Relationship between the sea surface temperature of different oceans and the maize yields in the Argentine Pampa region

La temperatura superficial del mar (TSM) guarda estrecha relación con algunas variables climáticas como la precipitación en el sudeste de Sudamérica y en particular con algunos cultivos en la Pampa Húmeda. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar la relación entre la TSM de los océanos Pacífico, Atlántico e Indico y los rendimientos del cultivo de maíz en dicha región. Se comprobó que los rendimientos de maíz responden en mayor o menor medida a las fluctuaciones de las TSM en los diferentes océanos, exceptuando parte del sur y el sudoeste de la región de estudio, coincidente con el sur de la provincia de Buenos Aires y este de La Pampa, donde la relación es muy débil o inexistente. Para el resto de la región de estudio se observó una significativa influencia del océano Pacífico subtropical y ecuatorial en la región del ENOS, el océano Indico en presencia del dipolo (DOI) y del océano Atlántico tropical y subtropical occidental principalmente durante la primavera y en algunos casos en el otoño.The sea surface temperature anomalies (SST) are closely related to the precipitation anomalies in central and eastern Argentina and therefore they are related to some crops in the Argentine Pampa region as well. The objective of this paper is to analyze the relationship between SST in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans and maize yields in the Pampa region. It is found that maize yields respond in different ways to the SST variability, except for the south, southeast and west of Buenos Aires province and the east of the La Pampa province, where the signal is either weak or nonexistent. It is also found that some oceanic regions have a significant influence over the rest of the Pampa region, in particular the subtropical Pacific Ocean, the equatorial Pacific Ocean ENSO region, the Indian Ocean dipole (IOD) and the tropical and subtropical western Atlantic Ocean mainly in the spring and in some cases in the fall.Fil: Muller, Gabriela Viviana. Provincia de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Universidad Autónoma de Entre Ríos. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción; ArgentinaFil: Fernández Long, María Elena. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía; ArgentinaFil: Bosch, Ezequiel. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía; Argentin

Do Millennials differ in terms of survey participation?

Millennials have been the focus of quite some research because of their differences with older cohorts. Besides, young respondents have been considered as a hard target population for surveys. However, to our knowledge, no research has compared the levels and types of survey participation of the Millennials versus the older generations. Using a dataset of 1,570,301 panelists of an opt-in online panel in eight countries from Europe, Latin America and North America, we show that Millennials differ from older cohorts in terms of survey participation. Millennials show lower participation rates than older cohorts. Moreover, they present significantly higher proportions of surveys answered using smartphones. However, differences across cohorts in terms of break-offs and survey evaluation are mainly nonsignificant and/or nonmeaningful

Supplementary_Material - Answering Mobile Surveys With Images

<p>Supplementary_Material for Answering Mobile Surveys With Images by Oriol J. Bosch, Melanie Revilla, and Ezequiel Paura in Social Science Computer Review</p

Vida y Ética Año 3, Nº 2, 2002 (número completo)

Contenido: Editorial -- Bioética de las virtudes : experiencia clínica / Edmund Pellegrino -- UCA - Georgetown : diálogos de Bioética / Carol Taylor, Roberto Dell'Oro, Kevin Fitzgerald -- Ciencia y respeto por la persona / Rubén Revello -- Una herramienta para valorar la calidad de la comunicación en la atención sanitaria / Marta Fracapani, Mariana B. Arreghini, Gladis Velásquez, María Rivera, Luis Cima -- Razones para no abortar / Gloria María Tomás y Garrido -- Bioética : el camino de la ética médica en el nuevo milenio / Alberto G. Bochatey -- Proyecto Genóma Humano y Bioética (II) / Margarita Bosch -- Muerte y Eutanasia / José Juan García -- Eutanasia / Alberto Di Martino -- El comienzo de la persona humana en Velz Sarsfield / Ezequiel Caride -- Documentos nacionales - Documentos internacionale

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus neutralising serum antibodies in dromedary camels : a comparative serological study

