Epilog: Cajal’s unique and legitimated school

Santiago Ramón y Cajal is recognized as the founder of modern neuroscience, his discoveries representing the fundamental pillars of our current understanding of the nervous system. As Cajal’s career spanned a critical period in Spanish history, he witnessed strong social demands for progress in culture, education, and science. Indeed, the life of Santiago Ramón y Cajal can be considered to reflect the gradual development of Spanish science from the last third of the 19th century. Cajal promoted a national movement that had important consequences for Spanish science, mainly triggered by the creation of the “Junta para Ampliación de Estudios e Investigaciones Científicas,” an instrument he established to enrich scientific research and that was later to bear such abundant fruit. The school generated by Cajal profited from this development, through which all Cajal’s disciples received fellowships to train in laboratories across Europe. Unfortunately, the Spanish Civil War disrupted this revitalization of Spanish science and provoked the diaspora of many Spanish scientists. However, a political impulse, mostly following this spirit, was resumed in Spain during the eighties that successfully led to a renaissance in Spanish science.The work in the authors’ laboratories is supported by grants (to Juan Lerma) from the Spanish MICINN (BFU2011-24084), CONSOLIDER (CSD2007-00023), Prometeo/2011/086, and BFU2010-21377 (to Juan A. de Carlos).Peer reviewedPeer Reviewe

Molecular Physiology of Kainate Receptors

28 páginas, 15 figuras, 3 tablas.A decade ago, our understanding of the molecular properties of kainate receptors and their involvement in synaptic physiology was essentially null. A plethora of recent studies has altered this situation profoundly such that kainate receptors are now regarded as key players in the modulation of transmitter release, as important mediators of the postsynaptic actions of glutamate, and as possible targets for the development of antiepileptic and analgesic drugs. In this review, we summarize our current knowledge of the properties of kainate receptors focusing on four key issues:1) their structural and biophysical features, 2) the important progress in their pharmacological characterization,3) their pre- and postsynaptic mechanisms of action, and4) their involvement in a series of physiological and pathological processes. Finally, although significant progress has been made toward the elucidation of their importance for brain function, kainate receptors remain largely an enigma and, therefore, we propose some new roads that should be explored to obtain a deeper understanding of this young, but intriguing, class of proteins.Work in the laboratory of J. Lerma has been supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture (DGICYT Grants PB93/0150 and UE96/0007 as well as DGESIC Grants PM-0008/96 and PM99–0106), the Ministry of Health (FISSS Grant 95/0869), the Comunidad de Madrid (Grant 08.5/ 0042/1998), and the European Union (Grant BIO2-CT930243). J. C. López-García is the recipient of a long-term fellowship awarded by EMBO.Peer reviewe

Modelo Baldrige en una empresa manufacturera y su modelación de ecuaciones estructurales con mínimos parciales cuadrados. Caso de estudio (Baldrige model in a manufacturing company with partial least squares structural equation modeling. Case study)

Abstract. This article presents the content validity, concordance, relevance and reliability test of Cronbach Alpha for Model Malcolm Baldrige. The objective of this model is to improve the competitiveness between companies and United States business. And although still reach only in this country, the model can be applied in Mexican organizations as a tool. A structural equation model (SEM) is presented with the main constructs Malcome Baldrige model: leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, measurement, analysis and knowledge management, workforce focus, Process Management and results. Especially with the objective to evaluate the statistical significance between the constructs: leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, measurement, analysis and knowledge management, workforce focus and process management with the construct results. Which cronbach alphas indices vary between 0.6336 and 0.9048. Resumen. En este estudio conceptual, la perspectiva de resultados de desempeño de un equipo se estudia considerando como unidad de análisis, el comportamiento individual dentro del grupo natural organizacional, en el contexto del trabajo del conocimiento o intelectual. Para explicar la efectividad en el desempeño del grupo se acude a procesos y estados emergentes identificados como trabajo en equipo. De esta manera, se construye y propone un modelo teórico que establece la relación entre variables tales como: productividad, confianza en el grupo, tono afectivo del grupo, conductas de apoyo, seguridad psicológica, identificación con el grupo. En la construcción del modelo se utiliza una revisión de literatura que incorpora las definiciones y los antecedentes de las relaciones entre las variables. De esta estructura, se deriva una serie de hipótesis que son el resultado de este trabajo conceptual

Foraging ecology of masked boobies (Sula dactylatra) in the world’s largest “oceanic desert”

