Los pichones de Darwin y la evolución de los columbiformes: recapitulación de genes ancestrales

To commemorate the sesquicentennial of Charles Darwin´s On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, we address an essential topic in this publication. Domestic pigeons were extremely important in shaping Darwin’s theory of evolution: pigeons featured prominently not only in his Origin of Species, but also in his treatise on Variation under Domestication, in his Descent of Man and finally in his Expression of Emotions. Darwin saw the process of domestication as solid evidence demonstrating the power of selection. He argued convincingly that all domestic pigeon breeds (some 150 in his day) descended from one ancestral species, the Rock Dove (Columba livia), and that from this single species, humans selected directionally for colors, sizes, shapes, peculiarities of bill shape and length, plumage characteristics and voice qualities. While these domestic races achieved remarkable morphological differentiation under selection in the course of human generations, extant genera of pigeons (Columbiformes) have attained similar traits during the course of natural selection in the wild. We present a comparison of such characters between modern domestic breeds of the Rock Dove, the original Darwin´s Pigeons plus new breeds, and wild pigeon species to encourage further studies on their evolution in the light of molecular techniques not available at Darwin´s time.Dentro del marco conmemorativo del 150 aniversario de El Origen de las Especies por Medio de la Selección Natural de Charles Darwin, se presenta un ensayo de un tema esencial de esta publicación. Los pichones domésticos tuvieron un lugar destacado en la conformación de la teoría de evolución de Darwin: no sólo jugaron un papel fundamental en El Origen de las Especies, sino también en su tratado sobre Variación en Domesticación, en La Descendencia del Hombre y finalmente en Expresión de Emociones. Darwin vio en el proceso de domesticación una evidencia sólida para demostrar el poder de la selección. Él arguyó de manera convincente que todas las razas de pichón (unas 150 en su época) provenían de una sola especie ancestral, la paloma doméstica (Columba livia). De esta especie única, los humanos seleccionaron direccionalmente colores, tamaños, formas, particularidades en la forma y longitud del pico, características del plumaje y cualidades vocales. Mientras estas razas domésticas adquirieron una diferenciación morfológica impresionante bajo selección en el curso de generaciones humanas, los géneros actuales de los pichones (Columbiformes) han adquirido rasgos similares durante el curso de la selección natural en la vida silvestre. En este trabajo se hace una comparación entre las razas actuales de la paloma doméstica, los pichones de Darwin originales más otros obtenidos posteriormente, y varias especies de pichones silvestres. De esta forma se desea alentar el estudio, en razas domésticas y especies silvestres, sobre la evolución de los rasgos morfológicos que cautivaron a Darwin, a la luz de técnicas moleculares que aún no se desarrollaban en su tiemp

Inclusión financiera y productividad: el caso colombiano

El presente trabajo pretende identificar los efectos de la inclusión financiera sobre la productividad en Colombia. Para su medición se utiliza una muestra de datos de tipo panel de efectos fijos tomando la Encuesta Anual Manufacturera. La variable dependiente corresponde a la productividad a nivel de los establecimientos, en función de un portafolio de productos financieros. Los resultados indican que los esfuerzos de inclusión entendidos como la adopción servicios financieros no implican una mayor productividad. Por lo tanto, muestran fallos persistentes que limitan el acceso al capital y a los factores productivos. Es recomendable para futuros análisis incorporar los instrumentos de ahorro empleados por las unidades productivas. Este estudio abre entonces un importante debate en el caso colombiano y en economías similares, pues diversos estudios sectoriales, esfuerzos gremiales y la política pública se enfocan en la adopción de un portafolio de productos que instrumentaliza la inclusión sin lograr los beneficios que se pretenden. Finalmente, se concluye de este estudio que el acceso a una diversidad de servicios financieros no garantiza el aumento de la productividad y que incluso puede deteriorarla.Financial inclusion and productivity: the Colombian caseThis paper aims to identify the effects of financial inclusion on productivity in Colombia. For its measurement we use a fixed effects panel data sample from the Annual Manufacturing Survey. The dependent variable corresponds to productivity at the establishment level, as a function of a portfolio of financial products. The results indicate that inclusion efforts understood as the adoption of financial services do not imply higher productivity. Therefore, they show persistent failures that limit access to capital and productive factors. It is advisable for future analyses to incorporate the savings instruments used by productive units. This study thus opens an important debate in the Colombian case and in similar economies, since various sectoral studies, trade union efforts and public policy focus on the adoption of a portfolio of products that instrumentalizes inclusion without achieving the intended benefits. Finally, this study concludes that access to a diversity of financial services does not guarantee an increase in productivity and may even deteriorate it

