Cycles inside cycles: Spanish regional aggregation

This paper sets out a comprehensive framework to identify regional business cycles within Spain and analyses their stylised features and the degree of synchronization present among them and the Spanish economy. We show that the regional cycles are quite heterogeneous although they display some degree of synchronization that can be partially explained using macroeconomic variables. We also propose a dynamic factor model to cluster the regional comovements and Önd out if the country cycle is simply the aggregation of the regional ones. We Önd that the Spanish business cycle is not shared by the seventeen regions, but is the sum of the di§erent regional behaviours. The implications derived from our results are useful both for policy makers and analysts.

Racotumomab: an anti=idiotype vaccine related to N=glycolyl=containing=gangliosides: Preclinical and clinical data

Neu-glycolyl (NeuGc)-containing gangliosides are attractive targets for immunotherapy with anti-idiotype mAbs, because these glycolipids are not normal components of the cytoplasmic membrane in humans, but their expression has been demonstrated in several human malignant tumors. Racotumomab is an anti-idiotype mAb specific to P3 mAb, an antibody which reacts to NeuGc-containing gangliosides, sulfatides, and other antigens expressed in tumors. Preparations containing racotumomab were able to induce a strong anti-metastatic effect in tumor-bearing mice. Different Phase I clinical trials have been conducted in patients with advanced melanoma, breast cancer, and lung cancer. The results of these clinical trials demonstrated the low toxicity and the high immunogenicity of this vaccine. The induced antibodies recognized and directly killed tumor cells expressing NeuGcGM3. A Phase II/III multicenter, controlled, randomized, double blind clinical trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of aluminum hydroxide-precipitated racotumomab vaccine in overall survival in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. The clinical results of this study showed a significant clinical benefit in the patients who were treated with the anti-idiotype vaccine.Fil: Vazquez, Ana M.. Center of Molecular Immunology; CubaFil: Hernandez, Ana M.. Center of Molecular Immunology; CubaFil: Macias, Amparo. Center of Molecular Immunology; CubaFil: Montero, Enrique. Center of Molecular Immunology; CubaFil: Gomez, Daniel Eduardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología; ArgentinaFil: Alonso, Daniel Fernando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología; ArgentinaFil: Gabri, Mariano Rolando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes. Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología; ArgentinaFil: Gomez, Roberto E.. Elea Laboratories; Argentin

An analysis of geographical concentration of productivity: the case of manufacture firms in the Ebro Valley

En este trabajo se analiza la concentración espacial de las empresas de manufacturas ubicadas en el Valle del Ebro, atendiendo a sus niveles de productividad. El periodo que utilizamos es 1996 a 2009. Los resultados obtenidos nos permiten valorar el impacto del entorno socioeconómico y geográfico del Valle del Ebro en la tendencia a la concentración de la productividad, lo que se conoce como externalidades espaciales. Estos resultados muestran una fuerte correlación entre tamaño del municipio, densidad y productividad. A nivel provincial, destacan las concentraciones de alta productividad en Barcelona, La Rioja, Girona y Navarra. Otros factores que ejercen un efecto positivo sobre la concentración de la productividad son: i) el atractivo del emplazamiento con preferencia por la litoralidad; ii) la cercanía a infraestructuras de comunicaciones como la autopista A2; iii) la diversidad de empresas entendida como existencia, en el entorno de una empresa, de otras empresas de sectores complementarios. Entre los aspectos que influyen negativamente sobre los datos de productividad destacan las dificultades de comunicación con el exterior, la falta de presión demográfica y la desventaja tecnológica.In this work we analyse the spatial concentration of manufacture firms in the Ebro Valley, in relation to their productivity level. We use data for the period 1996 to 2009. The results allow to evaluate the impact of socio-economic and geographic aspects of the Ebro Valley on productivity concentration, known as spatial externalities. Results show a positive strong correlation among size of municipality, density and productivity. Among provinces, it is remarkable the high concentration of productivity in Barcelona, La Rioja, Girona and Navarra. Other factors with a positive effect on productivity concentration are the following: i) the environment attractiveness, with a strong preference for the coast; ii) the accessibility to communication infrastructures such as the A2 highway; iii) diversity, understood as the existence, in the proximity, of other firms belonging to different and complementary activity sectors. Factors that negatively affect the concentration of productivity are accessibility difficulties, low demographic pressure and technological disadvantages.Fil: Angulo, Ana M.. Universidad de Zaragoza; España;Fil: Herrera Gomez, Marcos Hernan. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Jurídicas y Sociales. Instituto de Estudios Laborales y del Desarrollo Económico; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Salta; ArgentinaFil: Atwi , Majed. Universidad de Zaragoza; España

