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Promoting the adoption of healthy habits represents a great challenge for health and education professionals. In this sense, childhood and adolescence are propitious times for the acquisition and consolidation of behaviors and skills, being that numerous and different determinants act in the genesis of behavior. The purpose of this study was to test the Psychometric properties and cultural adaptation of “LifeConScale” -Life Conditions Scale for Adolescents-. A cross-sectional and multicenter study was carried out in a representative sample of adolescents enrolled in 1st and 2nd year of Compulsory Secondary Education in 18 educational centers in Aragon, during the 2018–2019 school year. Sociodemographic characteristics, life skills, daily habits, and academic performance were analyzed using an adapted questionnaire from different scales and previous studies. For the adaptation of the questionnaire, the expert panel technique was used and for its validation, exploratory factor analysis was carried out and Cronbach’s Alpha was applied, assessing the global internal consistency and of each one of the factors. The instrument showed a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin sample size adequacy of 0.8122. A 6-dimensional model was chosen that explained 75.25% of the variance. The goodness of fit obtained a value of 0.802 in the Nomed Fix Index. The Comparative Fit Index was 0.891. The result of the analysis of variances and covariances carried out according to the Standardized Root Mean Square Residual yielded a value of 0.093 The analysis showed excellent application conditions in the study population and construct validity. This instrument will be useful for the evaluation of educational programs that work to promote health in educational centers, such as Health Promoting Schools.

Motivated by the capabilities of modern radiotherapy techniques and by the recent developments of functional imaging techniques, dose painting by numbers (DPBN) was proposed to treat tumors with heterogeneous biological characteristics. This work studies different DPBN optimization techniques for virtual head and neck tumors assessing tumor response in terms of cell survival and tumor control probability with a previously published tumor response model (TRM). Uniform doses of 2 Gy are redistributed according to the microscopic oxygen distribution and the density distribution of tumor cells in four virtual tumors with different biological characteristics. In addition, two different optimization objective functions are investigated, which: i) minimize tumor cell survival (OFsurv) or; ii) maximize the homogeneity of the density of surviving tumor cells (OFstd). Several adaptive schemes, ranging from single to daily dose optimization, are studied and the treatment response is compared to that of the uniform dose. The results show that the benefit of DPBN treatments depends on the tumor reoxygenation capability, which strongly differed among the set of virtual tumors investigated. The difference between daily (fraction by fraction) and three weekly optimizations (at the beginning of weeks 1, 3 and 4) was found to be small, and higher benefit was observed for the treatments optimized using OFsurv. This in silico study corroborates the hypothesis that DPBN may be beneficial for treatments of tumors which show reoxygenation during treatment, and that a few optimizations may be sufficient to achieve this therapeutic benefit.

Nitro-arachidonic acid (NO2-AA) is a cell signaling nitroalkene that exerts anti-inflammatory activities during macrophage activation. While angiotensin II (ANG II) produces an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and mitochondrial dysfunction in renal tubular cells, little is known regarding the potential protective effects of NO2-AA in ANG II-mediated kidney injury. As such, this study examines the impact of NO2-AA on ANG II-induced mitochondrial dysfunction in an immortalized renal proximal tubule cell line (HK-2 cells). Treatment of HK-2 cells with ANG II increases the production of superoxide (O2●-), nitric oxide (●NO), inducible nitric oxide synthase (NOS2) expression, peroxynitrite (ONOO-) and mitochondrial dysfunction. Using high-resolution respirometry, it was observed that the presence of NO2-AA prevented ANG II-mediated mitochondrial dysfunction. Attempting to address mechanism, we treated isolated rat kidney mitochondria with ONOO-, a key mediator of ANG II-induced mitochondrial damage, in the presence or absence of NO2-AA. Whereas the activity of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) and ATP synthase (ATPase) were diminished upon exposure to ONOO-, they were restored by pre-incubating the mitochondria with NO2-AA. Moreover, NO2-AA prevents oxidation and nitration of mitochondrial proteins. Combined, these data demonstrate that ANG II-mediated oxidative damage and mitochondrial dysfunction is abrogated by NO2-AA, identifying this compound as a promising pharmacological tool to prevent ANG II-induced renal disease.

