Panorama actual de las vacunaciones laborales en españa: “Perfil de la vacunación en los Servicios de Prevención de Riesgos Laborales” / Current Overview of Occupational Vaccinations in Spain: “Vaccination profile in the Occupational Risk Prevention Services”

En términos económicos y preventivos, la vacunación se ha demostrado como la medida más eficaz y rentable para prevenir enfermedades infecciosas inmunoprevenibles, tanto a nivel individual como comunitario. La gestión de los riesgos biológicos en el entorno laboral requiere de un sistema integral de gestión del riesgo, donde la vacuna-ción juega un papel fundamental como elemento clave de protección personal. Se considera como un Equipo de Protección Individual (EPI) específico, y su suministro y uso obligatorio están regulados por normas legislativas que establecen la responsabilidad del empleador en su entrega, así como la capacitación en prevención y su utilización por parte del trabajador.Las vacunas también constituyen la medida más efectiva en términos de salud pública y aportan grandes benefi-cios a la humanidad en la prevención de enfermedades. Este hecho ha sido evidente durante la reciente pandemia del COVID-19. La vacunación abarca una amplia gama de objetivos estratégicos que deben abordarse, como las enfermedades transmisibles, las enfermedades crónicas no transmisibles, los accidentes, los factores de riesgo, la equidad, el fortalecimiento del sector de la salud, la calidad de la atención y los desastres, las emergencias y las epidemias.Por lo tanto, es fundamental aprovechar todos los recursos disponibles en el ámbito de la salud para garantizar la mayor cobertura vacunal posible en la población. Además, es crucial contar con un registro adecuado para no perder información relevante en relación con el proceso de vacunación. De esta manera, se puede asegurar una protección efectiva contra enfermedades y promover la salud y el bienestar de la sociedad en su conjunto (AU)

In economic and preventive terms, vaccination has proven to be the most efficient and cost-effective measure to prevent immuno-preventable infectious diseases, both at individual and community level. The management of bio-logical risks in the work environment requires a comprehensive risk management system, where vaccination plays a fundamental role as a key element of personal protection. It is considered as a specific Personal Protective Equip-ment (PPE), and its provision and mandatory use are regulated by legislative norms that establish the employer’s responsibility in its delivery, as well as the prevention training and its use by the worker.Vaccines are also the most effective measure in terms of public health and bring great benefits to humanity in the prevention of diseases. This has been evident during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccination covers a wide range of strategic objectives to be addressed, such as communicable diseases, chronic non-communicable diseas-es, accidents, risk factors, equity, health sector strengthening, quality of care and disasters, emergencies and epi-demics.It is therefore essential to take advantage of all available health resources to ensure the highest possible vaccination coverage in the population. In addition, proper record keeping is crucial in order not to lose relevant information regarding the vaccination process. In this way, effective protection against diseases can be ensured and the health and well-being of society as a whole can be promoted (AU)

First case report of multivisceral transplant from a deceased cardiac death donor.

The current shortage of pediatric multivisceral donors accounts for the long time and mortality on the waiting list of pediatric patients. The use of donors after cardiac death, especially after the outbreak of normothermic regional perfusion, has increased in recent years for all solid organs except the intestine, mainly because of its higher susceptibility to ischemia-reperfusion injury. We present the first literature case of multivisceral donors after cardiac death transplantation in a 13-month-old recipient from a 2.5-month-old donor. Once exitus was certified, an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation circuit was established, cannulating the aorta and infrarenal vena cava, while the supra-aortic branches were clamped. The abdominal organs completely recovered from ischemia through normothermic regional perfusion (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation initially and beating heart later). After perfusion with the preservation solution, the multivisceral graft was uneventfully implanted. Two months later, the patient was discharged without any complications. This case demonstrates the possibility of reducing the time spent on the waiting list for these patients.

Job Insecurity and Company Behavior: Influence of Fear of Job Loss on Individual and Work Environment Factors.

