Overexploitation and water quality in the Crevillente aquifer (Alicante, SE Spain)

The Crevillente aquifer is a karstic aquifer, situated in Alicante province in the SE of Spain. The aquifer basically comprises a series of Jurassic limestones and dolomites, belonging to the Betic Cordillera. Intense exploitation of the aquifer started in the early 1960s. Exploitation was initially concentrated in two sectors of the Sierra de Crevillente and, years later, extended to a third sector. As a consequence of abstractions that were much greater than recharge into the system, a continual drop in the water level persisted for several decades. These abstractions have occasionally caused local dewatering over depths of more than 300 m. From a hydrogeological point of view, the aquifer dewatering in one of the sectors was accompanied by increased mineralization and a fall in quality of the groundwater, and several boreholes had to be abandoned. In recent years, the degree to which the aquifer is overexploited has fallen considerably, and it appears to have entered a new hydrodynamic stage. New hydrogeochemical characterisations have been carried out, which indicate that the aquifer water is relatively strongly mineralised due, fundamentally, to the dissolution of evaporite rocks. On the other hand, deterioration in water quality as a consequence of the degree of overabstraction can also be confirmedDepto. de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y PaleontologíaFac. de Ciencias GeológicasTRUEGeneralitat ValencianaUNESCOpu

Capacidad aeróbica, felicidad y satisfacción con la vida en adolescentes españoles

Analizar la asociación entre capacidad aeróbica, felicidad subjetiva y satisfacción con la vida en adolescentes. Método: Participaron 388 adolescentes (207 mujeres) de 12-18 años de edad. La capacidad aeróbica se evaluó mediante el test de 20 metros de ida y vuelta. La felicidad subjetiva y la satisfacción con la vida se evaluaron mediante las escalas Subjective Happiness Scale y Satisfaction With Life Scale, respectivamente. Se midió el peso y la talla de los adolescentes y se calculó el índice de masa corporal (IMC). Los adolescentes indicaron el nivel de estudios de la madre. Resultados: Los análisis de regresión lineal mostraron que la capacidad aeróbica se asocia positivamente con felicidad subjetiva (ß no estandarizada = .09 ± .03, r = .128, p = .013) y satisfacción con la vida (ß no estandarizada = .31 ± .13, r = .118, p = .022), independientemente del sexo, IMC y estudios de la madre. Conclusión: Los resultados de este estudio sugieren que los adolescentes que tienen una mejor capacidad aeróbica también son más felices y tienen una mayor satisfacción con la vida. Hacen falta estudios de intervención para corroborar si un programa dirigido a la mejora de la capacidad aeróbica puede también influir en el nivel de felicidad y satisfacción vital en adolescentes.To analyse the interrelations among cardiorespiratory fitness, subjective happiness and satisfaction with life in adolescents. Method: The study was based on a total of 388 Spanish adolescents (207 females) aged 12-18. Cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed by means of the 20-metre shuttle run test. Subjective happiness and satisfaction with life were assessed using the Subjective Happiness Scale and Satisfaction with Life Scale respectively. The adolescents' height and weight were measured and their body mass index (BMI) calculated. They were asked to report the educational level of the mother. Results: The linear regression analysis showed that cardiorespiratory fitness was positively associated with subjective happiness (ß non standardized = .09 ± .03, r = .128, p = .013) and satisfaction with life (ß non standardized = .31 ± .13, r = .128, p = .022), regardless of the subjects' sex, BMI, and educational level of the mother. Conclusion: These findings suggest that adolescents with a good level of cardiorespiratory fitness are happier and more satisfied with life. Intervention studies are needed to confirm whether an intervention programme aimed at improving aerobic performance might also lead to improvements in adolescents' level of happiness and satisfaction with life

Evaluación citológica y microbiológica de lavados uterinos en bovinos con problemas reproductivos (estudio preliminar)

