Inhibition of hepatitis C virus internal ribosome entry site-mediated translation by an RNA targeting the conserved IIIf domain

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) translation initiation depends on an internal ribosome entry site (IRES). We previously identified an RNA molecule (HH363–10) able to bind and cleave the HCV IRES region. This paper characterizes its capacity to interfere with IRES function. Inhibition assays showed that it blocks IRES activity both in vitro and in a human hepatoma cell line. Although nucleotides involved in binding and cleavage reside in separate regions of the inhibitor HH363–10, further analysis demonstrated the strongest effect to be an intrinsic feature of the entire molecule; the abolishment of either of the two activities resulted in a reduction in its function. Probing assays demonstrate that HH363–10 specifically interacts with the conserved IIIf domain of the pseudoknot structure in the IRES, leading to the inhibition of the formation of translationally competent 80S particles. The combination of two inhibitory activities targeting different sequences in a chimeric molecule may be a good strategy to avoid the emergence of resistant viral variants.This work was supported by grant BFU2006-02568 from the Spanish Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia and CTS-233 from the Junta de Andalucía to A. B-H C. R-L was funder by grant BMC2003-669. R. D-G was the recipient of a fellowship from the Spanish Ministerio de Educación y CienciaPeer reviewe

Influence of Emotional Intelligence, Motivation and Resilience on Academic Performance and the Adoption of Healthy Lifestyle Habits among Adolescents

Included among the basic objectives of Physical Education (PE) classes is the consolidation of habits of a healthy lifestyle among adolescents. However, the main studies in this field have focused on cognitive aspects related to students during these classes, yet they ignore the role that emotions can play in the adoption of future habits. Objectives: To analyze how emotions (emotional intelligence and emotional state) can influence the resilience and motivation of adolescents, as well as academic performance and adoption of healthy lifestyle habits. Methodology: 615 secondary school students between the ages of 14 and 19 participated (M = 16.02; SD = 1.57) in the study. A structural equations model was developed using the main variables and by applying some of the principles of Self-Determination Theory. The results show that emotional intelligence is positively related to positive emotions and negatively related to negative emotions. Positive emotions positively predict both self-motivation towards physical education classes and resilience. Resilience positively predicts self-motivation. Finally, self-motivation acts as a predictor of both academic performance and regular participation in physical activity. Conclusions: This study successfully shows the importance of focusing on emotions in PE classes inasmuch as emotion increases the tendency to get good grades and maintain active lifestyle habits. In this sense, focusing on the emotions of students in PE could prove quite beneficial

Are There Opportunities for Sustainable Tourism in the Province of Manabí- Ecuador after COVID-19? The Case Study of Puerto Lopez

In recent years, tourism in Ecuador has increased exponentially. The city of Puerto Lopez has shown unusual growth. This study is based on a comparison of the situation of the Ecuadorian town before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. To achieve this primary objective, three specific goals were set out: 1) To analyze the perception that tourists have of the Canton of Puerto Lopez. 2) To examine the influence that tourism has on the local economy. 3) To study the impact of the pandemic on tourism development in the region. To achieve these objectives, quantitative research was carried out based on two surveys on perceptions of tourism activity. One was carried out before the arrival of Covid and the other after the pandemic. They are complemented by the collection of data from official statistics and stakeholder interviews. The main results also reveal opportunities for the tourism sector of Puerto López if we relate it to the SDGs_2030, as there is room for improvement in its current tourism model, and it can be made more sustainable from a social, economic and environmental point of view. © 2021 WITPress. All rights reserved

El análisis bibliométrico conceptual aplicado al binomio turismo-cultura 1995-2020

This article aims to find out how the terms tourism and culture have been treated throughout history and when they began to be of interest to the scientific community as a result of the change in the conceptual mentality of the tourism sector in general and the tourist in particular, as well as to understand the evolutionary stage reached. To this end, bibliometric analysis has been carried out, based on a quantitative and systematic review of the literatura, using the Web of Science (WoSCC) database. The software used is Vosviewer and Bibliometrix to generate graphs and maps of relationships and clusters... We can highlight the degree of connection that exists between all the articles published in the period studied (1995 to 2020) due to the number of citations made. This work aims to identify the main trends in research on cultural tourism.Este artículo persigue conocer cómo han sido tratados los términos turismo y cultura a lo largo de la historia y cuándo comienza a ser una temática interesante para la comunidad científica a raíz del cambio de mentalidad conceptual del sector turístico en general y del turista en particular, así como comprender el estadio evolutivo en que se encuentra. Para ello, se ha realizado un análisis bibliométrico, basado en una re‑ visión cuantitativa y sistemática de la literatura. Usando la base de datos Web of Science (WoSCC). El software utilizado es Vosviewer y Bibliometrix para generar gráficos y mapas de relaciones, cluster… Podemos resaltar el grado de conexión que existen entre todos los artículos publicados en el periodo de tiempo estudiado (1995 al 2020) debido al número de citas que se habían realizado. Con este trabajo se pretende identificar las principales tendencias de investigación sobre el turismo cultural.15 página

