Descripción de la cultura organizacional en OSP International Cala Ltda.

Con la investigación realizada a OSP International Cala Ltda., empresa dedicada a la generación de valor agregado en operadores de servicios a través de sus redes de distribución mediante el desarrollo de hardware y software, se logró identificar la cultura organizacional que caracteriza a esta empresa, a través de la Metodología desarrollado por el Autor Carlos Eduardo Méndez, donde por medio de los cuatro instrumentos; encuestas de Hombre, Estructura, Sistema e IMCOC (instrumento para medir el clima de las organizaciones), se identificaron los rasgos menos arraigados, arraigados y altamente arraigados. Con los últimos se logró la caracterización de la cultura organizacional de la empresa, puesto que con estos se identificaron las Categorías de Análisis, Tendencias y Macrotendencias, para poder describir, interpretar y analizar la Cultura Organizacional que caracteriza a esta compañía (Alternativa Humanitaria). Concluyendo la evidencia del arduo trabajo que realiza diariamente OSP International Cala Ltda., en la integración de cada una de sus áreas como parte de un todo, para lograr los objetivos y metas propuestas por esta.

Phylogenetic conservatism in plant phenology

Phenological events - defined points in the life cycle of a plant or animal - have been regarded as highly plastic traits, reflecting flexible responses to various environmental cues. The ability of a species to track, via shifts in phenological events, the abiotic environment through time might dictate its vulnerability to future climate change. Understanding the predictors and drivers of phenological change is therefore critical. Here, we evaluated evidence for phylogenetic conservatism - the tendency for closely related species to share similar ecological and biological attributes - in phenological traits across flowering plants. We aggregated published and unpublished data on timing of first flower and first leaf, encompassing 4000 species at 23 sites across the Northern Hemisphere. We reconstructed the phylogeny for the set of included species, first, using the software program Phylomatic, and second, from DNA data. We then quantified phylogenetic conservatism in plant phenology within and across sites. We show that more closely related species tend to flower and leaf at similar times. By contrasting mean flowering times within and across sites, however, we illustrate that it is not the time of year that is conserved, but rather the phenological responses to a common set of abiotic cues. Our findings suggest that species cannot be treated as statistically independent when modelling phenological responses.Synthesis. Closely related species tend to resemble each other in the timing of their life-history events, a likely product of evolutionarily conserved responses to environmental cues. The search for the underlying drivers of phenology must therefore account for species' shared evolutionary histories.

Mapping genetic variants associated with beta-adrenergic responses in inbred mice.

β-blockers and β-agonists are primarily used to treat cardiovascular diseases. Inter-individual variability in response to both drug classes is well recognized, yet the identity and relative contribution of the genetic players involved are poorly understood. This work is the first genome-wide association study (GWAS) addressing the values and susceptibility of cardiovascular-related traits to a selective β(1)-blocker, Atenolol (ate), and a β-agonist, Isoproterenol (iso). The phenotypic dataset consisted of 27 highly heritable traits, each measured across 22 inbred mouse strains and four pharmacological conditions. The genotypic panel comprised 79922 informative SNPs of the mouse HapMap resource. Associations were mapped by Efficient Mixed Model Association (EMMA), a method that corrects for the population structure and genetic relatedness of the various strains. A total of 205 separate genome-wide scans were analyzed. The most significant hits include three candidate loci related to cardiac and body weight, three loci for electrocardiographic (ECG) values, two loci for the susceptibility of atrial weight index to iso, four loci for the susceptibility of systolic blood pressure (SBP) to perturbations of the β-adrenergic system, and one locus for the responsiveness of QTc (p<10(-8)). An additional 60 loci were suggestive for one or the other of the 27 traits, while 46 others were suggestive for one or the other drug effects (p<10(-6)). Most hits tagged unexpected regions, yet at least two loci for the susceptibility of SBP to β-adrenergic drugs pointed at members of the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis. Loci for cardiac-related traits were preferentially enriched in genes expressed in the heart, while 23% of the testable loci were replicated with datasets of the Mouse Phenome Database (MPD). Altogether these data and validation tests indicate that the mapped loci are relevant to the traits and responses studied.

