Polarisation and Health

This paper examines the effect of income polarisation on individual health. We argue that polarisation captures much better the social tension and conflict that underlie some of the pathways linking income disparities and individual health, and which have been traditionally proxied by inequality. We test our premises with panel data for Spain. Results show that polarisation has a detrimental effect on health. We also find that the way the relevant population subgroups are defined is important: polarisation is only significant if measured between education-age groups for each region. Regional polarisation is not significant. Our results are obtained conditional on a comprehensive set of controls, including absolute and relative income.polarisation, health, fixed-effects ordered logit model, conflict, psychosocial stress, social capital

Reasons for choosing and completing nursing studies among incoming and outgoing students: A qualitative study

Background The shortage of nurses is causing instability and crisis in health systems and will continue. The WHO reinforced the importance of recruiting and retaining new students. Authors of various studies recommend the need to identify and understand the reasons for pursuing a nursing degree. Objectives To determine students' preference for nursing studies and to identify the reasons for choosing, continuing, and completing a bachelor's degree in nursing. Design Qualitative, descriptive study. Participants 106 nursing students at the University of Huelva (Spain) participated during their first year (2017) and final year (2021) of the nursing degree. Methods This study was conducted with the same group of students in two phases. Data were collected in writing in a document with open-ended questions and no maximum wordcount. The responses were analysed using content analysis. Results A total of 76.4 % of participants stated that nursing had been their first choice. The main reasons for choosing a nursing degree were associated with fulfilment, and a desire to help others and interact with them. The reasons for completing their studies were primarily related to an interest in providing professional care, showing a deeper and more concrete knowledge of nursing care work. Conclusion For most participants, nursing was their first choice due to a strong intrinsic motivation related to self-satisfaction in helping others. The reasons for completing this degree had extrinsic motivations linked to nursing activity in hospital. Areas such as management, teaching, or research were not interesting to our students. Knowing the causes of this lack of interest could help us attract them to these areas.Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Huelva / CBU

Cdc14 phosphatase:warning, no delay allowed for chromosome segregation!

Cycling events in nature start and end to restart again and again. In the cell cycle, whose purpose is to become two where there was only one, cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) are the beginning and, therefore, phosphatases must play a role in the ending. Since CDKs are drivers of the cell cycle and cancer cells uncontrollably divide, much attention has been put into knocking down CDK activity. However, much less is known on the consequences of interfering with the phosphatases that put an end to the cell cycle. We have addressed in recent years the consequences of transiently inactivating the only master cell cycle phosphatase in the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Cdc14. Transient inactivation is expected to better mimic the pharmacological action of drugs. Interestingly, we have found that yeast cells tolerate badly a relatively brief inactivation of Cdc14 when cells are already committed into anaphase, the first cell cycle stage where this phosphatase plays important roles. First, we noticed that the segregation of distal regions in the chromosome arm that carries the ribosomal DNA array was irreversibly impaired, leading to an anaphase bridge (AB). Next, we found that this AB could eventually be severed by cytokinesis and led to two different types of genetically compromised daughter cells. All these previous studies were done in haploid cells. We have now recently expanded this analysis to diploid cells and used the advantage of making hybrid diploids to study chromosome rearrangements and changes in the ploidy of the surviving progeny. We have found that the consequences for the genome integrity were far more dramatic than originally envisioned

The 3¿UTR of the West Nile Virus genomic RNA is a potential antiviral target site

