NopC is a rhizobium-specific type 3 secretion system effector secreted by sinorhizobium (ensifer) fredii HH103

Sinorhizobium (Ensifer) fredii HH103 is a broad host-range nitrogen-fixing bacterium able to nodulate many legumes, including soybean. In several rhizobia, root nodulation is influenced by proteins secreted through the type 3 secretion system (T3SS). This specialized secretion apparatus is a common virulence mechanism of many plant and animal pathogenic bacteria that delivers proteins, called effectors, directly into the eukaryotic host cells where they interfere with signal transduction pathways and promote infection by suppressing host defenses. In rhizobia, secreted proteins, called nodulation outer proteins (Nops), are involved in hostrange determination and symbiotic efficiency. S. fredii HH103 secretes at least eight Nops through the T3SS. Interestingly, there are Rhizobium-specific Nops, such as NopC, which do not have homologues in pathogenic bacteria. In this work we studied the S. fredii HH103 nopC gene and confirmed that its expression was regulated in a flavonoid-, NodD1-and TtsI-dependent manner. Besides, in vivo bioluminescent studies indicated that the S. fredii HH103 T3SS was expressed in young soybean nodules and adenylate cyclase assays confirmed that NopC was delivered directly into soybean root cells by means of the T3SS machinery. Finally, nodulation assays showed that NopC exerted a positive effect on symbiosis with Glycine max cv. Williams 82 and Vigna unguiculata. All these results indicate that NopC can be considered a Rhizobium-specific effector secreted by S. fredii HH103Junta de Andalucía P11-CVI-7050Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad AGL2012-38831Universidad de Sevill

The Rhizobial Type 3 Secretion System: The Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the Rhizobium–Legume Symbiosis

Rhizobia are soil bacteria that can establish a symbiotic association with legumes. As a result, plant nodules are formed on the roots of the host plants where rhizobia differentiate to bacteroids capable of fixing atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia. This ammonia is transferred to the plant in exchange of a carbon source and an appropriate environment for bacterial survival. This process is subjected to a tight regulation with several checkpoints to allow the progression of the infection or its restriction. The type 3 secretion system (T3SS) is a secretory system that injects proteins, called effectors (T3E), directly into the cytoplasm of the host cell, altering host pathways or suppressing host defense responses. This secretion system is not present in all rhizobia but its role in symbiosis is crucial for some symbiotic associations, showing two possible faces as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: it can be completely necessary for the formation of nodules, or it can block nodulation in different legume species/cultivars. In this review, we compile all the information currently available about the effects of different rhizobial effectors on plant symbiotic phenotypes. These phenotypes are diverse and highlight the importance of the T3SS in certain rhizobium–legume symbioses.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación PID2019-107634RB-I00Junta de Andalucía P20_00185Universidad de Sevilla FEDER-US 1259948, FEDER-US 125054

CMOS Architectures and circuits for high-speed decision-making from image flows

We present architectures, CMOS circuits and CMOS chips to process image flows at very high speed. This is achieved by exploiting bio-inspiration and performing processing tasks in parallel manner and concurrently with image acquisition. A vision system is presented which makes decisions within sub-msec range. This is very well suited for defense and security applications requiring segmentation and tracking of rapidly moving objects

Anàlisis, definició, validació i implementació dels mètodes d'avaluació de les competències transversals en els nous graus TIC a l'EPSEVG.

