Individual and environmental drivers of resource use in an endangered vulture: Integrating movement, spatial and social ecology

The study of animal movement makes possible to understand how the spatial context influences individuals and populations, something especially important for species with high movement abilities able to wander routinely over large areas and face diverse humanmediated threats at different spatial scales. Vultures are long-lived scavenging vertebrates with delayed maturity and low fecundity, often exhibiting complex social behaviours. European and most of the Old World vulture populations have been historically dependent on the spatial distribution of human-provided resources. Currently, they are endangered worldwide suffering regional dramatic declines of up to 90% mainly provoked by direct and indirect persecution, infrastructure development and decrease in food resources. Effective vulture conservation requires spatially-explicit understanding of how vultures cope with resource availability and human induced transformation. In this thesis, we used spatial data collected between 2013 and 2018 from 49 GPStagged Canarian Egyptian vultures (Neophron percnopterus majorensis). The bulk of this endemic subspecies is concentrated in Fuerteventura Island where it depends on extensive goat farms, currently changing towards semi-intensive and intensive regimes. In addition, it suffers from high mortality in power lines. Movement information is combined with individual characteristics, life-history stages, and detailed data on the spatial distribution of territories, feeding resources, and human facilities. Particularly, we examined i) drivers of the use of power lines, ii) foraging tactics according to spatiotemporal variation in food predictability and individual characteristics, iii) drivers of use of livestock farms, and iv) farmers’ perception about the target species in relation to the observed spatial behaviour. Vultures’ behaviour was influenced by the distribution, predictability and amount of feeding resources, as well as by the spatial distribution of conspecifics and sources of human disturbance. At the same time, individual attributes such as sex, age, territorial status or social rank interacted with environmental cues to shape movements. Overall, vultures somewhat avoided humans by selecting farms and electric pylons far from roads or urban areas. Importantly, the predictable food resources provided by the main feeding station determined an intensive use of electric pylons and farms in its proximity. Use of both resources were however complex according to individual traits and life-history stages. Territorial status and social position in the dominance hierarchy shaped sex-specific patterns of feeding preferences, with dominant breeding females, but not males, using predictable food more intensively and choosing to settle in nearby territories. The distribution of territories affected in turn the selection of pylons and farms by both territorial and non-breeding individuals, highlighting the close interdependency and feedback between the spatial structuring of the population and the distribution of resources. Non-territorial individuals avoided resources located close to occupied breeding territories meanwhile territorial ones preferred those close to their nest, these spatial constrains being less obvious during the non-breeding season. After disentangling how those factors influence the intensity of use electric pylons, we combined predictions combined with actual mortality showing that prioritizing mitigation measures on relatively few pylons could drastically reduce accidents. Finally, farmers perceived Egyptian vultures as the most beneficial avian scavenger in the island, but owners of larger farms, which were more visited but frequently more mechanized than smaller ones, were less aware of vulture presence in their exploitations. This suggests a potential influence of modernization in livestock practices on disconnecting people from ecosystem services provided by wildlife. Moreover, the consistency between awareness and GPS data increased when vultures were more present in farms or their surroundings, indicating that scarce and endangered species are more susceptible of suffering misperception. Our findings are important from an applied point of view in a context of rapid changes in traditional livestock practices and power development, offering sound scientific knowledge that allows to make informed management decisions. The complex network of factors and patterns should be considered in the management of electric infrastructures, predictable and semi-predictable resources, or social actions for vulture conservation. General solutions ignoring population structure and the spatial distribution of territories, feeding sources or human footprint should be avoided since those could lead to unbalanced impacts between population fractions that could compromise the effectiveness of management and conservation actions

Christiansen grammar evolution for the modelling of psychological processes

This is an electronic version of the paper presented at the International Industrial Simulation Conference (ISC 2007), held in Delft (The Netherlands)Psychologists have developed models of associative learning for more than 30 years. Despite the strong efforts made, they still suffer many shortcomings. We have tried to build an integral model of habituation, the simplest type of learning within the area of associative learning and the basic support for other types. To overcome the deficiencies of traditional models, we have made used of Christiansen Grammar Evolution. This evolutionary technique is capable of automatically search for a target expression (the model) in a given formal language (the formalism of the model). Under this perspective, that we call Automatic Modelling, we have found models of habituation with interesting characteristics.This work has been partially sponsored by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (MEC), project number TSI2005-08225- C07-06

