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Early-stage professionals (ESPs) and senior scientists who want to transition from academia to the industry need support to develop new skills and know-how to endeavor this challenge. However, this topic is significantly underserved in the field of cell and gene therapy, slowing down ESPs' potential to make this step. The authors of this article, members of the ESPs in the South and Central America Subcommittee at the International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy, propose the concept of "scientific venturing," which stands for the process by which scientists become entrepreneurs or part of a company. In our article, we provide key aspects to understand this concept, considering key personality traits that need to be developed and a discussion about the "innovation ecosystem." Later, we consider how scientific venturing may result in an increase in difficulty in nascent innovation ecosystems such as Latin America, in comparison with those more advanced and mature in high-income countries. Finally, we provide key information for the ESPs and other professionals about the stages of private and public investment, including information about the resources needed for the sustainability of companies and startups. Understanding what scientific venturing involves for ESPs is key to taking advantage of the maturity of an innovation ecosystem, its network, and available opportunities.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a leading neurodegenerative pathology associated with aging worldwide. It is estimated that AD prevalence will increase from 5.8 million people today to 13.8 million by 2050 in the United States alone. AD effects in the brain are well known; however, there is still a lack of knowledge about the cellular mechanisms behind the origin of AD. It is known that AD induces cellular stress affecting the energy metabolism in brain cells. During the pathophysiological advancement of AD, damaged mitochondria enter a vicious cycle, producing reactive oxygen species (ROS), harming mitochondrial DNA and proteins, leading to more ROS and cellular death. Additionally, mitochondria are interconnected with the plaques formed by amyloid-β in AD and have underlying roles in the progression of the disease and severity. For years, the biomedical field struggled to develop new therapeutic options for AD without a significant advancement. However, mitochondria are striking back existing outside cells in a new mechanism of intercellular communication. Extracellular mitochondria are exchanged from healthy to damaged cells to rescue those with a perturbed metabolism in a process that could be applied as a new therapeutic option to repair those brain cells affected by AD. In this review we highlight key aspects of mitochondria's role in CNS' physiology and neurodegenerative disorders, focusing on AD. We also suggest how mitochondria strikes back as a therapeutic target and as a potential agent to be transplanted to repair neurons affected by AD.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the most common neurodegenerative movement disorder, worldwide. PD neuro-energetically affects the extrapyramidal system, by the progressive loss of striatal dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta, leading to motor impairment. During the progression of PD, there will be an increase in mitochondrial dysfunction, reactive oxygen species (ROS), stress and accumulation of α-synuclein in neurons. This results in mitochondrial mutations altering their function and fission-fusion mechanisms and central nervous system (CNS) degeneration. Intracellular mitochondrial dysfunction has been studied for a long time in PD due to the decline of mitochondrial dynamics inside neurons. Mitochondrial damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) have been known to contribute to several CNS pathologies especially PD pathogenesis. New and exciting evidence regarding the exchange of mitochondria between healthy to damaged cells in the central nervous system (CNS) and the therapeutic use of the artificial mitochondrial transfer/transplant (AMT) marked a return of this organelle to develop innovative therapeutic procedures for PD. The focus of this review aims to shed light on the role of mitochondria, both intra and extracellularly in PD, and how AMT could be used to generate new potential therapies in the fight against PD. Moreover, we suggest that mitochondrial therapy could work as a preventative measure, motivating the field to move towards this goal.

Around two-thirds of women who are of reproductive age use some type of contraception. Two of the most effective long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARC) are the intrauterine device (IUD) and the subdermal contraceptive implant (SCI). Despite their effectiveness, women often report abnormal uterine bleeding as the reason for discontinuation. In this review, we analyze key aspects regarding the mechanisms of action of IUDs (both copper-containing and levonorgestrel-releasing) and SCIs, as well as how they change the intrauterine environment in order to provide effective contraception at a physiological level. Additionally, we introduce the pathophysiology of different types of abnormal intrauterine bleeding provoked by the mentioned LARCs. These three contraceptive methods work in diverse ways, thus, the etiology of abnormal uterine bleeding is different and multifactorial according to each LARC. This review intends to provide information in order to better our understanding of bleeding induced by these contraceptive methods, as well as introduce current and potential new therapies. Furthermore, this review intends to provide updated and concise information that could be available firsthand not only to health care providers but scientists who are innovating and revolutionizing this field. In 2013, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists published a management of abnormal uterine bleeding, however, there is limited updated data regarding the physiology and pathophysiology of abnormal uterine bleeding and its treatment based on different LARCs (hormonal and non-hormonal).

