Diz-me o que comes... Alimentação antes e depois da cidade

Com Lisboa transformada no “maior sítio arqueológico” do país, seja pelo número de intervenções nela efectuadas nos últimos anos, pela dimensão das mesmas, ou pelos resultados conseguidos e potencial informativo revelado, importa trazer as realidades históricas e patrimoniais assim obtidas ao conhecimento de um público alargado. É assim que, em boa hora, o protocolo assinado entre a Autarquia e a Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa vem concretizar-se, nomeadamente, na colaboração entre o Centro de Arqueologia de Lisboa e a Secção de Arqueologia da SGL para a realização anual de um colóquio com o tema geral de ‘Fragmentos de Arqueologia de Lisboa’, acentuando aspectos da realidade arqueológica. Entre os contextos que vêm sendo revelados, a presença de diversificado espólio relacionado com uma das condicionantes mais determinantes para a condição humana – a Alimentação – dá o sub-título a esta primeira realização. Com efeito, são vários os testemunhos que nos aportam para os hábitos alimentares das populações que têm vivido no espaço geográfico que actualmente pertence à cidade de Lisboa, desde a Pré-história até à actualidade: resíduos alimentares variados, recipientes e/ou estruturas relacionadas com o consumo, a preparação e a produção de alimentos, que diversas fontes documentais por vezes completam. A publicação deste volume inicia assim uma coleção que, sob o título genérico de Fragmentos de Arqueologia de Lisboa, trará ao domínio de um público alargado os resultados de cada encontro. Começamos aqui com a importante síntese de João Luís Cardoso, As faunas de grandes e médios mamíferos e a alimentação humana na região de Lisboa, do Paleolítico ao Bronze Final, a que o texto de Nelson Almeida e colaboradores sobre a problemática das primeiras comunidades neolíticas, A arqueofauna do Neolítico Antigo na Encosta de Sant’Ana Lisboa), dá seguimento. O estudo de Susana Martínez, Sónia Gabriel e Jacinta Bugalhão 2500 anos de exploração de recursos aquáticos em Lisboa. Núcleo Arqueológico da rua dos Correeiros faz a ponte para a História da Alimentação nos primórdios da Lisboa-Cidade. A importância da romanização e posterior percurso da Lisboa urbana conduzem-nos a sucessivamente percorrermos: - Com Clementino Amaro e Guilherme Cardoso, A alimentação em Lisboa na época romana através das ânforas da Casa dos Bicos. - Com António Rei e explorando fontes não-arqueológicas, os Elementos vegetais na alimentação de al-Ušhbûna, entre os séculos X e XII. - Maria João Valente e António Marques trazem-nos de volta à Arqueologia com Alimentação mudéjar em Lisboa: a zooarqueologia da Casa da Severa (Mouraria, Lisboa), enquanto Rui Neves nos faz percorrer Fernão Lopes para reflectir sobre O drama da fome sob o signo castelhano – 1384 e João Pedro Gomes nos fala da Comida de rua na Lisboa Moderna (sécs. XVI e XVII). - Prosseguindo na Época Moderna, Tânia Casimiro, Carlos Boavida, Cleia Detry e Simon Davis apresentam uma primeira síntese de resultados do estudo do notável espólio obtido na intervenção no Largo do Coreto em Carnide – Cozinhar e comer: Cerâmicas e alimentação em Carnide (1550-1650). - Carlos Boavida aborda de seguida e numa interessante comunicação os até agora pouco estudados artefactos metálicos utilizados para Preparar, servir e comer – Vestígios arqueológicos metálicos do que se usava na cozinha e à mesa na Lisboa da Idade Moderna para, em seguida, nos falar dos prazeres de Baco materializados Entre copos e garrafas – Os vidros do Largo de Jesus (Lisboa). - Já no primeiro quartel do século XX, Ana Maria Prosépio leva-nos a revisitar o saudoso Diário de Lisboa para reflectir sobre O património alimentar nas caricaturas do jornal vespertino “Diário de Lisboa” (1921 a 1926).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

