El contralor sanitario de los tambos practicado por el médico veterinario

Es conocido que, por intermedio de la leche, se trasmite una serie de bacterias causantes de enfermedades y de otros efectos perjudiciales para el hombre. Con estos conocimientos es de extrañarse sobremanera que no todos los países tengan un contralor eficiente para asegurar la propiedad inocua de la leche de expendio. Numerosos países se han limitado a realizar un contralor físico y químico del comercio de la leche. Es indudable que estos procedimientos son de importancia práctica, pero protejen, al consumidor únicamente, de los perjuicios comerciales, evitando la adquisición de leche adulterada, pero no lo protejen de la adquisición de leche perjudicial para la salud. Habría que deducir que los países que han decretado disposiciones sanitarias minuciosas sobre el comercio de la carne, adoptarían después, análogas disposiciones sobre el comercio de la leche.Academia Nacional de Agronomía y Veterinaria (ANAV

El contralor sanitario de los tambos practicado por el médico veterinario

Es conocido que, por intermedio de la leche, se trasmite una serie de bacterias causantes de enfermedades y de otros efectos perjudiciales para el hombre. Con estos conocimientos es de extrañarse sobremanera que no todos los países tengan un contralor eficiente para asegurar la propiedad inocua de la leche de expendio. Numerosos países se han limitado a realizar un contralor físico y químico del comercio de la leche. Es indudable que estos procedimientos son de importancia práctica, pero protejen, al consumidor únicamente, de los perjuicios comerciales, evitando la adquisición de leche adulterada, pero no lo protejen de la adquisición de leche perjudicial para la salud. Habría que deducir que los países que han decretado disposiciones sanitarias minuciosas sobre el comercio de la carne, adoptarían después, análogas disposiciones sobre el comercio de la leche.Academia Nacional de Agronomía y Veterinaria (ANAV

Observing the anisotropic optical response of the heavy-fermion compound UNi2Al3

The optical conductivity of heavy fermions can reveal fundamental properties of the charge carrier dynamics in these strongly correlated electron systems. Here we extend the conventional techniques of infrared optics on heavy fermions by measuring the transmission and phase shift of THz radiation that passes through a thin film of UNi2Al3, a material with hexagonal crystal structure. We deduce the optical conductivity in a previously not accessible frequency range, and furthermore we resolve the anisotropy of the optical response (parallel and perpendicular to the hexagonal planes). At frequencies around 7cm^-1, we find a strongly temperature-dependent and anisotropic optical conductivity that - surprisingly - roughly follows the dc behavior.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, accepted for proceedings of QCnP 200

Tungsten-niobium oxide bronzes: a bulk and surface structural study

[EN] Materials from the WO3-Nb2O5 system, presenting bronze-type crystal structures, display outstanding functional properties for several applications as thermoelectric materials, lithium-ion battery electrodes, or catalysts. In this work, a series of W-Nb-O oxide bronzes have been synthesized by the hydrothermal method (with Nb/(W + Nb) ratios in the range of 0-1). A combination of bulk and surface characterisation techniques has been applied to get further insights into: (i) the effect of thermal treatments on as-prepared materials and (ii) the surface chemical nature of W-Nb-O oxide bronzes. Thermal treatments promote the following structural changes: (i) loss of emerging long-range order and (ii) the elimination of NH4+ and H2O species from the structural channels of the as-synthesized materials. It has been observed that W-Nb-O bronzes with Nb at% of ca. 50% are able to retain a long-range order after heat-treatments, which is attributed to the presence of a Cs-0.5[W2.5Nb2.5O14]-type structure. Increasing amounts of Nb 5T in the materials (i) promote a phase transition to pseudocrystalline phases ordered along the c-axis; (ii) stabilize surface W s. species (elucidated by XPS); and (iii) increase the proportion of surface Lewis acid sites (as determined by the FTIR of adsorbed CO). Results suggest that pseudocrystalline oxides (with a Nb at% >= 50%) are closely related to NbO2 pentagonal bipyramid-containing structures. The stabilisation of Lewis acid sites on these pseudocrystalline materials leads to a higher yield of heavy compounds, at the expense of acrolein formation, in the gas-phase dehydration of glycerol.The authors would like to acknowledge the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades in Spain for the financial support (RTI2018-099668-B-C21 and SEV-2016-0683 projects), and the Electron Microscopy Service at Universitat Politecnica de Valencia for providing facilities and technical support. D. D. also thanks Severo Ochoa Excellence Program for his fellowship (SVP-2014-068669).Delgado-Muñoz, D.; Concepción Heydorn, P.; Trunschke, A.; López Nieto, JM. (2020). Tungsten-niobium oxide bronzes: a bulk and surface structural study. Dalton Transactions. 49(38):13282-13293. https://doi.org/10.1039/d0dt02058cS13282132934938D. J. M. Bevan and P.Hagenmuller , Non-Stoichiometric Compounds , Pergamon , 1973Quan, H., Gao, Y., & Wang, W. (2020). 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RISCI - Repeat Induced Sequence Changes Identifier: a comprehensive, comparative genomics-based, in silico subtractive hybridization pipeline to identify repeat induced sequence changes in closely related genomes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background -</p> <p>The availability of multiple whole genome sequences has facilitated <it>in silico </it>identification of fixed and polymorphic transposable elements (TE). Whereas polymorphic loci serve as makers for phylogenetic and forensic analysis, fixed species-specific transposon insertions, when compared to orthologous loci in other closely related species, may give insights into their evolutionary significance. Besides, TE insertions are not isolated events and are frequently associated with subtle sequence changes concurrent with insertion or post insertion. These include duplication of target site, 3' and 5' flank transduction, deletion of the target locus, 5' truncation or partial deletion and inversion of the transposon, and post insertion changes like inter or intra element recombination, disruption etc. Although such changes have been studied independently, no automated platform to identify differential transposon insertions and the associated array of sequence changes in genomes of the same or closely related species is available till date. To this end, we have designed RISCI - 'Repeat Induced Sequence Changes Identifier' - a comprehensive, comparative genomics-based, <it>in silico </it>subtractive hybridization pipeline to identify differential transposon insertions and associated sequence changes using specific alignment signatures, which may then be examined for their downstream effects.</p> <p>Results -</p> <p>We showcase the utility of RISCI by comparing full length and truncated L1HS and AluYa5 retrotransposons in the reference human genome with the chimpanzee genome and the alternate human assemblies (Celera and HuRef). Comparison of the reference human genome with alternate human assemblies using RISCI predicts 14 novel polymorphisms in full length L1HS, 24 in truncated L1HS and 140 novel polymorphisms in AluYa5 insertions, besides several insertion and post insertion changes. We present comparison with two previous studies to show that RISCI predictions are broadly in agreement with earlier reports. We also demonstrate its versatility by comparing various strains of <it>Mycobacterium tuberculosis </it>for IS 6100 insertion polymorphism.</p> <p>Conclusions -</p> <p>RISCI combines comparative genomics with subtractive hybridization, inferring changes only when exclusive to one of the two genomes being compared. The pipeline is generic and may be applied to most transposons and to any two or more genomes sharing high sequence similarity. Such comparisons, when performed on a larger scale, may pull out a few critical events, which may have seeded the divergence between the two species under comparison.</p

