Biometrics: Accessibility challenge or opportunity?

Biometric recognition is currently implemented in several authentication contexts, most recently in mobile devices where it is expected to complement or even replace traditional authentication modalities such as PIN (Personal Identification Number) or passwords. The assumed convenience characteristics of biometrics are transparency, reliability and ease of use, however, the question of whether biometric recognition is as intuitive and straightforward to use is open to debate. Can biometric systems make some tasks easier for people with accessibility concerns? To investigate this question, an accessibility evaluation of a mobile app was conducted where test subjects withdraw money from a fictitious ATM (Automated Teller Machine) scenario. The biometric authentication mechanisms used include face, voice, and fingerprint. Furthermore, we employed traditional modalities of PIN and pattern in order to check if biometric recognition is indeed a real improvement. The trial test subjects within this work were people with real-life accessibility concerns. A group of people without accessibility concerns also participated, providing a baseline performance. Experimental results are presented concerning performance, HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) and accessibility, grouped according to category of accessibility concern. Our results reveal links between individual modalities and user category establishing guidelines for future accessible biometric products

NRF2-dependent gene expression promotes ciliogenesis and Hedgehog signaling

The transcription factor NRF2 is a master regulator of cellular antioxidant and detoxification responses, but it also regulates other processes such as autophagy and pluripotency. In human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), NRF2 antagonizes neuroectoderm differentiation, which only occurs after NRF2 is repressed via a Primary Cilia-Autophagy-NRF2 (PAN) axis. However, the functional connections between NRF2 and primary cilia, microtubule-based plasma membrane protrusions that function as cellular antennae, remain poorly understood. For instance, nothing is known about whether NRF2 affects cilia, or whether cilia regulation of NRF2 extends beyond hESCs. Here, we show that NRF2 and primary cilia reciprocally regulate each other. First, we demonstrate that fibroblasts lacking primary cilia have higher NRF2 activity, which is rescued by autophagy-activating mTOR inhibitors, indicating that the PAN axis also operates in differentiated cells. Furthermore, NRF2 controls cilia formation and function. NRF2-null cells grow fewer and shorter cilia and display impaired Hedgehog signaling, a cilia-dependent pathway. These defects are not due to increased oxidative stress or ciliophagy, but rather to NRF2 promoting expression of multiple ciliogenic and Hedgehog pathway genes. Among these, we focused on GLI2 and GLI3, the transcription factors controlling Hh pathway output. Both their mRNA and protein levels are reduced in NRF2-null cells, consistent with their gene promoters containing consensus ARE sequences predicted to bind NRF2. Moreover, GLI2 and GLI3 fail to accumulate at the ciliary tip of NRF2-null cells upon Hh pathway activation. Given the importance of NRF2 and ciliary signaling in human disease, our data may have important biomedical implicationsThis work was supported by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)-cofunded grants from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) to FRGG (SAF2015-66568-R and RYC2013-14887) and to A.C. and I.L.B. (SAF2016-76520-R

Axonal and neuromuscular synaptic phenotypes in Wld(S), SOD1(G93A) and ostes mutant mice identified by fiber-optic confocal microendoscopy

We used live imaging by fiber-optic confocal microendoscopy (CME) of yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) expression in motor neurons to observe and monitor axonal and neuromuscular synaptic phenotypes in mutant mice. First, we visualized slow degeneration of axons and motor nerve terminals at neuromuscular junctions following sciatic nerve injury in WldS mice with slow Wallerian degeneration. Protection of axotomized motor nerve terminals was much weaker in WldS heterozygotes than in homozygotes. We then induced covert modifiers of axonal and synaptic degeneration in heterozygous WldS mice, by N-ethyl-Nnitrosourea (ENU) mutagenesis, and used CME to identify candidate mutants that either enhanced or suppressed axonal or synaptic degeneration. From 219 of the F1 progeny of ENU-mutagenized BALB/c mice and thy1.2-YFP16/WldS mice, CME revealed six phenodeviants with suppression of synaptic degeneration. Inheritance of synaptic protection was confirmed in three of these founders, with evidence of Mendelian inheritance of a dominant mutation in one of them (designated CEMOP_S5). We next applied CME repeatedly to living WldS mice and to SOD1G93A mice, an animal model of motor neuron disease, and observed degeneration of identified neuromuscular synapses over a 1–4 day period in both of these mutant lines. Finally, we used CME to observe slow axonal regeneration in the ENU-mutant ostes mouse strain. The data show that CME can be used to monitor covert axonal and neuromuscular synaptic pathology and, when combined with mutagenesis, to identify genetic modifiers of its progression in vivo

