Adhesión de streptococcus mutans sobre hidroxiapatita in vitro

En el presente trabajo se evalúa la adhesión de Streptococcus mutans a hidroxiapatitas de diferente naturaleza en una solución oral sintética. La adhesión microbiana fue determinada indirectamente por recuento de los microorganismos viables en suspensiones equilibradas con los sustratos. Los resultados obtenidos mostraron que, a baja concentración de inóculo, la adhesión de Streptococcus mutans puede ser descripta, razonablemente, mediante una única isoterma de Langmuir, introduciendo una pequeña corrección en cada muestra para dar cuenta de las diferencias en la macrorugosidad. La constante de afinidad resultó ser aproximadamente igual a 0,25´10- 8 (bacterias/mL)-1. La falta de influencia del sustrato se interpreta en términos del mecanismo de adsorción del S. mutans, y el gran tamaño de la bacteria, que disimula diferencias químicas y morfológicas de la superficie en la dimensión nanométrica. Estos resultados sugieren que la derivatización de la superficie con grandes polímeros puede ser una alternativa más útil para modificar la adhesión bacteriana. A altas concentraciones de inóculo, se dispara una adhesión multicapa, descrita por una ecuación modificada de Hill, con un coeficiente n = 3, que indica fuertes interacciones atractivas entre bacterias.Peer Reviewe

Predicción del fracaso temprano de la cardioversión eléctrica en fibrilación auricular sobre las 12 derivaciones del ECG estándar

[ES] Dentro de las tecnicas existentes para el control del ritmo cardiaco en fibrilacion auricular (FA), una de las mas extendidas es la cardioversion electrica (CVE). Esta tecnica, de aplicacion sencilla y bajo coste, resulta muy efectiva en la restauracion del ritmo sinusal (RS) en pacientes con FA persistente. Aunque es capaz de restaurar el RS en la gran mayoria, un alto numero de pacientes, alrededor del 40 %, todavia revierten a FA durante las 4 primeras semanas. Asi pues, resulta de gran interes clinico la prediccion del exito de la CVE para poder tratar de la mejor forma a cada paciente. Con dicho objetivo, se han propuesto distintos indices para caracterizar las ondas fibrilatorias (f), generalmente considerando solo la derivacion V1 del ECG, dada su proximidad a la auricula derecha, y asi descartando otra informacion relevante que pudiera obtenerse desde otras derivaciones. Este trabajo extiende dicha caracterizacion de las ondas f a las 12 derivaciones del ECG estandar para evaluar la capacidad de prediccion del fracaso temprano de la CVE. Se han evaluado tres de los indices mas conocidos, es decir, la amplitud de las ondas f, la frecuencia dominante y la regularidad, y su rendimiento se ha comparado con el obtenido sobre V1. Los resultados obtenidos indican que, mediante la caracterizacion de las ondas f sobre la derivacion II, la prediccion del resultado de la CVE aumenta hasta un 12 % con respecto a V1, sugiriendo que esta derivacion es la mejor eleccion para evaluar la condicion proarritmica de un paciente tras la CVE.Este trabajo ha sido cofinanciado por los proyectos de investigacion competitiva DPI2017-83952-C3 de MINECO-AEI-FEDER-UE, SBPLY/17/180501/000411 de la JCCLM y AICO/2019/036 de la GVA.Cirugeda Roldan, E.; Calero Núñez, S.; Quesada Dorador, A.; Hidalgo Olivares, V.; Rieta, JJ.; Alcaraz Martínez, R. (2020). Predicción del fracaso temprano de la cardioversión eléctrica en fibrilación auricular sobre las 12 derivaciones del ECG estándar. Sociedad Española de Ingeniería Biomédica. 117-120. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/178275S11712

The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs: The warm super-Earths in twin orbits around the mid-type M dwarfs Ross 1020 (GJ 3779) and LP 819-052 (GJ 1265)

