Caracterización, mediante espectroscopia EPR, de los catalizadores quirales bis (Oxazolina)-Cu soportados en Laponitas

[EN] An Electron Paramagnetic Resonance study of a chiral Bis(oxazoline)-Cu(II) supported in laponite (synthetic hectorite) is presented. It is concluded that the complex is incorporated into the interllamellar space of the clay giving out isolated Cu(II) entities in which the metal is co-ordinated to oxygen or nitrogen atoms with a symmetry practically planar-square, regardless the solvent used. That point out that the chlorine ligands in the complex are exchanged in the incorporation process in agreement with the previous X-ray absorption spectroscopy data, so that the oxygen atoms of the interlayers and clay surface act as counterions.[ES] Se presenta un estudio mediante Resonancia Paramagnética Electrónica del complejo quiral Bis(oxazolina)-Cu(II) soportado en laponita (hectorita sintética) (libre de hierro. Del mismo se concluye que el complejo se incorpora en el espacio interlamelar de la arcilla dando lugar a entidades de Cu(II) aisladas en las cuales el metal se coordina a átomos de oxígenos y nitrógenos con una simetría prácticamente planocuadrada, independientemente del disolvente empleado. Ello indica, de acuerdo con los datos previos de espectroscopia de absorción de rayos-X, que los ligandos cloruro del complejo son intercambiados en el proceso de incorporación de forma que los oxígenos de la superficie interlaminar y externa de la arcilla actúan como contraiones.This work has been partially supported by the CICYT (project MAT99-1176).Peer reviewe

High-pressure greenschist to blueschist facies transition in the Maimón Formation (Dominican Republic) suggests mid-Cretaceous subduction of the Early Cretaceous Caribbean Arc

The Maimón Formation (Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic) is formed of metamorphosed bi-modal mafic-felsic volcanic rocks and sedimentary horizons of Early Cretaceous age deposited in the forearc of the nascent Caribbean island arc. Two structural-metamorphic zones depict an inverted metamorphic gradient: the Ozama shear zone, which records intense mylonitic and phyllonitic deformation and ubiquitous metamorphic recrystallization, tectonically overlies the much less deformed and variably recrystallized rocks of the El Altar zone. The presence of ferri-winchite and high-Si phengite, first reported in this paper, in the peak metamorphic assemblage of rocks of the Ozama shear zone (actinolite + phengite + chlorite + epidote + quartz + albite ± ferri-winchite ± stilpnomelane) point to subduction-related metamorphism. Pseudosection calculations and intersection of isopleths indicate peak metamorphic conditions of ~ 8.2 kbar at 380 °C. These figures are consistent with metamorphism in the greenschist/blueschist facies transition, burial depths of ~ 25-29 km and a thermal gradient of ~ 13-16 °C/km. Our new data dispute previous models pointing to metamorphism of Maimón rocks under a steep thermal gradient related to burial under a hot peridotite slice. Instead, we contextualize the metamorphism of the Maimón Formation in a subduction scenario in which a coherent slice of the (warm) Early Cretaceous forearc was engulfed due to intra-arc complexities and regional-scale-driven tectonic processes operating in the late Early Cretaceous. Integration of our findings with previous studies on metamorphic complexes in Hispaniola suggests that a major tectonic event affecting the whole arc system took place at c. 120-110 Ma

Radiomics analysis of bone marrow biopsy locations in [18F]FDG PET/CT images for measurable residual disease assessment in multiple myeloma.

