Variabilidad espacial de propiedades edáficas y su relación con el rendimiento en un cultivo de papa (solanum tuberosum l.)

Se efectuó una investigación con el fin de modelar la variabilidad espacial de algunas propiedades del suelo y su relación con la variación de la producción en un cultivo de papa (Solanum tuberosumL.), como base para identificar algunos indicadores de calidad de suelos en el departamento de Cundinamarca, región andina de Colombia. Mediante la realización de diversos análisis espaciales se encontró una alta variabilidad espacial de las propiedades del suelo y de la producción dentro del lote. Por otra parte, se encontró que el pH, la suma de bases y saturación de Al son las características de mayor influencia sobre el rendimiento, por lo tanto, pueden ser utilizadas como indicadores de calidad del suelo, bajo las condiciones del estudio. Con relación al muestreo, las redes, con 14 y 26 puntos, distancias entre puntos de 30 x 30 y 15 x 30, tuvieron varianzas de predicción aceptables y costos razonables, por lo tanto, se consideran apropiadas para las condiciones del estudio

Scaling-up climate services with users in Latin America

Latin America farmers are highly vulnerable to climate variability, with crop losses observed throughout the region on a virtually annual basis. For instance, as indicated by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Program (WFP), the 2014–2017 drought conditions in Central America affected over 3.5 million people in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. At the same time, local stakeholders and farmers generally have limited access to existing climate and forecast information, do not have sufficient capacities to understand the climate information and/or mechanisms to relate this information to the impact that climate variations can generate at a local level. This precludes the translation of information into actionable knowledge, and therefore into action. In this study, we describe a process through which scientists and strategic partners have co-developed, tested and scaled out an approach to assess, co-produce, translate and transfer climate information to enable agricultural decision making –the Local Technical Agroclimatic Committees (LTAC). LTACs allow open and clear dialogues about climate variations at multiple timescales, how these can affect crops, and the design of measures to reduce crop loss, particularly providing agronomic recommendations to farmers. We systematically describe the process of evidence generation, creation, partner engagement, scaling up, and monitoring of the approach throughout Latin America. Currently, 35 LTACs exist in 9 Latin American countries, engaging more than 250 public and private institutions, increasing the resilience and food security of an estimated 330,000 farmers, and potentially transforming how Latin American farmers manage climate risk. The study illustrates changes in institutional and farmers' capacities to co-produce, translate and use climate information and explores how better climate and crop prediction models can effectively underpin this process. We show how strategic alliances with farmer organizations, national public, and private and regional climate outlook forums help deliver improved and accurate climate information to users. Finally, we document how LTACs and their integration with other local-scale processes have led to changes in farmers’ management practices to take better advantage of good climatic conditions or avoid losses

Cerebrospinal Fluid Cytokines in Multiple System Atrophy: a Cross-Sectional Catalan MSA Registry Study

Introduction: Neuroinflammation is a potential player in neurodegenerative conditions, particularly the aggressive ones, such as multiple system atrophy (MSA). Previous reports on cytokine levels in MSA using serum or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) have been inconsistent, including small samples and a limited number of cytokines, often without comparison to Parkinson's disease (PD), a main MSA differential diagnosis. Methods: Cross-sectional study of CSF levels of 38 cytokines using a multiplex assay in 73 participants: 39 MSA patients (19 with parkinsonian type [MSAp], 20 with cerebellar type [MSAc]; 31 probable, 8 possible), 19 PD patients and 15 neurologically unimpaired controls. None of the participants was under non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs at the time of the lumbar puncture. Results: There were not significant differences in sex and age among participants. In global non-parametric comparisons FDR-corrected for multiple comparisons, CSF levels of 5 cytokines (FGF-2, IL-10, MCP-3, IL-12p40, MDC) differed among the three groups. In pair-wise FDR-corrected non-parametric comparisons 12 cytokines (FGF-2, eotaxin, fractalkine, IFN-α2, IL-10, MCP-3, IL-12p40, MDC, IL-17, IL-7, MIP-1β, TNF-α) were significantly higher in MSA vs. non-MSA cases (PD + controls pooled together). Of these, MCP-3 and MDC were the most significant ones, also differed in MSA vs. PD, and were significant MSA-predictors in binary logistic regression models and ROC curves adjusted for age. CSF levels of fractalkine and MIP-1α showed a strong and significant positive correlation with UMSARS-2 scores. Conclusion: Increased CSF levels of cytokines such as MCP-3, MDC, fractalkine and MIP-1α deserve consideration as potential diagnostic or severity biomarkers of MSA.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Study of the scattering of halo nuclei around the Coulomb barrier

