Correlations in Networks associated to Preferential Growth

Combinations of random and preferential growth for both on-growing and stationary networks are studied and a hierarchical topology is observed. Thus for real world scale-free networks which do not exhibit hierarchical features preferential growth is probably not the main ingredient in the growth process. An example of such real world networks includes the protein-protein interaction network in yeast, which exhibits pronounced anti-hierarchical features.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Secuestro de C en plantaciones de Eucalyptus spp establecidas en terrenos agrícolas en el norte de España

Una de las estrategias que se ha planteado para fijar gases con efecto invernadero (CO2, CH4 y N2O) es el aumento de la superficie forestal. España es uno de los países que más han contribuido a incrementar la superficie forestal en Europa, lo que se debe en buena parte al establecimiento de parcelas en tierras agrarias en situación de marginalidad. Durante el período de 11 años, transcurridos entre el segundo y el tercer inventarios forestales (1987 y 1998), el almacenamiento de C en biomasa arbórea en el norte de España ha aumentado en un 50 %. En este trabajo se realiza una primera estimación de las ganancias de C en biomasa y suelo en plantaciones de eucalipto establecidas en terrenos agrícolas. Para ello se seleccionaron un total de 25 pares de parcelas. Se trata de parcelas agrarias en las cuales parte de la superficie se transformó a plantación de Eucalyptus sp. En estas parcelas se determinó la acumulación de C en biomasa arbórea, mantillo y suelo en tres profundidades 0-5, 5-15 y 15-30 cm. Dado las mejores condiciones de fertilidad y mayor profundidad, que promueven el crecimiento arbóreo, la tasa de acumulación de C en biomasa es considerablemente superior a las plantaciones establecidas en suelos forestales. Los datos de este trabajo muestran acumulaciones superiores a 17 Mg ha-1 año-1. La acumulación de C en el mantillo también es superior a 1 Mg ha-1 año-1. En cuanto al suelo mineral, las pérdidas de C se reducen con los años desde el cambio de uso, fundamentalmente a partir de los 15 años del establecimiento y en plantaciones sobre esquistos y pizarras. Hasta ese momento se produjeron ligeras pérdidas.____________________________________One of the strategies proposed for fixing gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect (CO2, CH4 and N2O) is to increase the extension of land covered by forest. Spain is one of the countries that has contributed most to the increase in the forest area in Europe, largely due to the establishment of forest plots on marginal agricultural land. During the 11- year period between the second and third forest inventories (1987 and 1998), there has been a 50% increase in the storage of C in tree biomass in northern Spain. In the present study, a first estimate was made of the increase in C in biomass and soil in eucalyptus plantations established on agricultural land. A total of 25 pairs of plots were selected for the study. The plots are on agricultural land, part of which has been transformed by plantation of Eucalyptus sp. The amount of C accumulated in the tree biomass, humus and three different depths of soil (0-5, 5-15 and 15-30 cm) was determined. Given the more fertile conditions and the greater depth of the soil, which favour tree growth, the rate of accumulation of C in the biomass was considerably higher than in plantations established on forest soils. The data obtained in the present study revealed accumulations of C of more than 17 Mg ha-1 year-1. Accumulation of C in the humus was also higher than 1 Mg ha-1 year-1. The losses of C in the mineral soil decreased since the change in land use, generally from 15 years after establishment onwards, and in plantations on schists and slates. Slight losses of C were observed up until this time

Serum and cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder and myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein associated disease

The term neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) describes a group of clinical-MRI syndromes characterized by longitudinally extensive transverse myelitis, optic neuritis, brainstem dysfunction and/or, less commonly, encephalopathy. About 80% of patients harbor antibodies directed against the water channel aquaporin-4 (AQP4-IgG), expressed on astrocytes, which was found to be both a biomarker and a pathogenic cause of NMOSD. More recently, antibodies against myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG-IgG), have been found to be a biomarker of a different entity, termed MOG antibody-associated disease (MOGAD), which has overlapping, but different pathogenesis, clinical features, treatment response, and prognosis when compared to AQP4-IgG-positive NMOSD. Despite important refinements in the accuracy of AQP4-IgG and MOG-IgG testing assays, a small proportion of patients with NMOSD still remain negative for both antibodies and are called "seronegative" NMOSD. Whilst major advances have been made in the diagnosis and treatment of these conditions, biomarkers that could help predict the risk of relapses, disease activity, and prognosis are still lacking. In this context, a number of serum and/or cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers are emerging as potentially useful in clinical practice for diagnostic and treatment purposes. These include antibody titers, cytokine profiles, complement factors, and markers of neuronal (e.g., neurofilament light chain) or astroglial (e.g., glial fibrillary acidic protein) damage. The aim of this review is to summarize current evidence regarding the role of emerging diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in patients with NMOSD and MOGAD

