Rouben Aroutiounian

Chromosome distribution in human sperm – a 3D multicolor banding-study

BackgroundNuclear architecture studies in human sperm are sparse. By now performed ones were practically all done on flattened nuclei. Thus, studies close at the in vivo state of sperm, i.e. on three-dimensionally conserved interphase cells, are lacking by now. Only the position of 14 chromosomes in human sperm was studied.ResultsHere for the first time a combination of multicolor banding (MCB) and three-dimensional analysis of interphase cells was used to characterize the position and orientation of all human chromosomes in sperm cells of a healthy donor. The interphase nuclei of human sperm are organized in a non-random way, driven by the gene density and chromosome size.ConclusionHere we present the first comprehensive results on the nuclear architecture of normal human sperm. Future studies in this tissue type, e.g. also in male patients with unexplained fertility problems, may characterize yet unknown mechanisms of infertility.

Developmental, transcriptome, and genetic alterations associated with parthenocarpy in the grapevine seedless somatic variant Corinto bianco.

Seedlessness is a relevant trait in grapevine cultivars intended for fresh consumption or raisin production. Previous DNA marker analysis indicated that Corinto bianco (CB) is a parthenocarpic somatic variant of the seeded cultivar Pedro Ximenes (PX). This study compared both variant lines to determine the basis of this parthenocarpic phenotype. At maturity, CB seedless berries were 6-fold smaller than PX berries. The macrogametophyte was absent from CB ovules, and CB was also pollen sterile. Occasionally, one seed developed in 1.6% of CB berries. Microsatellite genotyping and flow cytometry analyses of seedlings generated from these seeds showed that most CB viable seeds were formed by fertilization of unreduced gametes generated by meiotic diplospory, a process that has not been described previously in grapevine. Microarray and RNA-sequencing analyses identified 1958 genes that were differentially expressed between CB and PX developing flowers. Genes downregulated in CB were enriched in gametophyte-preferentially expressed transcripts, indicating the absence of regular post-meiotic germline development in CB. RNA-sequencing was also used for genetic variant calling and 14 single-nucleotide polymorphisms distinguishing the CB and PX variant lines were detected. Among these, CB-specific polymorphisms were considered as candidate parthenocarpy-responsible mutations, including a putative deleterious substitution in a HAL2-like protein. Collectively, these results revealed that the absence of a mature macrogametophyte, probably due to meiosis arrest, coupled with a process of fertilization-independent fruit growth, caused parthenocarpy in CB. This study provides a number of grapevine parthenocarpy-responsible candidate genes and shows how genomic approaches can shed light on the genetic origin of woody crop somatic variants.

Functional characterization of the complement receptor type 1 and its circulating ligands in patients with schizophrenia

BackgroundWhereas the complement system alterations contribute to schizophrenia, complement receptors and regulators are little studied. We investigated complement receptor type 1 (CR1) expression on blood cells, the levels of circulating immune complexes (CIC) containing ligands of CR1, C1q complement protein and fragments of C3 complement protein (C1q-CIC, C3d-CIC), and CR1 C5507G functional polymorphism in schizophrenia patients and controls.ResultsWe found an increased C1q-CIC level and CR1 expression on blood cells, elevated number of CR1 positive erythrocytes and reduced number of CR1 positive lymphocytes and monocytes in patients compared to controls. No difference in the levels of C3d-CIC between groups was observed. Higher CR1 expression on erythrocytes in CC genotype versus CG+GG for both groups was detected, whereas no difference was observed for other cell populations. Our results indicated that schizophrenia is associated with the increased CR1 expression and C1q-CIC level.ConclusionsOur study for the first time indicated that schizophrenia is associated with the increased CR1 expression and C1q-CIC level. Further studies in other ethnic groups are needed to replicate these findings.

Synthesis and in vitro anticancer activity of water-soluble cationic pyridylporphyrins and their metallocomplexes

Tetrapyrrolic compounds such as porphyrins are known to be prospective chemotherapeutics and photosensitizers for cancer treatment and diagnosis. In this work, water-soluble, meso-substituted cationic pyridyl-porphyrins and their metallocomplexes bearing various central metal atoms (Ag, Zn, Co, and Fe) in the porphine ring and various functional groups (allyl, oxyethyl, butyl, and methallyl) at the nitrogen atom in the pyridine ring were synthesized and characterized by 1H and 13C NMR and UV-visible spectroscopy. Cytotoxic and photodynamic activities of new porphyrins and their metal derivatives were investigated in vitro (KCL-22 cancer cell line of human chronic myeloid leukemia). The cytotoxicity of porphyrins was shown to be dependent on the presence and type of the central metal atom in the porphine ring. Ag-derivatives were more cytotoxic than Co−, Zn−, and Fe− metallocomplexes. The porphyrins bearing allyl-functional groups were evidenced to be more cytotoxic than those which included butyl-, oxyethyl-, and methallyl-groups. The change of nitrogen position in the pyridine ring of Ag-metalloporphyrins from 3(3-N-pyridylporphyrins) to 4(4-N-pyridylporphyrins) induced an increase in the cytotoxic activity of metallocomplexes. All synthesized Ag-metalloporphyrins, except, the oxyethyl-containing one were more cytotoxic than cisplatin. Allyl containing free porphyrin and its Zn-metallocomplex had higher phototoxicity than Ag−, Co−, and Fe-metalloporphyrins. The results obtained can be useful for further investigation of new porphyrins as potential chemotherapeutics and photosensitizers.

First results of the European grapevine collections' collaborative network: validation of a standard eno-carpological phenotyping method

