The evolution of the bacterial chemotaxis network

Advances in biomolecular technology allow us to sequence entire genomes, but how genes and molecular networks influence the emergence and evolution of phenotypic traits is still unclear. Different fields in biology and medicine are working hard to unravel the relationship between the genome and phenotypes. In this thesis, a new (mechanistic) approach combining systems biology and evolutionary biology is explored to tackle the genotype-phenotype problem. The chemotaxis network of Escherichia coli is used as a model system for its relatively simple network configuration associated with a complex trait such as chemotactic performance. A mathematical model was developed and in silico evolutionary experiments were performed with different environmental conditions. The results show that due to the complexity of the genomic architecture, most individual gene loci have an inconsistent relationship with fitness. In other words, direct relationships between genes and phenotypes are far more complex than just a linear correlation. The reconstruction of the fitness landscape shows that its structure is highly heterogeneous and there are cases in which mutations have unpredictable and inconsistent effects. Another result shows that contrary to static environments, fluctuating environments facilitate the exploration of the fitness landscape. The results in this thesis show the potential of the evolutionary-systems-biology approach, which could help to understand how complex diseases (e.g. cancer or diabetes) develop or how bacteria evolve to become drug resistant

Effects of High Volatile Solids Concentration upon the Treatment Efficiency and Gas Production in the Anaerobic Treatment of Alcohol Wastewater

Bienvironmental Engineerin

Beyond 5G Domainless Network Operation enabled by Multiband: Toward Optical Continuum Architectures

Both public and private innovation projects are targeting the design, prototyping and demonstration of a novel end-to-end integrated packet-optical transport architecture based on Multi-Band (MB) optical transmission and switching networks. Essentially, MB is expected to be the next technological evolution to deal with the traffic demand and service requirements of 5G mobile networks, and beyond, in the most cost-effective manner. Thanks to MB transmission, classical telco architectures segmented into hierarchical levels and domains can move forward toward an optical network continuum, where edge access nodes are all-optically interconnected with top-hierarchical nodes, interfacing Content Delivery Networks (CDN) and Internet Exchange Points (IXP). This article overviews the technological challenges and innovation requirements to enable such an architectural shift of telco networks both from a data and control and management planes

Five decades of cuprizone, an updated model to replicate demyelinating diseases

Abstract: Introduction: Demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system (CNS) comprise a group of neurological disorders characterized by progressive (and eventually irreversible) loss of oligodendrocytes and myelin sheaths in the white matter tracts. Some of myelin disorders include: Multiple sclerosis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, peripheral nerve polyneuropathy and others. To date, the etiology of these disorders is not well known and no effective treatments are currently available against them. Therefore, further research is needed to gain a better understand and treat these patients. To accomplish this goal, it is necessary to have appropriate animal models that closely resemble the pathophysiology and clinical signs of these diseases. Herein, we describe the model of toxic demyelination induced by cuprizone (CPZ), a copper chelator that reduces the cytochrome and monoamine oxidase activity into the brain, produces mitochondrial stress and triggers the local immune response. These biochemical and cellular responses ultimately result in selective loss of oligodendrocytes and microglia accumulation, which conveys to extensive areas of demyelination and gliosis in corpus callosum, superior cerebellar peduncles and cerebral cortex. Remarkably, some aspects of the histological pattern induced by CPZ are similar to those found in multiple sclerosis. CPZ exposure provokes behavioral changes, impairs motor skills and affects mood as that observed in several demyelinating diseases. Upon CPZ removal, the pathological and histological changes gradually revert. Therefore, some authors have postulated that the CPZ model allows to partially mimic the disease relapses observed in some demyelinating diseases. Conclusion: for five decades, the model of CPZ-induced demyelination is a good experimental approach to study demyelinating diseases that has maintained its validity, and is a suitable pharmacological model for reproducing some key features of demyelinating diseases, including multiple sclerosis.UAEME

