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Showing papers by "University of Córdoba (Spain) published in 2014"



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A MOEA based on SPEA2 (Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm v.2) has been designed to evaluate three different fitness functions (fine-grained strength, the weighted sum of objectives and fuzzy evaluation of weighted objectives) and three LISA methods.
Abstract: Local Indicators of Spatial Aggregation (LISA) can be used as objectives in a multicriteria framework when highly autocorrelated areas (hot-spots) must be identified and geographically located in complex areas. To do so, a Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm (MOEA) based on SPEA2 (Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm v.2) has been designed to evaluate three different fitness functions (fine-grained strength, the weighted sum of objectives and fuzzy evaluation of weighted objectives) and three LISA methods. MOEA makes it possible to achieve a compromise between spatial econometric methods as it highlights areas where a specific phenomenon shows significantly high autocorrelation. The spatial distribution of financially compromised olive-tree farms in Andalusia (Spain) was selected for analysis and two fuzzy hot-spots were statistically identified and spatially located. Hot-spots can be considered to be spatial fuzzy sets where the spatial units have a membership degree that can also be calculated.

875 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The present contribution aims to provide an overview of key advances in the field of lignin depolymerisation, and protocols and technologies will be discussed as well as critically evaluated in terms of possibilities and potential for further industrial implementation.
Abstract: Research on lignin deconstruction has recently become the center of interest for scientists and companies worldwide, racing towards harvesting fossil-fuel like aromatic compounds which are so durably put together by plants as products of millions of years of evolution. The natural complexity and high stability of lignin bonds (also as an evolutionary adaptation by plants) makes lignin depolymerization a highly challenging task. Several efforts have been directed towards a more profound understanding of the structure and composition of lignin in order to devise pathways to break down the biopolymer into useful compounds. The present contribution aims to provide an overview of key advances in the field of lignin depolymerisation. Protocols and technologies will be discussed as well as critically evaluated in terms of possibilities and potential for further industrial implementation.

799 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This tutorial review will focus on the potential and applications of solid photonanocatalysts for the selective transformation of biomass-derived substrates for the production of valuable chemicals and fuels.
Abstract: Heterogeneous photocatalysis has become a comprehensively studied area of research during the past three decades due to its practical interest in applications including water–air depollution, cancer therapy, sterilization, artificial photosynthesis (CO2 photoreduction), anti-fogging surfaces, heat transfer and heat dissipation, anticorrosion, lithography, photochromism, solar chemicals production and many others. The utilization of solar irradiation to supply energy or to initiate chemical reactions is already an established idea. Excited electron–hole pairs are generated upon light irradiation of a wide-band gap semiconductor which can be applied to solar cells to generate electricity or in chemical processes to create/degrade specific compounds. While the field of heterogeneous photocatalysis for pollutant abatement and mineralisation of contaminants has been extensively investigated, a new research avenue related to the selective valorisation of residues has recently emerged as a promising alternative to utilise solar light for the production of valuable chemicals and fuels. This tutorial review will focus on the potential and applications of solid photonanocatalysts for the selective transformation of biomass-derived substrates.

488 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Flexible perovskite based solar cells with power conversion efficiencies of 7% have been prepared on PET based conductive substrates as discussed by the authors, demonstrating their suitability for roll to roll processing.
Abstract: Flexible perovskite based solar cells with power conversion efficiencies of 7% have been prepared on PET based conductive substrates. Extended bending of the devices does not deteriorate their performance demonstrating their suitability for roll to roll processing.

394 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An updated Minimum Requirements Report for pollen monitoring is formulated and the proposed Minimum Recommendations will help to improve the quality of scientific work, particularly for those who are considering the setting up of new monitoring sites.
