Caracterización de parámetros reproductivos y endocrinos en una población de conejas ibicencas

El conejo ibicenco o conill pagès d’Eivissa es una población originaria de esta isla que actualmente presenta un escaso número de efectivos, ya que está siendo desplazada por otras razas con mayores rendimientos productivos. La conservación de este tipo de poblaciones precisa de la creación de bancos de germoplasma, con lo que es necesario establecer primeramente sus características reproductivas. Por ello, el objetivo del presente trabajo ha sido caracterizar algunos parámetros reproductivos de hembras ibicencas y compararlos con el cruce comercial de California x Neozelandés blanco, que es el habitualmente utilizado en cunicultura para producción. La fertilidad obtenida fue similar en ambos grupos, siendo de un 76,8% y de un 81,3% para las conejas híbridas e ibicencas, respectivamente. La prolificidad, el peso de la camada a 21 días de vida, la producción de leche, el número de gazapos destetados, el peso de la camada al destete y su ganancia media diaria fue superior en los cruces comerciales que en la población ibicenca, presentando ésta última una mayor duración de la gestación y un mayor peso individual al destete. Los ibicencos tardaron un par de días más en alcanzar el peso de sacrificio que los híbridos comerciales, puesto que su ganancia media diaria fue menor y el índice de conversión fue siempre superior, salvo en la última semana que disminuyó y se equiparó al de los híbridos. Respecto a los parámetros endocrinos, tanto las concentraciones de LH como las de progesterona post-ovulación fueron superiores para las hembras híbridas comerciales. finalmente, los datos de caracterización de la respuesta ovárica muestran que las hembras de cruce comercial presentaron un mayor número de folículos preovulatorios y de oocitos por ovario, así como un mayor número de cuerpos lúteos y embriones recuperados, que presentaron además una mayor velocidad de desarrollo embrionario, que las ibicencas. Por tanto, se ha comprobado experimentalmente que el conejo ibicenco, al ser una especie rústica, no seleccionada, presenta características reproductivas menos mejoradas que las de los cruces comerciales, si bien sigue siendo importante su conservación desde el punto de vista del mantenimiento de la biodiversidad genética

Estudio de las comunidades de interés pascícola en un puerto de montaña: II. Evolución en la intensidad de selección del pasto por dos razas ovinas (Churra y Merina)

11 páginas, 1 figura, 3 tablas.[ES] Con objeto de conocer la intensidad de selección del pasto en el ganado ovino y las diferencias entre los animales de raza Churra y de raza Merina en este parámetro, se llevo a cabo un experimento sobre un pasto de "Nardus” en la zona de montaña del Puerto de San Isidro en la provincia de León. Se utilizaron 4 machos adultos castados de cada raza, provistos de fístulas esofágicas para la toma de muestras de la dieta seleccionada por los animales (extrusa). El muestreo tuvo lugar en la última semana de los meses de junio, julio, agosto y septiembre de 1990. En cada muestra se separaron las hojas y los tallos, expresándolos posteriormente como porcentaje de la materia seca. No se encontraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas (P>0,05) entre ambas razas, en la proporción de hojas en las extrusas (88,3 vs 85,3% para las razas Churra y Merina respectivamente). El efecto del periodo fue estadisticamente significativo (P>0,01) para la proporción de hojas, con un menor valor (78%) en julio. Las diferencias entre periodos, tampoco fueron estadísticamente significativas (P>0,05) en la selección de hojas en la raza Churra, no obstante en la raza Merina se obtuvo un menor valor en la proporción de hojas en las extrusas en el segundo periodo. El índice de seleccion (% de hojas en la extrusa /% hojas en el pasto) presentó diferencias en los valores correspondientes a los distintos periodos. En la raza Merina durante los meses de junio y julio el valor del índice de selección fue significativamente menor que en los meses de agosto y septiembre, no encontrando diferencias significativas en estos pares de valores. Para la raza Churra, el valor del índice de selección obtenido en el mes de junio fue significativamente menor que el encontrado en los otros tres periodos, entre los cuales no se pudo comprobar la existencia de diferencias estadsticamente significativas.[EN] In order to know how the grazing period during summer affects to the degree of food selection in mountain areas and consistency of this differences in Churro and Merino genotypes an experiment on “Nardus” grass was carried out. Four oesophageal fistulated wether lambs of each breed were used during the last week of June, ,July, August and September 1990 and the leaf and steam were separated in each sample. There were no differences (P>0,05) between breed in the proportion of extrusa leaves (88,3 and 85,3% for Churra and Merino respectively). The effect of period was significatively different (P0,05) entre les deux races en ce qui concerne la proportion de feuilles dans les extrusas (88,3 vs 85,3% pour les races Churra et Merina respectivement). L’effet de la pèriode a été statistiquement significatif (P0,05) en ce qui concerne la sélection de feuilles chez la race Churra, cependant chez la race Merina nous avons obtenu une valeur inférieure dans la proportion de feuilles dans les extrusas pendant la second période. L’indice de sélection (% de feuilles dans l’extrusa / % de feuilles dans le pâturage) a présenté des differences dans les valeurs correspondantes aux différentes périodes. Chez la race Merina pendant les mois de juin et juillet la valeur de l’indice de sélection a été significativement infèrieure à celle des mois d’aôutet septembre, sans trouver de différences significatives dans ces deux valeurs. Pour la race Churra, la valeur de l’indice de sélection obtenue pendant le mois de juin a été significativement inférieure á celle trouvée pendant les trois autre périodes, entre les quelles nous n’avons pas pu vérifier l’existence de différences statisquement significatives.Este trabajo forma parte del proyecto titulado "Utilización de pastos de montaña por el ganado ovino", subvencionado por la Excma. Diputación de León y ha sido realizado dentro del convenio específico de colaboración entre la Excma. Diputación Provincial de León y la Estación Agrícola Experimental del CSIC.Peer reviewe

