Inter-annual variation in the plant-pollinator network of a rupicolous plant community

Pollination networks are a representation of the interactions between the plant and pollinator communities in a particular location. Communities change in composition and structure from year to year, and therefore their interactions. These changes may affect not only the identity and strength (frequency) of the interactions, but also structure of the interaction networks. In this study, we analyse the variation over three years of a plant community, its pollinators and the resulting interactions. Because the community is restricted to a very particular rupicolous habitat, we expect year to year variation to be less pronounced than in other plant-pollinator communities.Les xarxes de pol·linització representen les interaccions entre la planta i les comunitats de pol·linitzadors en un lloc concret. Les comunitats canvien de composició i estructura d'un any a altre, i per tant les seves interaccions. Aquests canvis poden afectar no només la identitat i la força (freqüència) de les interaccions, sinó també l'estructura de les xarxes d'interacció. En aquest estudi, analitzem la variació de la comunitat vegetal durant tres anys, els seus pol·linitzadors i les interaccions resultants. Com que la comunitat està restringida a un hàbitat rupícola molt particular, esperem que la variació any a any sigui menys pronunciada que en altres comunitats de pol·linitzadors vegetals

Peritumoral immune infiltrates in primary tumours are not associated with the presence of axillary lymph node metastasis in breast cancer: a retrospective cohort study

Background. The axillary lymph nodes (ALNs) in breast cancer patients are the body regions to where tumoral cells most often first disseminate. The tumour immune response is important for breast cancer patient outcome, and some studies have evaluated its involvement in ALN metastasis development. Most studies have focused on the intratumoral immune response, but very few have evaluated the peritumoral immune response. The aim of the present article is to evaluate the immune infiltrates of the peritumoral area and their association with the presence of ALN metastases. Methods. The concentration of 11 immune markers in the peritumoral areas was studied in 149 patients diagnosed with invasive breast carcinoma of no special type (half of whom had ALN metastasis at diagnosis) using tissue microarrays, immunohistochemistry and digital image analysis procedures. The differences in the concentration of the immune response of peritumoral areas between patients diagnosed with and without metastasis in their ALNs were evaluated. A multivariate logistic regression model was developed to identify the clinical-pathological variables and the peritumoral immune markers independently associated with having or not having ALN metastases at diagnosis. Results. No statistically significant differences were found in the concentrations of the 11 immune markers between patients diagnosed with or without ALN metastases. Patients with metastases in their ALNs had a higher histological grade, more lymphovascular and perineural invasion and larger-diameter tumours. The multivariate analysis, after validation by bootstrap simulation, revealed that only tumour diameter (OR = 1.04; 95% CI [1.00-1.07]; p = 0.026), lymphovascular invasion (OR = 25.42; 95% CI [9.57-67.55]; p<0.001) and histological grades 2 (OR = 3.84; 95% CI [1.11-13.28]; p = 0.033) and 3 (OR = 5.18; 95% CI [1.40-19.17]; p = 0.014) were associated with the presence of ALN metastases at diagnosis. This study is one of the first to study the association of the peritumoral immune response with ALN metastasis. We did not find any association of peritumoral immune infiltrates with the presence of ALN metastasis. Nevertheless, this does not rule out the possibility that other peritumoral immune populations are associated with ALN metastasis. This matter needs to be examined in greater depth, broadening the types of peritumoral immune cells studied, and including new peritumoral areas, such as the germinal centres of the peritumoral tertiary lymphoid structures found in extensively infiltrated neoplastic lesions

Comparación de varios métodos de estudio de ritmos de actividad recolectora en hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

En aquest treball es descriuen els resultats obtinguts amb cinc mètodes d'estudi de ritmes d'activitat de les colònies de formigues: seguiment a l'entrada del niu, recompte en pistes, registre d'obreres en fonts d'aliment, esquers i trampes de caiguda. S'analitzen els avantatges i inconvenients de cada un dels mètodes.Results obtained with five methods of study of activity rhythms in ants are described. The methods are: observation at the nest entry, counting the ants on the trails, observation of the workers at the food sources, baits and pitfall traps. Advantages and disadvantages of each one of these methods have been analyzed.En este trabajo se describen los resultados del estudio de los ritmos de actividad de distintas especies de hormigas obtenidos mediante cinco métodos distintos: seguimiento en la entrada del nido, recuento en pistas, registro de obreras en las fuentes de alimento, cebos y trampas de caída. Se analizan las ventajas e inconvenientes de cada uno de ellos

cDf International Congress : proceedings : actes, actas : actes, Barcelona Jun. 2013

El Congrés Internacional coupDefouet Barcelona 2013 ha estat una iniciativa de l'Art Nouveau European Route – Ruta Europea del Modernisme, organitzada per l'Institut del Paisatge Urbà de l'Ajuntament de Barcelona i el grup de recerca GRACMON de la Universitat de BarcelonaCoordinació: Lluís Bosch, Mireia Freixa.[eng] In 2013 the magazine coupDefouet reached its first decade of existence. As a way of celebrating this, the Art Nouveau European Route – the association of cities and other local institutions for the promotion and diffusion of Art Nouveau heritage that created the magazine – organised a magnificent international congress as a framework for scientific exchange and raising public awareness. The first coupDefouet International Congress on Art Nouveau was held in Barcelona, the city from which coupDefouet is published and one of the undisputable world capitals of Art Nouveau. This volume of the Singularitats series comprises the proceedings of that event.[cat] L’any 2013 va fer deu anys de l’aparició de coupDefouet, la revista de la Ruta Europea del Modernisme, una associació de municipis i altres entitats locals per a la promoció i la difusió del patrimoni modernista o Art Nouveau. Per commemorar-ho, s’organitzà un congrés internacional amb l’objectiu de contribuir al coneixement científic i la difusió d’aquest moviment artístic. El primer Congrés Internacional coupDefouet se celebrà a Barcelona, la ciutat en què s’edita coupDefouet i una de les capitals indiscutibles de l’Art Nouveau. En aquest volum de Singularitats s’apleguen les actes d’aquell esdeveniment