Trabajo presentado en el XVI Congreso de la Sociedad Espanola de Malherbologia, celebrado en Pamplona-Iruna, entre los dias 25 y 27 de octubre de 2017.La reiterada multiplicacion vegetativa de cultivares de vid (Vitis vinifera L.) de elite para la vinificacion provoca la acumulacion de variacion somatica que es explotada en la mejora varietal. Considerando la hipotesis de que variantes con ciclo largo de maduracion (baja tasa de acumulacion de azucares) pueden adaptarse mejor a condiciones de alta temperatura, en este estudio se caracterizaron 450 accesiones de ‘Tempranillo’ buscando clones que difiriesen en la duracion del ciclo de maduracion. Se preseleccionaron diez clones de ciclo largo y nueve de ciclo corto y la consistencia de su ciclo se testo sobre esquejes fructiferos. Asi se seleccionaron dos clones de ciclo largo y uno de ciclo corto, que ademas de mantener diferencias consistentes en el ciclo, presentaban un rendimiento y una produccion de antocianinas equilibrados. Se realizo un analisis transcriptomico de estos tres clones, mediante la tecnica RNA-seq, con el objetivo de identificar la variacion genetica responsable de las diferencias en el proceso de maduracion. Comparando el transcriptoma de uvas que estaban completando el envero, se detectaron posibles mutaciones puntuales responsables del fenotipo de ciclo largo en uno de los clones. Asimismo, se identifico una region cromosomica con tres genes localizados consecutivamente que se hallaban sobreexpresados en el otro clon de ciclo largo analizado. La secuencia de los transcritos de estos genes indica que la sobreexpresion se debe a la induccion especifica de uno de los alelos de cada gen, lo que sugiere la presencia de una mutacion en cis con una region reguladora en una copia del cromosoma, que causaria la sobreexpresion ectopica de los tres genes y la ralentizacion de la maduracion. Estos resultados pueden ser utiles en programas de mejora de la vid dirigidos a la adaptacion de la elaboracion de vino de calidad en condiciones de cambio climatico.4 paginas.-- 2 tablas.-- 10 referencias.-- Comunicacion oral presentada en el VIII Congreso Iberico de las Ciencias del Suelo. VIII Congresso Iberico de Ciencias do Solo. DONOSTIA-SAN SEBASTIAN. 20 - 22 junio 2018..-- El documento completo se encuentra para su descarga en http://www.cics2018.com/libro-de-abstracts/“Connected Worlds: the Caribbean, Origin of Modern World”. This project has received funding from the European Union´s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 823846La crisis ha reducido las entradas por reagrupacion familiar debido a un aumento de las denegaciones y una caida de las solicitudes derivada de las dificultades economicas que atraviesan los inmigrantes y el endurecimiento de los requisitos legales. Esta caida corresponde casi en exclusiva a los no-comunitarios, para los comunitarios apenas se ha producido variacion. Las diferencias entre ambos cualitativas: los comunitarios reagrupan mayoritariamente a sus conyuges y ascendientes, mientras que los no comunitarios reagrupan sobre todo a descendientes. Por ultimo, la mayor precariedad legal de los reagrupados por regimen general se refleja tambien en autorizaciones de muy corta duracion y sometidas a requisitos economicos de renovacion mas exigentes, lo que amenaza con complicar mas aun la vida de las familias reagrupadasProject EPOS Implementation Phase (EPOS IP) (Grant Agreement no: 676564-EPOS IP Call H2020-IFRADEV-12015-1)In this paper we present a new approach to monitor noise pollution involving citizens and built upon the notions of participatory sensing and citizen science. We enable citizens to measure their personal exposure to noise in their everyday environment by using GPS-equipped mobile phones as noise sensors. The geo-localised measures and user-generated meta-data can be automatically sent and shared online with the public to contribute to the collective noise mapping of cities. Our prototype, called Noise Tube, can be found online.Trabajo presentado en el II Congreso Medio Rural, Agricultura y Cambio climatico, celebrado en Espana, en marzo de 2009Seminario: Arquitectura saadi. Marruecos siglos XVI-XVII. EEA, CSIC, LAAC (Granada), 12 y 13 de abril de 2018.Trabajo presentado al Workshop and Summer School on Field Robotics (euRathlon/ARCAS), celebrado en Sevilla (Espana) del 15 al 18 de junio de 2014.The project COINVENT acknowledges the nancial support of the Future and Emerging Tech- nologies (FET) programme within the Seventh Framework Programme for Research of the Eu- ropean Commission, under FET-Open Grant number: 611553PROYECTO: Alfabetizacion cientifica en la escuela: mejorar las estrategias y construir nuevas practicas de ensenanza de las ciencias en la educacion de los primeros anos (SciLit). PROGRAMA ERASMUS + DE LA UNION EUROPEA. Esta guia para el docente es el resultado de una estrecha colaboracion entre los ocho socios de este programa, de cinco paises europeos, con sus diferentes valores y culturas, metodos de trabajo, necesidades, etc. Esta pluralidad refuerza lo que une a los cientificos y maestros: el amor por el conocimiento, Que ambos grupos creen y transmitan en un espacio intelectual comun que supera cualquier tipo de fronteras. PDF de 130 paginasPoster presentado en la 2nd International Ocean Research Conference, celebrada en Barcelona del 17 al 21 de noviembre de 2014.Trabajo presentado en el International Conference on Hybrid and Organic Photovoltaics (HOPV16), celebrado en Swansea (Reino Unido), del 29 de junio al 1 de julio de 2016CPESS-5, Centro Europeo de Astronomia Espacial, ESAC en Villanueva de la Canada, Madrid, del 6 al 8 de Junio de 2017. -- https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/cpess-5Trabajo presentado al Spanish JRU EGI-ENGAGE meeting celebrado en Madrid el 23 de febrero de 2015.Poster (P-FA-34 ) presentado en la XVIII Reunion de la Sociedad Espanola de Cromatografia y Tecnicas Afines (SECyTA 2018), Granada, del 2 al 4 de Octubre de 2018.Trabajo presentado en el XII Congreso de Estudiantes de la Seccion de Quimica celebrado en San Cristobal de La Laguna, Tenerife (Espana), del 11 al 13 de abril de 2016.2 .pdf Files ( extended abstract, 1 Pag.; 1 Poster copy from the original by Authors). Under Creative Commons License Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).Trabajo presentado en la 6th European Conference on Python in Science (EuroSciPy 2013), celebrada en Bruselas del 21 al 25 de agosto de 2013.-- Editors: Pierre de Buyl, Nelle Varoquaux.-- arXiv:1405.0166Trabajo presentad en el World Aquaculture 2011, celebrado en Natal (Brasil) del 6 al 10 de junio de 2011.Comunicacion oral presentada en la European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2016 Vienna | Austria | 17–22 April 2016The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Unions Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007 - 2013) under grant agreement no. 320116 for the research p roject FamiliesAndSocieties.6 paginas.-- 4 tablas.-- 12 referencias.-- Comunicacion oral presentada en el XIII Simposio Hispano-Portugues de Relaciones Hidricas en las Plantas “Aprendiendo a optimizar el uso del agua en las plantas para hacer de nuestro entorno un ambiente mas sostenible” Libro de resumenes . 18 – 20 de octubre de 2016 Pamplona (Espana) y organizado por El Grupo de Fisiologia del Estres en Plantas (Unidad asociada al CSIC)This paper is based on a 16-year-long ethnography of mass grave exhumations in contemporary Spain and deals with the tortuous, painful, much-disputed, and incomplete unmaking of a concrete and massive militaristic inscription of Spain: that related to its last internal war (1936–1939) and subsequent dictatorship (1939–1975). To understand this process and its historical roots, the paper first dissects the formation of a “funerary apartheid” in the country since the end of the war. Second, it analyzes the impact on the social fabric of the mass grave exhumations of Republican civilians that started in the year 2000. Third, it traces how these disinterments have intersected with Spain’s most prominent Francoist stronghold, the Valley of the Fallen, and threaten the dictator’s burial place. Finally, it discusses the parallel dismantling of the dictatorship’s official statuary that once presided over prominent public spaces in many cities and some military quarters. It argues that rolling back militarization by dismantling war-derived cartographies of death, challenging military burial arrangements, or degrading statues of generals necessarily involves a certain level of remilitarizing by other means. I call this mirroring and deeply embodied memorial backfiring “phantom militarism.”Trabajo presentado al XII Congreso de la Sociedad Espanola para la Conservacion y Estudio de los Mamiferos (SECEM), celebrado en Burgos (Espana) del 4 al 7 de diciembre de 2015.Dynamic models of PEM stacks are the basis to design controllers for appropriate performance, maximum efficiency and minimum degradation. Fluid dynamic models of different dimensions can be found in the literature; however, these models are rarely used to improve the control laws and strategies. This work presents a control oriented 1+1D model (distributed in the direction of the stack flow channels). The model is based on a similar model presented by M. Mangold [1], is implemented in MATLAB Simulink. The model is validated using experimental data of a Powercell stack.Authors gratefully acknowledge MICINN Projects AGL2 008-00344/AGR and HA2008-0014 and FEDER financial support from the European Union.Comunicacion presentada en el 10th International Symposium on Reproductive Physiology of Fish, celebrado en Olhao, Portugal, del 25 al 30 de mayo de 2014Trabajo presentado al 18th International Symposiun on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (Ro-Man), celebrado en Toyama (Japon) del 27 de septiembre al 2 de octubre de 2009.Trabajo presentado en el FENS Regional Meeting, celebrado en Belgrado (Sebia), del 10 al 13 de julio de 2019This thesis is devoted to design Model Predictive Control (MPC) strategies