That Night Has a Color

There are no human words to express the pain and the sadness. To begin to understand the reasons why a life so young ends, one must do it through a divine glance. Whether that is love or God herself. I try to do it through music, with the hope to heal that emptiness that is left in the world. I hope that by swimming and submerging yourself fully in the pain, it helps loose the fear of it and therefore, in consequence, we can see the love and happiness again that we only but missed.https://remix.berklee.edu/graduate-studies-scoring/1154/thumbnail.jp

"Del estudio en la theórica y del trabajo en la práctica" observaciones sobre la formación, ideas y obra del arquitecto Vicente Acero

Vicente Acero continúa siendo un arquitecto infravalorado, a pesar de que intervino en la construcción de algunas de las más representativas creaciones del Barroco español, como pueden ser los sagrarios de las cartujas de Granada y El Paular, la Catedral de Cádiz, la fachada de la Catedral de Guadix, etc. En estas líneas analizamos las circunstancias y motivaciones que orientan su siempre difícil labor; atendiendo a su formación como cantero, la influencia y participación en las obras de su maestro Francisco Hurtado, los contactos con los ingenieros militares, los préstamos visibles de la arquitectura barroco italiana al igual que, a la luz de nuevos datos, profundizamos en sus conocimientos teóricos

Caffeine chelates calcium in the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum

Producción CientíficaCytosolic Ca2+ signals are often amplified by massive calcium release from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). This calcium-induced calcium release (CICR) occurs by activation of an ER Ca2+ channel, the ryanodine receptor (RyR), which is facilitated by both cytosolic- and ER Ca2+ levels. Caffeine sensitizes RyR to Ca2+ and promotes ER Ca2+ release at basal cytosolic Ca2+ levels. This outcome is frequently used as a readout for the presence of CICR. By monitoring ER luminal Ca2+ with the low-affinity genetic Ca2+ probe erGAP3, we find here that application of 50 mM caffeine rapidly reduces the Ca2+ content of the ER in HeLa cells by ∼50%. Interestingly, this apparent ER Ca2+ release does not go along with the expected cytosolic Ca2+ increase. These results can be explained by Ca2+ chelation by caffeine inside the ER. Ca2+-overloaded mitochondria also display a drop of the matrix Ca2+ concentration upon caffeine addition. In contrast, in the cytosol, with a low free Ca2+ concentration (10−7 M), no chelation is observed. Expression of RyR3 sensitizes the responses to caffeine with effects both in the ER (increase in Ca2+ release) and in the cytosol (increase in Ca2+ peak) at low caffeine concentrations (0.3–1 mM) that have no effects in control cells. Our results illustrate the fact that simultaneous monitoring of both cytosolic- and ER Ca2+ are necessary to understand the action of caffeine and raise concerns against the use of high concentrations of caffeine as a readout of the presence of CICR.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (Project BFU2017-83066-P

Energy Management by Dynamic Monitoring of a Building of the University of Valladolid

Producción CientíficaThe continuous increase of energy consumption in buildings enhances the importance of implementing energy management systems within the building facilities. These tools allow us to know precisely both energy consumption and use within the building. Monitoring energy consumption provides a clear view not only of the amount, but also of where and when energy is consumed in the building. Besides, a rear analysis of this information allows us to deduce whether there exists an inappropriate consumption, and thus the possibilities of improving building efficiency. A monitoring tool has been implemented within an academic building at the University of Valladolid, applying technological resources of Information Technology and Communication through dynamic monitoring of electrical and thermal parameters. Results obtained are gathered and analysed to directly contribute to improve the use of energy, reduce costs associated with its generation and use, and improve the thermal comfort of the building occupants. Keywords: Dynamic monitoring, energy performances, energy management, reduction of building consumption

