Geomorphological evolution of the western piedmont of Cumbres Calchaquíes (Tucumán Province, NW Argentina)

The aim of this paper is to present a detailed geomorphological map of the western piedmont of Cumbres Calchaquíes (Tucumán Province, NW Argentina) bounded by the Amaicha River to the south and the administrative border with Salta Province to the north. It contains information about geomorphological units, their relative ages, and morphogenetic processes. The main map shows the presence of seven aggradation stages separated by incision phases. The first three stages (St1, St2, and St3) were modeled on a thick accumulation located in the upper piedmont from the Late Pliocene and Early Pleistocene. Intermediate stages (St4 and St5) are alluvial fans and pediments with less thickness and gradient. They cover the Early Pleistocene (St4) and the Late Pleistocene-Middle Holocene (St5). Finally, stages St6 and St7 are from the Upper Holocene

Insecta, Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Cerambycinae, Trachyderini: New state and country records from South America

Based on the revision of the collections of the Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro andthe National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, the current work provides new localities for 32 speciesand two subspecies of Trachyderini from South America. Thirteen new country records from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia,Ecuador, Peru, Surinam and Venezuela and 35 new state records from Brazil are registered

Influence of High Energy Diet and Polygenic Predisposition for Obesity on Postpartum Health in Rat Dams

It is estimated that 30% of pregnant women worldwide are overweight or obese, leading to adverse health effects for both mother and child. Women with obesity during pregnancy are at higher risk for developing both metabolic and mental disorders, such as diabetes and depression. Numerous studies have used rodent models of maternal obesity to understand its consequences on the offspring, yet characterization of changes in the dams is rare, and most rodent models rely solely on a high fat diet to induce maternal obesity, without regarding genetic propensity for obesity. Here we present the influence of both peripartum high energy diet (HE) and obesity-proneness on maternal health using selectively bred diet-resistant (DR) and diet-induced obese (DIO) rat dams. Outbred Sprague-Dawley rats were challenged with HE diet prior to mating and bred according to their propensity to gain weight. The original outbred breeding dams (F0) were maintained on low-fat chow during pregnancy and lactation. By comparison, the F1 dams consuming HE diet during pregnancy and lactation displayed higher gestational body weight gain (P < 0.01), and HE diet caused increased meal size and reduced meal frequency (P < 0.001). Sensitivity to the hormone amylin was preserved during pregnancy, regardless of diet. After several rounds of selective breeding, DIO and DR dams from generation F3 were provided chow or HE during pregnancy and lactation and assessed for their postpartum physiology and behaviors. We observed strong diet and phenotype effects on gestational weight gain, with DIO-HE dams gaining 119% more weight than DR-chow (P < 0.001). A high-resolution analysis of maternal behaviors did not detect main effects of diet or phenotype, but a subset of DIO dams showed delayed nursing behavior (P < 0.05). In generation F6/F7 dams, effects on gestational weight gain persisted (P < 0.01), and we observed a main effect of phenotype during a sucrose preference test (P < 0.05), with DIO-chow dams showing lower sucrose preference than DR controls (P < 0.05). Both DIO and DR dams consuming HE diet had hepatic steatosis (P < 0.001) and exhibited reduced leptin sensitivity in the arcuate nucleus (P < 0.001). These data demonstrate that both diet and genetic obesity-proneness have consequences on maternal health

Dynamic changes in the lower Gállego River (Ebro Basin, NE Spain) and their relationship with anthropic activities and the quaternary substrate

