1,612 research outputs found

    The role of forest maturity in extreme hydrological events

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    This study aims to clarify the influence of forests, as well as other prevalent land cover types, on extreme hydrological events through a land cover gradient design. We selected 10 catchments within a gradient of forest land cover, in which there were 15 years of simultaneous daily hydrological and meteorological data, and an additional forest descriptor, forest maturity. The study was developed in a heterogeneous region in the Cantabrian Mountains (NW Spain). This area includes different vegetation types and has a long history of human disturbance and land use change that has produced a gradient in forest cover. This study focuses on regular hydrological extremes: regular floods and low flow events. Specific objectives were to observe the relationship between land cover and extreme hydrological events, once the variance explained by precipitation was removed, and compare the effectiveness of forest coverage and maturity to predict them. Partial correlations and ordinary least square regressions were developed using hydrological indices, obtained from flow records, and hydrological parameters calculated through modelling, using the Identification of unit Hydrographs And Component flows from Rainfall, Evaporation and Streamflow data (IHACRES) software and hydrometeorological data. Land cover characteristics were better able to predict floods than low flows. Forests were associated with less extreme flow events (lower intensity and frequency of floods and greater base flows), whereas shrub formations did the opposite. These results were more evident using forest maturity than using forest coverage. This study indicates that hydrological modelling may benefit in the future from considering not only the coverage of different land cover types but also the conservation status of the different vegetation formations.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

    Structural evolution of the El Salvador Fault Zone: an evolving fault system within a volcanic arc.

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    The El Salvador Fault Zone, firstly identifiedafter the 13th February 2001 Mw 6.6 El Salvador earthquake, is a 150 km long,20 km wide right-lateral strike-slip fault system. Ruptures along the ESFZ arethought to be responsible for most of the historical destructive earthquakesalong the El Salvador Volcanic Arc, as well as for most of the currentseismicity of the area. In this work, we focus on the geological setting of thefault zone by describing its geomorphology and structure, using field-based observations,digital terrain modelling, and aerial photograph interpretation with the aim atcontributing to the understanding of the ESFZ slip behaviour. In particular, weaddress the ESFZ structure, kinematics and evolution with time. The ESFZ is a complex set of traces divided inmajor rupture segments characterized by different geometry, kinematics andgeomorphic expressions. Natural fault exposures and paleoseismic trenchesexcavated along the fault show that the strike slip deformation is distributedin several planes. Both geometry and kinematics of the fault zone areconsistent with a transtensional strain regime.The estimated geological slip-rate for the mainfault segments by paleoseismic trenches and displaced geomorphic features impliesa deficit in velocity of the fault compared to the available GPS velocitiesdata. The high vertical scarps of some fault segments would require quaternaryslip rates not coherent neither with measured GPS velocities nor with sliprates obtained from paleoseismic analysis. This mismatch suggests apre-existing graben structure that would be inherited from the previousregional roll back related extensional stage. We consider that the ESFZ isusing this relict structure to grow up along it. As a result, we propose amodel for ESFZ development consistent with all these observations.La Zona de Falla de El Salvador (ZFES) es un sistema de falla de desgarre dextral de 150 km de longitud y 20 de anchura, que fue identificada por primera vez después del terremoto de Mw 6.6 de El Salvador de febrero de 2001. La mayoría de la sismicidad y de los terremotos históricos destructivos producidos en el arco volcánico salvadoreño han sido producidos por la ruptura de la ZFES. Este trabajo se centra en el marco geológico de la zona de falla describiendo su geomorfología y su estructura a través de observaciones de campo, del estudio de los modelos digitales del terreno y de la interpretación de las fotografías aéreas, con el objetivo de avanzar en el conocimiento del comportamiento de la ZFES. En concreto trataremos del estudio de la estructura, la cinemática y la evolución de la ZFES. La ZFES es un complejo sistema de fallas divididas en varios segmentos que se diferencian en la geometría, la cinemática y la expresión geomorfológica. En los afloramientos de la falla, así como en las trincheras paleosismicas excavadas se ha observado que la deformación de desgarre está distribuida en varios planos y tanto la geometría como la cinemática de la zona de falla indican que la ZFES está bajo un régimen de deformación transtensional. La tasa de deformación estimada para los principales segmentos a través del estudio paleosísmico y del análisis de indicadores geomorfológicos desplazados nos muestra un déficit de velocidad para la falla si lo comparamos con los datos obtenidos por GPS. Estos datos tampoco ayudan a explicar la existencia de grandes escarpes verticales que se observan en algunos segmentos de la falla, y que requerirían tasas de deformación muy elevadas. Esta discrepancia sugiere la existencia de una estructura de graben preexistente que puedo ser producida por el “roll-back” de la placa y que creó una fase extensional en el arco volcánico. En este trabajo consideramos que la ZFES está actualmente desarrollándose sobre la estructura extensional relicta y como resultado proponemos un modelo estructural consistente con estas observaciones

