The most westward European occurrence point for Dreissena bugensis (Andrusov 1897)

The occurence of Dreissena bugensis (Andrusov 1897) from the Romanian Danube is reported. This represents the most westward occurrence point of quagga mussel in Europe

Incidencia de la tasa de actualización en proyectos inversionistas del sector alimentario cubano

Aim: To design a procedure for selection of the readjustment rate for financial evaluation of investment projects in the food-producing sector, which will enable quantification of expected performance, and the risk assumed by stockholders or investors. Methods: The model of capital asset valuation, adapted to the Cuban reality. Results: The estimation of expected risks of investments is made easier, considering the national and international organizational scenarios. Conclusions: A new financial tool can be used to prevent improvisations during project financial evaluations.Objetivo: Diseñar un procedimiento para la selección de la tasa de actualización a emplear en la evaluación financiera de los proyectos de inversión del sector alimentario, la que posibilitará cuantificar el rendimiento esperado y el riesgo que asumirán los accionistas o inversionistas por dicha inversión. Métodos: Se utilizó el modelo de valuación de activos de capital, adaptado a la realidad cubana. Resultados. Se facilita la estimación del riesgo esperado de las inversiones considerando el entorno organizacional nacional e internacional. Conclusiones: Se dispone de una herramienta financiera que puede evitar la improvisación en las evaluaciones financieras de proyectos

Isolation and Characterization of New Microsatellite Markers for the Invasive Softshell Clam, Mya arenaria (L.) (Bivalvia: Myidae)

The invasive softshell clam (Mya arenaria Linnaeus, 1758) is native to the northwestern region of the Atlantic Ocean. This species has been introduced in the northeast Pacific and along the European coasts, due to intense naval transports and aquaculture, and it is now present in all the European seas. In this paper we describe seven new microsatellite loci for Mya arenaria. The isolated loci are polymorphic with a number of alleles per locus between 6 and 14. The observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.417 to 0.951, and from 0.643 to 0.895, with an average of 0.716 and 0.775, respectively. These microsatellite markers should be useful in analyzing this species’ genetic diversity, which could explain various processes of its invasion history

TOK channels use the two gates in classical K⁺ channels to achieve outward rectification

TOKs are outwardly rectifying K+ channels in fungi with two pore-loops and eight transmembrane spans. Here, we describe the TOKs from four pathogens that cause the majority of life-threatening fungal infections in humans. These TOKs pass large currents only in the outward direction like the canonical isolate from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (ScTOK), and distinct from other K+ channels. ScTOK, AfTOK1 (Aspergillus fumigatus), and H99TOK (Cryptococcus neoformans grubii) are K+ -selective and pass current above the K+ reversal potential. CaTOK (Candida albicans) and CnTOK (Cryptococcus neoformans neoformans) pass both K+ and Na+ and conduct above a reversal potential reflecting the mixed permeability of their selectivity filter. Mutations in CaTOK and ScTOK at sites homologous to those that open the internal gates in classical K+ channels are shown to produce inward TOK currents. A favored model for outward rectification is proposed whereby the reversal potential determines ion occupancy, and thus, conductivity, of the selectivity filter gate that is coupled to an imperfectly restrictive internal gate, permitting the filter to sample ion concentrations on both sides of the membrane

Isolation and Characterization of the First Microsatellite Markers for the Endangered Relict Mussel Hypanis colorata (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Cardiidae)

Hypanis colorata (Eichwald, 1829) (Cardiidae: Lymnocardiinae) is a bivalve relict species with a Ponto-Caspian distribution and is under strict protection in Romania, according to national regulations. While the species is depressed in the western Black Sea lagoons from Romania and Ukraine, it is also a successful invader in the middle Dniepr and Volga regions. Establishing a conservation strategy for this species or studying its invasion process requires knowledge about the genetic structure of the species populations. We have isolated and characterized nine polymorphic microsatellite markers in H. colorata. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 4 to 28 and the observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.613 to 1.000. The microsatellites developed in the present study are highly polymorphic and they should be useful for the assessment of genetic variation within this species

Actitudes lingüísticas y competencias lingüísticas. Un análisis de su incidencia en los escolares de cataluña

