Variabilidad estacional de la comunidad de fitoplancton de las aguas superficiales de la zona costera de Gandía en el sur del Golfo de Valencia

[EN] Seasonal variability in the phytoplankton community of the coastal area of Gandia in the south of the Gulf of Valencia (Western Mediterranean Sea) was examined in relation to physical and chemical surface water variables (i.e. salinity, nutrients, dissolved oxygen and temperature). This small area presents most of the point and non-point nutrients inputs that affect coastal areas as wastewater discharges through submarine outfall, river discharges and groundwater discharges from a detritic aquifer. Furthermore, surface channels that drain the Safor wetland, which is used mainly for agricultural crops, outflow into the confined harbour. The main objective of the study was to observe the variations in phytoplankton groups as a response to environmental variables during different seasons and understand which species could be used as indicators of anthropogenic pressure. For this purpose, the taxonomic composition of the micro-phytoplankton communities at 32 fixed stations was determined in four sampling campaigns from summer 2010 to spring 2011. The results indicate that nutrient inputs mainly from the Serpis river and channels that drain the Safor Wetland determine the composition and abundance of the phytoplankton community, and that several key environmental factors such as water temperature, radiation, nutrients, and the molar ratios of nutrients influence seasonal phytoplankton assemblages. However, the discharge of effluent from a sewage treatment plant through the submarine outfall did not appear to have a significant impact on the phytoplankton community. The phytoplankton community comprised two main groups: diatoms and dinoflagellates and a total of 108 taxa were identified. The diatom population primarily flourished in autumn and winter whereas in spring, dinoflagellate bloom occurred with high radiation, very low DIP and high DIN:DIP and low DSi:DIN molar ratios. In this paper we discuss the possible rationale for these nutrient changes. Furthermore, potentially blooming species were detected in the Gandia harbour and in the mouth of the Serpis river at Venecia Beach.[ES] La variabilidad estacional de la comunidad de fitoplancton de las aguas superficiales de la zona costera de Gandía en el sur del Golfo de Valencia (Mediterráneo occidental) fue examinada, teniendo en cuenta su relación con diferentes variables físicas y químicas (p.e. salinidad, nutrientes, oxígeno disuelto, temperatura, etc.). En esta pequeña área se dan la mayoría de las entradas de nutrientes, tanto puntuales como difusas, que afectan las áreas costeras: descargas de aguas residuales mediante emisarios submarinos, aportes fluviales y descargas de aguas subterráneas procedentes de acuíferos costeros. Además, los canales superficiales que drenan el humedal de La Safor, cuyo uso fundamental es la agricultura, vierten en las aguas confinadas del puerto. El objetivo principal de este estudio fue observar las variaciones de los grupos de fitoplancton como respuesta a las variaciones ambientales en diferentes estaciones del año, y determinar que especies pueden ser utilizadas como indicadores de presión antrópica. Para ello, se determinó la composición taxonómica de la comunidad de micro-fitoplancton en 32 puntos de muestreo fijos en cuatro campañas de muestreo, desde verano de 2010 hasta primavera de 2011. Los resultados muestran que la entrada de nutrientes, principalmente a través del Río Serpis y los canales que drenan el humedal, determinan la composición y abundancia de la comunidad de fitoplancton. Además diversos factores ambientales clave como temperatura del agua, radiación, nutrientes, así como las relaciones entre nutrientes influyen en las diferentes asociaciones de fitoplancton observadas en cada estación. Por otro lado, la descarga del efluente procedente de la depuradora de aguas residuales no tuvo un impacto significativo sobre la comunidad de fitoplancton. La comunidad de fitoplancton estuvo formada principalmente por dos grupos: diatomeas y dinoflagelados. Se identificaron un total de 108 taxones. Las diatomeas proliferaron principalmente en otoño e invierno. Los dinoflagelados proliferaron en primavera, bajo condiciones de elevada radiación, baja concentración de DIP, razones DIN:DIP elevadas y razones DSi:DIN bajas. En este documento se discute la justificación de los cambios en la concentración de nutrientes. Además, se detectaron especies potencialmente nocivas en el Puerto de Gandía y en la desembocadura del río Serpis, en la playa de Venecia.Financial support for this research was provided by Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, Government of Spain, through the Training Program for University Teachers (FPU). We would like to express our deepest thanks to Margarita Fernández and Vanessa Castan of IRTA (Research Institute of Technology, food and Agriculture).Gadea, I.; Rodilla, M.; Sospedra, J.; Falco, S.; Morata, T. (2013). Seasonal dynamics of the phytoplankton community in the Gandia coastal area, southern Gulf of Valencia. Thalassas. Revista de Ciencias del Mar. 29(1):35-58. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/46133S355829

Hygienic quality of dehydrated aromatic herbs marketed in Southern Portugal

Dehydrated aromatic herbs are highly valued ingredients, widely used at home level and by food processing industry, frequently added to a great number of recipes in the Mediterranean countries. Despite being considered low-moisture products and classified as GRAS, during pre and post-harvesting stages of production they are susceptible of microbial contamination. In Europe an increasing number of food recalls and disease outbreaks associated with dehydrated herbs have been reported in recent years. In this study the microbial quality of 99 samples of aromatic herbs (bay leaves, basil, coriander, oregano, parsley, Provence herbs, rosemary and thyme) collected from retails shops in the region of Algarve (Southern Portugal) was assessed. All the samples were tested by conventional methods and were assayed for the total count of aerobic mesophilic microorganisms, Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli, coagulase-positive staphylococci and filamentous fungi. Almost 50 % of the herbs did not exceed the aerobic mesophilic level of 104 CFU/g. The fungi count regarded as unacceptable (106 CFU/g) was not found in any of the tested herbs, while 84 % of the samples ranged from ≤102 to 104 CFU/g. No sample was positive for the presence of Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli and staphylococci. The results are in compliance with the European Commission criteria although they point out to the permanent need of surveillance on the good standards of handling/cooking practices as well as the importance of avoiding contamination at production, retailing and distribution. The microbiological hazards associated with the pathogenic and toxigenic microbiota of dried herbs remain as a relevant public health issue, due to the fact that they are added to foods not submitted to any following lethal procedure. Control measures should be adopted in order to ensure that all phases of their supply chain respect the food safety standards.FCT: UID/BIA/04325/2019.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Forward SCT Module Assembly and Quality Control at IFIC Valencia

