Reference Intervals and Percentile Curves of Echocardiographic Left Ventricular Mass, Relative Wall Thickness and Ejection Fraction in Healthy Children and Adolescents Diaz, Alberto Alejandro; Zócalo, Yanina; Bia, Daniel Despite the clinical utility of echocardiography to measure cardiac target organ injury (TOI) there are scarcities of data about the reference intervals (RIs) and percentiles of left ventricular (LV) mass (LVM) and derived indexes (LVMI and LVMI2.7), relative wall thickness (LVRWT) and ejection fraction (LVEF) from population-based studies in children and adolescents. The aim of this study was to generate reference intervals RIs of LVM and derived indexes (LVMI and LVMI2.7), LVRWT, and LVEF obtained in healthy children, adolescents, and young adults from a South-American population. Echocardiographic studies were obtained in 1096 healthy subjects (5–24 years). Age and sex-specific RIs of LVM, LVMI, LVMI2.7, LVRWT, and LVEF were generated using parametric regression based on fractional polynomials. After covariate analysis (i.e., adjusting by age, body surface area) specific sex-specific RIs were evidenced as necessaries. Age and sex-specific 1st, 2.5th, 5th, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, 95th, 97.5th, and 99th percentile and curves were reported and compared with previously reported RIs. RIs showed high concordance and complementarity with what was previously reported for the population of North-American children (0–18 years old). In conclusion, in children and adolescents the interpretation of the LVM, LVMIs, LVRWT, and LVEF RIs requires sex-related RIs. This study provides the largest Argentinean database concerning RIs and percentile curves of LVM, LVMIs, LVRWT, and LVEF as markers of cardiac TOI obtained in healthy children and adolescents. These data are valuable in that they provide RIs values with which data of populations of children, adolescents can be compared.

¿Demasiado vieja para el sexo?; Too old for sex? Dabove, Maria Isolina; Arrubia, Eduardo Javier El presente trabajo se propone un análisis del fallo del Tribunal Europeo de Derechos Humanos “Carvalho Pinto de Sousa Morais v. Portugal” a la luz del derecho de la ancianidad y con perspectiva de género. A tal fin primero se hará una introducción sobre algunos aspectos atinentes a la vejez, el género y la sexualidad para posteriormente trabajar sobre los estereotipos presentes en este caso, los aportes que brindan los estudios de género sobre el tema, para finalmente pensar la idea de una justicia restaurativa.; This work intends to analyze the judgment from the European Court of Human Rights named “Carvalho Pinto de Sousa Morais v. Portugal” in the light of regulations aimed at old-aged people with gender perspective. For this purpose, we Will first make an introduction about certain aspects regarding old age,gender and sexuality so as to be able to then work on stereotypes and on the importance of gender perspective research on this subject. Finally,we will address the idea of restorative Justice.

Tree retention in cattle ranching systems partially preserves dung beetle diversity and functional groups in the semideciduous Atlantic forest: The role of microclimate and soil conditions Gomez Cifuentes, Andres Mauricio; Gimenez Gomez, Victoria Carolina; Moreno, Claudia E.; Zurita, Gustavo Andres The disturbance of natural environments affects, among others, the diversity of dung beetle assemblages, which could have serious consequences for the ecological processes regulated by these insects. The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare species diversity and functional groups of dung beetle assemblages both in the native forest and in three livestock systems that differed in their structure and composition of vegetation: a livestock system with native trees, a livestock system with exotic trees (Pinus taeda), and traditional open pastures, in the semideciduous Atlantic forest of Argentina, in an area previously covered by continuous forest and currently with a heterogeneous landscape of native forest and different land uses. Pitfall traps baited with cow dung were used in the natural forests and the livestock systems studied. A total of 2461 beetles belonging to 38 species were captured. Treed livestock systems showed the highest species richness ( 0 D) and diversity ( 1 D and 2 D). Twelve functional groups were identified. The native forest showed the highest functional group richness, while open pastures had the lowest. In general, livestock systems showed a low proportional abundance of telecoprid, diurnal and large beetles. Microclimate (average temperature and humidity) and soil conditions (soil composition: sandy or clayey) were closely associated with the species and functional group composition. Results confirm that cattle ranching with tree retention preserves dung beetle diversity, and suggest that cattle systems without canopy cover have higher impact (negative effects) than silvopastoral systems on both species and functional groups.

