Establishing a governance threshold in small-scale fisheries to achieve sustainability

The lack of effective governance is a major concern in small-scale fisheries. The implementation of governance that encompasses the three pillars of sustainability (social, economic, and ecological) is still a worldwide challenge. We examined nine stalked barnacle fisheries (Pollicipes pollicipes) across Southwest Europe to better understand the relationship between governance elements and sustainability. Our results show that nested spatial scales of management, the access structure, co- management, and fisher’s participation in monitoring and surveillance promote sustainability. However, it is not the mere presence of these elements but their level of implementation that drives sustainability. Efforts should be placed in the accomplishment of a minimum combination of local scales of management, access rights through individual quotas, instructive-consultative co- management and functional participation. Surpassing this threshold in future governance structures will start to adequately promote social, economic and ecologically sustainability in small-scale fisheries

Performance of the Use of Genetic Information to Assess the Risk of Colorectal Cancer in the Basque Population

The risk of developing colorectal cancer (CRC) is partially associated with genetics. Different studies have provided valuable genetic information to understand the biology behind CRC and to build models of genetic risk. However, the study of the applicability of such genetic information within the Basque population is limited. Thus, our objectives were to find out if the genetic variants associated with CRC in other populations are the same in the Basque population and to assess the performance of the use of genetic information to calculate the risk of developing CRC. We found that the available genetic information can be applied to the Basque population, although local genetic variation can affect its use. Our findings will help to refine the use of CRC genetic risk calculation in the Basque population, and we expect that our findings could be useful for other populations

rDock: A Fast, Versatile and Open Source Program for Docking Ligands to Proteins and Nucleic Acids

Identification of chemical compounds with specific biological activities is an important step in both chemical biology and drug discovery. When the structure of the intended target is available, one approach is to use molecular docking programs to assess the chemical complementarity of small molecules with the target; such calculations provide a qualitative measure of affinity that can be used in virtual screening (VS) to rank order a list of compounds according to their potential to be active. rDock is a molecular docking program developed at Vernalis for high-throughput VS (HTVS) applications. Evolved from RiboDock, the program can be used against proteins and nucleic acids, is designed to be computationally very efficient and allows the user to incorporate additional constraints and information as a bias to guide docking. This article provides an overview of the program structure and features and compares rDock to two reference programs, AutoDock Vina (open source) and Schrodinger's Glide (commercial). In terms of computational speed for VS, rDock is faster than Vina and comparable to Glide. For binding mode prediction, rDock and Vina are superior to Glide. The VS performance of rDock is significantly better than Vina, but inferior to Glide for most systems unless pharmacophore constraints are used; in that case rDock and Glide are of equal performance. The program is released under the Lesser General Public License and is freely available for download, together with the manuals, example files and the complete test sets, at http://rdock.sourceforge.net

Genetic Variants as Predictors of the Success of Colorectal Cancer Treatments

Some colorectal cancer (CRC) outcomes are partially associated with genetics, and different studies have proposed several genetic variants as predictors. However, analysis of their performance in other populations is limited. Thus, our objectives were to assess their use in our cohort and to find additional genetic variants associated with CRC outcomes. We found that some of the genetic variants proposed as predictors could be used in our cohort, although the addition of clinical data improved the performance. In addition, we found additional genetic variants that could be useful to predict the CRC manifestations in our population. Our findings will help to refine the use of genetic polymorphisms to predict CRC outcomes in our population, and we expect that our findings could be useful for other populations.This work was partially founded by Gipuzkoako Foru Aldundia/Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa (Code: 111/17

Evaluación del trabajo colaborativo en Iniciación a la Investigación en Biología

Tras el trabajo previo de diseño de la asignatura Iniciación a la Investigación en Biología, el equipo multidisciplinar de profesores y profesoras de la Red Docente INVES ha desarrollado una metodología propia de trabajo en equipo, no sólo entre el diferente profesorado que la compone, sino también con el profesorado de la asignatura Estadística, con la que se comparten objetivos de aprendizaje comunes. Se ha optimizado el sistema de evaluación del trabajo colaborativo del alumnado, mediante el uso de rubricas y auto-evaluación. Dicho trabajo consiste en el diseño y desarrollo de un proyecto de investigación bibliométrico de temática biológica realizado por los estudiantes, propiciando la adquisición de competencias transversales mediante una dinámica de trabajo en grupo que culmina en la edición de unas Jornadas Científicas. Por otra parte, se han consensuado criterios comunes de evaluación continua, mejorando en la eficiencia de la evaluación, y determinado un incremento de la capacidad de aprendizaje del alumnado a lo largo de los cursos 2010-11 al 2013-14. La oferta formativa se completa mediante la formación de un grupo de Alto Rendimiento Académico con docencia en lengua inglesa. Esto permite al alumnado implementar el objetivo general de compresión de lengua extranjera inglés en lo relativo al ámbito científico

