Do protected areas conserve neotropical freshwater fishes? A case study of a biogeographic province in Venezuela

¿Las áreas protegidas conservan los peces continentales neotropicales? un caso de estudio para una provincia biogeográfica en Venezuela La efectividad de las áreas protegidas para la conservación de peces continentales es limitada ya que generalmente estas no son congruentes con los patrones regionales de la riqueza y distribución de las especies de peces. Como caso de estudio comparamos la riqueza, distribución y abundancia de la ictiofauna en ríos costeros de una provincia biogeográfica de Venezuela para determinar su estatus de conservación. Además, también estimamos la efectividad de las áreas protegidas para la conservación de la ictiofauna según la riqueza y distribución de especies en diferentes unidades fisiográficas y afluentes. La ictiofauna (72 spp., ~30% endémicas; ~10% amenazadas) se distribuyó acorde con la orografía, cuencas y unidades fisiográficas. La mayoría de áreas protegidas evidenciaron una efectividad baja para la conservación de peces, principalmente porque eran muy pequeñas o incluían sólo fragmentos de afluentes o cuencas, o porque estaban localizadas en zonas de montaña, donde la diversidad de especies era mínima. Para proteger con eficacia adecuada a a los peces continentales de la provincia, las áreas protegidas existentes deberían ser modificadas y expandidas. Palabras clave: Biodiversidad acuática, Provincia biogeográfica, Parques nacionales, Ríos costeros.The effectiveness of protected areas to conserve freshwater fishes is limited because these areas are not usually congruent with regional patterns of fish species richness and distribution. We compared the richness, distribution and abundance of coastal freshwater fishes in a biogeographic province of Venezuela to determine their conservation status. We also estimated the relevance of existing protected areas in conserving fishes in different physiographic units and tributaries by evaluating species richness and distribution. The ichthyofauna (72 spp., ~30% endemic, ~10% threatened) was distributed according to orography, drainage and physiographic units. Most protected areas had limited effectiveness for fish conservation, mainly because they were too small or included only fragments of tributaries or drainages, or because they were located only in highland drainages where species diversity was minimal. To adequately protect freshwater fishes in this province the existing protected areas should be modified and expanded. Key words: Aquatic biodiversity, Biogeographic province, National parks, Coastal rivers.¿Las áreas protegidas conservan los peces continentales neotropicales? un caso de estudio para una provincia biogeográfica en Venezuela La efectividad de las áreas protegidas para la conservación de peces continentales es limitada ya que generalmente estas no son congruentes con los patrones regionales de la riqueza y distribución de las especies de peces. Como caso de estudio comparamos la riqueza, distribución y abundancia de la ictiofauna en ríos costeros de una provincia biogeográfica de Venezuela para determinar su estatus de conservación. Además, también estimamos la efectividad de las áreas protegidas para la conservación de la ictiofauna según la riqueza y distribución de especies en diferentes unidades fisiográficas y afluentes. La ictiofauna (72 spp., ~30% endémicas; ~10% amenazadas) se distribuyó acorde con la orografía, cuencas y unidades fisiográficas. La mayoría de áreas protegidas evidenciaron una efectividad baja para la conservación de peces, principalmente porque eran muy pequeñas o incluían sólo fragmentos de afluentes o cuencas, o porque estaban localizadas en zonas de montaña, donde la diversidad de especies era mínima. Para proteger con eficacia adecuada a a los peces continentales de la provincia, las áreas protegidas existentes deberían ser modificadas y expandidas. Palabras clave: Biodiversidad acuática, Provincia biogeográfica, Parques nacionales, Ríos costeros

Spintronics: bacis principles and applications

Spintronics often referred to the study of electron spins. This paper presents an overview of this theory and the basic physical principles that account for the behavior of the electron spins. The first part is focuses on the physical principles by which to generate spin-polarized currents, spin dynamics and transport in semiconductors. The second part presents some practical applications, such as: spin valves and magnetic tunnel junctions, which are currently being developed and focus the expectation of memory and information storage future devices

Seismic performance of historical buildings based on discrete element method: an adobe church

