Assisted attenuation of a soil contaminated by diuron using hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin and organic amendments

7 páginas.-- 1 Grafico.-- 3 figuras.-- 2 tablas.-- 59 referenciasDiuron desorption and mineralisation were studied on an amended and artificially contaminated soil. The amendments used comprised two different composted organic residues i.e., sewage sludge (SS) mixed with pruning wastes, and urban solid residues (USR), and two different solutions (with inorganic salts as the micronutrients and hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPBCD)). After applying micronutrients to activate the soil flora, 15.5% mineralisation could be reached after 150 days, indicating that the soil has a potential capacity to mineralise the herbicide through biostimulation-assisted attenuation. Diuron mineralisation was also improved when HPBCD solutions were applied. Indeed, the extent of herbicide mineralisation reached 29.7% with this application. Moreover, both the lag phase and the half-life time (DT50) were reduced to 33 and 1778 days, respectively, relative to the application of just micronutrients (i.e., 39 and 6297 days, respectively). Organic amendments were also applied (i.e., USR and SS) on the contaminated soil: it was found that the diuron mineralisation rate was improved as the amendment concentration increased. The joint application of all treatments investigated at the best conditions tested was conducted to obtain the best diuron mineralisation results. The micronutrient amendment plus 4% USR or SS amendment plus HPBCD solution (10-fold diuron initially spiked) caused an extent of diuron mineralisation 33.2 or 46.5%, respectively.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (co-funded by the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, FEDER) under the research project CTM2009-07335 and Junta de Andalucía (RNM 894).Peer reviewe

Evolución de los parántropos

Segons la majoria d’autors, els parantrops són un grup d’hominins complex compost per diferents espècies del gènere Paranthropus (Paranthropus aethiopicus y Paranthropus boisei, a l’est africà, i Paranthropus robustus, al sud), que va viure en el Plistocè inferior, amb una cronologia que aniria des 2,8 a 1,4 Ma. Aquest grup es caracteritzaria per la presència d’una sèrie de trets que conformen una morfologia facial típica: un complex masticatori especialitzat, amb una marcada megadontia postcanina, mandíbules robustes, cara plana i massiva i cresta sagital (en els mascles). La interpretació d’aquest grup com monofilètic vindria determinada per la inclusió de tots aquests hominins en un mateix gènere i la compartició de tots ells d’un avantpassat comú. No obstant això, la inclusió en aquest grup d’altres formes homininas podria donar prevalença a una interpretació polifilética de la seva evolució.Según la mayoría de autores, los parántropos son un grupo de homininos complejo compuesto por diferentes especies del género Paranthropus (Paranthropus aethiopicus y Paranthropus boisei, en el este africano, y Paranthropus robustus, en el sur), que vivó en el Pleistoceno inferior, con una cronología que iría desde 2,8 a 1,4 Ma. Este grupo se caracterizaría por la presencia de una serie de rasgos que conforman una morfología facial típica: un complejo masticatorio especializado, con una marcada megadontia poscanina, mandíbulas robustas, cara plana y masiva y cresta sagital (en los machos). La interpretación de este grupo como monofilético vendría determinada por la inclusión de todos estos homininos en un mismo género y la compartición de todos ellos de un antepasado común. Sin embargo, la inclusión en este grupo de otras formas homininas podría dar prevalencia a una interpretación polifilética de su evolución.According to most authors, the paranthropes are a complex hominin group composed of different species of the genus Paranthropus (Paranthropus aethiopicus and Paranthropus boisei, in the East African, and Paranthropus robustus, in the south), which lived in the lower Pleistocene, with a chronology ranging from 2.8 to 1.4 Ma. This group would be characterized by the presence of a series of features that conform a typical facial morphology: a specialized masticatory complex, with a marked megadontic poscanine teeth, robust jaws, flat and massive face and sagittal crest (in males). The interpretation of this group as monophyletic would be determined by the inclusion of all these hominins in the same genus and the sharing of all of them from a common ancestor. However, inclusion in this group of other hominin forms could give rise to a polyphyletic interpretation of its evolution

