A trade-off between overheating and camouflage on shorebird eggshell colouration

In ground-nesting birds egg colour and appearance may have evolved due to opposite selection pressures. Pigmentation and spottiness make the eggs darker and have been suggested to improve camouflage. However darker and more spotted eggs may reach higher temperatures when not attended by adults and receiving direct sunlight, which may be lethal for embryos. Some authors suggested that this trade-off may not exist because eggshell pigments mainly reflect in the infrared region of the solar spectrum, but have not considered that wavelengths in the visible part of the spectrum may also contribute to overheating. To test the occurrence of a trade-off between camouflage and overheating of eggs, we took digital images to analyse colour and camouflage in 93 nests of four shorebird species (two stilts and two plovers) in two regions (tropical and mediterranean sites). We predicted that these species (closely related) may have evolved different eggshell designs depending on solar radiation, which is supposed to be stronger in the Tropics. To record egg temperatures, we placed Japanese quail eggs in natural nests of shorebirds, and registered temperatures using a datalogger. We found that darker and more spotted eggs reached higher temperatures than lighter ones, and that after controlling for environmental temperatures, eggs overheated more in the Tropics, likely because of a more intense solar radiation. We also found that tropical shorebirds’ eggshells have darker spots and lighter backgrounds. Overall, darker eggs were better camouflaged. Taken together, our results show that the benefits of increasing pigmentation of eggshell backgrounds and spottiness for a better camouflage are counteracted by the increased risks of overheating when eggs remain exposed to direct solar radiation.Peer reviewe

System to control indoor air quality in energy efficient buildings

This work looks at monitoring air quality in indoor environments through the integration of several sensing technologies into a single robust, reliable and cheap detection platform, which shares air pre-conditioning and electronics. Target gases and detection limits have been set according to recommendations of different agencies in Europe and the US. The system has reached detection limits stated by the OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) for benzene. The pre-conditioning fluidic platform has also been designed, simulated, fabricated and tested with sensors so the gas flow has been optimized. Field tests in real buildings are being carried out to contrast current measurement procedures and results with the obtained using the device under development. The main aim of the system is to control HVAC (Heat Ventilation and Air Conditioning) in energy-efficient way while keeping a high air quality standard inside the building

Body-wave attenuation near the rupture of the 1887 Sonora, México, earthquake (Mw 7.5)

Resumen Analizamos ondas de cuerpo de sismos locales y regionales registrados por la Red Sísmica del Noreste de Sonora, México (RESNES) usadas para determinar funciones empíricas de atenuación para las ondas P y S que describen el decaimiento de las amplitudes espectrales a frecuencias discretas entre 0.4 y 63 Hz. Los sismos seleccionados tienen su fuente cerca de la ruptura superficial del sismo de Sonora del 3 de mayo de 1887 (M w 7.5), ubicado en la porción sur de la provincia tectónico-fisiográfica de cuencas y cordilleras. Nuestros datos provienen de las componentes verticales y horizontales de sismogramas registrados a distancias hipocentrales de 25 a 150 km. Usamos funciones de atenuación obtenidas por Palabras clave: Atenuación sísmica, Sonora, México. Abstract We analized body-waves of local and regional earthquakes recorded on the Seismic Network of Northeastern Sonora, Mexico (RESNES) are used to determine empirical attenuation functions for P and S waves in the interval of 0.4-63 Hz. The epicenters are near to the surface rupture of the May 3, 1887 (M W 7.5) Bavispe, Sonora earthquake. Seismograms of vertical and horizontal components at of ground motion hypocentral distances of 25 to 150 km were used in a nonparametric model. The reported attenuation curves indicate that the spectral amplitudes decay faster in the first 40 km of the path and show different decay rate at approximately 80 km. We found that in the upper crust the exponential dependence of Q with frequency is the same for P and S waves, namely Q ~ f 1.1 , but Q S is larger by a factor of 3. In the lower crust Q is more complex, showing a strong frequency dependence below 3 Hz and a weaker frequency dependence above 6 Hz

Gene therapy with mesenchymal stem cells expressing IFN-ß ameliorates neuroinflammation in experimental models of multiple sclerosis

