Population dynamics and adaptative strategies of Martiodrilus carimaguensis (Oligochaeta, Glossoscolecidae), a native species from the well-drained savannas of Colombia

#Martiodrilus carimaguensis (Oligochaeta, Glossoscolecidae) is a large, anecic native earthworm species which was found in natural and disturbed savannas in the Oxisols of the Colombian Llanos. Its population dynamics were studied in a native savanna, and in a 17 year old grazed grass-legume pasture where density and biomass were higher. Monthly cast deposition on the soil surface in the improved pasture was 38.4 x 10(exp 3) fresh casts/ha, eleven times more than in the native savanna. A strong relationship was found between numbers of #M. carimaguensis and numbers of fresh surface casts. Different patterns of adaptation to the dry season were observed for adults and juveniles. Adults are active for eight months whereas juveniles enter diapause 3-4 months earlier. The vertical distribution pattern of the earthworm population also shows marked seasonal changes. (Résumé d'auteur

Implementation of an extended ZINB model in the study of low levels of natural gastrointestinal nematode infections in adult sheep

Background: In this study, two traits related with resistance to gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) were measured in 529 adult sheep: faecal egg count (FEC) and activity of immunoglobulin A in plasma (IgA). In dry years, FEC can be very low in semi-extensive systems, such as the one studied here, which makes identifying animals that are resistant or susceptible to infection a difficult task. A zero inflated negative binomial model (ZINB) model was used to calculate the extent of zero inflation for FEC; the model was extended to include information from the IgA responses. Results: In this dataset, 64 % of animals had zero FEC while the ZINB model suggested that 38 % of sheep had not been recently infected with GIN. Therefore 26 % of sheep were predicted to be infected animals with egg counts that were zero or below the detection limit and likely to be relatively resistant to nematode infection. IgA activities of all animals were then used to decide which of the sheep with zero egg counts had been exposed and which sheep had not been recently exposed. Animals with zero FEC and high IgA activity were considered resistant while animals with zero FEC and low IgA activity were considered as not recently infected. For the animals considered as exposed to the infection, the correlations among the studied traits were estimated, and the influence of these traits on the discrimination between unexposed and infected animals was assessed. Conclusions: The model presented here improved the detection of infected animals with zero FEC. The correlations calculated here will be useful in the development of a reliable index of GIN resistance that could be of assistance for the study of host resistance in studies based on natural infection, especially in adult sheep, and also the design of breeding programs aimed at increasing resistance to parasites

Effect of self-healing additions on the development of mechanical strength of cement paste

Important research efforts have been recently focused on the development of self-healing cement composites. The healing mechanism, implemented within the material, must be automatically initiated as soon as the first signs of damage appear at the micro-scale. For doing so, two different additions have been developed to incorporate them simultaneously into the cementitious matrix: silica microcapsules containing an epoxy sealing compound (CAP) and nanosilica particles functionalized with amine groups (NS). As a first step to the development of a self-healing concrete with these two additions, their pozzolanic activity has been measured by an accelerated test. The high values of fixed lime obtained at 28 days (85% for CAP, 93% for NS and 88% for a mix of them) suggest that they are suitable for construction materials’ applications. Furthermore, the behaviour of the additions in an ordinary Portland cement paste with 20 wt.% of commercial micro-silica has been studied, considering the partial substitution of micro-silica by CAP, NS and their mix. High values of compressive strength (>60 MPa) have been obtained in all cases after 28 days of hydration. However, while the addition of CAP induces a reduction of the compressive strength of the 24% with respect to the reference material, the addition of NS gives rise to a slight enhancement of the strength (5%) due to a pozzolanic reaction confirmed by X-ray diffraction data. Finally, in the presence of both CAP and NS, the beneficial effect of the nanosilica is counteracted by the microcapsules and a reduction of 28% is obtained for the compressive strength

Short-term forecasting of intermodal freight using ANNs and SVR: Case of the Port of Algeciras Bay

[EN] Forecasting of future intermodal traffic demand is very important for decision making in ports operations management. The use of accurate prediction tools is an issue that awakens a lot of interest among transport researchers. Intermodal freight forecasting plays an important role in ports management and in the planning of the principal port activities. Hence, the study is carried out under the motivation of knowing that modeling the freight transport flows could facilitate the management of the infrastructure and optimize the resources of the ports facilities. The use of advanced models for freight forecasting is essential to improve the port level-service and competitiveness. In this paper, two forecasting-models are presented and compared to predict the freight volume. The models developed and tested are based on Artificial Neural Networks and Support Vector Machines. Both techniques are based in a historical data and these methods forecast the daily weight of the freight with one week in advance. The performance of the models is evaluated on real data from Ro-Ro freight transport in the Port of Algeciras Bay. This work proposes and compares different approaches to determine the best prediction. In order to select the best model a multicomparison procedure is developed using several statistical test. The results of the assessed models show a promising tool to predict Ro-Ro transport flows with accuracy.Moscoso López, J.; Turias, I.; Jimenez Come, M.; Ruiz-Aguilar, J.; Cerban, M. (2016). Short-term forecasting of intermodal freight using ANNs and SVR: Case of the Port of Algeciras Bay. En XII Congreso de ingeniería del transporte. 7, 8 y 9 de Junio, Valencia (España). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1501-1509. https://doi.org/10.4995/CIT2016.2015.3464OCS1501150

