Characterization of the hyperbolic step of parabolic functions

A classical problem in Complex Dynamics on hyperbolic domains is to characterize the hyperbolic step of parabolic functions. This topic has been studied by several authors, leading to different results and providing characterizations that depend on the behaviour of the iterates of such function. In this work we provide new characterizations in terms of intrinsic properties of the function

Molecular characterization of autophagic and apoptotic signaling induced by sorafenib in liver cancer cells

Sorafenib is the unique accepted molecular targeted drug for the treatment of patients in advanced stage of hepatocellular carcinoma. The current study evaluated cell signaling regulation of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, c-Jun-N-terminal kinase (JNK), Akt, and 5′AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) leading to autophagy and apoptosis induced by sorafenib. Sorafenib induced early (3–12 hr) ER stress characterized by an increase of Ser51P-eIF2α/eIF2α, C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP), IRE1α, and sXBP1, but a decrease of activating transcription factor 6 expression, overall temporally associated with the increase of Thr183,Tyr185P-JNK1/2/JNK1/2, Thr172P-AMPKα, Ser413P-Foxo3a, Thr308P-AKt/AKt and Thr32P-Foxo3a/Foxo3a ratios, and reduction of Ser2481P-mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)/mTOR and protein translation. This pattern was related to a transient increase of tBid, Bim EL, Beclin-1, Bcl-xL, Bcl-2, autophagy markers, and reduction of myeloid cell leukemia-1 (Mcl-1) expression. The progressive increase of CHOP expression, and reduction of Thr308P-AKt/AKt and Ser473P-AKt/AKt ratios were associated with the reduction of autophagic flux and an additional upregulation of Bim EL expression and caspase-3 activity (24 hr). Small interfering-RNA (si-RNA) assays showed that Bim, but not Bak and Bax, was involved in the induction of caspase-3 in sorafenib-treated HepG2 cells. Sorafenib increased autophagic and apoptotic markers in tumor-derived xenograft model. In conclusion, the early sorafenib-induced ER stress and regulation of JNK and AMPK-dependent signaling were related to the induction of survival autophagic process. The sustained drug treatment induced a progressive increase of ER stress and PERK-CHOP-dependent rise of Bim EL, which was associated with the shift from autophagy to apoptosis. The kinetic of Bim EL expression profile might also be related to the tight balance between AKt- and AMPK-related signaling leading to Foxo3a-dependent BIM EL upregulation.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad BFU2016‐75352‐PInstituto de Salud Carlos III PI15/00034, PI13/ 00021, PI16/00090, PI14/01349Ministerio de Educación FPU16/05127, FPU12/01433, FPU13/01237Junta de Andalucía CTS-6264, PI-00025-2013, PI-0127-2013, PI-0198-201

Role of climate variability on deep-water dynamics and deoxygenation during sapropel deposition: New insights from a palaeoceanographic empirical approach

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111601Modern marine settings are experiencing rapid deoxygenation mainly forced by global warming and anthropogenic eutrophication. Therefore, studies that assess the role of climate variability in large spatiotemporal deoxygenations during past climate changes are needed to better comprehend the consequences of the current global warming and ocean deoxygenation. In this respect, deep marine sediments associated to past oxic-toanoxic transitions are useful palaeoarchives for understanding the interplay between climate variability, deepwater dynamics and large-scale deoxygenation. Moreover, they can offer long-term perspectives to modern marine settings that are suffering oxygen depletion due to climate change and anthropogenic pressure. In particular, sapropel layers from the Middle Pleistocene to the Holocene are excellent palaeoarchives of past large-scale deoxygenation events, since (i) they occurred during a similar Mediterranean hydrogeographic configuration to the present, (ii) have a robust chronological control, and (iii) previous studies have reconstructed the climate conditions that ruled during their deposition. In this work, we have applied empirical palaeoceanographic conceptual models to five sapropels (S1, S5, S6, S7 and S8) in three Eastern Mediterranean (EM) settings. The models suggest that the hydrographic regimes of all studied sapropels can be considered as analogues to those observed in certain modern marine restricted settings. The results obtained support the idea that climate and the degree of surface-water freshening are the primary factors that influence deep-water dynamics in marine restricted settings, that in turn control the frequency and intensity of bottom-water deoxygenation and the stability and depth of the chemocline. The deepest EM sites are the most vulnerable locations to develop bottom-water restriction and deoxygenation. Local hydrogeographic factors play an essential role in the extent and frequency of bottom-water deoxygenation. Particulate shuttling was very intense during sapropel deposition and water-mass exchange between EM and Western Mediterranean controlled the intensity of the basin reservoir effect and Mo budget in EM.Grants PID2019-104624RB-I00, PID2019-104625RB-100TED2021-131697B-C22 funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/5011000110 33,Grants FEDER/Junta de Andalucía P18-RT-3804P18-RT- 4074Groups RNM-179RNM-178 funded by Junta de AndalucaLausanne University (Switzerland) for Rock-eval analyses and TOC measurementsCenter for Scientific Instrumentation (CIC, University of Granada)XRF Unit of the IACT (CSIC-UGR) for the ICP and XRF analyse