Use of aequorin-based indicators for monitoring Ca2+ in acidic organelles

Producción CientíficaOver the last years, there is accumulating evidence that acidic organelles can accumulate and release Ca2+ upon cell activation. Hence, reliable recording of Ca2+ dynamics in these compartments is essential for understanding the physiopathological aspects of acidic organelles. Genetically encoded Ca2+ indicators (GECIs) are valuable tools to monitor Ca2+ in specific locations, although their use in acidic compartments is challenging due to the pH sensitivity of most available fluorescent GECIs. By contrast, bioluminescent GECIs have a combination of features (marginal pH sensitivity, low background, no phototoxicity, no photobleaching, high dynamic range and tunable affinity) that render them advantageous to achieve an enhanced signal-to-noise ratio in acidic compartments. This article reviews the use of bioluminescent aequorin-based GECIs targeted to acidic compartments. A need for more measurements in highly acidic compartments is identified.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (PID2020-116086RB-I00 )Junta de Castilla y León (Ref. CLU- 2019-02)Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, Reino Unido (BB/T015853/1 y BB/W01551X/1

Structural and functional analysis of virus factories purified from Rabbit vesivirus-infected Vero cells

Rabbit vesivirus infection induces membrane modifications and accumulation of vesicular structures in the cytoplasm of infected Vero cells. Crude RaV replication complexes (RCs) have been purified and their structural and functional properties have been characterized.We show that calnexin, an ER-resident protein, RaV non-structural proteins 2AB-, 2C-, 3A-, 3B- and 3CD-like as well as viral RNAs co-localize within membranous structures which are able to replicate the endogenous RNA templates. The purified virus factories protected their viral RNA contents from microccocal nuclease degradation and were inaccessible to exogenously added synthetic transcripts. In addition, we have shown that RCs can be used to investigate uridylylation of native endogenous VPg. In contrast to the observation that the virus factories were inaccessible to RNAs, RCs were accessible to added recombinant VPg which was subsequently nucleotidylylated. Nevertheless no elongation of an RNA chain attached to native or recombinant VPg could be demonstrated

Incidence of cardiovascular events after kidney transplantation and cardiovascular risk scores: study protocol

[Abstract] Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the major cause of death after renal transplantation. Not only conventional CVD risk factors, but also transplant-specific risk factors can influence the development of CVD in kidney transplant recipients. The main objective of this study will be to determine the incidence of post-transplant CVD after renal transplantation and related factors. A secondary objective will be to examine the ability of standard cardiovascular risk scores (Framingham, REGICOR, SCORE, and DORICA) to predict post-transplantation cardiovascular events in renal transplant recipients, and to develop a new score for predicting the risk of CVD after kidney transplantation. Methods/design: Observational prospective cohort study of all kidney transplant recipients in the A Coruna Hospital (Spain) in the period 1981-2008 (2059 transplants corresponding to 1794 patients). The variables included will be: donor and recipient characteristics, chronic kidney disease-related risk factors, pre-transplant and post-transplant cardiovascular risk factors, routine biochemistry, and immunosuppressive, antihypertensive and lipid-lowering treatment. The events studied in the follow-up will be: patient and graft survival, acute rejection episodes and cardiovascular events (myocardial infarction, invasive coronary artery therapy, cerebral vascular events, new-onset angina, congestive heart failure, rhythm disturbances and peripheral vascular disease). Four cardiovascular risk scores were calculated at the time of transplantation: the Framingham score, the European Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation (SCORE) equation, and the REGICOR (Registre Gironi del COR (Gerona Heart Registry)), and DORICA (Dyslipidemia, Obesity, and Cardiovascular Risk) functions. The cumulative incidence of cardiovascular events will be analyzed by competing risk survival methods. The clinical relevance of different variables will be calculated using the ARR (Absolute Risk Reduction), RRR (Relative Risk Reduction) and NNT (Number Needed to Treat). The ability of different cardiovascular risk scores to predict cardiovascular events will be analyzed by using the c index and the area under ROC curves. Based on the competing risks analysis, a nomogram to predict the probability of cardiovascular events after kidney transplantation will be developed. Discussion: This study will make it possible to determine the post-transplant incidence of cardiovascular events in a large cohort of renal transplant recipients in Spain, to confirm the relationship between traditional and transplant-specific cardiovascular risk factors and CVD, and to develop a score to predict the risk of CVD in these patients.Instituto de Salud Carlos III; PI070986Xunta de Galicia; PS09/26Insituto de Salud Carlos III; G03/170Instituto de Salud Carlos III; RD06/ 001