Optimisation of the Dielectrophoretic Well System for Cell-Based Assays.

Dielectrophoresis (DEP), the induced motion of cells in an inhomogeneous electric field, can be measured by studying the motion of the cells at different frequencies. This work uses a light absorption method to determine the DEP force and extract the dielectric properties of cell populations. Previously, light intensity changes in a 3D well electrode have been measured with a microscope and a single channel signal generator. This work sets out to enable real time measurement of cell populations by implementing a digital camera, lens and light source alongside a 20 channel signal generator in one machine, the DEP well instrument, to measure light intensity changes for 20 wells simultaneously. Optimisation of the optics is carried out through the evaluation of different cameras, lenses and light sources and measuring the light intensity changes of yeast populations in 4 wells that are energized with the same frequency, in order to ensure that the system is able to give consistent results. Finally, the application of the DEP well instrument for detection of drug cytotoxicity and rapid detection of apoptosis, both important in the development of new chemotherapeutic drugs, was studied. Both apoptosis and cytotoxicity of drugs can be characterized by changes in the membrane and cytoplasm properties of cells resulting in various distinct sub-populations within a sample. Rapid detection of apoptosis was examined by inducing HeLa cells with the well known chemotherapeutic agent staurosporine and comparing the results obtained with DEP and those obtained with the gold standard method of measuring apoptosis, Annexin V assay with flow cytometry. The ability of the DEP well instrument to test drug cytotoxicity on suspension and adherent cells was studied by inducing cells with the chemotherapeutic agent doxorubicin and measuring cell viability with DEP after different incubation times. The results were compared with the colorimetric assay 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-Diphenyltetrazolium Bromide (MTT) and trypan blue experimental results, as well as with previously published values

Family competition via divergence in the trading of funds

We examine the influence of managerial structures and characteristics on the level of trading divergence among fund families as well as their effects on the subsequent performance of those families. Fund families with fewer interactions between their funds and managers tend to diverge more in their trading decisions. We find a positive influence of this divergence on the performance of fund families not only in competitive but also in cooperative environments. This finding shows that if cooperation leads a fund family to make different trading decisions than their competitors, they have better results

Surface photometry of radio loud elliptical galaxies from the B2 sample

V-band CCD imaging is presented for 72 galaxies from the B2 radio sample (Colla et al.; Fanti et al.), with redshifts up to 0.2 and radio powers P408=1023-1026.5 W Hz-1. According to the morphology on the optical images 57 galaxies are classified as ellipticals, 6 as spirals and 7 as irregular. Surface photometry of the sample of ellipticals was obtained fitting ellipses to the light distribution. The light profile of these galaxies generally follows a de Vaucouleurs law, although in three cases the profiles show large excesses relative to the r1/4 law at large radii. The fitted μe and re parameters for the de Vaucouleurs galaxies are given in the paper. Three of the ellipticals show a bright nucleus. One of them is a known broad line radio galaxy (B2 1833+32) and the remaining two are Markarian galaxies, classified in the literature as BL Lac objects (B2 1101+38 and B2 1652+39). The radial profiles for ellipticity, position angle, and B4 term of the Fourier analysis are presented in the paper, and the morphological peculiarities of the ellipticals are described, including the presence of shells, tails, nuclear dust, isophote twisting, off-centering, and boxiness or diskness of the isophotes. Only one of the galaxies in this work is included in the subsample of B2 radio galaxies with well-defined jets (Parma et al.). In this sense the present sample complements the sample of 24 radio galaxies with well-defined radio jets in Parma et al. for which a similar study was presented in González-Serrano et al.). The irregular galaxy B2 0916+33 appears to be misclassified, and we suggest that the right identification of the radio source is a nearby point like object with V=18.45 mag. The spiral galaxy associated with B2 1441+26 is also misclassified. A point-like optical object with V=18.88 mag, located at arcsec from the original identification and coincident with the radio core is the most probable counterpart

Is Senescence Important in Hepatic Diseases?

