Flora Matritensis,1 (Pteridophyta)

La flora pteridológica de la provincia de Madrid y comarcas limítrofes consta de 24 géneros, 54 especies, siete subespecies, dos formas y doce híbridos. La obra posee claves para determinar órdenes, géneros, especies, subespecies y formas. Para cada taxon se indica el biotipo, tamaño, ecología, fitosociología, pisos bioclimáticos, corología general y regional, así como la ploidía y número de cromosomas.The pteridological flora from Madrid and surrouding areas comprehends 24 genera, 54 species, 7 subspecies, 2 forms and 12 hybrids. This paper has keys for the determination of all taxa up to the form level. Biotype, size, ecology, phytosociology, vegetation stage, general and regional and regional chorology, plody level and chromosome number is given for each [email protected]

Neutrino-induced nucleosynthesis of A>64 nuclei: The nu p-process

We present a new nucleosynthesis process, that we denote nu p-process, which occurs in supernovae (and possibly gamma-ray bursts) when strong neutrino fluxes create proton-rich ejecta. In this process, antineutrino absorptions in the proton-rich environment produce neutrons that are immediately captured by neutron-deficient nuclei. This allows for the nucleosynthesis of nuclei with mass numbers A >64. Making this process a possible candidate to explain the origin of the solar abundances of 92,94Mo and 96,98Ru. This process also offers a natural explanation for the large abundance of Sr seen in an hyper-metal-poor star.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Dissecting the function of Atg1 complex in Dictyostelium autophagy reveals a connection with the pentose phosphate pathway enzyme transketolase

The network of protein–protein interactions of the Dictyostelium discoideum autophagy pathway was investigated by yeast two-hybrid screening of the conserved autophagic proteins Atg1 and Atg8. These analyses confirmed expected interactions described in other organisms and also identified novel interactors that highlight the complexity of autophagy regulation. The Atg1 kinase complex, an essential regulator of autophagy, was investigated in detail here. The composition of the Atg1 complex in D. discoideum is more similar to mammalian cells than to Saccharomyces cerevisiae as, besides Atg13, it contains Atg101, a protein not conserved in this yeast. We found that Atg101 interacts with Atg13 and genetic disruption of these proteins in Dictyostelium leads to an early block in autophagy, although the severity of the developmental phenotype and the degree of autophagic block is higher in Atg13-deficient cells. We have also identified a protein containing zinc-finger B-box and FNIP motifs that interacts with Atg101. Disruption of this protein increases autophagic flux, suggesting that it functions as a negative regulator of Atg101.We also describe the interaction of Atg1 kinase with the pentose phosphate pathway enzyme transketolase (TKT). We found changes in the activity of endogenous TKT activity in strains lacking or overexpressing Atg1, suggesting the presence of an unsuspected regulatory pathway between autophagy and the pentose phosphate pathway in Dictyostelium that seems to be conserved in mammalian cellsThis work was supported by grant nos. BFU2009-09050 and BFU2012-32536 from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y competitividad. The cost of this publication has been paid in part by FEDER funds. A.M. was recipient of a predoctoral fellowship (FPI associated to the grant no. BFU2012-32536). L.C.T. is recipient of a FPU fellowship from Ministerio de Educación, cultura y deport

E-cadherin expression is associated with somatostatin analogue response in acromegaly

Acromegaly is a rare disease resulting from hypersecretion of growth hormone (GH) and insulin‐like growth factor 1 (IGF1) typically caused by pituitary adenomas, which is associated with increased mortality and morbidity. Somatostatin analogues (SSAs) represent the primary medical therapy for acromegaly and are currently used as first‐line treatment or as second‐line therapy after unsuccessful pituitary surgery. However, a considerable proportion of patients do not adequately respond to SSAs treatment, and therefore, there is an urgent need to identify biomarkers predictors of response to SSAs. The aim of this study was to examine E‐cadherin expression by immunohistochemistry in fifty‐five GH‐producing pituitary tumours and determine the potential association with response to SSAs as well as other clinical and histopathological features. Acromegaly patients with tumours expressing low E‐cadherin levels exhibit a worse response to SSAs. E‐cadherin levels are associated with GH‐producing tumour histological subtypes. Our results indicate that the immunohistochemical detection of E‐cadherin might be useful in categorizing acromegaly patients based on the response to SSAs.ISCIII‐Subdirección General de Evaluación y Fomento de la Investigación PI13/02043 PI16/00175FEDER PI13/02043 PI16/00175Junta de Andalucía A‐0023‐2015 A‐0003‐2016 CTS‐1406 BIO‐0139Andalusian Ministry of Health C‐0015‐2014CIBERobn PI13/ 02043 PI16/0017

A global view on the riparian forests with Salix neotricha and Populus alba in the Iberian Peninsula (Portugal and Spain)

