Características histológicas del útero de Sympterygia acuta (Garman, 1877) y Sympterygia bonapartii (Müller & Henle, 1841) (Chondrichthyes; Rajidae)

Los condrictios constituyen un clado sumamente conservado y vulnerable a la explotación, que ha cobrado una importancia creciente en los últimos años. Sin embargo, existe poca información sobre los aspectos morfológicos relacionados con la reproducción; tanto así, que la estructura del útero en hembras grávidas sólo ha sido estudiada en profundidad en una especie ovípara. El presente trabajo describe las características morfológicas, histológicas e histoquímicas del útero de dos especies de Rájidos del género Sympterygia a lo largo del ciclo de vida. Ambas especies presentan úteros pares que desembocan independientemente en un seno urogenital común. El útero de las hembras inmaduras es filiforme, translúcido y poco especializado. Cuando se inicia el desarrollo sexual, todo el sistema genital exhibe un cambio direccional y progresivo. En todas las hembras estudiadas, independientemente del grado de madurez, se encontraron las mismas cuatro túnicas a lo largo del útero: una mucosa, compuesta por un epitelio de revestimiento y un corion, una submucosa, una muscular y una serosa. Los cambios mayores en la estructura del útero a lo largo del ciclo de vida ocurren a nivel de la mucosa. En el útero de hembras maduras, grávidas o no grávidas, se pueden reconocer tres regiones claramente diferenciables, craneal, media y caudal, que varían tanto en la estructura como en la afinidad histoquímica de la mucosa, así como en el grosor de la túnica muscular. Los resultados del presente trabajo se discuten en un contexto fisiológico, filogenético y adaptativo.Chondrichthyes constitute a conserve and vulnerable clade of increasing importance. However, there is scarce knowledge about the morphological aspects of the reproduction, so that only one work exists about the structure of the gravid uterus of an oviparous species. The work presented here describes the morphological, histological and histochemical remarks of the uterus of two Rajids of the Sympterygia genus along the life cycle. Both species presented paired uteri that lead independently to a common urogenital sinus. The uteri of immature females are filiform, translucent and unspecialized tubes. When sexual development starts, all the genital system displays a transitional and progressive change. In all studied females, independently of the maturing stage, the same four layers were present all over the uterus: a mucosa, which comprises the lining epithelium and lamina propria, a submucosa, a muscular and a serosa. The major changes in the structure of the uterus along the life cycle occur in the mucosa. The uteri of mature, gravid and nongravid, females presents three distinguishable areas, cranial, medial and caudal, that vary both in the structure and histochemistry of the mucosa and in the thickness of the muscular layer. The results presented here are discussed in a physiological, adaptive and phylogenetic context.Fil: Díaz Andrade, María Constanza. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia; ArgentinaFil: Lopez Cazorla, Andrea Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia; ArgentinaFil: Galíndez, Elena Juana. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia; Argentin

Foliculogénesis Ovárica en la Raya Marmorada, Sympterygia bonapartii (Müller & Henle, 1841) (Chondrichthyes, Rajidae)

Los Condrictios se han convertido en un recurso económico importante en las últimas décadas, siendo Argentina uno de los países que más explota tiburones y rayas, incluso a niveles que exceden los límites de varias especies. A pesar de esto, es poco lo que se conoce sobre la biología reproductiva de este grupo, particularmente en especies del Hemisferio Sur. En este trabajo se estudian los estadios más relevantes de la foliculogénesis en Sympterygia bonapartii. Los resultados muestran que las ovogonias están presentes tanto en ejemplares inmaduros como subadultos. Las características más importantes que varían a lo largo del desarrollo folicular son el número de capas y tipos celulares que constituyen el epitelio folicular, el desarrollo de proyecciones de las células de la granulosa y el grado de desarrollo de las tecas. Las células foliculares son, al menos, de dos tipos y ambos emiten proyecciones que atraviesan la zona pelúcida. La teca externa presenta características compatibles con la actividad sintética. Folículos atrésicos de distintos tamaños están presentes en ejemplares de todos los estadios de madurez sexual. Estos resultados se discuten en un marco fisiológico y adaptativo.Chondrichthyes have become an important economic resource in the last decades, with Argentina as one of the countries that exploits more sharks and skates, even at levels that exceed de limits of many species. However, there is scarce knowledge of the reproductive biology of this group, particularly from species inhabiting the Southern hemisphere. This work shows the most relevant facts during folliculogenesis in Sympterygia bonapartii. Results show that germinal cells are present in immature and maturing females. The most important facts that vary along de follicular development are the number of types and layers of follicular cells, the establishment of thin projections from the follicular cells and the degree of development of the thecae. Follicular cells are, at least, of two different types and both of them emit projections that break through the zona pellucida. The outer theca shows signs of synthetic activity. Atretic follicles of different sizes are present in exemplars of all the reproductive stages. These results are discussed in a physiological and adaptive context.Fil: Díaz Andrade, María Constanza. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia; ArgentinaFil: Galíndez, Elena Juana. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia; ArgentinaFil: Lopez Cazorla, Andrea Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia; ArgentinaFil: Estecondo, Silvia. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia; Argentin