The combination of visual assessment of whole body [18F]FDG PET images and evaluation of bone marrow samples by Multiparameter Flow Cytometry (MFC) or Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) is currently the most common clinical practice for the detection of Measurable Residual Disease (MRD) in Multiple Myeloma (MM) patients. In this study, radiomic features extracted from the bone marrow biopsy locations are analyzed and compared to those extracted from the whole bone marrow in order to study the representativeness of these biopsy locations in the image-based MRD assessment. Whole body [18F]FDG PET of 39 patients with newly diagnosed MM were included in the database, and visually evaluated by experts in nuclear medicine. A methodology for the segmentation of biopsy sites from PET images, including sternum and posterior iliac crest, and their subsequent quantification is proposed. First, starting from the bone marrow segmentation, a segmentation of the biopsy sites is performed. Then, segmentations are quantified extracting SUV metrics and radiomic features from the [18F]FDG PET images and are evaluated by Mann-Whitney U-tests as valuable features differentiating PET+/PET- and MFC+ /MFC- groups. Moreover, correlation between whole bone marrow and biopsy sites is studied by Spearman ρ rank. Classification performance of the radiomics features is evaluated applying seven machine learning algorithms. Statistical analyses reveal that some images features are significant in PET+/PET- differentiation, such as SUVmax, Gray Level Non-Uniformity or Entropy, especially with a balanced database where 16 of the features show a p value < 0.001. Correlation analyses between whole bone marrow and biopsy sites results in significant and acceptable coefficients, with 11 of the variables reaching a correlation coefficient greater than 0.7, with a maximum of 0.853. Machine learning algorithms demonstrate high performances in PET+/PET- classification reaching a maximum AUC of 0.974, but not for MFC+/MFC- classification. The results demonstrate the representativeness of sample sites as well as the effectiveness of extracted features (SUV metrics and radiomic features) from the [18F]FDG PET images in MRD assessment in MM patients.The author E.M. received financial support through a predoctoral Fellowship (ayuda del Programa Propio de I+D+i 2020) from Universidad Politecnica de Madrid. The project was partially supported by COVITECH-CM (Plataforma cientifico-tecnologica para alerta, diagnostico, pronostico, terapia y seguimiento de la enfermedad COVID19 y futuras pandemias) and REACT-UE through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund (EFS) and the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD).Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscriptS

Big data and machine learning to improve european grapevine moth (Lobesia botrana) predictions

Machine Learning (ML) techniques can be used to convert Big Data into valuable information for agri-environmental applications, such as predictive pest modeling. Lobesia botrana (Denis &amp; Schiffermüller) 1775 (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) is one of the main pests of grapevine, causing high productivity losses in some vineyards worldwide. This work focuses on the optimization of the Touzeau model, a classical correlation model between temperature and L. botrana development using data-driven models. Data collected from field observations were combined with 30 GB of registered weather data updated every 30 min to train the ML models and make predictions on this pest’s flights, as well as to assess the accuracy of both Touzeau and ML models. The results obtained highlight a much higher F1 score of the ML models in comparison with the Touzeau model. The best-performing model was an artificial neural network of four layers, which considered several variables together and not only the temperature, taking advantage of the ability of ML models to find relationships in nonlinear systems. Despite the room for improvement of artificial intelligence-based models, the process and results presented herein highlight the benefits of ML applied to agricultural pest management strategies

Psycho-emotional disorders as incoming risk factors for myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary arteries

Comment[Abstract] Background: There is an emerging field underlying the myocardial infarction (MI) with non-obstruc-tive coronary arteries (MINOCA). The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of psycho-emotional disorders and social habits in MINOCA patients. Methods: The study included 95 consecutive patients diagnosed of MINOCA and 178 patients with MI and obstructive lesions. MINOCA patients were included when they fulfilled the three main criteria: accomplishment of the Third Universal Definition of Myocardial Infarction, absence of obstructive coronary arteries and no clinically overt specific cause for the acute presentation. Results: MINOCA patients had a higher frequency of previous psychiatric illnesses than the obstructive coronary arteries group (29.7% vs. 12.9%, p = 0.001). MINOCA patients recognized emotional stress in 75.7% of the cases, while only 32.1% of the obstructive related group did (p < 0.001). The relation-ship remained after excluding takotsubo syndrome from the analysis (26 cases, 27.4%): psychiatric diseases (27.9% vs. 12.9%, p < 0.01) and recognition of emotional stress (70.8% vs. 32.1%, p < 0.001). Social habits which could act as stress modulating showed no significant relation with MINOCA. Conclusions: Psycho-emotional disorders are related to MINOCA and they could act as risk fac-tor. This relationship is maintained after excluding takotsubo from the analysis. (Cardiol J 2018; 25, 1: 24-31).This work was supported by unrestricted grants from Red Tematica de Investigacion Cooperativa en Enfermedades Cardivasculares (RIC) RD12/0042/0067 of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad), and by a competitive grant from Section of Clinical Cardiology of the Spanish Society of Cardiologyinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/MINECO/Acción Estratégica de Salud/RD12%2F0042%2F0067/ES/Enfermedades cardiovasculare