We announce the discovery of two planetary companions orbiting around the low-mass stars Ross 1020 (GJ 3779, M4.0V) and LP 819-052 (GJ 1265, M4.5V). The discovery is based on the analysis of CARMENES radial velocity (RV) observations in the visual channel as part of its survey for exoplanets around M dwarfs. In the case of GJ 1265, CARMENES observations were complemented with publicly available Doppler measurements from HARPS. The datasets reveal two planetary companions, one for each star, that share very similar properties: minimum masses of 8.0 ± 0.5 M and 7.4 ± 0.5 M in low-eccentricity orbits with periods of 3.023 ± 0.001 d and 3.651 ± 0.001 d for GJ 3779 b and GJ 1265 b, respectively. The periodic signals around 3 d found in the RV data have no counterpart in any spectral activity indicator. Furthermore, we collected available photometric data for the two host stars, which confirm that the additional Doppler variations found at periods of approximately 95 d can be attributed to the rotation of the stars. The addition of these planets to a mass-period diagram of known planets around M dwarfs suggests a bimodal distribution with a lack of short-period low-mass planets in the range of 2-5 M . It also indicates that super-Earths (>5 M ) currently detected by RV and transit techniques around M stars are usually found in systems dominated by a single planet.© ESO 2018.CARMENES is an instrument for the Centro Astronomico Hispano-Aleman de Calar Alto (CAHA, Almeria, Spain). CARMENES is funded by the German Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (MPG), the Spanish Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), the European Union through FEDER/ERF FICTS-2011-02 funds, and the members of the CARMENES Consortium (Max-Planck-Institut fur Astronomie, Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, Landessternwarte Konigstuhl, Institut de Ciencies de l'Espai, Insitut fur Astrophysik Gottingen, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Thuringer Landessternwarte Tautenburg, Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Hamburger Sternwarte, Centro de Astrobiologia and Centro Astronomico Hispano-Aleman), with additional contributions by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, the German Science Foundation through the Major Research Instrumentation Programme and DFG Research Unit FOR2544 >Blue Planets around Red Stars>, the Klaus Tschira Stiftung, the states of Baden-Wurttemberg and Niedersachsen, and by the Junta de Andalucia. Based on observations collected at the European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere under ESO programme(s) 072.C-0488(E) and 183.C-0437(A). R. L. has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 713673 and financial support through the >la Caixa> INPhINIT Fellowship Grant for Doctoral studies at Spanish Research Centres of Excellence, >la Caixa> Banking Foundation, Barcelona, Spain. This work is partly financed by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through grants ESP2013-48391-C4-2-R, ESP2016-80435-C2-1/2-R, and AYA2016-79425-C3-1/2/3-P

Relationship of Weather Types on the Seasonal and Spatial Variability of Rainfall, Runoff, and Sediment Yield in the Western Mediterranean Basin

Rainfall is the key factor to understand soil erosion processes, mechanisms, and rates. Most research was conducted to determine rainfall characteristics and their relationship with soil erosion (erosivity) but there is little information about how atmospheric patterns control soil losses, and this is important to enable sustainable environmental planning and risk prevention. We investigated the temporal and spatial variability of the relationships of rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield with atmospheric patterns (weather types, WTs) in the western Mediterranean basin. For this purpose, we analyzed a large database of rainfall events collected between 1985 and 2015 in 46 experimental plots and catchments with the aim to: (i) evaluate seasonal differences in the contribution of rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield produced by the WTs; and (ii) to analyze the seasonal efficiency of the different WTs (relation frequency and magnitude) related to rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield. The results indicate two different temporal patterns: the first weather type exhibits (during the cold period: autumn and winter) westerly flows that produce the highest rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield values throughout the territory; the second weather type exhibits easterly flows that predominate during the warm period (spring and summer) and it is located on the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula. However, the cyclonic situations present high frequency throughout the whole year with a large influence extended around the western Mediterranean basin. Contrary, the anticyclonic situations, despite of its high frequency, do not contribute significantly to the total rainfall, runoff, and sediment (showing the lowest efficiency) because of atmospheric stability that currently characterize this atmospheric pattern. Our approach helps to better understand the relationship of WTs on the seasonal and spatial variability of rainfall, runoff and sediment yield with a regional scale based on the large dataset and number of soil erosion experimental stations.Spanish Government (Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, MINECO) and FEDER Projects: CGL2014 52135-C3-3-R, ESP2017-89463-C3-3-R, CGL2014-59946-R, CGL2015-65569-R, CGL2015-64284-C2-2-R, CGL2015-64284-C2-1-R, CGL2016-78075-P, GL2008-02879/BTE, LEDDRA 243857, RECARE-FP7, CGL2017-83866-C3-1-R, and PCIN-2017-061/AEI. Dhais Peña-Angulo received a “Juan de la Cierva” postdoctoral contract (FJCI-2017-33652 Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, MEC). Ana Lucia acknowledge the "Brigitte-Schlieben-Lange-Programm". The “Geoenvironmental Processes and Global Change” (E02_17R) was financed by the Aragón Government and the European Social Fund. José Andrés López-Tarazón acknowledges the Secretariat for Universities and Research of the Department of the Economy and Knowledge of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia for supporting the Consolidated Research Group 2014 SGR 645 (RIUS- Fluvial Dynamics Research Group). Artemi Cerdà thank the funding of the OCDE TAD/CRP JA00088807. José Martínez-Fernandez acknowledges the project Unidad de Excelencia CLU-2018-04 co-funded by FEDER and Castilla y León Government. Ane Zabaleta is supported by the Hydro-Environmental Processes consolidated research group (IT1029-16, Basque Government). This paper has the benefit of the Lab and Field Data Pool created within the framework of the COST action CONNECTEUR (ES1306)

