Independencia y educación. Reflexiones en torno al Bicentenario

[spa]El trabajo que presentamos plantea una visión de la educación tras la llamada sublevación de los Pasquines que aparecieron en la ciudad de Santa Fe de Bogotá en 1794. En el artículoanalizamos las propuestas quese ofrecieron por parte de lasautoridades coloniales para hacer frentea los problemasque afectaron al virreinato.Una de las soluciones propuestas para acabar con las opiniones adversas a la corona y al colonialismo pasaba por cambiar los sistemas educativos. Se pretendía volver al sistema anterior a la ilustración y a los nuevos filósofos ya que se temía que en España pasara lo que había sucedido en Francia. La Nueva Filosofía acabó cuestionando los derechos de la monarquía y el descontento social acabó con la vida del monarca y la proclamación de la república. Estas ideas pasaron a las colonias españolas donde algunos ilustrados comenzaban a pensar en repúblicas, poco definidas, cuestionando el orden monárquico. Para evitar el conflicto desde el arzobispado, y la Audiencia se propone acabar con los estudios de la Nueva Filosofía, cerrar las imprentas y la Biblioteca; así mismo, se propone intervenir en el catecismo de la doctrina para introducir preguntas y respuestas que refuercen el papel dela corona y la fidelidad de los súbditos. Este sistema de fidelización de súbditos será empleado posteriormente por las recientes repúblicas para incrementar el patriotismo entre los nuevos ciudadanos.

Influence of the temperature in germination of seeds of jabuticaba tree

The jaboticaba tree (Myrciaria spp.) is originated from the center-south of Brazil and presents different types. It's a medium size tree, with tendency to form a crown with great number of branches. A characteristic considered as limitant for the commercial crop is the great juvenility, advicing producing good rootstocks of seedlings and graft wanted varieties, and other vegetative processes. With the purpose of evaluating the effect of temperature on germination of three clones of jaboticaba tree, was carried out a laboratorial research. It was observed influence of the temperature on germination. The highest percentage of germination was obtained at low temperature (15ºC and 20ºC). When it was used the temperature of 35ºC, two clones had only 8% of germination, while the other one was verified 35%. These values show the possibility of the ocurrence of variability among the clones of jaboticaba tree.

The cell cycle–regulated genes of schizosaccharomyces pombe

Many genes are regulated as an innate part of the eukaryotic cell cycle, and a complex transcriptional network helps enable the cyclic behavior of dividing cells. This transcriptional network has been studied in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (budding yeast) and elsewhere. To provide more perspective on these regulatory mechanisms, we have used microarrays to measure gene expression through the cell cycle of Schizosaccharomyces pombe (fission yeast). The 750 genes with the most significant oscillations were identified and analyzed. There were two broad waves of cell cycle transcription, one in early/mid G2 phase, and the other near the G2/M transition. The early/mid G2 wave included many genes involved in ribosome biogenesis, possibly explaining the cell cycle oscillation in protein synthesis in S.pombe. The G2/M wave included at least three distinctly regulated clusters of genes: one large cluster including mitosis, mitotic exit, and cell separation functions, one small cluster dedicated to DNA replication, and another small cluster dedicated to cytokinesis and division. S. pombe cell cycle genes have relatively long, complex promoters containing groups of multiple DNA sequence motifs, often of two, three, or more different kinds. Many of the genes, transcription factors, and regulatory mechanisms are conserved between S. pombe and S. cerevisiae. Finally, we found preliminary evidence for a nearly genome-wide oscillation in gene expression: 2,000 or more genes undergo slight oscillations in expression as a function of the cell cycle, although whether this is adaptive, or incidental to other events in the cell, such as chromatin condensation, we do not know.

