Seasonal diversity of spider assemblages (Araneae: Arachnida) in the “Guillermo Piñeres” Botanical Garden, Turbaco–Colombia

Climatic seasons have been shown to determine the temporal fluctuations in species communities of different ecosystems. Here, we assessed the diversity of spider assemblages in dry, transition and rainy seasons in the "Guillermo Pineres" Botanical Garden (GPBG), Turbaco, Colombia. We collected spider assemblages between June 2018 and April 2019 through standardized day and night sampling methods for tropical ecosystems: looking up, looking down, beating and leaf litter sieving. In total, we collected 1585 individuals, belonging to 28 families and 112 (morpho) species. We calculated the effective species richness (Hill numbers) to evaluate the changes in diversity across seasons and used clustering and ordination methods (Jaccard index-based nMDS) to identify differences in the composition of the assemblages. Also, we compared the abundance and species richness of predatory guilds of the three seasons. The transition season showed the highest diversity with 94 morphospecies, an effective number of species of 48.7 and a dominance of 32.4 effective species. The clustering and ordination methods grouped the sampling events into three groups, each corresponding to a climatic season. The most abundant guild was the orb web weavers, with the highest value in the rainy season, while "other hunters" were the most species rich. Our results indicate that the spider assemblages in GPBG present a seasonal variation in diversity, probably influenced by climatic conditions. Understanding how these seasonal changes occur is necessary to develop forest management strategies for monitoring and management projects on the conservation of species assemblages according to the Convention on Biological Diversity.Peer reviewe

Validation of a methodology for grouping intakes of pressurized irrigation networks into sectors to minimize energy consumption

A methodology to optimise the amount of energy consumed in pressurized irrigation systems was presented by Jimenez-Bello et al. (2010a). These authors proposed grouping pressurized irrigation network intakes, each of the water turnouts resulting from a shared hydrant, into sectors via a genetic algorithm. In the present research, the methodology was applied and validated in a water users association. Several energy efficiency indicators were calculated and compared during five consecutive seasons (2006-2010). The first two seasons, when the methodology was not employed, were used as reference for the results obtained from 2008 onwards, when the methodology was applied to the management of irrigation network. Results obtained in seasons 2008-2010 showed that the average energy savings were 16% in comparisons to the 2006 season. However, it should be noted that the potential, theoretical savings, could have been as high as 22.3% if the modelled grouping networks would have been accurately followed. There was in fact some discrepancy between the theoretical model outputs and the final groupings due to some intake restrictions. In addition, during the irrigation campaigns, the number of irrigation intakes that operated within each sector was not always equal to the modelled sectoring, a fact that reduced the overall water users association energy efficiency. This occurred particularly during rainy periods, when some users deliberately decided to close their manual irrigation intakes valves. Overall, results showed the potential of the validated methodology for optimising energy use. However, the final overall system efficiency might depend on specific constraints that need to be taken into account when attempting to use model output predictions.This research was supported by funds from Interreg IV SUDOEB project "Telerieg" and from MICIIN project Rideco CSD2006-0067. The authors would like to thank the Company Tecnicas Valencianas del Agua (TECVASA) and the IMPIVA institute for their support in this research study.Jiménez Bello, MÁ.; Martínez Alzamora, F.; Castel, JR.; Intrigliolo Molina, DS. (2011). Validation of a methodology for grouping intakes of pressurized irrigation networks into sectors to minimize energy consumption. Agricultural Water Management. 102(1):46-53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2011.10.005S4653102

Removal of nutrients and pesticides from agricultural runoff using microalgae and cyanobacteria

The use of pesticides in agriculture has ensured the production of different crops. However, pesticides have become an emerging public health problem for Latin American countries due to their excessive use, inadequate application, toxic characteristics, and minimal residue control. The current project evaluates the ability of two strains of algae (Chlorella and Scenedesmus sp.) and one cyanobacteria (Hapalosyphon sp.) to remove excess pesticides and other nutrients present in runoff water from rice production. Different concentrations of wastewater and carbon sources (Na2CO3 and NaHCO3 ) were evaluated. According to the results, all three strains can be grown in wastewater without dilution (100%), with a biomass concentration comparable to a synthetic medium. All three strains significantly reduced the concentration of NO3 and PO4 (95 and 85%, respectively), with no difference between Na2CO3 or NaHCO3 . Finally, Chlorella sp. obtained the highest removal efficiency of the pesticide (Chlorpyrifos), followed by Scenedesmus and Hapalosyphon sp. (100, 75, and 50%, respectively). This work shows that it is possible to use this type of waste as an alternative source of nutrients to obtain biomass and metabolites of interest, such as lipids and carbohydrates, to produce biofuels

