Collaborative Database to Track Mass Mortality Events in the Mediterranean Sea

Postdoctoral contract Juan de la Cierva [IJCI-2016-29329]Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades PTA2015-10829-IInterreg Med Programme MPA-Adapt 1MED15_3.2_M2_337European Regional Development Fund - Foundation Albert II MonacoEuropean Union’s Horizon 2020Ministry of Education, Spain FPU15/0545

Climate change transforms the functional identity of Mediterranean coralligenous assemblages

We acknowledge the funding of the Spanish government through the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019‐000928‐S). This research has also been partially funded by the HEATMED project (RTI2018‐095346‐B‐I00, MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE), Interreg Med Programme (Projects MPA‐ENGAGE; 5216 | 5MED18_3.2_M23_007 and MPA‐Adapt, 1MED15_3.2_M2_337) 85% cofunded by the European Regional Development Fund, the MIMOSA project funded by the Foundation Prince Albert II Monaco, the Perfect project funded by the TOTAL Foundation, the Medchange project funded by the Agence Nationale pour la Recherche (ANR) and the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grants agreements 689518 (MERCES) and SEP‐210597628 (FutureMARES). D.G.G. is supported by an FPU grant (FPU15/05457) from the Spanish Ministry of Education. CL gratefully acknowledges the financial support by ICREA under the ICREA Academia programme. VB is supported by the Templeton Foundation (grant #60501, ‘Putting the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis to the Test’). J‐B.L is supported by the strategic Funding UIDB/04423/2020 and UIDP/04423/2020. We thank M. Zabala, J.M Gili and A. Santín for their valuable help in trait definition. D.G.G, C.L, J‐B.L, N.B, P.L.S & J.G are part of the Marine Conservation research group (www.medrecover.org) (2017 SGR 1521) from the Generalitat de Catalunya.Quantifying changes in functional community structure driven by disturbance is critical to anticipate potential shifts in ecosystem functioning. However, how marine heatwaves (MHWs) affect the functional structure of temperate coral-dominated communities is poorly understood. Here, we used five long-term (> 10 years) records of Mediterranean coralligenous assemblages in a multi-taxa, trait-based analysis to investigate MHW-driven changes in functional structure. We show that, despite stability in functional richness (i.e. the range of species functional traits), MHW-impacted assemblages experienced long-term directional changes in functional identity (i.e. their dominant trait values). Declining traits included large sizes, long lifespans, arborescent morphologies, filter-feeding strategies or calcified skeletons. These traits, which were mostly supported by few sensitive and irreplaceable species from a single functional group (habitat-forming octocorals), disproportionally influence certain ecosystem functions (e.g. 3D-habitat provision). Hence, MHWs are leading to assemblages that are deficient in key functional traits, with likely consequences for the ecosystem functioning.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Gradients of genetic diversity and differentiation across the distribution range of a Mediterranean coral: Patterns, processes and conservation implications

Aim: How historical and contemporary eco-evolutionary processes shape the patterns of genetic diversity and þÿdifferentiation across species distribution range remain Focusing on the orange stony coral, Astroides calycularis, we (a) characterized the pattern of neutral genetic diversity across the distribution range; (b) gave insights into the underlying processes; and (c) discussed conservation implications with emphasis on a national park located on a hotspot of genetic diversity. Location: South Mediterranean Sea and Zembra National Park. Methods: We combined new data from 12 microsatellites in 13 populations located in the Centre and in the Western Periphery of the distribution range with a published dataset including 16 populations from the Western and Eastern Peripheries. We analysed the relationship among parameters of genetic diversity (He, Ar(g)) and structure (population-specific FST) and two measures of geographic peripherality. We compared two estimators of pairwise genetic structure (GST, DEST) across the distribution range. The evolutionary and demographic history of the populations following the Last Glacial Maximum was reconstructed using approximate Bayesian computations and maximum-likelihood analyses. We inferred the contemporary connectivity among populations from Zembra National Park and with the neighbouring area of Cap Bon. Results: We demonstrate a decrease in genetic diversity and an increase in genetic differentiation from the Centre to the Eastern and Western Peripheries of the distribution range. Populations from Zembra show the highest genetic diversity reported in the species. We identified a spillover effect towards Cap Bon. Main conclusions: The patterns of genetic diversity and þÿdifferentiation are most likely explained by the postglacial range expansion hypothesis rather than the þÿ central peripheral hypothesis. Enforcement of conservatio

