COMPARATIVE GENOMICS AND MOLECULAR EVOLUTION: NEW GENOMIC RESOURCES FOR THE HYMENOPTERA AND EVOLUTIONARY STUDIES ON THE GENES OF THE \u3ci\u3eNasonia vitripennis\u3c/i\u3e HOX COMPLEX.

Research on insects, the most successful group from all metazoans on earth, has important societal, as well as scientific benefits. Insects occupy a wide range of roles, which have an effect on human life either because the former pose serious threats to public health and commercial crops as well as in some cases represent the only way to propagate food resources. Despite their tremendous importance, insect genomics remained an uneven territory dominated by studies in the Drosophila group and the mosquitoes. This dissertation attempts to: 1) report on advances in the development and characterization of genomic tools for species of the order Hymenoptera in the hopes of helping to close this gap; and 2) to shed light on the organization, origin and evolution of genes of the Hox cluster in species of the order Hymenoptera through molecular evolution analyses that were possible thanks to the availability of the aforementioned genomic resources

Regulation of Mitosis by Nuclear Speckle Proteins

Mitosis is an intricate process that is monitored by multiple cell cycle regulator proteins. Errors in mitotic regulation have been linked to many types of cancer. Recently, evidence suggests an indirect regulation of mitosis by nuclear speckle proteins. Nuclear speckles are one of the multiple compartments found in the mammalian cell nucleus. They serve as assembly compartments for premRNA processing factors. Mass spectrometry analysis of purified nuclear speckles revealed 33 novel proteins including Son and TRAP150. The aim of my study was to determine how Son and TRAP150 can directly or indirectly impact mitosis. We and others recently reported that Son is required to maintain cell proliferation, as its depletion results in growth arrest in metaphase. We hypothesized that Son is required for the assembly of important mitotic structures such as the mitotic spindle and kinetochores. My results showed elongated and disorganized mitotic spindles in Son-depleted cells. In addition, my studies showed a novel localization pattern for Son in cytoplasmic foci following microtubule destabilization at metaphase. Son is important in the alternative splicing of transcripts that encode cell cycle regulators (Sharma et al., 2011). Therefore the mitotic defects seen are most likely explained by alternative splicing defects that occur after Son depletion. In addition, preliminary evidence from the Bubulya lab showed the mitotic defects in TRAP-150 depleted cells suggesting a role for TRAP150 in mitosis. Given that TRAP150 did not colocalize with mitotic structures during mitosis, we hypothesized that TRAP150 depletion alters mitosis by altering the transcripts of mitotic regulators. My results indicated that TRAP150 is important in controlling abundance of transcripts that encode mitotic regulators

The effect of the exchange rates on investment in Mexican manufacturing industry

This paper, considering revenue and cost exposure channels, investigates the effects of exchange rate behaviour on fixed capital investment in Mexican manufacturing sector over 1994-2002. We find that i) currency depreciation has a positive (negative) effect on fixed investment through the export (import) channel; ii) exchange rate volatility impacts mostly export oriented sectors; iii) the sensitivity of investment to exchange rate movements is stronger in non-durable goods sectors and industries with low mark-up ratios

Molecular evolution of aphids and their primary ( Buchnera sp.) and secondary endosymbionts: implications for the role of symbiosis in insect evolution.

Aphids maintain an obligate, endosymbiotic association with Buchnera sp., a bacterium closely related to Escherichia coli. Bacteria are housed in specialized cells of organ-like structures called bacteriomes in the hemocoel of the aphid and are maternally transmitted. Phylogenetic studies have shown that the association had a single origin, dated about 200-250 million years ago, and that host and endosymbiont lineages have evolved in parallel since then. However, the pattern of deepest branching within the aphid family remains unsolved, which thereby hampers tin appraisal of, for example, the role played by horizontal gene transfer in the early evolution of Buchnera. The main role of Buchnera in this association is the biosynthesis and provisioning of essential amino acids to its aphid host. Physiological and metabolic studies have recently substantiated such nutritional role. In addition, genetic studies of Buchnera from several aphids have shown additional modifications, such as strong genome reduction, high A+T content compared to free-living bacteria, differential evolutionary rates, a relative increase in the number of non-synonymous substitutions, and gene amplification mediated by plasmids. Symbiosis is an active process in insect evolution cis revealed by the intermediate values of the previous characteristics showed by secondary symbionts compared to free-living bacteria and Buchnera

Simulation of the hydraulic fracture process in two dimensions using a discrete element method

We introduce a discrete element simulation for the hydraulic fracture process in a petroleum well which takes into account the elastic behavior of the rock and the Mohr-Coulomb fracture criterium. The rock is modeled as an array of Voronoi polygons joined by elastic beams, which are submitted to tectonical stresses and the hydrostatic pressure of the fracturing fluid. The fluid pressure is treated like that of a hydraulic column. The simulation reproduces well the time and dimensions of real fracture processes. We also include an analysis of the fracturing fluid loss due to the permeability of the rock which is useful in an efficiency analysis of the treatment. The model is a first step for future applications in the petroleum industry

Estudio descriptivo de anomalias dentomaxilares en pacientes con labio leporino y fisura velopalatina "Ceanft".