Preferencias hacia el origen de un alimento étnico y la influencia de variables psicográficas

En los últimos años, el conocimiento y consumo de comidas y/o alimentos étnicos se ha difundido en el ámbito nacional. Diversos factores, entre los que destaca la inmigración, han sido decisivos en su comercialización. El mantener las costumbres alimentarias de su país de origen hace que los inmigrantes conformen segmentos de consumidores que generan una demanda específica en el mercado. Mediante un experimento de elección, se investigan las preferencias de los consumidores latinoamericanos con respecto a un alimento esencial en sus dietas, la harina de maíz. Para permitir que las preferencias puedan diferir entre individuos, se estima un modelo logit mixto. Entre las posibles fuentes explicativas de la heterogeneidad de preferencias, se contrasta la influencia de factores psicográficos, tales como los valores personales, la fobia a los alimentos nuevos y el etnocentrismo del consumidor. Así, se ha encontrado que los consumidores más neo-fóbicos y los más orientados hacia el desarrollo personal, tienden a ser más sensibles a variaciones en el precio; y los más etnocentristas manifiestan mayor preferencia hacia la harina de su país de origen.Experimento de elección, logit mixto, consumidores latinoamericanos, alimentos étnicos, características psicográficas., Agricultural and Food Policy, Q13, M31.,

The Thyroid Hormone Receptors Modulate the Skin Response to Retinoids

[Background]: Retinoids play an important role in skin homeostasis and when administered topically cause skin hyperplasia, abnormal epidermal differentiation and inflammation. Thyroidal status in humans also influences skin morphology and function and we have recently shown that the thyroid hormone receptors (TRs) are required for a normal proliferative response to 12-O-tetradecanolyphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) in mice. [Methodology/Principal Findings]: We have compared the epidermal response of mice lacking the thyroid hormone receptor binding isoforms TRα1 and TRβ to retinoids and TPA. Reduced hyperplasia and a decreased number of proliferating cells in the basal layer in response to 9-cis-RA and TPA were found in the epidermis of TR-deficient mice. Nuclear levels of proteins important for cell proliferation were altered, and expression of keratins 5 and 6 was also reduced, concomitantly with the decreased number of epidermal cell layers. In control mice the retinoid (but not TPA) induced parakeratosis and diminished expression of keratin 10 and loricrin, markers of early and terminal epidermal differentiation, respectively. This reduction was more accentuated in the TR deficient animals, whereas they did not present parakeratosis. Therefore, TRs modulate both the proliferative response to retinoids and their inhibitory effects on skin differentiation. Reduced proliferation, which was reversed upon thyroxine treatment, was also found in hypothyroid mice, demonstrating that thyroid hormone binding to TRs is required for the normal response to retinoids. In addition, the mRNA levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNFα and IL-6 and the chemotactic proteins S1008A and S1008B were significantly elevated in the skin of TR knock-out mice after TPA or 9-cis-RA treatment and immune cell infiltration was also enhanced. [Conclusions/significance]: Since retinoids are commonly used for the treatment of skin disorders, these results demonstrating that TRs regulate skin proliferation, differentiation and inflammation in response to these compounds could have not only physiological but also therapeutic implications.This work was supported by grants BFU2007-62402 and SAF2008-00121 from Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, RD06/0020/0036 and RD06/0020/0029 from the Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias and by the European Grant CRESCENDO (FP-018652).Peer reviewe

25 years of basic and translational science in EP Europace: novel insights into arrhythmia mechanisms and therapeutic strategies.

