Acute-Stress Biomarkers in Three Octopodidae Species After Bottom Trawling

Several Octopodidae species have a great potential for the diversification of worldwide aquaculture. Unfortunately, the lack of stress-related biomarkers in this taxon results an obstacle for its maintenance in conditions where animal welfare is of paramount relevance. In this study, we made a first approach to uncover physiological responses related to fishing capture in Eledone moschata, Eledone cirrhosa, and Octopus vulgaris. Captured octopus from all three species were individually maintained in an aquaculture system onboard of oceanographic vessel in south-western waters of Europe. Haemolymph plasma and muscle were collected in animals at the moment of capture, and recovery was evaluated along a time-course of 48 h in Eledone spp., and 24 h for O. vulgaris. Survival rates of these species captured in spring and autumn were evaluated. Physiological parameters such as plasma pH, total CO2, peroxidase activity, lysozyme, hemocyanin, proteases, pro-phenoloxidase, anti-proteases, free amino acids, lactate and glucose levels, as well as muscle water percentage, free amino acids, lactate, glycogen and glucose values were analyzed. The immune system appears to be compromised in these species due to capture processes, while energy metabolites were mobilized to face the acute-stress situation, but recovery of all described parameters occurs within the first 24 h after capture. Moreover, this situation exerts hydric balance changes, as observed in the muscle water, being these responses depending on the species assessed. In conclusion, three Octopodidae species from south-western waters of Europe have been evaluated for stress-related biomarkers resulting in differentiated mechanisms between species. This study may pave the way to further study the physiology of stress in adult octopuses and develop new methodologies for their growth in aquaculture conditions

The change of paradigm in the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer with the development of new generation antibody-drug conjugates

Breast cancer; HER2-positive; New drugsCàncer de mama; HER2-positiu; Nous medicamentsCáncer de mama; HER2 positivo; Nuevos fármacosHER2-positive breast cancer is an aggressive disease. As a result of the development of specific HER2-targeted therapies, such as trastuzumab, more than 20 years ago, the prognosis of these patients has improved. Metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer patients are achieving better survival rates upon treatment with anti-HER2 therapies than patients with HER2-negative disease. Double HER2 blockade with trastuzumab and pertuzumab combined with a taxane achieved an unprecedented survival of over 57 months in first-line patients. Trastuzumab emtansine, the first antibody-drug conjugate approved for patients in second-line treatment was a potent cytotoxic agent bound to trastuzumab and is currently a standard therapeutic strategy. Despite the progress in treatment development, most patients develop resistance and eventually relapse. Advances in the design of antibody-drug conjugates have led to the development of new generation drugs with enhanced properties, such as trastuzumab deruxtecan and trastuzumab duocarmazine, which are significantly changing the paradigm in the treatment of HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer

Rampant Arch and Its Optimum Geometrical Generation

Gothic art was developed in western Europe from the second half of the 12th century to the end of the 15th century. The most characteristic Gothic building is the cathedral. Gothic architecture uses well-carved stone ashlars, and its essential elements include the arch. The thrust is transferred by means of external arches (flying buttresses) to external buttresses that end in pinnacles, which accentuates the verticality. The evolution of the flying buttresses should not only be considered as an aesthetic consideration, but also from a constructive point of view as an element of transmission of forces or loads. Thus, one evolves from a beam-type buttress to a simple arch, and finally to a rampant arch. In this work, we study the geometry of the rampant arch to determine which is the optimum from the constructive point of view. The optimum rampant arch obtained is the one with the common tangent to the two arches parallel to the slope line. A computer program was created to determine this optimal rampant arch by means of a numerical or graphical input. It was applied to several well-known and representative cases of Gothic art in France (church of Saint Urbain de Troyes) and Spain (Cathedral of Palma de Mallorca), establishing if they were designs of optimal rampant arches or not

First data of Iberian Nematomorpha, with redescription of <i>Gordius aquaticus</i> Linnaeus, <i>G. plicatulus</i> Heinze, <i>Gordionus wolterstorffii</i> (Camerano) and <i>Paragordius tricuspidatus</i> (Dufour)

Four species of Nematomorpha are recorded from NE Spain, representing the first reliable data on the group in the Iberian peninsula. Gordius aquaticits Linnaeus, 1758, G. plicatulus Heinze, 1937, Gordionus wolterstorffii (Camerano, 1888) and Paragordius tricuspidatus (Dufour, 1828) are redescribed based on scanning electron microscope observations. Notes on intraspecific morphological variation and ecology of the species are given.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

First data of Iberian Nematomorpha, with redescription of <i>Gordius aquaticus</i> Linnaeus, <i>G. plicatulus</i> Heinze, <i>Gordionus wolterstorffii</i> (Camerano) and <i>Paragordius tricuspidatus</i> (Dufour)

Four species of Nematomorpha are recorded from NE Spain, representing the first reliable data on the group in the Iberian peninsula. Gordius aquaticits Linnaeus, 1758, G. plicatulus Heinze, 1937, Gordionus wolterstorffii (Camerano, 1888) and Paragordius tricuspidatus (Dufour, 1828) are redescribed based on scanning electron microscope observations. Notes on intraspecific morphological variation and ecology of the species are given.Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Muse

Analysis of contents about sexuality and human reproduction in school textbooks in Spain

