Por tanto, el CC y el Matlab son dos programas que se complementan mutuamente para el aprendizaje del estudiante en la materia

Análise dos Incêndios Florestais num período de 30 anos (1990-2017). Caso de estudo Concelho de Mação (Portugal)

As mudanças climáticas globais são uma temática de grande destaque na nossa sociedade, surgindo, inevitavelmente, associado a esta preocupação, o aumento dos gases de efeito de estufa (GEE) presentes na atmosfera. Segundo Chuvieco et al. (2007) os incêndios florestais são responsáveis por quase 40% das emissões totais de CO2, aumentando significativamente na contribuição dos GEE na atmosfera. Uma forma de compreender os fluxos associados ao carbono é o estudo da quantificação da biomassa florestal, que atua como sumidouro. Ao ocorrer um incêndio florestal, esta dinâmica fica profundamente afetada (Celes et al., 2013).Este artigo é financiado por Fundos Nacionais através da FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia no âmbito do projeto UID/SOC/04020/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Central role of KNG1 gene as a genetic determinant of coagulation pathway-related traits: Exploring metaphenotypes

Traditional genetic studies of single traits may be unable to detect the pleiotropic effects involved in complex diseases. To detect the correlation that exists between several phenotypes involved in the same biological process, we introduce an original methodology to analyze sets of correlated phenotypes involved in the coagulation cascade in genome-wide association studies. The methodology consists of a two-stage process. First, we define new phenotypic meta-variables (linear combinations of the original phenotypes), named metaphenotypes, by applying Independent Component Analysis for the multivariate analysis of correlated phenotypes (i.e. the levels of coagulation pathway–related proteins). The resulting metaphenotypes integrate the information regarding the underlying biological process (i.e. thrombus/clot formation). Secondly, we take advantage of a family based Genome Wide Association Study to identify genetic elements influencing these metaphenotypes and consequently thrombosis risk. Our study utilized data from the GAIT Project (Genetic Analysis of Idiopathic Thrombophilia). We obtained 15 metaphenotypes, which showed significant heritabilities, ranging from 0.2 to 0.7. These results indicate the importance of genetic factors in the variability of these traits. We found 4 metaphenotypes that showed significant associations with SNPs. The most relevant were those mapped in a region near the HRG, FETUB and KNG1 genes. Our results are provocative since they show that the KNG1 locus plays a central role as a genetic determinant of the entire coagulation pathway and thrombus/clot formation. Integrating data from multiple correlated measurements through metaphenotypes is a promising approach to elucidate the hidden genetic mechanisms underlying complex diseases.Postprint (published version

Conclusiones Mesa 1. XIV Jornadas de Redes de Investigación en Docencia Universitaria (2016)

El objetivo de este trabajo es el de resumir las comunicaciones orales correspondientes a la Mesa de Comunicaciones 1, que fueron presentadas en las XIV Jornadas de Redes de Investigación en Docencia Universitaria celebradas el 30 de junio y el 1 de julio de 2016 en la Universidad de Alicante. Dichas jornadas tituladas “Investigación, innovación y enseñanza universitaria: enfoques pluridisciplinares,” fueron organizadas por el Instituto de Ciencias de la Educación de dicha universidad. En esta Mesa de Comunicaciones 1 celebrada el 30 de junio fueron expuestos nueve trabajos por autores de la Universidad de Alicante. Los temas tratados cubrieron diferentes temáticas educativas, desde nuevos métodos de enseñanza impulsando los recursos multimodales, la investigación como método educativo, enseñanza a través de códigos QR, actividades realizadas dentro del Plan de Acción Tutorial, repositorios como ayuda para el estudiante a la hora de buscar información en Internet o la utilización de concursos como herramienta para impulsar la creatividad y el aprendizaje del estudiante

The Influence Of Human Capital On The Innovativeness Of Firms

Despite the importance of innovation and innovativeness within today’s economy, we know little about how intellectual capital of firms can contribute to a superior innovation at the firm’s level. Based on resources and knowledge-based views of firms we developed a hypothesis linking three dimensions of human capital (component of the intellectual capital) and the innovativeness of firms. As a representation of the firm’s innovativeness, we consider the product, process and management innovation. Using a survey from 68 firms working on the auto components sector, established in the Northern of Spain and Northern of Portugal, we found firstly, that innovativeness has two main dimensions, perfectly differentiated, the product-process innovation and the management innovation; secondly that the human capital dimensions (formation and knowledge creation, innovative behave, and incentives to innovation) influences differently each type of innovativeness capacity. We found that the different human capital dimension influences directly, only, the product-process innovativeness. More specifically only the innovative behavior and the incentives to innovation influence the product-process innovativeness. The formation and knowledge creation dimension doesn’t influence directly either the product-process innovativeness or the management innovativeness. Moreover, none of the human capital dimensions considered influence the management innovativeness directly. These results highlight the importance of human capital on innovative performance, and it allows identification of  the most important dimensions that influence directly the different innovativeness capacities and more broadly, highlight the value of intellectual capital as a competitive advantage in contemporary times

Influence of 4,4’-azobis (4-cyanopentanoic acid) in Transmission and Reflection Gratings Stored in a PVA/AA Photopolymer

Holographic transmission gratings with a spatial frequency of 2658 lines/mm and reflection gratings with a spatial frequency of 4553 lines/mm were stored in a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/acrylamide (AA) based photopolymer. This material can reach diffraction efficiencies close to 100% for spatial frequencies about 1000 lines/mm. However, for higher spatial frequencies, the diffraction efficiency decreases considerably as the spatial frequency increases. To enhance the material response at high spatial frequencies, a chain transfer agent, the 4,4’-azobis (4-cyanopentanoic acid), ACPA, is added to the composition of the material. Different concentrations of ACPA are incorporated into the main composition of the photopolymer to find the concentration value that provides the highest diffraction efficiency. Moreover, the refractive index modulation and the optical thickness of the transmission and reflection gratings were obtained, evaluated and compared to procure more information about the influence of the ACPA on them.This work was supported by the “Generalitat Valenciana” (Spain) under projects PROMETEOII/2015/015 and ISIC/2012/013 and by “Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación” (Spain) under projects FIS2014-56100-C2-1-P and FIS2015-66570-P

Accurate control of a liquid-crystal display to produce a homogenized Fourier transform for holographic memories

We show an accurate procedure to obtain a Fourier transform (FT) with no dc term using a commercial twisted-nematic liquid-crystal display. We focus on the application to holographic storage of binary data pages, where a drastic decrease of the dc term in the FT is highly desirable. Two different codification schemes are considered: binary π radians phase modulation and hybrid ternary modulation. Any deviation in the values of the amplitude and phase shift generates the appearance of a strong dc term. Experimental results confirm that the calculated configurations provide a FT with no dc term, thus showing the effectiveness of the proposal.This work was supported by the “Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Spain)” under projects FIS2005-05881-C02-01 and FIS2005-05881-C02-02, and by the “Generalitat Valenciana” under Project GV06/007