1,456 research outputs found

    Response of obesity-resistant BALB/c mice to a ketogenic diet

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    Introduction. The ketogenic diet (KD) is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet in which the body undergoes metabolic adjustments that stimulate ketogenesis, thereby increasing circulating ketone bodies. Loss of body weight is attributed to these adjustments, as well as neuroprotective properties. However, the mechanisms involved are still not fully elucidated. That aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of a ketogenic diet on body composition, feeding behavior and glucose metabolism in mice of the BALB/c strain, a mouse model resistant to obesity. Materials and methods. BALB/c mice of both sexes, 12 weeks old, were divided into KD and control groups, which received a ketogenic diet (Research Diets) or standard chow (LabDiet 5001), respectively, for 23 days. Throughout the experiment, body weight gain, water and food intake were measured, whereas body mass index (BMI), the percentage of interscapular, inguinal, and visceral adipose tissue and blood b-hidroxybutyrate levels were measured at the end of the protocol. In addition, glucose tolerance tests were carried out at the beginning and at the end of the experiment. Results. Similar body weight gain (10%) was observed in males and females on KD compared to the control group (p\u3c0.05). However, a higher BMI was observed only in males. The KD group consumed 50% less food in both sexes, whereas water consumption was diminished 25% in males and 50% in females, compared to the control (p= 0.0001). The estimated energy intake was lower (12 Kcal) in males on ketogenic diet, but not in females. Regarding the metabolic state at day 23, in KD mice levels of b-hidroxybutyrate increased to 0.4 mmol/L in males and 0.7 mmol/L in females. Mice of both sexes on KD showed increased inguinal and visceral fat, when compared to the control group on standard chow. At day 23, the glucose tolerance test showed an increase in the area under the curve, indicating impaired glucose tolerance, in both males and females on KD. Conclusions. In obesity-resistant BALB/c mice, the consumption of a ketogenic diet for a short period induces a state of nutritional ketosis accompanied by weight gain, increased fat tissue, and impaired glucose intolerance

    Directed Irradiation Synthesis as an Advanced Plasma Technology for Surface Modification to Activate Porous and “as-received” Titanium Surfaces

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    For the design of smart titanium implants, it is essential to balance the surface properties without any detrimental effect on the bulk properties of the material. Therefore, in this study, an irradiation-driven surface modification called directed irradiation synthesis (DIS) has been developed to nanopattern porousand“as-received”c.p. Tisur faces with the aim of improving cellular viability. Nano features were developed using singly-charged argon ions at 0.5 and 1.0 keV energies, incident angles from 0◦ to 75◦ degrees, and fluences up to 5.0×1017 cm−2. Irradiated surfaces were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and contact angle, observing an increased hydrophilicity (a contact angle reduction of 73.4% and 49.3%) and a higher roughness on both surfaces except for higher incident angles, which showed the smoothest surface. In-vitro studies demonstrated the biocompatibility of directed irradiation synthesis (DIS) reaching 84% and 87% cell viability levels at 1 and 7 days respectively, and a lower percentage of damaged DNA in tail compared to the control c.p. Ti. All these results confirm the potential of the DIS technique to modify complex surfaces at the nanoscale level promoting their biological performance.Department of Defense (Spain) contract W81XWH-11-2-0067Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain grant MAT2015-71284-

    PPAR-γ Gene Expression in Human Adipose Tissue Is Associated with Weight Loss After Sleeve Gastrectomy