This note discusses the assembly and the quality control tests of 282 forward detector modules for the ATLAS Semiconductor Tracker assembled at the Instituto de Fisica Corpuscular (IFIC) in Valencia. The construction and testing procedures are outlined and the laboratory equipment is briefly described. Emphasis is given on the module quality achieved in terms of mechanical and electrical stability

The little skate genome and the evolutionary emergence of wing-like fins

Skates are cartilaginous fish whose body plan features enlarged wing-like pectoral fins, enabling them to thrive in benthic environments1,2. However, the molecular underpinnings of this unique trait remain unclear. Here we investigate the origin of this phenotypic innovation by developing the little skate Leucoraja erinacea as a genomically enabled model. Analysis of a high-quality chromosome-scale genome sequence for the little skate shows that it preserves many ancestral jawed vertebrate features compared with other sequenced genomes, including numerous ancient microchromosomes. Combining genome comparisons with extensive regulatory datasets in developing fins—including gene expression, chromatin occupancy and three-dimensional conformation—we find skate-specific genomic rearrangements that alter the three-dimensional regulatory landscape of genes that are involved in the planar cell polarity pathway. Functional inhibition of planar cell polarity signalling resulted in a reduction in anterior fin size, confirming that this pathway is a major contributor to batoid fin morphology. We also identified a fin-specific enhancer that interacts with several hoxa genes, consistent with the redeployment of hox gene expression in anterior pectoral fins, and confirmed its potential to activate transcription in the anterior fin using zebrafish reporter assays. Our findings underscore the central role of genome reorganization and regulatory variation in the evolution of phenotypes, shedding light on the molecular origin of an enigmatic trait

Neuroinflammation, Mast Cells, and Glia: Dangerous Liaisons

The perspective of neuroinflammation as an epiphenomenon following neuron damage is being replaced by the awareness of glia and their importance in neural functions and disorders. Systemic inflammation generates signals that communicate with the brain and leads to changes in metabolism and behavior, with microglia assuming a pro-inflammatory phenotype. Identification of potential peripheral-to-central cellular links is thus a critical step in designing effective therapeutics. Mast cells may fulfill such a role. These resident immune cells are found close to and within peripheral nerves and in brain parenchyma/meninges, where they exercise a key role in orchestrating the inflammatory process from initiation through chronic activation. Mast cells and glia engage in crosstalk that contributes to accelerate disease progression; such interactions become exaggerated with aging and increased cell sensitivity to stress. Emerging evidence for oligodendrocytes, independent of myelin and support of axonal integrity, points to their having strong immune functions, innate immune receptor expression, and production/response to chemokines and cytokines that modulate immune responses in the central nervous system while engaging in crosstalk with microglia and astrocytes. In this review, we summarize the findings related to our understanding of the biology and cellular signaling mechanisms of neuroinflammation, with emphasis on mast cell-glia interactions

Increased Numbers of IL-7 Receptor Molecules on CD4+CD25−CD107a+ T-Cells in Patients with Autoimmune Diseases Affecting the Central Nervous System

BACKGROUND: High content immune profiling in peripheral blood may reflect immune aberrations associated with inflammation in multiple sclerosis (MS) and other autoimmune diseases affecting the central nervous system. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 46 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), 9 patients diagnosed with relapsing remitting MS (RRMS), 13 with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS), 9 with other neurological diseases (OND) and well as 15 healthy donors (HD) were analyzed by 12 color flow cytometry (TCRalphabeta, TCRgammadelta, CD4, CD8alpha, CD8beta, CD45RA, CCR7, CD27, CD28, CD107a, CD127, CD14) in a cross-sectional study to identify variables significantly different between controls (HD) and patients (OND, RRMS, SPMS). We analyzed 187 individual immune cell subsets (percentages) and the density of the IL-7 receptor alpha chain (CD127) on 59 individual immune phenotypes using a monoclonal anti-IL-7R antibody (clone R34.34) coupled to a single APC molecule in combination with an APC-bead array. A non-parametric analysis of variance (Kruskal-Wallis test) was conducted in order to test for differences among the groups in each of the variables. To correct for the multiplicity problem, the FDR correction was applied on the p-values. We identified 19 variables for immune cell subsets (percentages) which allowed to segregate healthy individuals and individuals with CNS disorders. We did not observe differences in the relative percentage of IL-7R-positive immune cells in PBMCs. In contrast, we identified significant differences in IL-7 density, measured on a single cell level, in 2/59 variables: increased numbers of CD127 molecules on TCRalphabeta+CD4+CD25 (intermed) T-cells and on TCRalphabeta+CD4+CD25-CD107a+ T-cells (mean: 28376 Il-7R binding sites on cells from HD, 48515 in patients with RRMS, 38195 in patients with SPMS and 33692 IL-7 receptor binding sites on cells from patients with OND). CONCLUSION: These data show that immunophenotyping represents a powerful tool to differentiate healthy individuals from individuals suffering from neurological diseases and that the number of IL-7 receptor molecules on differentiated TCRalphabeta+CD4+CD25-CD107a+ T-cells, but not the percentage of IL-7R-positive cells, segregates healthy individuals from patients with neurological disorders