Relationships between soil physicochemical properties and nitrogen fixing, nitrifying and denitrifying under varying land-use practices in the northwest region of Argentina

The aim of this study was to evaluate the response pattern of diazotrophic microbes, denitrifiers and nitrifiers to different types of land use management, such as soybean monoculture (M) during 5 and 24 years (M5 and M24) and soybean-maize rotation (R) during 4 and 15 years (R4 and R15) in two subsequent years at the time point of flowering. Soil samples from a site recently introduced into agriculture (RUA) and a pristine soil under native vegetation (NV) were used as controls. Abundances of different functional groups of microbes were assessed using the direct quantification of marker genes by quantitative real-time PCR using extracted DNA from rhizosphere samples. In addition, soil chemical and physical properties were analysed and correlated with the abundance data from the functional microbial groups under investigation. Overall, the results indicate that the abundance of nifH genes was higher under R treatments compared to M treatments. The abundance of ammonium monooxygenase genes amoA (AOA) was generally higher under rotation systems and decreased under M24. RUA evidenced a negative effect on the establishment and development of AOA communities. The influence of land use on nirS abundance was inconsistent. However, R treatments showed a high abundance of nirK genes compared to M treatments. In both growing seasons, the abundance of nosZ genes was higher under NV compared with the other treatments. Furthermore, M24 treatment was related to strongly changed chemical and physical soil properties compared with the other sites. As expected, soil samples from RUA showed the strong dynamics of measured parameters indicating the high sensitivity of soils under transition to environmental parameters. Our results also indicated that the long-term crop rotation modified the abundance of the investigated microbial groups compared to the monoculture and increased soil chemical and physical quality. Therefore, our results provide evidence for a stimulatory effect of the long-term crop rotation on the abundance of microbes involved in N transformation.Fil: Perez Brandan, Carolina Gabriela. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; ArgentinaFil: Meyer, Annabel. Helmholtz Center Munich German Research Center For Environmental Health; AlemaniaFil: Meriles, Jose Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Huidobro, Jorgelina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria; ArgentinaFil: Schloter, Michael. Helmholtz Center Munich German Research Center For Environmental Health; AlemaniaFil: Vargas Gil, Silvina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigaciones Agropecuarias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Developing a predator-prey model for the hake and blue whiting spanish fisheries.pdf

The aim of this work is to develop a predator-prey model for two species of commercial importance captured by the Spanish fishing fleet in the National Fishing Ground (ICES areas VIIIc and IXa). In this model, the Southern hake (Merluccius merluccius) represents the predator, and the blue whiting (Micromesistius poutassou) is the prey. Blue whiting is the hake’s main prey in the study area, and it represents about 40% of the Southern hake diet. Both the predator and prey population dynamics follow the Lotka-Volterra formulation, and population dynamics are assumed as logistic, with two interaction coefficients: α is the effect of a unit change in the prey on the percent growth rate of the predator and β is the attack rate or searching efficiency of the predator. The populations interact randomly in proportion to population density. Logistic predator-prey equations were applied to the Southern hake and blue whiting stocks, including biomass, intrinsic rates of growth, carrying capacity and capture for both species. The goal is to maximize the present value of profit, forming the current value Hamiltonian for the maximization problem. Capture costs and prices of hake and blue whiting and discount rate were introduced at this point. Landings and SSB (Spawning Stock Biomass) data from both stocks over the period 1988-2010 were used for an econometric estimation by means of the Ordinary Least Squares method, to determine the form taken by the predator-prey net growth functions

Preliminary hydrogeological characterization of an evaporite karst area (province of Cordoba, South Spain)

The northern sector of the Subbetic Domain in the Betic Cordillera is formed by an olistostrome unit known as the Chaotic Subbetic Complex (CSC). This megabreccia is basically made of Triassic (Keuper) clays and evaporites (gypsum, anhidrite and halite) as well as blocks of other lithologies (limestones, dolostones, sandstones, etc). Despite that low permeability has been traditionally assumed for these materials, water flow and storage through them is likely derived of their aquitard behavior, but also because of the highly permeable conduits generated by dissolution/karstification processes within the evaporite rocks. The geological complexity of the CSC materials determines their hydrogeological heterogeneity, with groundwater flow systems of different length and various scales from recharge areas to discharge zones. Three springs draining the CSC outcrops have been identified around an evaporitic karst plateau located between the Anzur River (to the North) and the Genil River (to the South), in the province of Cordoba (Spain). Data logger devices have been installed in two of them, located at the Anzur River (left margin), providing an hourly record of discharge, electrical conductivity and water temperature. Water samples have been collected fortnightly for subsequent chemical analysis. After two years of record, the results obtained show that the response of the springs to rainfall events is completely different between them. One has a clearly karstic behavior, with a rapid response to recharge whereas the other one is more inertial, and variations in its waters occur in a yearly scale. This is an evidence of the aforementioned hydrogeological heterogeneity of the CSC.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Cantus: Construction and evaluation of a software solution for real-time vocal music training and musical intonation assessment

