Ultrasonographic assessment of the ovarian response in eCG-treated goats

A study was conducted to evaluate the accuracy of ultrasonographic evaluation of ovulation rate during the early luteal phase of does and to estimate the reliability of ultrasonic scanning to differentiate between the corpus luteum and luteinized follicles. Both ultrasonographic and laparoscopic observations of ovarian structures and radioimmunoassays of progesterone in plasma were performed in 47 goats on day 7 after estrus synchronization using intravaginal FGA sponges and eCG. Ultrasonographic scanning allowed the determination of the presence or absence of ovulation. Total ef®ciency in detecting the occurrence of multiple ovulations was 87.5%. However, accuracy to establish the number of corpora lutea decreased to 23.5% in goats with three or more ovulations, due to an increasing underestimation as the number of corpora lutea in the ovary increased (p<0.001). Ultrasonographic assessment of ovulation rate can be used to determine if a goat has ovulated or if multiple ovulations have occurred, but not to establish the precise number of corpora lutea. Evaluation of the ratio between cavity diameter and total luteal-tissue diameter is useful in distinguishing between corpora lutea and luteinized follicles, since the diameter differed between the two (0.36 0.21 vs. 0.64 0.16, respectively; p<0.005)

Análisis interregional utilizando una matriz insumo-producto bi-regional de Argentina

This paper presents a regional case study using a Bi-Regional Input-Output (BRIO) matrix of Buenos Aires City (BAC) and the Rest of Argentina (ROA), constructed from the Argentinian Input-Output matrix. A hybrid approach was applied to obtain the BRIO matrix, which combines pure non-survey methods with matrix-balancing methods like RAS or Cross-Entropy. Once the BRIO matrix was obtained, our study has focused on analyzing the BAC regional structure and the interconnections between regions. We have also estimated the regional and national carbon footprint for the BAC and Argentina, respectively. Results show that service and industry sectors play an important role in the economy of BAC and some of them have strong interregional spillover effects over the rest of the country. In addition, the results also show that sectors on BAC with the highest regional multipliers are also the ones with highest emissions.Este artículo presenta un caso de estudio regional utilizando una matriz Bi-Regional Input-Output (BRIO) de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires (BAC) y el Resto de Argentina (ROA), construida a partir de la matriz Input-Output de Argentina. Se ha utilizado una metodología híbrida para obtener la matriz BRIO, la cual combina métodos indirectos puros y métodos de calibración de matrices como RAS y Entropía Cruzada. Una vez obtenida la matriz BRIO, nuestro estudio se ha centrado en analizar la estructura regional de la BAC y las interconexiones entre regiones. También hemos realizado la estimación de la huella de carbono nacional y regional para Argentina y en la BAC, respectivamente. Los resultados muestran que los sectores de servicios e industria juegan un papel importante en la economía de la BAC y algunos de ellos tienen fuertes efectos indirectos interregionales sobre el resto del país. Además, los resultados también muestran que los sectores de la BAC con los multiplicadores regionales más altos también son los que tienen las emisiones más altas

Característiques físiques i químiques del sediment de la llacuna de la Tancada (Delta de l'Ebre)