Pharmacological targeting of the receptor ALK inhibits tumorigenicity and overcomes chemoresistance in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is an extremely aggressive disease characterized by its metastatic potential and chemoresistance. These traits are partially attributable to the highly tumorigenic pancreatic cancer stem cells (PaCSCs). Interestingly, these cells show unique features in order to sustain their identity and functionality, some of them amenable for therapeutic intervention. Screening of phospho-receptor tyrosine kinases revealed that PaCSCs harbored increased activation of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK). We subsequently demonstrated that oncogenic ALK signaling contributes to tumorigenicity in PDAC patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) by promoting stemness through ligand-dependent activation. Indeed, the ALK ligands midkine (MDK) or pleiotrophin (PTN) increased self-renewal, clonogenicity and CSC frequency in several in vitro local and metastatic PDX models. Conversely, treatment with the clinically-approved ALK inhibitors Crizotinib and Ensartinib decreased PaCSC content and functionality in vitro and in vivo, by inducing cell death. Strikingly, ALK inhibitors sensitized chemoresistant PaCSCs to Gemcitabine, as the most used chemotherapeutic agent for PDAC treatment. Consequently, ALK inhibition delayed tumor relapse after chemotherapy in vivo by effectively decreasing the content of PaCSCs. In summary, our results demonstrate that targeting the MDK/PTN-ALK axis with clinically-approved inhibitors impairs in vivo tumorigenicity and chemoresistance in PDAC suggesting a new treatment approach to improve the long-term survival of PDAC patients

The nuclear and extended infrared emission of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 2992 and the interacting system Arp 245

We present subarcsecond resolution infrared (IR) imaging and mid-IR (MIR) spectroscopic observations of the Seyfert 1.9 galaxy NGC 2992, obtained with the Gemini North Telescope and the Gran Telescopio CANARIAS (GTC). The N-band image reveals faint extended emission out to ∼3 kpc, and the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon features detected in the GTC/CanariCam 7.5–13 μm spectrum indicate that the bulk of this extended emission is dust heated by star formation. We also report arcsecond resolution MIR and far-IR imaging of the interacting system Arp 245, taken with the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Herschel Space Observatory. Using these data, we obtain nuclear fluxes using different methods and find that we can only recover the nuclear fluxes obtained from the subarcsecond data at 20–25 μm, where the active galactic nuclei (AGN) emission dominates. We fitted the nuclear IR spectral energy distribution of NGC 2992, including the GTC/CanariCam nuclear spectrum (∼50 pc), with clumpy torus models. We then used the best-fitting torus model to decompose the Spitzer/IRS 5–30 μm spectrum (∼630 pc) in AGN and starburst components, using different starburst templates. We find that, whereas at shorter MIR wavelengths the starburst component dominates (64 per cent at 6 μm), the AGN component reaches 90 per cent at 20 μm. We finally obtained dust masses, temperatures and star formation rates for the different components of the Arp 245 system and find similar values for NGC 2992 and NGC 2993. These measurements are within those reported for other interacting systems in the first stages of the interaction.IGB acknowledges financial support from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias through Fundacion La Caixa. This research was partly supported by a Marie Curie Intra European Fellowship within the 7th European Community Framework Programme (PIEF-GA-2012-327934). CRA and IGB acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN) through project PN AYA2013-47742-C4-2-P. AAH acknowledges funding from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under grant AYA2012-31447, which is party funded by the FEDER program. PE acknowledges support from the Spanish Plan Nacional de Astronomía y Astrofísica under grant AYA2012-31277. OGM acknowledges support from grant AYA2012-39168-C03-01. TDS was supported by ALMA-CONICYT grant number 31130005.Peer Reviewe