Emotional-Evolutional Model of social anxiety in university student Moran, Valeria Estefania; Olaz, Fabian Orlando; Pérez, Edgardo Raúl; Pereira del Prette, Zilda Aparecida In recent years, the studies of social anxiety in university students have become of particular importance given its disabling impact over social adjustment and psychological well-being. Because of the lack of predictive models with empirical support about this issue in university students, the present research had the objective of developing an explanatory model of this phenomenon with principles based on attachment theory and the theories of emotional regulation. We worked with a sample of 438 university students and structural equation modeling (SEM) was used for data analysis. We produced an explanatory model which presented appropriate adjustment indexes (CFI =.95; GFI= .95; RMSEA = .05). In this model, the predictive role of expectations of social rejection and the difficulties in emotion regulation in the etiology of social anxiety are clear. These factors are in turn influenced by the fear of abandonment linked to internal working models of insecure attachment of development in early childhood. Significant differences were found in favour of women in percentages of variance explained in social anxiety and expectations of social rejection.

Confirmation of a New Metal-poor Globular Cluster in the Galactic Bulge Minniti, Dante; Schlafly, Edward; Palma, Tali; Clariá, Juan José; Hempel, Maren; García Alonso, José; Bica, Eduardo; Bonatto, Charles; Braga, Vittorio; Clementini, Gisella; Garofalo, Alessia; Gómez, Matías Miguel; Ivanov, Valentin D.; Lucas, Phillip W.; Pullen, Joyce; Saito, Roberto K.; Smith, Leigh C. We use deep near-IR photometry of the VISTA Variables in the Vía Láctea (VVV) Survey and deep DECam PlaneSurvey (DECaPS) optical photometry to confirm the physical reality of the candidate globular cluster (GC) Minni22, which is located in the Galactic bulge. This object, which was detected as a high density region in our maps ofbulge red giants, is now confirmed as a real GC based on the optical and near-IR color?magnitude diagrams. Wealso recover three known fundamental mode (ab type) RR Lyrae stars within 2 arcmin of the cluster center. Thepresence of RR Lyrae stars also seems to confirm Minni 22 as a bonafide old and metal-poor GC. We estimate acluster reddening E(J-Ks) = 0.6 mag and determine its heliocentric distance D = 7.4 ± 0.3 kpc. The opticaland near-IR color?magnitude diagrams reveal well-defined red giant branches in all cases, including a red giantbranch bump at Ks = 13.30 ± 0.05 mag. The comparison with theoretical isochrones yields a mean metallicity of[Fe/H] = −1.3 ± 0.3 dex, and age of t ∼ 11.2 Gyr. This is a good example of a new low-luminosity(M_V = −6.2 mag) GC found in the central bulge of the Milky Way. After discussing the different ways to confirmthe existence of bulge GC candidates, we find that one of the best methods is to use the CMDs from thecombination of the DECaPS + VVV photometries

