Tritordeum, wheat and triticale yield components under multi-local mediterranean drought conditions

The species x location interaction was of great importance in explaining the behaviour of genetic material. The study presented here shows, for the first time, the performance, under field conditions of the new tritordeum species, compared to wheat and triticale in a wide range of Mediterranean countries (Spain, Lebanon and Tunisia). The results obtained revealed that despite the diversity of environmental conditions, the main differences in yield were due to genotypes, especially to differences between species. The multi-local study with different growth conditions revealed important information about the water availability effect on yield. In the lowest yielding environments (Tunisia rainfed), Tritordeum and triticale yields were equivalent. However under better growth conditions (Spain), tritordeum yield was shown to be lower than wheat and triticale. Interestingly, when water limitation was extended during the pre-anthesis period, differences in tritordeum versus wheat-triticale yield rate were larger than when water stress occurred during anthesis. These variations were explained by the fact that kernel weight has been found as the limiting factor for yield determination in tritordeum, and a delay in the anthesis date may have been the cause for the low kernel weight and low yield under Mediterranean drought conditions. Such differences in yield between tritordeum and wheat or triticale could be explained by the fact that tritordeum is a relatively new species and far fewer resources have been devoted to its improvement when compared to wheat and triticale. Our results suggest that breeding efforts should be directed to an earlier anthesis date and a longer grain filling period. tritordeum proved to have possibilities to be grown under drought environments as a new crop, since its performance was quite close to wheat and triticale. Besides, it has qualitative added values that may improve farmers' income per unit land.

Visualització de la interaccio entre la proteïnaG12 i la catenina p120

Els processos de senyalització a través de receptors acoplats a proteïnes G (GPCRs) estan implicats en una gran varietat de processos fisiològics i patològics. Els objectius de la meva recerca es centren en l’estudi de la funció de les proteïnes heterotrimèriques de la família G12, en particular, en el paper que aquestes proteïnes poden tenir en la inducció de la migració cel•lular. Des del seu descobriment, s’han descrit diversos efectors que s’uneixen i es regulen per aquestes proteïnes. Les proteïnes de la família de RhoGEF semblen ser els efectors més directes i que juguen un paper més important en els processos de senyalització de les proteïnes G12. Tanmateix, resultats recents semblen indicar que altres vies independent de l’activació de Rho són també necessàries perquè els efectes fisiològics de les vies de les proteïnes G12 tinguin lloc. En aquest camp, els resultats que he obtingut, juntament amb resultats previs del grup, han descrit una nova via d’activació independent de Rho. Hem trobat que la proteïna G12 s’uneix a una catenina: la catenina p120. La seva unió sembla tenir lloc a través l’extrem N-terminal de la catenina i condueix a la reducció de la fosforilació en algun dels seus residus de tirosina, ja sigui per la quinasa Src o per l’activació a través d’EGF. Per tant, aquests resultats suggereixen que una altra via d’acció de la proteïna G12 seria mitjançant la regulació de la catenina p120 i, com a conseqüència, alguns processos d’adhesió cel•lular es podrien veure afectats. A fi d’entendre millor la regulació i la interacció de la catenina p120 hem iniciat l’estudi de la seva distribució cel•lular en l’espai i temps mitjançant tècniques de microscopia. Així, vam intentar construir una sonda de G12 fluorescent amb GFP. Després de diversos intents i experiments amb proteïnes no funcionals hem aconseguit, amb la col•laboració de T. Meigs, una construcció funcional que activa Rho. Això ens permetrà acabar els experiments de seguiment in vivo.

Effects of erythropoietin on muscle O2 transport during exercise in patients with chronic renal failure.