The development of the ability to sing or play in tune is one of the most critical tasks in music training. In music education, melodic patterns are usually learned by imitative processes (modelling). Once modelled, pitch sounds are then associ-ated to a representation according to a syllabic system such as the Guidonian system - or an arbitrary single syllable - or western graphic notation system symbols. From a didactic standpoint, few advances have been made in this area besides the use of audio-supported guides and existing software, which use a microphone to analyse the input and estimate the pitch or fundamental frequency of the given tone. However, these programmes lack the necessary analytical algo-rithm to provide the student with precise feedback on their execution; and also they do not provide adequate noise-robust solutions to minimize the student assessment error rate. The ongoing research discussed in this article focuses on Cantus, a new software solution expressly designed as an assessment and diagnosis tool for online training and assessment of vocal musical intonation at the initial stages of music education. Cantus software embodies the latest research on real-time analy-sis of audio stream, which permits the teacher to customize music training by means of recording patterns and embedding them into the programme. The study presented in this article includes the design, implementation and assessment of Cantus by music teachers. The pilot study for the software assessment includes a sample of 21 music teachers working at thirteen music schools in Valencia, Spain. These teachers worked with the software at their own pace for a week in order to evaluate it. Subsequently, a two-part questionnaire was filled in with (1) ques-tions related to demographics, professional experience and the use of ITC; and (2) questions related to the software's technical and didactic aspects. The question-naire also included three open questions related to Cantus, namely advantages, issues and suggestions. The results show an excellent reception by teachers, who consider this software as a highly adequate music training tool at the initial stages of music education

Diseño de un sistema de control interno basado en el modelo COSO para optimizar el desempeño laboral en la empresa Mainin S. R. L. en la ciudad de Cajamarca, 2020

El estudio realizado en la empresa, tuvo como objetivo general Diseñar un sistema de control interno basado en el modelo COSO para optimizar el desempeño laboral dentro de la empresa MAININ S.R.L en la ciudad de Cajamarca durante el año 2020 y como objetivos específicos se consideró el evaluar y diagnosticar la situación actual de la empresa MAININ S.R.L con respecto al desempeño laboral en la ciudad de Cajamarca durante el año 2020; además de realizar el diseño del sistema de control interno basado en el modelo COSO dentro de la empresa MAININ S.R.L en la ciudad de Cajamarca durante el año 2020, para luego evaluar los resultados obtenidos con el diseño del sistema de control interno basado en el modelo COSO y evaluar la viabilidad económica del diseño del control interno para optimizar el desempeño laboral de la empresa y presentarlo como propuesta. Al realizar las actividades de estudio, obtuvimos como resultado un 97% en el índice de rotación lo cual indicaba un alto grado de rotación, lo que refleja un índice no aceptable para la empresa; posteriormente, el desarrollar el diseño y realizar las evaluaciones correspondientes, obtuvimos una mejora del 30% en la reducción del índice de rotación cual indica que existe una mejora al reducirse al 67%, considerando que la evaluación se desarrolló de forma trimestral y que de acuerdo a la planificación establecida se revisara nuevamente a través de una evaluación. El resultado del análisis beneficio – costo, se obtuvo como resultado una recuperación de S/. 1.24 por cada sol gastado en el proyecto lo cual lo hace factible para una posterior implementación.The general objective of the study carried out in the company was to design an internal control system based on the COSO model to optimize work performance within the company MAININ S.R.L in the city of Cajamarca during the year 2020 and as specific objectives it was considered to evaluate and diagnose the current situation of the company MAININ S.R.L regarding work performance in the city of Cajamarca during the year 2020; In addition to carrying out the design of the internal control system based on the COSO model within the company MAININ S.R.L in the city of Cajamarca during the year 2020, to then evaluate the results obtained with the design of the internal control system based on the COSO model. and evaluate the economic viability of the design of internal control to optimize the work performance of the company and present it as a proposal. When carrying out the study activities, we obtained a 97% turnover rate as a result, which indicated a high degree of turnover, which reflects an unacceptable rate for the company; Subsequently, developing the design and carrying out the corresponding evaluations, we obtained a 30% improvement in the reduction of the rotation index, which indicates that there is an improvement when it is reduced to 67%, considering that the evaluation was carried out on a quarterly basis and that according to The established planning will be reviewed again through an evaluation. The result of the benefit-cost analysis, a recovery of S/. 1.24 for each sun spent on the project which makes it feasible for later implementation

