New methodological approach to estimate the turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate

The length scale and the spatio-temporal variation of turbulence intensity has relevant implications on phytoplankton dynamics. Thus, it is important to estimate the relevant parameters that characterize the turbulence in the water column, such as epsilon (kinetic energy dissipation rates). One of the main objectives in this work is the characterization of the physical dynamics at scales relevant to the biology. Here we show different approaches to estimate the epsilon in the Alfacs Bay (Ebre Delta), where recurrent harmful algal bloom events occur. First, we applied the solid boundary layer theory wind velocities obtained by a nearby meteorological station. Secondly, the gradient temperature microstructure method, based on the Batchelor spectrum adjustment was applied on temperature data obtained by a Self-Contained Autonomous MicroProfiler (SCAMP). These two approaches have methodological restrictions, i.e. isotropic turbulent or the process applied to do the Batchelor spectrum fitting. A new method to characterize the turbulence is proposed. The velocity fields measured by a deployed high resolution 2 MHz acoustic Doppler current profiler were processed using the Reynolds decomposition to obtain an empirical parameter which provides us the information about the turbulent kinetic energy in the water column.Peer Reviewe

Evaluation of an acute osmotic stress in European sea bass via skin mucus biomarkers

European sea bass is a marine teleost which can inhabit a broad range of environmental salinities. So far, no research has studied the physiological response of this fish to salinity challenges using modifications in skin mucus as a potential biological matrix. Here, we used a skin mucus sampling technique to evaluate the response of sea bass to several acute osmotic challenges (for 3 h) from seawater (35¿) to two hypoosmotic environments, diluted brackish water (3¿) and estuarine waters (12¿), and to one hyperosmotic condition (50¿). For this, we recorded the volume of mucus exuded and compared the main stress-related biomarkers and osmosis-related parameters in skin mucus and plasma. Sea bass exuded the greatest volume of skin mucus with the highest total contents of cortisol, glucose, and protein under hypersalinity. This indicates an exacerbated acute stress response with possible energy losses if the condition is sustained over time. Under hyposalinity, the response depended on the magnitude of the osmotic change: shifting to 3¿ was an extreme salinity change, which affected fish aerobic metabolism by acutely modifying lactate exudation. All these data enhance the current scarce knowledge of skin mucus as a target through which to study environmental changes and fish status

La metodología ABP aplicada a la especialidad de informática en el Máster Secundaria

Este trabajo tiene por objetivo describir cómo un grupo de docentes, cada uno profesor de una asignatura en los estudios del máster en profesorado de Educación Secundaria en la especialidad de informática, nos decidimos a implementar el Aprendizaje Basado en Problemas conjuntamente. La experiencia se desarrolló en los cursos 2010-2011 y 2011-2012. Hay involucradas tres asignaturas de seis créditos: Aplicaciones informáticas a problemas de la vida cotidiana, Aprender a enseñar informática y Herramientas prácticas para el desarrollo del currículo de informática. Como resultado hemos definido un marco práctico de referencia para la aplicación de esta metodología que ha sido evaluado positivamente tanto por los docentes como por los alumnos, siendo el principal problema la falta de un número mayor de alumnos en años posteriores para hacer más exitosa la experiencia.This paper describes how a group of teachers, each one assigned as responsible of a different subject in the master of teachers for the specialty of computer science, decided jointly to implement problem-based learning. The experience was implemented in the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 seasons. There are three subjects involved each one has six credits: Computer applications applied to problems of everyday life, Learn to teach computer science, and Practical tools for the development of computer curricula. As a result, we have defined a practical framework for the implementation of the method that has been positively assessed by both the teachers and the students. The main problem had been the lack of students in the following years to establish and formalize our experience

Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Infection on Patients with Cancer: Retrospective and Transversal Studies in Spanish Population

