Functional Traits in Bees: the Role of Body Size and Hairs in the Pollination of a Passiflora Crop.

Pollination is a vitally important function in nature and becomes an ecosystem service because it influences the food and nutritional security for people. However, the contribution of different functional traits of insects for pollen transport of plants is still poorly known. We explore the relationship between pollinator insect functional traits and the transport of pollen of sweet granadilla (Passiflora ligularis Juss) in eight crops. We sampled flower-visiting insects of this crop and recorded 10 functional traits (five by direct measurements and five from the literature) that were related to the amount of pollen carried by each insect. Bees (Apidae) were not only the most abundant insects but also the ones that loaded the highest amounts of pollen. Within these, the most abundant species was the exotic common honeybee (Apis mellifera (Linnaeus)) making up almost half of the specimens collected; however, this bee carried less pollen grains than other native bees. Bombus hortulanus (Smith) was one of the large-bodied native bees that carried more sweet granadilla pollen, despite not being an abundant species in the community. Body size was the most important trait determining the transport of sweet granadilla pollen, while the traits related to body hairs were not significant for the body's pollen load. None of the functional traits evaluated was influenced by taxonomy at species-level. Our results suggest that large body sizes in bees are the most important traits in granadilla pollen transport, regardless of other changes in composition and structure of pollinating insect assemblages in the crop.

Identifying highly active anti-CCR4 CAR T cells for the treatment of T-cell lymphoma.

A challenge when targeting T-cell lymphoma with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy is that target antigens are often shared between T cells and tumor cells, resulting in fratricide between CAR T cells and on-target cytotoxicity on normal T cells. CC chemokine receptor 4 (CCR4) is highly expressed in many mature T-cell malignancies, such as adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL), and has a unique expression profile in normal T cells. CCR4 is predominantly expressed by type-2 and type-17 helper T cells (Th2 and Th17) and regulatory T cells (Treg), but it is rarely expressed by other T helper (Th) subsets and CD8+ cells. Although fratricide in CAR T cells is generally thought to be detrimental to anticancer functions, in this study, we demonstrated that anti-CCR4 CAR T cells specifically depleted Th2 and Tregs, while sparing CD8+ and Th1 T cells. Moreover, fratricide increased the percentage of CAR+ T cells in the final product. CCR4-CAR T cells were characterized by high transduction efficiency, robust T-cell expansion, and rapid fratricidal depletion of CCR4-positive T cells during CAR transduction and expansion. Furthermore, mogamulizumab-based CCR4-CAR T cells induced superior antitumor efficacy and long-term remission in mice engrafted with human T-cell lymphoma cells. In summary, CCR4-depleted anti-CCR4 CAR T cells are enriched in Th1 and CD8+ T cells and exhibit high antitumor efficacy against CCR4-expressing T-cell malignancies.

A morphological database for Colombian anuran species from conservation-priority ecosystems.

Species traits provide a strong link between an organism's fitness and processes at community and ecosystem levels. However, such data remain scarce for amphibians in the Neotropics. Colombia is the country with the highest number of threatened amphibians and the second greatest number of amphibian species worldwide. We present a data set containing eight morphological traits for 4,623 museum specimens of the seven largest collections in the country corresponding to 293 species of 14 families. The number of measured specimens per species ranged from 1 to 118 individuals with a median of 8 individuals per species. Overall, this database gathered morphological information for 37.6% of Colombian anuran diversity. Species measured were mainly distributed in the high Andean forest, the páramo, and wetland ecosystems, and was part of a national initiative led by the Instituto Alexander von Humboldt. The morphological traits were selected on the basis of their role in species' responses to environmental variability and their contributions to ecosystem processes. These traits were related to habitat use, (forearm length, tibia length, femur length, foot length, and foot webbing), predation and food chains (head width and mouth width), and nutrient recycling (snout-vent length). We expect this data set will be used in studies on functional diversity in amphibians and the development of conservation planning for these taxa. No copyright or proprietary restrictions are associated with the use of this data set other than citation of this Data Paper.

Síndrome antifosfolipídico: una aproximación desde la glicobiología / Antiphospholipid syndrome: an approach from the glycobiology

Introducción: La glicosilación es una modificación postraduccional que tiene un papel protagónico en los procesos de comunicación célula-célula, célula-matrix extracelular, por lo tanto modula la interacción con antígenos y el sistema inmune. La inmunoglobulina G (IgG) tiene un sitio de N-glicosilación en la posición 297. Los sacáridos terminales de este glicano impactan la función efectora de la proteína, dirigiendo la respuesta hacia un efecto proinflamatorio o antiinflamatorio. Maverakis. et al (2015), propusieron que cada enfermedad autoinmune tiene una única marca de glicanos, especialmente en las diferentes clases de inmunoglobulinas (teoría de la alteración de los glicanos en la autoinmunidad).

Amor y violencia: otro coctel neuropatológico en el siglo XXI / Love and violence: another neuropathological cocktail in the XXI century

La violencia es una de las primeras causas de muerte en el mundo; paradójicamente, el principal generador de violencia es el mismo sitio donde usualmente se fundamenta el amor y la adecuada relación de pareja, esto es, el hogar. Aunque generalmente se asocia a la mujer como principal víctima de la violencia intrafamiliar, se ha notado un incremento de violencia contra los hombres, y en algunos países la proporción de agresión entre géneros es similar. El principal detonador de discusiones conyugales son los celos, que cuando se tornan patológicos los transforman en suspicacia, la suspicacia en odio, el odio en locura y la locura en desesperación y violencia, todo esto provoca víctimas mortales en forma de homicidios o suicidios. En Colombia se ha incrementado la relación patológica de amor y violencia en las relaciones de pareja, lo cual ha llevado a que en instituciones tan importantes para el funcionamiento de un país como las Fuerzas Militares se hayan implementados programas de apoyo psicológico específico con el fin de disminuir el índice de suicidio en este grupo laboral, entre muchos otros más. De otro lado, diversas investigaciones han encontrado alteraciones neurobiológicas en individuos violentos, incluyendo trastornos neuroanatómicos, genéticos y bioquímicas. Tratamientos farmacológicos y no farmacológicos que incluyen terapias de comportamiento y que tratan al individuo de manera tridimensional (cuerpo, mente y espíritu) parecen ayudar a promover un ambiente más amable para la vida en pareja que el conocido a la fecha de violencia intrafamiliar basada, un sinnúmero de veces, en dolorosas y evidentes evidencias...

Violence is one of the main causes of death worldwide; however, the main place of violence is the same where love and appropriate relationships usually resides, it is at home. Although women are considered the main victim in spousal violence, an increase of violence against men has also been recently reported; in some countries, the co-abuse is almost similar. The main triggers of conjugal violence are pathological jealousy which, if pathological, evolves toward suspicion, malevolence, craziness, madness, despair, and violence leading it to both homicides and suicides. In Colombia, the pathological linkage of love and violence is also present countrywide; it has lead to implement, in some specific social groups such as the army, newer psychological supports to help people to decrease the frequency of suicides in these social groups, among others. On the other hand, different investigations have shown neurobiological abnormalities in violent people including anatomical, genetic and biochemical markers. Pharmacological and behavioral approaches have been suggested to control violence. Among these, a tri-dimensional approach that look for homeostatic mind, body and spirit relationships seem to be helpful in providing a more harmonic atmosphere to couples and may be very useful to overcome domestic violence which until now is based in outstanding, albeit painful, evidences...