Relationship between microbial functions and community structure following agricultural intensification in South American Chaco

Intensification of agricultural systems through the use of intensive agriculture and the advance of deforestation have led to a decrease of soil biological quality. Soil functional and structural microbiota are sensitive parameters to monitor changes caused by agricultural use. Different sites under soybean monoculture (continuous soybean) and soybean/maize rotation practices were selected. Samples were collected from agricultural soils under different periods of implantation: 4-year rotation; 15-year rotation; 5-year monoculture; and 24-year monoculture (M24). A site of native vegetation recently under agricultural production (RUA) was also sampled. Native vegetation soils (NV) adjacent to agricultural sites were sampled as a control. In general, the results showed that RUA and M24 had lower enzyme activities, less microbial abundance and low physical and chemical soil quality than those subjected to crop rotation. In contrast, both the bacterial and total microbial biomasses were significantly higher in NV and crop rotation than in soils under monoculture systems. Although it was expected that differences in microbial activities would be due to changes in microbial community abundance, the results indicated that changes in soil management produced faster alterations to soil enzyme activities than any modifications induced in the microbial community structure. Consequently, both aspects of microbial diversity, namely function and structure, were affected independently by agricultural intensification.EEA SaltaFil: Perez Brandan, Carolina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Salta; ArgentinaFil: Huidobro, Dina Jorgelina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Salta; ArgentinaFil: Galvan, Marta Zulema. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Salta; ArgentinaFil: Vargas Gil, Silvina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Investigación Patología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Meriles, Jose Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentin

Albayzin 2018 Evaluation: The IberSpeech-RTVE Challenge on Speech Technologies for Spanish Broadcast Media

The IberSpeech-RTVE Challenge presented at IberSpeech 2018 is a new Albayzin evaluation series supported by the Spanish Thematic Network on Speech Technologies (Red Temática en Tecnologías del Habla (RTTH)). That series was focused on speech-to-text transcription, speaker diarization, and multimodal diarization of television programs. For this purpose, the Corporacion Radio Television Española (RTVE), the main public service broadcaster in Spain, and the RTVE Chair at the University of Zaragoza made more than 500 h of broadcast content and subtitles available for scientists. The dataset included about 20 programs of different kinds and topics produced and broadcast by RTVE between 2015 and 2018. The programs presented different challenges from the point of view of speech technologies such as: the diversity of Spanish accents, overlapping speech, spontaneous speech, acoustic variability, background noise, or specific vocabulary. This paper describes the database and the evaluation process and summarizes the results obtained

MEP pathway products allosterically promote monomerization of deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate synthase to feedback-regulate their supply

Isoprenoids are a very large and diverse family of metabolites required by all living organisms. All isoprenoids derive from the double-bond isomers isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP), which are produced by the methylerythritol 4-phosphate (MEP) pathway in bacteria and plant plastids. It has been reported that IPP and DMAPP feedback-regulate the activity of deoxyxylulose 5-phosphate synthase (DXS), a dimeric enzyme that catalyzes the main flux-controlling step of the MEP pathway. Here we provide experimental insights into the underlying mechanism. Isothermal titration calorimetry and dynamic light scattering approaches showed that IPP and DMAPP can allosterically bind to DXS in vitro, causing a size shift. In silico ligand binding site analysis and docking calculations identified a potential allosteric site in the contact region between the two monomers of the active DXS dimer. Modulation of IPP and DMAPP contents in vivo followed by immunoblot analyses confirmed that high IPP/DMAPP levels resulted in monomerization and eventual aggregation of the enzyme in bacterial and plant cells. Loss of the enzymatically active dimeric conformation allows a fast and reversible reduction of DXS activity in response to a sudden increase or decrease in IPP/DMAPP supply, whereas aggregation and subsequent removal of monomers that would otherwise be available for dimerization appears to be a more drastic response in the case of persistent IPP/DMAPP overabundance (e.g., by a blockage in their conversion to downstream isoprenoids). Our results represent an important step toward understanding the regulation of the MEP pathway and rational design of biotechnological endeavors aimed at increasing isoprenoid contents in microbial and plant systems

Ciudad Compacta, Espacio Público y Población Flotante en el Eje Ambiental del Centro de Bogotá

El ejercicio de investigación es la suma de cuatro propuestas desde diferentes disciplinas y dimensiones, que intentan dar solución a la baja densidad poblacional del centro de Bogotá y su incidencia en la dispersión urbana