Quantifying offshore fore-arc deformation and splay-fault slip using drowned Pleistocene shorelines, Arauco Bay, Chile

Indexación: Web of Science; Scopus.Most of the deformation associated with the seismic cycle in subduction zones occurs offshore and has been therefore difficult to quantify with direct observations at millennial timescales. Here we study millennial deformation associated with an active splay-fault system in the Arauco Bay area off south central Chile. We describe hitherto unrecognized drowned shorelines using high-resolution multibeam bathymetry, geomorphic, sedimentologic, and paleontologic observations and quantify uplift rates using a Landscape Evolution Model. Along a margin-normal profile, uplift rates are 1.3 m/ka near the edge of the continental shelf, 1.5 m/ka at the emerged Santa María Island, −0.1 m/ka at the center of the Arauco Bay, and 0.3 m/ka in the mainland. The bathymetry images a complex pattern of folds and faults representing the surface expression of the crustal-scale Santa María splay-fault system. We modeled surface deformation using two different structural scenarios: deep-reaching normal faults and deep-reaching reverse faults with shallow extensional structures. Our preferred model comprises a blind reverse fault extending from 3 km depth down to the plate interface at 16 km that slips at a rate between 3.0 and 3.7 m/ka. If all the splay-fault slip occurs during every great megathrust earthquake, with a recurrence of ~150–200 years, the fault would slip ~0.5 m per event, equivalent to a magnitude ~6.4 earthquake. However, if the splay-fault slips only with a megathrust earthquake every ~1000 years, the fault would slip ~3.7 m per event, equivalent to a magnitude ~7.5 earthquake. ©2017. American Geophysical Union.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2016JB013339/epd

Corinth terraces re-visited: Improved paleoshoreline determination using Pleiades-DEMs

International audienceThe newest generation of satellites have greatly improved the capabilities of optical imagery over the last decade. Ground resolution has increased by one order of magnitude (to sub-metric pixel images), and improved sensors allow images to be located with an absolute accuracy of within a few meters. Better-resolved images facilitate refined tectonic studies of faults, basins, terraces, and other geomorphic features as it provides the opportunity to extract detailed topographic information. We have developed high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) in eight locations in Greece from tri-stereo satellite images acquired by the new Pleiades platform of CNES. With 0.5m resolution, these DEMs are state-of-the-art in comparison to previous DEMs made from satellite imagery. In this study we explore the potential of one of these DEMs, in the eastern Gulf of Corinth, for the analysis of a flight of marine terraces

Evaluating the capacity of human gut microorganisms to colonize the zebrafish larvae (Danio rerio)

Indexación: Scopus.In this study we evaluated if zebrafish larvae can be colonized by human gut microorganisms. We tested two strategies: (1) through transplantation of a human fecal microbiota and (2) by successively transplanting aerotolerant anaerobic microorganisms, similar to the colonization in the human intestine during early life. We used conventionally raised zebrafish larvae harboring their own aerobic microbiota to improve the colonization of anaerobic microorganisms. The results showed with the fecal transplant, that some members of the human gut microbiota were transferred to larvae. Bacillus, Roseburia, Prevotella, Oscillospira, one unclassified genus of the family Ruminococcaceae and Enterobacteriaceae were detected in 3 days post fertilization (dpf) larvae; however only Bacillus persisted to 7 dpf. Successive inoculation of Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium and Clostridioides did not improve their colonization, compared to individual inoculation of each bacterial species. Interestingly, the sporulating bacteria Bacillus clausii and Clostridioides difficile were the most persistent microorganisms. Their endospores persisted at least 5 days after inoculating 3 dpf larvae. However, when 5 dpf larvae were inoculated, the proportion of vegetative cells in larvae increased, revealing proliferation of the inoculated bacteria and better colonization of the host. In conclusion, these results suggest that it is feasible to colonize zebrafish larvae with some human bacteria, such as C. difficile and Bacillus and open an interesting area to study interactions between these microorganisms and the host. © 2018 Valenzuela, Caruffo, Herrera, Medina, Coronado, Feijóo, Muñoz, Garrido, Troncoso, Figueroa, Toro, Reyes-Jara, Magne and Navarrete.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2018.01032/ful

