Cambios geomorfológicos y evolución de una barra de arena en la desembocadura del río Lea, Lekeitio-Mendexa (Bizkaia)

Se presenta el seguimiento anual de los cambios morfológicos de una barra de arena en la playa de Karraspio (Mendexa, Bizkaia) formada como consecuencia de la rotura del dique construido en el siglo XIX para proteger el puerto de Lekeitio de los continuos aportes sedimentarios transportados por el río Lea. El intenso oleaje y los temporales rompieron el malecón de Lazunarri, permitiendo al río retomar su antigua desembocadura. Mediante el empleo en 2011 de un láser escáner terrestre (TLS) se han analizado desde entonces los cambios morfológicos experimentados por la barra de arena durante los últimos años. El seguimiento se realizó durante cuatro campañas entre octubre de 2012 y octubre de 2014; durante la primavera y verano de 2015 los trabajos de restauración de este malecón implicaron el retorno a las condiciones previas a la rotura.The monitoring of the morphological changes of a sand bar in the beach Karraspio (Lekeitio, Biscay) is presented. The annual coastal dynamics and the sand deposition were affected by several coastal storms given in 2011 that broke the Lazunarri dike in several parts. The dike were constructed in the 19th century to protect the sea port from the Lea River's sediment deposition and modified the estuary forcing the river to flow into the eastern side of the San Nicolas island. A Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS) was used to register the morphological response of a sand bar to the changes in the river mouth and coastal dynamics. The monitoring was conducted in four fieldwork campaigns in October 2012, June 2013, October 2013 and October 2014. The preliminary results showed the migration sand-bar axis to the east and the erosion of the area close to the dike

Cambios geomorfológicos y evolución de una barra de arena en la desembocadura del río Lea, Lekeitio-Mendexa (Bizkaia)

Se presenta el seguimiento anual de los cambios morfológicos de una barra de arena en la playa de Karraspio (Mendexa, Bizkaia) formada como consecuencia de la rotura del dique construido en el siglo XIX para proteger el puerto de Lekeitio de los continuos aportes sedimentarios transportados por el río Lea. El intenso oleaje y los temporales rompieron el malecón de Lazunarri, permitiendo al río retomar su antigua desembocadura. Mediante el empleo en 2011 de un láser escáner terrestre (TLS) se han analizado desde entonces los cambios morfológicos experimentados por la barra de arena durante los últimos años. El seguimiento se realizó durante cuatro campañas entre octubre de 2012 y octubre de 2014; durante la primavera y verano de 2015 los trabajos de restauración de este malecón implicaron el retorno a las condiciones previas a la rotura.The monitoring of the morphological changes of a sand bar in the beach Karraspio (Lekeitio, Biscay) is presented. The annual coastal dynamics and the sand deposition were affected by several coastal storms given in 2011 that broke the Lazunarri dike in several parts. The dike were constructed in the 19th century to protect the sea port from the Lea River's sediment deposition and modified the estuary forcing the river to flow into the eastern side of the San Nicolas island. A Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS) was used to register the morphological response of a sand bar to the changes in the river mouth and coastal dynamics. The monitoring was conducted in four fieldwork campaigns in October 2012, June 2013, October 2013 and October 2014. The preliminary results showed the migration sand-bar axis to the east and the erosion of the area close to the dike

Strong magnetic response of submicron Silicon particles in the infrared

High-permittivity dielectric particles with resonant magnetic properties are being explored as constitutive elements of new metamaterials and devices in the microwave regime. Magnetic properties of low-loss dielectric nanoparticles in the visible or infrared are not expected due to intrinsic low refractive index of optical materials in these regimes. Here we analyze the dipolar electric and magnetic response of loss-less dielectric spheres made of moderate permittivity materials. For low material refractive index there are no sharp resonances due to strong overlapping between different multipole contributions. However, we find that Silicon particles with refractive index 3.5 and radius approx. 200nm present a dipolar and strong magnetic resonant response in telecom and near-infrared frequencies, (i.e. at wavelengths approx. 1.2-2 micrometer). Moreover, the light scattered by these Si particles can be perfectly described by dipolar electric and magnetic fields, quadrupolar and higher order contributions being negligible.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Factors Secreted by Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts that Sustain Cancer Stem Properties in Head and Neck Squamous Carcinoma Cells as Potential Therapeutic Targets

© 2018 by the authors.This study investigates for the first time the crosstalk between stromal fibroblasts and cancer stem cell (CSC) biology in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC), with the ultimate goal of identifying effective therapeutic targets. The effects of conditioned media from cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) and normal fibroblasts (NFs) on the CSC phenotype were assessed by combining functional and expression analyses in HNSCC-derived cell lines. Further characterization of CAFs and NFs secretomes by mass spectrometry was followed by pharmacologic target inhibition. We demonstrate that factors secreted by CAFs but not NFs, in the absence of serum/supplements, robustly increased anchorage-independent growth, tumorsphere formation, and CSC-marker expression. Modulators of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), insulin-like growth factor receptor (IGFR), and platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR) activity were identified as paracrine cytokines/factors differentially secreted between CAFs and NFs, in a mass spectrometry analysis. Furthermore, pharmacologic inhibition of EGFR, IGFR, and PDGFR significantly reduced CAF-induced tumorsphere formation and anchorage-independent growth suggesting a role of these receptor tyrosine kinases in sustaining the CSC phenotype. These findings provide novel insights into tumor stroma–CSC communication, and potential therapeutic targets to effectively block the CAF-enhanced CSC niche signaling circuit.This study was supported by grants from the Plan Nacional de I+D+I 2013-2016 ISCIII (PI13/00259), PI16/00280, and CIBERONC (CB16/12/00390) Spain, the Principado de Asturias (GRUPIN14-003), Fundación Merck Salud (17-CC-008), the Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria del Principado de Asturias (ISPA), and the FEDER Funding Program from the European Union. SAT and MAV were recipients of fellowships from ISCIII (FI12/00415 and CD13/00157, respectively)