Abstract: Training, quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) play an important role in building competence in monitoring and research in aerobiology. The main goals of this paper were to: (a) formulate an updated Minimum Requirements Report for pollen monitoring; (b) carry out a pilot QC exercise of staff involved in pollen counting from various national networks in order to examine between analysts reproducibility and develop a methodology that can be used in future QC exercises. A questionnaire survey was sent to coordinators of participating pollen monitoring networks. In addition, a total of 45 technicians from 15 European countries participated in the pilot QC exercise. All technicians were instructed to analyse two slides containing the following pollen types: (a) Poaceae and Betula pollen grains in the north of Europe; (b) Poaceae and Olea pollen grains in the south of Europe. Minimum Recommendations were produced based on the results of the questionnaire survey, published literature, and the outcomes of a workshop. In the QC exercise, it was noticed that technicians who followed the Minimum Recommendations and examined at least 10 % of the slide tended to have better indicators of precision and accuracy than those technicians who did not follow the Minimum Recommendations. The proposed Minimum Recommendations will help to improve the quality of scientific work, particularly for those who are considering the setting up of new monitoring sites. The results of the pilot QC exercise will help to develop a methodology that can be used again in the future, thereby ensuring data quality.

361 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is argued that cattle migration, movement and trading followed by admixture have been important forces in shaping modern bovine genomic variation.
Abstract: The domestication and development of cattle has considerably impacted human societies, but the histories of cattle breeds and populations have been poorly understood especially for African, Asian, and American breeds. Using genotypes from 43,043 autosomal single nucleotide polymorphism markers scored in 1,543 animals, we evaluate the population structure of 134 domesticated bovid breeds. Regardless of the analytical method or sample subset, the three major groups of Asian indicine, Eurasian taurine, and African taurine were consistently observed. Patterns of geographic dispersal resulting from co-migration with humans and exportation are recognizable in phylogenetic networks. All analytical methods reveal patterns of hybridization which occurred after divergence. Using 19 breeds, we map the cline of indicine introgression into Africa. We infer that African taurine possess a large portion of wild African auroch ancestry, causing their divergence from Eurasian taurine. We detect exportation patterns in Asia and identify a cline of Eurasian taurine/indicine hybridization in Asia. We also identify the influence of species other than Bos taurus taurus and B. t. indicus in the formation of Asian breeds. We detect the pronounced influence of Shorthorn cattle in the formation of European breeds. Iberian and Italian cattle possess introgression from African taurine. American Criollo cattle originate from Iberia, and not directly from Africa with African ancestry inherited via Iberian ancestors. Indicine introgression into American cattle occurred in the Americas, and not Europe. We argue that cattle migration, movement and trading followed by admixture have been important forces in shaping modern bovine genomic variation.

343 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: E2 regulation of the VMH AMPK-SNS-BAT axis is an important determinant of energy balance and dysregulation in this axis may account for the common changes in energy homeostasis and obesity linked to dysfunction of the female gonadal axis.

334 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The statistical model suggests that the relationship between the probability of readmission and the HbA1c measurement depends on the primary diagnosis, and that the greater attention to diabetes reflected in Hb a1c determination may improve patient outcomes and lower cost of inpatient care.
Abstract: Management of hyperglycemia in hospitalized patients has a significant bearing on outcome, in terms of both morbidity and mortality. However, there are few national assessments of diabetes care during hospitalization which could serve as a baseline for change. This analysis of a large clinical database (74 million unique encounters corresponding to 17 million unique patients) was undertaken to provide such an assessment and to find future directions which might lead to improvements in patient safety. Almost 70,000 inpatient diabetes encounters were identified with sufficient detail for analysis. Multivariable logistic regression was used to fit the relationship between the measurement of HbA1c and early readmission while controlling for covariates such as demographics, severity and type of the disease, and type of admission. Results show that the measurement of HbA1c was performed infrequently (18.4%) in the inpatient setting. The statistical model suggests that the relationship between the probability of readmission and the HbA1c measurement depends on the primary diagnosis. The data suggest further that the greater attention to diabetes reflected in HbA1c determination may improve patient outcomes and lower cost of inpatient care.

297 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This Special Article summarizes the overall recommendations made by the four working groups and is anticipated that this ISUP effort will be valuable to the entire practicing community in the appropriate use of IHC in diagnostic urologic pathology.
