Endoglin-mediated angiogenic responses are regulated by its cytosolic domain

1 p.This work was supported by grants from Czech Science foundation GACR number 15-24015S, the Grant Agency of Charles University in Prague (1284214/C and 1158413/C), Charles University in Prague (SVV/2014/260064), European Regional Development Fund under the Innovative Economy Program of the European Union (grant coordinated by JCET-UJ, No POIG.01.01.02- 00-069/09), Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad of Spain (SAF2010-19222 and SAF2013-43421-R and SAF2010-1588), Junta de Castilla y Leon (GR100), Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER) and Red de Investigación Cooperativa en Enfermedades Renales (RD12/0021/0032; REDINREN). CIBERER and REDINREN are initiatives of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII) of Spain supported by FEDER funds. The Cardiovascular Phenotyping Unit of the University of Salamanca, including the telemetry equipment, was acquired with the support of the European Regional Development Funds (FEDER). Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (BES-2008-005550). The publication is co-financed by the European Social Fund and the state budget of the Czech Republic (Project No.CZ.1.07/2.3.00/30.0061).Peer reviewe

Identification of the electrical load by C-means from non-intrusive monitoring of electrical signals in non-residential buildings

Producción CientíficaLa acción combinada de diferentes equipos conectados a una instalación eléctrica es capaz de provocar cambios inesperados en el tipo de carga dentro de la instalación; estas variaciones de carga son responsables de algunas fallas eléctricas. En este artículo se presenta una metodología para clasificar e identificar los tipos de carga en entornos industriales. Las cantidades de energía (EPQ) y los valores actuales se utilizan para establecer índices con el fin de utilizarlos como características para un algoritmo C-means y realizar la clasificación de carga. La experimentación se realiza en un centro de salud recogiendo datos eléctricos en diferentes tableros de distribución eléctrica. Los resultados obtenidos del método de clasificación muestran variaciones en el comportamiento de la carga a lo largo del día. Además, algunas clases se pueden utilizar para reconocer equipos en la instalación eléctrica para su posterior inspección o detección de fallas

Mixed Ionic and Electronic Conducting Eutectogels for 3D-Printable Wearable Sensors and Bioelectrodes

Eutectogels are a new class of soft ion conductive materials that are attracting attention as an alternative to conventional hydrogels and costly ionic liquid gels to build wearable sensors and bioelectrodes. Herein, the first example of mixed ionic and electronic conductive eutectogels showing high adhesion, flexibility, nonvolatility, and reversible low-temperature gel transition for 3D printing manufacturing is reporting. The eutectogels consist of choline chloride/glycerol deep eutectic solvent, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): lignin sulfonate, and gelatin as the biocompatible polymer matrix. These soft materials are flexible and stretchable, show high ionic and electronic conductivities of 7.3 and 8.7 mS cm−1, respectively, and have high adhesion energy. Due to this unique combination of properties, they could be applied as strain sensors to precisely detect physical movements. Furthermore, these soft mixed ionic electronic conductors possess excellent capacity as conformal electrodes to record epidermal physiological signals, such as electrocardiograms and electromyograms, over a long time.M.L.P. and A.G. contributed equally to this work. This work was supported by Marie Sklodowska-Curie Research and Innovation Staff Exchanges (RISE) under the grant agreement No 823989 “IONBIKE.” The financial support received from CONICET and ANPCyT (Argentina) is also gratefully acknowledged. Thanks to the Flexible Electronic Department (FEL) of Ecole des Mines de Saint-Etienne (EMSE) for the combined mechanical/electrical characterization

Relationship between alcoholism addiction and periodontitis. An in vivo study using drinking-in-darkness protocol in rats.

Periodontal disease (PD) has been considered a probable risk factor for several systemic diseases. Among them, PD is presumed to be one of the possible etiologies of chronic illness of the central nervous system. In this context, poor oral health and PD is associated with substance abuse in humans. However, if periodontal lesions can produce addiction is unknown. This paper aims to evaluate the possibility that chronic periodontal injury (CPL) can cause ethanol binge intake in drink-in-darkness (DID) protocol in rats. In CPL group (n=10) experimental damage was done to the periodontal tissue of the second maxillary molar, the control group (n=9) received sham injury. Forty-three days after CPL the intake of ethanol was assessed using several concentrations in DID experiment. During the DID experiment, we observed significant differences between the binge-type consumption of ethanol at the lowest concentration of 10% (p=0.01). Differences in consumption of 20% ethanol are observed during a few days (p=0.04), and there are no differences in consumption at 40% concentration of ethanol (p=0.2). It is concluded that chronic periodontal lesion leads to alcoholism in Wistar rats

