The inorganic part of green roof substrates impacts differently on the growth of two Mediterranean plant species

[SPA] Los sustratos para cubiertas verdes deben reunir una serie de propiedades fisicoquímicas y nutricionales para poder ser usados como base para el desarrollo vegetal. El impacto de diversas dosis de materia orgánica así como del espesor del sustrato son factores ampliamente estudiados en este tipo de cubiertas. Sin embargo, el efecto de la parte inorgánica del sustrato sobre el crecimiento vegetal en este tipo de cubiertas no ha sido ampliamente estudiado. Para ello, se diseñaron cuatro sustratos compuestos por un 10% en volumen de compost mezclado con diversos materiales inorgánicos. Estas mezclas se dispusieron en mesas de cultivo con un espesor de 10 cm. En ellos, se sembraron dos especies vegetales típicas de la zona Mediterránea: Lotus creticus L. y Asteriscus maritimus L. Con el fin de estudiar la evolución de cada sustrato, se realizó un estudio de las propiedades fisicoquímicas, y nutricionales de cada sustrato. Se observaron mayores niveles de nutrientes en las mezclas con suelo que en aquellas que no lo presentaban (CB y CsB). Los resultados sugieren que una dosis de compost del 10% es capaz de mantener un aceptable desarrollo de ambas especies, aunque su comportamiento varía en función de la composición del sustrato. [ENG] Extensive green roofs substrates should meet a list of physicochemical and nutritional requirements to be used as a basis for plant growth. In recent years, the impact of different organic matter doses and the substrate depth on plant growth have been studied although little is known about the effect of the inorganic component of these substrates on plant development in Mediterranean green roof systems. Four substrates were made by mixing the same compost, at 10% by volume, with different inorganic materials. These were placed, with a depth of 10 cm on cultivation tables. Two endemic species were sown in each substrate: Lotus creticus L. and Asteriscus maritimus L. Physicochemical and nutritional properties of the substrates as well as the plant development were evaluated. We observed high levels of C and N in the soil-containing substrates than in the soilless ones (CB and CsB mixtures). The results suggest that a compost dose of 10% was able to maintain acceptable plant growth, but a different pattern was observed depending on the inorganic composition of the substrate.We thanks the INNPACTO project (IPT-2011-1017-310000) for the financial support. Authors are grateful to the Department of “Ingeniería Agromótica y del Mar” of the Polytechnic University of Cartagena for their assistance with the RSI ENVI 4.0 software

Genetic diversity and differentiation in narrow versus widespread taxa of Helianthemum (Cistaceae) in a hotspot: The role of geographic range, habitat, and reproductive traits

We thank the authorities of the Sierra Nevada National Park and the Junta de Andalucía (Andalusian Regional Government) for granting permission to collect samples even of species under protection. We also thank the Centro de Investigación Tecnología e Innovación de la Universidad de Sevilla (“Celestino Mutis” CITIUS-2 center) for facilities to use the Coulter Multisizer 3. This research was supported by grants from the Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente (National Parks Authority ref. 296/2011) and by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (CGL2014-52459-P and partially CGL2013-45037-P and CGL2017-82465-P). S. MartínHernanz was supported by a fellowship from the Spanish Secretaría de Estado de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación (FPI 2015, BES-2015-073314). All samples in this study were collected under permission by the Sierra Nevada National Park and the Andalusian Regional GovernmentUnraveling the relationships between ecological, functional traits and genetic diversity of narrow endemic plants provide opportunities for understanding how evolutionary processes operate over local spatial scales and ultimately how diversity is created and maintained. To explore these aspects in Sierra Nevada, the core of the Mediterranean Betic‐Rifean hotspot, we have analyzed nuclear DNA microsatellite diversity and a set of biological and environmental factors (physicochemical soil parameters, floral traits, and community composition) in two strictly endemic taxa from dolomite outcrops of Sierra Nevada (Helianthemum pannosum and H. apenninum subsp. estevei ) and two congeneric widespread taxa (H. cinereum subsp. rotundifolium and H. apenninum subsp. apenninum ) that further belong to two different lineages (subgenera) of Helianthemum . We obtained rather unexpected results contrasting with the theory: (a) The narrow endemic taxa showed higher values of genetic diversity as well as higher average values of pollen production per flower and pollen‐to‐ovule ratio than their widespread relatives; and (b) the two taxa of subg. Helianthemum , with larger corollas, approach herkogamy and higher pollen production than the two taxa of subg. Plectolobum , displayed lower genetic diversity and higher values of inbreeding. Altogether, these results disclose how genetic diversity may be affected simultaneously by a large number of intrinsic and extrinsic factors, especially in Pleistocene glacial refugia in mountains where the spatial context harbors a great ecological heterogeneity. On the other hand, differences in mating system and the significant effect of the substrate profile, both being highly diverse in the genus Helianthemum , in the genetic variability illustrate about the importance of these two factors in the diversification and species differentiation of this paradigmatic genus in the Mediterranean and open the field to formulate and test new hypotheses of local adaptation, trait evolution, and habitat diversification.Secretaría de Estado de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación, Grant/Award Number: BES-2015-073314; Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Grant/Award Number: CGL2013-45037-P, CGL2014- 52459-P and CGL2017-82465-P; Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente, Grant/Award Number: 296/201

Microfaunal soil food webs in Mediterranean semi-arid agroecosystems. Does organic management improve soil health?