The lower Gállego River has been strongly degraded since the 1960s due to human activity (gravel mining, dump accumulation, channeling works), which has produced a deep channel incision. Although these humandriven processes are usually reported in fluvial bibliography, in this case, more complex results are observable. For instance, regarding the depth and incision rates, we observed no relationship between the most anthropically impacted areas and the sections with the deepest incisions; moreover, the deepening process continues 40 years after the human interventions ceased. The reason for this maladjustment is the role played by the exhumation of the underlying Pleistocene substrate, affected by the synsedimentary processes of karstification. The appearance of paleodolines filled with fine sediments on the incision bottom and sides is the main factor conditioning the continuity and magnitude of the process. Besides, these paleodepressions direct the river dynamics and course, thus favoring its widening when they appear and causing the development of a new riverbed (Qt13) while the 1960s floodplain (Qt12) is becoming an old terrace located between 5 and 11 m above the new alluvial bottom. There are no previous records about this kind of consequences in the regional fluvial dynamics. El curso bajo del río Gállego ha sido fuertemente degradado desde los años 1960 por la actividad antrópica (extracción de áridos, acumulaciones de escombros, obras de encauzamiento) que ha conducido a una fuerte incisión. Aunque este tipo de procesos inducidos por el hombre son habituales en la bibliografía fluvial, en este caso se aprecian efectos más complejos. Son, por ejemplo, la profundidad y velocidad de la incisión, la falta de relación entre puntos de máxima intervención y los de mayor incisión o la continuidad del proceso cuarenta años después de cesar ese tipo de acciones. La respuesta a estos desajustes está en el papel que está jugando la exhumación del sustrato pleistoceno infrayacente, afectado por procesos sinsedimentarios de karstificación. La aparición de paleodolinas rellenas de sedimentos finos en el fondo y laterales de la incisión es actualmente el principal determinante de su importancia y continuidad. Además, estas paleodepresiones dirigen la dinámica y trazado del río y puntualmente favorecen ensanchamientos laterales. Esto propicia la aparición de un nuevo lecho (Qt13) a medida que el lecho de los años 1960 (Qt12) va quedando como una terraza colgada entre 5 y 11 m sobre el nuevo fondo aluvial. No hay antecedentes de este tipo de consecuencias en la dinámica fluvial regional

Preclinical investigations using [177Lu]Lu-Ibu-DAB-PSMA toward its clinical translation for radioligand therapy of prostate cancer

[$^{177}$Lu]Lu-Ibu-DAB-PSMA was previously characterized with moderate albumin-binding properties enabling high tumor accumulation but reasonably low retention in the blood. The aim of this study was to investigate [$^{177}$Lu]Lu-Ibu-DAB-PSMA in preclinical in vivo experiments and compare its therapeutic efficacy and potential undesired side effects with those of [$^{177}$Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 and the previously developed [$^{177}$Lu]Lu-PSMA-ALB-56. BALB/c nude mice without tumors were investigated on Day 10 and 28 after injection of 10 MBq radioligand. It was revealed that most plasma parameters were in the same range for all groups of mice and histopathological examinations of healthy tissue did not show any alternations in treated mice as compared to untreated controls. Based on these results, a therapy study over twelve weeks was conducted with PC-3 PIP tumor-bearing mice for comparison of the radioligands’s therapeutic efficacy up to an activity of 10 MBq (1 nmol) per mouse. In agreement with the increased mean absorbed tumor dose, [$^{177}$Lu]Lu-Ibu-DAB-PSMA (~ 6.6 Gy/MBq) was more effective to inhibit tumor growth than [$^{177}$Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 (~ 4.5 Gy/MBq) and only moderately less potent than [$^{177}$Lu]Lu-PSMA-ALB-56 (~ 8.1 Gy/MBq). As a result, the survival of mice treated with 2 MBq of an albumin-binding radioligand was significantly increased (p < 0.05) compared to that of mice injected with [$^{177}$Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 or untreated controls. The majority of mice treated with 5 MBq or 10 MBq [$^{177}$Lu]Lu-Ibu-DAB-PSMA or [$^{177}$Lu]Lu-PSMA-ALB-56 were still alive at study end. Hemograms of immunocompetent mice injected with 30 MBq [$^{177}$Lu]Lu-Ibu-DAB-PSMA or 30 MBq [$^{177}$Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 showed values in the same range as untreated controls. This was, however, not the case for mice treated with [$^{177}$Lu]Lu-PSMA-ALB-56 which revealed a drop in lymphocytes and hemoglobin at Day 10 and Day 28 after injection. The data of this study demonstrated a significant therapeutic advantage of [$^{177}$Lu]Lu-Ibu-DAB-PSMA over [$^{177}$Lu]Lu-PSMA-617 and a more favorable safety profile as compared to that of [$^{177}$Lu]Lu-PSMA-ALB-56. Based on these results, [$^{177}$Lu]Lu-Ibu-DAB-PSMA may has the potential for a clinical translation

