Análisis de la influencia de la distribución online en la evolución del sistema de distribución turístico

El objetivo general de este trabajo es profundizar en el conocimiento de los efectos ejercidos por la TIC en el sistema de distribución turístico y en la productividad de las empresas envueltas en el mismo, teniendo en cuenta la implicación del usuario turista como parte cada vez más importante del proceso productivo. Se analiza el efecto de la aplicación de la tecnología en el sistema de distribución turístico, en términos de eficiencia, de cambio de procesos, de acuerdos y de relaciones de poder entre los miembros, así como la productividad de las operaciones llevadas a cabo por las empresas turísticas, afectada por el importante y activo papel que toma el consumidor en la cadena producción-distribución del producto-servicio turístico.Adicionalmente, el sistema de distribución del sector turístico ha sido uno de los puntos que ha llamado enormemente la atención dentro de la industria turística (Pearce y Schott, 2005). Especialmente, porque los canales de distribución sirven cono parte de las variables del marketing mix que proporciona a los consumidores el producto, así como de nexo entre los proveedores y sus consumidores, haciendo de puente entre la oferta y la demanda (Gartner y Bachri, 1994). Además la estructura del sistema de distribución del sector turístico, no sólo afecta a las decisiones de los consumidores, sino que también incide en los distintos modelos de negocio y en las estrategias de marketing a adoptar por los distintos participantes (Pearce et al., 2004), por tanto el siguiente uno de los objetivos es analizar precisamente este cambio a nivel de comportamiento del consumidor, fundamentalmente online.Este análisis pretende con los resultados obtenidos, llegar a implicación que sean útiles para la gestión de empresas del sector turístico, tanto a nivel interno de costes y organización como a nivel externo, en relación a su trato con el consumidor.<br /

Influence of controlled deficit irrigation on tomato functional value

[EN] The effect of controlled deficit irrigation (CDI) on the accumulation of carotenoids, polyphenols and l-ascorbic acid was studied in conventional and high lycopene tomato cultivars. Plants were initially irrigated to cover 100%ETc and after the fruit set phase, the dose was reduced to 75% or 50% of ETc. CDI had no significant effect on the accumulation of carotenoids, while it increased the levels of the hydroxycinnamic acids chlorogenic and ferulic acids, the flavonoid rutin and l-ascorbic acid. Nevertheless, there were important interactions and this effect was highly dependent on the year and site of cultivation. Certain growing areas would be more favorable to supply high quality markets, and, fortunately, CDI would maximize polyphenol (100¿75%ETc) and l-ascorbic acid (100¿50%ETc) in these areas. A combination of the best genotype and growing area with CDI would offer high quality products, preserving a scarce resource: water.This research was partially funded by the Spanish national government (INIA, RTA2011-00062), an Spanish regional government (Gobierno de Extremadura, GRU-10130) and the European Union (FEDER funds)Martí-Renau, R.; Valcárcel-Germes, M.; Leiva-Brondo, M.; Lahoz, I.; Campillo, C.; Rosello Ripolles, S.; Cebolla Cornejo, J. (2018). Influence of controlled deficit irrigation on tomato functional value. Food Chemistry. 252:250-257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2018.01.098S25025725

