Long term oscillations of Mediterranean sardine and anchovy explained by the combined effect of multiple regional and global climatic indices

This study is a contribution to the PELWEB project (“Winners, losers and shifts of PELagic food WEB changes in the western Mediterranean Sea: from ecosystem consequences to future projections”, CTM2017-88939-R,2018–2020), and to “Fostering the capacity of marine ecosystem models to PROject the cumulative effects of global change and plausible future OCEANS” (PROOCEANS): Funding by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Proyectos de I+D+I (RETOS-PID2020-118097RB-I00).It is widely known that the abundance and distribution dynamics of populations of small pelagic clupeid fish, such as sardines and anchovies, are affected by large-scale climate variability, which may lead to changeovers to new regimes of small pelagics. However, long-distance climatic oscillations, such as El Niño/La Niña and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, have been little explored in the Western Mediterranean Sea. We investigated the possible effects of the South Oscillation Index (i.e. the atmospheric oscillation coupled with the El Niño/La Niña) and Pacific Decadal Oscillation on fluctuations in catches of European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) and sardine (Sardina pilchardus) in the Western Mediterranean Sea, and their association with regional climate oscillations (i.e. the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, the North Atlantic Oscillation, the Western Mediterranean Oscillation index, and the Arctic Oscillation)

Spatial-temporal variation of the Western Mediterranean Sea biodiversity along a latitudinal gradient

The Mediterranean Sea is a large marine ecosystem with high heterogeneity in both environmental and ecological characteristics. It presents clear gradients from north to south and west to east. It is also an important area in terms of biodiversity and conservation of vulnerable species, and it suffers from several cumulative human impacts, such as fishing and climate change. Previous studies have characterized spatial and temporal patterns of species distributions and biodiversity indicators. However, a comprehensive analysis combining a wide representation of biodiversity indicators is still missing. In this study, we examined spatial and temporal changes of marine communities along a latitudinal gradient over the continental shelf ecosystems (25–500 m depth) of the Western Mediterranean Sea, from the Gulf of Lion in the north to the Gibraltar Strait in the south. We used information from the MEDITS trawl scientific surveys from 1994 to 2018, and we calculated relevant indicators to investigate spatial and temporal patterns in the region. We selected several indicators measuring alpha (species richness, Shannon diversity index and Pielou evenness index) and beta (decomposing both turnover and nestedness) diversity, as well as previously studied indicators identified to be sensitive to fishing and climate change impacts (biomass-based and trophic-level based metrics). We assessed differences in these indicators for the surveyed community as a whole and for fish, crustaceans and cephalopods, separately, over five regions. Our results show clear latitudinal gradients in some indicators: we observe a reversed pattern between richness (decreasing from south to north) and biomass trends (increasing from south to north) for the demersal community. We also found a generalized increase in β-diversity in most regions with time, and a decline in the trophic level of the surveyed community. In addition, we identify a remarkable increase in several indicators when only considering the cephalopods group, and a general low environmental status for the North Catalan Sea. We discuss our results considering the differences between regions and taxa related to the fishing activity and environmental dynamics that can act at different scales. This in-depth analysis illustrates how to use a selection of indicators that combine the capacity to detect ecological changes from regional to sub-regional scales.En prensa2,69

Recensiones [Revista de Historia Económica Año XI Invierno 1993 n. 1 pp. 209-243]

Editada en la Universidad Carlos IIILutgardo García Fuentes. Sevilla, los vascos y América. (Las exportaciones de hierro, manufacturas metálicas en los siglos XVI, XVII y XVIII) (Por Rafael Uñarte Ayo).-- Enrique Tandeter. Coacción y mercado. La minería de la plata en el Potosí Colonial 1692-1826 (Por Zacarías Moutoukias).-- Manuel Miño Grijalva. Obrajes y tejedores en Hueva España (1700-1810) (Por Pedro Pérez Herrero).-- Luis Perdices Blas.Pablo de Olavide (1725-1803), el Ilustrado (Por Victoriano Martin Martín).-- Daniel Peribáñez Caveda. Comunicaciones y comercio marítimo en la Asturias preindustrial (1750-1850) (Por José Ramón García López).-- Vicent Llombart.Campomanes, economista y político de Carlos III (Por Luis Perdices Blas).-- M. Teresa Pérez Picazo.El mayorazgo en la historia económica de la región murciana, expansión, crisis y abolición (siglos XVIII-XIX) (Por Juan Antonio Carmona Pidal).-- Nelson Lourenço. Familia rural e industria. Mudanga social na regido de Leiria (Por Carmen Sarasúa García).-- Blanca Sánchez Alonso.La inmigración española en Argentina, siglos XIX y XX (Por José Moya).-- Gianni Toniolo.An Economic History qf Liberal Italy, 1859-1918 (Por Francesco L. Galassi).-- Albert Carreras. Estadísticas históricas de España. Siglos XIX-XX (Por Sebastian Coll Martín)Publicad

