Novel connection between newborn granule neurons and the hippocampal CA2 field

© 2014 Elsevier Inc. Newborn neurons are continuously added to the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) throughout life. Mature and immature granule neurons are believed to send their axonal projections exclusively to the hippocampal CA3 field. However, recent data point to an alternative trisynaptic circuit, involving a direct axonal projection from mature granule neurons to the CA2 field. Whether this circuit takes place only in mature granule neurons or, on the contrary, whether immature granule neurons also contribute to this novel connection is unknown. We used various retroviral vectors to show that immature granule neurons send axonal processes to and establish synaptic contacts with CA2 pyramidal neurons and that axonal growth follows a similar time course to that described for CA3 innervation. In addition, we provide experimental evidence demonstrating that the pathway connecting newborn granule neurons and the CA2 field can be modulated by physiological and deleterious stimuli.Spanish Ministry of Health (SAF 2006-02424, BFU-2008-03980, BFU-2010-21507), the Comunidad de Madrid (SAL/0202/2006), the Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red sobre Enfermedades Neurodegenerativas (CIBERNED, ISCIII) (CB401), and the Fundación R. ArecesPeer Reviewe

Volatile organic compounds and consumer preference for meat from suckling goat kids raised with natural or replacers milk

Most of European Union goats are slaughtered with carcase weights between 5 kg and 11 kg. Some farmers rear kids with milk replacers to produce cheese with the dams’ milk. The aim of this experiment was to study the volatile compounds (VOCs) of meat of suckling light kids reared with natural milk or milk replacers and to study the influence of consumers’ psychographic characteristics on the sensory preference for meat. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was performed to identify the VOCs and consumers evaluated the flavour, juiciness and overall acceptability. Thirty-five VOCs were detected and 44.3%, 25.1%, 6.9% and 2.3%, were aldehydes, hydrocarbons, ketones and alcohols, respectively. The influence of the rearing system on VOCs clearly depended on the breed. The use of milk replacers did not affect the percentage of linear aldehydes compared to the use of natural milk. However, the major aldehyde, hexanal (34.8%), was related to the use of natural milk and correlated positively with both the flavour (r = 0.21) and overall acceptability (r = 0.24). On the other hand, hydrocarbons such as hexane were related to MR, and 2-methyl-pentane and 3-methyl pentane were correlated with the acceptability of flavour (r = −0.22 and −0.25, respectively) and with the overall acceptability (r = −0.21 and −0.24). The 2-penthyl furan and 2-ethyl-1-hexanol were correlated with the overall acceptability (r = −0.22 and −0.22, respectively). Therefore, the acceptability of meat from suckling kids fed natural milk was greater for older consumers and people with a moderate consumption of meat.Unión Europea, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO). [RTA2012-0023-C03]; CYTED [116RT0503

El Instituto Torroja a lo largo de su historia y la investigación en materiales vítreos y cerámicos

Publicado en: Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Cerámica y Vidrio, 44(2): 131-134 (2005).[ES] El Instituto de Ciencias de la Construcción Eduardo Torroja (IETcc) desde su fundación no sólo ha realizado a lo largo de su ya larga historia investigaciones y valiosas aportaciones científicas y técnicas en el campo de los materiales cerámicos y vidrios, sino que además fue uno de los principales fundadores de la actual Sociedad Española de Cerámica y Vidrio (SECV) con la destacada participación de D. Francisco Arredondo y Verdú. En los últimos once años esta línea de investigación se ha visto reforzada con la creación del Grupo y Laboratorio de Materiales Vítreos y Cerámicos, por lo que se realiza una revisión de la relación de este centro con este tipo de materiales, recordándose los investigadores y publicaciones que más destacaron en este campo. Se realiza finalmente un análisis de la situación actual y de las perspectivas de I+D+i en este tipo de materiales de construcción, haciendo especial énfasis en sus aplicaciones en fachadas ventiladas y del factor dinamizador de la investigación científica que implicará el reto tecnológico de la aplicación de plaquetas cerámicas en este tipo de fachadas.[EN] Ever since its inception and throughout its history, the Eduardo Torroja Institute for Construction Science of the CSIC (IETcc, CSIC) has conducted research in and made valuable scientific and technical contributions to the area of ceramic and glassy materials, and played a key role in the founding of the present Spanish Ceramic and Glass Society (SECV), under the leadership of Francisco Arredondo y Verdú. The creation in recent years of the Glassy and Ceramic Materials Group and Laboratory has reinforced this line of research. The present paper reviews the effort deployed by the Institute in connection with this type of materials, with a tribute to some of the most prominent publications in the field and their authors. Finally, it has been carried out a discussion of the nowadays situation and future prospects onf R+D+I in this type of construction materials, giving emphasis into the uses in vent façades, as well as the dynamic factor over the scientific research implied from the technological challenge of ceramic tiles in this constructive systems.Peer reviewe