La macrografía como método de análisis de roturas en servicio. Caso práctico: camisas de cilindro

En este trabajo se analizan en profundidad tanto las características metalúrgicas (composición y estructura) como las geométricas (forma, anclaje, textura superficial, rugosidad), de las camisas de cilindro, así como la influencia de dichas características en la aparición de diversos tipos de fallos y/o un elevado consumo de aceite del motor.Los parámetros esenciales en las medidas de estas características son analizados a partir de la inspección macrográfica de la pieza. El fenómeno de cavitación, proceso de corrosión específico de materiales metálicos en contacto con líquidos, es estudiado en profundidad y su incidencia en el funcionamiento de las camisas de cilindro. Se proponen las características óptimas que debe tener una camisa de cilindro con el objetivo de evitar l a incidencia de fallos internosasí como la aparición de cavitación

New insights in bacillus subtillis levansucrase mechanism and applications

B. subtilis levansucrase (SacB) is a widely studied glycoside hydrolase from Family 68 family. Although reports on SacB properties date back to the 70’s (Chambert & Gonzy-Tréboul, 1976), questions regarding levan synthesis mechanism are still open. These questions refer to the factors influencing reaction specificity, including the effect of sucrose and levan hydrolysis, product structure and levan molecular weight. In this conference we review recent findings regarding the modulating effect of SacB concentration on levan molecular weight distribution (Porras-Domínguez et al., 2015; Raga-Carbajal et al., 2016). In effect, we demonstrated that high enzyme concentrations (\u3e1.0 µM), direct levan synthesis exclusively to low molecular weight products (av 7.6 KDa), while low enzyme concentrations (\u3c 0.1µM) favor the synthesis of a high molecular weight levan fraction (\u3e2000 kDa). From a detailed HPAEC-PAD analysis of product evolution, a shift from a clear non-processive elongation mechanism at high protein concentrations to a -most likely- processive mechanism when low protein concentrations are used in the reaction. Trough calorimetric experiments we demonstrate that these changes in enzyme performance do not involve protein-protein interactions (Raga-Carbajal et al., 2016). We demonstrated, through an extensive characterization of the levan hydrolysis reaction by SacB, that the wide diversity of products derives also from fructosyl transfer to free sugars available from sucrose and levan hydrolysis. Actually, levan is an efficient fructosyl donor for fructosylation reactions, in which FOS such as levanbiose, inulobiose, blastose, …, are formed (Méndez-Lorenzo et al., 2015). The efficiency of SacB fructosylation with levan as donor was applied for the synthesis of blastose, a sucrose analogue with potential prebiotic properties. For this reaction, fructose was transferred to trehalose to produce a (2-6) fructosylated trehalose, which was later hydrolysed by trehalase to yield blastose (Miranda-Molina et al, 2017). Up to now there is not an efficient enzyme for the synthesis of levan-type FOS, in spite of intensive efforts to modify SacB or other levansucrases specificity by site directed mutagenesis. For this purpose, after a complete characterization of a combined bi-enzymatic reaction between SacB and an endolevanase produced by B.licheniformis. (LevB1) (Porras-Domínguez et al., 2014) we designed a fusion enzyme containing both activities. This fusion enzyme is able to produce levan-type FOS from sucrose, with molecular weights in the range of DP2 to DP10 including mainly 1-kestose, 6-kestose, neokestose, levanbiose and blastose, with 40% w/w yields. Chambert, R., & Gonzy-Tréboul, G. (1976). European Journal of Biochemistry / FEBS, 62(1), 55–64. Méndez-Lorenzo, L., Porras-Domínguez, J. R., Raga-Carbajal, E., Olvera, C., Rodríguez-Alegría, M. E., Carrillo-Nava, E.. López Munguía, A. (2015). PLoS ONE, 10(11), 1–15. Miranda-Molina, A., Castillo, E., & Lopez Munguia, A. (2017). Food Chemistry, 227, 202–210. Porras-Domínguez, J. R., Ávila-Fernández, Á., Miranda-Molina, A., Rodríguez-Alegría, M. E., & Munguía, A. L. (2015). Carbohydrate Polymers, 132(October), 338–344. Porras-Domínguez, J. R., Ávila-Fernández, Á., Rodríguez-Alegría, M. E., Miranda-Molina, A., Escalante, A., González-Cervantes, R., López Munguía, A. (2014). Process Biochemistry, 49(5), 783–790. Raga-Carbajal, E., Carrillo-Nava, E., Costas, M., Porras-Dominguez, J., López-Munguía, A., & Olvera, C. (2016). Glycobiology, 26(4), 377–385

Biomonitoring of organic pollutants in pet dog plasma samples in North-Western Spain