Infección por Trypanosoma Cruzi en donantes de un banco de sangre del departamento Boyacá, Colombia

Introduction: Chagas Disease, also known as American Trypanosomiasis, is a public health problem. It is estimated that in the world there are between 6 and 7 million people infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, most of them in Latin America. Objectives: To identify the prevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in donors from a blood bank in the department of Boyacá 2016-2018. Materials and methods: Retrospective-descriptive study carried out in 25,920 blood donors from the department of Boyacá (Colombia). The source of information was secondary. The prevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi infection was determined and compared according to sex, age group and type of donor through frequency analysis. Results: 9187 donors were evaluated during 2016; 8,517 in 2017 and 8,216 in 2018, of which 56.1% were female and 43.9% male. The prevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi infection was 0.17% in screening and 0.08% with confirmatory tests of which 70.0% were women, 85.0% first-time volunteer donors, the range of The age at which the highest prevalence of this serological marker was found was 41 to 50 and 51 to 65 years with 35.0% each. The prevalence of Chagas infection showed a statistically significant association with age (p <0.05). Conclusions: Blood banks turn out to be one of the sources of information available to monitor the behavior of Chagas disease and evaluate decision-making in public health, taking into account the characteristics of the disease in which the majority of cases they are asymptomatic and without clinical compromise.Introducción: La Enfermedad de Chagas también conocida como Tripanosomiasis americana es un problema de salud pública. Se calcula que en el mundo hay entre 6 y 7 millones de personas infectadas por Trypanosoma cruzi, la mayoría de ellas en América Latina. Objetivo: Identificar la prevalencia de infección por Trypanosoma cruzi en donantes de un banco de sangre del departamento de Boyacá 2016-2018. Materiales y métodos: Estudio descriptivo retrospectivo realizado en 25.920 donantes de sangre del departamento de Boyacá. La fuente de información fue secundaria. Se determinó la prevalencia de la infección por Trypanosoma cruzi y se compararon según sexo, grupo etario y tipo de donante a través de análisis de frecuencias. Resultados: Se evaluaron 9187 donantes durante el año 2016; 8517 en el 2017 y 8216 en el 2018, de los cuales 56,1% eran de sexo femenino y 43,9% masculino. La prevalencia de la infección por Trypanosoma cruzi fue 0,17 % en la tamización y 0,08 % con las pruebas confirmatorias de las cuales el 70,0% eran mujeres, el 85,0% donantes voluntarios por primera vez, el rango de edad en el que se presentó mayor prevalencia de este marcador serológico fue de 41 a 50 y de 51 a 65 años con un 35,0% cada uno . La prevalencia de la infección de Chagas presentó asociación estadísticamente significativa con la edad (p < 0,05). Conclusiones: Los bancos de sangre resultan ser una de las fuentes de información disponibles para monitorear el comportamiento de la enfermedad de Chagas y evaluar la toma de decisiones en salud pública, teniendo en cuenta  que  la enfermedad  se caracteriza de manera asintomática y sin compromiso clínico en la mayoría de los casos

Infección por Trypanosoma Cruzi en donantes de un banco de sangre del departamento Boyacá, Colombia