[EN] Background: Studies of patients with cancer affected by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are needed to assess the impact of the disease in this sensitive population, and the influence of different cancer treatments on the COVID-19 infection and seroconversion. Material and Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of all patients hospitalized with RT-PCR positive for COVID-19 in our region to assess the prevalence of cancer patients and describe their characteristics and evolution (Cohort 1). Concurrently, a transversal study was carried out in patients on active systemic cancer treatment for symptomatology and seroprevalence (IgG/IgM by ELISA-method) against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (Cohort 2). Results: A total of 215 patients (Cohort 1) were admitted to hospital with a confirmed COVID-19 infection between February 28 and April 30, 2020, and 17 died (7.9%). A medical record of cancer was noted in 43 cases (20%), 6 of them required Intensive care unit ICU attention (14%), and 7 died (16%). There were thirty-six patients (83%) who tested IgG/IgM positive for SARS-CoV-2. Patients on immunosuppressive therapies presented a lower ratio of seroconversion (40% vs. 8%; p = 0.02). In Cohort 2, 166 patients were included in a symptoms-survey and tested for SARS-CoV-2. Any type of potential COVID-19-related symptom was referred up to 67.4% of patients (85.9% vs. 48.2% vs. 73.9%, for patients on chemotherapy, immunotherapy and targeted therapies respectively, p < 0.05). The seroprevalence ratio was 1.8% for the whole cohort with no significant differences by patient or treatment characteristics. Conclusion: Patients with cancer present higher risks for hospital needs for COVID-19 infection. The lack of SARS-CoV-2 seroconversion may be a concern for patients on immunosuppressive therapies. Patients receiving systematic therapies relayed a high rate of potentially COVID-19-related symptoms, particularly those receiving chemotherapy. However, the seroconversion rate remains low and in the range of general population.We thank all the patients who consented to this study, and the frontline healthcare professionals who are involved in patients' care during this pandemic. We also thank the technical assistants: M. Portero Hernandez, A. Real Perez, and M. Ocasar Garcia. VGB's research work is partially supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion of Spain under grant No. PID2019-110442GB-I00.Garde-Noguera, J.; Fernández-Murga, ML.; Giner-Bosch, V.; Domínguez-Márquez, V.; García Sánchez, J.; Soler-Cataluña, JJ.; López Chuliá, F.... (2020). Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Infection on Patients with Cancer: Retrospective and Transversal Studies in Spanish Population. Cancers. 12(12):1-11. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers12123513S1111212Munster, V. J., Koopmans, M., van Doremalen, N., van Riel, D., & de Wit, E. (2020). A Novel Coronavirus Emerging in China — Key Questions for Impact Assessment. New England Journal of Medicine, 382(8), 692-694. doi:10.1056/nejmp2000929Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Cases by the Center for Systems Science and Engineeringhttps://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.htmlInforme Sobre la Situación COVID-19 en España a 6 April 2020. Equipo COVID-19. RENAVE. CNE. CNM (ISCIII). Informe COVID-19 nº21https://covid19.isciii.es/Report 13: Estimating the Number of Infections and the Impact of Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions on COVID-19 in 11 European Countrieshttps://spiral.imperial.ac.uk:8443/handle/10044/1/77731Rothan, H. A., & Byrareddy, S. N. (2020). The epidemiology and pathogenesis of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak. Journal of Autoimmunity, 109, 102433. doi:10.1016/j.jaut.2020.102433Liang, W., Guan, W., Chen, R., Wang, W., Li, J., Xu, K., … He, J. (2020). Cancer patients in SARS-CoV-2 infection: a nationwide analysis in China. The Lancet Oncology, 21(3), 335-337. doi:10.1016/s1470-2045(20)30096-6Sharpe, A. H., & Pauken, K. E. (2017). The diverse functions of the PD1 inhibitory pathway. Nature Reviews Immunology, 18(3), 153-167. doi:10.1038/nri.2017.108Fisher, R. A. (1922). On the Interpretation of χ 2 from Contingency Tables, and the Calculation of P. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 85(1), 87. doi:10.2307/2340521Mehta, C. R., & Patel, N. R. (1983). A Network Algorithm for Performing Fisher’s Exact Test in r × c Contingency Tables. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 78(382), 427. doi:10.2307/2288652Wilcoxon, F. (1945). Individual Comparisons by Ranking Methods. Biometrics Bulletin, 1(6), 80. doi:10.2307/3001968Kuderer, N. M., Choueiri, T. K., Shah, D. P., Shyr, Y., Rubinstein, S. M., Rivera, D. R., … de Lima Lopes, G. (2020). Clinical impact of COVID-19 on patients with cancer (CCC19): a cohort study. The Lancet, 395(10241), 1907-1918. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(20)31187-9Zhang, L., Zhu, F., Xie, L., Wang, C., Wang, J., Chen, R., … Zhou, M. (2020). Clinical characteristics of COVID-19-infected cancer patients: a retrospective case study in three hospitals within Wuhan, China. Annals of Oncology, 31(7), 894-901. doi:10.1016/j.annonc.2020.03.296Winter, A. K., & Hegde, S. T. (2020). The important role of serology for COVID-19 control. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 20(7), 758-759. doi:10.1016/s1473-3099(20)30322-4Venkatesulu, B. P., Thoguluva Chandrasekar, V., Giridhar, P., Advani, P., Sharma, A., Hsieh, C. E., … Krishnan, S. (2020). A systematic review and meta-analysis of cancer patients affected by a novel coronavirus. doi:10.1101/2020.05.27.20115303Van Assen, S., Holvast, A., Benne, C. A., Posthumus, M. D., van Leeuwen, M. A., Voskuyl, A. E., … Bijl, M. (2010). Humoral responses after influenza vaccination are severely reduced in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with rituximab. Arthritis & Rheumatism, 62(1), 75-81. doi:10.1002/art.25033Rousseau, B., Loulergue, P., Mir, O., Krivine, A., Kotti, S., Viel, E., … Tournigand, C. (2012). Immunogenicity and safety of the influenza A H1N1v 2009 vaccine in cancer patients treated with cytotoxic chemotherapy and/or targeted therapy: the VACANCE study. Annals of Oncology, 23(2), 450-457. doi:10.1093/annonc/mdr141Di Cosimo, S., Malfettone, A., Pérez-García, J. M., Llombart-Cussac, A., Miceli, R., Curigliano, G., & Cortés, J. (2020). Immune checkpoint inhibitors: a physiology-driven approach to the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019. European Journal of Cancer, 135, 62-65. doi:10.1016/j.ejca.2020.05.026Bersanelli, M., Scala, S., Affanni, P., Veronesi, L., Colucci, M. E., Banna, G. L., … Liotta, F. (2020). Immunological insights on influenza infection and vaccination during immune checkpoint blockade in cancer patients. Immunotherapy, 12(2), 105-110. doi:10.2217/imt-2019-0200Pollán, M., Pérez-Gómez, B., Pastor-Barriuso, R., Oteo, J., Hernán, M. A., Pérez-Olmeda, M., … Fernández de Larrea, N. (2020). Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in Spain (ENE-COVID): a nationwide, population-based seroepidemiological study. The Lancet, 396(10250), 535-544. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(20)31483-5Choe, P. G., Perera, R. A. P. M., Park, W. B., Song, K.-H., Bang, J. H., Kim, E. S., … Oh, M. (2017). MERS-CoV Antibody Responses 1 Year after Symptom Onset, South Korea, 2015. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 23(7), 1079-1084. doi:10.3201/eid2307.170310Cao, W.-C., Liu, W., Zhang, P.-H., Zhang, F., & Richardus, J. H. (2007). Disappearance of Antibodies to SARS-Associated Coronavirus after Recovery. New England Journal of Medicine, 357(11), 1162-1163. doi:10.1056/nejmc070348Wu, L.-P., Wang, N.-C., Chang, Y.-H., Tian, X.-Y., Na, D.-Y., Zhang, L.-Y., … Liang, G.-D. (2007). Duration of Antibody Responses after Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 13(10), 1562-1564. doi:10.3201/eid1310.070576Kissler, S. M., Tedijanto, C., Goldstein, E., Grad, Y. H., & Lipsitch, M. (2020). Projecting the transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 through the postpandemic period. Science, 368(6493), 860-868. doi:10.1126/science.abb579

