Actividad general en los murciélagos registrada mediante un detector de ultrasonidos en una zona de selva fragmentada de Los Tuxtlas (México)

Bat tolerance to neotropical forest fragmentation may be related to ability by bats to use available habitats in the modified environmental matrix. This paper presents data on general bat activity (for three hours starting at dusk) measured with an ultrasound detector in a fragmented landscape in the region of Los Tuxtlas, Mexico. Bat activity was measured in continuous forest, forest fragments, forest–pasture edges, forest corridors, linear strips of vegetation, citrus groves, pastures and the vegetation present in local villages. The highest bat activity rates were recorded in the villages, in forest fragments and in linear strips of vegetation. The lowest activity rates were detected in pasture habitats. Data suggest that native and man–made arboreal vegetation may be important for sustaining bat activity in fragmented landscapes.La tolerancia de los murciélagos a la fragmentación de las selvas neotropicales parece estar relacionada con su capacidad para utilizar los hábitats disponibles en la matriz ambiental modificada. En este trabajo se presentan datos sobre la actividad general de los murciélagos (durante las tres horas siguientes al atardecer) medida con un detector de ultrasonidos en una zona con fragmentos aislados de selva de la región de Los Tuxtlas (México). La actividad de los murciélagos se midió en una zona de selva continua, fragmentos aislados de selva, límites de la selva con zonas de pastos, corredores de vegetación, cercas vivas, plantaciones de cítricos, pastizales y la vegetación presente en los asentamientos humanos. Las mayores tasas de actividad se registraron en los asentamientos humanos, fragmentos de selva y cercas vivas. Las tasas más bajas de actividad se registraron en los pastizales. Los datos sugieren que las zonas con vegetación arbórea autóctona e introducida por el hombre pueden constituir un factor importante para sostener la actividad de los murciélagos en los fragmentos aislados de selva

Isolation and characterization of phenanthrene degrading bacteria from diesel fuel-contaminated Antarctic soils

Indexación: Scopus.Antarctica is an attractive target for human exploration and scientific investigation, however the negative effects of human activity on this continent are long lasting and can have serious consequences on the native ecosystem. Various areas of Antarctica have been contaminated with diesel fuel, which contains harmful compounds such as heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Bioremediation of PAHs by the activity of microorganisms is an ecological, economical, and safe decontamination approach. Since the introduction of foreign organisms into the Antarctica is prohibited, it is key to discover native bacteria that can be used for diesel bioremediation. By following the degradation of the PAH phenanthrene, we isolated 53 PAH metabolizing bacteria from diesel contaminated Antarctic soil samples, with three of these isolates exhibiting a high phenanthrene degrading capacity. In particular, the Sphingobium xenophagum D43FB isolate showed the highest phenanthrene degradation ability, generating up to 95% degradation of initial phenanthrene. D43FB can also degrade phenanthrene in the presence of its usual co-pollutant, the heavy metal cadmium, and showed the ability to grow using diesel-fuel as a sole carbon source. Microtiter plate assays and SEM analysis revealed that S. xenophagum D43FB exhibits the ability to form biofilms and can directly adhere to phenanthrene crystals. Genome sequencing analysis also revealed the presence of several genes involved in PAH degradation and heavy metal resistance in the D43FB genome. Altogether, these results demonstrate that S. xenophagum D43FB shows promising potential for its application in the bioremediation of diesel fuel contaminated-Antarctic ecosystems.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2017.01634/ful

Competitive Management of Sugarcane Waste and Reduction of CO2 Emissions from Harvest Burning in Supply Regions

Sugarcane is an important crop in more than 100 countries around the world. Their burning is a cultural activity before and after the harvest; however, pollutants and greenhouse gases emitted to the atmosphere can affect the human health and weather, respectively. The aim of this research is to report the CO2 emissions of the main countries dedicated to the cane production and explain their relevant relation with the dry matter available to the burn and how it can affect their alternative uses. The methodology used in this study identifies the relation between biomass burned (dry matter) and CO2 emissions, estimated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations with the techniques of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The study was carried out for the period of 1990–2014. The results show an important positive trend in the increase in the annual production levels and the biomass burned during the harvest period. The high correlation between harvested area and yield per hectare in countries such as Brazil and the United States allows to have more biomass available for alternative uses. Countries such as Mexico and Colombia have a low correlation between both the parameters due to the increase in the harvested hectares and reduction of their performance per hectare

Cross-country migration linked to people who inject drugs challenges the long-term impact of national HCV elimination programmes

To the Editor: As of 2018, the majority of Western European countries – including Spain – have lifted restrictions to therapy based on disease severity in the context of HCV infections.1 Long overdue, most national elimination programmes now also include access to care for people who inject drugs (PWID), 2 who are at the core of ongoing HCV transmission.3 Macías et al.4 have recently shown in this Journal that high viral cure rates can be achieved in this group, hereby providing evidence that targeting PWID in treatment programmes is worthwhile. However, the extent to which such national efforts can reduce the HCV burden not only depends on the uptake into care and treatment success rates, it is also determined by the relative importance of within-country transmission and virus importation from elsewhere. As the chronic nature of most HCV infections hampers reliably reconstructing contact networks from patient interviews, virus genetic data can be a valuable alternative source of information for elucidating the geographic history of virus lineages (e.g. [5], [6]). Using such data, we have recently shown that for the most prevalent subtype among PWID in Spain (40%, 7), HCV1a, infections often link to infections abroad – in recent years >50% link to Western European countries, mostly European Union (EU) member states – as opposed to other infections ..

