Tiburones triásicos de la península Ibérica

Durant molt de temps, es pensava que el registre fòssil dels taurons triàsics a Espanya era inexistent. No obstant això, recents estudis en les serralades Ibèriques, Bètiques i Costero-Catalana han demostrat que en les aigües que banyaven la península durant este període els taurons eren igual d’abundants que el d’altres localitats Europees del Triàsic.Durante mucho tiempo, se pensó que el registro fósil de los tiburones triásicos en España era inexistente. Sin embargo, recientes estudios en las cordilleras Ibéricas, Béticas y Costero-Catalana han demostrado que en las aguas que bañaban la península durante este periodo los tiburones eran igual de abundantes que el de otras localidades Europeas del Triásico.For a long time, it was thought that the fossil record of the Triassic sharks in Spain was non-existent. However, recent studies in the Iberian, Betic and Coastal-Catalan Ranges have shown that in the waters that bathed the peninsula during this period, sharks were as abundant as that of other European locations in the Triassic.Este trabajo se ha llevado a cabo gracias a la Beca de Formación de Personal Investigador BES-2015-072618 concedida por el Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad

Producción de halocina L8 y estudio de sus posibles aplicaciones biomédicas

La producción de halocinas por arqueas halófilas extremas es un hecho ampliamente distribuido en la Familia Halobacteriaceae (Meseguer et al. 1986; Torreblanca et al., 1994). Una de ellas, la halocina L8 producida por la cepa L8 del género Haloferax, es una halocina no sal dependiente, que ha mostrado un efecto sobre el crecimiento de Bacillus sp en medio sólido (Pastor, A., 2014). Dados estos antecedentes, en este trabajo fin de grado se ha procedido en primer lugar a optimizar la producción de la halocina L8, para posteriormente concentrarla y purificarla parcialmente. A continuación, esta halocina semipurificada, ha sido probada como antimicrobiano frente a bacterias, concretamente Streptococcus pneumoniae y Bacillus sp, para observar el efecto sobre el crecimiento y la morfología en ambas especies. Finalmente también ha sido ensayada como antitumoral en líneas celulares de cáncer de colon

Primeros restos de plantas vasculares del Lochkoviense (Devónico Inferior) de la provincia de Teruel

El Devónico Inferior representa un episodio clave en la historia evolutiva de las plantas. Durante este intervalo temporal se afianzó la conquista de los primeros ecosistemas terrestres y se produjo la diversificación de las primeras plantas vasculares, la cual cosa preparó el camino para la posterior diversificación del resto de animales sobre los ecosistemas terrestres. Sin embargo, el registro fósil de estas primeras plantas vasculares es muy escaso en la Península Ibérica, por lo que cualquier nueva aportación sobre su diversidad, morfología y distribución geográfica es importante para aumentar nuestra comprensión de sus primeros pasos evolutivos y de su diversificación durante las primeras etapas del Devónico. En el presente trabajo, se comentan un conjunto de pequeños restos de plantas vasculares del Lochkoviense (Devónico Inferior) de la Provincia de Teruel. Los restos encontrados están compuestos principalmente por unos tallos dicotómicos de porte acintado e identificados como tallos estériles atribuibles al género Taeniocrada. Junto a estos restos, se describe también un pequeño resto no identificado de forma taxonómica, el cual está formado también por ejes dicotómicos. Varias formas globulares, las cuales son dudosamente asignables a estructuras reproductoras también han sido descritas. Estos hallazgos representan los restos más antiguos de plantas vasculares de la Provincia de Teruel y posiblemente de la Península Ibérica, lo que supone un importante descubrimiento para conocer mejor la diversidad y distribución geográfica de las primeras plantas vasculares terrestres en nuestro País.The Lower Devonian represents a key episode in the evolutionary history of plants. During this time interval the conquest of early terrestrial ecosystems and the diversification of vascular plants occurred. This framework provided the optimum pathway for the subsequent evolution and diversification of animals on land. However, the fossil record of these early vascular plants is scarce in the Iberian Peninsula, therefore, any new discovery is important for increasing our understanding about their diversity, morphology and geographical distribution, as well as the first evolutionary steps and its diversification during early Devonian times. In this paper, we present a small assemblage of early land plants from the Lochkovian stage (Lower Devonian) of the Teruel Province in Spain. The remains are mainly formed by several dichotomous stems assigned tentatively to Taeniocrada genus. Alongside the aforementioned remains, some small plant remains with dichotomous stems, which are non-identified taxonomically, have been also described, together with several globular forms that are questionably assigned to reproductive structures. These findings represent the oldest remains of vascular plants in the province of Teruel and possibly of the Iberian Peninsula and is an important discovery allowing a better understanding of the diversity and geographical distribution of the first terrestrial vascular plants in our country.Este trabajo ha sido financiado íntegramente por el Instituto de Estudios Turolense mediante el XXIII Concurso de Ayudas a la Investigación celebrado en 2005