During the past ten years the present collaboration has carried out several experiments related with the study of radioactive nuclei. One of the topics in which we have centered our research, is the scattering of halo nuclei at energies around the Coulomb barrier. As part of this study, we present in this work a review of the results obtained from the scattering of 6He, 11Be and 11Li. The presence of a "halo" in these exotic nuclei is found to have a striking effect on the dynamics of these reactions, making their study an interesting experimental problem and a challenge for existing reaction theories.Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología FPA2005-04460, FPA2005-02379, FPA-2000-1592-C03-02, FPA2003-05958, FPA2002- 04181-C04-02/03, FPA2006-13807-c02-0, FPA2009- 07653Programa Español Consolider-Ingenio 2010 CSD2007-0004

Strengthening the climate services chain in Central America

Central American farmers are highly vulnerable to climate variability, with crop losses observed throughout the region on a virtually annual basis. At the same time, local stakeholders and farmers generally have limited access to existing climate and forecast information, do not have sufficient capacities to understand the climate information and/or mechanisms to relate this information to the impact that climate variations can generate at the local level. This precludes the translation of information into actionable knowledge, and therefore into action. Here we describe a process through which scientists and strategic partners have co-developed, tested, and scaled out approaches to assess, co-produce, translate and transfer climate information to enable agricultural decision making (e.g. Next Generation of climate forecasts -NextGen, the Local Technical Agroclimatic Committees - LTAC, the Participatory Integrated Climate Services for Agriculture -PICSA). Through these approaches’ farmers and stakeholders access information about climate variations at multiple timescales, understand how these can affect crops, and design measures to reduce crop loss, particularly providing agronomic recommendations to farmers. We systematically describe the process of evidence generation, creation, partner engagement, scaling up, and monitoring of these approaches throughout Central America at a national level and at the local level especially in application sites known as the Climate-Smart Villages

Un nuevo grupo de manos paleolíticas pintadas en el sur de la Península Ibérica. La cueva de las Estrellas (Castellar de la Frontera, Cádiz)

Presentamos en este trabajo la revisión de las manifestaciones de arte rupestre conservadas en una estación localizada en la comunidad autónoma de Andalucía, conocida en la literatura precedente como cueva de Las Estrellas (Castellar de la Frontera, Cádiz). Se trata de un abrigo rocoso de grandes dimensiones, abierto al aire libre, en el que ya se había constatado, en los primeros años del presente siglo, la presencia de diversas pictografías de estilo esquemático. Durante una visita reciente al enclave se ha advertido, además, la existencia de un importante conjunto figurativo de cronología paleolítica que incluye representaciones de fauna y una pequeña serie de improntas de manos en negativo. Este artículo aborda el análisis genérico de las grafías catalogadas hasta el momento en la cavidad, atendiendo con especial detalle al conjunto de las citadas huellas de manos paleolíticas, que han sido documentadas usando tecnología digital 3d. De igual modo, se tendrán en cuenta su contextualización en el arte paleolítico andaluz y una primera aproximación cronológica a este interesante y variado complejo figurativo

Malaria vector species in Colombia: a review

Here we present a comprehensive review of the literature on the vectorial importance of the major Anopheles malaria vectors in Colombia. We provide basic information on the geographical distribution, altitudinal range, immature habitats, adult behaviour, feeding preferences and anthropophily, endophily and infectivity rates. We additionally review information on the life cycle, longevity and population fluctuation of Colombian Anopheles species. Emphasis was placed on the primary vectors that have been epidemiologically incriminated in malaria transmission: Anopheles darlingi, Anopheles albimanus and Anopheles nuneztovari. The role of a selection of local, regional or secondary vectors (e.g., Anopheles pseudopunctipennis and Anopheles neivai) is also discussed. We highlight the importance of combining biological, morphological and molecular data for the correct taxonomical determination of a given species, particularly for members of the species complexes. We likewise emphasise the importance of studying the bionomics of primary and secondary vectors along with an examination of the local conditions affecting the transmission of malaria. The presence and spread of the major vectors and the emergence of secondary species capable of transmitting human Plasmodia are of great interest. When selecting control measures, the anopheline diversity in the region must be considered. Variation in macroclimate conditions over a species' geographical range must be well understood and targeted to plan effective control measures based on the population dynamics of the local Anopheles species