The Tree Biodiversity Network (BIOTREE-NET): prospects for biodiversity research and conservation in the Neotropics

Biodiversity research and conservation efforts in the tropics are hindered by the lack of knowledge of the assemblages found there, with many species undescribed or poorly known. Our initiative, the Tree Biodiversity Network (BIOTREE-NET), aims to address this problem by assembling georeferenced data from a wide range of sources, making these data easily accessible and easily queried, and promoting data sharing. The database (GIVD ID NA-00-002) currently comprises ca. 50,000 tree records of ca. 5,000 species (230 in the IUCN Red List) from \u3e2,000 forest plots in 11 countries. The focus is on trees because of their pivotal role in tropical forest ecosystems (which contain most of the world\u27s biodiversity) in terms of ecosystem function, carbon storage and effects on other species. BIOTREE-NET currently focuses on southern Mexico and Central America, but we aim to expand coverage to other parts of tropical America. The database is relational, comprising 12 linked data tables. We summarise its structure and contents. Key tables contain data on forest plots (including size, location and date(s) sampled), individual trees (including diameter, when available, and both recorded and standardised species name), species (including biological traits of each species) and the researchers who collected the data. Many types of queries are facilitated and species distribution modelling is enabled. Examining the data in BIOTREE-NET to date, we found an uneven distribution of data in space and across biomes, reflecting the general state of knowledge of the tropics. More than 90% of the data were collected since 1990 and plot size varies widely, but with most less than one hectare in size. A wide range of minimum sizes is used to define a \u27tree\u27. The database helps to identify gaps that need filling by further data collection and collation. The data can be publicly accessed through a web application at http://portal.biotreenet.com. Researchers are invited and encouraged to contribute data to BIOTREE-NET

A global observational analysis to understand changes in air quality during exceptionally low anthropogenic emission

This global study, which has been coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization Global Atmospheric Watch (WMO/GAW) programme, aims to understand the behaviour of key air pollutant species during the COVID-19 pandemic period of exceptionally low emissions across the globe. We investigated the effects of the differences in both emissions and regional and local meteorology in 2020 compared with the period 2015–2019. By adopting a globally consistent approach, this comprehensive observational analysis focuses on changes in air quality in and around cities across the globe for the following air pollutants PM2.5, PM10, PMC (coarse fraction of PM), NO2, SO2, NOx, CO, O3 and the total gaseous oxidant (OX = NO2 + O3) during the pre-lockdown, partial lockdown, full lockdown and two relaxation periods spanning from January to September 2020. The analysis is based on in situ ground-based air quality observations at over 540 traffic, background and rural stations, from 63 cities and covering 25 countries over seven geographical regions of the world. Anomalies in the air pollutant concentrations (increases or decreases during 2020 periods compared to equivalent 2015–2019 periods) were calculated and the possible effects of meteorological conditions were analysed by computing anomalies from ERA5 reanalyses and local observations for these periods. We observed a positive correlation between the reductions in NO2 and NOx concentrations and peoples’ mobility for most cities. A correlation between PMC and mobility changes was also seen for some Asian and South American cities. A clear signal was not observed for other pollutants, suggesting that sources besides vehicular emissions also substantially contributed to the change in air quality. As a global and regional overview of the changes in ambient concentrations of key air quality species, we observed decreases of up to about 70% in mean NO2 and between 30% and 40% in mean PM2.5 concentrations over 2020 full lockdown compared to the same period in 2015–2019. However, PM2.5 exhibited complex signals, even within the same region, with increases in some Spanish cities, attributed mainly to the long-range transport of African dust and/or biomass burning (corroborated with the analysis of NO2/CO ratio). Some Chinese cities showed similar increases in PM2.5 during the lockdown periods, but in this case, it was likely due to secondary PM formation. Changes in O3 concentrations were highly heterogeneous, with no overall change or small increases (as in the case of Europe), and positive anomalies of 25% and 30% in East Asia and South America, respectively, with Colombia showing the largest positive anomaly of ~70%. The SO2 anomalies were negative for 2020 compared to 2015–2019 (between ~25 to 60%) for all regions. For CO, negative anomalies were observed for all regions with the largest decrease for South America of up to ~40%. The NO2/CO ratio indicated that specific sites (such as those in Spanish cities) were affected by biomass burning plumes, which outweighed the NO2 decrease due to the general reduction in mobility (ratio of ~60%). Analysis of the total oxidant (OX = NO2 + O3) showed that primary NO2 emissions at urban locations were greater than the O3 production, whereas at background sites, OX was mostly driven by the regional contributions rather than local NO2 and O3 concentrations. The present study clearly highlights the importance of meteorology and episodic contributions (e.g., from dust, domestic, agricultural biomass burning and crop fertilizing) when analysing air quality in and around cities even during large emissions reductions. There is still the need to better understand how the chemical responses of secondary pollutants to emission change under complex meteorological conditions, along with climate change and socio-economic drivers may affect future air quality. The implications for regional and global policies are also significant, as our study clearly indicates that PM2.5 concentrations would not likely meet the World Health Organization guidelines in many parts of the world, despite the drastic reductions in mobility. Consequently, revisions of air quality regulation (e.g., the Gothenburg Protocol) with more ambitious targets that are specific to the different regions of the world may well be required.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

