Water balance on the Central Rift Valley

Material complementari del cas estudi "Water balance on the Central Rift Valley", part component del llibre "Case studies for developing globally responsible engineers"Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Scientific output in library and information science: A comparative study of the journals Anales de Documentación and BiD textos universitaris en biblioteconomia i documentació

In recent years, academic journals have evolved to become a vehicle for scientific communication that is acknowledged by the official organizations that certify their quality. This enables assessments to be performed, determining how a discipline has evolved through the analysis of bibliometric indicators and the keywords used to index the articles. In the field of library and information science, it is particularly interesting to study the articles published in the journals specializing in this area but few studies have performed an in-depth analysis of the discipline. In order to gain a detailed view of the evolution of library and information science, we have carried out a bibliometric and thematic study of the journals Anales de Documentación (AD) and BiD textos universitaris en biblioteconomia i documentació (BiD) between 2000 and 2013. The analysis focuses on the number of articles and authors, the evolution of the sections and the contents. In addition, a thematic study determines the level of similarity between the two journals' contents, the subject areas they belong to and whether there is any subject continuity during the period analysed. The results confirm that in BID, practitioner-focused subject matter is double that of the academic content, unlike AD, which shows a preference for academic content. The thematic study confirms that there is little similarity between the content of the two publications; that the subjects where there is overlap are basically concerned with information units, information technologies, auxiliary sciences and techniques, and library science; and that there is little continuity in the subjects covered during the period analyse

Water resources management in the Central Rift Valley: modelling for the water poor

Achieving a sustainable development is crucial, but is even more important in developing countries, where a wide number of people does not have a safe and secure access to water and relay on the environment to sustain their lives. The Ethiopian Central Rift Valley basin is already a degraded basin from the environmental point of view: ecosystems are endangered due to human activities there developed. Moreover, poverty is widespread all over the basin, with population is mainly living from agriculture on a subsistence economy. In order to achieve sustainable development to increase population incomes without affecting lives of those who are highly dependent on the environment and Integrated Water Resources Management approach shall be applied. First step has been to model the basin water resources, using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), which, after calibration and validation of the model, has given correct results. In order to follow deepening in the IWRM approach, more information on actual and future water demand and specifically water applied to agriculture will be needed.Postprint (published version

High perfomance graphics: a game engine comparison

[EN] The aim of this article consists of showing the results of a comparative analysis of features of the most important current game and real time graphics development engines.[ES] El objetivo del presente artículo consiste en presentar una comparativa de prestaciones y características de las más importantes herramientas de generación de juegos y aplicaciones gráficas en tiempo real del momento.Linares Pellicer, JJ.; Martínez Pérez, JV.; Candela Moltó, A. (2012). Gráficos a la máxima potencia: Una comparativa entre motores de juegos. 3c Tic. (2):51-65. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/34372S5165

Molecular Characterization of Cryptosporidium spp. in Cultivated and Wild Marine Fishes from Western Mediterranean with the First Detection of Zoonotic Cryptosporidium ubiquitum

Altres ajuts: Ministerio para la transición ecológica y el reto demográfico 2019/1476 i 2020/792Cryptosporidium is a widespread pathogen that infects a broad range of vertebrates, including humans, in which it is one of the main causes of diarrhea worldwide. Marine fishes also harbor Cryptosporidium species, including zoonotic ones. The goal of this study is to evaluate the presence of Cryptosporidium species in edible marine fishes using molecular tools. The area of study, located in the Western Mediterranean, is an important area for marine fish production and capture. The following three groups were studied: cultivated fish, wild fish that aggregate in the surroundings of marine fish farms and wild fish from extractive fisheries. Results show that the most affected group is the group of wild fish from the vicinity of fish farms. Two species were mainly identified, C. molnari (fish specific) and zoonotic C. ubiquitum. The presence of zoonotic C. ubiquitum in two European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) highlights a potential risk for fish consumers. Fish not only harbor host-specific species/genotypes of Cryptosporidium, but also species like zoonotic C. parvum or anthroponotic C. hominis, which can pose a risk for fish consumers. This study aims to investigate fish cryptosporidiosis in an important aquaculture and fishery area of the Western Mediterranean (Comunidad Valenciana, Spain). We analyzed 404 specimens belonging to the following three groups: cultivated fish (N = 147), wild synanthropic fish (N = 147) and wild fish from extractive fisheries (N = 110). Nested PCR targeting the 18S rRNA gene, followed by sequencing and phylogenetic analysis, were performed. Positive isolates were also amplified at the actin gene locus. An overall prevalence of 4.2% was detected, with the highest prevalence in the synanthropic group (6.1%). C. molnari was identified in thirteen specimens from seven different host species. Zoonotic C. ubiquitum was detected in two European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax). One isolate similar to C. scophthalmi was detected in a cultivated meagre (Argyrosomus regius), and one isolate, highly divergent from all the Cryptosporidium species/genotypes described, was identified from a synanthropic round sardinella (Sardinella aurita). This study contributes to increasing the molecular data on fish cryptosporidiosis, expanding the range of known hosts for C. molnari and identifying, for the first time, zoonotic C. ubiquitum in edible marine fishes, pointing out a potential health risk

Consenso sobre el estándar de atención psicooncológica, complejidad psicosocial y actividad asistencial en el Instituto Catalán de Oncología

