H2O Robotics

H2O Robotics is an SME company established 2017. The company is located in Zagreb, Croatia. Corporate R&D focuses on marine technology, autonomous vehicles and applications. The first commercial product was Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) H2Omni-X (Figure 1). Overall, the company’s mission after its establishment was to turn H2Omni-X into a marketready product capable of launching a sustainable business in the ASV industry

Characterization of pathogenicity factors of a lethal influenza A(H1N1)09 pandemic viral isolate

Tesis Doctoral inédita leída en la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias, Departamento de Biología Molecular. Fecha de lectura: 19-12-2016Esta tesis tiene embargado el acceso al texto completo hasta el 19-06-2018Influenza virus is responsible for seasonal outbreaks that result in more than 5 million hospitalization and 500 000 deaths every year. Analysis of two clinical AH1N1pdm09 pandemic isolates originated from a patient with mild (M strain) illness and a patient that deceased (F strain) from influenza related complication during the 2009 pandemic, highlighted three amino-acid changes PB2 A221T, PA D529N and HA S127L in the F isolate, that might be responsible for the increased virulence of this strain in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, F isolate was able to accumulate less defective genomes (DGs) than M virus during the infection in cell culture as well as in animal model. Mutations found in F strain and their effects in F virus pathogenicity were studied by introducing its changes in A/California/04/09 (CAL) virus backbone. Although these mutations did not affect viral growth or polymerase activity in vitro, we found that PB2 A221T and HA S127L attenuated while PA D529N increased the already described pathogenicity of CAL virus in vivo. Besides 100 fold decreased LD50 , CAL-PA D529N virus showed high replication rates in lungs of infected animals and strong innate immune response cell influx (neutrophils, dendritic cells, monocytes, alveolar macrophages) and inflammation in early infection (2 day post-infection). Furthermore, CAL-PA D529N virus showed great potential of viral spread to extra-pulmonary organs. Animals infected with CAL-PA D529N virus had infectious viral particles in heart tissue for a prolonged period of time (up to 4 days of infection) and at higher frequency (80% of animals) than CAL infected animals. We demonstrated that beside high viral titre, viral mRNAs of NEP, only present in cells with ongoing infection, were present in heart tissue of animals infected with CAL- PA D529N virus. Analysis of electrocardiogram (ECG) monitorization of infected animals showed that those infected with CAL-PA D529N virus suffered from systolic bradycardia and conduct cardiac defects. Accordingly with the data we obtained from studying F strain, CAL-PA D529N virus have low accumulation of defective genomes in cell culture as well as low induction of antiviral genes (MxA, ISG56). Additionally, our work shows that PA D529N mutation is able to reduce the accumulation of DGs in viruses with high DG accumulation capacity. In summary, PA D529N is responsible for increased pathogenicity of F strain. As a consequence of this mutation virus accumulates less DGs which partially delays timely antiviral response. This would allow virus to remain undetected by the infected cells for a relatively short but sufficient time period to enable viral replication. High replication rates in lungs of CAL-PA D529N virus and efficient viral spread into extra-pulmonary organs in animals increase its pathogenicity potential. These findings give us an insight into complex pathogenesis of influenza A viruses infections and the different ways it can affect final outcome of disease.El virus de la gripe es responsable de brotes estacionales que suponen más de 5 millones de hospitalizaciones y 500 000 muertos cada año. El análisis de dos aislados clínicos de la pandemia del 2009 (AH1N1pdm09), uno aislado de un paciente con síntomas leves (M) y otro de un paciente fallecido (F), puso de manifiesto la presencia de tres cambios de amino acido en el asilado F (PB2 A221T, PA D529N, HA S127L), que podrían ser los responsables de la virulencia exacerbada de este aislado. Además el aislado F presentó menor acumulación de genomas defectivos (DGs), que el aislado M tanto en viriones aislados de células en cultivo como de pulmones de ratones infectados. El papel de las mutaciones encontradas en el aislado F como posibles responsables de su patogenicidad, fue estudiado mediante la introducción de estos cambios en virus recombinantes de la cepa pandémica de referencia A/California/04/09 (CAL). Ninguna de las mutaciones afectaron la cinética de crecimiento o la actividad de la polimerasa viral in vitro, pero PB2 A221T y HA S127L atenuaron y PA D529N incrementó la patogenicidad del virus CAL en el modelo de ratón. El virus recombinante CAL-PA D529N redujo 100 veces la LD50 de los ratones infectados, mostró alta tasa de replicación en los pulmones, potente reclutamiento de células de respuesta inmune innata (neutrófilos, células dendríticas, monocitos, macrófagos alveolares) e inflamación a tiempo temprano de infección (2 días post-infección). Además, el virus CAL-PA D529N mostró un gran potencial de infección en tejidos extrapulmonares, así los ratones infectados con este virus presentaron partículas infectivas en los corazones durante más tiempo (hasta 4 días post-infección) y a mayor frecuencia (80% de los animales infectados) que los ratones infectados con el virus CAL. La presencia de partículas infectivas en los corazones, fue el resultado de replicación viral en este órgano, ya que se detectó en ellos la presencia del mRNA de la proteína NEP, que únicamente es detectada como consecuencia de replicación. La monitorización del electrocardiograma de los ratones infectados con el virus CAL-PA D529N mostró la presencia de bradicardia sistólica y defectos en la conductancia. Similarmente al aislado F, el virus CAL-PA D529N acumuló una baja cantidad de DGs en los viriones aislados de células infectadas y de acuerdo con ello una baja inducción de genes antivirales (MxA, ISG56). Adicionalmente, observamos que la mutación PA D529N reduce la producción de DGs en virus con alta tasa de acumulación de estos genomas defectivos. En conclusión el cambio PA D529N es el responsable de la patogenicidad del aislado F. El virus recombinante conteniendo este cambio, acumula una baja cantidad de DGs, lo que retrasa la respuesta antiviral. Este hecho permitiría al virus permanecer indetectable por la célula infectada por un tiempo relativamente corto pero suficiente para permitir la replicación viral. Altas tasas de replicación en pulmón en los ratones infectados con CAL-PA D529N y una eficiente dispersión a tejidos extrapulmonares incrementarían su potencial de patogenicidad. Estos resultados nos aportan datos sobre el complejo mecanismo de patogenicidad del virus de la gripe y las diferentes vías que intervienen en el resultado final de la infección.This work have been done at the Nacional Center of Biotechnology (CNB- CSIC) at the department of Cellular and Molecular Biology thanks to La Caixa International PhD Fellowship, Plan Nacional de Investigacion Científica, Desarrollo e Innovacion Tecnologica (BFU2011-26175 and BFU2014-57797-R) and the Ciber de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES)

