Histopathological Characteristics of Folliculo-stellate Cells in Pituitary Glands of Wild Type, Obese and High-fat Diet Induced Mice

The anterior pituitary gland regulates growth, metabolism, and reproductionby secreting hormones. Folliculo-stellate cells (FSC) are non-endocrinecells located among hormone-producing cells in the anterior pituitaryglands, but little is known about the exact roles of those cells. Although,with their net organization, they seem to have an important role in thehormonal cells regulation and maintenance. In this work, the first ever made in this area, 33 pituitaries of three groupsof mice (18 wild type [WT], 11 genetically obese [OB] and 4 under a highfat diet [HFD]) were studied in order to determine if there was any relationbetween the number of FSC and alterations of the basal metabolism in eachgroup of mice. For that, immunohistochemical staining using the S-100protein was used and also the Image-J software, to calculate the percentageof FSC present in each sample. The authors found that, although there wasn’t any significant differencebetween WT and OB mice, the group of HFD mice tend to havesubstantially higher percentage of FSC than the mice from other groups.This might suggest some yet unknown link between diet, precisely with ahigh-fat diet, and the presentation of FSC in the anterior pituitary

Combining the Two-Layers PageRank Approach with the APA Centrality in Networks with Data

[EN] Identifying the influential nodes in complex networks is a fundamental and practical topic at the moment. In this paper, a new centrality measure for complex networks is proposed based on two contrasting models that have their common origin in the well-known PageRank centrality. On the one hand, the essence of the model proposed is taken from the Adapted PageRank Algorithm (APA) centrality, whose main characteristic is that constitutes a measure to establish a ranking of nodes considering the importance of some dataset associated to the network. On the other hand, a technique known as two-layers PageRank approach is applied to this model. This technique focuses on the idea that the PageRank centrality can be understood as a two-layer network, the topological and teleportation layers, respectively. The main point of the proposed centrality is that it combines the APA centrality with the idea of two-layers; however, the difference now is that the teleportation layer is replaced by a layer that collects the data present in the network. This combination gives rise to a new algorithm for ranking the nodes according to their importance. Subsequently, the coherence of the new measure is demonstrated by calculating the correlation and the quantitative differences of both centralities (APA and the new centrality). A detailed study of the differences of both centralities, taking different types of networks, is performed. A real urban network with data randomly generated is evaluated as well as the well-known Zachary's karate club network. Some numerical results are carried out by varying the values of the alpha parameter-known as dumping factor in PageRank model-that varies the importance given to the two layers (topology and data) within the computation of the new centrality. The proposed algorithm takes the best characteristics of the models on which it is based: on the one hand, it is a measure of centrality, in complex networks with data, whose calculation is stable numerically and, on the other hand, it is able to separate the topological properties of the network and the influence of the data.Partially supported by the Spanish Government, Ministerio de Economia y Competividad, grant number TIN2017-84821-P.Agryzkov, T.; Pedroche Sánchez, F.; Tortosa, L.; Vicent, JF. (2018). Combining the Two-Layers PageRank Approach with the APA Centrality in Networks with Data. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information. 7(12):1-22. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi7120480S122712Crucitti, P., Latora, V., & Porta, S. (2006). Centrality measures in spatial networks of urban streets. Physical Review E, 73(3). doi:10.1103/physreve.73.036125Bonacich, P. (1991). Simultaneous group and individual centralities. 