Aging is a condition in which a person gradually loses the ability to maintain homeostasis, due to structural alteration or dysfunction. Aging changes biological processes in many organs and tissues. The loss of regenerative capacity is the most dramatic age-associated alteration in the liver. Cellular damage, if not repaired, leads to apoptosis or senescence. The presence of permanent cell cycle arrest, the acquisition of major morphological change, and expression of senescence-associated β-galactosidase (SA-β-gal) are the characteristics of cellular senescence (CS). Interestingly, CS plays a crucial role in aging of both individual organs and the entire organism; consequently, senescent cells accumulate in organs and decline in organ function. Senescent cells have considerable influence on their microenvironment and exert both beneficial and detrimental effects through secretory associated senescent phenotype (SASP) factors. CS has attracted considerable recent interest with recognition of pathways linking aging, malignancy, and insulin resistance and the current focus on therapeutic interventions to extend healthspan. There are major implications for hepatology in the field of fibrosis and cancer, where cellular senescence of hepatocytes, cholangiocytes, stellate cells, and immune cells has been implicated in chronic liver disease progression

Influencia del estado de hidratación en la microbiota intestinal y su impacto en el sistema inmune. Estudio HYDRAGUT

Peer Reviewe

Selfdetermination and life satisfaction: an exploratory study with veteran judo athletes

The Theory of Self‐determination (Deci & Ryan, 2002) is based on a motivational domain and leads to the importance of meeting basic psychological needs of perception of autonomy, perception of competence and perception of social relations in the appearance of self‐determined behaviour, which are those that cause series of consequences as the future commitment to sports or exercise (Palmeira, 2010) and what kind of affection promotes to them a perspective of a life satisfaction (Andrews & Withey, 1976). According to studies relating the degree of self‐determination based on different training habits and athletic history, veterans athletes revealed high levels of intrinsic motivation, moderate extrinsic motivation and almost inexistence in terms of amotivation once that for these athletes the most important aspect of this sport is the satisfaction by overcoming their own limits during training and then to overcome opponents in competitions, hoping for a medal, or even a record (Sancho & Ruiz‐Juan, 2015). This exploratory study aims, in the context of veteran sport, i) characterise the motivation and satisfaction of basic psychological needs to practice judo; ii) to know the level of satisfaction with life; and iii) to understand which variables of selfdetermination influence levels of affection and satisfaction with life.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Evaluación del desempeño profesional directivo y su influencia en el proceso enseñanza - aprendizaje de calidad en los estudiantes de octavo, noveno y décimo años de E.G.B. de la Unidad Educativa Rotary Club Machala Moderno, Machala – Ecuador, período lectivo 2013 – 2014

Publicación a texto completo no autorizada por el autorEvalúa el Desempeño Profesional Directivo y la Enseñanza-Aprendizaje de Calidad, en los estudiantes de octavo, noveno y décimo A.E.G.B de la Unidad Educativa Rotary Club Machala Moderno, Machala-Ecuador, período lectivo 2013 – 2014. El estudio fue de nivel cualitativo no experimental. La población estudiada fue de 150 padres de familia, 150 estudiantes y 16 docentes; la muestra extraída es de es de 108 estudiantes, los que nos proporcionarán la información necesaria. El diseño de la investigación es descriptiva y con un análisis cuantitativo e interpretativo. Además para la recolección de datos se aplicó el instrumento (cuestionarios), los cuales abarcan treinta y cinco preguntas para la medición de los dos factores: Desempeño Profesional Directivo y Enseñanza - Aprendizaje de Calidad. Para la aplicación de los instrumentos a los encuestados, la mayor parte de los indicadores fueron tomados de las PRUEBAS SER, así como también parte de algunas de ellas fueron extraídas de los Estándares de Calidad, diseñados por el Ministerio de Educación del Ecuador.Tesi