Holocene summer temperature reconstruction based on a chironomid record from Sierra Nevada, southern Spain

This study was supported by projects CGL2013-47038-R, CGL2017-85415-R and PID2021-125619OB-C21/C22, funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación of Spain, the Agencia Estatal de Investigación and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional FEDER MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER, UE”; Junta de Andalucía I + D + i Junta de Andalucía 2020 Retos P-20-00059, UGR-FEDER B-RNM-144-UGR18, UGR-FEDER A-RNM-336-UGR20, Project cofinanced by FEDER and LifeWatch-Eric LifeWatch-2019-10-UGR-01 and the research group RNM-190 (Junta de Andalucía). RSA acknowledges several travel grants from Northern Arizona University to support this work. JC thanks the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación of Spain for the Juan de la Cierva Formación postdoctoral fellowship. ALA acknowledges the predoctoral fellowship BES-2018-084293 provided by the MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/. CLB acknowledges the European Union for her Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement number 892487 under Horizon 2020 funds. LJ acknowledges the Ministry of Universities of Spain for her Margarita Salas grant (MS2021-204) financed by the European Union -Next Generation EU funds.Obtaining accurate temperature reconstructions from the past is crucial in understanding the consequences of changes in external climate forcings, such as orbital-scale insolation or multidecadal to centennial-scale variability on the climate system and the environment. In addition, these reconstructions help in comprehending the amplitude of natural temperature changes in the past, which can assist in evaluating the amplitude and rate of recent anthropogenic global warming. Here we present the first detailed Holocene mean July air temperature reconstruction based on chironomid assemblages from sediments retrieved from Laguna de Río Seco, an alpine lake in Sierra Nevada, southern Spain. Coldest climate conditions are recorded during the last glacial maximum and the last deglaciation. Warming occurred in the Early Holocene and warmest summer temperature conditions and the Holocene thermal maximum (HTM) occurred in the interval roughly between 9000 and 7200 cal yr BP, concurrent with summer insolation maxima. Rapid cooling of ∼1.5 °C occurred after the warmest maximum and between ∼7200 and 6500 cal yr BP, and temperatures stabilized between ∼6500 and 3000 cal yr BP. A further cooling began ∼3000 cal yr BP and culminated with coldest summer conditions during the Dark Ages (DA) and Little Ice Age (LIA) at ∼1550 cal yr BP (∼400 CE) and ∼200 cal yr BP (∼1750 CE), respectively. This cooling temperature trend was interrupted by warmer conditions during the Iberian-Roman Humid Period (IRHP) ∼2000 cal yr BP and during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) at ∼1000 cal yr BP. Our reconstruction shows a greater than two-degree cooling during the Middle and Late Holocene, agreeing with global mean surface temperature (GMST) reconstructions. Modern climate warming (MCW) during summer exceeds the two-degree Celsius forecasted for the future due to anthropogenic greenhouse gases, suggesting that recent warming is amplified at high elevations. Alpine environments and the biodiversity contained there are thus in danger if the observed temperature trend continues in the next decades.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación of Spain CGL2013-47038-R, CGL2017-85415-R, PID2021-125619OB-C21/C22Agencia Estatal de InvestigaciónFondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional FEDER MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER, UEJunta de Andalucía P-20-00059, UGR-FEDER B-RNM-144-UGR18, UGR-FEDER A-RNM-336-UGR20FEDERLifeWatch-Eric LifeWatch-2019-10-UGR-01Research group RNM-190 (Junta de Andalucía)Northern Arizona UniversityMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación of SpainMCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/ BES-2018-084293Horizon 2020 European Union Marie Sklodowska-Curie 892487European Union -Next Generation EU funds MS2021-20