aiming to enhance the management of constrained generalised flow-based networks, with special attention to the economic optimisation and robust performance of such systems. Several control schemes are developed in this thesis to exploit the available economic information of the system operation and the disturbance information obtained from measurements and forecasting models. Dynamic network flows theory is used to develop control-oriented models that serve to design MPC controllers specialised for flow networks with additive disturbances and periodically time-varying dynamics and costs. The control strategies developed in this thesis can be classified in two categories: centralised MPC strategies and non-centralised MPC strategies. Such strategies are assessed through simulations of a real case study: the Barcelona drinking water network (DWN). Regarding the centralised strategies, different economic MPC formulations are first studied to guarantee recursive feasibility and stability under nominal periodic flow demands and possibly time-varying economic parameters and multi-objective cost functions. Additionally, reliability-based MPC, chance-constrained MPC and tree-based MPC strategies are proposed to address the reliability of both the flow storage and the flow transportation tasks in the network. Such strategies allow to satisfy a customer service level under future flow demand uncertainty and to efficiently distribute overall control effort under the presence of actuators degradation. Moreover, soft-control techniques such as artificial neural networks and fuzzy logic are used to incorporate self-tuning capabilities to an economic certainty-equivalent MPC controller. Since there are objections to the use of centralised controllers in large-scale networks, two non-centralised strategies are also proposed. First, a multi-layer distributed economic MPC strategy of low computational complexity is designed with a control topology structured in two layers. In a lower layer, a set of local MPC agents are in charge of controlling partitions of the overall network by exchanging limited information on shared resources and solving their local problems in a hierarchical-like fashion. Moreover, to counteract the loss of global economic information due to the decomposition of the overall control task, a coordination layer is designed to influence non-iteratively the decision of local controllers towards the improvement of the overall economic performance. Finally, a cooperative distributed economic MPC formulation based on a periodic terminal cost/region is proposed. Such strategy guarantees convergence to a Nash equilibrium without the need of a coordinator and relies on an iterative and global communication of local controllers, which optimise in parallel their control actions but using a centralised model of the network.Resumen del poster presentado al XII Simposio Nacional y X Iberico de Maduracion y Postcosecha (POST18), celebrado en Badajoz del 4 al 7 de junio de 2018.Trabajo presentado al EGI Community Forum, celebrado en Bari (Italia) del 10 al 13 de noviembre de 2015.Trabajo presentado al III Congreso Iberoamericano de Hidrogeno y Pilas de Combustible (IberConappice), celebrado en Huesca del 17 al 20 de octubre de 2017.Trabajo presentado al 8th International Symposium on Nanotechnology, Occupational and Environmental Health, celebrado en Elsinore (Dinamarca) del 29 de mayo al 1 de junio de 2017.Trabajo presentado en el Aquaculture Europe 16 (Food for Thought), celebrado en Edimburgo del 20 al 23 de septiembre de 2016.Trabajo presentado en la SETAC Europe 25th Annual Meeting (Environmental protection in a multi-stressed world: challenges for science, industry and regulators), celebrada en Barcelona del 3 al 7 de mayo de 2015.Trabajo presentado en la XXV Reunion Bienal de Quimica Organica celebrada en Alicante del 4 al 6 de junio de 2014.8 pages, 4 figures, 15 references.-- International Symposium on Olive Irrigation and Oil Quality, Nazareth, Israel.Trabajo presentado a la 2nd Euro-Mediterranean Conference for Environmental Integration (EMCEI), celebrado en Sousse (Tunisia) del 10 al 13 de octubre de 2019.Trabajo presentado en la Third International Legume Society Conference ILS3 2019 (Legumes for human and planet health), celebrada en Poznan (Polonia) del 21 al 24 de mayo de 2019.he European Grid Initiative (EGI) provides a sustainable pan-European Grid computing infrastructure for e-Science based on a network of regional and national Grids. The middleware driving this production infrastructure is constantly adapted to the changing needs of the EGI Community by deploying new features and phasing out other features and components that are no longer needed. Unlike previous e-Infrastructure projects, EGI does not develop its own middleware solution, but instead sources the required components from Technology Providers and integrates them in the Unified Middleware Distribution (UMD). In order to guarantee a high quality and reliable operation of the infrastructure, all UMD software must undergo a release process that covers the definition of the functional, performance and quality requirements, the verification of those requirements and testing in production environments.Trabajo presentado al VI Workshop Probioticos, Prebioticos y Salud: Evidencia Cientifica, celebrado en Oviedo del 5 al 6 de febrero de 2015. Abstract en Nutricion Hospitalaria 31(suplemento 1): pagina 130.Comunicacion presentada en el 10th International Symposium on Reproductive Physiology of Fish, celebrado en Olhao, Portugal, del 25 al 30 de mayo de 2014A sterol esterase purified from cultures of the sapstain fungus Ophiostoma piceae was able to hydrolyse sterol esters and glycerides. The kinetics of sterol esters and triglyceride hydrolysis by this new esterase, estimated using a pH-stat, showed a Kmapp and a kcatapp in the range of 0.9–1.1 mM and 70–300 s-1, respectively. Its ability to hydrolyse both pure sterol esters and natural mixtures of saponifiable lipids from eucalypt wood was compared with those of commercial sterol esterases from other microbial sources. Its specific activity on sterol esters was higher than that found with all the commercial esterases assayed, and the highest hydrolysis of eucalypt sterol esters was also attained using the O. piceae esterase. This sterol esterase could be of biotechnological interest for the hydrolysis of sterol esters that form pitch deposits in paper pulp manufacturing.Tradicionalmente no ha sido fácil trabajar con los datos de satélite debido a la complejidad de los formatos, el tamaño de los propios datos y la necesidad de tener un software de lectura muy especializado. La motivación que hay detrás de éste proyecto ha sido la de desarrollar una interfase que facilite el uso de los datos satélite permitiendo un cierto nivel de manipulación y mejora de las imágenes. Generalizando, en teledetección, se puede pensar en dos tipos de usuarios de los datos satélites: los que necesitan trabajar con los datos brutos y aquellos que tienen suficiente con una visión cualitativa y, en definitiva, les basta con las imágenes de satélite procesadas. Es para estos últimos que se ha construido Revista de Teledetección. 2006. Número Especial: 105-108Forest fires are a major factor of disturbance in many terrestrial ecosystems, especially in European areas under Mediterranean type of climate. This is due to the confluence of specific climatic, ecological and socio-economic conditions. Fire produces important changes in soil organic matter (SOM) both qualitatively and quantitatively, which, in turn, affect relevant physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil. These changes also affect a large number of related biotic and abiotic factors and processes. The main objective of this PhD Thesis is to deepen the knowledge of the impact of forest fires on SOM in relation to changes in soil water repellency, using advanced techniques of molecular analysis. Due to the high number of variables that may influence soil water repellency and the chemical alteration of organic matter after fire, we chose the sandy soils of the Donana National Park for this study, with well-known and relatively simple composition. In any case, we have followed the classical scheme of comparison of burnt soils with unaffected soils (control), under the same geomorphological and climatic characteristics. Water repellency is one of the main edaphic properties affected by forest fires. This physical property reduces the affinity of soil for water, which carries important hydrological, geomorphological and ecological consequences. Fire-induced changes of soil water repellency can be due to numerous factors, although it is generally accepted that the alteration of SOM and, in particular, of its more labile fraction (lipid fraction) is the main variable involved in this process. Due to their environmental implications, there are currently countless works on the effects of fire on SOM and water repellency, which are reviewed in chapter 1. However, the current state of knowledge shows some gaps and aspects insufficiently studied, due either to the complexity of the soil system or to the lack of adequate analytical techniques. Numerous scientific studies indicate that both the type of vegetation and the chemical composition of SOM strongly influence soil water repellency. These studies have focused mainly on the study of complete soils both at the surface and at different depths. However, available information on the influence of organic matter and vegetation on the degree of hydrophobicity of different soil physical fractions is limited. This aspect is studied in detail in chapter 3. In particular, the relation between soils under different vegetation cover, dominated by cork oaks (Quercus suber), eagle fern (Pteridium aquilinum), pine (Pinus pinea) and rockrose (Halimium halimifolium), the amount and quality of organic matter, and water repellency in four particle sieve fractions (1-2, 0.25-1, 0.05-0.25 and <0.05 mm). We observed that the degree of water repellency was significantly