Type III secretion system effectors and host specificity in Pseudomonas savastanoi pathovars of woody hosts

The species Pseudomonas savastanoi, a member of the Pseudomonas syringae complex, includes five pathovars causing knots or excrescences in woody hosts: P. savastanoi pv. savastanoi, pv. fraxini, pv. nerii, pv. retacarpa (Psr) and pv. mandevillae, comprising isolates from olive, ash, oleander, broom and dipladenia plants, respectively. Comparative genomic analysis of all available P. savastanoi genomes included in these five pathovars defined a total of 45 type III secretion system effector (T3E) genes, including 24 core genes, four genes exclusive of Psr and several genes encoding pathovar-specific truncations. Noticeably, hierarchical clustering based on the presence, absence and truncations of T3E genes, correlated with the core genome phylogeny of these strains, indicating that the five pathovars contain characteristic sets of T3Es, which are thus likely contributing to define their pathogenicity profile. To unravel de role of T3Es in the host specificity of P. savastanoi pathovars we followed two different approaches: i) construction of knock out mutants affected in T3E genes exclusively encoded by specific pathovars and, ii) heterologous expression of T3E genes in strains belonging to pathovars lacking these T3Es or encoding specific truncations. Virulence assays of these strains in their natural hosts and in hosts infected by other P. savastanoi pathovars, allowed us to identify several T3Es with a role in the host specificity of this bacterial pathogen of woody hosts.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Socio-emotional intervention in attention deficit hyperactive disorder

Attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neuro-behavioural disorder with onset in childhood. These children have impaired emotional self-control, self- regulation of drive and motivation. Numerous studies have reported cognitive disabilities in memory, executive functions, spatial abilities and language skills. The main objective of this work is to determine whether a socio-emotional intervention programme could improve execu- tive functions in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The sample of this study consisted of 25 children (8 female and 17 male) aged between 8 and 12 years, diagnosed with ADHD and who were not taking any psychopharmacological treatment at the time of the study, and had not taken medication previously. Executive functioning was assessed through the Zoo Map test and Tower of Hanoi puzzle in pre-/post-test design. A socio-emotional intervention programme was implemented. The training consisted of 8 one-hour weekly sessions, on an indi- vidual basis. Results indicate that such a programme does lead to improved performance in the execution of tasks that evaluate executive functions. After the intervention, the children took less time to resolve the Zoo Map test. Results for the Hanoi Tower puzzle were also improved after intervention. The children needed a lower number of movements to complete the task

Intervention Programme Based on Executive Functions in Children with ADHD

Attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurobehavioral disorder with onset in childhood. Children with ADHD have been found to show impairment in emotional self-control, self-regulation and motivation. Numerous studies have reported cognitive disabilities in memory, executive functions, spatial abilities and language skills. The main objective of this research was to determine if the executive function intervention programme implemented could improve attention process and executive functions in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The sample consisted of 50 children (14 female and 36 male) aged between 8 and 12 years, diagnosed with ADHD and who were not under any psychopharmacological treatment at the time of the study, and had not taken medication to mitigate such disorder. Executive functioning was assessed through the Zoo Map Test and attention was evaluated by the “D2 Test of Attention” in a pretest-postest cuasi experimental design. The executive functioning intervention programme implemented was designed and tested for this research and consisted of 12 one-hour weekly sessions and the participants were trained individually. The data indicated that the intervention lead to improved performance in the execution of tasks that evaluate executive functions. After the intervention, the children took less time to resolve the Zoo Map Test, and the results in the “D2 Test of Attention” also improved after the training. Therefore, data showed that such executive functioning intervention programme could improve attention processes and executive functions in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Therefore, the programme used becomes effective intervention as well as the data found links the nature of the problem to a specific treatment management by objectives

Characterization of the GacS/GacA system in the virulence regulation in Pseudomonas savastanoi.

