Transcription factor FOXP2 is a flow-induced regulator of collecting lymphatic vessels.

The lymphatic system is composed of a hierarchical network of fluid absorbing lymphatic capillaries and transporting collecting vessels. Despite distinct functions and morphologies, molecular mechanisms that regulate the identity of the different vessel types are poorly understood. Through transcriptional analysis of murine dermal lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs), we identified Foxp2, a member of the FOXP family of transcription factors implicated in speech development, as a collecting vessel signature gene. FOXP2 expression was induced after initiation of lymph flow in vivo and upon shear stress on primary LECs in vitro. Loss of FOXC2, the major flow-responsive transcriptional regulator of lymphatic valve formation, abolished FOXP2 induction in vitro and in vivo. Genetic deletion of Foxp2 in mice using the endothelial-specific Tie2-Cre or the tamoxifen-inducible LEC-specific Prox1-CreER <sup>T2</sup> line resulted in enlarged collecting vessels and defective valves characterized by loss of NFATc1 activity. Our results identify FOXP2 as a new flow-induced transcriptional regulator of collecting lymphatic vessel morphogenesis and highlight the existence of unique transcription factor codes in the establishment of vessel-type-specific endothelial cell identities

Environmental impact of emerging contaminants from battery waste:A mini review

The widespread consumption of electronic devices has made spent batteries an ongoing economic and ecological concern with a compound annual growth rate of up to 8% during 2018, and expected to reach between 18% and 30% to 2030. There is a lack of regulations for the proper storage and management of waste streams that enables their accumulation in open settings and the leakage of hazardous substances into the environment on landfill settings. In addition, recent trends in battery manufacture dictate the use of emerging materials like ionic liquids for electrolytes and nanostructures for cathodes to enhance their energetic properties and lifespan. The full impact of novel battery compounds on the environment is still uncertain and could cause further hindrances in recycling and containment efforts. Currently, only a handful of countries are able to recycle mass-produced lithium batteries, accounting for only 5% of the total waste of the total more than 345,000 tons in 2018. This mini review aims to integrate currently reported and emerging contaminants present on batteries, their potential environmental impact, and current strategies for their detection as evidence for policy and regulation.</p

Dislocation-induced spin tunneling in Mn-12 acetate

Comprehensive theory of quantum spin relaxation in Mn-12 acetate crystals is developed, that takes into account imperfections of the crystal structure and is based upon the generalization of the Landau-Zener effect for incoherent tunneling from excited energy levels. It is shown that linear dislocations at plausible concentrations provide the transverse anisotropy which is the main source of tunneling in Mn-12. Local rotations of the easy axis due to dislocations result in a transverse magnetic field generated by the field applied along the c-axis of the crystal, which explains the presence of odd tunneling resonances. Long-range deformations due to dislocations produce a broad distribution of tunnel splittings. The theory predicts that at subkelvin temperatures the relaxation curves for different tunneling resonances can be scaled onto a single master curve. The magnetic relaxation in the thermally activated regime follows the stretched-exponential law with the exponent depending on the field, temperature, and concentration of defects.Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures, 1 table, submitted to PR

An integral method for solving nonlinear eigenvalue problems

We propose a numerical method for computing all eigenvalues (and the corresponding eigenvectors) of a nonlinear holomorphic eigenvalue problem that lie within a given contour in the complex plane. The method uses complex integrals of the resolvent operator, applied to at least $k$ column vectors, where $k$ is the number of eigenvalues inside the contour. The theorem of Keldysh is employed to show that the original nonlinear eigenvalue problem reduces to a linear eigenvalue problem of dimension $k$. No initial approximations of eigenvalues and eigenvectors are needed. The method is particularly suitable for moderately large eigenvalue problems where $k$ is much smaller than the matrix dimension. We also give an extension of the method to the case where $k$ is larger than the matrix dimension. The quadrature errors caused by the trapezoid sum are discussed for the case of analytic closed contours. Using well known techniques it is shown that the error decays exponentially with an exponent given by the product of the number of quadrature points and the minimal distance of the eigenvalues to the contour

Fisheries and Prestige. Review and update of studies on the effects of the Prestige oil spill

The Prestige oil tanker sank in November 2002 and leaked around 60 000 mt. of heavy oil (type M-100) into the sea. Immediately after the accident, closed areas were established. Among the fleets affected by the closures were four of the most important in ICES Division VIIIc and Sub-division IXa North (bottom trawl, pair trawl, purse seine targeting sardine and hand line targeting mackerel) as they exploit considerable resources, some outside biological safety limits. A fall in effort was observed in all of them, mainly in the first quarter and in sub-divisions VIIIc West and IXa North, although it failed to lead to a very large reduction in the total annual effort of each of the fleets, with the exception of hand line. Pair trawlers can make two types of fishing trip, but differences in specific composition among the three years analysed were not found in either of them. In the case of trawl, five kinds of fishing trips were identified, and changes were only found in the type that targets Norway lobster, hake, megrim and monk (HMMN), with a fall in the presence of Norway lobster

