Transmutation analysis of realistic low-activation steels for magnetic fusion reactors and IFMIF

A comprehensive transmutation study for steels considered in the selection of structural materials for magnetic and inertial fusion reactors has been performed in the IFMIF neutron irradiation scenario, as well as in the ITER and DEMO ones for comparison purposes. An element-by-element transmutation approach is used in the study, addressing the generation of: (1) H and He and (2) solid transmutants. The IEAF-2001 activation library and the activation code ACAB were applied to the IFMIF transmutation analysis, after proving the applicability of ACAB for transmutation calculations of this kind of intermediate energy systems

Epigenetic Silencing of Tumor Suppressor miR-124 Directly Supports STAT3 Activation in Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma

Increasing evidence supports a potential role for STAT3 as a tumor driver in cutaneous T-cell lymphomas (CTCL). The mechanisms leading to STAT3 activation are not fully understood; however, we recently found that miR-124, a known STAT3 regulator, is robustly silenced in MF tumor-stage and CTCL cells. OBJECTIVE: We studied here whether deregulation of miR-124 contributes to STAT3 pathway activation in CTCL. METHODS: We measured the effect of ectopic mir-124 expression in active phosphorylated STAT3 (p-STAT3) levels and evaluated the transcriptional impact of miR-124-dependent STAT3 pathway regulation by expression microarray analysis. RESULTS: We found that ectopic expression of miR-124 results in massive downregulation of activated STAT3 in different CTCL lines, which resulted in a significant alteration of genetic signatures related with gene transcription and proliferation such as MYC and E2F. CONCLUSIONS: Our study highlights the importance of the miR-124/STAT3 axis in CTCL and demonstrates that the STAT3 pathway is regulated through epigenetic mechanisms in these cells. Since deregulated STAT3 signaling has a major impact on CTCL initiation and progression, a better understanding of the molecular basis of the miR-124/STAT3 axis may provide useful information for future personalized therapies

Relationship Between Quorum Sensing and Secretion Systems

Quorum sensing (QS) is a communication mechanism between bacteria that allows specific processes to be controlled, such as biofilm formation, virulence factor expression, production of secondary metabolites and stress adaptation mechanisms such as bacterial competition systems including secretion systems (SS). These SS have an important role in bacterial communication. SS are ubiquitous; they are present in both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria and in Mycobacterium sp. To date, 8 types of SS have been described (T1SS, T2SS, T3SS, T4SS, T5SS, T6SS, T7SS, and T9SS). They have global functions such as the transport of proteases, lipases, adhesins, heme-binding proteins, and amidases, and specific functions such as the synthesis of proteins in host cells, adaptation to the environment, the secretion of effectors to establish an infectious niche, transfer, absorption and release of DNA, translocation of effector proteins or DNA and autotransporter secretion. All of these functions can contribute to virulence and pathogenesis. In this review, we describe the known types of SS and discuss the ones that have been shown to be regulated by QS. Due to the large amount of information about this topic in some pathogens, we focus mainly on Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Vibrio spp

Plan de negocio para un sistema de intermediaci?n de servicios de belleza en la ciudad de Lima basado en la geolocalizaci?n

El crecimiento sostenido del sector belleza en el Per? y los h?bitos de consumo de los peruanos en sus compras en l?nea han sido factores importantes para comenzar con esta idea de negocio. Esta idea de negocio busca brindar una plataforma de intermediaci?n que permita unir la oferta y la demanda en el sector belleza, modelo de negocio similar a Uber, de tal forma que tanto el profesional o el sal?n de belleza puedan ofrecer y llevar ese servicio hacia la ubicaci?n indicada por el usuario. Esta soluci?n propone llegar a hombres y mujeres entre 18 y 59 a?os que viven o trabajan en la ciudad de Lima, en los distritos de Lima moderna, utilizan la tecnolog?a en sus actividades cotidianas y cuidan su imagen personal. El estudio de mercado realizado demuestra que la idea de negocio es aceptada por el 81% de los encuestados. Asimismo, se realiz? entrevista a un grupo determinado de expertos de distintas ?reas quienes aportaron de gran forma a esta idea de negocio. Esta idea es rentable, esto se sustenta en el plan financiero desarrollado en la tesis, esta viabilidad es atractiva antes los ojos de los inversionistas quienes ser?n nuestros aliados estrat?gicos

Employment generation by small firms in Spain

Despite the relevance in terms of policy, we still know little in Spain about where and by whom jobs are created, and how that is affecting the size distribution of firms. The main innovation of this paper is to use a rich database that overcomes the problems encountered by other firm-level studies to shed some light on the employment generation of small firms in Spain. We find that small firms contribute to employment disproportionately across all sectors of the economy although the difference between their employment and job creation share is largest in the manufacturing sector. The job creators in that sector are both new and established firms whereas only new small firms outperform their larger counterparts in the service sector. The large annual job creation of the small firm size class is shifting the firm size distribution towards the very small production units, although not uniformly across industries of different technology intensit

