This study explores the effect of different wind events (direction and duration) on the surf zone zooplankton community in a temperate sandy beach. Samplings were realized on the surf zone of Pehuen ...Co sandy beach during 17 wind events from May 17th, 2017, to July 19th, 2019. Biological samples were taken before and after the events. The identification of the events was realized using recorded high-frequency wind speed data. General Linear Model (LM) and Generalized linear models (GLM) were employed to compare physical and biological variables. We observed that the wind direction unequally altered the ecosystem along with its duration, modifying the composition and abundance of zooplankton communities. Short-duration wind events were associated with an increment in the zooplankton abundances, being Acartia tonsa and Paracalanus parvus dominant. Within the short-duration cases, winds from the W sector were identified with the inner continental shelf species' presence, such as Ctenocalanus vanus and Euterpina acutifrons, and to a lesser extent, Calanoides carinatus, and Labidocera fluviatilis, together with surf zone copepods. Long-duration cases were associated with a significant decrease in the zooplankton abundance. Within this group, SE-SW wind events were identified with adventitious fraction taxa. Considering that the occurrence of extreme events is growing because of climate change, affecting the frequency and intensity of storm surges, the knowledge of the responses of biological communities to these events is necessary. This work provides quantitative evidence on a short-time scale of the implications of the physical-biological interaction during different strong wind cases in surf zone waters of sandy beaches.
•Composition and abundance of surf zooplankton was highly affected by strong winds.•Wind direction and duration became a key factor establishing a different impact on the distribution of the zooplankton.•W winds events were identified with the inner continental shelf species' presence.•SE-SW wind events were identified with adventitious fraction taxa.•Short/long duration was associated to an increase/decrease of the abundances, respectively.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
The 2-pentadecyl-2-oxazoline (PEA-OXA) is a natural compound with protective action in neuro-inflammation. We have previously shown that PEA-OXA behaves as an α2 adrenergic receptor (α2AR) antagonist ...and a putative protean agonist on histamine H3 receptors. Recently, neuroinflammation and monoaminergic neurotransmission dysfunction has drawn particular attention in Alzheimer Disease (AD) pathophysiology. In this context, the objective of this study was to investigate the effects of the dual-acting PEA-OXA in an AD-like model in mice. A combined computational and experimental approach was used to evaluate the ability of PEA-OXA to bind α2A-AR subtype, and to investigate the effects of PEA-OXA treatment on neuropathological (behavioural and functional) effects induced by soluble Amyloid β 1–42 (sAβ1–42) intracerebroventricular injection. Computational analysis revealed the PEA-OXA ability to bind the α2A-AR, a pharmacological target for AD, in two alternative poses, one overlapping the Na+ binding site. In vivo studies indicated that chronic treatment with PEA-OXA (10 mg/kg, os) restored the cognitive (discriminative and spatial memory) deficits and social impairments induced by sAβ injection. Consistently, electrophysiological analysis showed a recovery of the long-term potentiation in the hippocampus (Lateral Entorhinal Cortex-Dentate Gyrus pathway), while neuroinflammation, i.e., increased pro-inflammatory cytokines levels and microglia cells density were reduced. These data provide the basis for further investigation of the pro-cognitive aptitude of PEA-OXA by proposing it as an adjuvant in the treatment in AD, for which the available pharmacological approaches remain unsatisfactory. Moreover, this study offers new future direction in research investigating the role of α2AR in neuropsychiatric illness and therapies.