The Differential Impact of SRC Expression on the Prognosis of Patients with Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Aberrant SRC expression and activation is frequently detected in multiple cancers, and hence, targeting SRC has emerged as a promising therapeutic strategy. Different SRC inhibitors have demonstrated potent anti-tumor activity in preclinical models, although they largely lack clinical efficacy as monotherapy in late-stage solid tumors, including head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC). Adequate selection and stratification of patients who may respond to and benefit from anti-SRC therapies is therefore needed to guide clinical trials and treatment efficacy. This study investigates the prognostic significance of active SRC expression in a homogeneous cohort of 122 human papillomavirus (HPV)-negative, surgically treated HNSCC patients. Immunohistochemical evaluation of the active form of SRC by means of anti-SRC Clone 28 monoclonal antibody was specifically performed and subsequently correlated with clinical data. The expression of p-SRC (Tyr419), total SRC, and downstream SRC effectors was also analyzed. Our results uncovered striking differences in the prognostic relevance of SRC expression in HNSCC patients depending on the tumor site. Active SRC expression was found to significantly associate with advanced disease stages, presence of lymph node metastasis, and tumor recurrences in patients with laryngeal tumors, but not in the pharyngeal subgroup. Multivariate Cox analysis further revealed active SRC expression as an independent predictor of cancer-specific mortality in patients with laryngeal carcinomas. Concordantly, expression of p-SRC (Tyr419) and the SRC substrates focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and the Arf GTPase-activating protein ASAP1 also showed specific associations with poor prognosis in the larynx. These findings could have important implications in ongoing Src family kinase (SFK)-based clinical trials, as these new criteria could help to improve patient selection and develop biomarker-stratified trials

Distinctive Expression and Amplification of Genes at 11q13 in Relation to HPV Status with Impact on Survival in Head and Neck Cancer Patients

Clear differences have been established between head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) depending on human papillomavirus (HPV) infection status. This study specifically investigated the status of the CTTN, CCND1 and ANO1 genes mapping at the 11q13 amplicon in relation to the HPV status in HNSCC patients. CTTN, CCND1 and ANO1 protein expression and gene amplification were respectively analyzed by immunohistochemistry and real-time PCR in a homogeneous cohort of 392 surgically treated HNSCC patients. The results were further confirmed using an independent cohort of 279 HNSCC patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). The impact on patient survival was also evaluated. CTTN, CCND1 and ANO1 gene amplification and protein expression were frequent in HPV-negative tumors, while absent or rare in HPV-positive tumors. Using an independent validation cohort of 279 HNSCC patients, we consistently found that these three genes were frequently co-amplified (28%) and overexpressed (39-46%) in HPV-negative tumors, whereas almost absent in HPV-positive tumors. Remarkably, these alterations (in particular CTTN and ANO1 overexpression) were associated with poor prognosis. Taken together, the distinctive expression and amplification of these genes could cooperatively contribute to the differences in prognosis and clinical outcome between HPV-positive and HPV-negative tumors. These findings could serve as the basis to design more personalized therapeutic strategies for HNSCC patients

Is catchment geodiversity a useful surrogate of aquatic plant species richness?

Aim Conserving freshwater biodiversity in a rapidly changing world requires updated planning schemes and research efforts. Geodiversity – the diversity of Earth surface forms, materials and processes – and biodiversity are interlinked at a fundamental level. This relationship is being considered in a growing number of studies, yet research from freshwater environments is scarce. We used geodiversity (rock-type, soil-type and geomorphological richness), local and climatic variables to explore whether geodiversity can be used as a surrogate for aquatic plant species richness in lakes and rivers. Location Finland. Taxon Aquatic plants. Methods We compared geodiversity variables (measured within 1-km2 grid cells) to well-studied local (e.g. area, alkalinity) and climate (e.g. growing degree-days) variables, and examined the patterns between habitat types (lakes and rivers) and among all taxa and major functional groups (helophytes and hydrophytes). We modelled lake (n = 145) and river (n = 146) plant species richness with generalized linear models, and further partitioned variation to measure the independent and shared contributions of the geodiversity, climate and local environmental variable groups. As a complementary analysis, and to identify single important variables explaining variation in aquatic plant species richness, we utilized boosted regression trees. Results We found a positive relationship between aquatic plant species richness and catchment geodiversity variation with recurring patterns across two different freshwater habitat types and two aquatic plant functional groups. Higher variation in geodiversity (measured at landscape scale) supported higher freshwater biodiversity (measured at the local scale) of lakes and rivers. Main conclusions Geodiversity can be a useful addition to biodiversity modelling, and it should be considered in conservation schemes and monitoring efforts, further supporting the principle of conserving nature's stage. Yet, differences between habitats and functional groups suggest that more habitat-specific approaches and multiple biodiversity measures should be considered. Our study is an important signpost guiding further studies on the biodiversity–geodiversity relationship in freshwater ecosystems