El cobre protector artificial y natural de piezas ornamentales históricas Guiamet, Patricia Sandra En la construcción de piezas ornamentales y objetos pertenecientes al patrimoniocultural histórico y arqueológico se han empleado el cobre y sus aleaciones por sucapacidad de formar pátinas protectoras contra la corrosión en condiciones atmosféricasoxidantes. Las pátinas pueden ser el resultado de un ataque natural o artificial sobre elsustrato metálico y son a veces producidas como forma efectiva del acabado superficialo para lograr un envejecimiento artificial en piezas nuevas de valor artístico. Bajodeterminados factores ambientales (temperatura, humedad, contaminantes atmosféricos,naturales, antropogénicos, lluvia, radiación solar), pueden formarse otros compuestosoriginando la denominada ?pátina verde?, que es estéticamente agradable, y constituidageneralmente por sulfatos, nitratos, carbonatos, cloruros, etc. Debido a la importanciade estas cubiertas protectoras se analizan las diferentes técnicas de producción depátinas artificiales y naturales conjuntamente con métodos de limpieza sobre lasuperficie de diferentes piezas patrimoniales. Finalmente se establece que para piezasornamentales y objetos metálicos de valor histórico/arqueológico es importante evitaren lo posible procedimientos de intervención, lo cual lleva al concepto de ConservaciónPreventiva, garantizando la integridad de la pieza desde el punto de vista físico, históricoy arqueológico; Na construção de peças decorativas e objetos que pertencem ao patrimônio histórico e arqueológico foram usados cobre e suas ligas por sua capacidade de formar patinam protetora contra corrosão em condições oxidantes atmosféricos. As patinas podem ser o resultado de ataque natural ou artificial sobre o substrato de metal e por vezes são produzidas de forma tão eficaz ou acabamento de superfície para conseguir envelhecimento artificial em novas peças de valor artístico. De acordo com determinados fatores ambientais (temperatura, umidade, poluentes atmosféricos, antropogênicos,chuva, luz solar), a formação de outros compostos que causam o chamado “patina verde”, que é esteticamente agradável e geralmente constituído por sulfatos, nitratos, carbonatos, cloretos, etc. Devido à importância destas capas de proteção diferentes técnicas de produção de pátinas artificiais e naturais são analisadas em conjunto com métodos de limpeza sobre a superfície de diferentes partes patrimoniais. Por último, afirma que é para peças de metal ornamental e objetos de histórico/arqueológico importante evitar, procedimentos de intervenção, o que leva ao conceito de conservação preventiva, garantindo a integridade da peça do ponto de física, histórica e arqueológica.

An optogenetic toolbox of LOV-based photosensitizers for light-driven killing of bacteria Endres, Stephan; Wingen, Marcus; Torra, Joaquim; Ruiz González, Rubén; Polen, Tino; Bosio, Gabriela Natalia; Bitzenhofer, Nora Lisa; Hilgers, Fabienne; Gensch, Thomas; Nonell, Santi; Jaeger, Karl-Erich; Drepper, Thomas Flavin-binding fluorescent proteins (FPs) are genetically encoded in vivo reporters, which are derived from microbial and plant LOV photoreceptors. In this study, we comparatively analyzed ROS formation and light-driven antimicrobial efficacy of eleven LOV-based FPs. In particular, we determined singlet oxygen (1O2) quantum yields and superoxide photosensitization activities via spectroscopic assays and performed cell toxicity experiments in E. coli. Besides miniSOG and SOPP, which have been engineered to generate 1O2, all of the other tested flavoproteins were able to produce singlet oxygen and/or hydrogen peroxide but exhibited remarkable differences in ROS selectivity and yield. Accordingly, most LOV-FPs are potent photosensitizers, which can be used for light-controlled killing of bacteria. Furthermore, the two variants Pp2FbFP and DsFbFP M49I, exhibiting preferential photosensitization of singlet oxygen or singlet oxygen and superoxide, respectively, were shown to be new tools for studying specific ROS-induced cell signaling processes. The tested LOV-FPs thus further expand the toolbox of optogenetic sensitizers usable for a broad spectrum of microbiological and biomedical applications.

On the use of satellite Sentinel 2 data for automatic mapping of burnt areas and burn severity Lasaponara, Rosa; Tucci, Biagio; Ghermandi, Luciana In this paper, we present and discuss the preliminary tools we devised for the automatic recognition of burnt areas and burn severity developed in the framework of the EU-funded SERV_FORFIRE project. The project is focused on the set up of operational services for fire monitoring and mitigation specifically devised for decision-makers and planning authorities. The main objectives of SERV_FORFIRE are: (i) to create a bridge between observations, model development, operational products, information translation and user uptake; and (ii) to contribute to creating an international collaborative community made up of researchers and decision-makers and planning authorities. For the purpose of this study, investigations into a fire burnt area were conducted in the south of Italy from a fire that occurred on 10 August 2017, affecting both the protected natural site of Pignola (Potenza, South of Italy) and agricultural lands. Sentinel 2 data were processed to identify and map different burnt areas and burn severity levels. Local Index for Statistical Analyses LISA were used to overcome the limits of fixed threshold values and to devise an automatic approach that is easier to re-apply to diverse ecosystems and geographic regions. The validation was assessed using 15 random plots selected from in situ analyses performed extensively in the investigated burnt area. The field survey showed a success rate of around 95%, whereas the commission and omission errors were around 3% of and 2%, respectively. Overall, our findings indicate that the use of Sentinel 2 data allows the development of standardized burn severity maps to evaluate fire effects and address post-fire management activities that support planning, decision-making, and mitigation strategies.

