Microbes mediating the sulfur cycle in the Atlantic Ocean and their link to chemolithoautotrophy

Only about 10%–30% of the organic matter produced in the epipelagic layers reaches the dark ocean. Under these limiting conditions, reduced inorganic substrates might be used as an energy source to fuel prokaryotic chemoautotrophic and/or mixotrophic activity. The aprA gene encodes the alpha subunit of the adenosine-5′-phosphosulfate (APS) reductase, present in sulfate-reducing (SRP) and sulfur-oxidizing prokaryotes (SOP). The sulfur-oxidizing pathway can be coupled to inorganic carbon fixation via the Calvin–Benson–Bassham cycle. The abundances of aprA and cbbM, encoding RuBisCO form II (the key CO2 fixing enzyme), were determined over the entire water column along a latitudinal transect in the Atlantic from 64°N to 50°S covering six oceanic provinces. The abundance of aprA and cbbM genes significantly increased with depth reaching the highest abundances in meso- and upper bathypelagic layers. The contribution of cells containing these genes also increased from mesotrophic towards oligotrophic provinces, suggesting that under nutrient limiting conditions alternative energy sources are advantageous. However, the aprA/cbbM ratios indicated that only a fraction of the SOP is associated with inorganic carbon fixation. The aprA harbouring prokaryotic community was dominated by Pelagibacterales in surface and mesopelagic waters, while Candidatus Thioglobus, Chromatiales and the Deltaproteobacterium_SCGC dominated the bathypelagic realm. Noticeably, the contribution of the SRP to the prokaryotic community harbouring aprA gene was low, suggesting a major utilization of inorganic sulfur compounds either as an energy source (occasionally coupled with inorganic carbon fixation) or in biosynthesis pathways.En prensa5,84

Dynamic prokaryotic communities in the dark western Mediterranean Sea

Dark ocean microbial dynamics are fundamental to understand ecosystem metabolism and ocean biogeochemical processes. Yet, the ecological response of deep ocean communities to environmental perturbations remains largely unknown. Temporal and spatial dynamics of the meso- and bathypelagic prokaryotic communities were assessed throughout a 2-year seasonal sampling across the western Mediterranean Sea. A common pattern of prokaryotic communities’ depth stratification was observed across the different regions and throughout the seasons. However, sporadic and drastic alterations of the community composition and diversity occurred either at specific water masses or throughout the aphotic zone and at a basin scale. Environmental changes resulted in a major increase in the abundance of rare or low abundant phylotypes and a profound change of the community composition. Our study evidences the temporal dynamism of dark ocean prokaryotic communities, exhibiting long periods of stability but also drastic changes, with implications in community metabolism and carbon fluxes. Taken together, the results highlight the importance of monitoring the temporal patterns of dark ocean prokaryotic communities.Versión del editor2,92

Seasonal Niche Partitioning of Surface Temperate Open Ocean Prokaryotic Communities

Surface microbial communities are exposed to seasonally changing environmental conditions, resulting in recurring patterns of community composition. However, knowledge on temporal dynamics of open ocean microbial communities remains scarce. Seasonal patterns and associations of taxa and oligotypes from surface and chlorophyll maximum layers in the western Mediterranean Sea were studied over a 2-year period. Summer stratification versus winter mixing governed not only the prokaryotic community composition and diversity but also the temporal dynamics and co-occurrence association networks of oligotypes. Flavobacteriales, Rhodobacterales, SAR11, SAR86, and Synechococcales oligotypes exhibited contrasting seasonal dynamics, and consequently, specific microbial assemblages and potential inter-oligotype connections characterized the different seasons. In addition, oligotypes composition and dynamics differed between surface and deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM) prokaryotic communities, indicating depth-related environmental gradients as a major factor affecting association networks between closely related taxa. Taken together, the seasonal and depth specialization of oligotypes suggest temporal dynamics of community composition and metabolism, influencing ecosystem function and global biogeochemical cycles. Moreover, our results indicate highly specific associations between microbes, pointing to keystone ecotypes and fine-tuning of the microbes realized niche.En prens

