Spanish National Research Council

About: Spanish National Research Council is a government organization based out in Madrid, Spain. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Galaxy. The organization has 79563 authors who have published 220470 publications receiving 7698991 citations. The organization is also known as: CSIC & Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas.

Correlation of Snail expression with histological grade and lymph node status in breast carcinomas.

Abstract: Snail is a zinc finger transcription factor that triggers the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) by directly repressing E-cadherin expression. Snail is required for mesoderm and neural crest formation during embryonic development and has recently been implicated in the EMT associated with tumour progression. In a series of human breast carcinomas, we have analysed the expression of Snail and that of molecules of the E-cadherin/catenin complexes. We have also correlated these data with the pathological features of the tumours. We show that Snail expression inversely correlates with the grade of differentiation of the tumours and that it is expressed in all the infiltrating ductal carcinomas (IDC) presenting lymph node metastases that were analysed. In addition, Snail is expressed in some dedifferentiated tumours with a negative nodal status. Considering that Snail is involved in the induction of the invasive and migratory phenotype in epithelial cells, these results indicate that it is also involved in the progression of breast ductal tumours, where it could additionally serve as a marker of the metastatic potential.

Status of global fits to neutrino oscillations

Abstract: We review the present status of global analyses of neutrino oscillations, taking into account the most recent neutrino data including the latest KamLAND and K2K updates presented at Neutrino2004, as well as state-of-the-art solar and atmospheric neutrino flux calculations. We give the two-neutrino solar + KamLAND results, as well as two-neutrino atmospheric + K2K oscillation regions, discussing in each case the robustness of the oscillation interpretation against departures from the Standard Solar Model and the possible existence of non-standard neutrino physics. Furthermore, we give the best fit values and allowed ranges of the three-flavour oscillation parameters from the current worlds' global neutrino data sample and discuss in detail the status of the small parameters $\alpha \equiv \Dms/\Dma$ as well as $\sin^2\theta_{13}$, which characterize the strength of CP violating effects in neutrino oscillations. We also update the degree of rejection of four-neutrino interpretations of the LSND anomaly in view of the most recent developments.

Not as good as they seem: the importance of concepts in species distribution modelling

Abstract: Aim Nowadays, large amounts of species distribution data and software for implementing different species distribution modelling methods are freely available through the internet. As a result, methodological works that analyse the relative performance of modelling techniques, as well as those that study which species characteristics affect their performance, are necessary. We discuss three important topics that must be kept in mind when modelling species distributions, namely (i) the distinction between potential and realized distribution, (ii) the effect of the relative occurrence area of the species on the results of the evaluation of model performance, and (iii) the general inaccuracy of the predictions of the realized distribution provided by species distribution modelling methods. Location Unspecific. Methods Using some recent papers as a basis, we illustrate the three issues mentioned above and discuss the negative implications of neglecting them. Results Considering a potential-realized distribution gradient, different modelling methods may be arranged along this gradient according to their ability to model any concept. Complex techniques may be more suitable to model the realized distribution than simple ones, which may be more appropriate to estimate the potential distribution. Comparisons among techniques must consider this scenario. The relative occurrence area of the species conditions the results of the evaluation scores, implying that models of rare species will unavoidably yield higher discrimination values. Moreover, discrimination values that are usually reported in the literature may imply considerable over or underestimations of the distribution of the species.

Processing biomass in conventional oil refineries: Production of high quality diesel by hydrotreating vegetable oils in heavy vacuum oil mixtures

