Phase-transfer function of the human eye and its influence on point-spread function and wave aberration.

The bidimensional phase-transfer function (PTF) of the human eye has been computed from aerial retinal images of a point test. These images were previously determined by using a recently developed hybrid optical-digital method. Actual PTF data have been obtained directly without linear variations with spatial frequency and have shown great variations among individual subjects. The influence of the PTF on the determination of the point-spread function and the wave-aberration function for emmetropized and slightly astigmatic subjects has been also evaluated. Finally, the effect of pupil size on the PTF was determined by computing these functions from the wave aberration. These results allow us to give a more thorough description of the optical image quality of the human eye and can be used as actual data in subsequent psychophysical studies.The authors thank M. Nieto-Vesperinas for his critical reading of the manuscript. This research was supported by the Comision Asesora de Investigaci6n Cientifica y T6cnica (grant 2520/83), Ministerio de Educaci6n y Ciencia, Spain.Peer Reviewe

Catálogo de los micromamíferos (Rodentia, Eulipotyphla, Chiroptera) del Cuaternario Superior Ibérico del Museu de Geologia de Barcelona, Spain

The present catalogue represents an attempt to list Middle–Upper Pleistocene and Holocene micromammal material deposited in the Museu de Geologia de Barcelona, coming from 12 Iberian Peninsula localities (ten from Catalonia, one from Castilla y León and one from Andalucia). It permits to observe changes in species geographical distribution as Iberomys cabrerae, Microtus oeconomus, Hystrix cristata or Citellus sp. with regard to their present location. By this way, we can observe the existence during the Middle–Upper Pleistocene of some today extinct species such as Pliomys lenki or Allocricetus bursae. Key words: Middle-Upper Pleistocene, Holocene, Micromammals, Palaeobiogeography, Museo de Geologia de Barcelona, Spain.En este trabajo se presenta una lista del material de micromamíferos del Pleistoceno Medio-Superior y Holoceno depositado en el Museo de Geología de Barcelona, perteneciente a 12 yacimientos de la Península Ibérica (diez de Cataluña, uno de Castilla y León y uno de Andalucía). Este listado nos permite observar cambios en la distribución de especies como Iberomys cabrerae, Microtus oeconomus, Hystrix cristata o Citellus sp. respecto a su actual situación geográfica. Así mismo, nos permite vislumbrar la existencia durante el Pleistoceno Medio–Superior de algunas especies actualmente extintas, como Pliomys lenki y Allocricetus bursae. Palabras clave: Pleistoceno Medio-Superior, Holoceno, Micromamíferos, Paleobiogeografía, Museu de Geologia de Barcelona, España

Birds from sima del elefante, atapuerca, spain: Palaeoecological implications in the oldest human bearing levels of the iberian peninsula

Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of Early Pleistocene sites has a particular interest as it sheds light on how the arriving of the first Europeans occurred, as well as on the nature of the relation between these humans and the ecosystems. Bird remains are useful tools for this purpose, because they are commonly represented in the assemblages and most taxa still exist, allowing a direct comparison between past and extant birds associations. Here we analyse the bird remains from the Early Pleistocene levels of the Sima del Elefante site (1.1 to 1.5 million years old). Almost 10.000 remains belonging to at least 26 different taxa have been included. The assemblage is dominated by corvids and has a mixed origin, with cave-dwelling taxa dying in the cave and other taxa being accumulated by predators. The Sima del Elefante avian assemblage provides the oldest record of several taxa in the Iberian Peninsula (Haliaeetus albicilla, Corvus pliocaenus). Besides, here we report the oldest evidence of Imperial Eagle in the Iberian Peninsula, prior to the separation of the oriental and Iberian populations. The assemblage composition suggests that open environmental conditions were dominant, with minor presence of woodlands and water bodies, which is congruent with some previous approaches by other proxies. The first humans occupying the Iberian Peninsula inhabited under Mediterranean climate conditions, which gradually deteriorated, as reflected by the avian turnover recorded at the middle Pleistocene Atapuerca assemblages. © 2021 Universita degli Studi di Milano. All rights reserved

Los Batanes (Biescas, Spain), a roost site for horseshoe bats in the Pyrenees during the late Pleistocene

Los Batanes C4 is a cave-site in the Spanish Pyrenees, the minimum sediment calendar age was determined to be 15, 234 ± 223 cal BP by radiocarbon dating. The cave opens on the northern bank of an eastern tributary of the River Gállego, at an altitude of 1025 m. The small vertebrates recorded are mainly bats, in order of abundance Rhinolophus euryale, R. ferrumequinum, Myotis sp. and Miniopterus schreibersii. The association suggests that at the time of the accumulation the climate was reasonably similar to the current climate; we situate it within a period of local retreat of the ice-cover in the Gállego Valley during the Lateglacial. This is the highest record of these species of Rhinolophus in the Iberian Quaternary, showing that the R. euryale altitudinal range was similar to its extant range during the favourable periods of the Lateglacial. This could indicate that this taxon was relatively quick in spreading into higher regions whenever climate conditions allowed it

Effectiveness of 3 COVID-19 vaccines in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infections, January–May 2021, Aragon, Spain

Reducing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission is a worldwide challenge; widespread vaccination could be one strategy for control. We conducted a prospective, population-based cohort study of 964, 258 residents of Aragon, Spain, during December 2020–May 2021. We used the Cox proportional-hazards model with vaccination status as the exposure condition to estimate the effectiveness of 3 coronavirus disease vaccines in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection. Pfizer-BioNTech had 20.8% (95% CI 11.6%–29.0%) vaccine effectiveness (VE) against infection after 1 dose and 70.0% (95% CI 65.3%–74.1%) after 2 doses, Moderna had 52.8% (95% CI 30.7%–67.8%) VE after 1 dose and 70.3% (95% CI 52.2%–81.5%) after 2 doses, and Oxford-AstraZeneca had 40.3% (95% CI 31.8%–47.7%) VE after 1 dose. All estimates were lower than those from previous studies. Results imply that, although high vaccination coverage remains critical to protect people from disease, it will be difficult to effectively minimize transmission opportunities

Human activities, biostratigraphy and past environment revealed by small-mammal associations at the chalcolithic levels of El Portalón de Cueva Mayor (Atapuerca, Spain)

The Chalcolithic levels of El Portalón de Cueva Mayor (Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain) offer a good opportunity to test whether the small-mammal contents of different archaeo-stratigraphical units may be useful to characterize them as independent entities. With that purpose, we studied representative samples of small-mammal remains from the two main contexts identified: the Early Chalcolithic (EC) funerary context and the Late Chalcolithic (LC) habitat/stabling context, with the latter comprising three different archaeological units according to their origin, namely prepared floors, activity floors and stabling surfaces or fumiers. Following the distribution of taxa in their respective contexts, we performed several statistical tests to check for significant discrepancies between archaeological units. The exclusive presence of certain taxa, together with the statistical difference in relative taxonomic ratios, points to the integrity and unpolluted condition of the EC context. The interspersed arrangement of the different LC context’s units made them prone to inter-pollution as they are not statistically different. The unexpected presence of Pliomys lenki and Chionomys nivalis in the prepared floors evidences their Upper Pleistocene allochthonous origin. The EC levels of El Portalón contribute the first Holocene records of nine taxa in the Sierra de Atapuerca. An environment dominated by woodland, shrubland and wet meadows, with moderate presence of grassland, inland wetlands and rocky areas, is inferred from the small-mammal association of the EC levels