Precipitation regionalization, anomalies and drought occurrence in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico

© 2020 The Authors. International Journal of Climatology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of the Royal Meteorological Society. Climate change projections have identified the Yucatan Peninsula as being vulnerable to increasing drought. Understanding spatial and temporal precipitation variability and drought occurrence are therefore important. Drought monitoring in Mexico has been carried out only relatively recently and often without considering the long-term variability in both droughts and precipitation. This research explores the spatio-temporal variability of precipitation and occurrence of droughts at a much finer spatial resolution and over a longer temporal period than previous studies. Using statistical (cluster analysis and standardized precipitation index) and geostatistical (kriging) techniques, maps of precipitation and droughts are generated for the period 1980–2011. These show that whilst many previous studies have regarded the Yucatan Peninsula as a homogenous region with respect to precipitation, there are actually four distinctive clusters of precipitation amount, showing climatic variability across the Peninsula. The analyses also show that droughts in the Peninsula are regionalised. Twelve-month Standardized Precipitation Indices (SPI), calculated for individual stations and for precipitation surfaces, reveal distinct patterns of spatial and temporal variability. SPI surfaces indicate the occurrence of major droughts in 1981, 1986–1987, 1994, 1996, 2003, 2004 and 2009, but these rarely affect the whole Yucatan Peninsula uniformly. Wetter years, such as 1983, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1995, 2002 and 2005 sometimes reflect the impact of individual extreme events, such as hurricane Isidore in 2002. Our results show that drought can be regionalised, thus enhancing the quality of information about droughts in the area and providing evidence and support for future drought mitigation and environmental protection. These methods could usefully be applied elsewhere

Le nombre de décès va augmenter en France dans les prochaines années

International audienceThe population of France has grown by more than half over the last 70 years and has increased in age. While the number of deaths should logically have risen, two factors explain why it has remained practically constant throughout the period: the increase in life expectancy, and the entry into extreme old age of the depleted cohorts born during the First World War. Their disappearance and the ageing of the large baby boom cohorts will push up the number of deaths in the coming years.La population de la France a augmenté de plus de moitié depuis 70 ans et a vieilli, ce qui aurait dû entraîner une hausse du nombre annuel de décès. Deux facteurs expliquent qu'ils se soient maintenus à peu près constants au cours de cette période : l'augmentation de la durée de vie et l'arrivée aux grands âges des classes creuses nées pendant la Première Guerre mondiale. Leur extinction et l'arrivée à ces âges des générations nombreuses du baby-boom vont entraîner une hausse des décès dans les prochaines années

Estudio observacional sobre los riesgos y exigencias laborales que encaran los fabricantes de ladrillos en el estado de Nayarit. Estudio de caso en la comunidad de Puente de San Cayetano en la ciudad de Tepic, Nayarit, México.

Report of the community of Puente de San Cayetano in Tepic, Nayarit, defines risks and demands of brick artisans work, health conditions, dietary habits and socio-economic problems they face. This is an observational, descriptive and transversal study. This research aims to establish a proposal to support the development of an intervention that responds to identified problems and achieve positive impact in reducing the risks and work requirements. Identify the risks, demands, health and nutritional status of brick in the State of Nayarit. The worker in the brick has not defined working time (2-12h/day), 2-7 days a week, whit perception of approximately $500.00 per 500 bricks. Frequent gastrointestinal problems communally are present. Evaluate risks of unnecessary work and health worker for him, his family and the good of the community. Through the study we could observe the behavior of nutritional, social and health status of workers in brick in the state of Nayarit and the risks they are exposed not only the working group, but the entire community and surrounding neighborhoods.Reporte de caso en la comunidad de Puente de San Cayetano, municipio de Tepic, Nayarit que tipifica riesgos y exigencias laborales de los artesanos ladrilleros, sus condiciones de salud, sus hábitos nutricionales y la problemática socioeconómica a la que se enfrentan. El presente es un estudio observacional, descriptivo y transversal que pretende establecer una propuesta que sustente el desarrollo de una intervención que responda a los problemas detectados y lograr impactar positivamente en la disminución de los riesgos y las exigencias laborales no solo de este grupo de trabajo, sino también de la comunidad y colonias aledañas. El trabajador en las ladrilleras no cuenta con un horario definido de trabajo, ya que puede laborar desde dos hasta doce horas al día durante dos a siete días a la semana. Tiene unapercepción salarial aproximada de$500.00 (quinientos pesos) por cada 500 ladrillos y sufre además, de problemas gastrointestinales frecuentes comunitariamente. Se evaluaron riesgos de trabajo innecesarios del trabajador así como su estado de salud y el de su familia