    Prevalence study of drugs and new psychoactive substances in hair of ketamine consumers using a methanolic direct extraction prior high-resolution mass spectrometry

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    Few studies have reported the prevalence or incidence about the consumption of new psychoactive substances (NPS). The hair analysis can be useful for this purpose. At the present, ketamine is the most consumed arylcyclohexylamine associated to young consumers and polyconsumption profiles. For this reason, ketamine consumer cases become very interesting to provide information on NPS prevalence. In this work, ten former cases of the National Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Science (INTCF) of Madrid Department (INTCFM), all of them belonging to defendants accused of crimes against public health and who had been found positive to ketamine, were reassessed. At the first toxicological analysis of those hair samples, a positive consume in ketamine had been determined by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In this work, the same hair samples were reanalyzed by high-resolution mass spectrometry ( UHPLC-HRMS/MS) using an incubation methanolic extraction combined with a single, simpler, non-selective and direct sample pre-treatment. After corroborating the GC-MS results previously obtained for the same samples, the detection of additional NPS using this new methodology evidenced its benefits and opened the possibility to perform a NPS prevalence study. In brief, in those cases with a positive consumption in ketamine, a polyconsumption of other drugs and NPS was found, including different arylcyclohexylamines as deschloroketamine, 3-MeO-PCP and methoxetamine; and cathinones as methylmetcathinone and N-ethyl-pentylone.Instituto Universitario de Investigación en Ciencias Policiales (IUICP

    Terasense WP03 radiation and sensor measurement lab workpackage

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    This paper explains the progress accomplished in the WP03 of the Terasense Project (TERAHERTZ TECHNOLOGY FOR ELECTROMAGNETIC SENSING APPLICATIONS) approved in the 2008 CONSOLIDERINGENIO program (project CSD2008-0068). The Radiation and Sensor Measurement Lab (RSMLab) is a laboratory based in the existing antenna measurement laboratories at UPM, UC3 and UNiOvi and the new capacities to extend the measurement range from the millimetre wave to the THz region. This laboratory is intended to be shared in more than one place and with more than one institution, in such a way that we could take advantage of other research financial sources and contributions from other institutions with interest in the same field of measurements. One important task will be the international links between the RSMLab and other European and international institutions dedicated to the antenna and sensor measurement in the same frequency range

    Goat Milk Nutritional Quality Software-Automatized Individual Curve Model Fitting, Shape Parameters Calculation and Bayesian Flexibility Criteria Comparison

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    SPSS syntax was described to evaluate the individual performance of 49 linear and non-linear models to fit the milk component evolution curve of 159 Murciano-Granadina does selected for genotyping analyses. Peak and persistence for protein, fat, dry matter, lactose, and somatic cell counts were evaluated using 3107 controls (3.91 ± 2.01 average lactations/goat). Best-fit (adjusted R 2 ) values (0.548, 0.374, 0.429, and 0.624 for protein, fat, dry matter, and lactose content, respectively) were reached by the five-parameter logarithmic model of Ali and Schaeffer (ALISCH), and for the three-parameter model of parabolic yield-density (PARYLDENS) for somatic cell counts (0.481). Cross-validation was performed using the Minimum Mean-Square Error (MMSE). Model comparison was performed using Residual Sum of Squares (RSS), Mean-Squared Prediction Error (MSPE), adjusted R 2 and its standard deviation (SD), Akaike (AIC), corrected Akaike (AICc), and Bayesian information criteria (BIC). The adjusted R 2 SD across individuals was around 0.2 for all models. Thirty-nine models successfully fitted the individual lactation curve for all components. Parametric and computational complexity promote variability-capturing properties, while model flexibility does not significantly (p > 0.05) improve the predictive and explanatory potential. Conclusively, ALISCH and PARYLDENS can be used to study goat milk composition genetic variability as trustable evaluation models to face future challenges of the goat dairy industry

