L’estimation de la valeur économique générée par les parcs suburbains “Sierrezuela” et “Los Villares” dans la ville de Córdoba, Espagne

The aim of the study is to assess economically intangible two Suburban Parks Sierrezuela and Villares in the city of Córdoba (Spain).The economic valuation of non-market goods for recreational uses provides valuable management information. A survey with 305 face to face interviews were conducted using the contingent valuation method, using a fee as payment for entrance and the maximum willingness to donate for conservation. The Geographical Information Systems were used to determine the potential visiting population. The results show for the two parks a maximum willingness to pay of 3,5 € and 3,6 € and willingness to donate for conservation of 25,6 € and 53,3 €, respectively, suggesting the importance attached by the Society to these natural spaces.El objetivo del estudio es valorar económicamente intangibles en dos Parques Periurbanos La Sierrezuela y los Villares en la ciudad de Córdoba (España). La valoración económica de bienes que carecen de mercado como son los usos recreativos de libre acceso aporta una valiosa información de gestión. Se realizaron 305 entrevistas en puntos estratégicos de dichos Parques, utilizando el método de valoración contingente y considerando como vehículo de pago la entrada al mismo y la máxima disposición a donar para conservación del mismo. Se utilizó un SIG para determinar la población potencial de visitantes. El análisis de los resultados a los Parques de La Sierrezuela y Los Villares muestra que la máxima disposición al pago de los visitantes es de 3,5 €, y de 3,6 €, y que la disposición a donar para su conservación es de 25,6 € y de 53,3 € respectivamente. Estos valores justifican la existencia y conservación de estos espacios naturales.L’objectif de l’étude est d’évaluer économiquement incorporels deux parcs suburbains et Sierrezuela Villares dans la ville de Córdoba (Espagne). La valorisation économique du marché des marchandises manquant usages récréatifs tels que l’accès ouvert fournit des informations de gestion précieux. 305 entrevues ont été réalisées à des points stratégiques tels des parcs, selon la méthode d’évaluation contingente et compte tenu de frais d’entrée de véhicule la même et la volonté de faire un don maximal de conservation. SIG a été utilisé pour déterminer la population potentielle de visiteurs. L’analyse des résultats pour les Parcs Nationaux de Los Villares Sierrezuela et montre que la volonté à payer au maximum de visiteurs est 3,5 € et 3,6 €, et la volonté de faire un don pour la conservation est de 25,6 € et € 53,3 respectivement. Ces valeurs justifient l’existence et la préservation de ces ressources naturelles

Cell apoptosis and hemodialysis-induced inflammation

Cell apoptosis and hemodialysis-induced inflammation. Hemodialysis patients exhibit a defective immune response leading to an increased susceptibility of infections and neoplasms. Far from being helpful, dialytic therapy per se also may be responsible for this acquired immunodeficiency. Dialysis membranes and bacterial products present in dialysis water may trigger and even perpetuate an abnormal mononuclear cell activation. Upon contact with cellulosic dialysis membranes, monocytes display an increased expression of surface markers of cell activation, such as adhesion molecules CD18, CD49, CD54 and the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) ligand (CD14). Moreover, proinflammatory cytokines as IL-1β and TNF-α are released both in vivo and in vitro when monocytes are exposed to cellulosic membranes. Of special interest is the fact that end-stage renal disease patients undergoing hemodialysis exhibit an increased mononuclear cell apoptosis. This apoptosis is directly related to the degree of biocompatibility of the dialysis membrane. Apoptosis is activated when monocytes enter in contact with the cellulosic dialysis membrane through cell surface receptors linked to G-proteins. In early steps of apoptosis signaling, pertussis toxin-sensitive G proteins are coupled to protein kinase C (PKC)-dependent phosphorylative mechanisms. Furthermore, recent evidence support that the execution phase of apoptosis is mediated by a caspase-3 dependent pathway. Finally, very recent available data support that monocytes subjected to repeated activation suffer a process of accelerated senescence, as demonstrated by the senescent phenotype (CD14 and CD32) expressed and their shortened telomeric length. This senescent profile may generage a defective cellular response in acute stress situations, explaining (at least in part) the altered immune response observed in hemodialysis patients

