SOCIAL MEDIA, ANXIETY, AND READING ACHIEVEMENT IN ELEMENTARY STUDENTS

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between perceived social media usage, academic achievement in reading, and anxiety. This study looked at a second grade classroom in ASFM consisting of 21 bilingual Mexican students, 11 boys and 10 girls. Perceived social media usage was measured using a survey, academic reading achievement was measured using Fountas and Pinell reading levels and anxiety was measured using the Children’s Test Anxiety Scale (CTAS) by Wren and Benson (2004). Each variable was then analyzed on its own through the use of descriptive statistics and bar graphs; then, each dependent variable was compared against the independent variable using a t-test and scatter-plot. This study found that there is a positive moderate correlation between perceived social media usage and academic achievement in reading; as perceived social media usage increases so does the likelihood of higher reading scores. Additionally this study found a weak positive correlation between perceived social media usage and test anxiety scores; as perceived social media usage increases the likelihood of higher test anxiety scores increases as well

Propiedades de los suelos cafetaleros en zonas productivas de Colon y Panamá Oeste

La siembra de café robusta adquiere mayor interés entre productores panameños como alternativa de conservación de suelos. El objetivo fue caracterizar las propiedades de los suelos de fincas productoras de café en las provincias de Colón y Panamá Oeste para la elaboración de cartillas de fertilización regionalizadas de acuerdo con las características edafoclimáticas de cada zona. En 15 fincas de la provincia de Colón y 20 de Panamá Oeste, se tomaron muestras en dos profundidades (0-20 y 20-40 cm) para conocer sus propiedades e iniciar un programa de fertilización sostenible que coadyuve en el mejoramiento de la productividad. Se elaboraron mapas digitales utilizando el programa Q-Gis v.2.2. y cartillas de fertilizacion regionalizada para cada zona. Los suelos de la provincia de Colón 47% presentaron alto porcentaje de saturación de aluminio, pH promedio de 4.6, bajos niveles de materia orgánica y de fósforo, 53% bajos en potasio. El 80% están altos en magnesio, 40% en calcio. Se encontraron desbalances en las relaciones Ca/Mg y Ca + Mg/K, lo que ocasiona problemas nutricionales. En Panamá Oeste 30% presentaron alto porcentaje de saturación de aluminio, pH promedio de 5.3 y 1.4% de materia orgánica, 100% están bajos en fósforo, 90% bajos en potasio, niveles medios y altos de magnesio y calcio. Se encontró correlación positiva y estadísticamente significativa entre % de arcilla, materia orgánica, pH y calcio. Se espera con esta caracterización y las cartillas de fertilización regionalizadas lograr mejorar las propiedades de los suelos en forma sostenible

Target identification for repurposed drugs active against SARS-CoV-2 via high-throughput inverse docking (version 1)

Screening already approved drugs for activity against a novel pathogen can be an important part of global rapid-response strategies in pandemics. Such high-throughput repurposing screens have already identified several existing drugs with potential to combat SARS-CoV-2. However, moving these hits forward for possible development into drugs specifically against this pathogen requires unambiguous identification of their corresponding targets, something the high-throughput screens are not typically designed to reveal. We present here a new computational inverse-docking protocol that uses all-atom protein structures and a combination of docking methods to rank order targets for each of several existing drugs for which a plurality of recent hight-hroughput screens detected anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity. We demonstrate validation of this method with known drug-target pairs, including both non-antiviral and antiviral compounds. We subjected 152 distinct drugs potentially suitable for repurposing to the inverse docking procedure. The most common preferential targets were the human enzymes TMPRSS2 and PIKfyve, followed by the viral enzymes Helicase and PLpro. All compounds that selected TMPRSS2 are known serine protease inhibitors, and those that selected PIKfyve are known tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Detailed structural analysis of the docking poses revealed important insights into why these selections arose, and could potentially lead to more rational design of new drugs against these targets.Fil: Ribone, Sergio P. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Ciencias Farmacéuticas; Argentina.Fil: Ribone, Sergio P. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo en Tecnología Farmacéutica; Argentina.Fil: Paz; S. Alexis. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas; Argentina.Fil: Paz, S. Alexis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba; Argentina.Fil: Abrams, Cameron F. Drexel University. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Philadelphia; United States.Fil: Villarreal Marcos A. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas; Argentina.Fil: Villarreal Marcos A. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Físico-química de Córdoba; Argentina.Fil: Paz; S. Alexis. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas; Argentina