The transcriptional network activated by Cln3 cyclin at the G1-to-S transition of the yeast cell cycle

Background: The G1-to-S transition of the cell cycle in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae involves an extensive transcriptional program driven by transcription factors SBF (Swi4-Swi6) and MBF (Mbp1-Swi6). Activation of these factors ultimately depends on the G1 cyclin Cln3. Results: To determine the transcriptional targets of Cln3 and their dependence on SBF or MBF, we first have used DNA microarrays to interrogate gene expression upon Cln3 overexpression in synchronized cultures of strains lacking components of SBF and/or MBF. Secondly, we have integrated this expression dataset together with other heterogeneous data sources into a single probabilistic model based on Bayesian statistics. Our analysis has produced more than 200 transcription factor-target assignments, validated by ChIP assays and by functional enrichment. Our predictions show higher internal coherence and predictive power than previous classifications. Our results support a model whereby SBF and MBF may be differentially activated by Cln3. Conclusions: Integration of heterogeneous genome-wide datasets is key to building accurate transcriptional networks. By such integration, we provide here a reliable transcriptional network at the G1-to-S transition in the budding yeast cell cycle. Our results suggest that to improve the reliability of predictions we need to feed our models with more informative experimental data.

Development and application of computational methodologies in qualitative modeling

La présente thèse s'intitule "Développent et Application des Méthodologies Computationnelles pour la Modélisation Qualitative". Elle comprend tous les différents projets que j'ai entrepris en tant que doctorante. Plutôt qu'une mise en oeuvre systématique d'un cadre défini a priori, cette thèse devrait être considérée comme une exploration des méthodes qui peuvent nous aider à déduire le plan de processus regulatoires et de signalisation. Cette exploration a été mue par des questions biologiques concrètes, plutôt que par des investigations théoriques. Bien que tous les projets aient inclus des systèmes divergents (réseaux régulateurs de gènes du cycle cellulaire, réseaux de signalisation de cellules pulmonaires) ainsi que des organismes (levure à fission, levure bourgeonnante, rat, humain), nos objectifs étaient complémentaires et cohérents. Le projet principal de la thèse est la modélisation du réseau de l'initiation de septation (SIN) du S.pombe. La cytokinèse dans la levure à fission est contrôlée par le SIN, un réseau signalant de protéines kinases qui utilise le corps à pôle-fuseau comme échafaudage. Afin de décrire le comportement qualitatif du système et prédire des comportements mutants inconnus, nous avons décidé d'adopter l'approche de la modélisation booléenne. Dans cette thèse, nous présentons la construction d'un modèle booléen étendu du SIN, comprenant la plupart des composantes et des régulateurs du SIN en tant que noeuds individuels et testable expérimentalement. Ce modèle utilise des niveaux d'activité du CDK comme noeuds de contrôle pour la simulation d'évènements du SIN à différents stades du cycle cellulaire. Ce modèle a été optimisé en utilisant des expériences d'un seul "knock-out" avec des effets phénotypiques connus comme set d'entraînement. Il a permis de prédire correctement un set d'évaluation de "knock-out" doubles. De plus, le modèle a fait des prédictions in silico qui ont été validées in vivo, permettant d'obtenir de nouvelles idées de la régulation et l'organisation hiérarchique du SIN. Un autre projet concernant le cycle cellulaire qui fait partie de cette thèse a été la construction d'un modèle qualitatif et minimal de la réciprocité des cyclines dans la S.cerevisiae. Les protéines Clb dans la levure bourgeonnante présentent une activation et une dégradation caractéristique et séquentielle durant le cycle cellulaire, qu'on appelle communément les vagues des Clbs. Cet évènement est coordonné avec la courbe d'activation inverse du Sic1, qui a un rôle inhibitoire dans le système. Pour l'identification des modèles qualitatifs minimaux qui peuvent expliquer ce phénomène, nous avons sélectionné des expériences bien définies et construit tous les modèles minimaux possibles qui, une fois simulés, reproduisent les résultats attendus. Les modèles ont été filtrés en utilisant des simulations ODE qualitatives et standardisées; seules celles qui reproduisaient le phénotype des vagues ont été gardées. L'ensemble des modèles minimaux peut être utilisé pour suggérer des relations regulatoires entre les molécules participant qui peuvent ensuite être testées expérimentalement. Enfin, durant mon doctorat, j'ai participé au SBV Improver Challenge. Le but était de déduire des réseaux spécifiques à des espèces (humain et rat) en utilisant des données de phosphoprotéines, d'expressions des gènes et des cytokines, ainsi qu'un réseau de référence, qui était mis à disposition comme donnée préalable. Notre solution pour ce concours a pris la troisième place. L'approche utilisée est expliquée en détail dans le dernier chapitre de la thèse. -- The present dissertation is entitled "Development and Application of Computational Methodologies in Qualitative Modeling". It encompasses the diverse projects that were undertaken during my time as a PhD student. Instead of a systematic implementation of a framework defined a priori, this thesis should be considered as an exploration of the methods that can help us infer the blueprint of regulatory and signaling processes. This exploration was driven by concrete biological questions, rather than theoretical investigation. Even though the projects involved divergent systems (gene regulatory networks of cell cycle, signaling networks in lung cells), as well as organisms (fission yeast, budding yeast, rat, human), our goals were complementary and coherent. The main project of the thesis is the modeling of the Septation Initiation Network (SIN) in S.pombe. Cytokinesis in fission yeast is controlled by the SIN, a protein kinase signaling network that uses the spindle pole body as scaffold. In order to describe the qualitative behavior of the system and predict unknown mutant behaviors we decided to adopt a Boolean modeling approach. In this thesis, we report the construction of an extended, Boolean model of the SIN, comprising most SIN components and regulators as individual, experimentally testable nodes. The model uses CDK activity levels as control nodes for the simulation of SIN related events in different stages of the cell cycle. The model was optimized using single knock-out experiments of known phenotypic effect as a training set, and was able to correctly predict a double knock-out test set. Moreover, the model has made in silico predictions that have been validated in vivo, providing new insights into the regulation and hierarchical organization of the SIN. Another cell cycle related project that is part of this thesis was to create a qualitative, minimal model of cyclin interplay in S.cerevisiae. CLB proteins in budding yeast present a characteristic, sequential activation and decay during the cell cycle, commonly referred to as Clb waves. This event is coordinated with the inverse activation curve of Sic1, which has an inhibitory role in the system. To generate minimal qualitative models that can explain this phenomenon, we selected well-defined experiments and constructed all possible minimal models that, when simulated, reproduce the expected results. The models were filtered using standardized qualitative ODE simulations; only the ones reproducing the wave-like phenotype were kept. The set of minimal models can be used to suggest regulatory relations among the participating molecules, which will subsequently be tested experimentally. Finally, during my PhD I participated in the SBV Improver Challenge. The goal was to infer species-specific (human and rat) networks, using phosphoprotein, gene expression and cytokine data and a reference network provided as prior knowledge. Our solution to the challenge was selected as in the final chapter of the thesis.

