Automorphisms of moduli spaces of vector bundles over a curve

Let X be an irreducible smooth complex projective curve of genus g at least 4. Let M(r,\Lambda) be the moduli space of stable vector bundles over X or rank r and fixed determinant \Lambda, of degree d. We give a new proof of the fact that the automorphism group of M(r,\Lambda) is generated by automorphisms of the curve X, tensorization with suitable line bundles, and, if r divides 2d, also dualization of vector bundles.Comment: 12 page

El papel de las especies emblemáticas en la protección de los rasgos etnográficos. Caso del garbancillo de Tallante en el Campo de Cartagena

El Garbancillo de Tallante es una planta endémica que vive exclusivamente en la zona Oeste de Cartagena. En el año 2012 comenzó el proyecto LIFE+ ‘Conservación de Astragalus nitidiflorus en su hábitat potencial en la Región de Murcia’, cuyo objetivo se centra en la recuperación y conservación del Garbancillo de Tallante en la Región de Murcia para garantizar así la supervivencia a largo plazo de esta especie. Esta especie está localizada próxima a Tallante y los Puertos de Santa Bárbara, en el entorno rural y agrícola del Campo de Cartagena. Su hábitat está estrechamente ligado a los enclaves volcánicos del entorno, con edades geológicas de entre los 2,8-2,6 millones de años. En las cercanías de las poblaciones de Garbancillo encontramos importantes elementos de patrimonio cultural e histórico, como es el caso de las ermitas, los “molinos harineros”, o “norias de sangre”. Aprovechando el interés mediático de esta especie se están dando a conocer de forma significativa los elementos etnográficos claves del territorio. Así, se considera que la conservación de una especie endémica, como Astragalus nitidiflorus, puede tener efectos sinérgicos de estim, los recursos culturales o el mantenimiento de las actividades tradicionales del lugar

Metalloproteinase-9 contributes to inflammatory glia activation and nigro-striatal pathway degeneration in both mouse and monkey models of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced Parkinsonism

Inflammation is a predominant aspect of neurodegenerative diseases, manifested by glia activation and expression of pro-inflammatory mediators. Studies on animal models of Parkinson’s disease (PD) suggest that sustained neuroinflammation exacerbates degeneration of the dopaminergic (DA) nigro-striatal pathway. Therefore, insights into the inflammatory mechanisms of PD may help the development of novel therapeutic strategies against this disease. As extracellular matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) could be major players in the progression of Parkinsonism, we investigated, in the substantia nigra and striatum of mice acutely injected with 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP), changes in mRNA expression, protein levels, and cell localization of MMP-9. This protease is mainly neuronal, but early after MPTP injection its mRNA and protein levels, as well as the number of MMP-9-expressing microglia and astrocytes, increase concomitantly to a prominent inflammation. Neuroinflammation and MMP-9+ glia begin to decline within 2 weeks, although protein levels remain higher than control, in association with a partial recovery of DA nigro-striatal circuit. Comparable quantitative studies on MMP-9 knock-out mice, show a significant decrease in both glia activation and loss of DA neurons and fibers, with respect to wild-type. Moreover, in a parallel study on chronically MPTP-injected macaques, we observed that perpetuation of inflammation and high levels of MMP-9 are associated to DA neuron loss. Our data suggest that MMP-9 released by injured neurons favors glia activation; glial cells in turn reinforce their reactive state via autocrine MMP-9 release, contributing to nigro-striatal pathway degeneration. Specific modulation of MMP-9 activity may, therefore, be a strategy to ameliorate harmful inflammatory outcomes in Parkinsonism

Validity of a food-frequency questionnaire for estimating calcium intake in adolescent swimmers

