Phylogenetic analysis of apicomplexan parasites infecting commercially valuable species from the North-East Atlantic reveals high levels of diversity and insights into the evolution of the group

Background: The Apicomplexa from aquatic environments are understudied relative to their terrestrial counterparts, and the seminal work assessing the phylogenetic relations of fish-infecting lineages is mostly based on freshwater hosts. The taxonomic uncertainty of some apicomplexan groups, such as the coccidia, is high and many genera were recently shown to be paraphyletic, questioning the value of strict morphological and ecological traits for parasite classification. Here, we surveyed the genetic diversity of the Apicomplexa in several commercially valuable vertebrates from the NorthEast Atlantic, including farmed fish. Results: Most of the sequences retrieved were closely related to common fish coccidia of Eimeria, Goussia and Calyptospora. However, some lineages from the shark Scyliorhinus canicula were placed as sister taxa to the Isospora, Caryospora and Schellakia group. Additionally, others from Pagrus caeruleostictus and Solea senegalensis belonged to an unknown apicomplexan group previously found in the Caribbean Sea, where it was sequenced from the water column, corals, and fish. Four distinct parasite lineages were found infecting farmed Dicentrarchus labrax or Sparus aurata. One of the lineages from farmed D. labrax was also found infecting wild counterparts, and another was also recovered from farmed S. aurata and farm-associated Diplodus sargus. Conclusions: Our results show that marine fish apicomplexans are diverse, and we highlight the need for a more extensive assessment of parasite diversity in this phylum. Additionally, parasites recovered from S. canicula were recovered as basal to their piscine counterparts reflecting hosts phylogeny

Enhanced optical frequency comb generation by pulsed gain-switching of optically injected semiconductor lasers

We report on the experimental generation of broad and flat optical frequency combs (OFC) in a 1550 nm laser diode using gain switching with pulsed electrical excitation together with optical injection. The combination of both techniques allows the generation of high-quality OFCs at a repetition frequency of 500 MHz, showing a low-noise optical spectrum with unprecedent features in terms of width (108 tones within 10 dB) and flatness (56 tones within 3 dB) in comparison with those previously reported for this modulation frequency. The influence of the injection conditions on the OFC quality is studied. Using these two techniques, it has been possible to reduce the separation between tones, generating high spectral performance OFCs with a repetition rateof 100 MHz.Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad of Spain (TEC201565212-C3-1-P, TEC201565212- C3-2-P)

Hypoglossal nerve stimulation : a new treatment approach for obstructive sleep apnea. A review

Introducción: la apnea obstructiva del sueño (AOS) es el trastorno respiratorio del sueño más frecuente. La terapia de elección es la presión positiva continua de la vía aérea (CPAP), pero se ha descrito mala adherencia en su uso. La estimulación del nervio hipogloso (ENH) se encuentra entre las nuevas modalidades de tratamiento en estudio.Objetivo: revisar la fisiopatología de este trastorno, así como la efectividad y seguridad de la ENH como terapia de la AOS.Metodología: se realizó una búsqueda en la base de datos de Medline utilizando las palabras clave: Sleep Apnea, Syndrome; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive; Hypoglossal Nerve; Electrodes, Implanted; Implantable Neurostimulators, y Electric Stimulation Therapy.Resultados: se encontraron 267 artículos, de los cuales se seleccionaron 27 según los criterios de inclusión y exclusión. Adicionalmente, se hizo una búsqueda secundaria de estos artículos. La ENH ha mostrado un perfil de efectividad y seguridad favorable con alta adherencia como tratamiento de la AOS. Sin embargo, no se recomienda en pacientes con un índice apnea-hipopnea > 50, ya que produce una reducción parcial, inferior que la que puede producir el CPAP.Conclusiones: la ENH ayuda a corregir, parcialmente, uno de los mecanismos fisiopatológicos de la AOS. Si bien en la revisión se encontraron datos que sugieren efectividad y seguridad aceptables en corto plazo, se necesitan más estudios sobre efectividad y seguridad a largo plazo, sobre comparación directa con CPAP en algunos casos y sobre uso bilateral de esta nueva modalidad terapéutica.Artículo de revisión286-296Introduction: Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is the most common sleep respiratory disorder. Although Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) is the treatment of choice, it has poor adherence. The Hypoglossal Nerve Stimulation (HNS) is being studied as a new therapeutic approach. Objective: To review the pathophysiology of this disorder and the effectiveness and safety of HNS as a treatment for OSA. Methods: Information was retrieved from the database Medline using the search terms: Sleep Apnea, Syndrome; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive; Hypoglossal Nerve; Electrodes, Implanted; Implantable Neurostimulators, and Electric Stimulation Therapy. Results: 267 articles were found, of which 27 met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. In addition, a secondary search from these articles was performed. The HNS has shown a favorable effectiveness and safety profile with a high adherence as a treatment for OSA. However, it is not recommended for patients with an Apnea-Hypopnea Index >50 since it only causes a partial reduction of the AHI; a less effective result than the one observed with CPAP. Conclusion: The HNS partially improves one of the pathophysiological mechanisms of OSA. In this review, the data shows an acceptable effectiveness and safety profile in short-term, but more research is needed on the long-term effectiveness and safety of HNS as well as the bilateral use of this new therapy and a clinical study comparing it with CPAP

