Field, landscape and regional effects of farmland management on specialist open-land birds: Does body size matter?

Farmland birds have suffered significant declines in the last decades due to agricultural intensification. Agri-environment schemes (AES) aim to reverse this process by promoting “nature friendly” practises at the field-scale. AES based on the habitat requirements of target species have usually been successful, but the concurrence of species groups with contrasting habitat requirements (guilds) makes the design of successful measures for the whole bird community difficult. The effectiveness of AES is also constrained by landscape and regional effects not addressed by its field-scale application. Effects acting at different spatial scales could differ among bird species depending on basic life-history traits such home range size and landscape perception, which should covary with body size. We are not aware, however, of any study which investigates whether relative effects at different spatial scales could vary predictably within bird guilds. We analyse whether relative effects of within-field (including AES application), landscape and regional factors on open-land birds differ according to body size. Large birds were mostly affected by regional and landscape factors, whereas for small birds landscape and within-field factors were important. Hence, relative effects at changing spatial scales showed predictable variation according to bird size within this endangered and specialised farmland guild. These size-dependent effects should be taken into account for the design of more effective, integrated multi-scale strategies for the conservation of farmland birds.This work was partly funded by the EU Project QLK5-CT-2002–1495 ‘Evaluating current European Agri-environment Schemes to quantify and improve Nature Conservation efforts in agricultural landscapes (EASY)Peer reviewe

Comunidades de animales granívoros en áreas de cultivo cerealista de la Península Ibérica

Los estudios integrados de las comunidades de animales granivoros en medios deserticos han demostrado la existencia de relaciones entre dichos granivoros a traves de sus efectos sobre los recursos troficos comunes. En esta Tesis Doctoral se estudian los patrones de distribucion y abundancia de los principales grupos de animales granivoros (aves, roedores y hormigas) en areas de cultivo cerealista, analizandose los efectos de uso humano, la estructura del habitat, la disponibiliad trofica y la presencia de otros granivoros sobr dichos patrones. Los resultados obtenidos muestran la escasa importancia relativa de los recursos troficos y de los otros granivoros, estando los patrones de abundancia de cada grupo fundamentalmente ligados a los de determinados factores estructurales relacionados con sus peculiares requerimientos de lugares de .

Lipid Raft Size and Lipid Mobility in Non-raft Domains Increase during Aging and Are Exacerbated in APP/PS1 Mice Model of Alzheimer's Disease. Predictions from an Agent-Based Mathematical Model

A connection between lipid rafts and Alzheimer's disease has been studied during the last decades. Mathematical modeling approaches have recently been used to correlate the effects of lipid composition changes in the physicochemical properties of raft-like membranes. Here we propose an agent based model to assess the effect of lipid changes in lipid rafts on the evolution and progression of Alzheimer's disease using lipid profile data obtained in an established model of familial Alzheimer's disease. We have observed that lipid raft size and lipid mobility in non-raft domains are two main factors that increase during age and are accelerated in the transgenic Alzheimer's disease mouse model. The consequences of these changes are discussed in the context of neurotoxic amyloid β production. Our agent based model predicts that increasing sterols (mainly cholesterol) and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) (mainly DHA, docosahexaenoic acid) proportions in the membrane composition might delay the onset and progression of the disease.This work was funded by research grants from BIO2014-54411-C2-2-R and SAF2014-52582-R from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO, Spain). GSR acknowledges the support of Obra Social La Caixa-Fundación CajaCanarias that granted him a Posgraduate Fellowship at the Universidad de La Laguna.Peer reviewedPeer Reviewe

Sub-toxic Ethanol Exposure Modulates Gene Expression and Enzyme Activity of Antioxidant Systems to Provide Neuroprotection in Hippocampal HT22 Cells

Ethanol is known to cause severe systemic damage often explained as secondary to oxidative stress. Brain is particularly vulnerable to ethanol-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) because the high amounts of lipids, and because nerve cell membranes contain high amounts of peroxidable fatty acids. Usually these effects of ethanol are associated to high and/or chronic exposure to ethanol. However, as we show in this manuscript, a low and acute dose of ethanol trigger a completely different response in hippocampal cells. Thus, we have observed that 0.1% ethanol exposure to HT22 cells, a murine hippocampal-derived cell line, increases the transcriptional expression of different genes belonging to the classical, glutathione/glutaredoxin and thioredoxin/peroxiredoxin antioxidant systems, these including Sod1, Sod2, Gpx1, Gclc, and Txnrd1. Paralleling these changes, enzyme activities of total superoxide dismutase (tSOD), catalase, total glutathione peroxidase (tGPx), glutathione-S-reductase (GSR), and total thioredoxin reductase (tTXNRD), were all increased, while the generation of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), as indicators of lipid peroxidation, and glutathione levels remained unaltered. Ethanol exposure did not affect cell viability or cell growing as assessed by real-time cell culture monitoring, indicating that low ethanol doses are not deleterious for hippocampal cells, but rather prevented glutamate-induced excitotoxicity. In summary, we conclude that sub-toxic exposure to ethanol may well be neuroprotective against oxidative insults in hippocampal cells.Supported by grants SAF2010-22114-C02-01 and SAF2014-52582-R from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Spain). VC and DQ held fellowships from Gobierno de Canarias and Fundación Cajacanarias, respectively.Peer reviewedPeer Reviewe