La Red Internacional de Inventarios Forestales (BIOTREE-NET) en Mesoamérica: avances, retos y perspectivas futuras

Conservation efforts in Neotropical regions are often hindered by lack of data, since for many species there is a vacuum of information, and many species have not even been described yet. The International Network of Forest Inventory Plots (BIOTREE-NET) gathers and facilitates access to tree data from forest inventory plots in Mesoamerica, while encouraging data exchange between researchers, managers and conservationists. The information is organised and standardised into a single database that includes spatially explicit data. This article describes the scope and objectives of the network, its progress, and the challenges and future perspectives. The database includes above 50000 tree records of over 5000 species from more than 2000 plots distributed from southern Mexico through to Panama. Information is heterogeneous, both in nature and shape, as well as in the geographical coverage of inventory plots. The database has a relational structure, with 12 inter-connected tables that include information about plots, species names, dbh, and functional attributes of trees. A new system that corrects typographical errors and achieves taxonomic and nomenclatural standardization was developed using The Plant List (http://theplantlist.org/) as reference. Species distribution models have been computed for around 1700 species using different methods, and they will be publicly accessible through the web site in the future (http://portal.biotreenet.com). Although BIOTREE-NET has contributed to the development of improved species distribution models, its main potential lies, in our opinion, in studies at the community level. Finally, we emphasise the need to expand the network and encourage researchers willing to share data and to join the network and contribute to the generation of further knowledge about forest biodiversity in Neotropical regions

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Determining the maximum length of logical rules in a classifier and visual comparison of results

Supervised learning problems can be faced by using a wide variety of approaches supported in machine learning. In recent years there has been an increasing interest in using the evolutionary computation paradigm as the classifier search method, helping the technique of applied machine learning. In this context, the knowledge representation in form of logical rules has been one of the most accepted machine learning approaches, because of its level of expressiveness. This paper proposes an evolutionary framework for rule-based classifier induction and is based on the idea of sequential covering. We introduce genetic programming as the search method for classification-rules. From this approach, we have given results on subjects as maximum rule length, number of rules needed in a classifier and the rule intersection problem. The experiments developed on benchmark clinical data resulted in a methodology to follow in the learning method evaluation. Moreover, the results achieved compared to other methods have shown that our proposal can be very useful in data analysis and classification coming from the medical domain.•The method is based on genetic programming techniques to find rules holding each class in a dataset.•The method is approached to solve the problem of rule intersection from different classes.•The method states the maximum length of a rule to generalize.This work has been carried out under the iCIS project ( CENTRO-07-ST24-FEDER-0 020 03 ), which has been co-financed by QREN, in the scope of the Mais Centro Program and European Union’s FEDER. This work has also been partially supported by the Interreg V-A Spain-Portugal Program (PocTep) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the IOTEC project (Grant 0123 IOTEC 3 E). This work has also been supported by the Virtual-Ledgers: Virtual-Ledgers-Tecnologías DLT/Blockchain y Cripto-IOT Project, Junta de Castilla (SA267P18) y León and Project La desigualdad económica en la España contemporánea y sus efectos en los mercados, las empresas y el acceso a los recursos naturales y la tierra, Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MEIC HAR2016-75010-R). Reference

A Data Mining Approach Applied to Wireless Sensor Neworks in Greenhouses

[EN] This research presents an innovative multi-agent system based on virtual organizations. It has been designed to manage the information collected by wireless sensor networks for knowledge discovery and decision making in greenhouses. The developed multi-agent system allowed us to take decisions on the basis of the analysis of the historical data obtained from sensors. The proposed approach improves the efficiency of greenhouses by optimizing the use of resources

Shotgun Proteomics of Co-Cultured Leukemic and Bone Marrow Stromal Cells from Different Species as a Preliminary Approach to Detect Intercellular Protein Transfer

