Antifungal activity of methylxanthines against grapevine trunk diseases

Methylxanthines, found in the seeds, leaves, and fruits of some plants, are receiving increasing attention as promising treatments for wood-degrading fungi. The aim of the study presented herein was to explore the potential applications of caffeine, four caffeine derivatives (viz. 8-bromo-caffeine, 8-iodo-caffeine, 8-(4-fluorophenoxy)-caffeine, and 8-(2, 3, 5, 6-tetrafluoroalcoxy)-caffeine), and theophylline as antifungals for Botryosphaeriaceae species associated with grapevine trunk diseases (GTDs). In vitro susceptibility tests were conducted to assess the antimycotic activity of the aforementioned compounds and their conjugated complexes with chitosan oligomers (COS). Caffeine, Br-caffeine, and I-caffeine exhibited higher efficacies than imidazole, the chosen antifungal control. Moreover, a strong synergistic behavior between COS and the methylxanthine derivatives was observed. The COS–I-caffeine complex showed the best overall performance against the phytopathogenic fungi with EC90 values of 471, 640, and 935 µg mL-1 for D. seriata, D. viticola, and N. parvum, respectively. In a second step, combinations of the new treatments with imidazole were also explored, resulting in further activity enhancement and EC90 values of 425, 271, and 509 mL-1 against D. seriata, D. viticola, and N. parvum, respectively, for the COS–I-caffeine-imidazole ternary compound. Given the high in vitro efficacy of these formulations for the control of GTDs, they may deserve further investigation with in vivo and field bioassays as an alternative to conventional fungicides. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Attitudes towards Electronic Cigarettes Regulation in Indoor Workplaces and Selected Public and Private Places: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Currently, there is an intensive debate about the regulation of the use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) in indoor places. The aim of this study was to assess the attitudes toward e-cigarette use in indoor workplaces and selected public and private venues among the general population in Barcelona (Spain) in 2013–2014. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of a representative sample of the population of Barcelona (n = 736). The field work was conducted between May 2013 and February 2014. We computed the prevalence and the adjusted odds ratios (OR) derived from multivariable logistic regression models. Results: The awareness of e-cigarettes was 82.3%. Forty five percent of respondents did not agree with the use of e-cigarettes in public places and 52.3% in workplaces. The proportion of disapproval of the use of e-cigarettes in indoor places was higher at 71.5% for schools and 65.8% for hospitals and health care centers; while the prevalence of disapproval of e-cigarette use in homes and cars was lower (18.0% and 32.5%, respectively). Respondents who disagreed on the use of e-cigarettes in indoor workplaces were more likely to be older (OR = 1.64 and 1.97 for groups 45–64 and ≧65 years old, respectively), those with a high educational level (OR = 1.60), and never and former smokers (OR = 2.34 and 2.16, respectively). Increased scores in the Fagerström test for cigarette dependence were also related to increased support for their use. Conclusions: Based on this population based study, half of the general population of Barcelona does not support the use of e-cigarettes in indoor workplaces and public places, with the percentage reaching 65% for use in schools, hospitals and health care centers. Consequently, there is good societal support in Spain for the politicians and legislators to promote policies restricting e-cigarettes use in workplaces and public places, including hospitality venues

An enigmatic kilometer-scale concentration of small mytilids (Late Miocene, Guadalquivir Basin, S Spain).

Upper Miocene heterozoan carbonates crop out extensively in a NE-SW-trending belt (42 km long and 1.5-8 km wide) along the so-called El Alcor topographic high, from Carmona to Dos Hermanas (Seville, S Spain). These carbonates formed at the southern active margin of the Guadalquivir Basin, the foreland basin of the Betic Cordillera. They change to marls basinward (NE) and to sands landward (SE and SW). Therefore, carbonate production was constrained to a limited area in an otherwise siliciclastic shelf. The carbonates (up to 40 m thick) overlie a gradually coarsening-upward succession of marls followed by silts and sandstones. The carbonate sequence can be divided into three subunits corresponding, frombottom to top, to lowstand, transgressive, and highstand system tract deposits. The lower subunit, exhibiting extensive trough cross-bedding, is interpreted as a shallow-water bar deposit. The intermediate subunit onlaps underlying sediments and was deposited in deeper, lowturbulence conditions. The upper subunit deposits accumulated in a well-oxygenated outer platform based on benthic foraminiferal assemblages. The presence of hummocky and swaley cross-stratification in these latter deposits suggests that theywere affected by storms. Pervasive fluid-escape structures are also observed throughout the carbonates. The three subunits consist of bioclastic packstones to rudstonesmade up of abundant fragments of smallmytilids. Isotopic data from serpulid polychaete Ditrupa tubes show 13C-depleted values (up to −16.1¿), whereas δ18O yields normal marine values. Additional isotopic data on shells of scallops, oysters, and small mussels, as well as bulk sediment, show diagenetic alterations. Based on actualistic examples of massive concentrations of mussels, the nearly monospecific composition of the El Alcor deposits, together with negative δ13C values of Ditrupa tubes, indicates that cold seeps presumably promoted carbonate formation. However, the absence of typical features of cold-seep deposits, such as authigenic carbonatesmediated by anaerobic bacterial activity and the typical chemosynthetic shelly organisms, makes the large carbonate body of El Alcor an unusual cold-seep deposit