Comparative structural response of two steel bridges constructed 100 years apart

This paper presents a comparative numerical analysis of the structural behaviour and seismic performance of two existing steel bridges, the Infiernillo II Bridge and the Pinhao Bridge, one located in Mexico and the other in Portugal. The two bridges have similar general geometrical characteristics, but were constructed 100 years apart. Three-dimensional structural models of both bridges are developed and analysed for various load cases and several seismic conditions. The results of the comparative analysis between the two bridges are presented in terms of natural frequencies and corresponding vibration modes, maximum stresses in the structural elements and maximum displacements. The study is aimed at determining the influence of a 1 century period in material properties, transverse sections and expected behaviour of two quite similar bridges. In addition, the influence of the bearing conditions in the global response of the Pinhao Bridge was evaluated

SNPs selected by information content outperform randomly selected microsatellite loci for delineating genetic identification and introgression in the endangered dark European honeybee (Apis mellifera mellifera)

The honeybee (Apis mellifera) has been threatened by multiple factors including pests and pathogens, pesticidesand loss of locally adapted gene complexes due to replacement and introgression. In western Europe, the geneticintegrity of the native A. m. mellifera (M-lineage) is endangered due to trading and intensive queen breeding withcommercial subspecies of eastern European ancestry (C-lineage). Effective conservation actions require reliablemolecular tools to identify pure-bred A. m. mellifera colonies. Microsatellites have been preferred for identificationof A. m. mellifera stocks across conservation centres. However, owing to high throughput, easy transferabilitybetween laboratories and low genotyping error, SNPs promise to become popular. Here, we compared the resolvingpower of a widely utilized microsatellite set to detect structure and introgression with that of different sets that com-bine a variable number of SNPs selected for their information content and genomic proximity to the microsatelliteloci. Contrary to every SNP data set, microsatellites did not discriminate between the two lineages in the PCA space.Mean introgression proportions were identical across the two marker types, although at the individual level,microsatellites’ performance was relatively poor at the upper range of Q-values, a result reflected by their lower pre-cision. Our results suggest that SNPs are more accurate and powerful than microsatellites for identification of A. m.mellifera colonies, especially when they are selected by information content.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Detection of the KIT D816V mutation in peripheral blood of systemic mastocytosis: diagnostic implications

Recent studies have found the KIT D816V mutation in peripheral blood of virtually all adult systemic mastocytosis patients once highly sensitive PCR techniques were used; thus, detection of the KIT D816V mutation in peripheral blood has been proposed to be included in the diagnostic work-up of systemic mastocytosis algorithms. However, the precise frequency of the mutation, the biological significance of peripheral blood-mutated cells and their potential association with involvement of bone marrow hematopoietic cells other than mast cells still remain to be investigated. Here, we determined the frequency of peripheral blood involvement by the KIT D816V mutation, as assessed by two highly sensitive PCR methods, and investigated its relationship with multilineage involvement of bone marrow hematopoiesis. Overall, our results confirmed the presence of the KIT D816V mutation in peripheral blood of most systemic mastocytosis cases (161/190; 85%)-with an increasing frequency from indolent systemic mastocytosis without skin lesions (29/44; 66%) to indolent systemic mastocytosis with skin involvement (124/135; 92%), and more aggressive disease subtypes (11/11; 100%)-as assessed by the allele-specific oligonucleotide-qPCR method, which was more sensitive (P<.0001) than the peptide nucleic acid-mediated PCR approach (84/190; 44%). Although the presence of the KIT mutation in peripheral blood, as assessed by the allele-specific oligonucleotide-qPCR technique, did not accurately predict for multilineage bone marrow involvement of hematopoiesis, the allele-specific oligonucleotide-qPCR allele burden and the peptide nucleic acid-mediated-PCR approach did. These results suggest that both methods provide clinically useful and complementary information through the identification and/or quantification of the KIT D816V mutation in peripheral blood of patients suspected of systemic mastocytosis.This work was supported in part by grants from the Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias (FIS; grant number PI11/02399, FEDER) and Red Temática de Investigación Cooperativa en Cancer (RTICC; grant number RD12/0036/0048, FEDER) of the Instituto deSalud Carlos III (Ministry of Economy and Competitivity, Madrid, Spain), from Fundacion Ramon Areces (Madrid, Spain; grant number CIVP16A1806) and from Ayudas a Proyectos de Investigación en Salud de la Fundación Mutua Madrileña 2014 and Asociación Española de Enfermos de Mastocitosis (AEDM 2014). The National DNA Bank is supported by grants from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III of the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad of Spain (grand numbers PT13/0001/0037 and PT13/0010/ 0067, FEDER). AM was supported by RTICC.Peer Reviewe

