Association of insularity and body condition to cloacal bacteria prevalence in a small shorebird

Do islands harbour less diverse disease communities than mainland? The island biogeography theory predicts more diverse communities on mainland than on islands due to more niches, more diverse habitats and availability of greater range of hosts. We compared bacteria prevalences ofCampylobacter,ChlamydiaandSalmonellain cloacal samples of a small shorebird, the Kentish plover (Charadrius alexandrinus) between two island populations of Macaronesia and two mainland locations in the Iberian Peninsula. Bacteria were found in all populations but, contrary to the expectations, prevalences did not differ between islands and mainland. Females had higher prevalences than males forSalmonellaand when three bacteria genera were pooled together. Bacteria infection was unrelated to bird's body condition but females from mainland were heavier than males and birds from mainland were heavier than those from islands. Abiotic variables consistent throughout breeding sites, like high salinity that is known to inhibit bacteria growth, could explain the lack of differences in the bacteria prevalence between areas. We argue about the possible drivers and implications of sex differences in bacteria prevalence in Kentish plovers

Translocated LPS Might Cause Endotoxin Tolerance in Circulating Monocytes of Cystic Fibrosis Patients

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is an inherited pleiotropic disease that results from abnormalities in the gene codes of a chloride channel. The lungs of CF patients are chronically infected by several pathogens but bacteraemia have rarely been reported in this pathology. Besides that, circulating monocytes in CF patients exhibit a patent Endotoxin Tolerance (ET) state since they show a significant reduction of the inflammatory response to bacterial stimulus. Despite a previous description of this phenomenon, the direct cause of ET in CF patients remains unknown. In this study we have researched the possible role of microbial/endotoxin translocation from a localized infection to the bloodstream as a potential cause of ET induction in CF patients. Plasma analysis of fourteen CF patients revealed high levels of LPS compared to healthy volunteers and patients who suffer from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Experiments in vitro showed that endotoxin concentrations found in plasma of CF patients were enough to induce an ET phenotype in monocytes from healthy controls. In agreement with clinical data, we failed to detect bacterial DNA in CF plasma. Our results suggest that soluble endotoxin present in bloodstream of CF patients causes endotoxin tolerance in their circulating monocytes

ESTIMATION OF THE PRIVATE AND SOCIAL RATE OF RETURN FROM EDUCATION IN LATVIA

IZGLĪTĪBAS PRIVĀTĀS UN SOCIĀLĀS ATDEVES NOVĒRTĒJUMS LATVIJĀ Anotācija Promocijas darba mērķis ir novērtēt izglītības ietekmi uz darba samaksu un darba produktivitāti indivīda un sabiedrības līmenī Latvijā, kā arī izstrādāt priekšlikumus izglītības nozīmes paaugstināšanai un atdeves novērtējuma lietošanai. Lai novērtētu izglītības privāto atdevi, tiek izmantota Mincera ienākumu funkcija, kā arī profesora E. de la Fuentes metodoloģija. Novērtējot sociālo atdevi, autore aprēķināja vīriešu un sieviešu (ar augstāko izglītību) cilvēkkapitālu laika posmā no 2000. līdz 2010. gadam un iegūtos rezultātus lietoja ražošanas funkcijā, aprēķinot izglītības ietekmi uz darba produktivitāti. Autore aprēķināja, ka recesijas periodā izglītības nozīme pieaug, kas vienlaikus norāda uz lielākām darba samaksas atšķirībām starp strādājošajiem ar dažādiem izglītības līmeņiem. Izglītības privātā atdeve augstākajā izglītībā pārsniedz vairāk nekā divas reizes atdevi no vidējās izglītības. Rezultāti liecina, ka sieviešu cilvēkkapitāla pieaugums pozitīvi ietekmē darba produktivitāti. Atslēgvārdi: cilvēkkapitāls, izglītība, izglītības privātā un sociālā atdeveESTIMATION OF THE PRIVATE AND SOCIAL RATE OF RETURN TO EDUCATION IN LATVIA Annotation The purpose of this Ph.D. thesis is to evaluate the impact of education on work salary and labour productivity at an individual and societal level in Latvia and to present suggestions for financing the education system. The Mincer earnings function and Professor Angel de la Fuente’s methodology are applied in estimating the private rate of return. The author estimates the human capital of women and men with higher education during 2000 – 2010 and applies the results in a regression model to estimate the impact of education on labour productivity and consequently on the social rate of return to education. The author estimated that during the period of recession the value of education has increased, and that indicates greater differences in work salary between employees with different education levels. The author estimates that the private rate of return from higher education is twice as high as the rate of return from secondary education in 2010. Results indicate that increase of female human capital has positive impact on the labour productivity. Key words: human capital, education, private and social rate of retur

