Microarrays as a functional approach to the transcriptome

Knowing a cell’s transcriptome is a fundamental requisite in order to analyze its response to the environment. Microarrays have supposed a revolution on this field as they are able to yield an overview of gene expression at any environmental condition on a genome-wide scale. This technique consists in the hybridisation of a nucleic acid sample, previously marked, with a probe (which might be made up of cDNA, oligonucleotides or PCR products) anchored to a solid surface (made of glass, plastic, silicon...) giving as a result a dot grid which reveals, after image analysis, which genes are being expressed. Nevertheless, this only can be achieved if information on the species genome has been generated. Different kinds of expression microarrays exist attending to the probe’s nature and the method used in its synthesis. In this poster two of these will be treated: Spotted Microarrays, for which the probe is synthesised prior to its fixation to the array and allow the analysis of two targets simultaneously. They can be easily customized, but lack high reproducibility and sensitivity. Oligonucleotide Microarrays, which are characterized by the direct printing of the probe on the array. In this case the probes consist on, invariably, oligonucleotides that are complementary to a small fraction of the gene it is representing at the microarray. Their application is somewhat restricted. This fact, however, makes them more reproducible. Currently, the approach towards the transcriptome studies from the Next Generation Sequencing technologies offers a large volume of information in a short amount of time needing less previous information on the target organism than that needed by microarrays, but their expensive price limits their use. The versatility of the latter, together with their reduced costs in comparison to other techniques, makes them an interesting resource in applications that may need less complexity

Impacts of land abandonment and climate variability on runoff generation and sediment transport in the Pisuerga headwaters (Cantabrian Mountains, Spain)

Producción CientíficaThe Atlantic mountains of Spain are suffering a strong landscape change due to a widespread and intensive emigration to urban areas since the 1950s. This process, representative of global developments in an imminent future, is dominated by urban societies and leads to deep landscape changes in which crop fields and grasslands are abandoned and progressively covered by forest and shrubs. These dynamics have caused in turn a decrease in the runoff and a general slowdown of geomorphological processes. The impacts of land cover change have been simultaneous to an irregularity in precipitation and a significant increase of temperatures. With this background, this paper assesses in detail the impact of landscape change occurred over the last decades (twentieth and twenty-first centuries) on the water and sediment yield in the Pisuerga catchment headwaters (Cantabrian Mountains, N Spain). We analyzed the different components of Global Change in a catchment of 233 km2 extent, that has passed from 15 to 2 habitants/km2, from multiple data sources. Evolution of land cover was reconstructed from aerial photographs, remote sensing and other resources. The climatic parameters have been studied through meteorological stations, and the hydrological and sedimentological responses over time are based on available runoff data and sedimentological analysis. Our results show a significant decrease in water and sediment transport mainly driven by vegetation increase occurred in a non-linear way, more intense immediately after abandonment. This fact opens the opportunity to control more accurately water resources in Mediterranean catchments through land use management.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad - Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (project CGL2015-68144-R)Ministerio de Educación y Formación Profesional (grant FPU13/05837

Mapping the potential distribution of frozen ground in Tucarroya (Monte Perdido Massif, the Pyrenees)

Producción CientíficaEste trabajo describe la metodología utilizada para cartografiar los suelos potencialmente helados en el valle de Tucarroya, en el Parque Nacional de Ordesa. Para cartografiar las formas asociadas a la presencia de hielo se combinó trabajo de campo, datos térmicos procedentes de sensores automáticos de temperatura del suelo y mediciones de la base del manto de nieve (BTS), así como variables predictivas obtenidas de un Modelo Digital de Elevaciones (MDE). La cartografía diferencia cuatro ambientes, suelo no congelado con actividad de la helada, suelos helados estacionales, permafrost posible y permafrost probable. El mapa revela una extensión del permafrost muy limitada, con escasez de formas asociadas. Solo se ha detectado por encima de los 2700 m de altitud en ambientes topográficos favorables, pendientessuaves y protegidos de la radiación solar. Los suelos helados estacionales son los ambientes más comunes y se desarrollan por encima de los 2500 m s.n.m., mientras los suelos no congelados,pero con heladas solo están presentes entre los 2570 y los 2750 m de altitud en laderas que reciben elevada radiación solarMinisterio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad - Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (projects CGL2015-68144-R / CGL2017-82216-R)Geoparque de Sobrarbe (project R- ADM15/57

Jardín vertical y… ¡lo contamos!