Evaluación de la política comercial sobre el mercado del sorgo en México, 2000

La fuerte dependencia de las importaciones desde Estados Unidos y la reciente polémica en relación con los efectos negativos del Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, justifican la evaluación del impacto de políticas comerciales alternativas sobre el mercado del sorgo (Sorghum vulgare Pers) en México. Para analizar estos efectos se validó un modelo de programación cuadrática para producción, consumo e importaciones del grano de mayo de 1999 a abril de 2000. Los resultados del modelo validado indican que en 1999/2000, la producción, las importaciones y el consumo de sorgo fueron 6.1, 4.6 y 10.7 millones t. Si en 1999/2000 se hubiera permitido la importación de sólo 2.5 millones t, la producción y el consumo de sorgo hubieran sido mayor y menor en 1.4 y 0.7 millones de t, en relación con los niveles observados en ese año. Por el contrario, si se hubiera permitido el libre comercio, la producción hubiera sido 5.4 millones t, en tanto el consumo y las importaciones habrían aumentando en 0.3 y 1.0 millones t, en relación con los niveles de 1999/2000. Los beneficiados con la política de restricción de las importaciones habrían sido los productores, y los perjudicados los importadores y los consumidores. Con la política de libre comercio los beneficiados hubieran sido los consumidores e importadores, en tanto que los productores habrían resultado menos perjudicados

Vertebral morphology in extant porpoises: Radiation and functional implications

Vertebral morphology has profound biomechanical implications and plays an important role in adaptation to different habitats and foraging strategies for cetaceans. Extant porpoise species (Phocoenidae) display analogous evolutionary patterns in both hemispheres associated with convergent evolution to coastal versus oceanic environments. We employed 3D geometric morphometrics to study vertebral morphology in five porpoise species with contrasting habitats: the coastal Indo-Pacific finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides); the mostly coastal harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) and Burmeister's porpoise (Phocoena spinipinnis); and the oceanic spectacled porpoise (Phocoena dioptrica) and Dall's porpoise (Phocoenoides dalli). We evaluated the radiation of vertebral morphology, both in size and shape, using multivariate statistics. We supplemented data with samples of an early-radiating delphinoid species, the narwhal (Monodon monoceros); and an early-radiating delphinid species, the white-beaked dolphin (Lagenorhynchus albirostris). Principal component analyses were used to map shape variation onto phylogenies, and phylogenetic constraints were investigated through permutation tests. We established links between vertebral morphology and movement patterns through biomechanical inferences from morphological presentations. We evidenced divergence in size between species with contrasting habitats, with coastal species tending to decrease in size from their estimated ancestral state, and oceanic species tending to increase in size. Regarding vertebral shape, coastal species had longer centra and shorter neural processes, but longer transverse processes, while oceanic species tended to have disk-shaped vertebrae with longer neural processes. Within Phocoenidae, the absence of phylogenetic constraints in vertebral morphology suggests a high level of evolutionary lability. Overall, our results are in accordance with the hypothesis of speciation within the family from a coastal ancestor, through adaptation to particular habitats. Variation in vertebral morphology in this group of small odontocetes highlights the importance of environmental complexity and particular selective pressures for the speciation process through the development of adaptations that minimize energetic costs during locomotion and prey capture.Fil: Marchesi, María Constanza. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Centro para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos; ArgentinaFil: Galatius, Anders. University Aarhus; DinamarcaFil: Zaffino, Martina. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco"; ArgentinaFil: Coscarella, Mariano Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Centro para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia "San Juan Bosco"; ArgentinaFil: Gonzalez-Jose, Rolando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico de Ciencias Sociales y Humanas; Argentin

Entity Identity Reconciliation based Big Data Federation-A MDE approach

“Information is power” is a sentence attributed to Francis Bacon that acquired a high important in the current era of the information. However, too much information can be a negative aspect. The term of “Infoxication” refers to the difficulty a person can have understanding an issue and making decisions that can be caused by the presence of too much information. With the increasing of relevance of open data and big database, the application of mechanisms and solutions to manage information is critical. This paper introduces the problem of unique identification and data reconciliation and offers a discussion about how to solve this problem in big and open data environment. The problem of data reconciliation in multiple databases and the unique identification of entities is not a new problem, but, how effective are classical mechanisms in the new internet environment? In this paper a solution based on model-driven engineering and virtual graph is presented in order to improve the processing of information in big open repositories. The paper illustrates the idea with a real example for the right exploitation of heritage information in the south of Spain