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This research analyzes the perceptions of youths living in the border space of the Strait of Gibraltar; a maritime and land border that not only separates two countries (Spain and Morocco) but also two continents (Europe and Africa). Thirty-nine youths residing in Algeciras, La Línea, Tangiers and Tetouan were interviewed about cultural positioning and identity; border space (opportunities and tensions) and emigration. The interviews were conducted between October 2019 and February 2020 in Spanish and Arabic according to the interviewee’s mother tongue and analyzed using Nvivo 12. Cultural diversity is recognized and generally perceived as something positive on both sides of the border, although there are certain issues that can strain relations between the two groups, these include religion, freedom versus discipline and control over being young and the role assigned to women in each culture., Esta investigación analiza las percepciones de jóvenes que habitan el espacio fronterizo del Estrecho de Gibraltar; una frontera marítima y terrestre que no solo separa dos países (España y Marruecos) sino también dos continentes (Europa y África). Se entrevistó a 39 jóvenes residentes en Algeciras, La Línea, Tánger y Tetuán, sobre posicionamiento cultural e identidad, espacio fronteri-zo (oportunidades y tensiones) y emigración. Las entrevistas fueron realizadas entre octubre de 2019 y febrero de 2020 en español y en árabe según la lengua materna del entrevistado y analizadas mediante NVivo 12. La diversidad cultu-ral es reconocida y se percibe en general como algo positivo en ambos lados de la frontera, si bien existen ciertos temas que pueden tensionar las relacio-nes entre ambos colectivos como la religión, la libertad versus la disciplina y el control sobre el ser joven y el rol que se le asigna a la mujer en cada cultura.

La región palial de los vertebrados constituye la porción más dorsal del telencéfalo. Sólo en el caso de algunos amniotas, como los mamíferos y los reptiles, esta estructura se dispone en capas, mientras que en el resto de los vertebrados no presenta una distribución laminar. Por lo que se trata de una región cerebral muy diversa en cuanto a su organización. En los mamíferos, este territorio es responsable de sistemas funcionales altamente complejos, como el aprendizaje, la memoria, el procesamiento de la información sensitiva o de las emociones. Por ello, estudiar su origen y los cambios que ha sufrido a lo largo de la evolución constituye una herramienta muy importante a la hora de comprender los procesos que regula. La comparación entre distintas especies de animales es de gran utilidad para discernir entre conservación, convergencia o divergencia de las poblaciones neuronales, las redes de conexión o las funciones de la región palial/cortical. Y más concretamente, los anfibios son un modelo clave en este escenario ya que constituyen el modelo vivo evolutivamente más próximo al ancestro común, del que derivaron los primeros vertebrados amniotas (mamíferos, aves y reptiles) hace alrededor de 320 millones de años..., The pallial region of vertebrates is the most dorsal portion of the telencephalon. Only in some amniotes, such as mammals and reptiles, does it have a layered organization. In all other vertebrates there are no laminar structures, making it a diverse brain structure in terms of organization. In mammals, this region is responsible for highly complex functional systems such as learning, memory, sensory information processing and emotion processing. For this reason, studying its origin and the changes it has undergone throughout evolution is an important tool for understanding the processes it regulates. Comparison between different animal species is useful to discern between conservation, convergence or divergence of neuronal populations, connection networks or the functions of the pallial/cortical region. More specifically, amphibians serve as a key model in this scenario as they may represent the common ancestor from which the first amniote vertebrates (mammals, birds and reptiles) derived around 320 million years ago...