The South Pacific Gyre has the most hyper-oligotrophic waters in the world and is considered the largest “oceanic desert.” Rapa Nui (Easter Island), located within the South Pacific Gyre, is a breeding ground for masked boobies (Sula dactylatra), which are seabirds with a foraging range that effectively confines them within the gyre. The foraging ecology of this species in the gyre was examined by attaching GPS and time-depth devices to chick-rearing adult birds (9 and 14 birds in 2016 and 2017, respectively) and by collecting regurgitates (18 and 15 samples in 2016 and 2017, respectively). In addition, the birds’ foraging ecology between years was compared. Masked boobies traveled in various directions, dived at unspecific locations, and explored areas < 110 km from the colony. Local environmental conditions were not significantly different between years, and differences in foraging parameters (maximum foraging range, trip duration, and dive depth) were greater among individuals than between years. The foraging characteristics of masked boobies suggest that resources were ephemerally distributed around the colony, with similar abundances across years. Under these conditions, traveling to unspecific locations may increase the area covered and the probability of prey encounter. The spatial and temporal consistencies in environmental conditions explain the uniformity of foraging parameters between years. The ability of masked boobies to exploit ephemerally distributed resources in seascapes like Rapa Nui may help explain its pantropical distribution

Evaluación de la implicación de los alelos premutado (55-200 CGGs) y gris (45-54 CGGs) del gen FMR1 en el autismo

El gen FMR1 codifica para la proteína FMRP, que regula la traducción proteica en las neuronas, por lo que está implicada en el desarrollo y la maduración neuronales. En su región UTR5’ contiene una repetición del triplete Citosina-Guanina-Citosina (CGG) cuya longitud permite definir cuatro alelos: normal (200 CGGs). Esta última provoca el silenciamiento génico por metilación de las citosinas de la expansión. En cambio, en los portadores del alelo gris y/o premutado se ha observado un aumento de la transcripción de este gen pero una disminución en la cantidad de proteína. Esta falta de FMRP provoca una pérdida de función y plasticidad neuronales, lo que genera una serie de fenotipos neuropsiquiátricos, entre los que se podrían encontrar los Trastornos del Espectro Autista (TEA).Por tanto, es interesante evaluar la posible implicación de ambos alelos en este contexto clínico. Para ello, se trabajará en una base de datos seudoanonimizada creada en la Sección de Genética Clínica del HUMS en el periodo del 2014 al 2022 (8 años) en la que se han recogido la longitud de las expansiones determinada por TP-PCR y electroforesis capilar de los pacientes a los que se les ha solicitado el estudio genético del gen FMR1.Los resultados obtenidos parecen apoyar la implicación sobre todo del alelo gris en la clínica de los TEA, con una frecuencia de 50,8% de esta en los portadores de los estos alelos. Todavía se desconoce el mecanismo fisiopatológico, pero probablemente se deba a una desregulación de varios sistemas neuronales a la vez. Esto demuestra la importancia de la función de la FMRP.<br /

The solutrean points: from typology to use-wear analysis

Este trabajo pretende ofrecer una imagen global de los estudios que se han realizado sobre un soporte tan particular y definitorio cronológica y territorialmente del Paleolítico superior como son las puntas solutrenses. Iniciaremos nuestro trabajo explicando los distintos tipos de puntas solutrenses que se han definido hasta el momento para posteriormente mostrar la información obtenida desde los estudios funcionales de las puntas arqueológicos y la surgida desde las réplicas experimentales. Ambas perspectivas complementarias serán el medio con el que hablar del grado de efectividad de las distintas puntas, los modos de enmangue, las fracturas que se producen como consecuencia de factores tanto funcionales y tecnológicos, así como aquellos generados como resultado de alteraciones mecánicas diversas. En todo caso, pretendemos aportar en qué punto estamos en esta temática más allá de la simple descripción morfológicaThis paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the research on a particular category of tools that covers an important role as geographical and chronological marker: the Upper Paleolithic Solutrean points. Through a techno-functional approach we discuss the different typologies of Solutrean points in terms of degree of effectiveness, hafting modes, types of fractures produced by technological and functional factors, as well the use-wears traces caused by mechanical alterations. Our observations are based both on archaeological and experimental data. The objective of this article is to revise the state of art on this topic, presenting new technological and functional data that allow us to overcome a purely morphological approac

The Influence of Different Surface Treatments on the Mechanical Strength of Silicon Wafers

The implementation of photovoltaic solar energy based on silicon is being slowed down by the shortage of raw material. In this context, the use of thinner wafers arises as a solution reducing the amount of silicon in the photovoltaic modules. On the other hand, the manufacturing process with thinner wafers can become complicated with traditional tools. The high number of damaged wafers reduces the global yield. It’s known that edge and surface cracks and defects determine the mechanical strength of wafers. There are several ways of removing these defects e. g. subjecting wafers to a mechanical polishing or to a chemical etching. This paper shows a comparison between different surface treatments and their influence on the mechanical strength

Study of the Edge and Surface Cracks Influence in the Mechanical Strength of Silicon Wafers

The objective of the present study is the estimation of the depth to which the wire sawing process causes damage to the wafer surfaces. Previous analyses were carried out by means of the four line bending test. The characteristic of this test implied that the failure could be due to surface cracks located in the central zone of the wafer or near the edges. In order to evaluate the influence of the edge or surface cracks a new study has been carried out using the ball/ring on ring test. Description and results of the tests are presented. The preliminary analysis of the failure stress using analytical methods confirms the expected results. A Finite Element model developed to get more information of the test results is also presented