Combination of DROOL rules and Protégé knowledge bases in the ONTO-H annotation tool

ONTO-H is a semi-automatic collaborative tool for the semantic annotation of documents, built as a Protégé 3.0 tab plug-in. Among its multiple functionalities aimed at easing the document annotation process, ONTO-H uses a rule-based system to create cascading annotations out from a single drag and drop operation from a part of a document into an already existing concept or instance of the domain ontology being used for annotation. It also gives support to the detection of name conflicts and instance duplications in the creation of the annotations. The rule system runs on top of the open source rule engine DROOLS and is connected to the domain ontology used for annotation by means of an ad-hoc programmed Java proxy

Enfoque de intercambio social y la felicidad en el trabajo: explorando el efecto mediador del compromiso organizacional

This article aims to determine the direct and indirect effects of social exchange relationships Leader Member Exchange and Team Member Exchange (LMX and TMX) on organizational commitment and happiness at work. Based on the literature review and relying on the Social Exchange Theory perspective, the authors constructed the hypothetical structure, including the four variables under study. The sample comprised 177 employees from Mexican firms, and the proposed hypotheses were under examination through a path analysis. Results show that LMX, TMX, and happiness at work have a direct effect on organizational commitment. We also found an organizational commitment to be a partial relationship mediator between LMX and happiness at work.Este artículo tiene como objetivo determinar los efectos directos e indirectos de las relaciones de intercambio social, intercambio líder miembro e intercambio entre miembros del equipo (LMX y TMX) sobre el compromiso organizacional y la felicidad en el trabajo. Con base en la revisión de la literatura y apoyándose en la perspectiva de la Teoría del Intercambio Social, los autores construyeron la estructura hipotética, incluyendo las cuatro variables en estudio. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 177 empleados de empresas mexicanas, y las hipótesis propuestas fueron examinadas a través de un análisis de trayectoria. Los resultados muestran que LMX, TMX y la felicidad en el trabajo tienen un efecto directo sobre el compromiso organizacional. También encontramos que el compromiso organizacional media la relación parcial entre LMX y la felicidad en el trabajo

Effect of cold rolling on consistent pattern and mechanisms deformation, structural and phase transitions and mechanical properties of single crystals steel Fe-28Mn-2.6Al-1.3C

The dependence of microhardness of Fe-28Mn-2.6Al-1.3C single crystals on the degree of precipitation and deformation temperature is established. It can be divided into three sections: in sections I and III, the microhardness is slightly dependent on the orientation of the sample, while in section II the orientation dependence of microhardness is manifested. The orientation dependence of the microhardness is determined by the orientation dependence of the dislocation structure and the deformation mechanism (slip and / or twinning). Rolling does not lead to the realization of deformation phase transitions of steel Fe-28Mn-2.6Al-1.3C

Antioxidant Profile of Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) Fruits Containing Diverse Levels of Capsaicinoids