Soil food webs, which are responsible for relevant ecological functions in agroecosystems such as nutrient cycling and pest and disease suppression, represent a crucial aspect of agricultural sustainability. We studied soil properties and microfaunal food web diversity and functioning in six paired organic and conventional fields located in Central Spain to assess the effects of organic farming on soil diversity and functioning in semi-arid conditions. We hypothesized that organic farming may enhance functioning of soil food webs. Our results showed larger differences between crop types, namely olive groves and vineyards, than between farming scheme, i.e. organic and conventional fields, and few benefits of organic farming in terms of soil fertility. Soil properties (total N, C, and P, available P and K, electrical conductivity, NH4+, NO3−, soil moisture, pH) tended to present higher values in vineyards than in olive groves and in conventional than in organic fields. Some plant-parasitic nematodes were associated to organic fields, especially in vineyards, and all soils fell within a degraded soil food web condition, with low Structure and Enrichment Index values. Nematode metabolic footprints showed relevant seasonal dynamics, with the more intensive herbivore activity in spring. We conclude that the lack of conventional pesticides and mineral fertilizers is probably not enough to improve soil conservation in semi-arid Mediterranean agroecosystems, and thus active soil conservation practices, as reduced tillage or cover cropping, are required to increase agroecosystem sustainability.Fundación Internacional para la Restauración de EcosistemasMinisterio de Economía y Competitivida

Photovoltaic energy balance estimation based on the building integration level

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).The photovoltaic module building integration level affects the module temperature and, consequently, its output power. In this work, a methodology has been proposed to estimate the influence of the level of architectural photovoltaic integration on the photovoltaic energy balance with natural ventilation or with forced cooling systems. The developed methodology is applied for five photovoltaic module technologies (m-Si, p-Si, a-Si, CdTe, and CIGS) on four characteristic locations (Athens, Davos, Stockholm, and Würzburg). To this end, a photovoltaic module thermal radiation parameter, PVj, is introduced in the characterization of the PV module technology, rendering the correlations suitable for building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) applications, with natural ventilation or with forced cooling systems. The results show that PVj has a significant influence on the energy balances, according to the architectural photovoltaic integration and climatic conditions

Deep Learning-Based Fault Detection and Isolation in Solar Plants for Highly Dynamic Days

ICCAD'22: 2022- 6th International Conference on Control, Automation and Diagnosis, Lisbon, Portugal, July 13-15, 2022Solar plants are exposed to numerous agents that degrade and damage their components. Due to their large size and constant operation, it is not easy to access them constantly to analyze possible failures on-site. It is, therefore, necessary to use techniques that automatically detect faults. In addition, it is crucial to detect the fault and know its location to deal with it as quickly and effectively as possible. This work applies a fault detection and isolation method to parabolic trough collector plants. A characteristic of solar plants is that they are highly dependent on the sun and the existence of clouds throughout the day, so it is not easy to achieve methods that work well when disturbances are too variable and difficult to predict. This work proposes dynamic artificial neural networks (ANNs) that take into account past information and are not so sensitive to the variations of the plant at each moment. With this, three types of failures are distinguished: failures in the optical efficiency of the mirrors, flow rate, and thermal losses in the pipes. Different ANNs have been proposed and compared with a simple feedforward ANN, obtaining an accuracy of 73.35%.European Research Council 10.13039/50110000078

A deep learning-based strategy for fault detection and isolation in parabolic-trough collectors

Solar plants are exposed to the appearance of faults in some of their components, as they are vulnerable to the action of external agents (wind, rain, dust, birds …) and internal defects. However, it is necessary to ensure a satisfactory operation when these factors affect the plant. Fault detection and diagnosis methods are essential to detecting and locating the faults, maintaining efficiency and safety in the plant. This work proposes a methodology for detecting and isolating faults in parabolic-trough plants. It is based on a three-layer methodology composed of a neural network to obtain a preliminary detection and classification between three types of fault, a second stage analyzing the flow rate dynamics, and a third stage defocusing the first collector to analyze thermal losses. The methodology has been applied by simulation to a model of the ACUREX plant, which was located at the Plataforma Solar de Almería. The confusion matrices have been obtained, with accuracies over 80% when using the three layers in a hierarchical structure. By forcing all the three layers, the accuracies exceed 90%.Unión Europea - Horizonte 2020 No 789 05

Oxidative phosphorylation supported by an alternative respiratory pathway in mitochondria from Euglena

