Evaluación del estado y composición de la Comunidad Fitoplanctónica de las agua del Mar Menor, Murcia (mayo de 2016)

La preocupación, compartida con todos los ciudadanos, por el deterioro de la laguna en las últimas décadas, nos ha llevado a centrar parte de nuestro esfuerzo investigador en el Mar Menor. En este sentido, los indicadores observados durante el pasado año, parecían adelantar la visualización dramática de la situación actual. Los elementos de tampón y autoprotección de la laguna que hasta el momento se consideraban que podían controlar, en parte, las graves presiones antrópicas, estaban siendo alterados (temperaturas cálidas durante todo el año, alteración en los bloom de medusas habituales los últimos años, disminución de la cobertura del tapiz de Caulerpa prolifera, como especie de gran eficiencia en la retirada de nutrientes, etc) y hacían prever la proximidad de un "colapso ambiental". En esta situación, comenzó la inquietud de colectivos y usuarios en general, entre otros, el colectivo de pescadores. Estos últimos, vieron agravada su preocupación, "como consecuencia de la observación de baba en los últimos meses y la turbidez de las aguas en la época (invierno), que a diferencia de otros años resulta superior". Por ello, la Cofradía de Pescadores de San Pedro del Pinatar, solicitó en el mes de enero y posteriormente el mes de mayo del presente año, la realización de un informe/investigación relativo al estado de las aguas del Mar Menor. Solicitud que fue canalizada en el marco de la Unidad mixta UA-IEO. Tras una primera prospección de las posibles actuaciones llevadas a cabo por las diferentes administraciones competentes, se llegó a la conclusión de que no existía, en ese momento (o al menos de forma pública), ningún equipo de investigación técnico y/o científico que estuviese realizando campañas de muestreo sobre la comunidad fitoplanctónica o parámetros asociados en la laguna. Es por ello que en pro del bien común, se asumió la realización de este estudio. En el mes de febrero, se detectó la presencia de un evento de Floración Algal Nocivo (FAN), dominado por la especie Cylindrotheca closterium. La cual es considerada una especie fitoplanctónica nociva por la producción de mucílagos cuando está presente en elevadas concentraciones, situación observada en las muestras analizadas, y causante de la "baba" descrita por los pescadores. Estos primeros resultados nos llevaron a la realización de una segunda campaña de muestreo, asumida con recursos propios del mismo equipo investigador. Se muestrearon mediante metodología estandarizada, 14 puntos distribuidos de forma regular en toda la laguna, tal y como se explica en el informe adjunto. Los resultados mostraron que todas las muestras poseían una elevada abundancia celular, persistiendo la existencia de un evento de Floración Nociva Algal (FAN). El incremento de dinoflagelados hacía aconsejable un análisis específico de toxinas en el medio y en los organismos afectados. Asumiendo nuestro compromiso y responsabilidad como investigadores de instituciones públicas, y acogiéndonos a las obligaciones marcadas por la Directiva INSPIRE 2007/2/CE y la Ley 19/2013, de 9 de diciembre, de transparencia, acceso a la información pública y buen gobierno, los resultados se hacen públicos. En base a estos resultados las administraciones competentes deberían activar un protocolo de seguimiento con una periodicidad mínima semanal y en el que se llevase a cabo un estudio de la evolución de la comunidad fitoplanctónica, así como análisis específicos de toxinas. Con el fin de poder analizar la evolución del estado de la laguna en estos meses críticos

Development of a prediction model for short-term remission of patients with Crohn’s disease treated with anti-TNF drugs