Dynamics of actively dividing prokaryotes in the western Mediterranean Sea

Microbial community metabolism and functionality play a key role modulating global biogeochemical processes. However, the metabolic activities and contribution of actively growing prokaryotes to ecosystem energy fluxes remain underexplored. Here we describe the temporal and spatial dynamics of active prokaryotes in the different water masses of the Mediterranean Sea using a combination of bromodeoxyuridine labelling and 16S rRNA gene Illumina sequencing. Bulk and actively dividing prokaryotic communities were drastically different and depth stratified. Alteromonadales were rare in bulk communities (contributing 0.1% on average) but dominated the actively dividing community throughout the overall water column (28% on average). Moreover, temporal variability of actively dividing Alteromonadales oligotypes was evinced. SAR86, Actinomarinales and Rhodobacterales contributed on average 3–3.4% each to the bulk and 11, 8.4 and 8.5% to the actively dividing communities in the epipelagic zone, respectively. SAR11 and Nitrosopumilales contributed less to the actively dividing than to the bulk communities during all the study period. Noticeably, the large contribution of these two taxa to the total prokaryotic communities (23% SAR11 and 26% Nitrosopumilales), especially in the meso- and bathypelagic zones, results in important contributions to actively dividing communities (11% SAR11 and 12% Nitrosopumilales). The intense temporal and spatial variability of actively dividing communities revealed in this study strengthen the view of a highly dynamic deep ocean. Our results suggest that some rare or low abundant phylotypes from surface layers down to the deep sea can disproportionally contribute to the activity of the prokaryotic communities, exhibiting a more dynamic response to environmental changes than other abundant phylotypes, emphasizing the role they might have in community metabolism and biogeochemical processes.This research has been supported by RADMED-TRES (2015–2019) and ATHAPOC (CTM2014-54374-R) projects, funded by the Spanish Institute of Oceanography and the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, respectively. CM was supported by pre-doctoral FPI fellowship from Conselleria d’Innovació, Recerca i Turisme of the regional Government of the Balearic Islands, co-financed by the European Social Fund as part of the FSE 2014-2020 operational program.Postprin

Phytoplankton Community Structure Is Driven by Stratification in the Oligotrophic Mediterranean Sea

The phytoplankton community composition, structure, and biomass were investigated under stratified and oligotrophic conditions during summer for three consecutive years in the Mediterranean Sea. Our results reveal that the phytoplankton community structure was strongly influenced by vertical stratification. The thermocline separated two different phytoplankton communities in the two layers of the euphotic zone, characterized by different nutrient and light availability. Picoplankton dominated in terms of abundance and biomass at all the stations sampled and throughout the photic zone. However, the structure of the picoplanktonic community changed with depth, with Synechococcus and heterotrophic prokaryotes dominating in surface waters down to the base of the thermocline, and Prochlorococcus and picoeukaryotes contributing relatively more to the community in the deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM). Light and nutrient availability also influenced the communities at the DCM layer. Prochlorococcus prevailed in deeper DCM waters characterized by lower light intensities and higher picophytoplankton abundance was related to lower nutrient concentrations at the DCM. Picoeukaryotes were the major phytoplankton contributors to carbon biomass at surface (up to 80%) and at DCM (more than 40%). Besides, contrarily to the other phytoplankton groups, picoeukaryotes cell size progressively decreased with depth. Our research shows that stratification is a major factor determining the phytoplankton community structure; and underlines the role that picoeukaryotes might play in the carbon flux through the marine food web, with implications for the community metabolism and carbon fate in the ecosystem.En prens

A combined beta-beam and electron capture neutrino experiment

The next generation of long baseline neutrino experiments will aim at determining the value of the unknown mixing angle, theta_{13}, the type of neutrino mass hierarchy and the presence of CP-violation in the lepton sector. Beta-beams and electron capture experiments have been studied as viable candidates for long baseline experiments. They use a very clean electron neutrino beam from the beta-decays or electron capture decays of boosted ions. In the present article we consider an hybrid setup which combines a beta-beam with an electron capture beam by using boosted Ytterbium ions. We study the sensitivity to the CP-violating phase delta and the theta_{13} angle, the CP-discovery potential and the reach to determine the type of neutrino mass hierarchy for this type of long baseline experiment. The analysis is performed for different neutrino beam energies and baselines. Finally, we also discuss how the results would change if a better knowledge of some of the assumed parameters was achieved by the time this experiment could take place.Comment: 35 pp, 11 fig

