Biological Processes Highlighted in Saccharomyces cerevisiae during the Sparkling Wines Elaboration

Sparkling wines elaboration has been studied by several research groups, but this is the first report on analysis of biological processes according to the Gene Ontology terms (GO terms) and related to proteins expressed by yeast cells during the second fermentation of sparkling wines. This work provides a comprehensive study of the most relevant biological processes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae P29, a sparkling wine strain, during the second fermentation under two conditions (without and with endogenous CO2 overpressure) in the middle and the end of second fermentation. Consequently, a proteomic analysis with the OFFGEL fractionator and protein identification with LTQ Orbitrap XL coupled to HPLC were performed. The classification of biological processes was carried out using the tools provided by the Saccharomyces Genome Database. Results indicate that a greater number of biological processes were identified under condition without CO2 overpressure and in the middle of the fermentation versus the end of the second fermentation. The biological processes highlighted under condition without CO2 overpressure in the middle of the fermentation were involved in the carbohydrate and lipid metabolic processes and catabolic and biosynthetic processes. However, under CO2 overpressure, specific protein expression in response to stress, transport, translation, and chromosome organization and specific processes were not found. At the end of fermentation, there were higher specific processes under condition without CO2 overpressure; most were related to cell division, growth, biosynthetic process, and gene transcription resulting in increased cell viability in this condition. Under CO2 overpressure condition, the most representative processes were related to translation as tRNA metabolic process, chromosome organization, mRNA processing, ribosome biogenesis, and ribonucleoprotein complex assembly, probably in response to the stress caused by the hard fermentation conditions. Therefore, a broader knowledge of the adaptation of the yeast, and its behavior under typical conditions to produce sparkling wine, might improve and favor the wine industry and the selection of yeast for obtaining a high-quality wine

Gestió dels recursos financers d'una A.M.P.A. d'un col·legi d'educació primària

El projecte consisteix en l'anàlisi, el disseny i la implementació d'una aplicació informàtica que permeti portar el control dels fluxos financers que són necessaris pel funcionament de les activitats extraescolars, de forma senzilla i àgil, i que pugui ser mantinguda pels membres de l'Associació de Mares i Pares d'Alumnes d'una escola d'educació primària

Humoral and Cellular Immune Responses After a 3-dose Course of mRNA-1273 COVID-19 Vaccine in Kidney Transplant Recipients: A Prospective Cohort Study.

In kidney transplant recipients, there is discordance between the development of cellular and humoral response after vaccination against SARS-CoV-2. We sought to determine the interplay between the 2 arms of adaptive immunity in a 3-dose course of mRNA-1273 100 μg vaccine. Methods: Humoral (IgG/IgM) and cellular (N- and S-ELISpot) responses were studied in 117 kidney and 12 kidney-pancreas transplant recipients at the following time points: before the first dose, 14 d after the second dose' and before and after the third dose, with a median of 203 and 232 d after the start of the vaccination cycle, respectively. Results: After the second dose, 26.7% of naive cases experienced seroconversion. Before the third dose and in the absence of COVID-19, this percentage increased to 61.9%. After the third dose, seroconversion occurred in 80.0% of patients. Naive patients who had at any time point a detectable positivity for S-ELISpot were 75.2% of the population, whereas patients who maintained S-ELISpot positivity throughout the study were 34.3%. S-ELISpot positivity at 42 d was associated with final seroconversion (odds ratio' 3.14; 95% confidence interval' 1.10-8.96; P = 0.032). Final IgG titer was significantly higher in patients with constant S-ELISpot positivity (P < 0.001). Conclusions: A substantial proportion of kidney transplant recipients developed late seroconversion after 2 doses. Cellular immunity was associated with the development of a stronger humoral respons

Estrogen and COVID-19 symptoms: Associations in women from the COVID Symptom Study

