Procesamiento intraoracional de pronombres reflexivos y personales en ninos con trastorno específico del lenguaje

60 p.Los niños con trastorno específico del lenguaje (TEL) suelen presentar dificultades a nivel de la morfosintaxis. Entre otros aspectos, manifiestan problemas en el procesamiento de los pronombres. El presente estudio está dirigido a estudiar este aspecto en niños con TEL a través de la aplicación del Test de Referencia Pronominal Sintáctica. Estudios previos sobre este tema en el habla inglesa utilizando esta misma prueba indican que los niños con TEL presentan un desempeño similar en el procesamiento de pronombres reflexivos y personales. Esto no se relacionaría con resultados obtenidos en este estudio, en donde se encontró un menor desempeño en pronombres reflexivos en comparación con los personales, lo que podría deberse a que en habla española no se utiliza soporte léxico, a diferencia del habla inglesa en que los niños con TEL podrían utilizar el indicador léxico expresado por –self como una clave de que se espera una acción orientada a sí mismo. De este modo, escogerían el antecedente mirando el género gramatical del pronombre unido a dicha clave. Palabras Clave: Trastorno Específico del Lenguaje, Pronombres, Test de Referencia Pronominal Sintáctic

Untangling the eclectronic propierties of triindole-based semiconductors

Organic semiconductors have emerged as an important class of materials that offer interesting prospects for high throughput, low-cost and flexible electronic circuits. In this sense, triindole-based systems have demonstrated great potential as p-type semiconductors in organic field-effect transistors (OFETs).[1] Recently, we have performed a combined experimental and theoretical study of three new crystalline N-trimethyltriindoles endowed with different functionalities at 3, 8 and 13 positions, either unsubstituted or with three methoxy or acetyl groups (Figure 1a), with the main goal of exploring the correlation between the electronic nature of the substituents and their solid-state organization, electronic properties and semiconductor behavior.[2] On the other hand, the design and synthesis of covalent organic framework materials (constructed from the union of different covalently linked conjugated platforms) are being deeply investigated in organic electronics.[3] In line with this , we have also investigated how the structural and the electronic properties of 2D triindole-based polymers (Figure 1b) can be modulated by the (i) modification of the linkage position from para (T2) to meta (T3), (ii) by the insertion of different π-bridges between the cores and (iii) by the increment of the number of π-bridges from 3 to 6 units (T2,3).[4] Overall, the results of this work open the door to the control of the degree of the π-conjugation for their subsequent synthesis and real application in organic electronic devices.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Dificultades algebraicas en la resolución de problemas por transferencia

La enseñanza de resolución de problemas en ciencias y matemáticas se realiza en general mediante estrategias de transferencia (transfer): se resuelve y explica un conjunto de problemas y después se pide a los estudiantes que resuelvan otros problemas análogos a los ejemplos trabajados. Los profesores de Secundaria con frecuencia asumen que las relaciones analógicas entre los problemas resueltos y los problemas propuestos son sencillas de comprender y establecer, y atribuyen el fracaso a la falta de dominio de los procedimientos matemáticos de resolución. En este trabajo se realiza un experimento para probar si esta atribución causal es adecuada o no. Los resultados demuestran que la causa principal de las dificultades debe tener su origen en la construcción de un modelo de la situación y/o de un modelo del problema, adecuados

Untangling the electronic and charge transport properties of new Naphthalene and Perylene Diimides based-semiconductors

