Diagrama de manejo de densidad y su aplicación a raleo en bosques de segundo crecimiento de Drimys winteri en el sur de Chile

Stand density management (DMD) diagrams are graphical models of uniform stands at different ages that reflect the relationship among size, density, competition, site occupancy and self thinning. DMDs allow planning of thinnings through the definition of a target stand and the upper and lower limits of site occupancy. In this study we developed a DMD for Drimys winteri second-growth forests in southern Chile by using 300 sampling units with at least 70 % basal area of this species. The resulting DMD allowed the determination of the maximum density line, the volume and height isolines, and the evaluation of its use with information from permanent plots thinned 21 years ago. The results of the functions in the DMD present acceptable predictive power, and illustrate the usefulness and precision of this tool to plan silviculture activities. Results from applying the DMD suggest maintenance of site occupancy levels between the subutilization zone (30 % relative density index (RDI)) and the imminent mortality zone (45 % IDR), executing at least three thinnings to reach a target stand that will produce sawtimber and veneer at an age of at least 80 years for the study site. With this scheme the windfall risk is reduced and therefore so is the potential loss of production

Intelligence and video games: beyond “brain-games”

Video games are among the most popular leisure activities in current Western societies. Psychology research has shown correlations, at the latent level, between intelligence and video games ranging from 0.60 to 0.93. Here we analyze whether video games genre can account for this range of correlations by testing one hundred and thirty-four participants playing ten video games of different genres for iPad® and WiiU® (Art of Balance®, Blek, Crazy Pool, EDGE®, Hook, Rail Maze, SkyJump, Space Invaders, Splatoon® and Unpossible) within a controlled playing environment. Gaming performance was correlated with standard measures of fluid reasoning, visuospatial ability, and processing speed. Results revealed a correlation value of 0.79 between latent factors representing general intelligence (g) and video games general performance (gVG). This finding leads to conclude that: (1) performance intelligence tests and video games is supported by shared cognitive processes and (2) brain-games are not the only genre able to produce performance measures comparable to intelligence standardized tests. From a theoretical perspective, the observed result supports the principle of the indifference of the indicator that has been addressed in intelligence research across decade

Selective Spin-State Switch and Metal-Insulator Transition in \boldmath GdBaCo2O5.5\rm GdBaCo_2O_{5.5}

Ultra-high resolution synchrotron diffraction data for $\rm GdBaCo_2O_{5.5}$ throw new light on the metal-insulator transition of Co$^{3+}$ Ba-cobaltites. An anomalous expansion of CoO$_6$ octahedra is observed at the phase transition on heating, while CoO$_5$ pyramids show the normal shrinking at the closing of the gap. The insulator-to-metal transition is attributed to a sudden excitation of some electrons in the octahedra ($t_{2g}^6$ state) into the Co $e_g$ band (final $t_{2g}^4e_g^2$ state). The $t_{2g}^5e_g^1$ state in the pyramids does not change and the structural study also rules out a $d_{3x^2-r^2}/d_{3y^2-r^2}$ orbital ordering at $T_{MI}$.Comment: Phys. Rev. B (to appear

SMART-KG: Hybrid Shipping for SPARQL Querying on the Web

While Linked Data (LD) provides standards for publishing (RDF) and (SPARQL) querying Knowledge Graphs (KGs) on the Web, serving, accessing and processing such open, decentralized KGs is often practically impossible, as query timeouts on publicly available SPARQL endpoints show. Alternative solutions such as Triple Pattern Fragments (TPF) attempt to tackle the problem of availability by pushing query processing workload to the client side, but suffer from unnecessary transfer of irrelevant data on complex queries with large intermediate results. In this paper we present smart-KG, a novel approach to share the load between servers and clients, while significantly reducing data transfer volume, by combining TPF with shipping compressed KG partitions. Our evaluations show that smart-KG outperforms state-of-the-art client-side solutions and increases server-side availability towards more cost-effective and balanced hosting of open and decentralized KGs

Determinants of the current and future distribution of the West Nile virus mosquito vector Culex pipiens in Spain

Changes in environmental conditions, whether related or not to human activities, are continuously modifying the geographic distribution of vectors, which in turn affects the dynamics and distribution of vector-borne infectious diseases. Determining the main ecological drivers of vector distribution and how predicted changes in these drivers may alter their future distributions is therefore of major importance. However, the drivers of vector populations are largely specific to each vector species and region. Here, we identify the most important human-activity-related and bioclimatic predictors affecting the current distribution and habitat suitability of the mosquito Culex pipiens and potential future changes in its distribution in Spain. We determined the niche of occurrence (NOO) of the species, which considers only those areas lying within the range of suitable environmental conditions using presence data. Although almost ubiquitous, the distribution of Cx. pipiens is mostly explained by elevation and the degree of urbanization but also, to a lesser extent, by mean temperatures during the wettest season and temperature seasonality. The combination of these predictors highlights the existence of a heterogeneous pattern of habitat suitability, with most suitable areas located in the southern and northeastern coastal areas of Spain, and unsuitable areas located at higher altitude and in colder regions. Future climatic predictions indicate a net decrease in distribution of up to 29.55%, probably due to warming and greater temperature oscillations. Despite these predicted changes in vector distribution, their effects on the incidence of infectious diseases are, however, difficult to forecast since different processes such as local adaptation to temperature, vector-pathogen interactions, and human-derived changes in landscape may play important roles in shaping the future dynamics of pathogen transmission.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Heme iron intake and risk of new-onset diabetes in a Mediterranean population at high risk of cardiovascular disease: an observational cohort analysis

BACKGROUND: Several epidemiological studies have observed an increased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) among subjects with a higher consumption of red and processed meat. Heme iron intake has been directly associated with a higher risk of T2DM in healthy adult Chinese and U.S populations. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the association between heme iron intake and the incidence of T2DM in a Mediterranean population at high cardiovascular risk. METHODS: We assessed a subset of participants in the PREDIMED trial as an observational cohort, followed up for a maximum of eight years. We initially included 1073 non-diabetic subjects (57.1% women) aged 67.3 ± 6.0 years, at high cardiovascular risk. Diet was assessed at the study baseline using a validated, semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. RESULTS: During the follow-up period 131 diabetics were newly diagnosed. The risk of developing T2DM was assessed using baseline heme iron intake and proportional hazard models, first unadjusted, then adjusted for energy, and finally adjusted for dietary, anthropometric, socio-demographic and lifestyle variables. Significant direct associations with the incidence of T2DM were found for heme iron (Hazard Ratio [HR] 1.30, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02 to 1.66). Secondarily, we have also observed that coffee (HR:0.93, 95% CI, 0.89 to 0.98) and alcoholic beverages (HR: 1.02, 95% CI, 1.01 to 1.04) were also found to reduce and increase the risk of T2DM, respectively. CONCLUSION: High dietary intake of heme iron was associated with an increased risk of developing T2DM in a Mediterranean population at high cardiovascular risk. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Identifier: ISRCTN35739639