Lift devices in the flight of Archaeopteryx

Archaeopteryx has played a central role in the debates on the origins of avian (and dinosaurian) flight, even though as a flier it probably represents a relatively late stage in the beginnings of fl ight. We report on aerodynamic tests using a life-sized model of Archaeopteryx performing in a low turbulence wind tunnel. Our results indicate that tail deflection significantly decreased take-off velocity and power consumption, and that the first manual digit could have functioned as the structural precursor of the alula. Such results demonstrate that Archaeopteryx had already evolved high-lift devices, which are functional analogues of those present in today's birds

Alignment of Palladium Complexes into Columnar Liquid Crystals Driven by Peripheral Triphenylene Substituents

Producción CientíficaMono- and dinuclear ortho-palladated complexes based on a triphenylene-imine ligand that display columnar mesophases (Col) at temperatures close to ambient have been isolated. The mesophase stability is large, and their structures consist of Pd-containing columnar zones supported by fully organic columns formed by the triphenylene moieties.Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (CTQ2011-25137)Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (MAT2012-38538-C03-02)Junta de Castilla y León (programa de apoyo a proyectos de investigación – Ref. VA302U13

Vertebrate fauna at the Allosaurus fossil-site of Andrés (Upper Jurassic), Pombal, Portugal

An overview of the faunistic diversity of the Andres fossil-site from the Portuguese Upper Jurassic is presented. This work provides a preliminary approach on the vertebrate fauna known at present. Although this quarry is known since the 1990’s, due to the description on the first robust evidence of a member of the neotetanuran genus Allosaurus outside North America, the results presented here are mainly derived from the analysis of the elements found during the second and third field seasons in 2005. At the moment, among the material collected from Andrés it was identified remains that represent a diverse vertebrate fauna, including fishes, sphenodonts, crocodrylomorphs, pterosaurs, and at least, seven distinct dinosaur forms. The recovery of this diverse and abundant osteological collection from one unique fossil-site is noteworthy for the Upper Jurassic Portuguese record, and only comparable with those from the Guimarota coalmine. Due to these two features plus the good preservation of the fossils, the Andres quarry may be a site of reference for the analysis of vertebrate ecosystems from the Portuguese Upper Jurassic. Dinosaur elements are the most abundant fossils, and among them it is particulary common the presence of remains identified as Allosaurus. These new evidences allow testing the previus phylogenetical hypothesys ascribing the firsts theropod remains from Andrés to A. fragilis, a species described in synchronic levels of the North American Morrison Formation. The similarity between the Allosaurus remains collected in Andres and some specimens from the Morrison Formation seems to point the existence of a genetic flow between some continental vertebrates on both sides of the proto-north Atlantic during the Upper Jurassic. Favourable tectonic conditions for the occurrence of punctual contacts between the two continents is, at present, the best scenario for explain this situation.Se presenta un analisis de la diversidad faunistica del yacimiento de Andrés en el Jurasico Superior de la Cuenca Lusitanica. El presente trabajo pretende establecer un análisis preliminar de la fauna de vertebrados identificada en el yacimiento hasta la fecha. Aunque conocido desde la decada de 1990, debido a la descripcion de la primera evidencia robusta de un neotetanuro del genero Allosaurus fuera de Norteamerica, los resultados presentados derivan principalmente del analisis de elementos encontrados durante la segunda y tercera campanas de excavacion en 2005. Hasta el momento han sido identificados entre el material recogido en Andrés, representantes de diversos taxones de vertebrados que incluyen que incluyen peces, esfenodontos, crocodilomorfos, pterosaurios y, al menos, siete formas distintas de dinosaurios. La presencia de esta diversidad y abundancia de restos osteologicos en el mismo yacimiento representa una situacion unica en el registro del Jurasico Superior portugues, tan solo comparable a la del yacimiento clasico de la mina de carbon de Guimarota. Atendiendo a estas dos caracteristicas y a la buena preservacion de los fosiles, el yacimiento de Andres puede ser considerado como una localidad de referencia para el estudio de los ecosistemas con vertebrados del Jurasico Superior portugues. Los restos de dinosaurios son los fosiles mas abundantes y, entre ellos, son particularmente comunes los asignables a Allosaurus. Estas nuevas evidencias proporcionan a A. fragilis, una especie descrita en niveles sincronicos de la Formacion Morrison en Norteamerica. La similitud entre los restos de Allosaurus recogidos en Andres y algunos de los ejemplares de la Formacion Morrison, sugiere la existencia de un flujo genético entre algunos vertebrados continentales de ambos lados del proto-Atlántico norte durante el Jurásico Superior. La existencia de condiciones tectonicas favorables para la existencia de contactos puntuales entre los dos continentes es actualmente el mejor escenario para explicar esta situacion

