Relationships between rhizosphere microbiota and forest health conditions in Pinus pinaster stands at the Iberian Peninsula

Producción CientíficaMaritime pine (Pinus pinaster) is a Mediterranean forest tree species of great ecological importance within the European Union and the Iberian Peninsula in particular, whose presence is seriously threatened by forest decline. Knowledge of the diversity, abundance, and functionality of rhizospheric microorganisms can provide important information in the design of new strategies for sustainable forest management against forest decline. In this work, rhizospheric samples were collected from representative pine forests in the region of Castilla y León (North-western Spain) (in 10 municipalities of 5 different provinces), analyzing different physicochemical parameters and bacterial and fungal biodiversity (by metabarcoding). In addition, different variables of tree health and climatic conditions were analyzed. The main phylum of microorganisms found in the rhizosphere of P. pinaster were the Ascomycota (54.5 %) and Acidobacteria (16.4 %) in fungi and bacteria, respectively. A clear relationship was found between the presence/absence of certain bacterial and fungal groups (taxonomic and functional) and the presence/absence of healthy/sick trees. Specifically, the fungal genus Umbelopsis and the bacterial genus Paenibacillus were thought as possible control agents of decline, as their presence was related to the absence of disease. Understanding the relationships between rhizosphere microbiota and forest health parameters in Pinus pinaster can be only achieved by exploring the complex ‘ecosystem microbiome’ and its functioning using focused, integrative microbiological and ecological research performed across multiple habitats

Residual effects caused by a past mycovirus infection in Fusarium circinatum

Producción CientíficaMycoviruses are known to be difficult to cure in fungi but their spontaneous loss occurs commonly. The unexpected disappearance of mycoviruses can be explained by diverse reasons, from methodological procedures to biological events such as posttranscriptional silencing machinery. The long-term effects of a virus infection on the host organism have been well studied in the case of human viruses; however, the possible residual effect on a fungus after the degradation of a mycovirus is unknown. For that, this study analyses a possible residual effect on the transcriptome of the pathogenic fungus Fusarium circinatum after the loss of the mitovirus FcMV1. The mycovirus that previously infected the fungal isolate was not recovered after a 4-year storage period. Only 14 genes were determined as differentially expressed and were related to cell cycle regulation and amino acid metabolism. The results showed a slight acceleration in the metabolism of the host that had lost the mycovirus by the upregulation of the genes involved in essential functions for fungal development. The analysis also revealed a weak expression in the annotated genes of the RNA silencing machinery. To our knowledge, this is the first time that a potential residual effect on the host transcriptome caused by the past infection of a mycovirus is reported.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación - Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional - (Proyecto PID2019-110459RB-I00)Junta de Castilla y León (Project VA208P20

Artificial intelligence techniques point out differences in classification performance between light and standard bovine carcasses

The validity of the official SEUROP bovine carcass classification to grade light carcasses by means of three well reputed Artificial Intelligence algorithms has been tested to assess possible differences in the behavior of the classifiers in affecting the repeatability of grading. We used two training sets consisting of 65 and 162 examples respectively of light and standard carcass classifications, including up to 28 different attributes describing carcass conformation. We found that the behavior of the classifiers is different when they are dealing with a light or a standard carcass. Classifiers follow SEUROP rules more rigorously when they grade standard carcasses using attributes characterizing carcass profiles and muscular development. However, when they grade light carcasses, they include attributes characterizing body size or skeletal development. A reconsideration of the SEUROP classification system for light carcasses may be recommended to clarify and standardize this specific beef market in the European Union. In addition, since conformation of light and standard carcasses can be considered different traits, this could affect sire evaluation programs to improve carcass conformation scores from data from markets presenting a great variety of ages and weights of slaughtered animals

A Comparative Analysis of 2D and 3D Tasks for Virtual Reality Therapies Based on Robotic-Assisted Neurorehabilitation for Post-stroke Patients

Post-stroke neurorehabilitation based on virtual therapies are performed completing repetitive exercises shown in visual electronic devices, whose content represents imaginary or daily life tasks. Currently, there are two ways of visualization of these task. 3D virtual environments are used to get a three dimensional space that represents the real world with a high level of detail, whose realism is determinated by the resolucion and fidelity of the objects of the task. Furthermore, 2D virtual environments are used to represent the tasks with a low degree of realism using techniques of bidimensional graphics. However, the type of visualization can influence the quality of perception of the task, affecting the patient's sensorimotor performance. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate if there were differences in patterns of kinematic movements when post-stroke patients performed a reach task viewing a virtual therapeutic game with two different type of visualization of virtual environment: 2D and 3D. Nine post-stroke patients have participated in the study receiving a virtual therapy assisted by PUPArm rehabilitation robot. Horizontal movements of the upper limb were performed to complete the aim of the tasks, which consist in reaching peripheral or perspective targets depending on the virtual environment shown. Various parameter types such as the maximum speed, reaction time, path length, or initial movement are analyzed from the data acquired objectively by the robotic device to evaluate the influence of the task visualization. At the end of the study, a usability survey was provided to each patient to analysis his/her satisfaction level. For all patients, the movement trajectories were enhanced when they completed the therapy. This fact suggests that patient's motor recovery was increased. Despite of the similarity in majority of the kinematic parameters, differences in reaction time and path length were higher using the 3D task. Regarding the success rates were very similar. In conclusion, the using of 2D environments in virtual therapy may be a more appropriate and comfortable way to perform tasks for upper limb rehabilitation of post-stroke patients, in terms of accuracy in order to effectuate optimal kinematic trajectories