RESUMEN Objetivo. Determinar las características citológicas y microbiológicas de lavados uterinosde bajo volúmen en hembras con problemas reproductivos en dos hatos del AltiplanoCundiboyacense. Materiales y métodos. Se evaluaron 21 muestras de lavados uterinosde vacas con historia de problemas reproductivos procedentes de dos hatos lecheros, enel primer hato ubicado en Sibaté (Cundinamarca) se muestrearon 10 animales y en elsegundo ubicado en Ventaquemada (Boyacá) se obtuvieron las 11 muestras restantes. Serealizó evaluación macroscópica y microscópica de cada uno de los lavados uterinos; parala evaluación citológica se utilizaron las tinciones de Gram y Wright. La determinación de laflora bacteriana se realizó mediante técnicas estándar en microbiología para la identificaciónde bacterias no exigentes, adicionalmente se realizaron pruebas de sensibilidad por latécnica de difusión de Kirby-bauer. Resultados. En la citología se observaron bacilosy cocos gram positivos, células epiteliales de descamación uterina (CEDU) y respuestainflamatoria (RI) mediada por polimorfonucleares (PMN). Los aislamientos bacterianoscorrespondieron a Lactobacillus sp como flora bacteriana normal del tracto genital (16.66%)y Klebsiella sp como flora acompañante (16.66%); adicionalmente se aislaron bacteriaspatógenas causantes de problemas reproductivos como Streptococcus sp. β hemolítico(33.33%), Streptococcus sp α hemolítico (50%) y Streptococcus sp. γ hemolítico (50%)y Arcanobacterium pyogenes (Corynebacterium-Actinomyces pyogenes) (16.66%); en un9.52% de las muestras se observaron espiroquetas. Conclusiones. Se observó una relacióndirecta entre el aspecto macroscópico de los lavados uterinos, la respuesta citológica y elaislamiento de bacterias

A fibrin coating method of polypropylene meshes enables the adhesion of menstrual blood-derived mesenchymal stromal cells: a new delivery strategy for stem cell-based therapies

Polypropylene (PP) mesh is well-known as a gold standard of all prosthetic materials of choice for the reinforcement of soft tissues in case of hernia, organ prolapse, and urinary incontinence. The adverse effects that follow surgical mesh implantation remain an unmet medical challenge. Herein, it is outlined a new approach to allow viability and adhesion of human menstrual blood-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MenSCs) on PP surgical meshes. A multilayered fibrin coating, based on fibrinogen and thrombin from a commercial fibrin sealant, was optimized to guarantee a homogeneous and stratified film on PP mesh. MenSCs were seeded on the optimized fibrin-coated meshes and their adhesion, viability, phenotype, gene expression, and immunomodulatory capacity were fully evaluated. This coating guaranteed MenSC viability, adhesion and did not trigger any change in their stemness and inflammatory profile. Additionally, MenSCs seeded on fibrin-coated meshes significantly decreased CD4+ and CD8+ T cell proliferation, compared to in vitro stimulated lymphocytes (p < 0.0001). Hence, the proposed fibrin coating for PP surgical meshes may allow the local administration of stromal cells and the reduction of the exacerbated inflammatory response following mesh implantation surgery. Reproducible and easy to adapt to other cell types, this method undoubtedly requires a multidisciplinary and translational approach to be improved for future clinical uses.This work was supported by: SANTANDER BANK: “Convenio de colaboración empresarial en actividades de interés general” to F.M.; FUNDAÇÃO PARA A CIÊNCIA E A TECNOLOGIA (FCT): post-doctoral contract CEECIND/01026/2018 to J.M.S.; INSTITUTO DE SALUD CARLOS III (ISCIII): a “PFIS” contract (FI19/00041) to M.Á.P., a “Sara Borrell” grant (CD19/00048) to E.L.; a “Miguel Servet I” grant (MS17/00021), co-funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) “Investing in your future”, and projects CP17/00021 and PI18/0911, co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) “A way to make Europe” to J.G.C.; a “CIBERCV” grant (CB16/11/00494), co-funded by the ERDF to F.M.S.-M; JUNTA DE EXTREMADURA, CONSEJERÍA DE ECONOMÍA, CIENCIA Y AGENDA DIGITAL: project IB20184 (co-funded by ERDF) to E.L. and M.P.; grant GR18199, co-funded by the ERDF, to F.M.S.-M.; contracts TA18054 to I.J. and TA18011 to J.J.L. (cofinanced by FEDER)

