Estructura comunitaria de la ictiofauna bentónica del delta del Orinoco y Golfo de Paria (Venezuela), 50 años después de la construcción del dique del caño Manamo

To evaluate the impacts of water flow restriction and regulation caused by the construction of a dike across Manamo Channel, variations in the benthic fish communities were studied in the mouths of three streams or channels (Pedernales, Angostura and Manamo) of the Orinoco River Delta and one stream (Venado) that flows directly into the Gulf of Paria, during one (annual) hydrological cycle. Fishes were sampled with a shrimp trawl net. Of the 78 species collected, five were resident, 12 temporary and 62 occasional. Juvenile phases of all species were collected. Species with greater IVI values were Cathorops sp., Achirus achirus, Stellifer naso and Colomesus psittacus. No significant differences were obtained for the physical and chemical habitat parameters measured: depth, salinity and transparency, nor in the water levels of the streams even in different hydro-phases of the year. Salinity never dropped to zero and no changes in fish species composition were detected. These results lead us to hypothesize that the impacts of the dike constructed in Manamo Channel also extend to other streams of the Orinoco River Delta and even the one studied (Venado) that empties into the Gulf of Paria, where estuarine conditions prevailed during the entire study period of one year, with no observed changed in the hydrological regimen.Con el objetivo de evaluar el efecto de la regulación de las aguas del caño Manamo (por la construcción de un dique), sobre la ictiofauna bentónica de algunos caños del delta del río Orinoco y Golfo de Paria, se estudió la variación de la estructura comunitaria de peces bentónicos en la desembocadura de tres caños del delta del río Orinoco (Pedernales, Angostura y Manamo) y un caño del golfo de Paria (Venado) durante un ciclo hidrológico anual. De las 78 especies colectadas, cinco fueron residentes, 12 temporales y 61 ocasionales; todas registraron ejemplares en estado juvenil. Las especies con mayores valores de IVI fueron Cathorops sp., Achirus achirus, Stellifer naso y Colomesus psittacus. No se observaron diferencias significativas entre los parámetros físico-químicos analizados (profundidad, salinidad y transparencia), ni a nivel de caños, ni entre hidrofases. La salinidad nunca registró valores menores de 4 % y no se observaron cambios en la composición de especies de la comunidad. Con los resultados obtenidos se plantea la hipótesis de que la construcción del dique sobre el caño Manamo en los años 60, afectó el comportamiento natural de este sistema y de otros caños del delta e incluso del golfo de Paria (caño Venado), registrando en las desembocaduras de todos los caños características de un estuario continuo (sin cambios en el régimen hidrológico y salinidad) durante todo el año

Multi-Device Nutrition Control

Precision nutrition is a popular eHealth topic among several groups, such as athletes, 1 people with dementia, rare diseases, diabetes, and overweight. Its implementation demands tight 2 nutrition control, starting with nutritionists who build up food plans for specific groups or individuals. 3 Each person then follows the food plan by preparing meals and logging all food and water intake. 4 However, the discipline demanded to follow food plans and log food intake turns out into high 5 dropout rates. This article presents the concepts, requirements, and architecture of a solution that 6 assists the nutritionist in building up and revising food plans and the user following them. It does 7 so by minimizing human-computer interaction by integrating the nutritionist and user systems 8 and introducing off-the-shelf IoT devices in the system, such as temperature sensors, smartwatches, 9 smartphones, and smart bottles. An interaction time analysis using the Keystroke Level Model 10 provides a baseline for comparison in future work addressing both the use of machine learning and 11 IoT devices to reduce the interaction effort of users.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Corrigendum: Resolving the abundance and air-sea fluxes of airborne microorganisms in the North Atlantic Ocean

We found an implementation error in the calculation of the deposition velocity (vd) which, in turn, affected all the estimated vd-depending parameters (deposition flux, residence time, and traveled distance by microorganisms). Deposition fluxes are now somewhat lower than previously estimated, resulting in residence times and traveled distances longer than those previously estimated. In addition, the spray fluxes were calculated using a spray generation function (dF/dr0) valid for droplets of radii between 0.5 and 12 μm proposed by Blanchard (1963) and Gathman (1982) as corrected by Andreas et al. (1995). However, in the calculation of dF/dr0, we exceeded this valid range of radii given that we included droplets with radii from 0.2 μm according to the small size of some microbial cells. Thus, a different formulation of dF/dr0, developed by Gong (2003), is now used for the estimation of spray fluxes of microbes, which is valid even for small droplets from a radius of 0.07 μm. Below, we offer a new corrected version of the paragraphs affected by corrections along the text. In addition, we show corrected versions of Figure 1 (forward trajectories according residence times), Figure 3 (deposition velocity values), Figure 5 (spray and deposition fluxes), Figure 6 (Net fluxes), and Table 1. The authors apologize for the errors in the estimates reported in the original manuscript. These corrections only affect the magnitude of some of the reported variables and even though they do not change the scientific conclusions of the article they are reported here for accuracy and reproducibility.En prens

