733 research outputs found
The genetic landscape of the Iberian red deer (Cervus elaphus hispanicus) after 30 years of big-game hunting in southern Spain
© 2015 The Wildlife Society. The Iberian red deer (Cervus elaphus hispanicus) suffered a striking collapse of its populations during the first half of the 20th century due to excessive hunting. In Andalusia, southern Spain, re-colonization took place from a few relict populations through natural dispersal, and through artificial reintroductions for big-game hunting. How the population decline influenced genetic diversity, and its current distribution after the re-colonization and intensive hunting practices are unclear. We addressed these questions by analyzing nuclear microsatellite variability from 58 red deer populations distributed throughout Andalusia. Our results showed a relatively high genetic variability spatially structured into 5 clusters, corresponding to the locations of relict populations. This indicates that the red deer's current genetic background has presumably retained much of the genetic variation present in those relict populations. We also found that a substantial portion (32%) of the populations displays some degree of inbreeding. We suggest that new herds should be established using individuals from the different genetic clusters, and a careful monitoring of the breeder's genetic background to prevent further inbreeding and inadvertent hybridization. Failure to do so could lead to loss of genetic diversity and the dilution of the genetic identity of the Iberian red deer.Peer Reviewe
Variations of the ISM Compactness Across the Main Sequence of Star-Forming Galaxies: Observations and Simulations
(abridged) The majority of star-forming galaxies follow a simple empirical
correlation in the star formation rate (SFR) versus stellar mass () plane,
usually referred to as the star formation Main Sequence (MS). Here we combine a
set of hydro-dynamical simulations of interacting galactic disks with
state-of-the-art radiative transfer codes to analyze how the evolution of
mergers is reflected upon the properties of the MS. We present
\textsc{Chiburst}, a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) Spectral Energy
Distribution (SED) code that fits the multi-wavelength, broad-band photometry
of galaxies and derives stellar masses, star formation rates, and geometrical
properties of the dust distribution. We apply this tool to the SEDs of
simulated mergers and compare the derived results with the reference output
from the simulations. Our results indicate that changes in the SEDs of mergers
as they approach coalescence and depart from the MS are related to an evolution
of dust geometry in scales larger than a few hundred parsecs. This is reflected
in a correlation between the specific star formation rate (sSFR), and the
compactness parameter , that parametrizes this geometry and hence
the evolution of dust temperature () with time. As mergers
approach coalescence, they depart from the MS and increase their compactness,
which implies that moderate outliers of the MS are consistent with late-type
mergers. By further applying our method to real observations of Luminous
Infrared Galaxies (LIRGs), we show that the merger scenario is unable to
explain these extreme outliers of the MS. Only by significantly increasing the
gas fraction in the simulations are we able to reproduce the SEDs of LIRGs.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, accepted in Ap
Preliminary Results from the Experimental Study of CO2-Brine-Rock Interactions at Elevated T & P: Implications for the Pilot Plant for CO2 Storage in Spain
AbstractA new experimental program has been carried out in order to study CO2-brine-rock interactions susceptible to take place in conditions close to those expected in the pilot plant that is being developed in Spain (a carbonate reservoir located at more than 800 m depth, with 15% porosity, and a salinity of the native brine between 20 – 90g/L). The combination of preliminary experimental and numerical modeling (PHREEQC) results suggests that the main geochemical processes are calcite dissolution and anhydrite precipitation
Maternal structure of Iberian honey bees inferred from whole mitochondrial genomes
The maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA has been the marker of choice for assessing Iberian honey bee variation, particularly the intergenic tRNA leu -cox2 region. The data generated by massive sampling of this region confirmed early findings of coexistence of African (A) and western European (M) lineages, forming a southwestern–northeastern cline, and revealed unparalleled levels of haplotype diversity and complexity. Accordingly, it has been suggested that Iberia served as a glacial refuge, and as a place of secondary contact between European and African lineages. While we have learned a great deal with this region, due to its high levels of variation and repetitive structure, there are evolutionary questions that an only be properly addressed using other mitochondrial regions. In this study, we used NGS technology to sequence the mitogenomes of 92 individuals and analyzed the data using two phylogenetic methods.We are deeply grateful to numerous people that collaborated in this
study. Beekeepers from Spain and Portugal helped obtaining Iberian
samples. Antonio Pajuelo provided the contacts of Spanish beekeepers.
