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Marine litter is one of the descriptors in the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive, which aims to achieve a healthy marine environment and make ecosystems more resilient to climate change. Most experiences have been focused upon quantifying the abundance and distribution of marine litter, on beaches in particular. Nevertheless, the continuous impact of litter on marine species, commercial activities, i.e. shipping and fishing, and the local economy are prompting scientist and stakeholders to identify additional approaches required to face this challenge. This contribution addresses the aforementioned need, by assessing the possibility of fishing vessels shifting from fish to floating marine litter (FML), during low fishing activity periods. For this purpose, the technical, environmental, and socio-economic feasibility of such a change is investigated. The technical assessment includes: the analysis of energy consumption; and the assessment of ocean surface current patterns as a tool to determine FML convergence hotspots. The environmental feasibility is analysed by a Life Cycle Assessment study of 3 FML management scenarios. The minimum subsidy required is analysed in the socio-economic assessment, in order to reach a profitable diversified activity. The results demonstrate fishing FML as a technically-, economically- and environmentally-viable activity. Nevertheless, Local Authorities need to encourage the prevention of FML arriving on shore where, in some environments, such as in rocky shores, cleaning is difficult.

Non-linear K-means classification algorithm was used to obtain a comprehensive description of the winds and high-frequency radar-derived currents in the SE Bay of Biscay (study area), taking into account a wide range of scales, from several days to interannual variability. The results in the study area show that in summer, a stronger variability in winds and surface currents can be expected, while in winter, intense southwesterly winds and a cyclonic circulation prevail. In addition to the seasonal component of the currents, a significant spatial variability in terms of current patterns and a temporal variability at shorter and interannual scales were also identified, highlighting the complexity of the surface current dynamics. Moreover, the probabilistic relationships between wind and current patterns were explored, obtaining conditional probabilities. Most of the surface current patterns are clearly related to specific wind patterns that are recurrent in the study area. However, other common current patterns are not so clearly related to specific wind conditions. The presence of a seasonal slope current (Iberian Poleward Current, IPC) is one of the most relevant features of the local circulation. An IPC occurrence time series based on Sea Surface Temperature satellite imagery was used to obtain conditional probabilities with the high-frequency radar surface current patterns, showing a relation between the strongest IPC events and closed cyclonic currents, which are not linked to specific winds.

This paper describes the operational protocol established in the southeastern Bay of Biscay (study area) for the sighting and tracking of Portuguese man-of-war. This action protocol combines sightings of Portuguese man-of-war at sea with hourly surface currents and winds obtained with the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) and the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF), respectively. These data are used in the Sediment, Oil spill and Fish Tracking model (SOFT) to estimate the drift of Portuguese man-of-war. Here we provide information on sightings of Portuguese man-of-war in the study area and show the most relevant results of the SOFT calibration obtained using trajectories from eight satellite pop-up tags for fish tracking. These tags have similar characteristics (such as weight and density) to the Portuguese man-of-war that reach the study area. In 2012 and 2013, there were a total of 48 sightings of Portuguese man-of-war, most of them located in the Zarautz beach area (Basque Country coast). The SOFT calibration shows that the tag drift is mainly controlled by the wind. With winds from the southern and western sectors (third quadrant), SOFT is able to reproduce the tag drift using surface current velocities estimated as ~1.8% of the WRF wind velocities. The SOFT simulations carried out using the ROMS current velocities (with or without the WRF wind velocities) do not improve the results.

Summary Conjugative transposition drives the emergence of multidrug resistance in diverse bacterial pathogens, yet the mechanisms are poorly characterized. The Tn1549 conjugative transposon propagates resistance to the antibiotic vancomycin used for severe drug-resistant infections. Here, we present four high-resolution structures of the conserved Y-transposase of Tn1549 complexed with circular transposon DNA intermediates. The structures reveal individual transposition steps and explain how specific DNA distortion and cleavage mechanisms enable DNA strand exchange with an absolute minimum homology requirement. This appears to uniquely allow Tn916-like conjugative transposons to bypass DNA homology and insert into diverse genomic sites, expanding gene transfer. We further uncover a structural regulatory mechanism that prevents premature cleavage of the transposon DNA before a suitable target DNA is found and generate a peptide antagonist that interferes with the transposase-DNA structure to block transposition. Our results reveal mechanistic principles of conjugative transposition that could help control the spread of antibiotic resistance genes., Graphical Abstract, Highlights • Antibiotic resistance-carrying conjugative transposon integrase structure revealed • DNA distortion and special cleavage site allow insertion into diverse genomic sites • Key structural features are conserved among numerous conjugative transposons • Structures uncover auto-inhibition, allowing transposition antagonist design, Structures of a conjugative transposase caught in the act reveal valuable mechanistic insight and point to potential strategies for limiting dissemination of antibiotic resistance.