It has been widely observed that adult men of all ages are at higher risk of developing serious complications from COVID-19 when compared with women. This study aimed to investigate the association of COVID-19 positivity and severity with estrogen exposure in women, in a population based matched cohort study of female users of the COVID Symptom Study application in the UK. Analyses included 152,637 women for menopausal status, 295,689 women for exogenous estrogen intake in the form of the combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP), and 151,193 menopausal women for hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Data were collected using the COVID Symptom Study in May-June 2020. Analyses investigated associations between predicted or tested COVID-19 status and menopausal status, COCP use, and HRT use, adjusting for age, smoking and BMI, with follow-up age sensitivity analysis, and validation in a subset of participants from the TwinsUK cohort. Menopausal women had higher rates of predicted COVID-19 (P = 0.003). COCP-users had lower rates of predicted COVID-19 (P = 8.03E-05), with reduction in hospital attendance (P = 0.023). Menopausal women using HRT or hormonal therapies did not exhibit consistent associations, including increased rates of predicted COVID-19 (P = 2.22E-05) for HRT users alone. The findings support a protective effect of estrogen exposure on COVID-19, based on positive association between predicted COVID-19 with menopausal status, and negative association with COCP use. HRT use was positively associated with COVID-19, but the results should be considered with caution due to lack of data on HRT type, route of administration, duration of treatment, and potential unaccounted for confounders and comorbidities

Systematic Collaborative Reanalysis of Genomic Data Improves Diagnostic Yield in Neurologic Rare Diseases

Altres ajuts: Generalitat de Catalunya, Departament de Salut; Generalitat de Catalunya, Departament d'Empresa i Coneixement i CERCA Program; Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación; Instituto Nacional de Bioinformática; ELIXIR Implementation Studies (CNAG-CRG); Centro de Investigaciones Biomédicas en Red de Enfermedades Raras; Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa; European Regional Development Fund (FEDER).Many patients experiencing a rare disease remain undiagnosed even after genomic testing. Reanalysis of existing genomic data has shown to increase diagnostic yield, although there are few systematic and comprehensive reanalysis efforts that enable collaborative interpretation and future reinterpretation. The Undiagnosed Rare Disease Program of Catalonia project collated previously inconclusive good quality genomic data (panels, exomes, and genomes) and standardized phenotypic profiles from 323 families (543 individuals) with a neurologic rare disease. The data were reanalyzed systematically to identify relatedness, runs of homozygosity, consanguinity, single-nucleotide variants, insertions and deletions, and copy number variants. Data were shared and collaboratively interpreted within the consortium through a customized Genome-Phenome Analysis Platform, which also enables future data reinterpretation. Reanalysis of existing genomic data provided a diagnosis for 20.7% of the patients, including 1.8% diagnosed after the generation of additional genomic data to identify a second pathogenic heterozygous variant. Diagnostic rate was significantly higher for family-based exome/genome reanalysis compared with singleton panels. Most new diagnoses were attributable to recent gene-disease associations (50.8%), additional or improved bioinformatic analysis (19.7%), and standardized phenotyping data integrated within the Undiagnosed Rare Disease Program of Catalonia Genome-Phenome Analysis Platform functionalities (18%)

Proteomic yeast stress response to pressure in a final stage in the second fermentation during sparkling wine elaboration

Spanish sparkling wine or cava (Certified Brand of Origin) elaborated following the “champenoise” method undergoes a second fermentation in closed bottles of base wine, followed by aging of wines with lees of at least 9 months. Both processes are considered as important factors contributing to the quality of cava. During the second fermentation, yeasts are subjected to pressure in which the response of the yeast cells have not been still clearly elucidated. The objective of this study is to identify proteins that may participate in the response to pressure. OFFGEL fractionator coupled to LTQ Orbitrap XL MS equipment were used trying to detect the maximum possible number of proteins in yeasts grown in a traditional second fermentation condition and under a reference condition not subjected to pressure. The obtained proteomic profiles show 679 proteins detected under the first condition while 979 under the reference condition. From the total number of proteins identified under the second fermentation with pressure, 251 were just detected under it being mainly ribosomal and extracellular; and involved in biological processes such as ribosome assembly, cytoplasmic translation or organelle assembly. The cellular components and biological processes mentioned in this study may be essential for the fermenting yeast survival in a condition such as second fermentation during sparkling wine elaboration. Genetic experiments are needed to definitively confirm the necessity of these proteins synthesis under pressure

