The Mediterranean in an Age of Globalisation

This paper reflects the contents of the Plenary Lecture addressed to the participants of the 2nd Graduate Conference, European Consortium for Political Science, Universitat Autonòma de Barcelona, 25 August 2008

A new species of culex (Melanoconion) from atlantic tropical system of Souther Brazil (Diptera: Culicidae)

The male adult of Culex (Melanoconion) anoplicitus, a new species from Southern Tropical Atlantic System of Brazil, South America, is described and illustrated. Identification may be made by characteristic morphological aspects of genitalia which are peculiar to this species.

Consum de productes de les màquines de vending i hàbits alimentaris entre els estudiants de la Universitat de Vic

Introducció: Entre els comportaments alimentaris que poden contribuir a una ingesta dietètica inadequada hi ha el consum d’aliments de conveniència, aliments que es caracteritzen per ser d’elevat contingut calòric, riquesa en greixos saturats i sucres. Les màquines de vending són un dels principals exemples de disponibilitat d’aliments de conveniència. Objectius: Avaluar entre els estudiants de la Universitat de Vic (UVic) els hàbits de consum de productes de les màquines de vending i estudiar les característiques generals dels seus hàbits alimentaris. Materials i mètodes: Enquesta realitzada a 253 estudiants de la UVic durant el curs 07/08. Resultats: Un 72.7% dels enquestats consumeixen productes de les Màquines Expenedores d’Aliments i Begudes (MEAB), fonamentalment com a complement dels àpats i un 63.8% dels enquestats refereix que els agradaria rebre informació nutricional sobre els productes ofertats. Els hàbits alimentaris dels estudiants són bastant adequats ja que un 81.4% realitza almenys 4 àpats diaris. La qualitat de l’esmorzar és bona en el 12.3% dels casos i entre aquells que prenen algun aliment a mig matí la qualitat total de l’esmorzar millora (55.7% bona qualitat). Segons el Kidmed un 39.9% realitzen una dieta mediterrània i s’observen diferències segons la qualitat total de l’esmorzar (p&0.001). Conclusions: El consum de productes de les MEAB en l’entorn universitari és molt important, per la qual cosa la millora del perfil nutricional i la implantació d’estratègies informatives sobre els productes, permetrà que els consumidors estiguin més informats i puguin fer una elecció alimentària més saludable. Els hàbits alimentaris de la població d’estudi reflexen que la qualitat de la dieta dels universitaris és bastant bona, tot i que diferents factors podrien millorar-se. Paraules clau: màquines expenedores d’aliments i begudes (MEAB), hàbits alimentaris, universitaris.

Modelling of bird distribution under complex mediterranean landscape dynamics: open habitat birds and fire (MEDFIRE)

Report for the scientific sojourn at the Simon Fraser University, Canada, from July to September 2007. General context: landscape change during the last years is having significant impacts on biodiversity in many Mediterranean areas. Land abandonment, urbanisation and specially fire are profoundly transforming large areas in the Western Mediterranean basin and we know little on how these changes influence species distribution and in particular how these species will respond to further change in a context of global change including climate. General objectives: integrate landscape and population dynamics models in a platform allowing capturing species distribution responses to landscape changes and assessing impact on species distribution of different scenarios of further change. Specific objective 1: develop a landscape dynamic model capturing fire and forest succession dynamics in Catalonia and linked to a stochastic landscape occupancy (SLOM) (or spatially explicit population, SEPM) model for the Ortolan bunting, a species strongly linked to fire related habitat in the region. Predictions from the occupancy or spatially explicit population Ortolan bunting model (SEPM) should be evaluated using data from the DINDIS database. This database tracks bird colonisation of recently burnt big areas (&50 ha). Through a number of different SEPM scenarios with different values for a number of parameter, we should be able to assess different hypothesis in factors driving bird colonisation in new burnt patches. These factors to be mainly, landscape context (i.e. difficulty to reach the patch, and potential presence of coloniser sources), dispersal constraints, type of regenerating vegetation after fire, and species characteristics (niche breadth, etc).