Paleohábitats: la clave para la evolución humana

Els hominins van sorgir a l’est africà fa uns 6 milions d’anys, mitjançant un procés de diferenciació alopátrica respecte als avantpassats comuns amb els ximpanzés. El Rift Valley va funcionar com una barrera semiporosa que va aïllar les dues poblacions; si bé en un principi va permetre la hibridació entre elles, al voltant dels 6,3 Ma les mutacions en el cromosoma X (sexual) juntament amb la dificultat de creuar el Rift Valley d’est a oest van provocar el fenomen d’especiació. Davant del plantejament dominant, que diu que el bipedalisme en els primers humans va ser el fet diferenciador entre els avanpassats comuns amb els chimpances i els hominins?, es proposa la idea que l’única diferència va ser a nivell genètic. Les proves anatomicofuncionals en els hominins més primitius ens indiquen que aquests van ser quadrúpeds i possiblement knuckle-walkers, i que practicaven el bipedalisme i la trepa arborícola esporàdicament (com els ximpanzés actuals). Aquests hominins es van desenvolupar en els espessos boscos en galeria en els marges dels rius. L’extensió d’àmplies zones d’espais oberts tipus sabana va afavorir l’adquisició del bipedalisme com a forma de marxa obligada en el gènere Homo.Los homininos surgieron en el este africano hace unos 6 Ma, mediante un proceso de diferenciación alopátrica con respecto a los antepasados comunes con los chimpancés. El Rift Valley funcionó como una barrera semiporosa que aisló ambas poblaciones, si bien en un principio permitió la hibridación entre ellas, alrededor de los 6,3 Ma las mutaciones en el cromosoma X (sexual) junto a la dificultad de cruzar el Rift Valley de este a oeste provocaron el fenómeno de especiación. Frente al planteamiento dominante, que dice que el bipedalismo en los primeros homininos fue el hecho diferenciador con los antepasados de los chimpancés, se propone la idea de que la única diferencia fue a nivel genético. Las pruebas anatomicofuncionales en los homininos más primitivos nos indican que éstos fueron cuadrúpedos y posiblemente nudilleadores (knucklewalkers), y que practicaban el bipedalismo y la trepa arborícola esporádicamente (como los chimpancés actuales). Estos homininos se desarrollaron en los tupidos bosques en galería en los márgenes de los ríos. La extensión de amplias zonas de espacios abiertos tipo sabana favoreció la adquisición del bipedalismo como forma de marcha obligada en el género Homo.Hominines appeared in East Africa around & Ma after a process of allopatric differentiation in relation to previous common ancestors with the chimpanzee. The Rift Valley acted as semi-porous barrier that isolated both populations, although initially allowed the hybridation among them. Around 6.3 Ma the X chromosome (sexual) mutations together with the difficulties to cross the Rift Valley from East to West produced the speciation process. Against the dominant idea that propose bipedalism as the main differentiation process between hominines and common ancestors with chimpanzees, it is proposed the hypothesis that the unique differences was at genetic level. The anatomic-functional evidences in primitive hominines indicate that those were quadruped and probably knuckle-walkers and that bipedalism and climbing was sporadically (like in modern chimpanzees). These hominines developed in gallery forest located near rivers. The extension of wide savanna-like areas favored the acquisition of bipedalism as a locomotion model for the Homo genus

Real-time gun detection in CCTV: An open problem

Object detectors have improved in recent years, obtaining better results and faster inference time. However, small object detection is still a problem that has not yet a definitive solution. The autonomous weapons detection on Closed-circuit television (CCTV) has been studied recently, being extremely useful in the field of security, counter-terrorism, and risk mitigation. This article presents a new dataset obtained from a real CCTV installed in a university and the generation of synthetic images, to which Faster R-CNN was applied using Feature Pyramid Network with ResNet-50 resulting in a weapon detection model able to be used in quasi real-time CCTV (90 ms of inference time with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX-1080Ti card) improving the state of the art on weapon detection in a two stages training. In this work, an exhaustive experimental study of the detector with these datasets was performed, showing the impact of synthetic datasets on the training of weapons detection systems, as well as the main limitations that these systems present nowadays. The generated synthetic dataset and the real CCTV dataset are available to the whole research community.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TIN2017-82113-C2-1-

Coral Reef Degradation Differentially Alters Feeding Ecology of Co-occurring Congeneric Spiny Lobsters