Tratado de derechos reales. Tomo II Propiedad y posesión

La presente investigación está referida al análisis de los dos principales derechos reales: la posesión y la propiedad, y es la continuación de la investigación concluida denominada Tratado de derechos reales, tomo I, teoría de los bienes y los derechos reales. Esta parte de la investigación corresponde al desarrollo de dos de sus principales instituciones. Así, se comienza con el análisis sociojurídico de la posesión (poder hecho) como derecho transitorio (temporal y momentáneo), para luego entrar al desarrollo de la propiedad (poder de derecho) como derecho definitivo (permanente y total), ambas instituciones reconocidas como situaciones jurídicas de gran trascendencia en las relaciones jurídicas patrimoniales, protegidas por la ley a través de mecanismos de defensa

Search for CP Violation in the Decay Z -> b (b bar) g

About three million hadronic decays of the Z collected by ALEPH in the years 1991-1994 are used to search for anomalous CP violation beyond the Standard Model in the decay Z -> b \bar{b} g. The study is performed by analyzing angular correlations between the two quarks and the gluon in three-jet events and by measuring the differential two-jet rate. No signal of CP violation is found. For the combinations of anomalous CP violating couplings, ${\hat{h}}_b = {\hat{h}}_{Ab}g_{Vb}-{\hat{h}}_{Vb}g_{Ab}$ and $h^{\ast}_b = \sqrt{\hat{h}_{Vb}^{2}+\hat{h}_{Ab}^{2}}$, limits of \hat{h}_b < 0.59$and$h^{\ast}_{b} < 3.02$ are given at 95\% CL.Comment: 8 pages, 1 postscript figure, uses here.sty, epsfig.st

Characterization of Tajogaite volcanic plumes detected over the Iberian Peninsula from a set of satellite and ground-based remote sensing instrumentation

Three volcanic plumes were detected during the Tajogaite volcano eruptive activity (Canary Islands, Spain, September–December 2021) over the Iberian Peninsula. The spatiotemporal evolution of these events is characterised by combining passive satellite remote sensing and ground-based lidar and sun-photometer systems. The inversion algorithm GRASP is used with a suite of ground-based remote sensing instruments such as lidar/ ceilometer and sun-photometer from eight sites at different locations throughout the Iberian Peninsula. Satellite observations showed that the volcanic ash plumes remained nearby the Canary Islands covering a mean area of 120 ± 202 km2 during the whole period of eruptive activity and that sulphur dioxide plumes reached the Iberian Peninsula

Spanish Mediterranean diet and other dietary patterns and breast cancer risk: case–control EpiGEICAM study

Background:Although there are solid findings regarding the detrimental effect of alcohol consumption, the existing evidence on the effect of other dietary factors on breast cancer (BC) risk is inconclusive. This study aimed to evaluate the association between dietary patterns and risk of BC in Spanish women, stratifying by menopausal status and tumour subtype, and to compare the results with those of Alternate Healthy Index (AHEI) and Alternate Mediterranean Diet Score (aMED).Methods:We recruited 1017 incident BC cases and 1017 matched healthy controls of similar age (±5 years) without a history of BC. The association between ‘a priori' and ‘a posteriori' developed dietary patterns and BC in general and according to menopausal status and intrinsic tumour subtypes (ER+/PR+ and HER2− HER2+ and ER−/PR− and HER2−) was evaluated using logistic and multinomial regression models.Results:Adherence to the Western dietary pattern was related to higher risk of BC (OR for the top vs the bottom quartile 1.46 (95% CI 1.06–2.01)), especially in premenopausal women (OR=1.75; 95% CI 1.14–2.67). In contrast, the Mediterranean pattern was related to a lower risk (OR for the top quartile vs the bottom quartile 0.56 (95% CI 0.40–0.79)). Although the deleterious effect of the Western pattern was similarly observed in all tumour subtypes, the protective effect of our Mediterranean pattern was stronger for triple-negative tumours (OR=0.32; 95% CI 0.15–0.66 and Pheterogeneity=0.04). No association was found between adherence to the Prudent pattern and BC risk. The associations between ‘a priori' indices and BC risk were less marked (OR for the top vs the bottom quartile of AHEI=0.69; 95% CI 0.51–0.94 and aMED=0.74; 95% CI 0.46–1.18)).Conclusions:Our results confirm the harmful effect of a Western diet on BC risk, and add new evidence on the benefits of a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, oily fish and vegetable oils for preventing all BC subtypes, and particularly triple-negative tumours