El concepto de “mascota” ha variado con el tiempo. Hace años, con este término, se identificaban perros, gatos, pequeños mamíferos o algunas aves domésticas. Hoy es relativamente normal encontrar, en domicilios particulares o en colecciones privadas, todo tipo de anfibios, reptiles, aves o mamíferos considerados como “exóticos”. Esta circunstancia ha generado la necesidad de un un conocimiento más amplio de ellos. Este mejor conocimiento resulta importante para los estudiantes del Grado en Veterinaria y en Ciencias Biológicas, los del Máster en Neurociencia, los del Diploma de Especialización en Animales Exóticos y Salvajes (ambos de la UCM) y, por supuesto, para profesionales veterinarios y biólogos. La neuroanatomía animal es una ciencia aún poco conocida. En nuestra propuesta, la elección de un reptil (la tortuga) y de un mamífero (el gato) no es casual. Es en los reptiles en los que aparece un primer esbozo de una corteza nueva que en los mamçiferos superiores constituirá lo que conocemos como hemisferios cerebrales. Esta corteza no existe en el grupo inmediatamente anterior, los anfibios. En cuanto al gat, es el animal doméstico por excelencia, junto con el perro, objeto de estudio en un proyecto anterior. Por las razones antes comentadas, el objetivo de la propuesta es poner a disposición de alumnos y profesionales un recurso educativo, en abierto, dinámico, y adaptado a la enseñanza virtual. Lo que plantea nuestro grupo es dar continuidad a un proyecto anterior (88/2021), con un mismo planteamiento, es decir, el de asociar resonancias magnéticas con imágenes de secciones cerebrales e impresiones 3D, para hacer una herramienta virtual, dinámica e interactiva. Dicha herramienta se puede alojar en el campus virtual de la UCM o en cualquier otro espacio virtual.

Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) is the most abundant water channel in the central nervous system and plays a fundamental role in maintaining water homeostasis there. In adult mice, AQP4 is located mainly in ependymal cells, in the endfeet of perivascular astrocytes, and in the glia limitans. Meanwhile, its expression, location, and function throughout postnatal development remain largely unknown. Here, the expression of AQP4 mRNA was studied by in situ hybridization and RT-qPCR, and the localization and amount of protein was studied by immunofluorescence and western blotting, both in the brain and spinal cord. For this, wild-type mice of the C57BL/6 line, aged 1, 3, 7, 11, 20, and 60 days, and 18 months were used. The results showed a change in both the expression and location of AQP4 in postnatal development compared to those during adult life. In the early stages of postnatal development it appears in highly myelinated areas, such as the corpus callosum or cerebellum, and as the animal grows, it disappears from these areas, passing through the cortical regions of the forebrain and concentrating around the blood vessels. These findings suggest an unprecedented possible role for AQP4 in the early cell differentiation process, during the first days of life in the newborn animal, which will lead to myelination.

Featured Application: Pistachio orchard management using remote sensing with UAVs. Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) has earned recognition as a significant crop due to its unique nutrient composition and its adaptability to the growing threat of climate change. Consequently, the utilization of remote sensing techniques for non-invasive pistachio monitoring has become critically important. This research was conducted in two pistachio orchards located in Spain, aiming to assess the effectiveness of vegetation indices (VIs) in estimating nut yield and quality under various irrigation conditions. To this end, high-resolution multispectral and thermal imagery were gathered using a Micasense ALTUM sensor carried by a DJI Inspire 2 drone in order to calculate the NDRE (normalized difference red edge index), GNDVI (green normalized difference vegetation index), NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index), and CWSI (crop water stress index). Each orchard underwent two flights at distinct growth stages, totaling four flights. In June, NDRE-carbohydrates (r = 0.78) and CWSI-oleic (r = 0.77) showed the highest correlations, while in September, CWSI-carbohydrates (r = 0.62) and NDVI-iron (r = 0.54) Despite NDVI’s limitations due to saturation effects, all VIs had significant yield and quality correlations, with GNDVI proving most effective in both flights. CWSI correlated considerably on both dates in terms of several quality parameters (carbohydrate percentage, magnesium, iron, and fatty acids, namely palmitoyl, stearic, oleic, and linoleic), surpassing non-thermal indices. Finally, it is important to consider the impact of environmental factors, such as the location of the sun, when interpreting the CWSI, as it modifies the temperature distribution pattern within the canopy. This study supports the viability of remote sensing and vegetation indices as potential tools for enhancing the management of pistachio orchards.

