Inuloxin E, a New Seco-Eudesmanolide Isolated from Dittrichia viscosa, Stimulating Orobanche cumana Seed Germination

A new sesquiterpenoid belonging to the subgroup seco-eudesmanolides and named inuloxin E was isolated from Dittrichia viscosa, together with the already known sesquiterpenoids inuloxins A–D and -costic acid. Inuloxin E was characterized by spectroscopic data (essentially NMR and ESIMS) as 3-methylene-6-(1-methyl-4-oxo-pentyl)-3a,4,7,7a-tetrahydro-3H-benzofuran-2-one. Its relative configuration was determined by comparison with the closely related inuloxin D and chemical conversion of inuloxin E into inuloxin D and by the observed significant correlation in the NOESY spectrum. Both inuloxins D and E induced germination of the parasitic weed Orobanche cumana, but were inactive on the seeds of Orobanche minor and Phelipanche ramosa. The germination activity of some hemisynthetic esters of inuloxin D was also investigated

Dot Immunobinding Assay for the Rapid Serodetection of Scedosporium/Lomentospora in Cystic Fibrosis Patients

Scedosporium; Cystic fibrosis; Serological detectionScedosporium; Fibrosi quística; Detecció serològicaScedosporium; Fibrosis quística; Detección serológicaThe detection of Scedosporium/Lomentospora is still based on non-standardized low-sensitivity culture procedures. This fact is particularly worrying in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), where these fungi are the second most common filamentous fungi isolated, because a poor and delayed diagnosis can worsen the prognosis of the disease. To contribute to the discovery of new diagnostic strategies, a rapid serological dot immunobinding assay (DIA) that allows the detection of serum IgG against Scedosporium/Lomentospora in less than 15 min was developed. A crude protein extract from the conidia and hyphae of Scedosporium boydii was employed as a fungal antigen. The DIA was evaluated using 303 CF serum samples (162 patients) grouped according to the detection of Scedosporium/Lomentospora in the respiratory sample by culture, obtaining a sensitivity and specificity of 90.48% and 79.30%, respectively; positive and negative predictive values of 54.81% and 96.77%, and an efficiency of 81.72%. The clinical factors associated with the results were also studied using a univariate and a multivariate analysis, which showed that Scedosporium/Lomentospora positive sputum, elevated anti-Aspergillus serum IgG and chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection were significantly associated with a positive result in DIA, while Staphylococcus aureus positive sputum showed a negative association. In conclusion, the test developed can offer a complementary, rapid, simple and sensitive method to contribute to the diagnosis of Scedosporium/Lomentospora in patients with CF.This research was funded by the Basque Government, grant numbers IT1362-19 and IT1657-22. L.M-S and M.A have received a predoctoral grant from the Basque Government and L.A-F from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU)

Analysis of the energy performance strategies in a historical building used as a music school

[EN] Energy consumption in public education buildings depends on use and occupancy. To improve energy performance, energy audits are essential to identify specific solutions for each building. In this study, we conducted an energy audit of a historical building used as a public education centre. We collected gas and electricity bills and recorded indoor temperatures for over a year to determine heating and cooling set points and the schedules. Our analysis showed that 47.42% of the electricity bills were unused. To reduce energy demand and improve thermal comfort, we both developed and validated a Building Energy Modelling (BEM) approach using TRNSYS18 and weather data during year 2021. The BEM model allowed us to propose efficient measures to meet the Standard Passive requirements. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of energy audits and BEM modelling in reducing energy consumption in public education buildings.This research was funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation, Spain PID2019-108271RB-C33). The study could not have taken place without the assistance of the personnel of professional conservatory of artistic education (Carcaixent). We also thank to the Spanish Meteorological Agency (© AEMET) for providing us with weather data.Aparicio Fernandez, CS.; Torner, ME.; Cañada-Soriano, M.; Vivancos, J. (2023). Analysis of the energy performance strategies in a historical building used as a music school. Developments in the Built Environment. 15:1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dibe.2023.1001951121

The ALHAMBRA Survey: Bayesian Photometric Redshifts with 23 bands for 3 squared degrees

The ALHAMBRA (Advance Large Homogeneous Area Medium Band Redshift Astronomical) survey has observed 8 different regions of the sky, including sections of the COSMOS, DEEP2, ELAIS, GOODS-N, SDSS and Groth fields using a new photometric system with 20 contiguous ~ $300\AA$ filters covering the optical range, combining them with deep $JHKs$ imaging. The observations, carried out with the Calar Alto 3.5m telescope using the wide field (0.25 sq. deg FOV) optical camera LAICA and the NIR instrument Omega-2000, correspond to ~700hrs on-target science images. The photometric system was designed to maximize the effective depth of the survey in terms of accurate spectral-type and photo-zs estimation along with the capability of identification of relatively faint emission lines. Here we present multicolor photometry and photo-zs for ~438k galaxies, detected in synthetic F814W images, complete down to I~24.5 AB, taking into account realistic noise estimates, and correcting by PSF and aperture effects with the ColorPro software. The photometric ZP have been calibrated using stellar transformation equations and refined internally, using a new technique based on the highly robust photometric redshifts measured for emission line galaxies. We calculate photometric redshifts with the BPZ2 code, which includes new empirically calibrated templates and priors. Our photo-zs have a precision of $dz/(1+z_s)=1$ for I<22.5 and 1.4% for 22.5<I<24.5. Precisions of less than 0.5% are reached for the brighter spectroscopic sample, showing the potential of medium-band photometric surveys. The global $P(z)$ shows a mean redshift =0.56 for I=0.86 for I<24.5 AB. The data presented here covers an effective area of 2.79 sq. deg, split into 14 strips of 58.5'x15.5' and represents ~32 hrs of on-target.Comment: The catalog data and a full resolution version of this paper is available at https://cloud.iaa.csic.es/alhambra

