First Report of Asiatic Brown Rot (Monilinia polystroma) and Brown Rot (Monilinia fructicola) on Pears in Italy

Brown rot caused by Monilinia spp. is an important fruit postharvest decay causing severe losses in stone and pome fruits with a significant economic impact. In Italy, three Monilinia species (M. laxa, M. fructicola, and M. fructigena) are the causal agents of blossom and twig blight and brown fruit rot in stone fruit. M. polystroma has been observed on peaches in Italy (2) and has been reported in Czech Republic and Hungary (3), Poland (4), Serbia (5), and Switzerland (1) on pome fruits and apricots. In September 2013, stored var. Abate Fetel pears showing brown rot symptoms were observed in Emilia Romagna region. In 20% of the symptomatic pears, circular and brown to black decay spots were observed, covered by a large number of yellowish or buff-colored stromata, while decayed tissues remained firm, resembling M. polystroma symptoms. In another 13% of stored pears, the decayed tissues remained firm, and decay lesions were covered with numerous grayish pustules containing spores. Putative pathogens were isolated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated at 25°C in darkness for 5 days. The colonies grown on PDA were yellowish, with irregular black stromatal crusts at the edges of the colonies after 10 to 12 days of incubation. Some colonies developed, at their margins, sporogenous tissue slightly elevated above the colony surface that was buff/pale luteous (4). Conidia developing from such cultures were one celled, ovoid or limoniform, smooth and hyaline, measuring 12.2 to 20.4 × 8.4 to 12.3 µm when grown on V8 juice agar (V8) at 22°C, and matched the description of those for M. polystroma. Other colonies, which developed a gray mass of spores in concentric rings with the reverse side black, were morphologically identified as M. fructicola. The colony margins were smooth edged, and the conidia were one-celled, limoniform, hyaline, and measuring 12.1 to 17.4 × 8.1 to 11.2 µm on V8 at 22°C. Isolate identificaton was obtained using the universal primers for Monilinia spp. (3). Pathogenicity was confirmed using surface-sterilized mature var. Abate Fetel and William pears wounded with a sterile needle, and inoculated with 20 µl of an M. polystroma or M. fructicola conidial suspension (103 spores/ml). After 7 days of incubation at 20°C, typical symptoms of Asiatic brown rot or brown rot developed on both the wounds of all inoculated pears, while controls remained symptomless. Mean colony diameters measured after 7 days were 47.3 mm for Asiatic brown rot and 44.1 mm for brown rot, and there were no significant differences in colony diameter after 7 days between M. polystroma and M. fructicola (α < 0.05). After 14 days, yellowish exogenous stromata appeared on the surface of pears infected by M. polystroma, whereas numerous grayish pustules containing spores appeared on pears inoculated with M. fructicola. Control pears still remained symptomless. The fungus isolated from inoculated fruit exhibited the same morphological features as the original isolates, and PCR/sequencing analysis using primers ITS1 and ITS4 confirmed the results of the universal primers (3) (GenBank Accession Nos. GU067539.1 and HQ893748.1). Although the presence of M. polystroma and M. fructicola has been documented in Italy, this is the first time these two species were observed on Italian pears. This report suggests a broader impact since M. polystroma and M. fructicola have not been previously reported on pears in Europe. Because of the importance of pears in the Italian fruit industry, knowledge about the occurrence of new pathogens will facilitate the adoption of adequate control strategies to reduce postharvest losses

Activation of TREK currents by the neuroprotective agent riluzole in mouse sympathetic neurons.

Background K2P channels play a key role in stabilizing the resting membrane potential, thereby modulating cell excitability in the central and peripheral somatic nervous system. Whole-cell experiments revealed a riluzole-activated current (IRIL), transported by potassium, in mouse superior cervical ganglion (mSCG) neurons. The activation of this current by riluzole, linoleic acid, membrane stretch, and internal acidification, its open rectification and insensitivity to most classic potassium channel blockers, indicated that IRIL flows through channels of the TREK [two-pore domain weak inwardly rectifying K channel (TWIK)-related K channel] subfamily. Whole-ganglia and single-cell reverse transcription-PCR demonstrated the presence of TREK-1, TREK-2, and TRAAK (TWIK-related arachidonic acid-activated K+ channel) mRNA, and the expression of these three proteins was confirmed by immunocytochemistry in mSCG neurons. IRIL was enhanced by zinc, inhibited by barium and fluoxetine, but unaffected by quinine and ruthenium red, strongly suggesting that it was carried through TREK-1/2 channels. Consistently, a channel with properties identical with the heterologously expressed TREK-2 was recorded in most (75%) cell-attached patches. These results provide the first evidence for the expression of K2P channels in the mammalian autonomic nervous system, and they extend the impact of these channels to the entire nervous system.Publicado

3DHIP-Calculator A New Tool to Stochastically Assess Deep Geothermal Potential Using the Heat-In-Place Method from Voxel-Based 3D Geological Models

