A highly expressed miR-101 isomiR is a functional silencing small RNA

Background MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding regulatory RNAs that control gene expression usually producing translational repression and gene silencing. High-throughput sequencing technologies have revealed heterogeneity at length and sequence level for the majority of mature miRNAs (IsomiRs). Most isomiRs can be explained by variability in either Dicer1 or Drosha cleavage during miRNA biogenesis at 5" or 3" of the miRNA (trimming variants). Although isomiRs have been described in different tissues and organisms, their functional validation as modulators of gene expression remains elusive. Here we have characterized the expression and function of a highly abundant miR-101 5"-trimming variant (5"-isomiR-101). Results The analysis of small RNA sequencing data in several human tissues and cell lines indicates that 5"-isomiR-101 is ubiquitously detected and a highly abundant, especially in the brain. 5"- isomiR-101 was found in Ago-2 immunocomplexes and complementary approaches showed that 5"-isomiR-101 interacted with different members of the silencing (RISC) complex. In addition, 5"-isomiR-101 decreased the expression of five validated miR-101 targets, suggesting that it is a functional variant. Both the binding to RISC members and the degree of silencing were less efficient for 5"-isomiR-101 compared with miR-101. For some targets, both miR-101 and 5"-isomiR-101 significantly decreased protein expression with no changes in the respective mRNA levels. Although a high number of overlapping predicted targets suggest similar targeted biological pathways, a correlation analysis of the expression profiles of miR-101 variants and predicted mRNA targets in human brains at different ages, suggest specific functions for miR-101- and 5"-isomiR-101. Conclusions These results suggest that isomiRs are functional variants and further indicate that for a given miRNA, the different isomiRs may contribute to the overall effect as quantitative and qualitative fine-tuners of gene expression.

Efectos de la primera visita de consejo genético sobre la percepción de riesgo y el malestar emocional

Objetivo: Analizar los efectos que provoca la primera visita de consejo genético para cáncer hereditario sobre la percepción de riesgo, y el malestar emocional en pacientes que acuden por primera vez a la Unidad de Consejo Genético (UCG) por historia familiar de cáncer de mama, ovario o colon hereditario. Método: Se evaluó la percepción de riesgo de padecer cáncer (al año, a 10 años, y a lo largo de toda la vida), y la intensidad del malestar emocional (evaluada como la ansiedad, tristeza y preocupación por la salud experimentadas durante la última semana) en tres ocasiones: inmediatamente antes de la primera visita de consejo genético (CG), inmediatamente después de la misma, y al cabo de 2-3 semanas. Resultados: El malestar emocional previo a la visita se producía en aproximadamente un 30% de los pacientes, siendo mayor en las personas que no realizaban actividad laboral. Si bien la visita de CG reducía el malestar emocional en muchos casos, ocurría lo contrario en algunos pacientes inmediatamente después de la misma (un 34% se sentía más ansioso, un 32% se sentía más triste, y un 23% se sentía más preocupado), y ello guardaba relación con la preocupación por los hijos (tanto si se tenían como si se pretendía tenerlos en el futuro). No obstante, este malestar se reducía en las 2-3 semanas posteriores. La visita de CG reducía la percepción de riesgo de padecer cáncer a lo largo de toda la vida (p< .01), no existiendo diferencias en función del tipo de cáncer. Conclusiones: Esta primera visita reduce la sobreestimación del riesgo de padecer cáncer que los pacientes tienen antes de la misma, pero, en aproximadamente un tercio de los mismos, no reduce los niveles de malestar emocional, observándose, incluso, un incremento de éste que va disminuyendo durante las semanas posteriores a la visita. Son necesarios más estudios que permitan determinar si este incremento es una consecuencia inevitable del inicio del proceso de CG, o si puede reducirse modificando algún aspecto del protocolo que se aplica en la primera visita.

Aspectos socioculturales de la precariedad laboral y de su impacto

This essay analyzes the current work crisis, its individual and social influence and its implications on human development and health. It discusses the main cultural perspectives on the notion of work and presents the hypothesis of a possible influence of the cultural meaning of the concept of 'work' on diminishing self-esteem and mental health problems among unemployed people. The essay also highlights possible implications of the current situation in the future taking into consideration socioeconomic and political aspects as well as global demographic growth. Finally, the essay discusses the role that Public Health should have not only in the prevention and control of health problems among the unemployed, but also in the social, economic and cultural changes that are considered necessary to mitígate the serious social differences and to improve the current situation.

Llicenciat en Psicopedagogia. Un títol polèmic?

