Formación y persistencia del anillo de FtsZ de división bacteriana en "Escherichia coli"

En la estirpe VIP205 en la que se puede regular a voluntad el nivel de expresión del gen ftsZ, se pueden conseguir condiciones en las que la síntesis de la proteína FtsZ está disminuída. A 37 °C, se ha observado que los anillos de FtsZ (en adelante anillos Z) permanecen localizados en los sitios de división, incluso cuando los niveles de FtsZ son inferiores al 50 % con respecto a su parental. Por otra parte, por debajo de una concentración de FtsZ de aproximadamente el 60 % con respecto al parental, se produce una parada en la división. Este dato nos indica que los anillos Z formados no son totalmente funcionales o bien no son suficientes para continuar con la división. La persistencia y la funcionalidad de los anillos Z dependen de las condiciones de crecimiento, a 42 °C las cinéticas de desaparición de anillos Z y proteína son más rápidas que a 37 °C. Estos resultados nos indican que para que el anillo Z sea totalmente activo necesita una determinada concentración de FtsZ y que ésta depende además de otras condiciones del cultivo por ahora no determinadas. Hemos comprobado que por debajo de un nivel del 50 % con respecto al parental de proteína FtsZ en la estirpe VIP205, aunque las células aumentan en masa, la viabilidad está comprometida. Una explicación a este hecho es que al disminuir la concentración de FtsZ pudieran quedar vacías regiones, quizás en los sitios potenciales de división, que puedan ser lábiles o bien que cambiaran drásticamente la permeabilidad de la cubierta celular o que atraparan de manera irreversible algún componente hipotético esencial para la viabilidad. Por el contrario en la estirpe salvaje MC 1061 en condiciones de estrés nutricional o entrada en fase estacionaria, en las que no hay crecimiento y la concentración de FtsZ también se encuentra entre el 50 y el 60 % con respecto a condiciones en las que el crecimiento no está inhibido, al eliminar las condiciones de estrés las células recuperan el crecimiento y la cantidad de FtsZ, es decir que mantienen su viabilidad incluso a niveles bajos de FtsZ. Esto nos indica que en las células con el crecimiento inhibido o no se forman los sitios potenciales de división o bien quedan en estado de suspensión, por lo que estos sitios no puedan atrapar los hipotéticos elementos esenciales para la viabilidad ni dar lugar a regiones lábiles..

Genotype distribution of cervical human papillomavirus DNA in women with cervical lesions in Bioko, Equatorial Guinea

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The HVP vaccine is a useful tool for preventing cervical cancer. The purpose of this study is to determine the most frequent HPV genotypes in Equatorial Guinea in order to develop future vaccination strategies to apply in this country.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A campaign against cervical cancer was carried out in the area on a total of 1,680 women. 26 of the women, following cytological screening, were treated surgically with a loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP). Cases were studied histologically and were genotyped from paraffin blocks by applying a commercial kit that recognized 35 HPV types.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Cytological diagnoses included 17 HSIL, 1 LSIL, 5 ASC-H and 3 AGUS. Histological diagnosis resulted in 3 cases of microinvasive squamous cell carcinoma stage IA of FIGO, 9 CIN-3, 8 CIN-2, 2 CIN-1, 3 flat condylomas and mild dysplasia of the endocervical epithelium. Fifteen of twenty-five cases genotyped were positive for HPV (60%). HPV 16 and 33 were identified in four cases each, HPV 58 in two other cases, and HPV 18, 31, 52, and 82 in one case, with one HPV 16 and 58 coinfection.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The frequency of HPV types in the African area varies in comparison to other regions, particularly in Europe and USA. Vaccination against the five most common HPV types (16, 33, 58, 18, and 31) should be considered in the geographic region of West Africa and specifically in Equatorial Guinea.</p

Effect of bergamot on lipid profile in humans: A systematic review

Dyslipidemia is a well-established modifiable cardiovascular risk. Although statins can reduce LDLc by 50-60%, less than 20% of patients with high risk of CVD achieve LDL targets. The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate the effect of the nutraceutical, bergamot (Citrus bergamia), on lipid parameters in humans. PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar databases were searched for interventional and observational studies investigating the effect of bergamot on lipid profile in humans. This systematic review retrieved a total of 442 studies of which 12 articles fulfilled the eligibility criteria and were included in the qualitative synthesis. Based on data, 75% of studies showed a significant decrease in total cholesterol, triglycerides and LDLc. The decrease in total cholesterol varied from 12.3% to 31.3%, from 7.6% to 40.8% in LDLc and from 11.5% to 39.5% in triglycerides. Eight trials reported HDLc increase after intervention with bergamot. Overall, a dose-dependent and possible synergistic effect when administering with statins can be deducted from these trials. It is essential to point out that studies had heterogeneous designs and scientific quality of studies was quite limited. Promising findings reveal an alternative therapeutic option in dyslipidemia management with bergamot supplementation, especially in subjects with statins intolerance