Introduction: accurate estimates of the intake of specific nutrients such as calcium (Ca) are crucial to correctly rank or classify subjects in the distribution of intakes. Therefore, we aimed to estimate the relative validity of a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for measuring Ca intake in two different groups of healthy adolescents, a normoactive control group and a physically active group of swimmers with 2 non-consecutive 24h recalls (2 x 24HR) collected as the reference method. Methods: Pearson correlations, agreement between the 24HR and the FFQ at an individual level and questionnaire’s ability to assign individuals to the same quartile of intake as the 24HR were calculated. Results: mean daily Ca intakes were 564.6 mg (SD 232.0) and 895.9 mg (SD 343.1) for the 2 x 24HR and FFQ respectively in controls (P < 0.001); and 731.9 mg (SD 299.8) and 979.8 mg (SD 408.5) for the 2 x 24HR and FFQ respectively in swimmers (P < 0.001). Pearson correlations were 0.52 for controls and 0.47 for swimmers after correcting for intra-variability. Cross-classification analysis indicated that 73.7% of controls and 63.1% of swimmers were classified correctly or in the adjacent category. Also, the 89% of the control group and 79% of swimmers were classified correctly with the FFQ according to the dietary reference intake (DRI) of 1300 mg/d. Conclusions: for both groups, the FFQ tended to overestimate Ca intake, however it demonstrated fairly good ability to classify subjects into extremes of Ca intake and identified adolescents having Ca intakes lower than the dietary reference intake

Frequency and duration of vigorous physical activity bouts are associated with adolescent boys’ bone mineral status: A cross-sectional study

Purpose: Vigorous physical activity (VPA) has been proven to promote osteogenesis in adolescents; however the specifics of the optimal pattern of frequency and duration of VPA are unknown. The main goal of the present study was to analyze the associations of different length of VPA bouts with bone health. Methods: 180 healthy male adolescents (11–13 years) had their bone mineral content and density assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scans at the whole body, femoral neck (FN) and lumbar spine and their physical activity measured by an accelerometer during one week. Results: VPA was the intensity with the strongest associations with bone mineral parameters especially at the FN. Subjects whose longest VPA bout was 5 min or above had higher FN bone mineral density (BMD) than those who did not complete any 5-min bout and these differences were greater with participants who reached 15 consecutive minutes of VPA (>15': 0.977 ± 0.020 g/cm2; 5'-15': 0.907 ± 0.009 g/cm2; <5': 0.876 ± 0.009 g/cm2; all p < 0.05). When comparing the relevance of VPA bouts and volume of physical activity, the group with low volume and having a VPA bout had better FN BMD compared to the group with high volume but no VPA bout. Additionally, the group with both high volume and VPA bout showed better FN BMD than the rest of the groups. Conclusions: VPA may be the most effective activity intensity to improve bone mineral density and content of adolescent boys, with greater benefits if VPA periods either long or frequent

Descriptive and Quasi-Experimental Studies about Moral Emotions, Online Empathy, Anger Management, and Their Relations with Key Competencies in Primary Education.

BACKGROUND: Antisocial behaviours make social interactions difficult among students. Moral emotions, online empathy, and anger management are social and emotional variables related to prosocial and antisocial behaviours and health problems. This research aims to assess the impact of Cooperative Project-Based Learning intervention on these three variables for Primary Education students. Additionally, the relations of these variables with key competencies, such as social and emotional competencies and literacy competence, were studied. METHOD: This research is made up of two studies, descriptive and quasi-experimental, during regular school hours. The descriptive study was carried out with a sample of 516 primary school students and aimed to assess the development of the three variables, taking into account personal and ethnic-cultural factors. The quasi-experimental study, with pre-test and post-test data, had the participation of 145 students to study the incidence of these variables after Cooperative Project-Based Learning intervention in Primary Education. RESULTS: The results show the relation among the cited variables and the positive impact of the intervention on moral emotions and anger management in the experimental group compared to the control group. Experimental group girls presented higher scores in moral emotions than control group girls. CONCLUSION: These results open new research lines in relation to the intervention as a programme to prevent the appearance of antisocial behaviours and health problems at school

Cross-contamination of Escherichia coli O157:H7 is inhibited by electrolyzed water combined with salt under dynamic conditions of increasing organic matter

