Characterisation of High Temperature Oxidation Phenomena during AISI 430 Stainless Steel Manufacturing under a Controlled H-2 Atmosphere for Bright Annealing

Localised-in-the-edge oxidation of four AISI 430 alloys was investigated after an industrial bright annealing process. The oxidised surface of each specimen was characterised by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman-spectroscopy and SEM. The results showed that the selective oxidation of Cr and Mn took place at the coil edges of AISI 430. This led to the formation of an oxide scale based on Cr2O3 and MnCr2O4. On the other hand, the formation of Cr(OH)(3) and MnOOH in the outer part of the oxide scale was related to the effect of the H-2-N-2 environment on the annealing furnace. The results concluded that the composition of Cr and Mn in the alloy determined the composition of the oxidation products. However, the effect of annealing time was minor in this oxidation mechanism, which slightly contributed to an increase in the cation diffusion from the steel to the oxide. Finally, the results obtained indicate that the colouration of the coil edges displayed in each studied material varies according to the alloy chemical composition and annealing time.This research was funded by the "Proyectos de I+D Individuales" programme, Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnologico Industrial (CDTI), Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad from the Spanish Government-project "FERRINOP"

Plant responses to fungal volatiles involve global posttranslational thiol redox proteome changes that affect photosynthesis

Microorganisms produce volatile compounds (VCs) that promote plant growth and photosynthesis through complex mechanisms involving cytokinin (CK) and abscisic acid (ABA). We hypothesized that plants' responses to microbial VCs involve posttranslational modifications of the thiol redox proteome through action of plastidial NADPH-dependent thioredoxin reductase C (NTRC), which regulates chloroplast redox status via its functional relationship with 2-Cys peroxiredoxins. To test this hypothesis, we analysed developmental, metabolic, hormonal, genetic, and redox proteomic responses of wild-type (WT) plants and a NTRC knockout mutant (ntrc) to VCs emitted by the phytopathogen Alternaria alternata. Fungal VC-promoted growth, changes in root architecture, shifts in expression of VC-responsive CK- and ABA-regulated genes, and increases in photosynthetic capacity were substantially weaker in ntrc plants than in WT plants. As in WT plants, fungal VCs strongly promoted growth, chlorophyll accumulation, and photosynthesis in ntrc–Δ2cp plants with reduced 2-Cys peroxiredoxin expression. OxiTRAQ-based quantitative and site-specific redox proteomic analyses revealed that VCs promote global reduction of the thiol redox proteome (especially of photosynthesis-related proteins) of WT leaves but its oxidation in ntrc leaves. Our findings show that NTRC is an important mediator of plant responses to microbial VCs through mechanisms involving global thiol redox proteome changes that affect photosynthesis.Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología BIO2013‐ 49125‐C2‐1‐P, BIO2017‐85195‐C2‐1‐P, BIO2016‐78747‐PEuropean Regional Development CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_019/0000827Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport of the Czech Republic LO1204Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciences 15H02486Gobierno de Navarra P1004 PROMEBIO, P1044 AGROEST

Volatile compounds emitted by diverse phytopathogenic microorganisms promote plant growth and flowering through cytokinin action

Sánchez-López, Ángela María et al.It is known that volatile emissions from some beneficial rhizosphere microorganisms promote plant growth. Here we show that volatile compounds (VCs) emitted by phylogenetically diverse rhizosphere and non-rhizhosphere bacteria and fungi (including plant pathogens and microbes that do not normally interact mutualistically with plants) promote growth and flowering of various plant species, including crops. In Arabidopsis plants exposed to VCs emitted by the phytopathogen Alternaria alternata, changes included enhancement of photosynthesis and accumulation of high levels of cytokinins (CKs) and sugars. Evidence obtained using transgenic Arabidopsis plants with altered CK status show that CKs play essential roles in this phenomenon, because growth and flowering responses to the VCs were reduced in mutants with CK-deficiency (35S:AtCKX1) or low receptor sensitivity (ahk2/3). Further, we demonstrate that the plant responses to fungal VCs are light-dependent. Transcriptomic analyses of Arabidopsis leaves exposed to A. alternata VCs revealed changes in the expression of light- and CK-responsive genes involved in photosynthesis, growth and flowering. Notably, many genes differentially expressed in plants treated with fungal VCs were also differentially expressed in plants exposed to VCs emitted by the plant growth promoting rhizobacterium Bacillus subtilis GB03, suggesting that plants react to microbial VCs through highly conserved regulatory mechanisms.This work was partially supported by the Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (Spain) (grant numbers BIO2010-18239 and BIO2013- 49125-C2-1-P), the Government of Navarra (grant number IIM010491.RI1), the I-Link0939 project from the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (Grant L01204 from the National Program of Sustainability) and Palacky University institutional support. AM S-L and P G-G gratefully acknowledge predoctoral fellowships from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. M B and G A acknowledge post-doctoral fellowships awarded by the Public University of Navarra.Peer reviewe

