Banned books and Wikidata

Book banning has become a widespread method of global censorship. Governments are increasingly using this approach to control internet and technological resources. As is well known, censorship in libraries, and especially school and public libraries, is a subject of international and complex debate that touches several areas, from fundamental rights and freedom of expression to the social responsibility of public institutions and the professionals who work there, also the necessary representation of the existing diversity. Advocacy groups, like Amnesty International or library associations, have emerged to combat this threat to democracy, education, and progressive thinking. Countries such as China, Bangladesh, and Egypt commonly ban books to limit education and suppress vulnerable populations1. In 2022, the American Library Association received a record-breaking 1,269 requests to restrict library access. This surge, nearly doubling the previous year’s figures, underscores concern about intellectual freedom and diverse literary content. Within the 2,571 titles targeted for book censorship cases, some titles faced intense scrutiny2. Nunia Ferran Ferrar Miquel Centelles Lluis Agusti In April 2023, volunteers from Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Catalonia, and the United States launched the #EveryBookItsReader initiative3. Their goal was to improve content related to books, literary works, and oral traditions on various Wikimedia platforms, including Wikipedia, Wikidata, Wikicommons, Wikiquotes, Wikibooks, and Wikisource. This collaborative initiative, from various countries, recurs annually throughout April each year, aligning with World Book Day on April 23, which originated in Catalonia, Spain, as the “Day of Books and Roses.” Anyone, especially librarians, can participate.</p

Evidences of Impacts of Climate Change on Mediterranean Biota

Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (projects ESTRESX CTM2012-32603 and CLIMPACT CGL2014-54246-C2-1-R). Ramón y Cajal contract (RYC-2013-14714) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the Regional Government of the Balearic Islands.Peer Reviewe

Análisis de impactos ambientales en la cuenca del Jequetepeque, Perú, producidos por actividades mineras

El objetivo general es el estudio de la movilización de los metales pesados bajo distintas condiciones medioambientales así como la relación existente entre la movilización y las características químicas en el agua superficial de la cuenca alta del Jequetepeque, Perú, evaluando las distintas aportaciones de metales pesados por las empresas mineras ubicadas en la parte de recarga de la cuenca. La cuenca del Jequetepeque es fuente de conflictos debido a la percepción de la población local de escasez y mala calidad del agua, asociada a la minería, frente a la ausencia del estado y la manipulación de la información por parte de los medios de comunicación Para ello, se desarrolla una etapa inicial que consta de un programa de control medio ambiental así como la caracterización hidromorfológica de la cuenca. Se ha realizado la primera campaña del programa de control en los puntos seleccionados por estimarse lugares de mayor concentración de metales pesados, que incluye el análisis de la calidad de agua y sedimentos mediante extracción química selectiva propuesta por BCR (European Community Bureau of Reference) Por otra parte la caracterización hidrológica de la cuenca se ha realizado mediante el modelo de simulación “Soil and Water Assessment Tool” (ArcSWAT 2005) confiriendo una visión integral del recurso hídrico, puesto que permite simular la gestión de la cuenca. Es decir, mediante el modelo se pueden estimar las aportaciones de los distintos usos de suelo y actividades productivas a la cuenca. Además resulta posible tratar la contaminación difusa en el modelo, permitiendo así evaluar los impactos en los distritos hidrográficos. Finalmente, se prevé estimar los riesgos en la salud y medio ambiente a partir de la estimación de la movilidad de metales de los sedimentos al agua mediante los datos de los análisis y las aportaciones del SWAT, así como el diseño de medidas aplicadas para la eliminación de metales en el agua de abastecimiento en zonas rurales. El estudio se sustenta bajo la premisa de que los estudios técnicos no se presentan únicamente como herramientas para el conocimiento, sino como base de un trabajo de difusión y denuncia de acciones realizadas sobre el medio ambiente de forma fundamentada. En este sentido, y gracias a la actuación de la ONGD GRUFIDES (Grupo de Formación e Intervención para un Desarrollo Sostenible, es una de las instituciones asociadas al proyecto de investigación de agua y saneamiento a escala rural del GRECDH), se están llevando a cabo procesos divulgativos y de desarrollo de capacidades por parte de la población afectada, especialmente en la campaña de recogida de muestras e interpretación de resultados, confiriendo un mayor énfasis al conocimiento de los riesgos existentes.Peer Reviewe

