New records of Pennatulacea (Cnidaria, Octocorallia) from Madeira island

The Pennatulaceans Pteroeides spinosum (Ellis, 1764) and Pennatula aculeata Danielssen, 1860 are noted from Madeira for the first time. With the species Veretillum cynomorium (Pallas, 1766) already being known from the area, there are now three species of Pennatulacea recorded from Madeira.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Anémonas anillo, una visión general (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Actiniaria)

The present observations represent a new record of species of Actiniaria that are able to attach to a gorgonian branch by surrounding it with a solid piece of tissue junction and a significant reduction of the coelenteron. Ring sea anemones are provisionally placed in the Actinostolidae. They seem to be more common at depths between 85 and 1500 m., and according to our observations they are specialized to exclusively colonize on some species of gorgonians or pennatulaceans. Parasitism best describes the relationship between ring sea anemones and their hosts. We recognize five different species of ring sea anemones, one described by Hiles (1899) as Peronanthus verrucellae, and the others named by us provisionally as Peronanthus sp1, sp2, sp3 & sp4. The strategy displayed by ring sea anemones has several advantages, such as placement economy (see above), a better attachment against any current action, exploitation of food resources inaccessible to most other Actiniarians, and it allows them avoidance of habitat competition. The impossibility to colonize any other substrate but a certain group of gorgonians and a reduction of the gastric cavity are the main disadvantages detected in the ring sea anemones’ way of life. Apparently, this group of sea anemones is widespread through the Pacific Ocean.Un nuevo grupo de especies de actiniarios que desarrollan un nuevo sistema para afianzarse alrededor de los ejes de gorgonias y pennatuláceos es estudiado por nosotros en el presente trabajo. Se trata de un anillo de tejido que rodea los ejes y queda perfectamente sellado por medio de uniones del tejido produciendo una reducción del celenterón. Anémonas anillo es como las hemos denominado y provisionalmente han sido incluidas dentro de la familia Actinostolidae. Parece que son comunes en profundidades comprendidas entre los 85 y los 1500 metros, colonizando solamente determinadas especies de gorgonias y de pennatuláceos. El parasitismo es la relación que mejor describe lo que acontece entre las anémonas y los octocorales que la portan. Hay, al menos, cinco especies diferentes de anémonas anillo, la primera fue descrita por Hiles (1899) como Peronanthus verrucellae, las otras especies las denominamos provisionalmente como Peronanthus sp1, sp2, sp3 y sp4. El modo de vida de estas especies presenta ciertas ventajas como son: una reducción del espacio para asentarse, una mejor fijación frente a fenómenos de corriente, la capacidad para explotar recursos inaccesibles a la mayoría de los actiniarios y por último la falta de competencia con otras especies por el hábitat. La imposibilidad de colonizar otros sustratos y la reducción de la cavidad gástrica son las principales desventajas que presenta este modo de vida exhibido por las anémonas anillo. Aparentemente este grupo de anémonas está ampliamente distribuido en el Indo-Pacífico

Simple low-power demodulator for the measurement of basal and physiological changes of electrical bioimpedance

Wearable sensors constitute a growing trend both as a research tool as well as an end-consumer products. In the physiological signal monitoring fields, the changing signals have a low bandwidth hence most sensing techniques are not powerhungry. Electrical bioimpedance is a non-obtrusive sensing technique and is an interesting choice as it can recover both breathing and pulse rate signals. However, it works at comparatively higher frequencies and usually need demodulation circuitry, meaning higher power consumption. In this work, we show an alternative technique to demodulate the impedance response that need very few components and whose power consumption can be tailored as needed. We show that, by using a 24-bit ADC, the respiration and pulse rate signals as well as the basal impedance are recovered from the demodulated signal and further digital band-pass filters that are easily implemented with currently available low-power microcontroller technology. Further, it constitutes a compact solution, as the sensor needs not to change location to measure these signals.Peer ReviewedObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::3 - Salut i BenestarPostprint (published version

A design method for active high-CMRR fully-differential circuits

Postprint (published version

Non-contact video-based assessment of the respiratory function using a RGB-D camera

