Clasificación de las lagunas asociadas al Canal de Castilla (Palencia) basada en la presencia de macrófitos acuáticos y emergentes

Las Lagunas Marginales del Canal de Castilla constituyen unos ecosistemas de alto valor ecológico, tanto por la variada vegetación palustre y ribereña que presentan, como por las especies faunísticas que albergan, contribuyendo a aumentar la diversidad biológica y paisajística del entorno estepario donde se ubican. A través de este estudio se ha analizado la estructura y fisonomía de las comunidades de macrófitos como base para obtener una clasificación de las lagunas. La aplicación del método de agrupación TWINSPAN establece que la permanencia y profundidad del agua son los factores diferenciadores en las lagunas marginales del Canal de Castilla y resultan determinantes de la distribución y crecimiento de la vegetación.Lagoons surrounding the Canal de Castilla constitute ecosystems of high ecological value because of the variety of their marshy and riparian vegetation as well as the faunistic species present. Thus, they contribute to a greater biological diversity and broaden the range of landscapes in the steppe environments where they are found. In this survey, the structure and composition of macrophyte communities have been analysed, as a preliminary step towards the classification of the lagoons. The application of the TWINSPAN grouping method shows that permanence and water depth are the factors that determine the distribution and development of plant communities throughout theCanal de Castilla surrounding lagoons

Supercolonial structure of invasive populations of the tawny crazy ant Nylanderia fulva in the US

Background: Social insects are among the most serious invasive pests in the world, particularly successful at monopolizing environmental resources to outcompete native species and achieve ecological dominance. The invasive success of some social insects is enhanced by their unicolonial structure, under which the presence of numerous queens and the lack of aggression against non-nestmates allow high worker densities, colony growth, and survival while eliminating intra-specific competition. In this study, we investigated the population genetics, colony structure and levels of aggression in the tawny crazy ant, Nylanderia fulva, which was recently introduced into the United States from South America. Results: We found that this species experienced a genetic bottleneck during its invasion lowering its genetic diversity by 60%. Our results show that the introduction of N. fulva is associated with a shift in colony structure. This species exhibits a multicolonial organization in its native range, with colonies clearly separated from one another, whereas it displays a unicolonial system with no clear boundaries among nests in its invasive range. We uncovered an absence of genetic differentiation among populations across the entire invasive range, and a lack of aggressive behaviors towards conspecifics from different nests, even ones separated by several hundreds of kilometers. Conclusions: Overall, these results suggest that across its entire invasive range in the U.S.A., this species forms a single supercolony spreading more than 2000 km. In each invasive nest, we found several, up to hundreds, of reproductive queens, each being mated with a single male. The many reproductive queens per nests, together with the free movement of individuals between nests, leads to a relatedness coefficient among nestmate workers close to zero in introduced populations, calling into question the stability of this unicolonial system in which indirect fitness benefits to workers is apparently absent.Fil: Eyer, Pierre André. Texas A&M University; Estados UnidosFil: McDowell, Bryant. Texas A&M University; Estados UnidosFil: Johnson, Laura N. L.. Texas A&M University; Estados UnidosFil: Calcaterra, Luis Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Fundación para el Estudio de Especies Invasivas; ArgentinaFil: Fernández, María Belén. Fundación para el Estudio de Especies Invasivas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Shoemaker, Dewayne. University of Tennessee; Estados UnidosFil: Puckett, Robert T.. Texas A&M University; Estados UnidosFil: Vargo, Edward L.. Texas A&M University; Estados Unido

Application of a new protocol for providing obstetric care in an outpatient service during the COVID-19 pandemic in a public hospital in Madrid, Spain.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical implementation of a preventive COVID-19 protocol regarding re-organization of appointments and documented infections among health workers in an obstetric outpatient service. Methods: Descriptive analysis of the antenatal care at our obstetric outpatient service and infection rates among health care providers from March 19th to May 22nd, 2020. Appointments were divided into telephone calls or face-to-face examinations. A pre-consultation triage was implemented to identify suspected SARS-CoV2 infected women to reschedule them 14 days later or, if the consultation was non-delayable, to use complete Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Firstly, the number of face-to-face appointments, telephone appointments, and COVID-19 diagnoses in pregnant women were analyzed. Secondly, the number of obstetricians and nurses diagnosed with SARS-CoV2 infection and their serologic status during universal screening in May 2020 were recorded. Results: One thousand eight hundred forty-two obstetric appointments were scheduled during this period, including 432 (23.5%) telephone appointments (96.53% according to clinical protocol, 1.62% symptomatic patients advised to stay at home, and 1.85% COVID-19 confirmed cases), and 1,410 (76.5%) face-to-face appointments (9.7% did not attend due to fear of getting the infection, 3.1% were lost-to-follow-up, 0.5% were rescheduled due to COVID-19 symptoms and 86.7% who did attend). Of the 1,223 women attending their hospital appointment, 3.6% screened positive at the triage (72.7% rescheduled and 27.3% seen with PPE). 43 rRT-PCR-SARS-CoV2 tests were performed, and two tested positive. No COVID-19 symptoms were reported among health workers at the outpatient obstetric service, and only one nurse presented immunoglobulin (Ig)G anti-SARS-CoV2. Conclusion: A prompt implementation of a preventive protocol in a hospital obstetric outpatient service, including triage, hygienic and preventive measurements, and rescheduling pregnancy appointments, reduces the percentage of health workers affected by SARS-CoV2.post-print369 K

