Avaluació de l’estat sanitari del gènere Turdus Linnaeus 1758 a Mallorca: una proposta de col·laboració entre la caça, l’administració i l’acadèmia

[cat] Els tords són unes de les espècies cinegètiques que tenen un major interès per als caçadors de Mallorca. Per a la seva caça s’empren diferents modalitats, si bé la caça amb coll permet la realització d’un seguiment dels exemplars amb una major selecció sense afectar a altres espècies. El seguiment de les espècies cinegètiques és un assumpte clau per a poder gestionar les poblacions hivernants de manera adequada, i més encara quan els individus que es cacen son consumits per la població local. En aquest sentit l’aparició al 2018 d’exemplars de tords amb presència del paràsit Morishitium polonicum remarca la necessitat de realitzar un seguiment de l’estat sanitari de les diferents espècies del gènere Turdus. Per la qual cosa en el present manuscrit es proposa una col·laboració entre les societats de caçadors, l’administració responsable de la gestió de caça a l’illa de Mallorca i la Universitat de les Illes Balears, com a institució científica.[eng] True thrushes are the group of hunting species with greater appreciation among the hunters of Mallorca island. For hunting them, several techniques are used, but nevertheless the use of nets within the autochthonous technique named coll allows to carry out a monitoring of the individuals with major selection, thus not affecting other species of birds. The monitoring of hunting species is a key issue to manage winter populations in a proper way, and even more when the hunted specimens are eaten by native population. In this regard, the record of the occurrence of the parasite Morishitium polonicum highlights the need of a monitoring of the health status of different species of the genus Turdus. Therefore, in the present manuscript it is proposed an agreement among the hunter societies, the responsible administration for management of hunting activity at Mallorca island and the University of the Balearic Islands, as a scientific institution

Primeros sondeos magnetotelúricos de la provincia de Mendoza (Argentina) y su relación con la tectónica global

Se informa acerca de los primeros resultados obtenidos en cuatro sondeos magnetotelúricos realizados en la provincia de Mendoza (Argentina), en los siguientes sitios: San Martín, El Sosneado, Agua Escondida y el Payún Matrú, ubicados según un perfil aproximadamente NS en los 69° de longitud oeste y extendiéndose en latitud desde los 33°S a 37°S. Las interpretaciones de estos sondeos sugieren la presencia de un sistema de 2 capas conductoras bajo la Corteza Terrestre, con conductividades integradas decrecientes hacia el sur. La capa conductora ubicada a menor profundidad tiene un techo el cual se ubica aproximadamente a 50 km en los tres primeros sondeos e incrementa ligeramente su espesor hacia el sur. Por otro lado la segunda capa conductora ubicada a mayor profundidad tiene un techo que varía des do 110 km de profundidad en San Martín a 180 km en Payún Matrú y probablemente disminuye su espesor hacia el sur. La interpretación de Payún Matrú no está en armonía con los restantes sondeos pues no se presenta en él la primera capa conductora (probablemente debido a alteraciones litológicas relacionadas al volcán Payún Matrú, en cuyas adyacencias se realizó el sondeo). En el marco de la Tectónica Global, estos resultados sugieren que estas capas conductoras podrían deberse a un desdoblamiento de la astenosfera causado por la subducción de la placa de Nazca, la cual presenta un cambio de pendiente en esta región. (Barazangi e Isacks 1976).The paper informs on first results obtained in four magnetotelluric soundings carried out in the province of Mendoza (Argentina) in the following sites: San Martín, El Sosneado, Agua Escondida, Payun Matru. The MT soundings are located on an approximately NS pro file at 69° West and extended in latitude from 33°S to 37°S. Briefly, the interpretations of these MT soundings suggest the presence of a two conductive layer system under the Earth Crust, with decreasing integrated conductivities from North to South. The upper conductive layer has the top at approximately 50 km depth in the three first soundings and it increases slightly its thickness from North to South. On the other hand, the second conductive layer, deeper than the first one, has the top between 110 km in San Martin and 180 km in Payun Matru and its thickness probably decreases from North to South. The interpretation of Payun Matru MT sounding is not in agreement with the previous ones, because it does not show the first conducting layer (probably because of lithologic alterations related with Payun Matru volcano in whose neighborhood this MT sounding was· made). In relation with the Global Tectonic, these results suggest that both conductive layers could have their origin in a division of the Asthenosphere into two layers due to the subduction of the Nazca plate, which presents a change of its dip in this region. (Barazangi & Isacks 1973).Asociación Argentina de Geofísicos y Geodesta