The purpose of this research is to analyze to what extent job insecurity is related to different factors related with quality of work life. Specifically, it refers to the individual (work-family balance, job satisfaction, labor and professional development, motivation at work, and well-being at work) and work environment (conditions and environment and safety and health at work) dimensions of the construct. The sample group consisted of 842 workers (375 men and 467 women), aged between 18 and 68 years, from Bahía de Banderas, Mexico. Pearson correlation coefficients between the different variables were carried out, as well as MANOVA and ANOVA analyses and a linear regression analysis. The results showed that workers with low job insecurity obtained higher scores in work-family balance, job satisfaction, labor and professional development, motivation at work, well-being at work, conditions and environment, and safety and health at work, in relation to workers with moderate and high insecurity. The regression analysis confirmed that individual factors explain 24% and environmental factors 15% of job insecurity. This article makes an approximation to the phenomenon of job insecurity in the Mexican context, where the relationship of this variable with quality of work life is verified.

Impact of Bullying-Victimization and Gender over Psychological Distress, Suicidal Ideation, and Family Functioning of Mexican Adolescents.

Bullying victimization is strongly associated with increased psychological distress and suicide in adolescents and poor family functioning. Knowledge of gender differences influencing these factors will improve the prevention of mental problems and suicide in victimized adolescents. A total of 1685 Mexican secondary students, 12-17 years old (m = 13.65), of whom 54% were girls, responded to a standardized scale questionnaire to analyze such differences. Based on the statistical analysis, girls reported significantly lower family functioning and higher psychological distress and suicidal ideation than boys. The cluster analysis classified adolescents into high (5.78%), moderate (24.07%), and no-victimization (69.76%) groups. Boys predominated in the high (3.1%) and moderate-victimization (12.4%) clusters, and girls in the no-victimization group (39.51%). Multivariate statistical analyses found significant differences between the three groups, with the highest means of psychological distress and suicidal ideation and lowest family functioning in the high-victimization group. Only for suicidal ideation, there was an interaction between gender and the degree of victimization, with girls showing a higher increase of suicidal ideation than boys in the same cluster. Conclusions: Early detection and intervention in bullying-victimized adolescents, aiming to decrease psychological distress and suicidal ideation and strengthen family functioning, should consider contextual gender differences for effective prevention of mental health problems and suicide in adolescents.

Calcium-Dependent Regulation of the Neuronal Glycine Transporter GlyT2 by M2 Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptors.

The neuronal glycine transporter GlyT2 modulates inhibitory glycinergic neurotransmission and plays a key role in regulating nociceptive signal progression. The cholinergic system acting through muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) also mediates important regulations of nociceptive transmission being the M2 subtype the most abundantly expressed in the spinal cord. Here we studied the effect of M2 mAChRs stimulation on GlyT2 function co-expressed in a heterologous system with negligible levels of muscarinic receptor activity. We found GlyT2 is down-regulated by carbachol in a calcium-dependent manner. Different components involved in cell calcium homeostasis were analysed to establish a role in the mechanism of GlyT2 inhibition. GlyT2 down-regulation by carbachol was increased by thapsigargin and reduced by internal store depletion, although calcium release from endoplasmic reticulum or mitochondria had a minor role on GlyT2 inhibition. Our results are consistent with a GlyT2 sensitivity to intracellular calcium mobilized by M2 mAChRs in the subcortical area of the plasma membrane. A crucial role of the plasma membrane sodium calcium exchanger NCX is proposed.

Regulation of the Glycine Transporter GLYT1 by microRNAs.