This article presents the main concepts and the application of the discrete element method (DEM) for evaluating the seismic performance of historical buildings. Furthermore, the out-of-plane behavior of an adobe church with thick walls, in which the morphology of the cross-section can have an influence on the response, was evaluated by the DEM. The performance of rigid and deformable blocks models was compared, and the sensitivity of the numerical model to the variation of critical parameters was investigated. The results allowed the identification of the most vulnerable elements and a proposal of recommendations for reducing the seismic vulnerability

Activation of Ventral Tegmental Area 5-HT2C Receptors Reduces Incentive Motivation

FUNDING AND DISCLOSURE The research was funded by Wellcome Trust (WT098012) to LKH; and National Institute of Health (DK056731) and the Marilyn H. Vincent Foundation to MGM. The University of Michigan Transgenic Core facility is partially supported by the NIH-funded University of Michigan Center for Gastrointestinal Research (DK034933). The remaining authors declare no conflict of interest. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank Dr Celine Cansell, Ms Raffaella Chianese and the staff of the Medical Research Facility for technical assistance. We thank Dr Vladimir Orduña for the scientific advice and technical assistance.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Estimands and their estimators for clinical trials Impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic: a report from the NISS Ingram Olkin Forum Series on unplanned clinical trial disruptions

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the conduct of clinical trials globally. Complications may arise from pandemic-related operational challenges such as site closures, travel limitations and interruptions to the supply chain for the investigational product, or from health-related challenges such as COVID-19 infections. Some of these complications lead to unforeseen intercurrent events in the sense that they affect either the interpretation or the existence of the measurements associated with the clinical question of interest. In this article, we demonstrate how the ICH E9(R1) Addendum on estimands and sensitivity analyses provides a rigorous basis to discuss potential pandemic-related trial disruptions and to embed these disruptions in the context of study objectives and design elements. We introduce several hypothetical estimand strategies and review various causal inference and missing data methods, as well as a statistical method that combines unbiased and possibly biased estimators for estimation. To illustrate, we describe the features of a stylized trial, and how it may have been impacted by the pandemic. This stylized trial will then be re-visited by discussing the changes to the estimand and the estimator to account for pandemic disruptions. Finally, we outline considerations for designing future trials in the context of unforeseen disruptions

Modulación de la expresión de la L-selectina por agentes quimiotácticos y GM-CSF

L-selectin is an adhesion molecule with constitutive expression located on the membrane of granulocytes, monocytes and lymphocytes. It is involved in the early stages of migration of these cells toward either the sites of inflammation or lymphoid tissues. After the cells are activated, Lselectin is down-regulated with shedding of a soluble fragment. Flow cytometry was used to measure L-selectin expression levels on the granulocyte surface, after incubation with a phorbol esther (PMA), two chemotactic factors (fMLP and LTB4) and a cytokine (GM-CSF). Under basal conditions, the expression of L-selectin was found in a high percentage (95.0 ± 0.7) of granulocytes; PMA stimulation led to a marked decrease in expression (3.2 ± 0.6). Chemotactic factors also led to a significant decrease in L-selectin expression (69.9 ± 5.0 for LTB4, and 53.70 ± 4.3 for fMLP), whereas the incubation with GM-CSF produced no significant changes (89.1 ± 4.8). When all the conditions were compared, the PMA effect was significantly higher than those observed with other stimuli; furthermore, the expression upon incubation with fMLP and LTB4 was statistically significant. These results suggest that the level of activation reached by granulocytes is directly related to their capacity for shedding L-selectin from the cell surface, and that these levels are lowered after the stimulation by chemotactic factors. GM-CSF activates several important functions of granulocyte cells, however it does not induce L-selectin shedding.La L-selectina es una molécula de adhesión que se expresa constitutivamente en la membrana de los granulocitos, monocitos y linfocitos, células en las cuales interviene en los procesos iniciales de migración hacia los sitios de inflamación y órganos linfoides. Una vez que dichas células son activadas, la L-selectina experimenta un proceso de regulación negativa con la liberación de un fragmento soluble. Con el objetivo de analizar el efecto de algunos agentes quimiotácticos fisiológicos y un estimulante artificial sobre la expresión de la L-selectina en la superficie de los granulocitos de sangre periférica, se evaluó ésta por citometría de flujo en leucocitos no estimulados y luego de su incubación con un éster de forbol (PMA), dos agentes quimiotácticos (fMLP y LTB4) y una citocina (GM-CSF). En condiciones basales, la expresión de la L-selectina se encontró en un porcentaje alto (95,03 ± 0,67); la estimulación con PMA indujo una disminución notable en la expresión de esta molécula (3,16 ± 0,63). Los factores quimiotácticos llevaron también a una reducción significativa (69,89 ± 4,96 para LTB4 y 53,70 ± 4,30 para fMLP), mientras que la incubación con GM-CSF no produjo cambios significativos con respecto a la expresión basal (89,08 ± 4,81). Al comparar las diferentes condiciones de estimulación entre ellas, se observó que el efecto del PMA fue significativamente mayor que los demás estímulos; además, cuando se comparó la reducción de la expresión generada por el fMLP y el LTB4 también se encontró que entre ellas existía una diferencia estadísticamente significativa. Estos resultados sugieren que el grado de activación alcanzado por los granulocitos se relaciona directamente con la capacidad para liberar la L-selectina desde su superficie, siendo ésta menos intensa después de la acción de estímulos fisiológicos como los agentes quimiotácticos; si bien el GM-CSF activa funciones importantes en la fisiología de los granulocitos, no induce la pérdida de la L-selectina desde la membrana celular

