Current status of las tablas de daimiel national park wetland and actions required for conservation

Wetlands are complex ecosystems that play multiple roles. ‘Las Tablas de Daimiel National Park’ (TDNP) undoubtedly plays a role in several ecosystem services and provides a connection between nature, farmers, scientists, residents, and other stakeholders. The state of degradation and/or vulnerability of this ecosystem (with a series of socio-economic implications) have led the publication of numerous articles. The work reported here provides a description of the growing importance of this wetland within the rural landscapes of La Mancha and emphasizes its state of degradation, mainly since pedological point of view. In this way, particular attention is required to assure the conservation of the Tablas of Daimiel Wetland; thus, several measures are proposed to improve the conservation of this area as to control and prohibit any dumping of any type of waste in the park or in its vicinityThis Research was funded by Organismo Autonomo Parques Nacionales (Autonomous Organism National Parks) of Spain (OAPN

A new approach to influence analysis in linear models

propose a new approach to the study of influence in the General Linear Model based on conditional bias. This approach enables us to apply such an analysis to all particular cases of this model. The theoretical foundation, on which this approach is based, does not presuppose a particular hypothesis on the distribution of the variables. Applying the results obtained to the Multiple Linear Regression Model, measures of influence are obtained as already proposed by other authors. Finally we carry out an application of the results on the analysis of covariance

Multidrug resistance transporter profile reveals MDR3 as a marker for stratification of blastemal Wilms tumour patients

Wilms tumour (WT) is the most common renal tumour in children. Most WT patients respond to chemotherapy, but subsets of tumours develop resistance to chemotherapeutic agents, which is a major obstacle in their successful treatment. Multidrug resistance transporters play a crucial role in the development of resistance in cancer due to the efflux of anticancer agents out of cells. The aim of this study was to explore several human multidrug resistance transporters in 46 WT and 40 nonneoplastic control tissues (normal kidney) from patients selected after chemotherapy treatment SIOP 93–01, SIOP 2001. Our data showed that the majority of the studied multidrug resistance transporters were downregulated or unchanged between tumours and control tissues. However, BCRP1, MDR3 and MRP1 were upregulated in tumours versus control tissues. MDR3 and MRP1 overexpression correlated with highrisk tumours (SIOP classification) (p = 0.0022 and p < 0.0001, respectively) and the time of disease-free survival was significantly shorter in patients with high transcript levels of MDR3 (p = 0.0359). MDR3 and MRP1 play a role in drug resistance in WT treatment, probably by alteration of an unspecific drug excretion system. Besides, within the blastemal subtype, we observed patients with low MDR3 expression were significantly associated with a better outcome than patients with high MDR3 expression. We could define two types of blastemal WT associated with different disease outcomes, enabling the stratification of blastemal WT patients based on the expression levels of the multidrug resistance transporter MDR3.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad PI1401466, RD06/0020/0059, PI1100018, CD06/00001Red Tematica de Investigacion Cooperativa en Cancer RD12/0036/0017Unión Europea FP7-HEALTH- 2011-two-stage, Project ID 278742 EUROSARCInstituto de Salud Carlos III FIS PI13/0228

Modelo para la aplicación de la Responsabilidad Social Corporativa en la Gestión de la Cadena de Suministro

[ESP] En esta última década ha aumentado el interés, tanto en el ámbito académico como en el empresarial, por la Responsabilidad Social Corporativa o Corporate Social Responsibility (en adelante, CSR), también llamada Responsabilidad Social Empresarial. Sin embargo, el concepto de CSR tiene una larga y variada historia, cuyo tratamiento en la literatura de manera formal se remonta a la década de los 50. Por otra parte, es en la década de los 70 cuando las organizaciones intergubernamentales comienzan a posicionarse e involucrarse en los temas concernientes a la CSR. En 1976 la OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) publica “Líneas directrices de la OECD para empresas multinacionales”. En 1977, la OIT (Organización Internacional del Trabajo) publica la “Declaración tripartita de principios sobre las empresas multinacionales y la política social”. Y una década más tarde, en 1987, la Comisión Mundial sobre Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo, promovida por Naciones Unidas, elabora un informe titulado “Our Common Future”, más conocido como Informe Brundtland, en referencia al presidente de la comisión. En el informe se define por primera vez el término Desarrollo Sostenible como “La capacidad de satisfacer las necesidades de las generaciones presentes sin comprometer las posibilidades de las del futuro para atender sus propias necesidades”

Sustainability indicator for the prevention of potential thermal interferences between groundwater heat pump systems in urban aquifers

