Spatial, environmental and human influences on the distribution of otter (Lutra lutra) in the Spanish provinces

In a previous survey of otters ( Lutra lutra L. 1758) in Spain, different causes were invoked to explain the frequency of the species in each province. To find common causes of the distribution of the otter in Spain, we recorded a number of spatial, environmental and human variables in each Spanish province. We then performed a stepwise linear multiple regression of the proportion of positive sites of otter in the Spanish provinces separately on each of the three groups of variables. Geographic longitude, January air humidity, soil permeability and highway density were the variables selected. A linear regression of the proportion of otter presence on these variables explained 62.4% of the variance. We then used the selected variables in a partial regression analysis to specify which proportions of the variation are explained exclusively by spatial, environmental and human factors, and which proportions are attributable to interactions between these components. Pure environmental effects accounted for only 5.5% of the variation, while pure spatial and pure human effects explained 18% and 9.7%, respectively. Shared variation among the components totalled 29.2%, of which 10.9% was explained by the interaction between environmental and spatial factors. Human factors explained globally less variance than spatial and environmental ones, but the pure human influence was higher than the pure environmental one. We concluded that most of the variation in the proportion of occurrences of otter in Spanish provinces is spatially structured, and that environmental factors have more influence on otter presence than human ones; however, the human influence on otter distribution is less structured in space, and thus can be more disruptive. This effect of large infrastructures on wild populations must be taken into account when planning large-scale conservation policie

Evaluation of the cardiovascular effects of vasicine, an alkaloid isolated from the leaves of Sida cordifolia L. (Malvaceae)

The cardiovascular effects of vasicine, an alkaloid isolated from the leaves of Sida cordifolia L., were evaluated in this work. In non-anaesthetized rats (n=6), vasicine (1, 2.5, 5 and 10 mg/kg; i.v., randomly) induced hypotension associated with an intense bradycardia. Both responses were completely abolished after atropine (2mg/Kg; i.v.) and attenuated after hexamethonium (20 mg/Kg; i.v.). In isolated rat mesenteric artery rings, vasicine (0.03, 0.1, 0.3, 1, 3, 10, 30, 100 and 300 μg/mL, cumulatively) induced concentration-dependent relaxation of phenylephrine-induced tone (IC50= 3.8±0.9 μg/mL; n = 6). In conclusion, the results show that vasicine produce hypotension and bradycardia which appears to be due to the stimulation of cardiac muscarinic receptors (directly and/or indirectly), and by a decrease of the peripheral resistances

Relative importance of environment, human activity and spatial situation in determining the distribution of terrestrial mammal diversity in Argentina

We recorded the number of terrestrial mammal species in each Argentinian province, and the number of species belonging to particular groups (Marsupialia, Placentaria, and among the latter, Xenarthra, Carnivora, Ungulates and Rodentia). We performed multiple regressions of each group’s SR on environmental, human and spatial variables, to determine the amounts of variation explained by these factors. We then used a variance partitioning procedure to specify which proportion of the variation in SR is explained by each of the three factors exclusively and which proportions are attributable to interactions between factors

Geographical gradients in Argentinean terrestrial mammal species richness and their environmental correlates.

We analysed the main geographical trends of terrestrial mammal species richness (SR) in Argentina, assessing how broad-scale environmental variation (defined by climatic and topographic variables) and the spatial form of the country (defined by spatial filters based on spatial eigenvector mapping (SEVM)) influence the kinds and the numbers of mammal species along these geographical trends. We also evaluated if there are pure geographical trends not accounted for by the environmental or spatial factors. The environmental variables and spatial filters that simultaneously correlated with the geographical variables and SR were considered potential causes of the geographic trends. We performed partial correlations between SR and the geographical variables, maintaining the selected explanatory variables statistically constant, to determine if SR was fully explained by them or if a significant residual geographic pattern remained. All groups and subgroups presented a latitudinal gradient not attributable to the spatial form of the country. Most of these trends were not explained by climate.We used a variation partitioning procedure to quantify the pure geographic trend (PGT) that remained unaccounted for. The PGT was larger for latitudinal than for longitudinal gradients. This suggests that historical or purely geographical causes may also be relevant drivers of these geographical gradients in mammal diversity

Leishmania infection in bats from a non-endemic region of Leishmaniasis in Brazil

Leishmaniasis is a complex of zoonotic diseases caused by parasites of the genus Leishmania, which can develop in domestic as well as wild animals and humans throughout the world. Currently, this disease is spreading in rural and urban areas of non-endemic regions in Brazil. Recently, bats have gained epidemiological significance in leishmaniasis due to its close relationship with human settlements. In this study, we investigated the presence of Leishmania spp. DNA in blood samples from 448 bats belonging to four families representing 20 species that were captured in the Triangulo Mineiro and Alto Paranaiba areas of Minas Gerais State (non-endemic areas for leishmaniasis), Brazil. Leishmania spp. DNA was detected in 8.0% of the blood samples, 41.6% of which were Leishmania infantum, 38.9% Leishmania amazonensis and 19.4% Leishmania braziliensis. No positive correlation was found between Leishmania spp. and bat food source. The species with more infection rates were the insectivorous bats Eumops perotis; 22.2% (4/18) of which tested positive for Leishmania DNA. The presence of Leishmania in the bat blood samples, as observed in this study, represents epidemiological importance due to the absence of Leishmaniasis cases in the region. © Cambridge University Press 2017