The glycine transporter GLYT1 participates in inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmission by controlling the reuptake of this neuroactive substance from synapses. Over the past few years, microRNAs have emerged as potent negative regulators of gene expression. In this report, we investigate the possible regulation of GLYT1 by microRNAs. TargetScan software predicted the existence of multiple targets for microRNAs within the 3' UTR of the human GLYT1 (miR-7, miR-30, miR-96, miR-137 and miR-141), and as they are all conserved among mammalian orthologues, their effects on GLYT1 expression were determined experimentally. Dual reporter bioluminescent assays showed that only miR-96 and miR-137 down-regulated expression of the Renilla reporter fused to the 3' UTR of GLYT1. Mutations introduced into the target sequences blocked this inhibitory effect. Consistently, these two microRNAs downregulated the uptake of [3H]glycine into glial C6 cells, a cell line where GLYT1 is the main carrier for glycine. Moreover, the expression of endogenous GLYT1 in primary mixed cultures from rat spinal cord was decreased upon lentiviral expression of miR-96 and miR-137. Although the bulk of GLYT1 is glial, it is abundantly expressed in glycinergic neurons of the retina and in smaller amounts in glutamatergic neurons though the brain. Since miR-96 in the retina is strongly downregulated by light exposure, when rats were maintained in darkness for a few hours we observed a concomitant increase of GLYT1 expression, suggesting that at least miR-96 might be an important negative regulator of GLYT1 under physiological conditions.

Why Are Spanish Nurses Going to Work Sick? Questionnaire for the Measurement of Presenteeism in Nurses.

Presenteeism is defined as the presence of the worker at their workplace despite not being in optimal physical or mental conditions. Presenteeism is a phenomenon that has been poorly studied in the context of healthcare. Despite the many negative consequences associated with presenteeism, to date, no studies have investigated this issue in nurses in Spain. The objective was to develop and validate a questionnaire on presenteeism to be used by nursing staff in Spain. METHODS: A psychometric study for the development and validation of a questionnaire. The PRESENCA® questionnaire on presenteeism was created by a panel of experts, based on a survey comprised of 31 Likert-type items. RESULTS: In total, 355 nurses completed the questionnaire. The factorial analysis revealed the existence of 3 factors and confirmed appropriate levels of validity and reliability (alpha = 0.729). CONCLUSIONS: The PRESENCA® questionnaire is the first tool developed and validated in Spanish for the assessment of presenteeism in nursing. Our findings demonstrate that this scale has appropriate psychometric properties and its use may facilitate the detection of presenteeism among professionals. As a result, use of this questionnaire may contribute towards the improvement of clinical safety.

Metalliferous Mining Pollution and Its Impact on Terrestrial and Semi-terrestrial Vertebrates: A Review.

Metalliferous mining, a major source of metals and metalloids, has severe potential environmental impacts. However, the number of papers published in international peer-reviewed journals seems to be low regarding its effects in terrestrial wildlife. To the best of our knowledge, our review is the first on this topic. We used 186 studies published in scientific journals concerning metalliferous mining or mining spill pollution and their effects on terrestrial and semi-terrestrial vertebrates. We identified the working status of the mine complexes studied, the different biomarkers of exposure and effect used, and the studied taxa. Most studies (128) were developed in former mine sites and 46 in active mining areas. Additionally, although several mining accidents have occurred throughout the world, all papers about effects on terrestrial vertebrates from mining spillages were from Aznalcóllar (Spain). We also observed a lack of studies in some countries with a prominent mining industry. Despite >50% of the studies used some biomarker of effect, 42% of them only assessed exposure by measuring metal content in internal tissues or by non-invasive sampling, without considering the effect in their populations. Most studied species were birds and small mammals, with a negligible representation of reptiles and amphibians. The information gathered in this review could be helpful for future studies and protocols on the topic and it facilitates a database with valuable information on risk assessment of metalliferous mining pollution.

[Contribution of the occupational health to the COVID-19 pandemic control.] / Contribución de la salud laboral al control de la pandemia por covid-19 en España.

When the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 as a public health emergency of international concern, the Spanish Ministry of Health called the health, labor, social security authorities, Labor and Social Security Inspection, National Institute of Security and Occupational Health, employers, unions, occupational risk prevention services, mutual societies and scientific societies of occupational medicine and nursing, to collaborate in the control of the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in companies. The Occupational Health Group of the Public Health Commission of the Interterritorial Council of the National Health System, developed the Procedure for the prevention of occupational risks in the face of exposure to SARS-CoV-2, which has been updated 15 times until the date. It contains the prevention measures to be implemented in the workplaces: organizational and collective protection, personal protection, especially vulnerable worker and risk level, study and management of cases and contacts that occurred in the company, collaboration in the management of temporary disability and, more recently, reincorporation and management of vaccinated workers. As a result of these cooperation and collaboration frameworks, a series of activities were deployed in the workplace, which are described in this article.