The protein coding-information only represents a small portion of the genetic load of a living organism. It is well established that essential information codes functional RNAs, called non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), which play key roles in the essential biological processes of the cell life. Many mRNAs also act as truly ncRNAs besides being translated into proteins. Therefore, the repertoire of potential drug targets to fight diseases goes beyond proteins. Viral RNA genomes encode all the information for completion of the infectious cycle. They are multifunctional molecules, which act as replication templates and mRNAs. Further, defined structural domains in viral RNA genomes play key functions for the completion of the viral cycle and the regulation of the essential processes; these domains have also been involved in virulence. The West Nile Virus (WNV) genome consists in a single stranded RNA molecule, which contains a single ORF flanked by untranslated regions (UTRs). The 3¿UTR is required for efficient translation, but the mechanisms involved in this regulation are still obscure. In this work, we show evidences that the WNV-3¿UTR specifically recruits the 40S ribosomal subunit. We have localized two potential binding sites of the 40S. Binding of the 40S induced conformational changes in highly conserved structural domains within the WNV-3¿UTR. Functional assays support the hypothesis that recruitment of the 40S particle by the 3¿UTR is required for an efficient translation. Interfering with the 40S recruitment, by targeting the WNV-3¿UTR binding sites, constitutes a potential antiviral strategy by the development of new therapeutic compounds

Validation of the Scale of Basic Psychological Needs towards Physical Exercise, with the Inclusion of Novelty

The purpose of this study was to validate and adapt to the Spanish context of Physical Education, the Spanish version of the Scale of Basic Psychological Needs in the context of physical exercise, with the incorporation of novelty to the scale. The sample that took part in the study was 2372 people from 16 to 48 years old from the province of Almeria. In order to analyze the psychometric properties of the scale, several analyses have been carried out. The results have offered support both for the eight-factor structure and for the higher-order double model where the eight subscales are joined into two constructs called frustration and satisfaction. The structure of both models was invariant with respect to gender and age. Cronbach’s alpha values were above 0.70 in the subscales and scales; and adequate levels of temporal stability. In addition, the subfactors pertaining to the satisfaction of basic psychological needs positively predicted the intrinsic motivation for physical activity, while each of the subfactors of the frustration of psychological needs predicted it negatively. The results of this study provide evidence of the reliability and validity of the BPNS in the Spanish context of physical activity

Permeation Protection by Waterproofing Mucosal Membranes

The permeability of the oral or nasal mucosa is higher than that of the skin. Mucosa permeability depends mainly on the thickness and keratinization degree of the tissues. Their permeability barrier is conditioned by the presence of certain lipids. This work has the main aim of reinforcing the barrier effect of oral mucosa with a series of formulations to reduce permeation. Transmembrane water loss of different formulations was evaluated, and three of them were selected to be tested on the sublingual mucosa permeation of drugs. Caffeine, ibuprofen, dexamethasone, and ivermectin were applied on porcine skin, mucosa, and modified mucosa in order to compare the effectiveness of the formulations. A similar permeation profile was obtained in the different membranes: caffeine > ibuprofen~dexamethasone > ivermectin. The most efficient formulation was a liposomal formulation composed of lipids that are present in the skin stratum corneum. Impermeability provided by this formulation was notable mainly for the low-molecular-weight compounds, decreasing their permeability coefficient by between 40 and 80%. The reinforcement of the barrier function of mucosa provides a reduction or prevention of the permeation of different actives, which could be extrapolated to toxic compounds such as viruses, contaminants, toxins, etc.Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas “Modificación de la mucosa como protección frente al SARS-CoV-2” (CSIC-COV19-130

Estimación y modelación Geoestadística de la radiación solar en la provincia de Chimborazo en el año 2012.

