Mesenchymal stem cells and their use as cell replacement therapy and disease modelling tool.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from adult somatic tissues may differentiate in vitro and in vivo into multiple mesodermal tissues including bone, cartilage, adipose tissue, tendon, ligament or even muscle. MSCs preferentially home to damaged tissues where they exert their therapeutic potential. A striking feature of the MSCs is their low inherent immunogenicity as they induce little, if any, proliferation of allogeneic lymphocytes and antigen-presenting cells. Instead, MSCs appear to be immunosuppressive in vitro. Their multilineage differentiation potential coupled to their immuno-privileged properties is being exploited worldwide for both autologous and allogeneic cell replacement strategies. Here, we introduce the readers to the biology of MSCs and the mechanisms underlying immune tolerance. We then outline potential cell replacement strategies and clinical applications based on the MSCs immunological properties. Ongoing clinical trials for graft-versus-host-disease, haematopoietic recovery after co-transplantation of MSCs along with haematopoietic stem cells and tissue repair are discussed. Finally, we review the emerging area based on the use of MSCs as a target cell subset for either spontaneous or induced neoplastic transformation and, for modelling non-haematological mesenchymal cancers such as sarcomas

Relationship between handgrip strength and endogenous hormones in postmenopausal women

Objectives :This study aimed to evaluate the endogenous hormonal factors related to dominant handgrip strength (HGS) in postmenopausal women. Methods : A cross-sectional study was performed on 402 postmenopausal women aged 47 to 83 years. The following variables were recorded: age, age at menopause, smoking status, adiposity, HGS, and physical activity. Hormonal parameters (follicle-stimulating hormone, estradiol, testosterone, cortisol, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, ∆4 androstenedione, insulin-like growth factor-1 [IGF-1], vitamin D, and parathormone levels) were measured and results reported as odds ratios (ORs), β coefficients and 95% confidence interval (95% CI). A directed acyclic graph was used to identify potential confounding variables and was adjusted in the regression model to assess associations between endogenous hormones and HGS. Results :The mean dominant HGS was 22.8 ± 3.7 kg, and 25.6% of women had dynapenia. There were significant differences in plasma levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (OR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.98-1.00), cortisol (OR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.02-1.12), and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (OR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.98-1.00) between women with normal HGS and those who presented with dynapenia. After adjusting for confounding variables, no significant association was found between endogenous hormones and HGS. Conclusions: Our results showed that studied ovarian steroids, adrenal hormones, IGF-1, parathormone, and vitamin D were not associated with HGS

Effects of ADHD on writing composition product and process in school-age students

Objective: This study examined the relationship between ADHD and writing performance. Method: Students in Grades 3 to 7, 84 with ADHD and 135 age and gender-matched controls completed a writing task (including process logs), and measures of, working memory and attention. Results: Students with ADHD wrote texts of similar length but with poorer structure, coherence and ideation. 6.7% of the variance in writing quality was explained by whether or not the student had an ADHD diagnosis, after control for IQ and age-within-year, with students with ADHD producing text that was less coherent, well structured, and ideationally rich and to spend less time thinking about and reviewing their text. Half of the effect on text quality could be attributed to working memory and sustained attention effects. Conclusions: ADHD has some effect on writing performance which can, in part, be explained by working memory and attentional deficits

Association of Endogenous Hormones and Bone Mineral Density in Postmenopausal Women

Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the association between endogenous hormones and bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal women. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 798 postmenopausal women aged 47-85 years. Data were collected on age, age at menopause, years since menopause, smoking status, body mass index, adiposity, BMD, physical activity, and Vitamin D supplementation. Measured hormonal parameters were: follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), estradiol, testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, 4-androstenedione, cortisol, insulin-like growth factor-1, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, and parathormone (PTH) levels. BMD was measured at the lumbar spine, femoral neck, and total hip using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. A directed acyclic graph was used to select potential confounding variables. Results: Multivariable analysis showed significant associations between cortisol and femoral neck BMD (β: -0.02, 95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.03 - 0.00), and PTH with femoral neck BMD (β: -0.01, 95% CI: -0.02 - 0.01) and total hip BMD (β: -0.01, 95% CI: -0.01 - 0.00). Hormonal factors more likely associated with a higher risk of low BMD (osteopenia or osteoporosis) were FSH (odds ratio [OR]: 1.02, 95% CI: 1.01-1.03) and PTH (OR: 1.02, 95% CI: 1.01-1.04). Conclusions: Higher cortisol and PTH levels were inversely associated with BMD. Postmenopausal women with higher FSH or PTH levels were likely to have low BMD. © 2023 Journal of Mid-life Health