Case-Control Analysis of the Impact of Anemia on Quality of Life in Patients with Cancer: A Qca Study Analysis

Anemia is a common condition in cancer patients and is associated with a wide variety of symptoms that impair quality of life (QoL). However, exactly how anemia affects QoL in cancer patients is unclear because of the inconsistencies in its definition in previous reports. We aimed to examine the clinical impact of anemia on the QoL of cancer patients using specific questionnaires. We performed a post-hoc analysis of a multicenter, prospective, case-control study. We included patients with cancer with (cases) or without (controls) anemia. Participants completed the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life questionnaire version 3.0 (EORTC QLQ-C30) and Euro QoL 5-dimension 3-level (EQ–5D–3L) questionnaire. Statistically significant and clinically relevant differences in the global health status were examined. From 2015 to 2018, 365 patients were included (90 cases and 275 controls). We found minimally important differences in global health status according to the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire (case vs. controls: 45.6 vs. 58%, respectively; mean difference: −12.4, p < 0.001). Regarding symptoms, cancer patients with anemia had more pronounced symptoms in six out of nine scales in comparison with those without anemia. In conclusion, cancer patients with anemia had a worse QoL both clinically and statistically

Bone and Cytokine Markers Associated With Bone Disease in Systemic Mastocytosis

Background Mastocytosis encompasses a heterogeneous group of diseases characterized by tissue accumulation of clonal mast cells, which frequently includes bone involvement. Several cytokines have been shown to play a role in the pathogenesis of bone mass loss in systemic mastocytosis (SM), but their role in SM-associated osteosclerosis remains unknown. Objective To investigate the potential association between cytokine and bone remodeling markers with bone disease in SM, aiming at identifying biomarker profiles associated with bone loss and/or osteosclerosis. Methods A total of 120 adult patients with SM, divided into 3 age and sex-matched groups according to their bone status were studied: (1) healthy bone (n = 46), (2) significant bone loss (n = 47), and (3) diffuse bone sclerosis (n = 27). Plasma levels of cytokines and serum baseline tryptase and bone turnover marker levels were measured at diagnosis. Results Bone loss was associated with significantly higher levels of serum baseline tryptase (P = .01), IFN-γ (P = .05), IL-1β (P = .05), and IL-6 (P = .05) versus those found in patients with healthy bone. In contrast, patients with diffuse bone sclerosis showed significantly higher levels of serum baseline tryptase (P < .001), C-terminal telopeptide (P < .001), amino-terminal propeptide of type I procollagen (P < .001), osteocalcin (P < .001), bone alkaline phosphatase (P < .001), osteopontin (P < .01), and the C-C Motif Chemokine Ligand 5/RANTES chemokine (P = .01), together with lower IFN-γ (P = .03) and RANK-ligand (P = .04) plasma levels versus healthy bone cases. Conclusions SM with bone mass loss is associated with a proinflammatory cytokine profile in plasma, whereas diffuse bone sclerosis shows increased serum/plasma levels of biomarkers related to bone formation and turnover, in association with an immunosuppressive cytokine secretion profile.This study was supported by grants from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII, Spain) (PI19/01166, CIBERONC: CB16/12/00400) and Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) (EQC2019-005419-P), within the Subprograma Estatal de Infraestructuras de Investigación y Equipamiento Científico Técnico de 2019 del Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Fundación Española de Mastocitosis (FEM, Madrid, Spain ref.: FEM2019-MAGPIX and FEM2021-SAM); Asociación Española de Mastocitosis y Enfermedades Relacionadas (AEDM-CTMC-2019). We also thank the Biobank at the Hospital Virgen de la Salud (BioB-HVS) No. B.0000520, Toledo, Spain. TAR was supported by the 2019 European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology Research Fellowship award. We thank our patients for their willingness to participate in this study

