Biodiversity loss in the genus Artemia in the Western Mediterranean Region

Local populations extinctions depend on intrinsic factors related to the biology of species, as well as on direct threats of stochastic and/or deterministic type. The species of the genus Artemia (Branchiopoda, Anostraca), conspicuous inhabitants of hypersaline ecosystems, are suffering an important biodiversity loss. Their persistence is dramatically affected by deterministic factors threatening their biotopes. Among these deterministic factors the loss of habitats and the introduction of exotic invasive species are the most relevant. This paper aims to summarize the information available on: a) the abandonment of solar salterns in theWestern Mediterranean region; b) the present distribution of the exotic invasive species Artemia franciscana populations in Spain, Portugal, Italy and France; c) several reproductive parameters obtained from the study of life tables, performed for several autochthonous species and strains and the invasive species. These traits, linked to the quantitative and qualitative offspring output, allow an experimental approach to the understanding of the fitness superiority of the invasive species, as well as to the competitive displacement of the autochthonous Artemia species in the Western Mediterranean region.La extinción de poblaciones locales depende de factores intrínsecos que tienen que ver con la biología de las especies, así como de amenazas directas de tipo estocástico o determinístico. Las especies del género Artemia (Branchiopoda, Anostraca), conspicuos pobladores de humedales hipersalinos, están sufriendo una importante pérdida en biodiversidad. Su persistencia se ve dramáticamente afectada por factores determinísticos que amenazan a sus biotopos. De entre estos factores, la pérdida de hábitats y la introducción de especies exóticas invasoras son los más relevantes. Este trabajo pretende resumir la información disponible sobre: a) el abandono de salinas solares en la región del Mediterráneo Occidental; b) la distribución actual de poblaciones de la especie exótica invasora Artemia franciscana en España, Portugal, Italia y Francia; c) varios parámetros reproductivos obtenidos del estudio de tablas de vida, llevadas a cabo para varias especies y estirpes autóctonas y la especie invasora. Estos aspectos cuantitativos y cualitativos de la descendencia permiten una aproximación experimental a la comprensión de la superior eficacia biológica de la especie invasora, así como del desplazamiento por competencia de las especies autóctonas de Artemia en la región del Mediterráneo Occidental

Why universities and scientific world should stay away from the tobacco industry. Journey in Big Tobacco deception

Universities are institutions dedicated to improving life through the research and dissemination of knowledge. They facilitates the "peer to peer" communication among young people; the acquisition of knowledge and skills to improve personal and community health; the propagation of healthy lifestyles through the emulation of behavior. Tobacco industry, through commercial policies, enlist young people and transform them, through dependence, into "loyal customers" for many years. The recent introduction of the "reduced risk" products, (the so-called "cold smoke" for example), are a threat for young people who might underestimate the dangers, not even completely known by the experts. Universities and Scientific world that turn a blind eye to tobacco market, accepting the advantages offered by grants and donations from tobacco industry, become accomplices in spreading the "tobacco epidemic" because the funding comes directly from the sale of tobacco products. This "dirty" money causes illness, suffering and death. Universities are invested with an important ethical responsibility to help the world reduce and eliminate the tobacco epidemic, with research, training and information. Universities should have a policy statement that specifically prohibits academic bodies from accepting tobacco industry funding including grant funding. In the U.S.A. several scientific journals no longer publish tobacco industry- supported researches

Study of coumarin-resveratrol hybrids as potent antioxidant compounds

In the present work we synthesized a selected series of hydroxylated 3-phenylcoumarins 5–8, with the aim of evaluating in detail their antioxidant properties. From an in depth study of the antioxidant capacity data (ORAC-FL, ESR, CV and ROS inhibition) it was concluded that these derivatives are very good antioxidants, with very interesting profiles in all the performed assays. The study of the effect of the number and position of the hydroxyl groups on the antioxidant activity was the principal aim of this study. In particular, 7-hydroxy-3-(3'-hydroxy)phenylcoumarin (8) proved to be the most active and effective antioxidant of the selected series in four of the performed assays (ORAC-FL = 11.8, capacity of scavenging hydroxyl radicals = 54%, Trolox index = 2.33 and AI30 index = 0.18). However, the presence of two hydroxyl groups on this molecule did not increase greatly the activity profile. Theoretical evaluation of ADME properties of all the derivatives was also carried out. All the compounds can act as potential candidates for preventing or minimizing the free radical overproduction in oxidative-stress related diseases. OPEN ACCESS Molecules 2015, 20 3291 These preliminary findings encourage us to perform a future structural optimization of this family of compoundsThis project was partially supported by the FONDECYT (projects 1110029 and 1090078), PhD fellowship CONICYT, fellowship for operational expenses (N°21120376), Spanish researchers personal founds, University of Santiago de Compostela and Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) for the Pest/C-QUI/UI0081/2013. MJ Matos was supported by the fellowship from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), POPH (Programa Operacional Potencial Humano) and QREN (Quadro de Referência Estratégica Nacional) (SFRH/BPD/95345/2013). S Vazquez-Rodriguez was supported by the Universidade de Porto postdoctoral grant NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000065S

Dinámica espacial y temporal de las ocupaciones prehispánicas en la cuenca hidrográfica del rio Limari (30° Lat. S.).

