Effects of Irrigation and Cluster Thinning on Tempranillo Grape and Wine Composition

With the aim of understanding the effects of water stress and cluster load on berry composition andwine quality, a four-year field test was conducted in a cv. Tempranillo vineyard in Extremadura (Spain).When the first berries appeared to be changing colour (onset of véraison), grapevines were subjected totwo different irrigation regimes, one supplying 100% of crop evapotranspiration, and the other 25%.In addition, two cluster load levels were tested for each irrigation regime: seven to nine and four to fiveclusters/m2 planting area. Both irrigation and thinning had an impact on most of the parameters analysedin the grapes and the wines, although the thinning effect was in general higher than the irrigation effect.Thus, deficit irrigation reduced malic acid and the titratable acidity of Tempranillo grape juice, whilecluster thinning increased all parameters analysed, except potassium concentrations. Similarly, the winecomposition was also affected differently by irrigation and by cluster thinning. Deficit irrigation reducedpH and increased titratable acidity, total phenol index and colour parameters, while cluster thinningincreased alcohol content, anthocyanin and colour intensity, and reduced pH and colour. The effect ofthe cluster thinning technique was independent of the irrigation regime in most of the wine parametersanalysed, except for total phenol index, where the effect of deficit irrigation (DI) was more pronounced ingrapevines also subjected to the cluster thinning treatment

Assessment of vehicle emissions projections in Madrid (Spain) from 2004 to 2012 considering several control strategies

Road transport is a major source of air pollutant emissions in European cities. Moreover, vehicle exhaust emissions have been the cause of much concern about the effects of urban air pollution on human health. Local authorities need to develop strategies to control vehicular emissions through technological and socioeconomical measures. For this reason, an efficiency assessment of possible future measures to reduce air pollution is required for future traffic planning, regulatory and fiscal initiatives. This paper presents the assessment of several mobility and technology scenarios that can be used for emission reductions in Madrid (Spain) in the period 2004–2012. Pollutants considered are those related to typical air quality problems in urban areas in Europe (SO2, NOx, NMVOC, heavy metals, CO and particulate matter) and CO2 as a greenhouse gas. Results show an expected increase in mobility but a decreasing trend in future traffic-related emissions, except for CO2. This reduction is due to technological improvements linked to European Legislation for road vehicles (Euro Standards). CO2 emissions are expected to increase because the technological improvements will not be able to counteract the effect of the large mobility increase. With regard to control strategies, the most effective measure for emission reductions is fleet renewal. According to the hypotheses made in the paper, this would reduce, on average, the pollutant emission by 16.04%. With regard to CO2 emissions, the use of biofuels and the decrease in mobility are the most effective measures

Determinantes de la duración de la incapacidad temporal y la vuelta al trabajo en un área sanitaria de Galicia

ObjetivoDeterminar los factores asociados con la incidencia y la duración de la incapacidad temporal (IT) en un área sanitaria.DiseñoDescriptivo, retrospectivo.EmplazamientoÁrea Sanitaria Sur de la provincia de Lugo.ParticipantesUna muestra de 1.513 episodios de IT seleccionada aleatoriamente entre el total de éstos, durante un período de 3 años.Mediciones principalesSe analizaron las características sociodemográficas del paciente, el régimen de la seguridad social (SS), el diagnóstico que justifica la IT y la fecha de la prescripción; del médico prescriptor se analizaron la edad, el sexo, la formación especializada, la antigüedad en la plaza y los años de ejercicio. La comparación de medias se realizó mediante el análisis de la varianza y el test de Kruskal-Wallis. El efecto relativo de cada variable sobre la probabilidad de volver al trabajo se estimó mediante modelos de regresión de Cox.ResultadosLa duración media de los episodios de IT fue de 74 ± 103 días. Los diagnósticos más frecuentes fueron los del sistema osteomioarticular (SOMA), las lesiones y envenenamientos (LYE) y las enfermedades respiratorias (NML). Se reduce la probabilidad de volver al trabajo con el incremento de la edad, en los regímenes de seguridad social autónomos y agrarios por cuenta propia, en los diagnósticos de enfermedades mentales y del aparato circulatorio, y cuando el médico prescriptor es de mayor edad o menos antiguo en la plaza.ConclusionesLa duración media de los episodios de IT es superior a la de otros estudios españoles. Los factores que más influyen en la reincorporación al trabajo son la edad del paciente, el régimen de la seguridad social y la enfermedad diagnosticada.ObjectiveTo determine the factors associated with the incidence and duration of temporary work incapacity (TWI) in a health district.DesignDescriptive and retrospective study.SettingSouth health district of the province of Lugo, Spain.ParticipantsA random sample of 1513 cases was selected among the total of episodes of TWI, during 3 years period.Main measuresThe main factors analyzed are, on the one hand, the socio-demographic characteristics of the patient, his or her social security (SS) scheme, diagnosis that justifies the TWD, and the prescription date; and, on the other hand, the age, sex, specialised training, time in the post and years in practice of the physician who prescribes the TWI. The comparison of the means was carried out using variance analysis and the Kruskal-Wallis test. The relative effect of each variable on the probability of returning to the work was estimated through Cox regression models.ResultsThe mean duration of the episodes of TWI was of 74±103 days. The most frequent diagnoses were those of the bones-muscles and joints (BMAJ), injuries and poisonings (IAP), and respiratory diseases (RD). The probability of returning to work is reduced with the increase of the age, with agrarian and autonomous SS affiliates, with diagnoses of mental disease or diagnoses of the circulatory system, and in cases prescribed by older doctors or less time in the post.ConclusionsThe mean duration of the episodes of TWD is higher than that of other Spanish studies. The most influential factors in the return to work are the age of the patient, the SS scheme and the diagnosed illness