Small ubiquitin-like modifier conjugating enzyme with active site mutation acts as dominant negative inhibitor of SUMO conjugation in arabidopsis(F).

Small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) conjugation affects a broad range of processes in plants, including growth, flower initiation, pathogen defense, and responses to abiotic stress. Here, we investigate in vivo and in vitro a SUMO conjugating enzyme with a Cys to Ser change in the active site, and show that it has a dominant negative effect. In planta expression significantly perturbs normal development, leading to growth retardation, early flowering and gene expression changes. We suggest that the mutant protein can serve as a probe to investigate sumoylation, also in plants for which poor genetic infrastructure precludes analysis via loss-of-function mutants.

Algebraic properties of isochronous centers of polynomial quadratic-like Hamiltonian systems

Projecte de recerca elaborat a partir d’una estada a la School of Mathematics and Statistics de la University of Plymouth, United Kingdom, entre abril juliol del 2007.Aquesta investigació és encara oberta i la memòria que presento constitueix un informe de la recerca que estem duent a terme actualment. En aquesta nota estudiem els centres isòcrons dels sistemes Hamiltonians analítics, parant especial atenció en el cas polinomial. Ens centrem en els anomenats quadratic-like Hamiltonian systems. Diverses propietats dels centres isòcrons d'aquest tipus de sistemes van ser donades a [A. Cima, F. Mañosas and J. Villadelprat, Isochronicity for several classes of Hamiltonian systems, J. Di®erential Equations 157 (1999) 373{413]. Aquell article estava centrat principalment en el cas en que A; B i C fossin funcions analítiques. El nostre objectiu amb l'estudi que estem duent a terme és investigar el cas en el que aquestes funcions són polinomis. En aquesta nota formulem una conjectura concreta sobre les propietats algebraiques que venen forçades per la isocronia del centre i provem alguns resultats parcials.

Two different 3D biogeochemical models for the NW mediterranean sea: validation with Meris data and intercomparison

Report for the scientific sojourn carried out at the University of New South Wales from February to June the 2007. Two different biogeochemical models are coupled to a three dimensional configuration of the Princeton Ocean Model (POM) for the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea (Ahumada and Cruzado, 2007). The first biogeochemical model (BLANES) is the three-dimensional version of the model described by Bahamon and Cruzado (2003) and computes the nitrogen fluxes through six compartments using semi-empirical descriptions of biological processes. The second biogeochemical model (BIOMEC) is the biomechanical NPZD model described in Baird et al. (2004), which uses a combination of physiological and physical descriptions to quantify the rates of planktonic interactions. Physical descriptions include, for example, the diffusion of nutrients to phytoplankton cells and the encounter rate of predators and prey. The link between physical and biogeochemical processes in both models is expressed by the advection-diffusion of the non-conservative tracers. The similarities in the mathematical formulation of the biogeochemical processes in the two models are exploited to determine the parameter set for the biomechanical model that best fits the parameter set used in the first model. Three years of integration have been carried out for each model to reach the so called perpetual year run for biogeochemical conditions. Outputs from both models are averaged monthly and then compared to remote sensing images obtained from sensor MERIS for chlorophyll.

Phylogeographical footprints of the Strait of Gibraltar and Quaternary climatic fluctuations in the western Mediterranean: a case study with the greater white-toothed shrew, Crocidura russula (Mammalia: Soricidae).

