Sobre-expresión heteróloga de un péptido antimicrobiano en Streptomyces lividans TK24

Los péptidos con actividad antimicrobiana (AMPs), son de bajo peso molecular y codificados en el genoma de animales y plantas. Típicamente, son catiónicos, anfipáticos, lo que les confiere estabilidad. (Boman, 1996). Se sintetizan en tejidos como la piel, intestino y pulmones (Rao, 1995), más rápido que una inmunoglobulina y a menor costo metabólico. Pueden estar disponibles para actuar inmediatamente y se liberan o producen cuando las células se estimulan por contacto con microorganismos (Nissen-Meyer y Nes, 1997; Rao, 1995). Son un medio rápido para combatir una amplia variedad de bacterias, hongos, virus e incluso protozoarios (Evans y Harmon, 1995). Debido a su mecanismo de acción, no afectan a las células eucarióticas; por ello se están estudiando intensamente. En la actualidad son usados como agentes antimicrobianos y como agentes terapéuticos (Boman, 1996), En este trabajo, se desarrollaron tres estrategias moleculares con la finalidad de producir de manera eficiente un péptido catiónico con actividad antimicrobiana (CAP). La primera consistió en el uso de un sistema para Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) pLysS, en donde el gen de interés se mantiene silenciado hasta que se administra un inductor (evitando así la toxicidad por expresión basal). En la segunda se modeló una secuencia complementaria al péptido de interés, con el fin de atenuar la toxicidad de este sobre la célula huésped. En la tercera se diseñó un casette de expresión para Streptomyces lividans TK24, en el que se utilizó el promotor y el péptido señal de Streptomyces venezuelae, sistema que permitió la sobre-expresión y secreción de un péptido catiónico al medio de cultivo, facilitando su recuperación y la disminución de toxicidad sobre el organismo productor. Los resultados obtenidos muestran la eficiencia del sistema, se logró una concentración de 11.61 mg/ml de péptido, lo que representa un incremento de por lo menos diez veces con respecto a otras estrategias reportadas previamente (Parachin y col., 2012). Resume Este sistema, consta de la construcción de un cassette de expresión, con elementos que permiten incrementar la eficiencia en la producción del péptido, tales como el promotor y el péptido señal de Streptomyces venezuelae. El péptido expresado mostró actividad contra diversos fitopatógenos, como: Colletotrichum sp, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium solani Bacillus subtilis, Xanthomonas campestris, Pseudomona aurofaciens, Nigrospora oryzae, Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato Ralstonia solanacearum y Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. Citri. Por otro lado, se sentaron las bases para realizar la expresión del péptido modificado hipotéticamente inactivo en Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) pLysS

Quantum spin fluctuations and the stability of atomically-sized Bloch points

We reveal the role of the spin variables' zero-point fluctuations (ZPFs) on the stability of Bloch point (BP) singularities. As topological solitons, BPs are important in topological transitions in nanomagnets. BPs present a singularity at their core, where the long-length-scale approximation fails. We found that ZPFs bloom nearby this core, reducing the effective magnetic moment and increasing the BP's stability. As suggested by classical models, the magnonic eigenmodes found by our methods fit with the bound state of an electron surrounding a dyon, with a magnetic and an electric charge.Comment: Main: 5 pages, 4 figures. Supplementary material: 3 pages, 4 figure

Neuropsychological assessment and perinatal risk: A study amongst very premature born 4- and 5-year old children

Background: Prematurity and its consequences are serious problems that can result in numerous neurosensory disabilities and cerebral cognitive dysfunctions. The Perinatal Risk Index (PERI) might provide a predictive measure of these problems. Aim: This study compared the cognitive development of prematurely born children at 4 and 5 years of age with age-matched peers born at term. The secondary objective was to determine whether a correlation exists between perinatal risk and performance on neuropsychological tests among premature children. Methods: A total of 54 children between four and five years of age were evaluated; 27 were born very premature (premature group; PG), and 27 were born at term (term group; TG). Executive function, attention, memory, language, visual perception, and spatial structuring were evaluated. Subtests from the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, the Rey Complex Figure Test, the McCarthy Scales of Children’s Abilities, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, Test A, Trails A and B, the spatial structuring questionnaire from the Child Neuropsychological Maturity Questionnaire, and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children were used. A PERI score was also obtained for the PG. Results: The PG showed significantly lower scores than the TG in all the studied cognitive domains. Visual-perceptive scores were significantly and negatively correlated with the PERI scores of the PG. Conclusions: The PG showed neurocognitive deficits compared with the TG. The PERI can be used to predict the development of visual-perceptive abilities in children between four and five years of age

Anxiety and depression following cumulative low-level exposure to organophosphate pesticides

