Conducta agresiva de adolescentes como un mecanismo de competición intrasexual dentro del mercado biológico de la elección de pareja

Tesis doctoral inédita leída en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Biología Molecular. Fecha de lectura: 04-10-201

Facial features: What women perceive as attractive and what men consider attractive

Attractiveness plays an important role in social exchange and in the ability to attract potential mates, especially for women. Several facial traits have been described as reliable indicators of attractiveness in women, but very few studies consider the influence of several measurements simultaneously. In addition, most studies consider just one of two assessments to directly measure attractiveness: either self-evaluation or men's ratings. We explored the relationship between these two estimators of attractiveness and a set of facial traits in a sample of 266 young Spanish women. These traits are: facial fluctuating asymmetry, facial averageness, facial sexual dimorphism, and facial maturity. We made use of the advantage of having recently developed methodologies that enabled us to measure these variables in real faces.We also controlled for three other widely used variables: age, body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio. The inclusion of many different variables allowed us to detect any possible interaction between the features described that could affect attractiveness perception. Our results show that facial fluctuating asymmetry is related both to selfperceived and male-rated attractiveness. Other facial traits are related only to one direct attractiveness measurement: facial averageness and facial maturity only affect men's ratings. Unmodified faces are closer to natural stimuli than are manipulated photographs, and therefore our results support the importance of employing unmodified faces to analyse the factors affecting attractiveness. We also discuss the relatively low equivalence between self-perceived and male-rated attractiveness and how various anthropometric traits are relevant to them in different ways. Finally, we highlight the need to perform integrated-variable studies to fully understand female attractivenessThe research was supported by funds from the grants BFU2010-10981-E of the Spanish MICINN and “FONDECYT Iniciación” #11130028 of the Chilean FONDECY

Trombosis de los senos venosos como forma de presentación de un síndrome de anticuerpos antifosfolipídicos

Introducción: El síndrome sntifosfolipídico (SAF) se caracteriza por la aparición de fenómenos trombóticos arteriales o venosos en lugares poco usuales. Es una causa poco común de trombosis venosa cerebral (TVC) en la práctica médica diaria. La TVC puede ocurrir a cualquier edad, es una enfermedad autoinmune multisistémica que afecta varios órganos y sistemas. Objetivo: Describir la evolución clínica de una paciente con diagnóstico de trombosis venosa cerebral, como complicación infrecuente en el síndrome antifosfolipídico primario que fue atendida en el Hospital Militar Central "Dr. Carlos J. Finlay". Caso clínico: Mujer de 24 años de edad que ingresa por cefalea, visión borrosa y vómitos, asociada a toma motora de los pares craneales II, III, V, VI y a elementos de hipertensión endocraneana. Conclusiones: La evolución clínica resultó favorable, luego de comenzar tratamiento con fraxiheparina. La trombosis de senos venosos constituye una entidad grave que requiere asistencia especializada de forma inmediata

Evaluation of LIRIC Algorithm Performance Using Independent Sun-Sky Photometer Data at Two Altitude Levels

The authors thank the FEDER program for the instrumentation used in this work and the University of Granada for supporting this study through the Excellence Units Program “Plan Propio. Programa23 Convocatoria 2017”. CIMEL Calibration was performed at the AERONET-EUROPE calibration center, supported by ACTRIS. We also express our gratitude to the developers of the LIRIC algorithm and software. The authors thank Sierra Nevada National Park for support in the maintenance of the Sun-sky photometer station at Cerro Poyos. Maria J. Granados-Muñoz is funded by a Maria Sklodowska-Curie IF under grant agreement no. 796539. Juan Antonio Bravo-Aranda and Antonio Valenzuela received funding from the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action Cofund 2016 EU project Athenea3i under grant agreement no. 754446. Jose Antonio Benavent-Oltra is funded by the University of Granada through “Plan Propio. Programa 7, Convocatoria 2019”. This work was also supported by the Ambizione program of the Swiss National Science Foundation (project no. PZ00P2 168114).This work evaluates the Lidar-Radiometer Inversion Code (LIRIC) using sun-sky photometers located at different altitudes in the same atmospheric column. Measurements were acquired during an intensive observational period in summer 2012 at Aerosols, Clouds, and Trace gases Research InfraStructure Network (ACTRIS)/Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) Granada (GRA; 37.16◦N, 3.61◦W, 680 m above sea level (a.s.l.)) and Cerro Poyos (CP; 37.11◦N, 3.49◦W, 1820 m a.s.l.) sites. Both stations operated AERONET sun-photometry, with an additional lidar system operating at Granada station. The extended database of simultaneous lidar and sun-photometry measurements from this study allowed the statistical analysis of vertically resolved microphysical properties retrieved with LIRIC, with 70% of the analyzed cases corresponding to mineral dust. Consequently, volume concentration values were 46 µm3 /cm3 on average, with a value of ~30 µm3 /cm3 corresponding to the coarse spheroid mode and concentrations below 10 µm3 /cm3 for the fine and coarse spherical modes. According to the microphysical properties’ profiles, aerosol particles reached altitudes up to 6000 m a.s.l., as observed in previous studies over the same region. Results obtained from comparing the LIRIC retrievals from GRA and from CP revealed good agreement between both stations with differences within the expected uncertainties associated with LIRIC (15%). However, larger discrepancies were found for 10% of the cases, mostly due to the incomplete overlap of the lidar signal and/or to the influence of different aerosol layers advected from the local origin located between both stations, which is particularly important in cases of low aerosol loads. Nevertheless, the results presented here demonstrate the robustness and self-consistency of LIRIC and consequently its applicability to large databases such as those derived from ACTRIS-European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET) observations.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through projects CGL2016-81092-R, and CGL2017-83538-C3-1-R; the Excellence network CGL2017-90884-REDT; by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program through ACTRIS project (grant agreement n. 654169)