Effects of immersive and non-immersive virtual reality on the static and dynamic balance of stroke patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis

(1) Background: The development of new technologies means that the use of virtual reality is increasingly being implemented in rehabilitative approaches for adult stroke patients. Objective: To analyze the existing scientific evidence regarding the application of immersive and non-immersive virtual reality in patients following cerebrovascular incidents and their efficacy in achieving dynamic and static balance. (2) Data sources: An electronic search of the databases Medline, Cochrane Library, PEDro, Scopus, and Scielo from January 2010 to December 2020 was carried out using the terms physiotherapy, physical therapy, virtual reality, immersive virtual reality, non-immersive virtual reality, stroke, balance, static balance, and dynamic balance. Selection of studies: Randomized controlled trials in patients older than 18 developed with an adult population (>18 years old) with balance disorders as a consequence of suffering a stroke in the previous six months before therapeutic intervention, including exercises harnessing virtual reality in their interventions and evaluations of balance and published in English or Spanish, were included. A total of two hundred twenty-seven articles were found, ten of which were included for review and of these, nine were included in the subsequent meta-analysis. (3) Data extraction: Two authors selected the studies and extracted their characteristics (participants, interventions, and validation instruments) and results. The methodological quality of the studies was evaluated using the PEDro scale, and the risk of bias was determined using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool. Data synthesis: Of the selected studies, three did not show significant improvements and seven showed significant improvements in the intervention groups in relation to the variables. (4) Conclusions: Non-immersive virtual reality combined with conventional rehabilitation could be considered as a therapeutic option. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Self-employment. The Case of Spain

This article is a study on self-employment in Spain, and particularly on a target group: worker-members of small limited liability companies. Through the descriptive analysis of a sample of workers extracted from the Continuous Work History Sample (CWHS), on the one hand, we evaluate the con-ditions which determine the decision to become your own employer, and on the other hand, we reflect a number of socio-demographic characteristics related to the working life of our target group

Short-term effects of traffic noise on suicides and emergency hospital admissions due to anxiety and depression in Madrid (Spain)

Studies show a relationship between some mental illnesses and suicides and different environmental variables such as air pollution, characterized by stress at the neuropsychological level. Despite the fact that traffic noise is also a powerful neurological stressor, studies that relate traffic noise to these mental disorders are practically non-existent. The objective is to analyze the short-term impact that chemical air pollution, traffic noise and thermal extremes have on emergency hospital admissions due to anxiety, dementia and suicides in the city of Madrid. This ecological, longitudinal study uses generalized linear models with Poisson link to analyze the short-term impact of the average daily concentrations of chemical pollutants (NO2, PM10, PM2.5, O3), noise pollution indicators (Leqday, Leqnight and Leq24h) and temperatures during heat waves (Theat) and cold waves (Tcold) on daily admissions to emergency services in the city of Madrid from 2010 to 2013 due to anxiety (ICD-10: F32), depression (ICD-10: F40-F42) and suicide (ICD-10: X60-X84). The results show no association between any of the chemical pollutants considered and the dependent variables studied. On the contrary, the values of Leqday are associated with the three variables analyzed in lag 0 for the cases of anxiety and depression and in lag 1 for suicides, with RR: 1.20 (IC95% 1.14 1.26), RR: 1.11 (IC95% 1.06 1.16) and RR: 1.17 (IC95% 1.05 1.30), respectively, for increases of 1 dB(A) in the values of Leqday. An association was also found between Tcold and admissions for anxiety in lag 9 with RR: 1.62 (IC95% 1.18 2.22) for increases of 1 °C in the values of Tcold. Traffic noise can be considered an important risk factor related to the illnesses and anxiety and depression and for suicides in the city of Madrid, although new studies are needed to support the findings shown here.The authors gratefully acknowledge Project ENPY 376/18 and Project ENPY 107/18 grants from the Institute of Health Carlos III.S

Earthworm management in tropical agroecosystems

Data of 145 and 69 earthworm communities from managed and natural ecosystems, respectively, of four continents and 15 tropical countries were analysed. The aim of the study was to separate the influence of phylogenetic, environmental and agricultural factors on the structure of earthworm communities in agroecosystems, and to evaluate their relative importance in the whole soil macrofauna community. Earthworms comprise 40-90% of macrofaunal biomass in most ecosystems except for annually cropped systems. Three major conclusions were drawn from the analysis of community structure (regional analysis) : (i) crops were, independently of region, characterized by a loss of native species and by the dominance of exotic endogeics ; (ii) pastures were highly heterogenous in terms of native or exotic species dominance ; (iii) native species survived better in management ecosystems of India and Africa than in Mexico-Central America. Local analysis in selected countries indicated that, as a general rule, the intensity of agricultural practices is negatively correlated with the amount of native species and the total abundance and biomass of earthworms ; the only exception was found in the conversion of savannas to pastures, in Colombian llanos. (Résumé d'auteur