Satisfiability for relation-changing logics Areces, Carlos Eduardo; Fervari, Raul Alberto; Hoffmann, Guillaume Emmanuel; Martel, Mauricio Relation-changing modal logics (RC for short) are extensions of the basic modal logic with dynamic operators that modify the accessibility relation of a model during the evaluation of a formula. These languages are equipped with dynamic modalities that are able e.g. to delete, add and swap edges in the model, both locally and globally. We study the satisfiability problem for some of these logics.We first show that they can be translated into hybrid logic. As a result, we can transfer some results from hybrid logics to RC. We discuss in particular decidability for some fragments. We then show that satisfiability is, in general, undecidable for all the languages introduced, via translations from memory logics.

Cuerpxs Insurrectxs en lucha por el aborto legal: desafíos al estado patriarcal; Cuerpxs Insurrectxs in struggle for legal abortion: challenges to the patriarchal state Bonavitta, Paola En los últimos años, Argentina ha virado hacia su costado más neoliberal. Eso conllevó un retroceso en las políticas sociales y de género. No obstante, en medio de un amplio malestar social, ha tomado fuerza el debate sobre el aborto en el Congreso de la Nación y por primera vez el reclamo por la legalización del aborto logró traspasar los espacios de militancia y ubicarse en la agenda pública. En este marco, las marchas y manifestaciones fueron encabezadas por miles y miles de mujeres y sexualidades no hegemónicas que reclamaron la legalización del aborto y escandalizaron a una franja social por las maneras en las que tomaron el espacio público: cuerpxs desafiantes, insurrectxs, rebeldes, danzantes. Son cuerpxs que desafian la maternidad obligatoria, impuesta, normativa. Cuerpxs que sostienen que se debe contar con autonomía; pero también, considerar las intersecciones de género/sexualidad/clase/raza/etnia/nacionalidad/territorio.

Hours of service regulations for professional drivers in continental Latin America Simonelli, Guido; Bellone, Giannina; Golombek, Diego Andrés; Pérez Chada, Daniel; Glozier, Nick; Capaldi, Vincent F.; Vigo, Daniel Eduardo; Kryger, Meir H. Objectives: To describe the hours of service provisions in continental Latin America. Design: Information on regulations of service hours was extracted from either the national transportation authorities or ministries of transportation (or the equivalent institution) from each country. Setting: Seventeen sovereign countries in continental Latin America (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela). Participants: N/A Intervention (if any): N/A Measurement: Data on (a) limit on work hours, (b) mandatory daily time off (or rest), (c) overall schedule (mandatory weekly time off), and (d) daily breaks were extracted and summarized. Results: Of the 17 countries surveyed, 9 countries have provisions limiting the daily amount of hours of service for professional drivers. Ten have provisions for mandatory daily rest, but only 5 have explicit provisions limiting the number of continuous working days, with mandatory uninterrupted time off >35 hours. Eight countries have provisions for mandatory breaks that limit the hours of continuous driving (ranging from 3 to 5:30 hours). Conclusion: Regulations that govern a population with 6 million injuries and over 100,000 deaths per year due to motor vehicle accidents leave important gaps. A minority, 6, of the countries regulated all 3 aspects; daily hours, breaks, and time off, and 3 regulate none of these. The regulations are less precise and restrictive than those in high-income countries, despite the doubled road injury mortality, and likely expose professional drivers and other road users to an increased risk of fatigue-related accidents.