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    Background: The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-γ plays a key role in adipose tissue differentiation and fat metabolism. However, it is unclear which factors may regulate its expression and whether obese patients have changes in adipose tissue expression of PPAR-γor potential regulators such as miR-27. Thus, our aims were to analyze PPAR-γ and miR-27 expression in adipose tissue of obese patients, and to correlate their levels with clinical variables. Subjects and methods: We included 43 morbidly obese subjects who underwent sleeve gastrectomy (31 of them completed 1-year follow-up) and 19 non-obese subjects. mRNA expression of PPAR-γ1 and PPAR-γ2, miR-27a, and miR-27b was measured by qPCR in visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue. Clinical variables and serum adipokine and hormone levels were correlated with PPAR-γ and miR-27 expression. In addition, a systematic review of the literature regarding PPAR-γ expression in adipose tissue of obese patients was performed. Results: We found no differences in the expression of PPAR-γ and miR-27 in adipose tissue of obese patients vs. controls. The literature review revealed discrepant results regarding PPAR-γ expression in adipose tissue of obese patients. Of note, we described a significant negative correlation between pre-operative PPAR-γ1 expression in adipose tissue of obese patients and post-operative weight loss, potentially linked with insulin resistance markers. Conclusion: PPAR-γ1 expression in adipose tissue is associated with weight loss after sleeve gastrectomy and may be used as a biomarker for response to surgeryThis work was funded by the following grants to M.M.: ISCIII and FEDER, PI10/01692, PI16/01548, RD16/0017/0023, and I3SNS-INT12/049, L.H.C.: Junta de Castilla y León GRS 681/A/11, J.-L. T.: GRS 1587/A/17 and GRS1356/A/16, G.S.: ERC 260464, EFSD 2030, MICINNSAF2013-43506-R, and Comunidad de Madrid S2010/BMD-2326. G.S. is an investigator of the Ramón y Cajal Program. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. ISCIII,PI10/01692,Miguel Marcos,PI16/01548,Miguel Marcos,Gerencia regional de salud,junta de castilla y león,GRS 681/A/11,Lourdes Hernández-Cosido,J.-L. T,Lourdes Hernández-Cosido,Gerencia Regional de Salud,Junta de Castilla y León,GRS 1587/A/17,Jorge-Luis Torres,GRS1356/A/16,Jorge-Luis Torre

    An environmental dependence of the physical and structural properties in the Hydra cluster galaxies

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    The nearby Hydra cluster (∼50 Mpc) is an ideal laboratory to understand, in detail, the influence of the environment on the morphology and quenching of galaxies in dense environments. We study the Hydra cluster galaxies in the inner regions (1R200) of the cluster using data from the Southern Photometric Local Universe Survey, which uses 12 narrow and broad-band filters in the visible region of the spectrum. We analyse structural (Sérsic index, effective radius) and physical (colours, stellar masses, and star formation rates) properties. Based on this analysis, we find that ∼88 per cent of the Hydra cluster galaxies are quenched. Using the Dressler–Schectman test approach, we also find that the cluster shows possible substructures. Our analysis of the phase-space diagram together with density-based spatial clustering algorithm indicates that Hydra shows an additional substructure that appears to be in front of the cluster centre, which is still falling into it. Our results, thus, suggest that the Hydra cluster might not be relaxed. We analyse the median Sérsic index as a function of wavelength and find that for red [(u − r) ≥2.3] and early-type galaxies it displays a slight increase towards redder filters (13 and 18 per cent, for red and early type, respectively), whereas for blue + green [(u − r)<2.3] galaxies it remains constant. Late-type galaxies show a small decrease of the median Sérsic index towards redder filters. Also, the Sérsic index of galaxies, and thus their structural properties, do not significantly vary as a function of clustercentric distance and density within the cluster; and this is the case regardless of the filter.CL-D acknowledges scholarship from CONICYT-PFCHA/Doctorado Nacional/2019-21191938. CL-D and AM acknowledge support from FONDECYT Regular grant 1181797. CL-D acknowledges also the support given by the ‘Vicerrectoría de Investigacion de la Universidad de La Serena’ program ‘Apoyo al fortalecimiento de grupos de investigacion’. CL-D and AC acknowledges to Steven Bamford and Boris Haeussler with the MegaMorph project. CL-D and DP acknowledge support from fellowship ‘Becas Doctorales Institucionales ULS’, granted by the ‘Vicerrectoría de Investigacion y Postgrado de la Universidad de La Serena’. AM and DP acknowledge funding from the Max Planck Society through a ‘Partner Group’ grant. DP acknowledges support from FONDECYT Regular grant 1181264. This work has used the computing facilities of the Laboratory of Astroinformatics (Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciencias Atmosféricas, Departamento de Astronomia/USP, NAT/Unicsul), whose purchase was made possible by FAPESP (grant 2009/54006-4) and the INCT-A. YJ acknowledges financial support from CONICYT PAI (Concurso Nacional de Inserción en la Academia 2017) No. 79170132 and FONDECYT Iniciación 2018 No. 11180558. LS thanks the FAPESP scholarship grant 2016/21664-2. AAC acknowledges support from FAPERJ (grant E26/203.186/2016), CNPq (grants 304971/2016-2 and 401669/2016-5), and the Universidad de Alicante (contract UATALENTO18-02). AMB thanks the FAPESP scholarship grant 2014/11806-9. RA acknowedges support from ANID FONDECYT Regular grant 1202007