Analysis of the Candida Albicans Phosphoproteome

Candida albicans is an important human fungal pathogen in both immunocompetent and immunocompromised individuals. C. albicans regulation has been studied in many contexts, including morphological transitions, mating competence, biofilm forma- tion, stress resistance, and cell wall synthesis. Analysis of kinase- and phosphatase-deficient mutants has made it clear that pro- tein phosphorylation plays an important role in the regulation of these pathways. In this study, to further our understanding of phosphorylation in C. albicans regulation, we performed a deep analysis of the phosphoproteome in C. albicans. We identified 19,590 unique peptides that corresponded to 15,906 unique phosphosites on 2,896 proteins. The ratios of serine, threonine, and tyrosine phosphosites were 80.01%, 18.11%, and 1.81%, respectively. The majority of proteins (2,111) contained at least two de- tected phosphorylation sites. Consistent with findings in other fungi, cytoskeletal proteins were among the most highly phos- phorylated proteins, and there were differences in Gene Ontology (GO) terms for proteins with serine and threonine versus ty- rosine phosphorylation sites. This large-scale analysis identified phosphosites in protein components of Mediator, an important transcriptional coregulatory protein complex. A targeted analysis of the phosphosites in Mediator complex proteins confirmed the large-scale studies, and further in vitro assays identified a subset of these phosphorylations that were catalyzed by Cdk8 (Ssn3), a kinase within the Mediator complex. These data represent the deepest single analysis of a fungal phosphoproteome and lay the groundwork for future analyses of the C. albicans phosphoproteome and specific phosphoproteins

(Mathematical) Logic for Systems Biology (Invited Paper)

International audienceWe advocates here the use of (mathematical) logic for systems biology, as a unified framework well suited for both modeling the dynamic behaviour of biological systems, expressing properties of them, and verifying these properties. The potential candidate logics should have a traditional proof theoretic pedigree (including a sequent calculus presentation enjoying cut-elimination and focusing), and should come with (certified) proof tools. Beyond providing a reliable framework, this allows the adequate encodings of our biological systems. We present two candidate logics (two modal extensions of linear logic, called HyLL and SELL), along with biological examples. The examples we have considered so far are very simple ones-coming with completely formal (interactive) proofs in Coq. Future works includes using automatic provers, which would extend existing automatic provers for linear logic. This should enable us to specify and study more realistic examples in systems biology, biomedicine (diagnosis and prognosis), and eventually neuroscience