Profile and reproductive roles of seminal plasma melatonin of boar ejaculates used in artificial insemination programs

Melatonin (MLT) is present in seminal plasma (SP) of mammalian species, including pigs, and it is credited with antioxidant properties. This study aims to identify the sources of variation and the role of boar SP MLT on sperm quality and functionality and in vivo fertilizing ability of liquid-stored semen doses used in AI programs. The SP MLT was measured using an ELISA kit in a total of 219 ejaculates collected from 76 boars, and reproductive records of 5,318 AI sows were recorded. Sperm quality was assessed according to motility (computer-aided sperm analysis) and viability (cytometry evaluation). Sperm functionality was assessed according to the cytometric determination of intracellular H2O2 generation, total and mitochondrial O2- production, and lipid peroxidation in liquid AI semen samples stored at 17°C over 144 h. The concentration of SP MLT differed among seasons (P < 0.01) and day length periods (P < 0.001) of the year, demonstrating that the ejaculates collected during the increasing day length period (9.80 ± 1.38 pg/mL, range: 2.75–21.94) had lower SP MLT concentrations than those collected during the decreasing day length period (16.32 ± 1.67 pg/mL, range: 5.02–35.61). The SP MLT also differed (P < 0.001) among boars, among ejaculates within boar, and among portions within the ejaculate, demonstrating that SP from the first 10 mL of sperm-rich ejaculate fraction (SRF) exhibited lower MLT concentrations than post-SRF. The SP MLT was negatively related (P < 0.001) to mitochondrial O2- production in viable sperm. The SP MLT did not differ among AI boars (n = 14) hierarchically grouped according to high and low fertility outcomes. In conclusion, SP MLT concentration in AI boars varies depending on the season of ejaculate collection and differs among boars, ejaculates within boar, and portions within ejaculate. The SP MLT may act at the mitochondrial level of sperm by reducing the generation of O2-. However, this antioxidant role of SP MLT was not reflected in sperm quality or in vivo fertility outcomes of AI semen doses

The video guides and social tagging with the methodology of video annotation

Producto del PIE Video guías docentesTeaching guides are mandatory for quality agencies to evaluate teaching programmes, just as institutions require teachers to comply with them. This teaching resource has been seen as a very effective tool for the information and orientation of students in university programmes. However, the reality may turn out to be different, as the current practices with these guides are often not the desirable ones, as they are not used, read and studied by students with the level of depth that teachers wish, and in some cases they may be a mere formality for students, thus losing all their potential and meaning. The communication we present aims to present the results of a teaching innovation project to break this problem by producing video guides as digital resources that are more motivating for students. In addition, to design and experiment with a new methodology for its application and analysis of these resources in teaching programmes of any kind (face-to-face, blended and online programmes) by means of multimedia annotations. In this work we present the objectives, methodologies and resources proposed in this project, as the main conclusions we have reached as it has been to check a greater participation in the understanding of the programmes by the students, as a more active and motivating methodology to work with these resources in the classroom for an online modalityPIE. Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Study of the communication in the evaluation of the diaries of practices that improve the argumentation

Nada mejor para establecer un aprendizaje integrado entre los conocimientos de la facultad y las prácticas externas, que la metodología de los diarios donde los estudiantes reflexionan y argumentan sobre sus experiencias y aprendizajes. A pesar de ser estos diarios una práctica común en la mayoría de las instituciones, no siempre se realizan de forma dialógica y permanente con los tutores de la universidad, muchos menos entre los mismos estudiantes repartidos en diferentes centros, limitando así muchos de los beneficios que resultan de compartir las experiencias, más aún, el compartir las propias evaluaciones. El estudio con diseño cualitativo pretende analizar los resultados de las conversaciones entre tutor y estudiante en el momento de la evaluación, y el impacto de esta metodología para guiar y evaluar la reflexión y la argumentación sobre la práctica. Se analizaron 192 diarios estudiantes, y las 128 anotaciones que generaron desde análisis cualitativo con técnicas “Q-análisis”. De las conclusiones más relevantes encontramos que se observa con claridad los cambios de mejora de la argumentación durante las catorce semanas. Al tiempo que, se presenta una metodología de rúbrica como el contenido de la misma para el seguimiento y evaluación de los diarios con criterios de argumentación

SOBRINA Spanish study-analysing the frequency, cost and adverse events associated with overuse in primary care: protocol for a retrospective cohort study