Studying the Role of Location in 3D Scene Description using Natural Language

Kluth T, Falomir Z. Studying the Role of Location in 3D Scene Description using Natural Language. In: Sanz I, Museros L, Ortega JA, eds. XV Jornadas de la Asociación de Razonamiento Cualitativo y Aplicaciones (JARCA '13). Sistemas Cualitativos y sus Aplicaciones en Diagnosis, Robótica e Inteligencia Ambiental. Murcia, Spain: Proceedings from the University of Seville; 2013.In this paper the description of 3D indoor scenes in natural language is studied from the point of view of intrinsic and relative location of the objects. An approach has been developed for this purpose which uses a XBox 360 Kinect in combination with ROS and PCL to obtain 3D-data from the scene. Object features are computed on these 3D-data, which are used to generate a SVM-model which classifies the different objects in the scene. After detecting the objects in the scene, their orientation is obtained and qualitative spatial relations between the objects are computed to generate a natural-language description of the scene

Experimental neosporosis in bulls: Parasite detection in semen and blood and specific antibody and interferon-gamma responses

Aim To investigate the presence of Neospora caninum in semen and blood, and the development of specific antibody and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) responses in experimentally infected bulls. Methods Eight bulls were intravenously infected with 108 live N. caninum tachyzoites of NC-1 isolate. The presence of N. caninum in semen and blood was assessed using a nested-PCR procedure. PCR-positive semen samples were bioassayed using a BALB/c nu/nu mouse model. Specific anti-N. caninum antibody and IFN-γ responses were also examined. In parallel, eight seronegative bulls were studied as non-infected controls. All bulls were monitored for 26 weeks. Results All eight experimentally infected bulls showed N. caninum DNA in their semen and/or blood samples at some time during the course of the study. Parasite load in semen ranged from 0.1 to 14.5 parasites/ml (mean 6.0). N. caninum could not be detected in BALB/c nu/nu mice inoculated with PCR-positive semen samples. A significant increase in mean serum specific IgM antibody response to N. caninum was detected between 10 and 28 days post-infection (p.i.). Serum specific IgG, IgG1, and IgG2 antibody levels in experimentally infected bulls were significantly different after 21, 10, and 14 days p.i. as compared to controls, respectively. Specific anti-N. caninum IgG were detected in seminal plasma from infected bulls and values obtained were different from controls after 25 days p.i. Mean specific IFN-γ responses in experimentally infected bulls were significantly higher than controls 3 days p.i. Conclusions This is the first study to report the presence of N. caninum DNA in the semen and blood of experimentally infected bulls. Our observations indicate an intermittent presence of N. caninum in low numbers in semen and associated with chronic stage of the infection. This study is also the first to report the detection of anti-N. caninum IgG in seminal plasma of experimentally infected bulls

Control de capa limite en el vuelo a bajos números de Reynolds

Estudio y comprobación experimental de los efectos de los bajos números de Reynolds

Enzymatic Synthesis of Phloretin alpha-Glucosides Using a Sucrose Phosphorylase Mutant and its Effect on Solubility, Antioxidant Properties and Skin Absorption

Glycosylation of polyphenols may increase their aqueous solubility, stability, bioavailability and pharmacological activity. Herein, we used a mutant of sucrose phosphorylase from Thermoanaerobacterium thermosaccharolyticum engineered to accept large polyphenols (variant TtSPP_R134A) to produce phloretin glucosides. The reaction was performed using 10% (v/v) acetone as cosolvent. The selective formation of a monoglucoside or a diglucoside (53% and 73% maximum conversion percentage, respectively) can be kinetically controlled. MS and 2D-NMR determined that the monoglucoside was phloretin 4¿-O-¿-D-glucopyranoside and the diglucoside phloretin-4¿-O-[¿-D-glucopyranosyl-(1¿3)-O-¿-D-glucopyranoside], a novel compound. The molecular features that determine the specificity of this enzyme for 4¿-OH phenolic group were analysed by induced-fit docking analysis of each putative derivative, using the crystal structure of TtSPP and changing the mutated residue. The mono- and diglucoside were, respectively, 71- and 1200-fold more soluble in water than phloretin at room temperature. The a-glucosylation decreased the antioxidant capacity of phloretin, measured by DPPH and ABTS assays; however, this loss was moderate and the activity could be recovered upon deglycosylation in vivo. Since phloretin attracts a great interest in dermocosmetic applications, we analyzed the percutaneous absorption of glucosides and the aglycon employing a pig skin model. Although the three compounds were detected in all skin layers (except the fluid receptor), the diglucoside was present mainly on superficial layers

Post-transcriptional control of a stemness signature by RNA-binding protein MEX3A regulates murine adult neurogenesis

Neural stem cells (NSCs) in the adult murine subependymal zone balance their self-renewal capacity and glial identity with the potential to generate neurons during the lifetime. Adult NSCs exhibit lineage priming via pro-neurogenic fate determinants. However, the protein levels of the neural fate determinants are not sufficient to drive direct differentiation of adult NSCs, which raises the question of how cells along the neurogenic lineage avoid different conflicting fate choices, such as self-renewal and differentiation. Here, we identify RNA-binding protein MEX3A as a post-transcriptional regulator of a set of stemness associated transcripts at critical transitions in the subependymal neurogenic lineage. MEX3A regulates a quiescence-related RNA signature in activated NSCs that is needed for their return to quiescence, playing a role in the long-term maintenance of the NSC pool. Furthermore, it is required for the repression of the same program at the onset of neuronal differentiation. Our data indicate that MEX3A is a pivotal regulator of adult murine neurogenesis acting as a translational remodeller.© 2023. The Author(s)