El Trabajo infantil en las fábricas de indianas: Barcelona, 1736-1800

A pesar de que la historiografía suele situar en la Revolución Industrial los orígenes de la explotación infantil a gran escala, el estudio de algunas modalidades de trabajo infantil en las sociedades preindustriales abre un nuevo campo de perspectivas y posibilidades pocas veces contempladas. Este artículo analiza el trabajo infantil en la indianería barcelonesa del setecientos y muestra cómo algunas de las «rupturas» atribuidas a la Revolución Industrial, en realidad, ya habían comenzado a fraguarse mucho antes en dicha industria manufacturera. Para ello, hemos recurrido a las listas salariales de las empresas del sector, la correspondencia fabril, las estadísticas oficiales, los tratados técnicos y la prensa. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que la gran flexibilidad del trabajo infantil fue el principal reclamo para una demanda cuyas necesidades eran cambiantes y diversas. Otros aspectos, como las buenas expectativas de formación y la contribución en las economías domésticas, muy alejada del pocket money, fueron otras de las causas principales del trabajo infantil en la indianería

Eloísa García de Wattenberg (1923-2017)

In Memoria

Evolucion y perspectivas del sector vitivinicola

Peer Reviewe

Prevalence of enteric pathogens in diarrheic and non-diarrheic samples from pig farms with neonatal diarrhea in the North East of Spain

Diarrhea is one of the major causes of neonatal mortality in pigs. In the present study, 31 pig farms with outbreaks of neonatal diarrhea were investigated in Catalonia (NE Spain) from February 2017 until June 2018. Two hundred and fifteen diarrheic samples from 1 to 7 days old piglets were tested for a panel of enteric pathogens. In 19 of the studied farms additional fecal samples from apparently healthy pen-mates were collected and tested for the same panel of infectious agents. Samples were bacteriologically cultured and tested by PCR for E. coli virulence factors genes, C. perfringens types A and C toxins (Cpα, Cpβ, Cpβ2) and C. difficile toxins (TcdA, TcdB). Moreover, Rotavirus A (RVA), Rotavirus B (RVB), Rotavirus C (RVC), porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) and transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV) were also determined by RT-qPCR. More than one pathogen could be detected in all of the outbreaks. Nevertheless, RVA was the only agent that could be statistically correlated with the outcome of diarrhea. For the other viruses and bacteria analyzed significant differences between the diseased pigs and the controls were not found. In spite of this, the individual analysis of each of the studied farms indicated that other agents such as RVB, RVC, toxigenic C. difficile or pathogenic E. coli could play a relevant role in the outbreak of diarrhea. In conclusion, the large diversity of agent combinations and disease situations detected in neonatal diarrhea outbreaks of this study stand for a more personalized diagnosis and management advice at a farm level.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Testing of umbilical cords by real time PCR is suitable for assessing vertical transmission of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus under field conditions

The objective of this study was to test the suitability of umbilical cord (UC) sampling and ear vein swabbing (EVS) as alternatives to jugular vein bleeding (JVB) for the assessment of vertical transmission of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV). Twelve farms suspected to be PRRSV-positive unstable were selected and the three types of samples were obtained from 21 batches of newborn piglets (n = 387). The proportions of positive results, viral loads and time spent to collect the samples were compared. UC yielded the highest detection rate, with 76 positives compared to 55 JVB- and 45 EV-positive results (P < 0.05). Average Ct values were 26.6 ± 8.5 for JVB, 30.8 ± 6.4 for EV and 32.1 ± 4.85 for UC (P < 0.01). UC was the fastest collection method (mean 24 s vs. 55 s for EV and 72 s for JVB; P < 0.05). In this study, UC testing was a faster and more sensitive alternative to JVB or EV for the detection of PRRSV in newborn piglets.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Using commercial ELISAs to assess humoral response in sows repeatedly vaccinated with modified live porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus

Background Sows in breeding herds are often mass vaccinated against porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) every few months using modified live vaccines (MLV). Field veterinarians repeatedly report that multiple vaccinated sows test negative in ELISA. Obviously, this creates uncertainty when assessing the compliance of vaccination and the status of sows. Methods In the present study, four commercial ELISAs were used to assess the serological PRRS status in gilts and sows of three farms that were PRRS MLV vaccinated every four months. Animals were tested before vaccination (BV) and postvaccination (PV). Total and neutralising antibodies and cell-mediated responses were also measured in animals that yielded negative results in all ELISAs. Results The proportion of seronegative animals BV varied depending on the farm and the ELISA used. When samples were analysed using only one ELISA, a substantial number of negative results obtained BV remained as negative afterwards. Five animals were negative BV and PV with all the examined ELISAs. Those animals also yielded negative results in all the other immunological assays. Conclusion Our findings suggest that the use of ELISA for monitoring multiple PRRS MLV vaccinated sows is very limited due to the variability of the humoral responses and the moderate agreement between tests.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Modeling three sources of uncertainty in assisted reproductive technologies with probabilistic graphical models

Embryo selection is a critical step in assisted reproduction: good selection criteria are expected to increase the probability of inducing a pregnancy. Machine learning techniques have been applied for implantation prediction or embryo quality assessment, which embryologists can use to make a decision about embryo selection. However, this is a highly uncertain real-world problem, and current proposals do not model always all the sources of uncertainty. We present a novel probabilistic graphical model that accounts for three different sources of uncertainty, the standard embryo and cycle viability, and a third one that represents any unknown factor that can drive a treatment to a failure in otherwise perfect conditions. We derive a parametric learning method based on the Expectation-Maximization strategy, which accounts for uncertainty issues. We empirically analyze the model within a real database consisting of 604 cycles (3125 embryos) carried out at Hospital Donostia (Spain). Embryologists followed the protocol of the Spanish Association for Reproduction Biology Studies (ASEBIR), based on morphological features, for embryo selection. Our model predictions are correlated with the ASEBIR protocol, which validates our model. The benefits of accounting for the different sources of uncertainty and the importance of the cycle characteristics are shown. Considering only transferred embryos, our model does not further discriminate them as implanted or failed, suggesting that the ASEBIR protocol could be understood as a thorough summary of the available morphological features