Margarida Neto, Andreia Brandão and Irene Muñoz collaborated in the
sampling. Pilar de la Rúa, Wahida Loucif, Per Kryger, Bjorn Dahle, Lionel
Garnery, Raffaele Dall’ Olio, and Romée van der Zee provided the
reference samples. Phillip San Miguel and Paul Parker sequenced the
whole genomes and Rick Westerman performed the mapping (Purdue
University). Dora Henriques and Julio Chávez-Galarza are supported by
Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia through the scholarships
SFRH/BD/84195/2012 and SFRH/BD/68682/2010, respectively. This
research was funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and
COMPETE/QREN/EU through the project PTDC/BIA-BEC/099640/2008.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Polyfire project- an example of an industrial research project promoting safe industrial production of fire-resistant nanocomposites
New developments based on nanotechnology have to guarantee safe products and processes to be accepted by society. The Polyfire project will develop and scale-up techniques for processing halogen-free, fire-retardant nanocomposite materials and coatings based on unsaturated polyester resins and organoclays. The project includes a work package that will assess the Health and Environmental impacts derived from the manipulation of nanoparticles. This work package includes the following tasks: (1) Identification of Health and Environment Impacts derived from the processes, (2) Experimentation to study specific Nanoparticle Emissions, (3) Development of a Risk Management Methodology for the process, and (4) A Comparison of the Health and Environmental Impact of New and Existing Materials. To date, potential exposure scenarios to nanomaterials have been identified through the development of a Preliminary Hazard Analysis (PHA) of the new production processes. In the next step, these scenarios will be studied and simulated to evaluate potential emissions of nanomaterials. Polyfire is a collaborative European project, funded by the European Commission 7th Framework Programme (Grant Agreement No 229220). It features 11 partners from 5 countries (5 SMEs, 3 research institutes, 2 large companies, 1 association) and runs for three years (1st September 2009 – 31st August 2012). This project is an example of an industrial research development which aims to introduce to the market new products promoting the safe use of nanomaterials
The AGN Luminosity Fraction in Merging Galaxies
Galaxy mergers are key events in galaxy evolution, often causing massive
starbursts and fueling active galactic nuclei (AGN). In these highly dynamic
systems, it is not yet precisely known how much starbursts and AGN respectively
contribute to the total luminosity, at what interaction stages they occur, and
how long they persist. Here we estimate the fraction of the bolometric infrared
(IR) luminosity that can be attributed to AGN by measuring and modeling the
full ultraviolet to far-infrared spectral energy distributions (SEDs) in up to
33 broad bands for 24 merging galaxies with the Code for Investigating Galaxy
Emission. In addition to a sample of 12 confirmed AGN in late-stage mergers,
found in the Revised Bright Galaxy Sample or
Faint Source Catalog, our sample includes a comparison sample of 12 galaxy
mergers from the Interacting Galaxies Survey, mostly early-stage. We
perform identical SED modeling of simulated mergers to validate our methods,
and we supplement the SED data with mid-IR spectra of diagnostic lines obtained
with InfraRed Spectrograph. The estimated AGN contributions to the IR
luminosities vary from system to system from 0% up to 91% but are significantly
greater in the later-stage, more luminous mergers, consistent with what is
known about galaxy evolution and AGN triggering.Comment: 26 pages, 10 figure
asociacion entre angioma cavernoso y glioma cerebral reporte de dos casos y revision de la literatura acerca de los llamados angiogliomas
La asociacion entre las malformaciones vasculares y los gliomas cerebrales es inusual. Mientras que la asociacion entre angioma cavernoso con lesiones gliomatosas es aun mas rara, es por esto considerado por algunos autores como una entidad patologica particular llamada angioglioma. Los autores reportan dos casos de asociacion de un angioma cavernoso con una ganglioglioma y un oligodendroglioma, respectivamente. Ademas se realizo una revision de la literatura sobre los llamados angiogliomas. En opinion de los autores, la entidad de los angiogliomas se presenta dentro de un espectro general de neoplasias angiomatosas, que incluyen tumores cerebrales, en su mayoria gliomas de bajo grado, asociados a su vez, con un componente vascular importante
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