Comparative Analysis of Muscle Transcriptome between Pig Genotypes Identifies Genes and Regulatory Mechanisms Associated to Growth, Fatness and Metabolism.

Iberian ham production includes both purebred (IB) and Duroc-crossbred (IBxDU) Iberian pigs, which show important differences in meat quality and production traits, such as muscle growth and fatness. This experiment was conducted to investigate gene expression differences, transcriptional regulation and genetic polymorphisms that could be associated with the observed phenotypic differences between IB and IBxDU pigs. Nine IB and 10 IBxDU pigs were slaughtered at birth. Morphometric measures and blood samples were obtained and samples from Biceps femoris muscle were employed for compositional and transcriptome analysis by RNA-Seq technology. Phenotypic differences were evident at this early age, including greater body size and weight in IBxDU and greater Biceps femoris intramuscular fat and plasma cholesterol content in IB newborns. We detected 149 differentially expressed genes between IB and IBxDU neonates (p < 0.01 and Fold-Change > 1. 5). Several were related to adipose and muscle tissues development (DLK1, FGF21 or UBC). The functional interpretation of the transcriptomic differences revealed enrichment of functions and pathways related to lipid metabolism in IB and to cellular and muscle growth in IBxDU pigs. Protein catabolism, cholesterol biosynthesis and immune system were functions enriched in both genotypes. We identified transcription factors potentially affecting the observed gene expression differences. Some of them have known functions on adipogenesis (CEBPA, EGRs), lipid metabolism (PPARGC1B) and myogenesis (FOXOs, MEF2D, MYOD1), which suggest a key role in the meat quality differences existing between IB and IBxDU hams. We also identified several polymorphisms showing differential segregation between IB and IBxDU pigs. Among them, non-synonymous variants were detected in several transcription factors as PPARGC1B and TRIM63 genes, which could be associated to altered gene function. Taken together, these results provide information about candidate genes, metabolic pathways and genetic polymorphisms potentially involved in phenotypic differences between IB and IBxDU pigs associated to meat quality and production traits

Situacions d'aula. Materials docents d'ús interdisciplinari

Presentem material de treball per a la formació del professorat d’Educació Infantil i Primària. Les situacions que presentem són les següents: I) «Hi ha boira al Grau de Castelló». L’Escriptura d’una notícia. ceip «La Marina». En aquesta situació, un grup de xiquets i xiquetes d’Educació Infantil, de 5 anys, amb la seua mestra, escriuen de manera col•lectiva una notícia (Durada de la tasca: 28 min.). II) «Pasamos lista». ceip «Lluís Vives». En aquesta situació, un grup de xiquets i xiquetes de 4 anys, junt amb la seua mestra, passen llista al començament de la classe per comprovar que els xiquets han anat a l’escola aquell dia (Durada de la tasca: 5 min. 30 s.) III) «El Caballo». Reelaboració del coneixement a partir d’un projecte de treball globalitzat. ceip «Lluís Vives». En aquesta situació, un grup de xiquets i xiquetes de 4 anys i la seua mestra tracten de recordar les activitats realitzades al llarg d’un projecte de treball globalitzat sobre «El Caballo» amb la finalitat de donar-les a conèixer als seus companys d’altres cursos i a altres persones. (Durada de la tasca: 27 min.) En cada situació mostrem la interacció oral i les activitats realitzades per la mestra i els xiquets, per a portar a terme la tasca que s’han proposat. La llengua utilitzada en les interaccions en l’aula (castellà o valencià) s’ha mantingut en la transcripció. Les transcripcions, obtingudes a partir de l’enregistrament en vídeo, divideixen el temps en episodis i seqüències. Cada episodi està constituït per un segment de transcripció que reflecteix una activitat central dins de la tasca, en relació amb el contingut d’ensenyament (per exemple, planificar o escriure una part del text, corregir el text escrit en la pissarra, passar llista, elegir el tema d’un projecte, etc.). Les seqüències representen unitats d’acció i/o temàtiques dins de l’episodi, i es troben aïllades en funció de la seua finalitat, per facilitar-ne la comprensió i l’anàlisi.We present working material for teacher training and Primary Education. The situations presented are: I) "There is fog in Grau de Castelló." Writing a story. CEIP "La Marina". In this situation, a group of boys and girls infant, 5 years old, with his teacher, so write a new collective bargaining • (task duration: 28 min.). II) "Pasamos list." ceip "Luis Vives". In this situation, a group of boys and girls 4 years, along with their teacher, go shopping at the beginning of the class to ensure that the children have gone to school that day (the task duration: 5 min. 30 s.). III) "El Caballo". Reworking of knowledge from a global project work. ceip "Luis Vives". In this situation, a group of boys and girls 4 years and their teacher trying to remember the activities carried out during a global project work on "El Caballo" to give them to know their fellow other courses and others. (Task duration: 27 min.) In each situation shows oral interaction and activities carried out by the teacher and the children, to carry out the tasks that have been proposed. The language used in the interactions in the classroom (Spanish or English) has been in the transcript. Transcripts obtained from recording video, divided into episodes and time sequences. Each episode consists of a segment of a transcript that reflects activity within the central task, in relation to the content of education (eg, plan and write some text, edit the text written on the blackboard, roll, choosing the theme of a project, etc.). The units represent sequences of action and / or themes in the episode, and are isolated based on their purpose, to facilitate understanding and analysis