Resumen elaborado a partir de la publicaciónSe estudia la metodología activa de aprendizaje basado en problemas (ABP) y se aplica a un caso práctico dentro de un aula de cuarto de educación secundaria. Se pretende mostrar cómo los contenidos curriculares se pueden adaptar a la metodología activa y conseguir que los alumnos sean capaces de implicarse en la resolución del problema planteado, consiguiendo adquirir objetivos, habilidades y competencias propias de este nivel educativo. Se pone en práctica en una clase de alumnos de Tecnología y TIC donde se busca dar solución a problemas medio ambientales como la reutilización de envases, recipientes, etc., con el fin de convertirlos en un jardín vertical donde pueda vivir una planta. Se busca enseñar a los alumnos a desarrollar actitudes respetuosas con el medio ambiente y la mejora del entorno, así como la importancia de realizar una labor de concienciación que traspase el aula para que pueda ser conocida en cualquier otra parte del mundo.Castilla y LeónES

Políticas de desarrollo rural y nuevas dinámicas territoriales: el caso de Andalucía

La Política de Desarrollo Rural que se ha implementado en los territorios rurales europeos desde finales de la década de los 90 está vinculada a una creciente intervención en los mismos de distintas instituciones encargadas de liderar, gestionar y ejecutar las diversas acciones de desarrollo emanadas desde la Política Agraria Común (PAC). Esta institucionalización del desarrollo ha generado la presencia y multiplicación en estos espacios de agencias de distintos ámbitos: europeas, estatales, regionales, supralocales y locales. Nos situamos así, frente a la importante esfera institucional del desarrollo que, a este nivel, remite a una adecuación a escala local del modelo genérico, mediante el despliegue de estrategias y prácticas que se institucionalizan y dirigen la acción económica y se traduce en propuestas concretas, emanadas de los valores promovidos por tales modelos genéricos. Entender este nuevo mapa institucional es fundamental para explicar la profunda transformación del escenario rural europeo en las tres últimas décadas, porque han sido estas nuevas agencias de intervención, profundamente imbricadas en sus respectivos territorios, las que han instrumentalizado a nivel local las grandes líneas del desarrollo rural generadas desde el ámbito supranacional europeo. Una de las consecuencias inmediatas de estos nuevos instrumentos de intervención ha sido la generación de un nuevo mapa institucional que ha modificando la forma en que la sociedad y la administración confrontan la situación de las comunidades rurales dentro de la UE. En concreto lo que estas políticas han estado introduciendo han sido nuevas formas de gestión, como el “multilevel governance” y nuevos procesos de toma de decisiones basadas en el sistema “bottom-up”, a partir de las que se ha generado este nuevo mapa institucional, que ha venido a incrementar la presencia de agencias de gobierno local y de administraciones supramunicipales

Is osteoarthritis a mitochondrial disease?: what is the evidence

Final peer-reviewed manuscript[Abstract] Propose of review: To summarize the evidence that suggests that osteoarthritis (OA) is a mitochondrial disease. Recent findings: Mitochondrial dysfunction together with mtDNA damage could contribute to cartilage degradation via several processes such as: (1) increased apoptosis; (2) decreased autophagy; (3) enhanced inflammatory response; (4) telomere shortening and increased senescence chondrocytes; (5) decreased mitochondrial biogenesis and mitophagy; (6) increased cartilage catabolism; (7) increased mitochondrial fusion leading to further reactive oxygen species production; and (8) impaired metabolic flexibility. Summary: Mitochondria play an important role in some events involved in the pathogenesis of OA, such as energy production, the generation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, apoptosis, authophagy, senescence and inflammation. The regulation of these processes in the cartilage is at least partially controlled by retrograde regulation from mitochondria and mitochondrial genetic variation. Retrograde regulation through mitochondrial haplogroups exerts a signaling control over the nuclear epigenome, which leads to the modulation of nuclear genes, cellular functions and development of OA. All these data suggest that OA could be considered a mitochondrial disease as well as other complex chronic disease as cancer, cardiovascular and neurologic diseases.Instituto de Salud Carlos III; PI17/00210Instituto de Salud Carlos III; PI20/00614Instituto de Salud Carlos III; PI19/01206Instituto de Salud Carlos III; RETIC-RIER-RD16/0012/000

Gene Polymorphisms and Pharmacogenetics in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic, chronic and inflammatory disease of unknown etiology with genetic predisposition. The advent of new biological agents, as well as the more traditional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, has resulted in highly efficient therapies for reducing the symptoms and signs of RA; however, not all patients show the same level of response in disease progression to these therapies. These variations suggest that RA patients may have different genetic regulatory mechanisms. The extensive polymorphisms revealed in non-coding gene-regulatory regions in the immune system, as well as genetic variations in drug-metabolizing enzymes, suggest that this type of variation is of functional and evolutionary importance and may provide clues for developing new therapeutic strategies. Pharmacogenetics is a rapidly advancing area of research that holds the promise that therapies will soon be tailored to an individual patient’s genetic profile

The last trip of the baby boomers: life and Death of Public Space in the cinema in the 1960s and 1970s

[Resumen] La generación nacida al final de la II Guerra Mundial llegó a su juventud arrastrada por la inercia del optimismo tecnocrático que había desarrollado la generación anterior. En un contexto de bonanza económica, la juventud se rebeló contra el sistema generando una nueva sensibilidad que daría lugar a diferentes respuestas contraculturales. En estos intentos de cambiar la sociedad, las ciudades asistieron a una recodificación de los espacios públicos. El espacio urbano, desacreditado bajo los ecos de “la muerte de la calle” promulgada por Le Corbusier, se reactivó como escenario de protesta y acción. Sin embargo, este resurgir de lo público se diluyó rápidamente al compás del desencanto juvenil. Una vez confirmada la imposibilidad de transformar el sistema, se produjo una búsqueda de otros territorios que el cine interpretó bajo dos estrategias: por un lado, la producción de espacios urbanos totalmente inhóspitos y desolados; por otro lado, un repliegue hacia lo individual reflejado en nuevas formas de habitar. Pequeñas comunidades, comunas y la vuelta a una vida rural controlada serán respuestas que, lejos de construir un ámbito público, resultarán finalmente el argumento que estaba buscando el sistema para la destrucción y reconfiguración del dominio público. El cine de finales de los años sesenta y principios de los setenta muestra el desencanto del final de un deseo que acaba identificándose con una iconografía de la destrucción, desamparo y vacío.[Abstract] The generation of those who were born at the end of the Second World War reached their youth carried by the inertia of the technocratic optimism developed by the previous generation. In a context of economic bonanza, the younger generation rebelled against the system, creating a new sensibility which would spawn different countercultural responses. Within these attempts to change society, cities witnessed a re-codification of public spaces. Urban space, discredited by the echoes of the ‘death of the street’ promoted by Le Corbusier, was reactivated as a stage for protest and action. However, this revival of public space was rapidly suffocated by the disenchantment of the youth. Once the impossibility to transform the system had been confirmed, a search for new territories started, which cinema interpreted following two strategies: on the one hand, through the production of definitely inhospitable and devastated urban spaces; on the other, by retreating to the individual sphere, which reflected on new modes of habitation. Small communities, communes, and the return to a controlled rural life would be responses which, far from building public realms, would ultimately provide the system with the argument it was looking for in order to destroy and reconfigure the public domain. The films of the late 1960s and early 1970s show the ultimate disenchantment of a desire that, in the end, was attached to an iconography of destruction, abandonment, and emptiness

Quality labels and institutional density in the Agrofood sector: The case of Andalusia

Our paper analyses the gradual increase of quality labels in rural areas of Europe and the effect of Institutional Density (ID) over them. This new producer’s strategy is related to three different but related processes: changes in the global markets and consumer patterns, and within the European Rural Policy. Such scenario partly explains the increase of labelling as a strategy inrural areas, but not their success or failure. The contribution of this paper is to analyse three different kinds of labels (Protected Designation of Origin, Organic Agriculture and Parque Natural de Andalucía) in relation to the grade of Institutional Density (ID). We chose to study the case of Andalucía (Spain), a region characterized by economic centrality of agro-industry and for being one of the European areas with greater presence of institutional development agencies. The data was collected during fieldwork, and quantitative and qualitative techniques were implemente