Abstract: Primary renal neoplasms comprise multiple distinct entities, some of which are well understood and others that are not. It is not uncommon for some of these entities to have overlapping morphologic features. Their clinical behavior is varied, ranging from highly malignant to benign, and metastatic renal cell carcinoma oftentimes enters into the differential diagnosis of tumors of unknown primary. In this age of personalized medicine, identifying biomarkers that can better predict clinical outcome and response to therapy is a pressing need. In 2013 the International Society of Urological Pathology held a meeting in which best practices recommendations on the use of immunohistochemical markers in urologic malignancies were discussed. In this review we make recommendations regarding immunohistochemical markers that are best suited to aid in establishing a diagnosis of renal primary, panels of antibodies that are most useful in classifying renal tumors, and the current status of prognostic and predictive biomarkers. Although no prognostic or predictive marker and set of markers have yet to be validated, ongoing research suggests that this fact is likely to change in the near future.

274 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a crop water stress index (CWSI) indicator was used to map the spatial variability in water deficits across an 11ha Pinot noir vineyard, which was determined based on canopy temperatures measured with infrared temperature sensors placed on top of well-watered and water-stressed grapevines in 2009 and 2010.
Abstract: Characterizing the spatial variability in water status across vineyards is a prerequisite for precision irrigation. The crop water stress index (CWSI) indicator was used to map the spatial variability in water deficits across an 11-ha ‘Pinot noir’ vineyard. CWSI was determined based on canopy temperatures measured with infrared temperature sensors placed on top of well-watered and water-stressed grapevines in 2009 and 2010. CWSI was correlated with leaf water potential (ΨL) (R 2 = 0.83). This correlation was also tested with results from high resolution airborne thermal imagery. An unmanned aerial vehicle equipped with a thermal camera was flown over the vineyard at 07:30, 09:30, and 12:30 h (solar time) on 31 July 2009. At about the same time, ΨL was measured in 184 grapevines. The image obtained at 07:30 was not useful because it was not possible to separate soil from canopy temperatures. Using the airborne data, the correlation between CWSI and ΨL had an R 2 value of 0.46 at 09:30 h and of 0.71 at 12:30 h, suggesting that the latter was the more favorable time for obtaining thermal images that were linked with ΨL values. A sensitivity analysis of varying pixel size showed that a 0.3 m pixel was needed for precise CWSI mapping. The CWSI maps thus obtained by airborne thermal imagery were effective in assessing the spatial variability of water stress across the vineyard.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Semitransparent perovskite solar cells with a high power conversion efficiency (PCE) above 6% and 30% full device transparency have been achieved by implementing a thin perov-skite layer and a simple foil compatible layout as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Semitransparent perovskite solar cells with a high power conversion efficiency (PCE) above 6% and 30% full device transparency have been achieved by implementing a thin perovskite layer and a simple foil compatible layout.

Journal ArticleDOI
16 Oct 2014-Nature
TL;DR: The history of the monarch's evolutionary origin and global dispersal is uncovered, the strongest signatures of selection associated with migration centre on flight muscle function, resulting in greater flight efficiency among migratory monarchs, and that variation in monarch warning colouration is controlled by a single myosin gene not previously implicated in insect pigmentation.
Abstract: The monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus, is famous for its spectacular annual migration across North America, recent worldwide dispersal, and orange warning colouration. Despite decades of study and broad public interest, we know little about the genetic basis of these hallmark traits. Here we uncover the history of the monarch's evolutionary origin and global dispersal, characterize the genes and pathways associated with migratory behaviour, and identify the discrete genetic basis of warning colouration by sequencing 101 Danaus genomes from around the globe. The results rewrite our understanding of this classic system, showing that D. plexippus was ancestrally migratory and dispersed out of North America to occupy its broad distribution. We find the strongest signatures of selection associated with migration centre on flight muscle function, resulting in greater flight efficiency among migratory monarchs, and that variation in monarch warning colouration is controlled by a single myosin gene not previously implicated in insect pigmentation.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a short review on light-emitting electrochemical cells (LECs) is provided, focusing on the major concepts used to improve their performance and highlighting the recent advances and the main remaining challenges.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The paper describes the essence of AquaCrop Version 4.0, applications and parameterization of crops, crop responses to elevated CO2 concentration, soil fertility and salinity, and further model developments.