    Regulation of cell death receptor S-nitrosylation and apoptotic signaling by Sorafenib in hepatoblastoma cells

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    Nitric oxide (NO) plays a relevant role during cell death regulation in tumor cells. The overexpression of nitric oxide synthase type III (NOS-3) induces oxidative and nitrosative stress, p53 and cell death receptor expression and apoptosis in hepatoblastoma cells. S-nitrosylation of cell death receptor modulates apoptosis. Sorafenib is the unique recommended molecular-targeted drug for the treatment of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. The present study was addressed to elucidate the potential role of NO during Sorafenib-induced cell death in HepG2 cells. We determined the intra- and extracellular NO concentration, cell death receptor expression and their S-nitrosylation modifications, and apoptotic signaling in Sorafenib-treated HepG2 cells. The effect of NO donors on above parameters has also been determined. Sorafenib induced apoptosis in HepG2 cells. However, low concentration of the drug (10nM) increased cell death receptor expression, as well as caspase-8 and -9 activation, but without activation of downstream apoptotic markers. In contrast, Sorafenib (10 µM) reduced upstream apoptotic parameters but increased caspase-3 activation and DNA fragmentation in HepG2 cells. The shift of cell death signaling pathway was associated with a reduction of S-nitrosylation of cell death receptors in Sorafenib-treated cells. The administration of NO donors increased S-nitrosylation of cell death receptors and overall induction of cell death markers in control and Sorafenib-treated cells. In conclusion, Sorafenib induced alteration of cell death receptor S-nitrosylation status which may have a relevant repercussion on cell death signaling in hepatoblastoma cells.Instituto de Salud Carlos III PI13/00021Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad BFU2012-32056Consejería de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo, Junta de Andalucía BIO-0216Consejería de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo, Junta de Andalucía CTS-6264Consejería de Salud, Junta de Andalucía PI13/ 0002

    Kwapa: Gente del río. Estrategias transmedia de impacto social

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    En este reporte se encuentra toda la documentación del trabajo realizado durante el período de otoño 2022 dentro del proyecto de aplicación profesional Alter Código en el cual se siguió trabajando en la realización del videojuego “A orillas del río” y en la producción del documental de etnoficción “Déjennos pescar”. En el documental etnoficción se tuvo como objetivo principal el rodaje en comunidades cucapá en Baja California, a partir de esto se implementaron diversas estrategias para lograrlo. Como resultado de lo anterior, se abrió un crowdfunding junto con una estrategia de difusión en redes sociales que incluyó, además, la participación en el festival universitario y la producción de stickers para lograr mayor impacto. En el videojuego el objetivo principal consistió en desarrollar una demo jugable cuyo resultado deja definida una dirección concreta para continuar a futuro. Además, permite mostrar las herramientas que se van a implementar como tomar objetos, seleccionar, agarrar e interactuar entre personajes y el entorno. En términos de colaboración se creó un cuadernillo ilustrado para mostrar a niños y adolescentes cucapá y, de este modo, sentar las bases de retroalimentación respecto al desarrollo de la historia y diseño de personajes. Por último, el viaje de producción proveyó de material para seguir desarrollando eldocumental, al mismo tiempo que permitió al equipo de videojuego sentar las bases de una retroalimentación con base en una metodología, desde la perspectiva emic, en la que nuestros colaboradores son co-productores del sentido.ITESO, A.C

    Diversidad migratoria en Guadalajara y Chapala: historias de arribo, asentamiento y procesos de transformación

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    Este libro reúne un conjunto de estudios sobre grupos de personas que han llegado a la zona metropolitana de Guadalajara y la Ribera de Chapala para comprender sus procesos de asentamiento y reinvención, así como los desafíos que se nos presentan como sociedad de acogida. La obra, que busca contribuir a la reflexión sobre los compromisos que presenta la inmigración y el reconocimiento de cómo su diversidad cultural nos reconfigura y enriquece, presenta un amplio panorama de esta dinámica poblacional, al tiempo que profundiza en la articulación de los flujos migratorios internos, de estados vecinos y de poblaciones indígenas, con la llegada de grupos diversos de inmigrantes extranjeros que se establecen, estudian o hacen negocios en este entorno. Dirigida a estudiantes, investigadores y profesionales, al igual que a funcionarios públicos relacionados con el tema.ITESO, A.C
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