A Relationship between Carotenoid Accumulation and the Distribution of Species of the Fungus Neurospora in Spain

The ascomycete fungus Neurospora is present in many parts of the world, in particular in tropical and subtropical areas, where it is found growing on recently burned vegetation. We have sampled the Neurospora population across Spain. The sampling sites were located in the region of Galicia (northwestern corner of the Iberian peninsula), the province of Cáceres, the city of Seville, and the two major islands of the Canary Islands archipelago (Tenerife and Gran Canaria, west coast of Africa). The sites covered a latitude interval between 27.88° and 42.74°. We have identified wild-type strains of N. discreta, N. tetrasperma, N. crassa, and N. sitophila and the frequency of each species varied from site to site. It has been shown that after exposure to light Neurospora accumulates the orange carotenoid neurosporaxanthin, presumably for protection from UV radiation. We have found that each Neurospora species accumulates a different amount of carotenoids after exposure to light, but these differences did not correlate with the expression of the carotenogenic genes al-1 or al-2. The accumulation of carotenoids in Neurospora shows a correlation with latitude, as Neurospora strains isolated from lower latitudes accumulate more carotenoids than strains isolated from higher latitudes. Since regions of low latitude receive high UV irradiation we propose that the increased carotenoid accumulation may protect Neurospora from high UV exposure. In support of this hypothesis, we have found that N. crassa, the species that accumulates more carotenoids, is more resistant to UV radiation than N. discreta or N. tetrasperma. The photoprotection provided by carotenoids and the capability to accumulate different amounts of carotenoids may be responsible, at least in part, for the distribution of Neurospora species that we have observed across a range of latitudes

O império dos mil anos e a arte do "tempo barroco": a águia bicéfala como emblema da Cristandade

The article reveals that between the mid-17th century and the mid-18th century, in the ecclesiastical world of the religious orders (Jesuits, franciscans, Carmelites, Cistercians, Augustinian, etc.) and the episcopate, there was the progressive adoption of the imperial symbol, the double-headed eagle, attribute of the Christian Empire, the germanic Holy Roman Empire emblem. However, in the religious field, this imperial eagle of the baroque time appears without the political insignia (sword, scepter and the imperial orb), adorning altars, monstrances, trumphal archs, facades of temples, doors, walls, domes, pulpits, sacred washbasins, sculptures and paintings of the Virgin and Child, liturgical robes, etc.; therefore related to the cult and the dogmas of the Catholic faith - in artistic works, the association between the double eagle and the flesh-spirit or human-divine unity, axial principle of the Catholic faith, represented by Virgin-Mother and Christ, is often indicated directly. The research has located and identified numerous remnants of the double eagle emblem in religious field in Portugal and Spain and in their conquests and dominions in America, Asia and Africa, and also in Italy, and the historiography on painful birth of the modern era in the West has never realized this phenomenon. Symbolizing absolute power, universal power, these works with sacred significance, as the ecclesiastical discourse of the time, demonstrate movement occurred in religious plane. With the aim to assert not only spiritual but also temporal power of Christ and his mystical body, the Church was impelled by the idea of restoring the "Republica Christiana" or Christendon - disrupted by conflicts of power and faith - and of introducing a Universal Apostolic Monarchy extended to all mankind: the Empire of the Last Days, the Empire of Christ in the world, the fifth Empire

Encuesta sobre requerimientos de formación del recurso humano para el sector industrial y servicios ubicados en el Gran Puntarenas

El presente documento corresponde al informe de la Encuesta sobre Requerimientos de Formación del Recurso Humano para el Sector Industrial y Servicios Ubicados en el Gran Puntarenas, la cual forma parte del proyecto de investigación Análisis y Plan de Acción para el Desarrollo Endógeno del Gran Puntarenas, llevado a cabo por el Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencias Económicas de la Universidad de Costa Rica (IICE). Esta encuesta es de suma relevancia para determinar las necesidades cuantitativas y cualitativas de mano de obra y para informar a los tomadores de decisiones, públicos y privados, respecto a las políticas y programas necesarios de implementar para mejorar las condiciones del recurso humano en la región

Reduction in inappropriate hospital use based on analysis of the causes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To reduce inappropriate admissions and stays with the application of an improvement cycle in patients admitted to a University Hospital. The secondary objective is to analyze the hospital cost saved by reducing inadequacy after the implementation of measures proposed by the group for improvement.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Pre- and post-analysis of a sample of clinical histories studied retrospectively, in which the Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol (AEP) was applied to a representative hospital sample of 1350 clinical histories in two phases. In the first phase the AEP was applied retrospectively to 725 admissions and 1350 stays. The factors associated with inappropriateness were analysed together with the causes, and specific measures were implemented in a bid to reduce inappropriateness. In the second phase the AEP was reapplied to a similar group of clinical histories and the results of the two groups were compared. The cost of inappropriate stays was calculated by cost accounting. Setting: General University Hospital with 426 beds serving a population of 320,000 inhabitants in the centre of Murcia, a city in south-eastern Spain.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Inappropriate admissions were reduced significantly: 7.4% in the control group and 3.2% in the intervention group. Likewise, inappropriate stays decreased significantly from 24.6% to 10.4%. The cost of inappropriateness in the study sample fell from 147,044 euros to 66,642 euros. The causes of inappropriateness for which corrective measures were adopted were those that showed the most significant decrease.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>It is possible to reduce inadequacy by applying measures based on prior analysis of the situation in each hospital.</p

Detection of specific IgA antibodies against a novel deamidated 8-Mer gliadin peptide in blood plasma samples from celiac patients.

We studied whether celiac disease (CD) patients produce antibodies against a novel gliadin peptide specifically generated in the duodenum of CD patients by a previously described pattern of CD-specific duodenal proteases. Fingerprinting and ion-trap mass spectrometry of CD-specific duodenal gliadin-degrading protease pattern revealed a new 8-mer gliadin-derived peptide. An ELISA against synthetic deamidated 8-mer peptides (DGP 8-mer) was used to study the presence of IgA anti-DGP 8-mer antibodies in plasma samples from 81 children (31 active CD patients (aCD), 17 CD patients on a gluten-free diet (GFD), 10 healthy controls (C) and 23 patients with other gastrointestinal pathology (GP)) and 101 adults (16 aCD, 12 GFD, 27 C and 46 GP-patients). Deamidation of the 8-mer peptide significantly increased the reactivity of the IgA antibodies from CD patients against the peptide. Significant IgA anti-DGP 8-mer antibodies levels were detected in 93.5% of aCD-, 11.8% of GFD- and 4.3% of GP-patients in children. In adults, antibodies were detected in 81.3% of aCD-patients and 8.3% of GFD-patients while were absent in 100% of C- and GP-patients. Duodenal CD-specific gliadin degrading proteases release an 8-mer gliadin peptide that once deamidated is an antigen for specific IgA antibodies in CD patients which may provide a new accurate diagnostic tool in CD