An optical/NIR survey of globular clusters in early-type galaxies. I. Introduction and data reduction procedures

Context: The combination of optical and near-infrared (NIR) colours has the potential to break the age/metallicity degeneracy and offers a better metallicity sensitivity than optical colours alone. Previous studies of extragalactic globular clusters (GCs) with this colour combination, however, have suffered from small samples or have been restricted to a few galaxies. Aims: We compile a homogeneous and representative sample of GC systems with multi-band photometry to be used in subsequent papers where ages and metallicity distributions will be studied. Methods: We acquired deep K-band images of 14 bright nearby early-type galaxies. The images were obtained with the LIRIS near-infrared spectrograph and imager at the William Herschel Telescope (WHT) and combined with optical ACS g and z images from the Hubble Space Telescope public archive. Results: For the first time GC photometry of 14 galaxies are observed and reduced homogeneously in this wavelength regime. We achieved a limiting magnitude of K~20-21. For the majority of the galaxies we detect about 70 GCs each. NGC4486 and NGC4649, the cluster-richest galaxies in the sample contain 301 and 167 GCs, respectively. We present tables containing coordinates, photometry and sizes of the GCs available.Comment: A&A accepted, 18 pages, 13 figure

The starburst-active galactic nucleus connection in the merger galaxy Mrk 938: An infrared and X-ray view

Mrk 938 is a luminous infrared (IR) galaxy in the local Universe believed to be the remnant of a galaxy merger. It shows a Seyfert 2 nucleus and intense star formation according to optical spectroscopic observations. We have studied this galaxy using new Herschel far-IR imaging data in addition to archival X-ray, UV, optical, near-IR and mid-IR data. Mid- and far-IR data are crucial to characterize the starburst contribution, allowing us to shed new light on its nature and to study the coexistence of active galactic nuclei (AGN) and starburst activity in the local Universe. The decomposition of the mid-IR Spitzer spectrum shows that the AGN bolometric contribution to the mid-IR and total IR luminosity is small [Lbol(AGN)/LIR ? 0.02], which agrees with previous estimations. We have characterized the physical nature of its strong IR emission and constrained it to a relatively compact emitting region of ?2 kpc. It is in this obscured region where most of the current star formation activity is taking place as expected for luminous IR galaxies. We have used Herschel imaging data for the first time to constrain the cold dust emission with unprecedented accuracy. We have fitted the integrated far-IR spectral energy distribution and derived the properties of the dust, obtaining a dust mass of 3 × 107 M . The far-IR is dominated by emission at 35 K, consistent with dust heated by the ongoing star formation activityThanks to F. Schweizer for kindly providing the optical image of Mrk 938, to J. Gallimore for providing the MIPS SED data, and to H. Krimm and W. Baumgartner for the analysis of the BAT ob- servations. PE, AA-H and MP-S acknowledge support from the Spanish Plan Nacional de Astronom ́ıa y Astrof ́ısica under grant AYA2009-05705-E. AA-H and MP-S acknowledge support under grant AYA2010-21161-C02-01. MP-S acknowledges support from the CSIC under grant JAE-Predoc-2007. AMP-G acknowledges support by the Spanish Plan Nacional de Astronom ́ıa y Astrof ́ısica under the grant AYA2008-06311-CO2-01. CRA acknowledges fi- nancial support from STFC (ST/G001758/1) and from the Span- ish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICINN) through project Consolider-Ingenio 2010 Programme grant CSD2006-00070: First Science with the GTC. MP acknowledges Junta de Andaluc ́ıa and Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through projects PO8- TIC-03531 and AYA2010-15169. PACS has been developed by a consortium of institutes led by MPE (Germany) and including UVIE (Austria); KU Leuven, CSL, IMEC (Belgium); CEA, LAM (France); MPIA (Germany); INAF- IFSI/OAA/OAP/OAT, LENS, SISSA (Italy) and IAC (Spain). This development has been supported by the funding agencies BMVIT (Austria), ESA-PRODEX (Belgium), CEA/CNES (France), DLR (Germany), ASI/INAF (Italy) and CICYT/MCYT (Spain). SPIRE has been developed by a consortium of institutes led by Cardiff University (UK) and including University of Lethbridge (Canada); NAOC (China); CEA, LAM (France); IFSI, University of Padua (Italy); IAC (Spain); Stockholm Observatory (Sweden); Imperial College London, RAL, UCL-MSSL, UKATC, University of Sus- sex (UK) and Caltech, JPL, NHSC, University of Colorado (USA). This development has been supported by national funding agencies: CSA (Canada); NAOC (China); CEA, CNES, CNRS (France); ASI (Italy); MCINN (Spain); SNSB (Sweden); STFC (UK) and NASA (USA). This work is based on observations made with the Spitzer Space Telescope, which is operated by the Jet Propulsion Labo- ratory, California Institute of Technology, under NASA contract 1407

