Finite mixture models to characterize and refine air quality monitoring networks

Background: Existing air quality monitoring programs are, on occasion, not updated according to local, varying conditions and as such the monitoring programs become non-informative over time, under-detecting new sources of pollutants or duplicating information. Furthermore, inadequate maintenance may cause the monitor ing equipment to be utterly deficient in providing information. To deal with these issues, a combination of formal statistical methods is used to optimize resources for monitoring and to characterize the monitoring networks, introducing new criteria for their refinement. Methods: Monitoring data were obtained on key pollutants such as carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), particulate matter (PM10) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) from 12 air quality monitoring sites in Seville (Spain) during 2012. A total of 49 data sets were fit to mixture models of Gaussian distribution using the expectation– maximization (EM) algorithm. To summarize these 49 models, the mean and coefficient of variation were calculat ed for each mixture and carried out a hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) to study the grouping of the sites accord ing to these statistics. To handle the lack of observational data from the sites with unmonitored pollutants, the missing statistical values were imputed by applying the random forests technique and then later, a principal com ponent analysis (PCA) was carried out to better understand the relationship between the level of pollution and the classification of monitoring sites. All of the techniques were applied using free, open-source, statistical software. Results and conclusion: One example of source attribution and contribution is analyzed using mixture models and the potential for mixture models is posed in characterizing pollution trends. The mixture statistics have proven to be a fingerprint for every model and this work presents a novel use of them and represents a promising approach to characterizing mixture models in the air quality management discipline. The imputation technique used is allowed for estimating the missing information from key unmonitored pollutants to gather information about unknown pollution levels and to suggest new possible monitoring configurations for this network. Posterior PCA confirmed the misclassification of one site detected with HCA. The authors consider the stepwise approach used in this work to be promising and able to be applied to other air monitoring network studies

Controlling Coxiella burnetii in naturally infected sheep, goats and cows, and public health implications: a scoping review

©2024. The authors.This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. This document is the Published, version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Frontiers in Veterinary Science. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2024.1321553Q fever is a worldwide zoonotic disease which domestic ruminants are the main source of infection for humans. This scoping review summarizes the control measures currently available to reduce Coxiella burnetii (Cb) infection in naturally infected sheep, goat and cattle herds. A total of 28 articles were included in the review. A lack of methodological standardization was noted in the articles analyzed. The results indicated that long-term vaccination in cows reduces bacterial excretion in milk and environmental contamination. In small ruminants, the results of vaccination in terms of efficacy are variable. In goats, there is a reduction in bacterial excretion, unlike in sheep, where a long-term vaccination program is necessary to reduce bacterial excretion. Moreover, the high persistence of viable Cb in the environment means that control measures for sheep are needed for several years. The use of antibiotics as a control measure in cows and sheep was not found to reduce excretion. However, the combination of vaccination with antibiotic therapy appears to have positive effects in small ruminants in terms of controlling outbreaks of Q fever. Hygiene and biosecurity measures are the basic means for controlling Cb infection on ruminant farms and ensuring public health

Effects of saline reclaimed waters and deficit irrigation on Citrus physiology assessed by UAV remote sensing

The aim of our research was to discover the effects of the long-term irrigation with saline reclaimed (RW) and transfer (TW) water and different irrigation strategies: control (C) and regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) on yield and fruit quality of grapefruit at harvest and during cold storage. TW-RDI treatment decreased tree canopy (TC) and crop load, resulting in a 21% reduction of fruit yield. Regarding fruit quality, RW notably decreased peel thickness at harvest (about 8%); however, this difference was not remained during cold storage. Sugar/acid ratio was mainly increased by RDI, but also by RW, due to an important increase in soluble solid content (11% of average value for TW-RDI, RW-C and RW-RDI). In addition, RDI combined with RW, significantly increased the number of fruits in small category 5 at the end of cold storage. Finally, neither ratio yield/TC nor irrigation water productivity were affected by any irrigation treatments.This study was supported by two CICYT (AGL2010-17553 and AGL2013-49047-C2-482 515 2-R) projects and SIRRIMED (KBBE-2009-1- 2-03, PROPOSAL N◦245159) 483 project. We are also grateful to SENECA–Excelencia Científica (19903/GERM/15) for 484 providing funds for this research

El cuento y la fábula, estrategias didácticas para fortalecer el proceso de comprensión lectora desde el área de lengua castellana, en los estudiantes de grado sexto de la I.E. José Celestino Mutis.

