The role of humans in the diversification of a threatened island raptor

Background  

Anthropogenic habitat modifications have led to the extinction of many species and have favoured the expansion of others. Nonetheless, the possible role of humans as a diversifying force in vertebrate evolution has rarely been considered, especially for species with long generation times. We examine the influence that humans have had on the colonization and phenotypic and genetic differentiation of an insular population of a long-lived raptor species, the Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus).     

Some meteorological conditions associated with forest fires in Galicia (Spain)

The present paper offers data on the effect of certain meteorological parameters on the outbreak of forest fires in Galicia (Spain). In a day-to-day analysis, the values of the stability of the air column and the saturation deficit at the lower levels are related to the number of fires occurring in the following 24 h.     

Paleomicrobiology: Revealing Fecal Microbiomes of Ancient Indigenous Cultures

Coprolites are fossilized feces that can be used to provide information on the composition of the intestinal microbiota and, as we show, possibly on diet. We analyzed human coprolites from the Huecoid and Saladoid cultures from a settlement on Vieques Island, Puerto Rico. While more is known about the Saladoid culture, it is believed that both societies co-existed on this island approximately from 5 to 1170 AD. By extracting DNA from the coprolites, followed by metagenomic characterization, we show that both cultures can be distinguished from each other on the basis of their bacterial and fungal gut microbiomes. In addition, we show that parasite loads were heavy and also culturally distinct. Huecoid coprolites were characterized by maize and Basidiomycetes sequences, suggesting that these were important components of their diet. Saladoid coprolite samples harbored sequences associated with fish parasites, suggesting that raw fish was a substantial component of their diet. The present study shows that ancient DNA is not entirely degraded in humid, tropical environments, and that dietary and/or host genetic differences in ancient populations may be reflected in the composition of their gut microbiome. This further supports the hypothesis that the two ancient cultures studied were distinct, and that they retained distinct technological/cultural differences during an extended period of close proximity and peaceful co-existence. The two populations seemed to form the later-day Taínos, the Amerindians present at the point of Columbian contact. Importantly, our data suggest that paleomicrobiomics can be a powerful tool to assess cultural differences between ancient populations.     

Disentangling the link between leaf photosynthesis and turgor in fruit growth

Despite the importance of understanding plant growth, the mechanisms underlying how plant and fruit growth declines during drought remain poorly understood. Specifically, it remains unresolved whether carbon or water factors are responsible for limiting growth as drought progresses. We examine questions regarding the relative importance of water and carbon to fruit growth depending on the water deficit level and the fruit growth stage by measuring fruit diameter, leaf photosynthesis, and a proxy of cell turgor in olive (Olea europaea). Flow cytometry was also applied to determine the fruit cell division stage. We found that photosynthesis and turgor were related to fruit growth; specifically, the relative importance of photosynthesis was higher during periods of more intense cell division, while turgor had higher relative importance in periods where cell division comes close to ceasing and fruit growth is dependent mainly on cell expansion. This pattern was found regardless of the water deficit level, although turgor and growth ceased at more similar values of leaf water potential than photosynthesis. Cell division occurred even when fruit growth seemed to stop under water deficit conditions, which likely helped fruits to grow disproportionately when trees were hydrated again, compensating for periods with low turgor. As a result, the final fruit size was not severely penalized. We conclude that carbon and water processes are able to explain fruit growth, with importance placed on the combination of cell division and expansion. However, the major limitation to growth is turgor, which adds evidence to the sink limitation hypothesis.     

Continuous-flow solid-phase synthesis of potential antigenic peptides of hepatitis B virus

The synthesis of three hepatitis B surface antigens derived from S and pre-S proteins (adw S(140-147), [Tyr148] adw S(139-148), and adw pre-S(120-145)) has been accomplished by the continuous flow Fmoc-polyamide solid phase method. The use of different scavengers and trimethylsilyl bromide (TMSBr) in trifluoroacetic acid as deprotecting procedures is discussed.     

