Seasonal climate predictions in support of water reservoirs management in Spain

Póster presentado en: 1st Climateurope festival celebrado en Valencia, del 5 al 7 de abril de 2017.This work has been partially funded by the FP7 EUPORIAS projec

Puntos de inflexión en los gradientes de composición de las comunidades de plantas acuáticas de diferentes continentes

Sección: SIBECOL-AIL Meeting in Aveiro-2022[EN] Unravelling patterns and mechanisms of biogeographical transitions is crucial if we are to understand compositional gradients at large spatial extents, but no studies have thus far examined breakpoints in community composition of freshwater plants across continents. Using a dataset of almost 500 observations of lake plant community composition from six continents, we examined, for the first time, if such breakpoints in geographical space exist for freshwater plants and how well a suite of ecological factors (including climatic and local environmental variables) can explain transitions in community composition from the subtropics to the poles. Our combination of multivariate regression tree (MRT) analysis and k-means partitioning suggests that the most abrupt breakpoint exists between temperate to boreal regions on the one hand and freshwater plant communities harbouring mainly subtropical or Mediterranean assemblages on the other. The spatially structured variation in current climatic conditions is the most likely candidate for controlling these latitudinal patterns, although one cannot rule out joint effects of eco-evolutionary constraints in the harsher high-latitude environments and post-glacial migration lags after Pleistocene Ice Ages. Overall, our study supports the foundations of global regionalisation for freshwater plants and anticipates further biogeographical research on freshwater plant communities once datasets have been harmonised for conducting large-scale spatial analyses[ES] Desentrañar los patrones y mecanismos que subyacen a las transiciones biogeográficas es un requisito fundamental a la hora de comprender los gradientes de composición de las comunidades ecológicas a grandes extensiones espaciales, si bien ningún estudio ha examinado explícitamente estos puntos de inflexión para comunidades de plantas acuáticas de diferentes continentes. Utilizando una completa base de datos que condensa un total de casi 500 observaciones individuales sobre las comunidades florísticas lacustres de seis continentes, este trabajo pretende delinear las transiciones biogeográficas en plantas acuáticas a escala global, así como valorar el papel que desempeñan diversos mecanismos ecológicos (a saber, las condiciones climáticas y las características locales del hábitat) sobre estos puntos de inflexión en el espacio geográfico comprendido entre las latitudes subtropicales y los polos. Nuestros resultados obtenidos mediante la ejecución simultánea de árboles de regresión multivariante (MRT) y algoritmos de agrupación por k-medias demuestran la existencia de un punto de inflexión entre las regiones templadas y boreales y los lagos localizados en las bandas subtropicales y en las inmediaciones del Mediterráneo. La estructura espacial que subyace a la distribución de los condicionantes climáticos en nuestro planeta parece ser el principal mecanismo de control de dichas transiciones biogeográficas, si bien estos patrones latitudinales también podrían explicarse en base a constricciones eco-evolutivas en las regiones más septentrionales y a la colonización diferencial de los territorios norteños antaño cubiertos por el hielo durante el Último Máximo Glacial. En síntesis, nuestro estudio proporciona una base teórica preliminar para futuras investigaciones encaminadas a delimitar las unidades geográficas de los principales componentes de la flora acuática contemporánea y también anticipa un creciente interés por los estudios de carácter fitogeográfico en las aguas continentales, si bien los análisis venideros deberán prestar especial atención a la armonización de datos biológicos potencialmente heterogéneos en naturaleza y con orígenes disparesSIJGG was funded by the European Union Next Generation EU/PRTR (grant no. AG325). Academy of Finland supported JH, JGG (grant no. 331957), and JA (grant no. 322652). CFL appreciates financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (grant no. CL2017- 84176R). BAL was supported by National Research, Development, and Innovation Office (grant no. NKFIH, OTKA FK127939) and by the Bolyai János Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. SK was supportedby NWO Vidi (grant no. 203098). LR was funded by MESRSI (Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Innovation of Morocco) as part of the BiodivRestore Program (RESPOND Project) and by the Tour du Valat Foundation. Sampling of the Brazilian coastal lakes was financed by NWO (grant no. W84-549), the National Geographic Society (grant no. 7864-5), and CNPq (grants no. 480122, 490409, 311427

Primary care randomized clinical trial: manual therapy effectiveness in comparison with TENS in patients with neck pain

This study investigated effectiveness of manual therapy (MT) with transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) to reduce pain intensity in patients with mechanical neck disorder (MND). A randomized multi-centered controlled clinical trial was performed in 12 Primary Care Physiotherapy Units in Madrid Region. Ninety patients were included with diagnoses of subacute or chronic MND without neurological damage, 47 patients received MT and 43 TENS. The primary outcome was pain intensity measured in millimeters using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Also disability, quality of life, adverse effects and sociodemographic and prognosis variables were measured. Three evaluations were performed (before, when the procedure ?nished and six months after). Seventy-one patients (79%) completed the follow-up measurement at six months. In more than half of the treated patients the procedure had a clinically relevant ?short term? result after having ended the intervention, when either MT or TENS was used. The success rate decreased to one-third of the patients 6 months after the intervention. No differences can be found in the reduction of pain, in the decrease of disability nor in the quality of life between both therapies. Both analyzed physiotherapy techniques produce a short-term pain reduction that is clinically relevant.Ministerio de SanidadInstituto de Salud Carlos II

