A developmental model for the pathogenenesis of cardiac arterio-ventricular fistulae

Coronary Artery Fistulae (CAF) are congenital coronary artery (CA) anomalies consisting of an abnormal communication of a coronary artery with either a cardiac chamber or a large cardiac vessel. Although their incidence in the Western population is low, CAF can lead to complications such as myocardial hypertrophy, endocarditis, heart dilatation and cardiac failure. CAFs can appear as an isolated anomaly or linked to some other forms of congenital heart disease like Left Ventricular Non-Compaction (LVNC) and intrinsic CA anatomy anomalies, but their etiology remains unknown. In this work we have used two different experimental models (transgenic mice and avian embryos) to investigate on the developmental mechanics of CAF formation. In order to tackle this goal, we have manipulated epicardial development and ventricular wall compaction, two inextricably related developmental events during coronary embryogenesis. Conditional integrin α4 gene deletion in the septum transversum/proepicardial (ST/PE) region (G2-Gata4+) disrupts early epicardium development and reduces cardiomyocyte proliferation, leading to the thinning of the ventricular compact myocardial layer. Reduction in compact myocardium thickness associates to the presence of multiple ventricular myocardial discontinuities and focal endocardial extrusion. This same phenotype can be experimentally reproduced in chick embryos using a cryocauterization method (Palmquist-Gomes et al., 2016). Our results suggest that the partial absence of epicardium in α4integrin;G2-Gata4Cre mouse embryos and the cryoinjury in avian embryos generate myocardial discontinuities in the embryonic ventricular wall, which promote endocardial extrusion towards the pericardial cavity and the early contact of the endocardium with coronary progenitors at the epicardial surface of the heart. In the case of avian embryos, this phenomenon leads to precocious smooth muscle differentiation from epicardial mesenchymal cells, and the formation of pouch-like structures that closely resemble CAF. We conclude that anomalous compact myocardial embryonic growth can originate CAF.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

A developmental model for the pathogenenesis of cardiac arterio-ventricular fistulae

Coronary Artery Fistulae (CAF) are congenital coronary artery (CA) anomalies consisting of an abnormal communication of a coronary artery with either a cardiac chamber or a large cardiac vessel. Although their incidence in the Western population is low, CAF can lead to complications such as myocardial hypertrophy, endocarditis, heart dilatation and cardiac failure. CAFs can appear as an isolated anomaly or linked to some other forms of congenital heart disease like Left Ventricular Non-Compaction (LVNC) and intrinsic CA anatomy anomalies, but their etiology remains unknown. In this work we have used two different experimental models (transgenic mice and avian embryos) to investigate on the developmental mechanics of CAF formation. In order to tackle this goal, we have manipulated epicardial development and ventricular wall compaction, two inextricably related developmental events during coronary embryogenesis. Conditional integrin α4 gene deletion in the septum transversum/proepicardial (ST/PE) region (G2-Gata4+) disrupts early epicardium development and reduces cardiomyocyte proliferation, leading to the thinning of the ventricular compact myocardial layer. Reduction in compact myocardium thickness associates to the presence of multiple ventricular myocardial discontinuities and focal endocardial extrusion. This same phenotype can be experimentally reproduced in chick embryos using a cryocauterization method (Palmquist-Gomes et al., 2016). Our results suggest that the partial absence of epicardium in α4integrin;G2-Gata4Cre mouse embryos and the cryoinjury in avian embryos generate myocardial discontinuities in the embryonic ventricular wall, which promote endocardial extrusion towards the pericardial cavity and the early contact of the endocardium with coronary progenitors at the epicardial surface of the heart. In the case of avian embryos, this phenomenon leads to precocious smooth muscle differentiation from epicardial mesenchymal cells, and the formation of pouch-like structures that closely resemble CAF. We conclude that anomalous compact myocardial embryonic growth can originate CAF.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

What gaze adds to arrows: Changes in attentional response to gaze versus arrows in childhood and adolescence

