Nuevas citas de Parasquilla ferussaci (Roux, 1830) (Crustacea, Stomatopoda) en el Atlántico oriental y Mediterráneo occidental

En esta nota se informa sobre la presencia del estoma­tópodo Parasquilla ferussaci en las costas de la península ibérica. La documentación está basada en tres especímenes capturados, respectivamente, en Isla Cristina (Huelva) en el Golfo de Cádiz, Fuengirola (Málaga) en el Mar de Alborán y en Gavà (Barcelona) en el Me­diterráneo noroccidental. Se amplia la distribución conocida de la especie completando así el vacío existente hasta el momento entre las citas atlánticas y las del Mediterráneo central. Palabras clave: Parasquilla ferussaci, Estomatópodo, Mediterráneo occidental, Golfo de Cádiz.We report the occurrence of the little known stomatopod Parasquilla ferussaci on the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts of the Iberian peninsula. Documentation is based on three specimens captured off Isla Cristina (Huelva) in the Gulf of Cadiz, off Fuengirola (Málaga) in the Alboran Sea and off Gavà (Barcelona) in the North-Western Mediterranean. These reports fill the distribution gap between Eastern Central Atlantic reports and previous Mediterranean reports east of the Balearic Islands. Key words: Parasquilla ferussaci, Stomatopoda, Western Mediterranean, Gulf of Cadiz.En esta nota se informa sobre la presencia del estoma­tópodo Parasquilla ferussaci en las costas de la península ibérica. La documentación está basada en tres especímenes capturados, respectivamente, en Isla Cristina (Huelva) en el Golfo de Cádiz, Fuengirola (Málaga) en el Mar de Alborán y en Gavà (Barcelona) en el Me­diterráneo noroccidental. Se amplia la distribución conocida de la especie completando así el vacío existente hasta el momento entre las citas atlánticas y las del Mediterráneo central. Palabras clave: Parasquilla ferussaci, Estomatópodo, Mediterráneo occidental, Golfo de Cádiz

Seasonal and diel changes in the structure of a crustacean decapod assemblage associated to a shallow Cymodocea nodosa meadow in northern Tunisia (Mediterranean Sea). An overview of the Mediterranean decapod taxocoenoses.

A study on the decapod assemblage inhabiting a shallow meadow of Cymodocea nodosa from the bay of La Goulette (Tunisia) was carried from February 2009 to February 2010. Monthly samples (with replicates) were taken in the morning and at night, with a small Agassiz trawl. In total 11699 specimens belonging to 41 species were caught. Significant day-night and seasonal changes are mainly related to movements (feeding) and recruitments. Higher abundance and richness were reported at night. Analyses rendered no significant relationships between the plant phenology and abundances and richness; neither between the total abundance and temperature, but significant correlations with a time lag of 3 - 4 months between these factors exist, which could be related with hatching and larval development period. The nocturnal and diurnal values in the diversity and equitability indexes are quite similar along the year (peaks in spring - early summer, minimum in autumn - early winter). This pattern is mainly due to the strong dominance of a few species, with maximum abundances during their recruitment events, whose seasonal and day-night changes have been determined. Besides, an overview of the decapods assemblage associated to this seagrass for the Mediterranean Sea has been carried out. The species can be divided into two groups (linked to the leaves and to the sediment). The differences in species composition between areas must be related to different sampling methodologies, feeding and reproductive strategies, but also to the layout and influence of the surrounding habitats

Torrential rainfall in northeast of the Iberian Peninsula: synoptic patterns and WeMO influence

International audienceThis study presents a catalogue of synoptic patterns of torrential rainfall in northeast of the Iberian Peninsula (IP). These circulation patterns were obtained by applying a T-mode Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to a daily data grid (NCEP/NCAR reanalysis) at sea level pressure (SLP). The analysis made use of 304 days which recorded >100 mm in one or more stations in provinces of Barcelona, Girona and Tarragona (coastland area of Catalonia) throughout the 1950?2005 period. The catalogue comprises 7 circulation patterns showing a great variety of atmospheric conditions and seasonal or monthly distribution. Likewise, we computed the mean index value of the Western Mediterranean Oscillation index (WeMOi) for the synoptic patterns obtained by averaging all days grouped in each pattern. The results showed a clear association between the negative values of this teleconnection index and torrential rainfall in northeast of the IP. We therefore put forward the WeMO as an essential tool for forecasting heavy rainfall in northeast of Spain