La presente investigación se fundamenta en el diseño de una secuencia didáctica cuyo propósito es Fortalecer la comprensión lectora a través de los textos narrativos cuento y fábula, como estrategia didáctica en los estudiantes de sexto grado de la Institución Educativa José Celestino Mutis. La problemática se fundamenta en la dificultad que presentan los estudiantes en comprender textos escritos, evidenciados en los resultados de las pruebas externas, la percepción de la mayoría de los docentes, padres de familia y resultados del examen diagnóstico inicial. Este proyecto está encaminado a mejorar las prácticas docentes y que éste refleje en sus estudiantes la mejora en los procesos. Esto va a estar mediado por la utilización del cuento y la fábula como estrategia didáctica para la comprensión lectora, utilizando el modelo interactivo de lectura, este se desarrolla en tres momentos, antes, durante y después, el modelo se basa en preguntas y está diseñado para que el estudiante interactúe con el texto y el autor. En esta investigación se utilizó un tipo de estudio etnográfico con corte cualitativo. Se realizó ya que la comprensión lectora desarrolla habilidades cognitivas, que permiten no tan sólo decodificar un texto, sino también su comprensión y su propia producción desarrollando su inferencia. Finalmente, para la institución, se constituye un posible aumento en el nivel educativo, para el municipio, región y el país para mejorar las prácticas educativas, adaptando la investigación a su contexto.Maestrí

CO2 capture and conversion: A homemade experimental approach

During the SARS-2-Covid pandemic our institution sought to continue the teaching and learning of experimental laboratories by designing, assembling, and delivering a microscale chemistry kit to the students’ homes. Thanks to this approach students were able to perform ~25 experiments during each one of the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters in an elective Electrochemistry and Corrosion course offered to Chemical Engineering undergraduates. In addition to performing traditional experiments, students were encouraged to design some of their own and have the entire group reproduce them. One of such student-designed experiments involved the capture of CO2 and its reduction with a readily available active metal (i.e., Al foil) in aqueous media to generate potentially useful products. The highly negative standard potential of Al is exploited for the reduction of lab-generated CO2, and the products are chemically tested. Al as a foil has been reported to be electrochemically inactive for carbon dioxide reduction. However, encouraged by an earlier report of the reduction of CO2 to CO, the Al surface is activated in the present experiment by removal of its natural oxide layer with a solution of CuCl 2 produced in an electrochemical cell. This procedure enables Al to react with CO2 and yield useful chemistry. This experiment turned to be a discovery trip. The detailed procedure is discussed here, as well as the teaching methodology, grading scheme, and student outcomesPeer Reviewe

In Vitro Interaction between Mycoplasma agalactiae and Small Ruminants’ Endogenous Bacterial Strains of Enterococcus spp. and Coagulase-Negative Staphylococcus

©2024. The authors. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. This document is the Published, version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Microorganism. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12020406Recently, an antimicrobial effect on Mycoplasma agalactiae (Ma), the main etiological agent of contagious agalactia (CA), was reported in vitro with strains of Enterococcus spp. from ovine and caprine milk. The aim of this work was to evaluate the interaction of Ma with the same Enterococcus spp. isolated from other anatomical locations (vagina) and other bacterial populations present in milk, such as coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS). The vaginal Enterococcus strains and the raw milk CNS were isolated from sheep and goats. Experimental in vitro conditions were prepared to assess the growth of Ma with and without the presence of these strains. The selected vaginal strains were identified as Enterococcus (E.) hirae and E. mundtii, and the strains of CNS were identified as Staphylococcus petrasii. Different interactions of Ma with ovine and caprine wild vaginal strains of Enterococcus and dairy strains of CNS are described for the first time: Ma can grow exponentially during 15 h with the selected strains, although with certain strains, its optimal growth can be negatively affected (p< 0.05). The colonization and/or excretion of Ma could, therefore, be influenced by certain endogenous bacterial strains. Our results increase the knowledge about possible bacterial ecology dynamics surrounding CA