Land-based coastal high-frequency (HF) radar systems provide operational measurements of coastal surface currents (within 1–3 m depth) with high spatial (300 m–10 km) and temporal (≤1 h) sampling resolutions, while the near-continuous altimetry missions provide information, from 1993 until today, on geostrophic currents in the global ocean with typical along-track and temporal sampling resolutions of >7 km and >9 days, respectively. During the last years, the altimetry community has made a step forward in improving these data in the coastal area, where the data present lower quality than in the open ocean. The combination of HF radar and altimetry measurements arises as a promising strategy to improve the continuous monitoring of the coastal area (e.g. by expanding the measurements made by HF radars to adjacent areas covered by the altimetry or by validating/confirming improvements brought by specific coastal algorithms or new altimeter missions). A first step towards this combination is the comparison of both data sets in overlapping areas. In this study, a HF radar system and two Jason-2 satellite altimetry products with different processing are compared over the period from 1 January 2009 to 24 July 2015. The results provide an evaluation of the performance of different coastal altimetry data sets within the study area and a better understanding of the ocean variability contained in the HF radar and altimetry data sets. Both observing systems detect the main mesoscale processes within the study area (the Iberian Poleward Current and mesoscale eddies), and the highest correlations between radar and altimetry (up to 0.64) occur in the slope where the Iberian Poleward Current represents a significant part of the variability in the circulation. Besides, the use of an Ekman model, to add the wind-induced current component to the altimetry-derived geostrophic currents, increases the agreement between both data sets (increasing the correlation by around 10 %).

Rapid spread of resistance to vancomycin has generated difficult to treat bacterial pathogens worldwide. Though vancomycin resistance is often conferred by the conjugative transposon Tn1549, it is yet unclear whether Tn1549 moves actively between bacteria. Here we demonstrate, through development of an in vivo assay system, that a mini-Tn1549 can transpose in E. coli away from its natural Gram-positive host. We find the transposon-encoded INT enzyme and its catalytic tyrosine Y380 to be essential for transposition. A second Tn1549 protein, XIS is important for efficient and accurate transposition. We further show that DNA flanking the left transposon end is critical for excision, with changes to nucleotides 7 and 9 impairing movement. These mutations could be partially compensated for by changing the final nucleotide of the right transposon end, implying concerted excision of the two ends. With changes in these essential DNA sequences, or without XIS, a large amount of flanking DNA transposes with Tn1549. This rescues mobility and allows the transposon to capture and transfer flanking genomic DNA. We further identify the transposon integration target sites as TTTT-N6-AAAA. Overall, our results provide molecular insights into conjugative transposition and the adaptability of Tn1549 for efficient antibiotic resistance transfer.

Human mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM) distorts DNA into a U-turn, as shown by crystallographic studies. The relevance of this U-turn is associated with transcription initiation at the mitochondrial light strand promoter (LSP). However, it has not been yet discerned whether a tight U-turn or an alternative conformation, such as a V-shape, is formed in solution. Here, single-molecule FRET experiments on freely diffusing TFAM/LSP complexes containing different DNA lengths show that a DNA U-turn is induced by progressive and cooperative binding of the two TFAM HMG-box domains and the linker between them. SAXS studies further show compaction of the protein upon complex formation. Finally, molecular dynamics simulations reveal that TFAM/LSP complexes are dynamic entities, and the HMG boxes induce the U-turn against the tendency of the DNA to adopt a straighter conformation. This tension is resolved by reversible unfolding of the linker, which is a singular mechanism that allows a flexible protein to stabilize a tight bending of DNA., This work was supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) (BFU2012-33516 and BFU2015-70645-R to M.S., and BIO2012-32868 and BFU2014-61670-EXP to M.O.); Generalitat de Catalunya (SGR2009-1366 and 2014-SGR-997 to M.S., and SGR2009- 1348, 2014 SGR-134 to M.O.); the Instituto Nacional de Bioinforma´tica; the European Union (FP7-HEALTH-2010-261460, FP7-PEOPLE-2011- 290246, and FP7-HEALTH-2012-306029-2 to M.S., and H2020-EINFRA-2015-1-675728 and H2020-EINFRA-2015-676556 to M.O.); and the European Research Council (ERC-2011-ADG_20110209-291433 to M.O.). A.R.-C. was awarded with a ‘‘Junta para la Ampliacio´n de Estudios’’ (Programa JAE) fellowship from Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientı´ficas (CSIC). The Structural Biology Unit at IBMB-CSIC is a ‘‘Maria de Maeztu’’ Unit of Excellence awarded by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) under MDM-2014-0435. IRB Barcelona is the recipient of a Severo Ochoa Award of Excellence from the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO). The CBS is a member of the French Infrastructure for Integrated Structural Biology (FRISBI), a national infrastructure supported by the French National Research Agency (ANR-10-INBS-05).

