Advanced titanium scaffolds obtained by directional freeze-drying: on the influence of processing conditions

Ministry of Science and Innovation of Spain under Grant No. MAT2010-20855Junta de Andalucía (Spain) / FEDER (EU), through the project Ref. P12-TEP-140

Turismo Gastronómico Y Turismo De Masas: La Satisfacción De Los Turistas Con La Alimentación Que Reciben En Benidorm

Los cambios en las preferencias de los turistas hacen que la gastronomía forme parte de las nuevas modalidades de hacer turismo. No obstante, la atracción por degustar la comida típica u original de los destinos requieren de un turista interesado por conocer y desarrollar su paladar, así como, de un destino interesado en desarrollar un turismo gastronómico. Por ello, en esta investigación se presenta un análisis de la satisfacción de los turistas con la alimentación en Benidorm, España. El estudio se sustenta en el análisis cuantitativo y cualitativo derivado de las encuestas y entrevistas a los turistas que se encontraban en el sitio. En general, se encontró un nivel de satisfacción aceptable por parte del turista sobre la alimentación en Benidorm, sólo resalta la importancia de incorporar menús acordes a las necesidades de los turistas con alguna dificultad médica

Sex-related seasonal differences in the foraging strategy of the Kentish Plover

In species of birds with biparental care, each sex may have its own energy requirements and/or schedule for feeding, possibly leading the sexes to differ in foraging strategy. In estuaries, shorebirds such as the Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus alexandrinus) may forage on intertidal mudflats and in adjacent su- pratidal habitats during winter as well as during the breeding season. In this study, we analyzed the diet, use of foraging habitat, food-intake rate (biomass ingested per unit time), and time allocated to foraging by male and female Kentish Plovers at both seasons in an estuary near Cádiz, Spain, where intertidal mudflats and adjacent salt works are the main habitats for foraging. The plovers’ main prey was the ragworm (Nereis diversicolor), an intertidal polychaete that supplied more than 80% of the biomass consumed at each season. During the breeding season, both sexes increased their intake rate and decreased their daylight foraging time. By increasing the diurnal intake rate during the breeding season, the birds minimized their time spent foraging on the intertidal mudflats, allowing them to maximize the time for activities associated with breeding in the adjacent salt works. Therefore, the plovers solved the conflict between foraging on the mudflats and breeding in the salt works by shortening the foraging time on the mudflats, minimizing time away from the nesting areas. The sexes differed in the daylight time allocated to foraging, with females spending 2 hr less on foraging and concentrating their feeding activity into the central hours of low tideEn especies de aves con cuidado biparental, cada sexo puede tener sus propios requerimientos de energía y/o esquema de tiempo para la alimentación, lo cual podría conducir a diferencias en las estrategias de alimentación entre ambos sexos. En los estuarios, las especies de playeros como Charadrius alexandrinus pueden forrajear en fangos intermareales y en hábitats supramareales adyacentes tanto durante el invierno así como du- rante la época reproductiva. Aquí, analizamos la dieta, el uso de hábitat de forrajeo, la tasa de ingestión (biomasa ingerida por unidad de tiempo) y el tiempo dedicado al forrajeo por el macho y la hembra de C. alexandrinus du- rante ambas temporadas en una zona estuarina donde los fangos intermareales y las salinas adyacentes son las principales áreas de alimentación. La principal presa para C. alexandrinus fue un poliqueto (Nereis diversicolor), una presa intermareal que suplió más del 80% de la biomasa consumida en cada estación. Ambos sexos incremen- taron sus tasas de alimentación durante la época reproductiva, y disminuyeron sus tiempos diurnos de forrajeo. Por el incremento de la tasa de ingestión durante la época reproductiva, las aves minimizaron el tiempo que pasaron en los fangos intermareales, lo que les permitió maximizar el tiempo dedicado a las actividades de reproducción en las salinas adyacentes. Por lo tanto, el conflicto entre alimentarse en los fangos versus el desarrollo de las ac- tividades de reproducción (en las salinas), fue resuelto acortando el tiempo en los fangos, minimizando el tiempo fuera de las zonas de nidada. Hubo diferencias relacionadas con el sexo en el tiempo diurno dedicado al forrajeo: las hembras dedicaron dos horas menos a la alimentación y concentraron su actividad de alimentación en las horas centrales de la marea baja