Metallation of Isatin (2,3-Indolinedione). X-Ray Structure and Solution Behavior of Bis(Isatinato)Mercury(II)

The first X-ray structure of an isatin (2,3-indolinedione, isaH) metal complex, bis(isatinato)memury(II) (C16H8N2O4Hg) (1), was determined. (1) was obtained from the reaction of isaH with mercury(II) acetate in methanol. Analogously, treatment of sodium saccharinate and mercury(II) acetate in methanol yielded Hg(saccharinato)2•0.5CH3OH (3). (1) crystallizes in the monoclinic system, space group P21/ a with a = 7.299(1) Å, b = 8.192(1) Å, c = 11.601(1) Å , β = 105.82(1)°, V = 667.4 Å3, Z = 2, Dcalc = 2.452 g cm−3, MoKα radiation(λ = 0.71073 Å), μ = 115.5 cm-1, F(000) = 460, 21(1) °C. The structure was refined on the basis of 2023 observed reflections to R= 0.044. The two deprotonated, non coplanar isa ligands are trans to each other in a head to tail orientation and bound to the Hg through the nitrogen in a linear N-Hg-N arrangement. The Hg atom is at the center of symmetry of the complex and displaced by 0.62 Å from the two planes of the isa ligands (τ Hg-N1-C2-O2= -16°). The Hg-N bond length is 2.015 Å. Noπ-aryl-memury(ll)-π-aryl stacking interaction was observed either in the solid state or in the solution state. The IR, electronic, and 1H and 13CNMR spectral data of (1) and (3) suggest binding of the memury to the heterocyclic nitrogen, in agreement with the crystal structure determination of (1)

Treadmilling analysis reveals new insights into dynamic FtsZ ring architecture

FtsZ, the primary protein of the bacterial Z ring guiding cell division, has been recently shown to engage in intriguing treadmilling dynamics along the circumference of the division plane. When coreconstituted in vitro with FtsA, one of its natural membrane anchors, on flat supported membranes, these proteins assemble into dynamic chiral vortices compatible with treadmilling of curved polar filaments. Replacing FtsA by a membrane-targeting sequence (mts) to FtsZ, we have discovered conditions for the formation of dynamic rings, showing that the phenomenon is intrinsic to FtsZ. Ring formation is only observed for a narrow range of protein concentrations at the bilayer, which is highly modulated by free Mg2+ and depends upon guanosine triphosphate (GTP) hydrolysis. Interestingly, the direction of rotation can be reversed by switching the mts from the C-terminus to the N-terminus of the protein, implying that the filament attachment must have a perpendicular component to both curvature and polarity. Remarkably, this chirality switch concurs with previously shown inward or outward membrane deformations by the respective FtsZ mutants. Our results lead us to suggest an intrinsic helicity of FtsZ filaments with more than one direction of curvature, supporting earlier hypotheses and experimental evidence

Diagnostic performance and comparison of ultrasensitive and conventional rapid diagnostic test, thick blood smear and quantitative PCR for detection of low-density Plasmodium falciparum infections during a controlled human malaria infection study in Equatorial Guinea