[Background and Purpose]: Recombinant IFN‐ß is one of the first‐line treatments in multiple sclerosis (MS), despite its lack of efficacy in some patients. In this context, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) represent a promising therapeutic alternative due to their immunomodulatory properties and multipotency. Moreover, by taking advantage of their pathotropism, these cells can be genetically modified to be used as carriers for delivering or secreting therapeutic drugs into injured tissues. Here, we report the therapeutic effect of systemic delivery of adipose‐derived MSCs (AdMSCs), transduced with the IFN‐β gene, into mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE).[Experimental Approach]: Relapsing–remitting and chronic progressive EAE were induced in mice. Cells were injected i.v. Disease severity, inflammation and tissue damage were assessed clinically, by flow cytometry of spleens and histopathological evaluation of the CNS respectively.[Key Results]: Genetic engineering did not modify the biological characteristics of these AdMSCs (morphology, growth rate, immunophenotype and multipotency). Furthermore, the transduction of IFN‐ß to AdMSCs maintained and, in some cases, enhanced the functional properties of AdMSCs by ameliorating the symptoms of MS in EAE models and by decreasing indications of peripheral and central neuro‐inflammation.[Conclusion and Implications]: Gene therapy was found to be more effective than cell therapy in ameliorating several clinical parameters in both EAE models, presumably due to the continuous expression of IFN‐β. Furthermore, it has significant advantages over AdMSC therapy, and also over systemic IFN‐ß treatment, by providing long‐term expression of the cytokine at therapeutic concentrations and reducing the frequency of injections, while minimizing dose‐limiting side effects.This work was supported by Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias ISCIII (Spain) and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) from the European Union through the research grants PI12/01097 and PI15/00963 and ISCIII Red de Terapia Celular TerCel RD12/0019/0006 to F.M., by the Consejería de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo, Junta de Andalucía‐FEDER/Fondo de Cohesion Europeo (FSE) de Andalucía through the research grants P09‐CTS‐04532, PI‐57069 and PAIDI‐Bio‐326 to F.M. and PI‐0160/2012 to K.B. M.J.P.‐M. has been supported by grants from Red Temática de Investigación Cooperativa Red Española de Esclerosis Múltiple REEM (RD07/0060 and RD12/0032). B.O. is financed by a contract from Excelent Project CTS‐7670/11 from Consejería de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo (Junta de Andalucía)

Formaldehyde sensing mechanism of SnO2 nanowires grown on-chip by sputtering techniques

Tin dioxide nanowires have been grown by thermal oxidation of sputtered thin films by means of a VLS method. A tin sputtered layer catalyzed by gold nanoparticles, acts as material seed for the localized growth of NWs directly on gas sensor devices, avoiding the manipulation and transport of the nanowires to the electrodes. XRD and HRTEM analysis show that the nanowires crystallize in a rutile structure with a [100] preferential growth direction and are single-crystalline with diameters lower than 50 nm. The response of nanowires to formaldehyde has been compared to thin film based sensors. A sensitivity of 0.10 ppm-1 is reported, twofold the sensitivity of the thin film and short response and recovery times are measured (6 times shorter than thin films). The sensing mechanism proposed for the SnO2 NWs under formaldehyde exposure is explained by means of conduction measurements and FT-IR analysis. Oxygen species chemisorbed on the surface of each SnO2 nanowire produce a band bending, which generates a potential barrier (of 0.74± 0.02 eV at 300 ºC) between the point contact of different nanowires. As evidenced by IR spectroscopy at 300 ºC, electrons in the conduction band and in mono-ionized oxygen vacancies (at 0.33 eV below the bottom of the conduction band) are responsible for gas detection

The use of fluoroproline in MUC1 antigen enables efficient detection of antibodies in patients with prostate cancer