FPU, Grant/Award Number: fpu16/07124From early ages, gaze acts as a cue to infer the interests, behaviours, thoughts and emotions of social partners. Despite sharing attentional properties with other non-social directional stimuli, such as arrows, gaze produces unique effects. A spatial interference task revealed this dissociation. The direction of arrows was identified faster on congruent than on incongruent direction-location trials. Conversely, gaze produced a reversed congruency effect (RCE), with faster identifications on incongruent than congruent trials. To determine the emergence of these gaze-specific attentional mechanisms, 214 Spanish children (4–17 years) divided into 6 age groups, performed the aforementioned task across three experiments. Results showed stimulus-specific developmental trajectories. Whereas the standard effect of arrows was unaffected by age, gaze shifted from an arrow-like effect at age 4 to a gaze-specific RCE at age 12. The orienting mechanisms shared by gaze and arrows are already present in 4-year olds and, throughout childhood, gaze becomes a special social cue with additional attentional properties. Besides orienting attention to a direction, as arrows would do, gaze might orient attention towards a specific object that would be attentionally selected. Such additional components may not fully develop until adolescence. Understanding gaze-specific attentional mechanisms may be crucial for children with atypical socio-cognitive development.Spanish Government fpu16/0712

Need for integral management strategies in the Architectural Cultural Heritage

La situación particular de nuestro país, con su riqueza patrimonial, y situación inmobiliaria actual, obliga a que se establezcan modelos y métodos de trabajo adaptados a nuestra realidad y a la legislación española y europea. Se convierten en una necesidad estratégica que se podría convertir en prioritaria y como fuente de recursos y empleo. Se plantea como gran oportunidad profesional el papel del Gestor Integral en el funcionamiento del Patrimonio Arquitectónico Histórico, si bien es de reconocer la necesidad de una formación que permita dotar de capacidad de gestionar de forma innovadora cualquier inmueble del Patrimonio, y ofrecer una propuesta de funcionamiento que permita poner en valor el conjunto, de modo que la explotación del mismo sea factible con una oferta de servicios, que permita mostrar el potencial exitoso de la propuesta para la correcta puesta en marcha y explotación del Bien, de modo que permita el desarrollo de la inversión necesaria para ello. Se trata de ir más allá del mero control del mantenimiento, o de las instalaciones. Se trata de la incorporación de muchos más aspectos a implantar en el proceso: conservación preventiva como filosofía, evaluación de riesgos, gestión de emergencias, eficiencia en los recursos, procesos de difusión, integración social, educación patrimonial, optimización de los usos y su explotación, la inclusión del ámbito de la sostenibilidad (y no solo como eficiencia energética), conocer los riesgos, las medidas de control, saber que mirar y como medirlo. E incluso, en algunos casos, incorporar aspectos de desarrollo local en el entorno de la población donde se encuentra el Bien. En la comunicación se presentarán diversos modos de poder implantar estos modelos, donde la concepción global integrada se convierte en herramienta principal, no se trata de estudiar los aspectos sueltos e independizados, sino de hacerlo, desde su planteamiento inicial de un modo global, interrelacionado, esto es, gestión integral. Aplicar estos nuevos conceptos es una experiencia real muy positiva, y se presentarán diversos ejemplos, que implican un cambio de concepto, y la generación de un nuevo paradigma, un salto cualitativo en los criterios y en los procesos de toma de decisión

Learning networks at university context. E-Learning for "Materiales de Construcción" and "Historia de la Construcción" Subjects at Escuela Universitaria de Arquitectura Técnica de la Universidad de Sevilla

Due to the requirements of the Treaty of Lisbon, of the different EU regulations and communications to achieve the main human and economic progress area in the world, it is necessary to make changes in the formative process of its main figures. In this sense, the European Higher Education Area is an opportunity for the redefinition of structures, teaching methods and roles of all of those implicated in Higher Education processes. The use of digital platforms in the ordinary Higher Education formative processes makes us wonder about the quality of the formative proposals we offer to our students. This work deals with the study of the usefulness of ICT tools to develop innovative methodologies for “Materiales de Construcción” and “Historia de la Construcción ” subjects at Escuela Universitaria de Arquitectura Técnica de la Universidad de Sevilla; accordingly, it implies a transformation process of responsible lecturers in matters such as: professional training, updating methodologies, etc.; towards University studen

Integration of Facial Expression and Gaze Direction in Individuals with a High Level of Autistic Traits

