Palinología del paleolítico medio y superior de Cova Beneito (Muro, Alicante)

Es presenten els resultats pal.linológics de una secció estratigrafica que correspon al paleolltic superior de la Cova Beneito (Muro, Alacant), la qual completa la seqüencia paleolítica que ara inclou nivells musterians, aurinyacians, solutrians, gravetians i solutreo-gravetians. La secció pol.linífera s'hi tmba escassament a 1-2 m d'una altra estudiada anterionnent, la qual va resultar esteril. Els espectres pol.línics mostren que el paleolltic superior de la zona es va desenvolupar en condicions d’aridesa ambiental prou marcades, la qual cosa està en corrodància amb les dades que s'observen a altres diagrames pol.linics per a l'estadi isotbpic 2 en domini continental. Dins d'un context global, la seqüencia de la Cova Beneito dóna suport a la hipòtesi que durant l'intetpleniglacial wunnià es produrien expansions, no necessàriament, coetànies, de nuclis de vegetació mediterrània, l'amplitud i duració de les quals dependrien de les condicions locals.In this study, the palynology of an Upper Paleolithic stratigraphical section from Cova Beneito (Muro, Alicante) is presented. It completes all the Paleolithic record including Mousterian, Aurignacian, Solutrian, Gravettian and Solutreo Gravenian industries. The polliniferous section is placed 1-2 m apart from a former one which became sterile. According to the pollen spectra, the Upper Paleolithic environment could have been one of severe aridity. This agrees with the conventional palynology in continental domain for the isotopic stage 2. Overall, the Beneito pollen record supports the view that, during the middle last glacial stage, Mediterranean vegetation couM have been widespread, but with the response of vegetation to the climatic change largely depending on local conditions.Se presentan los resultados palinológicos de una sección estratigráfica correspondiente al Paleolítico superior de Cova Beneito (Muro, Alicante), completando así la secuencia paleolítica que ahora incluye niveles musterienses, auriñacienses. solutrenses, gravetienses y solutreo-gravetienses. La sección polinífera se halla apenas a 1-2 m de otra estudiada anteriormente, la cual resultó estéril. Los espectros polínicos muestran que el Paleolítico Superior de la zona se desarrolló en condiciones de aridez ambiental bastante marcadas, lo cual concuerda con los datos que se manejan en otros diagramas polínicos para el estadio isotópico 2 en dominio continental. En un contexto global, la secuencia de Cova Beneito sirve de apoyo a la hipótesis de que durante el interpleniglacial wurmiense se produjeron expansiones, no necesariamente coetáneas, de núcleos de vegetación mediterránea cuya amplitud y duración dependerían de las condiciones locales

The topology of vitronectin: A complementary feature for neuroblastoma risk classification based on computer‐aided detection

Tumors are complex networks of constantly interacting elements: tumor cells, stromal cells, immune and stem cells, blood/lympathic vessels, nerve fibers and extracellular matrix components. These elements can influence their microenvironment through mechanical and physical signals to promote tumor cell growth. To get a better understanding of tumor biology, cooperation between multidisciplinary fields is needed. Diverse mathematic computations and algorithms have been designed to find prognostic targets and enhance diagnostic assessment. In this work, we use computational digital tools to study the topology of vitronectin, a glycoprotein of the extracellular matrix. Vitronectin is linked to angiogenesis and migration, two processes closely related to tumor cell spread. Here, we investigate whether the distribution of this molecule in the tumor stroma may confer mechanical properties affecting neuroblastoma aggressiveness. Combining image analysis and graph theory, we analyze different topological features that capture the organizational cues of vitronectin in histopathological images taken from human samples. We find that the Euler number and the branching of territorial vitronectin, two topological features, could allow for a more precise pretreatment risk stratification to guide treatment strategies in neuroblastoma patients. A large amount of recently synthesized VN would create migration tracks, pinpointed by both topological features, for malignant neuroblasts, so that dramatic change in the extracellular matrix would increase tumor aggressiveness and worsen patient outcomes

Unraveling the extracellular matrix-tumor cell interactions to aid better targeted therapies for neuroblastoma