Objectives: The spread of sexually transmitted infections (STI) in adolescents and teenage pregnancy rates are increasing. A decrease in the average age of youth’s first sexual experience is also being noted. Sexual education programs in schools have an important role to play in addressing these issues. The objective of this study is to analyze the content of textbooks in the area of sexuality and human reproduction in order to evaluate the extent to which these textbooks promote healthy reproductive life styles, as well as risk behavior avoidance among the adolescent students. Study design: Descriptive study of school textbooks content. Methods: The study sample consisted of 12 textbooks (about 80% of all the textbooks) used in Spanish secondary school and edited in 2002. A content analysis evaluated the extent to which these books demonstrated reliable scientific information about: a) condom effectiveness; b) consequences, prevention, and treatment of STI; c) family planning methods; d) Assisted reproductive technologies and e) the promotion of healthy reproductive lifestyles. Results: All textbooks presented inaccurate information in the areas studied. Two hundred and eighty one quotes were identified that facilitated an incomplete perception of sexuality or enabled risky behavior. An average of 12.6 incorrect messages was identified in each textbook. Conclusions: The textbooks examined are neither appropriate nor comprehensive enough for adolescent education on issues of sexuality. Results suggest a need for alternative textbooks based on better scientific evidence. It is essential that textbooks empower adolescents to make healthy decisions through the promotion of useful life skills that provide a more integrated concept of sexuality. In any case, there is a need for approaches to sexual education to integrate values commonly held by parents of the youth that use such texts

Formal Verification of P Systems with Active Membranes through Model Checking

Formal verification of P systems using model checking has attracted a significant amount of research in recent years. However, up to now only P systems with static structure have been considered. This paper makes significant advances in this area by considering P systems with active membranes, in particular P systems with division rules. The paper presents a theoretical framework for addressing this problem and reports on a complex case study involving a well-known NP-complete problem solved using P systems with membrane division rules. This is implemented in Promela and non trivial properties are verified using Spin.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación TIN2009–13192Junta de Andalucía P08-TIC-0420

Pensamiento crítico para el Pensamiento gráfico

PASSMORE (1967) define el Pensamiento Crítico como un proceso que es a la vez reflexivo e imaginativo, cualidades imprescindibles en todo proceso de diseño. En este artículo nos centramos en la utilización del Pensamiento Crítico para mejorar lo que se ha dado en llamar Pensamiento Gráfico. El trabajo se divide en dos partes complementarias. En la primera, se formula un marco teórico en torno a los conceptos de Pensamiento Crítico y Pensamiento Gráfico, para proponer una metodología de enseñanza de la ingeniería que relacione ambos conceptos. En la segunda, se aplican dichos aspectos al estudio de una herramienta esencial dentro del proceso de diseño, el diagrama, y a la manera de proyectar en la contemporaneidad. - Critical thinking is defined by PASSMORE (1967) as a process that is both reflexive and imaginative, essencial aspects of the design process. This paper focuses on the use of Critical Thinking to improve what we call Graphic Thinking. The content is two fold. The first part establishes a theoretical framework around the concepts of Critical Thinking and Graphic Thinking, in order to propose a methodology for engineering education through the combination of both concepts. The second one deals with those concepts, which are applied to one of the basic tools within the design process, the diagram, analysing through it the contemporary way of designing

Flame retardancy effect of combined ammonium polyphosphate and aluminium diethyl phosphinate in acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene

The present work investigates the fire retardancy mechanisms of ammonium polyphosphate (APP) and aluminium diethyl phosphinate salt (AlPi) in an acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (ABS) by analysing the pyrolysis, flammability and fire behaviour. Evidences of synergy in flammability by combining both flame retardants were discussed and related to the flame retardant mechanisms assessed by means of TGA and FT-IR analysis of the pyrolysis gases. Specifically, the ABS flame retardant formulation with a 12.5 wt% APP and 12.5 wt% AlPi (ABS-APP/AlPi) reached a UL-94 V-0 classification, unlike the ABS with 25 wt% APP (ABS-APP) and ABS with 25 wt% AlPi (ABS-AlPi) formulations, which completely burned. Under forced flame conditions, APP and AlPi showed, respectively, a main condensed and gas phase-based mode of action in the ABS matrix, whereas, a combined gas and condensed mode of action was identified when both additives were simultaneously incorporated. Also, the ABS-APP/AlPi formulation showed the higher reduction of the peak heat release rate (74%) and of the maximum average rate of heat emission (65%), obtained from cone calorimeter tests. As well as, a more protective fire residue with an improved microstructure assed by SEMPostprint (author's final draft

Microstructure anisotropy in polyolefin flexible foams

The use of polyolefin flexible foams with typical thicknesses between 1 and 3 mm produced by a physical foaming extrusion process is nowadays quite widespread in the packaging sector. Their high flexibility and closed-cell structure allows them to show good energy absorption properties under low loading conditions. Although the compressive response of these materials is well known, the inner microstructure developed during processing induce a high anisotropy that is responsible for their direction-dependent tensile and fracture behaviours. In this work, two different polyolefin-based foams, with densities ranging from 20 to 45 kg/m3, were studied. The induced microstructure anisotropy was characterized by micro- Raman. With this technique, the relative orientations of both crystalline and amorphous phases in the foam’s base polymer could be determined and thus related to their mechanical properties measured in the different directions.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author’s final draft