The two-component regulatory system GacS/GacA is one of the main mechanisms for global regulation in bacteria. GacS/GacA is a highly conserved system that has been studied in many pathogenic bacteria. However, its characterization has been mainly focused on pathogenic bacteria of herbaceous plants. Despite previous works have reported that GacS/GacA regulates the expression of virulence factors, its role in virulence varies among different species and strains. The aim of this work was the identification of virulence factors regulated by the GacS/GacA system in the model bacterium Pseudomonas savastanoi pv. savastanoi (Psv), causal agent of olive knot disease. To this end, we generated a gacA deletion mutant in the strain Psv NCPPB 3335, whose transcriptomic profile was further analyzed using a massive RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) strategy. The bioinformatic analysis of RNA-seq data showed that the Psv GacS/GacA system regulates a large number of genes, including some virulence factors already described, such as those related to the type III secretion system, the biosynthesis of phytohormones and the catabolism of aromatic compounds, among others. In addition, small Rsm-type RNAs and regulatory proteins (RsmA) were identified in the regulatory cascade of the GacS/GacA system. Finally, the involvement of some of the virulence factors of Psv NCPP 3335 were further studied through different phenotypic assays, such as plant virulence assays, induction of hypersensitive response, leaf adhesion tests and translocation of type III effectors. Results obtained in this work indicate that GacS/GacA system presents a role in regulation of virulence factors of Psv NCPPB 3335.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Percepción de micromachismos en el ámbito laboral: la influencia de la formación en género

Las relaciones interpersonales dentro del ámbito laboral están caracterizadas por experiencias y aprendizajes, únicos para cada persona. Estas características personales están impregnadas por las enseñanzas recibidas durante las diferentes etapas formativas. Y, a menudo, esa formación no contempla la perspectiva de género de forma transversal y significativa por ello en esta investigación se ha tratado de analizar las repercusiones que, la no formación en género, puede tener en las relaciones laborales entre hombres y mujeres. El objetivo principal de la investigación fue analizar la relación entre la desinformación que, en pleno siglo XXI se tiene sobre qué son los micromachismos y la falta de interés en formación de género. Para dilucidar el objetivo de esta investigación se eligió una muestra al azar de 116 personas de diferentes ámbitos profesionales. La metodología utilizada ha sido mixta (cuantitativa y cualitativa). Los instrumentos utilizados han sido, por un lado, un cuestionario elaborado ad hoc siguiendo el escalograma de Guttman y, por otro, se ha complementado con 12 entrevistas cualitativas. Como variables personales se han tenido en cuenta la edad, las profesiones y el tiempo de servicio, para así obtener información proveniente de experiencias diversas. Los resultados del cuestionario muestran que existe una correlación positiva entre el interés en formación en género y el nivel de percepción de micromachismos, destacando que, la formación previa tiene una importancia significativa en la conciencia de género. Se denotó también que esa formación previa era evaluada por las personas entrevistadas como escasa e insuficiente. En el caso de la entrevista, se logró indagar en aspectos formativos y tipos de discriminación vividas por motivo de género, entre otros resultados.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Legged locomotion over irregular terrains: State of the art of human and robot performance

Legged robotic technologies have moved out of the lab to operate in real environments, characterized by a wide variety of unpredictable irregularities and disturbances, all this in close proximity with humans. Demonstrating the ability of current robots to move robustly and reliably in these conditions is becoming essential to prove their safe operation. Here, we report an in-depth literature review aimed at verifying the existence of common or agreed protocols and metrics to test the performance of legged system in realistic environments. We primarily focused on three types of robotic technologies, i.e., hexapods, quadrupeds and bipeds. We also included a comprehensive overview on human locomotion studies, being it often considered the gold standard for performance, and one of the most important sources of bioinspiration for legged machines. We discovered that very few papers have rigorously studied robotic locomotion under irregular terrain conditions. On the contrary, numerous studies have addressed this problem on human gait, being nonetheless of highly heterogeneous nature in terms of experimental design. This lack of agreed methodology makes it challenging for the community to properly assess, compare and predict the performance of existing legged systems in real environments. On the one hand, this work provides a library of methods, metrics and experimental protocols, with a critical analysis on the limitations of the current approaches and future promising directions. On the other hand, it demonstrates the existence of an important lack of benchmarks in the literature, and the possibility of bridging different disciplines, e.g., the human and robotic, towards the definition of standardized procedure that will boost not only the scientific development of better bioinspired solutions, but also their market uptake