Sensitivity to water deficit of the second stage of fruit growth in late mandarin trees

In citrus fruits, phases I and II of fruit growth are sensitive to water deficit, and for this reason, deficit irrigation (DI) has been usually restricted to the final ripening phase. However, the optimal timing and intensity of stress during sensitive phases have not been clearly defined. The main objective was to determine the sensitivity of the second stage of fruit growth to water deficit in adult mandarin trees, and to explore the suitability of different soil and plant water status indicators, including the leaf-scale spectrum, according to the water stress level. Four irrigation treatments were tested: a control (CTL) irrigated at ~ 80% of ETc during the entire crop cycle, and three irrigation suppression treatments, in which no water was applied during the end of phase I and the beginning of phase II (DI1), the second half of phase II (DI2), and phase III of fruit growth (DI3), respectively. Phase II of fruit growth can be considered as a non-critical phenological period until the fruit reaches approximately 60% of its final size, with the application of a water deficit using an irrigation threshold of midday stem water potential of − 1.8 MPa, and a cumulative water stress integral close to 28 MPa day. The novel visible infrared ratio index (VIRI) showed a high sensitivity for trees subjected to moderate and severe water stress and can be complementarily used to estimate on a larger temporal and spatial scale the plant water status. Wavelengths in the short-wave infrared (SWIR) region allowed differentiation between non-stressed, moderately, and severely water-stressed trees, and can be considered as an initial basis for determining the water status of mandarin trees at various stress intensities by remote sensing.This study was supported by the European Commission H2020 (Grant 728003, DIVERFARMING Project) and National Research Agency of Spain (PID2019-106226RB-C22)

Two membrane proteins from Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003 constitute an ABC-type multidrug transporter

Intrinsic resistance to drugs is one of the main determining factors in bacterial survival in the intestinal ecosystem. This is mediated by, among others, multidrug resistance (MDR) transporters, membrane proteins which extrude noxious compounds with very different chemical structures and cellular targets. Two genes from Bifidobacterium breve encoding hypothetical membrane proteins with a high homology with members of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) family of multidrug efflux transporters, were expressed separately and jointly in Lactococcus lactis. Cells co-expressing both proteins exhibited enhanced resistance levels to the antimicrobials nisin and polymyxin B. Furthermore, the drug extrusion activity in membrane vesicles was increased when both proteins were co-expressed, compared to membranes in which the proteins were produced independently. Both proteins were co-purified from the membrane as a stable complex in a 1 :1 ratio. This is believed to be the first study of a functional ABC-type multidrug transporter in Bifidobacterium and contributes to our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the capacity of intestinal bacteria to tolerate cytotoxic compoundsThis work was financed by the European Union STREP project ACEART(FP6-506214), European Union FEDER funds, and the Spanish Plan Nacional de I+D (project AGL2004-06727-C02). J. A. Moreno was the recipient of a post-doctoral contract from CSIC (I3P programme), Spain. The work was also financially suported by the Department of Agriculture and Food FIRM programme (01/R&D/C/ 159), by the Higher Education Authority Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions, and by the SFI-funded Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre.Peer reviewe

Two membrane proteins from Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003 constitute an ABC-type multidrug transporter

Intrinsic resistance to drugs is one of the main determining factors in bacterial survival in the intestinal ecosystem. This is mediated by, among others, multidrug resistance (MDR) transporters, membrane proteins which extrude noxious compounds with very different chemical structures and cellular targets. Two genes from Bifidobacterium breve encoding hypothetical membrane proteins with a high homology with members of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) family of multidrug efflux transporters, were expressed separately and jointly in Lactococcus lactis. Cells co-expressing both proteins exhibited enhanced resistance levels to the antimicrobials nisin and polymyxin B. Furthermore, the drug extrusion activity in membrane vesicles was increased when both proteins were co-expressed, compared to membranes in which the proteins were produced independently. Both proteins were co-purified from the membrane as a stable complex in a 1 :1 ratio. This is believed to be the first study of a functional ABC-type multidrug transporter in Bifidobacterium and contributes to our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the capacity of intestinal bacteria to tolerate cytotoxic compoundsThis work was financed by the European Union STREP project ACEART(FP6-506214), European Union FEDER funds, and the Spanish Plan Nacional de I+D (project AGL2004-06727-C02). J. A. Moreno was the recipient of a post-doctoral contract from CSIC (I3P programme), Spain. The work was also financially suported by the Department of Agriculture and Food FIRM programme (01/R&D/C/ 159), by the Higher Education Authority Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions, and by the SFI-funded Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre.Peer reviewe