A structure-based design of a new gene22ration tumor-associated glycopeptides with improved affinity against two anti-MUC1 antibodies is described. These unique antigens feature a fluorinated proline residue, such as a (4S)-4-fluoro-L-proline or 4,4-difluoroproline, at the most immunogenic domain. Binding assays using bio-layer interferometry reveal 3-fold to 10-fold affinity improvement with respect to the natural (glyco)peptides. According to X-ray crystallography and MD simulations, the fluorinated residues stabilize the antigen-antibody complex by enhancing key CH/ interactions. Interestingly, a notable improvement in detection of cancer-associated anti-MUC1 antibodies from serum of patients with prostate cancer is achieved with the non-natural antigens, which proves that these derivatives can be considered better diagnostic tools than the natural antigen for this type of cancer.We thank the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (projects CTQ2015-67727-R, UNLR13-4E-1931, CTQ2013-44367-C2-2-P, CTQ2015-64597-C2-1P, and BFU2016-75633-P). I. A. B. thanks the Asociación Española Contra el Cancer en La Rioja for a grant. I. S. A. and G. J. L. B. thank FCT Portugal (PhD studentship and FCT Investigator, respectively) and the EPSRC for funding. G. J. L. B. holds a Royal Society URF and an ERC StG (TagIt). F.C. and G. J. L. B thank the EU (Marie-Sklodowska Curie ITN, Protein Conjugates). R.H-G. thanks Agencia Aragonesa para la Investigación y Desarrollo (ARAID) and the Diputación General de Aragón (DGA, B89) for financial support. The research leading to these results has also received funding from the FP7 (2007-2013) under BioStruct-X (grant agreement N°283570 and BIOSTRUCTX_5186). We thank synchrotron radiation source DIAMOND (Oxford) and beamline I04 (number of experiment mx10121-19). Hokkaido University group acknowledges to JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 25220206 and JSPS Wakate B KAKENHI Grant Number 24710242. We also thank CESGA (Santiago de Compostela) for computer support

Ipsilesional Hippocampal GABA Is Elevated and Correlates With Cognitive Impairment and Maladaptive Neurogenesis After Cortical Stroke in Mice.

BACKGROUND Cognitive dysfunction is a frequent stroke sequela, but its pathogenesis and treatment remain unresolved. Involvement of aberrant hippocampal neurogenesis and maladaptive circuitry remodeling has been proposed, but their mechanisms are unknown. Our aim was to evaluate potential underlying molecular/cellular events implicated. METHODS Stroke was induced by permanent occlusion of the middle cerebral artery occlusion in 2-month-old C57BL/6 male mice. Hippocampal metabolites/neurotransmitters were analyzed longitudinally by in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Cognitive function was evaluated with the contextual fear conditioning test. Microglia, astrocytes, neuroblasts, interneurons, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and c-fos were analyzed by immunofluorescence. RESULTS Approximately 50% of mice exhibited progressive post-middle cerebral artery occlusion cognitive impairment. Notably, immature hippocampal neurons in the impaired group displayed more severe aberrant phenotypes than those from the nonimpaired group. Using magnetic resonance spectroscopy, significant bilateral changes in hippocampal metabolites, such as myo-inositol or N-acetylaspartic acid, were found that correlated, respectively, with numbers of glia and immature neuroblasts in the ischemic group. Importantly, some metabolites were specifically altered in the ipsilateral hippocampus suggesting its involvement in aberrant hippocampal neurogenesis and remodeling processes. Specifically, middle cerebral artery occlusion animals with higher hippocampal GABA levels displayed worse cognitive outcome. Implication of GABA in this setting was supported by the amelioration of ischemia-induced memory deficits and aberrant hippocampal neurogenesis after blocking pharmacologically GABAergic neurotransmission, an intervention which was ineffective when neurogenesis was inhibited. These data suggest that GABA exerts its detrimental effect, at least partly, by affecting morphology and integration of newborn neurons into the hippocampal circuits. CONCLUSIONS Hippocampal GABAergic neurotransmission could be considered a novel diagnostic and therapeutic target for poststroke cognitive impairment.S

Subwavelength neuromorphic nanophotonic integrated circuits for spike-based computing : challenges and prospects

Event-activated biological-inspired subwavelength (sub-λ) optical neural networks are of paramount importance for energy-efficient and high-bandwidth artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Despite the significant advances to build active optical artificial neurons using for example phase-change materials, lasers, photodetectors, and modulators, miniaturized integrated sources and detectors suited for few-photon spike-based operation and of interest for neuromorphic optical computing are still lacking. In this invited paper we outline the main challenges, opportunities, and recent results towards the development of interconnected neuromorphic nanoscale light-emitting diodes (nanoLEDs) as key-enabling artificial spiking neuron circuits in photonic neural networks. This method of spike generation in neuromorphic nanoLEDs paves the way for sub-λ incoherent neural circuits for fast and efficient asynchronous brain-inspired computation