The Cladonia cervicornis group comprises lichen-forming fungi characterized by having scyphi with central proliferations. It includes c. 20 species globally. The taxonomy of this group is poorly resolved, with many species not thoroughly disentangled. The focus of this study is the European species in the C. cervicornis group. In order to estimate the phylogenetic relationships of these species, six loci were used: ITS rDNA, IGS rDNA, RPB1, RPB2, ef1α and cox1. Species delimitation methods (ASAP, PTP and GMYC) were used to infer the species boundaries based on four loci, ITS rDNA, IGS rDNA, cox1 and RPB2. A morphological analysis based on multivariate methods was performed to assess the importance of phenotypic differences among the lineages. The phylogenetic reconstructions placed the species of this group in the subclade Cladonia. Five lineages were recovered, corresponding to C. cervicornis, C. macrophyllodes, C. pulvinata, C. verticillata and a new lineage that we describe here, C. teuvoana. Our analyses revealed that Cladonia cineracea, C. stricta and C. trassii are polyphyletic.

The modern marine megafauna is known to play important ecological roles and includes many charismatic species that have drawn the attention of both the scientific community and the public. However, the extinct marine megafauna has never been assessed as a whole, nor has it been defined in deep time. Here, we review the literature to define and list the species that constitute the extinct marine megafauna, and to explore biological and ecological patterns throughout the Phanerozoic. We propose a size cut-off of 1 m of length to define the extinct marine megafauna. Based on this definition, we list 706 taxa belonging to eight main groups. We found that the extinct marine megafauna was conspicuous over the Phanerozoic and ubiquitous across all geological eras and periods, with the Mesozoic, especially the Cretaceous, having the greatest number of taxa. Marine reptiles include the largest size recorded (21 m; Shonisaurus sikanniensis) and contain the highest number of extinct marine megafaunal taxa. This contrasts with today’s assemblage, where marine animals achieve sizes of >30 m. The extinct marine megafaunal taxa were found to be well-represented in the Paleobiology Database, but not better sampled than their smaller counterparts. Among the extinct marine megafauna, there appears to be an overall increase in body size through time. Most extinct megafaunal taxa were inferred to be macropredators preferentially living in coastal environments. Across the Phanerozoic, megafaunal species had similar extinction risks as smaller species, in stark contrast to modern oceans where the large species are most affected by human perturbations. Our work represents a first step towards a better understanding of the marine megafauna that lived in the geological past. However, more work is required to expand our list of taxa and their traits so that we can obtain a more complete picture of their ecology and evolution.

Understanding the mechanisms for illitization of clay minerals has important applications in reconstructing geologic histories and determining the origins of physical and chemical characteristics of buried sediments. While many studies have been carried out on this topic, few have focused on the mechanism of illite formation from kaolinite. The purpose of this study was to investigate more deeply the illitization of kaolinite in KOH solution at a high solid/liquid ratio (1000 mg/mL). X-ray diffraction (XRD) and infrared spectroscopy were used to follow the formation of new crystalline phases and the composition of the octahedral sheet, while the transformation of the Si and Al local environments was analyzed by 29Si and 27Al magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MAS NMR). The results revealed that the first reaction stage consists of the diffusion of Al from the octahedral to the tetrahedral sheet of the kaolinite TO layers, giving rise to the precursors of the illite/muscovite nuclei. Combination of XRD with 27Al MAS NMR measurements indicated that a minimum amount of tetrahedral Al is required in the original TO layer before condensation of a second tetrahedral sheet occurs to complete the formation of the illite/muscovite TOT layers.