El sistema de yacimientos de mamíferos miocenos del Cerro de los Batallones, Cuenca de Madrid: estado actual y perspectivas

77 págs, 24 láms.The Cerro de los Batallones (Los Batallones Butte) is located in the central-northern area of the Madrid Basin, central Spain. Nine vertebrates localities containing a large variety of mammals of Upper Vallesian Age (Late Miocene) have been found associated with the sediments forming the butte. From bottom to top, these sediments consist of magnesian lutite beds (Unit I), paleosols formed of sepiolite and opal (Unit II), and siliclastic, marlstone and carbonate beds (Unit III). The set of ERT profiles developed in Los Batallones Butte have demonstrate that electrical imaging techniques are an estimable tool for the characterization and prospecting of fossil sites developed in fine-grained siliciclastic sequences. These localities contain an exceptionally rich, varied and well-preserved vertebrate fauna together with invertebrate and plant fossils. Carnivore species are strikingly well represented at Batallones 1 and 3, and large herbivore species, such as mastodons, rhinoceros and giraffes, at Batallones 2, 4, 5 and 10. The taphonomical studies, together with the morphological features shown by the sedimentary fills of the mammal localities, permit an overall interpretation of these deposits as vertebrate traps. The study of these localities should offer a significant contribution to our understanding of the formation pattern of trap-like paleontological sites - which so far have been typically reported in karstic-type systems -, as well as an important source of paleobiological information about numerous vertebrate groups.Nuestro sincero agradecimiento a la Comunidad de Madrid (Dirección General de Patrimonio Histórico Artístico) por su apoyo a lo largo de todos estos años. A la empresa TOLSA, SA por su inapreciable ayuda en todas las circunstancias. National Geographic Society financió la campaña de Batallones-1 del año 2001. Son muchos los compañeros y amigos que han participado en las excavaciones, y en los diferentes proyectos de investigación de estos yacimientos, a todos ellos nuestro más sincero agradecimiento y nuestros mejores deseos, con la esperanza de seguir contando con su valiosa colaboración. Este trabajo se ha realizado en el marco de los proyectos de investigación MEC 2005-03900/BTE y CGL2006-01773/BTE, y del Grupo de Investigación CAM-UCM 910607.Peer reviewe

Tracing the origin of the panda's thumb

© 2015, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. We investigate the relative development of the carnivoran radial sesamoids to untangle the evolution of this iconic structure. In the pandas (both giant and red), this `false thumb¿ is known to perform a grasping role during bamboo feeding in both the red and giant pandas. An original locomotor role has been inferred for ailurids, but this remains to be ascertained for ursids. A large sample of radial sesamoids of Indarctos arctoides from the Miocene of Batallones-3 (Spain) indicates that this early ailuropodine bear displayed a relatively hypertrophied radial sesamoid, with a configuration more similar to that of the red panda and other carnivorans than to that of giant pandas. This false thumb is the first evidence of this feature in the Ursidae, which can be linked to a more herbivorous diet. Moreover, in the two extant pandas, the false thumb should not be interpreted as an anatomical convergence, but as an exaptive convergence regarding its use during the bamboo feeding, which changes the evolutionary view of this singular structure.This study was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (CGL2011-25754, CGL2011-28681 and RYC–2009–04533 to D.M.A.). A.V. is a researcher in formation in the CSIC program JAE-PRE_CP2011 (CSIC program‘ Junta para la ampliación de estudios’), co-funded by the European Social Fund and has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) under grant agreement no. 226506 (SYNTHESYS; SE-TAF-3637),Peer Reviewe

El sistema de yacimientos de mamíferos miocenos del Cerro de los Batallones, Cuenca de Madrid: estado actual y perspectivas.

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