Estructura y crecimiento absoluto de una población de Hippolyte inermes Leach 1815 (Decapoda: Caridea) de las praderas de Zostera marina (L.) (Málaga, Sur de España).

The Hippolyte inermis Leach 1815 population from Zostera marina beds in southern Spain showed two recruitment periods that occurred simultaneously for both sexes (from September to December and from April to June), in a size range between 1.67 and 1.90 mm carapace length, due to gonadal activity and eggs hatching in summer and winter. The estimated Von Bertalanffy parameters were used to determine absolute growth and showed that males live for around 8 months and females for around 12 months; consequently, four cohorts for males and 7 to 8 for females can coexist throughout the cycle. The sex ratio favours females throughout the entire life cycle. Data published on the reproductive biology of H. inermis support the idea that this is a protandric hermaphrodite species, though recent studies have revealed that there is no histological proof of hermaphroditic sexuality in adult specimens of this species. The results obtained here indicate that the Cañuelo Beach Hippolyte inermis population has a gonochoric structure. If H. inermis were to have hermaphroditic sexuality, the sex reversal of adult males would occur in a single moult in the size range between 2.42 and 3.22 mm. These new, secondary females would be incorporated into the primary female cohort at practically the same size, although they would be 0.12 to 5.20 months younger. Our results, compared with those from other population studies, suggest that this species has a highly plastic population structure, which seems to be determined by external factors and which varies between the protandric and gonochoric condition, depending on the conditions of the habitat.El estudio de una población de Hippolyte inermis Leach 1815 de fondos de Zostera marina del Sur de España muestra dos periodos de reclutamiento simultáneo para ambos sexos, de septiembre a diciembre y de abril a junio, en un rango de talla de 1.67-1.90 mm como consecuencia de la maduración gonadal y la eclosión de la puesta en verano e invierno. El estudio de los parámetros de Von Bertalanffy muestra que el modelo de crecimiento absoluto es de tipo indeterminado y que los machos viven alrededor de 8 meses, mientras que las hembras son más longevas (12 meses); consecuentemente durante el período de estudiado coexisten 4 cohortes para los machos y 7-8 para las hembras. El estudio de crecimiento poblacional revela que éste viene determinado por el de las hembras, ya que el sex-ratio siempre es a favor de estas últimas. Datos publicados sobre Hippolyte inermis apoyan que se trata de una especie hermafrodita proterándrica, aunque estudios histológicos en adultos no apoyan esta hipótesis. En el caso de la población estudiada, el conjunto de resultados obtenidos justifican sobradamente que se trata de una población gonocórica. Si existiera cambio de sexo en los machos adultos este se produciría en una sola muda, en el rango de talla de 2.42-3.22 mm y estas nuevas hembras se incorporarían a las cohortes de hembras primarias de la talla más o menos similar pero entre 0.12-5.20 meses más jóvenes. Los resultados obtenidos, en comparación con otras poblaciones de otras áreas geográficas, muestran que posiblemente esta especie tenga una estructura y dinámica poblacional muy versátil, pudiéndose manifestar como una especie proterándrica o gonocórica dependiendo de factores externos propios de cada hábitat

La imagen de la energía nuclear en la prensa española de proximidad: ¿Son los medios de comunicación un stakeholder relevante para el sector atómico?