SARS-CoV-2 vaccination modelling for safe surgery to save lives: data from an international prospective cohort study

Background Preoperative SARS-CoV-2 vaccination could support safer elective surgery. Vaccine numbers are limited so this study aimed to inform their prioritization by modelling. Methods The primary outcome was the number needed to vaccinate (NNV) to prevent one COVID-19-related death in 1 year. NNVs were based on postoperative SARS-CoV-2 rates and mortality in an international cohort study (surgical patients), and community SARS-CoV-2 incidence and case fatality data (general population). NNV estimates were stratified by age (18–49, 50–69, 70 or more years) and type of surgery. Best- and worst-case scenarios were used to describe uncertainty. Results NNVs were more favourable in surgical patients than the general population. The most favourable NNVs were in patients aged 70 years or more needing cancer surgery (351; best case 196, worst case 816) or non-cancer surgery (733; best case 407, worst case 1664). Both exceeded the NNV in the general population (1840; best case 1196, worst case 3066). NNVs for surgical patients remained favourable at a range of SARS-CoV-2 incidence rates in sensitivity analysis modelling. Globally, prioritizing preoperative vaccination of patients needing elective surgery ahead of the general population could prevent an additional 58 687 (best case 115 007, worst case 20 177) COVID-19-related deaths in 1 year. Conclusion As global roll out of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination proceeds, patients needing elective surgery should be prioritized ahead of the general population

Timing of surgery following SARS-CoV-2 infection: an international prospective cohort study

Peri-operative SARS-CoV-2 infection increases postoperative mortality. The aim of this study was to determine the optimal duration of planned delay before surgery in patients who have had SARS-CoV-2 infection. This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study included patients undergoing elective or emergency surgery during October 2020. Surgical patients with pre-operative SARS-CoV-2 infection were compared with those without previous SARS-CoV-2 infection. The primary outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality. Logistic regression models were used to calculate adjusted 30-day mortality rates stratified by time from diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection to surgery. Among 140,231 patients (116 countries), 3127 patients (2.2%) had a pre-operative SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis. Adjusted 30-day mortality in patients without SARS-CoV-2 infection was 1.5% (95%CI 1.4–1.5). In patients with a pre-operative SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis, mortality was increased in patients having surgery within 0–2 weeks, 3–4 weeks and 5–6 weeks of the diagnosis (odds ratio (95%CI) 4.1 (3.3–4.8), 3.9 (2.6–5.1) and 3.6 (2.0–5.2), respectively). Surgery performed ≥ 7 weeks after SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis was associated with a similar mortality risk to baseline (odds ratio (95%CI) 1.5 (0.9–2.1)). After a ≥ 7 week delay in undertaking surgery following SARS-CoV-2 infection, patients with ongoing symptoms had a higher mortality than patients whose symptoms had resolved or who had been asymptomatic (6.0% (95%CI 3.2–8.7) vs. 2.4% (95%CI 1.4–3.4) vs. 1.3% (95%CI 0.6–2.0), respectively). Where possible, surgery should be delayed for at least 7 weeks following SARS-CoV-2 infection. Patients with ongoing symptoms ≥ 7 weeks from diagnosis may benefit from further delay

Análisis de sostenibilidad del Programa Zonas de Estacionamiento Regulado Z.E.R. del Municipio de Rionegro Antioquia