Algunas consideraciones sobre la masa (o masa no hay más que una)

This article presents sorne reasoned arguments against relativistic mass as a basic concept in Theory of Special Relativity. Relativistic mass limitations are examined and invariant mass is defended as the only one. Finally, a didactic proposal, consistent with the use of invariable mass, is presented in order to introducing rnass and energy concepts at Bachillerato

First fossil record (Middle Miocene) of the viper shark Trigonognathus Mochizuki and Ohe, 1990, in the Mediterranean realm

The genus Trigonognathus Mochizuki and Ohe, 1990, is a monospecific taxon of `lantern sharks¿ (i.e., family Etmopteridae), a group of small-sized bioluminescent deep-sea chondrichthyans, ranging in mature male specimens between 42¿47 cm total length, and at least 52 cm for females (Ebert et al., 2021). This shark inhabits the upper continental slopes as well as the uppermost slope of seamounts, often at the bottom, at depths ranging between 250¿1000 m, but has been caught at 150 m and 270 m in deep open waters (Mochizuki and Ohe, 1990; Compagno et al., 2005; Ebert et al., 2021). Only two species have been described thus far, the extant species Trigonognathus kabeyai Mochizuki and Ohe, 1990, and the extinct ¿Trigonognathus virginiae from the middle Eocene of France (Cappetta and Adnet, 2001). Trigonognathus kabeyai exhibits a combination of morphological characteristics that are unique among Squaliformes, like a highly protrudable jaw articulation (Shirai and Okamura, 1992; Straube et al., 2010), and a lack of dignathic heterodonty. Additionally, the tearing-type dentition, and strong monognathic heterodonty with hypertrophied anterior teeth, differentiate it from the genus Squalus and Cirrigaleus (with cutting-type dentition), and Centroscyllium and Aculeola (with no monognathic heterodonty and clutching-type dentition) (Cappetta and Adnet, 2001). The geographic distribution of T. kabeyai is restricted to the Pacific Ocean, in the Wakayama and Tokushima coasts of Japan (Mochizuki and Ohe, 1990; Shirai and Okamura, 1992; Ebert et al., 2021), Taiwan (Ebert et al., 2013), and in the north-west of Hawaii (Wetherbee and Kajiura, 2000). However, the fossil record of the genus Trigonognathus indicates a broader geographic distribution in the past (Aguilera and Rodriguez de Aguilera, 2001; Cappetta and Adnet, 2001; Carrillo-Briceño et al., 2015). These findings include ¿T. virginiae from the middle Eocene of Landes (eastern Atlantic), southwestern France (Cappetta and Adnet, 2001), and two isolated teeth assigned to Trigonognathus sp. and Trigonognathus aff. kabeyai from the Upper Miocene of Panama (Carrillo-Briceño et al., 2015) and the Upper Miocene¿Lower Pliocene of Venezuela (Caribbean Sea) (Aguilera and Rodriguez de Aguilera, 2001), respectively. Given the apparent rarity of this elusive taxon, any new finding, especially in the fossil record, is of note and increases our knowledge of this genus. Herein we describe a Middle Miocene locality with the first known record of Trigonognathus in the Mediterranean realm (south-eastern Spain), which offers new insight into the paleoenvironmental and paleobiogeographic history of this shark. In addition, with the objective of providing new information about possible diagnostic characteristics of the genus, the first description of its internal tooth histology is provided

