Evaluación preliminar de una técnica molecular para el diágnostico bacteriológico de sepsis. Estudio comparativo hemocultivo-magicplex sepsis

La elevada morbimortalidad de la sepsis requiere terapia empírica inminente, el retraso es un determinante de mortalidad La detección temprana del patógeno es crucial. Se evalua una PCR a tiempo real para la detección cualitativa de microorganismos relacionados con la sepsis frente al cultivo

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

Seminari d'Estudis i Recerques Prehistòriques (SERP). Núcleo de cohesión en formación e investigación en Prehistoria de la Universidad de Barcelona desde 1987

El artículo es un resumen amplio de todas las actividades científicas y académicas llevadas a cabo por el SERP (Seminari d'Estudis i Recerques Prehistòriques) desde su fundación en 1987 por parte del Dr. Fullola. Abarca desde programas de excavaciones a proyectos internacionales pasando por temas de Patrimonio arqueológico o de historiografía, entre muchos otros. Además del resumen de dichas actividades, se añade también una completa lista de publicaciones, la gran mayoría en revistas de impacto nacional e internacional. Se incide especialmente en siete líneas básicas de trabajo dentro del grupo, la arqueopetrología, la arqueozoología, el arte prehistórico, la geoarqueología, la paleobotánica, la tecnología, el patrimonio y los estudios territoriales. También se repasan todos y cada uno de los yacimientos objeto de excavación por parte del SERP en estos últimos tres decenios

Knowledge transmission patterns at the border: ethnobotany of Hutsuls living in the Carpathian Mountains of Bukovina (SW Ukraine and NE Romania)

Background Cross-border research is a novel and important tool for detecting variability of ecological knowledge. This is especially evident in regions recently divided and annexed to different political regimes. Therefore, we conducted a study among Hutsuls, a cultural and linguistic minority group living in Northern and Southern Bukovina (Ukraine and Romania, respectively). Indeed, in the 1940s, a border was created: Northern Bukovina was annexed by the USSR while Southern Bukovina remained part of the Kingdom of Romania. In this research, we aim to document uses of plants for food and medicinal preparations, discussing the different dynamics of Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) transmission among Hutsuls living in Ukraine and Romania. Methods Field research was conducted using convenience and snowball sampling techniques to recruit 31 Hutsuls in Ukraine and 30 in Romania for participation in semi-structured interviews regarding the use of plants for medicinal and food preparation purposes and the sources of such knowledge. Results The interviews revealed that, despite a common cultural and linguistic background, ethnobotanical knowledge transmission occurs in different ways on each side of the border. Family is a primary source of ethnobotanical knowledge transmission on both sides of the border; however, in Romania, knowledge from other sources is very limited, whereas in Ukraine interviewees reported several other sources including books, magazines, newspapers, the Internet and television. This is especially evident when analysing the wild plants used for medicinal purposes as we found 53 taxa that were common to both, 47 used only in Ukraine and 11 used only in Romania. While Romanian Hutsuls used almost exclusively locally available plants, Ukrainian Hutsuls often reported novel plants such as Aloe vera, Aronia melanocarpa and Elaeagnus rhamnoides. Knowledge related to these plants was transferred by sources of knowledge other than oral transmission among members of the same family. Therefore, this may imply hybridization of the local body of knowledge with foreign elements originating in the Soviet context which has enriched the corpus of ethnobotanical knowledge held by Ukrainian Hutsuls. Conclusions While ethnobotanical knowledge among Romanian Hutsuls is mainly traditional and vertically transmitted, among Ukrainian Hutsuls there is a considerable proportion of LEK that is transmitted from other (written and visual) sources of knowledge. This cross-border research reveals that despite a common cultural background, socio-political scenarios have impacted Hutsul ethnobotanical knowledge and its transmission patterns

Analysis of the Expression, Secretion and Translocation of the Salmonella enterica Type III Secretion System Effector SteA

Many Gram-negative pathogens possess virulence-related type III secretion systems. Salmonella enterica uses two of these systems, encoded on the pathogenicity islands SPI-1 and SPI-2, respectively, to translocate more than 30 effector proteins into eukaryotic host cells. SteA is one of the few effectors that can be translocated by both systems. We investigated the conditions affecting the synthesis of this effector, its secretion to culture media and its translocation into host cells. Whereas steA was expressed under a wide range of conditions, some factors, including low and high osmolarity, and presence of butyrate, decreased expression. SteA was efficiently secreted to the culture media under both SPI-1 and SPI-2 inducing conditions. The kinetics of translocation into murine macrophages and human epithelial cells was studied using fusions with the 3xFLAG tag, and fusions with CyaA from Bordetella pertussis. Translocation into macrophages under non-invasive conditions was mainly dependent on the SPI-2-encoded type III secretion system but some participation of the SPI-1 system was also detected 6 hours post-infection. Interestingly, both type III secretion systems had a relevant role in the translocation of SteA into epithelial cells. Finally, a deletion approach allowed the identification of the N-terminal signal necessary for translocation of this effector. The amino acid residues 1–10 were sufficient to direct translocation into host cells through both type III secretion systems. Our results provide new examples of functional overlapping between the two type III secretion systems of Salmonella

