1,088 research outputs found

    Aportaciones a la flora del sureste ibérico

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    New records to the flora of SE Spain.Palabras clave: Corología, plantas vasculares, Murcia, Albacete, España.Key words: Chorology, vascular plants, Murcia, Albacete, Spain

    Linking forest cover, soil erosion and mire hydrology to late-Holocene human activity and climate in NW Spain

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    This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (http://www.uk.sagepub.com/aboutus/openaccess.htm).This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Forest clearance is one of the main drivers of soil erosion and hydrological changes in mires, although climate may also play a significant role. Because of the wide range of factors involved, understanding these complex links requires long-term multi-proxy approaches and research on the best proxies to focus. A peat core from NW Spain (Cruz do Bocelo mire), spanning the last ~3000 years, has been studied at high resolution by physical (density and loss on ignition (LOI)), geochemical (elemental composition) and palynological (pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs) analyses. Proxies related to mineral matter fluxes from the catchment (lithogenic tracers, Glomus and Entorrhiza), rainfall (Bromine), mire hydrology (HdV-18), human pressure (Cerealia-type, nitrophilous taxa and coprophilous fungi) and forest cover (mesophilous tree taxa) were the most useful to reconstruct the evolution of the mire and its catchment. Forest clearance for farming was one of the main drivers of environmental change from at least the local Iron Age (~2685 cal. yr BP) onwards. The most intense phase of deforestation occurred during Roman and Germanic times and the late Middle Ages. During these phases, the entire catchment was affected, resulting in enhanced soil erosion and severe hydrological modifications of the mire. Climate, especially rainfall, may have also accelerated these processes during wetter periods. However, it is noteworthy that the hydrology of the mire seems to have been insensitive to rainfall variations when mesophilous forest dominated. Abrupt changes were only detected once intense forest clearance commenced during the Iron Age/Roman transition (~2190 cal. yr BP) phase, which represented a tipping point in catchment's ability to buffer impacts. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of studying ecosystems' long-term trajectories and catchment-wide processes when implementing mire habitat protection measures.This work was funded by the projects CGL2010-20672 (Plan Nacional I+D+i, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation) and 10PXIB200182PR (General Directorate of I+D, Xunta de Galicia). N Silva-Sánchez and L López-Merino are currently supported by a FPU predoctoral scholarship (AP2010-3264) funded by the Spanish Government and a MINT postdoctoral fellowship funded by the Brunel Institute for the Environment, respectively

    An interdisciplinary vision of "Cova Beneito"

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    Aquest freball ofereix una visió interdisciplimiria i global dels nivells del paleolític mijà i superior de la cova Beneito (Muro del Comtat, Alacant). L'estudi sedimentològic, palinològic i faunístic de la seua dilatada estratigrafia aporta dades imprescindibles per al reconeixement de l'lnterestadial II-III, per a la consolidació de la climatoestratigrafia del Pleistocé Superior i, a més, una comprensió millor de la relació home-medi. El desenvolupamenr cultural ofereix altenatives interessants per a la seqüència mediterrànea i aporta la novetat de I'Aurinyacià evolucionat final a l'ambit valencià. S'hi dedica una apartat a l'estudi d'una tomba ritual secundària solutriogravetiana.The present work attempts to offer an interdisciplinary and global vision on the levels of the Middle and Upper Paleolithic period in "Cova Beneito" (Muro-Alicante-Spain). The sedimentological, palynological and faunistic study of its vast stratigraphy bring forward essential facts for the identification of the midlast glacial stage and for strengthening of the climatostratigraphy of the Upper Pleistocene, as well as for a better reconstruction of the retationship between man and environment. The cultural development supplies interesting alternatives to the Mediterranean sequence, and brings out the novelty of the Evolued Aurignacian in the Valencian area. There is a special section on the study of a secondary Solutrean-Gravettian ritual burial.El presente trabajo ofrece una visión interdisciplinar y global de los niveles del Paleolítico Medio y Superior de Cova Beneito (Muro- Alicante). El estudio sedimentológico, palinológico y faunístico de su dilatada estratigrafía aportan datos imprescindibles para el reconocimiento del Interestadial II-III y el afianzamiento de la climatoestratigrafía del Pleistoceno Superior, así como para una mejor comprensidn de la relación hombre-medio. El desarrollo cultural ofrece alternativas interesantes a tu secuencia mediterránea, aportando la novedad del Auriñaciense evolucionado final al ámbito valenciano. Se dedica un apartado al estudio de un enterramiento ritual secundario Solútreogravetiense

