Cambios en los dinamismos eruptivos durante las erupciones de larga duración: el caso de las erupciones del 2006 del volcán Tungurahua (Ecuador)

El seguimiento de los potenciales cambios en los dinamismos eruptivos que ocurren durante las erupciones de larga duración representa un gran reto para la vulcanología actual y constituye una etapa crucial del monitoreo volcánico y de la evaluación de la amenaza. En muchos volcanes, los períodos eruptivos son largos (del orden de varios años), tiempo durante el cual los volcanes presentan una actividad intermitente, sin llegar a experimentar erupciones explosivas importantes, como por ejemplo en el volcán Ubinas (Perú) que se reactivó en el 2006 y cuya actividad se extendió hasta el 2008 (Rivera et al., 2010). En otros casos, el tiempo entre el inicio de la erupción y el paroxismo eruptivo puede ser relativamente largo, del orden de meses o años. Este fue el caso del volcán Tungurahua (Ecuador) que se reactivó en 1999, y cuyo paroxismo se produjo 7 años después de iniciada la actividad eruptiva. La población que vive bajo la amenaza volcánica en el caso de erupciones de larga duración tiende a acostumbrarse a las nuevas condiciones impuestas por el volcán, lo cual puede comprometer seriamente su capacidad de reacción ante los cambios en el tipo de actividad eruptiva. Por tal motivo, es primordial tener un mejor entendimiento de las causas por las cuales ciertos volcanes se mantienen con niveles de actividad bajo a moderadamente explosivos, mientras que otros sufren una evolución hacia una actividad altamente explosiva. Los estudios integrales (geofísica, petrología, cronología eruptiva) realizados en el volcán Tungurahua, permiten aportar ciertos elementos de respuesta a ésta interrogante

Pacific island regional preparedness for El Niño

The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle is often blamed for disasters in Pacific island communities. From a disaster risk reduction (DRR) perspective, the challenges with the El Niño part of the ENSO cycle, in particular, are more related to inadequate vulnerability reduction within development than to ENSO-induced hazard influences. This paper analyses this situation, filling in a conceptual and geographic gap in El Niño-related research, by reviewing El Niño-related preparedness (the conceptual gap) for Pacific islands (the geographic gap). Through exploring El Niño impacts on Pacific island communities alongside their vulnerabilities, resiliences, and preparedness with respect to El Niño, El Niño is seen as a constructed discourse rather than as a damaging phenomenon, leading to suggestions for El Niño preparedness as DRR as part of development. Yet the attention which El Niño garners might bring resources to the Pacific region and its development needs, albeit in the short term while El Niño lasts. Conversely, the attention given to El Niño could shift blame from underlying causes of vulnerability to a hazard-centric viewpoint. Instead of focusing on one hazard-influencing phenomenon, opportunities should be created for the Pacific region to tackle wider DRR and development concerns

Lamin B1 decline underlies age-related loss of adult hippocampal neurogenesis

Neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus declines with age, a process that has been implicated in cognitive and emotional impairments. However, the mechanisms underlying this decline have remained elusive. Here, we show that the age-dependent downregulation of lamin B1, one of the nuclear lamins in adult neural stem/progenitor cells (ANSPCs), underlies age-related alterations in adult hippocampal neurogenesis. Our results indicate that higher levels of lamin B1 in ANSPCs safeguard against premature differentiation and regulate the maintenance of ANSPCs. However, the level of lamin B1 in ANSPCs declines during aging. Precocious loss of lamin B1 in ANSPCs transiently promotes neurogenesis but eventually depletes it. Furthermore, the reduction of lamin B1 in ANSPCs recapitulates age-related anxiety-like behavior in mice. Our results indicate that the decline in lamin B1 underlies stem cell aging and impacts the homeostasis of adult neurogenesis and mood regulation.Peer reviewe

Efectividad de las intervenciones participativas para mejorar la coordinación clínica en América Latina