Although follicular lymphoma (FL) patients relapsing within 24 months after first-line treatment (POD24) have a poor prognosis, some cases show notable survival after first relapse (SF1R). We aimed to characterize the POD24 FL population and to identify the main prognostic factors at progression. We selected 162 POD24 patients (80F; median age at first relapse 59 years) from a cohort of 1067 grades 1-3a FL-treated patients. The remaining 905 patients treated with first-line immunochemotherapy and diagnosed during the same period were used to compare outcomes in terms of survival. After a median follow-up of 11.0 years, 96 patients died (10y-SF1R of 40%). Age over 60 years (p < 0.001), high lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) (p < 0.001), haemoglobin (Hb) less than 120 g/L (p < 0.001), advanced stage (p < 0.001), high-risk Follicular Lymphoma International Prognostic Index (FLIPI) (p < 0.001), histological transformation (HT) (p < 0.001) and reaching less than complete response (CR) after salvage therapy (p < 0.001), predicted poor SF1R at relapse. In multivariate analysis only high-risk FLIPI and HT maintained prognostic significance for SF1R. POD24 patients not transformed and with low/intermediate FLIPI at relapse behaved better than the remaining cases. POD24 patients showed an excess mortality of 38% compared to the general population. Although outcome of POD24 FL patients is poor, a considerable group of them (low/intermediate FLIPI and not transformed at first relapse) behave better.

Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) is the most abundant water channel in the central nervous system and plays a fundamental role in maintaining water homeostasis there. In adult mice, AQP4 is located mainly in ependymal cells, in the endfeet of perivascular astrocytes, and in the glia limitans. Meanwhile, its expression, location, and function throughout postnatal development remain largely unknown. Here, the expression of AQP4 mRNA was studied by in situ hybridization and RT-qPCR, and the localization and amount of protein was studied by immunofluorescence and western blotting, both in the brain and spinal cord. For this, wild-type mice of the C57BL/6 line, aged 1, 3, 7, 11, 20, and 60 days, and 18 months were used. The results showed a change in both the expression and location of AQP4 in postnatal development compared to those during adult life. In the early stages of postnatal development it appears in highly myelinated areas, such as the corpus callosum or cerebellum, and as the animal grows, it disappears from these areas, passing through the cortical regions of the forebrain and concentrating around the blood vessels. These findings suggest an unprecedented possible role for AQP4 in the early cell differentiation process, during the first days of life in the newborn animal, which will lead to myelination.

Soil water deficit and salinity represent a major factor impacting plant survival and agricultural production. The frequency and severity of both abiotic stresses are expected to increase in a context of climate change, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. This work studied the growth pattern, biomass and mineral distribution and the seasonal pattern of water status, photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance in plant of Pistacia lentiscus grown under different levels of water deficit and salinity. P. lentiscus plants growing under greenhouse conditions were subjected to four irrigation treatments during 11 months: control (C, 1 dS m-1), moderate water deficit (MW, 1dS m-1, 60% of the control), severe water deficit (SW, 1 dS m-1, 40% of the control) and saline (S, 4dS m-1). The results show that Pistacia lentiscus plants were more affected by deficit irrigation than salinity. Deficit irrigation and salinity inhibited plant height, with reductions of 20%, 22% and 35% for S, MW and SW, respectively. Total leaf area was not modified by effect of the treatments, with the result that plant compactness increased in MW. The salt stressed plants only showed lower relative growth rate at the end of the experiment. Plants responded to saline or drought stress by increasing their osmotic adjustment, which was more pronounced under salinity. Saline plants had the highest values in Na+ and Cl- ions and the lowest values for K+/Na+ and Ca2+/Na+ ratios in leaves and stems, which is correlated with a decrease in growth, stomatal conductance, photosynthesis and stem water potential, and can be used as a diagnostic tool to assess plant tolerance to salinity stress. As a measure of plant hydration, relative water content was more sensitive to deficit irrigation than salinity, being a good indicator of water stress. P. lentiscus plants subjected to both deficit irrigation treatments exhibited an increase in their intrinsic water use efficiency, which is an important adaptation f