Avances en el trabajo colaborativo en Iniciación a la Investigación en Biología

Un equipo multidisciplinar de profesores y profesoras que componen la Red Docente INVES e imparten docencia en la asignatura Iniciación a la Investigación en Biología, ha desarrollado una metodología propia de trabajo en equipo, en coordinación con el profesorado de la asignatura Estadística, con la que se comparten objetivos de aprendizaje comunes. El sistema de evaluación del trabajo colaborativo del alumnado se ha optimizado mediante el uso de rúbricas y auto-evaluación. Se ha propiciado la adquisición de competencias transversales mediante una dinámica de trabajo en grupo. El diseño y desarrollo de un proyecto de investigación bibliométrico, de temática biológica, es realizado por los y las estudiantes, y culmina con la edición de unas Jornadas Científicas. Con el fin de mejorar la eficiencia de la evaluación, se han consensuado criterios comunes de evaluación continua entre el profesorado. Ello ha determinado un incremento de la capacidad de aprendizaje del alumnado a lo largo de los cursos 2010-11 al 2013-14. La lectura y compresión de textos científicos en inglés junto a la formación de un grupo de Alto Rendimiento Académico con docencia en lengua inglesa completa la oferta formativa, permitiendo al alumnado implementar el objetivo general de compresión de lengua extranjera inglés en lo relativo al ámbito científico

Central sleep apnoea is related to the severity and short-term prognosis of acute coronary syndrome

Objective To evaluate the relation of central sleep apnoea (CSA) to the severity and short-term prognosis of patients who experience acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Methods Observational study with cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Patients acutely admitted to participating hospitals because of ACS underwent respiratory polygraphy during the first 24 to 72 h. CSA was defined as an apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI) >15 events·h-1 (>50% of central apnoeas). ACS severity (Killip class, ejection fraction, number of diseased vessels and peak plasma troponin) was evaluated at baseline, and short-term prognosis (length of hospitalization, complications and mortality) was evaluated at discharge.This work was supported by: ResMed Ltd. (Australia); Fondo de InvestigacioÂn Sanitaria (PI10/02763 and PI10/02745), Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), Una manera de hacer Europa; the Spanish Respiratory Society (SEPAR); the Catalonian Cardiology Society, Esteve-Teijin (Spain); Oxigen Salud (Spain); and ALLER. This project has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no [609396]. Cofunded by Ministerio de EconomõÂa y Competitividad [COFUND2014-51501]

Binding to Na(+) /H(+) exchanger regulatory factor 2 (NHERF2) affects trafficking and function of the enteropathogenic Escherichia coli type III secretion system effectors Map, EspI and NleH.

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) strains are diarrhoeal pathogens that use a type III secretion system to translocate effector proteins into host cells in order to colonize and multiply in the human gut. Map, EspI and NleH1 are conserved EPEC effectors that possess a C-terminal class I PSD-95/Disc Large/ZO-1 (PDZ)-binding motif. Using a PDZ array screen we identified Na(+)/H(+) exchanger regulatory factor 2 (NHERF2), a scaffold protein involved in tethering and recycling ion channels in polarized epithelia that contains two PDZ domains, as a common target of Map, EspI and NleH1. Using recombinant proteins and co-immunoprecipitation we confirmed that NHERF2 binds each of the effectors. We generated a HeLa cell line stably expressing HA-tagged NHERF2 and found that Map, EspI and NleH1 colocalize and interact with intracellular NHERF2 via their C-terminal PDZ-binding motif. Overexpression of NHERF2 enhanced the formation and persistence of Map-induced filopodia, accelerated the trafficking of EspI to the Golgi and diminished the anti-apoptotic activity of NleH1. The binding of multiple T3SS effectors to a single scaffold protein is unique. Our data suggest that NHERF2 may act as a plasma membrane sorting site, providing a novel regulatory mechanism to control the intracellular spatial and temporal effector protein activity