460 research outputs found
Atypical colororation in the yellow-striped poisonous frog, <i>Dendrobates truncatus</i> (Cope, 1861), in the Colombian Magdalena river valley
Herein we report an atypical coloration in one individual of the yellow-striped poisonous frog, Dendrobates truncatus, in Colombian Magdalena middle valley. The adult individual presented leucism, a rare phenomenon occurs in nature or at very low frequenciesAsociación Herpetológica Argentina (AHA
DIET OF BARN OWL (TYTO ALBA), SPECTACLED OWL (PULSATRIX PERSPICILLATA) AND RUFOUS-BANDED OWL (STRIX ALBITARSIS) IN THE WESTERN ANDES OF COLOMBIA
Abstract · Dietary studies are one of the most developed research areas in biology and ecology studies of Neotropical owls, but most of these studies have focused on few species. Our study describes the diet of Barn Owl (Tyto alba), Spectacled Owl (Pulsatrix perspicillata), and Rufous-banded Owl (Strix albitarsis) in Jardin and Ciudad Bolivar, western Andes of Colombia. The diet of T. alba, based on 495 prey items consisted 98.6% of vertebrates, the main food items being rodents (66%) and shrews (21.4%). Out of 142 prey items identified from P. perspicillata fractured pellets, the main prey species were Artibeus lituratus (23.9%), Rattus norvegicus (21.8%), and Didelphis sp. (16.1%), species of small and medium-sized mammals that tolerate environmental changes and often live in urban areas. Pulsatrix perspicillata preyed also on at least 14 bird species including hummingbirds and migratory birds. Based on 165 prey items S. albitarsis consumed more invertebrates (57.7%) than vertebrates (42.3%). Among the insects, the main preys were Coleoptera beetles and Orthoptera crickets. Among the vertebrates, the main prey species included mammals such as Thomasomys aureus, Marmosops sp., Marmosa sp., and Reithrodontomys mexicanus. These scansorial species are likely to be vulnerable to aerial predators such as S. albitarsis which hunt from a perchs. According to standardized Levins index values T. alba was the most selective in its food habits, P. perspicillata had intermediate values, while S. albitarsis showed the least selective diet.RESUMEN · Dieta de la Lechuza Común (Tyto alba), el Búho de Anteojos (Pulsatrix perspicillata) y el Búho Ocelado (Strix albitarsis) en la cordillera Occidental de Colombia Los estudios sobre hábitos tróficos constituyen la lÃnea de investigación más desarrollada dentro de la biologÃa y ecologÃa de los búhos Neotropicales, pero la mayorÃa de esos estudios se han centrado en pocas especies. El propósito de este estudio es describir la dieta de la Lechuza Común (Tyto alba), el Búho de Anteojos (Pulsatrix perspicillata) y el Búho Ocelado (Strix albitarsis), en JardÃn y Ciudad BolÃvar, cordillera Occidental de Colombia. Identificamos 495 presas consumidas por T. alba. Su dieta estuvo compuesta en un 98.7% de vertebrados, principalmente roedores (66%) y musarañas (21.4%). De 142 presas de P. perspicillata, las presas principales, Artibeus lituratus (23.9%), Rattus norvegicus (21.8%) y Didelphis sp. (16.1%), son especies tolerantes a los ambientes intervenidos y hacen parte de los ensamblajes de pequeños mamÃferos encontrados en ambientes urbanos. Pulsatrix perspicillata consumió también al menos 14 especies de aves incluyendo colibrÃes y aves migratorias. En base a 165 presas S. albitarsis consumió más invertebrados (57.7%) que vertebrados (42.3%). Entre los insectos depredó en mayor porcentaje los ordenes Coleoptera y Orthoptera, mientras que entre los vertebrados predominaron los de hábitos escansoriales (Thomasomys aureus, Marmosops sp., Marmosa sp. y Reithrodontomys mexicanus). Estos vertebrados serÃan más vulnerables a depredadores aéreos como S. albitarsis, la cual caza desde perchas en árboles. De acuerdo a los valores obtenidos para el Ãndice estandarizado de Levins, T. alba fue más selectiva en el consumo de las presas, seguida por P. perspicillata, mientras que S. albitarsis tiene la dieta menos selectiva
HRFlexToT: A High Dynamic Range ASIC for Time-of-Flight Positron Emission Tomography
Time-of-Flight positron emission tomography scanners demand fast and efficient photo sensors and scintillators coupled to fast readout electronics. This article presents the high resolution flexible Time-over-Threshold (HRFlexToT), a 16-channel application-specific-integrated circuit for silicon photomultipliers (SiPM) anode readout manufactured using XFAB 0.18- \mu \text{m} CMOS technology. The main features of the HRFlexToT are a linear Time-over-Threshold with an extended dynamic range (10 bits) for energy measurement, low power consumption (≈ 3.5 mW/ch), and an excellent timing response. The experimental measurements show an energy linearity error of ≈ 3% and an energy resolution of about 12% at 511 keV. Single-photon time resolution measurements performed using an Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) SiPM NUV-HD ( 4 \times 4 mm2 pixel, 40- \mu \text{m} cell) and a Hamamatsu SiPM S13360-3050CS are around 142 and 167 ps full width at half maximum (FWHM), respectively. Coincidence time resolution (CTR) measurements with small cross-section pixelated crystals (LSO:Ce,Ca 0.4%, 2 \times 2 \times 5 mm3) coupled to the same Hamamatsu S13360-3050CS and FBK NUV-HD sensors yield a CTR of 117 ps and 119 ps, respectively. Measurements performed with a large cross-section monolithic crystal (LFS crystal measuring 25 \times 25 \times 20 mm3) and a Hamamatsu SiPM array S13361-6050NE-04 show a CTR of 324 ps FWHM after time-walk and time-skew correction