De València a Vannes: culte, devoció i relíquies de Sant Vicent Ferrer

Saint Vicent Ferrer’s personality (1350-1419) has been tackled by researchers in different points of view, and this has meant a proliferation of very diverse studies. There isn’t much, however, the works which has done analysis relating to popular piety and devotion. In this sense, the different hagiographic sources puts us faced with a saint with a very widespread cult in some areas, for instance, the Crown of Aragon and Castille, but also in other european places. As for the last, we detect an import focus of devotion in Brittany, where the saint arrived to preach after being called by Jean V. He died at Vannes (1419), the political capital of the duchy of Brittany, and he was buried in Saint Pierre’s cathedral. Previously to his canonization, his fame as a miracle worker during his life was the reason for his tomb became a real locus sanctus, a place where pilgrims arrived to venerate his relics. These relics had healing and prophylactic properties. Apart from these ones, we have many references of “contact relics” with properties of this kind.

El llibre de la Confraria del Senyor Rei, un manuscrito miniado del monasterio de Poblet

El dogma de la Inmaculada Concepción originó la creación de la "Confraria del Senyor Rei", también denominada "Cofradía de la Copncepción de María Immaculada" en la Corona de Aragón. La confraternidad fue fundada en Zaragoza por Pedro IV el 8 de mayo de 1333. Con nuestro estudio queremos mostrar un manuscrito inédito, custodiado en la Biblioteca del Monasterio de Poblet. Se trata de un códice de lujo que contiene los estatutos de la confraternidad. El manuscrito fue iluminado mediante dos ilustraciones. La primera realizada durante el reinado de Martín el Humano, la segunda datada en torno a 1440. durante el reinado de Alfonso el Magnánimo.