Human Gamma Oscillations during Slow Wave Sleep

Neocortical local field potentials have shown that gamma oscillations occur spontaneously during slow-wave sleep (SWS). At the macroscopic EEG level in the human brain, no evidences were reported so far. In this study, by using simultaneous scalp and intracranial EEG recordings in 20 epileptic subjects, we examined gamma oscillations in cerebral cortex during SWS. We report that gamma oscillations in low (30–50 Hz) and high (60–120 Hz) frequency bands recurrently emerged in all investigated regions and their amplitudes coincided with specific phases of the cortical slow wave. In most of the cases, multiple oscillatory bursts in different frequency bands from 30 to 120 Hz were correlated with positive peaks of scalp slow waves (“IN-phase” pattern), confirming previous animal findings. In addition, we report another gamma pattern that appears preferentially during the negative phase of the slow wave (“ANTI-phase” pattern). This new pattern presented dominant peaks in the high gamma range and was preferentially expressed in the temporal cortex. Finally, we found that the spatial coherence between cortical sites exhibiting gamma activities was local and fell off quickly when computed between distant sites. Overall, these results provide the first human evidences that gamma oscillations can be observed in macroscopic EEG recordings during sleep. They support the concept that these high-frequency activities might be associated with phasic increases of neural activity during slow oscillations. Such patterned activity in the sleeping brain could play a role in off-line processing of cortical networks

Gestión del conocimiento: perspectiva multidisciplinaria. Volumen 13

El libro “Gestión del Conocimiento. Perspectiva Multidisciplinaria”, Volumen 13 de la Colección Unión Global, es resultado de investigaciones. Los capítulos del libro, son resultados de investigaciones desarrolladas por sus autores. El libro es una publicación internacional, seriada, continua, arbitrada, de acceso abierto a todas las áreas del conocimiento, orientada a contribuir con procesos de gestión del conocimiento científico, tecnológico y humanístico. Con esta colección, se aspira contribuir con el cultivo, la comprensión, la recopilación y la apropiación social del conocimiento en cuanto a patrimonio intangible de la humanidad, con el propósito de hacer aportes con la transformación de las relaciones socioculturales que sustentan la construcción social de los saberes y su reconocimiento como bien público. El libro “Gestión del Conocimiento. Perspectiva Multidisciplinaria”, Volumen 13, de la Colección Unión Global, es resultado de investigaciones. Los capítulos del libro, son resultados de investigaciones desarrolladas por sus autores. El libro cuenta con el apoyo de los grupos de investigación: Universidad Sur del Lago “Jesús María Semprúm” (UNESUR) - Zulia – Venezuela; Universidad Politécnica Territorial de Falcón Alonso Gamero (UPTFAG) - Falcón – Venezuela; Universidad Politécnica Territorial de Mérida Kléber Ramírez (UPTM) - Mérida - Venezuela; Universidad Guanajuato (UG) - Campus Celaya - Salvatierra - Cuerpo Académico de Biodesarrollo y Bioeconomía en las Organizaciones y Políticas Públicas (CABBOPP) - Guanajuato – México; Centro de Altos Estudios de Venezuela (CEALEVE) - Zulia – Venezuela, Centro Integral de Formación Educativa Especializada del Sur (CIFE - SUR) - Zulia – Venezuela; Centro de Investigaciones Internacionales SAS (CEDINTER) - Antioquia – Colombia y diferentes grupos de investigación del ámbito nacional e internacional que hoy se unen para estrechar vínculos investigativos, para que sus aportes científicos formen parte de los libros que se publiquen en formatos digital e impreso

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

Nivel de actividad física según GPAQ en mujeres embarazadas y postparto que asisten a un centro de salud familiar

Background: During pregnancy and postpartum, women decrease physical activity (PA) levels despite the health benefits reported in the literature for women and the fetus. Aims: To determine PA levels and sedentary behaviour in women during pregnancy and postpartum. Methods: Pregnant and postpartum women between 18 and 40 years old attending to primary care center participated. Sedentary behaviour and PA were measured using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ). Results: Information was collected from 47 pregnant and 12 postpartum women. Age was P50=25 (range: 18-40 years). 61% were overweight. Daily PA time was P50=154 (range: 0-960 min/day) for pregnant women and P50=190 (range: 24-411 min/day) during postpartum. Leisure time PA was P50=0 (range: 0-540 min/day) for pregnant women and P50=3 (range: 0-86 min/day) during postpartum. Sedentary behaviour was P50=180 min/day (range: 0-720 min/day) for all women. According to WHO criteria, only 20.3% of women are physically active, adjusting by BMI and educational level the reported PA in GPAQ. There was no association between the variables age, nutritional status, educational level, family income and reported level of PA. Conclusion: Leisure time PA could be susceptible to PA promotion interventions. The reported level of PA is higher than those from similar studies in other countries. Validation studies are needed to determine possible overestimation of the results due to measurement bias