The mutational landscape of human olfactory G protein-coupled receptors

Olfactory receptors (ORs) constitute a large family of sensory proteins that enable us to recognize a wide range of chemical volatiles in the environment. By contrast to the extensive information about human olfactory thresholds for thousands of odorants, studies of the genetic influence on olfaction are limited to a few examples. To annotate on a broad scale the impact of mutations at the structural level, here we analyzed a compendium of 119,069 natural variants in human ORs collected from the public domain. OR mutations were categorized depending on their genomic and protein contexts, as well as their frequency of occurrence in several human populations. Functional interpretation of the natural changes was estimated from the increasing knowledge of the structure and function of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) family, to which ORs belong. Our analysis reveals an extraordinary diversity of natural variations in the olfactory gene repertoire between individuals and populations, with a significant number of changes occurring at the structurally conserved regions. A particular attention is paid to mutations in positions linked to the conserved GPCR activation mechanism that could imply phenotypic variation in the olfactory perception. An interactive web application (hORMdb, Human Olfactory Receptor Mutation Database) was developed for the management and visualization of this mutational dataset. We performed topological annotations and population analysis of natural variants of human olfactory receptors and provide an interactive application to explore human OR mutation data. We envisage that the utility of this information will increase as the amount of available pharmacological data for these receptors grow. This effort, together with ongoing research in the study of genetic changes in other sensory receptors could shape an emerging sensegenomics field of knowledge, which should be considered by food and cosmetic consumer product manufacturers for the benefit of the general population. https://doi.org/10.13039/5011000110335https://doi.org/10.13039/5011000110333https://doi.org/10.13039/5011000110336https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033_https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033_https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033$https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033ahttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033Ahttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033ghttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033ehttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033nhttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033chttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033ihttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033ahttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033Ehttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033shttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033thttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033ahttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033thttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033ahttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033lhttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033dhttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033ehttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033Ihttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033nhttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033vhttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033ehttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033shttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033thttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033ihttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033ghttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033ahttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033chttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033ihttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033óhttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033nhttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033$https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033dhttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033$https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033fhttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033 https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033Phttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033Ihttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033Dhttps://doi.org/10.13039/5011000110332https://doi.org/10.13039/5011000110330https://doi.org/10.13039/5011000110331https://doi.org/10.13039/5011000110339https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033-https://doi.org/10.13039/5011000110331https://doi.org/10.13039/5011000110330https://doi.org/10.13039/5011000110339https://doi.org/10.13039/5011000110332https://doi.org/10.13039/5011000110334https://doi.org/10.13039/5011000110330https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033Rhttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033Bhttps://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033-https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011033Ihttps://doi.org/10.13039/5011000110330https://doi.org/10.13039/5011000110330https://doi.org/10.13039/50110001103