Clays are used in various cosmetic formulations, such as sunscreens, toothpastes, deodorants, creams, hair cosmetics, makeups, nail polish, facial masks, and shampoos, among others, to improve the organoleptic and physicochemical characteristics, to increase the stability, or to facilitate elaboration. Together with their technological functionalities, clays are cosmetologically active ingredients with cleaning, anti-aging, anti-wrinkling, and sun-care functionalities. Talc, kaolinite, mica, and some smectites are the clay minerals used most frequently in cosmetic products, but several other phyllosilicates as well as modified and synthetic clays are also used. Sometimes, clays are useful in the design of cosmetics just because they are made of rigid, small, and anisometric particles. Kaolinite and mica are made of hard prismatic particles which are lightly abrasive over the skin, teeth, or hair. Electric charges in smectites result in ion-exchange capacities useful in the loading of active cosmetics but also adsorbing and cleaning waste substances. Intermediate net negative charges of smectites result in layer expansion in polar media and specific rheological properties that are very useful in cosmetic formulations. The absence of charged particles in talc and kaolin make them flow easily resulting in lubricant effects. Protection against radiation from the sun by clay particles and decorative effects complete the possibilities of clays in cosmetics. The nomenclature for clays used as ingredients in cosmetics follows historical use and the names of commercial products, rather than following strict compositional principles. In this sense, an effort was made here to correlate the names of the minerals that make up each of the clay-based cosmetic ingredients.

Depressive disorders represent the largest proportion of mental illnesses, and by 2030, they are expected to be the first cause of disability-adjusted life years [1]. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated prevalence and burden of depression and increased the occurrence of depressive symptoms in general population [2]. The urgency of implementing mental health services to address new barriers to care persuaded clinicians to use telemedicine to follow patients and stay in touch with them, and to explore digital therapeutics (DTx) as potential tools for clinical intervention [2]. The combination of antidepressants and psychotherapy is widely recommended for depression by international guidelines [3] but is less frequently applied in real-world practice. Commonly used treatments are pharmacological, but while being effective, some aspects such as adherence to the drug regimen, residual symptoms, resistance, lack of information, and stigma may hinder successful treatment. In case of less severe depression, standalone psychological therapies should be the first-line treatment option [3], but access to trained psychotherapists remains inequitable. DTx are evidence-based therapies driven by software programs to treat or complement treatment of a specific disease. DTx are classified as Medical Devices, and given their therapeutic purpose, they need to be validated through randomized controlled clinical trials, as for drug-based therapies. In the last 10 years, studies of digital interventions have proliferated; these studies demonstrate that digital interventions increase remission rates and lower the severity of depressive symptoms compared with waitlist, treatment as usual, and attention control conditions [4]. Despite the efficacy demonstrated in clinical trials, many of these tools never reach real-life patients; thus, it might be necessary to implement DTx in the public health system to expand access to valid treatment options. In this framework, DTx represent a good opportunity to help people with depression receive optimal psychotherapeutic care [5].

Image-processing pipelines require the design of complex workflows combining many different steps that bring the raw acquired data to a final result with biological meaning. In the image-processing domain of cryo-electron microscopy single-particle analysis (cryo-EM SPA), hundreds of steps must be performed to obtain the three-dimensional structure of a biological macromolecule by integrating data spread over thousands of micrographs containing millions of copies of allegedly the same macromolecule. The execution of such complicated workflows demands a specific tool to keep track of all these steps performed. Additionally, due to the extremely low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), the estimation of any image parameter is heavily affected by noise resulting in a significant fraction of incorrect estimates. Although low SNR and processing millions of images by hundreds of sequential steps requiring substantial computational resources are specific to cryo-EM, these characteristics may be shared by other biological imaging domains. Here, we present Scipion, a Python generic open-source workflow engine specifically adapted for image processing. Its main characteristics are: (a) interoperability, (b) smart object model, (c) gluing operations, (d) comparison operations, (e) wide set of domain-specific operations, (f) execution in streaming, (g) smooth integration in high-performance computing environments, (h) execution with and without graphical capabilities, (i) flexible visualization, (j) user authentication and private access to private data, (k) scripting capabilities, (l) high performance, (m) traceability, (n) reproducibility, (o) self-reporting, (p) reusability, (q) extensibility, (r) software updates, and (s) non-restrictive software licensing.