The ability of the guanine-rich strand of the human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to form G-quadruplex structures (G4s) has been recently highlighted, suggesting potential functions in mtDNA replication initiation and mtDNA stability. G4 structures in mtDNA raise the question of their recognition by factors associated with the mitochondrial nucleoid. The mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM), a high-mobility group (HMG)-box protein, is the major binding protein of human mtDNA and plays a critical role in its expression and maintenance. HMG-box proteins are pleiotropic sensors of DNA structural alterations. Thus, we investigated and uncovered a surprising ability of TFAM to bind to DNA or RNA G4 with great versatility, showing an affinity similar than to double-stranded DNA. The recognition of G4s by endogenous TFAM was detected in mitochondrial extracts by pull-down experiments using a G4-DNA from the mtDNA conserved sequence block II (CSBII). Biochemical characterization shows that TFAM binding to G4 depends on both the G-quartets core and flanking single-stranded overhangs. Additionally, it shows a structure-specific binding mode that differs from B-DNA, including G4-dependent TFAM multimerization. These TFAM-G4 interactions suggest functional recognition of G4s in the mitochondria.

Transcription factor A (TFAM) is involved in the transcription regulation, maintenance and compaction of the mitochondrial genome. Recent structural data on TFAM showed its mode of operation and clarified previous biochemical and genetic results. In solution, TFAM is highly dynamic. According to crystal structures of its complex with the cognate light-strand promoter (LSP) binding sequence, it intertwines and dramatically bends DNA, thereby allowing interactions with the transcription initiation machinery. Recent studies have shown TFAM sliding on non-specific DNA, which induces compaction by increasing DNA flexibility. Finally, the structural localization of disease-related TFAM mutations suggests functional impairment at the molecular level. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd., This study was supported by MINECO (BFU2009-07134), Generalitat de Catalunya (SGR2009-1366), and the EU (FP7-HEALTH-2010-261460, FP7-PEOPLE-2011-290246, FP7-HEALTH-2012-306029-2). ARC holds a JAE fellowship from CSIC.

International audience; High Frequency Radar (HFR) is a land-based remote sensing instrument offering a unique insight to coastal ocean variability, by providing synoptic, high frequency and high resolution data at the ocean atmosphere interface. HFRs have become invaluable tools in the field of operational oceanography for measuring surface currents, waves and winds, with direct applications in different sectors and an unprecedented potential for the integrated management of the coastal zone. In Europe, the number of HFR networks has been showing a significant growth over the past 10 years, with over 50 HFRs currently deployed and a number in the planning stage. There is also a growing literature concerning the use of this technology in research and operational oceanography. A big effort is made in Europe toward a coordinated development of coastal HFR technology and its products within the framework of different European and international initiatives. One recent initiative has been to make an up-to-date inventory of the existing HFR operational systems in Europe, describing the characteristics of the systems, their operational products and applications. This paper offers a comprehensive review on the present status of European HFR network, and discusses the next steps toward the integration of HFR platforms as operational components of the European Ocean Observing System, designed to align and integrate Europe’s ocean observing capacity for a truly integrated end-to-end observing system for the European coasts.