Lattice scars: Surviving in an open discrete billiard

We study quantum systems on a discrete bounded lattice (lattice billiards). The statistical properties of their spectra show universal features related to the regular or chaotic character of their classical continuum counterparts. However, the decay dynamics of the open systems appear very different from the continuum case, their properties being dominated by the states in the band center. We identify a class of states ("lattice scars") that survive for infinite times in dissipative systems and that are degenerate at the center of the band. We provide analytical arguments for their existence in any bipartite lattice, and give a formula to determine their number. These states should be relevant to quantum transport in discrete systems, and we discuss how to observe them using photonic waveguides, cold atoms in optical lattices, and quantum circuits.Comment: 14 one-column pages, 6 figures. Watch appearance of scars during dynamical evolution on movies at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sCbQmYfF-E and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XZw4zZjrG0. v2: title changed; more details on experimental implementations. Accepted for publication by New J. Phy

An integrated model of structural equations with cognitive and environmental factors for the study of active commuting

This work was partially supported with funds from the FEDER Projects /Ministry for Science and Innovation, ECO2017-89452-R, and PGC2018-095786-B-I00, Spain.Introduction: The active commuting can be defined as the action of displacement to the educa-tional or work centre by way of any non-motorised means of transport, usually by walking or cycling. The aim of this study is to identify and evaluate cognitive and environmental factors for the active commuting. Methods: In order to propose a set of beliefs and attitudes that explain the main possible moti-vations for an individual to carry out the active commuting, a model based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour, health and environment is developed. To compute the results, a structural equations model is proposed instead of another standard regression technique, due to the use of multiple indicators for each latent construct. The proposed model permits to evaluate each of the aspects and to quantify their contribution to the global behavioural intention. Results: The computation of the structural equations model concludes that, for the intention to practise active commuting, the most influential variable is attitude, followed by health and environmental awareness. It is interesting to see that perceived behavioural control exerts a negative influence on the intention, while the subjective norm has no significant effect. Conclusions: From the results of this study can be induced that the perceived behavioural control, health, and environmental awareness exert a significant influence on attitude and intention to practice active commuting. Furthermore, the results also show that attitude influences as a pre-cursor to the intention of practicing and permit to rank the relative weight of each aspect: atti-tude, health and environmental awareness. Hence, political measures that publicise the benefits of active commuting in these particular aspects should have significant results in the promotion of this activity.Universidad Pablo de Olavid

Environmental Impact of Phosphogypsum-Derived Building Materials

The aim of the present work was to characterize the products obtained from the treatment of phosphogypsum residue by means of two recovery routes, and also to evaluate the concentrations of heavy metals and radionuclides in the materials obtained and their leachates. In this way, it is possible to determine how the most hazardous components of phosphogypsum behave during procedures until their stabilization through CO2 fixation. This study provides an initial estimate of the possibilities of reusing the resulting products from a health and safety risk standpoint and their potential polluting capacity. The phases resulting from the transformations were controlled, and the behaviour of standard mortars manufactured from the resulting paste lime was studied. In all cases, an additional control of the leachate products was performe

