Root-to-Shoot Hormonal Communication in Contrasting Rootstocks Suggests an Important Role for the Ethylene Precursor Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic Acid in Mediating Plant Growth under Low-Potassium Nutrition in Tomato

Selection and breeding of rootstocks that can tolerate low K supply may increase crop productivity in low fertility soils and reduce fertilizer application. However, the underlying physiological traits are still largely unknown. In this study, 16 contrasting recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from a cross between domestic and wild tomato species (Solanum lycopersicum × Solanum pimpinellifolium) have been used to analyse traits related to the rootstock-mediated induction of low (L, low shoot fresh weight) or high (H, high shoot fresh weight) vigor to a commercial F1 hybrid grown under control (6 mM, c) and low-K (1 mM, k). Based on hormonal and ionomic composition in the root xylem sap and the leaf nutritional status after long-term (7 weeks) exposure low-K supply, a model can be proposed to explain the rootstocks effects on shoot performance with the ethylene precursor aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) playing a pivotal negative role. The concentration of this hormone was higher in the low-vigor Lc and Lk rootstocks under both conditions, increased in the sensitive HcLk plants under low-K while it was reduced in the high-vigor Hk ones. Low ACC levels would promote the transport of K vs. Na in the vigorous Hk grafted plants. Along with K, Ca, and S, micronutrient uptake and transport were also activated in the tolerant Hk combinations under low-K. Additionally, an interconversion of trans-zeatin into trans-zeatin riboside would contribute to decrease ACC in the tolerant LcHk plants. The high vigor induced by the Hk plants can also be explained by an interaction of ACC with other hormones (cytokinins and salicylic, abscisic and jasmonic acids). Therefore, Hk rootstocks convert an elite tomato F1 cultivar into a (micro) nutrient-efficient phenotype, improving growth under reduced K fertilization.This research has received funding from the Spanish MINECO-FEDER (project AGL2014-59728-R) and from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 289365 (project ROOTOPOWER).USD 2,116.5 APC fee funded by the EC FP7 Post-Grant Open Access PilotPeer reviewe

Combined therapies of antithrombotics and antioxidants delay in silico brain tumor progression

Glioblastoma multiforme, the most frequent type of primary brain tumor, is a rapidly evolving and spatially heterogeneous high-grade astrocytoma that presents areas of necrosis, hypercellularity and microvascular hyperplasia. The aberrant vasculature leads to hypoxic areas and results in an increase of the oxidative stress selecting for more invasive tumor cell phenotypes. In our study we assay in silico different therapeutic approaches which combine antithrombotics, antioxidants and standard radiotherapy. To do so, we have developed a biocomputational model of glioblastoma multiforme that incorporates the spatio-temporal interplay among two glioma cell phenotypes corresponding to oxygenated and hypoxic cells, a necrotic core and the local vasculature whose response evolves with tumor progression. Our numerical simulations predict that suitable combinations of antithrombotics and antioxidants may diminish, in a synergetic way, oxidative stress and the subsequent hypoxic response. This novel therapeutical strategy, with potentially low or no toxicity, might reduce tumor invasion and further sensitize glioblastoma multiforme to conventional radiotherapy or other cytotoxic agents, hopefully increasing median patient overall survival time.Comment: 8 figure

Consumer’s trust in Internet shopping: a modelling proposal based on the standard learning hierarchy

This paper is placed on the framework of studies focused on analyzing the consumers’ buying behaviour on the Internet. We have based on adapting the hierarchy-of-effects model (standard learning hierarchy), in order to theoretically propose a conceptual model explaining how consumers’ beliefs i.e. design, interaction speed, social benefits, and privacy and attitudes toward the Internet as a communication medium can be plausible determinants of trusting in Internet shopping. Furthermore, our model poses that consumers’ overall opinions regarding with in-home shopping might also exert an influence on their evaluations about the Internet as a communication medium and, specially, as a shopping medium. The proposed conceptual model is supported by a deep and specific literature review. The relationships contained in the model have been estimated by means of structural equation modelling. Results confirm that this approach based on the cognitive information processing is valid to model consumers’ shopping behaviour on the Internet. Finally, several academic reflections, as well as a set of managerial implications based on the questions analyzed, are put forward.Online consumer behaviour, attitude, trust in Internet shopping, standard learning hierarchy.

Lipoma parostal de fémur: Aportación de un caso

Describimos un caso de lipoma parostal de fémur, un tumor benigno poco frecuente formado por tejido adiposo maduro en relación con el periostio. Nuestro objetivo es documentar el caso, comentando los hallazgos radiológicos, histológicos y el tratamiento y realizar una revisión bibliográfica.We describe a case of parosteal lipoma of the femur. It is an infrequent benign neoplasm composed of mature fat, intermately connected with the periosteum. Our aim is to document the case, and comment the radiological, histological findings, and treatment, and review the literature

Is sexual attraction and place of origin a moderator of sex in pornography consumption? Cross-sectional study on a representative sample of young adults