Bioactive organic inorganic poly(CLMA-co-HEA)/silica nanocomposites

[EN] A series of novel poly(CLMA-co-HEA)/silica nanocomposites is synthesized from caprolactone 2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl ester (CLMA) and 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA) as organic comonomers and the simultaneous sol-gel polymerization of tetraethyloxysilane (TEOS) as silica precursor, in different mass ratios up to a 30 wt% of silica. The nanocomposites are characterized as to their mechanical and thermal properties, water sorption, bioactivity and biocompatibility, reflecting the effect on the organic matrix provided by the silica network formation. The nanocomposites nucleate the growth of hydroxyapatite (HAp) on their surfaces when immersed in the simulated body fluid of the composition used in this work. Proliferation of the MC3T3 osteoblast-like cells on the materials was assessed with the MTS assay showing their biocompatibility. Immunocytochemistry reveals osteocalcin and type I collagen production, indicating that osteoblast differentiation was promoted by the materials, and calcium deposition was confirmed by von Kossa staining. The results indicate that these poly(CLMA-co-HEA)/silica nanocomposites could be a promising biomaterial for bone tissue engineering.The authors acknowledge the financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through projects DPI2010-20399-c04-03 and MAT2011-28791-C03-02. AJCF acknowledges support through Torres Quevedo grant PTQ08-02-06321. GGF and MMP acknowledge support of CIBER-BBN initiative, financed by Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Spain) with the assistance of the European Regional Development Fund.Ivashchenko, S.; Escobar Ivirico, JL.; García Cruz, DM.; Campillo Fernández, AJ.; Gallego Ferrer, G.; Monleón Pradas, M. (2015). Bioactive organic inorganic poly(CLMA-co-HEA)/silica nanocomposites. Journal of Biomaterials Applications. 29(8):1096-1108. https://doi.org/10.1177/0885328214554816S10961108298Ivirico, J. L. E., Martínez, E. C., Sánchez, M. S., Criado, I. M., Ribelles, J. L. G., & Pradas, M. M. (2007). Structure and properties of methacrylate-endcapped caprolactone networks with modulated water uptake for biomedical applications. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part B: Applied Biomaterials, 83B(1), 266-275. doi:10.1002/jbm.b.30792Ivirico, J. L. E., Salmerón-Sánchez, M., Ribelles, J. L. G., Pradas, M. M., Soria, J. M., Gomes, M. E., … Mano, J. F. (2009). Proliferation and differentiation of goat bone marrow stromal cells in 3D scaffolds with tunable hydrophilicity. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part B: Applied Biomaterials, 91B(1), 277-286. doi:10.1002/jbm.b.31400Escobar Ivirico, J. L., Salmerón Sánchez, M., Sabater i Serra, R., Meseguer Dueñas, J. M., Gómez Ribelles, J. L., & Monleón Pradas, M. (2006). Structure and Properties of Poly(ɛ-caprolactone) Networks with Modulated Water Uptake. Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics, 207(23), 2195-2205. doi:10.1002/macp.200600399Boxberg, Y., Schnabelrauch, M., Vogt, S., Sánchez, M. S., Ferrer, G. G., Pradas, M. M., & Antón, J. S. (2006). Effect of hydrophilicity on the properties of a degradable polylactide. Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics, 44(4), 656-664. doi:10.1002/polb.20723Salgado, A. J., Coutinho, O. P., & Reis, R. L. (2004). Bone Tissue Engineering: State of the Art and Future Trends. Macromolecular Bioscience, 4(8), 743-765. doi:10.1002/mabi.200400026Sprio, S., Ruffini, A., Valentini, F., D’Alessandro, T., Sandri, M., Panseri, S., & Tampieri, A. (2011). Biomimesis and biomorphic transformations: New concepts applied to bone regeneration. Journal of Biotechnology, 156(4), 347-355. doi:10.1016/j.jbiotec.2011.07.034Barone, D. T.-J., Raquez, J.-M., & Dubois, P. (2011). Bone-guided regeneration: from inert biomaterials to bioactive polymer (nano)composites. Polymers for Advanced Technologies, 22(5), 463-475. doi:10.1002/pat.1845Jones, J. R. (2009). New trends in bioactive scaffolds: The importance of nanostructure. Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 29(7), 1275-1281. doi:10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2008.08.003Paital, S. R., & Dahotre, N. B. (2009). Calcium phosphate coatings for bio-implant applications: Materials, performance factors, and methodologies. Materials Science and Engineering: R: Reports, 66(1-3), 1-70. doi:10.1016/j.mser.2009.05.001Arcos, D., & Vallet-Regí, M. (2010). Sol–gel silica-based biomaterials and bone tissue regeneration. Acta Biomaterialia, 6(8), 2874-2888. doi:10.1016/j.actbio.2010.02.012Boccaccini, A. R., Erol, M., Stark, W. J., Mohn, D., Hong, Z., & Mano, J. F. (2010). Polymer/bioactive glass nanocomposites for biomedical applications: A review. Composites Science and Technology, 70(13), 1764-1776. doi:10.1016/j.compscitech.2010.06.002Hanemann, T., & Szabó, D. V. (2010). Polymer-Nanoparticle Composites: From Synthesis to Modern Applications. Materials, 3(6), 3468-3517. doi:10.3390/ma3063468Pantaleón, R., & González-Benito, J. (2010). Structure and thermostability of PMMA in PMMA/silica nanocomposites: Effect of high-energy ball milling and the amount of the nanofiller. Polymer Composites, 31(9), 1585-1592. doi:10.1002/pc.20946Bera, O., Pilić, B., Pavličević, J., Jovičić, M., Holló, B., Szécsényi, K. M., & Špirkova, M. (2011). Preparation and thermal properties of polystyrene/silica nanocomposites. Thermochimica Acta, 515(1-2), 1-5. doi:10.1016/j.tca.2010.12.006Yan, S., Yin, J., Cui, L., Yang, Y., & Chen, X. (2011). Apatite-forming ability of bioactive poly(l-lactic acid)/grafted silica nanocomposites in simulated body fluid. Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, 86(1), 218-224. doi:10.1016/j.colsurfb.2011.04.004Zhang, Z.-G., Li, Z.-H., Mao, X.-Z., & Wang, W.-C. (2011). Advances in bone repair with nanobiomaterials: mini-review. Cytotechnology, 63(5), 437-443. doi:10.1007/s10616-011-9367-4Salinas, A. J., Esbrit, P., & Vallet-Regí, M. (2013). A tissue engineering approach based on the use of bioceramics for bone repair. Biomater. Sci., 1(1), 40-51. doi:10.1039/c2bm00071gIzquierdo-Barba, I., Salinas, A. J., & Vallet-Regí, M. (2013). Bioactive Glasses: From Macro to Nano. International Journal of Applied Glass Science, 4(2), 149-161. doi:10.1111/ijag.12028Hajji, P., David, L., Gerard, J. F., Pascault, J. P., & Vigier, G. (1999). Synthesis, structure, and morphology of polymer-silica hybrid nanocomposites based on hydroxyethyl methacrylate. Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics, 37(22), 3172-3187. doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-0488(19991115)37:223.0.co;2-rCatauro, M., Raucci, M. G., De Gaetano, F., & Marotta, A. (2003). Journal of Materials Science, 38(14), 3097-3102. doi:10.1023/a:1024773113001Catauro, M., Raucci, M. G., de Gaetano, F., Buri, A., Marotta, A., & Ambrosio, L. (2004). Sol–gel synthesis, structure and bioactivity of Polycaprolactone/CaO • SiO2hybrid material. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine, 15(9), 991-995. doi:10.1023/b:jmsm.0000042684.13247.38Nie, K., Pang, W., Wang, Y., Lu, F., & Zhu, Q. (2005). Effects of specific bonding interactions in poly(ɛ-caprolactone)/silica hybrid materials on optical transparency and melting behavior. Materials Letters, 59(11), 1325-1328. doi:10.1016/j.matlet.2004.12.034Zou, H., Wu, S., & Shen, J. (2008). Polymer/Silica Nanocomposites: Preparation, Characterization, Properties, and Applications. Chemical Reviews, 108(9), 3893-3957. doi:10.1021/cr068035qPoologasundarampillai, G., Ionescu, C., Tsigkou, O., Murugesan, M., Hill, R. G., Stevens, M. M., … Jones, J. R. (2010). Synthesis of bioactive class II poly(γ-glutamic acid)/silica hybrids for bone regeneration. Journal of Materials Chemistry, 20(40), 8952. doi:10.1039/c0jm00930jLee, E.-J., Teng, S.-H., Jang, T.-S., Wang, P., Yook, S.-W., Kim, H.-E., & Koh, Y.