AbstractThe effect of antimycin, myxothiazol, 2-heptyl-4-hydroxyquinoline-N-oxide, stigmatellin and cyanide on respiration, ATP synthesis, cytochrome c reductase, and membrane potential in mitochondria isolated from dark-grown Euglena cells was determined. With L-lactate as substrate, ATP synthesis was partially inhibited by antimycin, but the other four inhibitors completely abolished the process. Cyanide also inhibited the antimycin-resistant ATP synthesis. Membrane potential was collapsed (<60 mV) by cyanide and stigmatellin. However, in the presence of antimycin, a H+ gradient (>60 mV) that sufficed to drive ATP synthesis remained. Cytochrome c reductase, with L-lactate as donor, was diminished by antimycin and myxothiazol. Cytochrome bc1 complex activity was fully inhibited by antimycin, but it was resistant to myxothiazol. Stigmatellin inhibited both L-lactate-dependent cytochrome c reductase and cytochrome bc1 complex activities. Respiration was partially inhibited by the five inhibitors. The cyanide-resistant respiration was strongly inhibited by diphenylamine, n-propyl-gallate, salicylhydroxamic acid and disulfiram. Based on these results, a model of the respiratory chain of Euglena mitochondria is proposed, in which a quinol-cytochrome c oxidoreductase resistant to antimycin, and a quinol oxidase resistant to antimycin and cyanide are included

Inhibition of Non-flux-Controlling Enzymes Deters Cancer Glycolysis by Accumulation of Regulatory Metabolites of Controlling Steps

Glycolysis provides precursors for the synthesis of macromolecules and may contribute to the ATP supply required for the constant and accelerated cellular duplication in cancer cells. In consequence, inhibition of glycolysis has been reiteratively considered as an anti-cancer therapeutic option. In previous studies, kinetic modeling of glycolysis in cancer cells allowed the identification of the main steps that control the glycolytic flux: glucose transporter, hexokinase (HK), hexose phosphate isomerase (HPI) and glycogen degradation in human cervix HeLa cancer cells and rat AS-30D ascites hepatocarcinoma. It was also previously experimentally determined that simultaneous inhibition of the non-controlling enzymes lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), pyruvate kinase (PYK) and enolase (ENO) brings about significant decrease in the glycolytic flux of cancer cells and accumulation of intermediate metabolites, mainly fructose-1,6-bisphosphate (Fru1,6BP) and dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP), which are inhibitors of HK and HPI, respectively. Here it was found by kinetic modeling that inhibition of cancer glycolysis can be attained by blocking downstream non flux-controlling steps as long as Fru1,6BP and DHAP, regulatory metabolites of flux-controlling enzymes, are accumulated. Furthermore, experimental results and further modeling showed that oxamate and iodoacetate inhibitions of PYK, ENO and glyceraldehyde3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), but not of LDH and phosphoglycerate kinase, induced accumulation of Fru1,6BP and DHAP in AS-30D hepatoma cells. Indeed, PYK, ENO and GAPDH exerted the highest control on the Fru1,6BP and DHAP concentrations. The high levels of these metabolites inhibited HK and HPI and led to glycolytic flux inhibition, ATP diminution and accumulation of toxic methylglyoxal. Hence, the anticancer effects of downstream glycolytic inhibitors are very likely mediated by this mechanism. In parallel, it was also found that uncompetitive inhibition of the flux-controlling steps is a more potent mechanism than competitive and mixed-type inhibition to efficiently perturb cancer glycolysis

Distribution of the transcription factor islet-1 in the central nervous system of nonteleost actinopterygian fish: Relationshipwith cholinergic and catecholaminergic systems

Islet-1 (Isl1) is one of the most conserved transcription factors in the evolution of vertebrates, due to its continuing involvement in such important functions as the differentiation of motoneurons, among other essential roles in cell fate in the forebrain. Although its functions are thought to be similar in all vertebrates, the knowledge about the conservation of its expression pattern in the central nervous system goes as far as teleosts, leaving the basal groups of actinopterygian fishes overlooked, despite their important phylogenetic position. In order to assess the extent of its conservation among vertebrates, we studied its expression pattern in the central nervous system of selected nonteleost actinopterygian fishes. By means of immunohistochemical techniques, we analyzed the Isl1 expression in the brain, spinal cord, and sensory ganglia of the cranial nerves of young adult specimens of the cladistian species Polypterus senegalus and Erpetoichthys calabaricus, the chondrostean Acipenser ruthenus, and the holostean Lepisosteus oculatus. We also detected the presence of the transcription factor Orthopedia and the enzymes tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) to better locate all the immunoreactive structures in the different brain areas and to reveal the possible coexpression with Isl1. Numerous conserved features in the expression pattern of Isl1 were observed in these groups of fishes, such as populations of cells in the subpallial nuclei, preoptic area, subparaventricular and tuberal hypothalamic regions, prethalamus, epiphysis, cranial motor nuclei and sensory ganglia of the cranial nerves, and the ventral horn of the spinal cord. Double labeling of TH and Isl1 was observed in cells of the preoptic area, the subparaventricular and tuberal hypothalamic regions, and the prethalamus, while virtually all motoneurons in the hindbrain and the spinal cord coexpressed ChAT and Isl1. Altogether, these results show the high degree of conservation of the expression pattern of the transcription factor Isl1, not only among fish, but in the subsequent evolution of vertebrates.Depto. de Biología CelularFac. de Ciencias BiológicasTRUEMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN)Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM)pu