Working Group on Mackerel and Horse Mackerel Egg Surveys (WGMEGS). 2021

WGMEG

Silicon-hydroxyapatite bioactive coatings (Si-HA) from diatomaceous earth and silica. Study of adhesion and proliferation of osteoblast-like cells

The aim of this study consisted on investigating the influence of silicon substituted hydroxyapatite (Si–HA) coatings over the human osteoblast-like cell line (SaOS-2) behaviour. Diatomaceous earth and silica, together with commercial hydroxyapatite were respectively the silicon and HA sources used to produce the Si–HA coatings. HA coatings with 0 wt% of silicon were used as control of the experiment. Pulsed laser deposition (PLD) was the selected technique to deposit the coatings. The Si–HA thin films were characterized by Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) demonstrating the efficient transfer of Si to the HA structure. The in vitro cell culture was established to assess the cell attachment, proliferation and osteoblastic activity respectively by, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), DNA and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) quantification. The SEM analysis demonstrated a similar adhesion behaviour of the cells on the tested materials and the maintenance of the typical osteoblastic morphology along the time of culture. The Si–HA coatings did not evidence any type of cytotoxic behaviour when compared with HA coatings. Moreover, both the proliferation rate and osteoblastic activity results showed a slightly better performance on the Si–HA coatings from diatoms than on the Si–HA from silica.This work was supported by the UE-Interreg IIIA (SP1.P151/03) Proteus project and Xunta de Galicia ( Projects: 2006/12 and PGIDITO5PXIC30301PN)

Calculation of mackerel adult parameters for the application of the DEPM in the western spawning area

The ICES Working Group on Mackerel and Horse Mackerel Egg Surveys (WGMEGS) coordinates the mackerel and horse mackerel egg survey in the Northeast Atlantic (NEA) and the mackerel egg survey in the North Sea. The working group plans and reports on these surveys, with recent attention focused on the execution of the surveys given the increasing demands related to covering the expanding survey area as well as balanced fecundity sampling. WGMEGS also addresses data quality assurance in macke-rel fecundity and total annual egg production estimation.Currently, there are 3 surveys in place which are carried out triennially and deliver standing stock bio-mass (SSB) indices: (1) the survey for the western and southern stock components of the NEA mackerel stock, as well as for the western horse mackerel stock, (2) the survey for the NEA mackerel North Sea stock component, and (3) the survey for the southern horse mackerel stock.For the North Sea component, the egg survey in 2017 revealed an estimated egg production of 201*1012, resulting in an SSB of 287*103 tons. This is a strong increase of more than 100*103 tons com-pared to 2015 (SSB = 170*103 tons). While peak spawning in the North Sea was covered, the coverage of the complete spawning season and area was insufficient to produce a reliable estimate of survey in-dices.In 2019, the application of an alternate transect survey design made it possible to survey the persis-tently expanding mackerel spawning area and season. Northern and northwestern spawning bounda-ries for mackerel during survey periods 5 (weeks 19 – 22) and 6 (weeks 23 – 26) were not fully deline-ated. Peak spawning was observed in period 4 (weeks 16 – 18). Subsequent analyses of survey results in conjunction with results from exploratory surveys in the inter-survey-years showed that the mackerel core spawning area was covered and a reliable estimate of mackerel annual egg production was deliv-ered. The estimate of total mackerel egg production was 1.64*1015, which is a decrease of 7.6% com-pared to that of 2016 (rev. 1.77*1015).Realized fecundity was estimated at 1147 per g female, revealing the SSB for the NEA mackerel stock in 2019 at 3.09 million tons indicating at 12 % decrease since the 2016 survey (SSB = 3.52 million tons). At only 1.78*1014 , total annual egg production (TAEP) in western horse mackerel was found to be lowest production reported in the time series since 1992. The spawning maximum was detected in the last pe-riod 7 (weeks 27 – 29). It can, thus, not be concluded that peak spawning and the entire temporal ex-tent of horse mackerel spawning had been sufficiently covered.To further improve the quality of the index time series, WGMEGS will continue to dedicate much of its work to survey design and quality assurance in mackerel egg production and fecundity estimation

A quantitative analysis of measures of quality in science

Condensing the work of any academic scientist into a one-dimensional measure of scientific quality is a difficult problem. Here, we employ Bayesian statistics to analyze several different measures of quality. Specifically, we determine each measure's ability to discriminate between scientific authors. Using scaling arguments, we demonstrate that the best of these measures require approximately 50 papers to draw conclusions regarding long term scientific performance with usefully small statistical uncertainties. Further, the approach described here permits the value-free (i.e., statistical) comparison of scientists working in distinct areas of science.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, 4 table