A social and environmental approach to microfinance credit scoring

Microfinance institutions provide loans to low-income individuals. Their credit scoring systems, if they exist, are strictly financial. Although many institutions consider the social and environmental impact of their loans, they do not incorporate formal systems to estimate these social and environmental impacts. This paper proposes that their creditworthiness evaluations should be coherent with their social mission and, accordingly, should estimate the social and environmental impact of microcredit. Thus, a decision support system to facilitate microcredit granting is proposed using a multicriteria evaluation. The assessment of social impact is performed by calculating the Social Net Present Value. The system captures credit officers'' experience and addresses incomplete and intangible information. The model has been tested in a microfinance institution. The paper shows how a small institution can include social and environmental issues in its decision-making systems to evaluate credit applications. A gap in the preferences was found between members of the board, who are socially driven, and managers and credit officers, who are financially drifted. This mission drift was corrected. The approach followed contributed to creating a culture of social and environmental assessment within the institution, especially among credit officers, thereby translating Microfinance institutions'' social mission into numbers

Sedentarism impact on cardio-respiratory response in college students

La vida universitaria constituye una etapa crítica para la adquisición de hábitos saludables, por ello sería conveniente establecer medidas para la detección del riesgo de desarrollar patologías en un futuro. Los objetivos de esta investigación son conocer cuál es el nivel de sedentarismo y la repercusión del mismo en la función pulmonar y en la respuesta cardiorrespiratoria, estudiada a través de las presiones respiratorias máximas en boca y la prueba de 6 minutos marcha. La población de estudio fueron estudiantes del Grado de Fisioterapia de la Universidad de Vigo, durante los cursos académicos 2012-2013 y 2013-2014, un total de 104 sujetos. La muestra la formaron un total de 71 estudiantes. Los resultados muestran un nivel bajo de sedentarismo. Se establecen relaciones negativas entre los hábitos sedentarios y las pruebas de función pulmonar y cardiorrespiratorias, lo cual sugiere que los hábitos adquiridos en la juventud tienen repercusiones sobre el organismo ya desde edades tempranasHigher education is a critical period for the acquisition of healthy habits. The measures to detect the risk of developing diseases in the future are necessary. The objective of this research is to understand the impact of physical inactivity on lung function and cardiorespiratory response, studied through maximal respiratory pressures and 6-minute walk tests. The study was done with the students of Degree of Physiotherapy of Pontevedra faculty in Vigo University throughout the academic courses 2012-2013 and 2013-2014, with a total of 104 subjects. The sample comprised a total of 71 students. The results show low levels of physical inactivity. Negative relationships between sedentary habits and cardiorespiratory tests and pulmonary function are established, suggesting that habits acquired in youth have implications on the body from an early ag

Evaluación de la asignatura Exploración Topográfica Manual

[Resumen] En este artículo exponemos los objetivos generales y específicos, los contenidos y la metodología de enseñanzas y evaluación de una asignatura de libre configuración ofertada por la Escuela Universitaria de Fisioterapia de la Universidad de A Coruña, cuyo título es Exploración Topográfica Manual[Abstract] A description is made o/ the general and specific aims, content, teaching method and evaluation of an optinal course offered at the University School o/ Physical Therapy o/ La Coruña, Spain, known as Manual Topographic Examination

MoS2-Carbon Nanodots as a New Electrochemiluminescence Platform for Breast Cancer Biomarker Detection

In this work, we present the combination of two different types of nanomaterials, 2D molybdenum disulfide nanosheets (MoS2-NS) and zero-dimensional carbon nanodots (CDs), for the development of a new electrochemiluminescence (ECL) platform for the early detection and quantification of the biomarker human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), whose overexpression is associated with breast cancer. MoS2-NS are used as an immobilization platform for the thiolated aptamer, which can recognize the HER2 epitope peptide with high affinity, and CDs act as coreactants of the anodic oxidation of the luminophore [Ru(bpy)3]2+. The HER2 biomarker is detected by changes in the ECL signal of the [Ru(bpy)3]2+/CD system, with a low detection limit of 1.84 fg/mL and a wide linear range. The proposed method has been successfully applied to detect the HER2 biomarker in human serum samplesThis work has been financially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (PID2020-116728RB-I00, PID2020-116661RB-I00, CTQ2015-71955-REDT (ELECTROBIONET)), Community of Madrid (TRANSNANOAVANSENS, S2018/NMT-4349, and FotoArt (P2018/NMT4367), project S2018/NMT-4291 TEC2SPACE), MINECO (project CSIC13-4E-1794) and EU (FEDER, FSE). IMDEA Nanociencia receives support from the “Severo Ochoa” Programme for Centres of Excellence in R&D (MINECO, Grant CEX2020-001039-S)

Alpha-tocopherol affects gene expression patterns of rabbit cumulus complexes and reduces apoptosis rate during in vitro maturation

Oxidative stress compromises oocyte developmental competence during in vitro maturation (IVM). Antioxidants such as vitamin E may avoid this imbalance. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a-Tocopherol (α-TocOH) on the relative mRNA abundance of genes involved in cumulus expansion (GJA1, PTGS2), cell cycle and viability (AKT1), cell cycle regulation and apoptosis (Tp53, CASP3) and antioxidant response (SOD2, GPX1, CAT) in rabbit cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) in vitro matured. The apoptosis index in cumulus cells (CCs) and the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) released by the COCs in maturation media were also assessed. For these purposes, COCs from follicles ≥1mm were recovered, selected and in vitro-matured for 16h (38ºC, 5% CO2) in a medium containing TCM-199 (Sigma, Madrid, Spain) with 0.3% bovine serum albumin (Sigma, Madrid, Spain) and 10 ng/mL Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) (Sigma, Madrid, Spain) supplemented with 0, 100, 200 or 400 μM α- TocOH (Sigma, Madrid, Spain), named as 0E, 100E, 200E and 400E groups, respectivel