Introducción: La atención psicosocial de las personas con enfermedad oncológica y la familia debe formar parte de todo modelo integral de atención que pretenda reducir el impacto vital del cáncer. Las intervenciones psicosociales han probado su eficacia en la ayuda a pacientes y familiares para afrontar las situaciones de alta complejidad psicosocial emergentes a consecuencia de un diagnóstico de cáncer. Objetivo: Definir y explicar el modelo de Atención Psicosocial del Comité Psicosocial del Instituto Catalán de Oncología (ICO) utilizando criterios de vulnerabilidad, complejidad y derivación; enmarcado y basado en los valores del ICO (centrados en las necesidades de pacientes con cáncer y sus familias). Método: El modelo que se presenta en este documento consta de cinco pilares: 1) Principios de la Práctica Psicosocial en Oncología; 2) Áreas de actuación en la Atención Psicosocial del paciente con cáncer y la familia; 3) Cribado de malestar emocional y derivación del paciente con cáncer y la familia para una atención psicooncológica específica; 4) Comité Psicosocial: (objetivos; funciones; organización; composición; disciplinas participantes; criterios de derivación y niveles de complejidad; y procedimiento); y 5) Índice de productividad. Resultados: Pacientes y familiares atendidos por el CPS mostraron mejoría estadísticamente significativa en los niveles del malestar emocional, pasando de una media inicial de 8,12/10 (EVA/ENV) a una media 6,27/10 (EVA/ENV). Asimismo, se constata que las intervenciones derivadas del comité psicosocial redujeron el porcentaje de casos iniciales de alta complejidad, pasando de un 69,3% a un 49,3%. Conclusiones: El abordaje de la complejidad psicosocial mediante un modelo basado en criterios multi e interdisciplinarios consensuados ayuda en la toma de decisiones sobre las acciones a seguir y en la mejora del malestar emocional y complejidad de los pacientes y la familia

Analytical Evaluation of Dried Blood Spot and Rapid Diagnostic Test as a New Strategy for Serological Community Screening for Chronic Chagas Disease

Trypanosoma cruzi; Mancha de sangre seca (DBS); Cribado serológicoTrypanosoma cruzi; Taca de sang seca (DBS); Cribratge serològicTrypanosoma cruzi; Dried blood spot (DBS); Serological screeningBackground: Chagas disease is a public health problem not only in Latin America, but also in other regions, including Spain, due to migration movements. Conventional serological diagnosis requires an invasive sample (plasma or serum) and a well-equipped laboratory. To circumvent those limitations, blood samples dried on filter paper (DBS) or Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) could be a practical alternative to reference protocol for serological screening in epidemiological studies. We evaluated the usefulness of dried blood sampling and a rapid diagnostic test (Trypanosoma Detect™) for the detection of antibodies against T. cruzi for their use in community-based screening. Methodology/Principal Findings: A total of 162 stored paired whole-blood and serum samples from Latin American migrants and 25 negative-control blood samples were included. Diagnosis of chronic Chagas disease was performed in serum according to WHO algorithms. Blood samples were retrospectively collected as dried spots and then analyzed using two different serological techniques, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (E-CLIA). Whole-blood samples were also used to evaluate a rapid diagnostic test based on immunochromatography. A better correlation with conventional serum was observed in dried blood elutes using E-CLIA than ELISA (97% vs. 77% sensitivity, respectively). Both assays reported 100% specificity. The median cut-off index values of E-CLIA for dried blood were significantly lower than those for serum (138.1 vs. 243.3, P<0.05). The Trypanosoma Detect™ test presented a sensitivity and specificity of 89.6% and 100%, respectively. Conclusions: The detection of antibodies against T. cruzi in dried blood samples shows a higher sensitivity when using E-CLIA compared with ELISA. Trypanosoma Detect™ is easier to use but has a lower sensitivity. Hence, we propose a sequential strategy based on performing the rapid test first, and a negative result will be confirmed by DBS-ECLIA for use in community Chagas disease screening programs.This work has been supported by the Fundació la Marató TV3 (project number 20182610)

Late-onset thymidine kinase 2 deficiency: a review of 18 cases

Background: TK2 gene encodes for mitochondrial thymidine kinase, which phosphorylates the pyrimidine nucleosides thymidine and deoxycytidine. Recessive mutations in the TK2 gene are responsible for the ‘myopathic form’ of the mitochondrial depletion/multiple deletions syndrome, with a wide spectrum of severity. Methods: We describe 18 patients with mitochondrial myopathy due to mutations in the TK2 gene with absence of clinical symptoms until the age of 12. Results: The mean age of onset was 31 years. The first symptom was muscle limb weakness in 10/18, eyelid ptosis in 6/18, and respiratory insufficiency in 2/18. All patients developed variable muscle weakness during the evolution of the disease. Half of patients presented difficulty in swallowing. All patients showed evidence of respiratory muscle weakness, with need for non-invasive Mechanical Ventilation in 12/18. Four patients had deceased, all of them due to respiratory insufficiency. We identified common radiological features in muscle magnetic resonance, where the most severely affected muscles were the gluteus maximus, semitendinosus and sartorius. On muscle biopsies typical signs of mitochondrial dysfunction were associated with dystrophic changes. All mutations identified were previously reported, being the most frequent the in-frame deletion p.Lys202del. All cases showed multiple mtDNA deletions but mtDNA depletion was present only in two patients. Conclusions: The late-onset is the less frequent form of presentation of the TK2 deficiency and its natural history is not well known. Patients with late onset TK2 deficiency have a consistent and recognizable clinical phenotype and a poor prognosis, due to the high risk of early and progressive respiratory insufficiency