2-Hydroxybenzophenone as a Chemical Auxiliary for the Activation of Ketiminoesters for Highly Enantioselective Addition to Nitroalkenes under Bifunctional Catalysis

An organocatalytic system is presented for the Michael addition of monoactivated glycine ketimine ylides with a bifunctional catalyst. The ketimine bears an ortho hydroxy group, which increases the acidity of the methylene hydrogen atoms and enhances the reactivity, thus allowing the synthesis of a large variety of a,g-diamino acid derivatives with excellent stereoselectivit

Ardeola, a scientific journal of ornithology: cooperative survivorship within the red queen game

Editorial.-- et al.[EN]: Ardeola is the scientific journal of the Spanish Ornithological Society. We analyse historical changes in citation, topics and foreign authorship of articles published in Ardeola from its first publication in 1954 up to last year, 2015, to test to what extent the persistence of the journal during the last 61 years has been due to support of authors, Society members, readers, editors or the whole ornithological community. Analyses were done within the context of the Red Queen game played by scientific journals competing for the best and more cited articles. The impact factor of Ardeola has increased from 1985 onwards both in absolute and relative terms. Thematic changes have followed trends of the general ornithological literature, without the journal specialising in particular topics or geographical regions. Foreign authorship decreased from 1954 up to the end of the 20 century, subsequently increasing again, a trend fuelled by coverage by Current Contents and the JCR, the establishment of English as the language of publication and recent Internet access through the BioOne platform. Ardeola is a traditional scientific journal, backed by a scientific society, whose future will be guaranteed by a reputation for rigour and quality sought by authors, reviewers and editors, supported by the members of the Spanish Ornithological Society and retaining its original objective: 'to be a journal at the level of the best..., looking for a strong collaboration with foreign authors to promote the benefit of the Ornithology'.[ES]: Ardeola es la revista científica de la Sociedad Española de Ornitología (SEO/BirdLife). Analizamos los cambios históricos en citación, temática y contribución de autores extranjeros a los artículos publicados en Ardeola desde sus inicios en 1954 hasta el año pasado, 2015, con el objetivo de evaluar si el mantenimiento de la revista a lo largo de los últimos 61 años se ha debido al apoyo de los autores, de los miembros de SEO/BirdLife, de los lectores, de los editores de la revista, o de los ornitólogos en general. Los análisis de este mantenimiento se realizan en el contexto del juego de la reina roja en el que están implicadas las revistas científicas, que compiten por publicar los mejores artículos más citados. El factor de impacto de Ardeola ha aumentado desde 1985 en adelante, tanto en términos absolutos como relativos. En la actualidad es de 0,6–0,8, situándose en el tercer cuartil de las revistas de ornitología cubiertas por el Journal Citation Reports (JCR). Los cambios temáticos han seguido en general los del resto de la literatura ornitológica, sin especializarse en temas o áreas geográficas particulares. La proporción de autores extranjeros disminuyó desde 1954 hasta finales del siglo pasado, recuperándose a continuación a niveles del 30%–40%, una tendencia que sin duda se ha acelerado por la cobertura de Ardeola por Current Contents y el JCR, el establecimiento del inglés como idioma de publicación y el acceso reciente por Internet a través de BioOne. Ardeola es una revista científica clásica, sostenida por una sociedad científica, cuyo futuro será garantizado por el sello riguroso de calidad mantenido por autores, revisores y editores, y mantenido por los miembros de SEO/BirdLife con el mismo espíritu con el que fue creada in 1954: ‘para ser una revista del nivel de las mejores…, buscando una intensa colaboración con autores extranjeros para promover el beneficio de la Ornitología’.Peer Reviewe

Protect European green agricultural policies for future food security

Instituto de Ciencias Forestales (ICIFOR-INIA).European green agricultural policies have been relaxed to allow cultivation of fallow land to produce animal feed and meet shortfalls in exports from Ukraine and Russia. However, conversion of semi-natural habitats will disproportionately impact long term biodiversity and food security.This paper contributes to project REMEDINAL TE-CM P2018/EMT-4338 of Comunidad de Madrid.Peer reviewe

Sobre la educación inclusiva en España: políticas y prácticas

En este artículo se elabora una visión del proceso de educación inclusiva en España a lo largo de los últimos cuarenta años, desde una doble perspectiva: la que corresponde a la vertiente política y la que atiende a la práctica cotidiana en los centros educativos. Con relación a la primera de ellas se presenta el desarrollo de la evolución de la legislación sobre educación para las personas con discapacidad a lo largo del periodo de tiempo mencionado, en el que se transita desde un modelo educativo de segregación hacia uno de integración, que con gran esfuerzo trata de configurarse actualmente como un modelo de inclusión. Desde el punto de vista de la práctica acudiremos a los datos más recientes sobre educación inclusiva y atención al alumnado con necesidades educativas especiales, con el fin de elaborar una exposición de las principales barreras que afronta en la actualidad el proceso de educación inclusiva en España