Seleção de progênies e genitores de pessegueiro com base nas características dos frutos

Melhorar a qualidade do fruto é um dos principais objetivos dos programas de melhoramento genético do pessegueiro, tendo relação direta com as preferências de mercado e do consumidor. Quando se fala em qualidade, busca-se obter plantas produtivas, com frutos grandes e firmes, com ótimos sabor e coloração. Porém, o pêssego produzido no Brasil ainda deixa a desejar, principalmente em firmeza, quando comparado aos padrões internacionais. Os objetivos deste trabalho foram avaliar, selecionar e indicar genótipos que apresentem frutos de boa qualidade e com polpa não fundente, para utilização futura como genitor masculino no programa de melhoramento de pessegueiro da Universidade Federal de Viçosa. Os trabalhos foram desenvolvidos na Estação Experimental de Aula Dei (CSIC), Zaragoza - Espanha, durante o período de maio a agosto de 2006, sendo analisados cerca de 687 indivíduos, pertencentes a 17 populações de pessegueiro. Com base nos resultados obtidos, pólen de 'Crown Princess' e dos seedlings VADAC 0027, VADAC 0052, VADAC 0063 e VADAC0065 podem ser recomendados para utilização como genitores no programa de melhoramento do pessegueiro da UFV, visando a obter frutos de boa qualidade e com textura não fundente.

Aminohappojen enantiomeerien kromatografinen erottaminen

Enantiomeerit ovat yhdisteitä, jotka ovat toistensa peilikuvamuotoja. Enantiomeerien erotusmenetelmiä ovat neste-nesteuutto, kalvotekniikka, kiteytys, kromatografia ja kapillaarielektroforeesi. Nestekromatografinen erotus perustuu joko suoraan erotukseen tai epäsuoraan erotukseen. Kiraaliset stationaarifaasit erottavat yhdisteet kolonnissa suoralla erotuksella. Derivoimattomia aminohappojen enantiomeerejä on erotettu käyttäen ligandinvaihto-, kruunueetteri-, antibiootti- ja polysakkaridistationaarifaaseja. Epäsuora erotus vaatii erotettavan enantiomeeriparin esikäsittelyn ennen kolonnia. Markkinoilta löytyy niukasti preparatiiviseen mittakaavaan soveltuvia enantiomeerien erotusmateriaaleja. Työn kokeellisessa osassa enantiomeerien erotuksia tehtiin sekä analyyttisessä mittakaavassa että preparatiivisessa mittakaavassa. Tutkittavina pääkomponentteina aminohapoista olivat metioniinin, proliinin ja seriinin enantiomeeriparit. Analyyttisessä mittakaavassa kuparimuotoisella ligandinvaihtokolonnilla tehty erotus onnistui erittäin hyvin. Piikkien resoluutioiden arvot vaihtelivat tyypillisesti välillä 2,0-35 ja erotustekijöiden arvot välillä 1,5-30. Parhaiten onnistuttiin erottamaan metioniinin enantiomeerit toisistaan. Prepatatiivisen mittakaavan erotusmateriaalin tutkimus keskittyi materiaalin kokeiluun ja kehitykseen aminohappojen enantiomeerien erotukseen soveltuvaksi. Erotusmateriaalilla onnistuttiin erottamaan aminohappoja toisistaan, mutta aminohappojen enantiomeerien erottumista ei onnistuttu selkeästi havaitsemaan. Erotusmateriaali toimi parhaiten muunnettuna alkaalisissa olosuhteissa kuparimuotoiseksi. Kuparin pysymättömyys erotusmateriaalissa aiheutti kuitenkin ongelmia kokeiden toistettavuuteen.

Spontaneous Cdc42 polarization independent of GDI-mediated extraction and actin-based trafficking.

