Autophagy is activated and involved in cell death with participation of cathepsins during stress-induced microspore embryogenesis in barley

Microspores are reprogrammed towards embryogenesis by stress. Many microspores die after this stress, limiting the efficiency of microspore embryogenesis. Autophagy is a degradation pathway that plays critical roles in stress response and cell death. In animals, cathepsins have an integral role in autophagy by degrading autophagic material; less is known in plants. Plant cathepsins are papain-like C1A cysteine proteases involved in many physiological processes, including programmed cell death. We have analysed the involvement of autophagy in cell death, in relation to cathepsin activation, during stress-induced microspore embryogenesis in Hordeum vulgare. After stress, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cell death increased and autophagy was activated, including HvATG5 and HvATG6 up-regulation and increase of ATG5, ATG8, and autophagosomes. Concomitantly, cathepsin L/F-, B-, and H-like activities were induced, cathepsin-like genes HvPap-1 and HvPap-6 were up-regulated, and HvPap-1, HvPap-6, and HvPap-19 proteins increased and localized in the cytoplasm, resembling autophagy structures. Inhibitors of autophagy and cysteine proteases reduced cell death and promoted embryogenesis. The findings reveal a role for autophagy in stress-induced cell death during microspore embryogenesis, and the participation of cathepsins. Similar patterns of activation, expression, and localization suggest a possible connection between cathepsins and autophagy. The results open up new possibilities to enhance microspore embryogenesis efficiency with autophagy and/or cysteine protease modulators.España, MINECO AGL2014-52028-R and AGL2017-82447-

Solitary-wave vortices in quadratic nonlinear media

We find families of vortex solitary waves in bulk quadratic nonlinear media under conditions for second-harmonic generation. We show that the vortex solitary waves are azimuthally unstable and that they decay into sets of stable spatial solitons. We calculate the growth rates of the azimuthal perturbations and show how those affect the pattern of output light. © 1998 Optical Society of AmericaPeer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Phosphorus Availability Regulates TORC1 Signaling via LST8 in Chlamydomonas

Target of rapamycin complex 1 (TORC1) is a central regulator of cell growth. It balances anabolic and catabolic processes in response to nutrients, growth factors, and energy availability. Nitrogen- and carbon-containing metabolites have been shown to activate TORC1 in yeast, animals, and plants. Here, we show that phosphorus (P) regulates TORC1 signaling in the model green alga Chlamydomonas (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii) via LST8, a conserved TORC1 subunit that interacts with the kinase domain of TOR. P starvation results in a sharp decrease in LST8 abundance and downregulation of TORC1 activity. A hypomorphic lst8 mutation resulted in decreased LST8 abundance, and it both reduced TORC1 signaling and altered the cellular response to P starvation. Additionally, we found that LST8 levels and TORC1 activity were not properly regulated in a mutant defective in the transcription factor PSR1, which is the major mediator of P deprivation responses in Chlamydomonas. Unlike wild-type cells, the psr1 mutant failed to downregulate LST8 abundance and TORC1 activity when under P limitation. These results identify PSR1 as an upstream regulator of TORC1 and demonstrate that TORC1 is a key component in P signaling in Chlamydomonas.España Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (grants BFU2015-68216-P and PGC2018-099048- B-100 to J.L.C. and grant BIO2015-74432-JIN to M.E.P.-P.)National Science Foundation (CAREER award MCB-1552522 to L.M.H. and grant MCB-1616820 to J.G.U.)European Commission (grant number 750996

Identification of Key Molecules Involved in the Protection of Vultures Against Pathogens and Toxins

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.This work was supported by the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha (JCCM), project PII1I09-0243-4350.Peer Reviewe

The educational e-portfolio: preliminary evidence of its relationship with student\u2019s self-efficacy and engagement