We used mitochondrial cyt b sequences to investigate the phylogenetic relationships of Crocidura russula (sensu lato) populations across the Strait of Gibraltar, western Europe, Maghreb, and the Mediterranean and Atlantic islands. This revealed very low genetic divergence between European and Moroccan populations. The application of a molecular clock previously calibrated for shrews suggested that the separation of European from Moroccan lineages occurred less than 60 000 bp, which is at least 5 million years (Myr) after the reopening of the Strait of Gibraltar. This means that an overwater dispersal event was responsible for the observed phylogeographical structure. In contrast, genetic analyses revealed that Moroccan populations were highly distinct from Tunisian ones. According to the molecular clock, these populations separated about 2.2 million years ago (Ma), a time marked by sharp alternations of dry and humid climates in the Maghreb. The populations of the Mediterranean islands Ibiza, Pantelleria, and Sardinia were founded from Tunisian populations by overwater dispersal. In conclusion, overwater dispersal across the Strait of Gibraltar, probably assisted by humans, is possible for small terrestrial vertebrates. Moreover, as in Europe, Quaternary climatic fluctuations had a major effect on the phylogeographical structure of the Maghreb biota.

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) signaling, but not TWEAK (TNF-like weak inducer of apoptosis)-triggered cIAP1 (cellular inhibitor of apoptosis protein 1) degradation, requires cIAP1 RING dimerization and E2 binding.

Cellular inhibitor of apoptosis (cIAP) proteins, cIAP1 and cIAP2, are important regulators of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily (SF) signaling and are amplified in a number of tumor types. They are targeted by IAP antagonist compounds that are undergoing clinical trials. IAP antagonist compounds trigger cIAP autoubiquitylation and degradation. The TNFSF member TWEAK induces lysosomal degradation of TRAF2 and cIAPs, leading to elevated NIK levels and activation of non-canonical NF-kappaB. To investigate the role of the ubiquitin ligase RING domain of cIAP1 in these pathways, we used cIAP-deleted cells reconstituted with cIAP1 point mutants designed to interfere with the ability of the RING to dimerize or to interact with E2 enzymes. We show that RING dimerization and E2 binding are required for IAP antagonists to induce cIAP1 degradation and protect cells from TNF-induced cell death. The RING functions of cIAP1 are required for full TNF-induced activation of NF-kappaB, however, delayed activation of NF-kappaB still occurs in cIAP1 and -2 double knock-out cells. The RING functions of cIAP1 are also required to prevent constitutive activation of non-canonical NF-kappaB by targeting NIK for proteasomal degradation. However, in cIAP double knock-out cells TWEAK was still able to increase NIK levels demonstrating that NIK can be regulated by cIAP-independent pathways. Finally we show that, unlike IAP antagonists, TWEAK was able to induce degradation of cIAP1 RING mutants. These results emphasize the critical importance of the RING of cIAP1 in many signaling scenarios, but also demonstrate that in some pathways RING functions are not required.

Native-like, long synthetic peptides as components of sub-unit vaccines: practical and theoretical considerations for their use in humans.

Vaccines have been used as a successful tool in medicine by way of controlling many major diseases. In spite of this, vaccines today represent only a handful of all infectious diseases. Therefore, there is a pressing demand for improvements of existing vaccines with particular reference to higher efficacy and undisputed safety profiles. To this effect, as an alternative to available vaccine technologies, there has been a drive to develop vaccine candidate polypeptides by chemical synthesis. In our laboratory, we have recently developed a technology to manufacture long synthetic peptides of up to 130 residues, which are correctly folded and biologically active. This paper discusses the advantages of the molecularly defined, long synthetic peptide approach in the context of vaccine design, development and use in human vaccination.

Reversible behavioural autistic-like regression: A manifestation of a special (new?) epileptic syndrome in a 28-month-old child. A 2-year longitudinal study .

