549 research outputs found
High-trhoughput screening of cytochrome C novel partners chlamydomonas ReindhartII
Comunicaciones a congreso
The recovery of octocoral populations following periodic disturbance masks their vulnerability to persistent global change
Funding: This research was funded by the US National Science Foundation through a series of grants to PJE (OCE 13-32915 and OCE 17-56678) and HRL (OCE 13-34052, OCE 17-56381 and OCE 18-01475) and was carried out under the necessary permits from the National Park Service (most recently VIIS-2019-SCI-0022).As the major form of coral reef regime shift, stony coral to macroalgal transitions have received considerable attention. In the Caribbean, however, regime shifts in which scleractinian corals are replaced by octocoral assemblages hold potential for maintaining reef associated communities. Accordingly, forecasting the resilience of octocoral assemblages to future disturbance regimes is necessary to understand these assemblages’ capacity to maintain reef biodiversity. We parameterised integral projection models quantifying the survival, growth, and recruitment of the octocorals, Antillogorgia americana, Gorgonia ventalina, and Eunicea flexuosa, in St John, US Virgin Islands, before, during, and after severe hurricane disturbance. Using these models, we forecast the density of populations of each species under varying future hurricane regimes. We demonstrate that although hurricanes reduce population growth, A. americana, G. ventalina, and E. flexuosa each display a capacity for quick recovery following storm disturbance. Despite this recovery potential, we illustrate how the population dynamics of each species correspond with a longer- term decline in their population densities. Despite their resilience to periodic physical disturbance events, ongoing global change jeopardises the future viability of octocoral assemblages.Peer reviewe
Bacterial Taxa Associated with High Adherence to Mediterranean Diet in a Spanish Population
The Mediterranean diet (MD) is recognised as one of the healthiest diets worldwide and is associated with the prevention of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, among others. Dietary habits are considered one of the strongest modulators of the gut microbiota, which seems to play a significant role in the health and disease of the host. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate interactive associations between gut microbiota composition and habitual dietary intake in 360 Spanish adults of the Obekit cohort (normal weight, overweight and obese subjects). Dietary intake and adherence to the MD tests together with faecal samples were collected from each subject. Faecal 16S rRNA sequencing was performed and checked against the dietary habits. MetagenomeSeq was the statistical tool applied to analyse at the species taxonomic level. Results from this study confirm that a strong adherence to the MD increases the population of some beneficial bacteria, improving microbiota status towards a healthier pattern. Bifidobacterium animalis is the species with the strongest association with the MD. One of the highlights is the positive association between several SCFA-producing bacteria and high adherence to the MD. In conclusion, this study shows that MD, fibre, legumes, vegetables, fruit and nuts intakes are associated with an increase in butyrate-producing taxa such as Roseburia faecis, Ruminococcus bromii and Oscillospira (Flavonifractor) plautii
The ALHAMBRA photometric system
This paper presents the characterization of the optical range of the ALHAMBRA
photometric system, a 20 contiguous, equal-width, medium-band CCD system with
wavelength coverage from 3500A to 9700A. The photometric description of the
system is done by presenting the full response curve as a product of the
filters, CCD and atmospheric transmission curves, and using some first and
second order moments of this response function. We also introduce the set of
standard stars that defines the system, formed by 31 classic spectrophotometric
standard stars which have been used in the calibration of other known
photometric systems, and 288 stars, flux calibrated homogeneously, from the
Next Generation Spectral Library (NGSL). Based on the NGSL, we determine the
transformation equations between Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) ugriz
photometry and the ALHAMBRA photometric system, in order to establish some
relations between both systems. Finally we develop and discuss a strategy to
calculate the photometric zero points of the different pointings in the
ALHAMBRA project.Comment: Astronomical Journal on the 14th of January 201
Orientational transitions in a nematic confined by competing surfaces
The effect of confinement on the orientational structure of a nematic liquid
crystal model has been investigated by using a version of density-functional
theory (DFT). We have focused on the case of a nematic confined by opposing
flat surfaces, in slab geometry (slit pore), which favor planar molecular
alignment (parallel to the surface) and homeotropic alignment (perpendicular to
the surface), respectively. The spatial dependence of the tilt angle of the
director with respect to the surface normal has been studied, as well as the
tensorial order parameter describing the molecular order around the director.
For a pore of given width, we find that, for weak surface fields, the alignment
of the nematic director is perpendicular to the surface in a region next to the
surface favoring homeotropic alignment, and parallel along the rest of the
pore, with a interface separating these regions (S phase). For strong surface
fields, the director is distorted uniformly, the tilt angle exhibiting a linear
dependence with the distance normal to the surface (L phase). Our calculations
reveal the existence of a first-order transition between the two director
configurations, which is driven by changes in the surface field strength, and
also by changes in the pore width. In the latter case the transition occurs,
for a given surface field, between the S phase for narrow pores and the L phase
for wider pores. A link between the L-S transition and the anchoring transition
observed for the semi-infinite case is proposed. We also provide calculations
with a phenomenological approach that yields the same main result that DFT in
the scale length where this is valid.Comment: submitted to PR
mpMRI-US Fusion-Guided Targeted Cryotherapy in Patients with Primary Localized Prostate Cancer: A Prospective Analysis of Oncological and Functional Outcomes.
Targeted therapy (TT) for prostate cancer (PCa) aims to ablate the malignant lesion with
an adequate margin of safety in order to obtain similar oncological outcomes, but with less toxicity
than radical treatments. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the recurrence rate (RR) in
patients with primary localized PCa undergoing mpMRI/US fusion targeted cryotherapy (FTC). A
secondary objective was to evaluate prostate-specific antigen (PSA) as a predictor of recurrences.
We designed a prospective single-center single-cohort study. Patients with primary localized PCa,
mono or multifocal lesions, PSA 15 ng/mL, and a Gleason score (GS) 4 + 3 undergoing FTC
were enrolled. RR was chosen as the primary outcome. Recurrence was defined as the presence of
clinically significant prostate cancer in the treated areas. PSA values measured at different times were
tested as predictors of recurrence. Continuous variables were assessed with the Bayesian t-test and
categorical assessments with the chix-squared test. Univariate and logistic regression assessment
were used for predictions. A total of 75 cases were included in the study. Ten subjects developed a
recurrence (RR: 15.2%), while fifty-six (84.8%) patients showed a recurrence-free status. A %PSA drop
of 31.5% during the first 12 months after treatment predicted a recurrence with a sensitivity of 53.8%
and a specificity of 79.2%. A PSA drop of 55.3% 12 months after treatment predicted a recurrence
with a sensitivity of 91.7% and a specificity of 51.9%. FTC for primary localized PCa seems to be
associated with a low but not negligible percentage of recurrences. Serum PSA levels may have a role
indicating RR.post-print644 K
The Impact of the Multi-core Revolution on Signal Processing
This paper analyzes the influence of new multi- core and many-core architectures on Signal Processing. The article covers both the architectural design and the programming models of current general-purpose multi-core processors and graphics processors (GPU), with the goal of identifying their possibilities and impact on signal processing applications
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