Situación laboral de las trabajadoras del calzado e irregularidades en el contrato fijo discontinuo de la propia industria

La situación laboral de las trabajadoras del calzado durante décadas ha estado caracterizada por la existencia de contratos irregulares o la inexistencia de los mismos, siendo las grandes perjudicadas del sector puesto que todo ello implica muchos años de trabajo no reconocido y en consecuencia, la desprotección de sus derechos. Tras muchos años de lucha incansable, no se ha producido una mejora de tal situación, puesto que a día de hoy muchas mujeres se encuentran trabajando en su propio domicilio o en fábricas y talleres al margen de la ley, sin ninguna relación contractual en ambos casos. La figura por tanto, del contrato fijo discontinuo cobra gran notoriedad en esta industria, siendo la más utilizada, no obstante, también se observan irregularidades produciendo de nuevo un perjuicio a dichas trabajadoras, impidiéndoles por tanto el acceso a diferentes prestaciones ofrecidas por el estado para la protección de las diferentes situaciones de necesidad

Caracterización taxonómica y química de hongos macromicetos del Jardín Botánico de la Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira

La caracterización taxonómica y química de Hongos Macromicetos, fue el objetivo central de esta investigación, debido a que datos referenciales confirman que este tipo de organismos no son de gran estudio e interés pero los que se han realizado proporcionaron información, sobre la importancia de este tipo de hongos en el área de la industria, la medicina, entre otros (Pérez Clavijo, 2011) Para el desarrollo de este proyecto fueron tomados del Jardín Botánico de la Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira (JBUTP) algunos ejemplares de Hongos Macromicetos y posteriormente se analizaron a través de técnicas clásicas como análisis microscópico (por medio de tinciones) y macroscópico (con ayuda de claves dicotómicas) y técnicas recientes como espectroscopia infrarroja (por medio del equipo Agilent 630 ATR-FTIR, el cual proporciona resultados confiables de los grupos funcionales más representativos de cada uno de los hongos); logrando cumplir de esta manera el objetivo planteado. Además, con los ejemplares recolectados, se logró la caracterización taxonómica y su clasificación hasta Especie. Siendo la división basidiomicete del reino funji, el único entre ellos, clasificado en cuatro de sus familias (Hymenochaetaceae, Inocybaceae, Sparassidaceae, Ganodermataceae) y en su género y especie (Ganoderma applanatum, Phellinus spp, Sparassis Crispa, Tubaria furfurácea, Phellinus Robiniae). (Asturnatura, 2004). Esta caracterización taxonómica y química, es de gran importancia debido a que es la base para realizar posteriormente ensayos de actividad biológica en áreas como la Bioprospección y la Biorremediación

Blockade of the Interaction of Calcineurin with FOXO in Astrocytes Protects Against Amyloid-βInduced Neuronal Death

Astrocytes actively participate in neuro-inflammatory processes associated to Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and other brain pathologies. We recently showed that an astrocyte-specific intracellular signaling pathway involving an interaction of the phosphatase calcineurin with the transcription factor FOXO3 is a major driver in AD associated pathological inflammation, suggesting a potential new druggable target for this devastating disease. We have now developed decoy molecules to interfere with calcineurin/FOXO3 interactions, and tested them in astrocytes and neuronal co-cultures exposed to amyloid-β (Aβ) toxicity. We observed that interference of calcineurin/FOXO3 interactions exerts a protective action against A-induced neuronal death and favors the production of a set of growth factors that we hypothesize form part of a cytoprotective pathway to resolve inflammation. Furthermore, interference of the A-induced interaction of calcineurin with FOXO3 by decoy compounds significantly decreased amyloid-β protein precursor (AβPP) synthesis, reduced the AβPP amyloidogenic pathway, resulting in lower Alevels, and blocked the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines TNFα and IL-6 in astrocytes. Collectively, these data indicate that interrupting pro-inflammatory calcineurin/FOXO3 interactions in astrocytes triggered by Aβ accumulation in brain may constitute an effective new therapeutic approach in AD. Future studies with intranasal delivery, or brain barrier permeable decoy compounds, are warranted

Molecular determinants of the bacterial resistance to fluoroquinolones: A computational study

Abstract: Quinolones constitute a large class of antibacterial agents whose action is mediated through the formation of a ternary complex with DNA and either, DNA Gyrase or topoisomerase IV, resulting in the inhibition of DNA replication. In order to get a deeper insight into the features of the complex formation, we carried out docking studies of fifteen diverse quinolones to the cleaved topoisomerase IV-DNA complex. Docking studies were performed using the crystal structures of the cleaved complex with levofloxacin and moxifloxacin (pdb entries 3K9F and 2XKK, respectively) using the GOLD software. Ligands dock in positions similar to those of the crystal structures. Analysis of the results reveals that bound quinolones appear intercalated between the two nucleotides that are involved in the DNA cleavage and exhibit hydrogen bonds with Arg117 and, the latter mediated though a water molecule. Arg117 has not been described to be involved in resistance, since it is putatively involved in the enzymatic reaction and its mutation would be lethal for the organism. Mutants of Ser79 exhibit resistance to quinolones which can be explained by the loss of an important anchoring point. Interestingly, quinolone resistance observed in Asp83 mutants cannot be explained directly on the basis of the loss of a direct interaction, but could be explained on the basis of its involvement at the entrance of the ligands to their binding pocket since the residue is located at the mouth of the pocket. The results of the present study suggest that the 4-keto and 3-carboxyl groups of the fluoroquinolones bind a Mg2+ before binding to the cleaved topoisomarase IV-DNA complex and use Asp83 for entry into the binding pocket. Accordingly, mutations that do not conserve the binding capacity for the quinolone-Mg2+ complex will prevent the binding of this class of ligands. The results we present here are also compared with the structure of PD0305970 a 2,4-dione active against the Ser79 and Asp83 mutants.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Cytokine polymorphisms influence treatment outcomes in SLE patients treated with antimalarial drugs

