RALF/LRX monitor cell wall integrity during tomato fruit formation

Plant developmental processes depend largely on a correct communication between cells, together with the ability to respond to such communication. Traditionally cell to cell communication has been studied through the action of phytohormones such as auxin, ethylene, etc. However, in the past decade, Small Signaling Peptides (SSPs) have been identified as key regulators coordinating an extensive range of developmental and stress processes. Plant cells perceive SSPs at the cell wall by Receptor-Like Kinases (RLKs), activating a huge range of biochemical and physiological processes. SSPs from Rapid Alkalinization Factor (RALFs) family are ubiquitous in dicot plants and they have been associated to cell wall integrity during cell wall remodeling. RALFs peptides can bind two types of receptors: Leucine-Rich Repeat Extensin proteins (LRXs), and Catharanthus roseus RLK1-Like (CrRLK1L). All recent discoveries remark the importance of RALF/LRX/CrRLK1L module regulating cell wall status. A tomato fruit formation is a perfect model to further understand the role of this mechanism, since requires a tightly regulation during the cell wall softening phase. It has already been reported that some members of CrRLK1Ls regulate fruit ripening in few species like tomato, strawberry or apple, remarking the importance of these receptors and their ligands sensing changes produced in the cell wall during the ripening process. Here, we initiate a biochemical and phenotypical characterization of RALF/LRX proteins in order to elucidate their role during tomato ripening process

Aberration compensation for objective phase curvature in phase holographic microscopy: comment

In a recent Letter by Seo et al. [Opt. Lett. 37, 4976 (2012)], the numerical correction of the quadratic phase distortion introduced by the microscope objective in digital holographic microscopy (DHM) has been presented. In this comment, we would like to draw to the attention of the authors and the readers in general that this approach could not be the optimal solution for maintaining the accuracy of the quantitative phase via DHM. We recall that the use of telecentric imaging systems in DHM simplifies the numerical processing of the phase images and produces more accurate measurements

New advances in high-resolution optical microscopy

La microscopio ía tiene como nalidad observar muestras que no pueden distinguirse a simple vista por el ojo humano dado que el tamaño de ellas es menor que su l mite de resoluci on. Un microscopio produce una imagen ampliada de la muestra a analizar. Debido a que la microscopía es un instrumento b asico para la ciencia de la vida y de los materiales, en esta Tesis se desarrolla un estudio exhaustivo de la microscopía óptica. Los microscopios opticos se pueden con gurar de diferentes formas para producir im agenes con diferentes caracter sticas. El microscopio de campo amplio, el m as simple de todos, presenta algunas limitaciones que debe ser superadas para obtener im agenes de mayor calidad. Entre estas limitaciones encontramos: el barrido axial mec anico para proporcionar toda la informaci on de la estructura de la muestra, la presencia de aberraci ón esf érica debido a los desajustes del í ndice de refracci ón entre el medio de inmersi on del objetivo, el cubreobjetos y la muestra, la limitaci ón de la resoluci ón espacial impuesta por la difracci ón y la incapacidad de obtener im ágenes cuantitativas de fase. Tales limitaciones se analizan en esta Tesis y se proponen algunas soluciones con el fi n de proporcionar mejores im ágenes micros ópicas. En particular, nosotros hemos obtenido: (1) un r ápido barrido axial de muestras gruesas, en tiempo real y sin ning ún movimiento mecánico, (2) un microscopio invariante a la aberraci ón esf érica, (3) im agenes con alta resoluci on lateral y seccionado optico y (4) im agenes cuantitativas de fase precisas y sin deteriorar el l mite de resoluci on. Todos estos resultados se han demostrado tanto te oricamente como experimentalmente.Microscopy is the science which aim is to view objects that can not be distinguished with the naked eye because the size of those objects are not within its resolution range. A microscope produces an enlarged image of a sample under research. Since microscopy is an essential tool for live and material sciences, this Thesis is devoted to study thoroughly optical microscopy. Optical microscopes can be performed in di erent ways to provide resulting images with di erent features. The simplest optical microscope is the wide eld microscope. However it presents some limitations that needs to be overcome to obtain high-quality images. Among these limitations we nd: axial mechanical scanning to provide the whole structure of a sample, the presence of spherical aberration due to the refractive-index mismatches between the immersion medium of the microscope objective, the coverglass and the specimen, the limitation of spatial resolution imposed by di raction and the inability of obtaining quantitative phase images. Such limitations are analyzed in this Thesis and some solutions are proposed in order to provide better microscopic images. In particular, we have achieved: (1) a fast-axial scanning of thick samples in real time and without any mechanical movement, (2) an SA-invariant imaging system, (3) images with high lateral resolution and optical sectioning and (4) accurate quantitative phase images and without deteriorating the resolution limit imposed by di raction. All these ndings have been veri ed both theoretically and experimentall