Mapping genetic variants associated with beta-adrenergic responses in inbred mice

β-blockers and β-agonists are primarily used to treat cardiovascular diseases. Inter-individual variability in response to both drug classes is well recognized, yet the identity and relative contribution of the genetic players involved are poorly understood. This work is the first genome-wide association study (GWAS) addressing the values and susceptibility of cardiovascular-related traits to a selective β(1)-blocker, Atenolol (ate), and a β-agonist, Isoproterenol (iso). The phenotypic dataset consisted of 27 highly heritable traits, each measured across 22 inbred mouse strains and four pharmacological conditions. The genotypic panel comprised 79922 informative SNPs of the mouse HapMap resource. Associations were mapped by Efficient Mixed Model Association (EMMA), a method that corrects for the population structure and genetic relatedness of the various strains. A total of 205 separate genome-wide scans were analyzed. The most significant hits include three candidate loci related to cardiac and body weight, three loci for electrocardiographic (ECG) values, two loci for the susceptibility of atrial weight index to iso, four loci for the susceptibility of systolic blood pressure (SBP) to perturbations of the β-adrenergic system, and one locus for the responsiveness of QTc (p<10(-8)). An additional 60 loci were suggestive for one or the other of the 27 traits, while 46 others were suggestive for one or the other drug effects (p<10(-6)). Most hits tagged unexpected regions, yet at least two loci for the susceptibility of SBP to β-adrenergic drugs pointed at members of the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis. Loci for cardiac-related traits were preferentially enriched in genes expressed in the heart, while 23% of the testable loci were replicated with datasets of the Mouse Phenome Database (MPD). Altogether these data and validation tests indicate that the mapped loci are relevant to the traits and responses studied.

Genome-wide copy number variation (CNV) detection in Nelore cattle reveals highly frequent variants in genome regions harboring QTLs affecting production traits.

Background: Copy number variations (CNVs) have been shown to account for substantial portions of observed genomic variation and have been associated with qualitative and quantitative traits and the onset of disease in a number of species. Information from high-resolution studies to detect, characterize and estimate population-specific variant frequencies will facilitate the incorporation of CNVs in genomic studies to identify genes affecting traits of importance. Results: Genome-wide CNVs were detected in high-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping data from 1,717 Nelore (Bos indicus) cattle, and in NGS data from eight key ancestral bulls. A total of 68,007 and 12,786 distinct CNVs were observed, respectively. Cross-comparisons of results obtained for the eight resequenced animals revealed that 92 % of the CNVs were observed in both datasets, while 62 % of all detected CNVs were observed to overlap with previously validated cattle copy number variant regions (CNVRs). Observed CNVs were used for obtaining breed-specific CNV frequencies and identification of CNVRs, which were subsequently used for gene annotation. A total of 688 of the detected CNVRs were observed to overlap with 286 non-redundant QTLs associated with important production traits in cattle. All of 34 CNVs previously reported to be associated with milk production traits in Holsteins were also observed in Nelore cattle. Comparisons of estimated frequencies of these CNVs in the two breeds revealed 14, 13, 6 and 14 regions in high (>20 %), low (<20 %) and divergent (NEL > HOL, NEL < HOL) frequencies, respectively. Conclusions: Obtained results significantly enriched the bovine CNV map and enabled the identification of variants that are potentially associated with traits under selection in Nelore cattle, particularly in genome regions harboring QTLs affecting production traits.