different, both among soils under different vegetation cover and among different sieve fractions, with soils under cork oak showing the highest severity of water repellency. In addition, we found a clear relation between the amount of SOM and the degree of water repellency. On the other hand, the molecular analysis of the organic matter from sieve fractions by analytical pyrolysis techniques let us find a relation between the quality of MOS and soil water repellency, the presence of long-chained fatty acids and the degree of humification (evolution) of SOM in the different fractions. The impact of fire on water repellency and SOM was studied especially in soils under cork oaks, due to the greater organic contribution of this type of vegetation, the severe soil water repellency and its pyrophilic character. For the most detailed study, the number of studied sieve fractions was expanded to 6 (1-2, 0.5-1, 0.25-0.5, 0.1-0.25, 0.05-0.1 and <0.05 mm), including also the complete sample. It is known that impacts caused by forest fires on soils are related to changes in SOM. Fire favors the modification or formation of new chemical structures, besides contributing to mass outputs and inputs, such as the contribution of fresh biomass or more or less carbonized residues. This idea has predominated in the focus of a great number of research works, which have aimed to the study of complete soils or some of their horizons. However, the knowledge about the effect of fire on soil granulometric fractions is little known and that is why we consider some relevant questions, such as i) does the chemical composition of organic matter from different sieve fractions vary?, ii) does fire cause the same impact on all fractions?, or iii) what chemical reactions does fire induce in the different particle size fractions? In chapters 4, 5 and 6, we try to give answers to these questions, by means of detailed studies of the molecular composition of the organic matter present in the different fractions. With this aim, we used advanced analytical techniques such as mass spectrometry of isotopic relations of carbon and hydrogen (13C and 2H, respectively) (chapter 4), analytical pyrolysis (chapter 5) and ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry (chapter 6). The study of the isotopic composition of 13C confirms the existence of two compartments of organic matter with different degrees of evolution. The larger sieve fractions contain slightly evolved organic matter, impoverished in 13C and with δ13C values not different from leaf biomass, while finer fractions showed a more evolved organic material, enriched in 13C. Fire produced no changes in this trend, although an increase in the 13C content was observed in all affected fractions. This process may be explained by selective removal of light compounds (lower 13C content) or incorporation of charred residues. The study of the isotopic composition of 2H showed the existence of two differentiated water compartments in the upper centimeters of soil and dependent on the size of particles. No homogeneous behavior of the 2H composition after the fire was observed. The results obtained stimulated a more detailed study (chapters 5 and 6) of the molecular composition of SOM and the different reaction mechanisms induced by fire, focusing now on the fractions of larger (1-2 mm) and finer (<0.05 mm) sizes. For this, graphical tools such as the van Krevelen and Kendrick mass diagrams were used, as well as different indices or geochemical proportions (namely, the index of preferred carbon of short- and long-chained alkanes ratio, C<24/C≥24. The analysis of the SOM composition confirmed the existence of two different compartments of organic carbon in the first centimeters of soil with a different contribution of fire. In the larger fraction (1-2 mm), influenced by lignocellulosic material, fire produced a removal of lipid compounds and an increase of aromatics, with relatively high contribution of lignin-derived material. This may be due to a posteriori input of partially burnt material. On the other hand, humic compounds from the finer fraction, mostly formed by lipid and protein compounds, did not show significant variations after fire. However, an increase in exogenous pyromorphic compounds, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), was detected along with a relative increase of lignin-derived substances. The different molecular composition of studied fractions showed that fire induces different reactions depending on the quality of SOM. Variations in the preferential carbon index and in the proportion of long-chained alkanes aims to the existence of thermal cracking processes. In turn, fire-induced condensation contributed to the increased aromaticity of SOM. However, fire favored reduction reactions in the larger sieve fraction, with a decrease in the atomic O/C ratio but not affecting the H/C ratio. Therefore, it is possible that fire altered the outermost and accessible areas of the organic macromolecules, removing functional groups contaning oxygen but not altering the main molecular structures. Different scientific studies have highlighted an association between soil water repellency and SOM quality, particularly to the proportion and composition of certain lipid compounds. Chapter 7 aims to the study of the impact of fire on the lipid composition of organic matter from different sieve fractions of sandy soils under cork oaks and its relation with the changes in the degree of soil water repellency, using quantitative chromatographic techniques. The main results showed that the severity of water repellency in different sieve fractions varied significantly (p <0.05) after a fire. As observed in Chapter 3, we observed a relation between SOM quantity and quality and water repellency in burnt soils. The analysis of the lipid composition (acid and neutral compounds) confirmed the existence of two compartments of soil organic carbon, with fire causing different alterations in each of them. The proportion of long-chained faty acids increased in all burnt fractions except for the largest one (1-2 mm). This suggests the existence of a contribution of partially burnt material with a relatively high contribution of compounds derived from small-sized fatty acids, so confirming the exogenous contribution of charred cork residues. The decrease in both the quantity and the length of organic acid chains in the burnt larger sieve fraction confirms the existence of a thermal breakdown reaction. This cracking has also been observed in the n-alkane series. Finally, the comparative analysis of soil water repellency and related variables shows that water repellency depends on both the quantity and the quality of SOM and is strongly related to the presence of long-chained fatty acids. These may be considered as surrogate biomarkers of hydrophobicity in sandy soils.NGA was the recipient of a JAE-Predoc contract from Institut d’Investigacions Biome`diques de Barcelona-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cienti´ficas (CSIC) (‘‘Junta para la Ampliacio´n de Estudios’’, partly funded by the European Social Fund of the European Union). CV was the recipient of a fellowship from ‘‘La Caixa’’ foundation. This study was supported by grants PI081396 and PI100378 from the Instituto Carlos III of the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacio´n of Spain. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.154 paginas.-- Tesis doctoral leida en el Departamento de Ingenieria Quimica y Tecnologias del Medio Ambiente de la Universidad de Zaragoza.161 Pags.- Tabls.- Figs. Tesis doctoral Univ. Zaragoza, Departamento de Ciencias Agrarias y del Medio Natural, realizada, bajo la direccion de los Drs. Yolanda Gogorcena y Juan Jose Barriuso, en la Estacion Experimental de Aula Dei (EEAD-CSIC) y en el Centro de de Investigacion y Tecnologia Agroalimentaria de Aragon (CITA). Creative Commons License Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).Trabajo presentado en Aquaculture Europe (Adding value), celebrado en San Sebastian del 14 al 17 de octubre de 2014.Resumen del poster presentado al VIII International Congress on Analytical Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, celebrado en Barcelona (Espana) del 3 al 5 de julio de 2017.-- et al.Resumen del trabajo presentado al International Symposium on Green Chemistry (ISGC), celebrado en La Rochelle (Francia) del 16 al 19 de mayo de 2017.Resumen del trabajo presentado al 1st FEBS3+, celebrado en Barcelona (Espana) del 23 al 26 de octubre de 2017.The spider fauna of Albania is still insuffi ciently studied. The present list was compiled after a critical review of the existing literature data and taxonomic review of some available collections. The study comprises 335 species from 36 families. In this number, 197 species are new to the spider fauna of the country. According to their current distribution the species can be assigned to 18 zoogeographical catego- ries, grouped into 5 complexes (Cosmopolitic, Holarctic, European, Mediterranean, Endemics). Dominant are Holarctic species (56.4%) followed by European (16.4%) and Mediterranean (16.2%). The endemics (8%) are also well presented and refl ect the local character of the fauna and the main role of the Balkan Peninsula in its origin and formation.Resumen del trabajo presentado al XIVth Congress of the Spanish Biophysical Society, celebrado en Alcala de Henares (Madrid-Espana) del 11 al 13 de junio de 2014.Seminario: Arquitectura saadi. Marruecos siglos XVI-XVII. EEA, CSIC, LAAC (Granada), 12 y 13 de abril de 2018.Trabajo presentado a las XXVI Jornadas Tecnicas SEAE y al X Seminario Agroecologia, Cambio Climatico y Agroturismo: “Innovacion Agroecologica y Cambio Climatico”, celebrado en Orihuela del 19 al 20 de ocubre de 2017.This document has been prepared in the framework of the project for supporting the establishment of MPAs in open seas, including deep seas, with financial support of the European CommissionPoster (P-EA-22) presentado en la XVIII Reunion de la Sociedad Espanola de Cromatografia y