Effective detergent/ chlorophyll ratio and detergent concentration in the aqueous phase during solubilization of Phormidium laminosum membranes

AbstractExperiments of turbidity decrease induced by detergents were systematically performed to characterize the solubilization of Phormidium laminosum membrane fragments. SDS, Triton X-100 and a mixture of octyl glucoside/decyl maltoside/lithium dodecyl sulfate (OG/DM/LiDS, in a molar ratio of 4.19:2.54:1) were used. The detergent concentration in the aqueous phase (Dw) and the effective detergent/chlorophyll ratio in mixed aggregates (Re) were determined. Both parameters increased during the solubilization and in an exponential way in the range from 10 to 90% solubilization. At detergent concentrations which caused the complete solubilization, DW values were close to the described critical micellar concentrations (cmc), but solubilization started at concentrations well below the cmc. At the onset of solubilization five molecules of SDS, one of Triton X-100 and three of the mixture OG/DM/LiDS, per chlorophyll molecule, saturated the membrane fragments. The increase of DW and Re values was characterized by two constants. This permits the design of a model to predict the detergent concentration which produces a desired solubilization of thylakoid membrane fragments for a given chlorophyll concentration

Ultrasonographic Diagnosis of Unilateral Scrotal Hernia, Varicocele and Sperm Granuloma in a Ram

A four-year-old ram was presented with a conspicuous hemilateral scrotal enlargement that was noticed four weeks before. Based on the history, clinical signs, palpation, trans-scrotal ultrasonography and semen collection, a left scrotal hernia was diagnosed. Ultrasonographic examination showed a presumably omental fat scrotal hernia with an atrophic left testis and varicocele, and the presence of two sperm cysts could be observed in the right epididymal tail. The testis appeared as a homogeneous and moderately echogenic structure and it was possible to distinguish atrophy of the left testis that was covered by a hyperechoic area, presumably omental fat, within the hernial sac. In addition, on ultrasound examination non-echogenic tortuous areas were present and diagnosed as varicocele. Post mortem examination confirmed gross lesions identified ultrasonographically. The libido of the ram was normal but the semen showed total azoospermia. Ultrasound imaging can be used as a diagnostic technique to confirm the diagnosis of scrotal hernia, varicocele, sperm cyst and testis mineralization

Irrigation from the Sixties: Flumen-Monegros

53 Pags.- Tabls.- Maps.In arid and semiarid areas, agricultural land use is mainly restricted, in the first place, by the availability of water for crop growth. The transformation to irrigation of about 600 000 ha in the Ebro Valley has led to high increases in yield and in diversity of crops. After the Spanish Civil War (1936-39), which was followed by II World War, the Spanish food production system was heavily disrupted and food shortages appeared. This put high pressure on the development of new irrigated schemes which had been planned many years ago. In the Flumen-Monegros area, the technology available in the late fifties was based on flood-irrigation systems, with no previous soil studies, an empirical land evaluation, no control of saltinization risk and, finally, levelling without topsoil preservation. The extension of salinity and/or sodicity-affected soils in the Ebro Valley (IRYDA, 1977) was 200 000 ha, from which 160 000 were located in Aragon, mainly in Bardenas, Cinca and Flumen-Monegros area. But Alberto et al. (1984) reckron this data in 300 000 ha. As a result of these studies, ILACO (1975) designed two experimental drainage plots. Although the existence of salt-affected soils was known, information about the extent, location and general functioning at landscape level of those soils was lacking in the area. Some of the problems related to land use and soil management which are present now in the area or can be expected in the near future are:- Salinity-Sodicity: Diagnosis, monitoring and rehabilitation of salt-affected soils. - Soil structural degradation and surface crust formation. - Need for improved efficiency in water use: irrigation technology, water reuse, ... - Control of drainage-system degradation: open-air drains as well as underground drains. Several approaches at different scales have been adopted to work on these issues. Satellite images have been used to monitor land use and its temporal variability. Classical soil mapping at 1: 100000 level have been performed; in addition various detailed studies have been undertaken in model areas using the electromagnetic and four electrode sensors, micromorphological techniques, scanning electronic microscopy, and land evaluation procedures. The results have been presented in several papers: about salinity-sodicity trends in the Flumen sector (Herrero, 1987); about parameters related to water behaviour (Aragues, 1986); about soil porosity in plough horizons (Rodriguez-Ochoa, 1998); about translocation of solid materials (Rodriguez-Ochoa, et al. 1989; Porta and Rodriguez-Ochoa, 1991; Rodriguez-Ochoa, 1998); about degradation of underground drainage systems by mineral siltation (Herrero et al. 1989; Rodriguez-Ochoa, et al. 1989; Munoz, 1991; RodriguezOchoa, 1998).Other studies performed in the area include: Soil-vegetation relationships (Herrero, 1981); laboratory trials with different amendments in the drainage trench infilling material (Porta et al. 1996); dispersive processes because of soil structural instability (Amezketa and Aragues, 1990; Aragues and Amezketa, 1991; Amezketa and Aragues, 1995) and degradation of the hydraulic conductivity of soils (Amezketa and Aragues, 1989; Aragues and Amezketa, 1991; Amezketa and Aragues, 1995). The trip to the Flumen-Monegros area undertakes some of these points, and the stops are located in some of the main soil units. Discussion will be centered on aspects of soil genesis, classification and mapping, land use and soil conservation.Peer reviewe