The ability of the guanine-rich strand of the human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to form G-quadruplex structures (G4s) has been recently highlighted, suggesting potential functions in mtDNA replication initiation and mtDNA stability. G4 structures in mtDNA raise the question of their recognition by factors associated with the mitochondrial nucleoid. The mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM), a high-mobility group (HMG)-box protein, is the major binding protein of human mtDNA and plays a critical role in its expression and maintenance. HMG-box proteins are pleiotropic sensors of DNA structural alterations. Thus, we investigated and uncovered a surprising ability of TFAM to bind to DNA or RNA G4 with great versatility, showing an affinity similar than to double-stranded DNA. The recognition of G4s by endogenous TFAM was detected in mitochondrial extracts by pull-down experiments using a G4-DNA from the mtDNA conserved sequence block II (CSBII). Biochemical characterization shows that TFAM binding to G4 depends on both the G-quartets core and flanking single-stranded overhangs. Additionally, it shows a structure-specific binding mode that differs from B-DNA, including G4-dependent TFAM multimerization. These TFAM-G4 interactions suggest functional recognition of G4s in the mitochondria., We thank Gilles Mirambeau, Dmitry Temiakov and Arka Chakraborty for valuable discussion. The Structural Biology Unit is “Maria de Maeztu” Unit of Excellence awarded by Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) [MDM-2014-0435]. This study was supported by MINECO (BFU2009-07134, BFU2012-33516/ BMC, BFU2015-70645-R), Generalitat de Catalunya (SGR2009-1366, SGR2014-997), the European Union (FP7-HEALTH-2010-261460, FP7-PEOPLE-2011-290246, FP7-HEALTH-2012-306029-2) and the Spanish Research Council for a JAE fellowship to ARC.

Since 2007, high temporal resolution time-series of currents, temperature and salinity, from two oceanic moorings, have provided information on the local water column dynamics and hydrography, over the slope of the southeastern part of the Bay of Biscay. In this study, these data are analysed to describe the variability observed in currents and stratification conditions, at different time scales. A well-defined seasonal cycle is the dominant signal in temperature and salinity, with a surface mixed layer that shows temperatures over 20 °C, low salinities and depths between 30 and 50 m from July to September. Likewise, currents present marked seasonal and mesoscale variability. The most intense currents, oriented to the E–SE, occur from November to January, when the Iberian Poleward Current is sampled by both moorings. Much weaker currents, mainly oriented to the SW, are observed during the stratified months. Vertically, the flow is markedly barotropic and shows low variability at that scales, although vertical coherence decreases for the stratified period and significant vertical variability linked to high frequency processes is observed. Since energy contents around the main tidal peaks are lower than in other areas of the Bay, the contribution of the inertial band to the high frequency variability appears to be especially important in this region. The results obtained suggest that inertial oscillations contribute significantly to the vertical shear during the stratified period and might have a significant role in favouring the vertical mixing over the area.

The Basque coastal area, in the southeastern Bay of Biscay, can be characterised as being strongly influenced by land climate. This, together with the presence of irregular and steep topography, complicates considerably the coastal water circulation patterns. Time-series of hourly currents, surface atmospheric pressure and wind data were analysed for two coastal stations. This research quantified the contribution of gravitational and radiational tides (breezes and solar atmospheric tides) to the coastal water circulation. Moreover, the spatial and seasonal differences in such processes were determined. This investigation has revealed that radiational tides induce diurnal and semidiurnal water motions. These exist together with higher frequency diurnal harmonics caused by anharmonic radiational wind forcing. The radiational forcing contributed similarly to water motion at the stations. The radiational currents varied seasonally, accounting for 20% and 8% of the total kinetic energy in summer and winter, respectively. In comparison, the gravitational currents were more pronounced in the station affected by estuarine dynamics.

Human mitochondrial transcription factor A, TFAM, is essential for mitochondrial DNA packaging and maintenance and also has a crucial role in transcription. Crystallographic analysis of TFAM in complex with an oligonucleotide containing the mitochondrial light strand promoter (LSP) revealed two high-mobility group (HMG) protein domains that, through different DNA recognition properties, intercalate residues at two inverted DNA motifs. This induced an overall DNA bend of ~180°, stabilized by the interdomain linker. This U-turn allows the TFAM C-terminal tail, which recruits the transcription machinery, to approach the initiation site, despite contacting a distant DNA sequence. We also ascertained that structured protein regions contacting DNA in the crystal were highly flexible in solution in the absence of DNA. Our data suggest that TFAM bends LSP to create an optimal DNA arrangement for transcriptional initiation while facilitating DNA compaction elsewhere in the genome., This study was supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (grants BFU2006-09593 to M.S., BFU2009-07134 to M.S., BFU2008-02372 to M.C., CSD2006-00023), Generalitat de Catalunya (SGR2009-1366 to M.S., SGR2009-1309 to M.C., SGR2009-1352 to P.B.), the European Union (FP7-HEALTH-2010-261460 to M.S., FP7-BioNMR-2010-261863 to P.B.), and Instituto de Salud Carlos III-FIS-PI 10/00662. The Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras is an initiative of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III. A.R.-C., J.F.S., N.J.-M. and P.F.-M. hold or held fellowships from Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, MICINN and Cusanswerk-Bischöfliche Studienförderung.

