Divergent selection for residual variance of litter size in rabbits

[EN] The aim of this study was to carry out a divergent selection experiment directly by residual variance of litter size in rabbits, as an observed trait, and to study the existence of a genetic component controlling the residual variance of litter size.[ES] El objetivo de este trabajo fue realizar una selección divergente directamente por varianza residual del tamaño de camada en conejos, como carácter observado, y estudiar si existe un componente genético que controle la varianza residual del tamaño de camada.Martínez Álvaro, M. (2013). Divergent selection for residual variance of litter size in rabbits. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/39952Archivo delegad

Relación de la dieta mediterránea con la prevención de la enfermedad del Alzheimer

El Alzheimer es uno de los trastornos neurodegenerativos más comunes relacionadas con la edad. En España se diagnostican 40.000 casos cada año, por lo que supone un grave problema de salud pública. Se caracteriza por una disminución progresiva de la función cognitiva y su causa es desconocida. Se ha relacionado con diversos factores de riesgo, entre ellos, la alimentación ha adquirido un papel significativo. Existe evidencia suficiente de los efectos beneficiosos que produce la dieta Mediterránea sobre la salud, y recientemente se ha observado cierta relación con un menor riesgo de sufrir demencia. En esta revisión bibliográfica se pretende recopilar información a partir de artículos de evidencia científica y examinar los efectos de este patrón dietético sobre la función cognitiva y la enfermedad de Alzheimer. La literatura científica obtenida considera la dieta Mediterránea como una de las más saludables y demuestra su relación con un menor riesgo de deterioro cognitivo. No existen demasiadas evidencias científicas, por lo que son necesarias más investigaciones y realizar más estudios de intervenciónGrado en Enfermerí

Innovación en al aprendizaje estadístico: inferencia Bayesiana amigable en el lenguaje de programación R

Este trabajo describe la implementación del programa runRabbit como herramienta de aprendizaje innovadora para enseñar inferencia Bayesiana aplicada a la genética cuantitativa. El programa, un software didáctico e interactivo diseñado con el lenguaje R, fue utilizado por estudiantes del Máster en Mejora Genética Animal de la Universidad Politécnica de Valencia para resolver un problema estadístico habitual. RunRabbit ayudó a los estudiantes a comprender mejor la materia, que expresaron una gran satisfacción con el programa y el deseo de utilizar la inferencia Bayesiana para resolver nuevos desafíos. A pesar del pequeño tamaño muestral de este estudio preliminar, los resultados sugieren que runRabbit es una herramienta de aprendizaje efectiva para mejorar la comprensión teórica de la inferencia Bayesiana. Para corroborar estos resultados, runRabbit será probado en grupos más grandes en futuros estudios. Su potencial se extiende más allá de la genética cuantitativa y podría aplicarse a cualquier ámbito que utilice estadística bayesiana

Prácticas de análisis estadístico de datos geoquímicos con el programa R

Son muchas las materias de carácter geológico como geoquímica, prospección geoquímica, petrología, recursos minerales, mineralogía ambiental, etc., donde el análisis estadístico de datos geoquímicos es una herramienta básica y necesaria. La toma de datos en el campo o en el laboratorio, el análisis, representación e interpretación de datos que proceden de un laboratorio analítico son tareas comunes en la toma de decisiones o explicación de procesos geoquímicos y petrogenéticos, detección de anomalías geoquímicas, procedencia de aguas, etc. En dichos estudios se suelen realizar análisis químicos de suelos, sedimentos y/o aguas, que incluyen más de una docena de elementos (variables) y varios puntos de muestreo (casos).Este trabajo está enmarcado dentro de la Red de Investigación en Docencia Universitaria (2899) y el Grupo de Innovación Tecnológico-Educativa (GITE-11013-UA: Petrología y Geoquímica) de la Universidad de Alicante