Comparative study on the valorization of Sargassum from the Mexican Caribbean coast and Gulf of California as an ingredient on healthy diets for shrimp farming

Funding: This work received the financial support of the project GCRFNGR4/1388 "Algae bloom: waste resource for aquaculture and bioenergy industry in Mexico".Sargassum biomass is a potential ingredient for aquaculture formulations due to its high nutritional value and availability, as it contains a variety of essential nutrients including proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins, antioxidants, fiber, and minerals, which are essential for aquatic growing, development and health parameters including digestibility and immune response against diseases. Therefore, in this work, five experimental diets were formulated considering 2.5 % and 5 % levels of inclusion of Sargassum spp. from the Mexican Caribbean coasts (SC), and from the Gulf of California (SG), and one reference diet as a control. The characterization of the raw material and the proximal analysis of the five diets were evaluated according to standard reference methods. A 35-day feeding trial was conducted using juvenile Litopenaeus vannamei showed a shrimp survival rate of 97 ± 6 % (p > 0.05) on SC. Excellent weight gain (WG) performance of SC and SG diets at 2.5 % of inclusion resulted in >10 % WG compared to the control. The specific activity of amylase, lipase, trypsin, and chymotrypsin showed a significant increase by including Sargassum in diets, compared with the reference diet. Incorporating Sargassum at 2.5 % in feed formulations for shrimps showed a great opportunity to use it as an ingredient and improved production yields. The digestion and absorption parameters were represented by the enzymatic activity in which the diets based on Sargassum spp. from the Mexican Caribbean coast (SC) have resulted in the best performance.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Towards a Circular Economy of Plastics:An Evaluation of the Systematic Transition to a New Generation of Bioplastics

Plastics have become an essential part of the modern world thanks to their appealing physical and chemical properties as well as their low production cost. The most common type of polymers used for plastic account for 90% of the total production and are made from petroleum-based nonrenewable resources. Concerns over the sustainability of the current production model and the environmental implications of traditional plastics have fueled the demand for greener formulations and alternatives. In the last decade, new plastics manufactured from renewable sources and biological processes have emerged from research and have been established as a commercially viable solution with less adverse effects. Nevertheless, economic and legislative challenges for biobased plastics hinder their widespread implementation. This review summarizes the history of plastics over the last century, including the most relevant bioplastics and production methods, the environmental impact and mitigation of the adverse effects of conventional and emerging plastics, and the regulatory landscape that renewable and recyclable bioplastics face to reach a sustainable future.</p

A combined linkage, microarray and exome analysis suggests MAP3K11 as a candidate gene for left ventricular hypertrophy

Background: Electrocardiographic measures of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) are used as predictors of cardiovascular risk. We combined linkage and association analyses to discover novel rare genetic variants involved in three such measures and two principal components derived from them. Methods: The study was conducted among participants from the Erasmus Rucphen Family Study (ERF), a Dutch family-based sample from the southwestern Netherlands. Variance components linkage analyses were performed using Merlin. Regions of interest (LOD > 1.9) were fine-mapped using microarray and exome sequence data. Results: We observed one significant LOD score for the second principal component on chromosome 15 (LOD score = 3.01) and 12 suggestive LOD scores. Several loci contained variants identified in GWAS for these traits; however, these did not explain the linkage peaks, nor did other common variants. Exome sequence data identified two associated variants after multiple testing corrections were applied. Conclusions: We did not find common SNPs explaining these linkage signals. Exome sequencing uncovered a relatively rare variant in MAPK3K11 on chromosome 11 (MAF = 0.01) that helped account for the suggestive linkage peak observed for the first principal component. Conditional analysis revealed a drop in LOD from 2.01 to 0.88 for MAP3K11, suggesting that this variant may partially explain the linkage signal at this chromosomal location. MAP3K11 is related to the JNK pathway and is a pro-apoptotic kinase that plays an important role in the induction of cardiomyocyte apoptosis in various pathologies, including LVH

The ANTARES Optical Beacon System

ANTARES is a neutrino telescope being deployed in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of a three dimensional array of photomultiplier tubes that can detect the Cherenkov light induced by charged particles produced in the interactions of neutrinos with the surrounding medium. High angular resolution can be achieved, in particular when a muon is produced, provided that the Cherenkov photons are detected with sufficient timing precision. Considerations of the intrinsic time uncertainties stemming from the transit time spread in the photomultiplier tubes and the mechanism of transmission of light in sea water lead to the conclusion that a relative time accuracy of the order of 0.5 ns is desirable. Accordingly, different time calibration systems have been developed for the ANTARES telescope. In this article, a system based on Optical Beacons, a set of external and well-controlled pulsed light sources located throughout the detector, is described. This calibration system takes into account the optical properties of sea water, which is used as the detection volume of the ANTARES telescope. The design, tests, construction and first results of the two types of beacons, LED and laser-based, are presented.Comment: 21 pages, 18 figures, submitted to Nucl. Instr. and Meth. Phys. Res.