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This study aimed to investigate effects of transport age of calves (14 vs. 28 d), and of calf and dam characteristics, on immunoglobulin titers and hematological variables of veal calves. Calves (n = 683) were transported to a veal farm at 14 or 28 d of age. Natural antibodies N-IgG, N-IgM, and N-IgA against phosphorylcholine conjugated to bovine serum albumin (PC-BSA) were measured in serum of the dams 1 wk before calving and in first colostrum. These antibodies were also measured in serum of calves 1 wk after birth, 1 d before transport, and in wk 2 and 10 posttransport at the veal farm. Hematological variables were assessed in calves 1 d before transport and in wk 2 posttransport. One day before transport, titers of N-IgG, N-IgM, N-IgA, and neutrophil counts were higher, and lymphocyte counts were lower in 14-d-old calves compared with 28-d-old calves. In wk 2 at the veal farm, calves transported at 14 d of age had higher N-IgG titers and neutrophil counts, but lower N-IgM and N-IgA titers, and lymphocyte counts than calves transported at 28 d. In wk 1 and 1 d before transport, N-Ig in calves were positively related to N-Ig in colostrum. In wk 2 and 10 at the veal farm, N-IgG in calves was positively related to N-IgG in colostrum. The N-IgG titers in calves at the dairy farm were negatively related to the likelihood of being individually treated with antibiotics or other medicines at the veal farm. Our results suggest that calves transported to the veal farm at 28 d of age showed a more advanced development of their adaptive immunity than calves transported at 14 d of age. Quality of colostrum might have long-term consequences for N-IgG titers and immunity in veal calves.

Rainfall is the key factor to understand soil erosion processes, mechanisms, and rates. Most research was conducted to determine rainfall characteristics and their relationship with soil erosion (erosivity) but there is little information about how atmospheric patterns control soil losses, and this is important to enable sustainable environmental planning and risk prevention. We investigated the temporal and spatial variability of the relationships of rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield with atmospheric patterns (weather types, WTs) in the western Mediterranean basin. For this purpose, we analyzed a large database of rainfall events collected between 1985 and 2015 in 46 experimental plots and catchments with the aim to: (i) evaluate seasonal differences in the contribution of rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield produced by the WTs; and (ii) to analyze the seasonal efficiency of the different WTs (relation frequency and magnitude) related to rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield. The results indicate two different temporal patterns: the first weather type exhibits (during the cold period: autumn and winter) westerly flows that produce the highest rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield values throughout the territory; the second weather type exhibits easterly flows that predominate during the warm period (spring and summer) and it is located on the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula. However, the cyclonic situations present high frequency throughout the whole year with a large influence extended around the western Mediterranean basin. Contrary, the anticyclonic situations, despite of its high frequency, do not contribute significantly to the total rainfall, runoff, and sediment (showing the lowest efficiency) because of atmospheric stability that currently characterize this atmospheric pattern. Our approach helps to better understand the relationship of WTs on the seasonal and spatial variability of rainfall, runoff and sediment yield with a regional scale ba

Rainfall is the key factor to understand soil erosion processes, mechanisms, and rates. Most research was conducted to determine rainfall characteristics and their relationship with soil erosion (erosivity) but there is little information about how atmospheric patterns control soil losses, and this is important to enable sustainable environmental planning and risk prevention. We investigated the temporal and spatial variability of the relationships of rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield with atmospheric patterns (weather types, WTs) in the western Mediterranean basin. For this purpose, we analyzed a large database of rainfall events collected between 1985 and 2015 in 46 experimental plots and catchments with the aim to: (i) evaluate seasonal differences in the contribution of rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield produced by the WTs; and (ii) to analyze the seasonal efficiency of the different WTs (relation frequency and magnitude) related to rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield. The results indicate two different temporal patterns: the first weather type exhibits (during the cold period: autumn and winter) westerly flows that produce the highest rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield values throughout the territory; the second weather type exhibits easterly flows that predominate during the warm period (spring and summer) and it is located on the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula. However, the cyclonic situations present high frequency throughout the whole year with a large influence extended around the western Mediterranean basin. Contrary, the anticyclonic situations, despite of its high frequency, do not contribute significantly to the total rainfall, runoff, and sediment (showing the lowest efficiency) because of atmospheric stability that currently characterize this atmospheric pattern. Our approach helps to better understand the relationship of WTs on the seasonal and spatial variability of rainfall, runoff and sediment yield with a regional scale ba