Incidencia de phytophthora infestans (Mont.) de Bary en cuatro variedades y dos clones de papa en el Centro Agronómico K’ayra-Cusco

La Phytophthora infestans Mont. de Bary, llamado localmente “rancha” o “lancha” constituye la principal enfermedad de la papa en la zona andina, por lo que es necesario tener variedades resistentes a esta enfermedad. El presente trabajo de tesis “Evaluación de la Phytophthora infestans Mont. de Bary en cuatro variedades y dos clones de papa bajo condiciones del Centro Agronómico Kayra-cusco”, se realizó en la campaña 2017-2018 en el sector de Imtipata, a una altitud de 3400m localizado en la Micro Cuenca Huanacauri. La presente investigación tuvo como objetivos determinar el daño de Phytophthora infestans (rancha) en las variedades ÑUSTA-CICA, MORADA-CICA, CICAYRA y los clones KIII-18B Y KI-Mdo-2A, experimentalmente en semilleros básicos en comparación al testigo CANCHAN-INIA. El experimento fue conducido utilizando el DBCA con cuatro repeticiones de cinco genotipos de papa, paralelamente los mismos genotipos fueron evaluados en parcelas de semilleros del CICA, por muestreo. La metodología de evaluación de la rancha fue determinar la severidad de la enfermedad en porcentaje de área foliar infectada AUDPC (ÁREA UNDER DISEASE PROGRESSIVE CURVE). Esta variable se registra a lo largo de la campaña junto con la fecha de cada lectura. Los porcentajes del área foliar enferma se usan para calcular el área bajo la curva de progreso de la enfermedad (AUDPC), a intervalos de tiempo constante entre lecturas. Este método actualmente es el más utilizado para evaluar el daño de la rancha y es recomendado por el CIP. Los resultados obtenidos en esta investigación permitieron establecer que: En el genotipo CICAYRA evaluado mediante el método AUDPC el daño de rancha llega 59.50 y el rAUDPC apenas llega a 0.01 es decir al 1.00%; estos resultados permiten calificar esta variedad como altamente resistente al daño de rancha. En el genotipo ÑUST’A-CICA mediante el AUDPC para esta variedad llega 150.50 y el rAUDPC llega a 0.02 es decir al 2.00% de daño de rancha; estos resultados permiten calificar esta variedad como altamente resistente al daño de rancha. El genotipo MORADA-CICA mediante el AUDPC llega 98.00 y el rAUDPC llega a 0.03 es decir al 3.00% de daño de rancha; también este genotipo alcanza el nivel de alta resistencia al daño de rancha. Para la variedad regional CANCHAN mediante el AUDPC para esta variedad llega 252.00 y el rAUDPC llega a 0.04 es decir al 4.00% de daño de rancha; esta variedad es reconocida por su resistencia a la rancha.El clon KI-Mdo-2ª mediante el AUDPC 227.50 y el rAUDPC llega a 0.05 es decir al 5.00% de daño de rancha; también este genotipo alcanza el nivel de resistencia al daño de rancha. El clon KIII-18B mediante el AUDPC llega 220.50 y el rAUDPC llega a 0.05 es decir al 5.00% de daño de rancha; también este genotipo alcanza el nivel de alta resistencia al daño de rancha. Los porcentajes de número tubérculo dañado por rancha, varia en promedio de 1.00 hasta 1.25%. El análisis de variancia según DBCA, de los datos de porcentaje de número de tubérculos dañados indica que no existen diferencias estadísticas entre los seis genotipos con 99% de confianza. Las evaluaciones realizadas en los semilleros para los genotipos en estudio alcanzan valores similares a los de los experimentos, confirmándose que los genotipos en estudio presentan alta resistencia a la Phytophthora.Tesi

Self-determination and life satisfaction: An exploratory study with veteran judo athletes

[EN] The Theory of Self‐determination (Deci & Ryan, 2002) is based on a motivational domain and leads to the importance ..