Screening of CHO-K1 endogenous promoters for expressing recombinant proteins in mammalian cell cultures

For the production of recombinant protein therapeutics in mammalian cells, a high rate of gene expression is desired and hence strong viral-derived promoters are commonly used. However, they usually induce cellular stress and can be susceptible to epigenetic silencing. Endogenous promoters, which coordinates their activity with cellular and bioprocess dynamics while at the same time they maintain high expression levels, may help to avoid such drawbacks. In this work, new endogenous promoters were discovered based on high expression levels in RNA-seq data of CHO-K1 cells cultured in high density. The promoters of Actb, Ctsz, Hmox1, Hspa5, Vim and Rps18 genes were selected for generating new expression vectors for the production of recombinant proteins in mammalian cells. The in silico-derived promoter regions were experimentally verified and the majority showed transcriptional activity comparable or higher than CMV. Also, stable expression following a reduction of culture temperature was investigated. The characterized endogenous promoters (excluding Rps18) constitute a promising alternative to CMV promoter due to their high strength, long-term expression stability and integration into the regulatory network of the host cell. These promoters may also comprise an initial panel for designing cell engineering strategies and synthetic promoters, as well as for industrial cell line development.Fil: Tossolini, Ileana del Rosario. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología del Litoral; ArgentinaFil: Gugliotta, Agustina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología del Litoral; ArgentinaFil: López Díaz, Fernando. Salk Institute for Biological Studies; Estados UnidosFil: Kratje, Ricardo Bertoldo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología del Litoral; ArgentinaFil: Prieto, Claudio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología del Litoral; Argentin

Short term administration of cyproterone acetate for contraception: Effects on testosterone secretion and semen characteristics in rams (Ovis aries) and bucks (Capra hircus)

Aim of study: To examine the influence of administering cyproterone acetate (CPA), at the beginning of the mating season, on the testosterone concentration and morphometric and functional characteristics of ram and buck semen.Area of study: Madrid, SpainMaterial and methods: Five rams and five bucks were intramuscularly administered 200 mg of CPA in 2 mL of olive oil twice per week - from July 1st to 31st in the rams, and from August 1st to 31st in the bucks. Five control animals of each species were administered 2 mL of olive oil. Blood samples and ejaculates analysed from the start of treatment until eight weeks after the last day of treatment.Main results: GLM-ANOVA showed the interaction species × CPA treatment to have effect (p<0.05) on sperm motility, progressive motility and acrosome integrity; and greater effect (p<0.01) on curvilinear velocity (VCL), straight-line velocity (VSL), viability, and morphological abnormalities. In both the rams and bucks, plasma testosterone levels fell from the first week from the start of CPA administration until three weeks after the end of treatment. In rams, the total sperm count, sperm motility, progressive motility, viability, morphological abnormalities, VCL and VSL were all negatively affected by the treatment (p<0.001); acrosome integrity was also affected (p<0.05). In bucks, sperm motility, progressive motility, VCL, VSL and morphological abnormalities were negatively affected (p<0.05).Research highlights: Treatment with CPA affected testosterone secretion, semen characteristics and sperm morphometry in both the rams and bucks, and thus it might be used as short term contraceptive protocol in small ruminants

Development and validation of a questionnaire to assess adherence to the healthy food pyramid in Spanish adults