Forests dominated by Salix neotricha, and Populus alba found along the mesoeutrophic rivers in the Iberian Peninsula, were studied. We discuss the floristic circumscription, chorology, and community segregation based on the available releve´s of all Iberian riparian communities included in Populenion albae. Eleven formerly described communities were analyzed and due to original floristic combination, habitat features, and biogeographic scope, a new willow and poplar forest type is proposed within a well-defined biogeographical unit (Sadensean-Dividing Portuguese Subprovince): Clematido campaniflorae- Salicetum neotrichae. This syntaxon is found under a semi-hyperoceanic thermomediterranean to lower mesomediterranean, subhumid to humid bioclimate. Cluster analysis including all Iberian communities of Populenion albae shows a clear floristic segregation within the suballiance and confirms the originality of the new association. Furthermore, chemical characteristics of the water along some of the Portuguese watercourses with Populenion albae were studied and compared to the oligotrophic rivers occupied by Osmundo-Alnion communities. This study suggests that floristic separation between the communities of Populenion and Osmundo-Alnion is accompanied by a differentiation of the water trophic level

Propiedades mecánicas y acústicas de hormigones con áridos reciclados y neumáticos fuera de uso

Industrial progress used to be linked to the produce of large waste volumes. These industrial by-products are deposited in landfills despite these ones could be used to manufacture others. In fact, the construction industry could incorporate these materials to contributing to greater environmental balance. This paper studies the manufactured of concrete using as aggregates two kind of different wastes: construction and demolition wastes as well as recycled tires rubber (NFU). Natural fine fraction is replaced by a 10% by volume of industrial products analyzed. The mechanical behaviour and the acoustic properties of concrete made with recycled aggregates are studied. Results show a reduction in mechanical properties by using recycled aggregates and NFU. Nevertheless, it is observed that concrete made with fine recycled aggregate fraction of NFU could be employed with all the guarantees to produce concrete for non-structural applications.El progreso industrial lleva asociado la generación de grandes volúmenes de residuos que, en la mayoría de los casos, acaban en los vertederos, desperdiciando su potencial como materias primas para otros sectores industriales, como es el sector de la construcción, por lo que debe considerarse su reutilización en nuevas aplicaciones e incorporación como subproducto en el campo de los materiales de construcción, dando lugar a materiales más ecoeficientes y respetuosos con el medioambiente. Este trabajo estudia el empleo de áridos reciclados procedentes de residuos de construcción y demolición, y caucho procedente de neumáticos fuera de uso (NFU) en la fabricación de hormigones. La fracción fina natural ha sido sustituida por un 10% en volumen de los subproductos industriales analizados. El comportamiento físico, mecánico y las propiedades acústicas de los hormigones ha sido comparado con los hormigones de referencia. En los resultados se observa una reducción de las resistencias mecánicas y del modulo de elasticidad por el empleo de áridos reciclados y NFU. Se muestra que los hormigones fabricados con la fracción fina de áridos reciclados y NFU podrían ser empleados con todas las garantías en hormigones para aplicaciones no estructurales

Plant communities of Italy. The vegetation prodrome

The Vegetation Prodrome of Italy was promoted in 2012 by the Italian "Ministry of Environment, Land and Sea Protection", in collaboration with the "Italian Society of Botany", to provide a comprehensive and systematic catalogue and description of Italian plant communities. The Prodrome that is presented in this paper is the first full organic synthesis of the vegetation of Italy at the alliance syntaxonomic level. It fulfils several needs, the main one being a unified and comprehensive national framework that may make an important contribution to the definition of the European Vegetation Prodrome. Syntaxonomy, as well as taxonomy, is sometimes based on considerations that may in part diverge: several authors tend to favour models that are divisive or aggregative to a greater or lesser extent in terms of flora, biogeography and ecology. These different points of view stimulate the scientific debate and allow the adoption of a framework that is more widely supported. The Prodrome includes 75 classes, 2 subclasses, 175 orders, 6 suborders and 393 alliances. The classes were grouped into nine broad categories according to structural, physiognomic and synecological elements rather than to syntaxonomic criteria. The rank, full valid name, any synonymies and incorrect names are provided for each syntaxon. The short declaration highlights the physiognomy, synecology, syndynamics and distribution of the plant communities that belong to the syntaxon. The Prodrome of the Italian Vegetation is linked to the European Strategy for Biodiversity, the European Habitats Directive and the European Working Groups related to the ecosystems and their services. In addition to basic applications, the Prodrome can be used as a framework for scientific research related to the investigation of the relationships between plant communities and the environmental factors that influence their composition and distribution