Knowledge about COVID-19 and pandemic impact on Madrid dental students (Spain)

COVID-19 has had a major impact on dental activity, with implications on dental education. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge about it and the pandemic impact on Spanish dental students. An observational and cross-sectional study with a 1

Situacions d'aula II. Materials docents d'ús interdisciplinari.

Les situacions d’aula són fragments de l’activitat educativa escolar delimitats per l’espai on es realitzen, la duració, les persones i els materials implicats, i la forma en què els uns i els altres estan organitzats. Les situacions que presentem en aquest material són les següents: - «NOTA A LLEDÓ». Escriptura de la resposta a una nota rebuda. ceip La Marina. En aquesta situació, un grup de cinc xiquets del darrer curs d’educació infantil i la seua mestra lligen una «nota» enviada per una altra mestra i la contesten. (Durada de la tasca: 40 min 12 s.) - «EL COR». L’escriptura d’un text dins d’un projecte de treball globalitzat. ceip Lluís Revest. En aquesta situació, un grup de xiquets de segon curs de primària i el seu mestre escriuen un text sobre el cor per donar resposta a una pregunta plantejada en el desenvolupament d’un projecte globalitzat sobre el «cos humà». (Durada de la tasca: 58 min 18 s.) Cadascuna d’aquestes situacions mostra la interacció oral dels mestres i els xiquets i les activitats que realitzen per portar a terme la tasca. La transcripció, realitzada a partir de l’enregistrament en vídeo, es presenta dividida en episodis i seqüències. Cada episodi està constituït per un segment de transcripció que reflecteix una activitat central dins de la tasca, especialment rellevant a causa dels continguts que s’hi treballen i al tipus d’interacció que es du a terme (per exemple, llegir la nota rebuda, planificar o escriure una part del text, etc.). Les seqüències reflecteixen unitats d’acció i/o temàtiques dins l’episodi, aïllades per facilitar-ne la comprensió i l’anàlisi.The situations are fragments of classroom educational activities for school delimited space where do, duration, people and materials involved, and the way in which they are organized each other. The situations presented in this material are: - "NOTE TO LLEDÓ." Writing in response to a note received. CEIP La Marina. In this situation, a group of five children in the final year of kindergarten teacher and his tie a "note" sent to another teacher and answer. (Task duration: 40 min 12 s.) - "THE HEART". Writing a text within a global project work. CEIP Lluís Revest. In this situation, a group of children in second grade and his teacher write a text on the heart in response to a question posed in the development of a global project on the "human body". (Task duration: 58 min 18 s.) Each of these situations shows oral interaction of teachers and children and their activities to carry out the task. The transcript, made from the video recording, appears divided into episodes and sequences. Each episode consists of a segment of a transcript that reflects activity within the central task, especially relevant because the contents are worked and the type of interaction that takes place (for example, read the note received, plan or write some text, etc.). The action sequences reflect units and / or themes in the episode, isolated for easy comprehension and analysis