Cellular interactions within the bone marrow microenvironment modulate the properties of subsets of leukemic cells leading to the development of drug-resistant phenotypes. The intercellular transfer of proteins and organelles contributes to this process but the set of transferred proteins and their effects in the receiving cells remain unclear. This study aimed to detect the intercellular protein transfer from mouse bone marrow stromal cells (OP9 cell line) to human T-lymphoblasts (CCRF-CEM cell line) using nanoLC-MS/MS-based shotgun proteomics in a 3D co-culture system. After 24 h of co-culture, 1513 and 67 proteins from human and mouse origin, respectively, were identified in CCRF-CEM cells. The presence of mouse proteins in the human cell line, detected by analyzing the differences in amino acid sequences of orthologous peptides, was interpreted as the result of intercellular transfer. The transferred proteins might have contributed to the observed resistance to vincristine, methotrexate, and hydrogen peroxide in the co-cultured leukemic cells. Our results suggest that shotgun proteomic analyses of co-cultured cells from different species could be a simple option to get a preliminary survey of the proteins exchanged among interacting cells

Memorias: primer encuentro de la RED internacional de investigación en el marco de la X Jornada de Investigación 2019

ERII 2019 es el Primer Encuentro de la Red Internacional Universitaria para el Desarrollo de la Investigación y las Publicaciones Científicas, conformada por la Universidad Católica de Colombia, la Universidad Católica de Salta (Argentina), la Universidad de Monterrey (México) y la Universidad Gabriela Mistral (Chile). Esta red tiene como principal objetivo potenciar el desarrollo de la actividad investigativa, mediante la formalización de redes de investigadores, la promoción de actividades conjuntas, el diseño de planes y movilidad y el trabajo en una red editorial. La actividad académica fue un espacio abierto para compartir experiencias y resultados de investigación no solo de las universidades adscritas a la red, sino de otras instituciones que participaron en el evento. (Tomado de la fuente).1ra ediciónIntroducción ponencias I. Derecho y Ciencias Sociales Análisis del marco institucional vinculado a la implementación de las salvaguardas REDD+ en la Provincia de Salta, Argentina Guadalupe Zapata: intersticios en la construcción histórica fundacional de Pereira, Colombia La notificación por aviso como garantía al debido proceso y tutela judicial efectiva en el proceso monitorio colombiano: análisis en el marco de la Sentencia C-031/2019 Migración y prácticas territoriales de la comunidad boliviana en la ciudad de Salta, Argentina El derecho de infancia y adolescencia en Colombia: reflexiones sobre su estatuto jurídico-doctrinal La soberanía funcional en Colombia para los derechos humanos Agnición de los militares víctimas del conflicto armado en Colombia Elementos politológicos y jurídicos del voto en blanco, el voto nulo y el abstencionismo en las elecciones presidenciales de Ecuador 2017, Costa Rica 2018 y Colombia 2018 La democracia: ¿un fruto envenenado? Una propuesta de jerarquización de las democracias liberales Estudio sobre las relaciones de similitud, causalidad y simbólicas en niños de 3 a 13 años Garantías para el ejercicio de los derechos de los usuarios y estudiantes con discapacidad, enfocado en la inclusión desde el consultorio jurídico de CECAR II. Arte, Arquitectura, Urbanismo y Diseño La industrialización como motor de suburbanización y metropolización de Monterrey, México, en el siglo XX Reivindicación del campesinado desde sus prácticas y saberes: tradiciones en tiempos del posacuerdo en el Sumapaz (Colombia) Diseño geométrico de “calado” para potencializar la ventilación natural en edificaciones El Anfiteatro de la quebrada de Las Conchas: caracterización acústica direccional Estrategia de intervención urbana para la reconfiguración de las redes caminables del borde urbano. Caso de estudio: Sierra Morena, USME Instrumentos musicales del Caribe colombiano en vías de extinción: guandú, arco de boca y marimba de pierna Dispositivos de cambio: intervenciones colectivas en el borde urbano suroriental de Bogotá Creación de nuevos procesos y diseños para la arquitectura de América Latina con la ayuda de indicadores III. Ingeniería y Tecnología Diseño de inclusión tecnológica educativa a través del B-Learning y las TIC Diseño de soluciones tecnológicas a problemas del contexto local en región a través del semillero de investigación TECSIS de la Universidad de Caldas Aplicación de las tecnologías semánticas a la forensia digital: ontología del correo electrónico y su trazabilidad para el análisis forense M-Learning aplicado para estudio de mercados