Dhvar5-chitosan nanogels and their potential to improve antibiotics activity

Infection is one of the main causes of orthopedic implants failure, with antibiotic-resistant bacteria playing a crucial role in this outcome. In this work, antimicrobial nanogels were developed to be applied in situ as implant coating to prevent orthopedic-device-related infections. To that regard, a broad-spectrum antimicrobial peptide, Dhvar5, was grafted onto chitosan via thiol-norbornene "photoclick" chemistry. Dhvar5-chitosan nanogels (Dhvar5-NG) were then produced using a microfluidic system. Dhvar5-NG (1010 nanogels (NG)/mL) with a Dhvar5 concentration of 6 μg/mL reduced the burden of the most critical bacteria in orthopedic infections - methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) - after 24 h in medium supplemented with human plasma proteins. Transmission electron microscopy showed that Dhvar5-NG killed bacteria by membrane disruption and cytoplasm release. No signs of cytotoxicity against a pre-osteoblast cell line were verified upon incubation with Dhvar5-NG. To further explore therapeutic alternatives, the potential synergistic effect of Dhvar5-NG with antibiotics was evaluated against MRSA. Dhvar5-NG at a sub-minimal inhibitory concentration (109 NG/mL) demonstrated synergistic effect with oxacillin (4-fold reduction: from 2 to 0.5 μg/mL) and piperacillin (2-fold reduction: from 2 to 1 μg/mL). This work supports the use of Dhvar5-NG as adjuvant of antibiotics to the prevention of orthopedic devices-related infections.The authors B. Costa, P.M. Alves and D. R. Fonseca would like to thank the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) (Refs. SFRH/BD/147027/2019, SFRH/BD/145471/2019 and SFRH/BD/146890/2019), FCT/MCTES (Ref. CEECIND/01921/2017). C. Monteiro Thanks FCT by her contract-program (art. 23 of Law no. 57/2016 & 57/2017). Paula Gomes thanks FCT/MCTES for financial support to the LAQV-REQUIMTE Research Unit (UIDB/50006/2020; DOI 10.54499/UIDB/50006/2020) through national funds. A. Gomes thanks FCT/MCTES for Junior Researcher Contract 2022.08044.CEECIND/CP1724/CT0004 (DOI:10.54499/2022.08044.CEECIND/CP1724/CT0004). M.C.L. Martins also acknowledges FCT (LA/P/0070/2020) and MOBILIsE Project, which has received funding from the European Union’’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement no. 951723

nSharma: Numerical Simulation Heterogeneity Aware Runtime Manager for OpenFOAM

CFD simulations are a fundamental engineering application,implying huge workloads, often with dynamic behaviour due to run-time mesh refinement. Parallel processing over heterogeneous distributedmemory clusters is often used to process such workloads. The executionof dynamic workloads over a set of heterogeneous resources leads to loadimbalances that severely impacts execution time, when static uniformload distribution is used. This paper proposes applying dynamic, het-erogeneity aware, load balancing techniques within CFD simulations.nSharma, a software package that fully integrates with OpenFOAM, ispresented and assessed. Performance gains are demonstrated, achievedby reducing busy times standard deviation among resources, i.e. hetero-geneous computing resources are kept busy with useful work due to aneffective workload distribution. To best of authors’ knowledge, nSharmais the first implementation and integration of heterogeneity aware loadbalancing in OpenFOAM and will be made publicly available in order tofoster its adoption by the large community of OpenFOAM users.The authors would like to thank the financial funding by FEDER through the COMPETE 2020 Program, the National Funds through FCT under the projects UID/CTM/50025/2013. The first author was partially funded by the PT-FLAD Chair on Smart Cities & Smart Governance and also by the School of Engineering, University of Minho within project Performance Portability on Scalable Heterogeneous Computing Systems. The authors also wish to thank Kyle Mooney for making available his code supporting migration of dynamically refined meshes, as well as acknowledge the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at The University of Texas at Austin for providing HPC resources

SARS-CoV-2 RNA and antibody detection in breast milk from a prospective multicentre study in Spain

Objectives To develop and validate a specific protocol for SARS-CoV-2 detection in breast milk matrix and to determine the impact of maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection on the presence, concentration and persistence of specific SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. Design and patients This is a prospective, multicentre longitudinal study (April-December 2020) in 60 mothers with SARS-CoV-2 infection and/or who have recovered from COVID-19. A control group of 13 women before the pandemic were also included. Setting Seven health centres from different provinces in Spain. Main outcome measures Presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in breast milk, targeting the N1 region of the nucleocapsid gene and the envelope (E) gene; presence and levels of SARS-CoV-2-specific immunoglobulins (Igs)-IgA, IgG and IgM-in breast milk samples from patients with COVID-19. Results All breast milk samples showed negative results for presence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. We observed high intraindividual and interindividual variability in the antibody response to the receptor-binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein for each of the three isotypes IgA, IgM and IgG. Main Protease (MPro) domain antibodies were also detected in milk. 82.9% (58 of 70) of milk samples were positive for at least one of the three antibody isotypes, with 52.9% of these positive for all three Igs. Positivity rate for IgA was relatively stable over time (65.2%-87.5%), whereas it raised continuously for IgG (from 47.8% for the first 10 days to 87.5% from day 41 up to day 206 post-PCR confirmation). Conclusions Our study confirms the safety of breast feeding and highlights the relevance of virus-specific SARS-CoV-2 antibody transfer. This study provides crucial data to support official breastfeeding recommendations based on scientific evidence. ARS-CoV-2 antibodies but not RNA are found in breast milk from COVID-19 infected mothers