Contextualización: el crecimiento demográfico y los problemas ambientales en el ámbito local, nacional e internacional, relacionados con la contaminación de los lodos sin tratar, debido a los volúmenes en aumento de dichos residuos generados por las estaciones depuradoras de aguas residuales (EDAR), aumenta la degradación del medio ambiente. Vacío de conocimiento: hay deficiencias en los manejos de los lodos residuales por desconocimiento de las alternativas convencionales y sostenibles de estabilización, lo que causa que estos no sean aprovechados, debido a sus características, y terminen siendo desechados en puntos de disposición final, lo cual puede generar severos problemas de contaminación. Propósito: evaluar la literatura científica sobre las alternativas implementadas en la estabilización de lodos residuales generados en las EDAR, mediante una revisión documental y un análisis bibliométrico basado en la construcción de diagramas estratégicos y mapa de co-ocurrencia, con el fin de identificar las tendencias de investigación en la temática. Metodología: se indagó la literatura científica mediante un algoritmo de búsqueda con conectores booleanos en la base de datos especializada Scopus®, la cual se analizó mediante redes bibliométricas y diagramas estratégicos y se ordenó una base de datos con la información relevante para el análisis conceptual sobre la temática. Resultados y conclusiones: se obtuvieron 1693 documentos enmarcados en las alternativas de estabilización de biosólidos provenientes de las EDAR, lo que permitió identificar que países como Estados Unidos, China, Brasil y España poseen la mayor producción científica sobre la temática. La generación de biosólidos es una problemática que ha fundamentado investigaciones para la gestión adecuada de estos residuos, para así evitar generar problemas de contaminación, dado que las alternativas convencionales más empleadas para el tratamiento de biosólidos son la digestión anaerobia, el espesamiento, la deshidratación y la incineración, que son eficientes en la gestión, pero desaprovechan el potencial de dichos residuos. Las alternativas como el compostaje y la lombricultura generan subproductos que se pueden aprovechar y de esta forma lograr una disposición final de manera adecuada, que reduzca los costos operacionales y genere beneficios económicos.

Prion diseases encompass a group of incurable neurodegenerative disorders that occur due to the misfolding and aggregation of infectious proteins. The most well-known prion diseases are Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), bovine spongiform encephalopathy (also known as mad cow disease), and kuru. It is estimated that around 1-2 persons per million worldwide are affected annually by prion disorders. Infectious prion proteins propagate in the brain, clustering in the cells and rapidly inducing tissue degeneration and death. Prion disease alters cell metabolism and energy production damaging mitochondrial function and dynamics leading to a fast accumulation of damage. Dysfunction of mitochondria could be considered as an early precursor and central element in the pathogenesis of prion diseases such as in sporadic CJD. Preserving mitochondria function may help to resist the rapid spread and damage of prion proteins and even clearance. In the war against prions and other degenerative diseases, studying how to preserve the function of mitochondria by using antioxidants and even replacing them with artificial mitochondrial transfer/transplant (AMT/T) may bring a new hope and lead to an increase in patients' survival. In this perspective review, we provide key insights about the relationship between the progression of prion disease and mitochondria, in which understanding how protecting mitochondria function and viability by using antioxidants or AMT/T may help to develop novel therapeutic interventions.