English compound and non-compound processing in bilingual and multilingual speakers: effects of dominance and sequential multilingualism

This article reports on a study investigating the relative influence of the first and dominant language on L2 and L3 morpho-lexical processing. A lexical decision task compared the responses to English NV-er compounds (e.g., taxi driver) and non-compounds provided by a group of native speakers and three groups of learners at various levels of English proficiency: L1 Spanish-L2 English sequential bilinguals and two groups of early Spanish-Basque bilinguals with English as their L3. Crucially, the two trilingual groups differed in their first and dominant language (i.e., L1 Spanish-L2 Basque vs. L1 Basque-L2 Spanish). Our materials exploit an (a)symmetry between these languages: while Basque and English pattern together in the basic structure of (productive) NV-er compounds, Spanish presents a construction that differs in directionality as well as inflection of the verbal element (V[3SG] + N). Results show between and within group differences in accuracy and response times that may be ascribable to two factors besides proficiency: the number of languages spoken by a given participant and their dominant language. An examination of response bias reveals an influence of the participants' first and dominant language on the processing of NV-er compounds. Our data suggest that morphological information in the nonnative lexicon may extend beyond morphemic structure and that, similarly to bilingualism, there are costs to sequential multilingualism in lexical retrieval

Integrando escalas y métodos LTER para comprender la dinámica global de un espacio protegido de montaña: el Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido.

Los espacios protegidos, por el hecho de albergar una gran geo-biodiversidad y asegurar una baja intervención humana, constituyen lugares muy adecuados para el seguimiento de organismos y procesos a escala ecológica, así como para la obtención de series temporales largas a escala geológica. En el marco de la red LTER-España, el Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido (PNOMP) y el Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología-CSIC están impulsando estudios para la detección de cambios a distintas escalas mediante variados métodos y aproximaciones. Destacamos aquí los más consolidados, entre los que se encuentran los análisis de registros de sedimentos en lagos, espeleotemas en cuevas, la dinámica de uno de los pocos glaciares activos de la Península ibérica, el análisis físico-químico de aguas corrientes e ibones de alta montaña, el registro del cambio climático actual en árboles longevos, la afección que éste ejerce sobre masas actuales de pinos en el límite superior del bosque y de abetales en zonas húmedas, la matorralización de algunos pastos y los procesos mecanicistas que subyacen, la reorganización de la diversidad florística en pastos tras el abandono paulatino o drástico de la ganadería, la biodiversidad de las comunidades alpinas y la dinámica poblacional de especies amenazadas o indicadoras de hábitats o de motores de cambio global. Los seguimientos ecológicos actuales muestran que tanto el cambio climático como el de usos del suelo están teniendo una considerable trascendencia en la fisionomía y la estructura de algunos de los ambientes más icónicos y frecuentes del parque (deterioro del glaciar, termofilización de la flora en cumbres alpinas, densificación del bosque en su límite superior, pérdida de productividad en algunos pastos supraforestales, etc.). También sugieren una importante variabilidad espacial en los procesos (por ej. en el PNOMP conviven pastos matorralizados y pastos muy estables), y evidencian que los cambios observados no siempre siguen los paradigmas establecidos (por ej., las especies amenazadas mantienen dinámicas poblacionales estables). La integración de resultados parciales proporcionados por cada aproximación relativiza la importancia de las percepciones que cada estudio destaca por separado, y permite medir los cambios actuales en el marco de referencia de los cambios a escala geológica.Predecir la resistencia y resiliencia de los ecosistemas o las poblaciones de seres vivos para enfrentarse a los futuros cambios ambientales es complicado, no sólo por la falta de conocimientos disponibles sino también porque las respuestas que observamos no siempre son tan rápidas o lineales como se espera. La modelización constituye una herramienta cada vez más utilizada, pero requiere de evidencias reales para validar sus pronósticos, por lo que la observación de los procesos que actúan en el PNOMP ha de incluir un esfuerzo continuado de monitorización multiescalar y multidisciplinar de los distintos componentes de la geo, hidro-, crio- y biosfera, sin olvidar el componente humano. Entender la complejidad supone conectar las interacciones que existen entre todos los sistemas y ponderar sus efectos según las escalas de trabajo