The "Bad little fragrant critters, beneficia workers" concept: A story of serendipity and dirty dishes with important biotechnological implications

Trabajo presentado en la XIV Reunión de Biología Molecular de Plantas, celebrada en Salamanca (España) del 4 al 6 de julio de 2018Peer reviewe

Relevance of gastrointestinal manifestations in a large Spanish cohort of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: what do we know?

SLE can affect any part of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. GI symptoms are reported to occur in >50% of SLE patients. To describe the GI manifestations of SLE in the RELESSER (Registry of SLE Patients of the Spanish Society of Rheumatology) cohort and to determine whether these are associated with a more severe disease, damage accrual and a worse prognosis. METHODS: We conducted a nationwide, retrospective, multicentre, cross-sectional cohort study of 3658 SLE patients who fulfil =4 ACR-97 criteria. Data on demographics, disease characteristics, activity (SLEDAI-2K or BILAG), damage (SLICC/ACR/DI) and therapies were collected. Demographic and clinical characteristics were compared between lupus patients with and without GI damage to establish whether GI damage is associated with a more severe disease. RESULTS: From 3654 lupus patients, 3.7% developed GI damage. Patients in this group (group 1) were older, they had longer disease duration, and were more likely to have vasculitis, renal disease and serositis than patients without GI damage (group 2). Hospitalizations and mortality were significantly higher in group 1. Patients in group 1 had higher modified SDI (SLICC Damage Index). The presence of oral ulcers reduced the risk of developing damage in 33% of patients. CONCLUSION: Having GI damage is associated with a worse prognosis. Patients on a high dose of glucocorticoids are at higher risk of developing GI damage which reinforces the strategy of minimizing glucocorticoids. Oral ulcers appear to decrease the risk of GI damage. © The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology

From Anxiety to Hardiness: The Role of Self-Efficacy in Spanish CCU Nurses in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background and Objectives: Evidence shows that throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses suffered from emotional symptoms, yet in spite of this, few studies within “positive psychology” have analyzed the emergence/promotion of positive traits, such as hardiness. In this context, the present study aimed to test a model regarding the mediating role of self-efficacy between anxiety experienced at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and hardiness assessed six months later among nurses in critical care units (CCU) in Spain. Materials and Methods: An observational, descriptive, prospective longitudinal study with two data collection periods: (1) from the 1 to the 21 June 2020 (final phase of the state of alarm declared in Spain on 14 March) in which socio-demographic and occupational variables, anxiety (Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale, DASS-21), self-efficacy (General Self-Efficacy Scale, GSES) and basal resilience (Resilience Scale-14, RS-14) were assessed, and (2) a follow-up 6 months later (January–March 2021) in which hardiness (Occupational Hardiness Questionnaire, OHQ) was evaluated. To analyze the data, multivariate regressions were performed using the PROCESS macro (simple mediation, model 4). Results: A total of 131 Spanish nurses from CCUs, with a mean age of 40.54 years (88.5% women) participated in the study. Moderate and severe levels of anxiety were observed in 19.1% of the sample. Significant and positive correlations were observed between self-efficacy, hardiness and resilience (all p p p = 0.027) and resilience (p = 0.005). The indirect effect of anxiety on hardiness through self-efficacy was significant (Effect (SE) = −0.275 (0.100); LLCI = −0.487, ULCI = −0.097), contributing to 28% of the variance, including resilience (p = 0.015), age (p = 0.784), gender (p = 0.294) and years of experience (p = 0.652) as covariates. A total mediation was observed (non-significant anxiety-hardiness direct effect; Effect (SE) = −0.053 (0.215), t = 0.248, p = 0.804, LLCI = −0.372, ULCI = 0.479). Conclusions: The results suggest that in Spanish CCU nurses, anxiety experienced at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic may contribute to the development of hardiness through positive resources such as self-efficacy