Estilo personal del terapeuta y dirección de intereses

El objetivo principal del presente estudio es profundizar en el conocimiento del Estilo Personal del Terapeuta (EPT) y estudiar las relaciones entre diferentes funciones de este estilo y la dirección de intereses de los terapeutas en formación. E] EPT es evaluado con el cuestionario EPT-C (Fernández Álvarez, García, LoBianco y Corbella, 2003) que distingue seis funciones que permiten dibujar el perfil personal de cada terapeuta: instruccional, atencional, expresiva, operacional e involucrativa. La dirección de interés del terapeuta es evaluada a través del cuestionario DIQ (Caine. Wijesinghe y Winter. 1981) que distingue entre una dirección interna o externa, La muestra del estudio está formada por 9] licenciados 9.9% hombres y 90,1% mujeres) que están cursando un Máster en psicoterapia. Los resultados de los análisis indican unas correlaciones moderadas y significativas entre las funciones atencional (receptiva) y operativa (espontáneo) y la dirección de intereses (interna) de los participantes

Computational fluid dynamics suggests ecological diversification among stem-gnathostomes

The evolutionary assembly of the vertebrate bodyplan has been characterized as a long-term ecological trend toward increasingly active and predatory lifestyles, culminating in jawed vertebrates that dominate modern vertebrate biodiversity [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]. This contrast is no more stark than between the earliest jawed vertebrates and their immediate relatives, the extinct jawless, dermal armor-encased osteostracans, which have conventionally been interpreted as benthic mud-grubbers with poor swimming capabilities and low maneuverability [9, 10, 11, 12]. Using computational fluid dynamics, we show that osteostracan headshield morphology is compatible with a diversity of hydrodynamic efficiencies including passive control of water flow around the body; these could have increased versatility for adopting diverse locomotor strategies. Hydrodynamic performance varies with morphology, proximity to the substrate, and angle of attack (inclination). Morphotypes with dorsoventrally oblate headshields are hydrodynamically more efficient when swimming close to the substrate, whereas those with dorsoventrally more prolate headshields exhibit maximum hydrodynamic efficiency when swimming free from substrate effects. These results suggest different hydrofoil functions among osteostracan headshield morphologies, compatible with ecological diversification and undermining the traditional view that jawless stem-gnathostomes were ecologically constrained [9, 10, 11, 12] with the origin of jaws as the key innovation that precipitated the ecological diversification of the group [13, 14]

Differential gene expression profile in omental adipose tissue in women with polycystic ovary syndrome

10 pages, 2 figures, 5 tables.CONTEXT: The polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is frequently associated with visceral obesity, suggesting that omental adipose tissue might play an important role in the pathogenesis of the syndrome. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to study the expression profiles of omental fat biopsy samples obtained from morbidly obese women with or without PCOS at the time of bariatric surgery. DESIGN: This was a case-control study. SETTINGS: We conducted the study in an academic hospital. PATIENTS: Eight PCOS patients and seven nonhyperandrogenic women submitted to bariatric surgery because of morbid obesity. INTERVENTIONS: Biopsy samples of omental fat were obtained during bariatric surgery. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The main outcome measure was high-density oligonucleotide arrays. RESULTS: After statistical analysis, we identified changes in the expression patterns of 63 genes between PCOS and control samples. Gene classification was assessed through data mining of Gene Ontology annotations and cluster analysis of dysregulated genes between both groups. These methods highlighted abnormal expression of genes encoding certain components of several biological pathways related to insulin signaling and Wnt signaling, oxidative stress, inflammation, immune function, and lipid metabolism, as well as other genes previously related to PCOS or to the metabolic syndrome. CONCLUSION: The differences in the gene expression profiles in visceral adipose tissue of PCOS patients compared with nonhyperandrogenic women involve multiple genes related to several biological pathways, suggesting that the involvement of abdominal obesity in the pathogenesis of PCOS is more ample than previously thought and is not restricted to the induction of insulin resistance.This work was supported by PI020578, PI020741, PI050341, PI050551, RCMN C03/08, and RGDM 03/212 from Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, and Grants 08.6/0021/2003 and GR/SAL/0137/2004 from the Consejería de Educación y Cultura, Comunidad de Madrid, Spain.Peer reviewe

Tiburones de aguas profundas en el Mioceno Medio de Alicante: implicaciones para la recuperación de los ecosistemas abisales mediterráneos después de la crisis mesiniense