The Right to Code and Share Arms

Glycerol is, to date, the most widely used cryoprotectant to freeze stallion spermatozoa at concentrations between 2% and 5%. Cryoprotectant toxicity has been claimed to be the single most limiting factor for the success of cryopreservation. In order to evaluate the toxic effects of the concentrations of glycerol used in practice, stallion spermatozoa were incubated in Biggers Whitten and Whittingham (BWW) media supplemented with 0%, 0.5%, 1.5%, 2.5%, 3.5%, and 5% glycerol. In two additional experiments, a hyposmotic (75 mOsm/kg) and a hyperosmotic (900 mOsm/kg) control media were included. Sperm parameters evaluated included cell volume, membrane integrity, lipid peroxidation, caspase 3, 7, and 8 activation, mitochondrial membrane potential, and integrity of the cytoskeleton. Glycerol exerted toxicity at concentrations 3.5% and the maximal toxicity was observed at 5%. The actin cytoskeleton was especially sensitive to glycerol presence, inducing rapid F actin depolymerization at concentrations over 1.5%. The sperm membrane and the mitochondria were other structures affected. The toxicity of glycerol is apparently related to osmotic and nonosmotic effects. In view of our results the concentration of glycerol in the freezing media for stallion spermatozoa should not surpass 2.5%.Funding Agencies|Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion-FEDER Madrid, Spain|AGL 2010 20758 (GAN)|Inia|RZ2008-00018-00-00|Junta de Extremadura FEDER GR|10010

Stellar populations of galaxies in the ALHAMBRA survey up to z∼1z \sim 1. I. MUFFIT: A Multi-Filter Fitting code for stellar population diagnostics

We present MUFFIT, a new generic code optimized to retrieve the main stellar population parameters of galaxies in photometric multi-filter surveys, and we check its reliability and feasibility with real galaxy data from the ALHAMBRA survey. Making use of an error-weighted $\chi^2$-test, we compare the multi-filter fluxes of galaxies with the synthetic photometry of mixtures of two single stellar populations at different redshifts and extinctions, to provide through a Monte Carlo method the most likely range of stellar population parameters (mainly ages and metallicities), extinctions, redshifts, and stellar masses. To improve the diagnostic reliability, MUFFIT identifies and removes from the analysis those bands that are significantly affected by emission lines. We highlight that the retrieved age-metallicity locus for a sample of $z \le 0.22$ early-type galaxies in ALHAMBRA at different stellar mass bins are in very good agreement with the ones from SDSS spectroscopic diagnostics. Moreover, a one-to-one comparison between the redshifts, ages, metallicities, and stellar masses derived spectroscopically for SDSS and by MUFFIT for ALHAMBRA reveals good qualitative agreements in all the parameters. In addition, and using as input the results from photometric-redshift codes, MUFFIT improves the photometric-redshift accuracy by $\sim 10$-$20\%$, and it also detects nebular emissions in galaxies, providing physical information about their strengths. Our results show the potential of multi-filter galaxy data to conduct reliable stellar population studies with the appropiate analysis techniques, as MUFFIT.Comment: 31 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication in A&

Unraveling the role of transient starch in the response of Arabidopsis to elevated CO2 under long-day conditions

Previous studies on Arabidopsis under long-term exposure to elevated CO2 have been conducted using starch synthesis and breakdown mutants cultured under short day conditions. These studies showed that starch synthesis can ameliorate the photosynthetic reduction caused by soluble sugar-mediated feedback regulation. In this work we characterized the effect of long-term exposure to elevated CO2 (800 ppm) on growth, photosynthesis and content of primary photosynthates in long-day grown wild type plants as well as the near starch-less (aps1) and the starch-excess (gwd) mutants. Notably, elevated CO2 promoted growth of both wild type and aps1 plants but had no effect on gwd plants. Growth promotion by elevated CO2 was accompanied by an increased net photosynthesis in WT and aps1 plants. However, the plants with the highest starch content (wild type at elevated CO2, gwd at ambient CO2, and gwd at elevated CO2) were the ones that suffered decreased in in vivo maximum carboxylation rate of Rubisco, and therefore, photosynthetic down-regulation. Further, the photosynthetic rates of wild type at elevated CO2 and gwd at elevated CO2 were acclimated to elevated CO2. Notably, elevated CO2 promoted the accumulation of stress-responsive and senescence-associated amino acid markers in gwd plants. The results presented in this work provide evidence that under long-day conditions, temporary storage of overflow photosynthate as starch negatively affect Rubisco performance. These data are consistent with earlier hypothesis that photosynthetic acclimation can be caused by accelerated senescence and hindrance of CO2 diffusion to the stroma due to accumulation of large starch granules