First Record of the Family Peltidiidae (Copepoda; Harpacticoida) from the Gulf of Mexico, with the Description of a New Species of Peltidium

Female harpacticoid copepod specimens representing an undescribed species of Peltidium (Peltidiidae) were found from an unidentified species of Sargassum during a series of samplings carried out in 2014 in Tampa Bay, Florida, U.S.A. The new species, Peltidium camilae, is similar to P. nichollsi Geddes, 1968 and P. lerneri Geddes, 1968. These species share the female exopod of leg 5 with two inner and three apical setae, the second endopodal segment of leg 1 with three setae, and the third endopodal segment of legs 2-4 with three, five and four setae, respectively. Peltidium camilae n. sp. can be distinguished from P. nichollsi and P. lerneri by having a shorter endopod relative to the exopod on legs 2-4, apical claws on the terminal exopodal segment of leg 1 that are as long as the first exopodal segment of leg 1, and subequal middle and inner apical setae on the exopod of leg 5. This is the first record of the family Peltidiidae from the Gulf of Mexico

A note on the likelihood and moments of the skew-normal distribution

In this paper an alternative approach to the one in Henze (1986) is proposed for deriving the odd moments of the skew-normal distribution considered in Azzalini (1985). The approach is based on a Pascal type triangle, which seems to greatly simplify moments computation. Moreover, it is shown that the likelihood equation for estimating the asymmetry parameter in such model is generated as orthogonal functions to the sample vector. As a consequence, conditions for a unique solution of the likelihood equation are established, which seem to hold in more general setting

Association between meteorological factors and hepatitis A in Spain 2010-2014

BACKGROUND: There is growing concern of how climate change could affect public health, due to the increase number of extreme climate events. Hence, the study of the role that climate events play on the distribution of waterborne diseases, like Hepatitis A, could be key for developing new prevention approaches. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between climate factors and Hepatitis A in Spain between 2010 and 2014. METHODS: Weekly Hepatitis A cases between 2010 and 2014 were obtained from the Spanish Epidemiology Surveillance Network. Climate variables (weekly cumulative rainfall, rainy days, storm days and snow days) were obtained from National Climatic Data Center (NOAA satellite and information Service of USA). Each municipality was assigned to the nearest weather station (N=73). A Mixed-Effects Poisson regression was performed to estimate Incidence Rate Ratios (IRR), including a time lag of 2, 3 and 4weeks (most probable incubation period for Hepatitis A). RESULTS: Rainfall higher than 90th percentile (extreme precipitation) was associated with increased number of Hepatitis A cases 2weeks (IRR=1.24 CI 95%=1.09-1.40) and 4weeks after the event (IRR=1.15 CI 95%=1.01-1.30). An extra rainy day increased the risk of Hepatitis A two weeks after (IRR=1.03 CI 95%=1.01-1.05). We found higher risk of Hepatitis A two weeks after each extra storm day (IRR=1.06 CI 95%=1.00-1.12), and lower risk with 3 and 4weeks' lag (IRR=0.93 CI 95%=0.88-0.99 for lag3; IRR=0.94 CI 95%=0.88-0.99 for lag 4). CONCLUSIONS: There is an increased risk of Hepatitis A 2weeks after water-related climate events. Including meteorological information in surveillance systems might improve to develop early prevention strategies for waterborne diseases.This study has been funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III through the project “PI15/01398” (Co-funded by European Regional Development Fund/European Social Fund “Investing in your future”). Pedro Gullón was supported by the Medical Residents program of Spanish Ministry of Health and by the Enrique Nájera grant for Young Epidemiologists (12th edition) awarded by the Sociedad Española de Epidemiología.S

Creación de un modelo de negocio para la “Revista Etnias Palmira”

La construcción y desarrollo de un modelo de negocios para organizaciones, empresas o proyectos ya consolidados, igualmente en procesos, es una herramienta estratégica que permite estructurar el funcionamiento adecuado en todas las áreas determinantes de una propuesta corporativa. Este concepto Integra las tendencias actuales del mercado empresarial, creando una planeación detallada de los componentes claves que definen el éxito o fracaso en el largo plazo para una compañía. Por tal motivo, los emprendedores deben estructurar bases sólidas como un modelo de negocios coherente para que sus objetivos organizacionales puedan convertirse en realidad. Esta fue la temática que orientó al proyecto “REVISTA ETNIAS PALMIRA”, una propuesta innovadora, con una estructura comercial basada en tres (3) plataformas comunicativas diferentes (Magazine impreso, página web, aplicación móvil) que permite generar progreso para las comunidades étnicas del municipio de Palmira, por medio de, una estrategia que logrará difundir información relevante para esta población.//Abstract: Building and development a Business model to organizations or companies already established or in the process, Is a strategic tool that allows us to structure the proper functioning in all the areas that determine a corporate proposal. This concept Integrates current business market trends by creating detailed planning of the key components that define long-term success or failure for a company. For this reason, entrepreneurs must structure solid foundations as a coherent business model so that their organizational objectives can become a reality. This was the theme that guided the project "REVISTA ETNIAS PALMIRA", an innovative proposal, with a commercial structure based on three (3) different communication platforms (printed magazine, web page, mobile application) to generate progress for the ethnic communities of Municipality of Palmira by means of a strategy that allows to disseminate information relevant for this population.Maestrí

