DISTRIBUCIÓN DE ALGUNOS TAXONES (AQUIFOLIACEAE, SAXIFRAGACEAE, ROSACEAE, TAXACEAE), EN LA PROVINCIA DE CASTELLÓN (ESPAÑA)

A great population of Taxus baccata L. and other interesting taxa such as Ilex aquifolium L., and Saxifraga granulata L., has been found in the Sierra Espadán (Castellón) where these species were hardly known or not known at all.Se ha encontrado una importante población de Taxus baccata L. y otros taxones interesantes como Ilex aquifolium L., y Saxifraga granulata L., en la Sierra de Espadán (Castellón) donde estas especies eran escasamente conocidas

Measuring well-being in aphasia: The GHQ-28 versus the NHP

This study aimed to get the opinions of people with aphasia on two subjective well-being measures: the General Health Questionnaire 28-item version (GHQ-28) (Goldberg & Hillier, 1979) and the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) (Hunt, McKenna, McEwen, Williams, & Papp, 1981). Twelve persons with moderate to mild aphasia of at least 2-years duration completed the GHQ-28 and the NHP. In a semistructured intenriew, they gave their feedback on the two questionnaires. All participants were able to complete both instruments. Nine out of 12 participants showed high psychological distress (> 5/28) in the GHQ-28. The NHP (part 1 less the physical abilities section) had a correlation of 0.78 (p < .01) with the GHQ-28. The social dysfunction subscale of the NHP identified more problems in the participants with aphasia than the social isolation subscale of the GHQ-28. The majority of the participants (10 out of 12) preferred the NHP, as they found it easier to understand and respond to. This small-scale study indicated that both the GHQ-28 and the NHP can be administered to people with moderate to mild aphasia and provide useful information on their well-being. Participants reported that the NHP was easier to do, and it asked questions more relevant to their situation

Evidence of Υ(1S)→J/ψ+χc1\Upsilon(1S) \to J/\psi+\chi_{c1} and search for double-charmonium production in Υ(1S)\Upsilon(1S) and Υ(2S)\Upsilon(2S) decays

Using data samples of $102\times10^6$ $\Upsilon(1S)$ and $158\times10^6$ $\Upsilon(2S)$ events collected with the Belle detector, a first experimental search has been made for double-charmonium production in the exclusive decays $\Upsilon(1S,2S)\rightarrow J/\psi(\psi')+X$, where $X=\eta_c$, $\chi_{cJ} (J=~0,~1,~2)$, $\eta_c(2S)$, $X(3940)$, and $X(4160)$. No significant signal is observed in the spectra of the mass recoiling against the reconstructed $J/\psi$ or $\psi'$ except for the evidence of $\chi_{c1}$ production with a significance of $4.6\sigma$ for $\Upsilon(1S)\rightarrow J/\psi+\chi_{c1}$. The measured branching fraction \BR(\Upsilon(1S)\rightarrow J/\psi+\chi_{c1}) is $(3.90\pm1.21(\rm stat.)\pm0.23 (\rm syst.))\times10^{-6}$. The $90\%$ confidence level upper limits on the branching fractions of the other modes having a significance of less than $3\sigma$ are determined. These results are consistent with theoretical calculations using the nonrelativistic QCD factorization approach.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. The fit range was extended to include X(4160) signal according to referee's suggestions. Other results unchanged. Paper was accepted for publication as a regular article in Physical Review

New Noncovalent Inhibitors of Penicillin-Binding Proteins from Penicillin-Resistant Bacteria

BACKGROUND: Penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) are well known and validated targets for antibacterial therapy. The most important clinically used inhibitors of PBPs beta-lactams inhibit transpeptidase activity of PBPs by forming a covalent penicilloyl-enzyme complex that blocks the normal transpeptidation reaction; this finally results in bacterial death. In some resistant bacteria the resistance is acquired by active-site distortion of PBPs, which lowers their acylation efficiency for beta-lactams. To address this problem we focused our attention to discovery of novel noncovalent inhibitors of PBPs. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Our in-house bank of compounds was screened for inhibition of three PBPs from resistant bacteria: PBP2a from Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), PBP2x from Streptococcus pneumoniae strain 5204, and PBP5fm from Enterococcus faecium strain D63r. Initial hit inhibitor obtained by screening was then used as a starting point for computational similarity searching for structurally related compounds and several new noncovalent inhibitors were discovered. Two compounds had promising inhibitory activities of both PBP2a and PBP2x 5204, and good in-vitro antibacterial activities against a panel of Gram-positive bacterial strains. CONCLUSIONS: We found new noncovalent inhibitors of PBPs which represent important starting points for development of more potent inhibitors of PBPs that can target penicillin-resistant bacteria.Eur-Intafa