Antecedentes La evaluación de las intervenciones para mejorar la coordinación clínica entre los niveles de atención es escasa en América Latina. Objetivo evaluar la efectividad de las intervenciones implementadas a través de la investigación de acción participativa para mejorar la coordinación clínica entre los niveles de atención en las redes públicas de salud de Brasil, Chile, Colombia, México y Uruguay. Métodos Estudio cuasiexperimental (controlado antes y después del diseño). Se seleccionaron redes comparables, una intervención (IN) y un control (CN) en cada país. Las encuestas de referencia (2015) y de evaluación (2017) se realizaron aplicando el cuestionario COORDENA® a una muestra de médicos de atención primaria (PC) y secundaria (SC) (174 médicos / red / año). Las intervenciones diseñadas promovieron el acuerdo clínico y la comunicación a través de los niveles para el seguimiento de los pacientes. Variables de resultado: a) intermedio: factores de interacción y organización; b) final: experiencia de coordinación del manejo clínico (consistencia de la atención y seguimiento de los pacientes) y percepción general de coordinación entre niveles. Se estimaron los modelos de regresión de Poisson. Resultados Intermedio: los factores de interacción -el conocimiento personal y la confianza en el otro nivel de atención- aumentaron significativamente en los IN de Brasil y Chile; y factores organizativos, el apoyo de los gerentes, en los IN de Colombia y México. En comparación con CN en 2017, los IN de Brasil, Chile, Colombia y México mostraron diferencias significativas en algunos factores. Final: los ítems de consistencia de atención -concuerdo sobre los tratamientos- mejoraron en los IN de Brasil, Colombia y Uruguay; y seguimiento de pacientes en los IN de Chile y México. La percepción general de la coordinación clínica aumentó en los IN de Brasil, Colombia y México. En comparación con CN en 2017, solo Brasil mostró diferencias significativas. Conclusiones Se observaron mejoras en los resultados de coordinación de cuidados intermedios y finales, consistentes con los resultados esperados, en todos los IN. El tiempo de implementación reducido y algunos factores de proceso y contexto pueden haber limitado su impacto. Mensajes clave Primer estudio que evalúa la efectividad de las intervenciones participativas para mejorar la coordinación clínica entre los niveles de atención en las redes públicas de salud de América Latina. Los resultados mostraron cambios en los resultados de coordinación clínica intermedia y final en las redes de intervención. Se espera que los tiempos de implementación y evaluación más largos logren un mayor impacto.Background Evaluation of interventions to improve clinical coordination across care levels is scarce in Latin America. Aim to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions implemented through participatory action research in improving clinical coordination between care levels in public healthcare networks of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay. Methods Quasi-experimental study (controlled before and after design). Comparable networks, one intervention (IN) and one control (CN), were selected in each country. Baseline (2015) and evaluation (2017) surveys were conducted applying COORDENA® questionnaire to a sample of primary (PC) and secondary (SC) care doctors (174 doctors/network/year). Designed interventions promoted clinical agreement and communication across levels for patients’ follow-up. Outcome variables: a) intermediate: interactional and organizational factors; b) final: experience of clinical management coordination (care consistency and patients’ follow-up) and general perception of coordination between levels. Poisson regression models were estimated. Results Intermediate: interactional factors -personal knowledge and trust on the other care level-increased significantly in Brazil’ and Chile’ INs; and organizational factors -managers’ support- in the INs of Colombia and Mexico. Comparing to CN in 2017, INs of Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico showed significant differences in some factors. Final: care consistency items -agreement over the treatments- improved in the INs of Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay; and patients’ follow-up in the INs of Chile and Mexico. General perception of clinical coordination increased in the INs of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. Compared to CN in 2017, only Brazil showed significant differences. Conclusions Improvements in intermediate and final care coordination results, consistent with expected results, were observed in all the INs. Reduced implementation time and some process and context factors may have limited their impact. Key messages First study assessing the effectiveness of participatory interventions in improving clinical coordination between care levels in public healthcare networks of Latin America. Results showed changes in the intermediate and final clinical coordination results in the intervention networks. Longer implementation and evaluation times are expected to achieve greater impact

Loving to Straighten Out Development: Sexuality and ‘Ethnodevelopment’ in the World Bank’s Ecuadorian Lending