Erythropoietin (rHuEPO) has proven to be effective in the treatment of anemia of chronic renal failure (CRF). Despite improving the quality of life, peak oxygen uptake after rHuEPO therapy is not improved as much as the increase in hemoglobin concentration ([Hb)] would predict. We hypothesized that this discrepancy is due to failure of O2 transport rates to rise in a manner proportional to [Hb]. To test this, eight patients with CRF undergoing regular hemodialysis were studied pre- and post-rHuEPO ([Hb] = 7.5 +/- 1.0 vs. 12.5 +/- 1.0 g x dl-1) using a standard incremental cycle exercise protocol. A group of 12 healthy sedentary subjects of similar age and anthropometric characteristics served as controls. Arterial and femoral venous blood gas data were obtained and coupled with simultaneous measurements of femoral venous blood flow (Qleg) by thermodilution to obtain O2 delivery and oxygen uptake (VO2). Despite a 68% increase in [Hb], peak VO2 increased by only 33%. This could be explained largely by reduced peak leg blood flow, limiting the gain in O2 delivery to 37%. At peak VO2, after rHuEPO, O2 supply limitation of maximal VO2 was found to occur, permitting the calculation of a value for muscle O2 conductance from capillary to mitochondria (DO2). While DO2 was slightly improved after rHuEPO, it was only 67% of that of sedentary control subjects. This kept maximal oxygen extraction at only 70%. Two important conclusions can be reached from this study. First, the increase in [Hb] produced by rHuEPO is accompanied by a significant reduction in peak blood flow to exercising muscle, which limits the gain in oxygen transport. Second, even after restoration of [Hb], O2 conductance from the muscle capillary to the mitochondria remains considerably below normal.

Basis set superposition error-counterpoise corrected potential energy surfaces : application to hydrogen peroxide ... X (X=F-, Cl-, Br-, Li+, Na+) complexes

Møller-Plesset (MP2) and Becke-3-Lee-Yang-Parr (B3LYP) calculations have been used to compare the geometrical parameters, hydrogen-bonding properties, vibrational frequencies and relative energies for several X- and X+ hydrogen peroxide complexes. The geometries and interaction energies were corrected for the basis set superposition error (BSSE) in all the complexes (1-5), using the full counterpoise method, yielding small BSSE values for the 6-311 + G(3df,2p) basis set used. The interaction energies calculated ranged from medium to strong hydrogen-bonding systems (1-3) and strong electrostatic interactions (4 and 5). The molecular interactions have been characterized using the atoms in molecules theory (AIM), and by the analysis of the vibrational frequencies. The minima on the BSSE-counterpoise corrected potential-energy surface (PES) have been determined as described by S. Simón, M. Duran, and J. J. Dannenberg, and the results were compared with the uncorrected PES

Association of NTRK3 and its interaction with NGF suggest an altered cross-regulation of the neurotrophin signaling pathway in eating disorders

Eating disorders (EDs) are complex psychiatric diseases that include anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, and have higher than 50% heritability. Previous studies have found association of BDNF and NTRK2 to ED, while animal models suggest that other neurotrophin genes might also be involved in eating behavior. We have performed a family-based association study with 151 TagSNPs covering 10 neurotrophin signaling genes: NGFB, BDNF, NTRK1, NGFR/p75, NTF4/5, NTRK2, NTF3, NTRK3, CNTF and CNTFR in 371 ED trios of Spanish, French and German origin. Besides several nominal associations, we found a strong significant association after correcting for multiple testing (P = 1.04 × 10−4) between ED and rs7180942, located in the NTRK3 gene, which followed an overdominant model of inheritance. Interestingly, HapMap unrelated individuals carrying the rs7180942 risk genotypes for ED showed higher levels of expression of NTRK3 in lymphoblastoid cell lines. Furthermore, higher expression of the orthologous murine Ntrk3 gene was also detected in the hypothalamus of the anx/anx mouse model of anorexia. Finally, variants in NGFB gene appear to modify the risk conferred by the NTRK3 rs7180942 risk genotypes (P = 4.0 × 10−5) showing a synergistic epistatic interaction. The reported data, in addition to the previous reported findings for BDNF and NTRK2, point neurotrophin signaling genes as key regulators of eating behavior and their altered cross-regulation as susceptibility factors for EDs.

Selección de péptidos sintéticos del Virus de la Hepatitis G (GBV-C/HGV) inhibidores del Péptido de Fusión HIV-I