Ectopic overexpression of the cell wall invertase gene CIN1 leads to dehydration avoidance in tomato

Drought stress conditions modify source–sink relations, thereby influencing plant growth, adaptive responses, and consequently crop yield. Invertases are key metabolic enzymes regulating sink activity through the hydrolytic cleavage of sucrose into hexose monomers, thus playing a crucial role in plant growth and development. However, the physiological role of invertases during adaptation to abiotic stress conditions is not yet fully understood. Here it is shown that plant adaptation to drought stress can be markedly improved in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) by overexpression of the cell wall invertase (cwInv) gene CIN1 from Chenopodium rubrum. CIN1 overexpression limited stomatal conductance under normal watering regimes, leading to reduced water consumption during the drought period, while photosynthetic activity was maintained. This caused a strong increase in water use efficiency (up to 50%), markedly improving water stress adaptation through an efficient physiological strategy of dehydration avoidance. Drought stress strongly reduced cwInv activity and induced its proteinaceous inhibitor in the leaves of the wild-type plants. However, the CIN1-overexpressing plants registered 3- to 6-fold higher cwInv activity in all analysed conditions. Surprisingly, the enhanced invertase activity did not result in increased hexose concentrations due to the activation of the metabolic carbohydrate fluxes, as reflected by the maintenance of the activity of key enzymes of primary metabolism and increased levels of sugar-phosphate intermediates under water deprivation. The induced sink metabolism in the leaves explained the maintenance of photosynthetic activity, delayed senescence, and increased source activity under drought stress. Moreover, CIN1 plants also presented a better control of production of reactive oxygen species and sustained membrane protection. Those metabolic changes conferred by CIN1 overexpression were accompanied by increases in the concentrations of the senescence-delaying hormone trans-zeatin and decreases in the senescence-inducing ethylene precursor 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) in the leaves. Thus, cwInv critically functions at the integration point of metabolic, hormonal, and stress signals, providing a novel strategy to overcome drought-induced limitations to crop yield, without negatively affecting plant fitness under optimal growth conditions.FPA and co-workers are funded by the Spanish MICINN-FEDER (projects AT2009-0038 and AGL2011-27996) and the European Commission (ROOTOPOWER Contract # 289365). TR and FPA were jointly funded by the Spanish–Austrian bilateral project AT2009-0038. AA was supported by post-doctoral fellowships from the Fundación Séneca (Comunidad Autónoma de la Región de Murcia) and the FWF (Austrian Science Fund), and currently by the JAE DOC Programme

ROAD: Domestic Assistant and Rehabilitation Robot

This study introduces the concept design and analysis of a robotic system for the assistance and rehabilitation of disabled people. Based on the statistical data of the most common types of disabilities in Spain and other industrialized countries, the different tasks that the device must be able to perform have been determined. In this study, different robots for rehabilitation and assistance previously introduced have been reviewed. This survey is focused on those robots that assist with gait, balance and standing up. The structure of the ROAD robot presents various advantages over these robots, we discuss some of them. The performance of the proposed architecture is analyzed when it performs the sit to stand activity

Long-term adherence to IFN beta-1a treatment when using rebismart1device in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis

The effectiveness of disease-modifying drugs in the treatment of multiple sclerosis is associated with adherence. RebiSmart® electronic device provides useful information about adherence to the treatment with subcutaneous (sc) interferon (IFN) ß-1a (Rebif®). The aim of the study was to determine long-term adherence to this treatment in patients with relapsing- remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). This retrospective multicentre observational study analysed 258 patients with RRMS who were receiving sc IFN ß-1a (Rebif®) treatment by using RebiSmart® until replacement (36 months maximum lifetime) or treatment discontinuation. Adherence was calculated with data (injection dosage, time, and date) automatically recorded by RebiSmart®. Patients in the study had a mean age of 41 years with a female proportion of 68%. Mean EDSS score at start of treatment was 1.8 (95% CI, 1.6-1.9). Overall adherence was 92.6%(95% CI, 90.6-94.5%). A total of 30.2% of patients achieved an adherence rate of 100%, 80.6% at least 90%, and only 13.2% of patients showed a suboptimal adherence (<80%). A total of 59.9% of subjects were relapse-free after treatment initiation. Among 106 subjects (41.1%) who experienced, on average, 1.4 relapses, the majority were mild (40.6%) or moderate (47.2%). Having experienced relapses from the beginning of the treatment was the only variable significantly related to achieving an adherence of at least 80% (OR = 3.06, 1.28-7.31). Results of this study indicate that sc IFN ß-1a administration facilitated by RebiSmart® could lead to high rates of adherence to a prescribed dose regimen over 36 months