DNA damage response-related alterations define the genetic background of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and chromosomal gains

[EN]The presence of chromosomal gains other than trisomy 12 suggesting a hyperdiploid karyotype is extremely rare in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and is associated with a dismal prognosis. However, the genetic mechanisms and mutational background of these patients have not been fully explored. To improve our understanding of the genetic underpinnings of this subgroup of CLL, seven CLL patients with several chromosomal gains were sequenced using a next-generation sequencing (NGS)-targeted approach. The mutational status of 54 genes was evaluated using a custom-designed gene panel including recurrent mutated genes observed in CLL and widely associated with CLL pathogenesis. A total of 21 mutations were detected; TP53 (42.8%), ATM (28.5%), SF3B1 (28.5%), and BRAF (28.5%) were the most recurrently mutated genes. Of these mutations, 61.9% were detected in genes previously associated with a poor prognosis in CLL. Interestingly, five of the seven patients exhibited alterations in TP53 or ATM (deletion and/or mutation), genes involved in the DNA damage response (DDR), which could be related to a high genetic instability in this subgroup of patients. In conclusion, CLL patients with several chromosomal gains exhibit high genetic instability, with mutations in CLL driver genes and high-risk genetic alterations involving ATM and/or TP53 genes

Thermal behavior of calafate (Berberis buxifolia) seeds

Low temperature is the most important factor limiting the distribution of plants. In this study the low temperature thermal behavior of calafate seeds was analyzed by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), and a vibrational characterization of their different components was conducted by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). In cold-acclimated plants, such as calafate, the total percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids in their seeds is significantly higher than that of saturated fatty acids. Successive freezing-thawing cycles lead to increased formation of linoleic (LA) and linolenic (LNA) a-crystals. This process would barely modify the phase-transition temperature of the lipid membrane but would lead to an increase in the membrane fluidity (LNA would make the cell membranes more fluid during seed development). It seems that processes in membranes rather than in the glassy cytoplasm may determine the cooling resistance

Irrigation of Myrtus communis plants with reclaimed water: Morphological and physiological responses to different levels of salinity

The influence of irrigation with different sources of reclaimed water on physiological and morphological changes in Myrtus communis plants was investigated to evaluate their adaptability to such conditions. M. communis plants, growing in a growth chamber, were subjected to four irrigation treatments over 4 months (120 d): a control [tap water (0.8 dS m–1), leaching 10% (v/v) of the applied water] and three reclaimed water irrigation treatments, namely 1.5 dS m–1 leaching 25% (v/v) of the applied water (RW1), 4.0 dS m–1 leaching 40% (v/v) of the applied water (RW2), and 8.0 dS m–1 leaching 55% (v/v) of the applied water (RW3). After treatment, all plants were irrigated with tap water, as for the control plants, for a further 2 months (60 d). At the end of the first period (4 months), none of the myrtle plants showed any adverse change in biomass and the average total dry weight (DW) increased by 53% in treatment RW2. However, at the end of the treatment and recovery period (180 d), accumulations of Cl– ions, and especially Na+ ions, negatively affected the growth of all RW3 plants. Plants irrigated with all three reclaimed water samples had increased difficulty in taking-up water from the substrate (i.e., they had lower leaf water potential and relative water content values). RW2 plants showed a better response in their gas exchange parameters. The use of reclaimed water decreased leaf K+/Na+ and Ca2+/Na+ ratios, but no chlorosis or necrosis were observed. The three reclaimed water samples had different effects on the myrtle plants depending on the specific chemical properties of the water. Leaching was found to be important to minimise the negative effects of salinity in the irrigation water. © 2014 Journal of Horticultural Science & Biotechnology. All rights reserved.Peer Reviewe

Valorisation of ilmenite mud waste in the manufacture of commercial ceramic

This paper reports the results of a study focused on the production of ceramic tiles from ilmenite mud (MUD), a waste generated by the industry devoted to the TiO2 pigment production. Ceramic tiles were produced from mixtures of a commercial red stoneware mixture (RSM) with different concentrations of mud (3, 5, 7, 10, 30 and 50 wt.%). The samples were sintered to simulate a fast-firing process. The sintering behaviour of the fired samples was evaluated according to ISO methodologies by linear shrinkage, water absorption and porosity measurements. Both green powder and fired samples were characterised by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC/TG), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and bending strength measurements. Moreover, since this activity is a NORM (Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material) industry, the radionuclides activity concentrations were measured by both gamma and alpha spectrometry techniques. Finally, the TCLP leaching test (Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure, USEPA) was performed to assess the risks of the use of undissolved mud tiles from an environmental perspective. The results obtained demonstrated that ilmenite mud can be successfully valorisated in the manufacture of red stoneware ceramic bodies, with even better technological properties than commercial ones. The addition of mud as additive (from 3% to 10%) had a beneficial effect to the sintering processes, improving the bending strength (up to 15%) and reducing both apparent porosity and water absorption (up to 50%).This research has been partially supported by the Government of Andalusiás Project “Characterization and modelling of the phosphogypsum stacks from Huelva for their environmental management and control” (Ref.: RNM-6300) and by National Institution of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation of the Republic of Ecuador – (SENESCYT for its acronym in Spanish), Prometeo Project. Dr. M.I. Martín expresses her gratitude for the contract JAE-Doc_08-00032 to the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), co-financed by the European Social Fund Operational Programme 2007–2013 Adaptability and Employment Multiregional.Peer reviewe

