A bioprinted 3D gut model with crypt-villus structures to mimic the intestinal epithelial-stromal microenvironment

The intestine is a complex tissue with a characteristic three-dimensional (3D) crypt-villus architecture, which plays a key role in the intestinal function. This function is also regulated by the intestinal stroma that actively supports the intestinal epithelium, maintaining the homeostasis of the tissue. Efforts to account for the 3D complex structure of the intestinal tissue have been focused mainly in mimicking the epithelial barrier, while solutions to include the stromal compartment are scarce and unpractical to be used in routine experiments. Here we demonstrate that by employing an optimized bioink formulation and the suitable printing parameters it is possible to produce fibroblast-laden crypt-villus structures by means of digital light projection stereolithography (DLP-SLA). This process provides excellent cell viability, accurate spatial resolution, and high printing throughput, resulting in a robust biofabrication approach that yields functional gut mucosa tissues compatible with conventional testing techniques.Copyright © 2023 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Middle Ordovician harknessellid brachiopods (Dalmanellidina) from the Mediterranean margin of Gondwana

The family Harknessellidae Bancroft, 1928 (Orthida, Dalmanellidina) was designed to embrace an assemblage of species referred previously to Harknessella Reed, 1917, and included five genera known mainly from the Middle and Upper Ordovician of England. Herein, we suggest reassigning to this family the genus Cacemia Mitchell, 1974, widespread in the middle Darriwilian (upper Middle Ordovician) of the Iberian and Armorican massifs. Since its designation, Cacemia was placed among the dalmanellidin heterorthids, in spite of its strongly mucronate hinge line, which is totally unknown within this Mediterranean family. A new harknessellid has been identified from the upper Darriwilian beds of the Central Iberian Zone (Central Spain): Isabelella fascicostellata Reyes-Abril Villas gen. et sp. nov. It is similar to Horderleyella Bancroft, 1928 for its coarsely fascicostellate radial ornamentation and obtuse cardinal angles, although its convexoplane to convexoconcave profile allows discrimination from the typically dorsibiconvex Horderleyella. A phylogenetic analysis of the family places both Cacemia and Isabelella in basal positions of their clades, which fits with their early stratigraphic record. Based on our study, the family Harknessellidae appears to have originated in the high latitude Mediterranean margins of Gondwana during pre-Darriwilian times, before the detachment of Avalonia from Gondwana. The family reached its highest diversification in Avalonia throughout the Late Ordovician, keeping connections with the Mediterranean and Proto-Andean margins of Gondwana, as well as with the mid-latitude palaeocontinents of Baltica and South China

Evaluation of CAY-1, an Experimental, Natural Fungicide, For Control of Strawberry Pathogens

CAY-1 is an experimental, natural product being tested as a potential fungicide. This saponin isolated from Capsicum frutescens interacts with membrane sterols causing leakage of cell components and ultimately cell death in a variety of fungi. CAY-1 and the commercial fungicide captan were tested in an in vitro doseresponse dilution-broth assay. They caused at least 85% growth inhibition of the fungal pathogens Colletotrichum acutatum, C fragariae and C. gloeosporioides when tested at 3.0 μM. Even though CAY-1 strongly reduced the growth of these fungal pathogens in laboratory assays and prevented anthracnose development in detached leaf assays, it did not control foliar or fruit rot diseases of strawberry in field trials

Imaging the buried rim of Campi flegrei caldera (Italy) from array analysis

On September an extended active seismic survey(SERAPIS,Seismic Reflection Acquisition Project for Imaging Structure)was conducted in the Gulf of Naples and Pozzuoli with the aimof providing new insights on the Campi Flegrei caldera structure and of investigating its feeding system(fig.1).About3000air-gunsea-shots were shot(fig.3a,b,c).In the frame work of this project,anarray of 28 vertical-component and 4 three component sensors was deployed in the Solfatara crater(fig.2).The array had an aperture of about 200m,and receivers had a natural frequency of 1Hz.An example of the recorded wave forms is shown in figure 4

Bose-Einstein condensate dark matter phase transition from finite temperature symmetry breaking of Klein-Gordon fields

