Aportaciones a la flora vascular de la provincia de Córdoba, II (Andalucía, España)

En el presente estudio corológico se aportan 25 taxones que son raros o suponen novedad para alguna comarca o toda la provincia de Córdoba (Andalucía, España). Los taxones más interesantes son Campanula decumbens subsp. baetica Cano-Maqueda & Talavera, Narcissus × susannae Fern. Casas y Plumbago auriculata Lam., ya que son citados por primera vez para esta provincia.Twenty-five taxa are recorded as rare and new localities either in some areas or the whole province of Cordoba (Andalusia, Spain). Campanula decumbens subsp. baetica Cano-Maqueda & Talavera, Narcissus × susannae Fern. Casas and Plumbago auriculata Lam. are the most interesting taxa found, being the first record for this province

Using Large Language Models for Interpreting Autonomous Robots Behaviors

The deployment of autonomous robots in various domains has raised significant concerns about their trustworthiness and accountability. This study explores the potential of Large Language Models (LLMs) in analyzing ROS 2 logs generated by autonomous robots and proposes a framework for log analysis that categorizes log files into different aspects. The study evaluates the performance of three different language models in answering questions related to StartUp, Warning, and PDDL logs. The results suggest that GPT 4, a transformer-based model, outperforms other models, however, their verbosity is not enough to answer why or how questions for all kinds of actors involved in the interaction

Cell wall disassembly is delayed by rhamnogalacturonate lyase gene silencing: potential role in fruit firmness

Strawberry fruits greatly reduce their quality due to softening during ripening with economically important losses. Texture changes of fleshy fruits during ripening are mainly due to middle lamellae dissolution, cell-to-cell adhesion losses and wall weakening of parenchyma cells by the coordinated action of several cell wall enzymes. Pectin degradation has been proven a key factor in strawberry softening by functional analysis of several pectinase genes (polygalacturonase, pectate lyase and -galactosidase). The complexity and highly dynamic nature of pectins remains a challenge to fully elucidate structure-function relationships of pectins. In this work, we present the functional analysis of two independent strawberry transgenic lines with more than 95% silencing of a rhamnogalacturonate lyase gene (FaRGLyase1). Firmness of ripe fruit was significantly higher in both transgenic lines than in the control. Cell walls from these fruits were extracted and analyzed by glycan microarray profiling. This high‐throughput technique allows a wide screening of cell-wall glycan occurrence based on the detection of specific cell wall oligosaccharide epitopes by monoclonal antibodies and reveals profiles which can be used as potential fingerprints specific for a singular organ and/or developmental stage. Our microarray results showed that the silencing of FaRGLyase1 reduced degradation of several rhamnogalacturonan-I related epitopes, as expected. Additionally, comparison of transgenic cell walls from ripe fruits with those extracted from control fruits at different developmental stages (green, white and red) by hierarchical clustering, demonstrated a higher similarity of transgenic fruit cell walls with the control cell walls from fruits at the white stage. Glycan microarray profiles revealed less degraded fruit cell walls as result of FaRGLyase1 down-regulation which could contribute to the increased firmness of transgenic fruitsUniversidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Biochemical and structural characterization of a novel thermophilic esterase EstD11 provide catalytic insights for the HSL family

19 pags., 12 figs., 2 tabs.A novel esterase, EstD11, has been discovered in a hot spring metagenomic library. It is a thermophilic and thermostable esterase with an optimum temperature of 60°C. A detailed substrate preference analysis of EstD11 was done using a library of chromogenic ester substrate that revealed the broad substrate specificity of EstD11 with significant measurable activity against 16 substrates with varied chain length, steric hindrance, aromaticity and flexibility of the linker between the carboxyl and the alcohol moiety of the ester. The tridimensional structures of EstD11 and the inactive mutant have been determined at atomic resolutions. Structural and bioinformatic analysis, confirm that EstD11 belongs to the family IV, the hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) family, from the α/β-hydrolase superfamily. The canonical α/β-hydrolase domain is completed by a cap domain, composed by two subdomains that can unmask of the active site to allow the substrate to enter. Eight crystallographic complexes were solved with different substrates and reaction products that allowed identification of the hot-spots in the active site underlying the specificity of the protein. Crystallization and/or incubation of EstD11 at high temperature provided unique information on cap dynamics and a first glimpse of enzymatic activity in vivo. Very interestingly, we have discovered a unique Met zipper lining the active site and the cap domains that could be essential in pivotal aspects as thermo-stability and substrate promiscuity in EstD11.We thank the staff from ALBA synchrotron facility (Barcelona, Spain) for support during crystallographic data collection. This work was funded by the UE through the HotDrops Project (FP7- PEOPLE-2012-IAPP, project number 324439). Additionally, this work was supported by the BFU2017-90030-P grant to J.A.H. from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovatio

What to do in case of an endoscopic image of gastric necrosis or ischaemia post-funduplication? A case report

