Ética, anarquismo y sexualidad en Amparo Poch y Gascón

Amparo Poch fue médica, educadora y activista social de orientación anarquista. Vivió durante las décadas centrales del siglo XX en España y desempeñó una actividad importante durante la II República, la Guerra Civil y el consiguiente exilio de miles de españoles. Estudiar su vida y su obra resulta de gran interés para comprender las importantes transformaciones sociales e intelectuales que afectaron a un período histórico de máxima conflictividad y grandes cambios en las ideas y las formas de vida. Y analizar su pensamiento permite comprender los antecedentes de ideas y actitudes actuales en temas relativos a la sexualidad. Su persona, sus ideas y sus aportaciones, fueron silenciadas desde el final de la guerra civil española. En 2002 Antonina Rodrigo publicó su biografía y una importante recopilación de sus escritos. Esta biografía es muy apreciable, pero faltaba completar los textos de Amparo, y profundizar en algunos aspectos de su pensamiento. En especial, en temas relacionados con la sexualidad, sus condicionamientos, sus ideales y sus consecuencias individuales y sociales..

Chloroplasts modulate elongation responses to canopy shade by retrograde pathways involving HY5 and abscisic acid

Plants use light as energy for photosynthesis but also as a signal of competing vegetation. Using different concentrations of norflurazon and lincomycin, we found that the response to canopy shade in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) was repressed even when inhibitors only caused a modest reduction in the level of photosynthetic pigments. High inhibitor concentrations resulted in albino seedlings that were unable to elongate when exposed to shade, in part due to attenuated light perception and signaling via phytochrome B and phytochrome-interacting factors. The response to shade was further repressed by a retrograde network with two separate nodes represented by the transcription factor LONG HYPOCOTYL 5 and the carotenoid-derived hormone abscisic acid. The unveiled connection among chloroplast status, light (shade) signaling, and developmental responses should contribute to achieve optimal photosynthetic performance under light-changing conditions

Inflammatory markers and bone mass in children with overweight/obesity: the role of muscular fitness

Objectives To examine which inflammatory markers are associated with bone mass and whether this association varies according to muscular fitness in children with overweight/obesity. Methods Plasma interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), epidermal growth factor, vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF), and C-reactive protein were analyzed in 55 children aged 8–11 years. A muscular fitness score was computed. Bone mineral content (BMC) of the total body-less head (TBLH) and lumbar spine (LS) were assessed using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Results IL-6 (β = −0.136) and VEGF (β = −0.099) were associated with TBLH BMC, while TNF-α (β = −0.345) and IL-1β (β = 0.212) were associated with LS BMC (P < 0.05). The interaction effect of muscular fitness showed a trend in the association of VEGF with TBLH BMC (P = 0.122) and TNF-α with LS BMC (P = 0.057). Stratified analyses by muscular fitness levels showed an inverse association of VEGF with TBLH BMC (β = −0.152) and TNF-α with LS BMC (β = −0.491) in the low-fitness group, while no association was found in the high-fitness group. Conclusion IL-6, VEGF, TNF-α, and IL-1β are significantly associated with bone mass. Higher muscular fitness may attenuate the adverse effect of high VEGF and TNF-α on bone mass

Photoreceptor Activity Contributes to Contrasting Responses to Shade in Cardamine and Arabidopsis Seedlings

Plants have evolved two major ways to deal with nearby vegetation or shade: avoidance and tolerance. Moreover, some plants respond to shade in different ways; for example, Arabidopsis thaliana undergoes an avoidance response to shade produced by vegetation, but its close relative Cardamine hirsuta tolerates shade. How plants adopt opposite strategies to respond to the same environmental challenge is unknown. Here, using a genetic strategy, we identified the C. hirsuta slender in shade1 (sis1) mutants, which produce strongly elongated hypocotyls in response to shade. These mutants lack the phytochrome A (phyA) photoreceptor. Our findings suggest that C. hirsuta has evolved a highly efficient phyA-dependent pathway that suppresses hypocotyl elongation when challenged by shade from nearby vegetation. This suppression relies, at least in part, on stronger phyA activity in C. hirsuta; this is achieved by increased ChPHYA expression and protein accumulation combined with a stronger specific intrinsic repressor activity. We suggest that modulation of photoreceptor activity is a powerful mechanism in nature to achieve physiological variation (shade tolerance vs. avoidance) for species to colonize different habitats

