MultitaskProtDB-II : an update of a database of multitasking/moonlighting proteins

Multitasking, or moonlighting, is the capability of some proteins to execute two or more biological functions. MultitaskProtDB-II is a database of multifunctional proteins that has been updated. In the previous version, the information contained was: NCBI and UniProt accession numbers, canonical and additional biological functions, organism, monomeric/oligomeric states, PDB codes and bibliographic references. In the present update, the number of entries has been increased from 288 to 694 moonlighting proteins. MultitaskProtDB-II is continually being curated and updated. The new database also contains the following information: GO descriptors for the canonical and moonlighting functions, three-dimensional structure (for those proteins lacking PDB structure, a model was made using Itasser and Phyre), the involvement of the proteins in human diseases (78% of human moonlighting proteins) and whether the protein is a target of a current drug (48% of human moonlighting proteins). These numbers highlight the importance of these proteins for the analysis and explanation of human diseases and target-directed drug design. Moreover, 25% of the proteins of the database are involved in virulence of pathogenic microorganisms, largely in the mechanism of adhesion to the host. This highlights their importance for the mechanism of microorganism infection and vaccine design. MultitaskProtDB-II is available at http://wallace.uab.es/multitaskII

Revisiting ISP-13 with RELAP/SCDAPSIM/MOD3.5 using core SCDAP components

The recent accident in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant opened a discussion on severe accident management that includes the analysis of the accident by means of computational tools that can predict the core behavior in such extreme conditions. The RELAP/SCDAPSIM/MOD3.5 code is designed to predict the behavior of Light Water Reactor (LWR) coolant systems during normal and accident conditions including severe accidents up to the point of reactor vessel failure. The code consists of two parts: the RELAP5 models calculate the overall Reactor Coolant System (RCS) thermal-hydraulic response, control system behavior, reactor kinetics and the behavior of special reactor system components such as valves and pumps, to predict the plant behavior under operational transients, Design Basis Accidents (DBAs) and Beyond DBAs; the SCDAP models calculate the behavior of the core and vessel structures under normal and severe accident conditions. Both portions of the code have been proven, separately, to accurately reproduce the response under its designed purpose, which are steady state, DBAs and BDBAs for the RELAP portion, and steady state and severe accident conditions for the SCDAP portion. The analysis of potential scenarios does not define a priori the final state of the fuel rods, and thus the most adequate tool is a system code such as RELAP/SCDAPSIM/MOD3.5 capable of simulating accident scenarios where severe accident phenomena may or may not occur. The present paper revisits the ISP-13 exercise, a cold leg double-ended guillotine LOCA conducted in the LOFT experimental facility, using two RELAP/SCDAPSIM/MOD3.5 models: the first one is entirely modeled with RELAP components, the second model keeps the RELAP nodalization with the exception of the core region, which is modeled with SCDAP components. The LOFT L2.5 experiment is a rather unique experiment since it features nuclear (UO2) fuel rods in a facility designed to simulate the major responses of a commercial pressurized water reactor (PWR). In addition, the fuel cladding of this experiment reached relatively high temperatures of around 1100 K. Even though this cladding temperature is far from the oxidation onset with steam, the LOFT L2-5 experiment challenges system behavior simulations by bringing the conditions close to those of severe accidents. The final goal is to evaluate whether the use of SCDAP components in LOFT L2-5 experiment reproduces similar results to those obtained with a RELAP standalone model, and that both simulations are in good agreement with experimental data.Postprint (published version

Pressurized liquid extraction of Neochloris oleoabundans for the recovery of bioactive carotenoids with anti-proliferative activity against human colon cancer cells

In recent years, the green microalgae Neochloris oleoabundans have demonstrated to be an interesting natural source of carotenoids that could be used as potential food additive. In this work, different N. oleoabundans extracts obtained by pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) have been analyzed in depth to evaluate the influence of different culture conditions (effect of nitrogen, light intensity or carbon supplied) not only on the total carotenoid content but also on the carotenoid composition produced by these microalgae. Regardless of the cultivation conditions, lutein and carotenoid monoesters were the most abundant carotenoids representing more than 60% of the total content in all extracts. Afterwards, the effect of the different N. oleoabundans extracts and the dose-effect of the most potent algae extracts (namely, N9, PS and CO2 (−)) on the proliferation of human colon cancer cells lines (HT-29 and SW480) and a cell line established from a primary colon cancer cell culture (HGUE-C-1) were evaluated by an MTT assay whereas a stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed to get additional evidences on the relationship between carotenoid content and the antiproliferative activity. Results revealed that, as a general trend, those extracts with high total carotenoid content showed comparably antiproliferative activity being possible to establish a high correlation between the cell proliferation values and the carotenoid constituents. Monoesters showed the highest contribution to cell proliferation inhibition whereas lutein and violaxanthin showed negative correlation and diesters and zeaxanthin showed a positive significant contribution to cell proliferation.M.C.P. thanks the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Spain) for her “Ramón y Cajal” research contract (RYC-2013-12688). This work was supported by the projects AGL2014-53609-P and AGL2015-67995-C3-1-R (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Spain). A.V. thanks the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad for his FPI pre-doctoral fellowship (BES-2012-057014).Peer reviewe

Uncertainty and sensitivity analysis of the LOFT L2-5 test: Results of the BEMUSE programme