    Revealing the last 13,500 years of environmental history from the multiproxy record of a mountain lake (Lago Enol, northern Iberian Peninsula)

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    This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10933-009-9387-7.We present the Holocene sequence from Lago Enol (43°16′N, 4°59′W, 1,070 m a.s.l.), Cantabrian Mountains, northern Spain. A multiproxy analysis provided comprehensive information about regional humidity and temperature changes. The analysis included sedimentological descriptions, physical properties, organic carbon and carbonate content, mineralogy and geochemical composition together with biological proxies including diatom and ostracod assemblages. A detailed pollen study enabled reconstruction of variations in vegetation cover, which were interpreted in the context of climate changes and human impact. Four distinct stages were recognized for the last 13,500 years: (1) a cold and dry episode that includes the Younger Dryas event (13,500–11,600 cal. year BP); (2) a humid and warmer period characterizing the onset of the Holocene (11,600–8,700 cal. year BP); (3) a tendency toward a drier climate during the middle Holocene (8,700–4,650 cal. year BP); and (4) a return to humid conditions following landscape modification by human activity (pastoral activities, deforestation) in the late Holocene (4,650–2,200 cal. year BP). Superimposed on relatively stable landscape conditions (e.g. maintenance of well established forests), the typical environmental variability of the southern European region is observed at this site.The Spanish Inter-Ministry Commission of Science and Technology (CICYT), the Spanish National Parks agency, the European Commission, the Spanish Ministry of Science, and the European Social Fund

    Revealing the last 13,500 years of environmental history from the multiproxy record of a mountain lake (Lago Enol, northern Iberian Peninsula)

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    This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10933-009-9387-7.We present the Holocene sequence from Lago Enol (43°16′N, 4°59′W, 1,070 m a.s.l.), Cantabrian Mountains, northern Spain. A multiproxy analysis provided comprehensive information about regional humidity and temperature changes. The analysis included sedimentological descriptions, physical properties, organic carbon and carbonate content, mineralogy and geochemical composition together with biological proxies including diatom and ostracod assemblages. A detailed pollen study enabled reconstruction of variations in vegetation cover, which were interpreted in the context of climate changes and human impact. Four distinct stages were recognized for the last 13,500 years: (1) a cold and dry episode that includes the Younger Dryas event (13,500–11,600 cal. year BP); (2) a humid and warmer period characterizing the onset of the Holocene (11,600–8,700 cal. year BP); (3) a tendency toward a drier climate during the middle Holocene (8,700–4,650 cal. year BP); and (4) a return to humid conditions following landscape modification by human activity (pastoral activities, deforestation) in the late Holocene (4,650–2,200 cal. year BP). Superimposed on relatively stable landscape conditions (e.g. maintenance of well established forests), the typical environmental variability of the southern European region is observed at this site.The Spanish Inter-Ministry Commission of Science and Technology (CICYT), the Spanish National Parks agency, the European Commission, the Spanish Ministry of Science, and the European Social Fund

    Implementation and validation of an economic module for the epidemiological model Be-FAST to predict the costs generated by livestock diseases epidemics. Application to the Classical Swine Fever case in Spain

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    Abstract Classical Swine Fever (CSF) is one of the most harmful livestock diseases for the economy of the swine sector worldwide. Specifically in Spain, the costs in the two last CSF outbreaks (1997 and 2001) have been estimated above 108 million euros. In this work, we aim to evaluate the economic impact of important livestock disease epidemics, and particularly the CSF in Spain. This study starts with a preliminary classification of the costs associated with CSF epidemics. In order to estimate the expected costs of a given epidemic in a considered area, a new economic module has been integrated into the epidemiological model Be-FAST, a time-spatial stochastic spread mathematical model for studying the transmission of diseases within and between farms. The input data for economic parameters have been obtained from entities related with the swine industry in Spain. The new Be-FAST module is tested by comparing the results obtained with historical data from CSF epidemics in Spain. The outcomes show that severe CSF epidemics also have a strong economic impact with around 80% of the costs related to animal culling, while costs associated with control measures are directly associated with the number of infected farms and the duration of the epidemic. The results presented in this work * Corresponding author: [email protected] 1 are expected to provide valuable information to decision makers, including animal health officials and insurance companies, and can be extended to other livestock diseases or used to predict the economic impact of future outbreaks

    Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Chagas Disease in the United States: A Multicenter Retrospective Analysis