Ethylene is involved in strawberry fruit ripening in an organ-specific manner

The fruit of the strawberry Fragaria×ananassa has traditionally been classified as non-climacteric because its ripening process is not governed by ethylene. However, previous studies have reported the timely endogenous production of minor amounts of ethylene by the fruit as well as the differential expression of genes of the ethylene synthesis, reception, and signalling pathways during fruit development. Mining of the Fragaria vesca genome allowed for the identification of the two main ethylene biosynthetic genes, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) synthase and ACC oxidase. Their expression pattern during fruit ripening was found to be stage and organ (achene or receptacle) specific. Strawberry plants with altered sensitivity to ethylene could be employed to unravel the role of ethylene in the ripening process of the strawberry fruit. To this end, independent lines of transgenic strawberry plants were generated that overexpress the Arabidopsis etr1-1 mutant ethylene receptor, which is a dominant negative allele, causing diminished sensitivity to ethylene. Genes involved in ethylene perception as well as in its related downstream processes, such as flavonoid biosynthesis, pectin metabolism, and volatile biosynthesis, were differently expressed in two transgenic tissues, the achene and the receptacle. The different transcriptional responsiveness of the achene and the receptacle to ethylene was also revealed by the metabolic profiling of the primary metabolites in these two organs. The free amino acid content was higher in the transgenic lines compared with the control in the mature achene, while glucose and fructose, and citric and malic acids were at lower levels. In the receptacle, the most conspicuous change in the transgenic lines was the depletion of the tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates at the white stage of development, most probably as a consequence of diminished respiration. The results are discussed in the context of the importance of ethylene during strawberry fruit ripening.Facultad de Ciencias ExactasInstituto de Fisiología Vegeta

La sobreexpresión del CBM de la expansina 1 de tomate modifica la firmeza y la susceptibilidad a Botrytis cinerea

La firmeza es uno de los principales determinantes de la calidad poscosecha y está determinada por la resistencia mecánica impuesta por la pared celular. Las expansinas (proteínas sin actividad hidrolítica conocida) están implicadas en el desmantelamiento, no hidrolítico, de las paredes celulares vegetales. Dichas proteínas poseen una organización modular compuesta por un dominio catalítico putativo y un módulo de unión a carbohidratos (CBM). El CBM actuaría anclando a la expansina a la superficie de la celulosa, mientras que el dominio catalítico putativo interactuaría con las hemicelulosas en la superficie de las microfibrillas provocando la ruptura de los enlaces no covalentes, principalmente puentes de hidrógeno, existentes entre la celulosa y las hemicelulosas de la matriz. En el presente trabajo, se sobreexpresó de manera constitutiva el CBM de la expansina 1 de tomate (CBM-SlEXPA1), en la pared celular de plantas de tomate, siendo ésta la primera vez que un CBM se sobreexpresa en un fruto destinado a controlar la degradación de la pared celular y el ablandamiento del fruto. Los frutos de las plantas transgénicas presentaron un aumento en el contenido de pared celular y un aumento del contenido de acidez titulable en estadios intermedios de madurez fisiológica. Asimismo, fueron menos susceptibles a la infección por B. cinerea, y el crecimiento "in vitro" del hongo en medios suplementados con residuos insolubles en alcohol de pared celular del pericarpio de los frutos transgénicos fue menor que los controles (WT y acigotas). Se concluye que la sobreexpresión de un CBM en la pared celular sería una estrategia factible de utilizar para aumentar la vida poscosecha de frutos carnosos, como lo es el tomate, sin alterar el crecimiento de la planta.Trabajo publicado en Castagnini, Juan Manuel; Luz Marina Zapata; Liliana Mabel Gerard (eds.). Libro de Trabajos Completos I Congreso Argentino de Biología y Tecnología Poscosecha. IX Jornadas Argentinas de Biología y Tecnología Poscosecha. Paraná: Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos, 2018.Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestale

La sobreexpresión del CBM de la expansina 1 de tomate modifica la firmeza y la susceptibilidad a Botrytis cinerea