Caribbean coral reefs are undergoing massive degradation, with local increases of macroalgae and reduction of architectural complexity associated with loss of reef-building corals. We explored whether reef degradation affects the feeding ecology of two co-occurring spiny lobsters: Panulirus guttatus, which is an obligate reef-dweller, and Panulirus argus, which uses various benthic habitats including coral reefs. We collected lobsters of both species from the back-reef zones of two large reefs similar in length (∼1.5 km) but differing widely in level of degradation, at the Puerto Morelos Reef National Park (Mexico). We measured the carapace length (CL) and weight (W) of lobsters, estimated three condition indices (hepatosomatic index, HI; blood refractive index, BRI; and W/CL ratio), and analyzed their stomach contents and stable isotope values (δ15N and δ13C). All lobsters tested negative for the presence of the virus PaV1, which can affect nutritional condition. Stomach contents yielded 72 animal taxa, mainly mollusks and crustaceans, with an average of 35 taxa per species per reef, but with much overlap. In P. guttatus, CL, HI, BRI, and W/CL did not vary with reef, but mean isotopic values did. The isotopic niche of P. guttatus showed little overlap between reefs, reflecting differences in local carbon sources and underlining the habitat specialization of P. guttatus, which exhibited a higher trophic position on the more degraded reef. Overall, the trophic position of P. guttatus was higher than that of P. argus. In P. argus, none of the variables differed between reefs and the isotopic niche was wide and with great overlap between reefs, reflecting the broader foraging ranges of P. argus compared to P. guttatus. Additional isotopic values from 16 P. argus caught at a depth of 25 m in the fore reef suggest that these larger lobsters forage over different habitats and have a higher trophic position than their smaller conspecifics and congeners from the back reef. The feeding ecology of P. argus appears to be less influenced by coral reef degradation than that of P. guttatus, but our results suggest a buffering effect of omnivory against habitat degradation for both lobster species

Total neoadjuvant therapy for locally advanced rectal cancer: a narrative review

Locally advanced rectal cancer has traditionally been treated with chemoradiotherapy (CRT) followed by surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy. However, a new strategy, total neoadjuvant therapy, involves the administration of CRT and neoadjuvant chemotherapy with the aim of eradicating micrometastases earlier and achieving greater control of the disease. The use of total neoadjuvant therapy has shown higher rates of pathological complete response and resectability compared with CRT, including improved survival. Nevertheless, distant relapse is the main cause of morbidity and mortality in locally advanced rectal cancer. To address this, new biomarkers are being developed to predict disease response.Peer reviewe

Chagas Cardiomyopathy Manifestations and Trypanosoma cruzi Genotypes Circulating in Chronic Chagasic Patients

Chagas disease caused by Trypanosoma cruzi is a complex disease that is endemic and an important problem in public health in Latin America. The T. cruzi parasite is classified into six discrete taxonomic units (DTUs) based on the recently proposed nomenclature (TcI, TcII, TcIII, TcIV, TcV and TcVI). The discovery of genetic variability within TcI showed the presence of five genotypes (Ia, Ib, Ic, Id and Ie) related to the transmission cycle of Chagas disease. In Colombia, TcI is more prevalent but TcII has also been reported, as has mixed infection by both TcI and TcII in the same Chagasic patient. The objectives of this study were to determine the T. cruzi DTUs that are circulating in Colombian chronic Chagasic patients and to obtain more information about the molecular epidemiology of Chagas disease in Colombia. We also assessed the presence of electrocardiographic, radiologic and echocardiographic abnormalities with the purpose of correlating T. cruzi genetic variability and cardiac disease. Molecular characterization was performed in Colombian adult chronic Chagasic patients based on the intergenic region of the mini-exon gene, the 24Sα and 18S regions of rDNA and the variable region of satellite DNA, whereby the presence of T.cruzi I, II, III and IV was detected. In our population, mixed infections also occurred, with TcI-TcII, TcI-TcIII and TcI-TcIV, as well as the existence of the TcI genotypes showing the presence of genotypes Ia and Id. Patients infected with TcI demonstrated a higher prevalence of cardiac alterations than those infected with TcII. These results corroborate the predominance of TcI in Colombia and show the first report of TcIII and TcIV in Colombian Chagasic patients. Findings also indicate that Chagas cardiomyopathy manifestations are more correlated with TcI than with TcII in Colombia