Gender staff in the World Bank -- the world's largest and most influential development institution -- have a policy problem. Having prioritised efforts to get women into paid employment as the "cure-all" for gender inequality they must deal with the work that women already do -- the unpaid labour of caring, socialisation, and human needs fulfilment. This article explores the most prominent policy solution enacted by the Bank to this tension between paid and unpaid work: the restructuring of normative heterosexuality to encourage a two-partner model of love and labour wherein women work more and men care better. Through a case study of Bank gender lending in Ecuador I argue that staff are trying to (re)forge normative arrangements of intimacy, a policy preference that remains invisible unless sexuality is taken seriously as a category of analysis in development studies. Specifically, I focus on four themes that emerge from the attempt to restructure heteronormativity in the loan: (1) the definition of good gender analysis as requiring complementary sharing and dichotomous sex; (2) the Bank's attempt to inculcate limited rationality in women such that they operate as better workers while retaining altruistic attachments to loved ones; (3) the Bank's attempt to inculcate better loving in men, such that they pick up the slack of caring labour when their (partially) rational wives move into productive work, and; (4) the invocation of a racialised hierarchy resting on the extent to which communities approximate ideals of sharing monogamous partnership. Aside from providing clear evidence that the world's largest development institution is involved in micro-processes of sexuality adjustment alongside macro-processes of economic restructuring, I also critique the Bank's sexualised policy interventions and suggest that they warrant contestation

Lamin B1 decline underlies age-related loss of adult hippocampal neurogenesis.

Neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus declines with age, a process that has been implicated in cognitive and emotional impairments. However, the mechanisms underlying this decline have remained elusive. Here, we show that the age-dependent downregulation of lamin B1, one of the nuclear lamins in adult neural stem/progenitor cells (ANSPCs), underlies age-related alterations in adult hippocampal neurogenesis. Our results indicate that higher levels of lamin B1 in ANSPCs safeguard against premature differentiation and regulate the maintenance of ANSPCs. However, the level of lamin B1 in ANSPCs declines during aging. Precocious loss of lamin B1 in ANSPCs transiently promotes neurogenesis but eventually depletes it. Furthermore, the reduction of lamin B1 in ANSPCs recapitulates age-related anxiety-like behavior in mice. Our results indicate that the decline in lamin B1 underlies stem cell aging and impacts the homeostasis of adult neurogenesis and mood regulation

Does functional trait diversity predict aboveground biomass and productivity of tropical forests? Testing three alternative hypotheses

Tropical forests are globally important, but it is not clear whether biodiversity enhances carbon storage and sequestration in them. We tested this relationship focusing on components of functional trait biodiversity as predictors. Data are presented for three rain forests in Bolivia, Brazil and Costa Rica. Initial above-ground biomass and biomass increments of survivors, recruits and survivors + recruits (total) were estimated for trees =10 cm d.b.h. in 62 and 21 1.0-ha plots, respectively. We determined relationships of biomass increments to initial standing biomass (AGBi), biomass-weighted community mean values (CWM) of eight functional traits and four functional trait variety indices (functional richness, functional evenness, functional diversity and functional dispersion). The forest continuum sampled ranged from ‘slow’ stands dominated by trees with tough tissues and high AGBi, to ‘fast’ stands dominated by trees with soft, nutrient-rich leaves, lighter woods and lower AGBi. We tested whether AGBi and biomass increments were related to the CWM trait values of the dominant species in the system (the biomass ratio hypothesis), to the variety of functional trait values (the niche complementarity hypothesis), or in the case of biomass increments, simply to initial standing biomass (the green soup hypothesis). CWMs were reasonable bivariate predictors of AGBi and biomass increments, with CWM specific leaf area SLA, CWM leaf nitrogen content, CWM force to tear the leaf, CWM maximum adult height Hmax and CWM wood specific gravity the most important. AGBi was also a reasonable predictor of the three measures of biomass increment. In best-fit multiple regression models, CWMHmax was the most important predictor of initial standing biomass AGBi. Only leaf traits were selected in the best models for biomass increment; CWM SLA was the most important predictor, with the expected positive relationship. There were no relationships of functional variety indices to biomass increments, and AGBi was the only predictor for biomass increments from recruits. Synthesis. We found no support for the niche complementarity hypothesis and support for the green soup hypothesis only for biomass increments of recruits. We have strong support for the biomass ratio hypothesis. CWMHmax is a strong driver of ecosystem biomass and carbon storage and CWM SLA, and other CWM leaf traits are especially important for biomass increments and carbon sequestration