La firmeza es uno de los principales determinantes de la calidad poscosecha y está determinada por la resistencia mecánica impuesta por la pared celular. Las expansinas (proteínas sin actividad hidrolítica conocida) están implicadas en el desmantelamiento, no hidrolítico, de las paredes celulares vegetales. Dichas proteínas poseen una organización modular compuesta por un dominio catalítico putativo y un módulo de unión a carbohidratos (CBM). El CBM actuaría anclando a la expansina a la superficie de la celulosa, mientras que el dominio catalítico putativo interactuaría con las hemicelulosas en la superficie de las microfibrillas provocando la ruptura de los enlaces no covalentes, principalmente puentes de hidrógeno, existentes entre la celulosa y las hemicelulosas de la matriz. En el presente trabajo, se sobreexpresó de manera constitutiva el CBM de la expansina 1 de tomate (CBM-SlEXPA1), en la pared celular de plantas de tomate, siendo ésta la primera vez que un CBM se sobreexpresa en un fruto destinado a controlar la degradación de la pared celular y el ablandamiento del fruto. Los frutos de las plantas transgénicas presentaron un aumento en el contenido de pared celular y un aumento del contenido de acidez titulable en estadios intermedios de madurez fisiológica. Asimismo, fueron menos susceptibles a la infección por B. cinerea, y el crecimiento "in vitro" del hongo en medios suplementados con residuos insolubles en alcohol de pared celular del pericarpio de los frutos transgénicos fue menor que los controles (WT y acigotas). Se concluye que la sobreexpresión de un CBM en la pared celular sería una estrategia factible de utilizar para aumentar la vida poscosecha de frutos carnosos, como lo es el tomate, sin alterar el crecimiento de la planta.Trabajo publicado en Castagnini, Juan Manuel; Luz Marina Zapata; Liliana Mabel Gerard (eds.). Libro de Trabajos Completos I Congreso Argentino de Biología y Tecnología Poscosecha. IX Jornadas Argentinas de Biología y Tecnología Poscosecha. Paraná: Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos, 2018.Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestale

La sobreexpresión del CBM de la expansina 1 de tomate modifica la firmeza y la susceptibilidad a Botrytis cinerea

La firmeza es uno de los principales determinantes de la calidad poscosecha y está determinada por la resistencia mecánica impuesta por la pared celular. Las expansinas (proteínas sin actividad hidrolítica conocida) están implicadas en el desmantelamiento, no hidrolítico, de las paredes celulares vegetales. Dichas proteínas poseen una organización modular compuesta por un dominio catalítico putativo y un módulo de unión a carbohidratos (CBM). El CBM actuaría anclando a la expansina a la superficie de la celulosa, mientras que el dominio catalítico putativo interactuaría con las hemicelulosas en la superficie de las microfibrillas provocando la ruptura de los enlaces no covalentes, principalmente puentes de hidrógeno, existentes entre la celulosa y las hemicelulosas de la matriz. En el presente trabajo, se sobreexpresó de manera constitutiva el CBM de la expansina 1 de tomate (CBM-SlEXPA1), en la pared celular de plantas de tomate, siendo ésta la primera vez que un CBM se sobreexpresa en un fruto destinado a controlar la degradación de la pared celular y el ablandamiento del fruto. Los frutos de las plantas transgénicas presentaron un aumento en el contenido de pared celular y un aumento del contenido de acidez titulable en estadios intermedios de madurez fisiológica. Asimismo, fueron menos susceptibles a la infección por B. cinerea, y el crecimiento "in vitro" del hongo en medios suplementados con residuos insolubles en alcohol de pared celular del pericarpio de los frutos transgénicos fue menor que los controles (WT y acigotas). Se concluye que la sobreexpresión de un CBM en la pared celular sería una estrategia factible de utilizar para aumentar la vida poscosecha de frutos carnosos, como lo es el tomate, sin alterar el crecimiento de la planta.Trabajo publicado en Castagnini, Juan Manuel; Luz Marina Zapata; Liliana Mabel Gerard (eds.). Libro de Trabajos Completos I Congreso Argentino de Biología y Tecnología Poscosecha. IX Jornadas Argentinas de Biología y Tecnología Poscosecha. Paraná: Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos, 2018.Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestale

Overexpression of the carbohydrate binding module from <i>Solanum lycopersicum</i> expansin 1 (Sl-EXP1) modifies tomato fruit firmness and <i>Botrytis cinerea</i> susceptibility

Firmness, one of the major determinants of postharvest quality and shelf life of fruits is determined by the mechanical resistance imposed by the plant cell wall. Expansins (EXP) are involved in the nonhydrolytic metabolic disassembly of plant cell walls, particularly in processes where relaxation of the wall is necessary, such as fruit development and ripening. As many carbohydrate-associated proteins, expansins have a putative catalytic domain and a carbohydrate-binding module (CBM). Several strategies have been pursued to control the loss of fruit firmness during storage. Most of the approaches have been to suppress the expression of key enzymes involved in the cell wall metabolism, but this is the first time that a CBM was overexpressed in a fruit aimed to control cell wall degradation and fruit softening. We report the constitutive overexpression of the CBM of Solanum lycopersicum expansin 1 (CBMSlExp1) in the cell wall of tomato plants, and its effects on plant and fruit phenotype. Overexpression of CBM-SlExp1 increased the mechanical resistance of leaves, whereas it did not modify plant growth and general phenotype. However, transgenic plants showed delayed softening and firmer fruits. In addition, fruits were less susceptible to Botrytis cinerea infection, and the “in vitro” growth of the fungus on media containing AIR from the pericarp of transgenic fruits was lower than controls. The possibility of overexpressing a CBM of a fruit-specific expansin to control cell wall degradation and fruit softening is discussed.Instituto de Fisiología VegetalFacultad de Ciencias Exacta