-H. (2010). Nanostructured poly(ε-caprolactone)–silica xerogel fibrous membrane for guided bone regeneration. Acta Biomaterialia, 6(9), 3557-3565. doi:10.1016/j.actbio.2010.03.022Vallés Lluch, A., Gallego Ferrer, G., & Monleón Pradas, M. (2009). Biomimetic apatite coating on P(EMA-co-HEA)/SiO2 hybrid nanocomposites. Polymer, 50(13), 2874-2884. doi:10.1016/j.polymer.2009.04.022Kawai, T., Ohtsuki, C., Kamitakahara, M., Hosoya, K., Tanihara, M., Miyazaki, T., … Konagaya, S. (2007). In vitro apatite formation on polyamide containing carboxyl groups modified with silanol groups. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine, 18(6), 1037-1042. doi:10.1007/s10856-006-0081-2Oliveira, A. (2003). Sodium silicate gel as a precursor for the in vitro nucleation and growth of a bone-like apatite coating in compact and porous polymeric structures. Biomaterials, 24(15), 2575-2584. doi:10.1016/s0142-9612(03)00060-7Rhee, S. H. (2003). Effect of Silica Content on the Bioactivity and Mechanical Properties of Poly(ε-Caprolactone)/Silica Hybrid containing Calcium Salt. Key Engineering Materials, 240-242, 187-190. doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/kem.240-242.187Kokubo, T. (2005). Design of bioactive bone substitutes based on biomineralization process. Materials Science and Engineering: C, 25(2), 97-104. doi:10.1016/j.msec.2005.01.002Rimer, J. D., Trofymluk, O., Navrotsky, A., Lobo, R. F., & Vlachos, D. G. (2007). Kinetic and Thermodynamic Studies of Silica Nanoparticle Dissolution. Chemistry of Materials, 19(17), 4189-4197. doi:10.1021/cm070708dHernández, J. C. R., Pradas, M. M., & Ribelles, J. L. G. (2008). Properties of poly(2-hydroxyethyl acrylate)-silica nanocomposites obtained by the sol–gel process. Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, 354(17), 1900-1908. doi:10.1016/j.jnoncrysol.2007.10.016Vallés-Lluch, A., Costa, E., Gallego Ferrer, G., Monleón Pradas, M., & Salmerón-Sánchez, M. (2010). Structure and biological response of polymer/silica nanocomposites prepared by sol–gel technique. Composites Science and Technology, 70(13), 1789-1795. doi:10.1016/j.compscitech.2010.07.008Vallés-Lluch, A., Rodríguez-Hernández, J. C., Ferrer, G. G., & Pradas, M. M. (2010). Synthesis and characterization of poly(EMA-co-HEA)/SiO2 nanohybrids. European Polymer Journal, 46(7), 1446-1455. doi:10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2010.04.010Vallés-Lluch, A., Gallego Ferrer, G., & Monleón Pradas, M. (2010). Effect of the silica content on the physico-chemical and relaxation properties of hybrid polymer/silica nanocomposites of P(EMA-co-HEA). European Polymer Journal, 46(5), 910-917. doi:10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2010.02.004Kokubo, T., & Takadama, H. (2006). How useful is SBF in predicting in vivo bone bioactivity? Biomaterials, 27(15), 2907-2915. doi:10.1016/j.biomaterials.2006.01.017Brinker, C. ., Keefer, K. ., Schaefer, D. ., & Ashley, C. . (1982). Sol-gel transition in simple silicates. Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, 48(1), 47-64. doi:10.1016/0022-3093(82)90245-9Anselme, K., Ponche, A., & Bigerelle, M. (2010). Relative influence of surface topography and surface chemistry on cell response to bone implant materials. Part 2: Biological aspects. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part H: Journal of Engineering in Medicine, 224(12), 1487-1507. doi:10.1243/09544119jeim901Palacio, M. L. B., & Bhushan, B. (2012). Bioadhesion: a review of concepts and applications. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 370(1967), 2321-2347. doi:10.1098/rsta.2011.0483Keselowsky, B. G., Collard, D. M., & Garcia, A. J. (2005). Integrin binding specificity regulates biomaterial surface chemistry effects on cell differentiation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 102(17), 5953-5957. doi:10.1073/pnas.0407356102Khatiwala, C. B., Peyton, S. R., & Putnam, A. J. (2006). Intrinsic mechanical properties of the extracellular matrix affect the behavior of pre-osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells. American Journal of Physiology-Cell Physiology, 290(6), C1640-C1650. doi:10.1152/ajpcell.00455.200