Selective Segmental Pulmonary Angiography: Anatomical, Technical and Safety Aspects of a Must-Learn Technique in Times of Balloon Pulmonary Angioplasty for Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension

With the advent of balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) for non-surgical chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) patients, there is renewed interest in the pulmonary angiography technique. This technique is still the standard imaging modality to confirm CTEPH, which, in addition, helps to determine the most appropriate treatment. Furthermore, learning this technique fulfills two main purposes: to identify BPA candidates and to provide the operator with the catheter handling needed to perform BPA. Operators interested in performing BPA must learn not only the pulmonary arteries’ anatomy, but also which are the best angiographic projections and the most suitable catheters to canalize and display each segmental branch. Unfortunately, this information is scarce in the literature. With this goal, learning the diagnostic pulmonary angiography technique can be a first step on the way to perform BPA. Although there are descriptions on how to perform a pulmonary angiography with balloon-tipped catheters and the digital subtraction technique, this technique does not provide operators with the catheter knowledge and manual skill needed to cannulate each segmental branch. In contrast, learning the conventional selective segmental pulmonary angiography (SSPA) technique provides the operator with this knowledge and skills. In this review, based on the experience of the authors, we describe the pulmonary arteries’ anatomy and detail the practical aspects of the SSPA procedure, with the aim of providing operators with the anatomical and technical knowledge needed to perform BPA. We also summarize the contemporary complications of SSPA in CTEPH patients at a reference center

Prevalence and genetic characteristics of Staphylococcus aureus CC398 isolates from invasive infections in spanish hospitals, focusing on the livestock-independent CC398-MSSA clade

Background: Livestock-associated (LA)-CC398-MRSA is closely related to pigs, being unfrequently detected in human invasive infections. CC398-MSSA is emerging in human invasive infections in some countries, but genetic and epidemiological characteristics are still scarcely reported. Objectives: To determine the prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus (SA) CC398, both MRSA and MSSA, among blood cultures SA isolates recovered in Spanish hospitals located in regions with different pig-farming densities (PD) and characterize the recovered isolates. Methods: One thousand twenty-two SA isolates (761 MSSA, 261 MRSA) recovered from blood cultures during 6–12 months in 17 Spanish hospitals (2018–2019) were studied. CC398 lineage identification, detection of spa-types, and antibiotic resistance, virulence and human immune evasion cluster (IEC) genes were analyzed by PCR/sequencing. Results: Forty-four CC398-MSSA isolates (4.3% of SA; 5.8% of MSSA) and 10 CC398-MRSA isolates (1% of SA; 3.8% of MRSA) were detected. Eleven spa-types were found among the CC398-MSSA isolates with t571 and t1451 the most frequent spa-types detected (75%). Most of CC398-MSSA isolates were Immune-Evasion-Cluster (IEC)-positive (88.6%), tetracycline-susceptible (95.5%) and erythromycin/clindamycin–inducible-resistant/erm(T)-positive (75%). No statistical significance was detected when the CC398-MSSA/MSSA rate was correlated to PD (pigs/km2) (p = 0.108). On the contrary, CC398-MRSA isolates were all IEC-negative, predominately spa-t011 (70%), and the CC398-MRSA/MRSA rate was significantly associated to PD (p < 0.005). Conclusion: CC398-MSSA is an emerging clade in invasive infections in Spanish hospitals. CC398-MRSA (mostly t011) and CC398-MSSA (mostly t571 and t1451) show important differences, possibly suggesting divergent steps in host-adaptation evolutionary processes. While CC398-MRSA is livestock-associated (lacking IEC-system), CC398-MSSA seems to be mostly livestock-independent, carrying human-adaptation markers.