Phenolic composition of vine leaves infusions produced from different Portuguese and Spanish Vitis vinifera L. varieties

The main object of the present study was to analyze the phenolic composition of vine leaves infusions prepared from 8 different Portuguese (Fernão Pires, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Encruzado, Touriga Nacional, Rufete, Baga, and Siria) and Spanish (Pardina, Cayetana, Garnacha, Cigüente, Eva, Tempranillo, Macabeo and Verdelho) Vitis vinifera L. varieties. In general, a wide range of phenolic content were obtained from the vine leaves infusions according to the vine variety used. Thus, for total phenolic content the values ranged from 18 to 37 mg/L for the infusions produced from Portuguese varieties, while for Spanish varieties the values ranged from 14 to 37 mg/L. Vine leaves infusions obtained from Touriga Franca and Pardina varieties showed the highest total phenolic content. As a consequence of phenolic composition, chromatic characteristics (L*, a* and b*) of vine leaves infusions were also analyzed. Finally, it was also detected different individual phenolic compounds, such as, coutaric acid, trans-caftaric acid, quercetin-3-O-glucoside, rutin and 3 different anthocyanins from the different vine leaves infusions. All of the results obtained in this work show that vine leaves infusion may be an interesting alternative source of phenolic compounds for human diet

Metric to quantify white matter damage on brain magnetic resonance images

PURPOSE: Quantitative assessment of white matter hyperintensities (WMH) on structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is challenging. It is important to harmonise results from different software tools considering not only the volume but also the signal intensity. Here we propose and evaluate a metric of white matter (WM) damage that addresses this need. METHODS: We obtained WMH and normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) volumes from brain structural MRI from community dwelling older individuals and stroke patients enrolled in three different studies, using two automatic methods followed by manual editing by two to four observers blind to each other. We calculated the average intensity values on brain structural fluid-attenuation inversion recovery (FLAIR) MRI for the NAWM and WMH. The white matter damage metric is calculated as the proportion of WMH in brain tissue weighted by the relative image contrast of the WMH-to-NAWM. The new metric was evaluated using tissue microstructure parameters and visual ratings of small vessel disease burden and WMH: Fazekas score for WMH burden and Prins scale for WMH change. RESULTS: The correlation between the WM damage metric and the visual rating scores (Spearman ρ > =0.74, p  =0.72, p < 0.0001). The repeatability of the WM damage metric was better than WM volume (average median difference between measurements 3.26% (IQR 2.76%) and 5.88% (IQR 5.32%) respectively). The follow-up WM damage was highly related to total Prins score even when adjusted for baseline WM damage (ANCOVA, p < 0.0001), which was not always the case for WMH volume, as total Prins was highly associated with the change in the intense WMH volume (p = 0.0079, increase of 4.42 ml per unit change in total Prins, 95%CI [1.17 7.67]), but not with the change in less-intense, subtle WMH, which determined the volumetric change. CONCLUSION: The new metric is practical and simple to calculate. It is robust to variations in image processing methods and scanning protocols, and sensitive to subtle and severe white matter damage

Expansion of different subpopulations of CD26 −/low T cells in allergic and non-allergic asthmatics