El sistema de dos componentes GacS/GacA regula la expresión de factores de virulencia y patogenicidad en Pseudomonas savastanoi pv. savastanoi NCPPB3335.

GacS/GacA es uno de los principales sistemas de regulación global en bacterias gramnegativas. Trabajos previos realizados con bacterias patógenas de plantas herbáceas han descrito cómo el sistema GacS/GacA interviene en la regulación de diversos factores de virulencia. Sin embargo, la regulación de estos factores muestra variabilidad no solo entre especies, sino también entre cepas. En este trabajo, hemos estudiado el papel regulador del sistema GacS/GacA en la virulencia y patogenicidad de la cepa NCPPB 3335 de P. savastanoi pv. savastanoi (Psv), agente causal de la enfermedad conocida como tuberculosis del olivo. Para ello, se construyó un mutante por deleción del gen gacA, en la cepa Psv NCPPB3335, cuyo perfil transcriptómico se analizó globalmente mediante una estrategia de secuenciación masiva de ARN (RNA-seq). El análisis bioinformático de los datos de RNA-seq mostró que el sistema GacS/GacA de Psv regula la expresión de genes relacionados con el sistema de secreción tipo III (T3SS), la síntesis de auxinas, locomoción y quimiotaxis bacteriana, y la degradación de compuestos fenólicos asociada a la invasión de huéspedes leñosos. Además, se identificaron variaciones en los niveles de expresión de pequeños ARN de tipo Rsm y proteínas reguladoras (RsmA), elementos que intervienen en la cascada de regulación del sistema GacS/GacA. Con la intención de profundizar en la caracterización de este sistema, se han llevado a cabo ensayos fenotípicos complementantes, como ensayos de virulencia en plantas, inducción de respuesta hipersensible, sensibilidad a peróxido de hidrógeno y translocación de efectores tipo III.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Prevalence and Risk Factors of MASLD and Liver Fibrosis amongst the Penitentiary Population in Catalonia: The PRISONAFLD Study

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease; Metabolic syndrome; PrisonMalaltia hepàtica esteatòtica associada a disfunció metabòlica; Síndrome metabòlica; PresóEnfermedad hepática esteatósica asociada a disfunción metabólica; Síndrome metabólico; PrisiónBackground and Aims: The prevalence of chronic non-communicable diseases, particularly metabolic syndrome (MetS), has increased among the prison population. Nevertheless, we have limited data on metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), the hepatic manifestation of this syndrome. We aimed to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of MASLD and MASLD-associated liver fibrosis in the penitentiary population in Catalonia, Spain. Method: A cross-sectional observational study involving eight penitentiary centers. Participants had at least one metabolic disorder and were at a closed-regimen penitentiary. Individuals with concomitant liver diseases and/or alcohol risk consumption were excluded. Significant fibrosis and MASLD were defined as liver stiffness ≥8 kPa and a controlled attenuation parameter ≥275 dB/m by vibration-controlled transient elastography (VCTE), respectively. After exclusions, metabolic inmates with VCTE were analyzed. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify predictors of MASLD and MASLD-associated significant fibrosis. Results: Out of the 4338 inmates studied, 1290 (29.7%) had metabolic disorders, and 646 (14.9%) underwent VCTE. The mean age was 48.0 years (SD 12.1), and 89.5% were male. MASLD prevalence was 33.9%. Significant fibrosis and MASLD-associated significant fibrosis were found in 16.4% and 9.4% of inmates, respectively. In the multivariate analysis, T2D, waist circumference, MetS, and higher ALT values were identified as independent risk factors for MASLD and MASLD-associated significant fibrosis amongst the prison population. Conclusions: Metabolic disorders including MASLD are highly prevalent among inmates. The prevalence of significant fibrosis seems notably higher than that of the general population, underscoring the need for targeted screening programs and therapeutic interventions in the incarcerated population

Functional Characterization of Lysophosphatidylcholine: Acyl-CoA Acyltransferase Genes From Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.)

Lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase (LPCAT, EC 2.3.1.23) is an evolutionarily conserved key enzyme in the Lands cycle that catalyzes acylation of lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) to produce phosphatidylcholine (PC), the main phospholipid in cellular membranes. In this study, three LPCAT genes from sunflower were identified and the corresponding proteins characterized. These HaLPCAT genes encoded functionally active enzymes that were able to complement a deficient yeast mutant. Moreover, enzymatic assays were carried out using microsomal preparations of the yeast cells. When acyl specificities were measured in the forward reaction, these enzymes exhibited a substrate preference for unsaturated acyl-CoAs, especially for linolenoyl-CoA, while in the reverse reaction, linoleoyl or linolenoyl acyl groups were transferred from PC to acyl-CoA to a similar extent. Expression levels of LPCAT genes were studied revealing distinct tissue-specific expression patterns. In summary, this study suggests that the combined forward and reverse reactions catalyzed by sunflower LPCATs facilitate acyl-exchange between the sn-2 position of PC and the acyl-CoA pool. Sunflower LPCATs displayed different characteristics, which could point to different functionalities, favoring the enrichment of seed triacylglycerols (TAGs) with polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)España, AEI and FEDER Project AGL2017- 83449-R. R

Mobile based surveillance platform for detecting Zika virus among Spanish Delegates attending the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games

Background: Zika virus has created a major epidemic in Central and South America, especially in Brazil, during 2015-16. The infection is strongly associated with fetal malformations, mainly microcephaly, and neurological symptoms in adults. During the preparation of the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in 2016, members of Olympic Delegations worldwide expressed their concern about the health consequences of being infected with Zika virus. A major risk highlighted by the scientific community was the impact on the spreading of the virus into new territories immediately after the Games. Objectives: To detect real-time incidence of symptoms compatible with arboviral diseases and other tropical imported diseases among the Spanish Olympic Delegation (SOD) attending the Rio Olympic Games in 2016. Methods: We developed a surveillance platform based on a mobile application installed in participant's smartphones that monitored the health status of the SOD through a daily interactive check of the user health status including geo-localization data. The results were evaluated by a study physician on-call through a web-based platform monitoring system. Participants presenting severe symptoms or those compatible with Zika infection prompted an alarm in the system triggering specialized medical assistance and allowing early detection and control of the introduction of arboviral diseases in Spain. Summary of the results: The system was downloaded by 189 participants and used by 143 of them (76%). Median age was 38 years (IQR 16), and 134 (71%) were male. Mean duration of travel was 19 days (+/-9SD). During the Games the highest accumulated incidence observed was for headache: 6.06% cough: 5.30% and conjunctivitis: 3.03%. The incidence rate of cough during the Olympic Games was 1.1% per day per person, followed by headache 0.8% and 0.4% conjunctivitis or diarrhea. In our cohort we observed that non-athletes experienced more incidence of symptoms, except for incidence of cough which was the same in the two groups (1.1%). No participants reported symptoms fulfilling Zika definition case. Conclusion: Our system did not find cases fulfilling Zika definition amongst participants of the SOD during the Games, consistent with limited cases of Zika in Rio during the Games. The app showed good usability and the web based monitoring platform allowed to manage infectious cases in real-time. The overall system has proven to serve as a real-time surveillance platform for detecting symptoms that could be present in tropical imported diseases, especially arboviral diseases, contributing to the preparedness for the introduction of vector borne-diseases in non-endemic countries