La carne de vacuno en la alimentación humana

36 páginas, 2 Figuras, 7 Tablas.-- Publicaciones. Serie "Divulgación", Nº 16 Madrid, 2001.El «buen comer» se puede considerar desde dos puntos de vista distintos: como una necesidad y como un placer. En primer lugar, el hombre necesita alimentarse para mantener su salud y actividad. Con este fin, y dado su carácter de omnívoro, puede utilizar una amplia variedad de alimentos que le proporcionan la energía y todos los nutrientes, en calidad y cantidad suficientes para asegurar un adecuado estado de salud y desarrollo. La segunda faceta del «buen comer», la alimentación como fuente de placer, se basa en el hecho de que aunque una persona necesite una cantidad determinada de energía y nutrientes, es decir, aunque tenga una sola forma de nutrirse, a estas necesidades puede hacerlas frente a partir de un abanico muy amplio de alimentos que conforman distintas dietas o modos de alimentarse. En este sentido, la selección y consumo de alimentos que constituyen la dieta normal de un individuo están regulados por muchos factores, aparte de los nutricionales, que, en conjunto, determinan los hábitos alimentarios. Estos factores pueden clasificarse según el esquema de la figura 1.Peer reviewe

Population Disequilibrium as Promoter of Adaptive Explorations in Hepatitis C Virus

Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; 2019-nCoV; Virus de l'hepatitis C; Vacunes universalsCoronavirus SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; 2019-nCoV; Virus de la hepatitis C; Vacunas universalesCoronavirus SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; 2019-nCoV; Hepatitis C virus; Universal vaccinesReplication of RNA viruses is characterized by exploration of sequence space which facilitates their adaptation to changing environments. It is generally accepted that such exploration takes place mainly in response to positive selection, and that further diversification is boosted by modifications of virus population size, particularly bottleneck events. Our recent results with hepatitis C virus (HCV) have shown that the expansion in sequence space of a viral clone continues despite prolonged replication in a stable cell culture environment. Diagnosis of the expansion was based on the quantification of diversity indices, the occurrence of intra-population mutational waves (variations in mutant frequencies), and greater individual residue variations in mutant spectra than those anticipated from sequence alignments in data banks. In the present report, we review our previous results, and show additionally that mutational waves in amplicons from the NS5A-NS5B-coding region are equally prominent during HCV passage in the absence or presence of the mutagenic nucleotide analogues favipiravir or ribavirin. In addition, by extending our previous analysis to amplicons of the NS3- and NS5A-coding region, we provide further evidence of the incongruence between amino acid conservation scores in mutant spectra from infected patients and in the Los Alamos National Laboratory HCV data banks. We hypothesize that these observations have as a common origin a permanent state of HCV population disequilibrium even upon extensive viral replication in the absence of external selective constraints or changes in population size. Such a persistent disequilibrium—revealed by the changing composition of the mutant spectrum—may facilitate finding alternative mutational pathways for HCV antiviral resistance. The possible significance of our model for other genetically variable viruses is discussed.The work at CBMSO was supported by grants SAF2014-52400-R from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO), SAF2017-87846-R and BFU2017-91384-EXP from Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (MCIU), PI18/00210 from Instituto de Salud Carlos III, S2013/ABI-2906 (PLATESA from Comunidad de Madrid/FEDER), and S2018/BAA-4370 (PLATESA2 from Comunidad de Madrid/FEDER). C.P. is supported by the Miguel Servet program of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CPII19/00001), cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). CIBERehd (Centro de Investigación en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas) is funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III. Institutional grants from the Fundación Ramón Areces and Banco Santander to the CBMSO are also acknowledged. The team at CBMSO belongs to the Global Virus Network (GVN). The work in Barcelona was supported by Instituto de Salud Carlos III, cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Grant No. PI19/00301 and by the Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial (CDTI) from the MICIU, Grant No. IDI-20200297. Work at CAB was supported by MINECO grant BIO2016-79618R and PID2019-104903RB-I00 (funded by the EU under the FEDER program) and by the Spanish State research agency (AEI) through project number MDM-2017-0737 Unidad de Excelencia “María de Maeztu”-Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA). C.G.-C. is supported by predoctoral contract PRE2018-083422 from MCIU. B.M.-G. is supported by predoctoral contract PFIS FI19/00119 from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo), cofinanced by Fondo Social Europeo (FSE)

Guanosine inhibits hepatitis C virus replication and increases indel frequencies, associated with altered intracellular nucleotide pools