Los medios de comunicación han sido tradicionalmente protagonistas en la formación de la opinión pública acerca de temas nucleares. La prensa tiene prestigio en el debate público y capacidad de influir sobre la población a través del tratamiento de la energía nuclear en cualquier género periodístico. ¿Sobre qué temas nucleares informan los medios de proximidad? ¿Qué imagen trasladan a la opinión pública los periódicos provinciales que cubren la actividad nuclear? ¿Qué acciones deben perseguir los gabinetes de comunicación de las centrales nucleares con los medios para informar sobre las acciones de la industria atómica? Para responder a ello, hemos realizado un análisis de contenido de los periódicos de proximidad de mayor difusión de las poblaciones cercanas a las plantas atómicas en España (2013-2017) y hemos entrevistado a los responsables de comunicación de las centrales nucleares españolas. Como conclusiones principales de este estudio podemos decir que los periódicos de mayor difusión en las provincias con central nuclear transmiten una imagen negativa del sector nuclear hacia sus lectores y, por lo tanto, las centrales atómicas, si pretenden revertir la situación, deben relacionarse con los periodistas para poder trasladar a la sociedad la utilidad de su apuesta energética.Els mitjans de comunicació han estat tradicionalment protagonistes en la formació de l’opinió pública sobre temes nuclears. La premsa té prestigi en el debat públic i capacitat d’influir sobre la població a través del tractament de l’energia nuclear en qualsevol gènere periodístic. Sobre quins temes nuclears informen els mitjans de proximitat? Quina imatge traslladen a l’opinió pública els diaris provincials que cobreixen l’activitat nuclear? Quines accions han de perseguir els gabinets de comunicació de les centrals nuclears amb els mitjans per informar sobre les accions de la indústria atòmica? Per respondre aquestes preguntes, hem fet una anàlisi de contingut dels diaris de proximitat de major difusió de les poblacions properes a les plantes atòmiques a Espanya (2013- 2017) i hem entrevistat els responsables de comunicació de les centrals nuclears espanyoles. Com a conclusions principals d’aquest estudi podem dir que els diaris de major difusió a les províncies amb central nuclear transmeten una imatge negativa del sector nuclear cap als seus lectors i, per tant, les centrals atòmiques, si pretenen revertir la situació, han de relacionar-se amb els periodistes per poder traslladar a la societat la utilitat de la seva aposta energètica.The media have traditionally had a prominent role in the formation of public opinion on nuclear issues. The press has a good reputation in the public sphere and the ability to influence citizens through the treatment of nuclear energy in any journalistic genre. But, what nuclear energy topics do the local media report? What image do the local media transmit to the public? What strategies should communication departments of nuclear power plants implement to inform about their work? To answer these questions, we performed a content analysis (2013-2017) of the most important local newspapers that cover the activity of nuclear power plants in Spain and interviewed the heads of communication of Spanish nuclear power plants. We conclude that the most important local newspapers transmit a negative image of the nuclear sector to their readers and that nuclear power plants must interact with journalists to inform society about the usefulness of nuclear energy

Matching comprehensive health insurance reimbursements to their real costs: the case of antenatal care visits in a region of Peru.

BACKGROUND: Prepaid contributory systems are increasingly being recognized as key mechanisms in achieving universal health coverage in low and middle-income countries. Peru created the Seguro Integral de Salud (SIS) to increase health service use amongst the poor by removing financial barriers. The SIS transfers funds on a fee-for-service basis to the regional health offices to cover recurrent cost (excluding salaries) of pre-specified packages of interventions. We aim to estimate the full cost of antenatal care (ANC) provision in the Ventanilla District (Callao-Peru) and to compare the actual cost to the reimbursement rates provided by SIS. METHODS: The economic costs of ANC provision in 2011 in 8 of the 15 health centres in Ventanilla District were estimated from a provider perspective and the actual costs of those services covered by the SIS fee of $3.8 for each ANC visit were calculated. A combination of step-down and bottom-up costing methodologies was used. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to test the uncertainty around estimated parameters and model assumptions. Results are reported in 2011 US$. RESULTS: The total economic cost of ANC provision in all 8 health centres was $569,933 with an average cost per ANC visit of$31.3 (95 % CI $29.7-$33.5). Salaries comprised 74.4 % of the total cost. The average cost of the services covered by the SIS fee was $3.4 (95$3.0-$3.8) per ANC visit. Sensitivity analysis showed that the probability of the cost of an ANC visit being above the SIS reimbursed fee is 1.4 %. CONCLUSION: Our analysis suggests that the fee reimbursed by the SIS will cover the cost that it supposed to cover. However, there are significant threats to medium and longer term sustainability of this system as fee transfers represent a small fraction of the total cost of providing ANC. Increasing ANC coverage requires the other funding sources of the Regional Health Office (DIRESA) to adapt to increasing demand

Soluble epoxide hydrolase inhibitors: design, synthesis, in vitro profiling and in vivo evaluation in murine models of pain