BACKGROUND: A new betacoronavirus-Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)-has been identified in patients with severe acute respiratory infection. Although related viruses infect bats, molecular clock analyses have been unable to identify direct ancestors of MERS-CoV. Anecdotal exposure histories suggest that patients had been in contact with dromedary camels or goats. We investigated possible animal reservoirs of MERS-CoV by assessing specific serum antibodies in livestock. METHODS: We took sera from animals in the Middle East (Oman) and from elsewhere (Spain, Netherlands, Chile). Cattle (n=80), sheep (n=40), goats (n=40), dromedary camels (n=155), and various other camelid species (n=34) were tested for specific serum IgG by protein microarray using the receptor-binding S1 subunits of spike proteins of MERS-CoV, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, and human coronavirus OC43. Results were confirmed by virus neutralisation tests for MERS-CoV and bovine coronavirus. FINDINGS: 50 of 50 (100%) sera from Omani camels and 15 of 105 (14%) from Spanish camels had protein-specific antibodies against MERS-CoV spike. Sera from European sheep, goats, cattle, and other camelids had no such antibodies. MERS-CoV neutralising antibody titres varied between 1/320 and 1/2560 for the Omani camel sera and between 1/20 and 1/320 for the Spanish camel sera. There was no evidence for cross-neutralisation by bovine coronavirus antibodies. INTERPRETATION: MERS-CoV or a related virus has infected camel populations. Both titres and seroprevalences in sera from different locations in Oman suggest widespread infection. FUNDING: European Union, European Centre For Disease Prevention and Control, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus neutralising serum antibodies in dromedary camels: a comparative serological study

BACKGROUND: A new betacoronavirus-Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)-has been identified in patients with severe acute respiratory infection. Although related viruses infect bats, molecular clock analyses have been unable to identify direct ancestors of MERS-CoV. Anecdotal exposure histories suggest that patients had been in contact with dromedary camels or goats. We investigated possible animal reservoirs of MERS-CoV by assessing specific serum antibodies in livestock. METHODS: We took sera from animals in the Middle East (Oman) and from elsewhere (Spain, Netherlands, Chile). Cattle (n=80), sheep (n=40), goats (n=40), dromedary camels (n=155), and various other camelid species (n=34) were tested for specific serum IgG by protein microarray using the receptor-binding S1 subunits of spike proteins of MERS-CoV, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, and human coronavirus OC43. Results were confirmed by virus neutralisation tests for MERS-CoV and bovine coronavirus. FINDINGS: 50 of 50 (100%) sera from Omani camels and 15 of 105 (14%) from Spanish camels had protein-specific antibodies against MERS-CoV spike. Sera from European sheep, goats, cattle, and other camelids had no such antibodies. MERS-CoV neutralising antibody titres varied between 1/320 and 1/2560 for the Omani camel sera and between 1/20 and 1/320 for the Spanish camel sera. There was no evidence for cross-neutralisation by bovine coronavirus antibodies. INTERPRETATION: MERS-CoV or a related virus has infected camel populations. Both titres and seroprevalences in sera from different locations in Oman suggest widespread infection. FUNDING: European Union, European Centre For Disease Prevention and Control, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus neutralising serum antibodies in dromedary camels: a comparative serological study