Muscle metabolism in two rabbit lines divergently selected for intramuscular fat

[EN] A divergent selection experiment for intramuscular fat (IMF) of Longissismus dorsi muscle at 9 wk of age was performed in rabbits. The objective of this work was to compare the lipid metabolism in muscles and fat tissues of the high-IMF and low-IMF lines. Lipogenic, catabolic and lipolytic activities were studied in two muscles with different oxidative patterns (Longissimus dorsi and Semimembranosus proprius) and in perirenal fat depot at two ages, 9 wk and 13 wk. In addition, adipocytes were characterized in perirenal fat. In the fifth generation, direct response to selection was 0.26 g of IMF/ 100 g of muscle. Lines showed differences in their lipogenic activities of muscles and fat tissues at 13 wk, but not at 9 wk. High-IMF line showed greater glucose-6-P dehydrogenase (G6PDH), malic enzyme (EM) and fatty acid synthase (FAS) activities in Longissimus dorsi than low- IMF line with probabilities P0 = 1.00, 0.93 and 0.90, respectively. Differences between lines were particularly great for G6PDH activity, representing 1.13 SD. High-IMF line also showed greater G6PDH and FAS activities in Semimembranosus proprius (P0 = 0.98 for G6PDH and 0.95 for FAS) and perirenal fat (P0 = 0.91 for G6PDH and 0.96 for FAS). However, in perirenal fat, EM activity was greater in the low-IMF line (P0 = 0.90). No differences between lines were found almost in any catabolic or lipolytic activities of muscles. Regarding adipocyte characteristics, high-IMF line showed larger adipocytes in perirenal fat depot (P0 = 0.97) tissue compared to the low-IMF line, but no differences between lines were observed in the number of adipocytes. This study cast light on the metabolic activities involved in the genetic differentiation on lipid deposition in rabbits. This study shows that lipogenic activities in muscles and fat tissues, in particular G6PDH in Longissimus dorsi, are involved in the lipid accumulation in muscle and adipose tissues.This work was supported by project AGL2014-55921-C2-01-P from the Spanish National Research Plan. M. Martinez-Alvaro acknowledges a FPI grant (BES-2012-052655) from the Economy Ministry of Spain. The authors thank Federico Pardo for his technical assistance.Martínez Álvaro, M.; Agha, SA.; Blasco Mateu, A.; Hernández, P. (2017). Muscle metabolism in two rabbit lines divergently selected for intramuscular fat. Journal of Animal Science. 95(6):2576-2584. https://doi.org/10.2527/jas2017.1371S2576258495

Using Mg/Ca ratios from the limpet Patella depressa Pennant, 1777 measured by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) to reconstruct paleoclimate

Measurement of the elemental composition of shells is increasingly emerging as an avenue for obtaining high-resolution insights into paleoclimate and past seasonality. Several studies have shown significant correlations between Mg/Ca ratios measured on shell carbonate and the sea surface temperature (SST) within which this carbonate was precipitated. However, other investigations have reported large variability in this relationship between species. Therefore, further studies, including taxa previously not considered are still required in order to validate these new species as suitable climate proxies. Here, we measured Mg/Ca ratios for limpet Patella depressa Pennant, 1777 samples live-collected in northern Spain for the first time. The elemental ratio was measured using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), a technique that significantly decreases the time required for sample preparation and increases the number of shells that can be analyzed. In this study, calibration-free LIBS (CF-LIBS) methods were applied to estimate molar concentrations of chemical elements on biogenic calcium carbonate. The Mg/Ca ratio evolution along the shell growth axis was compared with stable oxygen isotope (δ18O) profiles obtained from these same limpets and the SST at the place where the mollusk grew to determine if the sequences obtained correctly reflected environmental conditions during the life-span of the mollusk. The results showed a significant correlation between Mg/Ca ratio series and both δ18O profiles and SST, highlighting the paleoenvironmental and archaeological potential of LIBS analyses on this mollusk species that is frequently found in archaeological contexts in the western Europe.This research was performed as part of the projects HAR2016-75605-R, HAR2017-86262-P and PID2019-107270RB-C21/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, MINECO. During the development of this research A.G.E was funded by the Basque Country Postdoctoral Program through a postdoctoral grant (POS_2020_2_0032). This study has also been supported by the Prehistoric Research Consolidated Group of the Basque Country University (IT-1223-19), funded by the Basque Country Government. P.R. is funded by the Max Planck Society

