A statistical assessment of maritime socioeconomic indicators for the European Atlantic area

Ever since the introduction into marine and maritime policy strategies worldwide of the relatively new concept of Blue Growth there has been an increasing interest in developing integrated systems of indicators for the maritime economy. The Marnet project has been a recent attempt to develop a comparative maritime socioeconomic framework for the European Atlantic area and its database contains a large number of socioeconomic indicators for many maritime activities at different territorial levels that provide the information needed to help analyze and compare the maritime economy of the European Atlantic regions. However, there are still many gaps with respect to the spatial and sectoral coverage of the statistical information available. This paper aims to assess the statistical coverage of the main maritime economic sectors in order to contribute to filling these gaps. To help determine where future statistical efforts should focus the paper gives a list of indicators classified by maritime sectors and activities with information on the degree of territorial coverage of each indicator as measured by the percentage of EU Atlantic regions with data at each territorial level. Based on this information, a list of failed indicators is presented in terms of EU Atlantic countries with no data plus the percentage of Atlantic regions with missing data in the rest of EU countries. Also, a Data Envelopment Analysis based statistical method is proposed to evaluate and compare the relative importance of each maritime sector on the European Atlantic economy. Finally, variation among both sectoral and regional DEA scores is also discussed with the help of a combination of distribution and box-and-whisker plots, as it may offer novel insights into the influence of the maritime economy on the European Atlantic area

ttl mutants are impaired in cellulose biosynthesis under osmotic stress

As sessile organisms, plants require mechanisms to sense and respond to the challenging environment, that encompass both biotic and abiotic factors that results in differential development. In these conditions is essential to balance growth and stress responses. As cell walls shape plant growth, this differential growth response cause alterations to the plant cell wall and cellulose is a major component. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms that regulate cellulose biosynthesis is essential to develop strategies to improve plant production. Previous studies have shown that the GSK3 kinase BIN2 modulate cellulose biosynthesis through phosphorylating cellulose synthases and that the expression of cellulose synthases are regulated by Brassinosteroids. Our previous work reveals that the tetratricopeptide-repeat thioreoxin-like (TTL) TTL1, TTL3, and TTL4 genes, in addition to their reported role in abiotic stress tolerance, are positive regulators of BR signaling. We observe association of TTL3 with most core components in traducing BR signalling, such as LRR-RLK BRI1, BIN2 and the transcription factor BES1 that positively regulate cellulose biosynthesis. We show that ttl mutants are affected in cellulose biosynthesis, particularly in osmotic stress conditions. Furthermore, TTL3 associates with LRR-RLKs that have been shown to be important for cellulose biosynthesis such as FEI1 in the FEI1/FEI2/SOS5 pathway. We aim to investigate the mechanisms by which TTL proteins regulate cellulose biosynthesis using a combination of genetics, biochemical, and molecular and cell biology approaches. This work was supported by grants from: (1) Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación BIO2014-55380-R, BIO2014-56153-REDT; (2) Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (BES-2015-071256); (3) Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech.This work was supported by grants from: (1) Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación BIO2014-55380-R, BIO2014-56153-REDT; (2) Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (BES-2015-071256); (3) Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Unraveling the mechanism of TTL genes in cellulose biosynthesis

As sessile organisms, plants require mechanisms to sense and respond to the challenging environment, that encompass both biotic and abiotic factors that results in differential development. In these conditions is essential to balance growth and stress responses. As cell walls shape plant growth, this differential growth response cause alterations to the plant cell wall where cellulose is the major component. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms that regulate cellulose biosynthesis is essential to develop strategies to improve plant production. In Arabidopsis, the TETRATRICOPEPTIDE THIOREDOXIN-LIKE (TTL) gene family is composed by four members (TTL1 to TTL4) and mutations in TTL1, TTL3, and TTL4 genes cause reduced growth under salt and osmotic stress due to defects in plant cell wall integrity. We observe association of TTL3 with most core components in traducing BR signalling, such as LRR-RLK BRI1 or GSK3 BIN2 that modulate cellulose biosynthesis through phosphorylating cellulose synthases. Here, we show that ttl mutants present defects in the plant cell wall, particularly in Isoxaben, salt or sucrose stress. Spinning disk microscopy in etiolated hypocotyls reveals that, TTL proteins are responsible for the cellulose synthase complex (CSC) stability in plasma membrane (PM) upon sucrose stress. Moreover, TTL3 associates with LRR-RLKs that have been shown to be important for cellulose biosynthesis such as FEI1 in the FEI1/FEI2/SOS5 pathway. We aim to investigate the mechanisms by which TTL proteins regulate CesA stability in PM under stress, using a combination of genetics, biochemical, and molecular and cell biology approaches.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. This work was supported by grants from: (1) Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación BIO2014-55380-R, BIO2014-56153-REDT; (2) Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (BES-2015-071256

Developing a comparative marine socio-economic framework for the European Atlantic Area