A fully automatic, non-contact method for the assessment of the respiratory function is proposed using an RGB-D camera-based technology. The proposed algorithm relies on the depth channel of the camera to estimate the movements of the body’s trunk during breathing. It solves in fixed-time complexity, O(1), as the acquisition relies on the mean depth value of the target regions only using the color channels to automatically locate them. This simplicity allows the extraction of real-time values of the respiration, as well as the synchronous assessment on multiple body parts. Two different experiments have been performed: a first one conducted on 10 users in a single region and with a fixed breathing frequency, and a second one conducted on 20 users considering a simultaneous acquisition in two regions. The breath rate has then been computed and compared with a reference measurement. The results show a non-statistically significant bias of 0.11 breaths/min and 96% limits of agreement of -2.21/2.34 breaths/min regarding the breath-by-breath assessment. The overall real-time assessment shows a RMSE of 0.21 breaths/min. We have shown that this method is suitable for applications where respiration needs to be monitored in non-ambulatory and static environments.This research was funded by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación with grant number PID2020-116011.Postprint (published version

Massive proliferation of a dictyotalean species (Phaeophyceae, Ochrophyta) through the strait of Gibraltar

A massive proliferation of a dictyotalean seaweed has been observed growing on shallow rocky bottoms on both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar. Since the autumn 2015, and mainly during summer 2016, a significant growths of the alga have been proven in Ceuta, La Línea and Gibraltar but surely the species should be spread out on more spots along the region. Morphological observations have resulted insufficient for a reliable identification at the species level and consequently the true identity of the dictyotalean alga responsible for this massive proliferation needs to be established by molecular phylogenetic analysesProliferación masiva de una especie de alga dictiotal (Phaeophyceae, Ochrophyta) a través del Estrecho de Gibraltar (Nota de investigación).- Se ha detectado una masiva proliferación de un alga parda dictiotal colonizando los fondos rocosos someros a ambos lados del Estrecho de Gibraltar. Desde el otoño de 2015, y principalmente durante el verano de 2016, se constataron crecimientos significativos del alga en Ceuta, La Línea y Gibraltar, pero seguramente la especie se ha expandido por más puntos a lo largo de la región. Las observaciones morfológicas han resultado insuficientes para una identificación fiable a nivel de especie y, por consiguiente, la verdadera identidad del alga dictiotal responsable de esta proliferación masiva necesita establecerse mediante análisis filogenéticos moleculare

New occurrences of Corallium spp. (Octocorallia, Coralliidae) in the Central Northeast Atlantic

Corallium niobe Bayer, 1964 and Corallium tricolor (Johnson, 1899) are reported as new records from the central Northeast Atlantic. C. niobe was caught in the Azores and C. tricolor on the slope of the Irving Seamount (South Azores Seamounts). The presence of Corallium johnsoni Gray, 1860 in Azorean waters is confirmed. The sub-tropical Macaronesian islands and seamounts appear to be an important hot-spot for Corallium spp. Most colonies have been collected on seamounts and island slopes around Madeira, Canaries, Azores and the Cape Verde archipelagos. In the Azores most of these corals live below the normal depth of commercial fishing operations and are unlikely to be severely impacted by this activity

Self-Efficacy, Self-Regulation and Procrastination; Necessary Conditions for a Higher Academic Performance in University Students

In recent years, and due to Spain\u27s entry into the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), university education has undergone significant changes with the aim of increasing student participation in the teaching-learning processes. To this end, factors modulating of a greater or lesser academic performance have been analyzed. 388 undergraduate students of the Early Childhood and Primary Education Degrees, belonging to the Faculty of Humanities and Education Sciences of the University of Jaén, (Andalusia) [Spain] participated in this study. Of these, 312 (80.4%) were women and 72 (18.8%) were men; average age was 19.73 years (SD=1.783). The Academic Situations Specific Perceived Self-Efficacy Scale (Escala de Autoeficacia Percibida Específica de Situaciones Académicas: EAPESA); the “performance” dimension of the Academic Self-Concept Scale (Escala de Autoconcepto Académico: EAA) and the Academic Procrastination Scale (Escala de Procrastinación Académica: EPA) were used. The objective of this research was to provide sufficient evidence on the relationship between self-efficacy and self-regulation, with the procrastination dimension as intercept variable, on academic performance. This research presents the combined use of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) and Necessary Conditions Analysis (NCA) to explore the raised hypotheses. The model results showed high coefficients of determination for Self-efficacy [(Q2=0.094); (R² =0.148)]; Performance [(Q2=0.011); (R² =0.207)] and Postponement [(Q2 =0.571); (R²=0.592)]. The results show the effectiveness of the combined use of PLS-SEM and NCA to identify some dimensions necessary for higher performance, according to the logic of need. The theoretical combination of both perspectives will allow us to address the multidimensionality of those factors that contribute to improved academic performance

A novel low-cost smart leaf wetness sensor

Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version