Genome-Wide Copy Number Variation in Epilepsy: Novel Susceptibility Loci in Idiopathic Generalized and Focal Epilepsies

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders in humans with a prevalence of 1% and a lifetime incidence of 3%. Several genes have been identified in rare autosomal dominant and severe sporadic forms of epilepsy, but the genetic cause is unknown in the vast majority of cases. Copy number variants (CNVs) are known to play an important role in the genetic etiology of many neurodevelopmental disorders, including intellectual disability (ID), autism, and schizophrenia. Genome-wide studies of copy number variation in epilepsy have not been performed. We have applied whole-genome oligonucleotide array comparative genomic hybridization to a cohort of 517 individuals with various idiopathic, non-lesional epilepsies. We detected one or more rare genic CNVs in 8.9% of affected individuals that are not present in 2,493 controls; five individuals had two rare CNVs. We identified CNVs in genes previously implicated in other neurodevelopmental disorders, including two deletions in AUTS2 and one deletion in CNTNAP2. Therefore, our findings indicate that rare CNVs are likely to contribute to a broad range of generalized and focal epilepsies. In addition, we find that 2.9% of patients carry deletions at 15q11.2, 15q13.3, or 16p13.11, genomic hotspots previously associated with ID, autism, or schizophrenia. In summary, our findings suggest common etiological factors for seemingly diverse diseases such as ID, autism, schizophrenia, and epilepsy

Genome-wide association analysis of genetic generalized epilepsies implicates susceptibility loci at 1q43, 2p16.1, 2q22.3 and 17q21.32

Genetic generalized epilepsies (GGEs) have a lifetime prevalence of 0.3% and account for 20-30% of all epilepsies. Despite their high heritability of 80%, the genetic factors predisposing to GGEs remain elusive. To identify susceptibility variants shared across common GGE syndromes, we carried out a two-stage genome-wide association study (GWAS) including 3020 patients with GGEs and 3954 controls of European ancestry. To dissect out syndrome-related variants, we also explored two distinct GGE subgroups comprising 1434 patients with genetic absence epilepsies (GAEs) and 1134 patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME). Joint Stage-1 and 2 analyses revealed genome-wide significant associations for GGEs at 2p16.1 (rs13026414, Pmeta = 2.5 × 10−9, OR[T] = 0.81) and 17q21.32 (rs72823592, Pmeta = 9.3 × 10−9, OR[A] = 0.77). The search for syndrome-related susceptibility alleles identified significant associations for GAEs at 2q22.3 (rs10496964, Pmeta = 9.1 × 10−9, OR[T] = 0.68) and at 1q43 for JME (rs12059546, Pmeta = 4.1 × 10−8, OR[G] = 1.42). Suggestive evidence for an association with GGEs was found in the region 2q24.3 (rs11890028, Pmeta = 4.0 × 10−6) nearby the SCN1A gene, which is currently the gene with the largest number of known epilepsy-related mutations. The associated regions harbor high-ranking candidate genes: CHRM3 at 1q43, VRK2 at 2p16.1, ZEB2 at 2q22.3, SCN1A at 2q24.3 and PNPO at 17q21.32. Further replication efforts are necessary to elucidate whether these positional candidate genes contribute to the heritability of the common GGE syndrome