Revistas depredadoras: ¿un mal de esta época?; Predatory journals: An evil of this time? Sauka, Diego Herman ¿Qué investigador no ha recibido en este último tiempo alguna invitación electrónica para publicar un artículo en una revista desconocida para él hasta ese momento? Hay que estar atento, porque podría estar frente al acecho de una revista depredadora. Establecido por Jeffrey Beall -bibliotecario y académico de la Universidad de Colorado-, Este término se refiere un Aquellas revistas Científicas Que explotan, de forma poco ética, el Valioso modelo de acceso abierto ( Open Access ) para su propio beneficio.

Capillary film and breakup mechanism in the squeezing to dripping transition regime at the mesoscale between micro and milli-fluidics Freytes, Verónica Mariana; Rosen, Marta; D'onofrio, Alejandro Gustavo We report a study of droplet generation in two phase flows of non-miscible fluids in a T-shaped array of circular channels, at the mesoscale between micro- and milli-fluidics. Our experiments show that the balance between the different types of forces (capillary forces, shear viscous forces, etc.) may differ significantly from that found by previous authors in smaller, microfluidics channels. The results may, therefore, be applied to practical systems in which droplets act as small chemical reactors or help enhance mixing. We suggest a possible interesting extension to the generation of drops inside porous media. We report experiments in which the length of the droplets and the residual thickness of the surrounding fluid film are systematically measured as a function of the respective flow rates of the two fluids: These results are carefully compared to theoretical models taking into account in different ways the capillary and viscous effects and to results obtained by other authors for smaller channels. Several dimensionless control variables are tested (capillary number, ratio of the flow rates of the two fluids, etc.). Capillary film thickness is shown to be a useful variable to identify the different regimes of formation. Testing of the theoretical models with the experimental data showed that the change from one formation regime to the other is accompanied by a change in the role of viscous effects. Two models of breakup mechanisms were tested: on the one hand, the pressure buildup mechanism and, on the other hand, a second mechanism corresponds to the balance of tangential shear stresses and interfacial tension. According to the formation regimes, both models have provided satisfactory predictions of the experimental results. However, at this mesoscale, the experimental data were better described by the models dependent on the capillary number, as previously reported in systems with a low degree of confinement.

Integer programming models for the routing and spectrum allocation problem Bertero, Federico Alberto; Bianchetti, Marcelo; Marenco, Javier Leonardo One of the most promising solutions to deal with huge data traffic demands in large communication networks is given by flexible optical networking, in particular the flexible grid (flexgrid) technology specified in the ITU-T standard G.694.1. In this specification, the frequency spectrum of an optical fiber link is divided into narrow frequency slots. Any sequence of consecutive slots can be used as a simple channel, and such a channel can be switched in the network nodes to create a lightpath. In this kind of networks, the problem of establishing lightpaths for a set of end-to-end demands that compete for spectrum resources is called the routing and spectrum allocation problem (RSA). Due to its relevance, this problem has been intensively studied in the last couple of years. It has been shown to be NP-hard (Christodoulopoulos et al. in IEEE J Lightw Technol 29(9):1354–1366, 2011; Wang et al. in IEEE J Opt Commun Netw 4(11):906–917, 2012) and several models and formulations have been proposed, leading to different solution approaches. In this work, we explore integer programming models for RSA, analyzing their effectiveness over known instances. We resort to several modeling techniques, to find natural formulations of this problem. Since integer programming techniques are known to provide successful practical approaches for several combinatorial optimization problems, the aim of this work is to explore a similar approach for RSA.

Strange metal crossover in the doped holographic superconductor Giordano, Gaston Luciano; Grandi, Nicolás Esteban; Lugo, Adrián René; Soto Garrido, Rodrigo In a recent paper, Kiritsis and Li presented a holographic model to study the competition between different orders at finite doping in holographic superconductors. In the present work, we introduce fermions into such model and study the fermionic spectral functions in the normal phase at zero and finite temperatures. Combining analytic and numerical methods, we found that there is a crossover from a strange metal with short lived excitations at small doping, into a Fermi liquid with well defined quasiparticles at large doping. The critical doping at which excitations becomes long lived increases with temperature. The emerging phase diagram is qualitatively similar to that of High Temperature Superconductors.