Es presenten els resultats de l'estudi de les característiques físiques i químiques del sediment de la llacuna de la Tancada (Delta de l'Ebre), diferenciant les zones lliures i cobertes per macròfits arrelats. També s'analitzen els canvis entre l'hivern i 1'estiu en zones lliures de vegetació. Es comenten els resultats obtinguts en les dues cubetes de que consta la llacuna: est i oest. Es pot observar una concentració de C, N, P, Mg, Al i Fe més elevada en el sediment de Ruppia i Potamogeton. S'observa, també, una concentració més elevada de matèria orgànica i de material fi (argiles i llims). Aquests resultats són vàlids solament per a la cubeta est. A la cubeta oest no s'observen diferències significatives en cap dels elements analitzats. La concentració de Si és més elevada durant 1'estiu. Les concentrations de Mg i Fe són més baixes durant el mateix període. L'activitat dels macròfits com a filtres, precipitant el material suspès en 1'aigua i afavorint la precipitació química d'alguns elements tals com el Ca i el P, pot explicar les diferències observades entre les zones lliures i amb vegetació submergida. La manca de diferències a la cubeta oest és deguda als continus aportaments d'aigua marina pels canals de comunicació amb la badia durant els temporals d'hivern.Sediments of Tancada lagoon where analyzed during summer and winter periods. The effects of the change in the salinity of water between the two periods were also analyzed. The results obtained in East and West sites in Tancada lagoon are compared. C, N, P, Mg, Al and Fe contents are higher in Potamogeton and Ruppia sites than in sites without macrophytes. The same occurs for organic matter and fine-grained sediment. That is true only for East-Tancada. There are no differences in West-Tancada sediment elements analyzed. Si was higher and Fe and Mg were lower during summer than winter period. Differences between sediments with and without macrophytes can be explained because the macrophytes act as physical filters. The lack of differences in West-Tancada can be explained because of the sea water inflow

Behavioral interactions are modulated by facilitation along a heterotrophic succession

Competition and facilitation drive ecological succession but are often hard to quantify. In this sense, behavioral data may be a key tool to analyze interaction networks, providing insights into temporal trends in facilitation and competition processes within animal heterotrophic succession. Here, we perform the first in-depth analysis of the factors driving temporal dynamics of carcass consumption by analyzing behavioral patterns (i.e., interactions) and community dynamics metrics (i.e., species richness, abundance, turnover, and diversity) in a Neotropical scavenger guild. For this purpose, we monitored goat carcasses using automatic cameras. From 573 reviewed videos, we registered 1784 intraspecific and 624 interspecific interactions, using intraspecific and interspecific aggressions (n = 2048) as a behavioral proxy of competition intensity. Our results show that resource availability shapes behavioral interactions between vultures, with a specific effect of the different species on behavioral and competition dynamics, showing the existence of a hierarchy between species. Furthermore, behavioral processes linked to carcass opening tended to be facilitative, related to moments of higher tolerance (i.e., lower aggressiveness), thus reducing competition intensity and also affecting community structure and dynamics. This novel framework demonstrates complex ephemeral successional processes characterized by a fluctuation in facilitation and competition intensity during the consumption of an unpredictable resource linked to key ecosystem processes.Lara Naves-Alegre, and Esther Sebastián-González were supported by the Generalitat Valenciana and the European Social Fund (ACIF/2019/056, SEJI/2018/024, respectively). Esther Sebastián-González also received the grant RYC2019-027216-I funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and by ESF Investing in Your Future

Vegetable-Based Diets for Chronic Kidney Disease? It Is Time to Reconsider

Traditional dietary recommendations to renal patients limited the intake of fruits and vegetables because of their high potassium content. However, this paradigm is rapidly changing due to the multiple benefits derived from a fundamentally vegetarian diet such as, improvement in gut dysbiosis, reducing the number of pathobionts and protein-fermenting species leading to a decreased production of the most harmful uremic toxins, while the high fiber content of these diets enhances intestinal motility and short-chain fatty acid production. Metabolic acidosis in chronic kidney disease (CKD) is aggravated by the high consumption of meat and refined cereals, increasing the dietary acid load, while the intake of fruit and vegetables is able to neutralize the acidosis and its deleterious consequences. Phosphorus absorption and bioavailability is also lower in a vegetarian diet, reducing hyperphosphatemia, a known cause of cardiovascular mortality in CKD. The richness of multiple plants in magnesium and vitamin K avoids their deficiency, which is common in these patients. These beneficial effects, together with the reduction of inflammation and oxidative stress observed with these diets, may explain the reduction in renal patients' complications and mortality, and may slow CKD progression. Finally, although hyperkalemia is the main concern of these diets, the use of adequate cooking techniques can minimize the amount absorbed