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•PEA-OXA reduces cognitive deficits mediated by Amyloid-β(1−42) intracerebroventricular injection.•PEA-OXA prevents impaired hippocampal synaptic plasticity and neuroinflammation associated with Amyloid-β(1−42).•PEA-OXA may act as a negative allosteric modulator of α2A adrenergic receptor.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Legionnaires’ disease remains an important cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Disease caused by Legionella pneumophila has been extensively studied, and its clinical characteristics have ...been well described. There is, however, little information on disease caused by Legionella longbeachae, despite its importance in some countries. We undertook a retrospective review of culture-positive cases of Legionnaires’ disease in the Canterbury region of New Zealand over 10 years, in order to compare the clinical features and outcomes of Legionnaires’ disease caused by these two species.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Shallow biogenic gas deposits located in the surface of the seabed may affect abundance, diversity, biomass and structure of benthic communities. Nevertheless, the magnitude and responsible variables ...of this effect still not clear. For this, the current study applies sedimentological metrics to the different community patterns associated with gas presence detected by acoustic methods across two seasons (spring and winter). Gas-bearing sediments showed higher organic matter content, lower shear strength and greater textural homogeneity across the column. Gas trapped in sediments was found associated with changes in the structure of benthic community, in species composition as well as in relative abundance and biomass of each taxa. Also, lower total abundance, species richness and diversity and higher total biomass was found in gas site. Higher organic matter content of sediments in gas site explained benthic community patterns across seasons. Gas bubbles trapped in surface of seabed sediments changed physical and chemical properties of sediments affecting benthic communities in ways that seems comparable with shallow water gas seeps and reducing environment. Unlike the latter, gas bubbles trapped have the advantage of having been widely mapped in coastal systems by geophysicists and marine geologists, with high resolution seismic (3.5 kHz) which according to our results seems to affect benthic communities.
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•Gas-bearing sediments have high organic matter content, low shear stress and greater homogeneity across the column.•Benthic communities inhabiting gas-bearing sediments had lower total abundance and lower diversity but higher biomass.•Gas was associated with different species composition in benthic communities for both spring and winter.•Differences in organic matter content explained the differences in benthic community structure.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Prunus mahaleb (Saint Lucie's cherry) is a fleshy‐fruited small rosaceous tree, native to the Mediterranean region that has been extensively used as a rootstock species for commercial orchard trees. ...It has been widely introduced in several countries, becoming invasive in many regions, including the Pampas region of southern Argentina. We studied the reproductive performance of trees spontaneously growing in natural grasslands inside a protected area, estimating age at first reproduction and analysing changes in fruit production, age, canopy volume and basal stem diameter associated with different soil types: rock crevices on hillsides, deep soils in valleys and deep soils in stream‐side habitats. Fruit production starts at the age of 3–6 years, and it can be abundant, even for young plants. We found evidence that fecundity is related to plant size, and that the age at which individuals reach a particular size and begin fruiting differs depending on the soil type where they grow. Trees in the study area show an order of magnitude increase in fruit production on reaching ages from 7 to 10 years for plants growing in deep soils at stream‐side habitats and 13–16 years for plants growing in rock crevices. Invasive trees should be felled before they reach a basal stem diameter of c. 9 cm to avoid this increase in propagule pressure. Considering that the age at which this stage is reached depends on soil type, the streams could act as dispersal corridors for the spread and invasion of this species.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Invasiveness has usually been studied as a species-level attribute; nevertheless, phenotypic differences between individuals in a population can lead to significant variations in colonization ...ability. In this paper, we analyse the potential effects of sex morphs of Prunus mahaleb L., a gynodioecius fleshy-fruited tree, on its invasiveness in natural grasslands in the southern Argentine Pampas. We assessed the abundance of both hermaphrodite and female plants, and compared their fecundity, propagule size, and germination response. We found that the females were less abundant in the invasive populations studied, apparently since the beginning of the colonization. However, our results demonstrated that at the present time, females do not show any fecundity reduction, which clearly shows that P. mahaleb has established an effective interaction with generalist pollinators that compensates for the apparently disadvantaged females. Fruit set showed a wider range of variability over time in the females than in the hermaphrodites, which could be the consequence of greater susceptibility to changes in the activity of pollinators. We found no evidence of a female benefit due to reallocation of resources or better outcrossed progeny when considering propagule size and germination. We discuss the relative importance of sex morphs and interactions at different stages of the invasion process.