Tecnicas Afines (SECyTA 2018), Granada, del 2 al 4 de Octubre de 2018.The expectations raised in the mid-1980s on the potential of genetic engineering for in situ remediation of environmental pollution have not been entirely fulfilled. Yet, we have learned a good deal about the expression of catabolic pathways by bacteria in their natural habitats, and how environmental conditions dictate the expression of desired catalytic activities. The many different choices between nutrients and responses to stresses form a network of transcriptional switches which, given the redundance and robustness of the regulatory circuits involved, can be neither unraveled through standard genetic analysis nor artificially programmed in a simple manner. Available data suggest that population dynamics and physiological control of catabolic gene expression prevail over any artificial attempt to engineer an optimal performance of the wanted catalytic activities. In this review, several valuable spin-offs of past research into genetically modified organisms with environmental applications are discussed, along with the impact of Systems Biology and Synthetic Biology in the future of environmental biotechnology.Advanced computing has become a crucial factor in most areas of science , in some cases may be as critical as the experimental observation . The data analysis and experimental validation of these needs by observation instruments (detectors , sensors, etc ... ) the ability to communicate and interact with computing resources and software tools capable of storing and formatting the scientists analyzed data . This multidisciplinary and collaborative environment is what is known as e- Science . In this work, several solutions have been developed to facilitate transparent access to distributed resources that allow scientists to access a limited specific training are presented herein . The problems that have been addressed have to do with interactivity in access to resources , and the design of workflows. This will be made up of various elements simulate complex systems that interact with each other. Throughout all the work we have collaborated with researchers in Nuclear Fusion and Astrophysics to implement solutions in real scientific computing environments for researchers. Several examples of complex workflows , which are prototypes of what will be a platform for simulation of plasma from a fusion reactor and analysis for the WBC / Planck experiment are presented . Thus we have demonstrated the versatility of the developed tools , when applied to more than one scientific discipline.During the last years biofuel fuel cells (BFCs) have attracted great interest due to their possible applications, especially as electrical power sources for in vivo or ex vivo applications. In BFCs enzymes can be used as biocatalysts for fuel oxidation at the anode and oxidant reduction at the cathode. The majority of EFCs use oxygen-reducing enzymes at the cathode, and glucose-oxidizing enzymes at the anode, as they are very common substrates present in most human physiological fluids. Two multi-copper oxidases, laccase and bilirubin oxidase, and cellobiose dehydrogenase have been studied as possible biocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction and glucose oxidation, respectively. Laccases usually exhibit higher activity at acid pH and they are more inhibited in the presence of chloride ions than bilirubin oxidase. Therefore, native laccases have been engineered by directed evolution for obtaining mutants that show activity also under physiological conditions, and cysteine residues have been introduced by site-directed mutagenesis for oriented immobilization on gold electrodes. The major aim of the Thesis has been the development of biocathodes as they represent the rate-limiting part of the BFC due to the low O2 availability in human body. The development of the bioelectrodes was carried out paying special attention to the different electrode materials and immobilization strategies used to manufacture the biodevices. Indeed, a good immobilization strategy enhances the long-term stability of the biodevice while achieving efficient wiring of the enzyme. Additionally, a larger surface area of the support material allows higher enzyme loading, therefore increasing the current density developed. Gold nanorods, macroporous gold, indium tin oxide and carbonaceous materials have been used for this purpose, obtaining current densities up to 1.5 mA/cm2 for bioelectrocatalytic O2 reduction. Direct electron transfer (DET) based systems are preferred as some possible drawbacks of using mediators are overcome and allow making the miniaturization of the BFC easier. For these reason, all the immobilization strategies presented were developed in order to optimize DET between the enzyme and the electrode surface. Combination of a conventional BFC with electrochemical capacitors is also presented in order to overcome the limitations of both systems, achieving a maximum power output of 0.6 µW at an operating voltage of 0.15 V. This hybrid biodevice was also tested in ex vivo conditions by connecting it directly to the dorsal venous of a human volunteer.Financial support for this study was provided by the Comunidad Autonoma of Madrid (Spain) and European funding from FEDER program (research project S2013/ABI-3028, AVANSECAL-CM). Dra. Gema Flores thanks CSIC for her JAE-Doc contract.The problem of achieving common understanding between agents that use different vocabularies has been mainly addressed by designing techniques that explicitly negotiate mappings between their vocabularies, requiring agents to share a meta-language. In this paper we consider the case of agents that use different vocabularies and have no meta-language in common, but share the knowledge of how to perform a task, given by the specification of an interaction protocol. For this situation, we present a framework that lets agents learn a vocabulary alignment from the experience of interacting. Unlike previous work in this direction, we use open protocols that constrain possible actions instead of defining procedures, making our approach more general. We present two techniques that can be used either to learn an alignment from scratch or to repair an existent one, and we evaluate experimentally their performance.Resumen del trabajo presentado al Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Europe 27th Annual Meeting, celebrado en Bruselas (Belgica) del 7 al 11 de mayo de 2017.This work was supported by the project AGL2012-40128-C03-01 and EU-FEDER funds from the Spanish government.espanolLos margenes de los campos reciben muchas denominaciones locales (linderos, ribazos, etc.) y pueden ser motivo de preocupacion para los agricultores por albergar especies arvenses que pueden devenir infestantes del cultivo. Pero su estudio tambien ha reflejado que pueden ser beneficiosos si albergan diversidad vegetal, la que atraeria a su vez diversidad animal. Estudios recientes realizados en Espana arrojan resultados aparentemente contradictorios y por este motivo se realiza una descripcion de la tipologia de margenes existentes en Espana. Se constata que las diferencias de anchura, altura y pendiente entre margenes, el tipo de vegetacion cercano, asi como la intensidad de la perturbacion que se ejerce en ellos son posiblemente los principales factores que explican porque algunos margenes albergan especies potencialmente nocivas (malas hierbas) y otros no. EnglishThe field margins receive many local names and can cause trouble to farmers if they host weeds that can infest the nearby fields. But their study has shown that they be beneficial if they harbor vegetal diversity, which can attract animal diversity. Recent studies conducted in Spain show apparently contradictory results an due to this, a description of the margin types found in this country is shown in this communication. We confirm that differences in margins width, height and slope, the type of natural vegetation in the area and the disturbance intensity on the margins are probably the main factors explaining why some margins host potentially harmful plant species (weeds) and others do not.22nd IMEKO TC4 International Symposium & 20th International Workshop on ADC Modelling and Testing, 14-15 September 2017, Iasi, Romania.-- 6 pages, 8 figures, 1 tableXIX Seminario Iberico de Quimica Marina (SIQUIMAR), VI Simposio Internacional de Ciencias del Mar - VI International Symposium of Marine Sciences (ISMS 2018), 20- 22 June 2018, Vigo.-- 1 pageSAF2016-77703-C2-2-R of the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad, Spain and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF); AGAUR 2017-SGR-106 and the CERCA Programme of the Generalitat de Catalunya; R. Copas and C. Sanfeliu belong to Group 05 of CIBER Epidemiologia y Salud Publica (CIBERESP) of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo, SpainResumen del poster presentado al I Congreso Interdisciplinar en Genetica Humana, celebrado en Madrid del 25 al 28 de abril de 2017.-- et al.Trabajo presentado en Aquaculture Europe 19 (Our future, growing from water), celebrado en Berlin del 7 al 10 de octubre de 2019.Trabajo presentado a la Dynamics of Institutions and Markets in Europe (DIME) Final Conference celebrada del 6 al 8 de abril de 2011 en Maastricht (Paises Bajos).Compared to machines, humans are intelligent and dexterous; they are indispensable for many complex tasks in areas such as flexible manufacturing or scientific experimentation. However, they are also subject to fatigue and inattention, which may cause errors. This motivates automated monitoring systems that verify the correct execution of manipulation sequences. To be practical, such a monitoring system should not require laborious programming.Trabajo presentado en el 18th International Symposium on Fish Nutrition and Feeding (ISFNF. 