Access to information and degree of community awareness of preventive health measures in the face of covid-19 in Spain

[EN] The COVID-19 pandemic is posing a major health crisis. Spanish legislation establishes the mandatory use of masks and the implementation of hygienic measures such as hand washing and physical distancing. The aim of this study is to describe access to information and the level of community knowledge/adoption about the preventive measures proposed by the Spanish health authorities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to analyze the influence of socio-demographic factors in compliance among people over 18 years of age resident in Spain. An observational, descriptive and transversal study was conducted. Data was collected on sociodemographic variables, access to information and the degree of knowledge/adoption about the preventive measures: use of masks, hand hygiene and physical distancing. A total of 1811 people participated. The average age was 45.1 ± 15.1 years, predominantly female (69.3%), from an urban geographical area (74%), with a higher education level of 53.2%. Most of the respondents (57.5%) are or live with people at risk. The main access to information on preventive measures was from secondary sources (49.2%), with television being the main medium; 72.3% think that there are some difficulties in accessing information, while 8.7% of the participants do not consider the use of masks to be useful. As regards the choice of type of mask, the majority of people (44.8%) opt for the surgical variety; 88.5% of respondents believe that the physical distancing established is at least 1.5 m. This study confirmed that socio-demographic factors influence compliance with or the degree of knowledge/adoption of the preventive measures proposed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and has made it possible to ascertain the sectors of the population with the greatest deficiencies in this respect. It shows the importance of implementing health information and education systems in the community, and it is advisable to promote specific programs aimed at men, people living in rural areas and people with a low level of education.S

Catalase supplementation on thawed bull spermatozoa abolishes the detrimental effect of oxidative stress on motility and DNA integrity

P. 353-359The potential protective effect of catalase supplementation during in vitro culture of frozen/thawed bull spermatozoa was investigated. Frozen/thawed semen collected from three fighting bulls was diluted in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and incubated at 37 °C under different experimental conditions: Control, Catalase (CAT) (200 U/mL), Oxidant (OXI) (100 μm Fe2+/1 mm ascorbate), and Catalase + Oxidant (CAT/OXI). We assessed sperm motility, acrosomal integrity, viability and chromatin status (SCSA®) at 0, 2 and 6 h of incubation. Our results showed that catalase abolished the effect of the oxidant, protecting spermatozoa against reactive oxygen species, and improving both sperm motility and chromatin status during incubation. The OXI treatment significantly reduced the percentage of motile sperm after 6 h of incubation. The statistical model also showed that there were differences in sperm motility between CAT/OXI (20.8 ± 2.9%) and OXI (11.6 ± 7.6%) (p < 0.001). There were no significant effects of OXI on sperm viability, acrosomal status or proportion of abnormal tails. %DFI (spermatozoa with moderate or high DNA Fragmentation Index) was significantly higher on OXI (p < 0.001). Catalase prevented DNA fragmentation even in the presence of the oxidant (%DFI: 30.3 ± 0.8% OXI vs. 17.4 ± 0.7% CAT/OXI). We conclude that catalase supplementation after thawing could protect bull spermatozoa against oxidative stress, and it could improve media used for processing thawed spermatozoa

Clonal reproduction of Azolla filiculoides Lam.: implications for invasiveness

Clonal reproduction of Azolla filiculoides Lam., an aquatic floating fern, native from the American subtropics and a recent invader of Mediterranean wetlands, was assessed experimentally. Shoot fragmentation of the species was quantified under suitable room conditions for optimum growth. Azolla fililculoides showed high longevity, a low mortality percentage and a high potential for clonal reproduction (biomass obtained by shoot fragmentation from only one individual was multiplied by 100). This last attribute changed over time: first generations developed a high number of propagules, a number which decreased progressively in later generations until the end of the experiment. The results of this experiment will be useful for understanding Azolla’s success within invaded habitats

The invasion of Doñana National Park (SW Spain) by the mosquito fern (Azolla filiculoides Lam)

In 2001, Azolla filiculoides Lam., a floating pteridophyte native to the New World, was found in Doñana National Park (SW Spain), an European protected area well known for its high value from a conservation point of view and for its ecological vulnerability. Until that time, there had been no exotic aquatic macrophyte observations in the National Park. Since then, surfaces covered by Azolla filiculoides have increased explosively forming thick floating mats which eliminate submersed plants, and seriously threaten the aquatic ecosystems in this important protected area.En 2001, Azolla filiculoides Lam., una pteridófita acuática nativa del Nuevo Mundo, fue encontrada en el Parque Nacional de Doñana (SW España), un espacio protegido europeo bien conocido por su alto valor desde el punto de vista de la conservación y por su vulnerabilidad ecológica. Hasta ese momento, no se había observado ningún macrófito acuático exótico en el Parque Nacional; desde entonces, las superficies cubiertas por Azolla filiculoides se han incrementado de manera explosiva originando gruesas capas flotantes que eliminan las plantas acuáticas sumergidas y amenazan gravemente los ecosistemas acuáticos de este importante espacio protegido