Hacia una mejor representación de la información y el conocimiento en las bibliotecas.

La investigación se realiza a partir de un diagnóstico aplicado a los técnicos y especialistas que laboran las salas de la Dirección de Gestión de Información Cientí­fica, (DGIC) de la Universidad de Camagí¼ey “Ignacio Agramonte y Loynaz”. Tiene la finalidad de mostrar la existencia de formas no tradicionales que permiten organizar y representar la información y el conocimiento en un ambiente electrónico, lo cual conlleva a un mejor desarrollo de habilidades informacionales en las bibliotecas. Durante el estudio se utilizaron métodos del nivel teórico como el análisis y la sí­ntesis, revisión documental y la inducción-deducción y técnicas empí­ricas como la encuesta. Se aprecia en la investigación la connotada evolución que ha tenido la organización de información y el conocimiento desde la antigí¼edad hasta la actualidad y el insuficiente conocimiento de las ontologí­as, topic maps y las bitácoras como herramientas para la recuperación de la información

Herramientas infoct para el fortalecimiento de los egresados de la carrera de ciencia de la información

La integración de las Tecnologí­as de la Información y la Comunicación como herramientas   en los procesos formativos están sufriendo un desarrollo vertiginoso y la educación no es una excepción. Se presenta una investigación efectuada en la Dirección de Gestión de Información Cientí­fica de la Universidad de Camagí¼ey “Ignacio Agramonte Loynaz, conjuntamente con el dpto. de Ciencia de la Información,     se propone una alternativa a partir de la articulación de la docencia, la investigación de los procesos que se encargan de garantizar la calidad efectiva de educación   en los egresados a los centros laborales de nuestro paí­s, acorde a las necesidades sociales del territorio teniendo en cuenta prioridades en el desempeño de sus funciones. Los métodos principales fueron la observación no participante y la entrevista no estructurada. Los  resultados están centrados en una propuesta de cursos para   diferentes   herramientas   que permite contribuir a la formación de conocimientos   prácticos básicos con utilización de las infontecnologí­a.   Se concluyó que los egresados     adquirieron conocimiento en los servicios de información,   creando habilidades en su propio beneficio y en el de la institución donde están insertado

La Gestión de las Entidades de Información en la Difusión de las Publicaciones Cientí­ficas

Las publicaciones cientí­ficas constituyen un canal principal de socialización de los resultados de investigación y fomentan el surgimiento de nuevos conocimientos. Los centros de Educación Superior necesitan de las publicaciones para su perfeccionamiento y desarrollo. La Universidad de Camagí¼ey cuenta con la Revista de Producción Animal que se edita en la Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. La presente investigación tiene como objetivo analizar esta revista para que pueda ser reconocida dentro del grupo II de las publicaciones cientí­ficas del Ministerio de Educación Superior. Se hace referencia de un estudio bibliométrico a que fue sometida, donde se midieron aspectos importantes Periodicidad, Tipologí­a documental de las citas, Distribución idiomática, Nivel de actualización de la bibliografí­a, Temáticas de investigación, Productividad de los autores, índice de colaboración, Género, Categorí­as académica y cientí­fica, Difusión cientí­fica, Cocitación de los autores así­ como su presencia en bibliotecas nacionales e internacionales y en bases de datos. Se tuvo en cuenta además las ví­as de intercambio con diferentes paí­ses e instituciones. Estos resultados han permitido identificar aspectos de mejora y crecimiento continuo y resaltar el papel del profesional de la información en la difusión y visibilidad del contenido cientí­fico de la comunidad universitaria

GPCRtm : An amino acid substitution matrix for the transmembrane region of class A G Protein-Coupled Receptors

Protein sequence alignments and database search methods use standard scoring matrices calculated from amino acid substitution frequencies in general sets of proteins. These general-purpose matrices are not optimal to align accurately sequences with marked compositional biases, such as hydrophobic transmembrane regions found in membrane proteins. In this work, an amino acid substitution matrix (GPCRtm) is calculated for the membrane spanning segments of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) rhodopsin family; one of the largest transmembrane protein family in humans with great importance in health and disease. The GPCRtm matrix reveals the amino acid compositional bias distinctive of the GPCR rhodopsin family and differs from other standard substitution matrices. These membrane receptors, as expected, are characterized by a high content of hydrophobic residues with regard to globular proteins. On the other hand, the presence of polar and charged residues is higher than in average membrane proteins, displaying high frequencies of replacement within themselves. Analysis of amino acid frequencies and values obtained from the GPCRtm matrix reveals patterns of residue replacements different from other standard substitution matrices. GPCRs prioritize the reactivity properties of the amino acids over their bulkiness in the transmembrane regions. A distinctive role is that charged and polar residues seem to evolve at different rates than other amino acids. This observation is related to the role of the transmembrane bundle in the binding of ligands, that in many cases involve electrostatic and hydrogen bond interactions. This new matrix can be useful in database search and for the construction of more accurate sequence alignments of GPCRs. The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12859-015-0639-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Procedimientos de la Calidad para los Servicios de Vigilancia Técnológica del Centro de Gestión de Información