Leptin immunoexpression and innervation in rat interscapular brown adipose tissue of cold-acclimated rats: the effects of L-arginine and L-NAME.

The aim of the present study was to explore the effect of nitric oxide on leptin immunoexpression and innervation in interscapular brown adipose tissue (IBAT) of room- and cold- acclimated rats. Animals acclimated both to room-temperature (22 +/- 1 degrees C) and cold (4 +/- 1 degrees C) were treated with L-arginine, a substrate for nitric oxide synthases (NOSs), or N?-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), an inhibitor of NOSs, for 45 days. Leptin expression and localization in brown adipocytes was studied by immunohistochemistry, and innervation stained by the Bodian method. Strong leptin immunopositivity was observed in brown adipocytes cytoplasm of all room-acclimated groups, but nuclear leptin positivity was found only in L-NAME treated rats. In cold-acclimated control and L-NAME treated rats leptin immunopositivity was absent, while L-arginine treatment reversed the cold-induced suppression of leptin expression. Comparing to control, L-arginine, and even more L-NAME, at 22 +/- 1 degrees C induced greater innervation. In conclusion, L-arginine treatment changes leptin expression pattern on cold in rat IBAT

Free time and physical activities of students of pedagogical faculties

The goal of the research is: To examine to what extent and in what way students of pedagogical faculties practice physical activities in their free tim

A Sustainable Approach for the Management and Valorization of Underwater Cultural Heritage: New Perspectives from the TECTONIC Project