There is a growing need for integrated approaches that align community priorities with strategies that build resilience to climate hazards, societal shocks, and economic crises to ensure more equitable and sustainable outcomes. We anticipate that adaptive management and resilience learning are central elements for these approaches. In this paper, we describe an approach to build and test a Resilience Learning System to support research and implementation of a resilience strategy developed for the Greater Miami and the Beaches or the Resilient305 Strategy. Elements foundational to the design of this integrated research strategy and replicable Resilience Learning System are: (1) strong partnerships among community members, government and non-government organization leaders, and researchers from multiple academic institutions; (2) contributions of subject matter expertise and local knowledge to identify information and translational gaps, formulate metrics and evaluate outcomes of Resilient305 Strategy actions from the community perspective; and (3) a comprehensive understanding of civic engagement activities, technological tools, and resilience-building capacities, including policy and financial innovations, from which to advance socio-technological, smart and connected regional-to-hyperlocal community translation through co-design/co-production. Initial results on co-produced metrics are provided. This work produces a new, replicable framework for resilience research that includes a comprehensive set of metrics, translation to communities through structured dialogues, a collaborative process involving all stakeholders and researchers, and evaluation of resilience actions to inform new investments and improve understanding and effectiveness over time.

Historias a partir de texto presente en el libro, La bendita manía de contar de Gabriel García Márquez.

On August 6, 2017, the Israeli Defense Force Public Heath Branch (IDFPHB) was notified of two suspected measles cases. IDFPHB conducted an epidemiologic investigation, which identified nine measles cases in a population with high measles vaccination coverage. All measles patients had signs and symptoms consistent with modified measles (i.e., less severe disease with milder rash, fever, or both, with or without other mild typical measles symptoms). A total of 1,392 contacts were identified, and 162 received postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) with measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine; the remaining contacts were followed for 21 days (one incubation period). No tertiary cases were identified.

espanolEl voto migrante y el comportamiento del elec torado peruano en el exterior es un tema casi nulo en la agenda politica en el Peru. El electorado peruano exterior y el voto migrante son analizados con un recuento estadistico agregado y con un analisis desagregado de los resultados electorales por partidos politicos en las primeras vueltas de las elecciones generales nacionales del Peru de 2006, 2011 y 2016. Con las estadisticas sistema tizadas, se analizo la logica del voto migrante peruano. La investigacion presenta un enfoque al electorado exterior peruano que responderia no solo a una inclinacion por la derecha (en funcion del sistema politico peruano), sino que estaria conformado por diferentes tipos de electores mi grantes que muestran preferencias electorales variables por pais de residencia EnglishPeruvian overseas migrants' voting is almost null in the political and electoral agenda in Peru. The Peruvian overseas voting results are analyzed with an aggregate statistical count; then, with a disaggregated analysis of their results by po litical parties in the first rounds of the national elections of Peru in 2006, 2011 and 2016. With the systematized statistics, the electoral rationale of the Peruvian overseas vote is analyzed and discussed. The study presents a close approach to the Peruvian overseas electorate that is not only inclined to the right (based on Peruvian po litical terms) but also made up of different types of migrant voters who have variable electoral preferences by country of residence

Asphaltenes are remnants of ancient photosynthetic plants and are today considered waste hydrocarbons that must be removed from petroleum for use as fuel and often find their use as road tar. This study reports the first time their use in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSCs) in which light is converted to electricity with conversion efficiencies approaching 1.8%. Extracted fractions of asphaltenes from Mexican Altamira crude oil were used as light absorbers in TiO2 based DSSCs. The photovoltaic performances of the cells were analyzed by determining the I-V cell parameters such as OCV (open-circuit voltage), SCC (short-circuit current), FF (fill factor), and SR (series resistance). The overall energy conversion efficiency was also measured to correlate the effect of the different asphaltene portions that created significant improvement of the solar cell parameters. The sensitization of TiO2 electrode with the best asphaltene fraction resulted in a maximum energy conversion efficiency of 1.8% for the solar cell with a maximum photocurrent density of 16.9 mA/cm2. At this level the solar cell created has strong economic potential. A future strategy to further improve performance by minimizing series resistance and improving the photo current and open circuit voltage is also reported. The cells have shown excellent life as suggested by photo-catalytic polymerization of asphaltene materials when exposed to sunlight and air as stated in patent number 8,389,853.