Analysis of relevant technical issues and deficiencies of the existing sensors and related initiatives currently set and working in marine environment. New generation technologies for cost-effective sensors

The last decade has seen significant growth in the field of sensor networks, which are currently collecting large amounts of environmental data. This data needs to be collected, processed, stored and made available for analysis and interpretation in a manner which is meaningful and accessible to end users and stakeholders with a range of requirements, including government agencies, environmental agencies, the research community, industry users and the public. The COMMONSENSE project aims to develop and provide cost-effective, multi-functional innovative sensors to perform reliable in-situ measurements in the marine environment. The sensors will be easily usable across several platforms, and will focus on key parameters including eutrophication, heavy metal contaminants, marine litter (microplastics) and underwater noise descriptors of the MSFD. The aims of Tasks 2.1 and 2.2 which comprise the work of this deliverable are: • To obtain a comprehensive understanding and an up-to-date state of the art of existing sensors. • To provide a working basis on “new generation” technologies in order to develop cost-effective sensors suitable for large-scale production. This deliverable will consist of an analysis of state-of-the-art solutions for the different sensors and data platforms related with COMMONSENSE project. An analysis of relevant technical issues and deficiencies of existing sensors and related initiatives currently set and working in marine environment will be performed. Existing solutions will be studied to determine the main limitations to be considered during novel sensor developments in further WP’s. Objectives & Rationale The objectives of deliverable 2.1 are: • To create a solid and robust basis for finding cheaper and innovative ways of gathering data. This is preparatory for the activities in other WPs: for WP4 (Transversal Sensor development and Sensor Integration), for WP(5-8) (Novel Sensors) to develop cost-effective sensors suitable for large-scale production, reducing costs of data collection (compared to commercially available sensors), increasing data access availability for WP9 (Field testing) when the deployment of new sensors will be drawn and then realized