The steady increase of geothermal systems using groundwater is compromising the renewability of the geothermal resources in shallow urban aquifers. To ensure sustainability, scientifically-based criteria are required to prevent potential thermal interferences between geothermal systems. In this work, a management indicator (balanced sustainability index, BSI) applicable to groundwater heat pump systems is defined to assign a quantitative value of sustainability to each system, based on their intrinsic potential to produce thermal interference. The BSI indicator relies on the net heat balance transferred to the terrain throughout the year and the maximum seasonal thermal load associated. To define this indicator, 75 heating-cooling scenarios based in 23 real systems were established to cover all possible different operational conditions. The scenarios were simulated in a standard numerical model, adopted as a reference framework, and thermal impacts were evaluated. Two polynomial regression models were used for the interpolation of thermal impacts, thus allowing the direct calculation of the sustainability indicator developed as a function of heating-cooling ratios and maximum seasonal thermal loads. The BSI indicator could provide authorities and technicians with scientifically-based criteria to establish geothermal monitoring programs, which are critical to maintain the implementation rates and renewability of these systems in the cities

Las claves de éxito y las mejores prácticas de los sistemas de participación del personal

El objetivo de este trabajo es conocer la importancia que las empresas españolas que cuentan con sistemas de participación del personal como soporte a la implantación de la mejora continua otorgan a los diferentes factores clave para el éxito de estos sistemas. Dichos factores clave son el resultado de una labor de recopilación y armonización de las propuestas de diferentes autores en las últimas dos décadas. A continuación, en una muestra de 40 empresas españolas con gran grado de madurez en sus sistemas de participación, se evalúa el nivel de desarrollo de una serie de aspectos relacionados con los factores clave identificados, con la intención de comparar si la implantación o despliegue de los diferentes factores es acorde con el orden de importancia concedido. Finalmente, se ofrece un conjunto de mejores prácticas de las empresas de la muestra, fruto de su experiencia y buen hacer en materia de sistemas de participación a lo largo de los años, con el objetivo de que dichas prácticas puedan servir de referencia para aquellas otras compañías que deseen iniciar o profundizar en la implantación de la mejora continua, contando con el necesario apoyo de los sistemas de participación del personal. --- The aim of this work is to know the importance of key factors for the success of employee participation systems supporting continuous improvement, as evaluated by Spanish companies with such systems implanted. Said key factors are the result of a compilation of the proposals from different authors in the last two decades. The work was carried out in a sample of 40 Spanish companies, all with high maturity in their employee participation systems. The level of development and deployment of a series of implantation aspects is studied, in order to find out relations with the importance of those key factors. Finally, the paper offers some company best practices, as a kind of reference for those companies that wish to initiate or improve their employee participation systems as a vehicle for continuous improvement

Evaluation of a Diagnostic Decision Support System for the Triage of Patients in a Hospital Emergency Department

One of the biggest challenges for the management of the emergency department (ED) is to expedite the management of patients since their arrival for those with low priority pathologies selected by the classification systems, generating unnecessary saturation of the ED. Diagnostic decision support systems (DDSS) can be a powerful tool to guide diagnosis, facilitate correct classification and improve patient safety. Patients who attended the ED of a tertiary hospital with the preconditions of Manchester Triage system level of low priority (levels 3, 4 and 5), and with one of the five most frequent causes for consultation: dyspnea, chest pain, gastrointestinal bleeding, general discomfort and abdominal pain, were interviewed by an independent researcher with a DDSS, the Mediktor system. After the interview, we compare the Manchester triage and the final diagnoses made by the ED with the triage and diagnostic possibilities ordered by probability obtained by the Mediktor system, respectively. In a final sample of 214 patients, the urgency assignment made by both systems does not match exactly, which could indicate a different classification model, but there were no statistically significant differences between the assigned levels (S = 0.059, p = 0.442). The diagnostic accuracy between the final diagnosis and any of the first 10 Mediktor diagnoses was of 76.5%, for the first five diagnoses was 65.4%, for the first three diagnoses was 58%, and the exact match with the first diagnosis was 37.9%. The classification of Mediktor in this segment of patients shows that a higher level of severity corresponds to a greater number of hospital admissions, hospital readmissions and emergency screenings at 30 days, although without statistical significance. It is expected that this type of applications may be useful as a complement to the triage, to accelerate the diagnostic approach, to improve the request for appropriate complementary tests in a protocolized action model and to reduce waiting times in the ED