Increased chromosomal radiosensitivity in asymptomatic carriers of a heterozygous BRCA1 mutation

Background: Breast cancer risk increases drastically in individuals carrying a germline BRCA1 mutation. The exposure to ionizing radiation for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes of BRCA1 mutation carriers is counterintuitive, since BRCA1 is active in the DNA damage response pathway. The aim of this study was to investigate whether healthy BRCA1 mutations carriers demonstrate an increased radiosensitivity compared with healthy individuals. Methods: We defined a novel radiosensitivity indicator (RIND) based on two endpoints measured by the G2 micronucleus assay, reflecting defects in DNA repair and G2 arrest capacity after exposure to doses of 2 or 4 Gy. We investigated if a correlation between the RIND score and nonsense-mediated decay (NMD) could be established. Results: We found significantly increased radiosensitivity in the cohort of healthy BRCA1 mutation carriers compared with healthy controls. In addition, our analysis showed a significantly different distribution over the RIND scores (p = 0.034, Fisher’s exact test) for healthy BRCA1 mutation carriers compared with non-carriers: 72 % of mutation carriers showed a radiosensitive phenotype (RIND score 1–4), whereas 72 % of the healthy volunteers showed no radiosensitivity (RIND score 0). Furthermore, 28 % of BRCA1 mutation carriers had a RIND score of 3 or 4 (not observed in control subjects). The radiosensitive phenotype was similar for relatives within several families, but not for unrelated individuals carrying the same mutation. The median RIND score was higher in patients with a mutation leading to a premature termination codon (PTC) located in the central part of the gene than in patients with a germline mutation in the 5′ end of the gene. Conclusions: We show that BRCA1 mutations are associated with a radiosensitive phenotype related to a compromised DNA repair and G2 arrest capacity after exposure to either 2 or 4 Gy. Our study confirms that haploinsufficiency is the mechanism involved in radiosensitivity in patients with a PTC allele, but it suggests that further research is needed to evaluate alternative mechanisms for mutations not subjected to NMD

Physical mapping and BAC-end sequence analysis provide initial insights into the flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) genome

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Flax (<it>Linum usitatissimum </it>L.) is an important source of oil rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which have proven health benefits and utility as an industrial raw material. Flax seeds also contain lignans which are associated with reducing the risk of certain types of cancer. Its bast fibres have broad industrial applications. However, genomic tools needed for molecular breeding were non existent. Hence a project, Total Utilization Flax GENomics (TUFGEN) was initiated. We report here the first genome-wide physical map of flax and the generation and analysis of BAC-end sequences (BES) from 43,776 clones, providing initial insights into the genome.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The physical map consists of 416 contigs spanning ~368 Mb, assembled from 32,025 fingerprints, representing roughly 54.5% to 99.4% of the estimated haploid genome (370-675 Mb). The N50 size of the contigs was estimated to be ~1,494 kb. The longest contig was ~5,562 kb comprising 437 clones. There were 96 contigs containing more than 100 clones. Approximately 54.6 Mb representing 8-14.8% of the genome was obtained from 80,337 BES. Annotation revealed that a large part of the genome consists of ribosomal DNA (~13.8%), followed by known transposable elements at 6.1%. Furthermore, ~7.4% of sequence was identified to harbour novel repeat elements. Homology searches against flax-ESTs and NCBI-ESTs suggested that ~5.6% of the transcriptome is unique to flax. A total of 4064 putative genomic SSRs were identified and are being developed as novel markers for their use in molecular breeding.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The first genome-wide physical map of flax constructed with BAC clones provides a framework for accessing target loci with economic importance for marker development and positional cloning. Analysis of the BES has provided insights into the uniqueness of the flax genome. Compared to other plant genomes, the proportion of rDNA was found to be very high whereas the proportion of known transposable elements was low. The SSRs identified from BES will be valuable in saturating existing linkage maps and for anchoring physical and genetic maps. The physical map and paired-end reads from BAC clones will also serve as scaffolds to build and validate the whole genome shotgun assembly.</p