The assessment of the deep geothermal potential is an essential task during the early phases of any geothermal project. The well-known 'Heat-In-Place' volumetric method is the most widely used technique to estimate the available stored heat and the recoverable heat fraction of deep geothermal reservoirs at the regional scale. Different commercial and open-source software packages have been used to date to estimate these parameters. However, these tools are either not freely available, can only consider the entire reservoir volume or a specific part as a single-voxel model, or are restricted to certain geographical areas. The 3DHIP-Calculator tool presented in this contribution is an open-source software designed for the assessment of the deep geothermal potential at the regional scale using the volumetric method based on a stochastic approach. The tool estimates the Heat-In-Place and recoverable thermal energy using 3D geological and 3D thermal voxel models as input data. The 3DHIP-Calculator includes an easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI) for visualizing and exporting the results to files for further postprocessing, including GIS-based map generation. The use and functionalities of the 3DHIP-Calculator are demonstrated through a case study of the Reus-Valls sedimentary basin (NE, Spain)

Ryhmäytyminen yläkoulun seitsemäsluokkalaisten kuvaamana

Yläkouluun siirtyminen on tavallisesti nuorelle uusi ja jännittävä asia. Murrosiän kynnyksellä oleva nuori on usein epävarma itsestään sekä yksilönä että osana yhteisöä, ja se osaltaan voi vaikeuttaa uuteen kouluympäristöön sulautumista. Ryhmään, kuten koululuokkaan liittyminen on osa ryhmän syntyprosessia eli ryhmäytymistä, jossa epämääräisestä joukosta ihmisiä tulee yksi kokonaisuus. Joskus ryhmäytymisen tukemiseksi joudutaan käyttämään ryhmäyttämistä, joka perustuu erilaisiin toiminnallisiin tehtäviin, kuten tutustumis- ja luottamusharjoituksiin. Pohjana tutkimukselle on käytetty teoriatietoa nuoren kehityksestä, kouluympäristöstä sekä ryhmän muotoutumisesta. Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli selvittää, miten tietty luokka oppilaita on ryhmäytynyt yläkoulun ensimmäisen lukuvuoden aikana. Lisäksi tutkimuksessa on selvitetty miten luokkahenki luokassa on muuttunut ja mitä luokkahengen parantamiseksi on tehty. Tutkimuskohteena olivat Iitin yläkoulun erään seitsemännen luokan oppilaat ja heidän luokanvalvojansa. Oppilaat kirjoittivat lukuvuoden aikana kaksi ohjattua kirjoitelmaa ja luokanvalvoja vastasi luokkaa koskeviin kysymyksiin kirjallisesti kaksi kertaa lukuvuoden aikana. Tutkimus oli laadullinen ja kirjoitelmien perusteella laadittiin kuvaus oppilaiden ja luokanvalvojan näkemyksistä ryhmäytymisestä ja luokkahengestä. Tutkimustulosten mukaan luokassa oli ryhmäydytty jonkin verran jo ensimmäisen lukuvuoden aikana ja että luokkahengessä oli havaittu sekä positiivisia että negatiivisia muutoksia. Sekä oppilaat että luokanvalvoja olivat pyrkineet kuitenkin parantamaan luokkahenkeä omalta osaltaan.It is always a new and amazing thing for a young person to move from primary school to secondary school. The teenager is usually unsure about himself or herself and it can be very hard to try to take place in a new community like in a new school class. Some-times they have to use some special processes to make pupils to become the group members in schools. The study was qualitative. The purpose of this study was to solve how a certain class of pupils had become to a complete group during the first school year and how the class spirit had changed. Pupils wrote two essays about their class and the form teacher also answered twice to some questions concerning the class. The results showed that there had been some changes in the group and class spirit during the first school year. They had also tried to make the class spirit better

Anàlisi econòmica financera de les empreses gaseles de la Catalunya Central

Objecte: El present treball reflecteix l'anàlisi econòmica financera de les empreses gaseles de la Catalunya Central. S'han considerat les empreses gaseles per ser les empreses tractores de l'economia d'un territori i per tant ens interessa veure la seva salut empresarial en el període analitzat. L'estudi posiciona aquestes indústries i presenta els principals indicadors econòmics i financers per tal de diagnosticar la salut d'aquestes empreses en el període 2008-2012 mitjançant una anàlisi a curt i llarg termini, una anàlisi de resultats i una anàlisi dels canvis patrimonials i dels fluxos d'efectiu d'aquestes empreses gasela. Disseny/metodologia: Les dades utilitzades provenen dels estats comptables d'aquestes empreses de la base de dades SABI en el període 2008-2012, en concret, es recull una mostra d'empreses industrials de les comarques de la Catalunya Centralque tenen un mínim de 5 treballadors, que tenen un creixement de les vendes en els últims anys d'un 6% i que tenen una rendibilitat econòmica mínima d'un 5% sobre les que es porta a terme l'anàlisi econòmica financera mitjançant l'estadística descriptiva oportuna i una anàlisi de regressions arribant a uns resultats i conclusions. Aportacions i resultats: L'estudi permet assenyalar que les empreses gaseles en aquest període gaudeixen d'una bona salut econòmica i financera, amb un reduït nombre d'empreses que concentren gran part de les vendes. Són empreses amb un creixement equilibrat ja que tenen una gestió eficient dels actius, una gestió financeraprudent (excepte per les empreses de menys número dels treballadors) i una bona gestió de les despeses. Són empreses solvents, amb un endeutament acceptable, però de mala qualitat,i una rendibilitat dels actius amb tendència a l’alça i dels recursos propis més moderada. Limitacions: Seria convenient ampliar la mostra a altres comarques i arribar a dades actuals per confirmar els canvis de tendència en l'anàlisi econòmica i financera. Implicacions pràctiques: Permet valorar la projecció d'aquestes empreses en els últims anys a Catalunya, per prendre les oportunes decisions econòmiques al respecte. Implicacions socials: Els resultats permeten posar de manifest situacions a corregir per part de les empreses per poder seguir ben posicionades. Valor afegit: Per aquestes empreses dóna informacions econòmiques i financeres rellevants de la salut empresarial per assumir els reptes de futur i el manteniment de la seva posició