El hidrógeno como vector energético: Mucho hecho pero casi todo por hacer

Los autores desarrollan, muy brevemente, los aspectos esenciales de lo que globalmente se denomina “Sistema Energético Solar-Hidrógeno” o a veces “Economía del hidrógeno”. El hidrógeno, obtenido por descomposición del agua mediante energías primarias renovables (solar, eólica…) se convierte en transportador de energía (vector energético) y en combustible limpio. Se discute la conveniencia del uso del hidrógeno en el contexto energético actual, así como los tres pilares fundamentales del uso del hidrógeno como vector energético: su producción usando fuentes renovables, su acumulación mediante diferentes métodos y, finalmente, su combustió

Molecular Epidemiology of Invasive Listeriosis due to Listeria monocytogenes in a Spanish Hospital over a Nine-Year Study Period, 2006–2014

We investigated the pathogenicity, invasiveness, and genetic relatedness of 17 clinical Listeria monocytogenes stains isolated over a period of nine years (2006–2014). All isolates were phenotypically characterised and growth patterns were determined. The antimicrobial susceptibility of L. monocytogenes isolates was determined in E-tests. Invasion assays were performed with epithelial HeLa cells. Finally, L. monocytogenes isolates were subtyped by PFGE and MLST. All isolates had similar phenotypic characteristics (β-haemolysis and lecithinase activity), and three types of growth curve were observed. Bacterial recovery rates after invasion assays ranged from 0.09% to 7.26% (1.62 ± 0.46). MLST identified 11 sequence types (STs), and 14 PFGE profiles were obtained, indicating a high degree of genetic diversity. Genetic studies unequivocally revealed the occurrence of one outbreak of listeriosis in humans that had not previously been reported. This outbreak occurred in October 2009 and affected three patients from neighbouring towns. In conclusion, the molecular epidemiological analysis clearly revealed a cluster (three human cases, all ST1) of not previously reported listeriosis cases in northwestern Spain. Our findings indicate that molecular subtyping, in combination with epidemiological case analysis, is essential and should be implemented in routine diagnosis, to improve the tracing of the sources of outbreaks.Gerencia Regional de Salud, Junta de Castilla y Le´on, Spain, research project GRS 698/A/2011 and the EU 7th Framework Programme through the PROMISE project (Project no. 265877)

Synthesis, optical band gap and thermoelectric properties of Sr1+xTiS3-y chalcogenide perovskites

Inorganic chalcogenide perovskites are semiconductors with attractive optoelectronic properties, which make them of interest in different fields, such as energy harvesting. Some of these compounds have been poorly investigated to date. For instance, very few works deal with the synthesis and characterization of Sr1+xTiS3. Here we present a novel synthesis procedure to obtain Sr1+xTiS3-y powders. Moreover, we show for the first time an experimental characterization of some fundamental properties of this compound that may be relevant for many potential applications. First, we demonstrate that this perovskite shows very high thermal stability (up to 700◦C in air and up to 1200◦C in Ar atmosphere). Next, we experimentally determine its optical band gap (about 0.97 eV) corresponding to a direct allowed transition, in agreement with previous predictions. Finally, we demonstrate a tuneable Seebeck coefficient (changing from n-type to p-type behaviour) by changing the amount of sulfur vacanciesThis research has been funded by Spanish MICINN under RTI2018-099794-B-I00 gran

Vaccinia-related kinase 1 (VRK1) confers resistance to DNA-damaging agents in human breast cancer by affecting DNA damage response