Miocene evolution of the External Rif Zone (Morocco): comparison with similar and lateral southern Mediterranean Tethyan margins

The Miocene evolution of the External Rif Zone (NW Africa Plate) was determined through the multidisciplinary analysis of fourteen successions. The updated stratigraphic framework shows how Miocene sediments rest on the Cretaceous–Paleogene terrains through unconformity surfaces, whereas it rests with sedimentary continuity in two sectors. After recognition of lithofacies and three unconformities located near the Oligocene–Aquitanian, Aquitanian–Burdigalian and Serravallian–Tortonian boundaries, the Miocene sedimentary record was divided into three stratigraphic intervals representing deep to shallow marine deposits as Aquitanian–Burdigalian, Langhian and Upper Serravallian–Missinian. The two oldest unconformites are restricted to the central sector, while the upper one is generalized and probably related to the nappe tectonics registered in all sectors of the External Rif. Data from analysis of tectofacies, petrology, mineralogy, meaning and implications of unconformities, and subsidence indicate that: (i) mass flow deposits (turbidites, slumps, olistostromes) are common in all successions but more frequent during the Lower Miocene; (ii) petrology of the detrital components of the arenites indicates recycled orogen-derived sediments, with quartz coming from erosion of metamorphic rocks of the Atlas orogen and/or the African craton; (iii) mineralogy of mudstones suggests a complex erosional evolution of local emerged areas derived from a mixture of contributions coming from the erosion of Upper Jurassic to Paleogene suites, and especially from kaolinite-rich Albian–Cenomanian to Paleogene successions with absence of a clear unroofing. The conjunction of all these clues reinforce the idea of a synsedimentary tectonics affecting the margin/basin system during the Miocene. A thickness analysis of the studied sedimentary successions allows proposing the evolution of the orogenic front and main depozones (foredeep, bulges, wedge-top and intramontane sub-basins) integrated in a complex foreland system migrating from north to south with the Atlas-Mesetas area acting as foreland during MIocene. The orogenic front moved from the Internal Intrarif to Mesorif and later to Internal Prerif. The main wedge-top basin also migrated from the Internal Intrarif to External Intrarif. The foredeep migrated from the Mesorif to the Internal Prerif, while the main forebulge was located in the External Prerif and a asecondary bulge developed in the External Intrarif. Intramontane basins developed behind the orogenic front in relative extensional conditions moving from the Internal Extrarif to External Intrarif. The reconstructed Miocene evolution was inserted into a 2D paleogeographic-geodynamic evolutionary model using Gplates software, and then compared to those reported in other external margins of the western Tethys (Betic Chain, Tunisian Tell, Sicilian Maghrebids and Apennines), revealing important similarities and local differences.Research supported by PID2020-114381GB-I00 Research Project (Spanish Ministry of Education and Science), EU HORIZON project CiROCCO under Grant Agreement No 101086497, Research Groups and projects of the Generalitat Valenciana from Alicante University (CTMA-IGA), and Research Group RNM-188 of the Junta de Andalucía from EEZA–CSIC

Continuous‑wavelet‑transform analysis of the multifocal ERG waveform in glaucoma diagnosis

The vast majority of multifocal electroretinogram (mfERG) signal analyses to detect glaucoma study the signals’ amplitudes and latencies. The purpose of this paper is to investigate application of wavelet analysis of mfERG signals in diagnosis of glaucoma. This analysis method applies the continuous wavelet transform (CWT) to the signals, using the real Morlet wavelet. CWT coefficients resulting from the scale of maximum correlation are used as inputs to a neural network, which acts as a classifier. mfERG recordings are taken from the eyes of 47 subjects diagnosed with chronic open-angle glaucoma and from those of 24 healthy subjects. The high sensitivity in the classification (0.894) provides reliable detection of glaucomatous sectors, while the specificity achieved (0.844) reflects accurate detection of healthy sectors. The results obtained in this paper improve on the previous findings reported by the authors using the same visual stimuli and database.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovació

Percutaneous Closure of Paravalvular Leaks: A Systematic Review

[EN] Paravalvular leak (PVL) is an uncommon yet serious complication associated with the implantation of mechanical or bioprosthetic surgical valves and more recently recognized with transcatheter aortic valves implantation (TAVI). A significant number of patients will present with symptoms of congestive heart failure or haemolytic anaemia due to PVL and need further surgical or percutaneous treatment. Until recently, surgery has been the only available therapy for the treatment of clinically significant PVLs despite the significant morbidity and mortality associated with re-operation. Percutaneous treatment of PVLs has emerged as a safe and less invasive alternative, with low complication rates and high technical and clinical success rates. However, it is a complex procedure, which needs to be performed by an experienced team of interventional cardiologists and echocardiographers. This review discusses the current understanding of PVLs, including the utility of imaging techniques in PVL diagnosis and treatment, and the principles, outcomes and complications of transcatheter therapy of PVLs. (J Interven Cardiol 2016;29:382–392

