Assessment of oceanographic services for the monitoring of highly anthropised coastal lagoons: The Mar Menor case study

Ocean monitoring systems are designed for continuous monitoring to track their evolution and anticipate environmental issues. However, they are often based on IoT systems that offer little spatial coverage and are hard to maintain. Satellite remote sensing offers good geographical coverage but they also face several challenges to become a monitoring system. This paper introduces an easy-to-use software tool to crawl water-quality data from up to 6 satellite instruments from the ESA and NASA. Particularly, Chl-a data is deeply analyzed in terms of reliability and data coverage for a highly anthropised coastal lagoon (Mar Menor, Spain), where serious socio-environmental issues are happening. Our results show a good linear correlation between in situ data and SRS data, reaching values close to 0.9, and stating the relevance of organic matter inputs from ephemeral streams in Chl-a concentrations. Moreover, temporal granularity is increased from 5 to 1.5 days by combining SRS sources.Preprin

Using specific recombinant gonadotropins to induce spermatogenesis and spermiation in the European eel (Anguilla anguilla)

[EN] New specific European eel (Anguilla anguilla) recombinant gonadotropins (aarGths) produced in the ovarian cells of Chinese hamsters (CHO) were used to induce maturation in captive male eels. In the first experiment, five different hormonal treatments were assayed: one group was given a constant dose of recombinant European eel follicle-stimulating hormone (aarFsh; 4 ¿g/fish) for 9 weeks, and the second group received a constant dose of recombinant European eel luteinizing hormone (aarLh; 2 ¿g/fish) also for 9 weeks. The other three groups were injected with different combinations of both aarGths (some doses constant, some variable). All five treatments stimulated androgen synthesis, but the increase was more pronounced in the fish treated with a combination of both aarGths. Unlike aarLh, aarFsh alone was able to induce spermiation, the best results were achieved in the fish that were treated with a constant dose of aarFSH and an increasing dose of aarLH, with spermiation being induced (20% motile cells) despite the fact that these fish were immature at the start of the experiment. In order to improve sperm quality, a second experiment was performed. Immature males received three constant doses of aarFsh (2.8, 1.4 or 0.7 ¿g/fish) and increasing doses of aarLh (every 3 weeks; 1, 2, 6 ¿g/fish). All the treatments induced spermiation, however the best sperm quality (with ¿50% motile cells) was observed in the males treated with the highest dose of aarFsh. In conclusion, these specific recombinant gonadotropins have demonstrated their capacity to induce spermatogenesis and spermiation in vivo in a teleost fish, the European eel.This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 642893 (EN IMPRESS), the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (Project REPRO-TEMP; AGL2013-41646-R), Generalitat Valenciana (PROMETEOII/2014/051), VLC/CAMPUS Program (SP20140630) and the COST Office (COST Action FA1205: AQUAGAMETE). VG has a postdoc grant from the UPV (PAID-10-14). We would like to thank M.S. Ibanez for carrying out the ELISAs.Peñaranda, D.; Gallego Albiach, V.; Rozenfeld, C.; Herranz-Jusdado, JG.; Pérez Igualada, LM.; Gómez, A.; Giménez, I.... (2018). Using specific recombinant gonadotropins to induce spermatogenesis and spermiation in the European eel (Anguilla anguilla). Theriogenology. 107:6-20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.theriogenology.2017.11.002S62010

Plasma lipid profiles discriminate bacterial from viral infection in febrile children

Fever is the most common reason that children present to Emergency Departments. Clinical signs and symptoms suggestive of bacterial infection ar

Roles of Universities in Clusters: The University of Otago and the Dunedin ICT Cluster

Cluster actors have the advantage of face-to-face interaction due to geographical proximity, which allows knowledge exchange with universities within clusters. The co-location of cluster actors provides an environment that builds social capital and develops cognitive proximity. In general, small and medium-sized businesses lack absorptive capacity, as they lack resources and skills. To overcome their limited absorptive capacity, businesses in clusters can use consulting, technical support services, and human resource mobility for knowledge exchange. This is best done through face-to-face interaction, which is encouraged by the geographical proximity of cluster actors. Hence, small and medium-sized businesses in clusters with universities have an opportunity of overcoming their lack of absorptive capacity by engaging in consulting engagements with universities. Technology transfer offices (TTO) work with businesses with higher absorptive capacity, and are therefore typically not a suitable channel for interacting with small and medium businesses. Literature shows that curriculum-based programmes such as capstone projects and postgraduate thesis studies have had students successfully interacting with businesses through consulting as well as generating spinoffs. Engaging students in university-business activities will fulfil all three missions of universities: teaching, research, and economic and community development. These activities provide services to local businesses, create a better student learning experience, and produce graduates with real world experience. In addition, engaging with businesses provides universities with tacit knowledge for research purposes. An exploratory approach, using qualitative methods, was taken to investigate university-cluster activities affecting local businesses. It incorporated (a) case study techniques for selection of case units, and rigour in managing the structure, reliability, and validity of the study, and (b) grounded theory techniques for data preparation and analysis to emerge theory. Twenty-five in-depth interviews were done with university academics and administrators, businesses, intermediaries of the information and communication technology (ICT) cluster in Dunedin, New Zealand, and participants external to the ICT cluster in Dunedin. Following the grounded theory approach, data analysis was done in parallel with data collection, which emerged a new concept of university students’ participation in university-business activities. This required additional literature review and additional interviews to develop the new concept. The findings of this study show that student-centred extracurricular activities provide opportunities for students to engage in entrepreneurial ventures and consulting engagements, while student-centred curriculum-based activities have the potential to improve cluster outcomes. By engaging student-centred activities, there is an opportunity for more university-cluster interaction supporting local businesses, student skill enhancement, and potential research data for academics and students, thus fulfilling universities’ missions of teaching, research, and economic and community development

Cartografía del vertido de iodos de la mina de Aznalcóllar mediante imágenes Daedalus ATM.C.

A raíz del accidente de la mina de Aznalcóllar, se han realizado varias campañas de vuelos multiespectrales Daedalus-1268 sobre las áreas afectadas. El objeto de estos vuelos ha sido tanto el control y seguimiento de los trabajos de limpieza de los Iodos vertidos en el cauce del río Guadiamar, como la detección de la contaminación remanente una vez finalizadas estas tareas. Se han efectuado correcciones geométricas a partir de fotografía área ortorectificada y correcciones radiométricas aplicando distintos modelos basados en transferencia radiativa y en medidas in situ de radiometría. Los análisis químicos, mineralógicos y de reflectividad de muestras de Iodos y alteraciones han permitido interpretar el comportamiento espectral de estos materiales y los datos multiespectrales. Los mapas generados a partir de la clasificación digital de las imágenes han permitido controlar la progresión de la limpieza de los Iodos y la localización precisa de las costras de sales