This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry, and Competitiveness, through research project PID2020-114790GB-I00 to J.L., and by the Andalusian Council and European Regional Development Fund, through research project B-SEJ-572-UGR20 to A.M. B.A.-M. was supported by a predoctoral fellowship from the FPU program from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education (FPU16/07124).Background.We investigated whether individuals with high levels of autistic traits integrate relevant communicative signals, such as facial expression, when decoding eye-gaze direction. Methods. Students with high vs. low scores on the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ) performed a task in which they responded to the eye directions of faces, presented on the left or the right side of a screen, portraying different emotional expressions. Results. In both groups, the identification of gaze direction was faster when the eyes were directed towards the center of the scene. However, in the low AQ group, this effect was larger for happy faces than for neutral faces or faces showing other emotional expressions, whereas participants from high AQ group were not affected by emotional expressions. Conclusions. These results suggest that individuals with more autistic traits may not integrate multiple communicative signals based on their emotional value.Spanish Government PID2020-114790GB-I00Andalusian CouncilEuropean Commission B-SEJ-572-UGR20German Research Foundation (DFG) FPU16/0712

Salt Diapirs, Salt Brine Seeps, Pockmarks and Surficial Sediment Creep and Slides in the Canary Channel of NW Africa

Circular to elliptical mounds in the Canary Channel with reliefs of 75 to 375 m and diameters of 4 to 8 km partially surrounded by moats with reliefs of 25 to 75 m, were formed by piercement of the seafloor by Mesozoic evaporites. Several long gullies, <1 km wide, with abrupt terminations and pockmarks associated with these mounds were probably eroded by dense brine and hydrocarbon seeps. The salt brines that eroded the gullies were formed where salt diapirs intersect the seafloor, or in the subsurface by circulating ground water heated by igneous activity along the Canary Ridge. If the brines originated in the subsurface they reached the seafloor along faults. Displacement of the surficial sediments by sliding and creep is probably the result of the expulsion of hydrocarbons and/or vertical motion of the Mesozoic evaporites. Microtopographic features along or near the east flank of the Canary Ridge are the creation of uplift of the ridge, hydrothermal activity, mass wasting processes and turbidity currents.Depto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y PaleontologíaFac. de Ciencias GeológicasTRUEpu

Summability of the perturbative expansion for a zero-dimensional disordered spin model

We show analytically that the perturbative expansion for the free energy of the zero dimensional (quenched) disordered Ising model is Borel-summable in a certain range of parameters, provided that the summation is carried out in two steps: first, in the strength of the original coupling of the Ising model and subsequently in the variance of the quenched disorder. This result is illustrated by some high-precision calculations of the free energy obtained by a straightforward numerical implementation of our sequential summation method.Comment: LaTeX, 12 pages and 4 figure

Materials Design for N2O Capture: Separation in Gas Mixtures

The adsorption of greenhouse gases (GHG) as a method to reduce their emissions into the atmosphere is an alternative that is easier to implement industrially and cheaper than other existing technologies, such as chemical capture, cryogenic separation, or membrane separation. The vast majority of works found in the literature have focused their efforts on capturing CO2 as it is the largest GHG. However, although N2O emissions are not as large as CO2, the impact that N2O has on the stratosphere and climate is much larger in proportion, despite which there is not much research on N2O capture. Since both gases are usually emitted into the atmosphere together (along with other gases), it is necessary to design selective adsorbents capable of capturing and separating these gases from each other and from other gases, to mitigate the effects of climate change. This review aims to compile the existing information to date on porous adsorbents, the characteristics of the N2O adsorption processes and, above all, aims to focus the reader’s gaze on the importance of designing selective adsorbents for greenhouse gas mixtures.Partial funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málag

Re-evaluating sheet erosion rates in a popular trekking trail located at the Spanish Central System

Degradation of walking tracks, mainly due to sheet erosion associated with hiking activities, damages the natural and recreational value of protected natural areas. Senda Schmidt is a popular trail located on the northern slope of the Sierra de Guadarrama (Central Spanish System), that shows high denudation morphologies on account of accelerated soil-erosion processes basically caused by human influence (trampling by continuous trekking), resulted in exposed roots. Previous works have used dendrogeomorphological methods in this trail to estimate rates of sheet erosion based on the changing morphology of tree rings (from concentric to eccentric) when root is exposed. This study aims to evaluate soil erosion reconstructing the first year of root exposure by analyzing changes in wood anatomical parameters within growth rings. Additionally, different multivariate statistical approaches were used in order to determinate the influence of different environmental factors affecting the variation in velocity of the sheet erosion processes