The EMSO Generic Instrument Module (EGIM): standardized and interoperable instrumentation for ocean observation

The oceans are a fundamental source for climate balance, sustainability of resources and life on Earth, therefore society has a strong and pressing interest in maintaining and, where possible, restoring the health of the marine ecosystems. Effective, integrated ocean observation is key to suggesting actions to reduce anthropogenic impact from coastal to deep-sea environments and address the main challenges of the 21st century, which are summarized in the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Blue Growth strategies. The European Multidisciplinary Seafloor and water column Observatory (EMSO), is a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC), with the aim of providing long-term observations via fixed-point ocean observatories in key environmental locations across European seas from the Arctic to the Black Sea. These may be supported by ship-based observations and autonomous systems such as gliders. In this paper, we present the EMSO Generic Instrument Module (EGIM), a deployment ready multi-sensor instrumentation module, designed to measure physical, biogeochemical, biological and ecosystem variables consistently, in a range of marine environments, over long periods of time. Here, we describe the system, features, configuration, operation and data management. We demonstrate, through a series of coastal and oceanic pilot experiments that the EGIM is a valuable standard ocean observation module, which can significantly improve the capacity of existing ocean observatories and provides the basis for new observatories. The diverse examples of use included the monitoring of fish activity response upon oceanographic variability, hydrothermal vent fluids and particle dispersion, passive acoustic monitoring of marine mammals and time series of environmental variation in the water column. With the EGIM available to all the EMSO Regional Facilities, EMSO will be reaching a milestone in standardization and interoperability, marking a key capability advancement in addressing issues of sustainability in resource and habitat management of the oceans.This work was funded by the project EMSODEV (Grant agreement No 676555) supported by DG Research and Innovation of the European Commission under the Research Infrastructures Programme of the H2020. EMSO-link EC project (Grant agreement No 731036) provided additional funding. Other projects which supported the work include Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2017–2020, project BITER-LANDER PID2020- 114732RB-C32, iFADO (Innovation in the Framework of the Atlantic Deep Ocean, 2017–2021) EAPA_165/2016. The Spanish Government contributed through the “Severo Ochoa Centre Excellence” accreditation to ICM-CSIC (CEX2019-000928-S) and the Research Unit Tecnoterra (ICM-CSIC/UPC). UK colleagues were supported by Climate Linked Atlantic Sector Science (CLASS) project supported by NERC National Capability funding (NE/R015953/1).Peer ReviewedArticle signat per 33 autors/es: Nadine Lantéri; Henry A. Ruh; Andrew Gates; Enoc Martínez; Joaquin del Rio Fernandez; Jacopo Aguzzi; Mathilde Cannat; Eric Delory; Davide Embriaco; Robert Huber; Marjolaine Matabos;George Petihakis; Kieran Reilly; Jean-François Rolin; Mike van der Schaar; Michel André; Jérôme Blandin; Andrés Cianca; Marco Francescangeli; Oscar Garcia; Susan Hartman; Jean-Romain Lagadec; Julien Legrand; Paris Pagonis; Jaume Piera; Xabier Remirez; Daniel M. Toma; Giuditta Marinaro; Bertrand Moreau; Raul Santana; Hannah Wright; Juan José Dañobeitia; Paolo FavaliPostprint (published version