The educational use of portfolios has been increasing in the last few years, especially as technology has also developed electronic versions of portfolios. Although there is abundant information about their benefits and practice description, few studies provide empirical evidence of their implementation. The objective of this study was to provide initial evidence about the use of the portfolio in higher education. Concretely, we aimed 1) to explore the correlation between students’ performance on the portfolio and their performance on more traditional assessment methods 2) to explore whether student’s personal variables predict performance in key elements of the e-portfolio, such as individual reflections, and if these contribute to general academic performance in the course, and 3) to evaluate whether the use of the e-portfolio during a semester changes the students’ self-efficacy and engagement. For this purpose, an initial sample of 73 students were recruited, and an e-portfolio (based on Mahara) was implemented over a semester. The results showed that performance on the portfolio correlated with the score obtained on multiple choice tests. There was an increase in self-efficacy after one semester of e-portfolio implementation, and engagement proved to be an important predictor of the final course grade through the mediation of individual reflections. These results offer preliminary and promising evidence about the relationship of a specific element of e-portfolios, individual reflections with several variables related to academic achievement such as self-efficacy and engagement

Reparación de lesiones del cartílago articular de la rótula de conejos con injertos libres de pericondrio costal y periostio tibial: Estudio histológico comparativo

El propósito del presente, estudio experimental es comparar la capacidad condrogénica de injertos libres de pericondrio y periostio en lesiones que afectan a todo el espesor del cartílago articular rotuliano. Para ellos, se eligieron 18 conejos adolescentes de Nueva Zelanda con un peso comprendido entre los 2400 y 3600 gramos, a los que se realizó una lesión de 6 mm de diámetro y 3 mm de espesor en la superficie articular de la rótula, y se distribuyeron de modo aleatorio en tres grupos: control, tratados con injerto libre de pericondrio (PC) y tratados con injerto libre de periostio (PO). Todos los animales fueron sacrificados a las 8 semanas y las preparaciones histológicas fueron evaluadas con arreglo a una escala que concede una puntuación de 0 a 17 puntos. En el análisis estadístico, las diferencias encontradas han sido, en todos los casos, entre el control y los grupos tratados, para ninguna de las variables se ha podido demostrar diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre los grupos PC y PO.The purpose of this experimental study was to compare the chondrogenic capacity of both perichondrium and periosteal free grafts in lesions affecting all the articular chondral thickness of the patella. A total of 18 white New Zeland rabbits with a weight ranging from 2.4 to 3.6 kg were operated. A chondral lesion o f 6 mm of diameter and 3 mm in depth was performed at the articular surface on the patella. The lesion was repair with either a perichondrium (6 animals) or a periosteal free grafts (6 animals). In other 6 animals, the control group, the lesion was not repaired. All animals were killed 8 weeks after surgery. Histological studies were performed using a modified O'Discoll's scale. Statistically significant differences were found between the control group and the two groups in which the lesions were repaired, but not between lesions treated with perichondrium and periosteal grafts

Papel de los equipos de atención primaria en la hospitalización infantil de los niños menores de 2 años