El estudio de la localidad clásica de El Chorrillo del Mioceno Medio (Serravaliense) en la Provincia de Alicante, ha permitido la recuperación de una interesante asociación de microrestos de tiburones caracterizada por al menos siete taxones (Deania calcea, †Isistius triangulus, †Squaliolus cf. schaubi, †Paraetmopterus sp., Pristiophorus sp., Scyliorhinus sp. y un Squaliforme indeterminado) pertenecientes a tres órdenes diferentes (Squaliformes, Pristiophoriformes y Carcharhiniformes). Asociados a estos microrestos se han identificado también macrodientes pertenecientes a Cosmopolitodus hastalis, Isurus sp., Hemipristis serra, Odontaspis sp., Carcharhinus spp. y †Otodus (Megaselachus) megalodon. El conjunto contiene especies con preferencias ambientales dispares, que incluyen no sólo tiburones neríticos y epipelágicos (aguas someras o abiertas), sino también un número importante de representantes meso y batipelágicos (tiburones de profundidad). Esta asociación “mezclada” es interpretada no como consecuencia de factores tafonómicos, sino por aspectos biológicos intrínsecos a la fauna que los componen. En este sentido, la migración de taxones de aguas profundas a aguas más superficiales a través de cañones submarinos para alimentarse (como sucede en la actualidad), pudo ser la causa más plausible para explicar el origen de tal asociación. Por otro lado, es importante destacar que la composición de los taxones de aguas profundas aquí descritas contrasta con el conjunto de condríctios del Plioceno, Pleistoceno y del de las comunidades mediterráneas actuales. Estos datos indican que la crisis de salinidad del Mesiniense afectó de forma importante a la evolución posterior de los ecosistemas abisales mediterráneos, pero que las diferencias detectadas con los faunas actuales debieron deberse además a otros factores, como la existencia de eventos anóxicos en los fondos abisales durante el Cuaternario.The study of the classical locality of El Chorrillo, (Serravallian, Middle Miocene) from the Alicante Province has yielded a shark assemblage characterized by microremains of at least seven taxa (Deania calcea, †Isistius triangulus, †Squaliolus cf. S. schaubi, †Paraetmopterus sp., Pristiophorus sp., Scyliorhinus sp. and a cf. Squaliformes indet) of three different orders (Squaliformes, Pristiophoriformes and Carcharhinuformes). In addition, associated macroremains have also been found, including teeth of †Cosmopolitodus hastalis, Isurus sp., Hemipristis serra, Odontaspis sp., Carcharhinus spp. and †Otodus (Megaselachus) megalodon. The assemblage contains taxa with disparate environmental preferences including not only neritic and epipelagic sharks but also an important number of meso- and bathypelagic representatives. The migration of deep water taxa to shallower waters through submarine canyons is proposed as the most plausible cause for explaining the origin of such assemblage. Interestingly, the composition of the deep-water taxa here reported contrast with the chondrichthyans assemblages from the Pliocene and extant Mediterranean communities. This entails a complex biogeographic history, where the Messinian salinity crisis strongly affected the posterior evolution of the Mediterranean ecosystems but some other factors, such us the existence of anoxic events during the Quaternary, could have also played an important role

Proteomic analysis of human omental adipose tissue in the polycystic ovary syndrome using two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis and mass

BACKGROUND: Our aim was to study the protein expression profiles of omental adipose tissue biopsies obtained from morbidly obese women with or without polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) at the time of bariatric surgery to evaluate the possible involvement of visceral adiposity in the development of PCOS. METHODS: Ten PCOS patients and nine control samples were included. We used two-dimensional difference gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) followed by in-gel digestion, and mass spectrometry (MS) of selected protein spots. RESULTS: The 2D-DIGE technology allowed the analysis of 1840 protein spots in the comparative study of control and patient proteomes, revealing 15 statistically significant spot changes (>2-fold, P < 0.05). Unambiguous protein identification was achieved for 9 of these 15 spots by MS. This preliminary study revealed differences in expression of proteins that may be involved in lipid and glucose metabolism, oxidative stress processes and adipocyte differentiation; they include proapolipoprotein Apo-A1, annexin V, glutathione S-transferase M3 (GSTM3), triosephosphate isomerase, peroxiredoxin 2 isoform a, actin and adipocyte plasma membrane-associated protein. The most relevant finding was an increase of GSTM3 in the omental fat of PCOS patients confirming previous studies conducted by our group. CONCLUSIONS: Proteomic analysis of omental fat reveals differential expression of several proteins in PCOS patients and non-hyperandrogenic women presenting with morbid obesity. The application of this novel methodology adds further evidence to support the role of visceral adiposity in the pathogenesis of PCOS