In the course of experiments aimed at deciphering the inhibition mechanism of mycophenolic acid and ribavirin in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, we observed an inhibitory effect of the nucleoside guanosine (Gua). Here, we report that Gua, and not the other standard nucleosides, inhibits HCV replication in human hepatoma cells. Gua did not directly inhibit the in vitro polymerase activity of NS5B, but it modified the intracellular levels of nucleoside di- and tri-phosphates (NDPs and NTPs), leading to deficient HCV RNA replication and reduction of infectious progeny virus production. Changes in the concentrations of NTPs or NDPs modified NS5B RNA polymerase activity in vitro, in particular de novo RNA synthesis and template switching. Furthermore, the Gua-mediated changes were associated with a significant increase in the number of indels in viral RNA, which may account for the reduction of the specific infectivity of the viral progeny, suggesting the presence of defective genomes. Thus, a proper NTP:NDP balance appears to be critical to ensure HCV polymerase fidelity and minimal production of defective genomes.CP is supported by the Miguel Servet program (grants CP14/00121 and CP19/00001) of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III cofinanced by FEDER. CP has received funding from Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacio´n y Universidades (grant BFU2017-91384-EXP), from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (grants PI18/00210 and PI21/00139), from Fundación La Marato´ (grant 525/C/2021), and from CSIC (grant CSIC-COV19-014). ED has received funding from CIBERehd (Centro de Investigación en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas, Instituto de Salud Carlos III), from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (grants SAF2014-52400-R, SAF2017-87846-R, and PID2020-113888RB-I00), and from Comunidad de Madrid/FEDER (grants S2013/ABI-2906 PLATESA, and S2018/BAA-4370 PLATESA2). AM has received funding from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (grants SAF2016-80451-P, PID2019-106068GB-I00, EQC2018-004420-P, and EQC2018-004631-P), and Plan Propio of Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha. A.G-P and L.DM have received funding from Consejería de Transformación Económica, Industria, Conocimiento y Universidades, Junta de Andalucía, cofinanced by FEDER and FSE (grants BIO-264, and P10-CVI-6561) and Plan Propio of Universidad de Málaga.Peer reviewe

Identification of eQTLs associated with lipid metabolism in Longissimus dorsi muscle of pigs with different genetic backgrounds

Altres ajuts: Ph.D grant from the Generalitat de Catalunya (ECO/1788/2014) i CERCA Programme/Generalitat de CatalunyaIntramuscular fat content and its fatty acid composition affect porcine meat quality and its nutritional value. The present work aimed to identify genomic variants regulating the expression in the porcine muscle (Longissimus dorsi) of 45 candidate genes for lipid metabolism and fatty acid composition in three experimental backcrosses based on the Iberian breed. Expression genome-wide association studies (eGWAS) were performed between the muscle gene expression values, measured by real-time quantitative PCR, and the genotypes of 38,426 SNPs distributed along all chromosomes. The eGWAS identified 186 eSNPs located in ten Sus scrofa regions and associated with the expression of ACSM5, ACSS2, ATF3, DGAT2, FOS and IGF2 (FDR < 0.05) genes. Two expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) for IGF2 and ACSM5 were classified as cis-acting eQTLs, suggesting a mutation in the same gene affecting its expression. Conversely, ten eQTLs showed trans-regulatory effects on gene expression. When the eGWAS was performed for each backcross independently, only three common trans-eQTL regions were observed, indicating different regulatory mechanisms or allelic frequencies among the breeds. In addition, hotspot regions regulating the expression of several genes were detected. Our results provide new data to better understand the functional regulatory mechanisms of lipid metabolism genes in muscle

