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En este estudio se presentan los resultados de la adaptación a grupos I+D universitarios de habla hispanade la encuesta sobre cultura organizacional de Denison. Este cuestionario, compuesto por 60 ítems que identifican 12 tipos culturales, que a su vez se agrupan en cuatro dimensiones, ha demostrado su influencia para aumentar la efectividad organizacional. La adaptación al castellano que aquí se propone ha sido aplicada a 488 personas pertenecientes a 39 grupos de I+D tecnológicos de la Universidad Politécnica de Valencia. Los resultados obtenidos muestran unas propiedades psicométricas adecuadas para la adaptación realizada en cuanto a validez y fiabilidad, que replican casi en su totalidad la estructura del modelo de la versión original.

Leptin is one of the main adipokines secreted in breast tissue. Leptin promotes epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), cell migration and invasion in epithelial breast cells, leading to tumor progression. Although, the molecular mechanisms that underlie these events are not fully understood, the activation of different signaling pathways appears to be essential. In this sense, the effects of leptin on the activation of kinases like Src and FAK, which regulate signaling pathways that activate the EMT program, are not completely described. Therefore, we investigated the involvement of these kinases using an in vitro model for leptin-induced EMT process in the non-tumorigenic MCF10A cell line. To this end, MCF10A cells were stimulated with leptin, and Src and FAK activation was assessed. Specific events occurring during EMT were also evaluated in the presence or absence of the kinases’ chemical inhibitors PP2 and PF-573228. For instance, we tested the expression and subcellular localization of the EMT-related transcription factors Twist and β-catenin, by western blot and immunofluorescence. We also evaluated the secretion and activation of matrix metalloproteases (MMP-2 and MMP-9) by gelatin zymography. Invasiveness properties of leptin-stimulated cells were determined by invadopodia formation assays, and by the Transwell chamber method. Our results showed that leptin promotes EMT through Src and FAK activation, which leads to the secretion and activation of MMP-2 and MMP-9, invadopodia formation and cell invasion in MCF10A cells. In conclusion, our data suggest that leptin promotes an increase in the expression levels of Twist and β-catenin, the secretion of MMP-2, MMP-9, the invadopodia formation and invasion in MCF10A cells in a Src and FAK-dependent manner.

Diabetes is a chronic and noncommunicable but preventable disease that is affecting the Mexican population at worrying levels, being the first place in prevalence worldwide. Early diabetes detection has become important to prevent other health conditions that involve low organ yield until the patient death. Based on this problem, this work proposes the architecture of an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) for the automated classification of healthy patients from diabetics patients. The analysis was performed used a set of 19 para-clinical features to determine the health status of the patients. The developed model was evaluated through a statistical analysis based on the calculation of the loss function, accuracy, area under the curve (AUC) and receiving operating characteristics (ROC) curve. The results obtained present statistically significant values, with accuracy of 0.94 and AUC values of 0.98. Based on these results, it is possible to conclude that the ANN implemented in this work can classify patients with presence of diabetes from controls with significant accuracy, presenting preliminary results for the development of a diagnostic tool that can be supportive for health specialists.

In recent years, technology has allowed the development of new diagnostic techniques which allow real-time, in vivo, noninvasive evaluation of morphological changes in tissue. This study compares and correlates the images and findings obtained by high-definition optical coherence tomography (HD-OCT) and reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) with histology in normal healthy oral mucosa. The healthy lip mucosa of ten adult volunteers was imaged with HD-OCT and RCM. Each volunteer was systematically evaluated by RCM starting in the uppermost part of the epithelium down to the lamina propia. Afterwards, volunteers were examined with a commercially available full-field HD-OCT system using both the “slice” and the “en-face” mode. A “punch” biopsy of the lower lip mucosa was obtained and prepared for conventional histology. The architectural overview offered by “slice” mode HD-OCT correlates with histologic findings at low magnification. In the superficial uppermost layers of the epithelium, RCM imaging provided greater cellular detail than histology. As we deepened into the suprabasal layers, the findings are in accordance with physiological cellular differentiation and correlate with the images obtained from conventional histology. The combined use of these two novel non-invasive imaging techniques provides morphological imaging with sufficient resolution and penetration depth, resulting in quasihistological images.

Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) plays an important role in function and development of the mammary gland. However, high levels of IGF-1 has been associated with an increased risk of breast cancer development. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a process where epithelial cells lose their epithelial characteristics and acquire a mesenchymal phenotype, which is considered one of the most important mechanisms in cancer initiation and promotion of metastasis. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are released into the extracellular space by different cell types, which mediate intercellular communication and play an important role in different physiological and pathological processes, such as cancer. In this study, we demonstrate that EVs from MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells stimulated with IGF-1 (IGF-1 EVs) decrease the levels of E-cadherin, increase the expression of vimentin and N-cadherin and stimulate the secretion of metalloproteinase-9 in mammary non-tumorigenic epithelial cells MCF10A. IGF-1 EVs also induce the expression of Snail1, Twist1 and Sip1, which are transcription factors involved in EMT. Moreover, IGF-1 EVs induce activation of ERK1/2, Akt1 and Akt2, migration and invasion. In summary, we demonstrate, for the first time, that IGF-1 EVs induce an EMT process in mammary non-tumorigenic epithelial cells MCF10A.

Several matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and psychological stress are associated with poor cancer prognosis. The current work goal was to determine MMPs’ and stress hormones’ blood concentrations from lung adenocarcinoma (LAC) patients. Patients were divided into the following groups: tobacco smokers (TS), wood smoke-exposed (W), passive smokers (PS), TS exposed to wood smoke (TW), and patients with no recognizable risk factor (N). MMPs, tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs), adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol blood concentrations were measured by ELISA. Zymography and Western blot assays were performed to determine MMP-2 and MMP-9 active and latent forms. MMP-2, MMP-3, MMP-9, and TIMP-1 blood concentrations, and MMP-9 gelatinase activity were augmented, while MMP-12, MMP-14, and TIMP-2 were diminished in LAC patients. Cortisol was increased in LAC samples. Adrenaline concentrations were higher in W, TS, and TW, and noradrenaline was increased in W and N groups. Positive correlations were observed among cortisol and TIMP-1 ( r s = 0.392 ) and TIMP-2 ( r s = 0.409 ) in the W group and between noradrenaline and MMP-2 ( r s = 0.391 ) in the N group. MMPs’ blood concentration increments can be considered as lung cancer progression markers. Although stress hormones were also augmented, only weak correlations were observed between them and MMPs and TIMPs.