Functional EF-hands in neuronal calcium sensor GCAP2 determine its phosphorylation state and subcellular distribution in vivo, and are essential for photoreceptor cell integrity

The neuronal calcium sensor proteins GCAPs (guanylate cyclase activating proteins) switch between Ca2+-free and Ca2+-bound conformational states and confer calcium sensitivity to guanylate cyclase at retinal photoreceptor cells. They play a fundamental role in light adaptation by coupling the rate of cGMP synthesis to the intracellular concentration of calcium. Mutations in GCAPs lead to blindness. The importance of functional EF-hands in GCAP1 for photoreceptor cell integrity has been well established. Mutations in GCAP1 that diminish its Ca2+ binding affinity lead to cell damage by causing unabated cGMP synthesis and accumulation of toxic levels of free cGMP and Ca2+. We here investigate the relevance of GCAP2 functional EF-hands for photoreceptor cell integrity. By characterizing transgenic mice expressing a mutant form of GCAP2 with all EF-hands inactivated (EF(-)GCAP2), we show that GCAP2 locked in its Ca2+-free conformation leads to a rapid retinal degeneration that is not due to unabated cGMP synthesis. We unveil that when locked in its Ca2+-free conformation in vivo, GCAP2 is phosphorylated at Ser201 and results in phospho-dependent binding to the chaperone 14-3-3 and retention at the inner segment and proximal cell compartments. Accumulation of phosphorylated EF(-)GCAP2 at the inner segment results in severe toxicity. We show that in wildtype mice under physiological conditions, 50% of GCAP2 is phosphorylated correlating with the 50% of the protein being retained at the inner segment. Raising mice under constant light exposure, however, drastically increases the retention of GCAP2 in its Ca2+-free form at the inner segment. This study identifies a new mechanism governing GCAP2 subcellular distribution in vivo, closely related to disease. It also identifies a pathway by which a sustained reduction in intracellular free Ca2+ could result in photoreceptor damage, relevant for light damage and for those genetic disorders resulting in 'equivalent-light'' scenarios

Formulaciones con combinación de ingredientes activos para el control de Armadillidium vulgare (Crustacea: Isopoda), plaga en el cultivo de colza

ResumenLa colza (Brassica napus, B. campestris) en siembra directa (SD) representa una alternativa en los sistemas de rotación actuales. Armadillidium vulgare es una de las plagas principales de los cultivos en SD. El objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar cebos de acción combinada como estrategia alternativa de control de dicha especie.Se realizaron ensayos de laboratorio y de campo con los siguientes tratamientos: testigo sin tratamiento químico; testigo químico (4 kg/ha de Carbaryl 8%, MataBiBos Acay); 3, 4 y 5 kg/ha de cebo de acción combinada (Carbaryl 8% + Metaldehído 4%, Dual Acay). Se evaluó el número de individuos de A. vulgare muertos, de plantas dañadas y de plantas sanas. En el laboratorio, a los 2, 3, 7 y 9 días después de la aplicación de los cebos, los tratamientos químicos se diferenciaron del testigo y no mostraron diferencias significativas entre ellos. Los tratamientos con aplicaciones de cebos presentaron un número de plantas sanas y totales mayorcon respecto al testigo. En el campo, se detectaron diferencias en el número de individuos muertos entre los tratamientos químicos y el testigo. No se observaron diferencias en la proporción de individuos muertos ni de plantas dañadas entre los tratamiento químicos, sí respecto al testigo. La presencia del molusquicida en el cebo de acción combinada no interfirió en el control de A. vulgare. Se concluye que el cebo de acción combinada representa una alternativa de control de A. vulgare eficaz, que permite la protección del cultivo de colza. AbstractOilseed rape (Brassica napus, B. campestris) under No-Tillage (NT) represents an alternative in the current crop rotation systems. Armadillidium vulgare is a principal pest in crops under NT. The aim of this study was to evaluate combined action baits as alternative strategy in the control of that species. Laboratory and fields traits were carried out with five treatments: control treatment without chemicals, positive control (4 kg/ha of Carbaryl 8%, MataBiBos Acay); 3, 4 and 5 kg/ha of baits combined action (Carbaryl 8% + Metaldehyde 4%, Dual Acay). The number of dead A. vulgare individuals and the number of damaged and undamaged plants ere evaluated. In laboratory: all the chemical treatments differed from control and these were similar to each other at 2, 3, 7 and 9 days after application of baits. Number of undamaged and the number of total plants were higher in treatments with baits applications. In the field study, differences in dead individuals between chemical treatments and the control were found. Neither the products nor the doses tested had an effect. The proportion of dead individuals did not differ between chemical treatments. Chemical treatments had a lower number of damaged plants than control. The presence of molluscicide on the combined action bait do not whit control of A. vulgare. We conclude that combined action bait represent an effective alternative of control of A. vulgare, which allows the protection of oilseed rape crop

