Geiger-Mode Avalanche Photodiodes in Particle Detection

It is well known that avalanche photodiodes operated in the Geiger mode above the breakdown voltage offer a virtually infinite sensitivity and time accuracy in the picosecond range that can be used for single photon detection. However, their performance in particle detection remains still unexplored. In this contribution, we are going to expose the different steps that we have taken in order to prove the efficiency of Geiger mode avalanche photodiodes in the aforementioned field. In particular, we will present an array of pixels of 1mmx1mm fabricated with a standard CMOS technology for characterization in a test beam.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, Proceedings of LCWS1

Loss of Enemy Resistance Among Introduced Populations of St. John\u27s Wort (Hypericum Perforatum)

The Evolution of Increased Competitive Ability (EICA) hypothesis predicts that introduced plants should lose enemy resistance and in turn evolve increased size or fecundity. We tested the first prediction of this hypothesis by growing introduced North American and native European genotypes of St. John\u27s Wort (Hypericum perforatum) in common gardens in the state of Washington, USA, and in Girona, Spain. In both gardens we measured levels of hypericin and pseudohypericin (and in Washington, hypericide)— compounds known to be toxic to generalist pathogens and herbivores. In a third common garden, in Spain, we experimentally manipulated native pathogen pressure (by treating plants with fungicides) and quantified how pathogen resistance varied between North American and European genotypes. North American St. John\u27s Wort had lower levels of hypericin than European conspecifics in common gardens in Washington and Spain. North American plants also produced less hypericide (in Washington) and pseudohypericin (in Spain) than did European plants. In Spain, individuals were attacked by three generalist pathogens: Colletotrichum sp. (Coelomycetes), Alternaria sp. (Hyphomycetes), and Fusarium oxysporum (Hyphomycetes). A higher percentage of individuals from North American populations were infected by pathogens and died from pathogen attack compared to European genotypes. Infection also appeared to reduce plant size and fecundity; these negative effects were similar in magnitude for North American and European genotypes. Taken together, results indicate that introduced St. John\u27s Wort has lost enemy resistance. However, contrary to EICA, current and previous results indicate that these changes have not been associated with an increase in plant size or fecundity

Infección por el virus de la leucemia felina (FeLV) y linfomas mediastínicos : dos casos clínicos

Se describen los hallazgos clínicos, radiológicos y analíticos en dos casos de gatos menores de dos años, que se presentaron con un cuadro clínico de caquexia, vómitos y disnea. En ambos casos las radiografías evidenciaron la presencia de masas intratorácicas; la analítica basada en test ELISA para FeLV y FIV y las necropsias efectuadas, parecen demostrar la relación existente entre gato joven, FeLV y el desarrollo de masas tumorales mediastínicas.The clinical, radiologycal and analytic discovery, are described in two cases of cats under two years of age which were presented with dyspnea, vomiting and caquexia. In both cases the radiographs showed the presence of intrathoracic masses; ELISA test for FeLV and FIV and the necropsy demostrated the relation of young cat and FeLV with the development of mediastinic tumoral masses

Rapid Evolution of an Invasive Plant

Exotic plants often face different conditions from those experienced where they are native. The general issue of how exotics respond to unfamiliar environments within their new range is not well understood. Phenotypic plasticity has historically been seen as the primary mechanism enabling exotics to colonize large, environmentally diverse areas. However, new work indicates that exotics can evolve quickly, suggesting that contemporary evolution may be more important in invasion ecology than previously appreciated. To determine the influence of contemporary evolution, phenotypic plasticity, and founder effects in affecting phenotypic variation among introduced plants, we compared the size, fecundity, and leaf area of St. John\u27s wort (Hypericum perforatum) collected from native European and introduced western and central North American populations in common gardens in Washington, California, Spain, and Sweden. We also determined genetic relationships among these plants by examining variation in amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) markers. There was substantial genetic variation among introduced populations and evidence for multiple introductions of H. perforatum into North America. Across common gardens introduced plants were neither universally larger nor more fecund than natives. However, within common gardens, both introduced and native populations exhibited significant latitudinally based clines in size and fecundity. Clines among introduced populations broadly converged with those among native populations. Introduced and native plants originating from northern latitudes generally outperformed those originating from southern latitudes when grown in northern latitude gardens of Washington and Sweden. Conversely, plants from southern latitudes performed best in southern gardens in Spain and California. Clinal patterns in leaf area, however, did not change between gardens; European and central North American plants from northern latitudes had larger leaves than plants from southern latitudes within these regions in both Washington and California, the two gardens where this trait was measured. Introduced plants did not always occur at similar latitudes as their most closely related native progenitor, indicating that pre-adaptation (i.e., climate matching) is unlikely to be the sole explanation for clinal patterns among introduced populations. Instead, results suggest that introduced plants are evolving adaptations to broad-scale environmental conditions in their introduced range

