Phthalates, organotin compounds and per-polyfluoroalkyl substances in semiconfined areas of the Spanish coast: occurrence, sources and risk assessment

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Feedback on feedback: eliciting learners’ responses to written feedback through student-generated screencasts

Despite the potential benefits of assignment feedback, learners often fail to use it effectively. This study examines the ways in which adult distance learners engage with written feedback on one of their assignments. Participants were 10 undergraduates studying Spanish at the Open University, UK. Their responses to feedback were elicited by means of student-generated screencast (Jing®) recordings in which students talked through the feedback written by their tutors. The recordings were analysed in terms of the students’ cognitive, affective and metacognitive responses to the tutors’ feedback. Results show that, while students do engage with tutor feedback and make active efforts to integrate it, they sometimes use ineffective strategies, especially when tutor and student make different assumptions about the role of feedback. The richness of the data obtained from the Feedback on feedback (F on F) method suggests that it has the potential to promote much needed feedback dialogue between students and tutors

A functional PTPN22 polymorphism associated with several autoimmune diseases is not associated with IgA deficiency in the Spanish population

BACKGROUND: The 1858C/T SNP of the PTPN22 gene has been associated with many autoimmune diseases, suggesting the existence of an inflammatory process common to all of them. We studied the association of that polymorphism with immunoglobulin A deficiency (IgAD) following a double approach: a case-control and a TDT study. METHODS: A total of 259 IgAD patients and 455 unrelated matched controls, and 128 families were used for each approach. Comparisons were performed using Chi-Square tests or Fisher's exact test when necessary. RESULTS: No association between the PTPN22 1858C/T SNP and IgA deficiency was found in any case (allelic frequencies 8% vs. 6% in patients and controls, respectively, OR= 1.14 (0.72–1.79), p= 0.56; TDT p = 0.08). CONCLUSION: The result obtained seems to reinforce the consideration of IgA deficiency as a primary immunodeficiency rather than an autoimmune disease

Autophagy activation by resveratrol reduces severity of experimental rheumatoid arthritis

Instituto de Salud Carlos III; RETIC‐RIER RD16/0012/0002Instituto de Salud Carlos III; PI12/02771Instituto de Salud carlos III; AGRUP2015/05Instituto de Salud Carlos III; AGRUP2018/0

Application of microsatellite markers to the management of farmed stocks of turbot Scophthalmus maximus (L., 1758)

In the present study, eight microsatellite loci were used to estimate genetic relatedness and pedigree determination in turbot Scophthalmus maximus (L., 1758). Through genotypic analysis of broodstocks and their progenies, from two different turbot hatcheries, the capacity of these loci to correctly classify individuals as related or non-related was examined. Relatedness coefficients among related and non-related individuals presented means close to those theoretically expected, and the percentages of related individuals included in all relatedness coefficients found to be below the R = 0 value ranged from 0% (hatchery A) to 29 % (hatchery B). The identification of both parents for each individual was possible in more than 80 % of the cases from hatchery A, but only 41% of those from hatchery B.Se utilizaron ocho loci microsatélites en la estimación de relaciones genéticas y determinación de pedigríes en rodaballo Scophthalmus maximus (L., 1758). Mediante el análisis de los genotipos de reproductores y descendientes de dos piscifactorías se investigó la capacidad de los loci para clasificar correctamente a los individuos como emparentados o no. Las distribuciones de los coeficientes de relación genética (R) entre individuos emparentados y no relacionados exhiben medias cercanas a las esperadas teóricamente y el porcentaje de individuos emparentados que forman el total de coeficientes de relación genética que se encuentran por debajo del valor R = 0 oscilan entre el 0 % (estación A) y el 29 % (estación B). Así mismo, la identificación correcta de ambos parentales para cada descendiente fue posible en más del 80 % de los casos en la estación A y en sólo el 41 % en la estación B.Instituto Español de Oceanografí

Re-establishment of the genus Pseudalbizzia (Leguminosae, Caesalpinioideae, mimosoid clade): the New World species formerly placed in Albizia

Following recent mimosoid phylogenetic and phylogenomic studies demonstrating the non-monophyly of the genus Albizia, we present a new molecular phylogeny focused on the neotropical species in the genus, with much denser taxon sampling than previous studies. Our aims were to test the monophyly of the neotropical section Arthrosamanea, resolve species relationships, and gain insights into the evolution of fruit morphology. We perform a Bayesian phylogenetic analysis of sequences of nuclear internal and external transcribed spacer regions and trace the evolution of fruit dehiscence and lomentiform pods. Our results find further support for the non-monophyly of the genus Albizia, and confirm the previously proposed segregation of Hesperalbizia, Hydrochorea, Balizia and Pseudosamanea. All species that were sampled from section Arthrosamanea form a clade that is sister to a clade composed of Jupunba, Punjuba, Balizia and Hydrochorea. We find that lomentiform fruits are independently derived from indehiscent septate fruits in both Hydrochorea and section Arthrosamanea. Our results show that morphological adaptations to hydrochory, associated with shifts into seasonally flooded habitats, have occurred several times independently in different geographic areas and different lineages within the ingoid clade. This suggests that environmental conditions have likely played a key role in the evolution of fruit types in Albizia and related genera. We resurrect the name Pseudalbizzia to accommodate the species of section Arthrosamanea, except for two species that were not sampled here but have been shown in other studies to be more closely related to other ingoid genera and we restrict the name Albizia s.s. to the species from Africa, Madagascar, Asia, Australia, and the Pacific. Twenty-one new nomenclatural combinations in Pseudalbizzia are proposed, including 16 species and 5 infraspecific varietal names. In addition to the type species Pseudalbizzia berteroana, the genus has 17 species distributed across tropical regions of the Americas, including the Caribbean. Finally, a new infrageneric classification into five sections is proposed and a distribution map of the species of Pseudalbizzia is presented

Radar interferometry techniques for the study of ground subsidence phenomena: a review of practical issues through cases in Spain

Subsidence related to multiple natural and human-induced processes affects an increasing number of areas worldwide. Although this phenomenon may involve surface deformation with 3D displacement components, negative vertical movement, either progressive or episodic, tends to dominate. Over the last decades, differential SAR interferometry (DInSAR) has become a very useful remote sensing tool for accurately measuring the spatial and temporal evolution of surface displacements over broad areas. This work discusses the main advantages and limitations of addressing active subsidence phenomena by means of DInSAR techniques from an end-user point of view. Special attention is paid to the spatial and temporal resolution, the precision of the measurements, and the usefulness of the data. The presented analysis is focused on DInSAR results exploitation of various ground subsidence phenomena (groundwater withdrawal, soil compaction, mining subsidence, evaporite dissolution subsidence, and volcanic deformation) with different displacement patterns in a selection of subsidence areas in Spain. Finally, a cost comparative study is performed for the different techniques applied.The different research areas included in this paper has been supported by the projects: CGL2005-05500-C02, CGL2008-06426-C01-01/BTE, AYA2 010-17448, IPT-2011-1234-310000, TEC-2008-06764, ACOMP/2010/082, AGL2009-08931/AGR, 2012GA-LC-036, 2003-03-4.3-I-014, CGL2006-05415, BEST-2011/225, CGL2010-16775, TEC2011-28201, 2012GA-LC-021 and the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship to PJG

Interleukin-10 polymorphisms in Spanish IgA deficiency patients: a case-control and family study

BACKGROUND: IgA deficiency (IgAD) is the most common primary immunodeficiency in Caucasians. Genetic and environmental factors are suspected to be involved in the development of the disease. Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is a cytokine with stimulatory activity on immunoglobulin production and it may be an important regulator in IgAD pathogenesis. The IL-10 gene contains several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and two polymorphic microsatellites located in the 5'-flanking region. Our aim was to ascertain if any of these polymorphic markers are associated or linked to IgAD in Spanish patients. METHODS: We genotyped 278 patients with IgAD and 573 ethnically matched controls for the microsatellites IL-10R and IL-10G and for three single nucleotide polymorphisms at positions -1082, -819 and -592 in the proximal promoter of the gene. We also included in this study the parents of 194 patients in order to study the IL-10 haplotypes transmitted and not transmitted to the affected offspring. RESULTS: The only allele where a significant difference was observed in the comparison between IgA deficiency patients and controls was the IL-10G12 allele (OR = 1.58 and p = 0.021). However, this p value could not withstand a Bonferroni correction. None of the IL-10R or promoter SNP alleles was found at a different frequency when patients were compared with controls. CONCLUSION: Our data do not show any significant difference in IL-10 polymorphism frequencies between control and IgAD patient samples. Their haplotype distribution among patients and controls was also equivalent and therefore these microsatellites and SNPs do not seem to influence IgAD susceptibility

An analysis and proposal for the work of social workers in psychopedagogical services in schools in the Valencian Autonomous Community

Los Trabajadores Sociales de Educación de la provincia de Alicante nos planteamos la necesidad de actualizar las funciones que la normativa de la, denominada en su día, Conselleria de Educación y Ciencia nos marca, dentro de los Servicios Psicopedagógicos Escolares (SPE) y Gabinetes Psicopedagógicos Municipales (GPM) de la Comunidad Autónoma Valenciana. Los motivos vienen determinados por considerar una normativa obsoleta (Orden 10 de marzo de 1995), una realidad social y educativa cambiante que determinan nuevas demandas hacia el trabajador social de educación, y la configuración de un perfil profesional que nos diferencie de otros profesionales que también intervienen en el ámbito socio-educativo. Este documento es el resultado del trabajo realizado inicialmente por un grupo de trabajadores sociales de educación (a partir de ahora TRASO) de la Provincia de Alicante y consensuado, finalmente, en el I Encuentro de Trabajadores Sociales de Educación de la Comunidad Autónoma Valenciana en diciembre de 2016.As social workers in education in the province of Alicante we consider it necessary to update our roles as described in the regulations of the Regional Council of Education and Science, within the School Psychopedagogical Services and the Municipal Educational Psychopedagogical Services of the Autonomous Community of Valencia. We propose these changes because the regulations are outdated (1995), and because of the need to reflect the changing educational and social reality. In addition, the work of social workers in the educational field has changed, and social workers need their own professional profile that is differentiated from that of other professionals who work in the field of education. This document is the result of the work of a group of social workers in the educational field in the province of Alicante. It was approved by the first meeting of social workers in the educational field in the Autonomous Community of Valencia in December of 2016