    The relative abundance of fecal bacterial species belonging to the Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes phyla is related to plasma levels of bile acids in young adults

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    The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11306-023-02016-8.Funding for open access publishing: Universidad de Granada/CBUA. The study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness via Fondo de Investigacion Sanitaria del Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI13/01393) and PTA 12264-I, Retos de la Sociedad (DEP2016-79512-R), and European Regional Development Funds (ERDF), by the Spanish Ministry of Education (FPU16/05159, FPU16/02828, FPU17/01523 and FPU19/01609), the Fundacion Iberoamericana de Nutricion (FINUT), the University of Granada Plan Propio de Investigacion 2016-Excellence actions: Unit of Excellence on Exercise and Health (UCEES), AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation, and by the Junta de Andalucia, Consejeria de Economia, Conocimiento, Empresas y Universidad (ref. P18-RT-4455), the Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC, No. 201707060012 to XD), Fundacion Alfonso Martin Escudero and Maria Zambrano fellowship by the Ministerio de Universidades y la Union Europea -NextGenerationEU (RR_C_2021_04). We would like to thank the team of Data Integration Center of University Medicine Magdeburg for local data-analysis solutions; they are supported by MIRACUM and funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the "Medical Informatics Funding Scheme" (FKZ 01ZZ1801H). This study is part of a Ph.D. thesis conducted within the Biomedicine Doctoral Studies Program of the University of Granada, Spain. AL was supported by the funds from European Commission through the "European funds for regional development" (EFRE) Project ID: ZS/2018/11/95324.Background Gut bacteria play a crucial role in the metabolism of bile acids (BA). Whether an association exists between the fecal microbiota composition and circulating BA levels in humans is poorly understood. Here, we investigated the relationship between fecal microbiota diversity and composition with plasma levels of BA in young adults. Methods Fecal microbiota diversity/composition was analyzed with 16S rRNA sequencing in 80 young adults (74% women; 21.9 +/- 2.2 years old). Plasma levels of BA were measured using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. PERMANOVA and Spearman correlation analyses were used to investigate the association between fecal microbiota parameters and plasma levels of BA. Results Fecal microbiota beta (P = 0.025) and alpha diversity indexes of evenness (rho = 0.237, P = 0.033), Shannon (rho = 0.313, P = 0.004), and inverse Simpson (rho = 0.283, P = 0.010) were positively associated with plasma levels of the secondary BA glycolithocholic acid (GLCA). The relative abundance of genera belonging to the Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes phyla was positively correlated with plasma levels of GLCA (all rho = 0.225, P = 0.049). However, the relative abundance of species from Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes phyla were negatively correlated with plasma levels of primary and secondary BA (all rho = - 0.220, P = 0.045), except for the relative abundance of Bacteroides vulgatus, Alistipes onderdonkii, and Bacteroides xylanisolvens species (Bacteroidetes phylum) that were positively correlated with the plasma levels of GLCA. Conclusions The relative abundance of specific fecal bacteria species is associated with plasma levels of BA in young adults. However, further investigations are required to validate whether the composition of the gut microbiota can regulate the plasma concentrations of BA in humans.Universidad de Granada/CBUASpanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness via Fondo de Investigacion Sanitaria del Instituto de Salud Carlos III PI13/01393Retos de la Sociedad DEP2016-79512-REuropean CommissionSpanish Government FPU16/05159, FPU16/02828, FPU17/01523, FPU19/01609Fundacion Iberoamericana de Nutricion (FINUT)University of Granada Plan Propio de Investigacion 2016-Excellence actions: Unit of Excellence on Exercise and Health (UCEES)AstraZenecaJunta de Andalucia P18-RT-4455China Scholarship Council 201707060012Ministerio de Universidades y la Union Europea -Next Generation EU RR_C_2021_04MIRACUMFederal Ministry of Education & Research (BMBF) FKZ 01ZZ1801HUniversity of Granada, SpainEuropean Commission Joint Research Centre ZS/2018/11/9532

    Linking land cover changes in the subalpine and montane belts to changes in a torrential river.