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Quantifying the influence of scientists and their publications: distinguishing between prestige and popularity. New Journal of Physics, 14(3), 033033. doi:10.1088/1367-2630/14/3/033033Porta, S., Crucitti, P., & Latora, V. (2006). The network analysis of urban streets: A dual approach. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 369(2), 853-866. doi:10.1016/j.physa.2005.12.063Jiang, B. (2009). Ranking spaces for predicting human movement in an urban environment. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 23(7), 823-837. doi:10.1080/13658810802022822Bonacich, P. (1987). Power and Centrality: A Family of Measures. American Journal of Sociology, 92(5), 1170-1182. doi:10.1086/228631Boldi, P., & Vigna, S. (2014). Axioms for Centrality. Internet Mathematics, 10(3-4), 222-262. doi:10.1080/15427951.2013.865686Freeman, L. C. (1977). A Set of Measures of Centrality Based on Betweenness. Sociometry, 40(1), 35. doi:10.2307/3033543Brandes, U. (2001). A faster algorithm for betweenness centrality*. The Journal of Mathematical Sociology, 25(2), 163-177. doi:10.1080/0022250x.2001.9990249Haveliwala, T. H. (2003). Topic-sensitive pagerank: A context-sensitive ranking algorithm for web search. IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering, 15(4), 784-796. doi:10.1109/tkde.2003.1208999Berkhin, P. (2005). A Survey on PageRank Computing. Internet Mathematics, 2(1), 73-120. doi:10.1080/15427951.2005.10129098García, E., Pedroche, F., & Romance, M. (2013). On the localization of the personalized PageRank of complex networks. Linear Algebra and its Applications, 439(3), 640-652. doi:10.1016/j.laa.2012.10.051Langville, A., & Meyer, C. (2004). Deeper Inside PageRank. Internet Mathematics, 1(3), 335-380. doi:10.1080/15427951.2004.10129091Bianchini, M., Gori, M., & Scarselli, F. (2005). Inside PageRank. ACM Transactions on Internet Technology, 5(1), 92-128. doi:10.1145/1052934.1052938Migallón, H., Migallón, V., Palomino, J. A., & Penadés, J. (2018). A heuristic relaxed extrapolated algorithm for accelerating PageRank. Advances in Engineering Software, 120, 88-95. doi:10.1016/j.advengsoft.2016.01.024Agryzkov, T., Oliver, J. L., Tortosa, L., & Vicent, J. F. (2012). An algorithm for ranking the nodes of an urban network based on the concept of PageRank vector. Applied Mathematics and Computation, 219(4), 2186-2193. doi:10.1016/j.amc.2012.08.064Agryzkov, T., Tortosa, L., & Vicent, J. F. (2016). New highlights and a new centrality measure based on the Adapted PageRank Algorithm for urban networks. Applied Mathematics and Computation, 291, 14-29. doi:10.1016/j.amc.2016.06.036Agryzkov, T., Tortosa, L., Vicent, J. F., & Wilson, R. (2017). A centrality measure for urban networks based on the eigenvector centrality concept. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 46(4), 668-689. doi:10.1177/2399808317724444Conti, M., & Kumar, M. (2010). Opportunities in Opportunistic Computing. Computer, 43(1), 42-50. doi:10.1109/mc.2010.19Zhang, Y., Song, L., Jiang, C., Tran, N. H., Dawy, Z., & Han, Z. (2017). A Social-Aware Framework for Efficient Information Dissemination in Wireless Ad Hoc Networks. IEEE Communications Magazine, 55(1), 174-179. doi:10.1109/mcom.2017.1600029cmBoccaletti, S., Bianconi, G., Criado, R., del Genio, C. I., Gómez-Gardeñes, J., Romance, M., … Zanin, M. (2014). The structure and dynamics of multilayer networks. Physics Reports, 544(1), 1-122. doi:10.1016/j.physrep.2014.07.001Kivela, M., Arenas, A., Barthelemy, M., Gleeson, J. P., Moreno, Y., & Porter, M. A. (2014). Multilayer networks. Journal of Complex Networks, 2(3), 203-271. doi:10.1093/comnet/cnu016Pedroche, F., Romance, M., & Criado, R. (2016). A biplex approach to PageRank centrality: From classic to multiplex networks. Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science, 26(6), 065301. doi:10.1063/1.4952955Zachary, W. W. (1977). 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Activity Patterns of Stenocercus iridescens in an Ecuadorian Coastal Agroecosystem: Is Temperature Important?