Este trabajo discute la secuencia de desarrollo histórico prehispánico en el Norte Semiárido de Chile a partir del estudio de las dinámicas espaciales y temporales de las ocupaciones humanas en la cuenca hidrográfica del río Limarí. A partir del estudio de asentamientos, materiales depositados en colecciones y arte rupestre se observa una secuencia de transformaciones y desarrollo desde el Arcaico Temprano hasta el período Incaico que diverge de lo tradicionalmente planteado para la región, reconociéndose ritmos de cambios sociales diferenciales dentro de la misma zona, especialmente en relación con la tradicional asociación entre incorporación de cerámica y la constitución de un modo de vida agrícola. La incorporación del arte rupestre permite articular sus características espaciales y representacionales con procesos más amplios, discutiéndose las relaciones establecidas entre dinámicas y cambios sociales con los flujos de información que producen las representaciones rupestres y sus respectivas audiencias.This paper discusses the pre-Hispanic sequence of historical development in the semiarid north of Chile through the study of spatial and temporal dynamics of human occupation in the Limari valley. Based on the study of settlements, museum collections and rock art, a sequence of transformations and development between the Early Archaic and Inca Period is observed that differs from what is traditionally known of the area. In this time frame, social changes such as the adoption of pottery and the constitution of an agrarian way of life, occur at different paces in both time and space within the same Limari valley. We discuss spatial and representational characteristics of rock art in relation to pre-hispanic social processes, emphasizing the links between audiences, flows of information and the dynamics of social life.Fil: Troncoso, Andrés. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: Vergara, Francisco. No especifica;Fil: Pavlovic, Daniel. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: González, Paola. No especifica;Fil: Pino, Mariela. No especifica;Fil: Larach, Pablo. No especifica;Fil: Escudero, Antonia. No especifica;Fil: La Mura, Natalia. No especifica;Fil: Moya, Francisca. No especifica;Fil: Pérez, Isidora. No especifica;Fil: Gutiérrez, Renata. No especifica;Fil: Pascual, Daniel. No especifica;Fil: Belmar, Carolina. No especifica;Fil: Basile, Mara Valeria. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Museo Etnográfico "Juan B. Ambrosetti"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: López, Patricio. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: Dávila, Cristian. No especifica;Fil: Vásquez, María José. No especifica;Fil: Urzúa, Paula. No especifica

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts

Pan-cancer Alterations of the MYC Oncogene and Its Proximal Network across the Cancer Genome Atlas

Although theMYConcogene has been implicated incancer, a systematic assessment of alterations ofMYC, related transcription factors, and co-regulatoryproteins, forming the proximal MYC network (PMN),across human cancers is lacking. Using computa-tional approaches, we define genomic and proteo-mic features associated with MYC and the PMNacross the 33 cancers of The Cancer Genome Atlas.Pan-cancer, 28% of all samples had at least one ofthe MYC paralogs amplified. In contrast, the MYCantagonists MGA and MNT were the most frequentlymutated or deleted members, proposing a roleas tumor suppressors.MYCalterations were mutu-ally exclusive withPIK3CA,PTEN,APC,orBRAFalterations, suggesting that MYC is a distinct onco-genic driver. Expression analysis revealed MYC-associated pathways in tumor subtypes, such asimmune response and growth factor signaling; chro-matin, translation, and DNA replication/repair wereconserved pan-cancer. This analysis reveals insightsinto MYC biology and is a reference for biomarkersand therapeutics for cancers with alterations ofMYC or the PMN

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin

Spatial Organization and Molecular Correlation of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes Using Deep Learning on Pathology Images

Beyond sample curation and basic pathologic characterization, the digitized H&E-stained images of TCGA samples remain underutilized. To highlight this resource, we present mappings of tumorinfiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) based on H&E images from 13 TCGA tumor types. These TIL maps are derived through computational staining using a convolutional neural network trained to classify patches of images. Affinity propagation revealed local spatial structure in TIL patterns and correlation with overall survival. TIL map structural patterns were grouped using standard histopathological parameters. These patterns are enriched in particular T cell subpopulations derived from molecular measures. TIL densities and spatial structure were differentially enriched among tumor types, immune subtypes, and tumor molecular subtypes, implying that spatial infiltrate state could reflect particular tumor cell aberration states. Obtaining spatial lymphocytic patterns linked to the rich genomic characterization of TCGA samples demonstrates one use for the TCGA image archives with insights into the tumor-immune microenvironment

A European study on alcohol and drug use among young drivers : The TEND by night study design and methodology

Background. Young individuals are the age group with the highest risk of car accidents. One of main explanations relies on the use of psychoactive substances (alcohol, illegal and medicinal drugs), which are known to be major risk factors of road accidents, and whose consumption is almost universally more common among younger drivers. Although the correlation between psychoactive substances use and decrease in driving performance has been established in controlled experimental or laboratory settings, few studies were conducted in naturalistic circumstances. The TEND by Night project has been designed to evaluate the relationship between driving performance and psychoactive substances assumption in young drivers enrolled at typical places of consumption. Methods/Design. The TEND by Night project, endorsed by the European Commission, is a multidisciplinary, multi-centric, cross-sectional study conducted in six European countries (Italy, Belgium/Netherlands, Bulgaria, Spain, Poland and Latvia). The study population consists of 5000 young drivers aged 16-34 years, attending recreational sites during weekend nights. The intervention is based on the portal survey technique and includes several steps at the entrance and exit of selected sites, including the administration of semi-structured questionnaires, breath alcohol test, several drug assumption test, and measurement of the reaction time using a driving simulator. The main outcome is the difference in reaction time between the entrance and exit of the recreation site, and its correlation with psychoactive substances use. As a secondary outcome it will be explored the relationship between reaction time difference and the amount of consumption of each substance. All analyses will be multivariate. Discussion. The project methodology should provide some relevant advantages over traditional survey systems. The main strengths of the study include the large and multicentric sample, the objective measurement of substance assumption (which is typically self-reported), the application of a portal survey technique and the simultaneous evaluation of several psychoactive substances.publishersversionPeer reviewe