Novedades florísticas en el Parque Nacional de Doñana (SW España)

New floristic records for Doñana National Park (Sw Spain)Palabras clave. Flora, macrófitos acuáticos, Chara, Azolla, especies amenazadas, especies invasoras, Doñana, humedales.Key words. Flora, aquatic macrophytes, Chara, Azolla, threatened species, invasive species, Doñana, wetlands

Assessment of Osstell ISQ's reliability for implant stability measurement: a cross-sectional clinical study

Resonance frequency analysis (RFA) allows assess implant stability by measuring implant oscillation frequency on the bone. RFA is an objective and non-invasive method for implant stability measurement, although scarce evidence has been provided so far on its reliability. Objectives: Assess the Osstell ISQ system's reliability (i.e., its measurement reproducibility and repeatability) by means of the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) as statistical method. Study Desing: Implants stability registers were completed by means of Osstell ISQ on 85 implants on 23 patients. Six measurements were completed on each implant by means of two different SmartPegs (types I and II); that is, three consecutive measurements with each transducer. Results: Average ISQ was 72.40, 72.22 and 72.79, and 72.06, 72.59 and 72.82 in the first, second, and third measurements with SmartPegs I and II, respectively. Equal values or differences below three ISQ points were observed in 52.9% and 62.4% of the cases with SmartPegs I and II, respectively. The intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.97 for both SmartPegs, and repeatability and reproducibility also reached 0.97 for both SmartPegs. Conclusions: The RFA system Osstell ISQ presents almost perfect repeatability and reproducibility after intraclass correlation coefficient analysis. Osstell ISQ measurements are highly reliable regarding reproducibility. Therefore, one measurement proves enough

Quality, oxidative markers and DNA damage (DNA) fragmentation of red deer thawed spermatozoa after incubation at 37 °C in presence of several antioxidants

P. 1005-1019Antioxidants may be useful for supplementing sperm extenders. We have tested dehydroascorbic acid (DHA), TEMPOL, N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) and rutin on epididymal spermatozoa from red deer, during incubation at 37 °C. Cryopreserved spermatozoa were thawed, washed and incubated with 1 mm or 0.1 mm of each antioxidant, including oxidative stress (Fe2+/ascorbate). Motility (CASA and clustering of subpopulations), viability, mitochondrial membrane potential, and acrosomal status were assessed at 2 and 4 h. Lipoperoxidation, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and DNA damage (DNA) status (TUNEL) were checked at 4 h. Oxidative stress increased ROS, lipoperoxidation and DNA damage. Overall, antioxidants negatively affected motility and physiological parameters. Only DHA 1 mm protected motility, increasing the fast and progressive subpopulation. However, it had a detrimental effect on acrosomal and DNA status, in absence of oxidative stress. Tempol and rutin efficiently reduced lipoperoxidation, ROS, and DNA damage in presence of oxidative stress. NAC was not as efficient as TEMPOL or rutin reducing lipoperoxidation or protecting DNA, and did not reduce ROS, but its negative effects were lower than the other antioxidants when used at 1 mm, increasing the subpopulation of hyperactivated-like spermatozoa at 2 h. Our results show that these antioxidants have mixed effects when spermatozoa are incubated at physiological temperatures. DHA may not be suitable because of prooxidant effects, but TEMPOL, NAC and rutin may be considered for cryopreservation trials. In general, exposure of red deer spermatozoa to these antioxidants should be limited to low temperatures, when only protective effects may develop.S

Heterologous in vitro fertilization is a good procedure to assess the fertility of thawed ram spermatozoa

P. 643-650A heterologous in vitro fertilization (IVF) test using calf oocytes with zona pellucida was employed to assess the fertility of thawed ram sperm samples. Six males with significant differences in fertility (P = 0.003) were used. The males were classified as having high fertility (≥42%) and low fertility (≤41%). Male fertility was not influenced by number of inseminated ewes (P = 0.584), insemination technician (P = 0.156), insemination date (P = 0.323) or farm (P = 0.207). Thawed sperm samples were employed to assess several sperm parameters for each male: motility, acrosomal integrity, viability, membrane stability, membrane phospholipid disorder, mitochondrial membrane potential and chromatin stability. These samples were used to carry out a heterologous in vitro fertilization. In vitro-matured calf oocytes (n = 716) were inseminated with thawed ram semen and in vitro cultured for 40 h. Overall, at thawing, variability among males respect to sperm quality was high. Despite this variability, there were not differences (P < 0.05) between fertility groups. Yield of hybrid embryos ranged from 31 to 59% between males. There were not differences between males (P = 0.340). However, there were differences between fertility groups (high fertility: 55%; low fertility: 39%; P = 0.020). Multiple regression analysis showed that the heterologous in vitro fertility was the only predictive parameter for in vivo male fertility. Correlation between both parameters was fair (r2 = 0.760; P = 0.025). These results indicate that heterologous in vitro fertilization tests can be useful to predict the fertility of ram spermatozoa using calf oocytes with intact-zona pellucida