16p11.2 600 kb Duplications confer risk for typical and atypical Rolandic epilepsy

Rolandic epilepsy (RE) is the most common idiopathic focal childhood epilepsy. Its molecular basis is largely unknown and a complex genetic etiology is assumed in the majority of affected individuals. The present study tested whether six large recurrent copy number variants at 1q21, 15q11.2, 15q13.3, 16p11.2, 16p13.11 and 22q11.2 previously associated with neurodevelopmental disorders also increase risk of RE. Our association analyses revealed a significant excess of the 600 kb genomic duplication at the 16p11.2 locus (chr16: 29.5-30.1 Mb) in 393 unrelated patients with typical (n = 339) and atypical (ARE; n = 54) RE compared with the prevalence in 65 046 European population controls (5/393 cases versus 32/65 046 controls; Fisher's exact test P = 2.83 × 10−6, odds ratio = 26.2, 95% confidence interval: 7.9-68.2). In contrast, the 16p11.2 duplication was not detected in 1738 European epilepsy patients with either temporal lobe epilepsy (n = 330) and genetic generalized epilepsies (n = 1408), suggesting a selective enrichment of the 16p11.2 duplication in idiopathic focal childhood epilepsies (Fisher's exact test P = 2.1 × 10−4). In a subsequent screen among children carrying the 16p11.2 600 kb rearrangement we identified three patients with RE-spectrum epilepsies in 117 duplication carriers (2.6%) but none in 202 carriers of the reciprocal deletion. Our results suggest that the 16p11.2 duplication represents a significant genetic risk factor for typical and atypical R

Young volcanism and related hydrothermal activity at 5°S on the slow-spreading southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge

The effect of volcanic activity on submarine hydrothermal systems has been well documented along fast- and intermediate-spreading centers but not from slow-spreading ridges. Indeed, volcanic eruptions are expected to be rare on slow-spreading axes. Here we report the presence of hydrothermal venting associated with extremely fresh lava flows at an elevated, apparently magmatically robust segment center on the slow-spreading southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge near 5°S. Three high-temperature vent fields have been recognized so far over a strike length of less than 2 km with two fields venting phase-separated, vapor-type fluids. Exit temperatures at one of the fields reach up to 407°C, at conditions of the critical point of seawater, the highest temperatures ever recorded from the seafloor. Fluid and vent field characteristics show a large variability between the vent fields, a variation that is not expected within such a limited area. We conclude from mineralogical investigations of hydrothermal precipitates that vent-fluid compositions have evolved recently from relatively oxidizing to more reducing conditions, a shift that could also be related to renewed magmatic activity in the area. Current high exit temperatures, reducing conditions, low silica contents, and high hydrogen contents in the fluids of two vent sites are consistent with a shallow magmatic source, probably related to a young volcanic eruption event nearby, in which basaltic magma is actively crystallizing. This is the first reported evidence for direct magmatic-hydrothermal interaction on a slow-spreading mid-ocean ridge

The impact of transposable element activity on therapeutically relevant human stem cells

Human stem cells harbor significant potential for basic and clinical translational research as well as regenerative medicine. Currently ~ 3000 adult and ~ 30 pluripotent stem cell-based, interventional clinical trials are ongoing worldwide, and numbers are increasing continuously. Although stem cells are promising cell sources to treat a wide range of human diseases, there are also concerns regarding potential risks associated with their clinical use, including genomic instability and tumorigenesis concerns. Thus, a deeper understanding of the factors and molecular mechanisms contributing to stem cell genome stability are a prerequisite to harnessing their therapeutic potential for degenerative diseases. Chemical and physical factors are known to influence the stability of stem cell genomes, together with random mutations and Copy Number Variants (CNVs) that accumulated in cultured human stem cells. Here we review the activity of endogenous transposable elements (TEs) in human multipotent and pluripotent stem cells, and the consequences of their mobility for genomic integrity and host gene expression. We describe transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms antagonizing the spread of TEs in the human genome, and highlight those that are more prevalent in multipotent and pluripotent stem cells. Notably, TEs do not only represent a source of mutations/CNVs in genomes, but are also often harnessed as tools to engineer the stem cell genome; thus, we also describe and discuss the most widely applied transposon-based tools and highlight the most relevant areas of their biomedical applications in stem cells. Taken together, this review will contribute to the assessment of the risk that endogenous TE activity and the application of genetically engineered TEs constitute for the biosafety of stem cells to be used for substitutive and regenerative cell therapiesS.R.H. and P.T.R. are funded by the Government of Spain (MINECO, RYC-2016- 21395 and SAF2015–71589-P [S.R.H.]; PEJ-2014-A-31985 and SAF2015–71589- P [P.T.R.]). GGS is supported by a grant from the Ministry of Health of the Federal Republic of Germany (FKZ2518FSB403)