Hematological and Biochemical Profile of Spider Monkey(Ateles geoffroyi Kuhl) in Captivity

Objective: To estimate the hematological and biochemical reference values in Ateles geoffroyi individuals in captivity. Design/Methodology/Approach: Eleven males and 23 females were captured and blood was collected from the coccygeal vein; conventional techniques were used to analyze the samples. Results: Mean corpuscular volume (MCV; P0.03) and platelets (PLT; P0.04) were significantly higher in females than in males. In relation to biochemical blood values, the difference was not significant in male and female groups. Study Limitations/Implications: Hematological and biochemical reference values of A. geoffroyi are within normal health parameters; they are between the ranges reported for other species of Neotropical primates and can be used as a reference in the health management of this species in captivity. Findings/Conclusions: Hematological and biochemical parameters of captive specimens of A. geoffroyi are described, which provide reference indicators for the health management of the specie

Synthesis and characterization of Au(I) and Au(III) complexes containing N-heterocyclic ligands derived from amino acids

Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACYT) [180717

Population genetics of the wolverine in Finland:the road to recovery?

Abstract After decades, even centuries of persecution, large carnivore populations are widely recovering in Europe. Considering the recent recovery of the wolverine (Gulo gulo) in Finland, our aim was to evaluate genetic variation using 14 microsatellites and mtDNA control region (579 bp) in order (1) to determine whether the species is represented by a single genetic population within Finland, (2) to quantify the genetic diversity, and (3) to estimate the effective population size. We found two major genetic clusters divided between eastern and northern Finland based on microsatellites (FST = 0.100) but also a significant pattern of isolation by distance. Wolverines in western Finland had a genetic signature similar to the northern cluster, which can be explained by former translocations of wolverines from northern to western Finland. For both main clusters, most estimates of the effective population size Ne were below 50. Nevertheless, the genetic diversity was higher in the eastern cluster (HE = 0.57, AR = 4.0, AP = 0.3) than in the northern cluster (HE = 0.49, AR = 3.7, AP = 0.1). Migration between the clusters was low. Two mtDNA haplotypes were found: one common and identical to Scandinavian wolverines; the other rare and not previously detected. The rare haplotype was more prominent in the eastern genetic cluster. Combining all available data, we infer that the genetic population structure within Finland is shaped by a recent bottleneck, isolation by distance, human-aided translocations and postglacial recolonization routes

Antiviral role of IFITM proteins in African swine fever virus infection

The interferon-induced transmembrane (IFITM) protein family is a group of antiviral restriction factors that impair flexibility and inhibit membrane fusion at the plasma or the endosomal membrane, restricting viral progression at entry. While IFITMs are widely known to inhibit several single-stranded RNA viruses, there are limited reports available regarding their effect in double-stranded DNA viruses. In this work, we have analyzed a possible antiviral function of IFITMs against a double stranded DNA virus, the African swine fever virus (ASFV). Infection with cell-adapted ASFV isolate Ba71V is IFN sensitive and it induces IFITMs expression. Interestingly, high levels of IFITMs caused a collapse of the endosomal pathway to the perinuclear area. Given that ASFV entry is strongly dependent on endocytosis, we investigated whether IFITM expression could impair viral infection. Expression of IFITM1, 2 and 3 reduced virus infectivity in Vero cells, with IFITM2 and IFITM3 having an impact on viral entry/uncoating. The role of IFITM2 in the inhibition of ASFV in Vero cells could be related to impaired endocytosis-mediated viral entry and alterations in the cholesterol efflux, suggesting that IFITM2 is acting at the late endosome, preventing the decapsidation stage of ASFV