Treatment in children with high-risk neuroblastoma remains largely unsuccessful due to the development of metastases and drug resistance. The biological complexity of these tumors and their microenvironment represent one of the many challenges to face. Matrix glycoproteins such as vitronectin act as bridge elements between extracellular matrix and tumor cells and can promote tumor cell spreading. In this study, we established through a clinical cohort and preclinical models that the interaction of vitronectin and its ligands, such as αv integrins, are related to the stiffness of the extracellular matrix in high-risk neuroblastoma. These marked alterations found in the matrix led us to specifically target tumor cells within these altered matrices by employing nanomedicine and combination therapy. Loading the conventional cytotoxic drug etoposide into nanoparticles significantly increased its efficacy in neuroblastoma cells. We noted high synergy between etoposide and cilengitide, a high-affinity cyclic pentapeptide αv integrin antagonist. The results of this study highlight the need to characterize cell-extracellular matrix interactions, to improve patient care in high-risk neuroblastoma

SmartEx: a case study on user profiling and adaptation in exhibition booths

An investigation into user profiling and adaptation with exhibition booth as a case study is reported. First a review of the field of exhibitions and trade fairs and a summary introduction to adaptation and profiling are given. We then introduce three criteria for the evaluation of exhibition booth: effectiveness, efficiency and affect. Effectiveness is related the amount of information collected, efficiency is a measurement of the time taken to collect the information, and affect is the perception of the experience and the mood booth visitors have during and after their visit. We have selected these criteria to assess adaptive and profiled exhibition booths, we call smart exhibition (SmartEx). The assessment is performed with an experiment with three test conditions (non-profiled/non adaptive, profiled/non-adaptive and profiled adaptive presentations). Results of the experiment are presented along discussion. While there is significant improvements of effectiveness and efficiency between the two-first test conditions, the improvement is not significant for the last test condition, for reasons explained. As for the affect, the results show that it has an under-estimated importance in people minds and that it should be addressed more carefully

Magnetic domains on magnetite islands: from XMCD-PEEM to micromagnetism

Oral presentation given at the 13th European Conference on Surface Crystallography and Dynamics, held in Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain, on June 19-21th, 2017.Magnetite nanostructures and thin films have been grown in spintronic devices such as spin valves in order to take advantage of the high Curie temperature, stability, and predicted half-metal character. However, thin films present magnetic properties which are rather different from the properties of bulk magnetite: high coercive fields, high saturation fields, out-of-plane magnetization, superparamagnetism in ultrathin films, or unexpected easy-axes. An explanation for these effects are growth defects, among which antiphase domain boundaries (APBs) are the best example. In the present work, we study the magnetic domains on flat single-crystal magnetite and other mixed spinels grown on Ru(0001) by molecular beam epitaxy [1,2]. As each island grows from a single nucleus, there are expected to be free of APBs. We have measured with nanometer-resolution the 3D magnetization of the islands by combining x-ray magnetic circular dichroism images acquired in a photoemission electron microscope at different azimuthal angles. The 3D magnetization maps have been used as the initial magnetization configuration for micromagnetic simulations of islands with the same lateral and vertical dimensions as the experimental ones. The Mumax3 software has been used to perform the micromagnetic simulations. By comparing the evolution of the micromagnetic simulations with the experimental behavior of the islands after annealing, we seek to validate the material parameters that define their magnetic behavior and to identify cases where defects or other effects play a role

Early to mid-Holocene spatiotemporal vegetation changes and tsunami impact in a paradigmatic coastal transitional system (Doñana National Park, southwestern Europe)

Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Spanish National Park Autonomous Organism, Ministry of Natural, Rural and Marine Environment and Fundación Sénec

Direct visualization of phase separation between superconducting and nematic domains in Co-doped CaFe2As2 close to a first-order phase transition

We show that biaxial strain induces alternating tetragonal superconducting and orthorhombic nematic domains in Co-substituted CaFe2As2. We use atomic force, magnetic force, and scanning tunneling microscopy to identify the domains and characterize their properties, finding in particular that tetragonal superconducting domains are very elongated, more than several tens of micrometers long and about 30 nm wide; have the same Tc as unstrained samples; and hold vortices in a magnetic field. Thus, biaxial strain produces a phase-separated state, where each phase is equivalent to what is found on either side of the first-order phase transition between antiferromagnetic orthorhombic and superconducting tetragonal phases found in unstrained samples when changing Co concentration. Having such alternating superconducting domains separated by normal conducting domains with sizes of the order of the coherence length opens opportunities to build Josephson junction networks or vortex pinning arrays and suggests that first-order quantum phase transitions lead to nanometric-size phase separation under the influence of strainWork done in Madrid was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Grants No. FIS2014-54498-R, No. MDM-2014-0377, No. MAT2014-52405-C2-2-R, No. RYC-2014-16626, and No. RYC-2014-15093), by the Comunidad de Madrid through program Nanofrontmag-CM (S2013/MIT-2850), by European Research Council PNICTEYES Grant Agreement No. 679080, by FP7-PEOPLE-2013-CIG 618321, by the EU Flagship Graphene Core1 under Grant Agreement No. 696656, by COST-EU, Grant No. CA16218 and by Axa Research Fund. SEGAINVEX-UAM is also acknowledged. Work done in Ames Lab was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Science, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering. Ames Laboratory is operated for the U.S. Department of Energy by Iowa State University under Contract No. DE-AC02-07CH1135

