Developing documents for practical sessions in Zoology

La implantación del sistema unificado de créditos (E.C.T.S.) implica nuevos planteamientos por parte del profesorado al elaborar la programación teórico-práctica de las diferentes asignaturas. Con la elaboración de los protocolos prácticos de zoología pretendemos alcanzar los objetivos siguientes: 1. Proveer a los alumnos de material didáctico básico y complementario a la información impartida en las sesiones prácticas. 2. Proporcionar una perspectiva amplia de diferentes aspectos prácticos de la zoología. 3. Familiarizar a los alumnos con las fuentes (complementarias) de información y los procedimientos de acceso a diferentes tipos de material biológico. 4. Favorecer el trabajo personal y de grupo, enfatizando diferentes aspectos biológicos necesarios para la asimilación de los contenidos prácticos de la asignatura. 5. Facilitar la preparación de las pruebas prácticas que los alumnos han de realizar. En el curso académico 2003/2004 nos fue concedido un primer proyecto docente que nos permitió preparar contenidos correspondientes a la práctica “Introducción a las técnicas de campo y de laboratorio en Zoología”. A partir de esta primera experiencia hemos desarrollado varios proyectos docentes que nos han permitido preparar materiales y contenidos prácticos de los principales taxones de animales invertebrados: Poríferos y Cnidarios. Platelmintos, Nematodos y Anélidos. Artrópodos. Moluscos. Equinodermos. La preparación de estos contenidos nos ha obligado a realizar desplazamientos así como a solicitar colaboraciones de diversas instituciones, por ejemplo, al Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales de Madrid. Los protocolos están diseñados de forma que fomentan la labor individual y auto-formativa del alumnado, así como el estudio en grupo. Todo está encaminado hacia una completa preparación y correcta adecuación al nuevo sistema educativo. Las presentaciones multimedia están a disposición del alumnado gracias a las posibilidades que ofrece la web de la Universidad de Córdoba.The implementation of the unified credit system (ECTS) involves new approaches by teachers in the development of both theoretical and practical curricula of different subjects. With the development of practical zoology documents we aim to achieve the following objectives: 1. To provide the students with basic educational materials, and complementary information to the practical sessions. 2. To provide a broad overview of different practical aspects of zoology. 3. To familiarize students with additional sources of information and procedures for access to different types of biological material. 4. To encourage personal and group work, emphasizing different biological aspects, which are necessary for the understanding of the practical contents of the subjects. 5. To assist in the preparation of exams that students must perform. In the academic course 2003/2004 we were awarded with a first educational project that allowed us to prepare content for the practice "Introduction to field and lab techniques in Zoology". From this first experience we have developed several educational projects that have allowed us to prepare materials and practical content of the main taxa of invertebrates: Sponges and Cnidarians. Flatworms, Nematodes and Annelids. Arthropods. Molluscs. Echinoderms. The preparation of these materials has lead us to make trips and to request contributions from various institutions, for example, the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales in Madrid. The protocols are designed in ways that encourage individual work and selftraining of students, and study groups. Everything is aimed to the complete preparation and fair adaptation to the new educational system. Multimedia presentations are available to students thanks to the possibilities offered by the website of the University of Cordoba

Phosphorylation of SOS1 on tyrosine 1196 promotes its RAC GEF activity and contributes to BCR-ABL leukemogenesis

Son of Sevenless 1 (SOS1) is a dual guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) that activates the small GTPases RAC and RAS. Although the molecular mechanisms of RAS GEF catalysis have been unveiled, how SOS1 acquires RAC GEF activity and what is the physio-pathological relevance of this activity is much less understood. Here we show that SOS1 is tyrosine phosphorylated on Y1196 by ABL. Phosphorylation of Y1196 controls SOS1 inter-molecular interaction, is required to promote the exchange of nucleotides on RAC in vitro and for platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) activation of RAC- and RAC-dependent actin remodeling and cell migration. SOS1 is also phosphorylated on Y1196 by BCR-ABL in chronic myelogenous leukemic cells. Importantly, in these cells, SOS1 is required for BCR-ABL-mediated activation of RAC, cell proliferation and transformation in vitro and in a xenograft mouse model. Finally, genetic removal of Sos1 in the bone marrow-derived cells (BMDCs) from Sos1fl/flmice and infected with BCR-ABL causes a significant delay in the onset of leukemogenesis once BMDCs are injected into recipient, lethally irradiated mice. Thus, SOS1 is required for full transformation and critically contribute to the leukemogenic potential of BCR-ABL

