Dormancy and germination in Cistus clusii (Cistaceae): Effect of biotic and abiotic factors

Nous avons analysé des traitements pour améliorer la germination de Cistus clusii (Cistaceae), en essayant de simuler les facteurs abiotiques et biotiques propres à l'habitat naturel de cette espèce. L'accroissement des taux de germination est obtenu par scarification chimique (comme celle qui aurait lieu après le passage des graines à travers le tractus digestif des mammifères), et sous un choc thermique similaire celui qui arrive lors des incendies. Dans ce dernier cas, tant l'intensité que la durée d'exposition au traitement sont déterminants. L'étude de la capacité germinative, après une période de refroidissement des graines. suggère qu'en plus de la dormance imposée par les enveloppes, il y aurait chez cette espèce une dormance physiologique embryonnaire. Ces résultats améliorent les connaissances d'ensemble sur les processus de dormance caractéristiques des semences des Cistaceae

Apuntes taxonómicos sobre el género Koeleria Pers. (Gramineae) en Andalucía Oriental.

Taxonomic notes about the genus Koeleria Pers. in Eastern of Andalusia Palabras clave. Taxonomía, Poaceae, Koeleria, Andalucía oriental.Key words. Taxonomy, Poaceae, Koeleria, Eastern Andalusia

New Insights into the Medieval Hispano-Muslim Panel Painting: The Alfarje Found in a Balearic Casal (Spain)

Hispano-Muslim culture flourished during the Middle Ages in the Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands. During the restoration of a Balearic nobiliary building (casal), several panels with polychrome decoration on the back side were found. They were part of an old Muslim wooden ceiling (alfarje). A multi-technique strategy including optical microscopy, infrared and μRaman spectroscopies, field emission scanning electron microscopy-X-ray microanalysis (FESEM-EDX), focused ion beam (FIB-FESEM-EDX), atomic force microscopy nanoindentation (AFM-NI), and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) has been applied in the analysis of these panel paintings and has provided morphological and compositional data that have led to the identification of the materials and artistic technique as well as the alteration mechanisms due to the natural aging and the adverse conditions of conservation. As a novelty, this study has confirmed the use of indigo as a blue pigment, an unusual material in Hispano-Muslim panel painting. Apart from the notable change in the visual appearance observed in the paintings, the study has also confirmed a change in the mechanical resistance in the paint layers. These changes have been induced by the combination of the chemical and microbiological alteration mechanisms identified

Phylogeographical Analyses of a Relict Fern of Palaeotropical Flora (Vandenboschia speciosa): Distribution and Diversity Model in Relation to the Geological and Climate Events of the Late Miocene and Early Pliocene

Samira Ben-Menni Schuler was granted a predoctoral grant (F.P.U. program) from the Spanish Government. Hammadi Hamza was granted by a postdoctoral fellowship (Erasmus Mundus-Al Idrisi II scholarship) from the European Union. The authors thank all those people and institutions that facilitated or helped in the collection of samples (in alphabetical order: angel Banares, Antonio Delgado, Brother Anthony, Government of Ireland, Elizabeth Ojeda, Emer Ni Dhuill, Gobierno de Canarias, Ibai Olariaga-Ibarguren, Inaki Sanz-Azkue, Junta de Andalucia, Kristyna Hanuova, Miguel Perez-Gutierrez, Parque Nacional de Garajonay, Ranger Brian Duffy, Sito Chinea, Yves Krippel). We also thank Ana Garcia-Garcia for technical assistance in SDM analysis. This research was funded by the Regional Andalusian Government, grant number P10-RNM-6198.Fern phylogeographic studies have mostly focused on the influence of the Pleistocene climate on fern distributions and the prevalence of long-distance dispersal. The effect of pre-Pleistocene events on the distributions of fern species is largely unexplored. Here, we elucidate a hypothetical scenario for the evolutionary history of Vandenboschia speciosa, hypothesised to be of Tertiary palaeotropical flora with a peculiar perennial gametophyte. We sequenced 40 populations across the species range in one plastid region and two variants of the nuclear gapCp gene and conducted time-calibrated phylogenetic, phylogeographical, and species distribution modelling analyses. Vandenboschia speciosa is an allopolyploid and had a Tertiary origin. Late Miocene aridification possibly caused the long persistence in independent refugia on the Eurosiberian Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, with the independent evolution of gene pools resulting in two evolutionary units. The Cantabrian Cornice, a major refugium, could also be a secondary contact zone during Quaternary glacial cycles. Central European populations resulted from multiple post-glacial, long-distance dispersals. Vandenboschia speciosa reached Macaronesia during the Pliocene–Pleistocene, with a phylogeographical link between the Canary Islands, Madeira, and southern Iberia, and between the Azores and northwestern Europe. Our results support the idea that the geological and climate events of the Late Miocene/Early Pliocene shifted Tertiary fern distribution patterns in Europe.Spanish Government European Commission(Erasmus Mundus-Al Idrisi II scholarship) from the European Union - Regional Andalusian Government P10-RNM-619

The Role of INAPERTURATE POLLEN1 as a Pollen Aperture Factor Is Conserved in the Basal Eudicot Eschscholzia californica (Papaveraceae)