Digital holographic microscopy for diabetes screening

A digital holographic microscope operating in telecentric mode could be used to diagnose diabetes and evaluate long-term glycemic control in patients with diabetes

Optimizing domain decomposition in an ocean model: the case of NEMO

Earth System Models are critical tools for the study of our climate and its future trends. These models are in constant evolution and their growing complexity entails an incrementing demand of the resources they require. Since the cost of using these state-of-the-art models is huge, looking closely at the factors that are able to impact their computational performance is mandatory. In the case of the state-of-the-art ocean model NEMO (Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean), used in many projects around the world, not enough attention has been given to the domain decomposition. In this work we show the impact that the selection of a particular domain decomposition can have on computational performance and how the proposed methodology substantially improves it.The research leading to these results has received funding from the EU H2020 Framework Programme under grant agreement no 675191 and by the Ministerio de Economa y Competitividad (MINECO) under grant TIN201453234C21RPeer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Off-axis Digital Holographic Microscopy: practical design parameters for operating at diffraction limit

The utilization of microscope objectives (MOs) in digital holographic microscopy (DHM) has associated effects that are not present in conventional optical microscopy. The remaining phase curvature, which can ruin the quantitative phase imaging, is the most evident and analyzed. As phase imaging is considered, this interest has made possible the development of different methods of overcoming its undesired consequences. Additionally to the effects in phase imaging, there exist a set of less obvious conditions that have to be accounted for as MOs are utilized in DHM to achieve diffraction-limit operation. These conditions have to be considered even in the case in which only amplitude or intensity imaging is of interest. In this paper, a thorough analysis of the physical parameters that control the appropriate utilization of MOs in DHM is presented. A regular DHM system is theoretically modeled on the basis of the imaging theory. The Fourier spectrum of the recorded hologram is analyzed to evaluate the performance of the DHM. A set of the criteria that consider the microscope features and the recording parameters to achieve DHM operation at the diffraction limit is derived. Numerical modeling and experimental results are shown to validate our findings

Shaded-Mask Filtering for Extended Depth-of-Field Microscopy

This paper proposes a new spatial filtering approach for increasing the depth-of-field (DOF) of imaging systems, which is very useful for obtaining sharp images for a wide range of axial positions of the object. Many different techniques have been reported to increase the depth of field. However the main advantage in our method is its simplicity, since we propose the use of purely absorbing beam-shaping elements, which allows a high focal depth with a minimum modification of the optical architecture. In the filter design, we have used the analogy between the axial behavior of a system with spherical aberration and the transverse impulse response of a 1D defocused system. This allowed us the design of a ring-shaded filter. Finally, experimental verification of the theoretical statements is also provided

Accurate single-shot quantitative phase imaging of biological specimens with telecentric digital holographic microscopy

The advantages of using a telecentric imaging system in digital holographic microscopy (DHM) to study biological specimens are highlighted. To this end, the performances of nontelecentric DHM and telecentric DHM are evaluated from the quantitative phase imaging (QPI) point of view. The evaluated stability of the microscope allows single-shot QPI in DHM by using telecentric imaging systems. Quantitative phase maps of a section of the head of the drosophila melanogaster fly and of red blood cells are obtained via single-shot DHM with no numerical postprocessing. With these maps we show that the use of telecentric DHM provides larger field of view for a given magnification and permits more accurate QPI measurements with less number of computational operations

Fuentes de malestar entre el profesorado de E.G.B.

Este artículo presenta una investigación basada en un cuestionario respondido por 547 profesores de Málaga sobre las principales fuentes de burnout en el trabajo. Entre 29 fuentes de burnout, las que más se señalaron fueron: reconocimiento social, económico y gubernamental, grupos de clases hacinados, falta de tiempo para emprender todos los aspectos profesionales, disciplina en el aula, insuficiencia de material didáctico, escasez de tiempo para preparar las clases, una falta de apoyo y orientación y el papeleo.. Se llevó a cabo un análisis para evaluar la probabilidad de que los valores obtenidos fueran aleatorios cuando se los agrupaba en tres variables: la calificación del docente por parte del gobierno, la experiencia docente y el lugar de trabajo. Otro análisis también se ha llevado a cabo después de agrupar las fuentes de burnout en tres bloques principales: aula, escuela y problemas externos