Abstract: With the help of relatively few conservative crop parameters, AquaCrop simulates final crop yield in four steps that are easy to understand, which makes the modeling approach transparent. The steps consist in the simulation of development of the green crop canopy cover, crop transpiration, above-ground biomass, and final crop yield. Temperature and water stresses directly affect one or more of the above processes. Nutrient deficiencies and salinity effects are simulated indirectly by moderating canopy cover development over the season, and by reducing crop transpiration and the normalized water productivity. The effect of CO2 concentration on biomass is simulated by altering the normalized water productivity. The model requires a relatively small number of explicit parameter values and mostly intuitive input variables. The paper describes the essence of AquaCrop Version 4.0, applications and parameterization of crops, crop responses to elevated CO2 concentration, soil fertility and salinity, and further model developments.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An overview of benign reactions through solvent- and catalyst-free (SF-CF) chemistry and a critical perspective on emerging synergies between SF-CF organic reactions are discussed.
Abstract: In the past decade, alternative benign organic methodologies have become an imperative part of organic syntheses and chemical reactions. The various new and innovative sustainable organic reactions and methodologies using no solvents or catalysts and employing alternative energy inputs such as microwaves, sonication, conventional and room temperature heating conditions, mechanochemical mixing, and high-speed ball milling are discussed in detail. Environmentally benign and pharmaceutically important reactions such as multicomponent, condensation, and Michael addition reactions; ring opening of epoxides; and oxidation and other significant organic reactions are discussed. An overview of benign reactions through solvent- and catalyst-free (SF-CF) chemistry and a critical perspective on emerging synergies between SF-CF organic reactions are discussed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors evaluated the effects of biochar produced from five agricultural and forestry wastes on the properties of an organic-C-poor, slightly acidic, and loamy sand soil and on sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) growth.
Abstract: The use of biochar as a soil amendment is gaining interest to mitigate climate change and improve soil fertility and crop productivity. However, studies to date show a great variability in the results depending on raw materials and pyrolysis conditions, soil characteristics, and plant species. In this study, we evaluated the effects of biochars produced from five agricultural and forestry wastes on the properties of an organic-C-poor, slightly acidic, and loamy sand soil and on sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) growth. The addition of biochar, especially at high application rates, decreased soil bulk density and increased soil field capacity, which should impact positively on plant growth and water economy. Furthermore, biochar addition to soil increased dissolved organic C (wheat-straw and olive-tree-pruning biochars), available P (wheat-straw biochar), and seed germination, and decreased soil nitrate concentration in all cases. The effects of biochar addition on plant dry biomass were greatly dependent upon the biochar-application rate and biochar type, mainly associated to its nutrient content due to the low fertility of the soil used. As a result, the addition of ash-rich biochars (produced from wheat straw and olive-tree pruning) increased total plant dry biomass. On the other hand, the addition of biochar increased the leaf biomass allocation and decreased the stem biomass allocation. Therefore, biochar can improve soil properties and increase crop production with a consequent benefit to agriculture. However, the use of biochar as an amendment to agricultural soils should take into account its high heterogeneity, particularly in terms of nutrient availability.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Tuberous sclerosis complex-associated RCCs have unique clinicopathologic features including female predominance, younger age at diagnosis, multiplicity, association with AMLs, 3 recurring histologic patterns, and an indolent clinical course.