Cebos molusquicidas y molusquicidas líquidos para el control de Deroceras reticulatum (Pulmonata: Stylomatophora), plaga en el cultivo de colza

Oil seed rape (Brassica napus) under No Tillage (NT) represents an alternative in the current crop rotationsystems. Deroceras reticulatum “gray slug” is a one of the present pest in this crop under NT. The aim of thisstudy was to evaluate combined action bait and liquid Metaldehyde as an alternative strategy control of the specie. Laboratory and fields traits were carried out with the following treatments: control treatment without chemicals, chemical co tro (4 kg ha-1 of Metaldehyde 4 %), 3, 4 and 5 kg ha-1 combined action bait (Carbaryl8 % y Metaldehyde 4 %) and 1, 2 and 3 l ha-1 of liquid formulations (20 % Metaldehyde). The number of dead individuals of D. reticulatum and the number of damaged and undamaged plants were evaluated. In the laboratory,up to 3 days after application (DAA) it was observed higher control rates at all doses of liquid formulationthan all solids treatment. In both, solid and liquid treatments did not have doses effect. The proportion of damaged plants did not differ between treatments. In the field, at 2, 8 and 14 DAA liquid treatments showed lower control rates compared with the Metaldehyde baits and combined action bait. Both treatments solids and liquids were no effect of dose. The proportion of damaged plants was higher than that observed in laboratoryconditions. There were not observed differences in the proportion of damaged plants under chemical treatments and in the control with slugs. The application of liquid formulations may be carrying out close to crops sowing, while baits should be applied before sowing

Evaluating observed versus predicted forest biomass: R-squared, index of agreement or maximal information coefficient?

The accurate prediction of forest above-ground biomass is nowadays key to implementing climate change mitigation policies, such as reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. In this context, the coefficient of determination ($${R^2}$$) is widely used as a means of evaluating the proportion of variance in the dependent variable explained by a model. However, the validity of $${R^2}$$ for comparing observed versus predicted values has been challenged in the presence of bias, for instance in remote sensing predictions of forest biomass. We tested suitable alternatives, e.g. the index of agreement ($$d$$) and the maximal information coefficient ($$MIC$$). Our results show that $$d$$ renders systematically higher values than $${R^2}$$, and may easily lead to regarding as reliable models which included an unrealistic amount of predictors. Results seemed better for $$MIC$$, although $$MIC$$ favoured local clustering of predictions, whether or not they corresponded to the observations. Moreover, $${R^2}$$ was more sensitive to the use of cross-validation than $$d$$ or $$MIC$$, and more robust against overfitted models. Therefore, we discourage the use of statistical measures alternative to $${R^2}$$ for evaluating model predictions versus observed values, at least in the context of assessing the reliability of modelled biomass predictions using remote sensing. For those who consider $$d$$ to be conceptually superior to $${R^2}$$, we suggest using its square $${d^2}$$, in order to be more analogous to $${R^2}$$ and hence facilitate comparison across studies

Proposed approaches for indicator integration. ECAPRHA Deliverable Wp 4.1

<p>Cross-tabulation of cough and the modified Valsalva maneuver (m-VM) for determining the degree of right-to-left shunt.</p

Database of spatial distribution of non indigenous species in Spanish marine waters