Heterogeneous phenotype of human glioblastoma: In vitro study

Glioblastomas (GBMs) are the most lethal primary brain tumours. Increasing evidence shows that brain tumours contain the population of stem cells, so‐called cancer stem cells (CSCs). Stem cell marker CD133 was reported to identify CSC population in GBM. Further studies have indicated that CD133 negative cells exhibiting similar properties and are able to initiate the tumour, self‐renew and undergo multilineage differentiation. GBM is a highly heterogeneous tumour and may contain different stem cell populations with different functional properties. We characterized five GBM cell lines, established from surgical samples, according to the marker expression, proliferation and differentiation potential. CD133 positive cell lines showed increased proliferation rate in neurosphere condition and marked differentiation potential towards neuronal lineages. Whereas two cell lines low‐expressing CD133 marker showed mesenchymal properties in vitro, that is high proliferation rate in serum condition and differentiation in mesenchymal cell types. Further, we compared therapy resistance capacity of GBM cell lines treated with hydroxyurea. Our results suggest that CSC concept is more complex than it was believed before, and CD133 could not define entire stem cell population within GBM. At least two different subtypes of GBM CSCs exist, which may have different biological characteristics and imply different therapeutic strategies. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Associated Liver Partition and Portal Vein Ligation (ALPPS) vs Selective Portal Vein Ligation (PVL) for Staged Hepatectomy in a Rat Model. Similar Regenerative Response?

Associated liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy (ALPPS) is a two-stage hepatectomy technique which can be associated with a hypertrophic stimulus on the future liver remnant (FLR) stronger than other techniques–such as portal vein ligation (PVL). However, the reason of such hypertrophy is still unclear, but it is suggested that liver transection combined with portal vein ligation (ALPPS) during the first stage of this technique may play a key role. The aim of this study is to compare the hypertrophic stimulus on the FLR and the clinical changes associated with both ALPPS and PVL in a rat surgical model. For this purpose, three groups of SD rats were used, namely ALPPS (n = 30), PVL (n = 30) and sham-treated (n = 30). The second stage of ALPPS (hepatectomy of the atrophic lobes), was performed at day 8. Blood and FLR samples were collected at 1, 24, 48 hours, 8 days and 12 weeks after the surgeries. ALPPS provoked a greater degree of hypertrophy of the FLR than the PVL at 48 hours and 8 days (p<0.05). The molecular pattern was also different, with the highest expression of IL-1β at 24h, IL-6 at 8 days, and HGF and TNF-α at 48 hours and 8 days (p<0.05). ALPPS also brought about a mild proliferative stimulus at 12 weeks, with a higher expression of HGF and TGF-β (p<0.05) than PVL. Clinically, ALPPS caused a significant liver damage during the first 48 hours, with a recovery of liver function at day 8. In conclusion, ALPPS seems to induce higher functional hypertrophy on the FLR than PVL at day 8. Such regenerative response seems to be leaded by a complex interaction between pro-mitogenic (IL-6, HGF, TNF-α) and antiproliferative (IL1-β and TGF-β) cytokines.     

A Novel Algorithm for Movement Artifact Removal in ECG Signals Acquired from Wearable Systems Applied to Horses

This study reports on a novel method to detect and reduce the contribution of movement artifact (MA) in electrocardiogram (ECG) recordings gathered from horses in free movement conditions. We propose a model that integrates cardiovascular and movement information to estimate the MA contribution. Specifically, ECG and physical activity are continuously acquired from seven horses through a wearable system. Such a system employs completely integrated textile electrodes to monitor ECG and is also equipped with a triaxial accelerometer for movement monitoring. In the literature, the most used technique to remove movement artifacts, when noise bandwidth overlaps the primary source bandwidth, is the adaptive filter. In this study we propose a new algorithm, hereinafter called Stationary Wavelet Movement Artifact Reduction (SWMAR), where the Stationary Wavelet Transform (SWT) decomposition algorithm is employed to identify and remove movement artifacts from ECG signals in horses. A comparative analysis with the Normalized Least Mean Square Adaptive Filter technique (NLMSAF) is performed as well. Results achieved on seven hours of recordings showed a reduction greater than 40% of MA percentage (between before- and after- the application of the proposed algorithm). Moreover, the comparative analysis with the NLMSAF, applied to the same ECG recordings, showed a greater reduction of MA percentage in favour of SWMAR with a statistical significant difference (p–value < 0.0.5).