In the last 25 years, EP Europace has published more than 300 basic and translational science articles covering different arrhythmia types (ranging from atrial fibrillation to ventricular tachyarrhythmias), different diseases predisposing to arrhythmia formation (such as genetic arrhythmia disorders and heart failure), and different interventional and pharmacological anti-arrhythmic treatment strategies (ranging from pacing and defibrillation to different ablation approaches and novel drug-therapies). These studies have been conducted in cellular models, small and large animal models, and in the last couple of years increasingly in silico using computational approaches. In sum, these articles have contributed substantially to our pathophysiological understanding of arrhythmia mechanisms and treatment options; many of which have made their way into clinical applications. This review discusses a representative selection of EP Europace manuscripts covering the topics of pacing and ablation, atrial fibrillation, heart failure and pro-arrhythmic ventricular remodelling, ion channel (dys)function and pharmacology, inherited arrhythmia syndromes, and arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathies, highlighting some of the advances of the past 25 years. Given the increasingly recognized complexity and multidisciplinary nature of arrhythmogenesis and continued technological developments, basic and translational electrophysiological research is key advancing the field. EP Europace aims to further increase its contribution to the discovery of arrhythmia mechanisms and the implementation of mechanism-based precision therapy approaches in arrhythmia management

ACERCA DE LAS PARAMETRIZACIONES DE CAMPO TRANSIENTE USADAS EN LA MEDICIÓN DE MOMENTO MAGNÉTICO NUCLEAR

La intensidad del campo magnético producido por la interacción espn orbita, el cual es la base de las medidas de momento magnético nuclear con estados excitados de muy corta duración, es usualmente parametrizado por funciones que dependen de la interacción de iones y un material de frenado. En ésta contribución, algunas de éstas parametrizaciones serán presentadas con el fin de discutir el papel que juegan en la medición de momento magnético nuclear de nucleos con estados excitados de corta duración.The intensity of the magnetic field produced by the spin-orbit interaction, which is the base for measurements of nuclear magnetic moments with short lifetimes excited states, is usually parametrized by functions that depend on the interacting ions and the stopping material. In this contribution, some of these parametrizations will be presented in order to discuss the role that they occupy in the measurement of nuclear magnetic moments of excited states of short duration

ABCG2 transporter plays a key role in the biodistribution of melatonin and its main metabolites

[EN] The ATP-binding cassette G2 (ABCG2) is an efflux transporter expressed in the apical membrane of cells from a large number of tissues, directly affecting bioavailability, tissue accumulation, and secretion into milk of both xenobiotics and endogenous compounds. The aim of this work was to characterize the role of ABCG2 in the systemic distribution and secretion into milk of melatonin and its main metabolites, 6-hydroxymelatonin, and 6-sulfatoxymelatonin. For this purpose, we first showed that these three molecules are transported by this transporter using in vitro transepithelial assays with MDCK-II polarized cells transduced with different species variants of ABCG2. Second, we tested the in vivo effect of murine Abcg2 in the systemic distribution of melatonin and its metabolites using wild-type and Abcg2−/− mice. Our results show that after oral administration of melatonin, the plasma concentration of melatonin metabolites in Abcg2−/− mice was between 1.5 and 6-fold higher compared to the wild-type mice. We also evaluated in these animals differences in tissue accumulation of melatonin metabolites. The most relevant differences between both types of mice were found for small intestine and kidney (>sixfold increase for 6-sulfatoxymelatonin in Abcg2−/− mice). Finally, melatonin secretion into milk was also affected by the murine Abcg2 transporter, with a twofold higher milk concentration in wild-type compared with Abcg2−/− lactating female mice. In addition, melatonin metabolites showed a higher milk-to-plasma ratio in wild-type mice. Overall, our results show that the ABCG2 transporter plays a critical role in the biodistribution of melatonin and its main metabolites, thereby potentially affecting their biological and therapeutic activity.SIPublicación en abierto financiada por el Consorcio de Bibliotecas Universitarias de Castilla y León (BUCLE), con cargo al Programa Operativo 2014ES16RFOP009 FEDER 2014-2020 DE CASTILLA Y LEÓN, Actuación:20007-CL - Apoyo Consorcio BUCL