Disseny d'un Battle Chess 3D (2)

Aquesta memòria descriu el projecte de final de carrera anomenat "Disseny d'un Battle Chess 3D (2)", que tracta de la creació, modelat i animació de peces per a un joc d'escacs en 3 dimensions amb certes temàtiques, i que posteriorment s'integren amb el projecte "Disseny d'un Battle Chess 3D (1)" per a formar un joc interactiu d'escacs en un applet de Java. Es descriuen les eines utilitzades, les fases de creació, tècniques simbòliques, mètodes més emprats, proves sotmeses, limitacions, i finalment s'arriba una conclusió de treball aconseguit.Esta memoria describe el proyecto de final de carrera nombrado "Diseño de un Battle Chess 3D (2)", que trata de la creación, modelado y animación de piezas para un juego de ajedrez en 3 dimensiones con ciertas temáticas, y que posteriormente se integran con el proyecto "Diseño de un Battle Chess 3D (1)" para formar un juego interactivo de ajedrez en un applet de Java. Se describen las herramientas utilizadas, las fases de creación, técnicas simbólicas, métodos más usados, pruebas sometidas, limitaciones y finalmente se llega a una conclusión del trabajo conseguido.This memory describes the degree's final project named "Design of a Battle Chess 3D (2)", which is about, the creation, modeling and animation of the pieces for a chess game in 3 dimensions with certain themes, which are lately combined with the project "Design of a Battle Chess 3D (1)" to make an interactive chess game within a Java applet. It explains the tools used for the process, the main steps, the different phases of modeling, the most used methods, testing, limitations and finally a conclusion of the work done

Holocene alluvial sequence in the val de zaragoza (Los Monegros) in the palaeoenvironmental context of the ebro basin (Ne Spain)

Flat-bottomed valleys formed by Holocene fills are the most characteristic landforms in the center of the Ebro basin. This paper analyzes, within a regional framework, a small fluvial basin located in the north of the Alcubierre Range. Three Holocene morphosedimentary units (H1-H3) and a sub-functional level (H4) are identified. These units are representative of the regional geomorphological evolutionary process in the Ebro basin. New chronological insights on climate and landscape management are provided by a study of the Bastarás weir, a construction made for water flow management during the Little Ice Age (LIA). The integration of Val de Zaragoza radiocarbon datings into the regional framework enables the authors to identify the main formation stages, as well as the influence of climatic and human factors on its evolution. The intensification of human pressure in the territory is reflected in a progressive increase in sediment accumulation rates in the valleys, peaking during Roman times and the Little Ice Age. Los valles de fondo plano formados por rellenos holocenos constituyen los paisajes más característicos del sector central de la cuenca del Ebro. En este trabajo se analiza una pequeña cuenca fluvial localizada en el norte de la Sierra de Alcubierre, en la que se han identificado tres unidades morfosedimentarias holocenas (H1-H3) y un nivel subfuncional (H4), que son representativos de la evolución geomorfológica regional de la Cuenca del Ebro. Uno de los aspectos más relevantes del valle lo constituye el azud de Bastarás, construcción realizada durante la Pequeña Edad del Hielo para el aprovechamiento del agua, que aporta nuevos datos cronológicos sobre dicha época y acerca de la gestión del territorio. La integración de las dataciones radiocarbónicas obtenidas en la Val de Zaragoza en un marco regional ha permitido precisar las principales etapas de formación de los valles de fondo plano, así como la importancia de los factores climáticos y humanos en su evolución. La intensificación de la presión humana sobre el territorio queda reflejada en un progresivo aumento en las tasas de acumulación de sedimentos en los valles, alcanzando sus picos máximos en Época Romana y en la Pequeña Edad del Hielo

A new species of Eclipta Bates, 1873 from Brazil (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae) in honor of the late Ubirajara Ribeiro Martins de Souza

A new species of Eclipta Bates, 1873 from Brazil (São Paulo), E. birai, is described and illustrated. A tribute to the late Ubirajara Ribeiro Martins de Souza is provided