Density-dependent morphological plasticity and trade-offs among vegetative traits in Eichhornia crassipes (Pontederiaceae)

Density-dependent responses are an important component of the organism life-history, and the resource allocation theory is a central concept to the life-history theory. When resource allocation varies due to environmental changes, a plant may change its morphology or physiology to cope with the new conditions, a process known as phenotypic plasticity. Our study aimed to evaluate how plant density affects Eichhornia crassipes allocation patterns. A total of 214 individuals in high and low density were collected. The density effect was observed in all plant traits examined including biomass accumulation. All traits of E. crassipes demonstrated higher values in high density conditions, except for biomass of leaves. Density exhibited a high influence on vegetative traits of E. crassipes, but did not influence allocation pattern, since a trade-off among the vegetative traits was not found. The morphological plasticity and the absence of trade-offs were discussed as strategies to overcome neighbor plants in competition situations. In high density conditions, there were clear changes in the morphology of the plants which probably allows for their survival in a highly competitive environment.

Novel loci for adiponectin levels and their influence on type 2 diabetes and metabolic traits: a multi-ethnic meta-analysis of 45,891 individuals.

Circulating levels of adiponectin, a hormone produced predominantly by adipocytes, are highly heritable and are inversely associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) and other metabolic traits. We conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies in 39,883 individuals of European ancestry to identify genes associated with metabolic disease. We identified 8 novel loci associated with adiponectin levels and confirmed 2 previously reported loci (P = 4.5×10(-8)-1.2×10(-43)). Using a novel method to combine data across ethnicities (N = 4,232 African Americans, N = 1,776 Asians, and N = 29,347 Europeans), we identified two additional novel loci. Expression analyses of 436 human adipocyte samples revealed that mRNA levels of 18 genes at candidate regions were associated with adiponectin concentrations after accounting for multiple testing (p<3×10(-4)). We next developed a multi-SNP genotypic risk score to test the association of adiponectin decreasing risk alleles on metabolic traits and diseases using consortia-level meta-analytic data. This risk score was associated with increased risk of T2D (p = 4.3×10(-3), n = 22,044), increased triglycerides (p = 2.6×10(-14), n = 93,440), increased waist-to-hip ratio (p = 1.8×10(-5), n = 77,167), increased glucose two hours post oral glucose tolerance testing (p = 4.4×10(-3), n = 15,234), increased fasting insulin (p = 0.015, n = 48,238), but with lower in HDL-cholesterol concentrations (p = 4.5×10(-13), n = 96,748) and decreased BMI (p = 1.4×10(-4), n = 121,335). These findings identify novel genetic determinants of adiponectin levels, which, taken together, influence risk of T2D and markers of insulin resistance.

Highly pathogenic adapted HIV-1 strains limit host immunity and dictate rapid disease progression.

OBJECTIVE:: The study of HIV-1 rapid progressors has been limited to specific case reports. Nevertheless, identification and characterization of the viral and host factors involved in rapid progression are crucial when attempting to uncover the correlates of rapid disease outcome. DESIGN:: We carried out comparative functional analyses in rapid progressors (n = 46) and standard progressors (n = 46) early after HIV-1 seroconversion (≤1 year). The viral traits tested were viral replicative capacity, co-receptor usage, and genomic variation. Host CD8 T-cell responses, humoral activity, and HLA immunogenetic markers were also determined. RESULTS:: Our data demonstrate an unusual convergence of highly pathogenic HIV-1 strains in rapid progressors. Compared with standard progressors, rapid progressor viral strains show higher in-vitro replicative capacity (81.5 vs. 67.9%; P = 0.025) and greater X4/DM co-receptor usage (26.3 vs. 2.8%; P = 0.006) in early infection. Limited or absent functional HIV-1 CD8 T-cell responses and neutralizing activity were measured in rapid progressors. Moreover, the increase in common HLA allele-restricted CD8 T-cell escape mutations in rapid progressors acts as a signature of uncontrolled HIV-1 replication and early impairment of adaptive cellular responses. CONCLUSION:: Our data support a dominant role for viral factors in rapid progressors. Robust HIV-1 replication and intrinsic viral properties limit host adaptive immune responses, thus driving rapid disease progression.

Personality traits and virtual reality performance.