The role of socio-demographic determinants in the geo-spatial distribution of newly diagnosed HIV infections in small areas of Catalonia (Spain)

Spatial visualization of HIV surveillance data could improve the planning of programs to address the HIV epidemic. The objectives of the study were to describe the characteristics and the spatial distribution of newly diagnosed HIV infection in Catalonia and to identify factors associated with HIV infection rates. Surveillance data from the national registry were presented in the form of descriptive and ring maps and used to study the spatial distribution of new HIV diagnoses in Catalonia (2012-2016) and associated risk factors at the small area level (ABS, acronym for "basic health area" in Catalan). Incident cases were modeled using the following as predictors: type of municipality, prevalence of young men and migrant groups, GBMSM activity indicators, and other variables at the aggregated level. New HIV diagnoses are heterogeneously distributed across Catalonia. The predictors that proved to be significantly associated with a higher rate of new HIV diagnoses were ABS located in the city of Barcelona (IRR, 2.520; P < 0.001), a higher proportion of men aged 15-44 years (IRR, 1.193; P = 0.003), a higher proportion of GBMSM (IRR, 1.230; P = 0.030), a higher proportion of men from Western Europe (IRR, 1.281; P = 0.003), a higher proportion of men from Latin America (IRR, 1.260; P = 0.003), and a higher number of gay locations (IRR, 2.665; P < 0.001). No association was observed between the HIV diagnosis rate and economic deprivation. Ring maps revealed substantial spatial associations for the rate of new HIV diagnoses. New HIV diagnoses are concentrated in ABS located in urban areas. Our results show that, in the case of HIV infection, the socioeconomic deprivation index on which the Catalan government bases its budget allocation policies among the ABS should not be the only criterion used

Comparative cytogenetic study of three Macrolophus species (Heteroptera, Miridae.)

Macrolophus pygmaeus (Rambur, 1839) (Insecta, Heteroptera, Miridae) is a predator of key vegetable crop pests applied as a biocontrol agent in the Mediterranean region. M. pygmaeus and M. melanotoma (A. Costa, 1853) are cryptic species with great morphological similarity which results in their misidentification and negative consequences for the conservation of their populations on greenhouse and outdoor crops. In order to find out specific markers for their separation we studied the karyotype, male meiosis and heterochromatin composition of these species and additionally of a third species (as a reference one), M. costalis Fieber, 1858. We demonstrate here that all the three species share achiasmate male meiosis and sex chromosome pre-reduction. On the other hand, the species differ in karyotype, with 2n=28 (26+XY) in M. pygmaeus, 2n=27 (24+X1X2Y) in M. costalis, and 2n=34 (32+XY) in M. melanotoma, and heterochromatin distribution and composition. In addition, the species differ in sperm morphology: sperm cells of M. costalis are significantly longer with longer head and tail than those of M. melanotoma and M. pygmaeus, whereas sperm cells of M. melanotoma have a longer tail than those of M. pygmaeus. All these characters can be used as markers to identify the species, in particular the cryptic species M. melanotoma and M. pygmaeus.This study has been funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) (Project AGL2011-24349), and by a travel grant from the University of Lleida - Fundació “La Caixa” to Dr Grozeva. The chromosome analysis was performed using microscope Axio Scope A1 – Carl Zeiss Microscopy upgraded by the project WETLANET (FP7 CSA – SUPPORT ACTION, GA 229802). We thank cordially Prof. Dr V. Kuznetsova for the valuable advices to improve the manuscrip

SARS-CoV-2 T-cell response in COVID-19 convalescent patients with and without lung sequelae

A specific T-cell response persists in the majority of COVID-19 patients 6 months after hospital discharge. This response is more prominent in those who required critical care during the acute COVID-19 episode but is reduced in patients with lung sequelae