Rainfall is the key factor to understand soil erosion processes, mechanisms, and rates. Most research was conducted to determine rainfall characteristics and their relationship with soil erosion (erosivity) but there is little information about how atmospheric patterns control soil losses, and this is important to enable sustainable environmental planning and risk prevention. We investigated the temporal and spatial variability of the relationships of rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield with atmospheric patterns (weather types, WTs) in the western Mediterranean basin. For this purpose, we analyzed a large database of rainfall events collected between 1985 and 2015 in 46 experimental plots and catchments with the aim to: (i) evaluate seasonal differences in the contribution of rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield produced by the WTs; and (ii) to analyze the seasonal efficiency of the different WTs (relation frequency and magnitude) related to rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield. The results indicate two different temporal patterns: the first weather type exhibits (during the cold period: autumn and winter) westerly flows that produce the highest rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield values throughout the territory; the second weather type exhibits easterly flows that predominate during the warm period (spring and summer) and it is located on the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula. However, the cyclonic situations present high frequency throughout the whole year with a large influence extended around the western Mediterranean basin. Contrary, the anticyclonic situations, despite of its high frequency, do not contribute significantly to the total rainfall, runoff, and sediment (showing the lowest efficiency) because of atmospheric stability that currently characterize this atmospheric pattern. Our approach helps to better understand the relationship of WTs on the seasonal and spatial variability of rainfall, runoff and sediment yield with a regional scale ba

Rainfall is the key factor to understand soil erosion processes, mechanisms, and rates. Most research was conducted to determine rainfall characteristics and their relationship with soil erosion (erosivity) but there is little information about how atmospheric patterns control soil losses, and this is important to enable sustainable environmental planning and risk prevention. We investigated the temporal and spatial variability of the relationships of rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield with atmospheric patterns (weather types, WTs) in the western Mediterranean basin. For this purpose, we analyzed a large database of rainfall events collected between 1985 and 2015 in 46 experimental plots and catchments with the aim to: (i) evaluate seasonal differences in the contribution of rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield produced by the WTs; and (ii) to analyze the seasonal efficiency of the different WTs (relation frequency and magnitude) related to rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield. The results indicate two different temporal patterns: the first weather type exhibits (during the cold period: autumn and winter) westerly flows that produce the highest rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield values throughout the territory; the second weather type exhibits easterly flows that predominate during the warm period (spring and summer) and it is located on the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula. However, the cyclonic situations present high frequency throughout the whole year with a large influence extended around the western Mediterranean basin. Contrary, the anticyclonic situations, despite of its high frequency, do not contribute significantly to the total rainfall, runoff, and sediment (showing the lowest efficiency) because of atmospheric stability that currently characterize this atmospheric pattern. Our approach helps to better understand the relationship of WTs on the seasonal and spatial variability of rainfall, runoff and sediment yield with a regional scale ba

S imulated rainfall experiments (68.2 mm h -1 ) on plots of 1 m 2 on two vineyards in Utiel and Moixent show high soil erosion rates. These measuremen ts show that runoff rates and sediment concentration are very high due to the bare soils. Soil losses are 5.68 and 23.14 Mg ha -1 h -1 , respectively, in the study areas and Moixent and Utie l. It is confirmed that the vineyards contribute to highly erodible soils.

S imulated rainfall experiments (68.2 mm h -1 ) on plots of 1 m 2 on two vineyards in Utiel and Moixent show high soil erosion rates. These measuremen ts show that runoff rates and sediment concentration are very high due to the bare soils. Soil losses are 5.68 and 23.14 Mg ha -1 h -1 , respectively, in the study areas and Moixent and Utie l. It is confirmed that the vineyards contribute to highly erodible soils.

S imulated rainfall experiments (68.2 mm h -1 ) on plots of 1 m 2 on two vineyards in Utiel and Moixent show high soil erosion rates. These measuremen ts show that runoff rates and sediment concentration are very high due to the bare soils. Soil losses are 5.68 and 23.14 Mg ha -1 h -1 , respectively, in the study areas and Moixent and Utie l. It is confirmed that the vineyards contribute to highly erodible soils.

S imulated rainfall experiments (68.2 mm h -1 ) on plots of 1 m 2 on two vineyards in Utiel and Moixent show high soil erosion rates. These measuremen ts show that runoff rates and sediment concentration are very high due to the bare soils. Soil losses are 5.68 and 23.14 Mg ha -1 h -1 , respectively, in the study areas and Moixent and Utie l. It is confirmed that the vineyards contribute to highly erodible soils.

The conserved oligomeric Golgi (COG) complex is a tethering factor composed of eight subunits that is involved in the retrograde transport of intra-Golgi components. Deficient biosynthesis of COG subunits leads to alterations of protein trafficking along the secretory pathway and thereby to severe diseases in humans. Since the COG complex affects the localization of several Golgi glycosyltransferase enzymes, COG deficiency also leads to defective protein glycosylation, thereby explaining the classification of COG deficiencies as forms of congenital disorders of glycosylation (CDG). To date, mutations in COG1, COG4, COG7 and COG8 genes have been associated with diseases, which range from severe multi-organ disorders to moderate forms of neurological impairment. In the present study, we describe a new type of COG deficiency related to a splicing mutation in the COG5 gene. Sequence analysis in the patient identified a homozygous intronic substitution (c.1669-15T>C) leading to exon skipping and severely reduced expression of the COG5 protein. This defect was associated with a mild psychomotor retardation with delayed motor and language development. Analysis of different serum glycoproteins revealed a CDG phenotype with typical undersialylation of N- and O-glycans. Retrograde Golgi-to-endoplasmic reticulum trafficking was markedly delayed in the patient's fibroblast upon brefeldin-A treatment, which is a hallmark of COG deficiency. This trafficking delay could be restored to normal values by expressing a wild-type COG5 cDNA in the patient cells. This case demonstrates that COG deficiency and thereby CDG must be taken into consideration even in children presenting mild neurological impairments.