This systematic literature review aimed to provide an overview of the characteristics and methods used in studies applying the disability-adjusted life years (DALY) concept for infectious diseases within European Union (EU)/European Economic Area (EEA)/European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries and the United Kingdom. Electronic databases and grey literature were searched for articles reporting the assessment of DALY and its components. We considered studies in which researchers performed DALY calculations using primary epidemiological data input sources. We screened 3053 studies of which 2948 were excluded and 105 studies met our inclusion criteria. Of these studies, 22 were multi-country and 83 were single-country studies, of which 46 were from the Netherlands. Food- and water-borne diseases were the most frequently studied infectious diseases. Between 2015 and 2022, the number of burden of infectious disease studies was 1.6 times higher compared to that published between 2000 and 2014. Almost all studies (97%) estimated DALYs based on the incidence- and pathogen-based approach and without social weighting functions; however, there was less methodological consensus with regards to the disability weights and life tables that were applied. The number of burden of infectious disease studies undertaken across Europe has increased over time. Development and use of guidelines will promote performing burden of infectious disease studies and facilitate comparability of the results.

Water scarcity due to global warming can increase the water demand for upland rice at critical stages of crop development. However, there is little research on cultivar responses to this scenario and technologies that enhance water use efficiency (WUE). To determine the influence of water stress at and after flowering stages of drip-irrigated upland rice cultivars on physiology, yield, and WUE, a shelter experiment was conducted using a randomized block design with a split-plot arrangement of treatments. Three modern and one traditional cultivar were subjected to five irrigation managements: 100% of the field capacity considered the reference management (RM), 70 and 40% of the RM at the flowering stage, and 70 and 40% of the RM at the grain-filling stage. In general, the modern cultivars tended to maintain higher photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, transpiration, leaf water potential, and lower crop water stress index compared to the traditional cultivar under water stress. The WUE decreased for all cultivars under severe stress, averaging 0.55 and 0.62 kg m−3 when stress occurred at flowering and grain-filling, respectively, whereas moderate stress imposed at grain-filling maintained WUE for all cultivars, averaging 1.21 kg m−3. In addition, grain yield (GY) showed a similar variation trend under drought stress as WUE, and its reduction was mainly associated with low filled grain percentage. Among the five irrigation treatments, both GY and WUE were the highest in the RM; the best cultivar recorded 9.3 Mg ha−1 and 1.62 kg m−3, respectively. Findings suggest that attending to the full water demand under precision drip irrigation and appropriate cultivar selection can enhance upland rice production at significant levels.

We have previously presented a stereological analysis of organelle distribution in human prophase I oocytes. In the present study, using a similar stereological approach, we quantified the distribution of organelles in human metaphase I (MI) oocytes also retrieved after ovarian stimulation. Five MI oocytes were processed for transmission electron microscopy and a classical manual stereological technique based on point-counting with an adequate stereological grid was used. Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney U-tests with Bonferroni correction were used to compare the means of relative volumes (Vv) occupied by organelles. In all oocyte regions, the most abundant organelles were mitochondria and smooth endoplasmic reticulum (SER) elements. No significant differences were observed in Vv of mitochondria, dictyosomes, lysosomes, or SER small and medium vesicles, tubular aggregates and tubules. Significant differences were observed in other organelle distributions: cortical vesicles presented a higher Vv (P = 0.004) in the cortex than in the subcortex (0.96% vs 0.1%) or inner cytoplasm (0.96% vs 0.1%), vesicles with dense granular contents had a higher Vv (P = 0.005) in the cortex than in the subcortex (0.1% vs 0%), and SER large vesicles exhibited a higher Vv (P = 0.011) in the inner cytoplasm than in the subcortex (0.2% vs 0%). Future stereological analysis of metaphase II oocytes and a combined quantitative data of mature and immature oocytes, will enable a better understanding of oocyte organelle distribution during in vivo maturation. Combined with molecular approaches, this may help improve stimulation protocols and in vitro maturation methods.

The aim of this study was to assess the associations of intake of different types of meat with semen parameters and reproductive hormones in healthy young men. This cross-sectional study included 206 men, 18–23 years, from Southern Spain. All men completed a validated FFQ, underwent a physical examination, and provided blood and semen samples. Multivariable linear regression was used to evaluate the associations between meat intake with semen quality parameters and reproductive hormones. Total meat intake was unrelated to semen quality or reproductive hormone levels. When subgroups of meat were separately considered, however, shellfish intake was positively related to progressive motility. The adjusted percentages of progressively motile spermatozoa for men in increasing quartiles of shellfish intake were 45·2, 42·0, 49·4 and 53·2 % with a significant linear trend across quartiles (Ptrend≤0·001). In contrast, men who consumed organ meats had significantly lower progressive sperm motility (51·5 v. 42·8 %; P = 0·001) and higher luteinising hormone levels (4·0 v. 4·6 IU/l; P = 0·03) compared with men who did not consume organ meats. Intake of shellfish and organ meats was low in this population, however. Given the scarcity of data on the relation between specific types of meat with semen quality and reproductive hormone levels, additional research is needed to confirm or refute these findings.