NEOTROPICAL XENARTHRANS: a data set of occurrence of xenarthran species in the Neotropics

Xenarthrans – anteaters, sloths, and armadillos – have essential functions for ecosystem maintenance, such as insect control and nutrient cycling, playing key roles as ecosystem engineers. Because of habitat loss and fragmentation, hunting pressure, and conflicts with 24 domestic dogs, these species have been threatened locally, regionally, or even across their full distribution ranges. The Neotropics harbor 21 species of armadillos, ten anteaters, and six sloths. Our dataset includes the families Chlamyphoridae (13), Dasypodidae (7), Myrmecophagidae (3), Bradypodidae (4), and Megalonychidae (2). We have no occurrence data on Dasypus pilosus (Dasypodidae). Regarding Cyclopedidae, until recently, only one species was recognized, but new genetic studies have revealed that the group is represented by seven species. In this data-paper, we compiled a total of 42,528 records of 31 species, represented by occurrence and quantitative data, totaling 24,847 unique georeferenced records. The geographic range is from the south of the USA, Mexico, and Caribbean countries at the northern portion of the Neotropics, to its austral distribution in Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay. Regarding anteaters, Myrmecophaga tridactyla has the most records (n=5,941), and Cyclopes sp. has the fewest (n=240). The armadillo species with the most data is Dasypus novemcinctus (n=11,588), and the least recorded for Calyptophractus retusus (n=33). With regards to sloth species, Bradypus variegatus has the most records (n=962), and Bradypus pygmaeus has the fewest (n=12). Our main objective with Neotropical Xenarthrans is to make occurrence and quantitative data available to facilitate more ecological research, particularly if we integrate the xenarthran data with other datasets of Neotropical Series which will become available very soon (i.e. Neotropical Carnivores, Neotropical Invasive Mammals, and Neotropical Hunters and Dogs). Therefore, studies on trophic cascades, hunting pressure, habitat loss, fragmentation effects, species invasion, and climate change effects will be possible with the Neotropical Xenarthrans dataset

The CARMENES search for exoplanets around M dwarfs: Two planets on opposite sides of the radius gap transiting the nearby M dwarf LTT 3780

We present the discovery and characterisation of two transiting planets observed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) orbiting the nearby (d∗ ≈ 22 pc), bright (J ≈ 9 mag) M3.5 dwarf LTT 3780 (TOI-732). We confirm both planets and their association with LTT 3780 via ground-based photometry and determine their masses using precise radial velocities measured with the CARMENES spectrograph. Precise stellar parameters determined from CARMENES high-resolution spectra confirm that LTT 3780 is a mid-M dwarf with an effective temperature of Teff = 3360 ± 51 K, a surface gravity of log g∗ = 4.81 ± 0.04 (cgs), and an iron abundance of [Fe/H] = 0.09 ± 0.16 dex, with an inferred mass of M∗ = 0.379 ± 0.016M· and a radius of R∗ = 0.382 ± 0.012R·. The ultra-short-period planet LTT 3780 b (Pb = 0.77 d) with a radius of 1.35-0.06+0.06 R·, a mass of 2.34-0.23+0.24 M·, and a bulk density of 5.24-0.81+0.94 g cm-3 joins the population of Earth-size planets with rocky, terrestrial composition. The outer planet, LTT 3780 c, with an orbital period of 12.25 d, radius of 2.42-0.10+0.10 R·, mass of 6.29-0.61+0.63 M·, and mean density of 2.45-0.37+0.44 g cm-3 belongs to the population of dense sub-Neptunes. With the two planets located on opposite sides of the radius gap, this planetary system is anexcellent target for testing planetary formation, evolution, and atmospheric models. In particular, LTT 3780 c is an ideal object for atmospheric studies with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

