Comprehensive and effective recording of edaphic characteristics of dune ecosystems as applied in the monitoring project of the Flemish coastal dunes

A project was set up in 1996 to monitor management regimes (shrub removal, grazing and mowing) implemented in different nature reserves along the west Belgian coast. The project integrates botanical, zoological, hydrological and pedological research at several levels (Bonte et al., 1997). The soil study aims to produce a comprehensive and effective system of soil description, and in this paper we propose the methodology used for recording soil characteristics at the most detailed research level. The initial period of the monitoring project runs for 3 years

Morphological characterization of humus forms in coastal dune systems: experience from the Flemish coast and northwest France

Humus profiles of dune soils on 46 sites along the Flemish coast and in northwest France were classified according to three classification systems (Delecour, 1980; Green et al., 1993 and Jabiol et al., 1995). These classification systems are not well adapted to young ecosystems on almost pure sand. Problems arose in the keys themselves and in the terminology and criteria which are used to classify the soils

Multiple imputation approach for interval-censored time to HIV RNA viral rebound within a mixed effects Cox model

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: “Alarcón-Soto, Y, Langohr K., Fehér, C., García, F., and Gómez, G. (2018) Multiple imputation approach for interval-censored time to HIV RNA viral rebound within a mixed effects Cox Model.Biometrical journal, December 13th ”which has been published in final form at [doi: 10.1002/bimj.201700291]. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.We present a method to fit a mixed effects Cox model with interval-censored data. Our proposal is based on a multiple imputation approach that uses the truncated Weibull distribution to replace the interval-censored data by imputed survival times and then uses established mixed effects Cox methods for right-censored data. Interval-censored data were encountered in a database corresponding to a recompilation of retrospective data from eight analytical treatment interruption (ATI) studies in 158 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive combination antiretroviral treatment (cART) suppressed individuals. The main variable of interest is the time to viral rebound, which is defined as the increase of serum viral load (VL) to detectable levels in a patient with previously undetectable VL, as a consequence of the interruption of cART. Another aspect of interest of the analysis is to consider the fact that the data come from different studies based on different grounds and that we have several assessments on the same patient. In order to handle this extra variability, we frame the problem into a mixed effects Cox model that considers a random intercept per subject as well as correlated random intercept and slope for pre-cART VL per study. Our procedure has been implemented in R using two packages: truncdist and coxme, and can be applied to any data set that presents both interval-censored survival times and a grouped data structure that could be treated as a random effect in a regression model. The properties of the parameter estimators obtained with our proposed method are addressed through a simulation study.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Management of the Belgian coast: opinions and solutions

Since the beginning of the 20th century the Belgian coast has undergone important changes of which an overview is presented here. To determine the view of the Belgian public on the Belgian coast and in order to obtain their opinions and solutions to the problems along the Belgian coast, a questionnaire survey was conducted with a total of 100 respondents divided into five groups, all active in the coastal zone. The five groups included (1) politicians on various levels of authority, (2) coastal entrepreneurs and business people, (3) naturalists and scientists, (4) coastal residents and (5) tourists. Coastal zone problems, as perceived by the different groups, and their solutions are discussed. Former municipalities, in particular, were held responsible for the current coastal problems. Most respondents were skeptic about the application of recent juridical instruments (e.g. the Dune Decree), the structural plans and their power to protect the remaining natural areas. The root of the problems seems to lie in lack of coordination and communication between different authorities responsible for the coastal zone

Genome of campylobacter coli bacteriophage phiCcoIBB_35

Campylobacter is recognized worldwide as the major etiologic agent in human diarrheoal disease, being Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli the most prevalent species. Bacteriophages are natural predators of bacteria, ubiquitous in the environment, self-limiting, self- replicating and with a high host-specicity. These make them potentially an important biocontrol agent of foodborne diseases. There are only few reports on Campylobacter bacteriophages, probably due to the fastidious nature of the host Campylobacter which makes the isolation of these phages challenging. Moreover the refractory nature to restriction enzymes digestion of their DNA causes difficulties in characterizing Campylobacter phage genomes by common methods such as restriction fragment length polymorphism. In a previous study Campylobacter phages were isolated from poultry intestinal contents (Carvalho et al., 2010) and one of these phages (phage phiCcoIBB 35) was selected to be genetically sequenced as it showed broad lytic spectra against food and clinical Campylobacter coli and Campylobacter jejuni strains. The PFGE analysis indicates that the genome of phage phiCcoIBB 35 is approximately 204kb. However due to the fact that DNA preparations appeared to contain substances that inhibit Taq and 29 enzymes, the DNA sequence data consists of ve DNA contigs in a total of 172 kb that were not possible to be aligned. Annotation indicates that most of the ORFs are unique and that homology exists with members of the Teequatrovirinae namely for all T4 tail proteins, one head protein (gp23), neck protein (gp20); and baseplate proteins (gp6,gp25, gp48). Moreover homologs were found to T4 proteins involved in morphogenesis, nucleotide metabolism, transcription, DNA replication and recombination. Unique genes involved in the carbohydrate metabolism, pathogenesis and amino acid metabolism were also annotated. Several incidences of gene duplications, split genes with intein and introns and insertion-like sequences were present. To our knowledge this study represents the rst report of the genomic sequence of a lytic Campylobacter phage and therefore is of extreme importance for further comparisons with other phage sequences. Nu

Guia prático para necropsia de suínos.

bitstream/item/119148/1/Guia-de-Necropsia-Final.pdf1 folder

Injuries in Traditional Wrestling: The Leonese Wrestling Case Study (2005-2015)

El objetivo de este estudio fue describir la localización anatómica, el tipo y la gravedad de las lesiones ocurridas en las competiciones oficiales de las ligas de verano masculinas (2005-2015) de Lucha Leonesa. Al objeto de realizar un análisis más profundo, se tuvo en cuenta, el perfil del luchador. Se produjeron un total de 401 lesiones, siendo los luchadores de mayor nivel los que menos número de lesiones sufrieron. Las contusiones fueron las lesiones más frecuentes (41,4%) pero entre las graves fueron los esguinces (42,3%). Los miembros inferiores fueron la localización más frecuente en el total de lesiones (38,2%) y entre las graves (45,4%). La rodilla, el tórax y el hombro acumulaban casi la mitad de las lesiones y el 68% de las lesiones graves. Los resultados obtenidos sugieren que las características de las lesiones que se pueden observar en la lucha leonesa son similares a las de otros deportes de combateThis study aimed at describing the anatomical location, type and severity of the sport injuries observed during the Leonese Wrestling “masculine summer leagues” official tournaments (2005-2015). The wrestler’s profile was taken into account as a way to achieve a deep analysis. A total of 401 injuries were registered. The best wrestlers were the ones that suffered the least number of injuries. Contusions were the type of injuries more frequently registered (41.4%), while sprains were the most common cause of severe injury (42.3%). The most frequent anatomical location affected and the one in which a great number of severe injuries occurred were the lower limbs (38.2% and 45.4%). The knee, thorax, and shoulder accounted for almost half of the total injuries and represented 68% of the severe injuries. The obtained results suggest that Leonese Wrestling show a similar injury pattern to the one observed in other combat sportsEste trabajo contó con financiación parcial de la Diputación de León, la Federación Territorial de Castilla y León de Lucha y CIBERESP (MTM2015-64465-C2-1-R; MINECO / FEDER