ObjetivoDeterminar si la conformación de los equipos de atención primaria con la realización del programa de salud del niño sano da lugar a una disminución del riesgo de hospitalización en los niños menores de 2 años, respecto al sistema sanitario tradicional de consultorio o ambulatorio.DiseñoEstudio epidemiológico de casos-referencia.Casos40% de los niños hospitalizados menores de 24 meses en plantas de hospitalización pediátricas o neonatal del Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla.Referencia15% de los recién nacidos vivos en dicho hospital. Recogida de información mediante entrevista personal y consulta de la tarjeta sanitaria.Período de estudioabril de 1995 a mayo de 1996.ResultadosLos niños menores de 2 años controlados habitualmente por un médico perteneciente a un equipo de atención primaria presentan una disminución del riesgo de hospitalización para todos los diagnósticos clínicos de 0,57 (IC del 95%, 0,35–0,93), tras haber ajustado por diferentes factores de confusión como educación materna, clase social, etnia, edad materna, consumo de tabaco materno, lactancia natural al nacimiento, ingreso al nacimiento. Se observó una disminución del riesgo de hospitalización por fiebre sin localización aparente en aquellos niños controlados habitualmente por un médico de equipo (RR ajustado, 0,41; IC del 95%, 0,19–0,90).ConclusiónLas ventajas de la reforma en la asistencia sanitaria en el ámbito pediátrico, con la conformación de los equipos de atención primaria y la realización de las actividades que ello conlleva, se traduce en una disminución del riesgo de hospitalización para aquellos niños menores de 2 años cuyo control habitual es realizado por un pediatra perteneciente a un equipo de atención primaria.ObjectiveTo determine whether the structure of primary care teams on carrying out the healthy child health programme leads to a drop in the risk of admission to hospital of children under two, in comparison with the traditional clinic or out-clinic health system.DesignCase-reference epidemiological study.Cases40% of the children under 24 months admitted to paediatric or neonate floors of the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital.Reference15% of the recently born children alive in this hospital. Information was gathered through face-to-face interview and by examining health cards. The study ran from April 1995 to May 1996.ResultsChildren under two monitored habitually by a doctor belonging to a primary care team showed a drop in risk of hospital admission for all clinical diagnoses of 0.57 (95% CI, 0.35–0.93), after adjustment due to various confusion factors such as maternal education, social class, ethnic background, mother's age, mother's tobacco consumption, natural breast-feeding at birth, admission at birth. There was a drop of risk of hospital admission for high temperature without apparent cause in those children monitored habitually by a team doctor (adjusted RR = 0.41; 95% CI, 0.19–0.90).ConclusionsThe advantages of the paediatric health care reform with the structuring of the primary care teams and the accompanying activities performed lead to a drop in the risk of hospital admission of those children under two years old who are habitually monitored by a doctor belonging to a primary care team

Arc-parallel vs back-arc extension in the Western Gibraltar arc : is the Gibraltar forearc still active?

Extremely tight arcs, framed within the Eurasia-Africa convergence region, developed during the Neogene on both sides of the western Mediterranean. A complex interplate deformation zone has been invoked to explain their structural trend-line patterns, the shortening directions and the development of back-arc basins. Updated structural and kinematic maps, combined with earthquake data covering the complete hinge zone of the western Gibraltar arc help us to explore the mode of strain partitioning from 25My ago to present. During the Miocene, the strain partitioning pattern showed arc-perpendicular shortening in the active orogenic wedge -assessed from the radial pattern of tectonic transport directions- accompained by subhorizontal stretching. Structures accommodating stretching fall into two categories on the basis of their space distribution and their relationships with the structural trend-line pattern: i) arc-parallel stretching structures in the external wedge (mainly normal faults and conjugate strike-slip faults); and ii) extensional faults developed in the hinterland zone in which transport directions are centripetal towards the Alborán back-arc basin. Pliocene to Recent deformational structures together with focal solutions from crustal earthquakes (n=167; 1.

Pharmacological glossary

Este glosario ha sido confeccionado fundamentalmente para ser trabajado por estudiantes que tienen que ver con el Inglés para propósitos médicos. Este compila la mayoría de los medicamentos utilizados en e tratamiento de algunas enfermedades, con el tratamiento médico para cada enfermedad, lo cual aparece en el libro "Medicina Práctica", utilizado en el 4to año de la carrera médica. Los medicamentos compilados se clasifican en diferentes grupos de acuerdo con sus funciones. Se trata de utilizar en clases como material complementario para proveer a los estudiantes con algunos términos farmacológicos necesarios para ellos como futuros profesionales, pero también puede ser utilizado por todos los profesionales interesados en el tema. Este trabajo es sólo el comienzo de lo que podemos hacer en este campo. Recomendamos su uso en todas las carreras médicas así como en cursos especializados