Akt phosphorylation of HCV NS5B regulates polymerase activity and HCV infection

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a single-stranded RNA virus of positive polarity [ssRNA(+)] that replicates its genome through the activity of one of its proteins, called NS5B. This viral protein is responsible for copying the positive-polarity RNA genome into a negative-polarity RNA strand, which will be the template for new positive-polarity RNA genomes. The NS5B protein is phosphorylated by cellular kinases, including Akt. In this work, we have identified several amino acids of NS5B that are phosphorylated by Akt, with positions S27, T53, T267, and S282 giving the most robust results. Site-directed mutagenesis of these residues to mimic (Glu mutants) or prevent (Ala mutants) their phosphorylation resulted in a reduced NS5B in vitro RNA polymerase activity, except for the T267E mutant, the only non-conserved position of all those that are phosphorylated. In addition, in vitro transcribed RNAs derived from HCV complete infectious clones carrying mutations T53E/A and S282E/A were transfected in Huh-7.5 permissive cells, and supernatant viral titers were measured at 6 and 15 days post-transfection. No virus was rescued from the mutants except for T53A at 15 days post-transfection whose viral titer was statistically lower as compared to the wild type. Therefore, phosphorylation of NS5B by cellular kinases is a mechanism of viral polymerase inactivation. Whether this inactivation is a consequence of interaction with cellular kinases or a way to generate inactive NS5B that may have other functions are questions that need further experimental workMinisterio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (MCIU), PI18/00210 from Instituto de Salud Carlos III, and S2018/BAA-4370 (PLATESA2 from Comunidad de Madrid/FEDER). CP was supported by the Miguel Servet program of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CPII19/00001), cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). CG-C was supported by the predoctoral contract PRE2018-083422 from MCIU. CIBERehd (Centro de Investigación en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas) was funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III. Institutional grants from the Fundación Ramón Areces and Banco Santander to the CBMS

Restructuring of the "Macaronesia" biogeografic unit: a marine multi-taxon biogeographical approach

The Azores, Madeira, Selvagens, Canary Islands and Cabo Verde are commonly united under the term “Macaronesia”. This study investigates the coherency and validity of Macaronesia as a biogeographic unit using six marine groups with very different dispersal abilities: coastal fishes, echinoderms, gastropod molluscs, brachyuran decapod crustaceans, polychaete annelids, and macroalgae. We found no support for the current concept of Macaronesia as a coherent marine biogeographic unit. All marine groups studied suggest the exclusion of Cabo Verde from the remaining Macaronesian archipelagos and thus, Cabo Verde should be given the status of a biogeographic subprovince within the West African Transition province. We propose to redefine the Lusitanian biogeographical province, in which we include four ecoregions: the South European Atlantic Shelf, the Saharan Upwelling, the Azores, and a new ecoregion herein named Webbnesia, which comprises the archipelagos of Madeira, Selvagens and the Canary Islandsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Apoptotic Microtubule Network During the Execution Phase of Apoptosis

Apoptosis is a regulated energy-dependent process of cell death characterized by specific morphological and biochemical features in which caspase activation has a central role. During apoptosis, cells undergo characteristic morphological rearrangements in which the cytoskeleton participates actively. From a historical point of view, this reorganization has been assigned mainly to actinomyosin ring contraction with microtubule and intermediate filaments, both reported to be depolymerized at early stages of apoptosis. However, recent results have shown that the microtubule cytoskeleton is reformed during the execution phase of apoptosis, forming an apoptotic microtubule network (AMN). AMN is closely associated with the plasma membrane, forming a cortical ring or cellular “cocoon.” Apoptotic microtubules’ reorganization has been reported in many cell types and under many apoptotic inducers. Recently, it has been proposed that AMN is essential for preserving plasma membrane permeability and cell morphology during the execution phase of apoptosis. Apoptotic microtubules’ depolymerization leads cells to secondary necrosis and the release of toxic intracellular contents that can harm surrounding cells and initiate inflammation. Therefore, microtubules’ reorganization in physiological apoptosis during development and in the adult organism or in pathological apoptosis induced by anticancer treatments or chronic inflammation is essential for tissue homeostasis, preventing cell damage and inflammation

Inoculation of cucumber, melón and zucchini varieties with Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV) and evaluation of infection using different methods