Aplicando la metodología del caso empresarial, el equipo investigador tomó como referente el programa Zonas de Estacionamiento Regulado, Z.E.R del municipio de Rionegro Antioquia, ejecutado por la empresa SOMOS Rionegro S.A.S; con el objetivo de realizar un análisis de sostenibilidad desde su creación y tiempo de operación. Empleando en ello la matriz DOFA; el análisis financiero de los costos fijos y variables de enero a noviembre de 2018, cruzándolos con las ventas, para calcular un porcentaje de utilidad; teniendo en cuenta en la recopilación de la información a los funcionarios de la Secretaría de Hacienda y Secretaría de Inclusión Social de la Alcaldía y al equipo administrativo y operativo adscrito a Z.E.R. Con el sustento de seis dimensiones: Desarrollo Humano y Social, Estrategia de Movilidad, Análisis DOFA, Enlace a Políticas Públicas, Análisis Financiero y Actividades Futuras, se concluye que tras 14 meses de ejecución del programa, se ha superado al menos un paradigma; y es el estilo gerencial utilizado por SOMOS, basado en la descentralización y autonomía, con enfoque de desarrollo humano y de capacidades, por encima de lo financiero; consintiendo la participación formal de rionegreros con condiciones especiales en sus capacidades por su estado de adultez o bien por sus diferentes necesidades físicas o mentales; generando unos de los primeros hitos en el Municipio, donde un programa de beneficio a las denominadas por las políticas públicas personas en situación de discapacidad, puede no ser un programa asistencialista, gestionable desde indicadores sociales y operativos, alcanzando sostenibilidad después del año 2022.Applying the business case methodology, the research team took as a reference the program Regulated Parking Areas, Z.E.R of the municipality of Rionegro Antioquia, executed by the company SOMOS Rionegro S.A.S; with the objective of carrying out a sustainability analysis from its creation and operating time. Employing in it the matrix DOFA; the financial analysis of the fixed and variable costs from January to November 2018, crossing them with sales, to calculate a percentage of profit; taking into account in the compilation of the information to the officials of the Ministry of Finance and the Social Inclusion Secretariat of the Mayor's Office and to the administrative and operative team assigned to Z.E.R. With the support of six dimensions: Human and Social Development, Mobility Strategy, DOFA Analysis, Link to Public Policies, Financial Analysis and Future Activities, it is concluded that after 14 months of program execution, at least one paradigm has been overcome; and it is the management style used by SOMOS, based on decentralization and autonomy, with a focus on human development and capabilities, above the financial; consenting to the formal participation of rionegreros with special conditions in their capacities for their adulthood or for their different physical or mental needs; generating some of the first milestones in the municipality, where a benefit program to those named by public policies people with disabilities, may not be a welfare program, managed from social and operational indicators, reaching sustainability after 2022

Temporal response to drought stress in several Prunus rootstocks and wild species

Prunus species are important crops in temperate regions. In these regions, drought periods are predicted to occur more frequently due to climate change. In this sense, to reduce the impact of climate warming, obtaining new tolerant/resistant cultivars and rootstocks is a mandatory goal in Prunus breeding. Therefore, the current study assembled three Prunus species including almond, (P. dulcis Mill D.A. Webb), apricot (P. armeniaca L.) and peach (P. persica L.) to model the temporal effects of drought. A hybrid peach × almond and a wild almond-relative species Prunus webbii were also included in the study. Physiological traits associated with photosynthetic activity, leaf water status, and chlorophyll content were assessed under three watering treatments. Results showed that effects of time, genotype, and treatment interact significantly in all traits. In addition, results confirmed that P. webbii have a greater tolerance to drought than commercial rootstocks. However, “Real Fino” apricot showed the fastest recovery after re-irrigation while being one of the most affected cultivars. In addition, from the better response to these watering treatments by the almond genotypes, two different trends were observed after re-irrigation treatment that clearly differentiate the response of the almond cultivar “Garrigue” from the rest of Prunus genotypes. A better characterization of the short-term drought response in Prunus, an accurate and more efficient evaluation of the genotype effect was obtained from the use of mixed models considering appropriate variance–covariance structures. Although the advantages of these approaches are rarely used in Prunus breeding, these methodologies should be undertaken in the future by breeders to increase efficiency in developing new breeding materials.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Negative impact of HIV infection on broad-spectrum anti-HCV neutralizing antibody titers in HCV-infected patients with advanced HCV-related cirrhosis