Availability and easy access to a wide range of natural and human-activity data on the oceans and coastal regions of Europe is the basis for strategic decision-making on coastal and marine policy. Strategies within Europe’s Integrated Maritime Policy, including the Maritime Strategy for the Atlantic Area, Blue Growth, Maritime Spatial Planning and Marine Data and Knowledge, require coherent and comparable socio-economic data across European countries. Similarly, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive requires member states to carry out economic and social analysis of their waters and the reformed Common Fisheries Policy includes a social dimension requiring socio-economic data. However, the availability of consistent, accessible marine socio-economic data for the European Atlantic Arc regions is limited. Ocean economy studies have been undertaken in some countries (for example, Ireland, France, and UK) but timescales and methodologies are not necessarily comparable. Marnet is an EU transnational co-operation project involving eight partners from five member states of the Atlantic Area (Ireland, Spain, UK, France and Portugal). Marnet has developed a methodology to collate comparable marine socio-economic data across the Atlantic regions. The comparative marine socio-economic information system developed by Marnet could provide a template for other European States to follow that could potentially facilitate the construction of a Europe-wide marine economic information system as envisaged under the EU Integrated Maritime Policy

Challenges in measuring indicators of progress for the Atlantic Action Plan

The EU Atlantic Action Plan (AAP) has recently been updated and revised to support ‘blue growth’ along Europe’s western coastal regions. The revisions reflect recent challenges facing the Atlantic Arc maritime economies including the Covid-19 crisis, Brexit and the new requirements of the European Green Deal. This new revision, termed AAP 2.0, also addresses some of the weaknesses highlighted in the original Atlantic Action Plan particularly regarding identifying indicators that may be used to measure progress in the achievement of the Plan’s objectives. Using a database with comparable marine socio-economic data across the Atlantic regions, a number of indicators are identified that may be used to monitor progress of the AAP 2.0. Recent trends and spatial distributions across the Atlantic Arc region are shown for these indicators. The challenges in measuring progress are also highlighted, including where some AAP objectives and associated indicators may conflict with other EU policy aims and where the current monitoring framework can be bolstered with the inclusion of new indicators

Glutathione influences c-Myc-induced apoptosis in M14 human melanoma cells

The objective of this article is to dissect the mechanisms by which the down-regulation of c-Myc induces programmed cell death in melanoma cells. In stable and doxycycline-inducible M14 melanoma cells, down-regulation of c-Myc induced apoptosis subsequent to a decrease in the intracellular reduced glutathione content and a concomitant accumulation of its oxidized form. This redox alteration was associated with a decrease of the enzyme activities of γ-glutamyl-cysteine synthetase and NADPH-dependent GSSG reductase, as well as a consequent glutathione release in the extracellular medium. Cytochrome c was released into the cytosol at very early stages of apoptosis induction, long before detectable production of reactive oxygen species and activation of caspase-9 and -3. Macroarray analysis revealed that down-regulation of c-Myc produced striking changes in gene expression in the section related to metabolism, where the expression of γ-glutamyl-cysteine synthetase and GSSG reductase was found to be significantly reduced. The addition of N-acetyl-L-cysteine or glutathione ethyl ester inhibited the apoptotic process, thus confirming the key role of glutathione in programmed cell death induced by c-Myc

Learning–testing process in classroom: An empirical simulation model

This paper presents an empirical micro-simulation model of the teaching and the testing process in the classroomH. It is a non-econometric micro-simulation model describing informational behaviors of the pupils, based on the observation of the pupils’ communication behavior during lessons and tests. The representation of the knowledge process is very simplified. However, we tried to study the involvements of individual motivation, capability and relationship with other pupils of each pupil, to compare them to the new-classical(and keynesian) and Austrian information and knowledge theoretical results. It is a first step and future development should concern expectation behaviors and dynamics. This paper aims too to give, we hope so, some criteria of pupils’ rationality in the classroom

Microbiota/Host Crosstalk Biomarkers: Regulatory Response of Human Intestinal Dendritic Cells Exposed to Lactobacillus Extracellular Encrypted Peptide

The human gastrointestinal tract is exposed to a huge variety of microorganisms, either commensal or pathogenic; at this site, a balance between immunity and immune tolerance is required. Intestinal dendritic cells (DCs) control the mechanisms of immune response/tolerance in the gut. In this paper we have identified a peptide (STp) secreted by Lactobacillus plantarum, characterized by the abundance of serine and threonine residues within its sequence. STp is encoded in one of the main extracellular proteins produced by such species, which includes some probiotic strains, and lacks cleavage sites for the major intestinal proteases. When studied in vitro, STp expanded the ongoing production of regulatory IL-10 in human intestinal DCs from healthy controls. STp-primed DC induced an immunoregulatory cytokine profile and skin-homing profile on stimulated T-cells. Our data suggest that some of the molecular dialogue between intestinal bacteria and DCs may be mediated by immunomodulatory peptides, encoded in larger extracellular proteins, secreted by commensal bacteria. These peptides may be used for the development of nutraceutical products for patients with IBD. In addition, this kind of peptides seem to be absent in the gut of inflammatory bowel disease patients, suggesting a potential role as biomarker of gut homeostasis

Analysis of the Peptidoglycan Hydrolase Complement of Lactobacillus casei and Characterization of the Major γ-D-Glutamyl-L-Lysyl-Endopeptidase

Peptidoglycan (PG) is the major component of Gram positive bacteria cell wall and is essential for bacterial integrity and shape. Bacteria synthesize PG hydrolases (PGHs) which are able to cleave bonds in their own PG and play major roles in PG remodelling required for bacterial growth and division. Our aim was to identify the main PGHs in Lactobacillus casei BL23, a lactic acid bacterium with probiotic properties

The microbiome and regulation of mucosal immunity

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106849/1/imm12231.pd