Simulation of the CMS Resistive Plate Chambers

The Resistive Plate Chamber (RPC) muon subsystem contributes significantly to the formation of the trigger decision and reconstruction of the muon trajectory parameters. Simulation of the RPC response is a crucial part of the entire CMS Monte Carlo software and directly influences the final physical results. An algorithm based on the parametrization of RPC efficiency, noise, cluster size and timing for every strip has been developed. Experimental data obtained from cosmic and proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=7$ TeV have been used for determination of the parameters. A dedicated validation procedure has been developed. A good agreement between the simulated and experimental data has been achieved.Comment: to be published in JINS

Random scenarios generation with minimun energy consumption model for sectoring optimization in pressurized irrigation networks using a simulated annealing approach

A pressurized irrigation network may operate in two ways, namely, on demand and organized under operating sectors. In the first case, the user decides when to irrigate, and the pumping station has to meet the discharge and pressure head requirements of the group of users that is demanding water at any time. In the second case, the operating hydrants at a given moment are previously established, which permits identification of scenarios related to lesser energy consumption. In this work, a new model was developed that identifies such scenarios. The optimization process is carried out by means of simulated annealing (SA). The model was applied to an example and the result obtained was compared with the same network operating on demand and sectorized using the criterion of hydrant elevation with respect to the pumping station. The scenario adopted for SA saved 11.8% and 15.5% in energy consumption compared with the two other scenarios, and decreased the installed power requirement by 38.3% and 21.6%, respectively.García Prats, A.; Guillem Picó, S.; Martínez Alzamora, F.; Jiménez Bello, MA. (2012). Random scenarios generation with minimun energy consumption model for sectoring optimization in pressurized irrigation networks using a simulated annealing approach. Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering. 138(7):613-624. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)IR.1943-4774.0000452S613624138

Early outcome of a 31-gene expression profile test in 86 AJCC stage IB-II melanoma patients. A prospective multicentre cohort study

Background: The clinical and pathological features of primary melanoma are not sufficiently sensitive to accurately predict which patients are at a greater risk of relapse. Recently, a 31-gene expression profile (DecisionDx-Melanoma) test has shown promising results. Objectives: To evaluate the early prognostic performance of a genetic signature in a multicentre prospectively evaluated cohort. Methods: Inclusion of patients with AJCC stages IB and II conducted between April 2015 and December 2016. All patients were followed up prospectively to assess their risk of relapse. Prognostic performance of this test was evaluated individually and later combined with the AJCC staging system. Prognostic accuracy of disease-free survival was determined using Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression analysis. Results of the gene expression profile test were designated as Class 1 (low risk) and Class 2 (high risk). Results: Median follow-up time was 26 months (IQR 22-30). The gene expression profile test was performed with 86 patients; seven had developed metastasis (8.1%) and all of them were in the Class 2 group, representing 21.2% of this group. Gene expression profile was an independent prognostic factor for relapse as indicated by multivariate Cox regression analysis, adjusted for AJCC stages and age. Conclusions: This prospective multicentre cohort study, performed in a Spanish Caucasian cohort, shows that this 31-gene expression profile test could correctly identify patients at early AJCC stages who are at greater risk of relapse. We believe that gene expression profile in combination with the AJCC staging system could well improve the detection of patients who need intensive surveillance and optimize follow-up strategies

Seascape genetics of the Atlantic Spotted Dolphin (Stenella frontalis) based on mitochondrial DNA

The Atlantic spotted dolphin (Stenella frontalis) is endemic to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Throughout its distribution, both geographic distance and environmental variation may contribute to population structure of the species. In this study, we follow a seascape genetics approach to investigate population differentiation of Atlantic spotted dolphins based on a large worldwide dataset and the relationship with marine environmental variables. The results revealed that the Atlantic spotted dolphin exhibits population genetic structure across its distribution based on mitochondrial DNA control region (mtDNA-CR) data. Analyses based on the contemporary landscape suggested, at both the individual and population level, that the population genetic structure is consistent with the isolation-by-distance model. However, because geography and environmental matrices were correlated, and because in some, but not all analyses, we found a significant effect for the environment, we cannot rule out the addition contribution of environmental factors in structuring genetic variation. Future analyses based on nuclear data are needed to evaluate whether local processes, such as social structure and some level of philopatry within populations, may be contributing to the associations among genetic structure, geographic, and environmental distance.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