Suppression of HopZ Effector-Triggered Plant Immunity in a Natural Pathosystem

Many type III-secreted effectors suppress plant defenses, but can also activate effector-triggered immunity (ETI) in resistant backgrounds. ETI suppression has been shown for a number of type III effectors (T3Es) and ETI-suppressing effectors are considered part of the arms race model for the co-evolution of bacterial virulence and plant defense. However, ETI suppression activities have been shown mostly between effectors not being naturally expressed within the same strain. Furthermore, evolution of effector families is rarely explained taking into account that selective pressure against ETI-triggering effectors may be compensated by ETI-suppressing effector(s) translocated by the same strain. The HopZ effector family is one of the most diverse, displaying a high rate of loss and gain of alleles, which reflects opposing selective pressures. HopZ effectors trigger defense responses in a variety of crops and some have been shown to suppress different plant defenses. Mutational changes in the sequence of ETI-triggering effectors have been proposed to result in the avoidance of detection by their respective hosts, in a process called pathoadaptation. We analyze how deleting or overexpressing HopZ1a and HopZ3 affects virulence of HopZ-encoding and non-encoding strains. We find that both effectors trigger immunity in their plant hosts only when delivered from heterologous strains, while immunity is suppressed when delivered from their native strains. We carried out screens aimed at identifying the determinant(s) suppressing HopZ1a-triggered and HopZ3-triggered immunity within their native strains, and identified several effectors displaying suppression of HopZ3-triggered immunity. We propose effector-mediated cross-suppression of ETI as an additional force driving evolution of the HopZ family

Summer temperatures during the Holocene inferred from a chironomid record from Sierra Nevada, southern Spain

XXI INQUA 2023. Rome. july 14-20 2023Accurate and continuous quantitative paleotemperature records from the past are rare in southern Iberia, mostly due to the scarcity of continuous sedimentary sequences in terrestrial environments from that area. In this study we show the first Holocene mean July air temperature reconstruction based on fossil chironomids from a sedimentary sequence obtained from Laguna de Río Seco, an alpine lake in Sierra Nevada, southern Spain. Reconstructed summer temperatures agree with changes in summer insolation and other palaeotemperature records from alpine environments from southern Europe and show the Holocene thermal maximum between 10 to 8.0 ka (1 ka = 1000 cal yr BP). Rapid cooling occurred after the warmest maximum and between ~8.0-7.0 ka and temperatures stabilized between ~6.5 and 3.0 ka. A further cooling trend started ~3.0 ka, and coldest summer conditions were reached at 1.4 ka (~550 CE) and ~0.2 ka (~1750 CE), coinciding with the Dark Ages and Little Ice Age, respectively. This record also shows relatively warmer summer temperature conditions during the Iberian-Roman Humid Period ~2.0 ka and during the Medieval Climate Anomaly at ~0.9 ka. Summer climate warming of more than two degree Celsius is observed in the last decades showing that recent warming is amplified in high alpine environments

A genetic modifier suggests that endurance exercise exacerbates Huntington's disease.

Polyglutamine expansions in the huntingtin gene cause Huntington's disease (HD). Huntingtin is ubiquitously expressed, leading to pathological alterations also in peripheral organs. Variations in the length of the polyglutamine tract explain up to 70% of the age-at-onset variance, with the rest of the variance attributed to genetic and environmental modifiers. To identify novel disease modifiers, we performed an unbiased mutagenesis screen on an HD mouse model, identifying a mutation in the skeletal muscle voltage-gated sodium channel (Scn4a, termed 'draggen' mutation) as a novel disease enhancer. Double mutant mice (HD; Scn4aDgn/+) had decreased survival, weight loss and muscle atrophy. Expression patterns show that the main tissue affected is skeletal muscle. Intriguingly, muscles from HD; Scn4aDgn/+ mice showed adaptive changes similar to those found in endurance exercise, including AMPK activation, fibre type switching and upregulation of mitochondrial biogenesis. Therefore, we evaluated the effects of endurance training on HD mice. Crucially, this training regime also led to detrimental effects on HD mice. Overall, these results reveal a novel role for skeletal muscle in modulating systemic HD pathogenesis, suggesting that some forms of physical exercise could be deleterious in neurodegeneration