CD26 displays variable levels between effector (TH ≫ TH > TH > Treg) and naïve/memory (memory > naïve) CD4 T lymphocytes. Besides, IL-6/IL 6R is associated with TH -differentiation and asthma severity. Allergic/atopic asthma (AA) is dominated by TH responses, while TH immunity might either modulate the TH -dependent inflammation in AA or be an important mechanism boosting non-allergic asthma (NAA). Therefore, in this work we have compared the expression of CD26 and CD126 (IL-6Rα) in lymphocytes from different groups of donors: allergic (AA) and non-allergic (NAA) asthma, rhinitis, and healthy subjects. For this purpose, flow cytometry, haematological/biochemical, and in vitro proliferation assays were performed. Our results show a strong CD26-CD126 correlation and an over-representation of CD26 subsets with a highly-differentiated effector phenotype in AA (CD4 CD26 T cells) and NAA (CD4 CD26 γδ-T cells). In addition, we found that circulating levels of CD26 (sCD26) were reduced in both AA and NAA, while loss of CD126 expression on different leukocytes correlated with higher disease severity. Finally, selective inhibition of CD26-mRNA translation led to enhanced T cell proliferation in vitro. These findings support that CD26 down-modulation could play a role in facilitating the expansion of highly-differentiated effector T cell subsets in asthma

Stable nitrogen isotope studies of the pelagic food web on the Atlantic shelf of the Iberian Peninsula

Publicado

Childhood cognitive ability accounts for associations between cognitive ability and brain cortical thickness in old age

Associations between brain cortical tissue volume and cognitive function in old age are frequently interpreted as suggesting that preservation of cortical tissue is the foundation of successful cognitive aging. However, this association could also, in part, reflect a lifelong association between cognitive ability and cortical tissue. We analyzed data on 588 subjects from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 who had intelligence quotient (IQ) scores from the same cognitive test available at both 11 and 70 years of age as well as high-resolution brain magnetic resonance imaging data obtained at approximately 73 years of age. Cortical thickness was estimated at 81 924 sampling points across the cortex for each subject using an automated pipeline. Multiple regression was used to assess associations between cortical thickness and the IQ measures at 11 and 70 years. Childhood IQ accounted for more than two-third of the association between IQ at 70 years and cortical thickness measured at age 73 years. This warns against ascribing a causal interpretation to the association between cognitive ability and cortical tissue in old age based on assumptions about, and exclusive reference to, the aging process and any associated disease. Without early-life measures of cognitive ability, it would have been tempting to conclude that preservation of cortical thickness in old age is a foundation for successful cognitive aging when, instead, it is a lifelong association. This being said, results should not be construed as meaning that all studies on aging require direct measures of childhood IQ, but as suggesting that proxy measures of prior cognitive function can be useful to take into consideration

Efficacy and safety of preoperative preparation with Lugol''s iodine solution in euthyroid patients with Graves’ disease (LIGRADIS Trial): Study protocol for a multicenter randomized trial

Background: Currently, both the American Thyroid Association and the European Thyroid Association recommend preoperative preparation with Lugol''s Solution (LS) for patients undergoing thyroidectomy for Graves’ Disease (GD), but their recommendations are based on low-quality evidence. The LIGRADIS trial aims to provide evidence either to support or refute the systematic use of LS in euthyroid patients undergoing thyroidectomy for GD. Methods: A multicenter randomized controlled trial will be performed. Patients =18 years of age, diagnosed with GD, treated with antithyroid drugs, euthyroid and proposed for total thyroidectomy will be eligible for inclusion. Exclusion criteria will be prior thyroid or parathyroid surgery, hyperparathyroidism that requires associated parathyroidectomy, thyroid cancer that requires adding a lymph node dissection, iodine allergy, consumption of lithium or amiodarone, medically unfit patients (ASA-IV), breastfeeding women, preoperative vocal cord palsy and planned endoscopic, video-assisted or remote access surgery. Between January 2020 and January 2022, 270 patients will be randomized for either receiving or not preoperative preparation with LS. Researchers will be blinded to treatment assignment. The primary outcome will be the rate of postoperative complications: hypoparathyroidism, recurrent laryngeal nerve injury, hematoma, surgical site infection or death. Secondary outcomes will be intraoperative events (Thyroidectomy Difficulty Scale score, blood loss, recurrent laryngeal nerve neuromonitoring signal loss), operative time, postoperative length of stay, hospital readmissions, permanent complications and adverse events associated to LS. Conclusions: There is no conclusive evidence supporting the benefits of preoperative treatment with LS in this setting. This trial aims to provide new insights into future Clinical Practice Guidelines recommendations. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03980132. © 202

Anisotropy studies around the galactic centre at EeV energies with the Auger Observatory

Data from the Pierre Auger Observatory are analyzed to search for anisotropies near the direction of the Galactic Centre at EeV energies. The exposure of the surface array in this part of the sky is already significantly larger than that of the fore-runner experiments. Our results do not support previous findings of localized excesses in the AGASA and SUGAR data. We set an upper bound on a point-like flux of cosmic rays arriving from the Galactic Centre which excludes several scenarios predicting sources of EeV neutrons from Sagittarius $A$. Also the events detected simultaneously by the surface and fluorescence detectors (the `hybrid' data set), which have better pointing accuracy but are less numerous than those of the surface array alone, do not show any significant localized excess from this direction.Comment: Matches published versio