Analysis of the mental model about the atom concept in Spanish 15- to 18- years old students

The present research investigates the mental models about the atom of Spanish 15- to 18- years old students. A sample of 454 students was taken into account within a representative Spanish context. A specific questionnaire, validated before students solved it, where the students should draw, define and argue was designed. It has been found that most of the students understand the atom as a mix of several models. In general, the models they mix are those that they studied during their last educational course. Some students possess a unique mental model about the atom (Bohr´s model), and a really few students described the atom as it could be expected according to their educational level. Several reasons have been appointed among them are: i) the construction of a mental model is a hard and slow process, even more in the case of the atom, ii) this is a complex concept which requires abstraction and to use spatial knowledge in very young students, and iii) teachers offer to students few situations to check their mental models, and thus, it takes so much time to find the strengths and weaknesses of their models

Interaction of sedentary behaviour and educational level in breast cancer risk

Objective This cross-sectional study aims to analyse the relationship between sedentary behaviour and breast cancer (BC) risk from a social perspective. Methods Women aged 45–70 who participated in the Valencia Region Breast Cancer Screening Programme (2018–2019) were included, with a total of 121,359 women analysed, including 506 with cancer and 120,853 without cancer. The response variable was BC (screen-detected) and the main explanatory variable was sedentary behaviour (≤2 / >2-≤3 / >3-≤5 / >5 hours/day, h/d). Nested logistic regression models (M) were estimated: M1: sedentary behaviour adjusted for age and family history of BC; M2: M1 + hormonal/reproductive variables (menopausal status, number of pregnancies, hormone replacement therapy; in addition, months of breastfeeding was added for a subsample of women with one or more live births); M3: M2 + lifestyle variables (body mass index, smoking habits); M4: M3 + socioeconomic variables (educational level, occupation); Final model: M4 + gender variables (childcare responsibilities, family size). Interaction between sedentary behaviour and educational level was analysed in the Final model. Moreover, for the whole sample, postmenopausal women and HR+ BC, the Final model was stratified by educational level. Results Sedentary behaviour was associated with an increased risk of BC with a nearly statistically significant effect in the Final model (>2-≤3 h/d: OR = 1.22 (0.93–1.61); >3-≤5 h/d: OR = 1.14 (0.86–1.52); >5: OR = 1.19 (0.89–1.60)). For women with a low educational level, sitting more than 2 h/d was associated with an increased risk of BC in the whole sample (>2-≤3 h/d OR = 1.93 (1.19–3.21); in postmenopausal women (>2-≤3 h/d, OR = 2.12 (1.18–2.96), >5h/d OR = 1.75 (1.01–3.11)) and in HR+ BC (>2-≤3h/d, OR = 2.15 (1.22–3.99)). Similar results were observed for women with one or more live births. Conclusions Sitting >2 h/d is associated with BC risk in women with low educational level, especially in postmenopausal women and those with live births.M.P-C: This work was supported by the Generalitat Valenciana and the European Social Fund [grant number ACIF/2019/085]

Construction of an individual socioeconomic status index for analysing inequalities in colorectal cancer screening

Objective: To construct an individual socioeconomic status index (ISESI) with information available in the Population Information System of the Region of Valencia, Spain, and use it to analyse inequalities in a colorectal cancer screening programme (CRCSP). Methods: Cross-sectional study of men and women aged between 50 and 75 at the time of the study (2020) that were selected from the target population of the Region of Valencia CRCSP. (study sample 1,150,684). First, a multiple correspondence analysis was performed to aggregate information from the Population Information System of the Region of Valencia into an ISESI. Second, data from the 2016 Region of Valencia Health Survey were used for validation, and finally the relationship between CRCSP participation and the ISESI was analysed by logistic regression models. Results: The variables included in the index were nationality, employment status, disability, healthcare coverage, risk of vulnerability and family size. The most important categories for determining the highest socioeconomic status were being employed and not being at risk of social vulnerability, and being unemployed and at risk of social vulnerability for determining the lowest socioeconomic status. Index validation demonstrated internal and external coherence for measuring socioeconomic status. The relationship between CRCSP participation and the ISESI categorised by quartile (Q) showed that Q4 (the lowest socioeconomic status) was less likely to participate OR = 0.769 (0.757–0.782) than Q1 (the highest socioeconomic status), and the opposite was found for Q2 OR = 1.368 (1.347–1.390) and Q3 OR = 1.156 (1.137–1.175). Conclusions: An ISESI was constructed and validated using Population Information System data and made it possible to evaluate inequalities in colorectal cancer screening.AMB, DS: PI18/01669, the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, co-founded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). https://www.isciii.es

Examining the immune signatures of SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy and the impact on neurodevelopment: Protocol of the SIGNATURE longitudinal study.