A TRPA1-dependent mechanism for the pungent sensation of weak acids

Acetic acid produces an irritating sensation that can be attributed to activation of nociceptors within the trigeminal ganglion that innervate the nasal or oral cavities. These sensory neurons sense a diverse array of noxious agents in the environment, allowing animals to actively avoid tissue damage. Although receptor mechanisms have been identified for many noxious chemicals, the mechanisms by which animals detect weak acids, such as acetic acid, are less well understood. Weak acids are only partially dissociated at neutral pH and, as such, some can cross the cell membrane, acidifying the cell cytosol. The nociceptor ion channel TRPA1 is activated by CO2, through gating of the channel by intracellular protons, making it a candidate to more generally mediate sensory responses to weak acids. To test this possibility, we measured responses to weak acids from heterologously expressed TRPA1 channels and trigeminal neurons with patch clamp recording and Ca2+ microfluorometry. Our results show that heterologously expressed TRPA1 currents can be induced by a series of weak organic acids, including acetic, propionic, formic, and lactic acid, but not by strong acids. Notably, the degree of channel activation was predicted by the degree of intracellular acidification produced by each acid, suggesting that intracellular protons are the proximate stimulus that gates the channel. Responses to weak acids produced a Ca2+-independent inactivation that precluded further activation by weak acids or reactive chemicals, whereas preactivation by reactive electrophiles sensitized TRPA1 channels to weak acids. Importantly, responses of trigeminal neurons to weak acids were highly overrepresented in the subpopulation of TRPA1-expressing neurons and were severely reduced in neurons from TRPA1 knockout mice. We conclude that TRPA1 is a general sensor for weak acids that produce intracellular acidification and suggest that it functions within the pain pathway to mediate sensitivity to cellular acidosis

La participación laboral de las mujeres: un reto para el bienestar social.

Este trabajo ha sido posible gracias a la cobertura de los proyectos de investigación “Riesgos y oportunidades a lo largo del curso de la vida en las sociedades postindustriales” (CICYT. Sec2003-06799), dirigido por Esping-Andersen (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) y “Nuevos Riesgos Sociales y Trayectorias de las Políticas del Bienestar” (NURSOPOB) (MEC, Plan Nacional de I+D+I), dirigidos por Luis Moreno (Unidad de Políticas Comparadas, CSIC). Agradezco a ambos el apoyo que me han prestado para poderle llevar a cabo, y de forma muy particular, a Ana Arriba y Luis Moreno, por sus comentarios y colaboración en versiones anteriores del mismo

Pharmacological Targeting of Native CatSper Channels Reveals a Required Role in Maintenance of Sperm Hyperactivation

The four sperm-specific CatSper ion channel proteins are required for hyperactivated motility and male fertility, and for Ca2+ entry evoked by alkaline depolarization. In the absence of external Ca2+, Na+ carries current through CatSper channels in voltage-clamped sperm. Here we show that CatSper channel activity can be monitored optically with the [Na+]i-reporting probe SBFI in populations of intact sperm. Removal of external Ca2+ increases SBFI signals in wild-type but not CatSper2-null sperm. The rate of the indicated rise of [Na+]i is greater for sperm alkalinized with NH4Cl than for sperm acidified with propionic acid, reflecting the alkaline-promoted signature property of CatSper currents. In contrast, the [Na+]i rise is slowed by candidate CatSper blocker HC-056456 (IC50 ∼3 µM). HC-056456 similarly slows the rise of [Ca2+]i that is evoked by alkaline depolarization and reported by fura-2. HC-056456 also selectively and reversibly decreased CatSper currents recorded from patch-clamped sperm. HC-056456 does not prevent activation of motility by HCO3− but does prevent the development of hyperactivated motility by capacitating incubations, thus producing a phenocopy of the CatSper-null sperm. When applied to hyperactivated sperm, HC-056456 causes a rapid, reversible loss of flagellar waveform asymmetry, similar to the loss that occurs when Ca2+ entry through the CatSper channel is terminated by removal of external Ca2+. Thus, open CatSper channels and entry of external Ca2+ through them sustains hyperactivated motility. These results indicate that pharmacological targeting of the CatSper channel may impose a selective late-stage block to fertility, and that high-throughput screening with an optical reporter of CatSper channel activity may identify additional selective blockers with potential for male-directed contraception

Voltage-Dependent Gating in a “Voltage Sensor-Less” Ion Channel

An unusual mechanism of ion channel regulation generates voltage-dependent gating in the absence of a canonical voltage-sensing domain

TrpA1 Regulates Thermal Nociception in Drosophila

Pain is a significant medical concern and represents a major unmet clinical need. The ability to perceive and react to tissue-damaging stimuli is essential in order to maintain bodily integrity in the face of environmental danger. To prevent damage the systems that detect noxious stimuli are therefore under strict evolutionary pressure. We developed a high-throughput behavioral method to identify genes contributing to thermal nociception in the fruit fly and have reported a large-scale screen that identified the Ca2+ channel straightjacket (stj) as a conserved regulator of thermal nociception. Here we present the minimal anatomical and neuronal requirements for Drosophila to avoid noxious heat in our novel behavioral paradigm. Bioinformatics analysis of our whole genome data set revealed 23 genes implicated in Ca2+ signaling that are required for noxious heat avoidance. One of these genes, the conserved thermoreceptor TrpA1, was confirmed as a bona fide “pain” gene in both adult and larval fly nociception paradigms. The nociceptive function of TrpA1 required expression within the Drosophila nervous system, specifically within nociceptive multi-dendritic (MD) sensory neurons. Therefore, our analysis identifies the channel TRPA1 as a conserved regulator of nociception

TRPA1 is essential for the vascular response to environmental cold exposure

This work was supported by the British Heart Foundation and a Capacity Building Award in Integrative Mammalian Biology. It was also supported by Arthritis Research UK and XK is supported by a British Pharmacological Society AJ Clark studentship