Trabajo presentado en el ASPET Annual Meeting at Experimental Biology 2022, celebrado en Philadelphia, PA (Estados Unidos), del 2 al 5 de abril de 2022This research by the Grant PID2020-118127RB-I00 funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by “ERDF A way of making Europe” to S.V. Financial support from Fundació Bosch i Gimpera, Universitat de Barcelona (F2I grant), to S.V., and from the Xunta de Galicia (ED431G 2019/02 and ED431C 2018/21) to M.I.L. are acknowledged. Partial support was provided by NIH-NIEHS River Award R35 ES03443, NIH-NIEHS Superfund Program P42 ES004699, NINDS R01 DK107767, and NIDDK R01 DK103616 to B.D.H. S.C. acknowledges a PhD fellowship from the Universitat de Barcelona (APIF grant)

QUIJOTE scientific results-I. Measurements of the intensity and polarisation of the anomalous microwave emission in the Perseus molecular complex

et al.In this paper, we present Q-U-I JOint Tenerife Experiment (QUIJOTE) 10–20 GHz observations (194 h in total over ≈250 deg2) in intensity and polarisation of G159.6-18.5, one of the most widely studied regions harbouring anomalous microwave emission (AME). By combining with other publicly available intensity data, we achieve the most precise spectrum of the AME measured to date in an individual region, with 13 independent data points between 10 and 50 GHz being dominated by this emission. The four QUIJOTE data points provide the first independent confirmation of the downturn of the AME spectrum at low frequencies, initially unveiled by the COSMOlogical Structures On Medium Angular Scales experiment in this region. Our polarisation maps, which have an angular resolution of ≈1° and a sensitivity of ≈ 25 μK beam−1, are consistent with zero polarisation. We obtain upper limits on the polarisation fraction of Π < 6.3 and <2.8 per cent (95 per cent C.L.), respectively, at 12 and 18 GHz (ΠAME < 10.1 and <3.4 per cent with respect to the residual AME intensity), a frequency range where no AME polarisation observations have been reported to date. The combination of these constraints with those from other experiments confirm that all the magnetic dust models based on single-domain grains, and most of those considering randomly oriented magnetic inclusions, predict higher polarisation levels than is observed towards regions with AME. Also, neither of the two considered models of electric dipole emission seems to be compatible with all the observations together. More stringent constraints of the AME polarisation at 10–40 GHz are necessary to disentangle between different models, to which future QUIJOTE data will contribute.This work has been partially funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) under the projects AYA2007-68058-C03-01, AYA2010-21766-C03-02, AYA2012-39475-C02-01 and the Consolider-Ingenio project CSD2010-00064 (EPI: Exploring the Physics of Inflation). CD acknowledges support from an ERC Starting (Consolidator) Grant (no. 307209), SH from an STFC-funded studentship, and CHLC from the DIULS (Research Directorship of the University of La Serena).Peer Reviewe

The sigma-1 receptor curtails endogenous opioid analgesia during sensitization of TRPV1 nociceptors

Background and Purpose: Peripheral sensitization contributes to pathological pain. While prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and nerve growth factor (NGF) sensitize peptidergic C-nociceptors (TRPV1+), glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) sensitizes non-peptidergic C-neurons (IB4+). Sigma-1 receptor (σ1R) is a Ca2+-sensing chaperone known to modulate analgesia induced by opioid drugs. This receptor binds both to TRPV1 and the µ-opioid receptor (MOPr), although the functional repercussions of these physical interactions in peripheral sensitization are unknown. Experimental Approach: We tested the effect of sigma-1 antagonism on PGE2-, NGF- and GDNF-induced mechanical and heat hyperalgesia in mice. We used immunohistochemistry to determine the presence of endomorphin-2, an endogenous MOPr agonist, on dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons. Recombinant proteins were used to study the interactions between σ1R, MOPr and TRPV1. We used calcium imaging to study the effects of sigma-1 antagonism on PGE2-induced sensitization of TRPV1+ nociceptors. Key Results: σ1R antagonists reversed PGE2- and NGF-induced hyperalgesia, but not GDNF-induced hyperalgesia. Endomorphin-2 was detected on TRPV1+ but not on IB4+ neurons. Peripheral opioid receptor antagonism by naloxone methiodide or administration of an anti-endomorphin-2 antibody to a sensitized paw, reversed the antihyperalgesia induced by sigma-1 antagonists. Sigma-1 antagonism transfers σ1R from TRPV1 to MOPr, suggesting that σ1R participate in TRPV1-MOPr crosstalk. Moreover, σ1R antagonism reversed, in a naloxone-sensitive manner, PGE2-induced sensitization of DRG neurons to the calcium flux elicited by capsaicin, the prototypic TRPV1 agonist. Conclusion and Implications: σ1R antagonism harnesses endogenous opioids produced by TRPV1+ neurons to reduce hyperalgesia by increasing MOPr activity