Necessariament l'enfocament i contingut d'aquest article ha de diferir de la resta de treballs que en aquest número de la revista aborden els altres títols de l'Àmbit dé Ciències de l'Educació. La raó és molt simple: en aquest moment encara no ha conclos a la UB el procés d'elaboració i aprovació del Pla d'estudis del títol de Ilicenciat en Psicopedagogia. Potser hauria estat més adequat no incloure-hi cap comentari del Pla. La insisténcia, tal vegada en forma de raó estética, perqué no quedés el 'buit' d'un títol, la gestació del qual no ha estat exempta de polémica, ha minat la resisténcia inicial. Assumint el risc d'allo que és provisional, el contingut d'aquest treball tindra un elevat ingredient técnic, deixant de banda opinions i argumentacions de caracter disciplinari i aportant elements d'informació sobre el procés, encara inacabat, d'elaboració d'aquest Pla d'estudis.

Modalidades alternativas de reaseguro basados en la ordenación de riesgos

En este trabajo se estudian tres modalidades de reaseguro basadas en el número de siniestros: Reaseguro de los siniestros más grandes. Modalidad por la cual el reasegurador se hace cargo de los siniestros más grandes. Reaseguro de exceso del número de siniestros. En este caso la compañía cedente retiene los siniestros más pequeños, cediendo el resto al reaseguro. Reaseguro de exceso del número de siniestros, hasta un tope de siniestralidad. En esta modalidad de reaseguro, la compañía cedente retiene los siniestros más pequeños pero condicionados a que su cuantía no exceda un determinado pleno fijado por ella. De esta manera se consigue limitar la pérdida de la compañía cedente hasta un mkimo conocido. Esta última modalidad de reaseguro puede ser una buena alternativa al reaseguro Stop-loss ya que al igual que éste, elimina la probabilidad de ruina de la cedente. El estudio de estas modalidades de reasegwo pasa por tratar previamente la problemática actuarial de la ordenación de riesgos.

Aspectos socioculturales de la precariedad laboral y de su impacto

This essay analyzes the current work crisis, its individual and social influence and its implications on human development and health. It discusses the main cultural perspectives on the notion of work and presents the hypothesis of a possible influence of the cultural meaning of the concept of 'work' on diminishing self-esteem and mental health problems among unemployed people. The essay also highlights possible implications of the current situation in the future taking into consideration socioeconomic and political aspects as well as global demographic growth. Finally, the essay discusses the role that Public Health should have not only in the prevention and control of health problems among the unemployed, but also in the social, economic and cultural changes that are considered necessary to mitígate the serious social differences and to improve the current situation.

L'increment demogràfic afecte la salut genètica

Un estudi publicat a 'Science' demostra que l'augment exponencial de la població del planeta també té conseqüències mèdiques, ja que fa créixer el risc de patir malalties rares

Beyond Value-at-Risk : GlueVaR Distortion Risk Measures

We propose a new family of risk measures, called GlueVaR, within the class of distortion risk measures. Analytical closed-form expressions are shown for the most frequently used distribution functions in financial and insurance applications. The relationship between Glue-VaR, Value-at-Risk (VaR) and Tail Value-at-Risk (TVaR) is explained. Tail-subadditivity is investigated and it is shown that some GlueVaR risk measures satisfy this property. An interpretation in terms of risk attitudes is provided and a discussion is given on the applicability in non-financial problems such as health, safety, environmental or catastrophic risk management

Genetic variation in the European hake, Merluccius merluccius. Description of protein loci and genetic divergence between Atlantic and Mediterranean populations = Anàlisi de la variabilitat genètica en el lluç europeu, Merluccius merluccius. Descripció dels loci electroforètics i divergència genètica entre les poblacions atlàntica i mediterrània

We examined the genetic population structure of the european hake (Merluccius merluccius) using electrophoretically detectable population markers in 35 protein loci. Samples were collected from 7 locations in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Six loci were polymorphic using the 0.05 criterion of polymorphism. Sample heterozigosities ranged from 0.052 to 0.072 and averaged 0.0625. In this study, significant allele frequency differences were detected between Atlantic and Mediterranean populations in three polymorphic loci: GAPDH-1*, GPI-2* and SOD-1*. Two major genetic groups were considered: a North-Atlantic stock and the Mediterranean stock. The Nei genetic distance, D, (based on 33 loci) between samples from these two groups ranged from 0.002 to 0.006. Genetic differenciation between these areas appears to reflect the barrier effect of Strait of Gibraltar. On average over loci, 96.92 % of the total gene diversity was contained within samples, 0.23 % expressed differences among locations within areas, and 2.64 % differences between regions. A review of morphological variation together with the genetic data presented here suggest that the populations of hake from these areas are subdivided into two different stocks: the North-Atlantic stock and the Mediterranean stock. The most conservative approach to the management of these stocks is to consider the Atlantic and Mediterranean stocks independently from oneanother

Projecte de recerca del Cecam-Udg-Formigons Alsina (I)

Sobre el projecte de recerca “Comportament dels nusos rígids d’estructures de formigó armat executades amb formigons de diferenta qualitat” per part del Cecam, Universitat de Girona i Formigons Alsina, i amb la col.laboració de Sika i Prefer, i amb el suport institucional d’Arquitectura i Habitatge de la Generalitat de Catalunya