COVID-19 after two years: trajectories of different components of mental health in the Spanish population
Aims:
Our study aimed to (1) identify trajectories on different mental health components during a two-year follow-up of the COVID-19 pandemic and contextualise them according to pandemic periods; (2) investigate the associations between mental health trajectories and several exposures, and determine whether there were differences among the different mental health outcomes regarding these associations.
Methods:
We included 5535 healthy individuals, aged 40–65 years old, from the Barcelona Brain Health Initiative (BBHI). Growth mixture models (GMM) were fitted to classify individuals into different trajectories for three mental health-related outcomes (psychological distress, personal growth and loneliness). Moreover, we fitted a multinomial regression model for each outcome considering class membership as the independent variable to assess the association with the predictors.
Results:
For the outcomes studied we identified three latent trajectories, differentiating two major trends, a large proportion of participants was classified into ‘resilient’ trajectories, and a smaller proportion into ‘chronic-worsening’ trajectories. For the former, we observed a lower susceptibility to the changes, whereas, for the latter, we noticed greater heterogeneity and susceptibility to different periods of the pandemic. From the multinomial regression models, we found global and cognitive health, and coping strategies as common protective factors among the studied mental health components. Nevertheless, some differences were found regarding the risk factors. Living alone was only significant for those classified into ‘chronic’ trajectories of loneliness, but not for the other outcomes. Similarly, secondary or higher education was only a risk factor for the ‘worsening’ trajectory of personal growth. Finally, smoking and sleeping problems were risk factors which were associated with the ‘chronic’ trajectory of psychological distress.
Conclusions:
Our results support heterogeneity in reactions to the pandemic and the need to study different mental health-related components over a longer follow-up period, as each one evolves differently depending on the pandemic period. In addition, the understanding of modifiable protective and risk factors associated with these trajectories would allow the characterisation of these segments of the population to create targeted interventions"This work was supported by a grant from the Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR) ‘PANDÈMIES 2020’ (ref. 2020PANDE00043) and a grant from ‘La Marató de TV3’ MARATÓ 2020 COVID-19 (ref. 202129–31). Supported in part by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU/FEDER; grant number RTI2018-095181-B-C21) and an ICREA Academia 2019 grant award to D. B-F. Partially, this research has received funding from ‘La Caixa’ Foundation (grant number LCF/PR/PR16/11110004), and from Institut Guttmann and Fundació Abertis. I.B-M. was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship related to ‘PANDÈMIES 2020’ (AGAUR; 2020PANDE00043). D.F. has been supported by grant 2021 SGR 01421 (GRBIO) administrated by the Departament de Recerca I Universitats de la Generalitat de Catalunya (Spain) and by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Spain) [PID2019-104830RB-I00/ DOI (AEI): 10.13039/501100011033].. J.M.T. was partly supported by AGAUR (2018 PROD 00172), Fundació Joan Ribas Araquistain and ‘La Marató de TV3’ Fundation (201735.10). This research was furthermore supported by the Government of Catalonia (2017SGR748). We also acknowledge support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and State Research Agency through the ‘Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa 2019-2023’ Program (CEX2018-000806-S), and support from the Generalitat de Catalunya through the CERCA Program"Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version
¿Se asocia el consumo de refrescos azucarados con la composición corporal? Estudio transversal en adolescentes españoles
Objectives: Published data about the association between
the consumption of sweetened soft-drinks (SSD)
and obesity in childhood are controversial and still inconsistent.