On property (Saw) and others spectral properties type Weyl-Browder theorems

An operator T acting on a Banach space X satisfies the property (aw) if σ(T) \ σw(T) = Ea(T), where σw(T) is the Weyl spectrum of T and Eo a(T) is the set of all eigenvalues of T of finite multiplicity that are isolated in the approximate point spectrum of T. In this paper we introduce and study two new spectral properties, namely (Saw) and (Sab), in connection with Weyl-Browder type theorems. Among other results, we prove that T satisfies property (Saw) if and only if T satisfies property (aw) and σSBF-+(T) = σw(T), where σSBF-+ (T) is the upper semi B-Weyl spectrum of T

Dynamical approach to the Casimir effect

Casimir forces can appear between intrusions placed in different media driven by several fluctuation mechanisms, either in equilibrium or out of it. Herein, we develop a general formalism to obtain such forces from the dynamical equations of the fluctuating medium, the statistical properties of the driving noise, and the boundary conditions of the intrusions (which simulate the interaction between the intrusions and the medium). As a result, an explicit formula for the Casimir force over the intrusions is derived. This formalism contains the thermal Casimir effect as a particular limit and generalizes the study of the Casimir effect to such systems through their dynamical equations, with no appeal to their Hamiltonian, if any exists. In particular, we study the Casimir force between two infinite parallel plates with Dirichlet or Neumann boundary conditions, immersed in several media with finite correlation lengths (reaction--diffusion system, liquid crystals, and two coupled fields with non-Hermitian evolution equations). The driving Gaussian noises have vanishing or finite spatial or temporal correlation lengths; in the first case, equilibrium is reobtained and finite correlations produce nonequilibrium dynamics. The results obtained show that, generally, nonequilibrium dynamics leads to Casimir forces, whereas Casimir forces are obtained in equilibrium dynamics if the stress tensor is anisotropic.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figur

Hagamos visible la dirección de personas.