Genetic Characterization of Human T-Cell Lymphotropic Virus Type 1 in Mozambique: Transcontinental Lineages Drive the HTLV-1 Endemic

Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is the causative agent of Adult T-Cell Leukemia/Lymphoma (ATL), the Tropical Spastic Paraparesis/HTLV-1-associated Myelopathy (TSP/HAM) and other inflammatory diseases, including dermatitis, uveitis, and myositis. It is estimated that 2–8% of the infected persons will develop a HTLV-1-associated disease during their lifetimes, frequently TSP/HAM. Thus far, there is not a specific treatment to this progressive and chronic disease. HTLV-1 has means of three transmission: (i) from mother to child during prolonged breastfeeding, (ii) between sexual partners and (iii) through blood transfusion. HTLV-1 has been characterized in 7 subtypes and the geographical distribution and the clinical impact of this infection is not well known, mainly in African population. HTLV-1 is endemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Mozambique is a country of southeastern Africa where TSP/HAM cases were reported. Recently, our group estimated the HTLV prevalence among Mozambican blood donors as 0.9%. In this work we performed a genetic analysis of HTLV-1 in blood donors and HIV/HTLV co-infected patients from Maputo, Mozambique. Our results showed the presence of three HTLV-1 clusters within the Cosmopolitan/Transcontinental subtype/subgroup. The differential rates of HIV-1/HTLV-1 co-infection in the three HTLV-1 clusters demonstrated the dynamic of the two viruses and the need for implementation of control measures focusing on both retroviruses

Measurement of the cosmic ray spectrum above 4×10184{\times}10^{18} eV using inclined events detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory

A measurement of the cosmic-ray spectrum for energies exceeding $4{\times}10^{18}$ eV is presented, which is based on the analysis of showers with zenith angles greater than $60^{\circ}$ detected with the Pierre Auger Observatory between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2013. The measured spectrum confirms a flux suppression at the highest energies. Above $5.3{\times}10^{18}$ eV, the "ankle", the flux can be described by a power law $E^{-\gamma}$ with index $\gamma=2.70 \pm 0.02 \,\text{(stat)} \pm 0.1\,\text{(sys)}$ followed by a smooth suppression region. For the energy ($E_\text{s}$) at which the spectral flux has fallen to one-half of its extrapolated value in the absence of suppression, we find $E_\text{s}=(5.12\pm0.25\,\text{(stat)}^{+1.0}_{-1.2}\,\text{(sys)}){\times}10^{19}$ eV.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Energy Estimation of Cosmic Rays with the Engineering Radio Array of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) is part of the Pierre Auger Observatory and is used to detect the radio emission of cosmic-ray air showers. These observations are compared to the data of the surface detector stations of the Observatory, which provide well-calibrated information on the cosmic-ray energies and arrival directions. The response of the radio stations in the 30 to 80 MHz regime has been thoroughly calibrated to enable the reconstruction of the incoming electric field. For the latter, the energy deposit per area is determined from the radio pulses at each observer position and is interpolated using a two-dimensional function that takes into account signal asymmetries due to interference between the geomagnetic and charge-excess emission components. The spatial integral over the signal distribution gives a direct measurement of the energy transferred from the primary cosmic ray into radio emission in the AERA frequency range. We measure 15.8 MeV of radiation energy for a 1 EeV air shower arriving perpendicularly to the geomagnetic field. This radiation energy -- corrected for geometrical effects -- is used as a cosmic-ray energy estimator. Performing an absolute energy calibration against the surface-detector information, we observe that this radio-energy estimator scales quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy as expected for coherent emission. We find an energy resolution of the radio reconstruction of 22% for the data set and 17% for a high-quality subset containing only events with at least five radio stations with signal.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Measurement of the Radiation Energy in the Radio Signal of Extensive Air Showers as a Universal Estimator of Cosmic-Ray Energy

We measure the energy emitted by extensive air showers in the form of radio emission in the frequency range from 30 to 80 MHz. Exploiting the accurate energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory, we obtain a radiation energy of 15.8 \pm 0.7 (stat) \pm 6.7 (sys) MeV for cosmic rays with an energy of 1 EeV arriving perpendicularly to a geomagnetic field of 0.24 G, scaling quadratically with the cosmic-ray energy. A comparison with predictions from state-of-the-art first-principle calculations shows agreement with our measurement. The radiation energy provides direct access to the calorimetric energy in the electromagnetic cascade of extensive air showers. Comparison with our result thus allows the direct calibration of any cosmic-ray radio detector against the well-established energy scale of the Pierre Auger Observatory.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DOI. Supplemental material in the ancillary file