Introduction: Chagas Disease, also known as American Trypanosomiasis, is a public health problem. It is estimated that in the world there are between 6 and 7 million people infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, most of them in Latin America. Objectives: To identify the prevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in donors from a blood bank in the department of Boyacá 2016-2018. Materials and methods: Retrospective-descriptive study carried out in 25,920 blood donors from the department of Boyacá (Colombia). The source of information was secondary. The prevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi infection was determined and compared according to sex, age group and type of donor through frequency analysis. Results: 9187 donors were evaluated during 2016; 8,517 in 2017 and 8,216 in 2018, of which 56.1% were female and 43.9% male. The prevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi infection was 0.17% in screening and 0.08% with confirmatory tests of which 70.0% were women, 85.0% first-time volunteer donors, the range of The age at which the highest prevalence of this serological marker was found was 41 to 50 and 51 to 65 years with 35.0% each. The prevalence of Chagas infection showed a statistically significant association with age (p <0.05). Conclusions: Blood banks turn out to be one of the sources of information available to monitor the behavior of Chagas disease and evaluate decision-making in public health, taking into account the characteristics of the disease in which the majority of cases they are asymptomatic and without clinical compromise.Introducción: La Enfermedad de Chagas también conocida como Tripanosomiasis americana es un problema de salud pública. Se calcula que en el mundo hay entre 6 y 7 millones de personas infectadas por Trypanosoma cruzi, la mayoría de ellas en América Latina. Objetivo: Identificar la prevalencia de infección por Trypanosoma cruzi en donantes de un banco de sangre del departamento de Boyacá 2016-2018. Materiales y métodos: Estudio descriptivo retrospectivo realizado en 25.920 donantes de sangre del departamento de Boyacá. La fuente de información fue secundaria. Se determinó la prevalencia de la infección por Trypanosoma cruzi y se compararon según sexo, grupo etario y tipo de donante a través de análisis de frecuencias. Resultados: Se evaluaron 9187 donantes durante el año 2016; 8517 en el 2017 y 8216 en el 2018, de los cuales 56,1% eran de sexo femenino y 43,9% masculino. La prevalencia de la infección por Trypanosoma cruzi fue 0,17 % en la tamización y 0,08 % con las pruebas confirmatorias de las cuales el 70,0% eran mujeres, el 85,0% donantes voluntarios por primera vez, el rango de edad en el que se presentó mayor prevalencia de este marcador serológico fue de 41 a 50 y de 51 a 65 años con un 35,0% cada uno . La prevalencia de la infección de Chagas presentó asociación estadísticamente significativa con la edad (p < 0,05). Conclusiones: Los bancos de sangre resultan ser una de las fuentes de información disponibles para monitorear el comportamiento de la enfermedad de Chagas y evaluar la toma de decisiones en salud pública, teniendo en cuenta  que  la enfermedad  se caracteriza de manera asintomática y sin compromiso clínico en la mayoría de los casos

Seasonal grouping dynamics in a territorial vulture: ecological drivers and social consequences

Despite widespread occurrence of seasonal sociality among animals, little is still known about the social drivers and populationlevel social implications of seasonal grouping behaviours, especially in birds. Here, we studied the combined effects of ecological and social factors on seasonal grouping patterns in a sedentary population of Egyptian vultures living on the Eastern Canary Islands. We focussed on the social significance of large-scale gatherings taking place outside the breeding season at a highly preferred feeding station and a nearby temporary roost. Group sizes at this feeding patch followed a strong seasonal pattern characterized by distinct monthly changes in group composition, according to sex, age and territorial status. In between reproductive periods, vulture numbers at the feeding station may reach up 50% of the total population on a single day. GPS-tracking showed that this increase in vulture numbers was in part due to a shift in foraging range towards the centre of Fuerteventura by low-ranked territorial birds breeding in remote areas. During this period, vultures may spend on average 30% of their monthly time in a social gatherings context, depending on social status. We show that seasonal grouping patterns are shaped by the complex interplay between ecological factors (reproductive constraints, resource seasonality, food predictability), age-specific traits and social competitive processes, while social attraction may be an important additional component. We propose that for facultative social foragers living in highly despotic territorial systems, collective foraging may be of particular relevance regarding the development of hierarchical social relations and maintenance of population-level social cohesionTvO received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement no. “SocForVul 659008During writing, LG was supported by a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship of the European Commission (grant number: 747729 “EcoEvoClim”)MG-A was supported by a contract from “Programa de FPU del Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte” (FPU13/05429)The long-term monitoring of the vulture population has been funded by the projects REN 2000–1556 GLO, CGL2004-00270/BOS, CGL2009-12753-C02-02, CGL2012-40013-C02-01 and CGL2015-66966-C2-1-2-R (Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and EU/FEDER)Further support was provided by the Cabildo Insular de Fuerteventura and the Dirección General de Protección de la Naturaleza (Viceconsejería de Medio Ambiente, Canarian Government)

Disentangling drivers of power line use by vultures: Potential to reduce electrocutions