We aimed to design and validate a new questionnaire of adherence to healthy food pyramid (HFP) (AP-Q), to improve previous instruments. The questionnaire was self-administered and included 28 questions from 10 categories (physical activity, health habits, hydration, grains, fruits, vegetables, oil type, dairy products, animal proteins, and snacks). A population of 130 Spanish adults answered it, obtaining scores from each category and a global score of HFP adherence (AP-Q score). Validation was performed through principal components analysis (PCA) and internal consistency by Cronbach’s alpha. AP-Q was also externally validated with Kidmed-test, answered by 45 individuals from the cohort. The global AP-Q score was 5.1 1.3, with an internal consistency of 64%. The PCA analysis extracted seven principal components, which explained 68.5% of the variance. The global AP-Q score was positively associated with Kidmed-test score. Our data suggest that AP-Q is a complete and robust questionnaire to assess HFP adherence, with several advantages: easy to complete, cost-e ective, timesaving and has the competency to assess, besides diet, several features a ecting health status, lacking in other instruments. We suggest that AP-Q could be useful in epidemiological research, although it requires additional calibration to analyze its reproducibility and validation in other populationsFinanced by Universidad Autónoma de Madrid-Khon Kaen University (KKU: 0514.7.I.12-1948

Epidemiological study of the association between bovine gammaherpesvirus type 4 and reproductive disease in dairy cattle from northwestern Spain

Bovine gammaherpesvirus 4 (BoHV-4) has controversially been related with cattle reproductive disease. In the present study we analyze the relationship between exposure to BoHV-4 and reproductive performance in dairy cattle from northwestern Spain. A total of 2022 sera from 50 farms were examined to detect anti-BoHV-4 antibodies. Herd and individual reproductive records were collected to analyze association with exposure to BoHV-4. In addition, 52 abortion cases were examined to detect BoHV-4 DNA. An individual seroprevalence of 66.6 % and a herd prevalence of 98 % were found. Exposure to BoHV-4 increased with age, particularly in individuals between 26−36 months old (OR = 2.7; CI 95 %: 1.2−5.0, compared to animals < 26 months). Seroprevalence was not associated with herd fertility and herd abortion rate, but seropositive animals between 26−36 months presented prolonged calving to fertilizing insemination intervals (HR: 1.4; CI 95 %: 1.2–2.0) as well as higher odds of an unsuccessful 1st insemination (OR: 2.5; CI 95 %: 1.2−5.0). In abortion cases, BoHV-4 DNA was found in 12 vaginal swabs from 5 farms but not in any fetal tissue. Our results reveal an endemic, high and widespread exposure to BoHV-4 among dairy cattle from NW Spain with a limited impact in the reproductive performance of herds. The significantly worse reproductive performance of seropositive animals of 26−36 months of age may be the consequence of the establishment of primo-infections when moving heifers to lactation lots. Our findings may be useful to understand the potential population impact of BoHV-4This work was supported by the Program for consolidating and structuring competitive research groups(GRC2015/003, Xunta de Galicia, Spain), by the Research Project ‘RUMIGAL: Rede de estudo multidisciplinar dos ruminantes en Galicia’ (R2014/005, Xunta de Galicia, Spain) and by a postdoctoral grant to J.M. Díaz-Cao (Xunta de Galicia, Spain).S

El análisis bibliométrico conceptual aplicado al binomio turismo -cultura 1995 -2020

This article aims to find out how the terms tourism and culture have been treated throughout history and when they began to be of interest to the scientific community as a result of the change in the conceptual mentality of the tourism sector in general and the tourist in particular, as well as to understand the evolutionary stage reached. To this end, bibliometric analysis has been carried out, based on a quantitative and systematic review of the literatura, using the Web of Science (WoSCC) database. The software used is Vosviewer and Bibliometrix to generate graphs and maps of relationships and clusters... We can highlight the degree of connection that exists between all the articles published in the period studied (1995 to 2020) due to the number of citations made. This work aims to identify the main trends in research on cultural tourism.Este artículo persigue conocer cómo han sido tratados los términos turismo y cultura a lo largo de la historia y cuándo comienza a ser una temática interesante para la comunidad científica a raíz del cambio de mentalidad conceptual del sector turístico en general y del turista en particular, así como comprender el estadio evolutivo en que se encuentra. Para ello, se ha realizado un análisis bibliométrico, basado en una re‐ visión cuantitativa y sistemática de la literatura. Usando la base de datos Web of Science (WoSCC). El software utilizado es Vosviewer y Bibliometrix para generar gráficos y mapas de relaciones, cluster... Podemos resaltar el grado de conexión que existen entre todos los artículos publicados en el periodo de tiempo estudiado (1995 al 2020) debido al número de citas que se habían realizado. Con este trabajo se pretende identificar las principales tendencias de investigación sobre el turismo cultura