EMT Inducers Catalyze Malignant Transformation of Mammary Epithelial Cells and Drive Tumorigenesis towards Claudin-Low Tumors in Transgenic Mice

The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is an embryonic transdifferentiation process consisting of conversion of polarized epithelial cells to motile mesenchymal ones. EMT–inducing transcription factors are aberrantly expressed in multiple tumor types and are known to favor the metastatic dissemination process. Supporting oncogenic activity within primary lesions, the TWIST and ZEB proteins can prevent cells from undergoing oncogene-induced senescence and apoptosis by abolishing both p53- and RB-dependent pathways. Here we show that they also downregulate PP2A phosphatase activity and efficiently cooperate with an oncogenic version of H-RAS in malignant transformation of human mammary epithelial cells. Thus, by down-regulating crucial tumor suppressor functions, EMT inducers make cells particularly prone to malignant conversion. Importantly, by analyzing transformed cells generated in vitro and by characterizing novel transgenic mouse models, we further demonstrate that cooperation between an EMT inducer and an active form of RAS is sufficient to trigger transformation of mammary epithelial cells into malignant cells exhibiting all the characteristic features of claudin-low tumors, including low expression of tight and adherens junction genes, EMT traits, and stem cell–like characteristics. Claudin-low tumors are believed to be the most primitive breast malignancies, having arisen through transformation of an early epithelial precursor with inherent stemness properties and metaplastic features. Challenging this prevailing view, we propose that these aggressive tumors arise from cells committed to luminal differentiation, through a process driven by EMT inducers and combining malignant transformation and transdifferentiation

Istradefylline protects from cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity and peripheral neuropathy while preserving cisplatin antitumor effects

Cisplatin is a potent chemotherapeutic drug that is widely used in the treatment of various solid cancers. However, its clinical effectiveness is strongly limited by frequent severe adverse effects, in particular nephrotoxicity and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. Thus, there is an urgent medical need to identify novel strategies that limit cisplatin-induced toxicity. In the present study, we show that the FDA-approved adenosine A2A receptor antagonist istradefylline (KW6002) protected from cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity and neuropathic pain in mice with or without tumors. Moreover, we also demonstrate that the antitumoral properties of cisplatin were not altered by istradefylline in tumor-bearing mice and could even be potentiated. Altogether, our results support the use of istradefylline as a valuable preventive approach for the clinical management of patients undergoing cisplatin treatment

Optimasi Portofolio Resiko Menggunakan Model Markowitz MVO Dikaitkan dengan Keterbatasan Manusia dalam Memprediksi Masa Depan dalam Perspektif Al-Qur`an

Risk portfolio on modern finance has become increasingly technical, requiring the use of sophisticated mathematical tools in both research and practice. Since companies cannot insure themselves completely against risk, as human incompetence in predicting the future precisely that written in Al-Quran surah Luqman verse 34, they have to manage it to yield an optimal portfolio. The objective here is to minimize the variance among all portfolios, or alternatively, to maximize expected return among all portfolios that has at least a certain expected return. Furthermore, this study focuses on optimizing risk portfolio so called Markowitz MVO (Mean-Variance Optimization). Some theoretical frameworks for analysis are arithmetic mean, geometric mean, variance, covariance, linear programming, and quadratic programming. Moreover, finding a minimum variance portfolio produces a convex quadratic programming, that is minimizing the objective function ðð¥with constraintsð ð 𥠥 ðandð´ð¥ = ð. The outcome of this research is the solution of optimal risk portofolio in some investments that could be finished smoothly using MATLAB R2007b software together with its graphic analysis