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    Chagas disease affects approximately 300,000 patients in the United States. We evaluated a multicenter U.S.-based network to obtain clinical characteristics and outcomes of chronic Chagas disease by disease forms. This was a U.S.-based, multicenter, population-based, retrospective cohort study. We queried TriNetX, a global research network, to identify patients with dual-positive IgG serology for Trypanosoma cruzi. We captured outcomes of interest for up to 5 years. We found 429 patients with evidence of dual-positive T. cruzi IgG out of 19,831 patients with an available test result from 31 U.S. medical centers. The positive proportion for those tested was 2.2%, up to 4.6% among Hispanics. We found a prevalence of a positive Chagas serology of 0.02% among Hispanics. Cardiomyopathy risk reached an annual rate of 1.3% during the initial 5 years of follow-up among patients with the indeterminate form. We found no new events for pulmonary embolism, sudden death, or left ventricular aneurysms at 5 years. Annual risks for arrhythmias and stroke for chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy (CCC) were 1.6% and 0.8%, respectively. The yearly mortality and hospitalization rates for CCC were 2.7% and 17.1%, respectively. Only 13 patients had a documented antitrypanosomal therapy course within 6 months after diagnosis. Of those receiving treatment, 10 patients received benznidazole and three nifurtimox. Chagas disease screening in patients from endemic areas living in the United States remains crucial. Chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy carries a considerable disease burden, translating into increased morbidity and mortality and an enlarging medical health service utilization

    Multivariate Statistical Approach for Anomaly Detection and Lost Data Recovery in Wireless Sensor Networks

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    Data loss due to integrity attacks or malfunction constitutes a principal concern in wireless sensor networks (WSNs). The present paper introduces a novel data loss/modification detection and recovery scheme in this context. Both elements, detection and data recovery, rely on a multivariate statistical analysis approach that exploits spatial density, a common feature in network environments such as WSNs. To evaluate the proposal, we consider WSN scenarios based on temperature sensors, both simulated and real. Furthermore, we consider three different routing algorithms, showing the strong interplay among (a) the routing strategy, (b) the negative effect of data loss on the network performance, and (c) the data recovering capability of the approach. We also introduce a novel data arrangement method to exploit the spatial correlation among the sensors in a more efficient manner. In this data arrangement, we only consider the nearest nodes to a given affected sensor, improving the data recovery performance up to 99%. According to the results, the proposed mechanisms based on multivariate techniques improve the robustness of WSNs against data loss.This work has been partially supported by Spanish MICINN (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación) through Project TEC2011-22579, by Spanish MINECO (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad) through Project TIN2014-60346-R, and the FPU P6A grants program of the University of Granada

    Bluefin Tuna Larvae in Oligotrophic Ocean Foodwebs, Investigations of Nutrients to Zooplankton: Overview of the BLOOFINZ-Gulf of Mexico program

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    Western Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABT) undertake long-distance migrations from rich feeding grounds in the North Atlantic to spawn in oligotrophic waters of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Stock recruitment is strongly affected by interannual variability in the physical features associated with ABT larvae, but the nutrient sources and food-web structure of preferred habitat, the edges of anticyclonic loop eddies, are unknown. Here, we describe the goals, physical context, design and major findings of an end-to-end process study conducted during peak ABT spawning in May 2017 and 2018. Mesoscale features in the oceanic GoM were surveyed for larvae, and five multi-day Lagrangian experiments measured hydrography and nutrients; plankton biomass and composition from bacteria to zooplankton and fish larvae; phytoplankton nutrient uptake, productivity and taxon-specific growth rates; micro- and mesozooplankton grazing; particle export; and ABT larval feeding and growth rates. We provide a general introduction to the BLOOFINZ-GoM project (Bluefin tuna Larvae in Oligotrophic Ocean Foodwebs, Investigation of Nitrogen to Zooplankton) and highlight the finding, based on backtracking of experimental waters to their positions weeks earlier, that lateral transport from the continental slope region may be more of a key determinant of available habitat utilized by larvae than eddy edges per se.Postprint1,74

    Cavidades de uso funerario durante el Neolítico final/Calcolítico en el territorio valenciano: trabajos arqueológicos en Avenc Dels Dos Forats o Cova del Monedero (Carcaixent, Valencia)

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    Presentamos en este trabajo los resultados de la intervención arqueológica de urgencia efectuada en la cavidad de Avenc dels Dos Forats o Cova del Monedero (Carcaixent, Valencia) a finales del verano de 2008. Noticias preliminares informaban de la existencia de restos humanos y elementos de ajuar que indicaban un uso funerario de este espacio al menos desde el Neolítico final/Calcolítico. Con la presente actuación hemos podido dilucidar el grado de conservación del depósito arqueológico a la vez que esbozar la diacronía, características y orientación funcional de las ocupaciones prehistóricas e históricas
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