Salt cedars (Tamarix) are invasive halophytic species and heavy water consumers. However, Tamarix possesses interesting characteristics accounting for its opportunistic and resilient abilities: analogous to a miniature photodesalinization machine, it thrives on saline soils toxic to most plants. Here we observe, document, and reveal the salt separation process of T. ramosissima. Specimens were cultivated under controlled artificial conditions, then analyzed by microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. Tamarix ramosissima is shown to produce varied morphologies of salt crystal aggregates from vesiculated trichomes and possess the ability to separate anions and cations. Sodium chloride, potassium chloride (KCl), and potassium sodium sulfate [K2.25Na1.75(SO4)2] were major exuded salt crystal phases, with smaller quantities of other phases present. Compositions of crystals exuded by individual plants were consistent with compositions of the soils they grew on. Although T. ramosissima may be an invasive nuisan...

The oxidation of dibenzothiophene (DBT) to dibenzothiophene-sulfone (DBT-sulfone) has been a topic of particular interest in the past few years, as a possible technique to remove sulfur from crude oil. In this manuscript we show that the oxidation of DBT to DBT-sulfone occurs using silica and does not require the addition of an external oxidizing agent. The effect of the synthesis pH and the calcination temperature on the ability of the silica to oxidize DBT to DBT-sulfone was investigated. The oxidation reactions were performed by refluxing silica with DBT in the following solvents: decahydronaphthalene, tetrahydronaphthalene, dodecane, heptane, and toluene at different temperatures. The reaction was found to work only in hydrogen-donating solvents: tetralin and decalin. HPLC results show that 80% of the original 10,000 ppm DBT was oxidized when the reaction was carried out at 160 °C in decahydronaphthalene. FTIR was used to show that the product of the reaction was DBT-sulfone, which confirmed 80% conversion of the DBT to DBT-sulfone. The product of the oxidation reaction was further identified using powder XRD.

Two different morphologies of MoS2 (short and long sheets) were utilized to elucidate the intercalation mechanism of 1,2,3,4 tetrahydroquinoline (THQ). MoS2 (short sheets) and molybdenite (MB) (long sheets) were exfoliated and restacked in the presence of THQ. The x-ray diffraction patterns of both samples show a new reflection in the 001 plane, which implies a lowering of symmetry and corresponds to an expansion of the layers by approximately 12.3 Å. In the MoS2-THQ sample, 80% of the MoS2 was intercalated and 20% remained stacked. In the MB-THQ sample, 30% of MB was intercalated while 70% remained stacked. X-ray absorption structure (XAS) studies showed changes in atomic geometry and coordination. The x-ray absorption near-edge spectra showed shifts in the geometry of the intercalated MoS2 and MB sample compared to the unintercalated samples. Extended x-ray absorption fine structure studies showed lower coordination numbers compared to the untreated samples. Infrared spectroscopy characterization of these same samples suggests intercalation and partial dehydrogenation of the THQ.

International audience; Understanding the driving forces and molecular processes underlying dioecy and sex chromosome evolution, leading from hermaphroditism to the occurrence of male and female individuals, is of considerable interest in fundamental and applied research. The genus Phoenix, belonging to the Arecaceae family, consists uniquely of dioecious species. Phylogenetic data suggest that the genus Phoenix has diverged from a hermaphroditic ancestor which is also shared with its closest relatives. We have investigated the cessation of recombination in the sex-determination region within the genus Phoenix as a whole by extending the analysis of P. dactylifera SSR sex-related loci to eight other species within the genus. Phylogenetic analysis of a date palm sex-linked PdMYB1 gene in these species has revealed that sex-linked alleles have not clustered in a species-dependent way but rather in X and Y-allele clusters. Our data show that sex chromosomes evolved from a common autosomal origin before the diversification of the extant dioecious species.