Financiado para publicación en acceso aberto: Universidade de Vigo/CISUGMost of organic pollutants (OPs) have the ability to interfere with biological systems causing negative effects in living beings, including humans. In the last decades, pets have been used as bioindicators of human exposure because they share the same habitat with their homeowners. We sought to determine levels of approximately 70 OPs, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), polybrominated biphenyl ethers (PBDEs), organophosphate pesticides (OPPs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and pyrethroids (PYRs) in plasma samples from 39 pet dogs from Ourense (north-western Spain). The results revealed that PAHs were the dominant OPs (mean value 175 ± 319 ng/g lipid weight (lw)), followed by PYRs (132 ± 352 ng/g lw), PCBs (122 ± 96 ng/g lw), OCPs (33 ± 17 ng/g lw), PBDEs (19 ± 18 ng/g lw) and OPPs (2.1 ± 2.7 ng/g lw) in plasma samples. We have previously detected the target OPs in hair samples of pets, collected simultaneously and similar trend of some OPs has been observed. Moreover, pyrene and chrysene showed correlations between levels detected in both matricesXunta de Galicia | Ref. GRC-ED431C 2022/3

Driver Drowsiness Detection by Applying Deep Learning Techniques to Sequences of Images

This work presents the development of an ADAS (advanced driving assistance system) focused on driver drowsiness detection, whose objective is to alert drivers of their drowsy state to avoid road traffic accidents. In a driving environment, it is necessary that fatigue detection is performed in a non-intrusive way, and that the driver is not bothered with alarms when he or she is not drowsy. Our approach to this open problem uses sequences of images that are 60 s long and are recorded in such a way that the subject’s face is visible. To detect whether the driver shows symptoms of drowsiness or not, two alternative solutions are developed, focusing on the minimization of false positives. The first alternative uses a recurrent and convolutional neural network, while the second one uses deep learning techniques to extract numeric features from images, which are introduced into a fuzzy logic-based system afterwards. The accuracy obtained by both systems is similar: around 65% accuracy over training data, and 60% accuracy on test data. However, the fuzzy logic-based system stands out because it avoids raising false alarms and reaches a specificity (proportion of videos in which the driver is not drowsy that are correctly classified) of 93%. Although the obtained results do not achieve very satisfactory rates, the proposals presented in this work are promising and can be considered a solid baseline for future works.This work was supported by the Spanish Government under projects PID2019- 104793RB-C31, TRA2016-78886-C3-1-R, RTI2018-096036-B-C22, PEAVAUTO-CM-UC3M and by the Region of Madrid’s Excellence Program (EPUC3M17)

DCT Type-III for Multicarrier Modulation

In this paper we propose the use of Discrete Cosine Transform Type-III (DCT3) for multicarrier modulation. There are two DCT3 (even and odd) and, for each of them, we derive the expressions for both prefix and suffix to be appended into each data symbol to be transmitted. Moreover, DCT3 are closely related to the corresponding inverse DCT Type-II even and odd. Furthermore, we give explicit expressions for the 1-tap per subcarrier equalizers that must be implemented at the receiver to perform the channel equalization in the frequency-domain. As a result, the proposed DCT3-based multicarrier modulator can be used as an alternative to DFT-based systems to perform Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing or Discrete Multitone Modulatio

An analysis of unconscious gender bias in academic texts by means of a decision algorithm

Inclusive language focuses on using the vocabulary to avoid exclusion or discrimination, specially referred to gender. The task of finding gender bias in written documents must be performed manually, and it is a time-consuming process. Consequently, studying the usage of non-inclusive language on a document, and the impact of different document properties (such as author gender, date of presentation, etc.) on how many non-inclusive instances are found, is quite difficult or even impossible for big datasets. This research analyzes the gender bias in academic texts by analyzing a study corpus of more than 12,000 million words obtained from more than one hundred thousand doctoral theses from Spanish universities. For this purpose, an automated algorithm was developed to evaluate the different characteristics of the document and look for interactions between age, year of publication, gender or the field of knowledge in which the doctoral thesis is framed. The algorithm identified information patterns using a CNN (convolutional neural network) by the creation of a vector representation of the sentences. The results showed evidence that there was a greater bias as the age of the authors increased, who were more likely to use non-inclusive terms; it was concluded that there is a greater awareness of inclusiveness in women than in men, and also that this awareness grows as the candidate is younger. The results showed evidence that the age of the authors increased discrimination, with men being more likely to use non-inclusive terms (up to an index of 23.12), showing that there is a greater awareness of inclusiveness in women than in men in all age ranges (with an average of 14.99), and also that this awareness grows as the candidate is younger (falling down to 13.07). In terms of field of knowledge, the humanities are the most biased (20.97), discarding the subgroup of Linguistics, which has the least bias at all levels (9.90), and the field of science and engineering, which also have the least influence (13.46). Those results support the assumption that the bias in academic texts (doctoral theses) is due to unconscious issues: otherwise, it would not depend on the field, age, gender, and would occur in any field in the same proportion. The innovation provided by this research lies mainly in the ability to detect, within a textual document in Spanish, whether the use of language can be considered non-inclusive, based on a CNN that has been trained in the context of the doctoral thesis. A significant number of documents have been used, using all accessible doctoral theses from Spanish universities of the last 40 years; this dataset is only manageable by data mining systems, so that the training allows identifying the terms within the context effectively and compiling them in a novel dictionary of non-inclusive terms