Teaching and Learning Physics with Smartphones

Innovación EducativaThe use of mobile technologies is reshaping how to teach and learn. In this paper the authors describe their research on the use of these technologies to teach physics. On the one hand they develop mobile applications to complement the traditional learning and to help students learn anytime and anywhere. The use of these applications has proved to have very positive influence on the students’ engagement. On the other hand, they use smartphones as measurement devices in physics experiments. This opens the possibility of designing and developing low cost laboratories where expensive material can be substituted by smartphones. The smartphones’ sensors are reliable and accurate enough to permit good measurements. However, as it is shown with some examples, special care must be taken here if one does not know how these apps used to access the sensors’ data are programmed

A Low Frequency of Losses in 11q Chromosome Is Associated with Better Outcome and Lower Rate of Genomic Mutations in Patients with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

[EN] To analyze the impact of the 11q deleted (11q-) cells in CLL patients on the time to first therapy (TFT) and overall survival (OS), 2,493 patients with CLL were studied. 242 patients (9.7%) had 11q-. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) studies showed a threshold of 40% of deleted cells to be optimal for showing that clinical differences in terms of TFT and OS within 11q-CLLs. In patients with >= 40% of losses in 11q (11q-H) (74%), the median TFT was 19 months compared with 44 months in CLL patients with <40% del(11q) (11q-L) (P<0.0001). In the multivariate analysis, only the presence of 11q-L, mutated IGHV status, early Binet stage and absence of extended lymphadenopathy were associated with longer TFT. Patients with 11q-H had an OS of 90 months, while in the 11q-L group the OS was not reached (P = 0.008). The absence of splenomegaly (P = 0.02), low LDH (P = 0.018) or beta 2M (P = 0.006), and the presence of 11q-L (P = 0.003) were associated with a longer OS. In addition, to detect the presence of mutations in the ATM, TP53, NOTCH1, SF3B1, MYD88, FBXW7, XPO1 and BIRC3 genes, a select cohort of CLL patients with losses in 11q was sequenced by next-generation sequencing of amplicons. Eighty % of CLLs with 11q-showed mutations and fewer patients with low frequencies of 11q-had mutations among genes examined (50% vs 94.1%, P = 0.023). In summary, CLL patients with <40% of 11q-had a long TFT and OS that could be associated with the presence of fewer mutated genes.European Commision (EC). Funding FP7/SP1/HEALTH. Project Code: 30624

Different Susceptibility to Neurodegeneration of Dorsal and Ventral Hippocampal Dentate Gyrus: A Study with Transgenic Mice Overexpressing GSK3β

Dorsal hippocampal regions are involved in memory and learning processes, while ventral areas are related to emotional and anxiety processes. Hippocampal dependent memory and behaviour alterations do not always come out in neurodegenerative diseases at the same time. In this study we have tested the hypothesis that dorsal and ventral dentate gyrus (DG) regions respond in a different manner to increased glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK3β) levels in GSK3β transgenic mice, a genetic model of neurodegeneration. Reactive astrocytosis indicate tissue stress in dorsal DG, while ventral area does not show that marker. These changes occurred with a significant reduction of total cell number and with a significantly higher level of cell death in dorsal area than in ventral one as measured by fractin-positive cells. Biochemistry analysis showed higher levels of phosphorylated GSK3β in those residues that inactivate the enzyme in hippocampal ventral areas compared with dorsal area suggesting that the observed susceptibility is in part due to different GSK3 regulation. Previous studies carried out with this animal model had demonstrated impairment in Morris Water Maze and Object recognition tests point out to dorsal hippocampal atrophy. Here, we show that two tests used to evaluate emotional status, the light–dark box and the novelty suppressed feeding test, suggest that GSK3β mice do not show any anxiety-related disorder. Thus, our results demonstrate that in vivo overexpression of GSK3β results in dorsal but not ventral hippocampal DG neurodegeneration and suggest that both areas do not behave in a similar manner in neurodegenerative processes