Relationship of Weather Types on the Seasonal and Spatial Variability of Rainfall, Runoff, and Sediment Yield in the Western Mediterranean Basin

Rainfall is the key factor to understand soil erosion processes, mechanisms, and rates. Most research was conducted to determine rainfall characteristics and their relationship with soil erosion (erosivity) but there is little information about how atmospheric patterns control soil losses, and this is important to enable sustainable environmental planning and risk prevention. We investigated the temporal and spatial variability of the relationships of rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield with atmospheric patterns (weather types, WTs) in the western Mediterranean basin. For this purpose, we analyzed a large database of rainfall events collected between 1985 and 2015 in 46 experimental plots and catchments with the aim to: (i) evaluate seasonal differences in the contribution of rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield produced by the WTs; and (ii) to analyze the seasonal efficiency of the different WTs (relation frequency and magnitude) related to rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield. The results indicate two different temporal patterns: the first weather type exhibits (during the cold period: autumn and winter) westerly flows that produce the highest rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield values throughout the territory; the second weather type exhibits easterly flows that predominate during the warm period (spring and summer) and it is located on the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula. However, the cyclonic situations present high frequency throughout the whole year with a large influence extended around the western Mediterranean basin. Contrary, the anticyclonic situations, despite of its high frequency, do not contribute significantly to the total rainfall, runoff, and sediment (showing the lowest efficiency) because of atmospheric stability that currently characterize this atmospheric pattern. Our approach helps to better understand the relationship of WTs on the seasonal and spatial variability of rainfall, runoff and sediment yield with a regional scale based on the large dataset and number of soil erosion experimental stations

A roe deer from the Pliocene of Hidalgo, central Mexico

Mexican Pliocene cervids are very poorly known. We report on new fossil material of the roe deer Capreolus constantini recovered from the Pliocene Atotonilco El Grande Formation of Santa Maria Amajac, Hidalgo (central Mexico). The specimens were collected from a series of layers of friable to moderately indurated polymictic conglomerate supported by a sandstone-tuffaceous-calcareous matrix. This species was formerly known only from the late Pliocene of Udunga, Russia, thus implying a dispersal event to North America around 4.0 Ma. This cervid is one of the very small number of mammals recorded from the poorly sampled Pliocene temperate deposits of Mexico

Adhesión de streptococcus mutans sobre hidroxiapatita in vitro

En el presente trabajo se evalúa la adhesión de Streptococcus mutans a hidroxiapatitas de diferente naturaleza en una solución oral sintética. La adhesión microbiana fue determinada indirectamente por recuento de los microorganismos viables en suspensiones equilibradas con los sustratos. Los resultados obtenidos mostraron que, a baja concentración de inóculo, la adhesión de Streptococcus mutans puede ser descripta, razonablemente, mediante una única isoterma de Langmuir, introduciendo una pequeña corrección en cada muestra para dar cuenta de las diferencias en la macrorugosidad. La constante de afinidad resultó ser aproximadamente igual a 0,25´10- 8 (bacterias/mL)-1. La falta de influencia del sustrato se interpreta en términos del mecanismo de adsorción del S. mutans, y el gran tamaño de la bacteria, que disimula diferencias químicas y morfológicas de la superficie en la dimensión nanométrica. Estos resultados sugieren que la derivatización de la superficie con grandes polímeros puede ser una alternativa más útil para modificar la adhesión bacteriana. A altas concentraciones de inóculo, se dispara una adhesión multicapa, descrita por una ecuación modificada de Hill, con un coeficiente n = 3, que indica fuertes interacciones atractivas entre bacterias.Peer Reviewe