In addition, data are lacking in the Spanish population.
The purpose of this study was therefore, to explore
the cross-sectional association between body composition-
related parameters and SSD consumption in Spanish
adolescents.
Subjects and methods: A representative sample of 1,523
adolescents (768 boys and 755 girls), with complete dietary
data as well as anthropometric measurements, were
included in this study. Weight, height, waist circumferences,
and 6 skinfolds were measured, and BMI and percentage
body fat were calculated. From a 24h dietary recall
the subjects were grouped in 3 groups according to their
SSD consumption: 1) Non-consumers (0 g of SSD consumption);
2) Moderate consumption (< 336 g/day of
SSD, equivalent to the average SSD portion size); and 3)
High consumption (> 336 g/day of SSD).
Results: 67% males and 75% females did not consume
any SSD the day before the dietary recall interview.
Males consumed more SSD than females. Regarding the
association between SSD consumption and measures of
obesity, no difference was observed between the three
groups of SSD consumption in any of the anthropometric
measurement, BMI or body fat.
Conclusion: As no association was present between
SSD consumption and obesity in our cross-sectional study
we suggest that dietary patterns and habits as well as
lifestyle factors such as physical activity should be present when examining cross-sectional or longitudinal relationships
with obesity. Multidisciplinary intervention
studies are crucial when trying to develop solutions
against the increasing obesity epidemic.Objetivos: Los datos publicados sobre la asociación
entre el consumo de refrescos azucarados (SSD) y la obesidad
en la infancia son controvertidos y todavÃa inconsistentes.
Además, estos datos son muy escasos en la población
española. Por ello, el propósito de este estudio ha sido
estudiar la asociación entre los parámetros relacionados
con la composición corporal y el consumo de SSD en adolescentes
españoles.
Sujetos y métodos: Se ha realizado el estudio en una
muestra de 1.523 adolescentes (768 chicos y 755 chicas)
que tenÃan cumplimentados los datos dietéticos y los
parámetros antropométricos (peso, altura, circunferencias
de cintura, y 6 pliegues). Se calculó el IMC y el porcentaje
de grasa corporal. La dieta ha sido calculada a
partir de un recordatorio de 24h. Los sujetos fueron divididos
en grupos dependiendo de la cantidad de SSD que
consumÃan: 1) No consumidores (0 g de consumo SSD); 2)
Consumo moderado (< 336 g/dÃa de SSD, equivalente a
una bebida al dÃa de SSD); y 3) Consumo alto (> 336 g/dÃa
de SSD).
Resultados: El 67% de los varones y el 75% de las
mujeres indican no consumir este tipo de bebidas el dÃa
anterior a la encuesta. Los varones en general consumieron
más SSD que las mujeres. En cuanto a la asociación
entre consumo SSD y medidas antropométricas y de composición
corporal, no se encontraron diferencias significativas
entre los tres grupos de estudio en los parámetros
antropométricos, IMC o grasa corporal.