The small Rho-family GTPase Cdc42 is critical for cell polarization and polarizes spontaneously in absence of upstream spatial cues. Spontaneous polarization is thought to require dynamic Cdc42 recycling through Guanine nucleotide Dissociation Inhibitor (GDI)-mediated membrane extraction and vesicle trafficking. Here, we describe a functional fluorescent Cdc42 allele in fission yeast, which demonstrates Cdc42 dynamics and polarization independent of these pathways. Furthermore, an engineered Cdc42 allele targeted to the membrane independently of these recycling pathways by an amphipathic helix is viable and polarizes spontaneously to multiple sites in fission and budding yeasts. We show that Cdc42 is highly mobile at the membrane and accumulates at sites of activity, where it displays slower mobility. By contrast, a near-immobile transmembrane domain-containing Cdc42 allele supports viability and polarized activity, but does not accumulate at sites of activity. We propose that Cdc42 activation, enhanced by positive feedback, leads to its local accumulation by capture of fast-diffusing inactive molecules.

Study of the effect of oral health on physical condition of professional soccer players of the Football Club Barcelona

Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the oral health status of professional soccer players of F.C. Barcelona and its relation to the incidence of sport lesions. Methods: Thirty professional soccer players were consecutively evaluated in the seasons 2003/4, 2004/5 and 2005/6. A research protocol to assess their oral health was developed. DMFT, Quigley & Hein plaque index (PI), Löe & Silness gingival index (GI), World Health Organization malocclusion index, Ramfjord teeth probing pocket depth (PPD), TMJ examination and history of dental trauma were recorded. All physical injuries sustained by players during the season were documented from F.C. Barcelona medical services. Results: Mean DMFT score was 5.7 (SD 4.1), Quigley & Hein plaque index score was 2.3 (SD 1.1), Löe & Silness gingival index was 1.1 (SD 0.8), and periodontal pocket depth was 1.9 mm (SD 0.3). Pearson"s analysis showed a significant correlation between PI and GI (p<0.01). Nine players (30%) presented bruxism - the same proportion of those with severe malocclusion. Seven (23.3%) players had suffered uncomplicated crown fractures. The mean incidence of physical injuries was 8 (SD 3.4) per player. PI and PPD showed a statistically significant correlation to muscle injuries (p<0.05). Conclusions: Soccer players, despite intensive medical follow-up, have significant oral health problems such as untreated caries, gingivitis or malocclusion, and suffer dental trauma as a result of sports activities. Their physical condition could also be associated to oral health

Phyllochron estimation in intercropped strawberry and monocrop systems in a protected environment

The phyllochron is defined as the time required for the appearance of successive leaves on a plant; this characterises plant growth, development and adaptation to the environment. To check the growth and adaptation in cultivars of strawberry grown intercropped with fig trees, it was estimated the phyllochron in these production systems and in the monocrop. The experiment was conducted in greenhouses at the University of Passo Fundo (28º15'41'' S, 52º24'45'' W and 709 m) from June 8th to September 4th, 2009; this comprised the period of transplant until the 2nd flowering. The cultivars Aromas, Camino Real, Albion, Camarosa and Ventana, which seedlings were originated from the Agrícola LLahuen Nursery in Chile, as well as Festival, Camino Real and Earlibrite, originated from the Viansa S.A. Nursery in Argentina, were grown in white polyethylene bags filled with commercial substrate (Tecnomax®) and evaluated. The treatments were arranged in a randomised block design and four replicates were performed. A linear regression was realized between the leaf number (LN) in the main crown and the accumulated thermal time (ATT). The phyllochron (degree-day leaf-1) was estimated as the inverse of the angular coefficient of the linear regression. The data were submitted to ANOVA, and when significance was observed, the means were compared using the Tukey test (p < 0.05). The mean and standard deviation of phyllochrons of strawberry cultivars intercropped with fig trees varied from 149.35ºC day leaf-1 ± 31.29 in the Albion cultivar to 86.34ºC day leaf-1 ± 34.74 in the Ventana cultivar. Significant differences were observed among cultivars produced in a soilless environment with higher values recorded for Albion (199.96ºC day leaf-1 ± 29.7), which required more degree-days to produce a leaf, while cv. Ventana (85.76ºC day leaf-1 ± 11.51) exhibited a lower phyllochron mean value. Based on these results, Albion requires more degree-days to issue a leaf as compared to cv. Ventana. It was conclude that strawberry cultivars can be grown intercropped with fig trees (cv. Roxo de Valinhos).