Planck 2015 results. XVI. Isotropy and statistics of the CMB

Cosmology (including clusters of galaxies).-- et al.We test the statistical isotropy and Gaussianity of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies using observations made by the Planck satellite. Our results are based mainly on the full Planck mission for temperature, but also include some polarization measurements. In particular, we consider the CMB anisotropy maps derived from the multi-frequency Planck data by several component-separation methods. For the temperature anisotropies, we find excellent agreement between results based on these sky maps over both a very large fraction of the sky and a broad range of angular scales, establishing that potential foreground residuals do not affect our studies. Tests of skewness, kurtosis, multi-normality, N-point functions, and Minkowski functionals indicate consistency with Gaussianity, while a power deficit at large angular scales is manifested in several ways, for example low map variance. The results of a peak statistics analysis are consistent with the expectations of a Gaussian random field. The “Cold Spot” is detected with several methods, including map kurtosis, peak statistics, and mean temperature profile. We thoroughly probe the large-scale dipolar power asymmetry, detecting it with several independent tests, and address the subject of a posteriori correction. Tests of directionality suggest the presence of angular clustering from large to small scales, but at a significance that is dependent on the details of the approach. We perform the first examination of polarization data, finding the morphology of stacked peaks to be consistent with the expectations of statistically isotropic simulations. Where they overlap, these results are consistent with the Planck 2013 analysis based on the nominal mission data and provide our most thorough view of the statistics of the CMB fluctuations to date.The Planck Collaboration acknowledges the support of: ESA; CNES and CNRS/INSU-IN2P3-INP (France); ASI, CNR, and INAF (Italy); NASA and DoE (USA); STFC and UKSA (UK); CSIC, MINECO, JA, and RES (Spain); Tekes, AoF, and CSC (Finland); DLR and MPG (Germany); CSA (Canada); DTU Space (Denmark); SER/SSO (Switzerland); RCN (Norway); SFI (Ireland); FCT/MCTES (Portugal); ERC and PRACE (EU).Peer Reviewe

Improved limits on the tensor-to-scalar ratio using BICEP and Planck data

We present constraints on the tensor-to-scalar ratio r using a combination of BICEP/Keck 2018 (BK18) and Planck PR4 data allowing us to fit for r consistently with the six parameters of the ? CDM model. We discuss the sensitivity of constraints on r to uncertainties in the ? CDM parameters as defined by the Planck data. In particular, we are able to derive a constraint on the reionization optical depth ? and thus propagate its uncertainty into the posterior distribution for r . While Planck sensitivity to r is slightly lower than the current ground-based measurements, the combination of Planck with BK18 and baryon-acoustic-oscillation data yields results consistent with r = 0 and tightens the constraint to r < 0.032 at 95% confidence.Planck is a project of the European Space Agency (ESA) with instruments provided by two scientific consortia funded by ESA member states and led by Principal Investigators from France and Italy, telescope reflectors provided through a collaboration between ESA and a scientific consortium led and funded by Denmark, and additional contributions from NASA (USA). We gratefully acknowledge support from the CNRS/IN2P3 Computing Center for providing computing and data-processing resources needed for this work. This research used resources of the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, which is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02- 05CH11231. Part of the research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Grant No. 80NM0018D0004)