Iberian Neanderthals in forests and savannahs

This article aims to delve into the reality of glacial refuges of forests and tree species (including conifers, mesothermophilous angiosperms and xerothermic scrub) during the cold dry phases of the Iberian Pleistocene in which there is evidence of occupation of Middle Palaeolithic people. The research framework focuses on the eastern sector of the Iberian Peninsula due to the physiographic, palaeobotanical and archaeological peculiarities, substantiated by recent studies. We contend that some Neanderthal occupations developed in the context of high geobiological complexity, high biological diversity and highly structured forest ecosystems. We highlight the importance of glacial refuges as local anomalies that, however, would be contingent on vegetational development, and on the survival of Palaeolithic groups in areas with a broad diversity of natural resources.The development of this work was supported by Projects CGL2015‐69160‐R, CGL‐BOS2015‐68604‐P, funded by FEDER/Ministry of Science and Innovation – Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Project (PID2019‐1049449GB‐I00), funded by FEDER/Ministry of Science and Innovation – Agencia Estatal de Investigación and Fundación Séneca (grant no. 20788/PI/18). A.B.M.A.'s work has been partially funded by the Spanish Science Ministry (HAR2017‐84997‐P) and the ERC‐CoG project (SUBSILIENCE Ref 818299

Iberian Neanderthals in forests and savannahs

This article aims to delve into the reality of glacial refuges of forests and tree species (including conifers, mesothermophilous angiosperms and xerothermic scrub) during the cold dry phases of the Iberian Pleistocene in which there is evidence of occupation of Middle Palaeolithic people. The research framework focuses on the eastern sector of the Iberian Peninsula due to the physiographic, palaeobotanical and archaeological peculiarities, substantiated by recent studies. We contend that some Neanderthal occupations developed in the context of high geobiological complexity, high biological diversity and highly structured forest ecosystems. We highlight the importance of glacial refuges as local anomalies that, however, would be contingent on vegetational development, and on the survival of Palaeolithic groups in areas with a broad diversity of natural resources.Peer reviewe

Three axis vector magnet set-up for cryogenic scanning probe microscopy

We describe a three axis vector magnet system for cryogenic scanning probe microscopy measurements. We discuss the magnet support system and the power supply, consisting of a compact three way 100 A current source. We obtain tilted magnetic fields in all directions with maximum value of 5T along z-axis and of 1.2T for XY-plane magnetic fields. We describe a scanning tunneling microscopy-spectroscopy (STM-STS) set-up, operating in a dilution refrigerator, which includes a new high voltage ultralow noise piezodrive electronics and discuss the noise level due to vibrations. STM images and STS maps show atomic resolution and the tilted vortex lattice at 150 mK in the superconductor β-Bi2Pd. We observe a strongly elongated hexagonal lattice, which corresponds to the projection of the tilted hexagonal vortex lattice on the surface. We also discuss Magnetic Force Microscopy images in a variable temperature insertThis work was supported by Convocatoria Doctorados en el Exterior 568-2012 COLCIENCIAS, the Spanish MINECO (FIS2011-23488, MAT2011-27470-C02-02, CSD2009-00013), by the Comunidad de Madrid through program Nanofrontmag-CM (S2013/MIT-2850) and by Marie-Curie actions under the project FP7-PEOPLE-2013- CIG-618321. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme under Grant Agreement No. 604391 Graphene Flagship. We also acknowledge Banco Santander, COST MP1201. J.A. and C.M. acknowledge the FPI (BES- 2012-058600) and Juan de la Cierva (JCI-2011-08815) programs, respectivel