The communicative management of large companies in Spain: structure, resources and main challenges of their managers

This article studies the communicative structures of the main companies in Spain. Based on the fact that these organisations have significant economic and human resources, the structure of their communication areas is analysed, as well as the specific training of their top managers. In addition, the article will outline the main concerns that these organisational structures have with regard to the day-to-day management of business communication (transparency, reputation, identity, etc.). To do this, the object of the study is made up of the main companies in the Spanish continuous market, some of them included in the Ibex 35 in 2018. This population has been selected because it has the greatest impact on the national economy and is susceptible to greater information transparency.El presente artículo reflexiona sobre las estructuras comunicativas de las principales empresas españolas. Partiendo de la base de que estas organizaciones tienen importantes recursos económicos y humanos, se analiza la organización de sus áreas de comunicación, las prácticas que llevan a cabo y la formación específica de sus máximos responsables. Además, se detallan las principales preocupaciones y retos de esos departamentos de comunicación en el presente y el futuro inmediato (transparencia, reputación, identidad, etc.). El objeto de estudio lo constituyen las empresas españolas con mayor volumen de facturación, incluyendo las del Ibex 35 en 2018, por ser las de mayor impacto en la economía nacional, además de susceptibles de una mayor transparencia informativa

3D human action recognition in multiple view scenarios

This paper presents a novel view-independent approach to the recognition of human gestures of several people in low resolution sequences from multiple calibrated cameras. In contraposition with other multi-ocular gesture recognition systems based on generating a classification on a fusion of features coming from different views, our system performs a data fusion (3D representation of the scene) and then a feature extraction and classification. Motion descriptors introduced by Bobick et al. for 2D data are extended to 3D and a set of features based on 3D invariant statistical moments are computed. Finally, a Bayesian classifier is employed to perform recognition over a small set of actions. Results are provided showing the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm in a SmartRoom scenario.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Shedding light into the Chimaeridae taxonomy: the complete mitochondrial genome of the cartilaginous fish Hydrolagus mirabilis (Collett, 1904) (Holocephali: Chimaeridae)

Cartilaginous fish are fascinating taxa, present in the folklore and art of many different cultures. Moreover, they display several unique anatomical, physiological, molecular, and behavioral characteristics making them extremely interesting from a biological perspective. Nevertheless, some crucial knowledge gaps remain, including phylogenetic relationships among extant species. Here, we produced the complete mitogenome sequence of the large-eyed rabbitfish, Hydrolagus mirabilis (Chimaeriformes). The complete mitogenome is 19,435 bp long and shows the same overall content, i.e. 13 protein-coding genes, 22 transfer RNA, and two ribosomal RNA genes, as all other examined Chondrichthyan mitogenomes. Phylogenetic reconstructions including 12 Holocephalan and three outgroup Elasmobranch mitogenomes place the H. mirabilis within the family Chimaeridae but revealed paraphyletic Hydrolagus and Chimaera, in line with a previous study, highlighting the importance for collecting additional molecular data to improve phylogenetic reconstruction in this group of vertebrates.Versión del edito

Coparentalitat i custòdia compartida a Catalunya

L’article aborda la problemàtica de la custòdia compartida legal dels fills menors d’edat en el postdivorci dins d’un context de creixent diversitat de les pràctiques parentals. S’hi presenta el marc sociojurídic actual existent a Espanya i a Catalunya entorn de la figura jurídica i la pràctica de la custòdia compartida. A més, s’hi analitzen les dades de sentències judicials de nul·litats, separacions i divorcis en referència al període 2007-2012 procedents de l’INE sobre Catalunya i uns altres territoris de l’Estat espanyol. En els resultats, hi destaca l’especificitat de Catalunya en el context de l’Estat espanyol, amb nivells més alts de divorci, consens entre els cònjuges i custòdia compartida. Concloem que el formidable increment de la custòdia compartida es podria explicar per l’adaptació de la pràctica judicial a nous models de coparentalitat en el predivorci. S’hi planteja la necessitat d’avançar en la recerca qualitativa per conèixer l’impacte real de la custòdia compartida en la vida quotidiana dels nens i els seus progenitors, perquè interpretem que, en la pràctica, aquesta figura jurídica conté i amaga acords ben diversos i crea escenaris molt complexos en el postdivorci.</p