Transhumance in Sierra de Segura (Spain): a resilient traditional grazing system

This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. This document is the submited version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Small Ruminant Research. To access the final edited and published work see https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2024.107343Transhumance is tending to continuously decline globally, despite persisting in certain regions. Due to marked lack of knowledge about this practice and its cultural, economic, and environmental significance, our study aimed to identify the factors that contribute to the persistence of transhumance. We focused on ruminant herds of a transhumant community in the Santiago-Pontones municipality in Sierra de Segura, Spain. We processe d offi-cial data from ruminant livestock enterprises and incorporated insights gained as observer-participants durings even transhumant displacements from 2016 to 2023. . The census included 55042 ruminant heads and 118 herds,and 70% of animals and 61% of herds practiced transhumance. These herds wintered in pastures located withina range from 33 to 176 linear kilometers from their respective origins that span 15 municipalities. Significant diferences were observed between sedentary and transhumant farm sizes (363 vs. 533 heads, respectively). Transhumance correlated significantly with herd size, number of sheep, percentage of female goats and number of ruminant species in herds. Women owned 19 % of ruminant enterprises, with no differences in herd structure or displacement type compared to those owned by men. Of the transhumant herds, 66% traveled on foot, with no significant differences in herd structure parameters or distances based on their transport system, except that on-foot transhumant herds commenced their displacements earlier than those using trucks. In conclusion, our study outlines an active transhumant community in southeast Spain, whose resilience isa noteworthy asset that de-serves recognition and safeguarding

Polyphenols and IUGR Pregnancies: Intrauterine Growth Restriction and Hydroxytyrosol Affect the Development and Neurotransmitter Profile of the Hippocampus in a Pig Model

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) refers to poor growth of a fetus during pregnancy due to deficient maternal nutrition or oxygen supply. Supplementation of a mother's diet with antioxidants, such as hydroxytyrosol (HTX), has been proposed to ameliorate the adverse phenotypes of IUGR. In the present study, sows were treated daily with or without 1.5 mg of HTX per kilogram of feed from day 35 of pregnancy (at 30% of the total gestational period), and fetuses were sampled at day 100 of gestation. Fetuses were classified as normal body weight (NBW) or low body weight (LBW) as a consequence of IUGR, constituting four groups: NBW-Control, NBW-HTX, LBW-Control, and LBW-HTX. The brain was removed, and the hippocampus, amygdala, and prefrontal cortex were rapidly dissected. Neuronal markers were studied by immunohistochemistry, and a decrease in the number of mature neurons in the hippocampal Cornu Ammonis subfield 1 (CA1) and the Dentate Gyrus (DG) regions was observed in LBW fetuses together with a higher number of immature neurons and other alterations in neuronal morphology. Furthermore, IUGR conditions altered the neurotransmitter (NT) profile, since an increase in the serotonin (5-HT) pathway was observed in LBW fetuses. Supplementation with HTX was able to reverse the morphological and neurochemical changes, leading both characteristics to values similar to those of NBW fetuses

Conformación longitudinal en un equipamiento de formación técnica: Centro de emprendimiento

Artículo de gradoEl desarrollo e implementación de la educación para el emprendimiento es una competencia clave que debe integrarse en el esquema educativo creando a su vez un entorno de aprendizaje innovador para potenciar los conocimientos, competencias y actitudes en el desarrollo social de una cultura emprendedora y a su vez creando alternativas de vida a sus comunidades.INTRODUCCIÓN 1. OBJETIVO GENERAL 2. OBJETIVOS ESPECÍFICOS 3. JUSTIFICACIÓN 4. HIPÓTESIS 5. METODOLOGÍA CONCLUSIONES DISCUSIÓN REFERENCIASPregradoArquitect