Functional Segregation of Resource-Use Strategies of Native and Invasive Plants Across Mediterranean Biome Communities

Functional segregation among species in a community depends on their mean trait values (i.e. functional distinctiveness), and the range of trait attributes exhibited by each species (i.e. functional diversity). Previous evidence suggests that invasive plants tend to display traits related to a more acquisitive resource-use strategy than natives. However, the contribution of intraspecific trait variation to functional diversity has received little attention in community ecology, and might provide interesting information about community processes. In this study, we used eight plant traits related to carbon and nutrient acquisition of coexisting dominant native and invasive plants in eight communities across the Mediterranean-climate biome to determine sources of functional segregation between native and invasive species. We found three major axes of functional variation, related to leaf economics, resource-use efficiency, and plant height. Invasive species across communities had leaf traits related to an acquisitive resource-use strategy in contrast to native species, whereas differences in the second and third axes were community dependent. Invasive species were more functionally diverse than native species across the dataset and in four out of the eight communities. Intraspecific variance accounted for 11%–27% of total trait variation and was on average greater in invasive species, and especially important in the axis related to resource use efficiency. These results, although dependent on the trait and community considered, offer interesting insights to the sources of functional trait diversity of native and invasive species within communities, indicating that intraspecific variation might not be equally distributed between native and invasive species

Capillaria plica como agente etiológico de hematuria en un perro

Se describen los hallazgos clínicos y hematológicos, diagnóstico y tratamiento de un caso de hematuria y disuria provocado por Capíllaria plica en un perro macho de un año y medio.Clinical picture, haematologic features, diagnostic techniques and treatment protocols are discussed regarding a male dog one year and a half old with hematuria caused by Capillaria plica

Influence of In and Ga additives onto SnO2 inkjet-printed semiconductor

Tin oxide is a multifunctional semiconductor that offers excellent capabilities in a variety of applications such as solar cells, catalysis and chemical sensors. In this work, tin-based semiconductors have been obtained by means of solution synthesis and inkjet, and compared to similar materials with In and Ga as additives. The effect of different thermal treatments after deposition is also studied. n-Type behavior with saturation mobility N2 cm2 /Vs has been observed, and suitability as a semiconductor for thin-film transistors (TFTs) demonstrated with on/off ratios of more than 8 decades. Both In and InGa additives are shown to provide superior environmental stability, as well as significant change from depletion to enhancement operation modes in TFTs

Establishment of a network of monitoring stations using lichens as indicators. Base for the assessment of human impact and air quality on the vegetation in the Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park

Com a primera part de la monitorització, mitjançant el líquens com a indicadors, del Parc Nacional d’Aigüestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici, hem seleccionat, marcat i caracteritzat 20 estacions de seguiment. Les estacions han quedat establertes en els següents ambients: rouredes amb boix, bosc caducifoli mixt, fagedes, fagedes amb avet, pinedes de pi roig, avetosa, avetosa amb neret, pinedes de pi negre amb neret o amb ginebró, i roquissars, tant en roques carbonatades com àcides. Donem, com a exemple de l’estudi d’aquestes estacions, el cas d’una estació establerta a la comunita d’avetosa amb neret. El seguiment de l’evolució, en el temps, de les diferents comunitats, ens haurà de permetre correlacionar les modificacions observades en les estacions amb els canvis produïts en la qualitat de l’aire o a causa de l’impacte humà.As a first part of the monitoring project, using lichens as indicators of the Aigüestortes and Estany de Sant Maurici National Park, 20 monitoring stations have been selected, marked and characterised. The stations were included in the following plant communities: Buxo-Quercetum pubescentis, Helleboro-Fagetum, Luzulo-Fagetum, Hylocomio- Pinetum catalaunicae, Goodyero-Abietetum, Saxifrago-Rhododendretum abietetosum albae, Saxifrago-Rhododendretum pinetosum uncinatae and Arctostaphylo-Pinetum uncinatae, and in rocky places on carbonated and siliceous rocks. As an example of study of these stations, we give the information of one station located in Saxifrago- Rhododendretum abietetosum albae. The changes of the different communities through time allow us to correlate these observed modifications with changes in the air quality or due to the human impact