El análisis conjunto como instrumento de soporte a las decisiones de intervención urbana: una aplicación en el diseño de un eje comercial de Barcelona

Todas las decisiones que tomamos a lo largo de nuestra vida de una forma u otra implican una elección, y para comprender estas, es que a lo largo de los últimos años se han desarrollado una serie de técnicas y métodos estadísticos que persiguen entender y predecir futuras respuestas. El análisis conjunto, es un método, que a pesar de gozar de una gran consolidación en otros ámbitos del conocimiento, ha tenido una aplicación marginal en la arquitectura y el urbanismo y pocas veces se han utilizado para evaluar la idoneidad de las propuestas de intervención sobre el territorio. En este artículo se reportan los primeros resultados de una investigación realizada a través de la aplicación de un experimento de elección y una encuesta, para poder inferir el grado de utilidad que le reportan determinados atributos al momento de participar en la selección de un grupo de elementos urbanísticos y sociales que le afectaran directamente según la elección realizada. Los primeros resultados sugieren que dentro del grupo de atributos a elegir (tasa a pagar, actividades a realizar en el espacio público, tipo de aparcamiento, la configuración de la vía y los usos complementarios de los locales comerciales), el precio a pagar por una determinada intervención urbana y las actividades que se pueden realizar en el espacio público, presentan una mayor importancia, los atributos con menor predilección son, el tipo de aparcamiento, la configuración de la vía y los usos complementarios a los locales comerciales existentes en el lugar. El estudio además incorpora variables en relación a los hábitos de compra y ocio, también a la percepción del comercio de barrio y del comercio de proximidad, lo cual esperamos que una vez realizado y segmentado el modelo entregue resultados que nos permitan comprender el nivel de importancia que le otorga una persona a una determinada elección.Peer Reviewe

¿Hacia un sistema de metrópolis españolas policéntricas?: caracterización de su estructura metropolitana

Las metrópolis han sufrido en la última mitad de siglo un proceso de descentralización de la actividad económica y el desarrollo de nuevas centralidades fuera de sus cascos tradicionales. Este proceso, ha permitido la generación de subcentros de actividad, que captan actividad económica de los centros urbanos generando nuevos patrones de ocupación del territorio, que coexisten con los procesos de dispersión. En esta investigación, mediante el análisis de la densidad de empleo, se caracteriza la estructura policentrica de 7 áreas metropolitanas españolas: Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Bilbao, Sevilla, Zaragoza, y Málaga; en el sentido de identificar la forma en cómo la población y la actividad económica se distribuye en 4 tipos de asentamientos: 1) núcleos centrales de actividad, 2) continuos centrales, 3) núcleos satelitales de actividad, y 4) resto del área metropolitana. Los resultados sugieren que el nivel de policentrismo está asociado a dos factores: el tamaño de los sistemas metropolitanos y la matriz territorial en la que se ubican éstos; así, cuanto más grandes son los primeros y más accidentada es la segunda, el proceso de autoorganización espacial de la economía tiende a generar sistemas policéntricos.The cities have suffered in the last half century a process of decentralization of economic activity and development of new centralities outside their traditional helmets. This process has allowed the generation of sub-centers, that capture economic activity to generate new patterns in the territory, which coexist with the scattering processes. In this research, by analyzing the density of employment, polycentric structure characterized by seven metropolitan areas Spanish: Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Bilbao, Seville, Zaragoza, and Málaga, in the sense of identifying how and how people and economic activity is settled in into four types of settlement: 1) nuclei central activity, 2) Central continuous, 3) satellite nucleos , and 4) rest of the metropolitan area. The results suggest that the level of polycentrism is associated with two factors: the size of metropolitan system and the territorial matrix in which are located they, thus, the larger the first and most rugged is the second, the process of spatial self-organization of the economy tends to generate polycentric system.Peer Reviewe

Teoria da vulnerabilidade de redes hidráulicas de abastecimento de água (TVRHAA)

O objectivo deste trabalho é apresentar a Teoria da Vulnerabilidade de Redes Hidráulicas de Abastecimento de Água (TVRHAA) e, em particular, os seus principais fundamentos teóricos. O contributo da sua utilização prende-se com o projecto de redes hidráulicas de abastecimento de água (RHAA) mais robustas sendo igualmente um importante auxiliar na gestão mais eficiente destes sistemas e atendendo a que as partes mais vulneráveis de uma RHAA são identificadas