Research in marine Spanish waters are focused on several actions to achieve an effectively management on protected areas, with the active participation of the stakeholders and research as basic tools for decision-making. Among these actions, there is one about the knowledge and control on NIS. One of its objectives is the creation of NIS factsheets, which are going to be added to the National Marine Biodiversity Geographical System (GIS) providing complementary information about taxonomic classification, common names, taxonomic synonyms, species illustrations, identification morphological characters, habitat in the native and introduced regions, biological and ecological traits, GenBank DNA sequences, world distribution, first record and evolution in the introduced areas, likely pathways of introduction, effects in the habitats and interaction with native species, and potential management measures to apply. The database will also provide data for (1) the European online platforms, (2) the environmental assessment for the Descriptor 2 (D2-NIS) of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD), as well as (3) supporting decisions made by stakeholders. It is the result of extensive collaboration among scientist, manager’s and citizen science in the Spanish North-Atlantic, South-Atlantic, Gibraltar Strait-Alboran, Levantine-Balearic and Canary Islands marine divisions, providing an updated overview of the spatial distribution of relevant extended and invasive NIS of recent and established NIS introduced by maritime transport and aquaculture pathways, as well as on cryptogenic or native species in expansion due to the climatic water warming trend

Photochemically produced SO2 in the atmosphere of WASP-39b

S.-M.T. is supported by the European Research Council advanced grant EXOCONDENSE (no. 740963; principal investigator: R. T. Pierrehumbert). E.K.H.L. is supported by the SNSF Ambizione Fellowship grant (no. 193448). X.Z. is supported by NASA Exoplanet Research grant 80NSSC22K0236. O.V. acknowledges funding from the ANR project ‘EXACT’ (ANR-21-CE49-0008-01), from the Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES) and from the CNRS/INSU Programme National de Planétologie (PNP). L.D. acknowledges support from the European Union H2020-MSCA-ITN-2109 under grant no. 860470 (CHAMELEON) and the KU Leuven IDN/19/028 grant Escher. This work benefited from the 2022 Exoplanet Summer Program at the Other Worlds Laboratory (OWL) at the University of California, Santa Cruz, a programme financed by the Heising-Simons Foundation. T.D. is an LSSTC Catalyst Fellow. J.K. is an Imperial College Research Fellow. B.V.R. is a 51 Pegasi b Fellow. L.W. is an NHFP Sagan Fellow. A.D.F. is an NSF Graduate Research Fellow.Photochemistry is a fundamental process of planetary atmospheres that regulates the atmospheric composition and stability1. However, no unambiguous photochemical products have been detected in exoplanet atmospheres so far. Recent observations from the JWST Transiting Exoplanet Community Early Release Science Program2,3 found a spectral absorption feature at 4.05 μm arising from sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the atmosphere of WASP-39b. WASP-39b is a 1.27-Jupiter-radii, Saturn-mass (0.28 MJ) gas giant exoplanet orbiting a Sun-like star with an equilibrium temperature of around 1,100 K (ref. 4). The most plausible way of generating SO2 in such an atmosphere is through photochemical processes5,6. Here we show that the SO2 distribution computed by a suite of photochemical models robustly explains the 4.05-μm spectral feature identified by JWST transmission observations7 with NIRSpec PRISM (2.7σ)8 and G395H (4.5σ)9. SO2 is produced by successive oxidation of sulfur radicals freed when hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is destroyed. The sensitivity of the SO2 feature to the enrichment of the atmosphere by heavy elements (metallicity) suggests that it can be used as a tracer of atmospheric properties, with WASP-39b exhibiting an inferred metallicity of about 10× solar. We further point out that SO2 also shows observable features at ultraviolet and thermal infrared wavelengths not available from the existing observations.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Search for dark matter produced in association with a hadronically decaying vector boson in pp collisions at sqrt (s) = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search is presented for dark matter produced in association with a hadronically decaying W or Z boson using 3.2 fb−1 of pp collisions at View the MathML sources=13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Events with a hadronic jet compatible with a W or Z boson and with large missing transverse momentum are analysed. The data are consistent with the Standard Model predictions and are interpreted in terms of both an effective field theory and a simplified model containing dark matter