La finalitat del projecte és identificar, avaluar i descriure com incorporar els mètodes d'avaluació de les competències transversals dels nous graus directament relacionats amb el sector TIC que s'impartiran a l'Escola Politècnica Superior de Vilanova i la Geltrú. El sorgiment del nou Espai Europeu d’Educació Superior planteja un nou enfocament i grans interrogants en el disseny dels plans d'estudi dels diferents títols universitaris d'enginyeria, i en concret en aquelles enginyeries orientades al sector de les tecnologies de la informació i la comunicació (TIC). Aquest projecte pretén crear un marc per al disseny d'aquestes titulacions emparant-nos en el nou paradigma educatiu que representa l'anomenat comunament procés Bologna, considerant com a fonamental la definició del terme competència transversal i extrapolant-la a l'àmbit del sector TIC, i fent especial èmfasi en l'ús de metodologies docents actives, oferint a l'estudiant un paper molt important en la tasca d'aprenentatge. Per a això, estructurem el projecte en 2 fases. En la primera fase es pretén definir el terme competència transversal en l'actualitat i delimitar un llistat de 20 competències transversals associades al sector TIC. Aquest llistat ens ha permès realitzar una enquesta a 43 empreses del sector per a poder determinar quines competències genèriques són les més valorades per tal que els nous llicenciats en enginyeria puguin inserir-se professionalment en el sector TIC, segons la demanda del sector a Espanya. En la segona fase, corresponent a l'article es realitza un anàlisi de les diferents metodologies docents actives presents en l'actualitat, per procedir a fer una selecció, mitjançant un panell d'experts, de les metodologies que ens assegurin l'adquisició de les 10 competències transversals millor valorades per les empreses del sector.Peer Reviewe

Anàlisi, definició, validació i implementació dels mètodes d'avaluació de les competències transversals en els nous graus TIC a l'EPSEVG

La finalitat del projecte és identificar, avaluar i descriure com incorporar els mètodes d'avaluació de les competències transversals dels nous graus directament relacionats amb el sector TIC que s'impartiran a l'Escola Politècnica Superior de Vilanova i la Geltrú. El sorgiment del nou Espai Europeu d’Educació Superior planteja un nou enfocament i grans interrogants en el disseny dels plans d'estudi dels diferents títols universitaris d'enginyeria, i en concret en aquelles enginyeries orientades al sector de les tecnologies de la informació i la comunicació (TIC). Aquest projecte pretén crear un marc per al disseny d'aquestes titulacions emparant-nos en el nou paradigma educatiu que representa l'anomenat comunament procés Bologna, considerant com a fonamental la definició del terme competència transversal i extrapolant-la a l'àmbit del sector TIC, i fent especial èmfasi en l'ús de metodologies docents actives, oferint a l'estudiant un paper molt important en la tasca d'aprenentatge. Per a això, estructurem el projecte en 2 fases. En la primera fase es pretén definir el terme competència transversal en l'actualitat i delimitar un llistat de 20 competències transversals associades al sector TIC. Aquest llistat ens ha permès realitzar una enquesta a 43 empreses del sector per a poder determinar quines competències genèriques són les més valorades per tal que els nous llicenciats en enginyeria puguin inserir-se professionalment en el sector TIC, segons la demanda del sector a Espanya. En la segona fase, es realitza un anàlisi de les diferents metodologies docents actives presents en l'actualitat, per procedir a fer una selecció, mitjançant un panell d'experts, de les metodologies que ens assegurin l'adquisició de les 10 competències transversals millor valorades per les empreses del sector.Postprint (published version

Fever of unkown origin in children. An approach to diagnosis and intervention in primary health care