This study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (project CGL2015-70290-P to VS-S) and by the US National Science Foundation (MCB-1817835 to AD). IM-A was supported by a predoctoral grant (F.P.I. program) from the Spanish Government. BK was supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic (project LTC20050) and DH was supported by Czech Science Foundation (project 21-15856S).Pollen grains show an enormous variety of aperture systems. What genes are involved in the aperture formation pathway and how conserved this pathway is in angiosperms remains largely unknown. INAPERTURATE POLLEN1 (INP1) encodes a protein of unknown function, essential for aperture formation in Arabidopsis, rice and maize. Yet, because INP1 sequences are quite divergent, it is unclear if their function is conserved across angiosperms. Here, we conducted a functional study of the INP1 ortholog from the basal eudicot Eschscholzia californica (EcINP1) using expression analyses, virus-induced gene silencing, pollen germination assay, and transcriptomics. We found that EcINP1 expression peaks at the tetrad stage of pollen development, consistent with its role in aperture formation, which occurs at that stage, and showed, via gene silencing, that the role of INP1 as an important aperture factor extends to basal eudicots. Using germination assays, we demonstrated that, in Eschscholzia, apertures are dispensable for pollen germination. Our comparative transcriptome analysis of wildtype and silenced plants identified over 900 differentially expressed genes, many of them potential candidates for the aperture pathway. Our study substantiates the importance of INP1 homologs for aperture formation across angiosperms and opens up new avenues for functional studies of other aperture candidate genes.Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness CGL2015-70290-PNational Science Foundation (NSF) MCB-1817835Spanish Government European CommissionMinistry of Education, Youth & Sports - Czech Republic LTC20050Grant Agency of the Czech Republic 21-15856

Decreased incidence of pressure ulcers in intensive care: a program goal of improving care

INTRODUCCIÓN. En sanidad, la aparición de úlceras por presión (upp), es considerado un fracaso asistencial y un gran reto al que se enfrenta el profesional de Enfermería. En cuidados intensivos, objetivamos una serie de factores que aumentan el riesgo de aparición y desarrollo de upp. Como enfermeros, tomamos conciencia de nuestro papel en la prevención y tratamiento de las upp en nuestra unidad de cuidados intensivos (UCI-1, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias) y emprendimos medidas para disminuirlas y mejorar la calidad asistencial proporcionada. OBJETIVOS. Aumentar la calidad asistencial Disminuir las tasas de úlceras por presión MATERIAL Y MÉTODO. Estudio descriptivo, prospectivo. Muestra, N: 1265 enfermos. Realizándose seguimiento diario de enfermos a través de hoja de valoración específica. Los enfermos valorados presentaban riesgo medio- alto de padecer upp por escala Braden y riesgo bajo por dicha escala pero con condiciones particulares de riesgo objetivables. Se introducen medidas preventivas consensuadas por el equipo investigador (descritas en el trabajo de investigación). RESULTADOS. Bajada significativa de las tasas de incidencia a los cuatro meses de introducir medidas estandarizadas de prevención y mejora asistencial. CONCLUSIONES. La concienciación y unificación de criterios preventivos y de tratamiento resultó ser decisiva en la bajada significativa de la incidencia de upp y en el logro de aumento de la calidad asistencial real percibida por todo el equipo interdisciplinar.INTRODUCTION. In health, the occurrence of pressure ulcers (PU) is considered a failure of care and major challenge facing the nursing professional. In intensive care, objectify a series of factors that increase the risk of occurrence and development of PU. As nurses, we realize our role in the prevention and treatment of pressure ulcers in our intensive care unit (ICU-1, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias) and we took measures to reduce and improve quality of care provided. OBJECTIVES. To augment quality of care To diminish rates of pressure ulcers MATERIALS AND METHODS. Prospective descriptive study. Sample, n = 1265 patients. Performing daily monitoring of patients through specific assessment sheet. The patients had rated medium-high risk of developing upp by Braden scale and low risk for this scale but with risk conditions to measure. Agreed preventive measures are introduced by the research team (described in the research). RESULTS. Llower incidence rates for four months to introduce standardized measures of prevention and improved care. CONCLUSIONS. The unification of awareness and prevention and treatment criteria proved to be instrumental in the significant decline in the incidence of PU and the achievement of increased quality of care received by all real interdisciplinary team

The Role of Respiratory Viruses in Children with Ataxia-Telangiectasia

Background: The impact of respiratory virus infection in patients diagnosed with ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) has not been well studied. Methods: A prospective case control study was performed at a National Reference Unit for Primary Immunodeficiency in Spain (from November 2018 to July 2019), including patients younger than 20 years. Symptom questionnaires and nasopharyngeal swabs from multiple respiratory viruses' polymerase chain reaction were collected monthly, and between visits in case of symptoms. Results: Twenty-two individuals were included (11 patients; 11 controls); 164 samples were obtained (81 patients; 84 controls). Patients presented respiratory symptoms more frequently compared with controls (26.5% vs. 3.5%; p < 0.01). Viral detection was observed in 23 (27.3%) episodes in patients and in 15 (17.8%) episodes in controls (p = 0.1). Rhinovirus was the most frequent virus in patients and controls (60% and 53.3%, respectively). Episodes with positive viral detection had associated symptoms in 54% of patients and 18% of controls (p = 0.07). However, patients with A-T presented a similar rate of symptoms during episodes with positive and negative viral detection (26% vs. 27%). The median points given for each questionnaire during symptomatic episodes with negative viral detection were 13/23 points, and during symptomatic positive detection, 7.5/23 points (p = 0.1). In the control group, all but two were asymptomatic during positive viral episodes (score: 2/23 and 3/23 points). Symptomatic episodes, with either positive or negative viral detection, were associated with lower IgA and higher IgM titers and higher CD8+ counts (p < 0.05), particularly when these episodes were moderate/severe. Conclusions: Patients with A-T more frequently present symptomatic viral infections than controls, especially those with lower IgA and higher IgM titers and higher CD8+ counts.This study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation—Instituto de Salud Carlos III, and Fondos FEDER of the EU, Grant No. PI18CIII/00372 (Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias—Spanish Health Research Fund (ISCIII)).S