The relationship between androgen receptor gene polymorphism, aggression and social status in young men and women

In both sexes, aggression has been described as a critical trait to acquire social status. Still, almost uniquely in men, the link between aggressiveness and the genetic background of testosterone sensitivity measured from the polymorphism in the androgen receptor (AR) gene has been previously investigated. We assessed the relevance of the AR gene to understand aggression and how aggressiveness affects social status in a cross-sectional study of 195 participants, for the first time in both young men and women. We estimated polymorphism sequences from saliva and measured aggression and self-perceived social status. Unfortunately, the results did not support our prediction because we did not find any of the expected relationships. Therefore, the results suggest that the genetic association between aggressive mechanisms and polymorphism of the AR gene is less straightforward than expected, at least in men, and seems to indicate that aggression is not usually used to gain social status in our populatio

Meteorology for maritime students. Literature search for relevant information on meteorological subject and promotion of teamwork

The Teaching Innovation Project to which we refer below has been focused to pupils of the subject "Meteorology", taught in the third year of the degree in Nautical Sciences and Maritime Transport. Furthermore, the general and specific skills enhanced in the students through this project, are very useful for many other subjects on their degree. The implementation of this project sought the achievement of several learning objectives. First, it was intended to improve the student's preparation in the subject, trying to make more attractive for pupils the usually tedious process of searching and analysis of relevant bibliographic information, not only from an academic point of view, but also from the perspective of the future sailor. Secondly but not least, it has been tried to promote studying and working habits through team activities. Although individual work creates habits of personal reflection, since the student marks his own learning patterns, it carries the risk of leading to subjective interpretations that are little contrast; therefore, is necessary to find a way to properly combine individual and group work. To achieve the aforementioned objectives, this teaching project has enhanced the active work of the student by conducting activities of five members designing thematic posters (chosen from a list of proposed topics), which are later exposed and discussed publicly. Through continuous interaction with fellow students in the preparation of the posters, we have sought to foster critical and self-critical capacity, as well as constructive competition. It promotes creativity and increase the investment of the student in improving their training. A poster is a type of academic communication of great educational interest since, in addition to its obvious importance in the academic field, it provides educational benefits that will be briefly explained below. By having a limited space, the student is forced to develop their ability for synthesize, through the use of graphs, tables, images, etc. This in turn requires applying their capacity for analysis, discerning essential and superfluous concepts. At last, the public exposition and discussion increases the responsibility that falls on the student facing their peers, which positively affects to the quality of the work. This teaching project has been carried out throughout the corresponding semester. With this purpose, a certain number of hours of practical classes were assigned. This affords the student to devote more time for the accomplishment of his work, as well as it allows the teacher a punctual and immediate follow-up of its development. The chosen format (poster size) favoured the attainment of several of the didactic objectives sought, at the same time that it served as an introduction to the student in the methodologies and vehicles of knowledge broadcasting at the academic world

Avoidance of carnivore carcasses by vertebrate scavengers enables colonization by a diverse community of carrion insects

Enemérito Muñiz and Fernando Escribano helped during fieldwork. Dirección General del Medio Natural (Consejería de Agua, Agricultura y Medio Ambiente. Comunidad Autónoma de la Región de Murcia) and Sierra Espuña Regional Park provided help with logistics and permissions. Stefano Vanin and an anonymous reviewer provided useful comments and suggestions on the present manuscript.Carrion resources sustain a complex and diverse community of both vertebrate and invertebrate scavengers, either obligate or facultative. However, although carrion ecology has received increasing scientific attention in recent years, our understanding of carrion partitioning in natural conditions is severely limited as most studies are restricted either to the vertebrate or the insect scavenger communities. Moreover, carnivore carcasses have been traditionally neglected as study model. Here, we provide the first data on the partitioning between vertebrate and invertebrate scavengers of medium-sized carnivore carcasses, red fox (Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus)), in two mountainous Mediterranean areas of south-eastern Spain. Carcasses were visited by several mammalian and avian scavengers, but only one carcass was partially consumed by golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos (Linnaeus). These results provide additional support to the carnivore carrion-avoidance hypothesis, which suggests that mammalian carnivores avoid the consumption of carnivore carcasses to prevent disease transmission risk. In turn, the absence of vertebrate scavengers at carnivore carcasses enabled a diverse and well-structured successional community of insects to colonise the carcasses. The observed richness and abundance of the most frequent families was more influenced by the decomposition time than by the study area. Overall, our study encourages further research on carrion resource partitioning in natural conditions.D.M.-V. was supported by an EC funded Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF-624575) and a research contract from the University of Alcalá (Ayudas Postdoctorales UAH), Z.M.-R. by a pre-doctoral grant (FPU12/00823), and M.M. by a research contract Ramón y Cajal from the MINECO (RYC-2015-19231). This study was partly funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness and EU ERDF funds through the projects CGL2015-66966-C2-1-2-R and CGL2017-89905-R