Co-imaging extrinsic, intrinsic and effector caspase activity by fluorescence anisotropy microscopy Corbat, Agustín Andrés; Schuermann, Klaus C.; Liguzinski, Piotr; Radon, Yvonne; Bastiaens, Philippe I.H.; Verveer, Peter J.; Grecco, Hernan Edgardo In order to overcome intercellular variability and thereby effectively assess signal propagation in biological networks it is imperative to simultaneously quantify multiple biological observables in single living cells. While fluorescent biosensors have been the tool of choice to monitor the dynamics of protein interaction and enzymatic activity, co-measuring more than two of them has proven challenging. In this work, we designed three spectrally separated anisotropy-based Förster Resonant Energy Transfer (FRET) biosensors to overcome this difficulty. We demonstrate this principle by monitoring the activation of extrinsic, intrinsic and effector caspases upon apoptotic stimulus. Together with modelling and simulations we show that time of maximum activity for each caspase can be derived from the anisotropy of the corresponding biosensor. Such measurements correlate relative activation times and refine existing models of biological signalling networks, providing valuable insight into signal propagation.

Outer-Membrane-Vesicle-Associated O Antigen, a Crucial Component for Protecting Against Bordetella parapertussis Infection Bottero, Daniela; Zurita, Maria Eugenia; Gaillard, María Emilia; Carriquiriborde, Francisco Pablo; Martin Aispuro, Pablo; Elizagaray, Maia Lina; Bartel, Erika Belén; Castuma, Celina; Hozbor, Daniela Flavia Bordetella parapertussis is a respiratory-disease pathogen producing symptomatology similar to that of pertussis but of underestimated incidence and with no specific vaccine existing. We recently designed a vaccine candidate from B. parapertussis outer-membrane vesicles (OMVs) that proved to be safe and protective in a murine-infection model. Based on protection recently reported for the B. parapertussis O antigen in aqueous solution, we assessed here whether the B. parapertussis O-antigen-containing lipopolysaccharide (BppLPS-O+) embedded in the membranes, as present in B. parapertussis-derived OMVs (OMVs(Bpp-LPS-O+)), was the component responsible for that previously observed protection by OMVs. By performing a comparative study with OMVs from a human strain with undetectable O antigen (OMVs(Bpp-LPS-O-)), we demonstrated that the OMVs(Bpp-LPS-O+), but not the OMVs(Bpp-LPS-O-), protected mice against sublethal B. parapertussis infections. Indeed, the B. parapertussis loads were significantly reduced in the lungs of OMVs(Bpp-LPS-O+) -vaccinated animals, with the CFUs recovered being decreased by 4 log units below those detected in the non-immunized animals or in the animals treated with the OMVs(Bpp-LPS-O-), (p < 0.001). We detected that the OMVs(Bpp-LPS-O+) induced IgG antibodies against B. parapertussis whole-cell lysates, which immunocomponents recognized, among others, the O antigen and accordingly conferred protection against B. parapertussis infection, as observed in in-vivo-passive-transfer experiments. Of interest was that the OMVs(Bpp-LPS-O+) -generated sera had opsonophagocytic and bactericidal capabilities that were not detected with the OMVs(Bpp-LPS-O-)-induced sera, suggesting that those activities were involved in the clearance of B. parapertussis. Though stimulation of cultured spleen cells from immunized mice with formulations containing the O antigen resulted in gamma interferon (IFN-γ) and interleukin-17 production, spleen cells from OMVs(Bpp-LPS-O+) -immunized mice did not significantly contribute to the observed protection against B. parapertussis infection. The protective capability of the B. parapertussis O antigen was also detected in formulations containing both the OMVs derived from B. pertussis and purified BppLPS-O+. This combined formulation protected mice against B. pertussis along with B. parapertussis.

Platelet rich plasma (PRP) induces autophagy in osteoblast precursor 3T3-L1 Carminati, Sergio Andrés; Barbosa, María Carolina; Fader Kaiser, Claudio Marcelo Autophagy is an essential cellular homeostatic mechanism by which intracellular components are delivered into the lysosomes for degradation and recycling. Autophagy has been related with a diversity of pathological or physiological dentary processes such as bone remodeling, skeletal aging, osteoclastogenesis, osteoblastogenesis and different types of oral cancer. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP), isolated from autologous blood, is a plasma preparation containing a higher concentration of platelets which contains numerous different growth factors and cytokines that activate several cellular signaling cascades. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of PRP on autophagy stimulation in both osteoblast precursor 3T3-L1 and non-related osteoblastic cells. Our results showed that PRP can increase the number of autophagic structures in 3T3-L1 and HeLa (cervical cancer cells) cells. Moreover, we have determined by Western blot a rise in the lipidated form of the autophagic protein LC3 (i.e. LC3-II) upon PRP treatment. Taken together, our results suggest that PRP is able to induce a strongly autophagy response in osteoblast precursor and, to a lesser extent, in non-related osteoblastic cells, suggesting that PRP could be a potential therapeutic tool for some autophagy-related diseases associated with bone homeostasis.

Clearly Detectable, Kinetically Restricted Solid-Solid Phase Transition in cis-Ceramide Monolayers Fanani, Maria Laura; Busto, Jon V.; Sot, Jesús; Abad, José L.; Fabrías, Gemma; Saiz, Leonor; Vilar, Jose M. G.; Goñi, Félix M.; Maggio, Bruno; Alonso, Alicia Sphingosine [(2S,3R,4E)-2-amino-4-octadecene-1,3-diol] is the most common sphingoid base in mammals. Ceramides are N-acyl sphingosines. Numerous small variations on this canonical structure are known, including the 1-deoxy, the 4,5-dihydro, and many others. However, whenever there is a Δ4 double bond, it adopts the trans (or E) configuration. We synthesized a ceramide containing 4Z-sphingosine and palmitic acid (cis-pCer) and studied its behavior in the form of monolayers extended on an air-water interface. cis-pCer acted very differently from the trans isomer in that, upon lateral compression of the monolayer, a solid-solid transition was clearly observed at a mean molecular area ≤44 Å2·molecule-1, whose characteristics depended on the rate of compression. The solid-solid transition, as well as states of domain coexistence, could be imaged by atomic force microscopy and by Brewster-angle microscopy. Atomistic molecular dynamics simulations provided results compatible with the experimentally observed differences between the cis and trans isomers. The data can help in the exploration of other solid-solid transitions in lipids, both in vitro and in vivo, that have gone up to now undetected because of their less obvious change in surface properties along the transition, as compared to cis-pCer.

Underground azelaic acid-conferred resistance to pseudomonas syringae in arabidopsis Cecchini, Nicolas Miguel; Roychoudhry, Suruchi; Speed, Dequantarius J; Steffes, Kevin; Tambe, Arjun; Zodrow, Kristin; Konstantinoff, Katerina; Jung, Ho Won; Engle, Nancy; Tschaplinski, Timothy J.; Greenberg, Jean Local interactions between individual plant organs and diverse microorganisms can lead to whole plant immunity via the mobilization of defense signals. One such signal is the plastid lipid-derived oxylipin azelaic acid (AZA). Arabidopsis lacking AZI1 or EARLI1, related lipid transfer family proteins, exhibit reduced AZA transport among leaves and cannot mount systemic immunity. AZA has been detected in roots as well as leaves. Therefore, the present study addresses the effects on plants of AZA application to roots. AZA but not the structurally related suberic acid inhibits root growth when directly in contact with roots. Treatment of roots with AZA also induces resistance to Pseudomonas syringae in aerial tissues. These effects of AZA on root growth and disease resistance depend, at least partially, on AZI1 and EARLI1. AZI1 in roots localizes to plastids, similar to its known location in leaves. Interestingly, kinases previously shown to modify AZI1 in vitro, MPK3 and MPK6, are also needed for AZA-induced root-growth inhibition and aboveground immunity. Finally, deuterium-labeled AZA applied to the roots does not move to aerial tissues. Thus, AZA application to roots triggers systemic immunity through an AZI1/EARLI1/MPK3/MPK6-dependent pathway and AZA effects may involve one or more additional mobile signals.