The onset of electrospray: the universal scaling laws of the first ejection

The disintegration of liquid drops with low electrical conductivity and subject to an electric field is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. This disintegration takes place through the development of a conical cusp that eventually ejects an ultrathin liquid ligament. A first tiny drop is emitted from the end of this ligament. Due to its exceptionally small size and large electric charge per unit volume, that drop has been the object of relevant recent studies. In this paper, universal scaling laws for the diameter and electric charge of the first issued droplet are proposed and validated both numerically and experimentally. Our analysis shows how charge relaxation is the mechanism that differentiates the onset of electrospray, including the first droplet ejection, from the classical steady cone-jet mode. In this way, our study identifies when and where charge relaxation and electrokinetic phenomena come into play in electrospray, a subject of live controversy in the field.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad DPI2013-4648

Are enterprises from lagging regions digitally connected?

This paper focuses on how enterprises located on lagging regions are using online resources and how can they enhance their usage. Most companies have transitioned to the “online world”, however, in rural and more deprived regions, we see that companies still have difficulties accessing some online resources or accessing qualified workers in ICT areas. As such, this paper focus on 29 enterprises from the northeast of Portugal, a recognized lagging region. In the context of an international project, CRECEER - creation of business cooperation networks in rural cross-border regions between companies in the gourmet agri-food and tourism sectors, we analysed the use of ICT, what online tools were used and what could be done to improve their ICT use in their business. As a result, we found that the majority of the companies only had a minimal investment in business online tools, they ar not aware of the majority of cloud computing software, and they do not use it in their business. Even though the studied companies were willing to evolve digitally, they recognized the severe restrictions they had, namely the requirement of specific currently unavailable knowledge, the necessity of qualified workers that they couldn’t afford, and even the hardware necessity they couldn’t supress. It is clear that for these companies had it not been the CRECEER project, even the smallest changes and improvements, would not be achieved in a short period. It is rather crucial to have European funds dedicated to enhance the ICT competencies of these businesses.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Post-truth, gender issues and sports entertainment: the setting in Ibero-America’s main digital media for the Super Bowl halftime show 2020

The subject of this research topic is the frameworks and the media representation of the role of women in mass sports events. The case study corresponds to the participation for the first time in the halftime show of the “Super Bowl 2020” of two of the main Latin pop artists: Shakira and Jennifer López. The objective of the study is to characterize the treatment of the event given by the media (both generalist and sports-themed) of the 22 countries that make up Ibero-America together with that on social networks. The assumptions that have guided the research seek to determine whether an objectification of women in the image that is built from the media and on social networks really exists; and whether the frames that occur in both are identical or different. The methodological design includes a content analysis and impact measurement with Big Data technology. The main results and conclusions include the objectification of women in all the generalist media; and 50% in sports-themed media. Similarly, it should be noted that social media reflect the impact of conventional media more than tenfold and most importantly, a change in trend and progress is foreseen in media frameworks with a gender perspective.Esta investigación aborda el análisis de los marcos y la representación mediática del papel de la mujer en los eventos deportivos de masas. El caso de estudio que concretamente analizamos se centra en la participación de dos de las principales artistas pop latinas: Shakira y Jennifer López, en el espectáculo de medio tiempo de la “Super Bowl 2020”, un hecho insólito en la historia de dicho macroevento. El objetivo del estudio es analizar el tratamiento que tanto los medios de comunicación (generalistas como deportivos) de los 22 países que componen Iberoamérica, como las redes sociales, dieron a este acontecimiento. Los supuestos que han guiado la investigación buscan determinar si existe realmente una cosificación de las mujeres en la imagen que se construye en los medios de comunicación y en las redes sociales; y si los marcos que ocurren en ambos son idénticos o diferentes. El diseño metodológico incluye el análisis de contenido y la medición de impacto con tecnología Big Data. Los principales resultados y conclusiones muestran la cosificación de las mujeres en todos los medios generalistas y en la mitad de los medios de temática deportiva. Del mismo modo, cabe señalar que el impacto de las redes sociales es diez veces superior al de los medios convencionales y, lo más importante, se observa un cambio de tendencia y un progreso en el framing de los medios de comunicación en perspectiva de género

Short Wave Ultraviolet Light (UV-C) Effectiveness in the Inactivation of Bacterial Spores Inoculated in Turbid Suspensions and in Cloudy Apple Juice

