Detection of DNA-RNA hybrids in vivo

DNA-RNA hybrids form naturally during essential cellular functions such as transcription and replication. However, they may be an important source of genome instability, a hallmark of cancer and genetic diseases. Detection of DNA-RNA hybrids in cells is becoming crucial to understand an increasing number of molecular biology processes in genome dynamics and function and to identify new factors and mechanisms responsible for disease in biomedical research. Here, we describe two different procedures for the reliable detection of DNA-RNA hybrids in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and in human cells: DNA-RNA Immunoprecipitation (DRIP) and Immunofluorescence

Psychopedagogical support in school: follow-up study with students

Objetivou-se identificar o valor de proteção de um programa de suporte psicopedagógico, oferecido na escola para crianças que no início da escolarização fundamental apresentaram dificuldades escolares. Desenvolveu-se um estudo de seguimento prospectivo de comparação de grupos de escolares, avaliados em dois momentos: nas séries iniciais e após três anos. Foram avaliadas 48 crianças, na faixa etária de 9 a 12 anos, alunos da rede pública de ensino, distribuídas em três grupos: G1 - 16 crianças com dificuldades escolares que freqüentaram um programa de suporte; G2 - 16 crianças com dificuldades que freqüentaram somente o ensino regular; e o G3 - 16 crianças sem dificuldades escolares. Procedeu-se à avaliação do comportamento e do autoconceito. As crianças de G1, em comparação às de G2 e G3, melhoraram o comportamento, o desempenho acadêmico e o autoconceito, referendando o valor de proteção associado ao suporte psicopedagógico oferecido na escola.This study aimed to identify the value of protection of a psychopedagogical support program offered at school for children who presented school difficulties in the beginning of their elementary studies. A prospective follow-up study was developed, which compared groups of students who were evaluated at two moments: during the first grades and three years later. Forty-eight children, aged 9 to 12 years, were evaluated. The children were students from public schools, and were divided into three groups: G1 - 16 children with school difficulties, who attended a support program; G2 - 16 children with difficulties, who attended only regular school; and G3 - 16 children with no school difficulties. The children's behavior and self-concept were evaluated. Children from G1, compared to those from G2 and G3, showed improvement in their behavior, academic performance, and self-concept, confirming the value of protection ascribed to the psychopedagogical support offered at school

Evaluation of a training environment for the acquisition of technological skills among university teachers

Los avances tecnológicos que se vienen experimentando en nuestra sociedad desde hace años y la irrupción de la Web 2.0, no sólo ha provocado cambios en el desarrollo político, económico y social de nuestra sociedad, sino que nuestras instituciones educativas también se encuentran inmersas en dichos cambios, ya que las TIC han supuesto un gran potencial para éstas. Se trata del aprovechamiento de la inteligencia colectiva en la que la cuantía de contenidos, divulgación del conocimiento sobre la temática de interés se multiplica, se adquiere un aprendizaje más significativo y sus usuarios van adquiriendo las habilidades y competencias necesarias para la sociedad actual. Estos cambios justifican el desarrollo de acciones formativas en TIC destinadas al profesorado universitario. En el presente artículo presentamos un estudio cuantitativo de tipo descriptivo en el que se evalúa un entorno de formación diseñado para capacitar al profesorado en competencias tecnológicas. La estrategia para evaluar el entorno fue mediante juicio de expertos, preseleccionados en un primer momento mediante la creación de un biograma y posteriormente mediante el Coeficiente de competencia experta permitiendo discriminar de forma más adecuada la selección de los expertos. Los resultados confirmaron las posibilidades del entorno como medio de capacitación tecnológica para el profesorado.Technological advances that have been experiencing in our society for years and the emergence of Web 2.0, has not only led to changes in the political, economic and social development of our society, but our educational institutions also are immersed in these changes because ICT has been a great potential for them. It is the harnessing collective intelligence in which the amount of content, dissemination of knowledge on the subject of interest is multiplied, more meaningful learning and its users are acquiring the skills and competencies required for today's society is acquired. These changes justify the development of ICT training activities aimed at university teachers. In this paper we present a quantitative descriptive study in which a training environment designed to train teachers in technological skills is evaluated. The strategy was to assess the environment by expert judgment, initially shortlisted by creating a biogram and later by expert competence coefficient allowing more adequately discriminate the selection of experts. The results confirmed the potential of the environment as a means of technology training for teachers