The M22.8 monoclonal antibody (mAb) developed against an antigen expressed at the mussel larval and postlarval stages of Mytilus galloprovincialis was studied on adult samples. Antigenic characterization by Western blot showed that the antigen MSP22.8 has a restricted distribution that includes mantle edge tissue, extrapallial fluid, extrapallial fluid hemocytes, and the shell organic matrix of adult samples. Other tissues such as central mantle, gonadal tissue, digestive gland, labial palps, foot, and byssal retractor muscle did not express the antigen. Immunohistochemistry assays identified MSP22.8 in cells located in the outer fold epithelium of the mantle edge up to the pallial line. Flow cytometry analysis showed that hemocytes from the extrapallial fluid also contain the antigen intracellularly. Furthermore, hemocytes from hemolymph have the ability to internalize the antigen when exposed to a cell-free extrapallial fluid solution. Our findings indicate that hemocytes could play an important role in the biomineralization process and, as a consequence, they have been included in a model of shell formation. This is the first report concerning a protein secreted by the mantle edge into the extrapallial space and how it becomes part of the shell matrix framework in M. galloprovincialis mussels.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0150459.].

Plants respond to salinity by altering their physiological parameters in order to maintain their water balance. The reduction in root hydraulic conductivity is one of the first responses of plants to the presence of salt in order to minimize water stress. Although its regulation has been commonly attributed to aquaporins activity, osmotic adjustment and the toxic effect of Na+ and Cl- have also a main role in the whole process. We studied the effects of 30 mM NaCl on Phaseolus vulgaris plants after 9 days and found different responses in root hydraulic conductivity over-time. An initial and final reduction of root hydraulic conductivity, stomatal conductance, and leaf water potential in response to NaCl was attributed to an initial osmotic shock after 1 day of treatment, and to the initial symptoms of salt accumulation within the plant tissues after 9 days of treatment. After 6 days of NaCl treatment, the increase in root hydraulic conductivity to the levels of control plants was accompanied by an increase in root fructose content, and with the intracellular localization of root plasma membrane aquaporins (PIP) to cortex cells close to the epidermis and to cells surrounding xylem vessels. Thus, the different responses of bean plants to mild salt stress over time may be connected with root fructose accumulation, and intracellular localization of PIP aquaporins.

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) and olives, key sources of unsaturated fatty acids in the Mediterranean diet, provide health benefits to humans. Nitric oxide (•NO) and nitrite (NO2 (-))-dependent reactions of unsaturated fatty acids yield electrophilic nitroalkene derivatives (NO2-FA) that manifest salutary pleiotropic cell signaling responses in mammals. Herein, the endogenous presence of NO2-FA in both EVOO and fresh olives was demonstrated by mass spectrometry. The electrophilic nature of these species was affirmed by the detection of significant levels of protein cysteine adducts of nitro-oleic acid (NO2-OA-cysteine) in fresh olives, especially in the peel. Further nitration of EVOO by NO2 (-) under acidic gastric digestive conditions revealed that human consumption of olive lipids will produce additional nitro-conjugated linoleic acid (NO2-cLA) and nitro-oleic acid (NO2-OA). The presence of free and protein-adducted NO2-FA in both mammalian and plant lipids further affirm a role for these species as signaling mediators. Since NO2-FA instigate adaptive anti-inflammatory gene expression and metabolic responses, these redox-derived metabolites may contribute to the cardiovascular benefits associated with the Mediterranean diet.

Lynch syndrome (LS) is a hereditary condition that increases the risk for endometrial and other cancers. The identification of endometrial cancer (EC) patients with LS has the potential to influence life-saving interventions. We aimed to study the prevalence of LS among EC patients in our population.Universal screening for LS was applied for a consecutive series EC. Tumor testing using microsatellite instability (MSI), immunohistochemistry (IHC) for mismatch-repair (MMR) protein expression and MLH1-methylation analysis, when required, was used to select LS-suspicious cases. Sequencing of corresponding MMR genes was performed.One hundred and seventy-three EC (average age, 63 years) were screened. Sixty-one patients (35%) had abnormal IHC or MSI results. After MLH1 methylation analysis, 27 cases were considered suspicious of LS. From these, 22 were contacted and referred for genetic counseling. Nineteen pursued genetic testing and eight were diagnosed of LS. Mutations were more frequent in younger patients (