Real-world evaluation of the tolerability to onabotulinum toxin A: The RETO study

Producción CientíficaOnabotulinumtoxin A (onabotA) has shown efficacy in chronic migraine (CM), with good tolerability and a low rate of adverse effects, most of them not severe. The aim of this study is to evaluate tolerability and adverse effects of onabotA in clinical practice and to analyze if there is a relationship between tolerability to treatment administration, adverse effects’ (AEs) occurrence and clinical response. We included patients with CM that received treatment with onabotA for the first time. Tolerability to treatment was evaluated by a 0–10 numeric rating scale (0: worst possible, 10: optimal tolerability). We assessed the presence of AEs by using a standardized questionnaire. Treatment response was based on the 50 and 75% responder rate between weeks 20 and 24, compared with the baseline, according to headache diaries. We analyzed whether the tolerability was associated with a higher frequency of AEs or a higher probability of clinical response. We included 105 patients, 87.7% female, with an age of 43.9 ± 10.7 years. Mean tolerability was 7.8/10 and 7.2/10 in the first and second onabotA administration, respectively. AEs were reported by (first-second) 71.4–68.6% patients. The percentage of patients with a 50% response was 56.3%. There was no association between tolerability and AEs’ occurrence or clinical response

Bovine host genome acts on rumen microbiome function linked to methane emissions

Our study provides substantial evidence that the host genome affects the comprehensive function of the microbiome in the rumen of bovines. Of 1,107/225/1,141 rumen microbial genera/metagenome assembled uncultured genomes (RUGs)/genes identified from whole metagenomics sequencing, 194/14/337 had significant host genomic effects (heritabilities ranging from 0.13 to 0.61), revealing that substantial variation of the microbiome is under host genomic control. We found 29/22/115 microbial genera/RUGs/genes host-genomically correlated (|0.59| to |0.93|) with emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane (CH(4)), highlighting the strength of a common host genomic control of specific microbial processes and CH(4). Only one of these microbial genes was directly involved in methanogenesis (cofG), whereas others were involved in providing substrates for archaea (e.g. bcd and pccB), important microbial interspecies communication mechanisms (ABC.PE.P), host-microbiome interaction (TSTA3) and genetic information processes (RP-L35). In our population, selection based on abundances of the 30 most informative microbial genes provided a mitigation potential of 17% of mean CH(4) emissions per generation, which is higher than for selection based on measured CH(4) using respiration chambers (13%), indicating the high potential of microbiome-driven breeding to cumulatively reduce CH(4) emissions and mitigate climate change

Different microbial genera drive methane emissions in beef cattle fed with two extreme diets

The ratio of forage to concentrate in cattle feeding has a major influence on the composition of the microbiota in the rumen and on the mass of methane produced. Using methane measurements and microbiota data from 26 cattle we aimed to investigate the relationships between microbial relative abundances and methane emissions, and identify potential biomarkers, in animals fed two extreme diets - a poor quality fresh cut grass diet (GRASS) or a high concentrate total mixed ration (TMR). Direct comparisons of the effects of such extreme diets on the composition of rumen microbiota have rarely been studied. Data were analyzed considering their multivariate and compositional nature. Diet had a relevant effect on methane yield of +10.6 g of methane/kg of dry matter intake for GRASS with respect to TMR, and on the centered log-ratio transformed abundance of 22 microbial genera. When predicting methane yield based on the abundance of 28 and 25 selected microbial genera in GRASS and TMR, respectively, we achieved cross-validation prediction accuracies of 66.5 ± 9% and 85 ± 8%. Only the abundance of Fibrobacter had a consistent negative association with methane yield in both diets, whereas most microbial genera were associated with methane yield in only one of the two diets. This study highlights the stark contrast in the microbiota controlling methane yield between animals fed a high concentrate diet, such as that found on intensive finishing units, and a low-quality grass forage that is often found in extensive grazing systems. This contrast must be taken into consideration when developing strategies to reduce methane emissions by manipulation of the rumen microbial composition