Plan de acci?n para la prevenci?n del sobrepeso y la obesidad en Galicia desde una perspectiva de salud p?blica 2022-2030

Na ?ltima d?cada, a obesidade xurdiu como un problema emerxente na nosa poboaci?n e sup?n un desaf?o para a s?a abordaxe desde unha perspectiva de sa?de p?blica que, contemplada como un acto colectivo, debe asegurar un ?ptimo estado de sa?de para a s?a poboaci?n de referencia, produto ? s?a vez de diferentes niveis de influencia. A trav?s deste plan, a Direcci?n Xeral de Sa?de P?blica pretende mellorar o acceso ao co?ecemento sobre h?bitos de vida saudables, a contornas seguras e propicias e a unha oferta alcanzable e de calidade de produtos saudables, como un remedio que permita reducir o sobrepeso e a obesidade e mellorar a sa?de da nosa poboaci?n.En la ?ltima d?cada, la obesidad surgi? como un problema emergente en nuestra poblaci?n y supone un desaf?o para su abordaje desde una perspectiva de salud p?blica que, contemplada como un acto colectivo, debe asegurar un ?ptimo estado de salud para su poblaci?n de referencia, producto a su vez de diferentes niveles de influencia. A trav?s de este plan, la Direcci?n General de Salud P?blica pretende mejorar el acceso al conocimiento sobre h?bitos de vida saludables, a entornos seguros y propicios y a una oferta asequible y de calidad de productos saludables, como un remedio que permita reducir el sobrepeso y la obesidad y mejorar la salud de nuestra poblaci?n

Anti-tumour necrosis factor discontinuation in inflammatory bowel disease patients in remission: study protocol of a prospective, multicentre, randomized clinical trial

Background: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease who achieve remission with anti-tumour necrosis factor (anti-TNF) drugs may have treatment withdrawn due to safety concerns and cost considerations, but there is a lack of prospective, controlled data investigating this strategy. The primary study aim is to compare the rates of clinical remission at 1?year in patients who discontinue anti-TNF treatment versus those who continue treatment. Methods: This is an ongoing, prospective, double-blind, multicentre, randomized, placebo-controlled study in patients with Crohn?s disease or ulcerative colitis who have achieved clinical remission for ?6?months with an anti-TNF treatment and an immunosuppressant. Patients are being randomized 1:1 to discontinue anti-TNF therapy or continue therapy. Randomization stratifies patients by the type of inflammatory bowel disease and drug (infliximab versus adalimumab) at study inclusion. The primary endpoint of the study is sustained clinical remission at 1?year. Other endpoints include endoscopic and radiological activity, patient-reported outcomes (quality of life, work productivity), safety and predictive factors for relapse. The required sample size is 194 patients. In addition to the main analysis (discontinuation versus continuation), subanalyses will include stratification by type of inflammatory bowel disease, phenotype and previous treatment. Biological samples will be obtained to identify factors predictive of relapse after treatment withdrawal. Results: Enrolment began in 2016, and the study is expected to end in 2020. Conclusions: This study will contribute prospective, controlled data on outcomes and predictors of relapse in patients with inflammatory bowel disease after withdrawal of anti-TNF agents following achievement of clinical remission. Clinical trial reference number: EudraCT 2015-001410-1

Characterization of SpPol4, a unique X-family DNA polymerase in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

As predicted by the amino acid sequence, the purified protein coded by Schizosaccharomyces pombe SPAC2F7.06c is a DNA polymerase (SpPol4) whose biochemical properties resemble those of other X family (PolX) members. Thus, this new PolX is template-dependent, polymerizes in a distributive manner, lacks a detectable 3′→5′ proofreading activity and its preferred substrates are small gaps with a 5′-phosphate group. Similarly to Polμ, SpPol4 can incorporate a ribonucleotide (rNTP) into a primer DNA. However, it is not responsible for the 1–2 rNTPs proposed to be present at the mating-type locus and those necessary for mating-type switching. Unlike Polμ, SpPol4 lacks terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase activity and realigns the primer terminus to alternative template bases only under certain sequence contexts and, therefore, it is less error-prone than Polμ. Nonetheless, the biochemical properties of this gap-filling DNA polymerase are suitable for a possible role of SpPol4 in non-homologous end-joining. Unexpectedly based on sequence analysis, SpPol4 has deoxyribose phosphate lyase activity like Polβ and Polλ, and unlike Polμ, suggesting also a role of this enzyme in base excision repair. Therefore, SpPol4 is a unique enzyme whose enzymatic properties are hybrid of those described for mammalian Polβ, Polλ and Polμ