Liquid foods might present interferences in their optical properties that can reduce the effectiveness of short-wave ultraviolet radiation (UV-C) treatments used for sterilization purposes. The effect of turbidity as UV-C interference factor against the inactivation of bacterial spores was analysed by using phosphate-buffered saline solutions (PBS) of different turbidity values (2000, 2500, and 3000 NTU) which were adjusted with the addition of apple fibre. These suspensions were inoculated with spores of Bacillus subtilis and Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris. While higher UV-C doses increased the inactivation rates of spores, these were reduced when turbidity values increased; a dose of 28.7 J/mL allowed inactivation rates of B. subtilis spores of 3.96 Log in a 2000-NTU suspension compared with 2.81 Log achieved in the 3000-NTU one. Spores of B. subtilis were more UV-C-resistant than A. acidoterrestris. Cloudy apple juice inoculated with A. acidoterrestris spores was processed by UV-C at different doses in a single pass and with recirculation of the matrix through the reactor. Inactivation increased significantly with recirculation, surpassing 5 Log after 125 J/mL compared with 0.13 Log inactivation after a single-pass treatment at the same UV-C dose. UV-C treatments with recirculation affected the optical properties (absorption coefficient at 254 nm and turbidity) of juice and increased browning as UV-C doses became higher

The climactic conditions limit fruit production and quality in gulupa (Passiflora edulis Sims f. edulis) under integrated fertilization

The gulupa (Passiflora edulis Sims f. edulis) is one of the main fruit trees that are part of Colombia's export supply. The objective of this research was to determine the effect of chemical fertilizers alone (control) or together with integrated fertilization (humic acids or vermicompost; two separate treatments), on the yield and quality of gulupa fruit during two consecutive production cycles in the Colombian Amazon foothills. The climatic conditions were monitored and the phenological state of the plant was related to the average temperature, relative humidity, precipitation, solar radiation, and vapor pressure deficit. The integrated fertilization with vermicompost offered better values in productive parameters (fresh weight, number of fruits and equatorial diameter) irrespective of the cycle considered, but the fruit quality attributes were similar irrespective of the fertilization treatment tested. The fluctuations of the climatic variables of precipitation, relative humidity and solar radiation in both cycles (the second rainiest and affected by the ENSO phenomenon) reduced the quality of the fruit (whole fruit firmness by 19%, dry matter and pulp total titratable acidity by 24%, total soluble solids by 8%, individual sugars by 49%, organic acids by 63% and antioxidant capacity by 67%) as well as the productive parameters during the second cycle. These results demonstrate the high degree of influence exerted by the climate on productive and fruit quality attributes that are decisive in the production and marketing of the fruit.This research was supported by the Colombian Ministry of Science through the Bicentennial Doctoral Excellence Scholarship Program to F.M. Authors thank the technical staff of the Universidad Surcolombiana and the Universidad Nacional de Colombia who contributed to the development of this research. This work belongs to the doctoral thesis of F.M. supervised by Dr. M.S.H.G. and Dr. N.G.G. and is part of the collaboration agreement between the Sinchi Institute and the UPCT

The poor accuracy of D-dimer for the diagnosis of prosthetic joint infection but its potential usefulness in early postoperative infections following revision arthroplasty for aseptic loosening

Background: D-dimer was introduced in 2018 as an alternative biomarker for C-reactive protein (CRP) in the diagnostic of prosthetic joint infection (PJI) criteria of the Musculoskeletal Infection Society. We assessed the accuracy of plasma D-dimer for the diagnosis of early, delayed, and late PJI according to Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) criteria, and whether persistently high levels of D-dimer in cases of aseptic loosening (AL) may be predictive of subsequent implant-related infection. Methods: A prospective study of a consecutive series of 187 revision arthroplasties was performed at a single institution.Septic (n = 39) and aseptic revisions (n = 141) were classified based on IDSA criteria. Preoperative assessment of CRP, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and D-dimer was performed. Receiver operating curves were used to determine maximum sensitivity and specificity of the biomarkers. The natural progress of D-dimer for AL cases was followed up either until the date of implant-related infection at any time during the first year or 1 year after revision in patients without failure. Clinical outcomes for those AL cases included infection-related failure that required a new surgery or need for antibiotic suppression. Results: Preoperative D-dimer level was significantly higher in PJI cases than in AL cases (p = 0.000). The optimal threshold of D-dimer for the diagnosis of PJI was 1167 ng/mL. For overall diagnosis of PJI, C-reactive protein (CRP) achieved the highest sensitivity (84.6%), followed by erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and D-dimer (82% and 71.8%, respectively). Plasma D-dimer sensitivity was lower for all PJI types. When combinations of 2 tests were studied, the combined use of ESR and CRP achieved the best accuracy for all types of PJI (76.9%). 4.25% of AL cases had implant failure due to implant-related infection during the first year after the index revision arthroplasty, only the cases with early failure maintained high D-dimer levels