A synopsis of the Iberian clade of Linaria subsect. Versicolores (Antirrhineae, Plantaginaceae) based on integrative taxonomy

Integrative taxonomy, based on the combination of multiple lines of evidence, provides the foundations for a robust species delimitation. Here we provide a taxonomic synopsis of the Iberian clade of Linaria subsect. Versicolores based on recently published morphometric and phylogenomic data. This clade radiated in the Iberian Peninsula (western Mediterranean)during the Quaternary, and is being intensively studied from phylogenetic, evolutionary, biogeographic, ecological and developmental standpoints. Eight morphologically and genetically distinct species are recognized in the clade: L. algarviana, L. becerrae, L. clementei, L. incarnata, L. onubensis, L. salzmannii, L. spartea and L. viscosa. For each accepted species, the type material and notes on diagnostic characters, distribution, habitat and intraspecific variability are provided. Five names are typified (four neotypes and one lectotype are designated), and references to previous typifications are also presented. A distribution map and an identification key are presented. This synopsis will provide the basis for future research on speciation and evolution of the clade

Study of Microscopic Residual Stresses in an Extruded Aluminium Alloy Sample after Thermal Treatment

Abstract: A method is proposed to calculate the microscopic residual stresses in extruded cylindrical samples of non-ageing aluminium alloy 5083 (Al–Mg), arising from quenching in fresh water from 530°C. We start from the premise that the alloy is single-phase and non-isotropic on a microscopic scale; it consists of many grains that exhibit different mechanical response depending on their crystallographic orientation and neighboring grains. Microscopic residual stresses depend on the applied heat treatment, microstructure and mechanical strength of the individual grains. The stresses were calculated from neutron diffraction data. Genetic programming algorithms were used to calculate microscopic residual stresses, considering that each diffraction peak describes the stress distribution of a group of grains having a certain orientation, size and environment. The algorithm assigns a stress value to each grain according to the distribution of the diffraction peaks and the microstructural parameters of these grains.This work was supported by the Madrid Regional Government-FEDER grant Y2018/NMT-4668 (Micro-Stress-MAP-CM) and the project MAT2017-83825-C4-1-R. We would also like to express our gratitude to FLNR-JINP for the beam time allocated on the FSD instrument, and to the HeuristicLab Software developers

Obtaining cloud top height from WRF model vertical profiles: application to the EUSO program

The objective of the Extreme Universe Space Observatory (EUSO) program is detection and measurement of high-energy particles that reach earth?s atmosphere from space. Clouds at mid and upper levels of the troposphere can interfere with such detection. Therefore, determining cloud top height with high accuracy is crucial to estimating the effect of clouds on these measurements.With this aim, we developed a method to extract that height using cloud temperature via vertical profiles predicted by the WRF model

Los Poyos del Molinillo (Frigiliana): new site of the Bronze Age in the East Axarquía (Málaga, Andalucía)

En este trabajo damos a conocer un nuevo yacimiento descubierto recientemente en el municipio de Frigiliana. La delimitación del área denominada Los Poyos del Molinillo permitió definir la existencia de un poblado y una covacha con restos de una inhumación. El estudio de los materiales arqueológicos, que incluye cerámica, piezas metálicas o elementos de molturación, o la datación AMS obtenida, permiten adscribir el yacimiento a la Edad del Bronce y ampliar el conocimiento de esta etapa en la Axarquía oriental (Málaga, Andalucía).In this work we present a new site recently discovered in the Frigiliana municipality (Málaga). The spatial delimitation of the so called Los Poyos del Molinillo area let us define a Bronze age settlement and an inhumation burial cave. The archaeological record includes ceramic, metallic items or grinding elements, all of them belonging to the Bronze Age, as well as an AMS Radiocarbon data. This site extends the knowledge about this period in the Eastern Axarquía (Málaga, Andalucía)

What Does It Drive the Relationship Between Suicides and Economic Conditions? New Evidence from Spain

In this paper we analyse suicides across the 17 Spanish regions over the period 2002?2013. In doing so, we estimate count panel data models considering gender differences taking into account before and during economic crisis periods. A range of aggregate socioeconomic regional-level factors have been considered. Our empirical results show that: (1) a socioeconomic urban?rural suicide differentials exist, (2) there exists a Mediterranean suicide pattern; and (3) unemployment levels have a marked importance during the crisis period. The results of this study may have usefulness for suicide prevention in Spain

A genome-wide association study follow-up suggests a possible role for PPARG in systemic sclerosis susceptibility

Introduction: A recent genome-wide association study (GWAS) comprising a French cohort of systemic sclerosis (SSc) reported several non-HLA single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) showing a nominal association in the discovery phase. We aimed to identify previously overlooked susceptibility variants by using a follow-up strategy.<p></p> Methods: Sixty-six non-HLA SNPs showing a P value <10-4 in the discovery phase of the French SSc GWAS were analyzed in the first step of this study, performing a meta-analysis that combined data from the two published SSc GWASs. A total of 2,921 SSc patients and 6,963 healthy controls were included in this first phase. Two SNPs, PPARG rs310746 and CHRNA9 rs6832151, were selected for genotyping in the replication cohort (1,068 SSc patients and 6,762 healthy controls) based on the results of the first step. Genotyping was performed by using TaqMan SNP genotyping assays. Results: We observed nominal associations for both PPARG rs310746 (PMH = 1.90 × 10-6, OR, 1.28) and CHRNA9 rs6832151 (PMH = 4.30 × 10-6, OR, 1.17) genetic variants with SSc in the first step of our study. In the replication phase, we observed a trend of association for PPARG rs310746 (P value = 0.066; OR, 1.17). The combined overall Mantel-Haenszel meta-analysis of all the cohorts included in the present study revealed that PPARG rs310746 remained associated with SSc with a nominal non-genome-wide significant P value (PMH = 5.00 × 10-7; OR, 1.25). No evidence of association was observed for CHRNA9 rs6832151 either in the replication phase or in the overall pooled analysis.<p></p> Conclusion: Our results suggest a role of PPARG gene in the development of SSc