BACKGROUND: Although dermal wounds are common, treatment remains limited and largely ineffective. Recent studies suggest that therapeutic application of progenitor cells is useful for tissue regeneration. OBJECTIVE: We here investigated the effects exerted by the recently characterized immortalized haematopoietic progenitor cell line DKmix and their conditioned medium in a murine wound healing model. METHODS AND RESULTS: Injection of both DKmix cells and their conditioned medium accelerated wound repair between days 3 and 10 compared with PBS-injected control mice (n = 8, P < 0.01 DKmix cells vs control, P < 0.01 conditioned medium vs control at day 6). The treated groups exhibited more CD31(+)-capillaries at day 6 after injury compared with the control group (n = 4, P < 0.01 DKmix cells vs control, P < 0.001 conditioned medium vs control), whereas there was no change in infiltrated CD68(+) macrophages. Conditioned medium of DKmix cells induced tube formation of human endothelial cells in Matrigel assays (n = 4-6, P < 0.05 conditioned medium vs control) as well as migration (n = 4, P < 0.01 conditioned medium vs control) and proliferation of murine 3T3 fibroblasts (n = 5, P < 0.05 conditioned medium vs control). Abundant levels of matrix metalloproteinase -2 and -9 in the supernatants were detected. Protein arrays of the supernatants revealed a strong secretion of cytokines and growth factors, such as monocyte chemoatractant protein-1 and GM-CSF from DKmix cells. CONCLUSION: DKmix cells improve skin-substitute wound healing by promoting angiogenesis as well as migration and proliferation of fibroblasts. These data suggest that immortalized haematopoietic progenitor cells significantly improve dermal wound healing by paracrine effects.

Cell-based therapy after myocardial infarction (MI) is a promising therapeutic option but the relevant cell subsets and dosage requirements are poorly defined. We hypothesized that cell therapy for myocardial infarction is improved by ex vivo expansion and high-dose transplantation of defined hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs). Since beta-catenin promotes self-renewal of stem cells we evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of beta-catenin-mediated ex vivo expansion of mouse HPCs in a mouse model of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion followed by intraarterial cell delivery. The impact of cell dose was determined by comparing a low-dose (LD, 5 x 10(5) cells) vs. a high-dose (HD, 1 x 10(7) cells) cell transplantation regimen of beta-catenin-HPCs. The impact of beta-catenin modification of HPCs was determined by comparing control-transduced HPCs (GFP-HPCs) vs. transgenic beta-catenin-HPCs. HD beta-catenin-HPCs significantly improved LV function and end-systolic and end-diastolic dimensions as compared to saline and LD beta-catenin-HPCs. Furthermore, while treatment with HD GFP-HPC resulted in a modest cardiac improvement the application of beta-catenin-HPCs was superior, resulting in a significant improvement in EF, FS and LVESD over saline and control GFP-HPC treatment. Although myocardial engraftment of HPCs was only transient, as determined by cell quantification after dye labeling, beta-catenin-HPC treatment significantly decreased infarct size, reduced cardiomyocyte apoptosis and increased capillary angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo. Ex vivo expanded HPCs improve cardiac function and remodeling post MI in a cell number- and beta-catenin-dependent manner.

[Resumen] En una pequeña cuenca bajo explotación de dehesa se investiga la generación de escorrentía superficial a distintas escalas. Ello incluye experimentos con lluvia simulada en microparcelas, mediciones del flujo superficial en eventos en 17 parcelas abiertas y una parcela. cerrada, y la producción de caudal de la cuenca y una subcuenca. Los coeficientes de escorrentía de las escalas consideradas se agrupan en dos conjuntos: valores bajos para la cuenca y subcuenca, y valores altos a escala de pedón y ladera. Los resultados demuestran que gran parte de la escorrentía producida en las vertientes se infiltra después en las zonas coluviales y fondos de valle. Además indican la importancia de estudiar varias escalas para entender los procesos hidrológicos que operan en cuencas., [Abstract] In a small catchment under the so-called dehesa landuse system, the production of surface runoff is investigated at different scales. This includes experiments with simulated rainfal1 at micro-plots, event-based measurements of overland flow at 17 open plots and 1 closed plot, and discharge production of the catchment and subcatchment. The runoff coefficients of the considered scales form two groups, with low values for the catchment and sub-catchment and high values for the microplots and hillslope plots. The results show that large part of runoff produced at the slopes is infiltrated afterwards at colluvial sites and the valley floors.Furthemore, they indicate the importance of studying at various scales in order to understand the hydrological processes operating in catchments