En la actualidad la calidad se ha definido como una herramienta estratégica para la supervivencia de las organizaciones que brindan servicios, pero la mayorí­a de estas organizaciones carecen de procedimientos prácticos para implementar de forma eficaz la gestión de calidad. Los servicios de vigilancia tecnológica cobran importancia en el mundo. Para que una empresa se posicione en un buen lugar en el mercado una de las herramientas más fuertes es el conocimiento. La presente investigación se inscribe en la lí­nea relacionada con los procedimientos de calidad para el servicio de Vigilancia Tecnológica del Centro de Gestión de Información de la Universidad de Camagí¼ey, y tiene como objetivo diseñar los procedimientos de calidad de los servicios para la Sala de Vigilancia Tecnológica basado en las normas 9001:2008. El resultado muestra el procedimiento como instrumento para procesar información constituyendo una herramienta de gestión que posibilita la obtención de ventajas competitivas importantes en la institució

Integrin Linked Kinase (ILK) Downregulation as an Early Event During the Development of Metabolic Alterations in a Short-Term High Fat Diet Mice Model.

Background/Aims: Diabetes type 2, metabolic syndrome or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease are insulin resistance-related metabolic disorders, which lack a better prognosis before their full establishment. We studied the importance of the intracellular scaffold protein integrin linked kinaes (ILK) as a key modulator in the initial pathogenesis and the early progression of those insulin resistance- related disorders. Methods: Adult mice with a global transgenic downregulation of ILK expression (cKD-ILK) and littermates without that depletion (CT) were fed with either standard (STD) or high fat (HFD) diets during 2 and 6 weeks. Weights, blood glucose and other systemic biochemical parameters were determined in animals under fasting conditions and after glucose or pyruvate intraperitoneal injections to test their tolerance. In RNA or proteins extracted from insulin-sensitive tissues, we determined by reverse transcription?quantitative PCR and western blot the expression of ILK, metabolites transporters and other metabolism and inflammatory markers. Glucose uptake capacity was studied in freshly isolated tissues. Results: HFD feeding was able to early and progressively increase glycaemia, insulinemia, circulating glycerol, body weight gain, liver-mediated gluconeogenesis along this time lapse, but cKD-ILK have all these systemic misbalances exacerbated compared to CT in the same HFD time lapse. Interestingly, the tisular expression of ILK in HFD-fed CT was dramatically downregulated in white adipose tissue (WAT), skeletal muscle and liver at the same extent of the original ILK downregulation of cKD-ILK. We previously published that basal STD-fed cKD-ILK compared to basal STD-CT have different expression of glucose transporters GLUT4 in WAT and skeletal muscle. In the same STD-fed cKD-ILK, we observed here the increased expressions of hepatic GLUT2 and WAT pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-? and MCP-1. The administration of HFD exacerbated the expression changes in cKD-ILK of these and other markers related to the imbalanced metabolism observed, such as WAT lipolysis (HSL), hepatic gluconeogenesis (PCK-1) and glycerol transport (AQP9). Conclusion: ILK expression may be taken as a predictive determinant of metabolic disorders establishment, because its downregulation seems to correlate with the early imbalance of glucose and glycerol transport and the subsequent loss of systemic homeostasis of these metabolites.Instituto de Salud Carlos III-ISCIIIComunidad de MadridFondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional-FEDERInstituto Ramon y Cajal de Investigación Sanitária-IRYCISFundación Renal Iñigo Álvarez de Toledo-FRIA