Gender differences in the utilization of health-care services among the older adult population of Spain

BACKGROUND: Compared to men, women report greater morbidity and make greater use of health-care services. This study examines potential determinants of gender differences in the utilization of health-care services among the elderly. METHODS: Cross-sectional study covering 3030 subjects, representative of the non-institutionalized Spanish population aged 60 years and over. Potential determinants of gender differences in the utilization of health services were classified into predisposing factors (age and head-of-family status), need factors (lifestyles, chronic diseases, functional status, cognitive deficit and health-related quality of life (HRQL)) and enabling factors (educational level, marital status, head-of-family employment status and social network). Relative differences in the use of each service between women and men were summarized using odds ratios (OR), obtained from logistic regression. The contribution of the variables of interest to the gender differences in the use of such services was evaluated by comparing the OR before and after adjustment for such variables. RESULTS: As compared to men, a higher percentage of women visited a medical practitioner (OR: 1.24; 95% confidence limits (CL): 1.07–1.44), received home medical visits (OR: 1.67; 95% CL: 1.34–2.10) and took ≥3 medications (OR: 1.54; 95% CL: 1.34–1.79), but there were no gender differences in hospital admission or influenza vaccination. Adjustment for need or enabling factors led to a reduction in the OR of women compared to men for utilization of a number of services studied. On adjusting for the number of chronic diseases, the OR (95% CL) of women versus men for ingestion of ≥3 medications was 1.24 (1.06–1.45). After adjustment for HRQL, the OR was 1.03 (0.89–1.21) for visits to medical practitioners, 1.24 (0.98–1.58) for home medical visits, 0.71 (0.58–0.87) for hospitalization, and 1.14 (0.97–1.33) for intake of ≥3 medications. After adjustment for the number of chronic diseases and HRQL, the OR of hospitalization among women versus men was 0.68 (0.56–0.84). CONCLUSION: The factors that best explain the greater utilization of health-care services by elderly women versus men are the number of chronic diseases and HRQL. For equal need, certain inequality was observed in hospital admission, in that it proved less frequent among women

Truncating FLNC Mutations Are Associated With High-Risk Dilated and Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathies

BACKGROUND: Filamin C (encoded by the FLNC gene) is essential for sarcomere attachment to the plasmatic membrane. FLNC mutations have been associated with myofibrillar myopathies, and cardiac involvement has been reported in some carriers. Accordingly, since 2012, the authors have included FLNC in the genetic screening of patients with inherited cardiomyopathies and sudden death. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to demonstrate the association between truncating mutations in FLNC and the development of high-risk dilated and arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathies. METHODS: FLNC was studied using next-generation sequencing in 2,877 patients with inherited cardiovascular diseases. A characteristic phenotype was identified in probands with truncating mutations in FLNC. Clinical and genetic evaluation of 28 affected families was performed. Localization of filamin C in cardiac tissue was analyzed in patients with truncating FLNC mutations using immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Twenty-three truncating mutations were identified in 28 probands previously diagnosed with dilated, arrhythmogenic, or restrictive cardiomyopathies. Truncating FLNC mutations were absent in patients with other phenotypes, including 1,078 patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Fifty-four mutation carriers were identified among 121 screened relatives. The phenotype consisted of left ventricular dilation (68%), systolic dysfunction (46%), and myocardial fibrosis (67%); inferolateral negative T waves and low QRS voltages on electrocardiography (33%); ventricular arrhythmias (82%); and frequent sudden cardiac death (40 cases in 21 of 28 families). Clinical skeletal myopathy was not observed. Penetrance was >97% in carriers older than 40 years. Truncating mutations in FLNC cosegregated with this phenotype with a dominant inheritance pattern (combined logarithm of the odds score: 9.5). Immunohistochemical staining of myocardial tissue showed no abnormal filamin C aggregates in patients with truncating FLNC mutations. CONCLUSIONS: Truncating mutations in FLNC caused an overlapping phenotype of dilated and left-dominant arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathies complicated by frequent premature sudden death. Prompt implantation of a cardiac defibrillator should be considered in affected patients harboring truncating mutations in FLNC.Instituto de Salud Carlos III [PI11/0699, PI14/0967, PI14/01477, RD012/0042/0029, RD012/0042/0049, RD012/0042/0066, RD12/0042/0069]; Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness [SAF2015-71863-REDT]; Plan Nacional de I+D+I; Plan Estatalde I+D+I, European Regional Development Fund; Health in Code SLS