Detection of DNA Double-Strand Breaks byγ-H2AX Immunodetection

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are the most deleterious type of DNA damage and a cause of geneticinstability as they can lead to mutations, genome rearrangements, or loss of genetic material when notproperly repaired. Eukaryotes from budding yeast to mammalian cells respond to the formation of DSBswith the immediate phosphorylation of a histone H2A isoform. The modified histone, phosphorylated inserine 139 in mammals (S129 in yeast), is namedγ-H2AX. Detection of DSBs is of high relevance inresearch on DNA repair, aging, tumorigenesis, and cancer drug development, given the tight association ofDSBs with different diseases and its potential to kill cells. DSB levels can be obtained by measuring levels ofγ-H2AX in extracts of cell populations or by counting foci in individual nuclei. In this chapter sometechniques to detectγ-H2AX are described

Old people and social networks. A study of their perceptions

El presente artículo tiene como objetivo dar a conocer las percepciones que tienen las personas mayores respecto a las redes sociales. Para ello, ofreceremos los resultados alcanzados en un proyecto de investigación que se desarrollo en las diferentes universidades de mayores andaluzas. Para dar respuesta a los objetivos planteados, se llevo a cabo una metodología de triangulación entre métodos. Los resultados extraídos y centrados específicamente en una de las dimensiones del estudio relacionada con “sus percepciones” nos revela que a pesar de las ventajas y utilidades que el colectivo asevera ofrecer el uso de dichas herramientas, aún son reticentes a su uso, por lo que se plantea la necesidad de desarrollar programas formativos que favorezcan su acercamientoThis article aims to introduce the perceptions of older people with regard to social networks. We will offer the results achieved in a research project that was developed in the different senior andalusian universities. In response to the objectives, a triangulation methodology between methods was carried out. The results extracted and focused specifically on one of the dimensions of the study related to “their perceptions" showed that in spite of the advantages and utilities asserts that the collective offer the use of such tools are still reluctant to use, so there is a need to develop training programs that stimulate their approac

The DNA damage response acts as a safeguardagainst harmful DNA–RNA hybrids ofdifferent origins

Despite playing physiological roles in specific situations, DNA–RNA hybrids threat genome integrity. To investigate how cells do counteract spontaneous DNA–RNA hybrids, here we screen an siRNA library covering 240 human DNA damage response (DDR) genes and select siRNAs causing DNA–RNA hybrid accumulation and a significant increase in hybrid‐dependent DNA breakage. We identify post‐replicative repair and DNA damage checkpoint factors, including those of the ATM/CHK2 and ATR/CHK1 pathways. Thus, spontaneous DNA–RNA hybrids are likely a major source of replication stress, but they can also accumulate and menace genome integrity as a consequence of unrepaired DSBs and post‐replicative ssDNA gaps in normal cells. We show that DNA–RNA hybrid accumulation correlates with increased DNA damage and chromatin compaction marks. Our results suggest that different mechanisms can lead to DNA–RNA hybrids with distinct consequences for replication and DNA dynamics at each cell cycle stage and support the conclusion that DNA–RNA hybrids are a common source of spontaneous DNA damage that remains unsolved under a deficient DDR.European Research Council (ERC2014AdG669898TARLOOP)Worldwide Cancer Research (WCR15-00098