Abstract: Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is an autosomal dominant disorder with characteristic tumors involving multiple organ systems. Whereas renal angiomyolipoma (AML) is common in TSC, renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is rarely reported. Fifty-seven RCCs from 13 female and 5 male TSC patients were reviewed. Age at surgery ranged from 7 to 65 years (mean: 42 y). Nine patients (50%) had multiple synchronous and/or metachronous RCCs (range of 2 to 20 RCCs) and 5 had bilateral RCCs (28%). Seventeen patients (94%) had histologically confirmed concurrent renal AMLs, including 15 with multiple AMLs (88%) and 9 (50%) with AMLs with epithelial cysts. None of the 15 patients with available clinical follow-up information had evidence of distant metastatic disease from 6 to 198 months after their initial surgery (mean: 52 mo). The 57 RCCs exhibited 3 major distinct morphologies: (1) 17 RCCs (30%) had features similar to tumors previously described as "renal angiomyoadenomatous tumor" or "RCC with smooth muscle stroma"; (2) 34 RCCs (59%) showed features similar to chromophobe RCC; and (3) 6 RCCs (11%) showed a granular eosinophilic-macrocystic morphology. Distinct histologic changes were also commonly present in the background kidney parenchyma and included cysts or renal tubules lined by epithelial cells with prominent eosinophilic cytoplasm, nucleomegaly, and nucleoli. Immunohistochemically, all RCCs tested showed strong nuclear reactivity for PAX8 and HMB45 negativity. Compared with sporadic RCCs, TSC-associated RCCs have unique clinicopathologic features including female predominance, younger age at diagnosis, multiplicity, association with AMLs, 3 recurring histologic patterns, and an indolent clinical course. Awareness of the morphologic and clinicopathologic spectrum of RCC in this setting will allow surgical pathologists to better recognize clinically unsuspected TSC patients.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: High-throughput transcriptomic analyses performed in fruits with downregulated FaMYB10 expression indicated that this TF regulates the expression of most of the Early- regulated Biosynthesis Genes (EBGs) and the Late-regulated Biosynthetic genes involved in anthocyanin production in ripened fruit receptacles.
Abstract: This work characterized the role of the R2R3-MYB10 transcription factor (TF) in strawberry fruit ripening. The expression of this TF takes place mainly in the fruit receptacle and is repressed by auxins and activated by abscisic acid (ABA), in parallel to the ripening process. Anthocyanin was not produced when FaMYB10 expression was transiently silenced in fruit receptacles. An increase in FaMYB10 expression was observed in water-stressed fruits, which was accompanied by an increase in both ABA and anthocyanin content. High-throughput transcriptomic analyses performed in fruits with downregulated FaMYB10 expression indicated that this TF regulates the expression of most of the Early-regulated Biosynthesis Genes (EBGs) and the Late-regulated Biosynthesis Genes (LBGs) genes involved in anthocyanin production in ripened fruit receptacles. Besides, the expression of FaMYB10 was not regulated by FaMYB1 and vice versa. Taken together, all these data clearly indicate that the Fragaria × ananassa MYB10 TF plays a general regulatory role in the flavonoid/phenylpropanoid pathway during the ripening of strawberry.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a novel synthesis strategy is developed to encapsulate palladium precursors through ligand design prior to MOF assembly, achieving uniformly distributed palladium NPs inside the cavities of MOFs.
Abstract: A novel synthesis strategy is developed to encapsulate palladium precursors through ligand design prior to MOF assembly, achieving uniformly distributed palladium NPs inside the cavities of MOFs. This strategy can avoid the different diffusion resistance between external and internal surfaces, and thus allow metal precursors to be easily deposited into the pores and evenly distributed within MOF networks. The embedded Pd NPs exhibited excellent shape-selectivity in olefin hydrogenation, as well as high catalytic efficiencies in aerobic oxidation of alcohols and reduction of nitrobenzene, showing significantly enhanced catalytic activity and stability as compared to those synthesized using a traditional impregnation method. The superior catalytic activity and stability came from the synergetic effects of nano-confinement and electron-donation offered by the MOF framework.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is suggested that the intensity of PE sessions might play a role in the positive effect of physical activity on cognition and academic success and future studies involving larger sample sizes should confirm or contrast these preliminary findings.
