Regeneración de oreomunnea mexicana (Juglandaceae), una especie relicto, amenazada del bosque de niebla de sierra juárez, oaxaca, México

Oreomunnea mexicana (Stand.) J.F. Leroy is a relict species, threatened and a key species for cloud ecosystem functionof the Sierra Juárez, Oaxaca, the most extensive and best conserved in Mexico. This study includes a diagnostic on two critical stages of the process of population regeneration of O. mexicana. To this end, it analyzed the: 1) production, dispersion, viability and germination of seeds, 2) effect of predation on the growth and survival of the seedlings, and 3) effect of environmental variables (soil, canopy structure and solar radiation) on the regeneration of the species. The study was made from 2014 to 2015 in the cloud forest of Santiago Comaltepec, Oaxaca, Mexico, in two locations (San Bernardo and El Orquidiario). Differences in seed production were found between years and between locations, as well as low seed viability and a high percentage of seed parasitism. The establishment and growth of the seedlings are subject to find suitable microhabitats, since seedlings have specific illumination and soil requirements. The high edaphic specificity faced by the species could be a key factor for its fragmented and discontinuous distribution in Sierra Juárez. Further population regeneration studies are recommended to increase knowledge of the species and thereby achieve its conservation. © 2019, Instituto de Ecologia, A.C. All rights reserved

Liver segmentation in MRI: a fully automatic method based on stochastic partitions

There are few fully automated methods for liver segmentation in magnetic resonance images (MRI) despite the benefits of this type of acquisition in comparison to other radiology techniques such as computed tomography (CT). Motivated by medical requirements, liver segmentation in MRI has been carried out. For this purpose, we present a new method for liver segmentation based on the watershed transform and stochastic partitions. The classical watershed over-segmentation is reduced using a marker-controlled algorithm. To improve accuracy of selected contours, the gradient of the original image is successfully enhanced by applying a new variant of stochastic watershed. Moreover, a final classifier is performed in order to obtain the final liver mask. Optimal parameters of the method are tuned using a training dataset and then they are applied to the rest of studies (17 datasets). The obtained results (a Jaccard coefficient of 0.91 +/- 0.02) in comparison to other methods demonstrate that the new variant of stochastic watershed is a robust tool for automatic segmentation of the liver in MRI. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.This work has been supported by the MITYC under the project NaRALap (ref. TSI-020100-2009-189), partially by the CDTI under the project ONCOTIC (IDI-20101153), by Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia Spain, Project Game Teen (TIN2010-20187) projects Consolider-C (SEJ2006-14301/PSIC), "CIBER of Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition, an initiative of ISCIII" and Excellence Research Program PROMETEO (Generalitat Valenciana. Conselleria de Educacion, 2008-157). We would like to express our gratitude to the Hospital Clinica Benidorm, for providing the MR datasets and to the radiologist team of Inscanner for the manual segmentation of the MR images.López-Mir, F.; Naranjo Ornedo, V.; Angulo, J.; Alcañiz Raya, ML.; Luna, L. (2014). Liver segmentation in MRI: a fully automatic method based on stochastic partitions. Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine. 114(1):11-28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmpb.2013.12.022S1128114

Multi-messenger observations of a binary neutron star merger

On 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of ~1.7 s with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg2 at a luminosity distance of 40+8-8 Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 Mo. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at ~40 Mpc) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One- Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ~10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position ~9 and ~16 days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta

Regeneración de oreomunnea mexicana (Juglandaceae), una especie relicto, amenazada del bosque de niebla de sierra juárez, oaxaca, México

Oreomunnea mexicana (Stand.) J.F. Leroy is a relict species, threatened and a key species for cloud ecosystem functionof the Sierra Juárez, Oaxaca, the most extensive and best conserved in Mexico. This study includes a diagnostic on two critical stages of the process of population regeneration of O. mexicana. To this end, it analyzed the: 1) production, dispersion, viability and germination of seeds, 2) effect of predation on the growth and survival of the seedlings, and 3) effect of environmental variables (soil, canopy structure and solar radiation) on the regeneration of the species. The study was made from 2014 to 2015 in the cloud forest of Santiago Comaltepec, Oaxaca, Mexico, in two locations (San Bernardo and El Orquidiario). Differences in seed production were found between years and between locations, as well as low seed viability and a high percentage of seed parasitism. The establishment and growth of the seedlings are subject to find suitable microhabitats, since seedlings have specific illumination and soil requirements. The high edaphic specificity faced by the species could be a key factor for its fragmented and discontinuous distribution in Sierra Juárez. Further population regeneration studies are recommended to increase knowledge of the species and thereby achieve its conservation. © 2019, Instituto de Ecologia, A.C. All rights reserved

Smart Technologies. SmartTech-IC 2022: Third International Conference on Smart Technologies, Systems and Applications

La Universidad Politécnica Salesiana ha estado promoviendo la investigación científica proporcionando financiamiento para el desarrollo y ejecución de propuestas en diversas áreas de investigación. En la Sede Cuenca, se han formado grupos multidisciplinarios para llevar a cabo estas propuestas de investigación. Aunque estos indicadores demuestran resultados favorables en la implementación de una cultura de investigación sólida, todavía se informan proyectos que, debido a varios factores, no logran publicar sus resultados en revistas indexadas. Entre estos factores se encuentran los altos costos de movilidad de los investigadores para presentar sus trabajos en eventos indexados, así como la falta de implementación de criterios adecuados de cienciometría. Esto ha impedido que, en muchos casos, investigaciones con resultados sobresalientes no sean comunicadas a la comunidad científica internacional, lo que no contribuye al aumento de la productividad académica institucional. Además, en algunos casos, se publican trabajos en revistas sin una indexación que contribuya a los indicadores institucionales (Castillo y Powell, 2019) (Guerrero-Casado, 2017)

Whole-Exome Sequencing of 24 Spanish Families: Candidate Genes for Non-Syndromic Pediatric Keratoconus

Keratoconus is a corneal dystrophy that is one of the main causes of corneal transplantation and for which there is currently no effective treatment for all patients. The presentation of this disease in pediatric age is associated with rapid progression, a worse prognosis and, in 15–20% of cases, the need for corneal transplantation. It is a multifactorial disease with genetic variability, which makes its genetic study difficult. Discovering new therapeutic targets is necessary to improve the quality of life of patients. In this manuscript, we present the results of whole-exome sequencing (WES) of 24 pediatric families diagnosed at the University Hospital La Paz (HULP) in Madrid. The results show an oligogenic inheritance of the disease. Genes involved in the structure, function, cell adhesion, development and repair pathways of the cornea are proposed as candidate genes for the disease. Further studies are needed to confirm the involvement of the candidate genes described in this article in the development of pediatric keratoconus