International audience; We characterize eddy activity in the southern Benguela upwelling system with absolute sea level data deduced from remote-sensing measurements and numerical simulations run with a regional model, using a wavelet-based technique for identification and tracking of coherent structures. Statistics on eddy count, size, type and location are obtained along the continental slope of the upwelling system for a common period of interest shared by model and satellite data. We draw a comparison between mesoscale variability calculated by the regional model and ground truth accounted by satellite altimetry. We show that the presence of cyclonic eddies along the upwelling front over the South Benguela slope is recurrent throughout the year. Moreover, the agreement between model and observations is fair and validates the modeling approach. Tracking in the model of volume properties of continental slope, cyclonic eddies on their way toward the open ocean suggests that these eddies play a significant role in coastal–open ocean exchanges. With lifetimes of several months, these eddies can export significant volumes of nutrient-rich waters far from the coastal upwelling.

The reconstruction of currents at 50 m depth was performed in the Gulf of Lions, merging Lagrangian data with outputs from a numerical ocean model. The Lagrangian data set consists of trajectories obtained from 12 satellite-tracked drifters released in the Northern Current in June 2005. The low-pass filtered trajectories revealed the well-known mean patterns of along-slope circulation and sampled its mesoscale activity, showing meandering pathways over the slope and closed pathways trapped over the shelf. They were used to reorganise the model eddy activity by refining the location and shape of meanders and eddies. The impacts of the reconstruction procedure were assessed by comparing the simulated and reconstructed fields with simultaneous SST images. Finally, the reconstructed fields were used to study some of the observed mesoscale structures. They provide a realistic scenario for diagnostics of the shelf-slope transports in the Gulf of Lions.

In autumn 2009, the implementation of two successive acoustic surveys targeting juvenile anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) in the Bay of Biscay allowed us to monitor the changes in the spatial distribution and aggregation patterns of juveniles of this species during 45 days under fairly stable meteorological conditions. Juvenile anchovy changed its biological condition and behavior in a different manner in two distinct areas. In the Spanish sector, the juveniles migrated 20 nautical miles (n.mi.) towards the coast, but they remained on the shelf and near the surface during the whole surveyed period. As the advance towards the shelf break progressed, their area of distribution decreased, their density increased and the juveniles spread in fewer but heavier shoals. In the French sector, the juveniles also migrated from slope waters towards the coast at a similar velocity, but they crossed the shelf break into the continental shelf, where they increased their mean depth significantly until gradually adopting the typical nyctemeral migrations of adult anchovy. The mean length of the juveniles that adopted the nyctemeral migrations was significantly higher than that of the juveniles remaining at the surface, suggesting that body size is relevant to accomplish this change. Besides, the stronger temperature gradients between the shelf and oceanic waters in the Spanish sector, favored by a narrow shelf, may have acted as a barrier influencing the distinct observed spatial patterns in the two areas., SI

Neurovascular dysfunction substantially contributes to Alzheimer disease. Here, we show that transcriptional profiling of human brain endothelial cells (BECs) defines a subset of genes whose expression is age-independent but is considerably altered in Alzheimer disease, including the homeobox gene MEOX2 (also known as GAX), a regulator of vascular differentiation, whose expression is low in Alzheimer disease. By using viral-mediated MEOX2 gene silencing and transfer, we show that restoring expression of the protein it encodes, GAX, in BECs from individuals with Alzheimer disease stimulates angiogenesis, transcriptionally suppresses AFX1 forkhead transcription factor-mediated apoptosis and increases the levels of a major amyloid-beta peptide (Abeta) clearance receptor, the low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (LRP), at the blood-brain barrier. In mice, deletion of Meox2 (also known as Gax) results in reductions in brain capillary density and resting cerebral blood flow, loss of the angiogenic response to hypoxia in the brain and an impaired Abeta efflux from brain caused by reduced LRP levels. The link of MEOX2 to neurovascular dysfunction in Alzheimer disease provides new mechanistic and therapeutic insights into this illness.