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Figás-Moreno, MDR.; Alfaro Fernández, AO.; Font San Ambrosio, MI.; Borràs Palomares, D.; Casanova-Calancha, C.; Hurtado Ricart, M.; Plazas Ávila, MDLO.... (2017). Inoculation of cucumber, melón and zucchini varieties with Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV) and evaluation of infection using different methods. Annals of Applied Biology. 170(3):405-414. doi:10.1111/aab.12344, which has been published in final form at http://doi.org/10.1111/aab.12344. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.[EN] The disease caused by Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV), which is naturally transmitted by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci, causes important economic losses in cucurbit crops. The availability of simple and efficient inoculation protocols and detection methods is necessary for screening varieties and germplasm collections as well as for breeding populations. We evaluated the infectivity of ToLCNDV inocula prepared using three different buffers for mechanical sap inoculation in a susceptible variety of zucchini. We found that inoculum prepared with buffer III, which contains polyvinylpyrrolidone, is highly efficient for mechanical inoculation, with 100% of plants displaying severe symptoms 21 days post-inoculation. Using this buffer, we mechanically inoculated 19 commercial varieties of cucurbit crops (six of cucumber, six of melon and seven of zucchini), evaluated the evolution of symptoms and diagnosed infection using nine different ToLCNDV detection methods (four based on serology, four based on molecular hybridization and one based on PCR detection). The results revealed that all varieties are susceptible, although cucumber varieties display less severe symptoms than those of melon or zucchini. All detection methods were highly efficient (more than 85% of plants testing positive) in melon and zucchini, but in cucumber, the percentage of positive plants detected with serology and molecular hybridization methods ranged from 20.4% with Squash leaf curl virus (SLCV) antiserum, to 78.5% with DNA extract hybridization. Overall, the best detection results were obtained with PCR, with 92.6%, 92.4% and 98.4% cucumber, melon and zucchini plants, respectively, testing positive. When considering the overall results in the three crops, the best serology and molecular hybridization methods were those using Watermelon chlorotic stunt virus (WmCSV) antiserum and DNA extract, respectively. The inoculation methodology developed and the information on detection methods are of great relevance for the selection and breeding of varieties of cucurbit crops that are tolerant or resistant to ToLCNDV.Figás-Moreno, MDR.; Alfaro Fernández, AO.; Font San Ambrosio, MI.; Borràs Palomares, D.; Casanova-Calancha, C.; Hurtado Ricart, M.; Plazas Ávila, MDLO.... (2017). Inoculation of cucumber, melón and zucchini varieties with Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV) and evaluation of infection using different methods. Annals of Applied Biology. 170(3):405-414. doi:10.1111/aab.12344S405414170

Vaccine breakthrough infections with SARS-CoV-2 Alpha mirror mutations in Delta Plus, Iota, and Omicron

Replication of SARS-CoV-2 in the human population is defined by distributions of mutants that are present at different frequencies within the infected host and can be detected by ultra-deep sequencing techniques. In this study, we examined the SARS-CoV-2 mutant spectra of amplicons from the spike-coding (S-coding) region of 5 nasopharyngeal isolates derived from patients with vaccine breakthrough. Interestingly, all patients became infected with the Alpha variant, but amino acid substitutions that correspond to the Delta Plus, Iota, and Omicron variants were present in the mutant spectra of the resident virus. Deep sequencing analysis of SARS-CoV-2 from patients with vaccine breakthrough revealed a rich reservoir of mutant types and may also identify tolerated substitutions that can be represented in epidemiologically dominant variants.This work was supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (COVID-19 Research Call COV20/00181) and co-financed by the European Development Regional Fund “A way to achieve Europe.” The work was also supported by grants CSIC-COV19-014 from the CSIC, project 525/C/2021 from the Fundació La Marató de TV3; PID2020-113888RB-I00 from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación; BFU2017-91384-EXP from the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (MCIU);PI18/00210 and PI21/00139 from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III; and S2018/BAA-4370 (PLATESA2) from the Comunidad de Madrid/ FEDER. This research work was also funded by the European Commission – NextGenerationEU (regulation EU 2020/2094), through the CSIC’s Global Health Platform (PTI Salud Global). CP and PM are supported by the Miguel Servet programme of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (CPII19/00001 and CP16/00116, respectively), cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). CIBERehd is funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III. Institutional grants from the Fundación Ramón Areces and Banco Santander to the CBMSO are also acknowledged. The team at CBMSO belongs to the Global Virus Network (GVN). BMG is supported by predoctoral contract PFIS FI19/00119 from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo), cofinanced by the Fondo Social Europeo (FSE). CGC is supported by predoctoral contract PRE2018- 083422 from the MCIU. BS was supported by a predoctoral research fellowship (Doctorados Industriales, DI-17-09134) from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO).Peer reviewe