Accidents on power lines are the leading cause of mortality for many raptor species. In order to prioritise corrective measures, much effort has been focused on identifying the factors associated with collision and electrocution risk. However, most studies lack of precise data about the use of pylons and its underlying driving factors, often relying on biased information based on recorded fatalities. Here, we used multiple years of high-resolution data from 49-GPS tagged Canarian Egyptian Vultures (Neophron percnopterus majorensis) to overcome these typical biases. Birds of our target population use electric pylons extensively for perching (diurnal) and roosting (nocturnal), so accidents with these infrastructures are nowadays the main cause of mortality. Predictive models of pylon intensity of use were fitted for diurnal and nocturnal behaviour, accounting for power line, environmental, and individual vulture's features. Using these measures as a proxy for mortality risk, our model predictions were validated with out-of-sample data of actual mortality recorded during 17 years. Vultures used more pylons during daytime, but those chosen at night were used more intensively. In both time periods, the intensity of use of pylons was determined by similar drivers: vultures avoided pylons close to roads and territories of conspecifics, preferentially used pylons located in areas with higher abundance of food resources, and spread their use during the breeding season. Individuals used pylons unevenly according to their sex, age, and territorial status, indicating that site-specific mitigation measures may affect different fractions of the population. Our modelling procedures predicted actual mortality reasonably well, showing that prioritising mitigation measures on relatively few pylons (6%) could drastically reduce accidents (50%). Our findings demonstrate that combining knowledge on fine-scale individual behaviour and pylon type and distribution is key to target cost-effective conservation actions aimed at effectively reducing avian mortality on power lines

Histological and histomorphometric study of human palatal mucosa: implications for connective tissue graft harvesting

Aims To analyse the histological structure and histomorphometric characteristics of human hard palatal mucosa in order to determine the donor site of choice for connective tissue grafts from a histological point of view. Materials and Methods Palatal mucosa samples from six cadaver heads were harvested at four sites: incisal, premolar, molar and tuberosity. Histological and immunohistochemical techniques were performed, as was histomorphometric analysis. Results In the current study, we found that the density and size of cells were higher in the superficial papillary layer, whereas the thickness of the collagen bundles increased in the reticular layer. Excluding the epithelium, the mean percentage of lamina propria (LP) and submucosa (SM) was 37% and 63%, respectively (p < .001). LP thickness showed similar values in the incisal, premolar and molar regions, and a significantly greater thickness in tuberosity (p < .001). The thickness of SM increased from incisal to premolar and molar, disappearing in the tuberosity (p < .001). Conclusions As dense connective tissue of LP is the tissue of choice for connective tissue grafts, the best donor site from a histological point of view is tuberosity because it is composed only of a thick LP without the presence of a loose submucosal layerS

The transcription factor DDIT3 is a potential driver of dyserythropoiesis in myelodysplastic syndromes

Haematopoietic stem cells; Myelodysplastic syndrome; TranscriptomicsCèl·lules mare hematopoètiques; Síndrome mielodisplàstic; TranscriptòmicaCélulas madre hematopoyéticas; Síndrome mielodisplásico; TranscriptómicaMyelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) malignancies characterized by ineffective hematopoiesis, with increased incidence in older individuals. Here we analyze the transcriptome of human HSCs purified from young and older healthy adults, as well as MDS patients, identifying transcriptional alterations following different patterns of expression. While aging-associated lesions seem to predispose HSCs to myeloid transformation, disease-specific alterations may trigger MDS development. Among MDS-specific lesions, we detect the upregulation of the transcription factor DNA Damage Inducible Transcript 3 (DDIT3). Overexpression of DDIT3 in human healthy HSCs induces an MDS-like transcriptional state, and dyserythropoiesis, an effect associated with a failure in the activation of transcriptional programs required for normal erythroid differentiation. Moreover, DDIT3 knockdown in CD34+ cells from MDS patients with anemia is able to restore erythropoiesis. These results identify DDIT3 as a driver of dyserythropoiesis, and a potential therapeutic target to restore the inefficient erythroid differentiation characterizing MDS patients.This work was supported by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III and co-financed by ERDF A way of making Europe (PI17/00701, and PI20/01308) (F.P.) and (PI19/00726) (T.E.), CIBERONC (CB16/12/00489) (F.P.); Gobierno de Navarra (AGATA 0011-1411-2020-000010/0011-1411-2020-000011 and DIANA 0011-1411-2017-000028/0011-1411-2017-000029/0011-1411-2017-000030) (F.P.); Fundación La Caixa (GR-NET NORMAL-HIT HR20-00871) (F.P.); and Cancer Research UK [C355/A26819], FC AECC and AIRC under the Accelerator Award Program, and MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ERDF A way of making Europe [RTI2018-101708-A-I00] (M.H.). Moreover, this work was supported by PhD fellowships from Gobierno de Navarra (0011-0537-2019-000001) (N.B.), and (0011-0537-2020-000022) (A.D.-M.); a PhD fellowship from Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (FPU18/05488) (M.A.); an Investigador AECC award from the Fundación AECC (INVES19059EZPO) (T.E.), H2020 Marie S. Curie IF Action, European Commission, Grant Agreement No. 898356 (M.H.); and by grants RYC2018-025502-I (A.A.) and PRE2018-084542 (R.R.) funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ESF Investing in your future. We particularly acknowledge the patients and healthy donors for their participation in this study, and the Biobank of the University of Navarra for its collaboration