15 pages.-- Printed version published in issue Aug-Sep 2005.-- Issue title: "Mediterranean physical oceanography and biogeochemical cycles: Mediterranean general circulation and climate variability" Through the analysis of satellite thermal images, mesoscale anticyclonic eddies have been observed to recurrently drift along the NW Mediterranean coasts. The presence of these eddies is known to cause transient “inversions” of the shelf–slope current. By means of an exhaustive analysis of sea surface temperature images a group of anticyclonic structures were monitored in September 2001. One of these eddy-like features was tracked and intensely surveyed by means of conductivity–temperature–depth (CTD) casts and repeated fast surveys with Nν-Shuttle (oscillating CTD) and Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) measurements during the ET2001 oceanographic cruise. A well developed anticyclonic eddy was surveyed over the Catalan continental shelf, 60 km north of Barcelona. In situ velocity data revealed that the anticyclonic motion was characterized by surface velocities of 50 cm/s and a diameter of about 45 km. The signal of the eddy was found down to 100 m depth, well below the seasonal thermocline. The passage of the eddy modified the local flow, involving advection and subduction of surrounding waters This study forms part of the project "Génesis, evolución temporal, translación y efectos de remolinos de mesoescala sobre la plataforma continental catalana" (MAR1999–1010), which has been funded by the Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología (CYCIT). The works of A. Rubio and G. Jordà are funded by a grant from the Spanish Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deportes and the work of M.M. Flexas was funded by a FI grant from the Generalitat de Catalunya. The contribution of P. Arnau has been developed in Concerted Action Proposal for the 5th EU Framework Program "European Co-ordination on Mediterranean and Black Sea Prodeltas" (EURODELTA; EVK3-CT-2002-20001), supported by the EU

In order to analyse the criteria used by organizations in their selection of suppliers and to compare them with those provided by the literature, a survey has been designed with which a field study has been carried out. The article shows some the most relevant conclusions of the field study, after a statistical analysis (descriptive and principal components) of the responses. In this work the methodology used for the creation of the survey is also detailed.

International audience; The presence of a quasi-stationary anticyclonic eddy within the southeastern Bay of Biscay (centred around 44°30′N–4°W) has been reported on various occasions in the bibliography. The analysis made in this study for the period 2003–2010, by using in situ and remote sensing measurements and model results shows that this mesoscale coherent structure is present almost every year from the end of winter-beginning of spring, to the beginning of fall. During this period it remains in an area limited to the east by the Landes Plateau, to the west by Le Danois Bank and Torrelavega canyon and to the northwest by the Jovellanos seamount. All the observations and analysis made in this contribution, suggest that this structure is generated between Capbreton and Torrelavega canyons. Detailed monitoring from in situ and remote sensing data of an anticyclonic quasi-stationary eddy, in 2008, shows the origin of this structure from a warm water current located around 43°42′N–3°30′W in mid-January. This coherent structure is monitored until August around the same area, where it has a marked influence on the Sea Level Anomaly, Sea Surface Temperature and surface Chlorophyll-a concentration. An eddy tracking method, applied to the outputs of a numerical model, shows that the model is able to reproduce this type of eddy, with similar 2D characteristics and lifetimes to that suggested by the observations and previous works. This is the case, for instance, of the simulated MAY04 eddy, which was generated in May 2004 around Torrelavega canyon and remained quasi-stationary in the area for 4 months. The diameter of this eddy ranged from 40 to 60 km, its azimuthal velocity was less than 20 cm s−1, its vertical extension reached 3000–3500 m depth during April and May and it was observed to interact with other coherent structures.

High frequency (HF) radar stations have been working operationally in the southeastern part of the Bay of Biscay since 2009. The (2) systems provide hourly surface currents, with 5 km spatial resolution and a radial coverage lying close to 180 km. The detailed and quantitative description of the spatial patterns observed by the HF radar offers new evidence on the main ocean processes, at different time scales, affecting a study area where surface currents show marked temporal and spatial variability. A clear seasonality in terms of sea surface currents and along-slope circulation is observed, with cyclonic and anticyclonic patterns during the winter and summer months, respectively. From the analysis of low-pass filtered currents, a key component of this seasonal variability is associated with the surface signature of the slope current (Iberian Poleward Current (IPC)). Clearly intensified over the upper part of the slope, this current circulates eastward off the Spanish coast and northward over the French shelves in winter. Examination of the HF radar current fields reveals the presence of mesoscale structures over the area. At higher frequencies, an EOF (empirical orthogonal function) analysis of the inertial band-pass filtered data is used to study the complex spatial and temporal patterns associated with these processes and to evaluate quantitatively the relative contribution of the high frequency to the total variability, in space and time. Overall, inertial currents represent between 10 and 40% of the total variability; their contribution is significantly greater in summer and over the deeper part of the slope. Tides contribute much less than the total kinetic energy (KE), although their contribution over the shelf can be higher than that of the inertial oscillations, during winter.