Carbapenem-resistant Citrobacter spp. isolated in Spain from 2013 to 2015 produced a variety of carbapenemases including VIM-1, OXA-48, KPC-2, NDM-1 and VIM-2

Objectives: There is little information about carbapenemase-producing (CP) Citrobacter spp.We studied the molecular epidemiology and microbiological features of CP Citrobacter spp. isolates collected in Spain (2013-15). Methods: In total, 119 isolates suspected of being CP by the EUCAST screening cut-off values were analysed. Carbapenemases and ESBLs were characterized using PCR and sequencing. The genetic relationship among Citrobacter freundii isolates was studied by PFGE. Results: Of the 119 isolates, 63 (52.9%) produced carbapenemases, of which 37 (58.7%) produced VIM-1, 20 (31.7%) produced OXA-48, 12 (19%) produced KPC-2, 2 (3.2%) produced NDM-1 and 1 (1.6%) produced VIM- 2; 9 C. freundii isolates co-produced VIM-1 plus OXA-48. Fourteen isolates (22.2%) also carried ESBLs: 8 CTX-M-9 plus SHV-12, 2 CTX-M-9, 2 SHV-12 and 2 CTX-M-15. Fifty-seven isolates (90.5%) were C. freundii, 4 (6.3%) were Citrobacter koseri, 1 (1.6%) was Citrobacter amalonaticus and 1 (1.6%) was Citrobacter braakii. By EUCAST breakpoints, eight (12.7%) of the CP isolates were susceptible to the four carbapenems tested. In the 53 CP C. freundii analysed by PFGE, a total of 44 different band patterns were observed. Four PFGE clusters were identified: cluster 1 included eight isolates co-producing VIM-1 and OXA-48; blaVIM-1 was carried in a class 1 integron (intI-blaVIM-1 - aacA4-dfrB1-aadA1-catB2-qacE¿1/sul1) and blaOXA-48 was carried in a Tn1999.2 transposon. Conclusions: We observed the clonal and polyclonal spread of CP Citrobacter spp. across several Spanish geographical areas. Four species of Citrobacter spp. produced up to five carbapenemase types, including coproduction of VIM-1 plus OXA-48. Some CP Citrobacter spp. isolates were susceptible to the four carbapenems tested, a finding with potential clinical implications

The scope of language contact as a constraint factor in language change: The periphrasis haber de plus infinitive in a corpus of language immediacy in modern Spanish

In this work an empirical study grounded in the principles and methods of the comparative variationist framework is conducted to measure the scope of language contact as a factor constraining some potentially diverging uses of a Spanish verbal periphrasis that has undergone a sharp decline over the last century (haber de plus infinitive). The analysis is based on three independent samples of text that correspond to three dialectal areas of peninsular Spanish (monolingual zones, Catalan-speaking linguistic territories and the north-western linguistic area). These samples, extracted from a corpus made up of texts of communicative immediacy from the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries, confirm the existence of a certain linguistic convergence in the expressive habits of the speakers in the bilingual communities. In each region, however, the outcomes are different, due to parallel differences in the structural position of the periphrasis in each language. However, a thorough analysis of the variable context that surrounds the periphrasis shows that the observed differences do not affect the essence of the underlying grammar of this variant, whose decline (which favours tener que plus infinitive and becomes faster as the 20th century advances) is constrained by identical linguistic and extralinguistic conditioning factors in all the dialectal areas

Derivation and external validation of the SIMPLICITY score as a simple immune-based risk score to predict infection in kidney transplant recipients

Existing approaches for infection risk stratification in kidney transplant recipients are suboptimal. Here, we aimed to develop and validate a weighted score integrating non-pathogen-specific immune parameters and clinical variables to predict the occurrence of post-transplant infectious complications. To this end, we retrospectively analyzed a single-center derivation cohort of 410 patients undergoing kidney transplantation in 2008-2013 in Madrid. Peripheral blood lymphocyte subpopulations, serum immunoglobulin and complement levels were measured at one-month post-transplant. The primary and secondary outcomes were overall and bacterial infection through month six. A point score was derived from a logistic regression model and prospectively applied on a validation cohort of 522 patients undergoing kidney transplantation at 16 centers throughout Spain in 2014-2015. The SIMPLICITY score consisted of the following variables measured at month one after transplantation: C3 level, CD4+ T-cell count, CD8+ T-cell count, IgG level, glomerular filtration rate, recipient age, and infection within the first month. The discrimination capacity in the derivation and validation cohorts was good for overall (areas under the receiver operating curve of 0.774 and 0.730) and bacterial infection (0.767 and 0.734, respectively). The cumulative incidence of overall infection significantly increased across risk categories in the derivation (low-risk 13.7%; intermediate-risk, 35.9%; high-risk 77.6%) and validation datasets (10.2%, 28.9% and 50.4%, respectively). Thus, the SIMPLICITY score, based on easily available immune parameters, allows for stratification of kidney transplant recipients at month one according to their expected risk of subsequent infection