Cuando la Organización Mundial de la Salud declaró la Covid-19 como una emergencia de salud pública de importancia internacional, el Ministerio de Sanidad convocó a las autoridades sanitarias, laborales, de seguridad social, Inspección de Trabajo y Seguridad Social, Instituto Nacional de Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo, empresarios, sindicatos, servicios de prevención de riesgos laborales, mutuas y sociedades científicas de la medicina y enfermería del trabajo, para colaborar en el control de la transmisión del SARS-CoV-2 en el ámbito de las empresas. La Ponencia de Salud Laboral de la Comisión de Salud Pública del Consejo Interterritorial del Sistema Nacional de Salud, elaboró el Procedimiento para los servicios de prevención de riesgos laborales frente a la exposición al SARS-CoV-2, que se ha actualizado 15 veces hasta la fecha. En él se recogen las medidas de prevención a implantar en los centros de trabajo: de carácter organizativo y de protección colectiva, de protección personal, de trabajador especialmente vulnerable y nivel de riesgo, de estudio y manejo de casos y contactos ocurridos en la empresa, de colaboración en la gestión de la incapacidad temporal y, más recientemente, de reincorporación y gestión de las y los trabajadores vacunados. Como resultado de esos marcos de cooperación y colaboración se desplegaron una serie de actividades en los lugares de trabajo que son descritas en este artículo.

Temporal trends of inorganic elements in a common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) population from south west Spain.

Historical variations (1966-2016) in the exposure to inorganic elements in raptors of South West Spain have been little studied. Therefore, uncertainty exists concerning whether environmental or anthropogenic inputs, as well as dietary strategy shift, may cause changes in exposure patterns. To address this gap, essential and non-essential inorganic elements were measured in Common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) feathers from museum specimens and free-living individuals spanning a 50-year period. Moreover, stable isotopes of δ13C and δ15N were also measured as proxies of Common kestrel feeding ecology over time. In general, all elements showed significant increasing trends overtime, suggesting changes of inputs from local sources. Moreover, δ15N signatures were correlated to the variations in Al, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Ni, P, Pb, Rb, Sr, Ti, V and Zn concentrations, suggesting trophic changes in this kestrel population as well as possible biomagnification processes. Finally, some values of Cr, Mn and Pb were above the threshold concentrations of potential toxicity.

Job Insecurity, Family Functionality and Mental Health: A Comparative Study between Male and Female Hospitality Workers.

The aim of the present article is to compare the family functionality, mental health and job insecurity of employees of the hospitality industry in Puerto Vallarta and Bahía de Banderas, in México. This is a quantitative and cross-sectional study. The sample was selected by non-probabilistic sampling for convenience and comprised a total of 914 people, of whom 438 were women (47.92%) and 476 were men (52.08%). The women surveyed reported more somatic symptoms, anxiety, insomnia and social dysfunction compared to men, which allows the conclusion that their mental health is vulnerable; meanwhile, men showed better perception of family functionality, a positive factor that reveals the family as a potential support factor that reduces stress, anxiety and improves men's mental health. Another result reveals that the gender structure permeates the hotel sector, inequalities in the type of contract and income are corroborated, and the existence of a sexual division of labor to the detriment of women is confirmed, as they are mostly employed in low-skilled jobs that reproduce domestic tasks, particularly those related to cleaning and food service tasks.

Bullying Victimization among Mexican Adolescents: Psychosocial Differences from an Ecological Approach.