Organic semiconductors have emerged as an important class of materials that offer interesting prospects for high throughput, low-cost and flexible electronic circuits. Nevertheless, high performance electron-transporting (n-type) semiconductors are still rare compared to their high efficiency hole-transporting (p-type) counterparts. In this sense, the development of high-mobility and environmentally stable n-type materials for thin-film transistors has experienced a tremendous impetus in the last decade. Naphthalene-diimides (NDIs), perylene-diimides (PDIs) and their derivatives have demonstrated great potential as n-type semiconductors in Organic Field-Effect Transistors (OFETs). In this project, a mixed experimental and theoretical study of four new semiconductors (Figure 1) has been carried out with the aim to explore the impact of the following effects on the electronic and charge-transport properties: (i) the extension of the conjugated platform, going from a shorter conjugated core in naphthalene-diimides to a larger conjugated core in perylenediimides, (ii) the different donor units attached to the cores. For that, IR, UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, and spectroelectrochemical measurements have been used in combination with theoretical calculations based on the Density Functional Theory (DFT). In addition, the four studied compounds have been implemented in OFETs , to assess their potential as active materials in organic electronics.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Elisidepsin interacts directly with glycosylceramides in the plasma membrane of tumor cells to induce necrotic cell death

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.-- et al.Plasma membrane integrity is essential for cell life. Any major break on it immediately induces the death of the affected cell. Different molecules were described as disrupting this cell structure and thus showing antitumor activity. We have previously defined that elisidepsin (Irvalec®, PM02734) inserts and self-organizes in the plasma membrane of tumor cells, inducing a rapid loss of membrane integrity, cell permeabilization and necrotic death. Here we show that, in sensitive HCT-116 colorectal cells, all these effects are consequence of the interaction of elisidepsin with glycosylceramides in the cell membrane. Of note, an elisidepsin-resistant subline (HCT-116-Irv) presented reduced levels of glycosylceramides and no accumulation of elisidepsin in the plasma membrane. Consequently, drug treatment did not induce the characteristic necrotic cell death. Furthermore, GM95, a mutant derivative from B16 mouse melanoma cells lacking ceramide glucosyltransferase (UGCG) activity and thus the synthesis of glycosylceramides, was also resistant to elisidepsin. Over-expression of UGCG gene in these deficient cells restored glycosylceramides synthesis, rendering them sensitive to elisidepsin, at a similar level than parental B16 cells. These results indicate that glycosylceramides act as membrane targets of elisidepsin, facilitating its insertion in the plasma membrane and the subsequent membrane permeabilization that leads to drug-induced cell death. They also indicate that cell membrane lipids are a plausible target for antineoplastic therapy.Funding: The work of CV, AM and CM was partially supported by Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (www.mineco.gob.es) [grant numbers SAF2010-14916 and SAF2013-45800-R], and Instituto de Salud Carlos III (www.isciii.es) [grant numbers FIS-RECAVA RD06/0014/0025 and FIS-RIC RD12/0042/0019]. The work of MPL and CG was partially supported by Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad [grant number CTQ 2010-1645]. CM and AM hold FPI and JAE-Predoc (www.csic.es) fellowships, respectively.Peer Reviewe

HI Distribution and Tully-Fisher Distances of Gas-Poor Spiral Galaxies in the Virgo Cluster Region

We present aperture synthesis observations in the 21 cm line of pointings centered on the Virgo Cluster region spirals NGC 4307, NGC 4356, NGC 4411B, and NGC 4492 using the Very Large Array (VLA) radiotelescope in its CS configuration. These galaxies were identified in a previous study of the three-dimensional distribution of HI emission in the Virgo region as objects with a substantial dearth of atomic gas and Tully-Fisher (TF) distance estimates that located them well outside the main body of the cluster. We have detected two other galaxies located in two of our fields and observed bands, the spiral NGC 4411A and the dwarf spiral VCC 740. We provide detailed information of the gas morphology and kinematics for all these galaxies. Our new data confirm the strong HI-deficiency of all the main targets but NGC 4411B, which is found to have a fairly normal neutral gas content. The VLA observations have also been used to discuss the applicability of TF techniques to the five largest spirals we have observed. We conclude that none of them is actually suitable for a TF distance evaluation, whether due to the radical trimming of their neutral hydrogen disks (NGC 4307, NGC 4356, and NGC 4492) or to their nearly face-on orientation (NGC 4411A and B).Comment: 32 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in A