45 p.En este estudio se analizaron las anomalías dentomaxilares presentes en 13 individuos portadores de labio leporino unilateral o bilateral complicado con fisura velopalatina; pertenecientes al centro de amigos del niño fisurado de la ciudad de Talca, VII región - Chile. Las edades de los pacientes fluctuaron entre los 6 y 11 años, los cuales no habían sido sometidos a tratamiento ortodoncico. No se considero el numero de intervenciones, la técnica, ni la edad en que estas fueron realizadas. El análisis se realizo por medio de modelos de estudio de cada uno de los pacientes y radiografías panorámicas. Los resultados de dicho análisis, muestran que en oclusión en sentido transversal, la anomalía mas frecuente es la mordida cruzada, particularmente a nivel de los caninos. Afectándose el lado fisurado en los casos unilaterales y ambos lados de la arcada dentaria en las fisuras bilaterales. En sentido sagital, en la mayoría de los individuos con fisura unilateral se encontró una relación de distoclusion a nivel canina y molar en el lado afectado por la fisura y en los casos bilaterales no se observo una clara tendencia. A nivel anterior, para ambos tipos de fisura la relación mas frecuente fue la mordida invertida. En sentido vertical las relaciones observadas fueron variadas. Con respecto a las distintas posiciones que adopta la premaxila, esta se observo en oclusión, mayormente descendida, retruida y desviada con respecto a la línea media. En relación con las alteraciones dentarias de numero, se encontró un alto número de agenesias en los dos tipos de fisuras, siendo el caso mas frecuente el incisivo lateral izquierdo en las fisuras bilaterales. En el estudio de las giroversiones se encontró que todos los casos bilaterales presentaron rotados ambos incisivos centrales y en los casos unilaterales se encontró mayormente afectado el incisivo lateral adyacente a la fisura. Los resultados del análisis de las discrepancias, mostraron que en la zona lateral del maxilar superior existe una falta de espacio en sentido anteroposterior para la erupción de caninos y premolares permanentes. Y en sentido transversal existen discrepancias en la zona de los caninos al comparar el lado sano con el lado de la fisura, en los casos unilaterales. Y en los casos bilaterales al comparar la distancia intercanina con valores prestablecidos para esta distancia

Effect of frictional heat dissipation on the loss of soil strength

In the present paper through a shear test on a fully saturated granular medium, simulated by the discrete element method, the effect of the heat produced by friction on the internal pore water pressure is explored. It is found that the dissipated energy is enough to increase the pore pressure and reduce the soil strength. In adiabatic and impermeable conditions the heat builds up quickly inside the shear band, and the softening is more pronounced. It is found as well that for real geological materials, heat conduction is not enough to reduce the pore pressure, and the softening prevails. Nevertheless, it is observed that the hydraulic conduction may mitigate or completely eliminate the temperature growth inside the shear band. This result provides new understanding on the thermodynamic factors involved in the onset of catastrophic landslides

Diseno de un sistema de planificacion y programacion de la produccion para una empresa fabricante de estructuras de aluminios y muebles

116 p.Aluminios del Maule S. A. es una empresa que se dedica, principalmente, a la manufactura de aluminios y muebles. El problema consiste en que la forma de planificar existente desde hace tiempo ya no es efectiva, lo que ha traído como consecuencias el incumplimiento en los plazos de entrega, uso ineficiente de los recursos y acumulación de inventario. La presente memoria busca dar polución a este problema mediante la realización de un Sistema de Planificación y Programación de la Producción, basada en la teoría existente, que propone para ello contar con un pronostico de demanda que sirva de base para realizar una planificación de largo plazo, orientada al uso eficiente de capacidad y recursos que permitan cumplir con la proyección, luego pasar a la planificación maestra que busca adecuar las ventas comprometidas con la capacidad planeada y el inventario existente, para culminar con una programación de la producción que logre ordenar los pedidos a realizar de modo de cumplir con los plazos establecidos, acompañado de un sistema de requerimiento de materiales que se preocupe de tener las materias primas e insumos necesarios para la programación realizada. Como fruto de esta memoria se desarrollaron procedimientos que permiten cubrir aproximadamente un 50% de la fabricación de productos, y un 80% de la línea de aluminios, que refieren a los productos estandarizados. Los procedimientos son: registro de ventas, pronostico de demanda, planificación agregada, maestra y detallada de la producción, y requerimiento de materiales. Esto se hizo con la ormalidad que plantea la norma ISO 9001:2000 para adecuarlos al proceso de certificación en el cual se encontraba la empresa. Además, se desarrollaron planillas de calculo, para que la ejecución de cada una de las actividades se haga de forma sistemática, capacitando al personal involucrado y creando instructivos de uso. La evaluación de alternativas de planificación agregada permitió encontrar una mejor opción de planeacion de capacidad, basada en dos niveles de producción anuales de acuerdo a la estacionalidad desprendida del diagnostico y pronostico de demanda lo cual mejoraría, si se implementa, la eficiencia actual de la línea productiva desde un 77% a un 83%, o sea, un incremento de un 13%. Se propuso también la creación de una célula especializada para los productos no estandarizados de la línea de aluminios