This transversal study over a random representative sample of 1687 Mexican students attending public and private secondary schools (54% girls, 12-17 years old, M = 13.65. DT = 1.14) aimed to analyze psychosocial differences between victims and non-victims of bullying from the bioecological model. It included individual variables (ontosystem), familiar, community, and scholar factors (microsystem), and gender (macrosystem) to perform a multivariate discriminant analysis and a logistic regression analysis. The discriminant analysis found that psychological distress, offensive communication with mother and father, and a positive attitude toward social norms transgression characterized the high victimization cluster. For the non-victims, the discriminant variables were community implication, positive attitude toward institutional authority, and open communication with the mother. These variables allowed for correctly predicting membership in 76% of the cases. Logistic regression analysis found that psychological distress, offensive communication with the father, and being a boy increased the probability of high victimization, while a positive attitude toward authority, open communication with the mother, and being a girl decrease this probability. These results highlight the importance of open and offensive communication between adolescents and their parents on psychological distress, attitude toward authority, community implication, and bullying victimization.

Feathers and hair as tools for non-destructive pollution exposure assessment in a mining site of the Iberian Pyrite Belt.

Mining is responsible of releasing trace elements to the environment with potential negative effects on wildlife. Traditionally, wildlife exposure assessment has been developed by analyzing mainly environmental compartments or internal tissues. Nowadays, the use of non-destructive matrices such as hair or feathers has increased. Nevertheless, its use in free-living terrestrial mammals or in birds other than raptors or passerines is less frequent. The main objective of our study was to determine the potential for hair and feathers in a rabbit and bird species to be used as non-invasive proxy tissues for assessing internal metal concentrations at polluted sites from mining. We tested whether hair of European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and feathers of red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa) can be used as non-destructive biological monitoring tools of both essential (Cu, Zn) and non-essential (Pb, Cd, As) trace elements in a currently active copper mining site. We found significant different concentrations, particularly in non-essential elements, between reference area and mining site. Non-essential elements Pb and Cd showed higher correlations between tissues and hair/feathers, while few significant patterns were observed for essential elements such as Cu and Zn. Although feathers showed lower levels of correlation with internal tissues than hair, both could be useful as non-destructive biological monitoring tools. Further tissues, and more importantly, hair and feathers allowed discrimination between polluted and reference sites to indicate bioavailability and pollution status. In addition, hair and feathers can be used in monitoring pollution of an active mining site, being specially interesting for biomonitoring a certain period of time in the event of a particular episode of pollution, in addition to the chronic exposure. As occurred with hair in rabbits, feathers seem to be a good compartment to detect differences between a potential polluted area, such the surrounding of an active mine site, and a non-polluted area.

Overexpression of P2X3 and P2X7 Receptors and TRPV1 Channels in Adrenomedullary Chromaffin Cells in a Rat Model of Neuropathic Pain.

We have tested the hypothesis that neuropathic pain acting as a stressor drives functional plasticity in the sympathoadrenal system. The relation between neuropathic pain and adrenal medulla function was studied with behavioral, immunohistochemical and electrophysiological techniques in rats subjected to chronic constriction injury of the sciatic nerve. In slices of the adrenal gland from neuropathic animals, we have evidenced increased cholinergic innervation and spontaneous synaptic activity at the splanchnic nerve⁻chromaffin cell junction. Likewise, adrenomedullary chromaffin cells displayed enlarged acetylcholine-evoked currents with greater sensitivity to α-conotoxin RgIA, a selective blocker of α9 subunit-containing nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, as well as increased exocytosis triggered by voltage-activated Ca2+ entry. Altogether, these adaptations are expected to facilitate catecholamine output into the bloodstream. Last, but most intriguing, functional and immunohistochemical data indicate that P2X3 and P2X7 purinergic receptors and transient receptor potential vanilloid-1 (TRPV1) channels are overexpressed in chromaffin cells from neuropathic animals. These latter observations are reminiscent of molecular changes characteristic of peripheral sensitization of nociceptors following the lesion of a peripheral nerve, and suggest that similar phenomena can occur in other tissues, potentially contributing to behavioral manifestations of neuropathic pain.