Fostering English-taught higher education programs in a Spanish university: the "TechEnglish" innovative project

In recent years, coinciding with adjustments to the Bologna process, many European universities have attempted to improve their international profile by increasing course offerings in English. According to the Institute of International Education (IIE), Spain has notably increased its English-taught higher education programs, ranking fifth in the list of European countries by number of English-taught Master's programs in 2013. This article presents the goals and preliminary results of an on-going innovative education project (TechEnglish) that aims to promote course offerings in English at the Technical University of Madrid (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, UPM). The UPM is the oldest and largest of all Technical Universities in Spain. It offers graduate and postgraduate programs that cover all the engineering disciplines as well as architecture. Currently, the UPM has no specific bilingual/multilingual program to promote teaching in English, although there is an Educational Model Whitepaper (with a focus on undergraduate degrees) that promotes the development of activities like an International Semester or a unique shared curriculum. The TechEnglish project is an attempt to foster courses taught in English at 7 UPM Technical Schools, including students and 80 faculty members. Four tasks were identified: (1) to design a university wide framework to increase course offerings, (2) to identify administrative difficulties, (3) to increase visibility of courses offered, and (4) to disseminate the results of the project. First, to design a program we analyzed existing programs at other Spanish universities, and other projects and efforts already under way at the UPM. A total of 13 plans were analyzed and classified according to their relation with students (learning), professors (teaching), administration, course offerings, other actors/institutions within the university (e.g., language departments), funds and projects, dissemination activities, mobility plans and quality control. Second, to begin to identify administrative and organizational difficulties in the implementation of teaching in English, we first estimated the current and potential course offerings at the undergraduate level at the UPM using a survey (student, teacher and administrative demand, level of English and willingness to work in English). Third, to make the course offerings more attractive for both Spanish and international students we examined the way the most prestigious universities in Spain and in Europe try to improve the visibility of their academic offerings in English. Finally, to disseminate the results of the project we created a web page and a workspace on the Moodle education platform and prepared conferences and workshops within the UPM. Preliminary results show that increasing course offerings in English is an important step to promote the internationalization of the University. The main difficulties identified at the UPM were related to how to acknowledge/certify the departments, teachers or students involved in English courses, how students should register for the courses, how departments should split and schedule the courses (Spanish and English), and the lack of qualified personnel. A concerted effort could be made to increase the visibility of English-taught programs offered on-line

Treatment with tocilizumab or corticosteroids for COVID-19 patients with hyperinflammatory state: a multicentre cohort study (SAM-COVID-19)

Objectives: The objective of this study was to estimate the association between tocilizumab or corticosteroids and the risk of intubation or death in patients with coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) with a hyperinflammatory state according to clinical and laboratory parameters. Methods: A cohort study was performed in 60 Spanish hospitals including 778 patients with COVID-19 and clinical and laboratory data indicative of a hyperinflammatory state. Treatment was mainly with tocilizumab, an intermediate-high dose of corticosteroids (IHDC), a pulse dose of corticosteroids (PDC), combination therapy, or no treatment. Primary outcome was intubation or death; follow-up was 21 days. Propensity score-adjusted estimations using Cox regression (logistic regression if needed) were calculated. Propensity scores were used as confounders, matching variables and for the inverse probability of treatment weights (IPTWs). Results: In all, 88, 117, 78 and 151 patients treated with tocilizumab, IHDC, PDC, and combination therapy, respectively, were compared with 344 untreated patients. The primary endpoint occurred in 10 (11.4%), 27 (23.1%), 12 (15.4%), 40 (25.6%) and 69 (21.1%), respectively. The IPTW-based hazard ratios (odds ratio for combination therapy) for the primary endpoint were 0.32 (95%CI 0.22-0.47; p < 0.001) for tocilizumab, 0.82 (0.71-1.30; p 0.82) for IHDC, 0.61 (0.43-0.86; p 0.006) for PDC, and 1.17 (0.86-1.58; p 0.30) for combination therapy. Other applications of the propensity score provided similar results, but were not significant for PDC. Tocilizumab was also associated with lower hazard of death alone in IPTW analysis (0.07; 0.02-0.17; p < 0.001). Conclusions: Tocilizumab might be useful in COVID-19 patients with a hyperinflammatory state and should be prioritized for randomized trials in this situatio

Role of the Carboxy Terminus of Escherichia coli FtsA in Self-Interaction and Cell Division