A new betacoronavirus-Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)-has been identified in patients with severe acute respiratory infection. Although related viruses infect bats, molecular clock analyses have been unable to identify direct ancestors of MERS-CoV. Anecdotal exposure histories suggest that patients had been in contact with dromedary camels or goats. We investigated possible animal reservoirs of MERS-CoV by assessing specific serum antibodies in livestock. METHODS: We took sera from animals in the Middle East (Oman) and from elsewhere (Spain, Netherlands, Chile). Cattle (n=80), sheep (n=40), goats (n=40), dromedary camels (n=155), and various other camelid species (n=34) were tested for specific serum IgG by protein microarray using the receptor-binding S1 subunits of spike proteins of MERS-CoV, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, and human coronavirus OC43. Results were confirmed by virus neutralisation tests for MERS-CoV and bovine coronavirus. FINDINGS: 50 of 50 (100%) sera from Omani camels and 15 of 105 (14%) from Spanish camels had protein-specific antibodies against MERS-CoV spike. Sera from European sheep, goats, cattle, and other camelids had no such antibodies. MERS-CoV neutralising antibody titres varied between 1/320 and 1/2560 for the Omani camel sera and between 1/20 and 1/320 for the Spanish camel sera. There was no evidence for cross-neutralisation by bovine coronavirus antibodies. INTERPRETATION: MERS-CoV or a related virus has infected camel populations. Both titres and seroprevalences in sera from different locations in Oman suggest widespread infection. FUNDING: European Union, European Centre For Disease Prevention and Control, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.Contributions to the study were funded through the European Union FP7 projects EMPERIE (contract number 223498; to BLH, SLS, AO, CD) and ANTIGONE (contract number 278976; to CG, CD, MPGK, AO). Work in Bonn was also funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG grant DR772/3-1 to CD)

Non-invasive tests for clinically significant portal hypertension after HCV cure.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Non-invasive tests (NIT)s for clinically significant portal hypertension (CSPH; hepatic venous pressure gradient [HVPG] ≥10mmHg) have predominantly been studied in patients with active HCV-infection. Investigations after HCV-cure are limited and yielded conflicting results. We conducted a pooled analysis to determine the diagnostic/prognostic utility of liver stiffness-measurement (LSM)/platelet count (PLT) in this setting. METHODS 418 patients with pre-treatment HVPG≥6mmHg who achieved sustained virological response (SVR) and underwent post-treatment-HVPG-measurement were assessed, of which 324 (HVPG/NIT-cohort) also had paired data on pre-/post-treatment-LSM/-PLT. The derived LSM/PLT-criteria were then validated against the direct endpoint decompensation in 755 compensated advanced chronic liver disease (cACLD) patients with SVR (cACLD-validation-cohort). RESULTS HVPG/NIT-cohort: Among cACLD patients, the pre-/post-treatment prevalence of CSPH was 80%/54%. The correlation between LSM/HVPG increased from pre- to post-treatment (r=0.45 vs. 0.60), while that of PLT/HVPG remained unchanged. For given LSM/PLT-values, HVPG tended to be lower post- vs. pre-treatment, indicating the need for dedicated algorithms. Combining post-treatment-LSM/-PLT yielded a high diagnostic accuracy for post-treatment-CSPH in cACLD (AUC: 0.884 [95%CI: 0.843-0.926]). Post-treatment-LSM150G/L excluded CSPH (sensitivity: 99.2%), while LSM≥25kPa was highly specific for CSPH (93.6%). CACLD-VALIDATION-COHORT The LSM150G/L-criterion was achieved in 42.5% of patients and their 3-year decompensation risk was 0%. In patients with post-treatment-LSM≥25kPa (prevalence: 16.8%), 3-year decompensation risk was 9.6%, while it was 1.3% in those meeting none of the above criteria (prevalence: 40.7%). CONCLUSIONS NITs can estimate the probability of CSPH after HCV-cure and predict clinical outcomes. cACLD patients with LSM150G/L (CSPH-excluded; no decompensation risk) may be discharged from portal hypertension surveillance (NITs and/or endoscopy), if no co-factors are present, while patients with LSM≥25kPa require surveillance/treatment (CSPH-ruled-in; increased decompensation risk). LAY SUMMARY Measurement of liver stiffness by a specific ultrasound device and platelet count (a simple blood test) are broadly used for the non-invasive diagnosis of increased blood pressure in the veins leading to the liver, which drives the development of complications in patients with advanced liver disease. The results of our pooled analysis refute previous concerns that these tests are less accurate after the cure of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We have developed diagnostic criteria that facilitate the personalized management after HCV-cure and allow for a de-escalation of care in a high proportion of patients, thereby decreasing disease burden