Water can be a vector for foodborne pathogen cross-contamination during washing of vegetables if an efficient method of water disinfection is not used. Chlorination is the disinfection method most widely used, but it generates disinfection by-products such as trihalomethanes (THMs). Therefore, alternative disinfection methods are sought. In this study, a dynamic system was used to simulate the commercial conditions of a washing tank. Organic matter and the inoculum of Escherichia coli O157:H7 were progressively added to the wash water in the washing tank. We evaluated the effectiveness of the electrolyzed water (EW) when combining with the addition of salt (1, 0.5 and 0.15 g/L NaCl) on the pathogenic inactivation, organic matter depletion and THM generation. Results indicated that electrolysis of vegetable wash water with addition of salt (0.5 g/L NaCl) was able to eliminate E. coli O157:H7 population build-up and decrease COD accumulation while low levels of THMs were produced.Ciencias de la Alimentació

Estudio técnico-económico de viabilidad de utilización del hidrógeno como combustible. Estado actual y perspectivas futuras del problema con particular aplicación al caso español

La utilización del hidrógeno como medio de acumulación y transporte de energía y como combustible sintético en plantas estacionarias y móviles está recibiendo una importante y creciente atención, estando en progreso numerosos programas de investigación sobre sus problemas de producción, transporte y utilización

Nutritional problems perceived by pediatricians in Spanish children younger than 3 years

Introducción: Los padres son los principales responsables de la educación nutricional de sus hijos y es labor del pediatra orientar y resolver problemas al respecto. En este estudio se pretende conocer la relevancia de las cuestiones nutricionales en la consulta del pediatra y los principales problemas nutricionales percibidos en los menores de 3 años. Métodos: Estudio descriptivo, transversal en dos fases. La primera consistió en entrevistas y grupos de discusión con 30 pediatras seleccionados aleatoriamente en Madrid y Barcelona. Los resultados se utilizaron para diseñar el cuestionario online (76 preguntas relacionadas con la nutrición en niños de 0-3 años) de la siguiente fase, en la que participaron pediatras seleccionados de forma aleatoria y representativa del territorio nacional. Resultados: De 258 pediatras seleccionados, completaron el cuestionario 151, que atendían a una media de 588 pacientes/mes. Los principales problemas nutricionales percibidos hasta los 12 meses fueron las deficiencias de hierro y vitaminas y la escasa ganancia de peso, y posteriormente la ingesta excesiva de carbohidratos y lípidos y el sobrepeso. Los padres fueron considerados los actores principales en la salud nutricional de sus hijos, pero su preocupación por esta cuestión se reduce significativamente (p < 0,0001) con la edad del niño. Los aspectos considerados más importantes para obtener unos buenos hábitos alimentarios fueron la alimentación adaptada a las necesidades del niño y respetar el tiempo de sueño. El porcentaje de pacientes que recibe recomendaciones de hábitos nutricionales varió del 88% (0-6 meses) al 61% (24-36 meses). Conclusiones: A pesar de considerar la salud nutricional importante, la intervención educativa del pediatra al respecto no es óptima. Los problemas nutricionales percibidos fueron distintos según la edadIntroduction: Parents are most responsible for nutritional education of children, and pediatritians must advise and help them with their doubts. The purpose of this study was to know the relevance of nutritional topics in daily practice and the main nutritional problems perceived by pediatritians in children under 3 years of age. Methods: Descriptive, cross-sectional study performed in 2 stages. First stage consisted on discussion meetings with 30 random-selected pediatritians from Madrid and Barcelona. Results were used to design the on-line questionnaire of the second stage (76 questions related to nutrition in children under 3 years). A random and representative sample of Spanish pediatritians was selected for this stage. Results: One hundred and fifty one pediatritians, among 258 sampled, completed the questionnaire. They referred to see a mean of 588 patients/month. The main perceived nutritional problems in the first year of life were iron and vitamin deficiencies and poor weight gain. In the next months, excess in carbohydrates and lipid intake and overweight were the main problems perceived. Parents were considered the main actors regarding their children’s nutritional health, but their concern in these questions significantly reduced with children’s age (p < 0,0001). Factors considered to have the greatest relevance in the acquisition of good nutritional habits were to provide a diet adjusted for children’s requirements and to observe the appropriate sleeping hours. The proportion of children who receive nutritional counseling varied from 88% (0-6 months) to 61% (24-36 months). Conclusions: Despite of the relevance given by pediatritians, educational intervention regarding nutritional health is not ideal. Nutritional problems perceived by pediatritians varied with children’s ageEste estudio ha sido financiado por Almiron/Danone Baby Nutrition