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.Vaccinia-related kinase 1 (VRK1) belongs to a group of sixteen kinases associated to a poorer prognosis in human breast carcinomas, particularly in estrogen receptor positive cases based on gene expression arrays. In this work we have studied the potential molecular mechanism by which the VRK1 protein can contribute to a poorer prognosis in this disease. For this aim it was first analyzed by immunohistochemistry the VRK1 protein level in normal breast and in one hundred and thirty six cases of human breast cancer. The effect of VRK1 to protect against DNA damage was determined by studying the effect of its knockdown on the formation of DNA repair foci assembled on 53BP1 in response to treatment with ionizing radiation or doxorubicin in two breast cancer cell lines. VRK1 protein was detected in normal breast and in breast carcinomas at high levels in ER and PR positive tumors. VRK1 protein level was significantly lower in ERBB2 positive cases. Next, to identify a mechanism that can link VRK1 to poorer prognosis, VRK1 was knocked-down in two breast cancer cell lines that were treated with ionizing radiation or doxorubicin, both inducing DNA damage. Loss of VRK1 resulted in reduced formation of DNA-damage repair foci complexes assembled on the 53BP1 scaffold protein, and this effect was independent of damaging agent or cell type. This observation is consistent with detection of high VRK1 protein levels in ER and PR positive breast cancers. We conclude that VRK1 can contribute to make these tumors more resistant to DNA damage-based therapies, such as ionizing radiation or doxorubicin, which is consistent with its association to a poor prognosis in ER positive breast cancer. VRK1 is potential target kinase for development of new specific inhibitors which can facilitate sensitization to other treatments in combination therapies; or alternatively be used as a new cancer drugs.M. V-C and M. S-G have JAE-CSIC-Fondo Social Europeo predoctoral fellowships. This work was supported by grants from Ministerio de Educación, Ciencia e Innovación (SAF2010-14935 and CSD2007-0017) and Kutxa-Fundación Inbiomed to P.A.L.Peer Reviewe

Communication abilities in the clinical interview

[Resumen] Las habilidades comunicacionales constituyen una parte importante de la entrevista clínica. Para una mejor comprensión pueden dividirse en los siguientes apartados: contexto, escucha, comprensión, estrategia y resumen general. Se detallan en cada uno de ellos (a excepción del contexto por haber sido bordado en otro artículo) una serie de técnicas o consideraciones de interés que facilitan una mejora en la interacción del profesional de la salud (fisioterapeuta) con el consultante. Esta mejora repercute tanto en una mayor calidad de los resultados como a nivel afectivo y emocional en ambos protagonistas de la relación.[Abstract] The communication skills are an important part of the clinical interview. To get a better comprehension they can be divided into the following steps: context, listening, acknowledgement, strategy and summary. Some techniques or interesting considerations which can improve health care provider (physiotherapist) patient relationship are explained in each one (but the context because it has been considered in another article). This improvement is involved with not only better clinical outcomes, but also affective and emotional level for both relationship's main character

Impact of preharvest and postharvest treatment combinations on increase of stilbene content in grape

Aims : Stilbene-enriched grape is an interesting new food product with numerous health-promoting properties, mainly due to its high added-value compound content, notably resveratrol. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of different elicitors, alone or in combination with ultraviolet C light (UVC) postharvest treatment, on stilbene concentration in grapes. Methods and results : Three preharvest treatments were tested, namely benzothiadiazole, (BTH), methyl jasmonate (MEJA) and chitosan (CHIT). After harvesting, these treatments were combined with UVC postharvest treatment. The stilbene extraction method was validated method. Moreover, and grape quality was evaluated. Of the preharvest treatments, only BTH significantly increased trans-resveratrol concentration in grape, but this appears to be linked to a ripening delay. When pre- and postharvest treatments were combined, only the MEJA-UVC combination was successful in reducing by three days the day of maximum induction of stilbenes (trans resveratrol and piceatannol). Conclusion: The MEJA-UVC combination reached similar grape trans-resveratrol contents than UVC alone, but additionally the time to reach maximum trans-resveratrol after the UVC treatment was reduced by three days and therefore grape quality was preserved. Significance and impact of the study: The achieved results provide a potential treatment combination that allows functional grapes to be obtained in a shorter period than with UVC light alone, making it more applicable