Documentation and conservation of underwater cultural heritage (UCH) are crucial to preserving humankind’s history and traditions, safeguarding tangible testimonies of past human life while ensuring its accessibility to future generations. The TECTONIC (Technological Consortium TO develop sustainability of underwater Cultural Heritage) project is promoting an intersectoral collaboration between academic and non-academic professionals (i.e., archaeologists, conservators, geologists, engineers, etc.) working on different topics related to UCHs, to find solutions to the issues still existing in the field. The overall aim is the exchange of skills for the improvement and assessment of innovative materials and techniques to develop solutions and marketable products for the conservation and management of the UCH, sustainably. To achieve its overall aim, TECTONIC is undertaking activities driven by the following objectives: (a) the study, documentation, and mapping of selected UCHs; (b) the creation of decision-support tools for UCH risk assessment in a changing environment; (c) the initiation of conservation studies and protocols for conservation activities; (d) the development of open and low-cost robotic solutions for the inspection of UCH; and (e) the raising of public awareness and knowledge about UCH. All the objectives are devoted to stimulating new sustainable ideas that would bring the growth of cultural tourism and the development of new marketable products by capitalizing on the research results.Fil: Ricca, Michela. Università della Calabria; ItaliaFil: Alexandrakis, George. Foundation For Research And Technology ? Hellas.; GreciaFil: Bonazza, Alessandra. Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche. Istituto Di Scienze Dell Atmosfera E del Clima.; ItaliaFil: Bruno, Fabio. Università della Calabria; ItaliaFil: Petriaggi, Barbara Davidde. Instituto Superiore per la Conservazione ed il Restauro; ItaliaFil: Elkin, Dolores Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Secretaría de Cultura de la Nación. Dirección Nacional de Cultura y Museos. Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano; ArgentinaFil: Lagudi, Antonio. Università della Calabria; ItaliaFil: Nicolas, Stephane. Centre d'Activité des Playes ZE Jean Monnet; FranciaFil: Novák, Michal. Synpo; República ChecaFil: Papatheodorou, George. University Of Patras; GreciaFil: Prieto, Javier. Universidad de Salamanca; EspañaFil: Ricci, Marco. Università della Calabria; ItaliaFil: Vasilijevic, Antonio. H2O Robotics; CroaciaFil: La Russa, Mauro Francesco. Università della Calabria; Italia. Foundation For Research And Technology ? Hellas.; Greci

Mutation S110L of H1N1 Influenza Virus Hemagglutinin: A Potent Determinant of Attenuation in the Mouse Model

Characterization of a pandemic 2009 H1N1 influenza virus isolated from a fatal case patient (F-IAV), showed the presence of three different mutations; potential determinants of its high pathogenicity that were located in the polymerase subunits (PB2 A221T and PA D529N) and the hemagglutinin (HA S110L). Recombinant viruses containing individually or in combination the polymerase mutations in the backbone of A/California/04/09 (CAL) showed that PA D529N was clearly involved in the increased pathogenicity of the F-IAV virus. Here, we have evaluated the contribution of HA S110L to F-IAV pathogenicity, through introduction of this point mutation in CAL recombinant virus (HA mut). The HA S110L protein has similar pH stability, comparable mobility, and entry properties both in human and mouse cultured cells that wild type HA. The change HA S110L leads to a non-significant trend to reduce the replication capacity of influenza virus in tissue culture, and HA mut is better neutralized than CAL virus by monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies against HA from CAL strain. In addition, recombinant viruses containing HA S110L alone or in combination with polymerase mutations considerably increased the LD50 in infected mice. Characterization of the lungs of HA mut infected animals showed reduced lung damage and inflammation compared with CAL infected mice. Accordingly, lower virus replication, decreased presence in bronchioli and parenchyma and lower leukocytes and epithelial infected cells were found in the lungs of HA mut-infected animals. Our results indicate that, mutation HA S110L constitutes a determinant of attenuation and suggest that its interaction with components of the respiratory tract mucus and lectins, that play an important role on influenza virus outcome, may constitute a physical barrier impeding the infection of the target cells, thus compromising the infection outcome

Human influenza A virus causes myocardial and cardiac-specific conduction system infections associated with early inflammation and premature death.

Human influenza A virus (hIAV) infection is associated with important cardiovascular complications, although cardiac infection pathophysiology is poorly understood. We aimed to study the ability of hIAV of different pathogenicity to infect the mouse heart, and establish the relationship between the infective capacity and the associated in vivo, cellular and molecular alterations. We evaluated lung and heart viral titres in mice infected with either one of several hIAV strains inoculated intranasally. 3D reconstructions of infected cardiac tissue were used to identify viral proteins inside mouse cardiomyocytes, Purkinje cells, and cardiac vessels. Viral replication was measured in mouse cultured cardiomyocytes. Human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) were used to confirm infection and study underlying molecular alterations associated with the in vivo electrophysiological phenotype. Pathogenic and attenuated hIAV strains infected and replicated in cardiomyocytes, Purkinje cells, and hiPSC-CMs. The infection was also present in cardiac endothelial cells. Remarkably, lung viral titres did not statistically correlate with viral titres in the mouse heart. The highly pathogenic human recombinant virus PAmut showed faster replication, higher level of inflammatory cytokines in cardiac tissue and higher viral titres in cardiac HL-1 mouse cells and hiPSC-CMs compared with PB2mut-attenuated virus. Correspondingly, cardiac conduction alterations were especially pronounced in PAmut-infected mice, associated with high mortality rates, compared with PB2mut-infected animals. Consistently, connexin43 and NaV1.5 expression decreased acutely in hiPSC-CMs infected with PAmut virus. YEM1L protease also decreased more rapidly and to lower levels in PAmut-infected hiPSC-CMs compared with PB2mut-infected cells, consistent with mitochondrial dysfunction. Human IAV infection did not increase myocardial fibrosis at 4-day post-infection, although PAmut-infected mice showed an early increase in mRNAs expression of lysyl oxidase. Human IAV can infect the heart and cardiac-specific conduction system, which may contribute to cardiac complications and premature death.JV is a PhD fellow of the La Caixa Foundation International Fellowship Programme (La Caixa/CNB). This work was supported by the European Molecular Biology Organizat ion (STF-7649 to AF), the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MCIU), (BFU2011-26175 and BFU2014-57797-R to AN), and the network Ciber de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES) including the Improvement and Mobilit y Programme. The CNIC is a Severo Ochoa Center of Excellence (SEV-2015-0505). CNIC is supported by MCIU and the Pro CNIC Foundation. This study was supported by grants from Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (CB16/11/00458), grants SAF2015-65607-R and SAF2016-80324-R from MCIU (A.H. and D.F-R.) and fellowship SVP-2014-068595 to J.A.N-A. This study was supported by Frankel Cardiovascular Centre, Michigan Medicine (Grant 332475). JJ is supported in part by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01 Grant HL122352). S.F.N is supported in part by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute grants R21HL138064 and R01HL129136.S