RICORS2040 : The need for collaborative research in chronic kidney disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a silent and poorly known killer. The current concept of CKD is relatively young and uptake by the public, physicians and health authorities is not widespread. Physicians still confuse CKD with chronic kidney insufficiency or failure. For the wider public and health authorities, CKD evokes kidney replacement therapy (KRT). In Spain, the prevalence of KRT is 0.13%. Thus health authorities may consider CKD a non-issue: very few persons eventually need KRT and, for those in whom kidneys fail, the problem is 'solved' by dialysis or kidney transplantation. However, KRT is the tip of the iceberg in the burden of CKD. The main burden of CKD is accelerated ageing and premature death. The cut-off points for kidney function and kidney damage indexes that define CKD also mark an increased risk for all-cause premature death. CKD is the most prevalent risk factor for lethal coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the factor that most increases the risk of death in COVID-19, after old age. Men and women undergoing KRT still have an annual mortality that is 10- to 100-fold higher than similar-age peers, and life expectancy is shortened by ~40 years for young persons on dialysis and by 15 years for young persons with a functioning kidney graft. CKD is expected to become the fifth greatest global cause of death by 2040 and the second greatest cause of death in Spain before the end of the century, a time when one in four Spaniards will have CKD. However, by 2022, CKD will become the only top-15 global predicted cause of death that is not supported by a dedicated well-funded Centres for Biomedical Research (CIBER) network structure in Spain. Realizing the underestimation of the CKD burden of disease by health authorities, the Decade of the Kidney initiative for 2020-2030 was launched by the American Association of Kidney Patients and the European Kidney Health Alliance. Leading Spanish kidney researchers grouped in the kidney collaborative research network Red de Investigación Renal have now applied for the Redes de Investigación Cooperativa Orientadas a Resultados en Salud (RICORS) call for collaborative research in Spain with the support of the Spanish Society of Nephrology, Federación Nacional de Asociaciones para la Lucha Contra las Enfermedades del Riñón and ONT: RICORS2040 aims to prevent the dire predictions for the global 2040 burden of CKD from becoming true

Taxonomic diversity of groundwater harpacticoida (Copepoda, crustacea) in southern France. A contribution to characterise Hotspot Diversity Sites

Hotspot Diversity Sites (HDS) are characterised by high taxonomic richness and high numbers of rare (generally endemic) species; for troglobitic fauna the number of stygobitic species is also an important aspect. Additional criteria for definition of HDS are proposed here, based on the taxonomic diversity of entire subterranean faunal assemblages, i.e. the use of the indices of Average Taxonomic Distinctness and the Variation in Taxonomic Distinctness as well as the number of supra-specific taxa such as genera and families. To exemplify our approach we compared assemblages of harpacticoid copepod microcrustaceans as a focal group. We analysed 44 data sets from both groundwater and surface-water sites with special emphasis on 9 sites from southern France (Moulis in Ariège). The origin and development of the taxonomic diversity of the harpacticoid assemblages from Moulis area are analysed using phenetic and cladistic methods. The colonisation process of subsurface habitats within this area is a repetitive process occurring over long periods of time. Four sites in southern France, the Baget and the Goueil di Her (Karstic systems) and the Lachein and the Nert (alluvial interstitial areas) are recognised as HDS; three others are located in non-karstic areas of Central Europe (southern Germany and eastern Austria) and South America (Central Brazil)

Taxonomic diversity of groundwater harpacticoida (Copepoda, crustacea) in southern France. A contribution to characterise Hotspot Diversity Sites

Hotspot Diversity Sites (HDS) are characterised by high taxonomic richness and high numbers of rare (generally endemic) species; for troglobitic fauna the number of stygobitic species is also an important aspect. Additional criteria for definition of HDS are proposed here, based on the taxonomic diversity of entire subterranean faunal assemblages, i.e. the use of the indices of Average Taxonomic Distinctness and the Variation in Taxonomic Distinctness as well as the number of supra-specific taxa such as genera and families. To exemplify our approach we compared assemblages of harpacticoid copepod microcrustaceans as a focal group. We analysed 44 data sets from both groundwater and surface-water sites with special emphasis on 9 sites from southern France (Moulis in Ariège). The origin and development of the taxonomic diversity of the harpacticoid assemblages from Moulis area are analysed using phenetic and cladistic methods. The colonisation process of subsurface habitats within this area is a repetitive process occurring over long periods of time. Four sites in southern France, the Baget and the Goueil di Her (Karstic systems) and the Lachein and the Nert (alluvial interstitial areas) are recognised as HDS; three others are located in non-karstic areas of Central Europe (southern Germany and eastern Austria) and South America (Central Brazil)

A description of a new species of the genus Promesomachilis from Spain (Insecta: Microcoryphia).

A new Microcoryphian species is described from southern Spain. The new species belongs to the genus Promesomachilis and is named P. intermedia n. sp. because of the presence of intermediate characteristics in comparison with the other two species of the genus. The main features of the new species are: male maxillary palp with a field of spiralized setae on the ventral side of articles II-V, some setae also on article VI; second article of the male labial palp without a process on its distal part, though a little protuberant; labial palp also lacks a field of specialized setae, which are present in the two other species; each female gonapophysis with only 14-16 annuli, the lowest number ever found in the genus. The main feature that allow us to distinguish the three species is the presence of a sensorial field on femur II and III. In P. intermedia it is on the outer part of the femur, whereas in the other two species it is different

Description of a new genus and a new species of Machilidae (Insecta: Microcoryphia) from Turkey.

A new species and a new genus of Microcoryphia from Turkey are described. The new genus, named Turquimachilis has, as its most important distinctive feature, the presence in the male of unique parameres on the IXth urostemite, with proximal protuberances and chaetotaxy. They are different from all the other genera of the order. This alone is sufficient to allow the creation of a new genus. We add other anatomical characteristics that allow us to differentiate the new genus from the closest known genera. The type species is described