Dendritic cell deficiencies persist seven months after SARS-CoV-2 infection

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV)-2 infection induces an exacerbated inflammation driven by innate immunity components. Dendritic cells (DCs) play a key role in the defense against viral infections, for instance plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs), have the capacity to produce vast amounts of interferon-alpha (IFN-α). In COVID-19 there is a deficit in DC numbers and IFN-α production, which has been associated with disease severity. In this work, we described that in addition to the DC deficiency, several DC activation and homing markers were altered in acute COVID-19 patients, which were associated with multiple inflammatory markers. Remarkably, previously hospitalized and nonhospitalized patients remained with decreased numbers of CD1c+ myeloid DCs and pDCs seven months after SARS-CoV-2 infection. Moreover, the expression of DC markers such as CD86 and CD4 were only restored in previously nonhospitalized patients, while no restoration of integrin β7 and indoleamine 2,3-dyoxigenase (IDO) levels were observed. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the immunological sequelae of COVID-19

Brentuximab vedotin in the treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphomas: Data from the Spanish Primary Cutaneous Lymphoma Registry

[Background] Brentuximab vedotin (BV) has been approved for CD30-expressing cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) after at least one previous systemic treatment. However, real clinical practice is still limited.[Objectives] To evaluate the response and tolerance of BV in a cohort of patients with CTCL.[Methods] We analysed CTCL patients treated with BV from the Spanish Primary Cutaneous Lymphoma Registry (RELCP).[Results] Sixty-seven patients were included. There were 26 females and the mean age at diagnosis was 59 years. Forty-eight were mycosis fungoides (MF), 7 Sézary syndrome (SS) and 12 CD30+ lymphoproliferative disorders (CD30 LPD). Mean follow-up was 18 months. Thirty patients (45%) showed at least 10% of CD30+ cells among the total lymphocytic infiltrate. The median number of BV infusions received was 7. The overall response rate (ORR) was 67% (63% in MF, 71% in SS and 84% in CD30 LPD). Ten of 14 patients with folliculotropic MF (FMF) achieved complete or partial response (ORR 71%). The median time to response was 2.8 months. During follow-up, 36 cases (54%) experienced cutaneous relapse or progression. The median progression free survival (PFS) was 10.3 months. The most frequent adverse event was peripheral neuropathy (PN) (57%), in most patients (85%), grades 1 or 2.[Conclusions] These results confirm the efficacy and safety of BV in patients with advanced-stage MF, and CD30 LPD. In addition, patients with FMF and SS also showed a favourable response. Our data suggest that BV retreatment is effective in a proportion of cases.The Spanish Primary Cutaneous Lymphoma Registry (RELCP) is promoted by the Fundación Piel Sana Academia Española de Dermatología y Venereología, which received an unrestricted grant support from Kyowa Kirin.Peer reviewe

Plasma lipid profiles discriminate bacterial from viral infection in febrile children

Fever is the most common reason that children present to Emergency Departments. Clinical signs and symptoms suggestive of bacterial infection are often non-specific, and there is no definitive test for the accurate diagnosis of infection. The 'omics' approaches to identifying biomarkers from the host-response to bacterial infection are promising. In this study, lipidomic analysis was carried out with plasma samples obtained from febrile children with confirmed bacterial infection (n = 20) and confirmed viral infection (n = 20). We show for the first time that bacterial and viral infection produces distinct profile in the host lipidome. Some species of glycerophosphoinositol, sphingomyelin, lysophosphatidylcholine and cholesterol sulfate were higher in the confirmed virus infected group, while some species of fatty acids, glycerophosphocholine, glycerophosphoserine, lactosylceramide and bilirubin were lower in the confirmed virus infected group when compared with confirmed bacterial infected group. A combination of three lipids achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of 0.911 (95% CI 0.81 to 0.98). This pilot study demonstrates the potential of metabolic biomarkers to assist clinicians in distinguishing bacterial from viral infection in febrile children, to facilitate effective clinical management and to the limit inappropriate use of antibiotics