Fuzzy logic application for improving speed control and captured energy using the wind speed information for wind turbines

This paper describes a fuzzy logic application for improving the variable speed and blade pitch wind turbine performance. The simulated model is going to be implemented using a programmable logic controller as the fuzzy controller designed. The used fuzzy controller as well as improving transition between power optimization and power limitation of the wind turbine at rated wind speed, it also permits to improve the captured wind energy at high wind speed working conditions using wind speed as input controller

Visceral leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania infantum in a Spanish patient in Argentina: What is the origin of the infection? Case report

BACKGROUND: The question "Where have you been?" is a common one asked by doctors in Northern Europe and America when faced with clinical symptoms not typical of their country. This question must also arise in the clinics of developing countries in which non-autochthonous cases such as the one described here can appear. Important outbreaks of Leishmania infantum have been recorded in the last decade in several Latin American countries but its presence has not yet been recorded in Argentina. We report the first case of visceral leishmaniasis owing to L. infantum in this country. CASE PRESENTATION: A 71-year-old Spanish woman who has been living in Mendoza, Argentina, during the last 40 years presented with a history of high fever and shivering, anemia, leukopenia and splenomegaly over two years. Argentinian doctors did not suspect visceral leishmaniasis even when the histological analysis revealed the presence of "intracytoplasmatic spheroid particles compatible with fungal or parasitic infection". After a serious deterioration in her health, she was taken to Spain where she was evaluated and visceral leishmaniasis was established. Specific identification of the parasite was done by PCR-ELISA, isoenzyme electrophoresis and RAPD-PCR. CONCLUSION: We would like to point out that: i) cases such as the one described here, which appear in non-endemic areas, can pass unnoticed by the clinical physician. ii) in countries in which these introduced cases reside, in-depth parasitological studies are required into vectors and possible reservoirs to rule out the rare case of local infection and, once infection has taken place, to ensure that this does not spread by anthroponotic transmission or a competent reservoir

Experimental Scattering Matrices of Martian Dust Aerosols with Narrow Particle-size Distributions

We present experimental scattering matrices of the JSC Mars-1, MMS-2, and MGS-1 simulants at 488 and 640 nm. The analogs were processed so that narrow size distributions representative of Martian dust aerosols during different dust cycles were obtained. We find that the forward peak of the phase function depends on particle size as it becomes narrower with increasing size, whereas the side- and backscattering directions depend on both composition and size so that increasing size and decreasing absorption produce a flatter curve. The position and maximum of the degree of linear polarization varies based on particle size and composition, and the negative polarization branch is more prominent for wavelength-scale particles diminishing with increasing size. The linear depolarization is strongly affected by size and composition. Finally, we compare sky-brightness curves measured by the Navcam and Hazcam engineering cameras on board the Mars Science Laboratory rover to the measured phase functions. The observations show a narrower peak at the forward direction and a flatter curve toward the side- and backscattering directions with an increasing dust load in the atmosphere, similar to what can be seen for the measured phase functions of the analogs with increasing particle size. In the case of the analogs, the flattening of the curve can be caused by an increase in multiple scattering within a particle by wavelength-scale surface roughness and/or internal inclusions. For the observed sky brightnesses, particle aggregation and multiple scattering among particles in denser dust conditions play a major role.This work was supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No. 101004052). Research by J.M., O.M., J.C.G.M., and M.P. has been partially supported by PID2021-123370OB-100/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER and Severo Ochoa grant CEX2021-001131-S funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033. S.P.H. and A.S.L. have been supported by PID2019-109467GB-I00 (MINECO/FEDER, UE), Elkartek23/09 KK-2023/00077 and Grupos Gobierno Vasco IT-1742-22

Dos estructuras del Bronce Final destinadas a trabajos de producción, próximas al asentamiento prerromano de la Colina de los Quemados de Córdoba

Las estructuras documentadas evidencian una actividad, desarrollada con fuego a baja temperatura, en la zona periférica del yacimiento prerromano de Colina de los Quemados. Realizado un estudio comparativo con otras estructuras similares, se podría deducir que estaban destinadas a la producción, siendo la hipótesis más factible que se trate de dos hornos de pan del Bronce Final, desconociéndose aún si tenían un uso familiar o comunitarioThe documented structures demonstrate an activity in the peripheral zone of the preroman Colina de los Quemados site based on low temperature firing. After doing a comparative study with other similar structures, it is possible to deduce that they were destined for production, being the more feasible hypothesis that they are two bread ovens of the Late Bronze Age. The question whether they had a family or community use or not remains to be answered at presen