en la formulación de proyectos Análisis en la generación de caudales pico a partir del cambio de la cobertura vegetal en la cuenca Sardinata, departamento del Norte de Santander, Colombia Análisis de impactos ambientales provocados por el aprovechamiento de recursos naturales renovables: metodologías que desarrollan nuevas fuentes generadoras de energía en Panamá y Colombia Aplicación de un modelo unificado para arcillas y arenas a suelos típicos de la ciudad de Salta Estudio técnico para la planeación de la emisora radial de la Universidad Católica de Colombia con migración hacia radio digital La transferencia de las tecnologías limpias en la vivienda social en Brasil y Colombia Desarrollo de un contador Geiger-Müller para verificar la exposición a la radiación en salas de radiología convencional Diseño de un controlador tolerante a fallas en un vehículo de suspensión semiactiva IV. Ciencias de la Salud Biorremediación de residuos peligrosos generados por laboratorios de docencia de la Universidad Colegio Mayor de Cundinamarca Morbilidad en Ecuador, 2007-2016 El desplazamiento del metabolismo de atorvastatina es afectado por los polimorfismos SLCO1B1 y ABCB1 en la población mexicana Terapia ocupacional basada en la evidencia y razonamiento profesional en equipos interdisciplinares de tecnología de apoyo: prótesis impresas en 3D de la Corporación Fabrilab Vicisitudes actuales de la autoridad en las familias de Salta, Argentina Efecto de la lesión por leishmaniasis cutánea (Leishmania braziliensis, Leishmania amazonensis) en el nervio periférico y dermis en ratones Balb/C. Estudio in vivo Diseño y validación del cuestionario de gravedad social percibida del consumo de alcohol en adolescentes Diseño y construcción de una aplicación virtual para rehabilitación auditiva en adultos Revisión sistemática: propiedades psicométricas de los instrumentos utilizados para evaluar las actividades instrumentales de la vida diaria en joven, adulto y persona mayor V. Negocios, Ciencias Económicas y Administrativas Estudio de factibilidad para la conformación de una empresa prestadora de servicios para motocicletas en Manizales Oferta productiva del cacao colombiano en el posconflicto: estrategias para el aprovechamiento de oportunidades comerciales en el marco del acuerdo comercial entre Colombia y la Unión Europea VI. Educación y Humanidades La infantilización del estudiante universitario: origen, situación actual e implicaciones Promoción de competencias socioafectivas en el aula Análisis de la estructura curricular de la Licenciatura en Higiene y Seguridad en el Trabajo: el sistema modular La familia cristiana, una nueva buena para el tercer milenio: los Encuentros Mundiales de las Familias, de Juan Pablo II a Francisco (1994-2018) Perspectivas de la innovación educativa que caracterizan los trabajos de investigación de la Maestría en E-Learning de la Universidad Autónoma de Bucaramanga (Colombia) Análisis de las nuevas tendencias laborales y formativas del trabajador social de Uniminuto (Girardot) Articulación entre la educación religiosa escolar y el derecho a la libertad religiosa Análisis correlacional del aporte de la educación pregradual a la educación secundaria de los egresados del programa de Trabajo Social del 2018 del CRG Uniminuto El aprendizaje en la resignificación de la vida de las infancias Modelo teórico predictor de la retención estudiantil a partir del engagement en la Fundación Universitaria Los Libertadores La letra con sangre entra: castigo permitido en la educación escolar en Bogotá La diferencia en la educación pósteres I. Arte, Arquitectura, Urbanismo y Diseño Restructuración de los paisajes naturales presentes en los bordes urbanos de Bogotá ¿Paisaje, medioambiente y tecnología como bioarquitectura del paisaje? El equipamiento de culto en la construcción del borde urbano de la ciudad II. Ingeniería y Tecnología Nueva matriz para registrar la experiencia consolidada de los oferentes que contratan con el Estado en el sector de la infraestructura vial, en la empresa JOYCO S. A. S Seguridad a un ojo de distancia Sistema de radio sobre fibra para la transmisión de imágenes Estructuras en guadua (quiosco) y bambú (yurta)* Análisis de la utilización de fibras de guadua como refuerzo del concreto Laboratorios con simulación y con equipo real en la enseñanza de redes de computadoras en el nivel universitario Análisis bibliométrico de la correlación existente entre los tópicos de “identificadores de radiofrecuencia” y “gestión de cadena de suministros” como caso de estudio II. Ciencias de la Salud Presencia en manos y conocimiento de Staphylococcus aureus coagulasa positivo en estudiantes de áreas de la salud IV. Educación y Humanidades Del refugio de la virtualidad a la exposición del contacto real Conclusione