Scavenger assemblages are structured by complex competition and facilitation processes among vultures

Understanding the factors that allow multiple species to coexist and share resources is an outstanding question in community ecology. Animals that share resources tend to use different strategies to decrease potential competition, through morphological adaptations, establishment of hierarchies, behavioral adaptations or spatial or temporal segregation. The main objective of this study was to infer interspecific processes of competition and facilitation through the study of species co-occurrence patterns in a vertebrate scavenger guild in de Brazilian cerrado. We analyzed patterns of spatial and temporal co-occurrence between species pairs, both qualitatively and quantitatively, and determined the activity patterns of the different scavenger species. For this purpose, we placed and monitored 11 large (i.e. goat) and 45 small (i.e. chicken) carcasses by camera-trapping, obtaining a total of 27 448 images. Our results show complex competitive and facilitative relationships among scavenging species in the Brazilian cerrado that are influenced by carcass size and change depending on the spatial and temporal scale at which they are analyzed. The scavenger assemblages that consumed large and small carcasses were different, evidencing resource partitioning between obligate and facultative scavengers. Furthermore, as an alternative to reduce competition levels, most species showed differences in their scavenging patterns, in addition to a strong temporal segregation during carcass consumption. Regarding New World vultures, our results suggest a strong interference competition between species with clear differences in their ecological traits (e.g. size, social behavior). However, we also found evidence of facilitation processes between vulture species in the location and access to the interior of the carcasses. Our findings highlight the role of obligate scavengers both in competition and facilitation processes in this vertebrate scavenger community. Future research should focus on investigating which species play the most important role in the structure and dynamics of this community, also considering intraspecific and behavioral patterns.LNA, ZMR and ESG were supported by the Generalitat Valenciana and the European Social Fund (ACIF/2019/056, APOSTD/2019/016, SEJI/2018/024, respectively), and JASZ by funds from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and the European Regional Development Fund (RTI2018-099609-B-C21). ESG received the grant RYC2019-027216-I funded by MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by ESF Investing in your future. ZMR was also supported by a postdoctoral contract funded by the Junta de Andalucía (POSTDOC_21_00353)

The profile of good university teaching. An approach based on gender of the students.