Elliptic Fourier analysis in the study of the male genitalia to discriminate three Macrolophus species (Hemiptera:Miridae)

Within the genus Macrolophus (Heteroptera: Miridae), the species M. costalis (Fieber), M. melanotoma (Costa) and M. pygmaeus (Rambur) are present in the Mediterranean region on a wide variety of plant species. While M. costalis can easily be separated from the other two by the black tip at the scutellum, M. pygmaeus and M. melanotoma are cryptic species, extremely similar to one another in external traits, which has resulted in misidentifications. M. pygmaeus is an efficient biological control agent, both in greenhouse and field crops. The misidentification of these cryptic species could limit the effectiveness of biological control programs. Although the morphology of the left paramere of the male genitalia has been used as a character for identification of these two cryptic species, there is controversy surrounding the reliability of this character as a taxonomic tool for these species. Using geometric morphometric techniques, which are a powerful approach in detecting slight shape variations, the left parameres from these three Macrolophus species were compared. The paramere of M. costalis was larger and had a different shape to that of M. melanotoma and M. pygmaeus; however, no differences in size or shape were found between the left paramere of M. melanotoma and that of M. pygmaeus. Therefore, our results confirm that this character is too similar and it cannot be used to discriminate between these two cryptic species.This study has been funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) (Project AGL2011-24349 and AGL2014-53970-C2-2-R)

Dynamic light scattering plus scanning electron microscopy: usefulness and limitations of a simplified estimation of nanocellulose dimensions

Measurements of nanocellulose size usually demand very high-resolution techniques and tedious image processing, mainly in what pertains to the length of nanofibers. Aiming to ease the process, this work assesses a relatively simple method to estimate the dimensions of nanocellulose particles with an aspect ratio greater than 1. Nanocellulose suspensions, both as nanofibers and as nanocrystals, are subjected to dynamic light scattering (DLS) and to field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The former provides the hydrodynamic diameter, as long as the scatter angle and the consistency are adequate. Assays with different angles and concentrations compel us to recommend forward scattering (12.8°) and concentrations around 0.05–0.10 wt %. Then, FE-SEM with magnifications of ×5000–×20,000 generally suffices to obtain an acceptable approximation for the actual diameter, at least for bundles. Finally, length can be estimated by a simple geometric relationship. Regardless of whether they are collected from FE-SEM or DLS, size distributions are generally skewed to lower diameters. Width distributions from FE-SEM, in particular, are well fitted to log-normal functions. Overall, while this method is not valid for the thinnest fibrils or for single, small nanocrystals, it can be useful in lieu of very high-resolution techniques.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Effectiveness of the parasitoid Anisopteromalus calandrae (Hymenoptera : Pteromalidae) in the control of Sitophilus zeamais and Rhyzopertha dominica in paddy rice

Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UABRice is an important cereal crop in Spain that is frequently attacked by pests that cause significant quantitative and qualitative losses. Among them, the maize weevil, Sitophilus zeamais, is the key pest, and the lesser grain borer, Rhyzopertha dominica, is a serious pest found later in the season. The cosmopolitan ectoparasitoid, Anisopteromalus calandrae, which attacks late-instar larvae of coleopterans that develop inside grain kernels, has been reported as an efficient natural enemy. In this study, we evaluated whether the control efficacy of this parasitoid on S. zeamais was affected by the presence of the alternative host, R. dominica. Our laboratory experiment demonstrated the parasitoid preference for S. zeamais larvae when mixed with R. dominica larvae at different proportions. This preference for the maize weevil larvae allowed us to maintain a similar control efficacy of S. zeamais when it was offered alone than when it was offered together with R. dominica larvae. In our second experiment, done in 500 kg bags of paddy rice, similar results were obtained, since the presence of R. dominica larvae did not alter the control efficacy of A. calandrae on S. zeamais larvae. Therefore, our results confirmed a good perspective for implementing the use of this natural enemy as a control tool in big bags of paddy rice