Underwater robotics ready for oil spill, an EU project

Peer Reviewe

Transistors à effet de champ à base de graphène imprimés : contrôle chimique et électrochimique des propriétés électroniques du graphène et applications en bio-détection

Le graphène est un matériau bidimensionnel ayant des caractéristiques physico-chimiques remarquables, notamment une sensibilité élevée à son environnement électronique. Parmi les différentes applications du graphène, son utilisation comme matériau sensible dans des transistors à effet de champ (GFET) est très étudiée, en particulier à des fins de biodétection. Dans ce travail de thèse, nous avons cherché à élaborer un GFET par la technologie originale de l'impression numérique à jet d'encre et de tester les performances de ce dispositif en tant que biocapteur. Pour faire cela, une encre aqueuse à base d'une dispersion de flocons d'oxyde de graphène (GO) a été formulée puis imprimée sur des structures lithographiées de type transistor à effet de champ. Grâce à ce dispositif fonctionnant en milieu électrolytique, nous avons montré que le degré de réduction électrochimique du GO permettait de contrôler efficacement les propriétés de transport de charges dans le matériau réduit (mobilité et taux de dopage du rGO) et qu'un contrôle additionnel pouvait être obtenu via un dopage induit par une couche de molécules riches en groupements de type donneurs électroniques, adsorbées sur les flocons de rGO.Ces GFETs à grille électrolytique, fonctionnels en milieu aqueux, ont ensuite été appliqués au suivi du métabolisme d'un organisme aquatique, à savoir une cyanobactérie. Notre dispositif électronique montre une sensibilité élevée aux variations du taux d'oxygène induit par l'activité photosynthétique de la cyanobactérie, avec un facteur d'amplification du signal électrique mille fois plus important que celui obtenu avec un dispositif équivalent, à base de semi-conducteur organique. Nous avons également montré que ce dispositif GFET pourrait être potentiellement utilisé dans le cadre de contrôles environnementaux, par exemple pour détecter la présence de polluants dans les eauxGraphene is a two-dimensional material with remarkable physicochemical characteristics. In particular, graphene is highly sensitive to its electronic environment. Among different applications of graphene, its use as a sensitive material in the field-effect transistors (GFET) is widely studied, especially for biodetection purposes. In this work, we sought to develop a GFET using original digital printing technology and test the device performance when working as a biosensor. To achieve this, an aqueous ink based on graphene oxide (GO) flakes dispersion was formulated and printed on lithographed field-effect transistor structures. Thanks to this device, able to work in an electrolyte, we have shown that the electrochemical reduction degree of GO allowed efficient control of the charge transport properties in the reduced material (control of both the mobility and the doping rate of rGO). Moreover, the electron-rich molecules adsorbed on the rGO flakes were shown to induce additional doping effects.These electrolyte-gated GFET devices, operating in an aqueous medium, were then used for life-cycle monitoring of an aquatic organism, the cyanobacteria. Our device shows very high sensitivity to variations in oxygen levels induced by cyanobacteria's photosynthetic activity with amplification of electric signal a thousand times greater than that obtained with an equivalent device, based on the organic semiconductor. We have also demonstrated that this GFET device could potentially be used in the framework of environmental monitoring, for the detection of water pollutant