40 years of research in fish nutrition), celebrado en Las Palmas de Gran Canaria del 3 al 7 de junio de 2018.Comunicacion oral presentada en la 6th European Conference on Cyclodextrins. Abstracts book pag. 14 (2019)Seminario: Arquitectura saadi. Marruecos siglos XVI-XVII. EEA, CSIC, LAAC (Granada), 12 y 13 de abril de 2018.Trabajo presentado a la 21st Topical Conference on High Temperature Plasma Diagnostics, celebrada en Madison, Wisconsin (US) del 5 al 9 de junio de 2016.3 paginas, 3 tablas.- Trabajo presentado al: XVIII Jornadas sobre Produccion Animal AIDA. Zaragoza, Espana, 7-8 mayo 2019.5 paginas.-- 3 figuras.-- 2 tabla.-- 8 referencias.-- Comunicacion presentadoa en el XIV Simposio Internacional Hispano-Portugues de Relaciones Hidricas en Plantas de la Sociedad Espanola y Portuguesa de Fisiologia Vegetal.“La fisiologia como valor anadido para la comercializacion”Trabajo presentado al 48th West European FishTechnologists Association Meeting (WEFTA), celebrado en Lisboa (Portugal) del 15 al 18 de octubre de 2018.Trabajo presentado en la 2nd European conference on Xylella fastidiosa (how research can support solutions), celebrada en Ajaccio el 29 y 30 de octubre de 2019.The synthesis of the 5-hydroxyproline derivatives 3a and 3b using cyclobutane serine analogs 1 and 2 as starting materials is reported. This process occurs with moderate cis/trans selectivity. A mechanism for this reaction is also proposed. Cyclobutane serine analog 1 was tested in tandem Michael and Wittig-like reactions, providing some evidence of the mechanism proposed.Trabajo realizado dentro del proyecto “El Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales entre 1939 y 1985: de la disgregacion a la reunificacion en su contexto nacional e internacional” (Ref. HAR2016-76125-P).Trabajo presentado en Aquaculture Europe 19 (Our future, growing from water), celebrado en Berlin del 7 al 10 de octubre de 2019.Resumen del trabajo presentado en el 19th International Symposium on Deep Seismic Profiling of the Continents and their Margins (SEISMIX 2020), celebrado del 15 al 19 de marzo de 2020 en AustraliaTrabajo presentado en la 12th International Conference on Precision Agriculture (ICPA), celebrada en Sacaramento (US) del 20 al 23 de julio de 2014.Resumen del poster presentado a la European Human Genetics Conference, celebrada en Barcelona (Espana) del 21 al 24 de mayo de 2016.-- et al.Resumen del poster presentado a la VIII Reunion Cientifica Anual del Centro de Investigacion Biomedica En Red de Enfermedades Raras, celebrada en San Lorenzo del Escorial (Madrid) los dias 12 y 13 de marzo de 2015.Poster presentado en la 34th Annual International Conference on Thermoelectrics (ICT) y en la 13th European Conference on Thermoelectrics(ECT), celebradas en Dresden del 28 de junio al 2 de julio de 2015.Poster presentado en la 6th European Conference on Cyclodextrins. Santiago de Compostela, Oclober 2-4, 2019Este trabalho foi desenvolvido no âmbito dos projetos Metalurgia Primitiva no Territorio Portugues – EARLYMETAL (PTDC/HIST-ARQ/110442/2008) e Espacos Naturais, Arquiteturas, Arte rupestre e Deposicoes na Pre-historia Recente da Fachada Ocidental do Centro e Norte Portugues: das Acoes aos Significados - ENARDAS (PTDC/HISARQ/112983/2009), financiado pelo Programa Operacional Tematico Factores de Competitividade (COMPETE) e comparticipados pelo Fundo Comunitario Europeu FEDER. Os autores agradecem a Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT) as bolsas individuais (SFRH/ BD/65143/2009) e (SFRH/BPD/73245/2010) concedidas a Joao Fonte e Elin Figueiredo, respetivamente, e o apoio financeiro concedido ao CENIMAT/I3N atraves do Projecto Estrategico LA25/2013-2014 (PEst-C/CTM/LA0025/2011); a Joe Horst os esclarecimentos gentilmente cedidos sobre as condicoes de achado; a empresa Metais Jaime Dias, S.A. e ao Dr. Normando Ramos a possibilidade do uso do equipamento de FRX portatil para o estudo preliminar da colecao metalica e a equipa do Museu D. Diogo de Sousa, em Braga, o tratamento e fotografia do conjunto.13 GLOSSARY OF RELEVANT TERMS 17RS received support from the Czech Ministry of Culture (project MK00002327201) and from the SYNTHESYS Programme (project ES-TAF-1249), financed by European Community Research Infrastructure Action under the FP7 “Capacities” Programme at the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC).Poster presentado en el XII Congreso de los Grupos de Investigacion Enologica (GIENOL 2013, Nuevas perspectivas en investigacion vitivinicola), celebrado en Madrid del 18 al 21 de junio de 2013.Trabajo presentado al Delft Software Days, celebrado en Netherlands del 5 al 16 de noviembre de 2018.Trabajo presentado al Spanish JRU EGI-ENGAGE meeting celebrado en Madrid el 23 de febrero de 2015.The genetic analysis of dorsoventral patterning in Drosophila has identified a zinc-finger gene, snail, that is required for mesoderm formation. The cloning and nuclease protection analysis of a Xenopus homologue of this gene has suggested a possible role in the mesoderm of vertebrates. Here, we describe the cloning of a murine homologue of snail, Sna, and in situ hybridisation studies of its developmental expression. Sequence analysis reveals substantial conservation of the second to fifth zinc fingers, but not of the first zinc finger in the Sna gene. Expression occurs in the ectoplacental cone, parietal endoderm, embryonic and extraembryonic mesoderm, in neural crest and in condensing precartilage. Based on the timing and spatial restriction of expression in embryonic mesoderm, we suggest that Sna might be required for the early development of this tissue, as is the case for its Drosophila counterpart. In addition, we propose that Sna might have an analogous role in the development of neural crest. The expression in condensing precartilage indicates that this gene also has a later function in chondrogenesis.Este trabajo se centra en la sintesis de nuevos nanohibridos dador-aceptor (D/A) de politiofeno solubles en medios acuosos y en la elucidacion de la interaccion electronica entre las unidades D/A como en el funcionamiento de los nanohibridos en forma de peliculas delgadas en aplicaciones optoelectronicas. Utilizando tecnicas de auto-ensamblaje in-situ de politiofeno en presencia de diferentes nanomateriales como son el oxido de grafeno, puntos cuanticos de semiconductores o laminas de dicalcogenuros de metales de transicion se ha conseguido la formacion de complejos de transferencia de carga, solubles en agua y con superiores propiedades electronicas de relevancia para el desarrollo de dispositivos optoelectronicos basados en peliculas delgadas210 Pags.- Figs.- Fots.- Tabls. Tesis realizada en la Unidad de Suelos y Riegos (Unidad Asociada EEAD-CSIC). Creative Commons License Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0),Este trabajo se ha realizado en el marco de ERAWATCH, una iniciativa conjunta de la Direccion General de Investigacion de la Comision Europea y el Instituto de Prospectiva Tecnologica (IPTS).La investigacion ha sido posible gracias a la financiacion del Proyecto 2091 de la Universidad Politecnica de Valencia y del Proyecto P08-SEJ-03981 de la Junta de Andalucia.Oral presentation given at the 16th European Microscopy Congress, held in Lyon (France) from August 28th to September 2nd, 2016.Trabajo presentado en la European Conference on Xylella 2017 (Finding answers to a global problem), celebrada en Palma de Mallorca del 13 al 15 de noviembre de 2017.Master 2° Annee Biologie, Ecologie, Evolution (M2 BEE). Universite de Poitiers. Faculte des Sciences Fondamentales et Appliquees.Santiago de Compostela, Facultade de Quimica,17-21 julio 2017. -- http://www.bienalrsef2017.com/bienalrsef17/The work is under the scope of the following projects: Cargo-ANTS: Cargo handling by Automated Next generation Transportation Systems for ports and terminals.Seminario: Arquitectura saadi. Marruecos siglos XVI-XVII. EEA, CSIC, LAAC (Granada), 12 y 13 de abril de 2018.Trabajo presentado en el LV Congreso Nacional de la Sociedad Espanola de Ceramica y Vidrio, celebrado en Sevilla (Espana), del 5 al 7 de octubre de 2016Poster presentado en el First Joint Meeting on Soil and Plant System Sciences (SPSS 2019) Natural and Human-induced Impacts on the Critical Zone and Food Production. Bari, Italy 23-26 September 2019Trabajo presentado en el V Workshop The cultivation of the Soles, celebrado en Faro (Portugal) del 5 al 7 de abril de 2011.Web tematica.-- Proposito: divulgativo.-- Estado del proyecto: actualizacion continua.-- Fecha de la consulta: 2018-01-08.Trabajo de investigacion desarrollado por el ingeniero Juan Antonio Moreno-Cid Mora para optar al grado de Doctor por la Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha.Trabajo presentado en la XXVI Reunion Bienal de Quimica Organica de la Real Sociedad Espanola de Quimica, celebrada en Punta Umbria, Huelva (Espana) del 14 al 17 de junio de 2016.Trabajo presentado en la European Conference on Xylella 2017 (Finding answers to a global problem), celebrada en Palma de Mallorca del 13 al 15 de noviembre de 2017.We introduce the logics E(G) for reasoning about probabilistic expectation over classes G of games with discrete polynomial payoff functions represented by finite-valued Lukasiewicz formulas and provide completeness and complexity results. In addition, we introduce a new class of games where players’ expected payoff functions are encoded by E(G)-formulas. In these games each player’s aim is to randomise her strategic choices in order to affect the other players’ expectations over an outcome as well as their own. We offer a logical and computational characterisation of this new class of games.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation-FEDER grants AGL2009-08339/AGR and AGL2015-71386-R.Trabajo presentadso en la Jornada de divulgacion y presentacion en Espana del Proyecto POnTE (Plagas que amenazan a los cultivos y los bosques de Europa. El caso de Xylella fastidiosa en el olivar), celebrada el 14 de diciembre de 2016 en Madrid.4 paginas.-- 1 figuras.-- 3 tablas.-- 3 referencias.-- Comunicacion presentada en el >VII Congresso Iberico das Ciencias do Solo (CICS 2016) y VI Congresso Nacional de Rega e Drenagem> que decorreu no Instituto Politecnico de Beja de 13 a 15 de Setembro de 2016.