Abstract: To analyze the effects of an intervention focused on increasing the time and intensity of Physical Education (PE), on adolescents' cognitive performance and academic achievement. A 4-month group-randomized controlled trial was conducted in 67 adolescents from South-East Spain, 2007. Three classes were randomly allocated into control group (CG), experimental group 1 (EG1) and experimental group 2 (EG2). CG received usual PE (two sessions/week), EG1 received four PE sessions/week and EG2 received four PE sessions/week of high intensity. Cognitive performance (non-verbal and verbal ability, abstract reasoning, spatial ability, verbal reasoning and numerical ability) was assessed by the Spanish Overall and Factorial Intelligence Test, and academic achievement by school grades. All the cognitive performance variables, except verbal reasoning, increased more in EG2 than in CG (all P < 0.05). Average school grades (e.g., mathematics) increased more in EG2 than in CG. Overall, EG2 improved more than EG1, without differences between EG1 and CG. Increased PE can benefit cognitive performance and academic achievement. This study contributes to the current knowledge by suggesting that the intensity of PE sessions might play a role in the positive effect of physical activity on cognition and academic success. Future studies involving larger sample sizes should confirm or contrast these preliminary findings.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This review tries to demonstrate the advantages of sweat over other biofluids such as blood or urine for routine clinical analyses and the potential when related to metabolomics and the higher development of biomarkers based on genomics or proteomics.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is shown that SRT2104, a synthetic small molecule activator of SIRT1, extends both mean and maximal lifespan of mice fed a standard diet, accompanied by improvements in health, including enhanced motor coordination, performance, bone mineral density, and insulin sensitivity associated with higher mitochondrial content and decreased inflammation.
Abstract: Increased expression of SIRT1 extends the lifespan of lower organisms and delays the onset of age-related diseases in mammals. Here, we show that SRT2104, a synthetic small molecule activator of SIRT1, extends both mean and maximal lifespan of mice fed a standard diet. This is accompanied by improvements in health, including enhanced motor coordination, performance, bone mineral density, and insulin sensitivity associated with higher mitochondrial content and decreased inflammation. Short-term SRT2104 treatment preserves bone and muscle mass in an experimental model of atrophy. These results demonstrate it is possible to design a small molecule that can slow aging and delay multiple age-related diseases in mammals, supporting the therapeutic potential of SIRT1 activators in humans.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The formal definition of the paradigm, the analysis of its impact on the literature, its main applications, works developed, pitfalls and guidelines, and ongoing research are presented.
Abstract: Multi-label learning is quite a recent supervised learning paradigm. Owing to its capabilities to improve performance in problems where a pattern may have more than one associated class, it has attracted the attention of researchers, producing an increasing number of publications. This study presents an up-to-date overview about multi-label learning with the aim of sorting and describing the main approaches developed till now. The formal definition of the paradigm, the analysis of its impact on the literature, its main applications, works developed, pitfalls and guidelines, and ongoing research are presented. WIREs Data Mining Knowl Discov 2014, 4:411-444. doi: 10.1002/widm.1139

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors surveyed a substantial amount of previous work in mechanical fractionation or pretreatments of a variety of lignocellulosic biomasses; these include numerous milling schemes and extrusions, and their impacts on the physical and physicochemical properties of the lignosic matrix (crystallinity, surface area, particle size, etc).
Abstract: The transformation of lignocellulosic biomass into biofuels represents an interesting and sustainable alternative to fossil fuel for the near future. However, one still faces some major challenges for the technology to be fully realized including feedstock costs, novel pretreatment processes, production, transportation, and environmental impact of the full chain. The development of new technologies focused to increase the efficiency of cellulose conversion to biofuels determines successful implementation. Mechanical fractionation is an essential step in order to increase final carbohydrate output, appropriate particle sizes and densification, enzymatic accessibility, and bioconversion affectivity without the production of toxic side streams. In this review article, we surveyed a substantial amount of previous work in mechanical fractionation or pretreatments of a variety of lignocellulosic biomasses; these include numerous milling schemes and extrusions, and their impacts on the physical and physicochemical properties of the lignocellulosic matrix (crystallinity, surface area, particle size, etc). We have also compared results with other pure chemical and physicochemical pretreatments in order to show the new aspects and advantages/disadvantages of such an approach. Last, but not least, the effect of mechanical treatment and physical properties on enzymatic hydrolysis and bioconversion has been discussed, with potentially interesting dry lignocellulosic biorefinery schemes proposed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This work demonstrates the active production of vesicle production by Streptococcus pneumoniae from the plasma membrane, rather than being a product from cell lysis, and shows that pneumococcus produces membrane-derived vesicles particularly enriched in lipoproteins and short-chain fatty acids.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, metaloxide-free methylammonium lead iodide perovskite-based solar cells are prepared using a dual-source thermal evaporation method.
