Complex Networks and Symmetry I: A Review

In this review we establish various connections between complex networks and symmetry. While special types of symmetries (e.g., automorphisms) are studied in detail within discrete mathematics for particular classes of deterministic graphs, the analysis of more general symmetries in real complex networks is far less developed. We argue that real networks, as any entity characterized by imperfections or errors, necessarily require a stochastic notion of invariance. We therefore propose a definition of stochastic symmetry based on graph ensembles and use it to review the main results of network theory from an unusual perspective. The results discussed here and in a companion paper show that stochastic symmetry highlights the most informative topological properties of real networks, even in noisy situations unaccessible to exact techniques.Comment: Final accepted versio

Evaluación de LSM4 como potencial diana terapéutica en el cáncer de próstata

El cáncer de próstata (CaP) es una de las principales neoplasias malignas que afecta a la salud de millones de hombres, siendo el segundo tipo de cáncer más diagnosticado en todo el mundo. El CaP presenta un mal pronóstico y suele llevar al fracaso terapéutico en etapas avanzadas. En un estudio previo del laboratorio, a través de la identificación de vulnerabilidades genéticas específicas en CaP avanzado, se identificó LSM4 como potencial diana terapéutica para el desarrollo de nuevos tratamientos. El objetivo de este trabajo ha sido la evaluación de LSM4 como potencial diana terapéutica en el CaP avanzado. La evaluación de LSM4 se realizó en base a información recopilada acerca de sus funciones biológicas y su relevancia en el cáncer. A continuación, se evaluó su expresión en pacientes con CaP respecto a individuos sanos y en estadios agresivos y metastásicos a comparación de no-agresivos y primarios, también se evaluaron los niveles relativos de LSM4 en distintos modelos celulares de próstata. Finalmente, se probaron distintos vectores de ARNsh para la generación de modelos de silenciamiento de LSM4 en la línea celular 22rv1. Los resultados obtenidos mostraron la implicación de LSM4 en cáncer y su posible participación en el desarrollo del CaP. Además, se observó que LSM4 estaba sobreexpresado en pacientes con CaP con respecto a individuos sanos y en distintas líneas celulares de CaP el gen tuvo una mayor expresión que en la línea sana. Finalmente, se obtuvo un modelo de silenciamiento de LSM4 eficiente mediante el vector sh-8, para posteriormente evaluar su efecto en la proliferación celular. Se concluyó que LSM4 tiene potencial como diana terapéutica para el desarrollo de fármacos en el CaP avanzado. Además, podría estar relacionado con la proliferación tumoral, lo cual se debe seguir estudiando en futuras investigaciones.Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the main malignant neoplasms affecting the health of millions of men, being the second most diagnosed cancer worldwide. PCa has a poor prognosis and often leads to therapeutic failure in advanced stages. In a previous study of the laboratory, through the identification of specific genetic vulnerabilities in advanced PCa, LSM4 was identified as a potential drug target for the development of new treatments. The aim of this work has been the evaluation of LSM4 as a potential drug target in advanced PCa. The evaluation of LSM4 was performed based on information gathered about its biological functions and relevance in cancer. Then, its expression was evaluated in PCa patients with respect to healthy individuals and in aggressive and metastatic stages compared to non-aggressive and primary ones, and the relative levels of LSM4 in different prostate cell models were also evaluated. Finally, different shRNA vectors were tested for the generation of LSM4 silencing models in the 22rv1 cell line. The results obtained showed the involvement of LSM4 in cancer and its possible participation in the development of PCa. Furthermore, it was observed that LSM4 was over-expressed in PCa patients with respect to healthy individuals, and in different PCa cell lines the gene had a higher expression than in the healthy line. Finally, an efficient LSM4 silencing model was obtained using the sh-8 vector, to subsequently evaluate its effect on cell proliferation. It was concluded that LSM4 has potential as a drug target for drug development in advanced PCa. In addition, it could be related to tumor proliferation, which should be further studied in future research.Biotecnologí

Complex Networks and Symmetry II: Reciprocity and Evolution of World Trade

We exploit the symmetry concepts developed in the companion review of this article to introduce a stochastic version of link reversal symmetry, which leads to an improved understanding of the reciprocity of directed networks. We apply our formalism to the international trade network and show that a strong embedding in economic space determines particular symmetries of the network, while the observed evolution of reciprocity is consistent with a symmetry breaking taking place in production space. Our results show that networks can be strongly affected by symmetry-breaking phenomena occurring in embedding spaces, and that stochastic network symmetries can successfully suggest, or rule out, possible underlying mechanisms.Comment: Final accepted versio

What are the costs and benefits of biodiversity recovery in a highly polluted estuary?

Biodiversity recovery measures have often been ignored when dealing with the restoration of degraded aquatic systems. Furthermore, biological valuation methods have been applied only spatially in previous studies, and not jointly on a temporal and spatial scale. The intense monitoring efforts carried out in a highly polluted estuary, in northern Spain (Nervión estuary), allowed for the economic valuation of the costs and the biological valuation of the benefits associated with a 21 years sewage scheme application. The analysis show that the total amount of money invested into the sewage scheme has contributed to the estuary's improvement of both environmental and biological features, as well as to an increase in the uses and services provided by the estuary. However, the inner and outer parts of the estuary showed different responses. An understanding of the costs and trajectories of the environmental recovery of degraded aquatic systems is increasingly necessary to allow policy makers and regulators to formulate robust, cost-efficient and feasible management decisions

Colour morph does not predict brood size in the Booted Eagle.

Mechanisms regulating colour polymorphism remain largely unknown and detailed investigation is required to explore the biological consequences on population dynamics. This paper presents the first study of the possible connection between colour polymorphism and productivity in a Booted Eagle (Aquila pennata) population breeding in southeastern Spain. To that end we used 19 years of data of non-marked individuals. A total of 738 pale (91.6%) and 68 dark (8.4%) adult Booted Eagles were observed in our study area, including 57 territories. Our results suggest that colour morph of both sexes remained stable in the population over the study period. Although we found a higher number of offspring produced by parents exhibiting the dark morph than those of the pale morph, statistical differences were not significant. Hence, our models showed that colour polymorphism was not a good predictor of Booted Eagles'productivity, although further research by capture-recapture analysis would be needed to explore the influence of colour variation on fitness components at individual level and its consequences at population level of long-lived species

Distribución geográfica y temporal de incendios en colombia utilizando datos de anomalías térmicas

Patrones de distribución en el tiempo y en el espacio de las anomalías térmicasdetectadas por el sensor MODIS son analizadas para el territorio colombiano entrediciembre 2000 y Febrero 2009. Se presenta un estudio de la dinámica inter-anuale intra-anual de la superfi cie afectada por los incendios para distintas coberturasde vegetación. También se analiza los patrones al interior de áreas protegidas,reservas forestales, reservas indígenas y territorio de comunidades negras, con lafi nalidad de analizar el posible rol como barrera a los incendios de estas fi guras demanejo en Colombia. Adicionalmente se analiza la distribución temporal y espacialpor regiones naturales, Corporaciones Autónomas Regionales y Departamentos.La información proporcionada por este tipo de análisis puede ser de gran utilidadpara la toma de decisiones en el manejo de los recursos naturales en el país. Losresultados obtenidos indican que los Llanos de Colombia es el área más afectadaanualmente por los incendios, seguida del Caribe y de la zona Andina, en particularel piedemonte amazónico. Estos análisis muestran el potencial para identifi car ymodelar la distribución de los incendios en el país y la identifi cación de patronesen función tanto de las características de la vegetación como del manejo que se estérealizando en un lugar determinado y pueden ser de utilidad para mejorar la gestiónde riesgo de incendios en el país, así como para entender los cambios de uso que sehan dado en Colombia en la última década

Casos complejos: Enfermedad de Peyronie: cirugía sin/con implante de prótesis de pene.

Introducción y objetivo El tratamiento de elección en pacientes con enfermedad de Peyronie con dificultad para la penetración o disfunción eréctil sin adecuada respuesta a fármacos es la cirugía. Se han descrito múltiples técnicas, y cada una de ellas acarrea posibles complicaciones y secuelas que el urólogo debe conocer para ofrecer al paciente la mejor alternativa posible. Pacientes y métodos Se exponen 3 casos complejos de pacientes con enfermedad de Peyronie. El primero de ellos es un paciente con una secuela tras una plicatura peneana por una curva importante dorsal. El segundo es un paciente con dificultad para la penetración anal secundaria a un problema de dirección de la erección tras una cirugía de incisión de placa con injerto de mucosa oral. El último caso es un paciente con una complicación tardía en el postoperatorio de una colocación de prótesis de 3 componentes con incisión de la placa y parche de colágeno equino. Resultados Se detallan y discuten las posibles opciones quirúrgicas para los 3 pacientes. Los pacientes fueron informados de las diferentes opciones y se decidió de manera consensuada la cirugía definitiva. Conclusiones La cirugía de la enfermedad de Peyronie exige al urólogo la consideración de las esferas funcional, estética y psicológica a la hora de plantear alternativas de tratamiento. Un abordaje sistemático de todas ellas evita complicaciones y secuelas, y mejora los resultados.pre-print1298 K

Effects of Osteopathic Visceral Treatment in Patients with Gastroesophageal Reflux: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Osteopathic manual treatment has been recommended as a non-pharmacological therapy for Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD). However, to date, no study has supported the effectiveness of this intervention with respect to the symptoms of the disease. Our goal was to assess the effect of an osteopathic manual technique for the lower esophageal sphincter on GERD symptoms, cervical mobility and on the C4 spinous process pressure pain threshold (PPTs). Methods: A randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled trial was performed. Sixty subjects suffering from GERD participated in this study and were randomly assigned to either an experimental group (EG) (n = 29), who received the osteopathic technique for the lower esophageal sphincter, or to a control group (CG) (n = 31), who received a manual contact, which mimicked the osteopathic technique without exerting any therapeutic force. Randomization was computer-generated, with allocation concealed by sequentially numbered, opaque, sealed envelopes. The GerdQ questionnaire was used to assess symptom changes the week after intervention. Cervical Range of Motion (CROM) and algometer were used to evaluate cervical mobility and PPTs before and after both treatments. Before-after between groups comparison (t-test) was used for statistical analysis of the outcome, with two measurement points (GerdQ), while repeated-measures ANOVA was used for those outcomes with four measurement points (CROM and PPT). Results: The application of the osteopathic manual treatment in subjects with GERD produced a significant improvement in symptoms one week after the intervention (p = 0.005) with a between-groups difference of 1.49 points in GerdQ score (95% CI: 0.47-2.49). PPT C4 improved in the EG after the treatment (p = 0.034; eta(2) = 0.048) (between-groups difference 8.78 Newton/cm(2); 95% CI: 0.48-17.09). CROM also increased in the EG compared to the CG (p < 0.001; eta(2) = 0.108) (between-groups difference 33.89 degrees; 95% CI: 15.17-52.61). Conclusions: The manual osteopathic technique produces an improvement in GERD symptoms one week after treatment, cervical mobility, and PPTs. This may mean that osteopathic treatment is useful for improving symptoms of GERD