Slug is increased in vascular remodeling and induces a smooth muscle cell proliferative phenotype

Objective Previous studies have confirmed Slug as a key player in regulating phenotypic changes in several cell models, however, its role in smooth muscle cells (SMC) has never been assessed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the expression of Slug during the phenotypic switch of SMC in vitro and throughout the development of vascular remodeling. Methods and Results Slug expression was decreased during both cell-to-cell contact and TGFβ1 induced SMC differentiation. Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα), a known inductor of a proliferative/dedifferentiated SMC phenotype, induces the expression of Slug in SMC. Slug knockdown blocked TNFα-induced SMC phenotypic change and significantly reduced both SMC proliferation and migration, while its overexpression blocked the TGFβ1-induced SMC differentiation and induced proliferation and migration. Genome-wide transcriptomic analysis showed that in SMC, Slug knockdown induced changes mainly in genes related to proliferation and migration, indicating that Slug controls these processes in SMC. Notably, Slug expression was significantly up-regulated in lungs of mice using a model of pulmonary hypertension-related vascular remodeling. Highly remodeled human pulmonary arteries also showed an increase of Slug expression compared to less remodeled arteries. Conclusions Slug emerges as a key transcription factor driving SMC towards a proliferative phenotype. The increased Slug expression observed in vivo in highly remodeled arteries of mice and human suggests a role of Slug in the pathogenesis of pulmonary vascular diseases

Painlev\'e-Gullstrand synchronizations in spherical symmetry

A Painlev\'e-Gullstrand synchronization is a slicing of the space-time by a family of flat spacelike 3-surfaces. For spherically symmetric space-times, we show that a Painlev\'e-Gullstrand synchronization only exists in the region where $(dr)^2 \leq 1$, $r$ being the curvature radius of the isometry group orbits ($2$-spheres). This condition says that the Misner-Sharp gravitational energy of these 2-spheres is not negative and has an intrinsic meaning in terms of the norm of the mean extrinsic curvature vector. It also provides an algebraic inequality involving the Weyl curvature scalar and the Ricci eigenvalues. We prove that the energy and momentum densities associated with the Weinberg complex of a Painlev\'e-Gullstrand slice vanish in these curvature coordinates, and we give a new interpretation of these slices by using semi-metric Newtonian connections. It is also outlined that, by solving the vacuum Einstein's equations in a coordinate system adapted to a Painlev\'e-Gullstrand synchronization, the Schwarzschild solution is directly obtained in a whole coordinate domain that includes the horizon and both its interior and exterior regions.Comment: 16 page

Cerebral Microdialysate Metabolite Monitoring using Mid-infrared Spectroscopy.

Funder: Wellcome TrustThe brains of patients suffering from traumatic brain-injury (TBI) undergo dynamic chemical changes in the days following the initial trauma. Accurate and timely monitoring of these changes is of paramount importance for improved patient outcome. Conventional brain-chemistry monitoring is performed off-line by collecting and manually transferring microdialysis samples to an enzymatic colorimetric bedside analyzer every hour, which detects and quantifies the molecules of interest. However, off-line, hourly monitoring means that any subhourly neurochemical changes, which may be detrimental to patients, go unseen and thus untreated. Mid-infrared (mid-IR) spectroscopy allows rapid, reagent-free, molecular fingerprinting of liquid samples, and can be easily integrated with microfluidics. We used mid-IR transmission spectroscopy to analyze glucose, lactate, and pyruvate, three relevant brain metabolites, in the extracellular brain fluid of two TBI patients, sampled via microdialysis. Detection limits of 0.5, 0.2, and 0.1 mM were achieved for pure glucose, lactate, and pyruvate, respectively, in perfusion fluid using an external cavity-quantum cascade laser (EC-QCL) system with an integrated transmission flow-cell. Microdialysates were collected hourly, then pooled (3-4 h), and measured consecutively using the standard ISCUSflex analyzer and the EC-QCL system. There was a strong correlation between the compound concentrations obtained using the conventional bedside analyzer and the acquired mid-IR absorbance spectra, where a partial-least-squares regression model was implemented to compute concentrations. This study demonstrates the potential utility of mid-IR spectroscopy for continuous, automated, reagent-free, and online monitoring of the dynamic chemical changes in TBI patients, allowing a more timely response to adverse brain metabolism and consequently improving patient outcomes

Molecular and brain volume changes following aerobic exercise, cognitive and combined training in physically inactive healthy Late-Middle-Aged Adults: The Projecte Moviment Randomized Controlled Trial