Objectives: The current study aimed to assess the impact of HIV on the production of anti-HCV antibodies in HCV-infected individuals with advanced HCV-related cirrhosis before and 36 weeks after the sustained virological response (SVR) induced by direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) therapy. Methods: Prospective study on 62 patients (50 HIV/HCV-coinfected and 12 HCV-monoinfected). Plasma anti-E2 and HCV-nAbs were determined respectively by ELISA and microneutralization assays. Results: At baseline, the HCV-group had higher anti-E2 levels against Gt1a (p = 0.012), Gt1b (p = 0.023), and Gt4a (p = 0.005) than the HIV/HCV-group. After SVR, anti-E2 titers against Gt1a (p < 0.001), Gt1b (p = 0.001), and Gt4a (p = 0.042) were also higher in the HCV-group than HIV/HCV-group. At 36 weeks post-SVR, plasma anti-E2 titers decreased between 1.3 and 1.9-fold in the HIV/HCV-group (p < 0.001) and between 1.5 and 1.8-fold in the HCV-group (p ≤ 0.001). At baseline, the HCV-group had higher titers of HCV-nAbs against Gt1a (p = 0.022), Gt1b (p = 0.002), Gt2a (p < 0.001), and Gt4a (p < 0.001) than the HIV/HCV-group. After SVR, HCV-nAbs titers against Gt1a (p = 0.014), Gt1b (p < 0.001), Gt2a (p = 0.002), and Gt4a (p = 0.004) were also higher in the HCV-group. At 36 weeks post-SVR, HCV-nAbs decreased between 2.6 and 4.1-fold in the HIV/HCV-group (p < 0.001) and between 1.9 and 4.0-fold in the HCV-group (p ≤ 0.001). Conclusions: HIV/HCV-coinfected patients produced lower levels of broad-spectrum anti-HCV antibodies than HCV-monoinfected patients.This study was supported by grants from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCII; grant numbers PI20/00474 and PI17/00657 to JB, PI20/00507 and PI17/00903 to JGG, PI19CIII/00009 to IM, and PI20CIII/00004 and PI17CIII/00003 to SR). The study was also funded by the Spanish AIDS Research Network (RD16/0025/0017, RD16/0025/0018 and RD16CIII/0002/0002) and CIBER -Consorcio Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red- (CB 2021), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and Unión Europea – NextGenerationEU (CB21/13/00044 and CB21/13/00039). DSC is a ‘Sara Borrell’ researcher from ISCIII (grant number CD20CIII/00001).S

Evolution of the corpus luteum volume determined ultrasonographically and its relation to the plasma progesterone concentration after artificial insemination in pregnant and non-pregnant dairy cows

P. 183–188The aim of this study was to assess the relationship of the evolution of the corpus luteum (CL) volume that was determined ultrasonographically with the pregnancy status in lactating dairy cows during early pregnancy. Ultrasound examinations were carried out on 76 cows following artificial insemination (AI). Plasma concentrations of progesterone were determined from blood samples collected at each ultrasound examination. Conception was confirmed by ultrasonography on day 30 after AI. Around day 14 post-insemination (p.i.), the CL volume tended to decrease in pregnant and non-pregnant cows, and, after day 19 p.i., both groups differed significantly, indicating the luteal regression in non-pregnant cows. Reaching signification on day 20. The diminution in CL volume was also reflected in the plasma progesterone concentration. However, the patterns of CL volume, estimated by ultrasonography, differed more evidently and earlier between both groups (around 1 week p.i., at day 9 p.i. P < 0.05, whereas progesterone started to differ around 2 weeks p.i., at day 14 p.i, P < 0.05). These results indicate that the estimation of the CL volume by ultrasonography could be useful for assessing the presence of a functional CL.S

DNA methylation map in circulating leukocytes mirrors subcutaneous adipose tissue methylation pattern: a genome-wide analysis from non-obese and obese patients

The characterization of the epigenetic changes within the obesity-related adipose tissue will provide new insights to understand this metabolic disorder, but adipose tissue is not easy to sample in population-based studies. We aimed to evaluate the capacity of circulating leukocytes to reflect the adipose tissue-specific DNA methylation status of obesity susceptibility. DNA samples isolated from subcutaneous adipose tissue and circulating leukocytes were hybridized in the Infinium HumanMethylation 450 BeadChip. Data were compared between samples from obese (n = 45) and non-obese (n = 8-10) patients by Wilcoxon-rank test, unadjusted for cell type distributions. A global hypomethylation of the differentially methylated CpG sites (DMCpGs) was observed in the obese subcutaneous adipose tissue and leukocytes. The overlap analysis yielded a number of genes mapped by the common DMCpGs that were identified to reflect the obesity state in the leukocytes. Specifically, the methylation levels of FGFRL1, NCAPH2, PNKD and SMAD3 exhibited excellent and statistically significant efficiencies in the discrimination of obesity from non-obesity status (AUC > 0.80; p < 0.05) and a great correlation between both tissues. Therefore, the current study provided new and valuable DNA methylation biomarkers of obesity-related adipose tissue pathogenesis through peripheral blood analysis, an easily accessible and minimally invasive biological material instead of adipose tissue