Proteomic yeast stress response to pressure in a final stage in the second fermentation during sparkling wine elaboration

Spanish sparkling wine or cava (Certified Brand of Origin) elaborated following the “champenoise” method undergoes a second fermentation in closed bottles of base wine, followed by aging of wines with lees of at least 9 months. Both processes are considered as important factors contributing to the quality of cava. During the second fermentation, yeasts are subjected to pressure in which the response of the yeast cells have not been still clearly elucidated. The objective of this study is to identify proteins that may participate in the response to pressure. OFFGEL fractionator coupled to LTQ Orbitrap XL MS equipment were used trying to detect the maximum possible number of proteins in yeasts grown in a traditional second fermentation condition and under a reference condition not subjected to pressure. The obtained proteomic profiles show 679 proteins detected under the first condition while 979 under the reference condition. From the total number of proteins identified under the second fermentation with pressure, 251 were just detected under it being mainly ribosomal and extracellular; and involved in biological processes such as ribosome assembly, cytoplasmic translation or organelle assembly. The cellular components and biological processes mentioned in this study may be essential for the fermenting yeast survival in a condition such as second fermentation during sparkling wine elaboration. Genetic experiments are needed to definitively confirm the necessity of these proteins synthesis under pressure

UAB : un año de experiencia en coursera. La visión de la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona de los MOOCs

En marzo 2013 la UAB firmó convenio con Coursera para la impartición de cursos MOOC. Hasta la fecha (17.5.2014) la UAB ha impartido tres cursos, está impartiendo un cuarto curso, tiene dos más ofertados y dos pactados y en espera. En esta contribución presentamos la experiencia de la UAB: La relación con Coursera, gestión de la plataforma, cómo canalizamos las solicitudes de nuestros profesores, qué ayuda se les proporciona a estos, controles de calidad, etc. Se analizan también los resultados obtenidos en los cursos ya finalizados. In March 2013, UAB and Coursera signed an agreement for providing MOOC courses. To date (May 17th, 2014), the UAB has taught two courses, a third one is currently going on, there are two more announced and two pending to publish. In this contribution we present the experience of the UAB: The daily work with Coursera, the platform management, how we treat our professors' requests to create MOOCs, what support is provided to them, how quality is controlled, etc. The results obtained in the courses already finished are also analyzed

Microanalytical flow system for the simultaneous determination of acetic acid and free sulfur dioxide in wines

Free sulfur dioxide and volatile acidity are parameters related to the quality of wines. Traditional methods for their determination are tedious, time consuming and require analysis in decentralized laboratories, therefore corrective actions cannot be applied on time. This may be more complex in aging wine cellars, where hundreds of individual barrels containing almost finished wines should be monitored. To achieve this aim, a portable microanalytical flow system for the simultaneous detection of free SO2 and acetic acid during the ageing of wines is proposed in this work. The miniaturized system is based on the use of a gas-diffusion membrane and a pH-ISFET, and can be easily installed in barrels. The system was optimized in the range of 5–60 mg L−1 and 0.15–1.40 g L−1 for SO2 and acetic acid, respectively. It was validated with different sets of wine samples by comparing the results with standard methods, demonstrating a good agreement between methods.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Gestió dels recursos financers d'una A.M.P.A. d'un col·legi d'educació primària

El projecte consisteix en l'anàlisi, el disseny i la implementació d'una aplicació informàtica que permeti portar el control dels fluxos financers que són necessaris pel funcionament de les activitats extraescolars, de forma senzilla i àgil, i que pugui ser mantinguda pels membres de l'Associació de Mares i Pares d'Alumnes d'una escola d'educació primària