Genome-wide BAC-end sequencing of Cucumis melo using two BAC libraries

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although melon (<it>Cucumis melo </it>L.) is an economically important fruit crop, no genome-wide sequence information is openly available at the current time. We therefore sequenced BAC-ends representing a total of 33,024 clones, half of them from a previously described melon BAC library generated with restriction endonucleases and the remainder from a new random-shear BAC library.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We generated a total of 47,140 high-quality BAC-end sequences (BES), 91.7% of which were paired-BES. Both libraries were assembled independently and then cross-assembled to obtain a final set of 33,372 non-redundant, high-quality sequences. These were grouped into 6,411 contigs (4.5 Mb) and 26,961 non-assembled BES (14.4 Mb), representing ~4.2% of the melon genome. The sequences were used to screen genomic databases, identifying 7,198 simple sequence repeats (corresponding to one microsatellite every 2.6 kb) and 2,484 additional repeats of which 95.9% represented transposable elements. The sequences were also used to screen expressed sequence tag (EST) databases, revealing 11,372 BES that were homologous to ESTs. This suggests that ~30% of the melon genome consists of coding DNA. We observed regions of microsynteny between melon paired-BES and six other dicotyledonous plant genomes.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The analysis of nearly 50,000 BES from two complementary genomic libraries covered ~4.2% of the melon genome, providing insight into properties such as microsatellite and transposable element distribution, and the percentage of coding DNA. The observed synteny between melon paired-BES and six other plant genomes showed that useful comparative genomic data can be derived through large scale BAC-end sequencing by anchoring a small proportion of the melon genome to other sequenced genomes.</p

FEFI : finding education for female inmates

Within the framework of the multilateral EU-project "Finding Education for Female Inmates" (FEFI), ten partners from eight European countries cooperated on the subject of formal and informal education for adolescent and adult women in prison. Women in prison are a particularly underrepresented group due to their small number (3 to 7%) of the total prison population in all of the partners’ countries . The project aimed to improve and increase participation in lifelong learning by female prisoners who are an integral component of a vulnerable and disadvantaged group - a socially stigmatized group, as well as prisoners and as women.peer-reviewe

Characterization and outcomes of 414 patients with primary SS who developed haematological malignancies

Objective: To characterize 414 patients with primary SS who developed haematological malignancies and to analyse how the main SS- and lymphoma-related features can modify the presentation patterns and outcomes. Methods: By January 2021, the Big Data Sjögren Project Consortium database included 11 966 patients fulfilling the 2002/2016 classification criteria. Haematological malignancies diagnosed according to the World Health Organization (WHO) classification were retrospectively identified. Results: There were 414 patients (355 women, mean age 57 years) with haematological malignancies (in 43, malignancy preceded at least one year the SS diagnosis). A total of 376 (91%) patients had mature B-cell malignancy, nearly half had extranodal marginal zone lymphoma (MZL) of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT lymphoma) (n = 197), followed by diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) (n = 67), nodal MZL lymphoma (n = 29), chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL) (n = 19) and follicular lymphoma (FL) (n = 17). Rates of complete response, relapses and death were 80%, 34% and 13%, respectively, with a 5-year survival rate of 86.5% after a mean follow-up of 8 years. There were significant differences in age at diagnosis (younger in MALT, older in CLL/SLL), predominant clinical presentation (glandular enlargement in MALT lymphoma, peripheral lymphadenopathy in nodal MZL and FL, constitutional symptoms in DLBCL, incidental diagnosis in CLL/SLL), therapeutic response (higher in MALT lymphoma, lower in DLBCL) and survival (better in MALT, nodal MZL and FL, worse in DLBCL). Conclusion: In the largest reported study of haematological malignancies complicating primary SS, we confirm the overwhelming predominance of B-cell lymphomas, especially MALT, with the salivary glands being the primary site of involvement. This highly-specific histopathological scenario is linked with the overall good prognosis with a 5-year survival rate of nearly 90%

A Genome-Wide Survey of Switchgrass Genome Structure and Organization

The perennial grass, switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), is a promising bioenergy crop and the target of whole genome sequencing. We constructed two bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) libraries from the AP13 clone of switchgrass to gain insight into the genome structure and organization, initiate functional and comparative genomic studies, and assist with genome assembly. Together representing 16 haploid genome equivalents of switchgrass, each library comprises 101,376 clones with average insert sizes of 144 (HindIII-generated) and 110 kb (BstYI-generated). A total of 330,297 high quality BAC-end sequences (BES) were generated, accounting for 263.2 Mbp (16.4%) of the switchgrass genome. Analysis of the BES identified 279,099 known repetitive elements, >50,000 SSRs, and 2,528 novel repeat elements, named switchgrass repetitive elements (SREs). Comparative mapping of 47 full-length BAC sequences and 330K BES revealed high levels of synteny with the grass genomes sorghum, rice, maize, and Brachypodium. Our data indicate that the sorghum genome has retained larger microsyntenous regions with switchgrass besides high gene order conservation with rice. The resources generated in this effort will be useful for a broad range of applications