The Theory of Evolution in the Writings of Joseph Ratzinger

In this article I analyse the texts in which Joseph Ratzinger deals with the topic of evolution, particularly in the context of the compatibility between faith in creation and acceptance of the theory of evolution. I have grouped his writings into three periods that reflect the changes in his ideas on this topic. His early writings, until 1979, contain the most elaborate and deepest theological insights, with a defence of the compatibility between faith in creation and the theory of evolution when each one is kept within the boundaries of its own explanatory framework. There is a clear change of attitude at the beginning of the 1980s, when he becomes aware of the attempts by some atheist scientists to portray evolution as a “first philosophy”. This triggers a critical response against some technical aspects of the theory of evolution, a position that was reinforced by his contacts with anti-evolution German intellectuals during this period. The conflict reached its climax in the 1999 lecture at the Sorbonne University and the 2006 meeting of the Schulerkreis in Castel Gandolfo. After 2006 his references to this topic were few, and he seemed to return to the original ideas expressed in his early writings, stressing the intrinsic rationality and inner logic of the cosmos

Breaking Mariano Artigas’ Frontiers of Evolutionism

I review Mariano Artigas’ appraisal of Evolution as reflected in some of his works. I find that his perception of evolutionary theory changed from a critical attitude, mainly directed against the modern synthesis of the twentieth century, to a more lenient approach as he incorporated new elements into his reflections. However, he did not fully appreciate some of the advances made in evolutionary biology in recent years. I provide some examples, taken from the field of evolutionary genomics, which shed new light on why evolvability is a necessary property of living beings and how adaptation proceeds through the rewiring of modular gene regulatory networks, resulting in a remarkable degree of phenotypic plasticity. This view provides a richer understanding of two key elements of Artigas’ portrayal of the modern worldview: dynamism and patterning

Production and processing of pre-impregnated thermoplastic tapes by pultrusion and compression moulding

Although there is no doubt that composite materials are the future of lightweight structures and components, most of composites currently produced are made from thermoset polymers, which are not able to be recycled or reprocessed. In contrast, thermoplastic polymers offer the possibility to recycle and reprocess and when combined with a fibrous reinforcement, provide interesting mechanical properties. This work reviews the production of two thermoplastic preimpregnated materials in a tape form, one of which is produced on new prototype equipment developed in our laboratories. The method for the production of tape is described, and the prepregs presented here were subjected to two processing techniques. The first processing method, pultrusion, is an efficient and autonomous method to produce composite profiles, marking itself as a continuous and cost-effective way to produce these materials. Pultrusion bars were then subjected to heated compression moulding, a process that allows to obtain more complex-shaped parts. The second method, heated compression moulding, is a relatively simple process which was used to obtain composite laminates. The pultrusion bars and composite laminates were then subjected to mechanical testing to evaluate the levels of consolidation of the final material. A microscope testing was also carried out to analyse the dispersion of fibres and polymer, as well as the amount of voids present in the composite.Agência Nacional para a Inovação - ANI, Projeto ADD.CompFiber 6960

TICdb: a collection of gene-mapped translocation breakpoints in cancer

BACKGROUND: Despite the importance of chromosomal translocations in the initiation and/or progression of cancer, a comprehensive catalog of translocation breakpoints in which these are precisely located on the reference sequence of the human genome is not available at present. DESCRIPTION: We have created a database that describes the genomic location of 1,225 translocation breakpoints in human tumors, corresponding to 247 different genes, using information from publicly available sources. Junction sequences from reciprocal translocations were obtained from 655 different references (either from the literature or from nucleotide databases), and were mapped onto the reference sequence of the human genome using BLAST. All translocation breakpoints were thus referred to precise nucleotide positions (949 breakpoints) or gene fragments (introns or exons, 276 breakpoints) within specific Ensembl transcripts. CONCLUSION: TICdb is a comprehensive collection of finely mapped translocation breakpoints, freely available at . It should facilitate the analysis of sequences encompassing translocation breakpoints and the identification of factors driving translocation events in human tumors

SETBP1 overexpression is a novel leukemogenic mechanism that predicts adverse outcome in elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia

3 Tables. 7 Figures. The online version of this article contains a data supplement.Acute myeloid leukemias (AMLs) result from multiple genetic alterations in hematopoietic stem cells. We describe a novel t(12;18)(p13;q12) involving ETV6 in a patient with AML. The translocation resulted in overexpression of SETBP1 (18q12), located close to the breakpoint. Overexpression of SETBP1 through retroviral insertion has been reported to confer growth advantage in hematopoietic progenitor cells. We show that SETBP1 overexpression protects SET from protease cleavage, increasing the amount of full-length SET protein and leading to the formation of a SETBP1–SET-PP2A complex that results in PP2A inhibition, promoting proliferation of the leukemic cells. The prevalence of SETBP1 overexpression in AML at diagnosis (n = 192) was 27.6% and was associated with unfavorable cytogenetic prognostic group, monosomy 7, and EVI1 overexpression (P < .01). Patients with SETBP1 overexpression had a significantly shorter overall survival, and the prognosis impact was remarkably poor in patients older than 60 years in both overall survival (P = .015) and event-free survival (P = .015). In summary, our data show a novel leukemogenic mechanism through SETBP1 overexpression; moreover, multivariate analysis confirms the negative prognostic impact of SETBP1 overexpression in AML, especially in elderly patients, where it could be used as a predictive factor in any future clinical trials with PP2A activators.This work was supported by the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (PI081687, M.D.O.; and SAF2007-61827, C.B.), Departamento de Salud del Gobierno de Navarra (14/2008), ISCIII-RTICC (RD06/0020/0078), and Fundación para la Investigación Médica Aplicada y UTE (Spain).Elizabeth Guruceaga, of the Unit of Proteomics,Genomics and Bioinformatics of Center for Applied Medical Research, for the bioinformatics analysis, and Enrique Andreu for useful discussionPeer reviewe

Estudio ecológico de los pastizales de dehesa en la provincia de Badajoz. Tipificación preliminar de la vegetación empleando el análisis de correspondencias

Se han realizado inventarios de frecuencia de herbáceas {diez cuadros de 20 X 20 cm. en inventario) en 42 pastizales de dehesa de Badajoz y norte de Huelva, correspondientes a los principales tipos litológicos. La vegetación se estudió con el análisis de correspondencias. Se detectan seis tipos principales de pastizal que se han interpretado parcialmente con los datos de suelo y sustrato ahora disponibles. En comunicaciones posteriores se completará el análisis con ayuda de otras medidas ahora en realización