Estudis dels principals arbres ornamentals, no autòctons, disponibles a Catalunya

Després de l'estudi realitzat per la ICEA sobre els arbres autòctons, ha estat convenient tractar dels arbres naturalitzats i adaptats. Aquests són molt més nombrosos a Catalunya, de manera que per cada arbre autòcton en corresponen deu dels altres. Per motius que expliquem, l'estudi se centra en un col?lectiu de 119 arbres no autòctons. D'acord amb una enquesta, la meitat dels arbres indicats són fàcils de produir i es comercialitzen regularment. Els restants, per problemes de propagació, de cultiu o de rendibilitat, tenen una comercialització més variable. Les produccions anuals per arbre estan dins l'interval de 1.000 a 5.000 unitats per any, per a 36 espècies, o sigui, el 30 % del total. Les restants es reparteixen entre els intervals superiors a 5.000 i inferiors a 1.000. L'aplicació determinada per a cada arbre, en relació a les 41 comarques catalanes, permet conèixer quins són els arbres adients per a cadas cuna. Els quadres de característiques i d'exigències arrodoneixen l'estudi, proporcionant una informació completa per a cada un dels 119 arbres. Dins el col?lectiu, hi ha 37 arbres de flor, dels quals hem realitzat l'estudi fenològic. L'Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona reuneix excel?lents condicions per a la plantació d'aquests arbres de flor. De les 37 espècies, n'hi van bé 33, o sigui, un 90 %.After the publication of the research on the catalan native tree by the ICEA, it has become convenient to study the naturalized and adapted tree. In Catalonia, there are ten naturalized and adapted trees for each native one. As we will explain later, this research focuses on a group of 119 non-native trees. Following a survey, half of these 119 trees are easy to produce and to marked. The remainders, which have some problems to propagate, cultivate and become rendible, present a more variable marketing. The annual production is between 1.000 and 5.000 trees for each specie; that means a 30 % of the total production. Remainders are between more them 5.000 and less them 1.000. The chapter «Application» indicate the species of non-native trees wich are more convenient to each of the different 41 catalan region. To provide better documentation, the study is completed with information about the «Characteristics» and the «Requirements» of these 119 trees. Because of their flowering, 37 species are thoroughly studied, Barcelona?s Metropolitan Area has an ideal climate for these trees. In fact, 33 out of 37 species, that is a 90 %, can be perfectly adapted to this area.Después del estudio realizado por la ICEA sobre el árbol autóctono, ha sido conveniente tratar el árbol naturalizado y adaptado. Éste es mucho más numeroso en Cataluña, de forma que por cada árbol autóctono, corresponden diez de los otros. Por los motivos que se explican, el estudio se centra en un colectivo de 119 árboles no autóctonos. Según una encuesta, la mitad de los árboles indicados son fáciles de producir y se comercializan regularmente. Los restantes, por problemas de propagación, cultivo o rentabilidad, presentan una comercialización más variable. Las producciones anuales por árbol resultan estar en el intervalo de 1.000 a 5.000 unidades por año, para 36 especies, o sea, el 30 % del total. Las restantes se reparten entre los intervalos superiores a 5.000 e inferiores a 1.000. La aplicación determinada para cada árbol, con relación a las 41 comarcas catalanas, permite conocer cuales son los árboles convenientes para cada comarca. Los cuadros de características y de exigencias redondean el estudio, proporcionando una información completa para cada uno de los 119 árboles. En el colectivo hay 37 árboles de flor, de los que se ha realizado el estudio fenológico. El Área Metropolitana de Barcelona reúne excelentes condiciones para la plantación de estos árboles de flor. De las 37 especies, 33, o sea, el 90 %, se adaptan perfectamente a la zona

Preparation and characterization of microencapsulated phase change materials for use in building applications

A method for preparing and characterizing microencapsulated phase change materials (MPCM) was developed. A comparison with a commercial MPCM is also presented. Both MPCM contained paraffin wax as PCM with acrylic shell. The melting temperature of the PCM was around 21 C, suitable for building applications. The M-2 (our laboratory made sample) and Micronalr DS 5008 X (BASF) samples were characterized using SEM, DSC, nano-indentation technique, and Gas Chromatography/Mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Both samples presented a 6 m average size and a spherical shape. Thermal energy storage (TES) capacities were 111.73 J g 1 and 99.3 J g 1 for M-2 and Micronalr DS 5008 X, respectively. Mechanical characterization of the samples was performed by nano-indentation technique in order to determine the elastic modulus (E), load at maximum displacement (Pm), and displacement at maximum load (hm), concluding that M-2 presented slightly better mechanical properties. Finally, an important parameter for considering use in buildings is the release of volatile organic compounds (VOC's). This characteristic was studied at 65 C by CG-MS. Both samples showed VOC's emission after 10 min of heating, however peaks intensity of VOC's generated from M-2 microcapsules showed a lower concentration than Micronalr DS 5008 X

Improving object segmentation by using EEG signals and rapid serial visual presentation

This paper extends our previous work on the potential of EEG-based brain computer interfaces to segment salient objects in images. The proposed system analyzes the Event Related Potentials (ERP) generated by the rapid serial visual presentation of windows on the image. The detection of the P300 signal allows estimating a saliency map of the image, which is used to seed a semi-supervised object segmentation algorithm. Thanks to the new contributions presented in this work, the average Jaccard index was improved from $0.47$ to $0.66$ when processed in our publicly available dataset of images, object masks and captured EEG signals. This work also studies alternative architectures to the original one, the impact of object occupation in each image window, and a more robust evaluation based on statistical analysis and a weighted F-score

Notch1 signaling in NOTCH1-mutated mantle cell lymphoma depends on Delta-Like ligand 4 and is a potential target for specific antibody therapy.