In this paper the thermal evolution of scalar field dark matter particles at finite cosmological temperatures is studied. Starting with a real scalar field in a thermal bath and using the one loop quantum corrections potential, we rewrite Klein-Gordon's (KG) equation in its hydrodynamical representation and study the phase transition of this scalar field due to a Z_2 symmetry breaking of its potential. A very general version of a nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation is obtained. When introducing Madelung's representation, the continuity and momentum equations for a non-ideal SFDM fluid are formulated, and the cosmological scenario with the SFDM described in analogy to an imperfect fluid is then considered where dissipative contributions are obtained in a natural way.Additional terms appear compared to those obtained in the classical version commonly used to describe the \LambdaCDM model, i.e., the ideal fluid. The equations and parameters that characterize the physical properties of the system such as its energy, momentum and viscous flow are related to the temperature of the system, scale factor, Hubble's expansion parameter and the matter energy density. Finally, some details on how galaxy halos and smaller structures might be able to form by condensation of this SF are given.Comment: Substantial changes have been made to the paper, following the referees recommendations. 16 pages. Published in Classical and Quantum Gravit

Structure and genetic relationships between serrana de Teruel breed and other cattle breeds reared in Spain

In this work we analyze by microsatellite markers the genetic diversity, structure and relationships of the indigenous endangered Serrana de Teruel cattle breed with different breeds reared in Spain. All loci were polymorphic and a total of 198 alleles were observed across loci, with a mean of 6.79. Observed and expected heterozygosities values shown the high variability of Serrana de Teruel breed with values of 0.67 and 0.68 respectively. The neighbour net based on Reynolds distances shown the close genetic relationship among Serrana de Teruel and the mountain Parda de Montaña and Pirenaica breeds. STRUCTURE results showed a 47.5% of correctly assigned individuals to Serrana de Teruel breed using a q>0.8 threshold. The admixed animals shown a clear influence of Parda de Montaña breed.En este trabajo se analiza la variabilidad genética de la raza autóctona en peligro de extinción Serrana de Teruel, así como su relación con las ra-zas bovinas explotadas en España: Albera, Pajuna, Avileña-Negra Ibérica, Serrana Negra, Pirenaica y Parda de Montaña. La caracterización genética se ha realizado mediante marcadores microsatélites, todos han resultado polimórficos detectándose un total de 198 alelos con una media de 6,79 alelos por locus. Las heterocigosidades observadas y esperadas fueron altas y similares en el equilibrio, con valores de 0,67 y 0,68 respectivamente. A partir del estudio de las relaciones filogenéticas se ha podido observar la cercanía de la raza Serrana de Teruel con las razas de montaña Pirenaica y Parda de Montaña. Mediante el estudio de la estructura genética se observó que el porcentaje de animales correctamente asignados a la Serrana de Teruel para q>0,8 fue del 47,5%, apreciándose una clara influencia de la raza Parda de Montaña en los individuos mezclados

SpheroidJ: An Open-Source Set of Tools for Spheroid Segmentation

Background and objectives: Spheroids are the most widely used 3D models for studying the effects of different micro-environmental characteristics on tumour behaviour, and for testing different preclinical and clinical treatments. In order to speed up the study of spheroids, imaging methods that automatically segment and measure spheroids are instrumental; and, several approaches for automatic segmentation of spheroid images exist in the literature. However, those methods fail to generalise to a diversity of experimental conditions. The aim of this work is the development of a set of tools for spheroid segmentation that works in a diversity of settings. Methods: In this work, we have tackled the spheroid segmentation task by first developing a generic segmentation algorithm that can be easily adapted to different scenarios. This generic algorithm has been employed to reduce the burden of annotating a dataset of images that, in turn, has been employed to train several deep learning architectures for semantic segmentation. Both our generic algorithm and the constructed deep learning models have been tested with several datasets of spheroid images where the spheroids were grown under several experimental conditions, and the images acquired using different equipment. Results: The developed generic algorithm can be particularised to different scenarios; however, those particular algorithms fail to generalise to different conditions. By contrast, the best deep learning model, constructed using the HRNet-Seg architecture, generalises properly to a diversity of scenarios. In order to facilitate the dissemination and use of our algorithms and models, we present SpheroidJ, a set of open-source tools for spheroid segmentation. Conclusions: In this work, we have developed an algorithm and trained several models for spheroid segmentation that can be employed with images acquired under different conditions. Thanks to this work, the analysis of spheroids acquired under different conditions will be more reliable and comparable; and, the developed tools will help to advance our understanding of tumour behaviour