Abstract: Metal-oxide-free methylammonium lead iodide perovskite-based solar cells are prepared using a dual-source thermal evaporation method. This method leads to high quality reproducible films with large crystal domain sizes allowing for an in depth study of the effect of perovskite film thickness and the nature of the electron and hole blocking layers on the device performance. The power conversion efficiency increases from 4.7% for a device with only an organic electron blocking layer to almost 15% when an organic hole blocking layer is also employed. In addition to the in depth study on small area cells, larger area cells (approx. 1 cm(-2)) are prepared and exhibit efficiencies in excess of 10%.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Understanding how conserved PK signaling networks have been recruited during the evolution of fungal pathogenicity not only advances knowledge of the highly elaborate infection process but may also lead to the development of novel strategies for the control of plant disease.
Abstract: Phytopathogenic fungi have evolved an amazing diversity of infection modes and nutritional strategies, yet the signaling pathways that govern pathogenicity are remarkably conserved. Protein kinases (PKs) catalyze the reversible phosphorylation of proteins, regulating a variety of cellular processes. Here, we present an overview of our current understanding of the different classes of PKs that contribute to fungal pathogenicity on plants and of the mechanisms that regulate and coordinate PK activity during infection-related development. In addition to the well-studied PK modules, such as MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) and cAMP (cyclic adenosine monophosphate)-PKA (protein kinase A) cascades, we also discuss new PK pathways that have emerged in recent years as key players of pathogenic development and disease. Understanding how conserved PK signaling networks have been recruited during the evolution of fungal pathogenicity not only advances our knowledge of the highly elaborate infection process bu...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Genetic and biochemical analyses suggested that the receptor-like kinase 7 (RLK7) functions as a receptor of PIP1, which initiates overlapping and distinct immune signaling responses together with the DAMP PEP1 in A. thaliana, providing significant insights into immune modulation by Arabidopsis endogenous secreted peptides.
Abstract: In plants, innate immune responses are initiated by plasma membrane-located pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) upon recognition of elicitors, including exogenous pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and endogenous damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). Arabidopsis thaliana produces more than 1000 secreted peptide candidates, but it has yet to be established whether any of these act as elicitors. Here we identified an A. thaliana gene family encoding precursors of PAMP-induced secreted peptides (prePIPs) through an in-silico approach. The expression of some members of the family, including prePIP1 and prePIP2, is induced by a variety of pathogens and elicitors. Subcellular localization and proteolytic processing analyses demonstrated that the prePIP1 product is secreted into extracellular spaces where it is cleaved at the C-terminus. Overexpression of prePIP1 and prePIP2, or exogenous application of PIP1 and PIP2 synthetic peptides corresponding to the C-terminal conserved regions in prePIP1 and prePIP2, enhanced immune responses and pathogen resistance in A. thaliana. Genetic and biochemical analyses suggested that the receptor-like kinase 7 (RLK7) functions as a receptor of PIP1. Once perceived by RLK7, PIP1 initiates overlapping and distinct immune signaling responses together with the DAMP PEP1. PIP1 and PEP1 cooperate in amplifying the immune responses triggered by the PAMP flagellin. Collectively, these studies provide significant insights into immune modulation by Arabidopsis endogenous secreted peptides.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The objective of this work is to determine if people are interacting in TV video by detecting whether they are looking at each other or not and to determine both the temporal period of the interaction and also spatially localize the relevant people.
Abstract: The objective of this work is to determine if people are interacting in TV video by detecting whether they are looking at each other or not. We determine both the temporal period of the interaction and also spatially localize the relevant people. We make the following four contributions: (i) head detection with implicit coarse pose information (front, profile, back); (ii) continuous head pose estimation in unconstrained scenarios (TV video) using Gaussian process regression; (iii) propose and evaluate several methods for assessing whether and when pairs of people are looking at each other in a video shot; and (iv) introduce new ground truth annotation for this task, extending the TV human interactions dataset (Patron-Perez et al. 2010) The performance of the methods is evaluated on this dataset, which consists of 300 video clips extracted from TV shows. Despite the variety and difficulty of this video material, our best method obtains an average precision of 87.6 % in a fully automatic manner.