et al., The regulation of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) processes is slowly being characterized at a structural level. We present here crystal structures of human mitochondrial regulator mTERF, a transcription termination factor also implicated in replication pausing, in complex with double-stranded DNA oligonucleotides containing the tRNA Leu UUR gene sequence. mTERF comprises nine left-handed helical tandem repeats that form a left-handed superhelix, the Zurdo domain. © 2010 Nature America, Inc. All rights reserved., This study was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (grants BFU2006-09593, BFU2009-07134, BIO2009-10576, BFU2008-02372, FIS-PI070045), Generalitat de Catalunya (SGR2009-1366 and SGR2009-1309) and the European Community (LSHG-2006-031220). A.R.-C. and P.F.-M. hold fellowships from CSIC and the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. P.B. holds a Ramon y Cajal contract.

Two HF Radar CODAR SeaSonde stations are working operationally in the south-eastern Bay of Biscay since 2009 (Fig. 1). The HF radar stations are emitting at a central frequency of 4.86 MHz and provide hourly surface currents with 5 km radial and 5° angular resolutions and a 150 km mean radial coverage. The examination of 3 year HF radar data reveals a well-defined seasonal variability of sea surface currents and the circulation along the slope in the area. In this contribution different Lagrangian exercises have been performed to evaluate the skills of the HF radar system to reproduce the drifter trajectories available in the study area at different periods. The mean distance observed between real and radar derived trajectories after 6 hours of simulation is of 4.6 km. Moreover, a description of the surface circulation in the area from a Lagrangian point of view is provided, with regard to the variability observed at different time-space scales. In addition to a well-defined seasonality, the presence of mesoscale cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies is recurrent in the area covered by the HF radar. Mesoscale variability is observed to have a substantial impact on the Lagrangian transport in the area.

In April – November 2009, surface salinity data provide a good coverage of most of the south-east Bay of Biscay and nearby Aquitaine/Armorican shelves. By late April most of the shelf, in particular south of 46°N, is covered by a fresh surface layer amounting to a fresh water volume of 49·10 9 m 3 . At that time, a moderate amount of fresh water has spread over the Landes Plateau. By mid-June, this shelf water penetrates over the Cape Ferret Canyon north of the Landes Plateau. By mid-July, it is found west of the Landes Plateau to at least 4°W, with an estimated fresh-water content of 11 – 14·10 9 m 3 . Drifters deployed on June 17 in the Cape Ferret Canyon, or later on the shelves, con fi rm the spreading of shelf fresh-water over the deep ocean. Lagrangian tracking using altimetric products, also con fi rms the transport by a quasi-stationary circulation. Operational numerical simula- tions (PREVIMER, IBI, HYCOM) display this spread of the freshwater, but in different areas. In particular, all have some fresh water escaping westward near the coast in the Basque region, which is not observed. Later in the summer season, the fresh water spreads westward to south-westward and along the shelf break to at least 5.5°W in late September.

This article reflects on how some values, interests, and particularities of 2.0 culture enter on higher and postgraduate education institutions. Through theidentification of the features of 2.0, this document visualizes some of the resistances, obstacles, possibilities, and opportunities detected in these institutions, many of them focusing on the core of the higher education and postgraduate institutions (i.e. strategic vision, methodology, role of teachers and students, relation between formal and informal learning, contents and assessment). Responsibility in the training and updating of current and future professionals places these institutions under the discussion and decision-making process related to the role that 2.0 tools should play. We wonder if it implies a crossroad which affects the whole set of attitudes and values on the role of training institutions in the context of the construction of socialized knowledge.