Previous research suggests that individuals with a prior history of pesticide poisoning are at increased risk of psychiatric disorder (Freire and Koifman, 2013), but findings regarding the impact of cumulative low-level exposure are inconsistent. The aim of the current study was to investigate whether sheep farmers with a history of low-level exposure to organophosphate pesticides (1) report a higher level of psychological distress on subjective symptom questionnaires, compared to unexposed controls (2) also meet internationally agreed diagnostic criteria for a psychiatric disorder more often than unexposed controls. 127 sheep farmers were evaluated and compared to 78 unexposed controls, matched in terms of gender, education, level of intelligence, working status and area of residence. Both self-report measures and structured clinical interviews were used to assess mental health. The exposed cohort reported significantly higher rates of anxiety and depression when self-report questionnaires were used to evaluate mood, even when stressful life events, demographic and physical health factors were taken into account. However, when diagnostic interviews were used to assess mood, this pattern only held true for anxiety

A systematic review of the influence of occupational organophosphate pesticides exposure on neurological impairment

Objective: The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the published literature and to estimate whether or not there is a causal relationship between occupational exposure to organophosphate pesticides (OPs) and either neurological impairment or depressive symptoms. Data sources: EMBASE, MEDLINE, Global Health and PsycINFO (1980 to April 2014). Setting: Observational studies (cross-sectional, cohort and case-control studies) with exposed and unexposed groups. Participants: People who occupationally use OPs for more than 1 month and their family. Primary outcome: Results of neurological core test batteries or depressive symptoms such as headaches, anxiety and dizziness. Study appraisal and synthesis methods: After an extensive search of various literature databases, one author screened titles and abstracts, searched the relevant publications manually and conducted data extraction. All extracted data from the selected articles were synthesised for analysis. Quality appraisal was conducted using the Newcastle Ottawa Scale. Results: Of the 1024 articles retrieved by database search, 24 studies that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected for analysis. Of the selected studies, 17 were cross-sectional and the remaining 7 were cohort and nested case-control studies. The geographical areas included in the studies were the USA (10 studies), the UK (4 studies), Africa (4 studies), Asia (3 studies), Europe (2 studies) and South America (1 study). Each of the included studies used different exposure and outcome assessments such as neurological scores and depressive symptoms, making it difficult to compare the results exactly. Most studies showed that exposed groups had poorer results than unexposed groups; however, owing to the inconsistent neurological test batteries, there was not enough pooling evidence to conduct a meta-analysis. Conclusions: The findings of this literature review indicate that it is necessary to standardise the neurological or neuropsychological test battery and methods of measuring exposure to OPs

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition)

In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. For example, a key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process versus those that measure fl ux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process including the amount and rate of cargo sequestered and degraded). In particular, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation must be differentiated from stimuli that increase autophagic activity, defi ned as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (inmost higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium ) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the fi eld understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. It is worth emphasizing here that lysosomal digestion is a stage of autophagy and evaluating its competence is a crucial part of the evaluation of autophagic flux, or complete autophagy. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. Along these lines, because of the potential for pleiotropic effects due to blocking autophagy through genetic manipulation it is imperative to delete or knock down more than one autophagy-related gene. In addition, some individual Atg proteins, or groups of proteins, are involved in other cellular pathways so not all Atg proteins can be used as a specific marker for an autophagic process. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field

Diseño de un sistema CNC adaptable a una máquina cosedora industrial de zapatos para la empresa PANTANERO CIA. LTDA.

Este trabajo propone un sistema CNC para una máquina cosedora industrial de zapatos con el objetivo de automatizar y mejorar la calidad de la costura. Los procesos manuales actuales han identificado la necesidad en la industria textil. Se desarrolla un sistema mecatrónico que incluye elementos mecánicos, software y tarjetas de control para procesar código-G y controlar el movimiento en los ejes X e Y. El diseño mecánico se valida mediante análisis de elementos finitos y se propone el uso de Mach 3 como controlador CNC, junto con una tarjeta de control USB para los actuadores.This work proposes a CNC system for an industrial shoe sewing machine to automate and improve the quality of stitching. Current manual processes have identified the need in the textile industry. A mechatronic system is developed, including mechanical elements, software, and control cards to process G-code and control movement on the X and Y axes. The mechanical design is validated through finite element analysis, and the use of Mach 3 as a CNC controller is proposed, along with a USB control card for the actuators

Elaboración de profesiogramas para la planeación de los procesos de Editorial Don Bosco y Librería LNS matriz Cuenca en el período septiembre 2015 - marzo 2016

Los profesiográficas permiten determinar qué factores, competencias y en qué grado son importantes para desempeñar adecuadamente las funciones y tareas asignadas a un puesto de trabajo. Esta investigación se llevó a cabo en Editorial Don Bosco y Librerías LNS, de la ciudad de Cuenca.The profesiographic cards allow to detemine what factors, the stkills and to what degree are important to properly perfom the funtions and tasks assigned to a job. This research was made at Editorial Don Bosco and Librerías LNS, in the city of Cuenca

Correction to “Bringing Adaptive and Immersive Interfaces to Real-World Multi-Robot Scenarios: Application to Surveillance and Intervention in Infrastructures”

In the above-named article, the affiliation of the authors should have been "Centre for Automation and Robotics (CAR), Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), 28006 Madrid, Spain.