Magnesium Inhibits Wnt/β-Catenin Activity and Reverses the Osteogenic Transformation of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells

Magnesium reduces vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) calcification in vitro but the mechanism has not been revealed so far. This work used only slightly increased magnesium levels and aimed at determining: a) whether inhibition of magnesium transport into the cell influences VSMC calcification, b) whether Wnt/β-catenin signaling, a key mediator of osteogenic differentiation, is modified by magnesium and c) whether magnesium can influence already established vascular calcification. Human VSMC incubated with high phosphate (3.3 mM) and moderately elevated magnesium (1.4 mM) significantly reduced VSMC calcification and expression of the osteogenic transcription factors Cbfa-1 and osterix, and up-regulated expression of the natural calcification inhibitors matrix Gla protein (MGP) and osteoprotegerin (OPG). The protective effects of magnesium on calcification and expression of osteogenic markers were no longer observed in VSMC cultured with an inhibitor of cellular magnesium transport (2-aminoethoxy-diphenylborate [2-APB]). High phosphate induced activation of Wnt/β-catenin pathway as demonstrated by the translocation of β-catenin into the nucleus, increased expression of the frizzled-3 gene, and downregulation of Dkk-1 gene, a specific antagonist of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. The addition of magnesium however inhibited phosphate-induced activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Furthermore, TRPM7 silencing using siRNA resulted in activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Additional experiments were performed to test the ability of magnesium to halt the progression of already established VSMC calcification in vitro. The delayed addition of magnesium decreased calcium content, down-regulated Cbfa-1 and osterix and up-regulated MGP and OPG, when compared with a control group. This effect was not observed when 2-APB was added. In conclusion, magnesium transport through the cell membrane is important to inhibit VSMC calcification in vitro. Inhibition of Wnt/β-catenin by magnesium is one potential intracellular mechanism by which this anti-calcifying effect is achieved

A922 Sequential measurement of 1 hour creatinine clearance (1-CRCL) in critically ill patients at risk of acute kidney injury (AKI)

Meeting abstrac

A new quality control procedure based on non-linear autoregressive neural network for validating raw river stage data

The main purpose of this work is the develop of a new quality control method based on non-linear autoregressive neural networks (NARNN) for validating hydrological information, more specifically of 10-min river stage data, for automatic detection of incorrect records. To assess the effectiveness of this new approach, a comparison with adapted conventional validation tests extensively used for hydro-meteorological data was carried out. Different parameters of NARNN and their stability were also analyzed in order to select the most appropriate configuration for obtaining the optimal performance. A set of errors of different magnitudes was artificially introduced into the dataset to evaluate detection efficiency. The NARNN method detected more than 90% of altered records, when the magnitude of error introduced was very high, while conventional tests detected only around 13%. In addition, the NARNN method maintained a similar efficiency at the intermediate and lower error ratios, while the conventional tests were not able to detect more than 6% of erroneous data. © 2013.Peer Reviewe

Modelos de valoración agraria y tipos de actualización para diferentes aprovechamientos en la Campiña Cordobesa

La aplicación del método analítico en la valoración de fincas agrarias ha sido a menudo objeto de fuertes criticas, debido a la falta de consistencia en la elección de la tasa de actualización a aplicar. Esto ha supuesto un abandono paulatino de dicho método en favor de los métodos sintéticos o por comparación. En este trabajo se justifican y determinan las tasas a aplicar en la utilización del método analítico para fincas con diferentes especulaciones de cultivos en dos comarcas de la provincia de Córdoba, Las Campiñas Alta y Baja. Del resultado del trabajo se concluyen diferencias importantes entre las tasas obtenidas y las que tradicionalmente se han venido utilizando en los informes de valoración