The association of gastric ischemia with a fundoplication is very rare and its management is not always surgical. The present paper describes the mechanism of post-fundoplication gastric ischemia that occurred in a patient diagnosed with gastroesophageal reflux disease treated with a Nissen-type gastric fundoplication. A clinical case of the Foregut Clinic of the Hospital General de Mexico (HGM) is presented. This is a 24-year-old patient undergoing a Nissen-type fundoplication who was discharged without eventualities and who presented intestinal occlusion, acute gastric dilation and gastric ischemia

Methylation alterations are not a major cause of PTTG1 missregulation

Background: On its physiological cellular context, PTTG1 controls sister chromatid segregation during mitosis. Within its crosstalk to the cellular arrest machinery, relies a checkpoint of integrity for which gained the over name of securin. PTTG1 was found to promote malignant transformation in 3T3 fibroblasts, and further found to be overexpressed in different tumor types. More recently, PTTG1 has been also related to different processes such as DNA repair and found to trans-activate different cellular pathways involving c-myc, bax or p53, among others. PTTG1 over-expression has been correlated to a worse prognosis in thyroid, lung, colorectal cancer patients, and it can not be excluded that this effect may also occur in other tumor types. Despite the clinical relevance and the increasing molecular characterization of PTTG1, the reason for its up-regulation remains unclear. Method: We analysed PTTG1 differential expression in PC-3, DU-145 and LNCaP tumor cell lines, cultured in the presence of the methyl-transferase inhibitor 5-Aza-2'-deoxycytidine. We also tested whether the CpG island mapping PTTG1 proximal promoter evidenced a differential methylation pattern in differentiated thyroid cancer biopsies concordant to their PTTG1 immunohistochemistry status. Finally, we performed whole-genome LOH studies using Affymetix 50 K microarray technology and FRET analysis to search for allelic imbalances comprising the PTTG1 locus. Conclusion: Our data suggest that neither methylation alterations nor LOH are involved in PTTG1 over-expression. These data, together with those previously reported, point towards a post-transcriptional level of missregulation associated to PTTG1 over-expression.This project was funded by The Fundación de Investigación Biomédica Mutua Madrileña Automovilista. Neocodex have been partially funded by the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia of Spain (FIT-010000-2004-69, PTQ04-1-0006, PTQ2003-0549, PTQ2003-0546 and PTQ2003-0783). MAJ was also supported by SAF2005- 07713-C03-03 and CS by FIS 06/757

The Châtelperronian Neanderthals of Cova Foradada (Calafell, Spain) used imperial eagle phalanges for symbolic purposes

Evidence for the symbolic behavior of Neanderthals in the use of personal ornaments is relatively scarce. Among the few ornaments documented, eagle talons, which were presumably used as pendants, are the most frequently recorded. This phenomenon appears concentrated in a specific area of southern Europe during a span of 80 thousand years. Here, we present the analysis of one eagle pedal phalange recovered from the Châtelperronian layer of Foradada Cave (Spain). Our research broadens the known geographical and temporal range of this symbolic behavior, providing the first documentation of its use among the Iberian populations, as well as of its oldest use in the peninsula. The recurrent appearance of large raptor talons throughout the Middle Paleolithic time frame, including their presence among the last Neanderthal populations, raises the question of the survival of some cultural elements of the Middle Paleolithic into the transitional Middle to Upper Paleolithic assemblages and beyond

Effect of tannins-rich plants to control gastrointestinal nematodes in Zebu cows grazing in a sub-tropical sylvopastoral system

Two grazing systems were compared, one of a conventional sort limited to grass (GS) and the other a mixed sylvopastoral system (SGS), with respect to their effect on control of gastrointestinal parasitic nematodes. Sixty-two lactating crossbred Zebu cows (457 ± 25 kg bodyweight) were divided into in two groups of 31 each. The GS group was maintained 24 h daily without shade, grazing Cynodon or Brachiaria herbage, while the SGS cows had access to the above mentioned grasses and to a subtropical forest. All of the animals received 2.5 kg/d of a slowintake supplement containing urea. The measurements performed were: fecal parasite egg counts on eight occasions over 200d, identification of nematodes by growth of their larvae in culture, packed red blood cell volume (PCV), FARMACHA index value based on coloration of the conjunctiva mucosa, and body condition score (BCS). A greater number of eggs per gram of feces (EPGF) were found in GS cows than in those of SGS (p<0.05). In both systems the PCV remained within the normal range, but the FAMACHA© value was higher under SGS (p<0.05). The BCS of SGS and GS cows were 3.3 and 2.7 respectively (p<0.01). In GS data the following correlations (r) were obtained: negative, EPGF with PCV (-0.77), with BCS (-0.61) and with FAMACHA score (-0.41); and positive, BCS with FAMACHA value (0.62). In SGS data the highest and negative condition was that of PCV with FAMACHA© score (-0.32). The principal nematodes identified in culture for both systems were Oesophagostomum spp, Haemonchus contortus, Trichostrongylus and Cooperia spp. It was concluded that the mixed sylvopastoral system shows promise for controlling parasitic nematode infection in bovines to the benefit of animal health