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a valuable opportunity to carry out cohort studies that allow us to advance our knowledge on pathophysiological mechanisms of neuropsychiatric diseases. One of these opportunities is the study of the relationships between inflammation, brain development and an increased risk of suffering neuropsychiatric disorders. Based on the hypothesis that neuroinflammation during early stages of life is associated with neurodevelopmental disorders and confers a greater risk of developing neuropsychiatric disorders, we propose a cohort study of SARS-CoV-2-infected pregnant women and their newborns. The main objective of SIGNATURE project is to explore how the presence of prenatal SARS-CoV-2 infection and other non-infectious stressors generates an abnormal inflammatory activity in the newborn. The cohort of women during the COVID-19 pandemic will be psychological and biological monitored during their pregnancy, delivery, childbirth and postpartum. The biological information of the umbilical cord (foetus blood) and peripheral blood from the mother will be obtained after childbirth. These samples and the clinical characterisation of the cohort of mothers and newborns, are tremendously valuable at this time. This is a protocol report and no analyses have been conducted yet, being currently at, our study is in the recruitment process step. At the time of this publication, we have identified 1,060 SARS-CoV-2 infected mothers and all have already given birth. From the total of identified mothers, we have recruited 537 SARS-COV-2 infected women and all of them have completed the mental health assessment during pregnancy. We have collected biological samples from 119 mothers and babies. Additionally, we have recruited 390 non-infected pregnant women

Examining the immune signatures of SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy and the impact on neurodevelopment: Protocol of the SIGNATURE longitudinal study

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a valuable opportunity to carry out cohort studies that allow us to advance our knowledge on pathophysiological mechanisms of neuropsychiatric diseases. One of these opportunities is the study of the relationships between inflammation, brain development and an increased risk of suffering neuropsychiatric disorders. Based on the hypothesis that neuroinflammation during early stages of life is associated with neurodevelopmental disorders and confers a greater risk of developing neuropsychiatric disorders, we propose a cohort study of SARS-CoV-2-infected pregnant women and their newborns. The main objective of SIGNATURE project is to explore how the presence of prenatal SARS-CoV-2 infection and other non-infectious stressors generates an abnormal inflammatory activity in the newborn. The cohort of women during the COVID-19 pandemic will be psychological and biological monitored during their pregnancy, delivery, childbirth and postpartum. The biological information of the umbilical cord (foetus blood) and peripheral blood from the mother will be obtained after childbirth. These samples and the clinical characterisation of the cohort of mothers and newborns, are tremendously valuable at this time. This is a protocol report and no analyses have been conducted yet, being currently at, our study is in the recruitment process step. At the time of this publication, we have identified 1,060 SARS-CoV-2 infected mothers and all have already given birth. From the total of identified mothers, we have recruited 537 SARS-COV-2 infected women and all of them have completed the mental health assessment during pregnancy. We have collected biological samples from 119 mothers and babies. Additionally, we have recruited 390 non-infected pregnant women.This work has received support from the Fundación Alicia Koplowitz to realize the epigenetic wide association study and to the clinical assessment to the children. This work has also received public support from the Consejería de Salud y Familias para la financiación de la investigación, desarrollo e innovación (i + d + i) biomédica y en ciencias de la salud en Andalucía (CSyF 2021 - FEDER). Grant Grant number PECOVID- 0195-2020. Convocatoria financiada con Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) al 80% dentro del Programa Operativo de Andalucía FEDER 2014-2020. Andalucía se mueve con Europa. NG-T received payment under Rio Hortega contract CM20-00015 with the Carlos III Health Institute.Peer reviewe

Proteomic and biochemical analysis of 14-3-3-binding proteins during C2-ceramide-induced apoptosis

22 páginas, 8 figuras, 2 tablas.14-3-3 is a family of proteins comprising several isoforms that, in many cases, promote cell survival by association with proapoptotic proteins. This study was designed to obtain further understanding of the 14-3-3 role in apoptosis regulation, by analyzing apoptosis-related protein–14-3-3 interactions. Western blot analysis of an eluted fraction from the 14-3-3-affinity chromatography column identified proapoptotic proteins as receptor-interacting protein 3 and Bcl-2-antagonist/killer as new phophorylation-dependent 14-3-3-binding proteins under physiological conditions. The apoptosis inducer C2-ceramide promoted decay of the 14-3-3-binding signal of protein cell extracts. Investigation of the role of 14-3-3 in C2-ceramide-induced apoptosis showed that depletion of the 14-3-3ζ isoform sensitized to cell death, whereas overexpression of this isoform delayed cell death. A combination of tandem affinity purification and liquid chromatography–tandem MS techniques identified 15 proteins involved in cell survival processes whose 14-3-3-binding status changed during C2-ceramide-induced apoptosis. Under physiological conditions, desmin was clearly identified as a new 14-3-3-interactor protein, and vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein, nucleophosmin and calmodulin, whose 14-3-3 binding was suggested by others on the basis of MS analysis, were confirmed here as phosphorylation-dependent 14-3-3-associated proteins. Interestingly, proteins related to the regulation of DNA double-strand break repair in the early stages of apoptosis, such as DNA-dependent protein kinase, or the regulation of cell shrinkage during apoptosis, such as vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein and death promoters like receptor-interacting protein 3, were identified as 14-3-3-associated proteins whose 14-3-3-binding status changed when apoptosis was initiated. The functional diversity of these identified proteins suggests that 14-3-3 may regulate the apoptotic process through new mechanisms, in addition to others previously characterized.This work was supported by Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia grant BFU2006-01088 ⁄BMC and ‘Programa Ramón y Cajal’ contract (B.O.E. 17/02/2004 ORDEN CTE/351/2004) to M. P. Rubio.Peer reviewe