Una década de estudios de desarrollo en clave iberoamericana

La Revista Iberoamericana de Estudios de Desarrollo cumple diez años. Es momento de reconocer quién la sostiene, las características que la han llevado a avanzar en el conocimiento del Desarrollo, además de conseguir el reconocimiento internacional, y de dar gracias a las personas que la han apoyado y a quienes hoy aportan su gran valía en equipo. The Iberoamerican Journal of Development Studies celebrates ten years. It is time to recognize who supports it, the characteristics that have led it to advance in Development research, in addition to achieving international recognition, and to give thanks to so many people who have supported it and to those who today contribute their great value as a team. © 2022 Universidad de Zaragoza. All rights reserved

Fructose metabolism in Chromohalobacter salexigens: interplay between the Embden–Meyerhof–Parnas and Entner–Doudoroff pathways

Background The halophilic bacterium Chromohalobacter salexigens metabolizes glucose exclusively through the Entner–Doudoroff (ED) pathway, an adaptation which results in inefficient growth, with significant carbon overflow, especially at low salinity. Preliminary analysis of C. salexigens genome suggests that fructose metabolism could proceed through the Entner–Doudoroff and Embden–Meyerhof–Parnas (EMP) pathways. In order to thrive at high salinity, this bacterium relies on the biosynthesis and accumulation of ectoines as major compatible solutes. This metabolic pathway imposes a high metabolic burden due to the consumption of a relevant proportion of cellular resources, including both energy molecules (NADPH and ATP) and carbon building blocks. Therefore, the existence of more than one glycolytic pathway with different stoichiometries may be an advantage for C. salexigens. The aim of this work is to experimentally characterize the metabolism of fructose in C. salexigens. Results Fructose metabolism was analyzed using in silico genome analysis, RT-PCR, isotopic labeling, and genetic approaches. During growth on fructose as the sole carbon source, carbon overflow was not observed in a wide range of salt concentrations, and higher biomass yields were reached. We unveiled the initial steps of the two pathways for fructose incorporation and their links to central metabolism. While glucose is metabolized exclusively through the Entner–Doudoroff (ED) pathway, fructose is also partially metabolized by the Embden–Meyerhof–Parnas (EMP) route. Tracking isotopic label from [1-13C] fructose to ectoines revealed that 81% and 19% of the fructose were metabolized through ED and EMP-like routes, respectively. Activities of enzymes from both routes were demonstrated in vitro by 31P-NMR. Genes encoding predicted fructokinase and 1-phosphofructokinase were cloned and the activities of their protein products were confirmed. Importantly, the protein encoded by csal1534 gene functions as fructose bisphosphatase, although it had been annotated previously as pyrophosphate-dependent phosphofructokinase. The gluconeogenic rather than glycolytic role of this enzyme in vivo is in agreement with the lack of 6-phosphofructokinase activity previously described. Conclusions Overall, this study shows that C. salexigens possesses a greater metabolic flexibility for fructose catabolism, the ED and EMP pathways contributing to a fine balancing of energy and biosynthetic demands and, subsequently, to a more efficient metabolism.University of Murcia and University of Seville was supported by projects: BIO2015-63949-R, BIO2014-54411-C2-1-REuropa MINECO/FEDER RTI2018-094393-B-C21Fundación Séneca (Grant no. 19236/PI/14

Insights into metabolic osmoadaptation of the ectoines-producer bacterium Chromohalobacter salexigens through a high-quality genome scale metabolic model

Background The halophilic bacterium Chromohalobacter salexigens is a natural producer of ectoines, compatible solutes with current and potential biotechnological applications. As production of ectoines is an osmoregulated process that draws away TCA intermediates, bacterial metabolism needs to be adapted to cope with salinity changes. To explore and use C. salexigens as cell factory for ectoine(s) production, a comprehensive knowledge at the systems level of its metabolism is essential. For this purpose, the construction of a robust and high-quality genome-based metabolic model of C. salexigens was approached. Results We generated and validated a high quality genome-based C. salexigens metabolic model (iFP764). This comprised an exhaustive reconstruction process based on experimental information, analysis of genome sequence, manual re-annotation of metabolic genes, and in-depth refinement. The model included three compartments (periplasmic, cytoplasmic and external medium), and two salinity-specific biomass compositions, partially based on experimental results from C. salexigens. Using previous metabolic data as constraints, the metabolic model allowed us to simulate and analyse the metabolic osmoadaptation of C. salexigens under conditions for low and high production of ectoines. The iFP764 model was able to reproduce the major metabolic features of C. salexigens. Flux Balance Analysis (FBA) and Monte Carlo Random sampling analysis showed salinity-specific essential metabolic genes and different distribution of fluxes and variation in the patterns of correlation of reaction sets belonging to central C and N metabolism, in response to salinity. Some of them were related to bioenergetics or production of reducing equivalents, and probably related to demand for ectoines. Ectoines metabolic reactions were distributed according to its correlation in four modules. Interestingly, the four modules were independent both at low and high salinity conditions, as they did not correlate to each other, and they were not correlated with other subsystems. Conclusions Our validated model is one of the most complete curated networks of halophilic bacteria. It is a powerful tool to simulate and explore C. salexigens metabolism at low and high salinity conditions, driving to low and high production of ectoines. In addition, it can be useful to optimize the metabolism of other halophilic bacteria for metabolite production.Unión Europea, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad,BIO2014-54411-C2-1-R and BIO2015-63949-REspaña, Junta de andalucía P08-CVI-0372