BACKGROUND: Progress towards malaria elimination has stagnated, partly because infections persisting at low parasite densities comprise a large reservoir contributing to ongoing malaria transmission and are difficult to detect. This study compared the performance of an ultrasensitive rapid diagnostic test (uRDT) designed to detect low density infections to a conventional RDT (cRDT), expert microscopy using Giemsa-stained thick blood smears (TBS), and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) during a controlled human malaria infection (CHMI) study conducted in malaria exposed adults (NCT03590340). METHODS: Blood samples were collected from healthy Equatoguineans aged 18-35 years beginning on day 8 after CHMI with 3.2 x 10(3) cryopreserved, infectious Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites (PfSPZ Challenge, strain NF54) administered by direct venous inoculation. qPCR (18s ribosomal DNA), uRDT (Alere Malaria Ag P.f.), cRDT [Carestart Malaria Pf/PAN (PfHRP2/pLDH)], and TBS were performed daily until the volunteer became TBS positive and treatment was administered. qPCR was the reference for the presence of Plasmodium falciparum parasites. RESULTS: 279 samples were collected from 24 participants; 123 were positive by qPCR. TBS detected 24/123 (19.5% sensitivity [95% CI 13.1-27.8%]), uRDT 21/123 (17.1% sensitivity [95% CI 11.1-25.1%]), cRDT 10/123 (8.1% sensitivity [95% CI 4.2-14.8%]); all were 100% specific and did not detect any positive samples not detected by qPCR. TBS and uRDT were more sensitive than cRDT (TBS vs. cRDT p = 0.015; uRDT vs. cRDT p = 0.053), detecting parasitaemias as low as 3.7 parasites/microL (p/microL) (TBS and uRDT) compared to 5.6 p/microL (cRDT) based on TBS density measurements. TBS, uRDT and cRDT did not detect any of the 70/123 samples positive by qPCR below 5.86 p/microL, the qPCR density corresponding to 3.7 p/microL by TBS. The median prepatent periods in days (ranges) were 14.5 (10-20), 18.0 (15-28), 18.0 (15-20) and 18.0 (16-24) for qPCR, TBS, uRDT and cRDT, respectively; qPCR detected parasitaemia significantly earlier (3.5 days) than the other tests. CONCLUSIONS: TBS and uRDT had similar sensitivities, both were more sensitive than cRDT, and neither matched qPCR for detecting low density parasitaemia. uRDT could be considered an alternative to TBS in selected applications, such as CHMI or field diagnosis, where qualitative, dichotomous results for malaria infection might be sufficient

Measurement of inclusive D*+- and associated dijet cross sections in photoproduction at HERA

Inclusive photoproduction of D*+- mesons has been measured for photon-proton centre-of-mass energies in the range 130 < W < 280 GeV and a photon virtuality Q^2 < 1 GeV^2. The data sample used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 37 pb^-1. Total and differential cross sections as functions of the D* transverse momentum and pseudorapidity are presented in restricted kinematical regions and the data are compared with next-to-leading order (NLO) perturbative QCD calculations using the "massive charm" and "massless charm" schemes. The measured cross sections are generally above the NLO calculations, in particular in the forward (proton) direction. The large data sample also allows the study of dijet production associated with charm. A significant resolved as well as a direct photon component contribute to the cross section. Leading order QCD Monte Carlo calculations indicate that the resolved contribution arises from a significant charm component in the photon. A massive charm NLO parton level calculation yields lower cross sections compared to the measured results in a kinematic region where the resolved photon contribution is significant.Comment: 32 pages including 6 figure

Angular and Current-Target Correlations in Deep Inelastic Scattering at HERA

Correlations between charged particles in deep inelastic ep scattering have been studied in the Breit frame with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 6.4 pb-1. Short-range correlations are analysed in terms of the angular separation between current-region particles within a cone centred around the virtual photon axis. Long-range correlations between the current and target regions have also been measured. The data support predictions for the scaling behaviour of the angular correlations at high Q2 and for anti-correlations between the current and target regions over a large range in Q2 and in the Bjorken scaling variable x. Analytic QCD calculations and Monte Carlo models correctly describe the trends of the data at high Q2, but show quantitative discrepancies. The data show differences between the correlations in deep inelastic scattering and e+e- annihilation.Comment: 26 pages including 10 figures (submitted to Eur. J. Phys. C

Measurement of Jet Shapes in Photoproduction at HERA

The shape of jets produced in quasi-real photon-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies in the range $134-277$ GeV has been measured using the hadronic energy flow. The measurement was done with the ZEUS detector at HERA. Jets are identified using a cone algorithm in the $\eta - \phi$ plane with a cone radius of one unit. Measured jet shapes both in inclusive jet and dijet production with transverse energies $E^{jet}_T>14$ GeV are presented. The jet shape broadens as the jet pseudorapidity ($\eta^{jet}$) increases and narrows as $E^{jet}_T$ increases. In dijet photoproduction, the jet shapes have been measured separately for samples dominated by resolved and by direct processes. Leading-logarithm parton-shower Monte Carlo calculations of resolved and direct processes describe well the measured jet shapes except for the inclusive production of jets with high $\eta^{jet}$ and low $E^{jet}_T$. The observed broadening of the jet shape as $\eta^{jet}$ increases is consistent with the predicted increase in the fraction of final state gluon jets.Comment: 29 pages including 9 figure