Sostenibilidad y mejora logística. Un caso práctico

[ESP] Las empresas, en el contexto competitivo actual, deben enfrentarse a los desafíos de la innovación constante de nuevos productos, disminución de los ciclos de vida de los productos, la proliferación de productos, la demanda de precios cada vez más bajos y estándares de calidad y servicio cada vez más elevados. Esto ha ocurrido en mercados que pueden caracterizarse como cada vez más globales, turbulentos y volátiles y ha obligado a muchas organizaciones a buscar como fuente de ventajas competitivas, una mejor gestión de la cadena de suministro (“supply chain management”, en adelante SCM), incluyendo la posible deslocalización de procesos y actividades a países emergentes o de bajo coste. En esta misma línea, está bastante extendida la visión de que la competencia en los mercados actuales ya no sigue un modelo de compañía contra compañía, sino que la competencia es entre cadenas de suministro. Ahora bien, la búsqueda sistemática de alternativas más eficientes para diseñar y gestionar la cadena suministros pueden basarse, tanto en el ámbito de la reducción de costes (enfoque “lean”) como en el ámbito de la mejora de la flexibilidad (enfoque “ágil”). Tradicionalmente, ambos enfoques se han contrapuesto, si bien, más que conceptos excluyentes, ambos deben complementarse en un entorno cada vez más competitivo, en el que no es suficiente ofrecer productos que, o bien sólo sean baratos, que sólo tengan calidad o que sólo ofrezcan un buen plazo de entrega

High triglycerides and low HDL-c lipid profile in rheumatoid arthritis: a potential link among inflammation, oxidative status and dysfunctional HDL

Background The interactions between inflammation and lipid profile in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are poorly understood. The lipid profile study in RA has been biased toward lipoprotein levels, whereas those of triglycerides (TGs) and lipoprotein functionality have been underestimated. Objectives Since recent findings suggest a role for TG and TG-rich lipoproteins (TRL) on inflammation, we aimed to evaluate a combined lipid profile characterized by high TG and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (TGhighHDLlow) in RA. Methods Lipid profiles were analyzed in 113 RA patients, 113 healthy controls, and 27 dyslipemic subjects. Levels of inflammatory mediators, paraoxonase-1 (PON1) activity, and total antioxidant capacity were quantified in serum. PON1-rs662 status was evaluated by real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results The TGhighHDLlow profile was detected in 29/113 RA patients. Although no differences in prevalence compared with healthy controls or dyslipemic subjects were observed, this profile was associated with increased tumor necrosis factor ? (P = .004), monocyte chemotactic protein (P = .004), interferon-gamma?inducible protein-10 (P = .018), and leptin (P < .001) serum levels in RA, where decreased PON1 activity and total antioxidant capacity were found. TGhighHDLlow prevalence was lower among anti-TNF??treated patients (P = .004). When RA patients were stratified by PON1-rs662 status, these associations remained in the low-activity genotype (QQ). Finally, a poor clinical response on TNF? blockade was related to an increasing prevalence of the TGhighHDLlow profile over treatment (P = .021) and higher TRL levels at baseline (P = .042). Conclusions The TGhighHDLlow profile is associated with systemic inflammation, decreased PON1 activity, and poor clinical outcome on TNF? blockade in RA, suggesting a role of TRL and HDL dysfunction as the missing link between inflammation and lipid profile.This work was supported by European Union FEDER funds, “Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria (FIS, PI12/00523 and PI16/00113; ISCIII, Spain) and SER/FER funds (Sociedad Española de Reumatología, FER043/2016). J.R.-C. is supported by a postdoctoral contract from the “Juan de la Cierva” program (FJCI-2015-23849; MINECO, Spain)

A Study on the Influence of the Use of Sulphur Dioxide, the Distillation System and the Aging Conditions on the Final Sensory Characteristics of Brandy

Brandy is a unique alcoholic beverage obtained from wine distillates. Numerous studies have been published on its physicochemical traits and the effect of certain elaboration variables on them, but not many studies have been carried out from a sensory point of view or that have followed standardized methods applicable to this discipline. This study intends to determine the effect that certain production variables have on the sensory characteristics of brandy. These variables are the following: The use of sulphur dioxide during the fermentation of the base wine, the subsequent distillation system, the alcohol content during aging, the botanical origin of the aging casks, and their toasting degree. For this purpose, the guidelines provided by the ISO standards for sensory analysis have been followed, and chromatic parameters have also been determined. Heavy extractions from Quercus petraea casks resulted in brandies with widely varying colors, although these were hard to distinguish using the olfactory and gustatory properties associated with the factors under study. Conversely, those brandies aged in Quercus alba casks presented very consistent greenish shades that are not traditionally associated with aged brandy. This lower extraction could explain why the aromatic traits that are found in the fresh spirit are better preserved when this type of oak is used. The spirit obtained through the distillation of SO2-free wines aged in Quercus robur presented average sensory characteristics: Good color, smooth in the mouth, and medium-intensity oak notes. The distillates that were aged at 55% ABV were later perceived as more aromatically intense with a greater oak note on the palate. On the other hand, the brandies obtained from wines without SO2 added were perceived as less alcoholic, sweeter, and more balanced, with a softer oak note.26 página