140 research outputs found

    Turbulence and Gas Transfer Velocities in Sheltered Flooded Forests of the Amazon Basin

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    Seasonally flooded forests along tropical rivers cover extensive areas, yet the processes driving air-water exchanges of radiatively active gases are uncertain. To quantify the controls on gas transfer velocities, we combined measurements of water-column temperature, meteorology in the forest and adjacent open water, turbulence with an acoustic Doppler velocimeter, gas concentrations, and fluxes with floating chambers. Under cooling, measured turbulence, quantified as the rate of dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy (ε), was similar to buoyancy flux computed from the surface energy budget, indicating convection dominated turbulence production. Under heating, turbulence was suppressed unless winds in the adjacent open water exceeded 1 m/s. Gas transfer velocities obtained from chamber measurements ranged from 1 to 5 cm/hr and were similar to or slightly less than predicted using a turbulence-based surface renewal model computed with measured ε and ε predicted from wind and cooling. ©2019. The Authors

    Community projects based on Art & Health: A collaboration between the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Complutense University of Madrid and Madrid city council's Madrid Salud Service

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    In 2011 the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Complutense University of Madrid, and Madrid City Council's Health Promotion and Prevention Service (Madrid Salud Service) signed a collaboration agreement for developing joint projects and activities. This mutual collaboration agreement has generated an extremely active working network, in which university students supported by health service professionals plus Faculty academics and researchers have designed, and developed, community projects based on art and health with a number of groups (children, adolescents, women at risk, people with diversity, etc.). Across all these projects, both artistic creativity and art education have worked as mediators to offer significant experiences in promoting health. These arts programs (painting, drawing, photography, textiles, dialogues, and art appreciation) have been designed and developed by students for these communities and groups. These community projects based on art and health emphasise the capacity for commitment and collaboration of the groups and communities involved. Students and participants create together and in an atmosphere of trust, with awareness of their abilities and of the importance of art as a tool for changing their realities, in other words, as a tool for social transformation

    Towards understanding RAV1 transcriptional network during the growth-dormancy cycle in poplar

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    As plants are sessile organisms, the decision to grow or to stop growing is fundamental for their survival. To survive to the harsh condition of the winter, temperate and boreal trees undergo a self-protective developmental reprograming known as winter dormancy. Its mechanism involves an intricate interplay between endogenous growth regulators and the winter external signal, such as shortening of photoperiod and cold temperatures. Currently, only few factors including circadian and developmental transcription factors and hormonal signaling molecules have been shown to modulate the extension of the dormancy period in woody plants. In our laboratory, the circadian controlled transcription factor RAV promotes sylleptic branching and reduces dormancy length when RAV is ectopic overexpressed in poplar (1). Comparative mRNA profiling of RAV overexpressing versus wild type revealed a transcriptional rearrangement happens as effect of constitutive high level of RAV, giving rise to phenology. However, to define RAV mode of action as a transcriptional regulator and how RAV activity trigger a modification of dormancy-growth cycle, its primary targets genes should be investigated. At this particular, the translational fusion of a given transcription factor to the rat glucorticoid receptor domain (GR) have been widely used in Arabidopsis and recently in poplar (2). In this work we show the standardization of a methodology required to identify primary target genes for a transcription factor in poplar. This will be useful to future exploration of RAV1 gene network and its mode of action in spatio-temporal studies at tissue level during growth-dormancy cycle in poplar

    Boletín Económico Regional : Centro, IV trimestre de 2014

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    En 2014 algunas actividades económicas de la región Centro presentaron resultados no muy alentadores. De esta manera, el área para construcción experimentó una reducción anual, al igual que la extracción de petróleo, así como las exportaciones e importaciones; también aumentó el desempleo en Ibagué y Florencia y se produjo un alza generalizada en los niveles de inflación. No obstante, se registraron avances en sectores como el financiero, donde captaciones y colocaciones lograron una importante elevación anual, así como en el apalancamiento otorgado por Finagro. En el último trimestre del año, el incremento de las lluvias permitió que repuntaran las siembras y mejorara el desarrollo vegetativo de los principales cultivos transitorios; el comercio mostró en el Tolima un crecimiento lento, mientras que la venta de vehículos nuevos en Tolima, Huila y Caquetá reportó un aumento anual significativo

    Boletín Económico Regional : Centro, I trimestre de 2015

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    En el primer trimestre de 2015 la economía de la región Centro presentó resultados diversos en sus indicadores; tal es el caso del financiamiento al sector agropecuario que logró un avance significativo, así como el área licenciada para construcción, en especial la destinada a la edificación de unidades residenciales, mientras que las operaciones del sistema financiero obtuvieron un crecimiento real. Fueron favorables, aunque en menor magnitud que las anteriores, las ventas al exterior de bienes no tradicionales y la producción de sal que se extrae en Cundinamarca. De otro lado, el comercio interno registró estabilidad, aunque la comercialización de vehículos avanzó positivamente. En contraste, cayó la explotación de petróleo, el transporte de pasajeros, al igual que las importaciones, mientras que la tasa de desempleo en las ciudades capitales se mantuvo por encima de la media nacional