Phytopharmacological strategies in the management of type 2 diabetes Mellitus

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic disease which corresponds to 90% of the worldwide cases of diabetes, mainly due to epigenetic factors such as unhealthy lifestyles. First line therapeutic approaches are based on lifestyle changes, most of the time complemented with medication mostly associated with several side e ects and high costs. As a result, the scientific community is constantly working for the discovery and development of natural therapeutic strategies that provide lower financial impact and minimize side e ects. This review focus on these nature-based therapeutic strategies for prevention and control of T2DM, with a special emphasis on natural compounds that present pharmacological activity as dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP4), alpha-amylase, alpha-glucosidase, lipase, and protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) inhibitors.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Roles of human POLD1 and POLD3 in genome stability

DNA replication is essential for cellular proliferation. If improperly controlled it can constitute a major source of genome instability, frequently associated with cancer and aging. POLD1 is the catalytic subunit and POLD3 is an accessory subunit of the replicative Pol δ polymerase, which also functions in DNA repair, as well as the translesion synthesis polymerase Pol ζ, whose catalytic subunit is REV3L. In cells depleted of POLD1 or POLD3 we found a differential but general increase in genome instability as manifested by DNA breaks, S-phase progression impairment and chromosome abnormalities. Importantly, we showed that both proteins are needed to maintain the proper amount of active replication origins and that POLD3-depletion causes anaphase bridges accumulation. In addition, POLD3-associated DNA damage showed to be dependent on RNA-DNA hybrids pointing toward an additional and specific role of this subunit in genome stability. Interestingly, a similar increase in RNA-DNA hybrids-dependent genome instability was observed in REV3L-depleted cells. Our findings demonstrate a key role of POLD1 and POLD3 in genome stability and S-phase progression revealing RNA-DNA hybrids-dependent effects for POLD3 that might be partly due to its Pol ζ interaction

Uso e interés por las redes sociales entre las personas mayores desde una perspectiva de género. Un estudio en las universidades de mayores andaluzas

The data provided in this article arise from an investigation carried out as a regio-nal level in the different andalusian senior people universities. One of the purposes of this study is to know the situation of senior people in social networks accor-ding to gender. A total of 294 students belonging from provincial programs of the different andalusian senior people univer­sities participated. A questionnaire was elaborated, after a review of the literature and taking as a reference researches car­ried out about the subject of the study. The results indicate that the gender gap between the collective has practically dis­appeared as in the younger generation. Likewise, both genders express the same concerns as being part of social networks, benefits of use, reasons why they decided to be part of them or tools used to join. There are significant differences about interest, purpose, frequency of use and connection devices used between men and women.Los datos ofrecidos en el presente artículo surgen de una investigación realizada a nivel autonómico en las diferentes universidades de mayores andaluzas. Uno de los propósitos de este estudio es conocer la situación de las personas mayores en las redes sociales en función del género. Participaron un total de 294 alumnos pertenecientes a los programas provinciales de las universidades de mayores. Para ello, se confeccionó un cuestionario tras una revisión de literatura y tomando como referente investigaciones realizadas con la temática de estudio. Los resultados indican que la brecha de género entre el colectivo prácticamente ha desaparecido al igual que en la generación más joven. Ambos géneros exponen las mismas preocupaciones al usar las redes sociales y coinciden también en los beneficios que les proporciona su uso, en las herramientas utilizadas o en los motivos que les llevaron a formar parte de las mismas. Sí se encuentran diferencias significativas entre hombres y mujeres con respecto al interés, el fin con el que se utilizan, la frecuencia de uso y los dispositivos de conexión utilizados

Las personas mayores y las redes sociales. Estudio de sus percepciones

El presente artículo tiene como objetivo dar a conocer las percepciones que tienen las personas mayores respecto a las redes sociales. Para ello, ofreceremos los resultados alcanzados en un proyecto de investigación que se desarrolló en las diferentes universidades de mayores andaluzas. Para dar respuesta a los objetivos planteados, se llevó a cabo una metodología de triangulación entre métodos. Los resultados extraídos y centrados específicamente en una de las dimensiones del estudio relacionada con “sus percepciones” nos revela que a pesar de las ventajas y utilidades que el colectivo asevera ofrecer el uso de dichas herramientas, aún son reticentes a su uso, por lo que se plantea la necesidad de desarrollar programas formativos que favorezcan su acercamiento