[ES] Este artículo plantea como motivo la relevancia del rol que debe desempeñar el profesor en el ámbito educativo de nivel universitario, un tema muy controvertido en la actualidad y sometido a revisión y cambio constante para la adaptación al nuevo Espacio Europeo de Ecuación Superior. El objetivo es conocer la opinión del alumnado sobre lo que considera que es un buen docente, que debe ir más allá de las encuestas de calidad planteadas por muchas Universidades. Los/as alumnos/as deben y pueden ofrecer criterios de valoración sobre el perfil docente y el rol desempeñado como profesionales de la docencia a nivel universitario más allá de los cuestionarios cerrados existentes. Se ha empleado una metodología cuantitativa como parte de un enfoque más global y mixto del Proyecto de Innovación docente “El perfil del buen docente universitario desde la perspectiva del alumnado”. Los principales resultados muestran la relevancia en cuestiones vinculadas con el conocimiento y con estrategias didácticas básicas con las que debe contar el docente. La percepción del alumnado masculino y femenino no difiere demasiado en cuestiones básicas y consideradas prioritarias para elaborar el perfil del buen docente universitario.[EN] This article discusses the relevance and the role to be played by the lecturer and proffessor in education at university a very controversial issue at present and subject to constant review and change to adapt to the new European Higher Space. The aim is to hear the views of students about what they considered to be a good professor (and lecturer), who must go beyond quality surveys raised by many universities. Students should and can provide assessment criteria on the profile and the role proffesors played as professionals at university beyond the existing closed questionnaires. We used a quantitative methodology as part of a more comprehensive approach and mixed Innovation Project "The profile of good university teaching from the perspective of students." The main results show the relevance in matters related to the knowledge and basic strategies with which the professor/lecturer must have. The perception of male and female students does not differ much on basic issues and prioritized to develop the profile of good university profesor/lecturer.Fernández Borrero, MA.; González Losada, S. (2012). El perfil del buen docente universitario. Una aproximación en función del sexo del alumnado. REDU. Revista de Docencia Universitaria. 10(2):237-249. https://doi.org/10.4995/redu.2012.6106OJS237249102Cataldi, Z. y lage, F.J. (2004). Un nuevo perfil del profesor universitario. Revista de Informática Educativa y Medios Audiovisuales, 1(3), 28-33.Garcallo, B.; Sánchez, F.; ROS, C. y Ferreras, A. (2010). Estilos docentes de los profesores universitarios. La percepción de los alumnos de los buenos profesores. Revista Iberoamericana de Educación, 51 (4), 1-16.García, JM. (1997). Valoración de la competencia docente del profesor universitario. Una aproximación empírica. Revista Complutense de Educación 8 (2).Giné, M. (2009). Cómo mejorar la docencia universitaria: El punto de vista del estudiantado. Revista Complutense de Educación, 20 (1), 117-134.Ley Orgánica 6/2001, de 21 de diciembre, de Universidades.Neira z, E. (2011). Perfil del buen docente universitario. Recuperado el 20 de enero de 2012, de http://webdelprofesor.ula.ve/cjuridicas/neirae/pdf/ensayos/8docenteuniversitario.pdfPratt, D. (1997). Reconceptualizing the evaluation of teaching in higher education, Higher Education, 34, 23-44.Vain, P. (2002). La evaluación de la docencia universitaria: Un problema complejo. Buenos Aires. Comisión Nacional de Evaluación y Acreditación Universitaria (CONEAU).CD.Zabalza, M.A. (2005). Competencias docentes. Conferencia pronunciada en la Pontificia Universidad Javeriana de Cali, el 9 de febrero de 2005. Descargada el 19 de diciembre de 2011 desde www.psicologiayconsejeria.org

Boundaries in the Moyal plane

We study the oscillations of a scalar field on a noncommutative disc implementing the boundary as the limit case of an interaction with an appropriately chosen confining background. The space of quantum fluctuations of the field is finite dimensional and displays the rotational and parity symmetry of the disc. We perform a numerical evaluation of the (finite) Casimir energy and obtain similar results as for the fuzzy sphere and torus.Instituto de Física La Plat

Tiburones de profundidad en las capturas accesorias de una campaña de pesca experimental de pez sable negro (Aphanopus spp.) en las islas Canarias (Atlántico nororiental)

The deep-sea sharks associated as by-catch of the Madeiran midwater drifting longline fishery for scabbardfishes (Aphanopus spp.) were investigated by means of an experimental survey at 800-1200 m depth within the Canary Islands Exclusive Economic Zone, whose fishing grounds have been exploited during the past 15 years. Nine species of chondrichthyans were identified, belonging to five families: Pseudotriakidae, Centrophoridae, Etmopteridae, Somniosidae and Chimaeridae. Data on length, weight and sex ratio for the 436 chondrichthyan individuals caught in the March 2009 survey are given. Several voucher specimens of each species caught were deposited in the collections of the Natural History Museum of Funchal.Se investigaron los tiburones de profundidad en las capturas accesorias de la pesquería de palangre de deriva de media agua que tiene por objetivo el sable negro (Aphanopus spp.) mediante una campaña experimental en la Zona Económica Exclusiva de Canarias a profundidades de 800 a 1200 m, en caladeros que han venido siendo explotados en los últimos 15 años. Se identificaron nueve especies de condrictios pertenecientes a cinco familias: Pseudotriakidae, Centrophoridae, Etmopteridae, Somniosidae y Chimaeridae. Se aportan datos de talla, peso y proporción de sexos para los 436 ejemplares de condrictios capturados en la campaña de marzo de 2009. Los especímenes de referencia capturados fueron depositados en las colecciones del Museo de Historia Natural de Funchal