Ethylene is involved in strawberry fruit ripening in an organ-specific manner

The fruit of the strawberry Fragaria×ananassa has traditionally been classified as non-climacteric because its ripening process is not governed by ethylene. However, previous studies have reported the timely endogenous production of minor amounts of ethylene by the fruit as well as the differential expression of genes of the ethylene synthesis, reception, and signalling pathways during fruit development. Mining of the Fragaria vesca genome allowed for the identification of the two main ethylene biosynthetic genes, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) synthase and ACC oxidase. Their expression pattern during fruit ripening was found to be stage and organ (achene or receptacle) specific. Strawberry plants with altered sensitivity to ethylene could be employed to unravel the role of ethylene in the ripening process of the strawberry fruit. To this end, independent lines of transgenic strawberry plants were generated that overexpress the Arabidopsis etr1-1 mutant ethylene receptor, which is a dominant negative allele, causing diminished sensitivity to ethylene. Genes involved in ethylene perception as well as in its related downstream processes, such as flavonoid biosynthesis, pectin metabolism, and volatile biosynthesis, were differently expressed in two transgenic tissues, the achene and the receptacle. The different transcriptional responsiveness of the achene and the receptacle to ethylene was also revealed by the metabolic profiling of the primary metabolites in these two organs. The free amino acid content was higher in the transgenic lines compared with the control in the mature achene, while glucose and fructose, and citric and malic acids were at lower levels. In the receptacle, the most conspicuous change in the transgenic lines was the depletion of the tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates at the white stage of development, most probably as a consequence of diminished respiration. The results are discussed in the context of the importance of ethylene during strawberry fruit ripening.Facultad de Ciencias ExactasInstituto de Fisiología Vegeta

Characteristic mTOR activity in Hodgkin-lymphomas offers a potential therapeutic target in high risk disease – a combined tissue microarray, in vitro and in vivo study

BACKGROUND: Targeting signaling pathways is an attractive approach in many malignancies. The PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway is activated in a number of human neoplasms, accompanied by lower overall and/or disease free survival. mTOR kinase inhibitors have been introduced in the therapy of renal cell carcinoma and mantle cell lymphoma, and several trials are currently underway. However, the pathological characterization of mTOR activity in lymphomas is still incomplete. METHODS: mTOR activity and the elements of mTOR complexes were investigated by immunohistochemistry on tissue microarrays representing different human non-Hodgkin-lymphomas (81 cases) and Hodgkin-lymphomas (87 cases). The expression of phospho-mTOR, phospho-4EBP1, phospho-p70S6K, phospho-S6, Rictor, Raptor and Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, Survivin and NF-kappaB-p50 were evaluated, and mTOR activity was statistically analyzed along with 5-year survival data. The in vitro and in vivo effect of the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin was also examined in human Hodgkin-lymphoma cell lines. RESULTS: The majority (>50%) of mantle cell lymphoma, Burkitt lymphoma, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, anaplastic large-cell lymphoma and Hodgkin-lymphoma cases showed higher mTOR activity compared to normal lymphoid tissues. Hodgkin-lymphoma was characterized by high mTOR activity in 93% of the cases, and Bcl-xL and NF-kappaB expression correlated with this mTOR activity. High mTOR activity was observed in the case of both favorable and unfavorable clinical response. Low mTOR activity was accompanied by complete remission and at least 5-year disease free survival in Hodgkin-lymphoma patients. However, statistical analysis did not identify correlation beetween mTOR activity and different clinical data of HL patients, such as survival. We also found that Rictor (mTORC2) was not overexpressed in Hodgkin-lymphoma biopsies and cell lines. Rapamycin inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis in Hodgkin-lymphoma cells both in vitro and in vivo, moreover, it increased the apoptotic effect of chemotherapeutic agents. CONCLUSIONS: Targeting mTOR activity may be a potential therapeutic tool in lymphomas. The presence of mTOR activity probably indicates that the inclusion of mTOR inhibition in the therapy of Hodgkin-lymphomas may be feasible and beneficial, especially when standard protocols are ineffective, and it may also allow dose reduction in order to decrease late treatment toxicity. Most likely, the combination of mTOR inhibitors with other agents will offer the highest efficiency for achieving the best clinical response