Aligning the principles of assessment for learning to learning in physical education: a review of literature

peer-reviewedThe full text of this article will not be available in ULIR until the embargo expires on the 19/04/2022Background: A comprehensive international literature review on alternative assessment in physical education has been provided by López-Pastor et al. ([2013]. “Alternative Assessment in Physical Education: A Review of International Literature.” Sport, Education & Society 18 (1): 57–76). The authors remarked that while more authentic forms of assessment in physical education have been evidenced over the last three decades, the extent to which alternative assessment practices have become common practice in the teaching of physical education is yet to be established. Purpose: This review provides an updated perspective on the prevalence of assessment for learning (AfL) principles in physical education discourse since the 2013 publication. The intent is to inform and consider future AfL practices in school physical education and physical education teacher education (PETE) programmes. Methods: Eligibility criteria for the review required full-text articles written in English or Spanish; published (open access and/or in print) in peer-reviewed, academic and professional journals; and limited to the period 2013–2019. Inclusion criteria required articles to report assessment being used to promote learning in physical education, regardless of making reference to ‘assessment for learning’. Findings: Fifty-two articles met the inclusion criteria. A thematic analysis of these articles resulted in four themes: i) traditional positioning of assessment in physical education; ii) AfL and physical education; iii) the constraints in enacting AfL in physical education; and iv) how to most effectively embed AfL in daily physical education practices. Conclusions: The main conclusions of this review are that i) AfL is a learning-oriented assessment based on socio constructivist theories and integrated into the teaching-learning process, ii) physical education teachers continue to use assessment solely to grade students; iii) physical education teachers do not have the necessary skillset to use AfL in physical education successfully; iv) physical education teachers need to be supported to implement AfL; and v) it is necessary to consider how best PETE programmes can infuse AfL across the programme

Going up the Andes: patterns and drivers of non-native plant invasions across latitudinal and elevational gradients

The Andes mountain range in South America has a high level of endemism and is a major source of ecosystem services. The Andes is increasingly threatened by anthropogenic disturbances that have allowed the establishment of non-native plants, mainly in the lower elevation areas. However, synergies between climate change and anthropogenic pressure are promoting the spread of non-native plants to higher elevation areas. In this article, we evaluate and identify the main non-native plants invading Andean ecosystems, and assess their taxonomic families, growth forms and distribution patterns. Based on a systematic literature review, we identified the importance of climatic and anthropogenic factors as drivers of non-native species establishment in Andean ecosystems and the main impacts of non-native plants in the Andes. We then identified research gaps across each biogeographic region in the Andes. Finally, we highlight key elements to better tackle the problem of non-native plant invasions in Andean ecosystems, including the need for a systematic monitoring of invasion patterns and spread (e.g. MIREN protocol) and a common policy agenda across international borders for the prevention and management of non-native plants in this highly vulnerable region.Fil: Fuentes Lillo, Eduardo. Universidad de Concepción; Chile. Universiteit Antwerp; BélgicaFil: Lembrechts, Jonas J.. Universiteit Antwerp; BélgicaFil: Barros, Ana Agustina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: Aschero, Valeria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Provincia de Mendoza. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: Bustamante, Ramiro O.. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: Cavieres, Lohengrin A.. Universidad de Concepción; ChileFil: Clavel, Jan. Universiteit Antwerp; BélgicaFil: Herrera, Ileana. Universidad Espíritu Santo; EcuadorFil: Jiménez, Alejandra. Universidad de Concepción; ChileFil: Tecco, Paula Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Hulme, Philip E.. Lincoln University.; Nueva ZelandaFil: Nuñez, Martin Andres. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; ArgentinaFil: Rozzi, Ricardo. University of North Texas; Estados UnidosFil: García, Rafael A.. Universidad de Concepción; ChileFil: Simberloff, Daniel. University of Tennessee; Estados UnidosFil: Nijs, Ivan. Universiteit Antwerp; BélgicaFil: Pauchard, Aníbal. Universidad de Concepción; Chil

High-Bandpass Filters in Electrocardiography: Source of Error in the Interpretation of the ST Segment

Introduction. Artifactual variations in the ST segment may lead to confusion with acute coronary syndromes. Objective. To evaluate how the technical characteristics of the recording mode may distort the ST segment. Material and Method. We made a series of electrocardiograms using different filter configurations in 45 asymptomatic patients. A spectral analysis of the electrocardiograms was made by discrete Fourier transforms, and an accurate recomposition of the ECG signal was obtained from the addition of successive harmonics. Digital high-pass filters of 0.05 and 0.5 Hz were used, and the resulting shapes were compared with the originals. Results. In 42 patients (93%) clinically significant alterations in ST segment level were detected. These changes were only seen in “real time mode” with high-pass filter of 0.5 Hz. Conclusions. Interpretation of the ST segment in “real time mode” should only be carried out using high-pass filters of 0.05 Hz.Buendıa Fuentes, F.; Arnau Vives, M.; Arnau Vives, A.; Jiménez Jiménez, Y.; Rueda-Soriano, J.; Zorio-Grima, E..; Osa-Saez, A.... (2012). High-Bandpass Filters in Electrocardiography: Source of Error in the Interpretation of the ST Segment. ISRN Cardiology. 2012:706217-706227. doi:10.5402/2012/706217S706217706227201