Development of a robotic device for post-stroke home tele-rehabilitation

This work deals with the complex mechanical design task of converting a large pneumatic rehabilitation robot into an electric and compact system for in-home post-stroke therapies without losing performance. It presents the new HomeRehab robot that supports rehabilitation therapies in three dimensions with an adaptive controller that optimizes patient recovery. A preliminary usability test is also conducted to show that its performance resembles that found in RoboTherapist 2D commercial system designed for hospitals. The mechanical design of a novel and smart twodimensional force sensor at the end-effector is also described

A strategic reflection for the management and implementation of CAR-T therapy in Spain: an expert consensus paper

CAR-T cell therapy represents a therapeutic revolution in the prognosis and treatment of patients with certain types of hematological cancer. However, they also pose new challenges in the healthcare, regulatory and financial fields. The aim of the RET-A project was to undertake a strategic reflection on the management of CAR-T therapies within the Spanish National Health System, to agree on recommendations that will help to better deal with the new context introduced by these cell therapies in the present and in the future. This think tank involved 40 key agents and opinion leaders. The experts identified three great challenges for implementing advanced therapies in Spain: therapeutic individualisation, with a multidisciplinary approach; acceleration of access times, by minimizing bureaucracy; and increase in the number of centers qualified to manage the CAR-T therapies in the NHS. The experts agreed on the ideal criteria for designating those qualified centers. They also agreed on a comprehensive CAR-T care pathway with the timings and roles which would ideally be involved in each part of the process.This study was funded by Gilead Sciences, Inc.Peer reviewe

Physiological Responses During Hybrid BNCI Control of an Upper-Limb Exoskeleton

When combined with assistive robotic devices, such as wearable robotics, brain/neural-computer interfaces (BNCI) have the potential to restore the capabilities of handicapped people to carry out activities of daily living. To improve applicability of such systems, workload and stress should be reduced to a minimal level. Here, we investigated the user’s physiological reactions during the exhaustive use of the interfaces of a hybrid control interface. Eleven BNCI-naive healthy volunteers participated in the experiments. All participants sat in a comfortable chair in front of a desk and wore a whole-arm exoskeleton as well as wearable devices for monitoring physiological, electroencephalographic (EEG) and electrooculographic (EoG) signals. The experimental protocol consisted of three phases: (i) Set-up, calibration and BNCI training; (ii) Familiarization phase ; and (iii) Experimental phase during which each subject had to perform EEG and EoG tasks. After completing each task, the NASA-TLX questionnaire and self-assessment manikin (SAM) were completed by the user. We found significant differences (p-value < 0.05) in heart rate variability (HRV) and skin conductance level (SCL) between participants during the use of the two different biosignal modalities (EEG, EoG) of the BNCI. This indicates that EEG control is associated with a higher level of stress (associated with a decrease in HRV) and mental work load (associated with a higher level of SCL) when compared to EoG control. In addition, HRV and SCL modulations correlated with the subject’s workload perception and emotional responses assessed through NASA-TLX questionnaires and SAM

Proyección de la actividad ciclónica futura basada en patrones sinópticos de la temperatura superficial del mar

Ponencia presentada en: IX Congreso de la Asociación Española de Climatología celebrado en Almería entre el 28 y el 30 de octubre de 2014.[ES]Nuestro estudio está enfocado a caracterizar la relación existente entre las situaciones sinópticas de SST (predictor) y la actividad ciclónica (predictando) mediante la utilización de técnicas de minería de datos (data mining). Una vez establecida la relación entre el predictor y el predictando y disponiendo de las proyecciones futuras de la SST mediante modelos generales de circulación (GCMs) pueden estimarse los cambios esperados en la actividad ciclónica. En este trabajo se muestran algunos ejemplos de aplicación de esta metodología para los huracanes del Atlántico Norte.[EN]Our study is focused on characterizing the relationship between the synoptic situations of SST (predictor) and cyclonic activity (predictand) using data mining techniques. Once the relationship between predictor and predictand is established and having the future projections of SST, by means of general circulation models (GCMs), changes in hurricane activity can be estimated. Some examples of the methodology are shown for the North Atlantic hurricanes.Este trabajo ha sido parcialmente financiado por el proyecto iMar21 (CTM2010-15009) del gobierno español