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BF, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Lidar measurements were performed in the framework of the EARLINET project during the last eruptions (July–August 2001 and November 2002) of the Etna volcano. Both aerosol backscattering and ...extinction coefficients show the presence of remarkable aerosol layers in central and especially in southern Europe during the Etna eruptions periods. The aerosol layer altitudes ranged from 1 to 6
km. Back-trajectory, lidar ratio and backscatter related Angstrom coefficient analyses show that most of the aerosol layers originated from the Etna eruption and were made of sulfates and small absorbing volcanic ash. Thanks to the EARLINET network, the space and temporal distributions of volcanic aerosol have been studied over continental scale.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
The transient receptor potential vanilloid type-2 (TRPV2) protein is a nonselective Ca2+ permeable channel member of the TRPV subfamily, still considered an orphan TRP channel due to the scarcity of ...available selective and potent pharmacological tools and endogenous modulators. Here we describe the discovery of novel synthetic long-chain capsaicin derivatives as potent TRPV2 antagonists in comparison to the totally inactive capsaicin, the role of their hydrophobic chain, and how the structure–activity relationships of such derivatives led, through a ligand-based approach, to the identification of endogenous long-chain fatty acid ethanolamides or primary amides acting as TRPV2 antagonists. Both synthetic and endogenous antagonists exhibited differential inhibition against known TRPV2 agonists characterized by distinct kinetic profiles. These findings represent the first example of both synthetic and naturally occurring TRPV2 modulators with efficacy in the submicromolar/low-micromolar range, which will be useful for clarifying the physiopathological roles of this receptor, its regulation, and its targeting in pathological conditions.
It remains uncertain whether acetylcysteine prevents contrast-induced acute kidney injury.
We randomly assigned 2308 patients undergoing an intravascular angiographic procedure with at least 1 risk ...factor for contrast-induced acute kidney injury (age >70 years, renal failure, diabetes mellitus, heart failure, or hypotension) to acetylcysteine 1200 mg or placebo. The study drugs were administered orally twice daily for 2 doses before and 2 doses after the procedure. The allocation was concealed (central Web-based randomization). All analysis followed the intention-to-treat principle. The incidence of contrast-induced acute kidney injury (primary end point) was 12.7% in the acetylcysteine group and 12.7% in the control group (relative risk, 1.00; 95% confidence interval, 0.81 to 1.25; P=0.97). A combined end point of mortality or need for dialysis at 30 days was also similar in both groups (2.2% and 2.3%, respectively; hazard ratio, 0.97; 95% confidence interval, 0.56 to 1.69; P=0.92). Consistent effects were observed in all subgroups analyzed, including those with renal impairment.
In this large randomized trial, we found that acetylcysteine does not reduce the risk of contrast-induced acute kidney injury or other clinically relevant outcomes in at-risk patients undergoing coronary and peripheral vascular angiography.
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00736866.
We observed a long-range transport event of mineral dust from North Africa to South Europe during the Saharan Mineral Dust Experiment (SAMUM) 2006. Geometrical and optical properties of that dust ...plume were determined with Sun photometer of the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) and Raman lidar near the North African source region, and with Sun photometers of AERONET and lidars of the European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET) in the far field in Europe. Extinction-to-backscatter ratios of the dust plume over Morocco and Southern Europe do not differ. Ångström exponents increase with distance from Morocco. We simulated the transport, and geometrical and optical properties of the dust plume with a dust transport model. The model results and the experimental data show similar times regarding the appearance of the dust plume over each EARLINET site. Dust optical depth from the model agrees in most cases to particle optical depth measured with the Sun photometers. The vertical distribution of the mineral dust could be satisfactorily reproduced, if we use as benchmark the extinction profiles measured with lidar. In some cases we find differences. We assume that insufficient vertical resolution of the dust plume in the model calculations is one reason for these deviations.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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