Abstract: Renewable liquid alkanes can be produced by hydrotreating of vegetable oils and vegetable oil‐heavy vacuum oil (HVO) mixtures at standard hydrotreating conditions (i.e. 300‐450 8C) with conventional hydrotreating catalysts (sulfided NiMo/Al2O3). The reaction pathway involves hydrogenation of the C C bonds of the vegetable oils followed by alkane production by three different pathways: decarbonylation, decarboxylation and hydrodeoxygenation. The straight chain alkanes can undergo isomerization and cracking to produce lighter and isomerized alkanes. The carbon molar yield of straight chain C15‐C18 alkanes was 71% on a carbon basis (the maximum theoretical yield for these products is 95%) for hydrotreating of pure vegetable oil under optimal reaction conditions. The rate of alkane production from pure sunflower oil is greater than the rate of hydrodesulfurization of a HVO with a 1.48 wt% sulfur content (e.g. 100% conversion of sunflower oil at 350 8C compared to 41% conversion of sulfur). The yield of straight chain alkanes increases when sunflower oil is mixed with HVO, illustrating that dilution of HVO can improve the reaction chemistry. For example, with a 5 wt% sunflower oil‐95 wt% HVO feed the maximum theoretical straight chain C15‐C18yield from the sunflower oil was higher (87%) than it was with the pure sunflower oil (75%). Mixing the sunflower oil with HVO does not decrease the rate of desulfurization indicating that sunflower oil does not inhibit the hydrotreating of HVO. # 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Designer Dirac fermions and topological phases in molecular graphene

Abstract: The formation of massless Dirac fermions is demonstrated in a highly tunable molecular graphene lattice, and particular distortions of the lattice are shown to endow the fermions with mass or engage the fermions with artificial electric and magnetic fields. The electronic structure of certain solids causes them to exhibit 'Dirac points', which lie at the heart of many fascinating phenomena in condensed-matter physics. In graphene, for example, they cause electrons to act as massless Dirac fermions, able to travel at the speed of light. Two very different methods for controlling the properties of Dirac fermions are presented in this issue of Nature. In conventional solids, the electronic structure of the material cannot be varied, so it is difficult to see how the properties of Dirac fermions could be controlled. To avoid this constraint, Tarruell et al. create a tunable system of ultracold quantum gases within an adjustable honeycomb optical lattice. This model simulates condensed-matter physics, with atoms in the role of electrons. The Dirac points can be moved and merged to explore the physics of exotic materials such as topological insulators and graphene. Gomes et al. describe a more direct approach, creating an artificial form of molecular graphene by arranging carbon monoxide molecules, with atomic precision, in a honeycomb pattern on top of a two-dimensional electron system. Lattice parameters are adjustable, allowing the study of the properties of Dirac electrons and even the production of 'pseudo' electric and magnetic fields. This work highlights an innovative technique for constructing artificial materials with molecular assembly, including designer Dirac materials harbouring new ground states. The observation of massless Dirac fermions in monolayer graphene has generated a new area of science and technology seeking to harness charge carriers that behave relativistically within solid-state materials1. Both massless and massive Dirac fermions have been studied and proposed in a growing class of Dirac materials that includes bilayer graphene, surface states of topological insulators and iron-based high-temperature superconductors. Because the accessibility of this physics is predicated on the synthesis of new materials, the quest for Dirac quasi-particles has expanded to artificial systems such as lattices comprising ultracold atoms2,3,4. Here we report the emergence of Dirac fermions in a fully tunable condensed-matter system—molecular graphene—assembled by atomic manipulation of carbon monoxide molecules over a conventional two-dimensional electron system at a copper surface5. Using low-temperature scanning tunnelling microscopy and spectroscopy, we embed the symmetries underlying the two-dimensional Dirac equation into electron lattices, and then visualize and shape the resulting ground states. These experiments show the existence within the system of linearly dispersing, massless quasi-particles accompanied by a density of states characteristic of graphene. We then tune the quantum tunnelling between lattice sites locally to adjust the phase accrual of propagating electrons. Spatial texturing of lattice distortions produces atomically sharp p–n and p–n–p junction devices with two-dimensional control of Dirac fermion density and the power to endow Dirac particles with mass6,7,8. Moreover, we apply scalar and vector potentials locally and globally to engender topologically distinct ground states and, ultimately, embedded gauge fields9,10,11,12, wherein Dirac electrons react to ‘pseudo’ electric and magnetic fields present in their reference frame but absent from the laboratory frame. We demonstrate that Landau levels created by these gauge fields can be taken to the relativistic magnetic quantum limit, which has so far been inaccessible in natural graphene. Molecular graphene provides a versatile means of synthesizing exotic topological electronic phases in condensed matter using tailored nanostructures.