El GB virus C (GBV-C) o virus de l'hepatitis G (HGV) es un virus format per una única cadena de RNA que pertany a la familia Flaviviridae. En els últims anys, s'han publicat nombrosos treballs en els quals s'associa la coinfecció del GBV-C i del virus de la immunodeficiència humana (VIH) amb una menor progressió de l'esmentada malaltia així com amb una major supervivència dels pacients una vegada que la SIDA s'ha desenvolupat. El mecanisme pel qual el virus GBV-C/HGV exerceix un “efecte protector” en els pacients amb VIH encara no està descrit. L’estudi de la interacció entre els virus GBVC/HGV i VIH podria donar lloc al desenvolupament de nous agents terapèutics per al tractament de la SIDA.Treballs recents mostren com la capacitat inhibitòria del virus del GBV-C/HGV és deguda a la seva glicoproteina estructural E2. S’ha vist que aquesta proteina seria capaç d’inhibir la primera fase de replicació de VIH, així com la unió i la fusió amb les membranes cel•lulars. Sobre la base d’aquests estudis, l’objectiu d’aquest treball ha estat seleccionar inhibidors del pèptid de fusió del VIH utilitzant pèptids sintètics de la proteina E2 del GBV-C/HGV. El treball realitzat ha consistit en estudiar, utilitzant assajos biofísics de leakage i de lipid mixing, la capacitat dels pèptids de la proteina estructural del virus del GBV-C/HGV per inhibir la interacció i el procés de desestabilització de membranes induïdes pel pèptid de fusió de la glicoproteina de l’embolcall, GP41, del VIH. Aquests assajos, com es descriu en treballs anteriors, han resultat útils per a la selecció i la identificació de compostos amb activitat específica anti-GP41. Es pot afirmar que efectivament els pèptids seleccionats de la proteina E2 del virus del GBV-C/HGV inhibeixen l’activitat del pèptid de fusió del VIH probablement com a consequència d’un canvi conformacional en aquest darrer.

Human-Computer Interaction with older people through ethnographical lenses: everyday interactions with ICT

Report for the scientific sojourn carried out at the School of Computing of the University of Dundee, United Kingdom, from 2010 to 2012. This document is a scientific report of the work done, main results, publications and accomplishment of the objectives of the 2-year post-doctoral research project with reference number BP-A 00239. The project has addressed the topic of older people (60+) and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), which is a topic of growing social and research interest, from a Human-Computer Interaction perspective. Over a 2-year period (June 2010-June 2012), we have conducted classical ethnography of ICT use in a computer clubhouse in Scotland, addressing interaction barriers and strategies, social sharing practices in Social Network Sites, and ICT learning, and carried out rapid ethnographical studies related to geo-enabled ICT and e-government services towards supporting independent living and active ageing. The main results have provided a much deeper understanding of (i) the everyday use of Computer-Mediated Communication tools, such as video-chats and blogs, and its evolution as older people’s experience with ICT increases over time, (ii) cross-cultural aspects of ICT use in the north and south of Europe, (iii) the relevance of cognition over vision in interacting with geographical information and a wide range of ICT tools, despite common stereotypes (e.g. make things bigger), (iv) the important relationship offline-online to provide older people with socially inclusive and meaningful eservices for independent living and active ageing, (v) how older people carry out social sharing practices in the popular YouTube, (vi) their user experiences and (vii) the challenges they face in ICT learning and the strategies they use to become successful ICT learners over time. The research conducted in this project has been published in 17 papers, 4 in journals – two of which in JCR, 5 in conferences, 4 in workshops and 4 in magazines. Other public output consists of 10 invited talks and seminars.

Exploring the high frequency emission of radio loud X-ray binaries

We report millimetre-wave continuum observations of the X-ray binaries Cygnus X-3, SS 433, LSI+61 303, Cygnus X-1 and GRS 1915+105. The observations were carried out with the IRAM 30 m-antenna at 250 GHz (1.25 mm) from 1998 March 14 to March 20. These millimetre measurements are complemented with centimetre observations from the Ryle Telescope, at 15 GHz (2.0 cm) and from the Green Bank Interferometer at 2.25 and 8.3 GHz (13 and 3.6 cm). Both Cygnus X-3 and SS 433 underwent moderate flaring events during our observations, whose main spectral evolution properties are described and interpreted. A significant spectral steepening was observed in both sources during the flare decay, that is likely to be caused by adiabatic expansion, inverse Compton and synchrotron losses. Finally, we also report 250 GHz upper limits for three additional undetected X-ray binary stars: LSI+65 010, LSI+61 235 and X Per.

Faint arc-minute extended radio emission around Cygnus X-3

Aims.We revisit the vicinity of the microquasar Cygnus X-3 at radio wavelengths. We aim to improve our previous search for possible associated extended radio features/hot spots in the position angle of the Cygnus X-3 relativistic jets focusing on shorter angular scales than previously explored. Methods.Our work is mostly based on analyzing modern survey and archive radio data, mainly including observations carried out with the Very Large Array and the Ryle Telescopes. We also used deep near-infrared images that we obtained in 2005. Results.We present new radio maps of the Cygnus X-3 field computed after combining multi-configuration Very Large Array archive data at 6 cm and different observing runs at 2 cm with the Ryle Telescope. These are probably among the deepest radio images of Cygnus X-3 reported to date at cm wavelengths. Both interferometers reveal an extended radio feature within a few arc-minutes of the microquasar position, thus making our detection more credible. Moreover, this extended emission is possibly non-thermal, although this point still needs confirmation. Its physical connection with the microquasar is tentatively considered under different physical scenarios. We also report on the serendipitous discovery of a likely Fanaroff-Riley type II radio galaxy only away from Cygnus X-3.