[EN] “Let’s make people management visible” is an innovation project that was run in all 2nd year groups for the Managing People courses, within the Social Science Faculty. The project involved all the teachers who taught this course, and was organized around cooperative learning. The objective of this project was the students to understand and learn, in a playful way, the basics of People Management. To this end, students organized in teams, created a video documentary and a business case that should reflect one of the following areas of knowledge contained in the syllabus: job design, recruitment and selection, training, performance appraisal and motivation. To prepare the content for the video, students used bibliographic and audiovisual resources and they worked with the role‐ playing technique. After the videos were finished, students shared their acquired knowledge by putting in common their work and by solving the business cases developed by the other groups. The competencies developed were: teamwork, empathy, tolerance, decision making, responsibility and creativity. Thirty videos were submitted to the contest and published in the V Seminar on Human Resources, "Talentum."[ES] "Hagamos visible la dirección de personas" es un proyecto de innovación que fue llevado a la práctica en todos los grupos de 2 º año de grado de los cursos de Dirección de Personas, en la Facultad de Ciencias Sociales. El proyecto involucró a todos los profesores que imparten este curso, y se organizó en torno al aprendizaje cooperativo. El objetivo de este proyecto fue que los estudiantes entendieran y aprendieran, de una manera lúdica, os fundamentos de la Gestión de Personas. Con este fin, los estudiantes organizados en equipos, crearon un video documental y un caso que debían reflejar una de las siguientes áreas de conocimiento contenida en el plan de estudios: diseño de puestos de trabajo, reclutamiento y selección, formación, evaluación del desempeño y motivación. Para preparar el contenido del video, los estudiantes utilizaron recursos bibliográficos y audiovisuales y se trabajó con la técnica de rol. Una vez que los videos se terminaron, los estudiantes compartieron sus conocimientos adquiridos mediante la puesta en común de su trabajo y resolvieron los casos desarrollados por los otros grupos. Las competencias desarrolladas fueron: el trabajo en equipo, la empatía, la tolerancia, la toma de decisiones, la responsabilidad y la creatividad. Treinta videos fueron presentados a concurso y publicado en el V Seminario de Recursos Humanos "Talentum"[FR] “Rendons le Management de Personnes Évident”, c’est une activité d’innovation qui a eu lieu dans tous les groupes de 2eme année dans le cadre de la matieré “Direction du Personnel”, dans la Faculté de Sciences Sociales. Le projet a eté encadré par tous les professeurs qui enseignent cette matiére. En prennant comme base l’apprentissage coopératif, l’objectif a etait de rendré les etudiants capable de comprendre et apprendre, d’une façon ludique, les principes basics du Management de Personnes. À cet effet, les étudiants organisés en équipes, ont créé un documentaire visuel et un “cas d'affaires” qui devaient refléter un des domaines de connaissance contenus dans le programme: système de travail, recrutement, formation, évaluation du travail et motivation. Pour réaliserur la vidéo, les étudiants ont consulté des bibliographies specialisées, ainsi que des sources audiovisuelles. Ils ont travillé aussi avec la technique du role‐playing.Une fois les videos terminées, les étudiants ont partagé leur connaissance acquise en mettant en commun leur travail et leurs solutions aux différents cas d'affaires développés dans lesdifférents groupes. Les compétences développées ont eté: travail d'équipe, empathie, tolérance, prise de décision, responsabilité et créativité. Trente des videos ont été présentées au concours et édités dans le V Conference de Ressources Humaines, «Talentum. »Moldes Farelo, R.; García-Salmones, L.; Gómez Sota, F.; Cordero Verdugo, RR.; Rodriguez Polo, B. (2011). Let's make people management visible. REDU. Revista de Docencia Universitaria. 8(2):95-116. https://doi.org/10.4995/redu.2010.6197OJS9511682BENITO, A y CRUZ, A. (2007), Nuevas claves para la docencia universitaria en el Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior, Madrid, Ed. Narcea.DE MIGUEL, DÍAZ, M. (COORD.); (2006), Metodología de enseñanza y aprendizaje para el desarrollo de competencias. Orientaciones para el profesorado universitario ante el Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior, Madrid, Ed. Alianza.DÍAZ AGUADO, M. (2003), Educación intercultural y aprendizaje cooperativo, Madrid, Ed. Pirámide.JOHNSON, D., JOHNSON, R., SMITH, K. (1997) El aprendizaje cooperativo regresa a la Universidad: ¿qué evidencia existe de qué funciona?, Universidad de Minnesota.MARTÍNEZ, F. (ED.); (2003) Redes de comunicación en la enseñanza. Las nuevas perspectivas del trabajo cooperativo, Barcelona, Paidós.MERCER, N. (2001), Palabras y mentes. Cómo usamos el lenguaje para pensar juntos, Barcelona, Paidós.MONEREO, C., DURÁN, D. (2003) Entramados. Métodos de aprendizaje cooperativo y colaborativo, Barcelona, EdebéPUTNAM, J. (1997) Cooperative learning in diverse classrooms. Nueva York: Prentice‐Hall.SLAVIN, R. (1995) Cooperative learning, Massachusetts, Alyn & Bacon.THOUSAND,.; NEVIN, V.; VILA, R.; (1994), An overview of cooperative learning. Creativity and collaborative learning. A practical guide to empowering students and teachers, Baltimore, Paul H. Brookes

Chromosomal control of non-gliadin proteins from the 70% ethanol extract of wheat endosperm

The non-gliadin fraction of the 70% ethanol extracts of compensated nulli-tetrasomics and ditelosomics of Triticum aestivum cv. Chinese Spring has been analyzed by combined electrofocusing and electrophoresis. Seventeen of the 21 protein map components of the euploid have been ascribed to eight chromosomes: 4A, 3BS, 6BS, 7BS, 3D, 4D, 5D and 7DS. The relationship of the different map components with other proteins previously associated with the same chromosomes is discusse

Interactions of Aromatic Radicals with Water

The interactions of the benzyl radical (1), the anilinyl radical (2), and the phenoxyl radical (3) with water are investigated using density functional theory (DFT). In addition, we report dispersion-corrected DFT-D molecular dynamics simulations on these three systems and a matrix isolation study on 1–water. The radicals 1–3 form an interesting series with the number of lone pairs increasing from none to two. The anilinyl and benzyl radicals can act as Lewis base through their unpaired electrons, the lone pairs of the heteroatoms, or the doubly occupied π orbitals of the aromatic system. Matrix isolation experiments provide evidence for the formation of a π complex between 1 and water. By combining computational and experimental techniques we identify the possible interactions between the aromatic radicals 1–3 and water, predict the structure and vibrational spectra of the resulting complexes, and analyze the effects of substitution and temperature