A microbiological perspective of raw milk preserved at room temperature using hyperbaric storage compared to refrigerated storage

The effects of hyperbaric storage (HS, 50–100 MPa) at room temperature (RT) on endogenous and inoculated pathogenic surrogate vegetative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Listeria innocua), pathogenic Salmonella enterica and bacterial spores (Bacillus subtilis) were assessed and compared with conventional refrigeration at atmospheric pressure for 60 days. Milk stored at atmospheric pressure and refrigeration quickly surpassed the acceptable microbiological limit within 7 days of storage, regarding endogenous microbiota, yet 50 MPa/RT slowed down microbial growth, resulting in raw milk spoilage after 28 days, while a significant microbial inactivation occurred under 75–100 MPa (around 4 log units), to counts below 1 log CFU/mL throughout storage, similar to what was observed for B. subtilis endospores. While inoculated microorganisms had a gradually counts reduction in all HS conditions. Results indicate that HS can not only result in the extension of milk shelf-life but is also able to enhance its safety and subsequent quality. Industrial relevance: This new preservation methodology could be implemented in the dairy farm storage tanks, or during milk transportation for further processing, allowing a better microbial control, than refrigeration. This methodology is very promising, and can improve food products shelf-life with a considerable lower carbon foot-print than refrigeration.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Climate change impacts on seagrass meadows and macroalgal forests: an integrative perspective on acclimation and adaptation potential

Marine macrophytes are the foundation of algal forests and seagrass meadows-some of the most productive and diverse coastal marine ecosystems on the planet. These ecosystems provide nursery grounds and food for fish and invertebrates, coastline protection from erosion, carbon sequestration, and nutrient fixation. For marine macrophytes, temperature is generally the most important range limiting factor, and ocean warming is considered the most severe threat among global climate change factors. Ocean warming induced losses of dominant macrophytes along their equatorial range edges, as well as range extensions into polar regions, are predicted and already documented. While adaptive evolution based on genetic change is considered too slow to keep pace with the increasing rate of anthropogenic environmental changes, rapid adaptation may come about through a set of non-genetic mechanisms involving the functional composition of the associated microbiome, as well as epigenetic modification of the genome and its regulatory effect on gene expression and the activity of transposable elements. While research in terrestrial plants demonstrates that the integration of non-genetic mechanisms provide a more holistic picture of a species' evolutionary potential, research in marine systems is lagging behind. Here, we aim to review the potential of marine macrophytes to acclimatize and adapt to major climate change effects via intraspecific variation at the genetic, epigenetic, and microbiome levels. All three levels create phenotypic variation that may either enhance fitness within individuals (plasticity) or be subject to selection and ultimately, adaptation. We review three of the most important phenotypic variations in a climate change context, including physiological variation, variation in propagation success, and in herbivore resistance. Integrating different levels of plasticity, and adaptability into ecological models will allow to obtain a more holistic understanding of trait variation and a realistic assessment of the future performance and distribution of marine macrophytes. Such multi-disciplinary approach that integrates various levels of intraspecific variation, and their effect on phenotypic and physiological variation, is of crucial importance for the effective management and conservation of seagrasses and macroalgae under climate change.FCT SFRH/BPD/115162/2016 Portuguese FCT through MARFOR Biodiversa/0004/2015 Norwegian Research Council (Havkyst project) 243916 European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Mar 2020 program through the VALPRAD project 16-01-04-FMP-0007 SFRH/PBD/107878/2015info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Avaliação da hidratação de pastas cimentícias com elevados teores de adições minerais

O uso de adições minerais é uma prática comum na produção de materiais cimentícios. No entanto, a possibilidade de substituir elevados teores de cimento Portland por adições minerais em betões torna pertinente e necessário o estudo da interacção química dessas adições na hidratação conjunta com o cimento. Este artigo avalia a hidratação de misturas de cimento Portland e adições minerais, recorrendo a técnicas de TG/DTG, difracção de raios X e resistência à compressão. Foram analisadas substituições de 50% a 70% da massa de ligante (entendido como a soma do cimento e das adições minerais usadas) por combinações de cinzas volantes e metacaulino, tendo sido ainda avaliadas duas pastas sem adição mineral e duas pastas com a adição de cal. Os resultados demostram que as técnicas de TG/DTG e DRX são indicadas para avaliação da cinética das reacções de hidratação dos materiais cimentícios, sendo possível quantificar a forte redução nos teores de portlandite nas pastas hidratadas com adições minerais em comparação com aquelas sem a adição