P2X receptors up-regulate the cell-surface expression of the neuronal glycine transporter GlyT2.

Glycinergic inhibitory neurons of the spinal dorsal horn exert critical control over the conduction of nociceptive signals to higher brain areas. The neuronal glycine transporter 2 (GlyT2) is involved in the recycling of synaptic glycine from the inhibitory synaptic cleft and its activity modulates intra and extracellular glycine concentrations. In this report we show that the stimulation of P2X purinergic receptors with ßγ-methylene adenosine 5'-triphosphate induces the up-regulation of GlyT2 transport activity by increasing total and plasma membrane expression and reducing transporter ubiquitination. We identified the receptor subtypes involved by combining pharmacological approaches, siRNA-mediated protein knockdown, and dorsal root ganglion cell enrichment in brainstem and spinal cord primary cultures. Up-regulation of GlyT2 required the combined stimulation of homomeric P2X3 and P2X2 receptors or heteromeric P2X2/3 receptors. We measured the spontaneous glycinergic currents, glycine release and GlyT2 uptake concurrently in response to P2X receptor agonists, and showed that the impact of P2X3 receptor activation on glycinergic neurotransmission involves the modulation of GlyT2 expression or activity. The recognized pro-nociceptive action of P2X3 receptors suggests that the fine-tuning of GlyT2 activity may have consequences in nociceptive signal conduction.

The role of density-dependence regulation in the misleading effect of the Aznalcollar mining spill on the booted eagle fecundity.

The aim of this study was to assess the exposure and potential effects of the toxic elements released by the Aznalcollar spillage on the fecundity of the booted eagle (Hieraetus pennatus) population of Doñana National Park. We measured As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn, Sb and Tl levels in the blood of 24 individuals after the accident and also used data of reproductive performance of the species from 1976 to 2000. While As, Sb and Tl were below their detection limits and only 3 samples were above detection limit for Cd (0.02-0.04µg/dl), mean levels of Cu, Zn and Pb (µg/dl) were found to be 38.736, 532.937 and 0.719, respectively, in fledglings; and 66.112, 652.571 and 1.825, respectively, in adults. These levels were higher in adults, but they did not differ significantly between age classes and were at safe levels. In addition, a positive relationship between relative fecundity and the combination of Cu, Zn and Pb was observed. Following the mining spill, the mean population fecundity was lower (0.536 fledglings per pair in the population) than before (1.093). However, the decrease in fecundity over time was also related to the increase of breeding pairs, suggesting a density-dependent regulation and nullifying the mining spillage effect. Thus, although raptors have proved to be highly valuable biomonitors of environmental pollution, we must be especially cautious and go beyond the apparent effects that sometimes we quickly believe to detect, leading us to reach mistaken conclusions that could affect our management plans.

Terapia familiar inclusiva: en busca de padres efectivos / Terapia familiar inclusiva: em busca de pais efetivos / Inclusive family therapy: in search of effective fathers

Este trabajo se enfoca en la paternidad, específicamente en aquellas personas que otorgan un gran poder a la narrativa de la familia tradicional machista y que vivieron maltrato o ausencia del padre biológico. Este se sustenta en el paradigma del afrontamiento desde la Terapia Familiar Inclusiva. Se utilizó la metodología estudio de casos exploratorio, en el contexto clínico. Mediante un diálogo biográfico, desde los discursos de tensión, se recuperan experiencias vividas, en particular de otras personas de la red de apoyo que cumplieron con una parentalidad nutricia, con el fin de restaurar el bienestar psicológico de las personas.(AU)

Este trabalho centra-se na parentalidade, especificamente naquelas pessoas que dão grande poder à narrativa da família tradicional machista e que viveram maltrato ou ausência do pai biológico. Isto é baseado no paradigma de confronto desde a Terapia Familiar Inclusiva. Foi utilizada a metodologia estudo exploratório de casos na prática clínica. Através de um diálogo biográfico dos discursos de tensão, se recuperam experiências vividas, especialmente de outras pessoas da rede de apoio que cumpriram com uma parentalidade nutrícia, a fim de restaurar o bem-estar psicológico das pessoas.(AU)