Understanding the driving forces and molecular processes underlying dioecy and sex chromosome evolution, leading from hermaphroditism to the occurrence of male and female individuals, is of considerable interest in fundamental and applied research. The genus Phoenix, belonging to the family Arecaceae, consists of only dioecious species. Phylogenetic data suggests that the genus Phoenix diverged from a hermaphroditic ancestor shared with its closest relatives. Here we investigated the evolution of suppressed recombination within the genus Phoenix as a whole by extending the analysis of P. dactylifera sex-related loci to eight other species within the genus. We also performed a phylogenetic analysis of a date palm sex-linked PdMYB1 gene in these species. We found that X and Y sex-linked alleles clustered in a species-independent fashion. Our data show that sex chromosomes evolved before the diversification of the extant dioecious species. Furthermore, the distribution of Y haplotypes revealed two male ancestral paternal lineages which may have emerged prior to speciation.

AGAP : équipe Génomique évolutive et gestion des populations (GE²pop); BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Date palms (Phoenix dactylifera, Arecaceae) are of great economic and ecological value to the oasis agriculture of arid and semi-arid areas. However, despite the availability of a large date palm germplasm spreading from the Atlantic shores to Southern Asia, improvement of the species is being hampered by a lack of information on global genetic diversity and population structure. In order to contribute to the varietal improvement of date palms and to provide new insights on the influence of geographic origins and human activity on the genetic structure of the date palm, this study analysed the diversity of the species. METHODS: Genetic diversity levels and population genetic structure were investigated through the genotyping of a collection of 295 date palm accessions ranging from Mauritania to Pakistan using a set of 18 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers and a plastid minisatellite. KEY RESULTS: Using a Bayesian clustering approach, the date palm genotypes can be structured into two different gene pools: the first, termed the Eastern pool, consists of accessions from Asia and Djibouti, whilst the second, termed the Western pool, consists of accessions from Africa. These results confirm the existence of two ancient gene pools that have contributed to the current date palm diversity. The presence of admixed genotypes is also noted, which points at gene flows between eastern and western origins, mostly from east to west, following a human-mediated diffusion of the species. CONCLUSIONS: This study assesses the distribution and level of genetic diversity of accessible date palm resources, provides new insights on the geographic origins and genetic history of the cultivated component of this species, and confirms the existence of at least two domestication origins. Furthermore, the strong genetic structure clearly established here is a prerequisite for any breeding programme exploiting the effective polymorphism related to each gene pool.

Whether sex chromosomes are differentiated is an important aspect of our knowledge of dioecious plants, such as date palm (Phoenix dactylifera). In this crop plant, the female individuals produce dates, and are thus the more valuable sex. However, there is no way to identify the sex of date palm plants before reproductive age, and the sex-determining mechanism is still unclear. To identify sex-linked microsatellite markers, we surveyed a set of 52 male and 55 female genotypes representing the geographical diversity of the species. We found three genetically linked loci that are heterozygous only in males. Male-specific alleles allowed us to identify the gender in 100% of individuals. These results confirm the existence of an XY chromosomal system with a nonrecombining XY-like region in the date palm genome. The distribution of Y haplotypes in western and eastern haplogroups allowed us to trace two male ancestral paternal lineages that account for all known Y diversity in date palm. The very low diversity associated with Y haplotypes is consistent with clonal paternal transmission of a nonrecombining male-determining region. Our results establish the date palm as a biological model with one of the most ancient sex chromosomes in flowering plants.

Core-Shell (Fe3O4/Au) nanoparticles were synthesized using iron II chloride tetrahydrate (FeCl2H2O) and potassium tetrachloroaurate III (AuCl4K) precursors under microwave-assisted conditions. Products were analyzed using field emission gun electron microscope in transmission and scanning modes; energy disperse X-ray spectroscopy performed during STEM measurements indicated a signal for gold K and M signals at 9 keV and 13 keV, respectively, confirming Au atoms at nanoparticle's perimeter and Fe-L signal at 8 keV to be at the center.