14-3-3ζ binds class III phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase and inhibits autophagy

Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved pathway involved in a great variety of physiological roles such as starvation adaptation, elimination of microorganisms and intracellular protein and organelle clearance. It seems clear that autophagy is strictly controlled because of the multiplicity of its functions and thus, autophagy components are finely regulated. Here, 14-3-3ζ protein has been shown as a negative regulator of autophagy by association and inactivation of the vesicle nucleation component vacuolar protein sorting 34 (hVps34), the class III phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3KC3). © 2011 Landes Bioscience.Peer Reviewe

14-3-3 proteins are regulators of autophagy

14-3-3 proteins are implicated in the regulation of proteins involved in a variety of signaling pathways. 14-3-3-dependent protein regulation occurs through phosphorylation-dependent binding that results, in many cases, in the release of survival signals in cells. Autophagy is a cell digestion process that contributes to overcoming nutrient deprivation and is initiated under stress conditions. However, whether autophagy is a cell survival or cell death mechanism remains under discussion and may depend on context. Nevertheless, autophagy is a cellular process that determines cell fate and is tightly regulated by different signaling pathways, some of which, for example MAPK, PI3K and mTOR, are tightly regulated by 14-3-3 proteins. It is therefore important to understand the role of 14-3-3 protein in modulating the autophagic process. Within this context, direct binding of 14-3-3 to mTOR regulatory proteins, such as TSC2 and PRAS40, connects 14-3-3 with autophagy regulatory processes. In addition, 14-3-3 binding to human vacuolar protein sorting 34 (hVps34), a class III phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3KC3), indicates the involvement of 14-3-3 proteins in regulating autophagosome formation. hVps34 is involved in vesicle trafficking processes such as autophagy, and its activation is needed for initiation of autophagy. Chromatography and overlay techniques suggest that hVps34 directly interacts with 14-3-3 proteins under physiological conditions, thereby maintaining hVps34 in an inactive state. In contrast, nutrient starvation promotes dissociation of the 14-3-3-hVps34 complex, thereby enhancing hVps34 lipid kinase activity. Thus, 14-3-3 proteins are regulators of autophagy through regulating key components of the autophagic machinery. This review summarizes the role of 14-3-3 protein in the control of target proteins involved in regulating the master switches of autophagy

14-3-3 Proteins are Regulators of Autophagy

14-3-3 proteins are implicated in the regulation of proteins involved in a variety of signaling pathways. 14-3-3-dependent protein regulation occurs through phosphorylation-dependent binding that results, in many cases, in the release of survival signals in cells. Autophagy is a cell digestion process that contributes to overcoming nutrient deprivation and is initiated under stress conditions. However, whether autophagy is a cell survival or cell death mechanism remains under discussion and may depend on context. Nevertheless, autophagy is a cellular process that determines cell fate and is tightly regulated by different signaling pathways, some of which, for example MAPK, PI3K and mTOR, are tightly regulated by 14-3-3 proteins. It is therefore important to understand the role of 14-3-3 protein in modulating the autophagic process. Within this context, direct binding of 14-3-3 to mTOR regulatory proteins, such as TSC2 and PRAS40, connects 14-3-3 with autophagy regulatory processes. In addition, 14-3-3 binding to human vacuolar protein sorting 34 (hVps34), a class III phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3KC3), indicates the involvement of 14-3-3 proteins in regulating autophagosome formation. hVps34 is involved in vesicle trafficking processes such as autophagy, and its activation is needed for initiation of autophagy. Chromatography and overlay techniques suggest that hVps34 directly interacts with 14-3-3 proteins under physiological conditions, thereby maintaining hVps34 in an inactive state. In contrast, nutrient starvation promotes dissociation of the 14-3-3–hVps34 complex, thereby enhancing hVps34 lipid kinase activity. Thus, 14-3-3 proteins are regulators of autophagy through regulating key components of the autophagic machinery. This review summarizes the role of 14-3-3 protein in the control of target proteins involved in regulating the master switches of autophagy