Frequency and prognostic impact of blood-circulating tumor mast cells in mastocytosis

Circulating tumor mast cells (CTMCs) have been identified in the blood of a small number of patients with advanced systemic mastocytosis (SM). However, data are limited about their frequency and prognostic impact in patients with MC activation syndrome (MCAS), cutaneous mastocytosis (CM) and nonadvanced SM. We investigated the presence of CTMCs and MC-committed CD34+ precursors in the blood of 214 patients with MCAS, CM, or SM using highly sensitive next-generation flow cytometry. CTMCs were detected at progressively lower counts in almost all patients with advanced SM (96%) and smoldering SM (SSM; 100%), nearly half of the patients (45%) with indolent SM (ISM), and a few patients (7%) with bone marrow (BM) mastocytosis but were systematically absent in patients with CM and MCAS (P < .0001). In contrast to CTMC counts, the number of MC-committed CD34+ precursors progressively decreased from MCAS, CM, and BM mastocytosis to ISM, SSM, and advanced SM (P < .0001). Clinically, the presence (and number) of CTMCs in blood of patients with SM in general and nonadvanced SM (ISM and BM mastocytosis) in particular was associated with more adverse features of the disease, poorer-risk prognostic subgroups as defined by the International Prognostic Scoring System for advanced SM (P < .0001) and the Global Prognostic Score for mastocytosis (P < .0001), and a significantly shortened progression-free survival (P < .0001) and overall survival (P = .01). On the basis of our results, CTMCs emerge as a novel candidate biomarker of disseminated disease in SM that is strongly associated with advanced SM and poorer prognosis in patients with ISM

Characterization of CD34+ hematopoietic cells in systemic mastocytosis: Potential role in disease dissemination

[Background]: Recent studies show that most systemic mastocytosis (SM) patients, including indolent SM (ISM) with (ISMs+) and without skin lesions (ISMs−), carry the KIT D816V mutation in PB leukocytes. We investigated the potential association between the degree of involvement of BM hematopoiesis by the KIT D816V mutation and the distribution of different maturation-associated compartments of bone marrow (BM) and peripheral blood (PB) CD34+ hematopoietic precursors (HPC) in ISM and identified the specific PB cell compartments that carry this mutation. [Methods]: The distribution of different maturation-associated subsets of BM and PB CD34+ HPC from 64 newly diagnosed (KIT-mutated) ISM patients and 14 healthy controls was analyzed by flow cytometry. In 18 patients, distinct FACS-purified PB cell compartments were also investigated for the KIT mutation. [Results]: ISM patients showed higher percentages of both BM and PB MC-committed CD34+ HPC vs controls, particularly among ISM cases with MC-restricted KIT mutation (ISMMC); this was associated with progressive blockade of maturation of CD34+ HPC to the neutrophil lineage from ISMMC to multilineage KIT-mutated cases (ISMML). Regarding the frequency of KIT-mutated cases and cell populations in PB, variable patterns were observed, the percentage of KIT-mutated PB CD34+ HPC, eosinophils, neutrophils, monocytes and T cells increasing from ISMs−MC and ISMs+MC to ISMML patients. [Conclusion]: The presence of the KIT D816V mutation in PB of ISM patients is associated with (early) involvement of circulating CD34+ HPC and multiple myeloid cell subpopulations, KIT-mutated PB CD34+ HPC potentially contributing to early dissemination of the disease.This work was supported by Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias—FIS—of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Madrid, Spain (grant numbers PI11/02399 and PI16/00642, FEDER); Consejería de Educación (Regional Government of Castilla y León, Spain; grant number SA013U16); Biomedical Research Networking Centre Consortium–CIBER-CIBERONC (CB16/12/00400) of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain; and Fundacion Ramon Areces, Madrid, Spain (grant CIVP16A1806). AM was supported by a RTICC (Red Tematica de Investigacion Cooperativa en Cancer) grant (RD12/0036/0048, FIS, FEDER)