Evolution of the odorant-binding protein gene family in Drosophila

Odorant-binding proteins (OBPs) are encoded by a gene family involved in the perception of olfactory signals in insects. This chemosensory gene family has been advocated as a candidate to mediate host preference and host shifts in insects, although it also participates in other physiological processes. Remarkable differences in the OBP gene repertoire have been described across insect groups, suggesting an accelerated gene turnover rate. The genus Drosophila, is a valuable resource for ecological genomics studies since it comprises groups of ecologically diverse species and there are genome data for many of them. Here, we investigate the molecular evolution of this chemosensory gene family across 19 Drosophila genomes, including the melanogaster and repleta species groups, which are mostly associated with rotting fruit and cacti, respectively. We also compared the OBP repertoire among the closely related species of the repleta group, associated with different subfamilies of Cactaceae that represent disparate chemical challenges for the flies. We found that the gene family size varies widely between species, ranging from 39 to 54 candidate OBPs. Indeed, more than 54% of these genes are organized in clusters and located on chromosomes X, 2, and 5, with a distribution conserved throughout the genus. The family sizes in the repleta group and D. virilis (virilis-repleta radiation) were smaller than in the melanogaster group. We tested alternative evolutionary models for OBP family size and turnover rates based on different ecological scenarios. We found heterogeneous gene turnover rates (GR) in comparisons involving columnar cactus specialists, prickly pear specialists, and fruit dwellers lineages, and signals of rapid molecular evolution compatible with positive selection in specific OBP genes. Taking ours and previous results together, we propose that this chemosensory gene family is involved in host adaptation and hypothesize that the adoption of the cactophilic lifestyle in the repleta group accelerated the evolution of members of the family.Fil: Rondón Guerrero, Johnma José. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución; ArgentinaFil: Moreyra, Nicolás Nahuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución; ArgentinaFil: Pisarenco, Vadim A.. Universidad de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Rozas, Julio. Universidad de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Hurtado, Juan Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución; ArgentinaFil: Hasson, Esteban Ruben. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Ecología, Genética y Evolución de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución; Argentin

Estudio pedológico integral de los partidos de Magdalena y Brandsen (provincia de Buenos Aires)

En el presente estudio pedológico se describen, discuten e integran los resultados de dos levantamientos de suelos, ejecutados a nivel de "Reconocimiento” en los partidos de Magdalena y Brandsen, con un conjunto de investigaciones parciales llevadas a cabo por los autores en la cuenca del río Samborombón. A lo largo del texto se establecen criterios geomórficos para delimitar unidades de paisaje en la mencionada cuenca, se caracteriza la aptitud agrícola de los suelos, como así también, y sobre una base interpretativa de los factores de formación, los procesos pedogenéticos que determinan su estado y evolución actual. Se comparan diversos sistemas taxonómicos para facilitar el entendimiento de las relaciones pedogeográficas entre el área estudiada y otras de la región pampeana o bien de la República Argentina.The authors describe, discuss and interpret the results obtained-through out a reconaissance level soil survey in the Partidos of Brandsen and Magdalena, with some partial researches carried in the Samborombon River basin. Geomorphological criteria for delimitating landscape units in the basin were established; the agricultural capability of the soils was characterized, as well as on a interpretative basis, the factors of soil formation and the processes of pedogenesis which explain the stage and present evolution. Finally several taxonomical systems are compared in order to facilitate the understanding of pedogeographic relationships of the area studied and other areas of the Pampean region

Autoantibodies against the endothelial receptor of protein C are associated with acute myocardial infarction in young women

BACKGROUND: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is rare among young women. The search for unknown risk factors is warranted. Endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR) is largely present at the endothelial surface of large arteries. No studies about association of anti-EPCR autoantibodies (anti-EPCR) with AMI are available. METHODS: Plasma IgA, IgM and IgG anti-EPCR levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 165 women younger than 45 years who survived a first AMI and 165 healthy women, matched by age and geographical origin. RESULTS: Using the 90th percentile of IgA anti-EPCR in the control group, IgA anti-EPCR were independently associated with AMI after adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors (OR 5.1; 95% CI 1.7-15.6; P = 0.004). The risk apparently conferred by IgA anti-EPCR increased dose-dependently (P for trend =0.0002). IgM anti-EPCR were less consistently associated with AMI: a significant increase in the risk was found when women above the 90th percentile were compared with those in the lowest quartile (OR 3.6; 95% CI 1.2-11.5; P = 0.03). IgG anti-EPCR were similar in patients and controls. A total of 145 patients underwent coronary arteriography. IgA or IgM anti-EPCR were not different among patients with different degrees of atherosclerotic lesion (anova, P = 0.77 and 0.24, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: High levels of IgA and, to a lesser extent, IgM anti-EPCR, are associated with AMI in young women