The role of the carboxy terminus of the Escherichia coli cell division protein FtsA in bacterial division has been studied by making a series of short sequential deletions spanning from residue 394 to 420. Deletions as short as 5 residues destroy the biological function of the protein. Residue W415 is essential for the localization of the protein into septal rings. Overexpression of the ftsA alleles harboring these deletions caused a coiled cell phenotype previously described for another carboxy-terminal mutation (Gayda et al., J. Bacteriol. 174:5362–5370, 1992), suggesting that an interaction of FtsA with itself might play a role in its function. The existence of such an interaction was demonstrated using the yeast two-hybrid system and a protein overlay assay. Even these short deletions are sufficient for impairing the interaction of the truncated FtsA forms with the wild-type protein in the yeast two-hybrid system. The existence of additional interactions between FtsA molecules, involving other domains, can be postulated from the interaction properties shown by the FtsA deletion mutant forms, because although unable to interact with the wild-type and with FtsAΔ1, they can interact with themselves and cross-interact with each other. The secondary structures of an extensive deletion, FtsAΔ27, and the wild-type protein are indistinguishable when analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and moreover, FtsAΔ27 retains the ability to bind ATP. These results indicate that deletion of the carboxy-terminal 27 residues does not alter substantially the structure of the protein and suggest that the loss of biological function of the carboxy-terminal deletion mutants might be related to the modification of their interacting properties

Cómo resolver problemas entre compañeros y compañeras II

Se pretende que los alumnos interioricen unas normas de convivencia, de manera que cuando se enfrenten a una situación problemática, sepan resolverla de forma adecuada sin acudir a la violencia. Los objetivos principales son: establecer relaciones constructivas entre los alumnos, fomentar las actitudes de solidaridad y de rechazo a la discriminación y enseñar habilidades sociales encaminadas a la resolución de conflictos por la vía pacífica. El plan de trabajo se basa en la elaboración de fichas sobre las conductas de los alumnos, reuniones del profesorado para la preparación de materiales, reuniones con las familias, encuestas sobre sus hijos, obras de teatro y grabación de las actividades.Madrid (Comunidad Autónoma). Consejería de Educación y CulturaMadridMadrid (Comunidad Autónoma). Subdirección General de Formación del Profesorado. CRIF Las Acacias; General Ricardos 179 - 28025 Madrid; Tel. + 34915250893ES

Cómo resolver un conflicto entre compañeros y compañeras

Se pretende fomentar las normas de convivencia y solidaridad como medio para resolver los conflictos personales de forma pacífica. Entre los objetivos destacan: establecer relaciones equilibradas con los compañeros, rechazar cualquier tipo de discriminación y apreciar la importancia de los valores morales. La metodología consiste en la realización de juegos relacionados con la emotividad, en los niveles de Educación Infantil y los primeros ciclos de Primaria. En 3õ ciclo de Primaria y EGB se elaboran normas de clase y actividades relacionadas con el orden, la motivación en el aprendizaje y el trabajo en grupo. La evaluación es positiva y demuestra una mejora del clima general de convivencia, entre los alumnos, así como un acercamiento a otras fórmulas distintas para resolver conflictos, alejadas de conductas agresivas. La memoria incluye algunos materiales elaborados..Madrid (Comunidad Autónoma). Consejería de Educación y CulturaMadridMadrid (Comunidad Autónoma). Subdirección General de Formación del Profesorado. CRIF Las Acacias; General Ricardos 179 - 28025 Madrid; Tel. + 34915250893ES

Creciendo con salud o Juan ¿quieres hacer pis?, no porque estoy matando a un monstruo

El proyecto, en el que participan las Casas de Niños de Collado Mediano, Guadarrama, Moralzarzal y Navacerrada, quiere implicar a los distintos agentes sociales que inciden en la salud de los niños. Los objetivos son analizar las condiciones de higiene de los espacios y recursos de los centros; coordinar las instituciones de la zona que puedan mejorar los aspectos relacionados con la salud; y establecer pautas de intervención y, sobre todo, de prevención. Los ámbitos de actuación son reuniones de coordinación entre distintos participantes; ponencias sobre alimentación y salud; y equipos de trabajo con sesiones para las familias donde se trata el juego y juguete, la autoridad y los límites, el sueño, la alimentación y el control de esfínteres. Para ello trabajan conjuntamente Centros de Salud, Equipos de Atención Psicopedagógica, Asistentes Sociales, Responsables municipales de Salud y familias. El resultado final fue la elaboración de una guía de crianza que se difunde a las familias.Madrid (Comunidad Autónoma). Consejería de SanidadMadridNo disponibleES