Symmetric Hyperbolic System in the Self-dual Teleparallel Gravity

In order to discuss the well-posed initial value formulation of the teleparallel gravity and apply it to numerical relativity a symmetric hyperbolic system in the self-dual teleparallel gravity which is equivalent to the Ashtekar formulation is posed. This system is different from the ones in other works by that the reality condition of the spatial metric is included in the symmetric hyperbolicity and then is no longer an independent condition. In addition the constraint equations of this system are rather simpler than the ones in other works.Comment: 8 pages, no figure

NEOTROPICAL ALIEN MAMMALS: a data set of occurrence and abundance of alien mammals in the Neotropics

Incluye contenido parcial de los autoresBiological invasion is one of the main threats to native biodiversity. For a speciesto become invasive, it must be voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into a nonna-tive habitat. Mammals were among first taxa to be introduced worldwide for game, meat, and labor, yet the number of species introduced in the Neotropics remains unknown. In this dataset, we make available occurrence and abundance data on mammal species that (1) transposeda geographical barrier and (2) were voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into theNeotropics. Our data set is composed of 73,738 historical and current georeferenced recordson alien mammal species of which around 96% correspond to occurrence data on 77 speciesbelonging to eight orders and 26 families. Data cover 26 continental countries in the Neotrop-ics, ranging from Mexico and its frontier regions (southern Florida and coastal-central Floridain the southeast United States) to Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay, and the 13 coun-tries of Caribbean islands. Our data set also includes neotropical species (e.g.,Callithrixsp.,Myocastor coypus,Nasua nasua)considered alien in particular areas of Neotropics. The mostnumerous species in terms of records are fromBossp. (n=37,782),Sus scrofa(n=6,730), andCanis familiaris(n=10,084); 17 species were represented by only one record (e.g., Syncerus caf-fer, Cervus timorensis, Cervus unicolor, Canis latrans). Primates have the highest number of spe-cies in the data set (n=20 species), partly because of uncertainties regarding taxonomicidentification of the generaCallithrix,which includes the speciesCallithrix aurita, Callithrixflaviceps, Callithrix geoffroyi, Callithrix jacchus, Callithrix kuhlii, Callithrix penicillata, andtheir hybrids. This unique data set will be a valuable source of information on invasion riskassessments, biodiversity redistribution and conservation-related research. There are no copy-right restrictions. Please cite this data paper when using the data in publications. We alsorequest that researchers and teachers inform us on how they are using the dat

Los vínculos entre estilos de aprendizaje y estrategias de motivación de estudiantes de Grado en Brasil y España

[ES] En este trabajo se realiza un análisis de los vínculos entre los estilos de aprendizaje y las estrategas de motivación de estudiantes de Grado de Administración y Dirección de Empresas de la Universidade Federal da Paraíba en Brasil y la Universitat Politècnica de València en España. Para ello, se encuestaron a un total de 106 estudiantes de los últimos cursos de Grado utilizando el inventario de los estilos de aprendizaje de David Kolb (1984) y las estratégias de motivación del MSLQ (Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionaire) de Pintrich et al. (1993), que contiene las siguientes componentes y subescalas: Valor (orientación intrínseca, orientación extrínseca, valor de la tarea), Expectativas (control sobre las creencias y autoeficacia) y Emoción (test de ansiedad). Los datos se analizaron obteniendo resultados descriptivos y de comparación de medias con muestras independientes y análisis de varianza. La primera sección de los resultados presenta el perfil de la muestra de los dos entornos investigados. Además, se muestran los resultados de los estilos de aprendizaje de los estudiantes por país y el desarrollo de las habilidades que forman los estilos. A continuación, se presenta un análisis de las estrategias de motivación. Los resultados indican diferencias en las estratégias de motivación intrínseca y valor de la tarea, así como que los estudiantes brasileños presentan mayores medias para estas dos dimensiones. Los niveles de ansiedad de los estudiantes en los dos países fueron bajos, con un índice de 3,18 para los estudiantes brasileños y 3,11 para los estudiantes españoles, siendo el valor máximo posible 7. Los resultados de la encuesta revelaron que no hay diferencias significativas entre las estrategias de motivación y los estilos de aprendizaje.Sistemas de aprendizaje en acción en el ámbito de la educación superior (PIME/2017/A07), Universitat Politècnica de València.Canós Darós, L.; Barbosa Da Silva, A.; Perelló Marín, MR.; Lima De Araujo Coelho, A.; Santandreu Mascarell, C. (2019). Los vínculos entre estilos de aprendizaje y estrategias de motivación de estudiantes de Grado en Brasil y España. En INNODOCT/18. International Conference on Innovation, Documentation and Education. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 615-624. https://doi.org/10.4995/INN2018.2018.881961562

Topological and geometrical restrictions, free-boundary problems and self-gravitating fluids

Let (P1) be certain elliptic free-boundary problem on a Riemannian manifold (M,g). In this paper we study the restrictions on the topology and geometry of the fibres (the level sets) of the solutions f to (P1). We give a technique based on certain remarkable property of the fibres (the analytic representation property) for going from the initial PDE to a global analytical characterization of the fibres (the equilibrium partition condition). We study this analytical characterization and obtain several topological and geometrical properties that the fibres of the solutions must possess, depending on the topology of M and the metric tensor g. We apply these results to the classical problem in physics of classifying the equilibrium shapes of both Newtonian and relativistic static self-gravitating fluids. We also suggest a relationship with the isometries of a Riemannian manifold.Comment: 36 pages. In this new version the analytic representation hypothesis is proved. Please address all correspondence to D. Peralta-Sala