El Instituto Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología no registra datos de radiación solar global, por ello esta investigación está basada en la estimación y modelación geoestadística de la radiación solar en la provincia de Chimborazo durante el año 2012. La investigación se llevó a cabo con el apoyo del Grupo de Energías Alternativas y Ambiente de la Escuela Superior Poitécnica de Chimborazo. Aplicándo métodos estadísticos univariantes y multivariantes se detectaron datos atípicos inmersos en la muestra, mediante un análisis de regresión lineal simple y múltiple se obtuvieron los coeficientes estimados del modelo de radiación solar y finalmente se utilizó el método geoestadístico kriging ordinario para la modelación espacial de radiación solar global. Se determinó que el mejor modelo de regresión para estimar radiación solar global en la ciudad de Riobamba es el modelo de Ansgtrom-Prescott basado en heliofanía que explica aproximadamente el 80% de la variabilidad total de la radiación solar global, y el mejor modelo geoestadístico para estimar dicha radiación es el kriging ordinario lineal que explica aproximadamente el 68% de la variabilidad espacial de radiación. Se concluyó que se puede estimar la radiación solar global con el modelo de Ansgtrom-Prescott y el modelo kriging ordinario para la modelación geoestadística, sin embargo se recomienda que las zonas en donde se aplique el modelo de Ansgtrom-Prescott tengan características topográficas similares a aquellas de la ciudad de Riobamba.The National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology is no recording global solar radiation data, therefore this research is based on estimation and geostatistical modeling of solar radiation in the province of Chimborazo in 2012. With the support of Group of Alternative Energy and Environment of ESPOCH. This research was carried out by using statistical methods like univariate and multivariate in order to detect outliers inside the sample, by means of simple and multiple linear regression analysis to obtain estimated coefficients for solar radiation model and finally ordinary kriging geostatistical method was used for spatial modeling of global solar radiation. It was determined that the best regression model for estimating global solar radiation in Riobamba city is the Angtrom-Prescott model based on heliophany which explains approximately 80% of total variability from global solar radiation, and the best geostatistical model is lineal ordinary kriging which explains approximately 68% of spatial variability from radiation. It was concluded that it can estimate the global solar radiation with the Angstrom-Prescott model and an ordinary linear kriging model for the geostatistical modeling, however it is recommended that the area where the Prescott model is applied, should have topographical characteristics like Riobamba city

Genome-scale genetic interactions and cell imaging confirm cytokinesis as deleterious to transient topoisomerase II deficiency in <i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i>

Topoisomerase II (Top2) is an essential protein that resolves DNA catenations. When Top2 is inactivated, mitotic catastrophe results from massive entanglement of chromosomes. Top2 is also the target of many first-line anticancer drugs, the so-called Top2 poisons. Often, tumors become resistant to these drugs by acquiring hypomorphic mutations in the genes encoding Top2. Here, we have compared the cell cycle and nuclear segregation of two coisogenic Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains carrying top2 thermosensitive alleles that differ in their resistance to Top2 poisons: the broadly-used poison-sensitive top2-4 and the poison-resistant top2-5. Furthermore, we have performed genome-scale synthetic genetic array (SGA) analyses for both alleles under permissive conditions, chronic sublethal Top2 downregulation, and acute, yet transient, Top2 inactivation. We find that slowing down mitotic progression, especially at the time of execution of the mitotic exit network (MEN), protects against Top2 deficiency. In all conditions, genetic protection was stronger in top2-5; this correlated with cell biology experiments in this mutant, whereby we observed destabilization of both chromatin and ultrafine anaphase bridges by execution of MEN and cytokinesis. Interestingly, whereas transient inactivation of the critical MEN driver Cdc15 partly suppressed top2-5 lethality, this was not the case when earlier steps within anaphase were disrupted; i.e., top2-5 cdc14-1. We discuss the basis of this difference and suggest that accelerated progression through mitosis may be a therapeutic strategy to hypersensitize cancer cells carrying hypomorphic mutations in TOP2

Effect of soluble collagen hydrolysate from Prionace glauca skin in the expression of human fibroblast collagen

1 póster presentado al 5TH Trans-Atlantic Fisheries Technology Conference (45th) WEFTA MeetingSeafood discards and by-products represent a management and environmental problem for the fishery industry. In last European CFP (UE)1380/2013 regulation, stakeholders are encouraged to find alternative uses for these discards and subproducts different from direct human consumption. One potential for these materials is obtaining high value-added products such as proteins with technological properties (collagen and gelatins), peptides with functional properties (antimicrobial activities, antioxidant, antiproliferative and anti-hypertensive) or hemo-pigments (myoglobin).The authors are grateful to the “Programa Operativo FEDER, Cooperación Transfronteriza España-Portugal” for the financial support through the projet 0687_NOVOMAR_1P.Peer reviewe