Escala ARC-INICO de Evaluación de la Autodeterminación: manual de aplicación y corrección

[ES]El concepto de autodeterminación y sus implicaciones en la infancia, la adolescencia y la vida adulta están apareciendo cada vez con mayor fuerza en la investigación y en los servicios de atención a personas con discapacidad debido a la relevancia que tiene para todos los individuos la expresión y el ejercicio del derecho a la autodeterminación. La investigación internacional en este ámbito ha dirigido su foco de atención al desarrollo de potentes modelos teóricos que intentan clarificar el concepto (Abery y Stancliffe, 2003a; Field y Hoffman, 1994; Wehmeyer, 1999), así como también ha permitido la elaboración de recursos de evaluación e intervención (Hoffman, Field y Sawinlowsky, 2004; Martin, Marshall, Maxson y Jerman, 1996; Mithaug, Wehmeyer, Agran, Martin y Palmer, 1998; Wehmeyer, Palmer, Agran, Mithaug y Martin, 2000; Wehmeyer, 1995) orientados a dotar de herramientas para la mejora de las prácticas profesionales desarrolladas desde las organizaciones

The starburst-AGN connection in the merger galaxy Mrk 938: an infrared and X-ray view

Mrk938 is a luminous infrared galaxy in the local Universe believed to be the remnant of a galaxy merger. It shows a Seyfert 2 nucleus and intense star formation according to optical spectroscopic observations. We have studied this galaxy using new Herschel far-IR imaging data in addition to archival X-ray, UV, optical, near-IR and mid-IR data. Mid- and far-IR data are crucial to characterise the starburst contribution, allowing us to shed new light on its nature and to study the coexistence of AGN and starburst activity in the local Universe. The decomposition of the mid-IR Spitzer spectrum shows that the AGN bolometric contribution to the mid-IR and total infrared luminosity is small (Lbol(AGN)/LIR~0.02), which agrees with previous estimations. We have characterised the physical nature of its strong infrared emission and constrained it to a relatively compact emitting region of <2kpc. It is in this obscured region where most of the current star formation activity is taking place as expected for LIRGs. We have used Herschel imaging data for the first time to constrain the cold dust emission with unprecedented accuracy. We have fitted the integrated far-IR spectral energy distribution and derived the properties of the dust, obtaining a dust mass of 3x10^7Msun. The far-IR is dominated by emission at 35K, consistent with dust heated by the on-going star formation activity.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figures, 4 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA