Uncovering Ecosystem Service Bundles through Social Preferences

11 p.

Early Functional Deficit and Microglial Disturbances in a Mouse Model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

11 p.

Kv7 Channels Can Function without Constitutive Calmodulin Tethering

9 p.

Ancient DNA from Hunter-Gatherer and Farmer Groups from Northern Spain Supports a Random Dispersion Model for the Neolithic Expansion into Europe

10 p.

Multiple SNP Markers Reveal Fine-Scale Population and Deep Phylogeographic Structure in European Anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus L.)

10 p.

The Role of the Subthalamic Nucleus in L-DOPA Induced Dyskinesia in 6-Hydroxydopamine Lesioned Rats

14 p.

GFAP Isoforms in Adult Mouse Brain with a Focus on Neurogenic Astrocytes and Reactive Astrogliosis in Mouse Models of Alzheimer Disease

24 p.

Regulation of Energy Metabolism by the Extracytoplasmic Function (ECF) σ Factors of Arcobacter butzleri

11 p.

Unlike Physical Exercise, Modified Environment Increases the Lifespan of SOD1(G93A) Mice However Both Conditions Induce Cellular Changes

8 p.

Recognition of Membrane-Bound Fusion-Peptide/MPER Complexes by the HIV-1 Neutralizing 2F5 Antibody : Implications for Anti-2F5 Immunogenicity

13 p.

Validity of Resting Energy Expenditure Predictive Equations before and after an Energy-Restricted Diet Intervention in Obese Women

11 p.

GmcA Is a Putative Glucose-Methanol-Choline Oxidoreductase Required for the Induction of Asexual Development in Aspergillus nidulans

18 p.

Las empresas españolas ante la innovación

El objetivo de este artículo es identificar las principales dificultades a las que se enfrentan las empresas españolas a la hora de realizar actividades de innovación, para con posterioridad tratar de determinar qué características tienen aquellas empresas que mayores dificultades muestran a la hora de emprender dichas actividades. Para realizar este estudio se han utilizado estadísticas basadas en la Encuesta sobre Innovación de las Empresas del año 2009 pertenecientes al Panel de Investigación Tecnológica (PITEC). De entre las dificultades a las que han de hacer frente las empresas destacan el factor coste y el de la financiación. Del análisis realizado se puede concluir que existen características comunes entre aquellas empresas que encuentran mayores dificultades a la hora de emprender actividades innovadoras y serían las siguientes: empresas que operan en un mercado local o autonómico, que no pertenecen a ningún grupo empresarial y que no son de nueva creación.

Second-to-Fourth Digit Ratio Has a Non-Monotonic Impact on Altruism

Gene-culture co-evolution emphasizes the joint role of culture and genes for the emergence of altruistic and cooperative behaviors and behavioral genetics provides estimates of their relative importance. However, these approaches cannot assess which biological traits determine altruism or how. We analyze the association between altruism in adults and the exposure to prenatal sex hormones, using the second-to-fourth digit ratio. We find an inverted U-shaped relation for left and right hands, which is very consistent for men and less systematic for women. Subjects with both high and low digit ratios give less than individuals with intermediate digit ratios. We repeat the exercise with the same subjects seven months later and find a similar association, even though subjects' behavior differs the second time they play the game. We then construct proxies of the median digit ratio in the population (using more than 1000 different subjects), show that subjects' altruism decreases with the distance of their ratio to these proxies. These results provide direct evidence that prenatal events contribute to the variation of altruistic behavior and that the exposure to fetal hormones is one of the relevant biological factors. In addition, the findings suggest that there might be an optimal level of exposure to these hormones from social perspective.

High-Throughput Sequencing of microRNAs in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells: Identification of Potential Weight Loss Biomarkers

INTRODUCTION: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are being increasingly studied in relation to energy metabolism and body composition homeostasis. Indeed, the quantitative analysis of miRNAs expression in different adiposity conditions may contribute to understand the intimate mechanisms participating in body weight control and to find new biomarkers with diagnostic or prognostic value in obesity management. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was the search for miRNAs in blood cells whose expression could be used as prognostic biomarkers of weight loss. METHODS: Ten Caucasian obese women were selected among the participants in a weight-loss trial that consisted in following an energy-restricted treatment. Weight loss was considered unsuccessful when <5% of initial body weight (non-responders) and successful when >5% (responders). At baseline, total miRNA isolated from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) was sequenced with SOLiD v4. The miRNA sequencing data were validated by RT-PCR. RESULTS: Differential baseline expression of several miRNAs was found between responders and non-responders. Two miRNAs were up-regulated in the non-responder group (mir-935 and mir-4772) and three others were down-regulated (mir-223, mir-224 and mir-376b). Both mir-935 and mir-4772 showed relevant associations with the magnitude of weight loss, although the expression of other transcripts (mir-874, mir-199b, mir-766, mir-589 and mir-148b) also correlated with weight loss. CONCLUSIONS: This research addresses the use of high-throughput sequencing technologies in the search for miRNA expression biomarkers in obesity, by determining the miRNA transcriptome of PBMC. Basal expression of different miRNAs, particularly mir-935 and mir-4772, could be prognostic biomarkers and may forecast the response to a hypocaloric diet.