BACKGROUND: Surgeons' personalities have been described as different from those of the general population, but this was based on small descriptive studies limited by the choice of evaluation instrument. Furthermore, although the importance of the human factor in team performance has been recognized, the effect of personality traits on technical performance is unknown. This study aimed to compare surgical residents' personality traits with those of the general population and to evaluate whether an association exists between their personality traits and technical performance using a virtual reality (VR) laparoscopy simulator. METHODS: In this study, 95 participants (54 residents with basic, 29 with intermediate laparoscopic experience, and 12 students) underwent personality assessment using the NEO-Five Factor Inventory and performed five VR tasks of the Lap Mentor? basic tasks module. The residents' personality traits were compared with those of the general population, and the association between VR performance and personality traits was investigated. RESULTS: Surgical residents showed personality traits different from those of the general population, demonstrating lower neuroticism, higher extraversion and conscientiousness, and male residents showed greater openness. In the multivariable analysis, adjusted for gender and surgical experience, none of the personality traits was found to be an independent predictor of technical performance. CONCLUSIONS: Surgical residents present distinct personality traits that differ from those of the general population. These traits were not found to be associated with technical performance in a virtual environment. The traits may, however, play an important role in team performance, which in turn is highly relevant for optimal surgical performance.

A bi-dimensional genome scan for prolificacy traits in pigs shows the existence of multiple epistatic QTL

Background: Prolificacy is the most important trait influencing the reproductive efficiency of pig production systems. The low heritability and sex-limited expression of prolificacy have hindered to some extent the improvement of this trait through artificial selection. Moreover, the relative contributions of additive, dominant and epistatic QTL to the genetic variance of pig prolificacy remain to be defined. In this work, we have undertaken this issue by performing one-dimensional and bi-dimensional genome scans for number of piglets born alive (NBA) and total number of piglets born (TNB) in a three generation Iberian by Meishan F2 intercross. Results: The one-dimensional genome scan for NBA and TNB revealed the existence of two genome-wide highly significant QTL located on SSC13 (P < 0.001) and SSC17 (P < 0.01) with effects on both traits. This relative paucity of significant results contrasted very strongly with the wide array of highly significant epistatic QTL that emerged in the bi-dimensional genome-wide scan analysis. As much as 18 epistatic QTL were found for NBA (four at P < 0.01 and five at P < 0.05) and TNB (three at P < 0.01 and six at P < 0.05), respectively. These epistatic QTL were distributed in multiple genomic regions, which covered 13 of the 18 pig autosomes, and they had small individual effects that ranged between 3 to 4% of the phenotypic variance. Different patterns of interactions (a × a, a × d, d × a and d × d) were found amongst the epistatic QTL pairs identified in the current work.Conclusions: The complex inheritance of prolificacy traits in pigs has been evidenced by identifying multiple additive (SSC13 and SSC17), dominant and epistatic QTL in an Iberian × Meishan F2 intercross. Our results demonstrate that a significant fraction of the phenotypic variance of swine prolificacy traits can be attributed to first-order gene-by-gene interactions emphasizing that the phenotypic effects of alleles might be strongly modulated by the genetic background where they segregate.

A new highly penetrant form of obesity due to deletions on chromosome 16p11.2.

Obesity has become a major worldwide challenge to public health, owing to an interaction between the Western 'obesogenic' environment and a strong genetic contribution. Recent extensive genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified numerous single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with obesity, but these loci together account for only a small fraction of the known heritable component. Thus, the 'common disease, common variant' hypothesis is increasingly coming under challenge. Here we report a highly penetrant form of obesity, initially observed in 31 subjects who were heterozygous for deletions of at least 593 kilobases at 16p11.2 and whose ascertainment included cognitive deficits. Nineteen similar deletions were identified from GWAS data in 16,053 individuals from eight European cohorts. These deletions were absent from healthy non-obese controls and accounted for 0.7% of our morbid obesity cases (body mass index (BMI) >or= 40 kg m(-2) or BMI standard deviation score >or= 4; P = 6.4 x 10(-8), odds ratio 43.0), demonstrating the potential importance in common disease of rare variants with strong effects. This highlights a promising strategy for identifying missing heritability in obesity and other complex traits: cohorts with extreme phenotypes are likely to be enriched for rare variants, thereby improving power for their discovery. Subsequent analysis of the loci so identified may well reveal additional rare variants that further contribute to the missing heritability, as recently reported for SIM1 (ref. 3). The most productive approach may therefore be to combine the 'power of the extreme' in small, well-phenotyped cohorts, with targeted follow-up in case-control and population cohorts.