«Truman» (2015): About Friendship, of Life and Death

Truman deals with last stage of Julian´s life, an Argentinian actor who suffers from lung cancer and refuses to continue chemotherapy because his prognosis is gloomy. In the film, Julian meets his friend Tomás, and through the narration of the meeting we are revealed the protagonist´s concerns, fears, emotions and desires from his illness experience. We think this story may be useful to citizens because the death topic is treated with naturalness.  His analysis can also help healthcare professionals and Health Sciences professors to deliberate with patients, their families or students about coping with a terminal illness and it can bring them to reflect on personal relationships, life events and the values that really matter. This is a story that speaks, ultimately, about friendship, about life and death.Truman aborda la última etapa de la vida de Julián, un actor argentino que padece un cáncer de pulmón en un estadio avanzado y que rechaza continuar sometiéndose a tratamientos de quimioterapia ya que su pronóstico es infausto. En la película, a través de la narración del encuentro de Julián con su muy mejor amigo Tomás, se nos van revelando las preocupaciones, los miedos, las emociones y los deseos del protagonista desde la experiencia de su enfermedad. Pensamos que esta historia puede ser útil a los ciudadanos acercándolos a la realidad de la muerte próxima de un ser querido desde una perspectiva de cotidianeidad y naturalidad. Su análisis puede, además, ayudar a los profesionales sanitarios y a los docentes  de Ciencias de la Salud a deliberar con los pacientes, sus familias o los alumnos sobre el afrontamiento de una enfermedad terminal y llevarlos a reflexionar sobre las relaciones personales, los acontecimientos vitales y los valores que importan. Es esta una historia que nos habla, en definitiva, sobre la amistad, sobre la vida y sobre la muerte.

The decay τ-→K-K+π-ντ and the ντ mass

9 páginas, 4 figuras, 2 tablas.In this paper, we present a model based on the effective chiral Lagrangian to describe the decay τ-→K-K+π-ντ. Using our model we study the possible limits on the ντ mass that can be achieved by a high-statistics, high-precision experiment taking data close to the τ-pair production threshold.The work of two of us (M.C.G-G. and A.P.) has been partially supported by CICYT, Spain, under Grant No. AEN 89-0348. Finally, J.J.G-C. wants to acknowledge the support of a Fulbright Grant during part of the time of this work. This work was supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy contract No. DE-AC03- 765-fOO515.Peer reviewe

A root specific induction of carotenoid biosynthesis contributes to ABA production upon salt stress in Arabidopsis

Abscisic acid (ABA) is a hormone that plays a vital role in mediating abiotic stress responses in plants. Salt exposure induces the synthesis of ABA through the cleavage of carotenoid precursors (xanthophylls), which are found at very low levels in roots. Here we show that de novo ABA biosynthesis in salt-treated Arabidopsis thaliana roots involves an organ-specific induction of the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway. Upregulation of the genes encoding phytoene synthase (PSY) and other enzymes of the pathway producing ABA precursors was observed in roots but not in shoots after salt exposure. A pharmacological block of the carotenoid pathway substantially reduced ABA levels in stressed roots, confirming that an increase in carotenoid accumulation contributes to fuel hormone production after salt exposure. Treatment with exogenous ABA was also found to upregulate PSY expression only in roots, suggesting an organ-specific feedback regulation of the carotenoid pathway by ABA. Taken together, our results show that the presence of high concentrations of salt in the growth medium rapidly triggers a root-specific activation of the carotenoid pathway, probably to ensure a proper supply of ABA precursors required for a sustained production of the hormon

Analysis of <i>Arabidopsis PSY</i> promoter activity in roots.

<p>Representative images from transgenic <i>PSY:GUS-GFP</i> (A, C, D, G–J) and control <i>35S:GUS-GFP</i> (B, E, F) seedlings are shown. (A) GUS staining of <i>PSY:GUS-GFP</i> seedlings. (B) GUS staining of <i>35S:GUS-GFP</i> seedlings. (C) Bright field image of the region boxed in blue in A. (D) GFP fluorescence of the root shown in C. (E) Bright field image of the region boxed in blue in B. (F) GFP fluorescence of the root shown in E. (G) GUS staining of the upper region of the root shown in C. (H) Cross-section of the root region shown in G. (I) Magnification of the region boxed in G. (J) Close up of the stele area in a GUS-stained and resin-embedded section. ep, epidermis; c, cortex; s, stele; en, endodermis; pe, pericycle; p, phloem; pc, phloem companion cells; x, xylem.</p