Epidemiological trends of HIV/HCV coinfection in Spain, 2015-2019

Altres ajuts: Spanish AIDS Research Network; European Funding for Regional Development (FEDER).Objectives: We assessed the prevalence of anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibodies and active HCV infection (HCV-RNA-positive) in people living with HIV (PLWH) in Spain in 2019 and compared the results with those of four similar studies performed during 2015-2018. Methods: The study was performed in 41 centres. Sample size was estimated for an accuracy of 1%. Patients were selected by random sampling with proportional allocation. Results: The reference population comprised 41 973 PLWH, and the sample size was 1325. HCV serostatus was known in 1316 PLWH (99.3%), of whom 376 (28.6%) were HCV antibody (Ab)-positive (78.7% were prior injection drug users); 29 were HCV-RNA-positive (2.2%). Of the 29 HCV-RNA-positive PLWH, infection was chronic in 24, it was acute/recent in one, and it was of unknown duration in four. Cirrhosis was present in 71 (5.4%) PLWH overall, three (10.3%) HCV-RNA-positive patients and 68 (23.4%) of those who cleared HCV after anti-HCV therapy (p = 0.04). The prevalence of anti-HCV antibodies decreased steadily from 37.7% in 2015 to 28.6% in 2019 (p < 0.001); the prevalence of active HCV infection decreased from 22.1% in 2015 to 2.2% in 2019 (p < 0.001). Uptake of anti-HCV treatment increased from 53.9% in 2015 to 95.0% in 2019 (p < 0.001). Conclusions: In Spain, the prevalence of active HCV infection among PLWH at the end of 2019 was 2.2%, i.e. 90.0% lower than in 2015. Increased exposure to DAAs was probably the main reason for this sharp reduction. Despite the high coverage of treatment with direct-acting antiviral agents, HCV-related cirrhosis remains significant in this population

The reference site collaborative network of the european innovation partnership on active and healthy ageing

Seventy four Reference Sites of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP on AHA) have been recognised by the European Commission in 2016 for their commitment to excellence in investing and scaling up innovative solutions for active and healthy ageing. The Reference Site Collaborative Network (RSCN) brings together the EIP on AHA Reference Sites awarded by the European Commission, and Candidate Reference Sites into a single forum. The overarching goals are to promote cooperation, share and transfer good practice and solutions in the development and scaling up of health and care strategies, policies and service delivery models, while at the same time supporting the action groups in their work. The RSCN aspires to be recognized by the EU Commission as the principal forum and authority representing all EIP on AHA Reference Sites. The RSCN will contribute to achieve the goals of the EIP on AHA by improving health and care outcomes for citizens across Europe, and the development of sustainable economic growth and the creation of jobs

New methodological approach to estimate the turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate

The length scale and the spatio-temporal variation of turbulence intensity has relevant implications on phytoplankton dynamics. Thus, it is important to estimate the relevant parameters that characterize the turbulence in the water column, such as epsilon (kinetic energy dissipation rates). One of the main objectives in this work is the characterization of the physical dynamics at scales relevant to the biology. Here we show different approaches to estimate the epsilon in the Alfacs Bay (Ebre Delta), where recurrent harmful algal bloom events occur. First, we applied the solid boundary layer theory wind velocities obtained by a nearby meteorological station. Secondly, the gradient temperature microstructure method, based on the Batchelor spectrum adjustment was applied on temperature data obtained by a Self-Contained Autonomous MicroProfiler (SCAMP). These two approaches have methodological restrictions, i.e. isotropic turbulent or the process applied to do the Batchelor spectrum fitting. A new method to characterize the turbulence is proposed. The velocity fields measured by a deployed high resolution 2 MHz acoustic Doppler current profiler were processed using the Reynolds decomposition to obtain an empirical parameter which provides us the information about the turbulent kinetic energy in the water column

New methodological approach to estimate the turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate

The length scale and the spatio-temporal variation of turbulence intensity has relevant implications on phytoplankton dynamics. Thus, it is important to estimate the relevant parameters that characterize the turbulence in the water column, such as epsilon (kinetic energy dissipation rates). One of the main objectives in this work is the characterization of the physical dynamics at scales relevant to the biology. Here we show different approaches to estimate the epsilon in the Alfacs Bay (Ebre Delta), where recurrent harmful algal bloom events occur. First, we applied the solid boundary layer theory wind velocities obtained by a nearby meteorological station. Secondly, the gradient temperature microstructure method, based on the Batchelor spectrum adjustment was applied on temperature data obtained by a Self-Contained Autonomous MicroProfiler (SCAMP). These two approaches have methodological restrictions, i.e. isotropic turbulent or the process applied to do the Batchelor spectrum fitting. A new method to characterize the turbulence is proposed. The velocity fields measured by a deployed high resolution 2 MHz acoustic Doppler current profiler were processed using the Reynolds decomposition to obtain an empirical parameter which provides us the information about the turbulent kinetic energy in the water column.Peer Reviewe