Introduction Several institutions and quality national agencies have fostered the creation of recommendations on what not to do to reduce overuse in clinical practice. In primary care, their impact has hardly been studied. The frequency of adverse events (AEs) associated with doing what must not be done has not been analysed, either. The aim of this study is to measure the frequency of overuse and AEs associated with doing what must not be done (commission errors) in primary care and their cost. Methods and analysis A coordinated, multicentric, national project. A retrospective cohort study using computerised databases of primary care medical records from national agencies and regional health services will be conducted to analyse the frequency of the overuse due to ignore the do-not-do recommendations, and immediately afterwards, depending on their frequency, a representative random sample of medical records will be reviewed with algorithms (triggers) that determine the frequency of AEs associated with these recommendations. Cost will determine by summation of the direct costs due to the consultation, pharmacy, laboratory and imaging activities according to the cases. Ethics and dissemination The study protocol has been approved by the Ethics Committee of Primary Care Research of the Valencian Community. We aim to disseminate the findings through international peerreviewed journals and on the website (http://www. nohacer. es/). Outcomes will be used to incorporate algorithms into the electronic history to assist in making clinical decisions

Sponge Mass Mortalities in a Warming Mediterranean Sea: Are Cyanobacteria-Harboring Species Worse Off?

Mass mortality events are increasing dramatically in all coastal marine environments. Determining the underlying causes of mass mortality events has proven difficult in the past because of the lack of prior quantitative data on populations and environmental variables. Four-year surveys of two shallow-water sponge species, Ircinia fasciculata and Sarcotragus spinosulum, were carried out in the western Mediterranean Sea. These surveys provided evidence of two severe sponge die-offs (total mortality ranging from 80 to 95% of specimens) occurring in the summers of 2008 and 2009. These events primarily affected I. fasciculata, which hosts both phototrophic and heterotrophic microsymbionts, while they did not affect S. spinosulum, which harbors only heterotrophic bacteria. We observed a significant positive correlation between the percentage of injured I. fasciculata specimens and exposure time to elevated temperature conditions in all populations, suggesting a key role of temperature in triggering mortality events. A comparative ultrastructural study of injured and healthy I. fasciculata specimens showed that cyanobacteria disappeared from injured specimens, which suggests that cyanobacterial decay could be involved in I. fasciculata mortality. A laboratory experiment confirmed that the cyanobacteria harbored by I. fasciculata displayed a significant reduction in photosynthetic efficiency in the highest temperature treatment. The sponge disease reported here led to a severe decrease in the abundance of the surveyed populations. It represents one of the most dramatic mass mortality events to date in the Mediterranean Sea

Metodologías colaborativas a través de las tecnologías: hacia una evaluación equitativa.

Presentación de buenas prácticas metodológicas en el área de tecnología educativa, transferidas por el Grupo de investigación consolidado GTEA, Universidad de Málaga (SEJ-462

The understorey of gorgonian forests in mesophotic temperate reefs

1. In the Mediterranean Sea, dense populations of the gorgonian Paramuricea clavata shape marine animal forests, characterizing the seascapes of coralligenous habitats. Despite concerns for its health, with several anthropogenic threats and recent mass mortality events, mainly triggered by thermal anomalies, the understorey of its forests and the ecological processes that they promote are still little known. Here, the abundance and composition of epibenthic assemblages inside and outside P. clavata forests were investigated across the central and western Mediterranean Sea, by applying a multifactorial sampling design. 2. In spite of the large variability in the structures of epibenthic assemblages at local and regional scales, the gorgonian understoreys share some common features, such as higher abundances of calcareous builder organisms and reduced invasion by the non\u2010indigenous alga Caulerpa cylindracea, compared with the adjacent unforested rocky bottoms. Paramuricea clavata showed non\u2010linear density\u2010dependent relationships with algal turfs and non\u2010encrusting algae belonging to the genus Peyssonnelia. Moreover, by entrapping benthic mucilaginous aggregates with their branches, these gorgonians risk topical necrotic lesions, but may reduce the suffocation risks for understorey organisms. 3. Overall, P. clavata forests may enhance bioconstruction processes and increase resistance and resilience of the benthic assemblages in the Mediterranean coralligenous habitats. This species and its forests, together with their understoreys, should be considered as essential elements of the ecology of the Mediterranean Sea, and therefore worthy of specific and effective protection measures. 4. Conservation strategies should reduce the risk of mechanical damage by regulating fishing activities, anchorages, and scuba diving where gorgonian forests are present. Moreover, when evident alterations are documented, restoration actions should be implemented to recover the integrity of gorgonian forests