Establishing the Tolerability to Turkeys of Nonanoic Acid at Practical Levels of Use as a Feed Flavoring

Objective: Nonanoic acid (NA) is one of a series of straight-chain aliphatic alcohols, aldehydes, acids and their derivatives with a well-documented history of use as a synthetic flavoring in human food. As part of a safety evaluation of NA for use as a flavoring in animal feed, an experiment was conducted to evaluate the ability of turkeys to tolerate NA at levels relevant to practical feeding practices. Materials and Methods: A total of 594-day-old BUT Premium turkeys (300 males and 294 females) were allocated at random to 40 floor pens containing either 15 males or 13 to 15 females. Poults were fed one of 4 treatment diets in crumble (0 to 14 days) or pellet (15 to 59 days) form containing 0 (control), 100, 300 or 1000 mg NA/kg complete feed for 59 days. General health and performance were monitored for the duration of the study. At days 57 and 59 of age, blood samples were taken and birds were sacrificed and necropsied for histopathological examination of the digestive tract. Significant differences were considered at P ≤ 0.05 and near-significant trends at P ≤ 0.10. Results: NA had no effect on mortality (Pχ2 = 0.54), average daily feed intake (ADFI) (P = 0.11), average daily gain (ADG) (P = 0.12) or feed conversion ratio (FCR) (P = 0.45) in poults over the 56-day feeding period. No treatment-related effects on blood parameters or tissue pathology were observed. Conclusion: The results of the study support the safety and tolerance of NA to turkeys at dietary levels of up to 1000 mg/kg which will provide a considerable margin of safety compared to anticipated practical conditions of use as a feed flavoring.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Methodology for the detection of residential vulnerable areas: the case of Barcelona

In a context of a shifting environmental, economic and social paradigm, European cities face a situation that is at the same time challenge and opportunity: the need for urban rehabilitation of the vulnerable degraded socio residential fabric. Public administrations in big cities and metropolitan areas are confronted with both the undercurrent need of actualization of the built stock and the rise of urban residential vulnerability. The city of Barcelona, as many others, is the result of multiple phenomena with high urban and social consequences. The socio spatial integration of immigrant population, the touristic rise and gentrification processes are current situations simultaneously taking place in the city. In parallel, a framework of economic crisis in which public investments in urban and social matters decrease, provides a temporal juncture that results into an increase of social polarization and socio economic inequality that becomes evident and expressed in the territory. This research focuses in the case of Barcelona, and presents a methodology based on a system of indicators elaborated through the exploitation of statistical data complemented with very specific data supplied by the Barcelona City Council. The accurate knowledge of socio demographic, socioeconomic and residential and urban characteristics is crucial in order to define the very complex urban dynamics that describe in the city neighbourhoods and areas. Residential vulnerability is defined as an assembly of objective conditions that relate to residential space and indicate situations of social discrimination and structural disadvantage of the population, related to a specific time and context. Thus, it is relevant to analyse the concentration of certain indicators of vulnerability in specific places or neighbourhoods, to contrast its effect on the socio-residential situation and its temporal evolution in order to identify tendencies. The present study contributes to the identification of data sources and a system to calculate the purposed indicators, the elaboration of a GIS analysis in order to determine the characterization of neighbourhoods and census sections according to each indicator, and the identification of areas with a higher degree of problematic based on synthetic analysis. A very relevant knowledge basis that can be used by public policy makers in order to establish measures that define vulnerable areas where to carry out actions that foster urban equality.Postprint (published version