Butyrate reduces the frequency of micronuclei in human colon carcinoma cells in vitro

Butyrate, formed by bacterial fermentation of plant foods, has been shown to protect human colon cells from selected genotoxic substances. The mechanism for this effect could be the enhancement of toxicological defence leading to an increased detoxification of genotoxic risk factors and thus to a reduction of DNA and chromosome damage. Previous protective properties of butyrate against DNA damage induction in colon cells were demonstrated using the comet assay. In the present study the effect of butyrate on chromosome damage induced by ferric nitrilotriacetate (Fe-NTA) and hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) (suggested to be putative risk factors of colorectal carcinogenesis) was investigated using the cytokinesis-block micronucleus (CBMN) test. It was possible to reveal that pre-treatment of HT29 colon carcinoma cells with butyrate (2 and 4mM) for 15 min caused a reduction of micronuclei induced with H(2)O(2) (75 microM; p<0.01) and Fe-NTA (500 and 1000 microM; p<0.05). The decrease in the level of Fe-NTA- and H(2)O(2)-induced micronuclei was also confirmed in most of the corresponding variants of 24h pre-treatment of cells with butyrate. The results obtained demonstrate for the first time protective properties of butyrate against chromosome damage induced by H(2)O(2) and Fe-NTA in human colon carcinoma cells.