Paleoenvironmental evolution of Laguna Seca lake (Sierra Nevada, southern Iberia) since the Late Glacial

Comunicación oral en XXI INQUA Congress. Rome (Italy). 14-20th july 2023Laguna Seca lake at 2259 masl has provided the longest alpine sedimentary record in southern Iberia, registering the last ~18 kyr in a ~14-meter-long sediment core. The oldest part of the sedimentary record represents a phase of subaerial debris flows and a small glacier/nivation hollow. The sediment characteristics abruptly changed at ~15.7 cal kyr BP, when a lake environment was established. A multi-proxy approach (magnetic susceptibility, organic geochemical analyses in bulk sediment, XRF core scanner data, and algae identification) has allowed the characterization of three different environmental phases in this lake. Deep lake conditions are identified from ~15.7 to ~10.6 cal kyr BP, agreeing with overall increasing precipitation in southern Iberia coinciding with augmenting summer insolation. This part of the record is characterized by grey lutites with high total organic carbon (TOC) content, high algae productivity, high vascular plant inputs (high C/N ratio) from the catchment and low Fe/S ratio, suggesting low oxygen conditions in the water-sediment interphase. Between ~10.6 and 8.2-8.0 cal kyr BP higher TOC and low Fe/S ratio are also recorded as well as higher algae content and low C/N ratio suggesting high aquatic production and more algae contribution to the local organic matter pool. This period registered the highest lake levels agreeing with summer insolation maximum and highest precipitation in southern Iberia. An abrupt lowering of the lake level is recorded after 8.0 cal kyr BP in the area. This is deduced by the decrease in TOC and algae in the sediments and more siliciclastic contribution from the catchment basin, evidenced by a high increase in siliciclastic elements (Si, Al, K, Ti, among others), with increased oxic conditions in the water-sediment interphase pointed out by the high increase in Fe/S ratio. Additionally, a potential increase in north African aeolian inputs (rich in Fe cations and Fe compounds) can be interpreted for the Middle and Late Holocene, evidenced by high Fe/Al values. This environmental change agrees with an aridification trend previously observed in the southern Iberian Peninsula

Two fish in a pod. Mislabelling on board threatens sustainability in mixed fisheries

Accuracy in reporting captures is a key element to achieve fisheries sustainability. However, identification of the catches might be a challenge when two or more species are morphologically similar and caught jointly, like the mixed fisheries of black hakes in East Atlantic African waters. Black hakes (Merluccius senegalensis and M. polli) are tough to differentiate without previous training due to their high morphological resemblance. The two species are managed as a single stock, although the biological differences between them suggest the need of a separate management. In this study, a total of 806 black hakes were visually identified by fishers on deck of fishing vessels operating in Mauritania and Senegal waters, then assigned to a species by sequencing 450bp of the Mitochondrial Control Region. Comparing the results with visual identification we found 31.4% of the total catch were incorrectly labelled on board by the fishermen. The accuracy of the fishers' identification depended on the depth of capture and on fish size, larger individuals caught from deeper waters being more correctly assigned to M. polli. Mislabelling biased to M. polli suggests that M. senegalensis, already catalogued as endangered, is being underreported, which could endanger the conservation of this species and threaten the sustainability of black hake fisheries. Our results highlight the need for separate evaluation of the stocks in mixed fisheries for morphologically similar fish. Thus, monitoring through DNA barcoding in the very first step of the seafood chain surveys would improve accurate species delimitation and reduce its impact on the correct assessment of the stocks.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio