Conceptos Básicos sobre Estimulación Cardiaca

Desde que en 1.933 se implantara el primer marcapasos externo, seguido en 1.958 del primer implante de marcapasos definitivo, millones de pacientes se han beneficiado de este dispositivo con el fin de aumentar supervivencia, mejorar calidad de vida y tratar arritmias cardiacas que, sin este dispositivo, hubieran sido incompatibles con la vida. En el año 2.009 se implantaron en España 34.103 marcapasos, y más de 400.000 en el mundo. Se ha producido un cambio significativo no sólo en los generadores y electrodos, sino también en las indicaciones de estimulación, modos de estimulación y seguimiento a través de telemetría. Actualmente, la tecnología ha puesto a disposición de la ciencia médica grandes avances de ingeniería, aportando nuevos marcapasos fisiológicos que respetan la sincronía auriculoventricular lo que ha permitido mejorar la calidad de la vida, además de la supervivencia, minimizar las complicaciones postimplante y optimizar el tratamiento de las bradiarritmias

Cuidados Intensivos de Anestesia: recomendaciones de la Sección de Cuidados Intensivos de la SEDAR: Monedero P, Paz Martín D, Cardona Pereto J, Barturen F, Fernández Quero L, Aguilera Celorrio L, et al. Cuidados Intensivos de Anestesia: recomendaciones de la Sección de Cuidados Intensivos de la SEDAR. Rev Esp Anestesiol Reanim. 2017;64(5):282-285. doi: 10.1016/j.redar.2016.12.007. PMID: 28258746

Las directrices europeas de formación especializada en Anestesiología son responsabilidad del European Board of Anaesthesiology (EBA UEMS), a través de su comité permanente de Educación y Desarrollo Profesional. Estas directrices han sido aprobadas por el UEMS Council, y en ellas se definen los cuidados intensivos como una competencia central de la especialidad de Anestesiología. A diferencia de otras competencias específicas, la «atención médica y perioperatoria de pacientes críticos/Cuidados Intensivos Generales» es considerada un dominio de competencias básicas que debe alcanzar todo especialista en Anestesiología en Europa. Para alcanzar el conjunto de competencias de la especialidad, las «Normas europeas de formación postgrado de especialistas médicos» en sus «Requisitos de Capacitación para la Especialidad de Anestesiología, Dolor y Medicina de Cuidados Intensivos» establece un tiempo mínimo de formación de 5 años, de los cuales hasta un año puede dirigirse específicamente a la formación en Medicina de Cuidados Intensivos

Early evolution of the biotin-dependent carboxylase family

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Biotin-dependent carboxylases are a diverse family of carboxylating enzymes widespread in the three domains of life, and thus thought to be very ancient. This family includes enzymes that carboxylate acetyl-CoA, propionyl-CoA, methylcrotonyl-CoA, geranyl-CoA, acyl-CoA, pyruvate and urea. They share a common catalytic mechanism involving a biotin carboxylase domain, which fixes a CO₂molecule on a biotin carboxyl carrier peptide, and a carboxyl transferase domain, which transfers the CO₂moiety to the specific substrate of each enzyme. Despite this overall similarity, biotin-dependent carboxylases from the three domains of life carrying their reaction on different substrates adopt very diverse protein domain arrangements. This has made difficult the resolution of their evolutionary history up to now.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Taking advantage of the availability of a large amount of genomic data, we have carried out phylogenomic analyses to get new insights on the ancient evolution of the biotin-dependent carboxylases. This allowed us to infer the set of enzymes present in the last common ancestor of each domain of life and in the last common ancestor of all living organisms (the cenancestor). Our results suggest that the last common archaeal ancestor had two biotin-dependent carboxylases, whereas the last common bacterial ancestor had three. One of these biotin-dependent carboxylases ancestral to Bacteria most likely belonged to a large family, the CoA-bearing-substrate carboxylases, that we define here according to protein domain composition and phylogenetic analysis. Eukaryotes most likely acquired their biotin-dependent carboxylases through the mitochondrial and plastid endosymbioses as well as from other unknown bacterial donors. Finally, phylogenetic analyses support previous suggestions about the existence of an ancient bifunctional biotin-protein ligase bound to a regulatory transcription factor.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The most parsimonious scenario for the early evolution of the biotin-dependent carboxylases, supported by the study of protein domain composition and phylogenomic analyses, entails that the cenancestor possessed two different carboxylases able to carry out the specific carboxylation of pyruvate and the non-specific carboxylation of several CoA-bearing substrates, respectively. These enzymes may have been able to participate in very diverse metabolic pathways in the cenancestor, such as in ancestral versions of fatty acid biosynthesis, anaplerosis, gluconeogenesis and the autotrophic fixation of CO₂.</p

A Strategy for Origins of Life Research

Aworkshop was held August 26–28, 2015, by the Earth- Life Science Institute (ELSI) Origins Network (EON, see Appendix I) at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. This meeting gathered a diverse group of around 40 scholars researching the origins of life (OoL) from various perspectives with the intent to find common ground, identify key questions and investigations for progress, and guide EON by suggesting a roadmap of activities. Specific challenges that the attendees were encouraged to address included the following: What key questions, ideas, and investigations should the OoL research community address in the near and long term? How can this community better organize itself and prioritize its efforts? What roles can particular subfields play, and what can ELSI and EON do to facilitate research progress? (See also Appendix II.) The present document is a product of that workshop; a white paper that serves as a record of the discussion that took place and a guide and stimulus to the solution of the most urgent and important issues in the study of the OoL. This paper is not intended to be comprehensive or a balanced representation of the opinions of the entire OoL research community. It is intended to present a number of important position statements that contain many aspirational goals and suggestions as to how progress can be made in understanding the OoL. The key role played in the field by current societies and recurring meetings over the past many decades is fully acknowledged, including the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life (ISSOL) and its official journal Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres, as well as the International Society for Artificial Life (ISAL)

Differences in between-reinforcer value modulate the selective-value effect in great apes (Pan Troglodyes, P. Paniscus, Gorilla Gorilla, Pongo Abelii)

We investigated how apes allocated their choices between 2 food options that varied in terms of their quantity and quality. Experiment 1 tested whether subjects preferred an AB option over an A option, where the A item is preferred to the B item (e.g., apple + carrot vs. apple). Additionally, we tested whether the length of the intertrial interval (ITI) affected subjects' choices. Five orangutans, 4 gorillas, 7 bonobos, and 10 chimpanzees received 3 types of trials: preference (A vs. B), quantity (AA vs. A), and mixed (AB vs. A where A is the preferred food). We used 3 food items that substantially differed in terms of preference (carrots, apples, and pellets). Subjects showed no overall preference for the mixed option (AB) compared with the single option (A), even though they showed clear preferences during both the preference and quantity trials. The intertrial length had no effect on choice behavior. Experiment 2 further explored apes' choices by using 3 highly preferred food items (bananas, grapes, and pellets) in 6 orangutans, 4 gorillas, 8 bonobos, and 18 chimpanzees. Unlike the results of Experiment 1, apes generally chose the mixed option. Our results indicated that apes did not show a general "selective-value" effect but chose depending on the relative value of the food items involved. Subjects were more likely to select the mixed over the single option when (a) the mixed option was composed of items that were closer in value and (b) they were compared against the less valuable item forming the mixed option.</p

El equipo Valencia-iGEM diseña y construye la primera pantalla biológica

Los autores agradecen el apoyo recibido de las entidades financiadoras, destacando el Proyecto i-MATH (FUT-C4-0181: Participación española en iGEM: el papel de la modelización matemática en el emergente campo multidisciplinar de la Biología Sintética); el Vicerrectorado de Investigación de la UPV; el proyecto europeo TarPol (FP7/2007/212894); el Institut Cavanilles de la UV; y el IUMPA y la ETSII de la UPV. Finalmente, agradecen encarecidamente la labor de Pilar Aliaga y Minerva Báguena.Pitarch, M.; Crespo, J.; Hueso, A.; Marco, G.; Otero, E.; Palanca, C.; Rivera, S.... (2010). El equipo Valencia-iGEM diseña y construye la primera pantalla biológica. Matematicalia. 6(3):1-5. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/151307S156