Therapy with anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) has dramatically changed the natural history of Crohn’s disease (CD). However, these drugs are not without adverse events, and up to 40% of patients could lose efficacy in the long term. We aimed to identify reliable markers of response to anti-TNF drugs in patients with CD. A consecutive cohort of 113 anti-TNF naive patients with CD was stratified according to clinical response as short-term remission (STR) or non-STR (NSTR) at 12 weeks of treatment. We compared the protein expression profiles of plasma samples in a subset of patients from both groups prior to anti-TNF therapy by SWATH proteomics. We identified 18 differentially expressed proteins (p ≤ 0.01, fold change ≥ 2.4) involved in the organization of the cytoskeleton and cell junction, hemostasis/platelet function, carbohydrate metabolism, and immune response as candidate biomarkers of STR. Among them, vinculin was one of the most deregulated proteins (p < 0.001), whose differential expression was confirmed by ELISA (p = 0.054). In the multivariate analysis, plasma vinculin levels along with basal CD Activity Index, corticosteroids induction, and bowel resection were factors predicting NSTR

Evaluating the extent and impact of the extreme Storm Gloria on Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows

Extreme storms can trigger abrupt and often lasting changes in ecosystems by affecting foundational (habitat-forming) species. While the frequency and intensity of extreme events are projected to increase under climate change, its impacts on seagrass ecosystems remain poorly documented. In January 2020, the Spanish Mediterranean coast was hit by Storm Gloria, one of the most devastating recent climate events in terms of intensity and duration. We conducted rapid surveys of 42 Posidonia oceanica meadows across the region to evaluate the extent and type of impact (burial, unburial and uprooting). We investigated the significance of oceanographic (wave impact model), geomorphological (latitude, depth, exposure), and structural (patchiness) factors in predicting impact extent and intensity. The predominant impact of Storm Gloria was shoot unburial. More than half of the surveyed sites revealed recent unburial, with up to 40 cm of sediment removed, affecting over 50 % of the meadow. Burial, although less extensive, was still significant, with 10–80 % of meadow cover being buried under 7 cm of sediment, which is considered a survival threshold for P. oceanica. In addition, we observed evident signs of recently dead matte in some meadows and large amounts of detached drifting shoots on the sea bottom or accumulated as debris on the beaches. Crucially, exposed and patchy meadows were much more vulnerable to the overall impact than sheltered or continuous meadows. Given how slow P. oceanica is able to recover after disturbances, we state that it could take from decades to centuries for it to recoup its losses. Seagrass ecosystems play a vital role as coastal ecological infrastructure. Protecting vulnerable meadows from anthropogenic fragmentation is crucial for ensuring the resilience of these ecosystems in the face of the climate crisis.This study was funded by the CSIC project “Effects of storm Gloria on the western Mediterranean meadows (202030E052) and “Storms of change: as phenomena extreme weather alters Mediterranean coastal ecosystems, their services and their perception by society" (PID2020-113745RB-I00), state program of I+D+I Oriented to the Challenges of the Society and within the framework of the activities of the Spanish Government through the "Maria de Maeztu Centre of Excellence” accreditation to IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB) (CEX2021-001198). We want to thank the SPAS (Society of Fishing and Underwater Activities of Mataró) and the Mataró City Council, which has financed 25 years of the Alguer de Mataró project

Association study of genetic variants of pro-inflammatory chemokine and cytokine genes in systemic lupus erythematosus

BACKGROUND: Several lines of evidence suggest that chemokines and cytokines play an important role in the inflammatory development and progression of systemic lupus erythematosus. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relevance of functional genetic variations of RANTES, IL-8, IL-1α, and MCP-1 for systemic lupus erythematosus. METHODS: The study was conducted on 500 SLE patients and 481 ethnically matched healthy controls. Genotyping of polymorphisms in the RANTES, IL-8, IL-1α, and MCP-1 genes were performed using a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) system with pre-developed TaqMan allelic discrimination assay. RESULTS: No significant differences between SLE patients and healthy controls were observed when comparing genotype, allele or haplotype frequencies of the RANTES, IL-8, IL-1α, and MCP-1 polymorphisms. In addition, no evidence for association with clinical sub-features of SLE was found. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the tested functional variation of RANTES, IL-8, IL-1α, and MCP-1 genes do not confer a relevant role in the susceptibility or severity of SLE in the Spanish population