A 28-month-old boy was referred for acute onset of abnormal head movements. History revealed an insidious progressive regression in behaviour and communication over several months. Head and shoulder 'spasms' with alteration of consciousness and on one occasion ictal laughter were seen. The electroencephalograph (EEG) showed repeated bursts of brief generalized polyspikes and spike-wave during the 'spasms', followed by flattening, a special pattern which never recurred after treatment. Review of family videos showed a single 'minor' identical seizure 6 months previously. Magnetic resonance imaging was normal. Clonazepam brought immediate cessation of seizures, normalization of the EEG and a parallel spectacular improvement in communication, mood and language. Follow-up over the next 10 months showed a new regression unaccompained by recognized seizures, although numerous seizures were discovered during the videotaped neuropsychological examination, when stereotyped subtle brief paroxysmal changes in posture and behaviour could be studied in slow motion and compared with the 'prototypical' initial ones. The EEG showed predominant rare left-sided fronto-temporal discharges. Clonazepam was changed to carbamazepin with marked improvement in behaviour, language and cognition which has been sustained up to the last control at 51 months. Videotaped home observations allowed the documentation of striking qualitative and quantitative variations in social interaction and play of autistic type in relation to the epileptic activity. We conclude that this child has a special characteristic epileptic syndrome with subtle motor and vegetative symptomatology associated with an insidious catastrophic 'autistic-like' regression which could be overlooked. The methods used to document such fluctuating epileptic behavioural manifestations are discussed.

The Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) invasion effects on Mediterranean forests’ trophic web: blue tit (Parus caeruleus) reproduction and development

Les invasions biològiques representen una greu amenaça per al funcionament dels ecosistemes i per a la preservació de la biodiversitat.. La formiga argentina (Linepithema humile) està considerada com una de les 100 espècies invasores més nocives. Prospera en extenses àrees de clima mediterrani de regions temperades i subtropicals de tots els continents amb l’excepció de l’Antàrtida. És una formiga dominant i una competidora agressiva que mitjançant múltiples mecanismes, des de predació directe a competència, produeix efectes negatius en una amplia varietat de taxons, principalment formigues i altres artròpodes, però també vertebrats. S’ha investigat, per primera vegada, els efectes de la formiga invasiva sobre les comunitats d’artròpodes de fullatge i com aquestes pertorbacions es transmeten en la xarxa tròfica del bosc esclerofil•le mediterrani. En les suredes estudiades la invasió de formiga argentina és causa directe de la extinció local de la gran majoria de poblacions de formigues natives. En el període mostrejat s’han constatat també impactes negatius en la diversitat i en l’abundància d’artròpodes natius en les capçades dels arbres, particularment d’erugues. Una avaluació preliminar basada únicament amb dades del 2005 indica que, reduint la disponibilitat d’erugues, la formiga argentina empobreix l’hàbitat reproductiu de la mallerenga blava (Parus caeruleus). La mallerenga blava basa la dieta insectívora estricte de la seva pollada fonamentalment en les erugues. No hem detectat impactes en l’èxit reproductiu de les mallerengues blaves en zones envaïdes. Els polls crescuts en àrees envaïdes assoleixen una condició física similar als de les zones no envaïdes, però la reducció en la disponibilitat d’erugues associada a la invasió de formiga argentina es tradueix en un creixement descompassat i en una menor mida estructural del polls volanders. Així, les pertorbacions en la comunitat d’artròpodes associades a la invasió de la formiga argentina promouen efectes bottom-up que acaben perjudicant el desenvolupament dels polls de mallerenga blava.

Estimating patterns of leaf herbivory along an altitudinal transect in NE Queensland rainforests: might global warming increase leaf herbivory in tropical rainforests?

Climate change has been taking place at unprecedented rates over the past decades. These fast alterations caused by human activities are leading to a global warming of the planet. Warmer temperatures are going to have important effects on vegetation and especially on tropical forests. Insects as well will be affected by climate change. This study tested the hypothesis that higher temperatures lead to a higher insect pressure on vegetation. Visual estimations of leaf damage were recorded and used to assess the extent of herbivory in nine 0.1ha plots along an altitudinal gradient, and therefore a temperature gradient. These estimations were made at both a community level and a species level, on 2 target species. Leaf toughness tests were performed on samples from the target species from each plot. Results showed a strong evidence of increasing insect damage along increasing temperature, with no significant effect from the leaf toughness.