Spatially extensive and intense phytoplankton blooms observed off Iberia, in satellite pictures, are driven by significant nutrient supply by upper-ocean vertical mesoscale activity rather than by horizontal advection by coastal upwelling. Productivity of oligotrophic regions is still poorly depicted by discrete instrumental and model data sets. The paleoproductivity reconstructions of these areas represent the mean productivity over long periods, bringing new insights into the total biomass fluxes. Here, we present paleoproductivity records from the oceanic Tore Seamount region, covering the period from 140 to 60 ka. They show higher nutrient supplies during Termination II, Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 4, MIS 6, and warming transitions of the MIS 5 sub-stages. The highest nutrient content (higher productivity) in phase with tracers of bottom-water ventilation (benthic δ13C,231Pa/230Th) establishes a strong linkage with variability of Southern Ocean-sourced waters. Low productivity and ventilation over warm sub-stages of MIS 5 respond instead to North Atlantic Deep Water. Assuming that the Tore Seamount is representative of oligotrophic regions, the glacial-interglacial relationship observed between paleoproductivity and Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation strength opens new insights into the importance of estimating the total biomass in these regions. The subtropical gyres might play a considerable role in the carbon cycle over (sub-)glacial-interglacial time scales than previously thought.

This study investigates gender differences in children’s linguistic development of Spanish past tense verbs. Two groups of 30 children, each consisting of 15 girls and 15 boys, were studied: Preschool children (5 years old) and 1st grade (7 years old). Participants carried out an elicitation task where a verbal change from present to past tense was required. Frequency and regularity variables were introduced as experimental factors to study differences between gender and age. The results showed that morphological rules were more successfully applied in 1st grade than in preschool children. Youngest participants showed a greatest influence of lexical variables, such as verb frequency and produced more omission and repetition errors. Gender differences only appeared in the oldest children, with girls being more affected by verb frequency and regularity. Girls also demonstrated a broader vocabulary than boys as shown by the qualitative analyses.

Oxidative stress and nitric oxide (NO) appear to represent important links between obesity and cardiovascular, metabolic and/or renal disease. We investigated whether oxidative stress and NO production/metabolism are increased in overweight and obese prepubertal children and correlate with cardiometabolic risk and renal function. We performed a cross-sectional evaluation of 313 children aged 8–9 years. Anthropometrics, 24-h ambulatory blood pressure, pulse wave velocity (PWV), insulin resistance (homoeostasis model assessment index (HOMA-IR)), inflammatory/metabolic biomarkers, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), plasma total antioxidant status (TAS), plasma and urinary isoprostanes (P-Isop, U-Isop), urinary hydrogen peroxide (U-H2O2), and plasma and urinary nitrates and nitrites (P-NOx, U-NOx) were compared among normal weight, overweight and obese groups, according to WHO BMI z-score reference. U-Isop were increased in the obese group, whereas U-NOx were increased in both overweight and obese children. U-Isop were positively correlated with U-H2O2, myeloperoxidase (MPO), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, HOMA-IR and TAG. TAS correlated negatively with U-Isop and MPO and positively with PWV. HOMA-IR and U-H2O2 were associated with higher U-Isop, independently of BMI and eGFR, and total cholesterol and U-H2O2 were associated with U-NOx, independently of BMI, eGFR values and P-NOx concentration. In overweight and obese children, eGFR decreased across P-NOx tertiles (median: 139·3 (25th, 75th percentile 128·0, 146·5), 128·0 (25th, 75th percentile 121·5, 140·4), 129·5 (25th, 75th percentile 119·4, 138·3), Pfor linear trend=0·003). We conclude that oxidant status and NO are increased in relation to fat accumulation and, even in young children, they translate into higher values of cardiometabolic risk markers and affect renal function.