Stem cells and bronchial stump healing

ObjectiveBronchial stump dehiscence is still the most feared complication for the thoracic surgeon, with mortality rates ranging from 25% to 75%. This study reports the histologic effect of adult stem cells in the healing process of the bronchial stump after lung resection.MethodsA left pneumonectomy was performed in 36 Wistar rats. Half of them received previously labeled bone marrow-derived stem cells applied to the bronchial stump. In each group, 7 rats were sacrificed on day 7 and 11 rats were sacrificed on day 21. Macroscopic variables and histopathologic features were analyzed.ResultsOn days 7 and 21, there were fewer adhesions in the stem cell group (P = .042 and .031, respectively). Bronchial stump restitutio ad integrum on day 21 was found predominantly in rats from the stem cell group (P = .012). At that time, the same group showed significantly less inflammation in every layer of the stump (P < .050).ConclusionsBone marrow-derived stem cells administered topically on a bronchial stump are able to migrate, reach the bronchial wall, and participate in the healing process. This induces fewer adhesions, less inflammatory response, and better regeneration of the tissue

Risk Analysis of DP Incidents During Drilling Operations

This paper aims to present a method to determine the type of dynamic positioning (DP) incidents that have a more significant risk during drilling operations in the period 2007-2015, according to the element or the type of failure that causes the DP system to fail. Two different classifications are made: 1) according to the element that produces the incident (which has been the traditional classification in the industry) and 2) according to the type of error that arises, the latter being an alternative classification proposed in this paper. The predictable financial losses for each level of severity are used to define the resulting consequences for each case. A risk analysis is performed with the data obtained, showing the potentially more dangerous incidents, either because of their higher number of occurrences or because their consequences are remarkable. According to the classification proposed, the main causes with the higher risk results were power and environmental, according to the traditional classification, and fault/failure. Thus, the power segment’s combination of failures is the riskiest cause during the DP drilling operations

Recommendation of energy ffficiency indexes for the coffee sector in Honduras using multivariate statistics

The objectives of this study were to define and determine the energy efficiency indexes that should be considered to measure and analyze the energy performance in enterprises engaged in processing green coffee for export. The investigation arose through a case study on a coffee processing plant in Honduras. The purpose of this work was fulfilled under the recommendations set forth in ISO 50001:2011, which were used as references. In addition, determine the energy structure of the company target of study, establishing the strategy to obtain daily records of the energy situation of the company and under a four-step process: energy structure of the company, daily registry of consumption, indicators of energy performance, and potential evaluations for improvement. With the observed results for more than 100 days, a model of high-quality was found with a coefficient of determination of 0.88, which helped to find and define different energy performance indicators

Optical and structural characterization of TiO-Zn-V thin films synthesized using the sol-gel method

We report structural and optical properties of thin films grown by the sol–gel method and spin-coating technique. We synthesized thin films of Tiox-Zn-V with varying concentrations of vanadium and titanium. The resulting thin films are characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), wavelength-dispersive x-ray fluorescence, and ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometry. XRD results indicate that the majority phase of the resulting structure was Tiox-Zn with a crystallographic plane (020) and an angular position 2θ of 42.38°. The presence of vanadium was confirmed by x-ray fluorescence, and transmittance measurements in the 300–800-nm range showed that the transmittance of this material was over 80%, but reduced in the presence of vanadium. We also found the width of the energy gap to decrease as the concentration of vanadium is increased, thereby suggesting an increase in conductivity and the introduction of a certain amount of disorder into the Tiox-Zn structure according to the Wemple–DiDomenico (WDD) formulation of energy dispersion. Thus, the influence of vanadium on the optical properties of the Tiox-Zn system could be advantageous for the fabrication of smart windows

Synchronization in Complex Oscillator Networks and Smart Grids

The emergence of synchronization in a network of coupled oscillators is a fascinating topic in various scientific disciplines. A coupled oscillator network is characterized by a population of heterogeneous oscillators and a graph describing the interaction among them. It is known that a strongly coupled and sufficiently homogeneous network synchronizes, but the exact threshold from incoherence to synchrony is unknown. Here we present a novel, concise, and closed-form condition for synchronization of the fully nonlinear, non-equilibrium, and dynamic network. Our synchronization condition can be stated elegantly in terms of the network topology and parameters, or equivalently in terms of an intuitive, linear, and static auxiliary system. Our results significantly improve upon the existing conditions advocated thus far, they are provably exact for various interesting network topologies and parameters, they are statistically correct for almost all networks, and they can be applied equally to synchronization phenomena arising in physics and biology as well as in engineered oscillator networks such as electric power networks. We illustrate the validity, the accuracy, and the practical applicability of our results in complex networks scenarios and in smart grid applications