One more lie: the Monday effect in Spain’s retail petrol market

Empirical evidence drawn from the economic literature points to a low level of competition in the retail petrol market. Similar evidence can be found for the Spanish market. In fact, both Spain’s antitrust authority -Comisión Nacional de la Competencia- and its energy regulator -Comisión Nacional de la Energía- have recently initiated disciplinary proceedings against the majors on the grounds of suspected price manipulation in the retail petrol market. They are accused of cutting retail prices on Mondays so as to distort the rank position of Spain in European Union statistics in a practice that has received the name of the Monday effect. Here, we analyze this effect by constructing a database that includes daily retail prices for all petrol stations in Spain in the period 2009-2012, and a more detailed database for the city of Barcelona in 2013. Our estimations confirm that: 1- in 2011 and 2012 prices fell on Mondays at retailers branded by majors; 2- prices were unchanged at stations in our two control groups; 3- prices were also seen to fall when a more detailed analysis was conducted, and this price cut was also found in 2013. In short, one more indicator of collusion in this sector and … one more lie.

The use of flexible quantile-based measures in risk assessment

A new family of distortion risk measures -GlueVaR- is proposed in Belles- Sampera et al. -2013- to procure a risk assessment lying between those provided by common quantile-based risk measures. GlueVaR risk measures may be expressed as a combination of these standard risk measures. We show here that this relationship may be used to obtain approximations of GlueVaR measures for general skewed distribution functions using the Cornish-Fisher expansion. A subfamily of GlueVaR measures satisfies the tail-subadditivity property. An example of risk measurement based on real insurance claim data is presented, where implications of tail-subadditivity in the aggregation of risks are illustrated.

Los Medios de comunicación : el rol que juegan los medios de comunicación en la crisis de comunicación

La relación entre las organizaciones y la sociedad es muy sutil. Debido a las diferentes motivaciones de las dos, es inevitable que tienen conflictos o disputas entre la organización y los públicos. Estos conflictos o crisis afectan mucho a la imagen corporativa y la credibilidad en el público. Cómo gestionar la crisis y conflictos de comunicación entre las organizaciones y públicos es un problema importante para los gabinetes de comunicación. Se hará la comparación entre el accidente de vuelo de Asiana Airlines y de Malaysia Airlines; y se hablará del accidente nuclear de Fukushima de 2011

Programa de prevención orientado a evitar el Juego Patológico en Adolescentes

El joc es converteix en un problema de salut quan la persona perd el control de la seva conducta, anteposant-ho a les seves obligacions socials i familiars. Diversos estudis sobre el joc demostren que és una conducta iniciada en l'adolescència. La prevenció en salut es mostra fonamental en aquesta etapa del desenvolupament del jove, moment en el qual s'estableixen patrons de conducta. El propòsit d'aquest treball és realitzar un programa de prevenció orientat a evitar el joc patològic en adolescents. Els seus objectius són: Prevenir conductes que deriven en joc patològic per a adolescents; reduir o limitar les hores de joc, fomentant conductes i activitats alternatives; i fomentar la integració i participació del jove al programa com a mitjà d'assimilació dels conceptes exposats i mantenir la seva atenció en el curs del programa. Aquest programa es basa en el model Precedeix i en la teoria Cognitiu-Social de Bandura. Està dirigit a joves de tots dos sexes, escolaritzats a Terrassa, d'entre 15 i 17 anys. Les variables d'interès són edat, sexe; edat, professió i situació social dels seus pares; entorn social, accés a internet. No es considerarà si el jove ha tingut problemes similars precedents. Constarà de sis sessions de 1h. en les quals s'explicaran les conseqüències del joc patològic i la forma d'adquisició d'aquesta conducta, la relació conductual del jove entorn del joc, els factors de risc i protecció que envolten al joc, i es fomentarà l'autoconcienciación del jove referent a la seva conducta, tenint també en compte el seu entorn social. Es realitzarà una sessió final evaluativa d'anàlisi de funcionament i avaluació del programa tant per part del jove com del ponent. Els resultats esperats de la implementació del programa són: Un millor control i coneixement del joc, reducció del temps de joc i el reconeixement de patrons de conducta inadequats per part del jove.

The determinants of contractual choice for private involvement in infrastructure projects in the United States

Reliance on private partners to help provide infrastructure investment and service delivery is increasing in the United States. Numerous studies have examined the determinants of the degree of private participation in infrastructure projects as governed by contract type. We depart from this simple public/private dichotomy by examining a rich set of contractual arrangements. We utilize both municipal and state-level data on 472 projects of various types completed between 1985 and 2008. Our estimates indicate that infrastructure characteristics, particularly those that reflect stand alone versus network characteristics, are key factors influencing the extent of private participation. Fiscal variables, such as a jurisdiction’s relative debt level, and basic controls, such as population and locality of government, increase the degree of private participation, while a greater tax burden reduces private participation.