Empirical leucine-to-carbon conversion factors for estimating heterothrophic bacterial production in surface waters of the world oceans

Comunicación oralBacterial biomass production is a key parameter for evaluating the role of bacterioplankton in ocean carbon cycling. However, bacterial production cannot be directly measured and is typically estimated from the incorporation rates of radiolabelled leucine. The conversion of leucine uptake rates into bacterial carbon production rates requires the use of conversion factors (CFs) which must be empirically determined. Despite the empirical leucine-to-carbon CFs vary widely across environments very little is known about its potential controlling factors. We conducted a set of 10 surface seawater cultures experiments where the growth of the natural bacterial assemblage was promoted by filtration (removal of grazers) or by both filtration and dilution. Sampling stations were located between 30 ºN and 30 ºS, including the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. CFs varied from 0.13 to 1.47 Kg C mol Leu-1, being higher in the filtrated than in the filtrated and diluted treatment. The abundance of picocyanobacteria explained 60% of the observed variability. Our results further suggest that the composition of bacterioplankton, as assessed by ARISA fingerprinting, may partially explain the observed variation in CFs

Sample dilution and bacterial community composition influence empirical leucine-to-carbon conversion factors in surface waters of the world's oceans

Research articleThe transformation of leucine incorporation into prokaryotic carbon production rates requires the use of either theoretical or empirically determined conversion factors. Empirical leucine-to-carbon conversion factors (eCFs) vary widely across environments, and little is known about their potential controlling factors. We conducted 10 surface seawater manipulation experiments across the world’s oceans, where the growth of the natural prokaryotic assemblages was promoted by filtration (i.e. removal of grazers; F treatment) or filtration combined with dilution (i.e. relieving also resource competition; FD treatment). The impact of sunlight exposure was also evaluated in the FD treatments, and we did not find a significant effect on the eCFs. The eCFs varied from 0.09 to 1.47 kg C mol Leu-1 and were significantly lower in the filtered and diluted (FD) than in the filtered (F) treatments. Also, changes in bacterial community composition during the incubations, as assessed by Automated Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer Analysis (ARISA), were stronger in the FD than in the F treatments, as compared to unmanipulated controls. Thus, we discourage the common procedure of diluting samples (in addition to filtration) for eCFs determination. The eCFs in the filtered treatment were negatively correlated with the initial chlorophyll a concentration, picocyanobacterial abundance (mostly Prochlorococcus) and the percentage of heterotrophic prokaryotes with high nucleic acid content (%HNA). The latter two variables explained 80% of the eCFs variability in the F treatment, supporting the view that both Prochlorococcus and HNA prokaryotes incorporate leucine in substantial amounts although resulting into relatively low carbon production rates in the oligotrophic ocean.En prensa3,829

BiosecurID: a multimodal biometric database

This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10044-009-0151-4A new multimodal biometric database, acquired in the framework of the BiosecurID project, is presented together with the description of the acquisition setup and protocol. The database includes 8 unimodal biomet- ric traits, namely: speech, iris, face (still images and videos of talking faces), handwritten signature and handwritten text (on-line dynamic signals and off- line scanned images), fingerprints (acquired with two different sensors), hand (palmprint and contour-geometry) and keystroking. The database comprises 400 subjects and presents features such as: realistic acquisition scenario, bal- anced gender and population distributions, availability of information about particular demographic groups (age, gender, handedness), acquisition of replay attacks for speech and keystroking, skilled forgeries for signatures, and com- patibility with other existing databases. All these characteristics make it very useful in research and development of unimodal and multimodal biometric systems.This work has been supported by the Spanish MEC under project TIC2003-08382-C05-01. The authors J. G. and R. R. are supported by FPU Fellowships from Spanish MEC, the authors M. R. F. and F. A.-F. are supported by FPI Fellowships from CAM, and J. F. is supported by a Marie Curie Fellowship from the European Commission