HF radar surface current data together with data from two operational offshore oceanographic buoys located over the slope are used to map the variability associated with the near-inertial waves, during a target year (2009), in the SE Bay of Biscay. The results obtained show the complex 4D distribution of inertial oscillations in this area. We find a very pronounced horizontal structure across the area with ranges of a factor 5 in near-inertial kinetic energy. This pattern presents also strong seasonal variability, with a peak in KE closer to the shelf-break in summer, whereas winter maximum is weaker and located further to the north-east. The mooring data indicate more trapping near the surface in summer. These patterns are discussed in relation to the known seasonal differences in atmospheric/buoyancy forcing and the characteristics of the sub-inertial surface velocity field.

16 pages, 11 figures, 3 table, We report, from remote sensing and in situ observations, a new type of permanent structure in the eastern subtropical Atlantic Ocean, that we call the ‘‘Canary Eddy Corridor’’. The phenomenon, is a zonal long-lived (43 months) mesoscale eddy corridor, whose source is the flow perturbation of the Canary Current and the Trade Winds at the Canary Islands. The latitudinal range of the corridor spans 221N–291N and extends from the Canaries to at least 32ºW, near the mid-Atlantic. This is the main region of longlived westward-propagating eddies in the subtropical northeast Atlantic. From a agedistribution study we observe that at least 10% of mesoscale eddies in this region are long-lived, with a dominance of anticyclones over cyclones. Another four westwardpropagating eddy corridors were also detected: two small corridors north and south of the Azores Front; a small zonal corridor located near 31ºN, south of the island of Madeira; and a small corridor located near the Cape Blanc giant filament. The existence of these corridors may change, at least for the northeastern subtropical Atlantic, the general idea that mesoscale eddies are disorganized, ubiquitous structures in the ocean. The Canary Eddy Corridor constitutes a direct zonal pathway that conveys water massand biogeochemical properties offshore from the Canary Island/Northwest Africa upwelling system, and may be seen as a recurrent offshore pump of organic matter and carbon to the oligotrophic ocean interior. Estimates of volume and mass transport indicate that Canary Eddy Corridor westward transport is more than one-fourth of the southward transport of the Canary Current. The westward transport of kinetic energy by the eddies of the Canary Corridor is as important as the southward transport by the Canary Current. The total primary production related to the Corridor may be as high as the total primary production of the northwest Africa upwelling system for the same latitude range, This work was supported by the Spanish government through projects RODA (CTM2004-06842) and CANOA (CTM2005-00444/MAR), and by the US National Science Foundation project ‘‘Vorticity generation and eddy evolution in island wakes’’ (OCE 06-23011) and by NASA project ‘‘NNX08AI84G’’

Amyloid beta-peptide (Abeta) deposition in cerebral vessels contributes to cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Here, we report that in AD patients and two mouse models of AD, overexpression of serum response factor (SRF) and myocardin (MYOCD) in cerebral vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) generates an Abeta non-clearing VSMC phenotype through transactivation of sterol regulatory element binding protein-2, which downregulates low density lipoprotein receptor-related protein-1, a key Abeta clearance receptor. Hypoxia stimulated SRF/MYOCD expression in human cerebral VSMCs and in animal models of AD. We suggest that SRF and MYOCD function as a transcriptional switch, controlling Abeta cerebrovascular clearance and progression of AD.

Different remote sensing data were combined to characterise a winter anticyclonic eddy in the southeastern Bay of Biscay and to infer its effects on cross-shelf exchanges, in a period when typical along shelf-slope currents depict a cyclonic pattern. While the joint analysis of available satellite data (infrared, visible and altimetry) permitted the characterisation and tracking of the anticyclone properties and path, data from a coastal high-frequency radar system enabled a quantitative analysis of the surface cross-shelf transports associated with this anticyclone. The warm core anticyclone had a diameter of around 50 km, maximum azimuthal velocities near 50 cm s− 1 and a relative vorticity of up to −0.45f. The eddy generation occurred after the relaxation of a cyclonic wind-driven current regime over the shelf-slope; then, the eddy remained stationary for several weeks until it started to drift northwards along the shelf break. The surface signature of this eddy was observed by means of high-frequency radar data for 20 consecutive days, providing a unique opportunity to characterise and quantify, from a Lagrangian perspective, the associated transport and its effect on the Chl-a surface distribution. We observed the presence of mesoscale structures with similar characteristics in the area during different winters within the period 2011–2014. Our results suggest that the eddy-induced recurrent cross-shelf export is an effective mechanism for the expansion of coastal productive waters into the adjacent oligotrophic ocean basin.