Differential cross section measurements for the production of a W boson in association with jets in proton–proton collisions at √s = 7 TeV

Measurements are reported of differential cross sections for the production of a W boson, which decays into a muon and a neutrino, in association with jets, as a function of several variables, including the transverse momenta (pT) and pseudorapidities of the four leading jets, the scalar sum of jet transverse momenta (HT), and the difference in azimuthal angle between the directions of each jet and the muon. The data sample of pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV was collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 5.0 fb[superscript −1]. The measured cross sections are compared to predictions from Monte Carlo generators, MadGraph + pythia and sherpa, and to next-to-leading-order calculations from BlackHat + sherpa. The differential cross sections are found to be in agreement with the predictions, apart from the pT distributions of the leading jets at high pT values, the distributions of the HT at high-HT and low jet multiplicity, and the distribution of the difference in azimuthal angle between the leading jet and the muon at low values.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.)Alfred P. Sloan Foundatio

Impacts of the Tropical Pacific/Indian Oceans on the Seasonal Cycle of the West African Monsoon

The current consensus is that drought has developed in the Sahel during the second half of the twentieth century as a result of remote effects of oceanic anomalies amplified by local land–atmosphere interactions. This paper focuses on the impacts of oceanic anomalies upon West African climate and specifically aims to identify those from SST anomalies in the Pacific/Indian Oceans during spring and summer seasons, when they were significant. Idealized sensitivity experiments are performed with four atmospheric general circulation models (AGCMs). The prescribed SST patterns used in the AGCMs are based on the leading mode of covariability between SST anomalies over the Pacific/Indian Oceans and summer rainfall over West Africa. The results show that such oceanic anomalies in the Pacific/Indian Ocean lead to a northward shift of an anomalous dry belt from the Gulf of Guinea to the Sahel as the season advances. In the Sahel, the magnitude of rainfall anomalies is comparable to that obtained by other authors using SST anomalies confined to the proximity of the Atlantic Ocean. The mechanism connecting the Pacific/Indian SST anomalies with West African rainfall has a strong seasonal cycle. In spring (May and June), anomalous subsidence develops over both the Maritime Continent and the equatorial Atlantic in response to the enhanced equatorial heating. Precipitation increases over continental West Africa in association with stronger zonal convergence of moisture. In addition, precipitation decreases over the Gulf of Guinea. During the monsoon peak (July and August), the SST anomalies move westward over the equatorial Pacific and the two regions where subsidence occurred earlier in the seasons merge over West Africa. The monsoon weakens and rainfall decreases over the Sahel, especially in August.Peer reviewe

Search for heavy resonances decaying to two Higgs bosons in final states containing four b quarks

A search is presented for narrow heavy resonances X decaying into pairs of Higgs bosons (H) in proton-proton collisions collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC at root s = 8 TeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb(-1). The search considers HH resonances with masses between 1 and 3 TeV, having final states of two b quark pairs. Each Higgs boson is produced with large momentum, and the hadronization products of the pair of b quarks can usually be reconstructed as single large jets. The background from multijet and t (t) over bar events is significantly reduced by applying requirements related to the flavor of the jet, its mass, and its substructure. The signal would be identified as a peak on top of the dijet invariant mass spectrum of the remaining background events. No evidence is observed for such a signal. Upper limits obtained at 95 confidence level for the product of the production cross section and branching fraction sigma(gg -> X) B(X -> HH -> b (b) over barb (b) over bar) range from 10 to 1.5 fb for the mass of X from 1.15 to 2.0 TeV, significantly extending previous searches. For a warped extra dimension theory with amass scale Lambda(R) = 1 TeV, the data exclude radion scalar masses between 1.15 and 1.55 TeV