An increase of cereal intake as an approach to weight reduction in children is effective only when accompanied by nutrition education: a randomized controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The main emphasis of dietary advice for control of obesity has been on reducing dietary fat. Increasing ready to eat cereal (RTEC) consumption could be a strategy to reduce fat intake and increase carbohydrate intake resulting in a diet with lower energy density.</p> <p>Objectives</p> <p>1. To determine if an increase in RTEC intake is an effective strategy to reduce excess body weight and blood lipids in overweight or at risk of overweight children. 2. To determine if a nutrition education program would make a difference on the response to an increase in cereal intake. 3) To determine if increase in RTEC intake alone or with a nutrition education program has an effect on plasma lipid profile.</p> <p>Experimental design</p> <p>One hundred and forty seven overweight or at risk of overweight children (6–12 y of age) were assigned to one of four different treatments: a. One serving of 33 ± 7 g of RTEC for breakfast; b. one serving of 33 ± 7 g of RTEC for breakfast and another one for dinner; c. one serving of 33 ± 7 g of RTEC for breakfast and a nutrition education program. d. Non intervention, control group. Anthropometry, body composition, physical activity and blood lipids were measured at baseline, before treatments, and 12 weeks after treatments.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>After 12 weeks of intervention only the children that received 33 ± 7 g of RTEC and nutrition education had significantly lower body weight [-1.01 (-1.69, -0.34) ], p < 0.01], lower BMI [-0.95 (-1.71, -0.20), p < 0.01] and lower total body fat [-0.71 (-1.71, 0.28), p < 0.05] compared with the control group [1.19 (0.39, 1.98), 0.01 (-0.38, 0.41), 0.44 (-0.46, 1.35) respectively]. Plasma triglycerides and VLDL were significantly reduced [-20.74 (-36.44, -5.05), -3.78 (-6.91, -0.64) respectively, p < 0.05] and HDL increased significantly [6.61 (2.15, 11.08), p < 0.01] only in this treatment group. The groups that received 1 or 2 doses of RTEC alone were not significantly different to the control group.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A strategy to increase RTEC consumption, as a source of carbohydrate, to reduce obesity is effective only when accompanied by nutrition education. The need for education could be extrapolated to other strategies intended for treatment of obesity.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>Australian New Zealand Clincial Trial Registry. Request no: ACTRN12608000025336</p

Staphylococcal phenotypes induced by naturally occurring and synthetic membrane-interactive polyphenolic β-lactam resistance modifiers.

Galloyl catechins, in particular (-)-epicatechin gallate (ECg), have the capacity to abrogate β-lactam resistance in methicillin-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA); they also prevent biofilm formation, reduce the secretion of a large proportion of the exoproteome and induce profound changes to cell morphology. Current evidence suggests that these reversible phenotypic traits result from their intercalation into the bacterial cytoplasmic membrane. We have endeavoured to potentiate the capacity of ECg to modify the MRSA phenotype by stepwise removal of hydroxyl groups from the B-ring pharmacophore and the A:C fused ring system of the naturally occurring molecule. ECg binds rapidly to the membrane, inducing up-regulation of genes responsible for protection against cell wall stress and maintenance of membrane integrity and function. Studies with artificial membranes modelled on the lipid composition of the staphylococcal bilayer indicated that ECg adopts a position deep within the lipid palisade, eliciting major alterations in the thermotropic behaviour of the bilayer. The non-galloylated homolog (-)-epicatechin enhanced ECg-mediated effects by facilitating entry of ECg molecules into the membrane. ECg analogs with unnatural B-ring hydroxylation patterns induced higher levels of gene expression and more profound changes to MRSA membrane fluidity than ECg but adopted a more superficial location within the bilayer. ECg possessed a high affinity for the positively charged staphylococcal membrane and induced changes to the biophysical properties of the bilayer that are likely to account for its capacity to disperse the cell wall biosynthetic machinery responsible for β-lactam resistance. The ability to enhance these properties by chemical modification of ECg raises the possibility that more potent analogs could be developed for clinical evaluation