Independencia y educación. Reflexiones en torno al Bicentenario

[spa]El trabajo que presentamos plantea una visión de la educación tras la llamada sublevación de los Pasquines que aparecieron en la ciudad de Santa Fe de Bogotá en 1794. En el artículoanalizamos las propuestas quese ofrecieron por parte de lasautoridades coloniales para hacer frentea los problemasque afectaron al virreinato.Una de las soluciones propuestas para acabar con las opiniones adversas a la corona y al colonialismo pasaba por cambiar los sistemas educativos. Se pretendía volver al sistema anterior a la ilustración y a los nuevos filósofos ya que se temía que en España pasara lo que había sucedido en Francia. La Nueva Filosofía acabó cuestionando los derechos de la monarquía y el descontento social acabó con la vida del monarca y la proclamación de la república. Estas ideas pasaron a las colonias españolas donde algunos ilustrados comenzaban a pensar en repúblicas, poco definidas, cuestionando el orden monárquico. Para evitar el conflicto desde el arzobispado, y la Audiencia se propone acabar con los estudios de la Nueva Filosofía, cerrar las imprentas y la Biblioteca; así mismo, se propone intervenir en el catecismo de la doctrina para introducir preguntas y respuestas que refuercen el papel dela corona y la fidelidad de los súbditos. Este sistema de fidelización de súbditos será empleado posteriormente por las recientes repúblicas para incrementar el patriotismo entre los nuevos ciudadanos.

Growth, production and quality of pineapple in response to herbicide use

In pineapple fields, weed competition is exacerbated by the fact that the crop is small and has a very slow vegetative development. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of herbicides on growth, yield and quality of pineapple, cultivar 'Pérola'. The experimental design was in randomized blocks with four treatments and four replications. Treatments consisted of weeding by hoe and the herbicides diuron; fluazifop-p-butyl and atrazine + S-metolachlor applied in post-emergence. The characteristics evaluated monthly during the vegetative stage were stem diameter, D-leaf length, number of leaves, number of emitted leaves and percentage of natural floral induction. In the reproductive phase, evaluations were made of average fruit weight (g) with and without crown, fruits length and diameter, number of slip, slip-sucker and sucker type seedlings, determination of soluble solids and pH in the pulp. There was no effect of herbicide treatment on the vegetative growth characteristics. Stem diameter increased until 330 days after planting, showing a decrease after this period. The D-leaf grew over time in all treatments, although phytotoxicity symptoms were observed after the first application of herbicides. The traits evaluated on the reproductive phase showed no significant differences in response to treatments. Therefore, the use of diuron fluazifop-p-butyl and atrazine + S-metolachlor did not affect growth, yield and fruit quality of pineapple, cultivar 'Pérola'.

Regulation of recombination at yeast nuclear pores controls repair and triplet repeat stability.

Secondary structure-forming DNA sequences such as CAG repeats interfere with replication and repair, provoking fork stalling, chromosome fragility, and recombination. In budding yeast, we found that expanded CAG repeats are more likely than unexpanded repeats to localize to the nuclear periphery. This positioning is transient, occurs in late S phase, requires replication, and is associated with decreased subnuclear mobility of the locus. In contrast to persistent double-stranded breaks, expanded CAG repeats at the nuclear envelope associate with pores but not with the inner nuclear membrane protein Mps3. Relocation requires Nup84 and the Slx5/8 SUMO-dependent ubiquitin ligase but not Rad51, Mec1, or Tel1. Importantly, the presence of the Nup84 pore subcomplex and Slx5/8 suppresses CAG repeat fragility and instability. Repeat instability in nup84, slx5, or slx8 mutant cells arises through aberrant homologous recombination and is distinct from instability arising from the loss of ligase 4-dependent end-joining. Genetic and physical analysis of Rad52 sumoylation and binding at the CAG tract suggests that Slx5/8 targets sumoylated Rad52 for degradation at the pore to facilitate recovery from acute replication stress by promoting replication fork restart. We thereby confirmed that the relocation of damage to nuclear pores plays an important role in a naturally occurring repair process.