Fludarabine inhibits KV1.3 currents in human B lymphocytes

Fludarabine (F-ara-A) is a purine analog commonly used in the treatment of indolent B cell malignancies that interferes with different aspects of DNA and RNA synthesis. KV1.3 K+ channels are membrane proteins involved in the maintenance of K+ homeostasis and the resting potential of the cell, thus controlling signaling events, proliferation and apoptosis in lymphocytes. Here we show that F-ara-A inhibits KV currents in human B lymphocytes. Our data indicate that KV1.3 is expressed in both BL2 and Dana B cell lines, although total KV1.3 levels were higher in BL2 than in Dana cells. However, KV currents in the plasma membrane were similar in both cell lines and were abrogated by the specific KV1.3 channel inhibitor PAP-1, indicating that KV1.3 accounts for most of the KV currents in these cell lines. F-ara-A, at a concentration (3.5 μM) similar to that achieved in the plasma of fludarabine phosphate-treated patients (3 μM), inhibited KV1.3 currents by 61 ± 6.3% and 52.3 ± 6.3% in BL2 and Dana B cells, respectively. The inhibitory effect of F-ara-A was concentration-dependent and showed an IC50 value of 0.36 ± 0.04 μM and a nH value of 1.07 ± 0.15 in BL2 cells and 0.34 ± 0.13 μM (IC50) and 0.77 ± 0.11 (nH) in Dana cells. F-ara-A inhibition of plasma membrane KV1.3 was observed irrespective of its cytotoxic effect on the cells, BL2 cells being sensitive and Dana cells resistant to F-ara-A cytotoxicity. Interestingly, PAP-1, at concentrations as high as 10 μM, did not affect the viability of BL2 and Dana cells, indicating that blockage of KV1.3 in these cells is not toxic. Finally, F-ara-A had no effect on ectopically expressed KV1.3 channels, suggesting an indirect mechanism of current inhibition. In summary, our results describe the inhibitory effect of F-ara-A on the activity of KV1.3 channel. Although KV1.3 inhibition is not sufficient to induce cell death, further research is needed to determine whether it might still contribute to F-ara-A cytotoxicity in sensitive cells or be accountable for some of the clinical side effects of the drug.This study was supported by MINECO (SAF2013-45800-R, SAF2016-75021-R, RD12/0042/0019, CB/11/00222) and ISCIII (PI12/01135 and PI16/00895). The cost of this publication was paid in part by funds from the European Fund for Economic and Regional Development (FEDER). TG is supported by the Ramón y Cajal Program.Peer reviewedPeer Reviewe

A Prato Tour on Carbon Nanotubes: Raman Insights

[EN] The functionalisation of carbon nanotubes has been instrumental in broadening its application field, allowing especially its use in biological studies. Although numerous covalent and non-covalent functionalisation methods have been described, the characterisation of the final materials has always been an added challenge. Among the various techniques available, Raman spectroscopy is one of the most widely used to determine the covalent functionalisation of these species. However, Raman spectroscopy is not a quantitative technique, and no studies are reported comparing its performance when the same number of functional groups are added but using completely different reactions. In this work, we have experimentally and theoretically studied the functionalisation of carbon nanotubes using two of the most commonly used reactions: 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azomethylene ylides and diazonium-based radical addition. The number of groups introduced onto the tubes by these reactions has been determined by different characterisation techniques. The results of this study support the idea that data obtained by Raman spectra are only helpful for comparing functionalisations produced using the same type of reaction. However, they should be carefully analysed when comparing functionalisations produced using different reaction types.The authors acknowledge financial support from the Spanish government (project PID2020-113080RB-I00) and the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha (project SBPLY/21/180501/000135/1). This study forms part of the Advanced Materials program and was supported by MCIN with funding from European Union NextGenerationEU (PRTR-C17.I1) and by the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha. The work at the University of Malaga was funded by the MICINN (PID202-139548NB-I00) and by the Junta de Andalucia (P18-FR-4559) projects. The authors thankfully acknowledge the computer resources, technical expertise, and assistance provided by the SCBI (Supercomputing and Bioinformatics) centre of the University of Malaga. M. I. L. acknowledges her Juan de la Cierva Incorporacion grant (IJC 2018-035355-I) funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. Funded with Aid for First Research Projects (PAID-06-22), Vice-rectorate for Research of the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (UPV).Lucío, MI.; Giacalone, F.; La Parola, V.; Gámez-Valenzuela, S.; Muñoz-Alba, F.; Ruiz Delgado, MC.; Herrero, MA.... (2023). A Prato Tour on Carbon Nanotubes: Raman Insights. Chemistry - A European Journal. 29. https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.2023024762