High rate, fast timing Glass RPC for the high {\eta} CMS muon detectors

The HL-LHC phase is designed to increase by an order of magnitude the amount of data to be collected by the LHC experiments. To achieve this goal in a reasonable time scale the instantaneous luminosity would also increase by an order of magnitude up to $6.10^{34} cm^{-2} s^{-1}$ . The region of the forward muon spectrometer ($|{\eta}| > 1.6$) is not equipped with RPC stations. The increase of the expected particles rate up to $2 kHz/cm^{2}$ (including a safety factor 3) motivates the installation of RPC chambers to guarantee redundancy with the CSC chambers already present. The actual RPC technology of CMS cannot sustain the expected background level. The new technology that will be chosen should have a high rate capability and provides a good spatial and timing resolution. A new generation of Glass-RPC (GRPC) using low-resistivity (LR) glass is proposed to equip at least the two most far away of the four high ${\eta}$ muon stations of CMS. First the design of small size prototypes and studies of their performance in high-rate particles flux is presented. Then the proposed designs for large size chambers and their fast-timing electronic readout are examined and preliminary results are provided.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, Conference proceeding for the 2016 Resistive Plate Chambers and Related Detector

Knowledge, attitudes and preventive practices of primary health care professionals towards alcohol use: A national, cross-sectional study.

Introduction Primary care (PC) professionals' knowledge about alcohol use has been identified as one of the barriers PC providers face in their clinic. Both PC professionals’ level of training and attitude are crucial in the clinical practice regarding alcohol use. Objective To evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and preventive practices of Spanish PC physicians and nurses towards alcohol use. Design An observational, descriptive, cross-sectional, multi-center study. Methodology Location: PC centers of the Spanish National Health System (NHS). Participants: PC physicians and nurses selected randomly from health care centers, and by sending an e-mail to semFYC and SEMERGEN members. Healthcare providers completed an online survey on knowledge, attitude, and follow-up recommendations for reducing alcohol intake. A descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate statistical analysis was conducted (p<0.05). Results Participants: 1,760 healthcare providers completed the survey (75.6% [95% CI 73.5–77.6] family physicians; 11.4% [95% CI 9.9–12.9] medical residents; and 12.5% [95% CI 10.9–14.1] nurses), with a mean age of 44.7 (SD 11.24, range: 26–64, 95% CI: 47.2–48.2). Knowledge was higher in family physicians (p<0.001), older professionals (Spearman's r = 0.11, p<0.001), and resident trainers (p<0.001). The PC professional most likely to provide advice for reducing alcohol use was: a nurse (p <0.001), female (p = 0.010), between 46 and 55 years old (p <0.001). Conclusions PC providers’ knowledge and preventive practices regarding alcohol use are scarce, hence specific training strategies to increase their knowledge and improve their attitude and skills with regard to this health problem should be considered a healthcare policy priority.post-print507 K

Inverse Association between Dietary Iron Intake and Gastric Cancer: A Pooled Analysis of Case‐Control Studies of the Stop Consortium

Background: Inconsistent findings have been reported regarding the relationship between dietary iron intake and the risk of gastric cancer (GC). Methods: We pooled data from 11 case‐control studies from the Stomach Cancer Pooling (StoP) Project. Total dietary iron intake was derived from food frequency questionnaires combined with national nutritional tables. We derived the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for quartiles of dietary iron through multivariable unconditional logistic regression models. Secondary analyses stratified by sex, smoking status, caloric intake, anatomical subsite and histological type were performed. Results: Among 4658 cases and 12247 controls, dietary iron intake was inversely associated with GC (per quartile OR 0.88; 95% CI: 0.83–0.93). Results were similar between cardia (OR = 0.85, 95% CI = 0.77–0.94) and non‐cardia GC (OR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.81–0.94), and for diffuse (OR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.69–0.89) and intestinal type (OR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.79–0.98). Iron intake exerted an independent effect from that of smoking and salt intake. Additional adjustment by meat and fruit/vegetable intake did not alter the results. Conclusions: Dietary iron is inversely related to GC, with no difference by subsite or histological type. While the results should be interpreted with caution, they provide evidence against a direct effect of iron in gastric carcinogenesis. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.This study was supported by the Fondazione AIRC per la Ricerca sul Cancro, Project no. 21378 (Investigator Grant). The Unidade de Investigação em Epidemiologia—Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto (EPIUnit; UIDB/04750/2020) and the Laboratório para a Investigação Integrativa e Translacional em Saúde Populacional (ITR; LA/P/0064/2020) were funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology—FCT (Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education). SM was supported by the project “NEON‐PC—Neuro‐oncological complications of prostate cancer: longitudinal study of cognitive decline” (POCI‐01‐0145‐FEDER‐032358; ref. PTDC/SAU‐EPI/32358/2017), which is funded by FEDER through the Operational Programme competitiveness and Internationalization, and national funding from FCT and the EPIUnit—Junior Research—Prog Financing (UIDP/04750/2020). The authors thank the European Cancer Prevention (ECP) Organization for providing support for the StoP Project meetings and all MCC‐Spain study collaborators (CIBERESP, ISCIII, ISGlobal, ICO, University of Huelva, University of Oviedo, University of Cantabria, ibs.Granada, Instituto Salud Pública de Navarra, FISABIO, Murcia Regional Health Authority and cols)