Vertical geotechnical engineering techniques applied to the rehabilitation of Pleistocene sites

La aplicación de una serie de técnicas propias de la geotecnia vertical y de la consolidación de taludes y laderas inestables se presenta por primera vez aplicada a la rehabilitación de yacimientos pleistocenos ubicados en antiguas canteras. Un conjunto de actuaciones especializadas permite garantizar la seguridad en los trabajos así como la preservación de la integridad de los yacimientos ubicados en cortes verticales y laderas rocosas. La rehabilitación realizada en el yacimiento de la Cova del Rinoceront (macizo del Garraf, NE de España), ubicado en el frente de explotación de una antigua cantera de piedra caliza, es el primer ejemplo conocido en la Península Ibérica donde la geotecnia vertical ha sido utilizada en este tipo de contextos y, por lo tanto, los resultados pueden ser utilizados como un posible modelo de futuro para próximas intervenciones.La aplicación de una serie de técnicas propias de la geotecnia vertical y de la consolidación de taludes y laderas inestables se presenta por primera vez aplicada a la rehabilitación de yacimientos pleistocenos ubicados en antiguas canteras. Un conjunto de actuaciones especializadas permite garantizar la seguridad en los trabajos así como la preservación de la integridad de los yacimientos ubicados en cortes verticales y laderas rocosas. La rehabilitación realizada en el yacimiento de la Cova del Rinoceront (macizo del Garraf, NE de España), ubicado en el frente de explotación de una antigua cantera de piedra caliza, es el primer ejemplo conocido en la Península Ibérica donde la geotecnia vertical ha sido utilizada en este tipo de contextos y, por lo tanto, los resultados pueden ser utilizados como un posible modelo de futuro para próximas intervenciones.Over the last two decades of the nineteenth century and part of the twentieth century, many Pleistocene sites in the Iberian Peninsula have been discovered through quarrying, mining and railways construction, amongst other industrial activities. This paper describes a new methodology for rehabilitating Pleistocene sites, based on the application of geotechnical engineering and unstable slope treatment. These techniques guarantee site preservation and fieldwork safety conditions for sites inside quarries or on slopes. The repair work carried out in Cova del Rinoceront (Garraf massif, NE Spain) is the first example of the geotechnical restoration process in action in archaeological sites in the Iberian Peninsula. Furthermore, the Cova del Rinoceront rehabilitation serves as a model for other similar Pleistocene sites

Climate variability; enhancing adaptive utilization of browse trees for improved livestock production among agro-pastoralists communities in Southern Zambia

Agro-pastoralists whose sources of livelihood depend on rain-fed agriculture are very vulnerable to ecological disturbance due to increasing climate variability. They are unable to adequately feed their animals in times of extreme weather conditions of floods and droughts thereby causing a disruption in their major source of livelihood. This study analyzed the feeding strategies employed by agro- pastoralists in Southern Zambia and important browse species used in extreme weather conditions, in order to improve their utilization for improved livestock production. The major feeding strategies during droughts include browse utilization, dambo grazing, grazing along streams and supplementary feeding. While during floods, upland grazing and browse grazing were the main strategies. However, most of the agro-pastoralists do not practice pasture management and fodder conservation for their animals. Of the 21 tree browse species identified by the agro-pastoralists, 18 species were found to be important during droughts and 8 during floods. Most of the agro-pastoralists neither knew how to plant these browse species nor how to manage them for better and sustainable use in feeding their animals. Therefore, the agro-pastoralists in the study area need to take up management and feed conservation measures for their animals. Deliberate effort should be made to teach the agro-pastoralists how to plant and manage the important browse species that are suitable in extreme weather conditions. This will enhance productive use of the browse species for improved animal feeding to ensure food security among the pastoralists.Key words: Extreme weather conditions, adaption, browse species, Agro-pastoralists

Comparative proteomic analysis of collection and clinical-isolate strains of psudomonas aeruginosa

Comunicaciones a congreso

Correction: Core-substituted naphthalenediimides anchored on BiVO4 for visible light-driven water splitting

Correction for 'Core-substituted naphthalenediimides anchored on BiVO4 for visible light-driven water splitting' by Simelys Hernández et al., Green Chem., 2017, 19, 2448–2462

Microplastic pollution in sublittoral coastal sediments of a North Atlantic island: The case of La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain)