Behavioral interventions have shown promising neuroprotective effects, but the cascade of molecular, brain and behavioral changes involved in these benefits remains poorly understood. Projecte Moviment is a 12-week (5 days per week—45 min per day) multi-domain, single-blind, proof-of-concept randomized controlled trial examining the cognitive effect and underlying mechanisms of an aerobic exercise (AE), computerized cognitive training (CCT) and a combined (COMB) groups compared to a waitlist control group. Adherence was > 80% for 82/109 participants recruited (62% female; age = 58.38 ± 5.47). In this study we report intervention-related changes in plasma biomarkers (BDNF, TNF-α, HGF, ICAM-1, SDF1-α) and structural-MRI (brain volume) and how they related to changes in physical activity and individual variables (age and sex) and their potential role as mediators in the cognitive changes. Our results show that although there were no significant changes in molecular biomarker concentrations in any intervention group, changes in ICAM-1 and SDF1-α were negatively associated with changes in physical activity outcomes in AE and COMB groups. Brain volume changes were found in the CCT showing a significant increase in precuneus volume. Sex moderated the brain volume change in the AE and COMB groups, suggesting that men may benefit more than women. Changes in molecular biomarkers and brain volumes did not significantly mediate the cognitive-related benefits found previously for any group. This study shows crucial initial molecular and brain volume changes related to lifestyle interventions at early stages and highlights the value of examining activity parameters, individual difference characteristics and using a multi-level analysis approach to address these questions

The coordination of cell growth during fission yeast mating requires Ras1-GTP hydrolysis

The spatial and temporal control of polarity is fundamental to the survival of all organisms. Cells define their polarity using highly conserved mechanisms that frequently rely upon the action of small GTPases, such as Ras and Cdc42. Schizosaccharomyces pombe is an ideal system with which to study the control of cell polarity since it grows from defined tips using Cdc42-mediated actin remodeling. Here we have investigated the importance of Ras1-GTPase activity for the coordination of polarized cell growth during fission yeast mating. Following pheromone stimulation, Ras1 regulates both a MAPK cascade and the activity of Cdc42 to enable uni-directional cell growth towards a potential mating partner. Like all GTPases, when bound to GTP, Ras1 adopts an active conformation returning to an inactive state upon GTP-hydrolysis, a process accelerated through interaction with negative regulators such as GAPs. Here we show that, at low levels of pheromone stimulation, loss of negative regulation of Ras1 increases signal transduction via the MAPK cascade. However, at the higher concentrations observed during mating, hyperactive Ras1 mutations promote cell death. We demonstrate that these cells die due to their failure to coordinate active Cdc42 into a single growth zone resulting in disorganized actin deposition and unsustainable elongation from multiple tips. These results provide a striking demonstration that the deactivation stage of Ras signaling is fundamentally important in modulating cell polarity

Nucleotide depletion reveals the impaired ribosomebiogenesis checkpoint as a barrier against DNA damage

Many oncogenes enhance nucleotide usage to increase ribosome content, DNA replication, and cell proliferation, but in parallel trigger p53 activation. Both the impaired ribosome biogenesis checkpoint (IRBC) and the DNA damage response (DDR) have been implicated in p53 activation following nucleotide depletion. However, it is difficult to reconcile the two checkpoints operating together, as the IRBC induces p21‐mediated G1 arrest, whereas the DDR requires that cells enter S phase. Gradual inhibition of inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH), an enzyme required for de novo GMP synthesis, reveals a hierarchical organization of these two checkpoints. We find that the IRBC is the primary nucleotide sensor, but increased IMPDH inhibition leads to p21 degradation, compromising IRBC‐mediated G1 arrest and allowing S phase entry and DDR activation. Disruption of the IRBC alone is sufficient to elicit the DDR, which is strongly enhanced by IMPDH inhibition, suggesting that the IRBC acts as a barrier against genomic instability

PDGF-BB serum levels are decreased in adult onset Pompe patients

Adult onset Pompe disease is a genetic disorder characterized by slowly progressive skeletal and respiratory muscle weakness. Symptomatic patients are treated with enzymatic replacement therapy with human recombinant alfa glucosidase. Motor functional tests and spirometry are commonly used to follow patients up. However, a serological biomarker that correlates with the progression of the disease could improve follow-up. We studied serum concentrations of TGFβ, PDGF-BB, PDGF-AA and CTGF growth factors in 37 adult onset Pompe patients and 45 controls. Moreover, all patients performed several muscle function tests, conventional spirometry, and quantitative muscle MRI using 3-point Dixon. We observed a statistically significant change in the serum concentration of each growth factor in patients compared to controls. However, only PDGF-BB levels were able to differentiate between asymptomatic and symptomatic patients, suggesting its potential role in the follow-up of asymptomatic patients. Moreover, our results point to a dysregulation of muscle regeneration as an additional pathomechanism of Pompe disease