BIM aplicado al patrimonio cultural

La asociación buildingSMART tiene como principal objetivo fomentar la eficacia en el sector de la construcción a través del uso de estándares abiertos de interoperabilidad con la metodología BIM (Building InformationMode-ling). Para ello, cuenta con una estructura de grupos de trabajo a nivel internacional para abordar diferentes cues-tiones al respecto. Sin embargo, en el ámbito del Patrimonio Cultural, no existe en la actualidad una aproximación internacional sobre el uso de BIM, y es por lo que buildingSMART Spanish Chapter ha puesto en marcha un grupo de trabajo abierto, denominado LEGEND–HBIM, y que está centrado en BIM aplicado al Patrimonio Cultural. De este modo, buildingSMART Spanish Chapter continua la laborde promover el uso de la metodología BIM a través de guías como esta, que supone una continuación de las guías uBIM publicadas en el año 2014

El reto de la inclusión de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible en la formación inicial de profesores de secundaria: creación del MOOC curso cero sobre educación y ODS, inclusión en asignaturas y en trabajos fin de máster

Memoria ID-041. Ayudas de la Universidad de Salamanca para la innovación docente, curso 2021-2022

Measurement of haptoglobin in saliva of cows : Validation of an assay and a pilot study of its potential application

In recent years, the use of saliva as a matrix for the measurement of biomarkers of health and welfare is gaining importance due to its non-invasive collection. Haptoglobin (Hp) is an acute-phase protein involved in the inflammatory response and changes in its concentration can provide information about the health status of the animals. This study aimed to develop and validate an assay based on luminescent amplification (AlphaLISA technology) for the measurement of Hp in bovine saliva and to study the possible changes in different inflammatory situations such as peripartum period and lameness. The assay proved to be accurate, reliable, and sensitive for the measurement of Hp in cow saliva (coefficient of variation (CV) 7.57%; coefficient of determination (R) 0.992; recovery test 105.15%; lower limit of quantification (LLQ) 7.9 ng/ml). Significant differences were observed between Hp levels in saliva of cows before (13 days before) and after (7 and 20 days after) calving and at the moment of calving (p < 0.0001), and between lame and healthy cows (p < 0.008). In conclusion, this assay can detect Hp in a precise, sensitive, and accurate way in saliva of cows. Future studies with a larger population and different disease conditions should be conducted to determine the potential of Hp as an inflammatory biomarker in cow saliva

An outbreak of the invasive macroalgae Rugulopteryx okamurae in Alicante Bay and its colonization on dead Posidonia oceanica matte

We report the first occurrence of Rugulopteryx okamurae in Alicante Bay, the northernmost location in the Iberian Mediterranean where this species was detected. Collected specimens were studied using a morphological and molecular approach. A rapid assessment survey was conducted to assess its presence and abundance in the nearest beach-cast and infralittoral areas. The highest abundance was found over dead P. oceanica matte, occupying an important extension in the bay. We found detached fragments of R. okamurae dispersed by local hydrodynamics, accumulating on some tourist beaches in the region. The potential suitability of the Mediterranean for its spread necessitates monitoring programs to study its variation over time and potential impacts on native biota

Permian-Triassic Rifting Stage

International audienceThe Permian-Triassic rifting represents the first of the two Mesozoic rifting stages recorded in the Iberian Peninsula. Its first phases of development started during the Early Permian, and were linked to the beginning of the break-up of Pangea, the large, unique and rheologically unstable supercontinent that mainly resulted from the collision of Gondwana and Laurussia. This chapter analyzes this first rifting stage in Iberia in two separate phases, an initial or tectonic phase, and a later mature phase. This analysis focuses on the main Permian-Triassic basins of the Iberian Peninsula: the Pyrenean, Iberian, Catalan, Ebro and Betic basins, as well as the basins located in the present-day Balearic Islands. In order to achieve a better understanding of the analyses of these basins, a multidisciplinary approach has been carried out by 48 researchers, including studies of tectonics, sedimentology, magmatism, mineralogy, geochemistry and paleontology