This paper focuses on parenting, specifically those that give great power to the narrative of the traditional family and lived sexist abuse or absence of his biological father. This is based on coping's paradigm from Inclusive Family Therapy. The exploratory case study methodology in the clinical setting was used. Through a biographical dialogue from the strain narratives, life experiences recover, in particular other people's network support that accomplish a nurturing parenting. The aim is to restore the person's wellbeing.(AU)

Fecal nitrogen concentration as a nutritional quality indicator for European rabbit ecological studies.

Measuring the quality of the nutritional resources available to wild herbivores is critical to understanding trophic regulation processes. However, the direct assessment of dietary nutritional characteristics is usually difficult, which hampers monitoring nutritional constraints in natural populations. The feeding ecology of ruminant herbivores has been often assessed by analyzing fecal nitrogen (FN) concentrations, although this method has been less evaluated in other taxa. This study analyzed the suitability of FN as an indicator of ingesta quality in the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), which is a keystone lagomorph species in Mediterranean ecosystems and of great conservation interest. Firstly, domestic O. cuniculus were used to evaluate under experimental conditions the accuracy of total FN and the metabolic FN as diet quality indicators of forages with characteristics similar to those available under natural conditions. Secondly, the accuracy of Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) to calculate FN was tested using partial least squares regression. Thirdly, a pilot field study was conducted to monitor FN dynamics from wild O. cuniculus in three different habitats during wet and drought periods. A strong association was found between diet type and total FN and metabolic FN (Pseudo-R(2) ≥ 0.89). It was also found that NIRS calibrations were accurate for depicting nitrogen concentrations (R(2) > 0.98 between NIRS and chemical results). Finally, the seasonal FN dynamics measured in the field were consistent with current knowledge on vegetation dynamics and forage limitations in the three habitats. The results support the use of NIRS methods and FN indices as a reliable and affordable approach to monitoring the nutritional quality of rabbit habitats. Potential applications include the assessment of the mechanistic relationships between resource limitations and population abundance, e.g., in relation to natural drought cycles and to habitat interventions aimed at reinforcing rabbit populations.

Glycine transporters GlyT1 and GlyT2 are differentially modulated by glycogen synthase kinase 3ß.

Inhibitory glycinergic neurotransmission is terminated by the specific glycine transporters GlyT1 and GlyT2 which actively reuptake glycine from the synaptic cleft. GlyT1 is associated with both glycinergic and glutamatergic pathways, and is the main regulator of the glycine levels in the synapses. GlyT2 is the main supplier of glycine for vesicle refilling, a process that is vital to preserve the quantal glycine content in synaptic vesicles. Therefore, to control glycinergic neurotransmission efficiently, GlyT1 and GlyT2 activity must be regulated by diverse neuronal and glial signaling pathways. In this work, we have investigated the possible functional modulation of GlyT1 and GlyT2 by glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3ß). This kinase is involved in mood stabilization, neurodegeneration and plasticity at excitatory and inhibitory synapses. The co-expression of GSK3ß with GlyT1 or GlyT2 in COS-7 cells and Xenopus laevis oocytes, leads to inhibition and stimulation of GlyT1 and GlyT2 activities, respectively, with a decrease of GlyT1, and an increase in GlyT2 levels at the plasma membrane. The specificity of these changes is supported by the antagonism exerted by a catalytically inactive form of the kinase and through inhibitors of GSK3ß such as lithium chloride and TDZD-8. GSK3ß also increases the incorporation of 32Pi into GlyT1 and decreases that of GlyT2. The pharmacological inhibition of the endogenous GSK3ß in neuron cultures of brainstem and spinal cord leads to an opposite modulation of GlyT1 and GlyT2.Our results suggest that GSK3ß is important for stabilizing and/or controlling the expression of functional GlyTs on the neural cell surface.