Pasado y presente del uso de plantas silvestres con órganos subterráneos de almacenamiento comestibles en la Patagonia

El presente trabajo es la primara aproximación acerca del papel de las plantas con órganos de almacenamiento subterráneos comestibles (POAS) en la Patagonia, desde una perspectiva temporal y espacial, al integrar datos etnohistóricos y etnográficos actuales ligados al uso de las POAS. El 75 % de las 54 fuentes analizadas mencionan el uso de POAS en la alimentación humana de la Patagonia. Las POAS silvestres comestibles registradas ascienden a 51 especies, siendo mayor el conjunto de POAS con raíces comestibles. La estepa y zonas ecotonales resultaron las de mayor riqueza de POAS, probablemente vinculado a adaptaciones ecológicas de éstas a la aridez en el primer caso, como a la alta diversidad relativa que presentan los ecotonos, en el segundo. El registro etnohistórico mostró discontinuidades marcadas, siendo pocas las especies presentes por más de un siglo, destacándose la continuidad documental de A. tuberosa desde el siglo XVIII al presente, así como la incorporación reciente de especies exóticas. Las fuentes etnohistóricas revisadas y su contraste con datos etnobotánicos recientes de campo sugieren dinamismo en los patrones de utilización, que a lo largo del tiempo han llevado al abandono del uso de las POAS en la práctica alimentaria de la Patagonia. Las singularidades encontradas respecto a lo temporal y espacial pueden vincularse tanto a los conocimientos locales y específicos desarrollados a lo largo del tiempo por los habitantes de la Patagonia, como también a las circunstancias sociopolíticas y académicas de cada una de las fuentes analizadas

How fair is an equitable distribution?

Envy is a rather complex and irrational emotion. In general, it is very difficult to obtain a measure of this feeling, but in an economical context envy becomes an observable which can be measured. When various individuals compare their possessions, envy arises due to the inequality of their different allocations of commodities and different preferences. In this paper we show that an equitable distribution of goods does not guarantee a state of fairness between agents and in general that envy cannot be controlled by tuning the distribution of goods.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, LaTEX; typos added; minor changes in plots; two new plots added; references added; minor changes in the acknowledgment

Poly(Anhydride) Nanoparticles Act as Active Th1 Adjuvants through Toll-Like Receptor Exploitation

The mechanisms that underlie the potent Th1-adjuvant capacity of poly(methyl vinyl ether-co-maleic anhydride) nanoparticles (NPs) were investigated. Traditionally, polymer NPs have been considered delivery systems that promote a closer interaction between antigen and antigen-presenting cells (APCs). Our results revealed that poly(anhydride) NPs also act as agonists of various Toll-like receptors (TLRs) (TLR2, -4, and -5), triggering a Th1-profile cytokine release (gamma interferon [IFN- ], 478 pg/ml versus 39.6 pg/ml from negative control; interleukin-12 [IL-12], 40 pg/ml versus 7.2 pg/ml from negative control) and, after incubation with dendritic cells, inducing a 2.5- to 3.5-fold increase of CD54 and CD86 costimulatory molecule expression. Furthermore, in vivo studies suggest that NPs actively elicit a CD8 T-cell response. Immunization with empty NPs resulted in a significant delay in the mean survival date (from day 7 until day 23 postchallenge) and a protection level of 30% after challenge against a lethal dose of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis. Taken together, our results provide a better understanding of how NPs act as active Th1 adjuvants in immunoprophylaxis and immunotherapy through TLR exploitation

Novel effects of strains in graphene and other two dimensional materials

The analysis of the electronic properties of strained or lattice deformed graphene combines ideas from classical condensed matter physics, soft matter, and geometrical aspects of quantum field theory (QFT) in curved spaces. Recent theoretical and experimental work shows the influence of strains in many properties of graphene not considered before, such as electronic transport, spin-orbit coupling, the formation of Moir\'e patterns, optics, ... There is also significant evidence of anharmonic effects, which can modify the structural properties of graphene. These phenomena are not restricted to graphene, and they are being intensively studied in other two dimensional materials, such as the metallic dichalcogenides. We review here recent developments related to the role of strains in the structural and electronic properties of graphene and other two dimensional compounds.Comment: 75 pages, 15 figures, review articl

Prognostic implications of troponin T variations in inherited cardiomyopathies using systems biology.