The migratory movements which occurred in the last decade placed Catalonia among the Spanish Autonomous Communities with the highest number of immigrant population, fact that had a significant impact on the education system. The studies conducted so far on this phenomenon highlight the little, or lack of, knowledge of the languages ??of the schools with which the immigrant students incorporate. Consequently, this reveals one of the current challenges of the education system: to promote equal opportunities for autochthonous and immigrant students. An equity in which linguistic knowledge is a key element, but no less important, are the language attitudes that those students have toward the main vehicular languages ??of the school. In this sense, our study aims to analyze the influence of Catalan and Castilian competences on language attitudes and if these relationships are conditioned by the origin of the participants. Our sample consisted of 673 autochthonous and 500 immigrants students enrolled in 10 center of Compulsory Secondary Education in Catalonia. Overall, the results reveal a positive relationship between language competences and language attitudes. However, in the case of autochthonous students a negative relationship between Catalan competences and attitudes toward Castilian was noticed, as a result of the negative association between attitudes toward Castilian and attitudes toward Catalan. Consequently, these results suggest the need to integrate language attitudes in the development of educational policies due to the effect they have on the construction of linguistic knowledge and vice versa.Los movimientos migratorios acontecidos en la última década sitúan a Cataluña a la cabeza de las comunidades autónomas españolas en cuanto a acogida de población inmigrante, hecho que ha repercutido de manera significativa en el sistema educativo. Las investigaciones desarrolladas hasta el momento sobre este fenómeno destacan el escaso o nulo conocimiento de las lenguas de la escuela con las que se incorpora este colectivo, lo que ha evidenciado uno de los principales retos en el sistema educativo: potenciar la igualdad de oportunidades entre el alumnado autóctono e inmigrante. Una equidad en la que, si el conocimiento lingüístico parte como elemento fundamental, no menos importantes son las actitudes lingüísticas que tiene dicho alumnado hacia las principales lenguas vehiculares de la escuela. En este sentido, nuestro trabajo tiene como principal objetivo analizar si las competencias lingüísticas catalana y castellana influyen en las actitudes lingüísticas y si, además, estas relaciones están condicionadas por el origen de los sujetos. Para ello contamos con 673 estudiantes autóctonos y 500 inmigrantes, matriculados en 10 institutos de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria de Cataluña. A nivel general, los resultados determinan una relación positiva entre competencias y actitudes lingüísticas. En todo caso, cabría destacar la relación negativa entre la competencia lingüística catalana y las actitudes hacia el castellano, que establece el alumnado autóctono, como consecuencia de la asociación negativa entre las actitudes hacia el castellano y las actitudes hacia el catalán. Consecuentemente, dichos resultados sugieren la necesidad de integrar las actitudes lingüísticas en el desarrollo de políticas educativas, por la influencia que éstas tienen en la construcción del conocimiento lingüístico y viceversa

Incidencia de la tasa de actualización en proyectos inversionistas del sector alimentario cubano

Objetivo: Diseñar un procedimiento para la selección de la tasa de actualización a emplear en la evaluación financiera de los proyectos de inversión del sector alimentario, la que posibilitará cuantificar el rendimiento esperado y el riesgo que asumirán los accionistas o inversionistas por dicha inversión. Métodos: Se utilizó el modelo de valuación de activos de capital, adaptado a la realidad cubana. Resultados: Se facilita la estimación del riesgo esperado de las inversiones considerando el entorno organizacional nacional e internacional. Conclusiones: Se dispone de una herramienta financiera que puede evitar la improvisación en las evaluaciones financieras de proyectos

Evidence for Multiple Polytypes of Semiconducting Boron Carbide (C\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eB\u3csub\u3e10\u3c/sub\u3e) from Electronic Structure

Boron carbides fabricated via plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition from different isomeric source compounds with the same C2B10H12 closo-icosa- hedral structure result in materials with very different direct (optical) band gaps. This provides compelling evidence for the existence of multiple polytypes of C2B10 boron carbide and is consistent with electron diffraction results

A Pilot Study of the Association of Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha Polymorphisms with Psoriatic Arthritis in the Romanian Population

Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) is an important pro-inflammatory cytokine implicated in the pathogenesis of psoriatic arthritis. We have performed a case-control association study of three TNF-alpha gene polymorphisms in a group of Romanian psoriatic arthritis patients versus ethnically matched controls. A second group of patients with undifferentiated spondyloarthritis was used in order to look for similarities in the genetic background of the two rheumatic disorders. The −857C/T polymorphism was associated with susceptibility to psoriatic arthritis in our population at the individual level (p = 0.03, OR 1.65, 95% CI 1.05–2.57) and in combined haplotypes with the −238G/A and −308G/A SNPs. Regarding the investigated polymorphisms and derived haplotypes, no potential association was found with the susceptibility to undifferentiated spondyloarthritis in Romanian patients

Signal-adapted tomography as a tool for dust devil detection

Dust devils are important phenomena to take into account to understand the global dust circulation of a planet. On Earth, their contribution to the injection of dust into the atmosphere seems to be secondary. Elsewhere, there are many indications that the dust devil’s role on other planets, in particular on Mars, could be fundamental, impacting the global climate. The ability to identify and study these vortices from the acquired meteorological measurements assumes a great importance for planetary science. Here we present a new methodology to identify dust devils from the pressure time series testing the method on the data acquired during a 2013 field campaign performed in the Tafilalt region (Morocco) of the North- Western Sahara Desert. Although the analysis of pressure is usually studied in the time domain, we prefer here to follow a different approach and perform the analysis in a time signal-adapted domain, the relation between the two being a bilinear transformation, i.e. a tomogram. The tomographic technique has already been successfully applied in other research fields like those of plasma reflectometry or the neuronal signatures. Here we show its effectiveness also in the dust devils detection. To test our results, we compare the tomography with a phase picker time domain analysis. We show the level of agreement between the two methodologies and the advantages and disadvantages of the tomographic approach