Circadian rhythms of Neotropical lizards have been poorly studied, which represents a problem when designing ecological studies or monitoring such species based on direct observations. In this work, 1000 m-long transects were established in an agroecosystem area of the Ecuadorian coast region to study the activity patterns of Stenocercus iridescens. The number of individuals (as a response variable) was correlated with local weather conditions: temperature, precipitation, and heliophany (duration of the solar brightness). We carried out the study in both dry and rainy seasons, and during different time ranges. The time range in which the transects were performed was the most important predictor, and the activity peak was established between 16:00 h and 18:00 h. Heliophany negatively affected lizard activity, but only on the days with higher heliophany during the dry season, whereas temperature was not a significant predictor. Our results suggest that in an area where temperature is relatively constant and the solar radiation is high, particularly during the dry season, the heliophany (an indirect measure of solar radiation) can affect ectotherm activity patterns more than temperature, particularly in open habitats such as agroecosystems

The Self-Seeding of Anthemis arvensis L. for Cover Crop in Olive Groves under Intense Rabbit Grazing

Cover crops can be an effective means to protect soil and reduce risks of erosion in olive groves. However, for this protection to be significant, the vegetation must attain a significant amount of ground cover, which is estimated to be at least 30% during the rainy season. In olive groves on degraded soils, which occupy large surface areas in the olive-growing areas of the Mediterranean region, the establishment of cover crops may be an arduous challenge, particularly in areas with a high density of rabbits. In this study, we have selected two olive orchards with scarce natural vegetation located in Andalusia (southern Spain), in which rabbit populations intensively forage the cover crops, to test whether the self-seeding of an unpalatable species corn chamomile (Anthemis arvensis L.; A. arvensis for short) could achieve sufficient coverage for soil protection, in the year following that in which the broadcast-seeding was carried out for the implementation of cover crops. The hand broadcast-seeding of A. arvensis was carried out on sixteen elementary plots in the lanes of the two olive orchards in the autumn of 2015, and seed germination in the subsequent self-seeding took place in the autumn of 2016. The plant height and A. arvensis ground cover in these plots were measured throughout the two growth cycles, and aerial biomass was measured at maturity. The results showed that there were no significant differences in the maximum plant height between the two growth cycles (mean ± SD of 21.2 ± 1.6 cm), while the ground cover was significantly greater in the case of self-seeding, especially during the winter (37.2 ± 8.1 and 9.3 ± 6.7% for self-seeding and broadcast-seeding, respectively), and aerial biomass at maturity had more than doubled (99.7 and 43.9 g m−2, respectively). These data suggest that this unpalatable species could establish an effective herbaceous cover by means of self-seeding in olive groves on degraded soils that are being overgrazed owing to the high pressure of rabbits. Despite the poor establishment in the broadcast-seeding year, our findings indicate that A. arvensis might be an alternative cover crop that could help the sustainability of these threatened olive groves. Its high seed production (2000 to 4000 seeds per plant), and an early emergence just after the first autumn rains, should result in an increased ground cover by A. arvensis during the rainy season in the subsequent years of self-seeding. This, therefore, could contribute to soil conservation, in addition to providing other benefits of increased biodiversity and improvement for agricultural landscapes

Aptitudes musicales e intelectuales en escolares de 10 a 12 años de la comunidad autónoma de la Región de Murcia

Este trabajo trata sobre las aptitudes intelectuales y musicales de los escolares de la Comunidad Autónoma de la Región de Murcia. Su objetivo ha sido analizar la relación que existe entre estos dos tipos de aptitudes en alumnos de Educación Primaria. Los participantes han sido 932 estudiantes, 488 niñas y 444 niños, con edades comprendidas entre 9 y 12 años. Los instrumentos que se han utilizado son la batería de actitudes diferenciales y generales (BADYG-E3), para evaluar el área cognitiva y, el test de aptitudes musicales de Seashore, para valorar las aptitudes musicales. Los resultados muestran que las aptitudes musicales de los escolares se encuentran situadas por debajo del percentil cincuenta. Destacan al discriminar el ritmo y la duración. A modo de conclusión, se puede destacar que existe una relación positiva de intensidad moderada entre las variables objeto de estudio.Given the importance of knowing the intellectual and musical skills in the youth of the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia, we set ourselves the objective to analyze the relationship between musical and intellectual abilities of Elementary School children. The participants were 932 students (488 girls and 444 boys) aged between ten and twelve. The instruments employed included the Battery of Differential and General attitudes (BADyG -E3) for the cognitive area and Seashore Test of Musical Ability to assess musical skills. The results show that musical skills of school children are located below the fiftieth percentile. Notably they stand out best at discriminating pace and duration. In conclusion, we note that there is a positive correlation of moderate intensity between the variables under study