The cardiac troponin T variations have often been used as an example of the application of clinical genotyping for prognostication and risk stratification measures for the management of patients with a family history of sudden cardiac death or familial cardiomyopathy. Given the disparity in patient outcomes and therapy options, we investigated the impact of variations on the intermolecular interactions across the thin filament complex as an example of an unbiased systems biology method to better define clinical prognosis to aid future management options. We present a novel unbiased dynamic model to define and analyse the functional, structural and physico-chemical consequences of genetic variations among the troponins. This was subsequently integrated with clinical data from accessible global multi-centre systematic reviews of familial cardiomyopathy cases from 106 articles of the literature: 136 disease-causing variations pertaining to 981 global clinical cases. Troponin T variations showed distinct pathogenic hotspots for dilated and hypertrophic cardiomyopathies; considering the causes of cardiovascular death separately, there was a worse survival in terms of sudden cardiac death for patients with a variation at regions 90-129 and 130-179 when compared to amino acids 1-89 and 200-288. Our data support variations among 90-130 as being a hotspot for sudden cardiac death and the region 131-179 for heart failure death/transplantation outcomes wherein the most common phenotype was dilated cardiomyopathy. Survival analysis into regions of high risk (regions 90-129 and 130-180) and low risk (regions 1-89 and 200-288) was significant for sudden cardiac death (p = 0.011) and for heart failure death/transplant (p = 0.028). Our integrative genomic, structural, model from genotype to clinical data integration has implications for enhancing clinical genomics methodologies to improve risk stratification

The BIODESERT survey: assessing the impacts of grazing on the structure and functioning of global drylands

Grazing by domestic livestock is both the main land use across drylands worldwide and a major desertification and global change driver. The ecological consequences of this key human activity have been studied for decades, and there is a wealth of information on its impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem processes. However, most field assessments of the ecological impacts of grazing on drylands conducted to date have been carried out at local or regional scales and have focused on single ecosystem attributes (e.g., plant productivity) or particular taxa (mainly aboveground, e.g., plants). Here we introduce the BIODESERT survey, the first systematic field survey devoted to evaluating the joint impacts of grazing by domestic livestock and climate on the structure and functioning of dryland ecosystems worldwide. This collaborative global survey was carried out between 2016 and 2019 and has involved the collection of field data and plant, biocrust, and soil samples from a total of 326 45 m × 45 m plots from 98 sites located in 25 countries from 6 continents. Here we describe the major characteristics and the field protocols used in this survey. We also introduce the organizational aspects followed, as these can be helpful to everyone wishing to establish a global collaborative network of researchers. The BIODESERT survey provides baseline data to assess the current status of dryland rangelands worldwide and the impacts of grazing on these key ecosystems, and it constitutes a good example of the power of collaborative research networks to study the ecology of our planet using much-needed field data.This research has been supported by the European Research Council (ERC grant agreement no. 647038 – BIODESERT) and the Conselleria de Innovación, Universidades, Ciencia y Sociedad Digital, Generalitat Valenciana (grant no. CIDEGENT/2018/041). Nicolas Gross was supported by CAP 20-25 (16-IDEX-0001) and the AgreenSkills+ fellowship program which has received funding from the EU's Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement no. 996 FP7-609398 (AgreenSkills+ contract). Hugo Saiz is supported by a María Zambrano fellowship funded by the Ministry of Universities and European Union Next Generation plan

A nanostructured Cu(II) coordination polymer based on alanine as a trifunctional mimic enzyme and efficient composite in the detection of Sphingobacteria

This research raises the potential use of coordination polymers as new useful materials in two essential research fields, allowing the obtaining of a new multiartificial enzyme with the capacity to inhibit the growth of bacteria resistance. The fine selection of the ligands allows the design of a new 2D coordination polymer (CP), with the formula [Cu2(IBA)2(OH2)4]n·6nH2O, by the combination of Cu (II) as the metal center with a pseudoamino acid (H2IBA = isophthaloyl bis β-alanine). Quantitative total X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) analyses show that the obtained CP can gradually release Cu (II) ions. Additionally, this CP can be nanoprocessed and transformed into a metal-organic gel (MOG) by using different Cu (II) salt concentrations and the application of ultrasounds. Considering its nanometric dimensions, the slow Cu (II) release and its simple processability, its performance as an artificial enzyme, and its antibacterial ability were explored. The results obtained show the first nanocoordination polymer acting as an artificial multienzyme (peroxidase, catalase, and superoxodismutase) exhibiting antibacterial activity in the presence of hydrogen peroxide, with selective behavior for three bacterium strains (S. spiritovirum, A. faecales, and B. cereus). Indeed, this CP shows a more robust inhibition capacity for Sphingobacterium. Going beyond that, as there are no comfortable and practically clinical tests capable of detecting the presence of Sphingobacteria, the compound can be easily embedded to form moldable gelatin that will facilitate the handling and low-cost commercial kit