Possible hot spots excited by the relativistic jets of Cygnus X-3

We present the results of a deep search for associated radio features in the vicinity of the microquasar Cygnus X-3. The motivation behind is to find out evidence for interaction between its relativistic jets and the surrounding interstellar medium, which could eventually allow us to perform calorimetry of the total energy released by this microquasar during its flaring lifetime. Remarkably, two radio sources with mJy emission level at centimeter wavelengths have been detected in excellent alignment with the position angle of the inner radio jets. We propose that these objects could be the hot spots where the relativitic outflow collides with the ambient gas in analogy with Fanaroff-Riley II radio galaxies. These candidate hot spots are within a few arc-minutes of Cygnus X-3 and, if physically related, the full linear extent of the jet would reach tens of parsecs. We discuss here the evidence currently available to support this hypothesis based on both archival data and our own observations.

Double folding with a density-dependent effective interaction and it s analytical approximation

The real part of the optical potential for heavy ion elastic scattering is obtained by double folding of the nuclear densities with a density-dependent nucleon-nucleon effective interaction which was successful in describing the binding, size, and nucleon separation energies in spherical nuclei. A simple analytical form is found to differ from the resulting potential considerably less than 1% all through the important region. This analytical potential is used so that only few points of the folding need to be computed. With an imaginary part of the Woods-Saxon type, this potential predicts the elastic scattering angular distribution in very good agreement with experimental data, and little renormalization (unity in most cases) is needed.

1/c expansion of a separable model of direct-interaction type

The properties of a proposed model of N point particles in direct interaction are considered in the limit of small velocities. It is shown that, in this limit, time correlations cancel out and that Newtonian dynamics is recovered for the system in a natural way.

Dynamical properties of discrete breathers in curved chains with first and second neighbor interaction

We present the study of discrete breather dynamics in curved polymerlike chains consisting of masses connected via nonlinear springs. The polymer chains are one dimensional but not rectilinear and their motion takes place on a plane. After constructing breathers following numerically accurate procedures, we launch them in the chains and investigate properties of their propagation dynamics. We find that breather motion is strongly affected by the presence of curved regions of polymers, while the breathers themselves show a very strong resilience and remarkable stability in the presence of geometrical changes. For chains with strong angular rigidity we find that breathers either pass through bent regions or get reflected while retaining their frequency. Their motion is practically lossless and seems to be determined through local energy conservation. For less rigid chains modeled via second neighbor interactions, we find similarly that chain geometry typically does not destroy the localized breather states but, contrary to the angularly rigid chains, it induces some small but constant energy loss. Furthermore, we find that a curved segment acts as an active gate reflecting or refracting the incident breather and transforming its velocity to a value that depends on the discrete breathers frequency. We analyze the physical reasoning behind these seemingly general breather properties.

Relativistic mean-field interaction with density-dependent meson-nucleon vertices based on microscopical calculations

Although ab initio calculations of relativistic Brueckner theory lead to large scalar isovector fields in nuclear matter, at present, successful versions of covariant density functional theory neglect the interactions in this channel. A new high-precision density functional DD-MEδ is presented which includes four mesons, σ, ω, δ, and ρ, with density-dependent meson-nucleon couplings. It is based to a large extent on microscopic ab initiocalculations in nuclear matter. Only four of its parameters are determined by adjusting to binding energies and charge radii of finite nuclei. The other parameters, in particular the density dependence of the meson-nucleon vertices, are adjusted to nonrelativistic and relativistic Brueckner calculations of symmetric and asymmetric nuclear matter. The isovector effective mass mp*−mn* derived from relativistic Brueckner theory is used to determine the coupling strength of the δ meson and its density dependence.

1/c expansion of a separable model of direct-interaction type

The properties of a proposed model of N point particles in direct interaction are considered in the limit of small velocities. It is shown that, in this limit, time correlations cancel out and that Newtonian dynamics is recovered for the system in a natural way.