Heteromorphic variants of chromosome 9

BackgroundHeterochromatic variants of pericentromere of chromosome 9 are reported and discussed since decades concerning their detailed structure and clinical meaning. However, detailed studies are scarce. Thus, here we provide the largest ever done molecular cytogenetic research based on >300 chromosome 9 heteromorphism carriers.ResultsIn this study, 334 carriers of heterochromatic variants of chromosome 9 were included, being 192 patients from Western Europe and the remainder from Easter-European origin. A 3-color-fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) probe-set directed against for 9p12 to 9q13~21.1 (9het-mix) and 8 different locus-specific probes were applied for their characterization. The 9het-mix enables the characterization of 21 of the yet known 24 chromosome 9 heteromorphic patterns. In this study, 17 different variants were detected including five yet unreported; the most frequent were pericentric inversions (49.4%) followed by 9qh-variants (23.9%), variants of 9ph (11.4%), cenh (8.2%), and dicentric- (3.8%) and duplication-variants (3.3%). For reasons of simplicity, a new short nomenclature for the yet reported 24 heteromorphic patterns of chromosome 9 is suggested. Six breakpoints involved in four of the 24 variants could be narrowed down using locus-specific probes.ConclusionsBased on this largest study ever done in carriers of chromosome 9 heteromorphisms, three of the 24 detailed variants were more frequently observed in Western than in Eastern Europe. Besides, there is no clear evidence that infertility is linked to any of the 24 chromosome 9 heteromorphic variants.

Novel amphiphilic cationic porphyrin and its Ag(II) complex as potential anticancer agents

In the present study we have synthesized a novel amphiphilic porphyrin and its Ag(II) complex through modification of water-soluble porphyrinic structure in order to increase its lipophilicity and in turn pharmacological potency. New cationic non-symmetrical meso-substituted porphyrins were characterized by UV-visible, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), (1)H NMR techniques, lipophilicity (thin-layer chromatographic retention factor, Rf), and elemental analysis. The key toxicological profile (i.e. cytotoxicity and cell line- (cancer type-) specificity; genotoxicity; cell cycle effects) of amphiphilic Ag porphyrin was studied in human normal and cancer cell lines of various tissue origins and compared with its water-soluble analog. Structural modification of the molecule from water-soluble to amphiphilic resulted in a certain increase in the cytotoxicity and a decrease in cell line-specificity. Importantly, Ag(II) porphyrin showed less toxicity to normal cells and greater toxicity to their cancerous counterparts as compared to cisplatin. The amphiphilic complex was also not genotoxic and demonstrated a slight cytostatic effect via the cell cycle delay due to the prolongation of S-phase. As expected, the performed structural modification affected also the photocytotoxic activity of metal-free amphiphilic porphyrin. The ligand tested on cancer cell line revealed a dramatic (more than 70-fold) amplification of its phototoxic activity as compared to its water-soluble tetracationic metal-free analog. The compound combines low dark cytotoxicity with 5 fold stronger phototoxicity relative to Chlorin e6 and could be considered as a potential photosensitizer for further development in photodynamic therapy.

Chromosomal Composition of Micronuclei in Human Leukocytes Exposed to Mitomycin C

Micronuclei (MN) can be induced by different mutagenic substances. Even though this has been known for decades, it is still not clear which genetic content, especially which chromosomes, these MN are constituted of and if there are any influences on this content by the MN-inducing substance. Also, the interphase position, size, and gene density of a chromosome could influence its involvement in MN formation. To study some of these questions, fluorescence in situ hybridization using centromeric and whole-chromosome painting probes for chromosomes 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 16, 17, 18, and X was applied in mitomycin C (MMC)–induced MN in human leukocytes. The obtained results showed that material from all studied chromosomes was present in MN. Also, there was no correlation between interphase position, size, and gene density of the studied chromosomes and their migration in MN. Interestingly, material derived from chromosomes 9 and 16 was overrepresented in MMC-induced MN. Finally, further studies using substances other than MMC are necessary to clarify if the MN-inducing mutagen has an influence on the chromosomal content of the MN.

In Vitro Testing of Cyto- and Genotoxicity of New Porphyrin Water-Soluble Metal Derivatives

Porphyrins and porphyrin derivatives have an outstanding potential for discovery of novel pharmacological agents due to their ability for numerous chemical modifications and a variety of mechanisms of biological effects. New water-soluble Ag and Zn derivatives of tetrachloride meso-tetra (4-N-oxiethylpyridyl) porphyne were synthesized. Cyto- and genotoxicity of these substances were tested in vitro by the vital dye (trypan blue) exclusion and the micronucleus tests, respectively. Both metalloporphyrins were shown to be cytotoxic for Cos-7 (fibroblast-like African green monkey kidney cells transformed by simian virus 40 [SV40]), DU 145 (epithelial-like cells of human prostate carcinoma), and K-562 (human chronic myeloid leukemia cells) cell lines. At the same time they did not cause chromosome fragmentation in K-562 cell line at as high concentrations as IC50 (20 μmol/L for Ag and 70 μmol/L for Zn derivative). Thus, the metalloporphyrins tested meet at least two important demands to potential anticancer drugs as they combine the cytotoxicity with low genotoxicity. The three in vitro tumor models used are relevant to further in vitro and in vivo pre-clinical investigation of the studied metalloporphyrins as potential chemotherapeutics.