Background NOTCH1 gene mutations in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) have been described in about 5-10% of cases and are associated with significantly shorter survival rates. The present study aimed to investigate the biological impact of this mutation in MCL and its potential as a therapeutic target. Methods Activation of Notch1 signaling upon ligand-stimulation and inhibitory effects of the monoclonal anti-Notch1 antibody OMP-52M51 in NOTCH1-mutated and -unmutated MCL cells were assessed by Western Blot and gene expression profiling. Effects of OMP-52M51 treatment on tumor cell migration and tumor angiogenesis were evaluated with chemotaxis and HUVEC tube formation assays. The expression of Delta-like ligand 4 (DLL4) in MCL lymph nodes was analyzed by immunofluorescence staining and confocal microscopy. A MCL mouse model was used to assess the activity of OMP-52M51 in vivo. Results Notch1 expression can be effectively stimulated in NOTCH1-mutated Mino cells by DLL4, whereas in the NOTCH1-unmutated cell line JeKo-1, less effect was observed upon any ligand-stimulation. DLL4 was expressed by histiocytes in both, NOTCH1-mutated and -unmutated MCL lymph nodes. Treatment of NOTCH1-mutated MCL cells with the monoclonal anti-Notch1 antibody OMP-52M51 effectively prevented DLL4-dependent activation of Notch1 and suppressed the induction of numerous direct Notch target genes involved in lymphoid biology, lymphomagenesis and disease progression. Importantly, in lymph nodes from primary MCL cases with NOTCH1/2 mutations, we detected an upregulation of the same gene sets as observed in DLL4-stimulated Mino cells. Furthermore, DLL4 stimulation of NOTCH1-mutated Mino cells enhanced tumor cell migration and angiogenesis, which could be abolished by treatment with OMP-52M51. Importantly, the effects observed were specific for NOTCH1-mutated cells as they did not occur in the NOTCH1-wt cell line JeKo-1. Finally, we confirmed the potential activity of OMP-52M51 to inhibit DLL4-induced Notch1-Signaling in vivo in a xenograft mouse model of MCL. Conclusion DLL4 effectively stimulates Notch1 signaling in NOTCH1-mutated MCL and is expressed by the microenvironment in MCL lymph nodes. Our results indicate that specific inhibition of the Notch1-ligand-receptor interaction might provide a therapeutic alternative for a subset of MCL patients

A Conserved Arginine-Rich Motif within the Hypervariable N-Domain of Drosophila Centromeric Histone H3 (CenH3CID) Mediates BubR1 Recruitment

Centromere identity is determined epigenetically by deposition of CenH3, a centromere-specific histone H3 variant that dictates kinetochore assembly. The molecular basis of the contribution of CenH3 to centromere/kinetochore functions is, however, incompletely understood, as its interactions with the rest of centromere/kinetochore components remain largely uncharacterised at the molecular/structural level.Here, we report on the contribution of Drosophila CenH3(CID) to recruitment of BubR1, a conserved kinetochore protein that is a core component of the spindle attachment checkpoint (SAC). This interaction is mediated by the N-terminal domain of CenH3(CID) (NCenH3(CID)), as tethering NCenH3(CID) to an ectopic reporter construct results in BubR1 recruitment and BubR1-dependent silencing of the reporter gene. Here, we also show that this interaction depends on a short arginine (R)-rich motif and that, most remarkably, it appears to be evolutionarily conserved, as tethering constructs carrying the highly divergent NCenH3 of budding yeast and human also induce silencing of the reporter. Interestingly, though NCenH3 shows an exceedingly low degree of conservation, the presence of R-rich motives is a common feature of NCenH3 from distant species. Finally, our results also indicate that two other conserved sequence motives within NCenH3(CID) might also be involved in interactions with kinetochore components.These results unveil an unexpected contribution of the hypervariable N-domain of CenH3 to recruitment of kinetochore components, identifying simple R-rich motives within it as evolutionary conserved structural determinants involved in BubR1 recruitment

Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Protects Escherichia coli from Tellurite-Mediated Oxidative Stress

The tellurium oxyanion tellurite induces oxidative stress in most microorganisms. In Escherichia coli, tellurite exposure results in high levels of oxidized proteins and membrane lipid peroxides, inactivation of oxidation-sensitive enzymes and reduced glutathione content. In this work, we show that tellurite-exposed E. coli exhibits transcriptional activation of the zwf gene, encoding glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH), which in turn results in augmented synthesis of reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH). Increased zwf transcription under tellurite stress results mainly from reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and not from a depletion of cellular glutathione. In addition, the observed increase of G6PDH activity was paralleled by accumulation of glucose-6-phosphate (G6P), suggesting a metabolic flux shift toward the pentose phosphate shunt. Upon zwf overexpression, bacterial cells also show increased levels of antioxidant molecules (NADPH, GSH), better-protected oxidation-sensitive enzymes and decreased amounts of oxidized proteins and membrane lipids. These results suggest that by increasing NADPH content, G6PDH plays an important role in E. coli survival under tellurite stress