    A blood microRNA classifier for the prediction of ICU mortality in COVID-19 patients: a multicenter validation study

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    Background: The identification of critically ill COVID-19 patients at risk of fatal outcomes remains a challenge. Here, we first validated candidate microRNAs (miRNAs) as biomarkers for clinical decision-making in critically ill patients. Second, we constructed a blood miRNA classifier for the early prediction of adverse outcomes in the ICU. Methods: This was a multicenter, observational and retrospective/prospective study including 503 critically ill patients admitted to the ICU from 19 hospitals. qPCR assays were performed in plasma samples collected within the first 48 h upon admission. A 16-miRNA panel was designed based on recently published data from our group. Results: Nine miRNAs were validated as biomarkers of all-cause in-ICU mortality in the independent cohort of critically ill patients (FDR < 0.05). Cox regression analysis revealed that low expression levels of eight miRNAs were associated with a higher risk of death (HR from 1.56 to 2.61). LASSO regression for variable selection was used to construct a miRNA classifier. A 4-blood miRNA signature composed of miR-16-5p, miR-192-5p, miR-323a-3p and miR-451a predicts the risk of all-cause in-ICU mortality (HR 2.5). Kaplan‒Meier analysis confirmed these findings. The miRNA signature provides a significant increase in the prognostic capacity of conventional scores, APACHE-II (C-index 0.71, DeLong test p-value 0.055) and SOFA (C-index 0.67, DeLong test p-value 0.001), and a risk model based on clinical predictors (C-index 0.74, DeLong test-p-value 0.035). For 28-day and 90-day mortality, the classifier also improved the prognostic value of APACHE-II, SOFA and the clinical model. The association between the classifier and mortality persisted even after multivariable adjustment. The functional analysis reported biological pathways involved in SARS-CoV infection and inflammatory, fibrotic and transcriptional pathways. Conclusions: A blood miRNA classifier improves the early prediction of fatal outcomes in critically ill COVID-19 patients.11 página

    Mytilus galloprovincialis Myticin C: A Chemotactic Molecule with Antiviral Activity and Immunoregulatory Properties

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    Previous research has shown that an antimicrobial peptide (AMP) of the myticin class C (Myt C) is the most abundantly expressed gene in cDNA and suppressive subtractive hybridization (SSH) libraries after immune stimulation of mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis. However, to date, the expression pattern, the antimicrobial activities and the immunomodulatory properties of the Myt C peptide have not been determined. In contrast, it is known that Myt C mRNA presents an unusual and high level of polymorphism of unidentified biological significance. Therefore, to provide a better understanding of the features of this interesting molecule, we have investigated its function using four different cloned and expressed variants of Myt C cDNA and polyclonal anti-Myt C sera. The in vivo results suggest that this AMP, mainly present in hemocytes, could be acting as an immune system modulator molecule because its overexpression was able to alter the expression of mussel immune-related genes (as the antimicrobial peptides Myticin B and Mytilin B, the C1q domain-containing protein MgC1q, and lysozyme). Moreover, the in vitro results indicate that Myt C peptides have antimicrobial and chemotactic properties. Their recombinant expression in a fish cell line conferred protection against two different fish viruses (enveloped and non-enveloped). Cell extracts from Myt C expressing fish cells were also able to attract hemocytes. All together, these results suggest that Myt C should be considered not only as an AMP but also as the first chemokine/cytokine-like molecule identified in bivalves and one of the few examples in all of the invertebrates

    Social factors related to the clinical severity of influenza cases in Spain during the A(H1N1)2009 virus pandemic

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    Background During the 2009 influenza pandemic, a change in the type of patients most often affected by influenza was observed. The objective of this study was to assess the role of individual and social determinants in hospitalizations due to influenza A (H1N1) 2009 infection. Methods We studied hospitalized patients (cases) and outpatients (controls) with confirmed influenza A (H1N1) 2009 infection. A standardized questionnaire was used to collect data. Variables that might be related to the hospitalization of influenza cases were compared by estimation of the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) and the variables entered into binomial logistic regression models. Results Hospitalization due to pandemic A (H1N1) 2009 influenza virus infections was associated with non-Caucasian ethnicity (OR: 2.18, 95% CI 1.17 − 4.08), overcrowding (OR: 2.84, 95% CI 1.20 − 6.72), comorbidity and the lack of previous preventive information (OR: 2.69, 95% CI: 1.50 − 4.83). Secondary or higher education was associated with a lower risk of hospitalization (OR 0.56, 95% CI: 0.36 − 0.87) Conclusions In addition to individual factors such as comorbidity, other factors such as educational level, ethnicity or overcrowding were associated with hospitalization due to A (H1N1) 2009 influenza virus infections
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