In this work, the microplastic content of sediments collected in July 2020 between 5 and 7 m depth was studied in four locations of La Palma island (Canary Islands, Spain). At each sampling location, three samples were taken parallel to the shoreline. The microplastic content in each sampling corer was studied every 2.5 cm depth after digestion with a H2O2 solution followed by flotation in a saturated NaCl solution. Visualization of the final filtrates under a stereomicroscope revealed that all the sediment samples evaluated contained mostly microfibers (98.3%) which were mainly white/colorless (86.0%) and blue (9.8%), with an average length of 2423 ± 2235 (SD) mm and an average concentration of 2682 ± 827 items per kg of dry weight, being the total number of items found 1,019. Fourier Transform Infrared microscopy analysis of 13.9% (n = 139) of the microfibers also showed that they were mainly cellulosic (81.3%). No significant differences were found between the depths of the sediment. However, significant differences were found between the number of fibers from the sampling sites at the east and west of the island. Such variability could be driven by the winds and ocean mesoscale dynamics in the area. This study confirms the wide distribution of microfibers in sediments from an oceanic island like La Palma, providing their first report in marine sediments of the Canary Islands.En prensa3,20

Epidemiology of lobomycosis-like disease in bottlenose dolphins <i>Tursiops</i> spp. from South America and southern Africa

We report on the epidemiology of lobomycosis-like disease (LLD), a cutaneous disorder evoking lobomycosis, in 658 common bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus from South America and 94 Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins T. aduncus from southern Africa. Photographs and stranding records of 387 inshore residents, 60 inshore non-residents and 305 specimens of undetermined origin (inshore and offshore) were examined for the presence of LLD lesions from 2004 to 2015. Seventeen residents, 3 non-residents and 1 inshore dolphin of unknown residence status were positive. LLD lesions appeared as single or multiple, light grey to whitish nodules and plaques that may ulcerate and increase in size over time. Among resident dolphins, prevalence varied significantly among 4 communities, being low in Posorja (2.35%, n = 85), Ecuador, and high in Salinas, Ecuador (16.7%, n = 18), and Laguna, Brazil (14.3%, n = 42). LLD prevalence increased in 36 T. truncatus from Laguna from 5.6% in 2007-2009 to 13.9% in 2013-2014, albeit not significantly. The disease has persisted for years in dolphins from Mayotte, Laguna, Salinas, the Sanquianga National Park and Bahía Málaga (Colombia) but vanished from the Tramandaí Estuary and the Mampituba River (Brazil). The geographical range of LLD has expanded in Brazil, South Africa and Ecuador, in areas that have been regularly surveyed for 10 to 35 yr. Two of the 21 LLD-affected dolphins were found dead with extensive lesions in southern Brazil, and 2 others disappeared, and presumably died, in Ecuador. These observations stress the need for targeted epidemiological, histological and molecular studies of LLD in dolphins, especially in the Southern Hemisphere

Evidence for distinct coastal and offshore communities of bottlenose dolphins in the north east Atlantic.

Bottlenose dolphin stock structure in the northeast Atlantic remains poorly understood. However, fine scale photo-id data have shown that populations can comprise multiple overlapping social communities. These social communities form structural elements of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) [corrected] populations, reflecting specific ecological and behavioural adaptations to local habitats. We investigated the social structure of bottlenose dolphins in the waters of northwest Ireland and present evidence for distinct inshore and offshore social communities. Individuals of the inshore community had a coastal distribution restricted to waters within 3 km from shore. These animals exhibited a cohesive, fission-fusion social organisation, with repeated resightings within the research area, within a larger coastal home range. The offshore community comprised one or more distinct groups, found significantly further offshore (>4 km) than the inshore animals. In addition, dorsal fin scarring patterns differed significantly between inshore and offshore communities with individuals of the offshore community having more distinctly marked dorsal fins. Specifically, almost half of the individuals in the offshore community (48%) had characteristic stereotyped damage to the tip of the dorsal fin, rarely recorded in the inshore community (7%). We propose that this characteristic is likely due to interactions with pelagic fisheries. Social segregation and scarring differences found here indicate that the distinct communities are likely to be spatially and behaviourally segregated. Together with recent genetic evidence of distinct offshore and coastal population structures, this provides evidence for bottlenose dolphin inshore/offshore community differentiation in the northeast Atlantic. We recommend that social communities should be considered as fundamental units for the management and conservation of bottlenose dolphins and their habitat specialisations

Spain: Underwater Exploration on a Narrow Continental Shelf

In spite of Spain’s long coastline (nearly 8000 km) and its well-established tradition in underwater archaeology, the prehistoric settlement of the continental shelf is practically unknown with very few finds. Underwater research has focused on naval archaeology and, until very recently, no attempt had been made to look for prehistoric underwater sites. In the past decade,new research projects have been launched to explore selected areas on the Cantabrian shelf and offshore of Gibraltar. This chapter summarises the currently available evidence of submerged prehistoric archaeology and the preliminary results of these new project