Antimalarial agents have been widely used as disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs in the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and other rheumatological diseases, although their mechanism of action has not yet been fully defined. It is known, however, that effective response to treatment is variable among patients. Thus, the identification of genetic predictors of treatment response would provide valuable information for therapeutic intervention. The aim of the present study was to analyze the effect of antimalarial treatment on tumor necrosis factor (TNF)α serum levels and evaluate the possible influence of TNFα and IL-10 functional genetic polymorphisms on the response to antimalarial drugs. To this end, TNFα serum levels were quantified in 171 SLE patients and 215 healthy controls by ELISA techniques and polymorphisms at positions -1,082 and -308 of the IL-10 and TNFα gene promoterswere determined by PCR amplification followed by hybridization with fluorescent-labeled allele-specific probes in 192 SLE patients and 343 matched controls. Data were related to clinical features and treatment at the time of sampling and during the course of the disease. Results showed a significantly higher amount of serum TNFα in the entire SLE population compared with controls. However, TNFα serum levels correlated negatively with the use of antimalarial treatment during at least three months before sampling. Patients under single or combined treatment with these drugs had TNFα serum levels similar to healthy controls, whereas untreated patients and those under corticosteroid or immunosuppressive therapies had increased amounts of this cytokine. This suggests, however, that antimalarial-mediated inhibition of TNFα was only significant in patients who were genetically high TNFα or low IL-10 producers. In addition, evaluation of SLE patients administered antimalarial drugs for three or more years who did not require any other specific SLE treatment indicates that patients with the combined genotype low IL-10/high TNFα are the best responders to antimalarial therapy, developing mild disease with a good course under this treatment. In conclusion, we proposed that an antimalarial-mediated downregulation of TNFα levels in SLE patients is influenced by polymorphisms at IL-10 and TNFα promoters. Our results may thus find important clinical application through the identification of patients who are the most likely to benefit from antimalarial therapy

Economic Journalism: The Development and Expansion in the Web 2.0

En este artículo se resume la evolución del periodismo económico y se describen los cambios sufridos a lo largo de estos últimos años y cómo la irrupción de la web 2.0 ha cambiado la relación con las audiencias. La crisis económica, la fusión y desaparición de grandes grupos editoriales ha generado diferentes maneras de interactuar con los públicos. A diferencia de otros países, los medios de comunicación españoles especializados en economía han sobrevivido como soportes comerciales.This article summarizes the evolution of economic journalism and describes the changes experienced over recent years and how the emergence of Web 2.0 has changed the relationship with audiences. The economic crisis, fusion and disappearance of large publishing groups has led to different ways of interacting with the public. Unlike other countries, Spanish Communication media specialized in economic information have been able to keep due to commercial investment

Using molecular dynamics for the refinement of atomistic models of GPCRs by homology modeling

Despite GPCRs sharing a common seven helix bundle, analysis of the diverse crystallographic structures available reveal specific features that might be relevant for ligand design. Despite the number of crystallographic structures of GPCRs steadily increasing, there are still challenges that hamper the availability of new structures. In the absence of a crystallographic structure, homology modeling remains one of the important techniques for constructing 3D models of proteins. In the present study we investigated the use of molecular dynamics simulations for the refinement of GPCRs models constructed by homology modeling. Specifically, we investigated the relevance of template selection, ligand inclusion as well as the length of the simulation on the quality of the GPCRs models constructed. For this purpose we chose the crystallographic structure of the rat muscarinic M3 receptor as reference and constructed diverse atomistic models by homology modeling, using different templates. Specifically, templates used in the present work include the human muscarinic M2; the more distant human histamine H1 and the even more distant bovine rhodopsin as shown in the GPCRs phylogenetic tree. We also investigated the use or not of a ligand in the refinement process. Hence, we conducted the refinement process of the M3 model using the M2 muscarinic as template with tiotropium or NMS docked in the orthosteric site and compared with the results obtained with a model refined without any ligand bound.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Using Bayesian networks to estimate strategic indicators in the context of rapid software development

Background: During Rapid Software Development, a large amount of project and development data can be collected from different and heterogeneous data sources. Aims: Design a methodology to process these data and turn it into relevant strategic indicators to help companies make meaningful decisions. Method: We adapt an existing methodology to create and estimate strategic indicators using Bayesian Networks in the context of Rapid Software Development, and applied it to a use case. Results: Applying the methodology in the use case, we create a model to predict product quality based on software factors and metrics, using companies’ business knowledge and collected data. Conclusions: We proved the methodology’s feasibility and obtained positive feedback from the company’s use case.Postprint (author's final draft

Virtual reality training platform for flexible ureterorenoscopy interventions with a minimally invasive surgical robot

The total number of ureteroscopy (URS) interventions during the past years has dramatically increased due to the ongoing technological advances and the benefits associated with these techniques. However, the current URS procedure presents some drawbacks to urologic surgeons. The LITHOS project was created with the main objective of developing a surgical robotic system for flexible ureterorenoscopic lithotripsy interventions, offering a technological solution that meets the real needs of both patients and surgeons in this type of procedures. In this paper, a virtual reality environment for flexible ureterorenoscopy interventions is presented. The proposed environment provides a suitable training platform for surgeons manipulating the surgical robotic system