Capsicum is the genus where a number of species and varieties have pungent features due to the exclusive content of capsaicinoids such as capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin. In this work, the main enzymatic and non-enzymatic systems in pepper fruits from four varieties with different pungent capacity have been investigated at two ripening stages. Thus, a sweet pepper variety (Melchor) from California-type fruits and three autochthonous Spanish varieties which have different pungency levels were used, including Piquillo, Padrón and Alegría riojana. The capsaicinoids contents were determined in the pericarp and placenta from fruits, showing that these phenyl-propanoids were mainly localized in placenta. The activity profiles of catalase, total and isoenzymatic superoxide dismutase (SOD), the enzymes of the ascorbate–glutathione cycle (AGC) and four NADP-dehydrogenases indicate that some interaction with capsaicinoid metabolism seems to occur. Among the results obtained on enzymatic antioxidants, the role of Fe-SOD and the glutathione reductase from the AGC is highlighted. Additionally, it was found that ascorbate and glutathione contents were higher in those pepper fruits which displayed the greater contents of capsaicinoids. Taken together, all these data indicate that antioxidants may contribute to preserve capsaicinoids metabolism to maintain their functionality in a framework where NADPH is perhaps playing an essential role

Neutral molecular markers support common origin of aluminium tolerance in three congeneric grass species growing in acidic soils

Aluminium (Al) toxicity is the main abiotic stress limiting plant productivity in acidic soils that are widely distributed among arable lands. Plant species differ in the level of Al resistance showing intraspecific and interspecific variation in many crop species. However, the origin of Al-tolerance is not well known. Three annual species, difficult to distinguish phenotypically and that were until recently misinterpreted as a single complex species under Brachypodium distachyon, have been recently separated into three distinct species: the diploids B. distachyon (2n = 10) and B. stacei (2n = 20), and B. hybridum (2n = 30), the allotetraploid derived from the two diploid species. The aims of this work were to know the origin of Al-tolerance in acidic soil conditions within these three Brachypodium species and to develop new DNA markers for species discrimination. Two multiplex SSR-PCRs allowed to genotype a group of 94 accessions for 17 pentanucleotide microsatellite (SSRs) loci. The variability for 139 inter-microsatellite (ISSRs) markers was also examined. The genetic relationships obtained using those neutral molecular markers (SSRs and ISSRs) support that all Al-tolerant allotetraploid accessions of B. hybridum have a common origin that is related with both geographic location and acidic soils. The possibility that the adaptation to acidic soils caused the isolation of the tolerant B. hybridum populations from the others is discussed. We finally describe a new, easy, DNA barcoding method based in the upstream-intron 1 region of the ALMT1 gene, a tool that is 100 % effective to distinguish among these three Brachypodium species

Conjunctival Melanoma: A New Clinical and Therapeutical Approach

Melanoma involving the conjunctiva is extremely rare. Graver prognosis has been reported with primary conjunctival melanoma than with their cutaneous counterparts [Collin et al.: Aust N Z J Ophthalmol 1986;14:29–34]. Among conjunctival melanomas, two significant risk factors for tumour-related death have been identified: (i) age older than 55 years and (ii) unfavourable tumour location (caruncle, cornea, fornix, palpebral conjunctiva) [Werschnik and Lommatzsch: Am J Clin Oncol 2002;25:248–255]. Here we present a rare case of lentigo maligna involving the palpebral, bulbar conjunctiva and the caruncle. We describe dermoscopic patterns observed and the use of a novel ocular melanoma therapy with topical imiquimod

Geological-hydrogeochemical characteristics of a "silver spring" water source (the Lozovy ridge)

Geological and hydrogeological characteristics of the Lozovy ridge (Southern Primorye) are studied, as far as karst phenomena are widely distributed within its boundaries. Water-bearing rocks of the karst water source "Silver Spring" ("Serebryany Klyuch"), which is located near the bottom of the "Bear's fang" ("Medvezhiy klyk") cave, are investigated. It is found that karst rocks are presented by calcite (CaCO[3]), and an accessory mineral is barite (BaSO[4]). It is determined that among the trace elements forming the composition of carbonate water-bearing rocks the maximum concentrations are typical for Sr, Ba, Fe, Al, Za, Mn, Cu, and Ni. Also, the chemical composition of the waters taken from the "Silver Spring" water source is studied. These waters are fresh, hydrocarbonate, calcium, and weakly alkaline. Among the elements of the spring, such elements as Sr, Ba, Fe, Al, Zn, Mn, Cu, and Ni have the maximum concentration. The other elements have concentrations less than 1 [mu]g/l