High-Performance Handball Player’s Time-Motion Analysis by Playing Positions

The purpose of this study was to analyze the on-court demands of handball players during the European Handball Federation Champions League Final Four (VELUX EHF FINAL4) 2019 to define time–motion characteristics (played time; covered distances) both in offense and defense. Furthermore; we aimed to define position-specific demands and differences among them. Forty players from three teams were analyzed during the tournament using a local positioning system (LPS) for the first time in top handball. Players covered similar distances both in offense (1388.28 ± 2627.08 m), and in defense (1305.47 ± 5059.64 m) and remained on court for a similar average time (15.69 ± 8.02 min and 15.40 ± 8.94 min respectively). When locomotion activities were normalized according to the time they spent on court; significant differences were found for defense compared to offense in walking (+20%; p < 0.000; Cohen’s effect size (ES) = 1.01) and jogging (−29.6%; p = 0.000; ES = 0.90), as well as a tendency for high-intensity running (+ 25.2%; p = 0.077; ES = 0.31). Per playing position; center and left back (CB = 94.86 ± 10.98 m·min−1 ; LB = 96.55 ± 24.65 m·min−1 ) showed the highest running pace in offense and mid-left; front center defender and outside right for the defense (ML = 90.38 ± 30.16 m·min−1 ; FCD = 87.04 ± 14.94 m·min−1 ; OR = 89.64 ± 34.93 m·min−1 ). In conclusion; profile differences existed among players’ position activity; both in offense and defense; which should be taken into account when designing specific physical training programs.MINECO/FEDER 20928/PI/18Consejo Superior de Deportes PID2019-108336GB-10024/UPB/1

Desarrollo de un sistema inalámbrico con un Field Point, para el control del llenado de un tanque clase A. Póster

Se consiguió supervisar, controlar y adquirir datos, de forma remota (UPCT) mediante un sistema SCADA desarrollado con LabVIEW, que se comunica de forma inalámbrica con un FieldPoint, permitiendo el registro de la evaporación y el control automático del llenado del tanque

General Microbiota of the Soft Tick Ornithodoros turicata Parasitizing the Bolson Tortoise (Gopherus flavomarginatus) in the Mapimi Biosphere Reserve, Mexico

The general bacterial microbiota of the soft tick Ornithodoros turicata found on Bolson tortoises (Gopherus flavomarginatus) were analyzed using next generation sequencing. The main aims of the study were to establish the relative abundance of bacterial taxa in the tick, and to document the presence of potentially pathogenic species for this tortoise, other animals, and humans. The study was carried-out in the Mapimi Biosphere Reserve in the northern-arid part of Mexico. Bolson tortoises (n = 45) were inspected for the presence of soft ticks, from which 11 tortoises (24.4%) had ticks in low loads (1–3 ticks per individual). Tick pools (five adult ticks each) were analyzed through 16S rRNA V3–V4 region amplification in a MiSeq Illumina, using EzBioCloud as a taxonomical reference. The operational taxonomic units (OTUs) revealed 28 phyla, 84 classes, 165 orders, 342 families, 1013 genera, and 1326 species. The high number of taxa registered for O. turicata may be the result of the variety of hosts that this tick parasitizes as they live inside G. flavomarginatus burrows. While the most abundant phyla were Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes, the most abundant species were two endosymbionts of ticks (Midichloria-like and Coxiella-like). Two bacteria documented as pathogenic to Gopherus spp. were registered (Mycoplasma spp. and Pasteurella testudinis). The bovine and ovine tick-borne pathogens A. marginale and A. ovis, respectively, were recorded, as well as the zoonotic bacteria A. phagocytophilum,Coxiella burnetii, and Neoehrlichia sp. Tortoises parasitized with O. turicata did not show evident signs of disease, which could indicate a possible ecological role as a reservoir that has yet to be demonstrated. In fact, the defense mechanisms of this tortoise against the microorganisms transmitted by ticks during their feeding process are still unknown. Future studies on soft ticks should expand our knowledge about what components of the microbiota are notable across multiple host–microbe dynamics. Likewise, studies are required to better understand the host competence of this tortoise, considered the largest terrestrial reptile in North America distributed throughout the Chihuahuan Desert since the late Pleistocene