Nuevos datos sobre la sucesión del "CXG" (Grupo das Beiras) : evidencia sedimentaria del origen glacioderivado de las facies conglomeráticas de la FM. del Cabeço das Popas, en la región de Monfortinho (Portugal Central)

La presencia de "dropstones" en las facies finas laminadas que se intercalan entre los orto y paraconglomerados característicos de la Fm. del Cabeço das opas (CXG: Grupo das Beiras), prueba su origen glacioderivado. La edad véndica media-superior considerada para esta Fm. permite postular la existencia de episodios glaciares postvarangerienses en el Macizo Hespérico

A third subunit in ancestral cytochrome c-dependent nitric oxide reductases

Reduction of NO to N2O by denitrifiying bacteria is catalyzed either by a monomeric quinol-nitric oxide reductase (qNor) or by a heterodimeric cytochrome c-dependent nitric oxide reductase (cNor). In ancient thermophilic bacteria belonging to the Thermales and Aquificales phylogenetic groups, the cluster encoding the cNor includes a small third gene (norH), in addition to those encoding homologues to the subunits of a typical cNor (norC and norB). We show in Thermus thermophilus that the three genes are cotranscribed in a single mRNA from an inducible promoter. The isolation of individual nor mutants and the production in vivo of His-tagged NorH protein followed by immobilized-metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) allowed us to conclude that NorH constitutes a third subunit of the cNor from T. thermophilus, which is involved in denitrification in vivo, likely allowing more efficient electron transport to cNor. © 2014, American Society for Microbiology.Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiviness (MEC) and by National Institutes of Health grants HL16101 (R.B.G.) and GM095600 (R.B.G.). An institutional grant from Fundación Ramón Areces to CBMSO and financial support to the Spanish National Network for Extremophilic Microorganisms (BIO2011-12879-E)Peer Reviewe

Novel effects of strains in graphene and other two dimensional materials

The analysis of the electronic properties of strained or lattice deformed graphene combines ideas from classical condensed matter physics, soft matter, and geometrical aspects of quantum field theory (QFT) in curved spaces. Recent theoretical and experimental work shows the influence of strains in many properties of graphene not considered before, such as electronic transport, spin-orbit coupling, the formation of Moir\'e patterns, optics, ... There is also significant evidence of anharmonic effects, which can modify the structural properties of graphene. These phenomena are not restricted to graphene, and they are being intensively studied in other two dimensional materials, such as the metallic dichalcogenides. We review here recent developments related to the role of strains in the structural and electronic properties of graphene and other two dimensional compounds.Comment: 75 pages, 15 figures, review articl

Polypharmacy Patterns: Unravelling Systematic Associations between Prescribed Medications

Objectives: The aim of this study was to demonstrate the existence of systematic associations in drug prescription that lead to the establishment of patterns of polypharmacy, and the clinical interpretation of the associations found in each pattern. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted based on information obtained from electronic medical records and the primary care pharmacy database in 2008. An exploratory factor analysis of drug dispensing information regarding 79,089 adult patients was performed to identify the patterns of polypharmacy. The analysis was stratified by age and sex. Results: Seven patterns of polypharmacy were identified, which may be classified depending on the type of disease they are intended to treat: cardiovascular, depression-anxiety, acute respiratory infection (ARI), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), rhinitis-asthma, pain, and menopause. Some of these patterns revealed a clear clinical consistency and included drugs that are prescribed together for the same clinical indication (i.e., ARI and COPD patterns). Other patterns were more complex but also clinically consistent: in the cardiovascular pattern, drugs for the treatment of known risk factors—such as hypertension or dyslipidemia—were combined with other medications for the treatment of diabetes or established cardiovascular pathology (e.g., antiplatelet agents). Almost all of the patterns included drugs for preventing or treating potential side effects of other drugs in the same pattern. Conclusions: The present study demonstrated the existence of non-random associations in drug prescription, resulting in patterns of polypharmacy that are sound from the pharmacological and clinical viewpoints and that exist in a significant proportion of the population. This finding necessitates future longitudinal studies to confirm some of the proposed causal associations. The information discovered would further the development and/or adaptation of clinical patient guidelines to patients with multimorbidity who are taking multiple drugs