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    Channel cbanges are the consequence of cbanges in sediment yield from the slopes and in the connectivity between slopes and channels bccause of distinct land use and climate inJpacts. In Ibis study, we investigated the characteristics and evolution of a short reach in the headwater of the !juez River, central-soutbem Pyrenees. Assessment of a series of sedimentar)' and geomorphic structures confirtned major cbanges to the valley boUom, mainly related to changes in the intensity of human activity. 'The oldest sedimentar)' structure is a terrace leve! located 3 10 4 m above the current alluvial plain. General deforestation, overgrazing and recwring tires in the montane belt ( 1100-1600 m a.sJ.) have led 10 increased soil erosioo and connectivity, and to tbe triggering of debris llows thal have been deposited on the fluvial tmace. Woody fragments from within the debris llows were dated using acceleraror mass spectrOmetry '"e radiocaroon tcchniques (AMS), yielding ages between 1 00 and 115 cal years BP, whicb coincides with tbe period of maximum deforestalion and human density in the Pyrenees. Depopulation and fannland abaodonment since tbe beginning of tbe 2001 oenrury has resulled in generalliJcod natural and artificial reforestation, a shrinkage of the eroded arcas aod a decline in connectivi¡y bdween slopes and the channel. 1be rnost impor1an1 consequence has been cbannel incision and oarrowing, and the development of a sedimed annour !ayer. Active sedimenl b8llSpOI1 is continui.Qg, although there has been a decrease in sed.iment yield from the slopes. Copyright O 2014 John Wiley & Soos, Ltd

    Simulation study of resistor networks applied to an array of 256 SiPMs

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    [EN] In this work we describe a procedure to reduce the number of signals detected by an array of 256 Silicon Photo-multipliers (SiPMs) using a resistor network to divide the signal charge into few readout channels. Several configurations were modeled, and the pulsed signal at the readout contacts were simulated. These simulation results were experimentally tested on a specifically designed and manufactured set of printed circuit boards. Three network configurations were modeled. The modeling provided encouraging results for all three configurations. The measurements on the prototypes constructed for this study, however, provided useful position-sensitivity for only one of the network configurations. The lack of input signal amplification into the networks, the SiPM dark current, as well as the complexity of an eight layers board with parasitic capacitances, could have caused the degradation of resolving the impact photon position. This is hard to overcome with external printed circuit boards and components.This work was supported by the Spanish Plan Nacional de Investigación Científica, Desarrollo e Innovación Tecnológica (I+D+I) under Grant FIS2010-21216-CO2-01, the Valencian Local Government under Grant PROMETEO 2008/114 and through the JAE-Predoc grant from CSIC (BOE 29/01/2010).Gonzalez, A. J., Moreno, M., Barbera, J., Conde, P., Hernandez, L., Moliner, L., . . . Benlloch, J. M. (2013). Simulation study of resistor networks applied to an array of 256 SiPMs. IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, 60(2), 592-598. doi:10.1109/TNS.2012.2226051S59259860

    Tissue Compatibility of SN-38-Loaded Anticancer Nanofiber Matrices

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    Delivery of chemotherapy in the surgical bed has shown preclinical activity to control cancer progression upon subtotal resection of pediatric solid tumors, but whether this new treatment is safe for tumor‐adjacent healthy tissues remains unknown. Here, Wistar rats are used to study the anatomic and functional impact of electrospun nanofiber matrices eluting SN‐38 a potent chemotherapeutic agent on several body sites where pediatric tumors such as neuroblastoma, Ewing sarcoma, and rhabdomyosarcoma arise. Blank and SN‐38‐loaded matrices embracing the femoral neurovascular bundle or in direct contact with abdominal viscera (liver, kidney, urinary bladder, intestine, and uterus) are placed. Foreign body tissue reaction to the implants is observed though no histologic damage in any tissue/organ. Skin healing is normal. Tissue reaction is similar for SN‐38‐loaded and blank matrices, with the exception of the hepatic capsule that is thicker for the former although within the limits consistent with mild foreign body reaction. Tissue and organ function is completely conserved after local treatments, as assessed by the rotarod test (forelimb function), hematologic tests (liver and renal function), and control of clinical signs. Overall, these findings support the clinical translation of SN‐38‐loaded nanofiber matrices to improve local control strategies of surgically resected tumors
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