Genome-Wide Prediction Methods in Highly Diverse and Heterozygous Species: Proof-of-Concept through Simulation in Grapevine.

Nowadays, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and genomic selection (GS) methods which use genome-wide marker data for phenotype prediction are of much potential interest in plant breeding. However, to our knowledge, no studies have been performed yet on the predictive ability of these methods for structured traits when using training populations with high levels of genetic diversity. Such an example of a highly heterozygous, perennial species is grapevine. The present study compares the accuracy of models based on GWAS or GS alone, or in combination, for predicting simple or complex traits, linked or not with population structure. In order to explore the relevance of these methods in this context, we performed simulations using approx 90,000 SNPs on a population of 3,000 individuals structured into three groups and corresponding to published diversity grapevine data. To estimate the parameters of the prediction models, we defined four training populations of 1,000 individuals, corresponding to these three groups and a core collection. Finally, to estimate the accuracy of the models, we also simulated four breeding populations of 200 individuals. Although prediction accuracy was low when breeding populations were too distant from the training populations, high accuracy levels were obtained using the sole core-collection as training population. The highest prediction accuracy was obtained (up to 0.9) using the combined GWAS-GS model. We thus recommend using the combined prediction model and a core-collection as training population for grapevine breeding or for other important economic crops with the same characteristics.

The role of climatic tolerances and seed traits in reduced extinction rates of temperate polygonaceae.

The latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG) is one of the most striking and consistent biodiversity patterns across taxonomic groups. We investigate the species richness gradient in the buckwheat family, Polygonaceae, which exhibits a reverse LDG and is, thus, decoupled from dominant gradients of energy and environmental stability that increase toward the tropics and confound mechanistic interpretations. We test competing age and evolutionary diversification hypotheses, which may explain the diversification of this plant family over the past 70 million years. Our analyses show that the age hypothesis, which posits that clade richness is positively correlated with the ecological and evolutionary time since clade origin, fails to explain the richness gradient observed in Polygonaceae. However, an evolutionary diversification hypothesis is highly supported, with diversification rates being 3.5 times higher in temperate clades compared to tropical clades. We demonstrate that differences in rates of speciation, migration, and molecular evolution insufficiently explain the observed patterns of differential diversification rates. We suggest that reduced extinction rates in temperate clades may be associated with adaptive responses to selection, through which seed morphology and climatic tolerances potentially act to minimize risk in temporally variable environments. Further study is needed to understand causal pathways among these traits and factors correlated with latitude.

Ecology and evolution of social-organization: insights from fire ants and other highly eusocial insects

Social organisms exhibit conspicuous intraspecific variation in all facets of their social organization. A prominent example of such variation in the highly eusocial Hymenoptera is differences in the number of reproductive queens per colony, Differences in queen number in ants are associated with differences in a host of reproductive and social traits, including queen phenotype and breeding strategy, mode of colony reproduction, and pattern of sex allocation. We examine the causes and consequences of changes in colony queen number and associated traits using the fire ant Solenopsis invicta as a principal model. Ecological constraints on mode of colony founding may act as important selective forces causing the evolution of queen number in this and many other ants, with social organization generally perpetuated across generations by means of the social environment molding appropriate queen phenotypes and reproductive strategies. Shifts in colony queen number have profound effects on genetic structure within nests and may also influence genetic structure at higher levels (aggregations of nests or local demes) because of the association of queen number with particular mating and dispersal habits. Divergence of breeding habits between populations with different social organizations has the potential to promote genetic differentiation between these social variants. Thus, evolution of social organization can be important in generating intrinsic selective regimes that channel subsequent social evolution and in initiating the development of significant population genetic structure, including barriers to gene flow important in cladogenesis.