This paper presents the results and the main lessons learnt from the phase 3 of BEMUSE, an international benchmark activity sponsored by the Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations [CSNI: Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (NEA, OECD), 2007. BEMUSE Phase III Report. NEA/CSNI R(2007) 4, October 2007] of the OECD/NEA. The phase 3 of BEMUSE aimed at performing Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analyses of thermal–hydraulic codes used for the calculation of LOFT L2-5 experiment, which simulated a Large-Break Loss-of-Coolant-Accident (LB-LOCA). Eleven participants coming from ten organisations and eight countries took part in this benchmark. In the first section of this paper, the context of BEMUSE is described as well as the methods used by the participants. In the second section, the results of the benchmark are presented. The majority of the participants find uncertainty bands which envelop the experimental data fairly well, however the width of these bands is much diverged. A synthesis of the sensitivity analysis results has been made and is expected to provide a useful basis for further uncertainty analysis dealing with LB-LOCA. Finally, recommendations are given both for uncertainty and sensitivity analysis.Peer ReviewedArticle escrit per 19 autors/autores: A. de Crécy, P.Bazina, H.Glaeser, T.Skorekb, Jouclac,P.Probst, K.Fujiokad, D.Chunge,Y.Oh, M.Kynclg, R.Pernica, J.Macekg, R. Mecag, R.Macian, F.D’Auria, A.Petruzzii, L.Batet, M.Perez,F.ReventosPostprint (author's final draft

MultitaskProtDB-II : an update of a database of multitasking/moonlighting proteins

Multitasking, or moonlighting, is the capability of some proteins to execute two or more biological functions. MultitaskProtDB-II is a database of multifunctional proteins that has been updated. In the previous version, the information contained was: NCBI and UniProt accession numbers, canonical and additional biological functions, organism, monomeric/oligomeric states, PDB codes and bibliographic references. In the present update, the number of entries has been increased from 288 to 694 moonlighting proteins. MultitaskProtDB-II is continually being curated and updated. The new database also contains the following information: GO descriptors for the canonical and moonlighting functions, three-dimensional structure (for those proteins lacking PDB structure, a model was made using Itasser and Phyre), the involvement of the proteins in human diseases (78% of human moonlighting proteins) and whether the protein is a target of a current drug (48% of human moonlighting proteins). These numbers highlight the importance of these proteins for the analysis and explanation of human diseases and target-directed drug design. Moreover, 25% of the proteins of the database are involved in virulence of pathogenic microorganisms, largely in the mechanism of adhesion to the host. This highlights their importance for the mechanism of microorganism infection and vaccine design. MultitaskProtDB-II is available at http://wallace.uab.es/multitaskII

Cyanobacteria in aquatic systems of the Americas

The Americas are one of the world's major natural freshwater reserves, characterized by diverse climatesand heterogeneous ecosystem types. In these sites, eutrophication and climate change are drivers for the loss of water quality, trigging the growth of potentially toxic planktonic cyanobacteria. Blooms of these organisms threaten the use of water for many different purposes, often resulting in negative local economic impactsin developing countries. Cyanobacteria are aheterogeneous group of organisms, and major evolutionary differences between taxonomic orders results in diverse physiological and morphological traits and environmental preferences. Studies with a large geographical perspective allow for comparisonsof cyanobacteria at different taxonomical levels and across ecoclimatic regions. In this study, we investigate the distribution of planktonic cyanobacteria in lakes around the Americas with a gradient of over 135 degrees of latitude, from Tierra del Fuego, 54°51'S (Argentina) to Ellesmere Island, 82°54'N (Canada). We performed a survey using unpublished and published data from 1300 lakes, including limnological and environmental variables, ecoregion information, phytoplankton and detailed datafor more than 150,000cyanobacterial populations, with researchers from 13 institutions and eightcountries.We present preliminary results seeking to identify the main patterns in latitudinal distribution of total cyanobacteria and their major taxonomicorders in relation to trophic state, morphometric and climatic variables. Our results will have important implications for the health of aquatic ecosystems and the human populations that rely on them.Fil: Bonilla, Sylvia. Universidad de la República. Facultad de Ciencias; UruguayFil: Aguilera, Anabella. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Almanza, Viviana. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: Haakonsson, Signe. Universidad de la República. Facultad de Ciencias; UruguayFil: Sampaio da Silva, L.. Universidade Federal Do Rio de Janeiro. Museu Nacional; BrasilFil: Santos, J.. Universidade Federal Do Rio de Janeiro. Museu Nacional; BrasilFil: Izaguirre, Irina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: O' Farrel, Inés. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Santana, L.. Núcleo de Pesquisa em Ecologia; BrasilFil: Ferragut, C.. Núcleo de Pesquisa em Ecologia; BrasilFil: Becker, V.. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte; BrasilFil: Salazar, A.. Laboratorio de Calidad de Agua de Embalses; PerúFil: Hernandez, E.. Universidad de Antioquia; ColombiaFil: Palacios, H.. Universidad de Antioquia; ColombiaFil: Cano, M.. Laboratorio Calidad de Agua de AMSA; GuatemalaFil: Cremella, B.. University of Sherbrooke; CanadáFil: Pérez, M.. Universidad de la República. Facultad de Ciencias; UruguayFil: Somma, A.. Universidad de la República. Facultad de Ciencias; UruguayFil: Vincent, W.. Laval University; CanadáFil: Antoniades, D.. Laval University; CanadáFil: Aubriot, Luis. Universidad de la República. Facultad de Ciencias; Uruguay11th International Conference of Toxic CyanobacteriaCracoviaPoloniaJagiellonian UniversityAdam Mickiewicz University in Pozna