Este trabajo obtuvo el Primer “Premio Colegio Oficial de Médicos” de Granada en la convocatoria 15 de Diciembre de 2009.Introducción. La fiebre es un motivo de consulta frecuente. Debido a que gran parte de lo publicado se refiere a atención Hospitalaria, nuestro objetivo es evaluar su diagnóstico, manejo e intervención en Pediatría de Atención Primaria. Material y métodos. Estudio transversal descriptivo, sobre población menor de 14 años con diagnóstico Fiebre 780.6 del CIE 9 (FSF), en dos consultas de pediatria. Se utiliza como comparativo el Proceso Fiebre en el Niño. Los datos se procesan con SPSS 15 y software de soporte para datos tabulados Epidat 3.1, se utiliza en su análisis la frecuencia 2 relativa y el test de la ÷ , como diferencia significativa p < 0,05. Resultados. Porcentaje medio de FSF 0,55 %, predominio de niños sobre niñas (p<0,05), del grupo de 3-36 meses de edad 59, 2%. Derivados a hospital 3,9 %. Bajo registro del grado de temperatura 26,2 %. Consulta en menos de 24 h del inicio febril 72,3 %. Solicitud exámenes complementarios 27,2 %, tira de orina en < 1 año 48,9 % y en fiebre de más de 48 h 19 %. Ausencia de registro antitérmico prescrito 34 %, vacunados contra neumococo 64,5 %. Revisión tras consulta inicial 34,5 % de ellos que se llego a un diagnóstico 88,7 %. Conclusiones. Bajo registro de FSF en AP. Rápida consulta por parte de los padres tras comienzo de fiebre. Más casos en el grupo de 3-36 meses. Bajo registro de temperatura y antitérmico recomendado. Escasa derivación al hospital, mayor en menor edad. Probable auto resolución de muchos casos. Poca variabilidad entre profesionales.Introduction. Fever is a common complaint leading patients to seek medical attention. Since majority of published papers deals with hospital attention, our aim is to evaluate its diagnosis, management and intervention in Paediatric consultations in Primary Health Care (PHC). Materials and methods. Transverse descriptive study, performed on <14-year-old population diagnosed with Fever 780.6 of the CIE 9 (FUO), in two paediatric surgeries. Procedure Fever in Child is used as comparative. The data is 2 processed with SPSS 15 and tabulated data support software Epidat 3.1. Relative frequency and the ÷ test was used in the analysis, with the p <0,05 significant difference. Results. Average percentage of FUO 0,55 %, predominant in boys (p < 0,001) and in 3-36 month-old age group 59, 2 %. Percentage sent to hospital 3,9 %. Actual temperature level recorded in few cases 26,2 %. Medical assistance sought in less than 24 h from the onset of fever. Complementary tests requested in 27,2 %, urine strips in <1 year olds 48,9 % and in fever lasting longer than 48 h 19 %. Register of antithermics prescribed absent in 34 %, vaccinated against pneumococcus 64,5 %. Follow-up appointment after the first consultation 34,5 % with diagnosis in 88,7 %. Conclusions. Low recordings of FUO in PHC. Fever checked briefly by parents on its onset. More cases found in the 3-36 months-old age group. Low percentage of temperatures documented and antipyretics prescribed. Few cases hospitalised, higher in younger age groups. In many cases fever resolved itself. Minor differences between professionals

Short-term changes in klotho and FGF23 in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction—a substudy of the DAPA-VO2 study

The klotho and fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF-23) pathway is implicated in cardiovascular pathophysiology. This substudy aimed to assess the changes in klotho and FGF-23 levels 1-month after dapagliflozin in patients with stable heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). The study included 29 patients (32.2% of the total), with 14 assigned to the placebo group and 15 to the dapagliflozin, as part of the double-blind, randomized clinical trial [DAPA-VO2 (NCT04197635)]. Blood samples were collected at baseline and after 30 days, and Klotho and FGF-23 levels were measured using ELISA Kits. Between-treatment changes (raw data) were analyzed by using the Mann-Whitney test and expressed as median (p25%–p75%). Linear regression models were utilized to analyze changes in the logarithm (log) of klotho and FGF-23. The median age was 68.3 years (60.8–72.1), with 79.3% male and 81.5% classified as NYHA II. The baseline medians of left ventricular ejection fraction, glomerular filtration rate, NT-proBNP, klotho, and FGF-23 were 35.8% (30.5–37.8), 67.4 ml/min/1.73 m2 (50.7–82.8), 1,285 pg/ml (898–2,305), 623.4 pg/ml (533.5–736.6), and 72.6 RU/ml (62.6–96.1), respectively. The baseline mean peak oxygen uptake was 13.1 ± 4.0 ml/kg/min. Compared to placebo, patients on dapagliflozin showed a significant median increase of klotho [Δ+29.5, (12.9–37.2); p = 0.009] and a non-significant decrease of FGF-23 [Δ−4.6, (−1.7 to −5.4); p = 0.051]. A significant increase in log-klotho (p = 0.011) and a decrease in log-FGF-23 (p = 0.040) were found in the inferential analysis. In conclusion, in patients with stable HFrEF, dapagliflozin led to a short-term increase in klotho and a decrease in FGF-23