Nuevo explante para la embriogénesis somática en Sorghum bicolor (L.) Mohen

This work was carried out with the objective to form somatic embryos of sorghum, cv. ‘CIAP 132R-05’ starting from callus obtained from sections of in vitro shoots. For the formation of callus, different concentrations of 2,4-D were studied as well as three concentrations of ascorbic acid to eliminate the phenolic oxidation. To increase the percentage of callus formation with embryogenic structures, different segments of the shoots were used. For the formation of somatic embryos, different concentrations of 2,4-D; 6-BAP and L-Proline were added to the culture media. The greatest callus formation (50%) was obtained in the culture medium with 18.1 µM of 2,4-D. When 50 mg l -1  of ascorbic acid was added to the culture medium, the percentage of callus formation increased to 67.5%, and was couple with absence of oxidation of the medium and the explant. The frequency of callus formation with embryogenic structures increased to 95% with the use of segment 1 of the shoot sections in vitro as explant. The greatest number of somatic embryos per callus was obtained when 2,4-D was reduced to 4.52 µM, combined with 22.2 µM of 6-BAP and 500 mg l -1  of L-Proline (41.88). Histological analysis confirmed that structures formed in callus came from a somatic embryogenesis process. For the first time, the efficient formation of somatic embryos of sorghum section 1 of in vitro shoots in vitro was obtained.Keywords: 2,4-D, shoots in vitro, callus, somatic embryosEl trabajo fue realizado con el objetivo de formar embriones somáticos de sorgo, variedad ‘CIAP 132R-05’ a partir de callos obtenidos de secciones de brotes in vitro. En la formación de callos fueron estudiadas diferentes concentraciones de 2,4 D y tres concentraciones de ácido ascórbico para eliminar la oxidación fenólica. Para incrementar el porcentaje de formación de callos con estructuras embriogénicas fueron empleados diferentes segmentos de brote. Se añadieron diferentes concentraciones de 2,4-D, 6-BAP y L- prolina al medio de cultivo para la formación de embriones somáticos. La mayor formación de callos (50%) se obtuvo en el medio de cultivo con 18.1 µM de 2,4-D. Cuando se añadieron 50 mg l -1  de ácido ascórbico al medio de cultivo, el porcentaje de formación de callos se incrementó en 67.5%, unido a la ausencia de pigmentos fenólicos en el explante. La frecuencia de formación de callos con estructuras embriogénicas aumento hasta 95% con el uso del segmento 1 como explante. El mayor número de embriones somáticos por callos se obtuvo cuando 2,4-D fue reducido a 4.52 µM, combinado con 2.22 µM de 6-BAP y 500 mg l -1  de L-prolina (41.88). El análisis histológico confirmó que las estructuras formadas a partir de los callos provienen del proceso de embriogénesis somática. Por vez primera se obtuvo la formación eficiente de embriones somáticos de sorgo de a partir de la seccion 1 de brotes in vitro.Palabras clave: 2,4-D, brotes in vitro, callos, embriones somático

Developmental differences in children’s interpersonal emotion regulation

Previous research on interpersonal emotion regulation (ER) in childhood has been rather unsystematic, focusing mainly on children’s prosocial behaviour, and has been conducted in the absence of an integrative emotion theoretical framework. The present research relied on the interpersonal affect classification proposed by Niven, Totterdell, and Holman (2009) to investigate children’s use of different interpersonal ER strategies. The study drew on two samples: 180 parents of children aged between 3 and 8 years reported about a situation where their child was able to change what another person was feeling in order to make them feel better. In addition, 126 children between 3- and 8-years old answered two questions about how they could improve others’ mood. Results from both samples showed age differences in children’s use of interpersonal ER strategies. As expected, ‘affective engagement’ (i.e., focusing on the person or the problem) and ‘cognitive engagement’ (i.e., appraising the situation from a different perspective) were mainly used by 7-8 years-old, whereas ‘attention’ (i.e., distracting and valuing) was most used by 3-4 and 5-6 years-old. ‘Humor’ (i.e., laughing with the target) remained stable across the different age groups. The present research provides more information about the developmental patterns for each specific interpersonal emotion regulation strategy