Recent results on heavy-ion direct reactions of interest for 0νββ decay at INFN - LNS

Neutrinoless double beta decay of nuclei, if observed, would have important implications on fundamental physics. In particular it would give access to the effective neutrino mass. In order to extract such information from 0νββ decay half-life measurements, the knowledge of the Nuclear Matrix Elements (NME) is of utmost importance. In this context the NUMEN and the NURE projects aim to extract information on the NME by measuring cross sections of Double Charge Exchange reactions in selected systems which are expected to spontaneously decay via 0νββ. In this work an overview of the experimental challenges that NUMEN is facing in order to perform the experiments with accelerated beams and the research and development activity for the planned upgrade of the INFN-LNS facilities is reported.Consejo Europeo de Investigación (ERC), Fondo Europeo Programa de investigación e innovación Horizonte 2020 de la Unión n.º 714625)

Origin of morphological depressions on the Guadalquivir Bank uplifted area (Gulf of Cadiz middle slope)

We have investigated the origin of morphological depressions (circular-elliptical depressions, amphitheatre-shaped escarpments and valleys) on the Guadalquivir Bank uplifted area (Gulf of Cadiz middle slope). This work is based on swath bathymetry and high- and mid-resolution reflection seismic datasets. Depressions occur on the distal (depositional) sector of the Gulf of Cadiz Contourite Depositional System, which has been developed under the influence of the Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW). The Guadalquivir Bank is a NE-oriented relief that was uplifted along the Neogene and Quaternary. It forms the southern limit of the Bartolomeu Dias and Faro Sheeted Drift (SD) plateaus that are separated by the NW-trending Diego Cao Contourite Channel. Circular-elliptical depressions occur on the Bartolomeu Dias SD plateau, aligned parallel to the rim of the Diego Cao Channel. Irregular, crescent-shaped depressions occur to the SE of the study area and a valley surrounds the Guadalquivir Bank. The origin of these features is interpreted as the result of the interplay between oceanographic, mass-wasting, tectonic and fluid-escape processes. Four stages define the development of these features: 1) Onset of a contourite mounded drift associated with a proto-Diego Cao moat originated by a weak MOW circulation as it interacted with the structural features of the Guadalquivir Bank during the Lower Pliocene; 2) Evolution to a more complex multi-crest drift and moat system, probably as a result of an enhanced MOW and increased deformation of the underlying structures during the Upper Pliocene-Early Quaternary; 3) Event of enhanced tectonic activity that provoked widespread mass-wasting events along middle slope sheeted drift plateaus during the Mid Pleistocene. It was recorded in a prominent erosive surface under the present-day Diego Cao channel western rim and numerous slide scars displaying amphitheatre shapes on the limits of the plateaus; 4) Final stage (Late Quaternary) when the Mediterranean Intermediate Branch started flowing towards the N-NW along the deep gateway that was opened as a result of the mass-wasting event and/or structural adjustments. The contourite system evolved, due to tectonic events, to the present-day channel and a complex separated drift that includes circular depressions. They result from the interaction between the bottom current and the irregular basal surface created by the slide scars. During this phase, crescent-shaped depressions were created, probably by the interplay between bottom currents and fluid escape processes, and the marginal valley around the Guadalquivir Bank resulted from current reworking of the irregular topography of contouritic deposits affected by slide scars