Asociaciones de moluscos de fondos sedimentarios circalitorales y batiales del norte del mar de Alborán

Molluscan assemblages from shelf and slope soft bottoms of the Alboran Sea have been sampled with a beam trawl during 2014 and 2015 MEDITS expeditions. A total of 134 spp. of molluscs (shell size > 3 mm) were identified, being gastropods the most diverse and dominant group. Four main depth related assemblages were detected in multivariate analyses and characterized by (1) Turritella communis, Chamelea striatula and Nucula sulcata for the inner shelf, (2) Timoclea ovata, Clelandella miliaris and Neopycnodonte cochlear for the outer shelf, (3) Nassarius ovoideus, Calumbonella suturale and N. sulcata for the upper slope and (4) Abra longicallus, Euspira fusca and Aporrhais serresianus for the middle slope. Species richness and abundance decreased with depth, unlike evenness and Shannon-Wiener diversity which displayed an opposite pattern. A higher spatial variability was detected for the shelf, indicating that more assemblages may occur at this level and further sampling is needed for covering all sedimentary habitat types of the Alboran Sea.Versión del edito

Secuenciación metagenómica en queratitis microbiana con cultivo negativo

Propósito: Evaluar la microbiota de las muestras de queratitis microbiana de la membrana de impresión corneal (MIC) con cultivo negativo mediante el uso del análisis metagenómico de escopeta. Métodos: El ADN de las muestras de queratitis microbiana se recogió con CIM y se extrajo utilizando el MasterPure™ Complete DNA and RNA Purification Kit (Epicentre). El ADN se fragmentó por sonicación en fragmentos de 300 a 400 pares de bases (pb) utilizando Bioruptor® (Diagenode, Bélgica) y luego se utilizó como plantilla para la preparación de bibliotecas. Las bibliotecas de ADN se secuenciaron en Illumina® HiSeq2500. Las lecturas resultantes se sometieron a control de calidad, se recortaron y se compararon con el genoma humano de referencia. Las lecturas no mapeadas se clasificaron taxonómicamente utilizando el software Kraken. Resultados: Se incluyeron en el estudio 18 muestras de queratitis microbiana. En 5 muestras se encontró Brevundimonas diminuta, mientras que en 6 se observó la presencia de infecciones víricas. También se identificaron Cutibacterium acnes, Staphylococcus aureus, Moraxella lacunata y Pseudomonas alcaligenes como presunta causa putativa de la infección en 7 muestras. Conclusiones: La secuenciación Shotgun puede utilizarse como herramienta diagnóstica en muestras de queratitis microbiana. Este método de diagnóstico amplía las pruebas disponibles para diagnosticar infecciones oculares y podría ser clínicamente significativo en muestras con cultivo negativo.Purpose: To evaluate the microbiota of culture negative Corneal Impression Membrane (CIM) microbial keratitis samples with the use of shotgun metagenomics analysis. Methods: DNA of microbial keratitis samples were collected with CIM and extracted using the MasterPure™ Complete DNA and RNA Purification Kit (Epicentre). DNA was fragmented by sonication into fragments of 300 to 400 base pairs (bp) using Bioruptor® (Diagenode, Belgium) and then used as a template for library preparation. DNA libraries were sequenced on Illumina® HiSeq2500. The resulting reads were quality controlled, trimmed and mapped against the human reference genome. The unmapped reads were taxonomically classified using the Kraken software. Results: 18 microbial keratitis samples were included in the study. Brevundimonas diminuta was found in 5 samples while 6 samples showed the presence of viral infections. Cutibacterium acnes, Staphylococcus aureus, Moraxella lacunata and Pseudomonas alcaligenes were also identified as the presumed putative cause of the infection in 7 samples. Conclusions: Shotgun sequencing can be used as a diagnostic tool in microbial keratitis samples. This diagnostic method expands the available tests to diagnose eye infections and could be clinically significant in culture negative samples