Background: Pornography consumption is higher in men, but we do not know if this association can be modified by different variables, such as sexual attraction and place of origin. Given the impact pornography has on minors, there are limited studies that analyze the use of pornography in representative samples of the adult population. The aim was analyze the prevalence and factors associated with using pornography in young adult men and women, living in Spain, with different sexual attractions and different places of birth. Methods: Cross-sectional study with an online survey conducted with 2515 men and women aged between 18 and 35 years of age. The prevalence of pornography consumption is described and analyzed in the total sample and stratified by sex, according to socio-demographic and sexual attraction variables. The association between covariates and pornography consumption at some point in life was estimated with prevalence ratios (PR) obtained with the Poisson models of robust variance. Dependent variable: voluntarily using pornography at some point in life. Socio-demographic variables were included in the analysis: age, sex, level of education, place of birth. Sexual attraction was also analyzed. Results: In Spain, 94.7% of men between 18 and 34 years and 74.6% of women have voluntarily used pornography at some point in their life. The mean age to start using it is earlier in men [Mean:14.2; Standard Deviation (SD):2.3]. Bisexual/homosexual attraction (reference: heterosexual) increases the probability of using pornography in women [(PR (95%CI): 1.30 (1.22; 1.38)]. Yet this is not observed in men. In both sexes, the probability of using pornography increases with age [(PR (95%CI): 1.01(1.00; 1.01)] and coming from abroad (reference: native), being the effect of country of birth significantly higher in women [(PR (95%CI): 1.17 (1.09; 1.26)] than in men [(PR (95%CI): 1.04 (1.01; 1.07). Conclusions: Public health programmes aimed at improving affective-sexual health should consider the high use of pornography among young adults in Spain, as well as those variables that increase its use.This research was supported by the CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health of Spain (Grant ESP20PI02) and by the Institute of Health Carlos III (Grant PI22CIII/00036). Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature.S

Novel broadside trisection filters employing nonresonating nodes

This work presents novel filter topologies implemented in microstrip technology. The topologies combine printed line resonators with non resonating nodes (NRN) to implement transmission zeros in a very flexible way. Depending on the number of resonators and NRN, the filtering response exhibits a single transmission zero either below or above the passband, or two transmission zeros, one at each side of the passband. Several examples are designed and validated, using the new proposed structures.The authors thank Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia of Spain, which has supported this work under Grant TEC2007- 67630-C03-02

Tumores en ganado ovino sacrificado en matadero

Trabajo presentado al: XL Congreso Nacional y el XVI Congreso Internacional de la Sociedad Española de Ovinotecnia y Caprinotecnia. (Castellón de la Plana, España, 16-18 septiembre 2015).Peer Reviewe

Response to fungal exudates of the rhizosphere isolate Pseudomonas sp. UMAF110 involves a GGDEF/EAL domain-containing protein

Pseudomonas sp. UMAF110, isolated from rhizosphere soil in Spain, display in vitro antagonism towards the pythopathogenic fungus Rosellinia necatrix and is able grow in fungal exudates (BM-RE medium). A transposon mutant library of this strain was constructed and several mutants were selected by their reduced competitiveness in BM-RE medium. Pseudomonas sp. UMAF110-G3, which contains the transposon into a gene encoding a putative REC/PAS/GGDEF/EAL protein, was selected for further characterization. Blastn searches using the sequence of the gene interrupted by the transposon in UMAF110-G3, here called cmpA (c-di-GMP Metabolizing Protein), yielded a single positive hit (98% cover, 78% identity) with a gene from a terpene-degrading Pseudomonas sp. strain isolated from soil. Context analysis of the cmpA gene in Pseudomonas sp. UMAF110 showed that this gene is located downstream from several genes involved in flagellar motility/chemotaxis. RT-PCR experiments further confirmed that cmpA form a transcriptional unit with the che gene cluster. Expression analysis of cmpA by qRT-PCR clearly showed upregulation of this gene after transfer of Pseudomonas sp. UMAF110 cells to BM-RE medium, suggesting a role for this operon in response to fungal exudates. Deletion of cmpA in Pseudomonas sp. UMAF110 did not affect the ability of the strain to form biofilms under the conditions tested. However, overexpression of wild type CmpA in Pseudomonas putida KT2440 negatively regulated biofilm formation in this strain. Together, these results suggest that CmpA could be involved in signal transduction pathways regulating flagellar motility/chemotaxis in response to fungal exudates.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

An interpolated spatial images method for the analysis of multilayered shielded microwave circuits

In this paper, an efficient interpolation method is presented in order to compute the Green’s function associated to electrical sources, when they are placed inside cylindrical cavities. The interpolation scheme is formulated in the frame of the spatial images technique recently developed. The original idea was to calculate, for every location of a point electric source, the complex values of the electric dipole and charge images, placed outside the cavity, to impose the appropriate boundary conditions for the potentials. In order to considerably reduce the computational cost of the original technique, a simple interpolation method is proposed to obtain the complex values of the images for any source location. To do that, a rectangular spatial subdivision inside the cavity is proposed. Each new sub-region is controlled by means of the exact images values obtained when the source is placed at the four corners of the region. The key idea is to use a bilinear interpolation to obtain the images complex values when the source is located anywhere inside this sub-region. The interpolated images provide the Green’s functions of the new source positions fast, and with high accuracy. This new approach can be directly applied to analyze printed planar filters. Two examples with CPU time comparisons are provided, showing the high accuracy and computational gain achieved with the technique just derived.This work was partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science under Grant FPU-AP2006-015 and with the Project TEC2007-67630-C03-02

Ordinal regression methods: survey and experimental study

Abstract—Ordinal regression problems are those machine learning problems where the objective is to classify patterns using a categorical scale which shows a natural order between the labels. Many real-world applications present this labelling structure and that has increased the number of methods and algorithms developed over the last years in this field. Although ordinal regression can be faced using standard nominal classification techniques, there are several algorithms which can specifically benefit from the ordering information. Therefore, this paper is aimed at reviewing the state of the art on these techniques and proposing a taxonomy based on how the models are constructed to take the order into account. Furthermore, a thorough experimental study is proposed to check if the use of the order information improves the performance of the models obtained, considering some of the approaches within the taxonomy. The results confirm that ordering information benefits ordinal models improving their accuracy and the closeness of the predictions to actual targets in the ordinal scal