A CMOS vision system on-chip with multicore sensory processing architecture for image analysis above 1,000F/s

Comunicación presentada al "XI Sensors, Cameras, and Systems for Industrial/Scientific Applications" celebrado en California (USA) del 19 al 25 de Enero del 2010.This paper describes a Vision-System-on-Chip (VSoC) capable of doing: image acquisition, image processing through on-chip embedded structures, and generation of pertinent reaction commands at thousand's frame-per-second rate. The chip employs a distributed processing architecture with a pre-processing stage consisting of an array of programmable sensory-processing cells, and a post-processing stage consisting of a digital microprocessor. The pre-processing stage operates as a retina-like sensor front-end. It performs parallel processing of the images captured by the sensors which are embedded together with the processors. This early processing serves to extract image features relevant to the intended tasks. The front-end incorporates also smart read-out structures which are conceived to transmit only these relevant features, thus precluding full gray-scale frames to be coded and transmitted. The chip is capable to close action-reaction loops based on the analysis of visual flow at rates above 1,000F/s with power budget below 1W peak. Also, the incorporation of processors close to the sensors enables signal-dependent, local adaptation of the sensor gains and hence highdynamic range signal acquisition.The work of Prof. Rodríguez-Vázquez has been partially supported by the Spanish project 2006-TIC-2352 and the PIMA program of the CICE/JA.Peer Reviewe

A CMOS vision system on-chip with multicore sensory processing ar- chitecture for image analysis above 1,000F/s

http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/84536/1/A%20CMOS%20vision.pdfThis paper describes a Vision-System-on-Chip (VSoC) capable of doing: image acquisition, image processing through on-chip embedded structures, and generation of pertinent reaction commands at thousand’s frame-per-second rate. The chip employs a distributed processing architecture with a pre-processing stage consisting of an array of programmable sensory-processing cells, and a post-processing stage consisting of a digital microprocessor. The pre-processing stage operates as a retina-like sensor front-end. It performs parallel processing of the images captured by the sensors which are embedded together with the processors. This early processing serves to extract image features relevant to the intended tasks. The front-end incorporates also smart read-out structures which are conceived to transmit only these relevant features, thus precluding full gray-scale frames to be coded and transmitted. The chip is capable to close action-reaction loops based on the analysis of visual flow at rates above 1,000F/s with power budget below 1W peak. Also, the incorporation of processors close to the sensors enables signal-dependent, local adaptation of the sensor gains and hence highdynamic range signal acquisition

The Sinorhizobium (Ensifer) fredii HH103 nodulation outer protein NopI is a determinant for efficient nodulation of soybean and cowpea plants

The type III secretion system (T3SS) is a specialized secretion apparatus that is commonly used by many plant and animal pathogenic bacteria to deliver proteins, termed effectors, to the interior of the host cells. These effectors suppress host defenses and interfere with signal transduction pathways to promote infection. Some rhizobial strains possess a functional T3SS, which is involved in the suppression of host defense responses, host range determination, and symbiotic efficiency. The analysis of the genome of the broad-host-range rhizobial strain Sinorhizobium fredii HH103 identified eight genes that code for putative T3SS effectors. Three of these effectors, NopL, NopP, and NopI, are Rhizobium specific. In this work, we demonstrate that NopI, whose amino acid sequence shows a certain similarity with NopP, is secreted through the S. fredii HH103 T3SS in response to flavonoids. We also determined that NopL can be considered an effector since it is directly secreted to the interior of the host cell as demonstrated by adenylate cyclase assays. Finally, the symbiotic phenotype of single, double, and triple nopI, nopL, and nopP mutants in soybean and cowpea was assayed, showing that NopI plays an important role in determining the number of nodules formed in both legumes and that the absence of both NopL and NopP is highly detrimental for symbiosis.Junta de Andalucía P11-CVI-7050Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad AGL2016-77163-