Quasispecies Spatial Models for RNA Viruses with Different Replication Modes and Infection Strategies

Empirical observations and theoretical studies suggest that viruses may use different replication strategies to amplify their genomes, which impact the dynamics of mutation accumulation in viral populations and therefore, their fitness and virulence. Similarly, during natural infections, viruses replicate and infect cells that are rarely in suspension but spatially organized. Surprisingly, most quasispecies models of virus replication have ignored these two phenomena. In order to study these two viral characteristics, we have developed stochastic cellular automata models that simulate two different modes of replication (geometric vs stamping machine) for quasispecies replicating and spreading on a two-dimensional space. Furthermore, we explored these two replication models considering epistatic fitness landscapes (antagonistic vs synergistic) and different scenarios for cell-to-cell spread, one with free superinfection and another with superinfection inhibition. We found that the master sequences for populations replicating geometrically and with antagonistic fitness effects vanished at low critical mutation rates. By contrast, the highest critical mutation rate was observed for populations replicating geometrically but with a synergistic fitness landscape. Our simulations also showed that for stamping machine replication and antagonistic epistasis, a combination that appears to be common among plant viruses, populations further increased their robustness by inhibiting superinfection. We have also shown that the mode of replication strongly influenced the linkage between viral loci, which rapidly reached linkage equilibrium at increasing mutations for geometric replication. We also found that the strategy that minimized the time required to spread over the whole space was the stamping machine with antagonistic epistasis among mutations. Finally, our simulations revealed that the multiplicity of infection fluctuated but generically increased along time

Seminari d’Estudis i Recerques Prehistòriques (SERP). Núcleo de cohesión en formación e investigación en Prehistoria de la Universitat de Barcelona desde 1987

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

SalmoNet, an integrated network of ten Salmonella enterica strains reveals common and distinct pathways to host adaptation

Salmonella enterica is a prominent bacterial pathogen with implications on human and animal health. Salmonella serovars could be classified as gastro-intestinal or extra-intestinal. Genome-wide comparisons revealed that extra-intestinal strains are closer relatives of gastro-intestinal strains than to each other indicating a parallel evolution of this trait. Given the complexity of the differences, a systems-level comparison could reveal key mechanisms enabling extra-intestinal serovars to cause systemic infections. Accordingly, in this work, we introduce a unique resource, SalmoNet, which combines manual curation, high-throughput data and computational predictions to provide an integrated network for Salmonella at the metabolic, transcriptional regulatory and protein-protein interaction levels. SalmoNet provides the networks separately for five gastro-intestinal and five extra-intestinal strains. As a multi-layered, multi-strain database containing experimental data, SalmoNet is the first dedicated network resource for Salmonella. It comprehensively contains interactions between proteins encoded in Salmonella pathogenicity islands, as well as regulatory mechanisms of metabolic processes with the option to zoom-in and analyze the interactions at specific loci in more detail. Application of SalmoNet is not limited to strain comparisons as it also provides a Salmonella resource for biochemical network modeling, host-pathogen interaction studies, drug discovery, experimental validation of novel interactions, uncovering new pathological mechanisms from emergent properties and epidemiological studies. SalmoNet is available at http://salmonet.org

Analyzing factors that influence the folk use and phytonomy of 18 medicinal plants in Navarra

BACKGROUND: This article analyzes whether the distribution or area of use of 18 medicinal plants is influenced by ecological and cultural factors which might account for their traditional use and/or phytonymy in Navarra. This discussion may be helpful for comparative studies, touching as it does on other ethnopharmacological issues: a) which cultural and ecological factors affect the selection of medicinal plants; b) substitutions of medicinal plants in popular medicine; c) the relation between local nomenclature and uses. To analyze these questions, this paper presents an example of a species used for digestive disorders (tea and camomile: Jasonia glutinosa, J. tuberosa, Sideritis hyssopifolia, Bidens aurea, Chamaemelum nobile, Santolina chamaecyparissus...), high blood pressure (Rhamnus alaternus, Olea europaea...) or skin diseases (Hylotelephium maximum, H. telephium, Anagallis arvensis, A. foemina). METHODS: Fieldwork began on January 2004 and continued until December 2006. During that time we interviewed 505 informants in 218 locations in Navarra. Information was collected using semi-structured ethnobotanical interviews, and we subsequently made maps using Arc-View 8.0 program to determine the area of use of each taxon. Each map was then compared with the bioclimatic and linguistic map of Navarra, using the soil and ethnographic data for the region, and with other ethnobotanical and ethnopharmacological studies carried out in Europe. RESULTS: The results clearly show that ecological and cultural factors influence the selection of medicinal plants in this region. Climate and substrate are the most important ecological factors that influence the distribution and abundance of plants, which are the biological factors that affect medicinal plant selection. CONCLUSION: The study of edaphological and climatological factors, on the one hand, and culture, on the other, can help us to understand why a plant is replaced by another one for the same purposes, either in the same or in a different area. In many cases, the cultural factor means that the use of a species is more widespread than its ecological distribution. This may also explain the presence of synonyms and polysemies which are useful for discussing ethnopharmacological data