Optimization of a class of tryptophan dendrimers that inhibit HIV replication leads to a selective, specific, and low-nanomolar inhibitor of clinical isolates of enterovirus A71

Tryptophan dendrimers that inhibit HIV replication by binding to the HIV envelope glycoproteins gp120 and gp41 have unexpectedly also proven to be potent, specific, and selective inhibitors of the replication of the unrelated enterovirus A71. Dendrimer 12, a consensus compound that was synthesized on the basis of the structure-activity relationship analysis of this series, is 3-fold more potent against the BrCr lab strain and, surprisingly, inhibits a large panel of clinical isolates in the low-nanomolar/high-picomolar range.This work has been supported by the Spanish MINECO (Project SAF2012-39760-C02-01, cofinanced by the FEDER program; Plan Nacional de Cooperación Público-Privada; and Subprograma INNPACTO IPT-2012-0213-060000, cofinanced by the FEDER program) and the Comunidad de Madrid (BIPEDD2-CM-S2010/BMD-2457). This work was also funded by EU FP7 (FP7/2007-2013) Project EUVIRNA under Grant408 Agreement 264286 by EU FP7 SILVER (Contract HEALTH-F3-2010- 260644), a grant from the Belgian Interuniversity Attraction Poles (IAP) Phase VII–P7/45 (BELVIR), and the EU FP7 Industry-Academia Partnerships and Pathways Project AIROPICO. The Spanish MEC/MINECO is also acknowledged for a grant to E.R.-B. L.S. was funded by China Scholarship Council (CSC) Grant 201403250056. We also acknowledge Charlotte Vanderheydt for help with the processing of the antiviral data.Peer Reviewe

Dinámica del banco de semillas activo en suelos no cultivados del Campus Lircay, Universidad de Talca

53 p.En el presente estudio se analiza la dinámica del banco de semillas activo en suelos laboreados y otros sin alteración en la Universidad de Talca para el período de primavera de 2013. El objetivo fue ilustrar comparativamente la secuencia temporal de la diversidad florística y cambios en la abundancia. Basado en el método de evaluación indirecto, mensualmente se contabilizaron las especies y número de individuos asumiendo que cada planta proviene de una semilla germinada y sin retiro de los ejemplares establecidos. Se trabajó en un suelo con previo laboreo manual y otro sin alteración donde se establecieron parcelas de 1 x 1 m (1m2) con 4 unidades de repetición cada uno distribuídas al azar. El trabajo se realizó en condiciones naturales, sin control de variables con ausencia de riego y de fertilización. Se encontró que el banco de semillas activo es transitorio con 2.432 individuos y 27 especies. Los resultados muestran que en suelos sin intervención la potencialidad en cantidad de especies (21), luego de semillas, es mayor en diversidad florística respecto al otro intervenido (12). Sin embargo, se encontró un efecto contrario respecto al índice de equitatividad, arrojando que en suelos con intervención se produce una mayor uniformidad en la representatividad de las especies germinadas que en suelos sin alteración./ABSTRACT:The present study analyzes the dynamics of the seed bank both in tilled soils and nontilled without alteration in the University of Talca for the period of spring of 2013. The goal was to illustrate comparatively the temporal sequence of floristic diversity and changes in the abundance using the indirect method of evaluation by counting monthly the species and number of individuals assuming that each plant comes from a seed, and without of the established plant. Plots of 1 x 1 m. (1M2) for both soils with alteration as without alteration with 4 replicas for each repetition. The units were randomly distributed. The study is performed under natural conditions without control of variables such as irrigation or fertilization. It was found that the seed bank is transitional active with 2,432 individuals and 27 species.The results show that in soils without intervention, the potential amount of seeds and species is larger (21) in floristic diversity with respect to with alteration (12); however, the opposite effect was found in the index of evenness, showing that in soils with intervention there was a greater uniformity in the representativeness of the germinated species, as compared with the germinated species in soils without alteration

Cardiotrophin-1 promotes a high survival rate in rabbits with lethal fulminant hepatitis of viral origin

Rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) causes lethal fulminant hepatitis closely resembling acute liver failure (ALF) in humans. In this study, we investigated whether cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1), a cytokine with hepatoprotective properties, could attenuate liver damage and prolong survival in virus-induced ALF. Twenty-four rabbits were infected with 2 × 10(4) hemagglutination units of RHDV. Twelve received five doses of CT-1 (100 μg/kg) starting at 12 h postinfection (hpi) (the first three doses every 6 h and then two additional doses at 48 and 72 hpi), while the rest received saline. The animals were analyzed for survival, serum biochemistry, and viral load. Another cohort (n = 22) was infected and treated similarly, but animals were sacrificed at 30 and 36 hpi to analyze liver histology, viral load, and the expression of factors implicated in liver damage and repair. All infected rabbits that received saline died by 60 hpi, while 67% of the CT-1-treated animals survived until the end of the study. Treated animals showed improved liver function and histology, while the viral loads were similar. In the livers of CT-1-treated rabbits we observed reduction of oxidative stress, diminished PARP1/2 and JNK activation, and decreased inflammatory reaction, as reflected by reduced expression of tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin-1β, Toll-like receptor 4, VCAM-1, and MMP-9. In addition, CT-1-treated rabbits exhibited marked upregulation of TIMP-1 and increased expression of cytoprotective and proregenerative growth factors, including platelet-derived growth factor B, epidermal growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor receptor β, and c-Met. In conclusion, in a lethal form of acute viral hepatitis, CT-1 increases animal survival by attenuating inflammation and activating cytoprotective mechanisms, thus representing a promising therapy for ALF of viral origin

Characterization of the paracrine effects of human skeletal myoblasts transplanted in infarcted myocardium

The discrepancy between the functional improvements yielded experimentally by skeletal myoblasts (SM) transplanted in infarcted myocardium and the paucity of their long-term engraftment has raised the hypothesis of cell-mediated paracrine mechanisms. Methods and results: We analyzed gene expression and growth factors released by undifferentiated human SM (CD56+), myotubes (SM cultured until confluence) and fibroblasts-like cells (CD56−). Gene expression revealed up-regulation of pro-angiogenic (PGF), antiapoptotics (BAG-1, BCL-2), heart development (TNNT2, TNNC1) and extracellular matrix remodelling (MMP-2, MMP-7) genes in SM. In line with the gene expression profile, the analysis of culture supernatants of SM by ELISA identified the release of growth factors involved in angiogenesis (VEGF, PIGF, angiogenin, angiopoietin, HGF and PDGF-BB) as well as proteases involved in matrix remodelling (MMP2, MMP9 and MMP10) and their inhibitors (TIMPs). Culture of smooth muscle cells (SMC), cardiomyocytes (HL-1) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) with SM-released conditioned media demonstrated an increased proliferation of HUVEC, SMC and cardiomyocytes (pb0.05) and a decrease in apoptosis of cardiomyocytes (pb0.05). Analysis of nude rats transplanted with human SM demonstrated expression of human-specific MMP-2, TNNI3, CNN3, PGF, TNNT2, PAX7, TGF-β, and IGF-1 1 month after transplant. Conclusions: Our data support the paracrine hypothesis whereby myoblast-secreted factors may contribute to the beneficial effects of myogenic cell transplantation in infarcted myocardium. © 2008 European Society of Cardiology. Published by Elsevie

New oxidized ent-kaurane and ent-norkaurane derivatives from kaurenoic acid

New oxidized ent-kaurane and ent-norkaurane derivatives were synthezised starting from kaurenoic acid. The spectroscopic characterization of all compounds is reported

Dietary total antioxidant capacity and obesity in children and adolescents

Dietary antioxidant intake has been suggested to protect against oxidative damage and related clinical complications. The aim of this study was to assess the potential relationships between the dietary total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and obesity-related features in children and adolescents. Anthropometric variables from 369 children and adolescents were measured (184 obese and 185 control). A validated food-frequency questionnaire was used to calculate the TAC and the daily nutrient and energy intake. Dietary TAC showed positive associations with fiber, folic acid, magnesium, and vitamins A, C and E. BMI, SDS-BMI and total body fat were inversely associated with dietary TAC only in obese subjects. These data suggest that dietary TAC may be a potential indicator of the risk to develop obesity-related features and could be considered as a useful method in assessing antioxidant intake