Conclusión: Dado que no se ha encontrado en este estudio
ninguna asociación entre el consumo de SSD y la obesidad,
sugerimos que los patrones y hábitos dietarios asÃ
como los factores del estilo de vida, y la actividad fÃsica,
deberÃan tenerse en cuenta al examinar las relaciones
transversales o longitudinales con la obesidad, y que los estudios de intervención multidisciplinar son cruciales
cuando se trata de desarrollar soluciones contra el incremento
de una epidemia como la obesidad.The AVENA study was supported by Spanish Ministry
of Health (00/0015) and by grants from the Spanish Higher
Sports Council (05/UPB32/01, 09/UPB31/03 and
13/UPB20/04), the Spanish Ministry of Education
(AP2003-2128 and AP2004-2745), Coca-Cola, Panrico
SA, Madaus SA and Procter & Gamble SA
Las universidades y el discurso ambientalista: las dos caras de la moneda
La preocupación constante de las universidades e instituciones de educación superior por afrontar los retos de lasnuevas formas de mercados y la cada vez más definida polÃtica en relación con la conservación del ambiente y el aprovechamiento de recursos, además de la búsqueda de mejorar las condiciones de vida y el desarrollo de estrategias desostenibilidad ambiental, exigen que la reflexión, evaluación y el análisis en torno a los procesos, técnicas e instrumentosde la gestión ambiental se constituyan en una fase crucial para el entendimiento de los discursos empresariales conrelación a la misma. En este sentido, se hizo relevante un análisis crÃtico e interdisciplinario de la manera cómo las universidades e instituciones de educación superior han estructurado sus discursos para sensibilizar a la comunidaduniversitaria a reducir el impacto negativo que generan al entorno; es asà como el presente artÃculo, producto deinvestigación, indagó sobre los discursos ambientalistas usados desde lo administrativo, en la Universidad AutónomaLatinoamericana, la Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia y la Corporación Universitaria Remington, todas ellas consede en la comuna 10 de la ciudad de MedellÃn. Se encontró que la legislación internacional y la nacional en relacióncon el ambiente, han guiado el actuar de las instituciones en la construcción de un pensamiento preocupado por elambiente.Palabras clave: ambiente, educación ambiental, gestión ambiental, pensamiento ambiental
Draft genome sequence of chloride-tolerant Leptospirillum ferriphilum Sp-Cl from industrial bioleaching operations in northern Chile
Indexación: Web of Science; PubMedLeptospirillum ferriphilum Sp-Cl is a Gram negative, thermotolerant, curved, rod- shaped bacterium, isolated from an industrial bioleaching operation in northern Chile, where chalcocite is the major copper mineral and copper hydroxychloride atacamite is present in variable proportions in the ore. This strain has unique features as compared to the other members of the species, namely resistance to elevated concentrations of chloride, sulfate and metals. Basic microbiological features and genomic properties of this biotechnologically relevant strain are described in this work. The 2,475,669 bp draft genome is arranged into 74 scaffolds of 74 contigs. A total of 48 RNA genes and 2,834 protein coding genes were predicted from its annotation; 55 % of these were assigned a putative function. Release of the genome sequence of this strain will provide further understanding of the mechanisms used by acidophilic bacteria to endure high osmotic stress and high chloride levels and of the role of chloride-tolerant iron-oxidizers in industrial bioleaching operations.https://standardsingenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40793-016-0142-
New insights into the classification and nomenclature of cortical GABAergic interneurons.
A systematic classification and accepted nomenclature of neuron types is much needed but is currently lacking. This article describes a possible taxonomical solution for classifying GABAergic interneurons of the cerebral cortex based on a novel, web-based interactive system that allows experts to classify neurons with pre-determined criteria. Using Bayesian analysis and clustering algorithms on the resulting data, we investigated the suitability of several anatomical terms and neuron names for cortical GABAergic interneurons. Moreover, we show that supervised classification models could automatically categorize interneurons in agreement with experts' assignments. These results demonstrate a practical and objective approach to the naming, characterization and classification of neurons based on community consensus
The clustering of galaxies in the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: measuring structure growth using passive galaxies
We explore the benefits of using a passively evolving population of galaxies
to measure the evolution of the rate of structure growth between z=0.25 and
z=0.65 by combining data from the SDSS-I/II and SDSS-III surveys. The
large-scale linear bias of a population of dynamically passive galaxies, which
we select from both surveys, is easily modeled. Knowing the bias evolution
breaks degeneracies inherent to other methodologies, and decreases the
uncertainty in measurements of the rate of structure growth and the
normalization of the galaxy power-spectrum by up to a factor of two. If we
translate our measurements into a constraint on sigma_8(z=0) assuming a
concordance cosmological model and General Relativity (GR), we find that using
a bias model improves our uncertainty by a factor of nearly 1.5. Our results
are consistent with a flat Lambda Cold Dark Matter model and with GR.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS (clarifications added, results and
conclusions unchanged
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