Relationship between sedimentation rates and benthic impact on Maërl beds derived from fish farming in the Mediterranean

The aim of this work was to study the dispersion of particulate wastes derived from marine fish farming and correlate the data with the impact on the seabed. Carbon and nutrients were correlated with the physico-chemical parameters of the sediment and the benthic community structure. The sedimentation rates in the benthic system were 1.09, 0.09 and 0.13 g m−2 day−1 for particulate organic carbon (POC), particulate organic nitrogen (PON) and total phosphorus (TP), respectively. TP was a reliable parameter for establishing the spatial extent of the fish farm particulate wastes. Fish farming was seen to influence not only physico-chemical and biological parameters but also the functioning of the ecosystem from a trophic point of view, particularly affecting the grazers and the balance among the trophic groups. POC, PON and TP sedimentation dynamics reflected the physico-chemical status of the sediment along the distance gradient studied, while their impact on the benthic community extended further. Therefore, the level of fish farm impact on the benthic community might be underestimated if it is assessed by merely taking into account data obtained from waste dispersion rates. The benthic habitat beneath the fish farm, Maërl bed, was seen to be very sensitive to aquaculture impact compared with other unvegetated benthic habitats, with an estimated POC-carrying capacity to maintain current diversity of 0.087 g C m−2 day−1 (only 36% greater than the basal POC input). Environmental protection agencies should define different aquaculture waste load thresholds for different benthic communities affected by finfish farming, according to their particular degree of sensitivity, in order to maintain natural ecosystem functions.This work was funded by the project AGL2004-08350-C02-01/ACU and the research programme CICYT-FEDER (project 1FD97-1128) from the Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología from Spain, and two predoctoral grants, one to C. S. from the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia and one to F. N. from the ALBAN programme (EU)

Inteligencia emocional y rendimiento laboral en el Ejército del Aire: un estudio empírico

This study explores the basis of emotional intelligence and attempts to clarify the possible relation between emotional intelligence and work performance within the framework of the spanish air Force. the number of studies devoted to exploring empirically these topics are not numerous (Goldberg, Sweeney, Merenda & Hughes, 1996; Nikoui, 2015; Øvrebø, 2017) and there are even less of those related to the Spanish Air Force. the participants in this project were the future first- and fifth-year officers at the spanish air Force academy. a validated questionnaire was used for data collection. our results revealed, among others, that the degree of emotional intelligence is high among the future officers in the Spanish Air ForceEste trabajo explora las bases de la inteligencia emocional intentando aclarar las posibles relaciones entre ésta y el rendimiento en el trabajo en el marco del ejército del aire español. el número de estudios dedicados a examinar empíricamente estos temas no son numerosos (Goldberg, Sweeney, Merenda & Hughes, 1996; Nikoui, 2015; Øvrebø, 2017) y existen menos aún de aquellos relacionados con el Ejército del Aire español (Rodrigues-Goulart, 2006). los participantes de este proyecto fueron los futuros oficiales de primer y quinto curso de la academia general del aire. se utilizó un cuestionario validado para la recogida de datos. nuestros resultados revelaron, entre otros, que el grado de inteligencia emocional es elevado en los futuros oficiales del Ejército del Aire Español

Automatic generation of students' conceptual models underpinned by free-text adaptive computer assisted assessment

Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works. D. Perez-Marin, E. Alfonseca, M. Freire, and P. Rodriguez, “Automatic generation of students' conceptual models underpinned by free-text adaptive computer assisted assessment”, in Sixth International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies, 2006, Kerkrade, 2006, pp. 280-284In this paper, we present an automatic procedure to generate students' knowledge conceptual models from their answers to an automatic free-text scoring system. The conceptual model is defined as a simplified representation of the concepts and relationships among them that each student keeps in his or her mind about an area of knowledge. It is considered that each area of knowledge comprises several topics and each topic several concepts. Each concept can be identified by a term that the students should use. A concept can belong to one topic or to several topics. The conceptual model is graphically displayed to the teachers as a conceptual map so that they can instantly see which concepts have already been assimilated and which ones should still be reviewed as they have been misunderstoodThis work has been sponsored by Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology,project number TIN2004-031

Gene body DNA methylation in seagrasses: inter- and intraspecific differences and interaction with transcriptome plasticity under heat stress

The role of DNA methylation and its interaction with gene expression and transcriptome plasticity is poorly understood, and current insight comes mainly from studies in very few model plant species. Here, we study gene body DNA methylation (gbM) and gene expression patterns in ecotypes from contrasting thermal environments of two marine plants with contrasting life history strategies in order to explore the potential role epigenetic mechanisms could play in gene plasticity and responsiveness to heat stress. In silico transcriptome analysis of CpG(O/E) ratios suggested that the bulk of Posidonia oceanica and Cymodocea nodosa genes possess high levels of intragenic methylation. We also observed a correlation between gbM and gene expression flexibility: genes with low DNA methylation tend to show flexible gene expression and plasticity under changing conditions. Furthermore, the empirical determination of global DNA methylation (5-mC) showed patterns of intra and inter-specific divergence that suggests a link between methylation level and the plants' latitude of origin and life history. Although we cannot discern whether gbM regulates gene expression or vice versa, or if other molecular mechanisms play a role in facilitating transcriptome responsiveness, our findings point to the existence of a relationship between gene responsiveness and gbM patterns in marine plants

Seagrasses in an era of ocean warming: a review

Seagrasses are valuable sources of food and habitat for marine life and are one of Earth's most efficient carbon sinks. However, they are facing a global decline due to ocean warming and eutrophication. In the last decade, with the advent of new technology and molecular advances, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of studies focusing on the effects of ocean warming on seagrasses. Here, we provide a comprehensive review of the future of seagrasses in an era of ocean warming. We have gathered information from published studies to identify potential commonalities in the effects of warming and the responses of seagrasses across four distinct levels: molecular, biochemical/physiological, morphological/population, and ecosystem/planetary. To date, we know that although warming strongly affects seagrasses at all four levels, seagrass responses diverge amongst species, populations, and over depths. Furthermore, warming alters seagrass distribution causing massive die-offs in some seagrass populations, whilst also causing tropicalization and migration of temperate species. In this review, we evaluate the combined effects of ocean warming with other environmental stressors and emphasize the need for multiple-stressor studies to provide a deeper understanding of seagrass resilience. We conclude by discussing the most significant knowledge gaps and future directions for seagrass research.En prens

Stress Memory in Seagrasses: First Insight Into the Effects of Thermal Priming and the Role of Epigenetic Modifications

En prens

Gene body DNA methylation in seagrasses: inter-and intraspecific differences and interaction with transcriptome plasticity under heat stress

En prensa2,92

The Genetic Component of Seagrass Restoration: What We Know and the Way Forwards

En prensa0,97

Does Warming Enhance the Effects of Eutrophication in the Seagrass Posidonia oceanica?

En prens

Photo-physiology and morphology reveal divergent warming responses in northern and southern hemisphere seagrasses

En prensa2,01