The influence of skull shape modularity on internal skull structures: a 3D-Pilot study using bears

In order to capture the phenotypic variation of the internal skull structures, such as the sinuses or the brain, it is necessary to perform CT scans in a large number of specimens, which is difficult and expensive. Therefore, while the external morphology of the mammalian cranium has been the subject of many morphometric studies, the internal structures of the cranium have been comparatively less studied. Here, we explore how the variation of external shape reflects the morphology of internal structures. We use the family Ursidae (Carnivora, Mammalia) as a case study because bears have a wide variability of cranial morphologies in part associated with different trophic ecologies. To do this, we digitized a set of landmarks in 3D with a Microscribe G2X from the external surface of the cranium in a wide sample of bears. Additionally, the crania of seven bear species were CT-scanned and prepared digitally to visualize the 3D models of the external cranium morphology and of internal structures. Subsequently, we divided the landmarks into two modules, splanchnocranium and neurocranium, and we perform a two-block partial least squares analysis (2B PLS) to explore the intraspecific (static) morphological changes associated with the covariation between them. These morphological changes were visualized using the morphing technique with the 3D models, looking at both the external shape and the internal structures. In addition, we inferred the volume of the sinuses and of the brain in each hypothetical model. Our results show that the first two PLS axes are associated externally with changes in the basicranial angle, face length and cranium height and width. Concerning the internal structures, there are parallel changes in dorso-ventral and medio-lateral expansion of sinuses and brain, accompanied by their corresponding changes in volume. In contrast, the third PLS axis is related to opposite changes in the volume of sinuses and brain. These preliminary results suggest that the opposite relationship between sinuses and brain volumes in the bear cranium is not as evident as expected, at least at intraspecific level.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Mapping the visual landscape quality in Europe using physical attributes

he inclusion of environmental care data in the decision-making process should be based on the results obtained after scienti?cally evaluating different environmental variables. Herein, a European landscape geographic model is presented. This landscape map would allow the environmental care variable ?visual landscape?, along with other information related to vegetation, geology, soils, cultural variables, etc., to be integrated into the planning process. The methodology used is not new since it has already been tested in Spain by the authors. Nevertheless, the model was adapted to cope with the much more extensive territory of the European Union. This meant dealing with computational dif?culties, and a lack of information. The result of this work is a raster map (100 m cell size) that evaluates landscape quality in Europe by dividing the area into seven visual quality classes. This is a practical tool for territorial development that will facilitate the environmental assessment of plans, such as infrastructure plans, within a strategic pan-European framework

Kinematic and kinetic patterns related to free-walking in Parkinson's disease

The aim of this study is to compare the properties of free-walking at a natural pace between mild Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients during the ON-clinical status and two control groups. In-shoe pressure-sensitive insoles were used to quantify the temporal and force characteristics of a 5-min free-walking in 11 PD patients, in 16 young healthy controls, and in 12 age-matched healthy controls. Inferential statistics analyses were performed on the kinematic and kinetic parameters to compare groups’ performances, whereas feature selection analyses and automatic classification were used to identify the signature of parkinsonian gait and to assess the performance of group classification, respectively. Compared to healthy subjects, the PD patients’ gait pattern presented significant differences in kinematic parameters associated with bilateral coordination but not in kinetics. Specifically, patients showed an increased variability in double support time, greater gait asymmetry and phase deviation, and also poorer phase coordination. Feature selection analyses based on the ReliefF algorithm on the differential parameters in PD patients revealed an effect of the clinical status, especially true in double support time variability and gait asymmetry. Automatic classification of PD patients, young and senior subjects confirmed that kinematic predictors produced a slightly better classification performance than kinetic predictors. Overall, classification accuracy of groups with a linear discriminant model which included the whole set of features (i.e., demographics and parameters extracted from the sensors) was 64.1

Interstitial Ti for intermediate band formation in Ti-supersaturated silicon

We have analyzed by means of Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) the Ti lattice location and the degree of crystalline lattice recovery in heavily Ti implanted silicon layers subsequently pulsed laser melted (PLM). Theoretical studies have predicted that Ti should occupy interstitial sites in silicon for a metallic-intermediate band (IB) formation. The analysis of Ti lattice location after PLM processes is a crucial point to evaluate the IB formation that can be clarifyied by means of RBS measurements. After PLM, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry measurements show that the Ti concentration in the layers is well above the theoretical limit for IB formation. RBS measurements have shown a significant improvement of the lattice quality at the highest PLM energy density studied. The RBS channeling spectra reveals clearly that after PLM processes Ti impurities are mostly occupying interstitial lattice sites

Real Field Deployment of a Smart Fiber Optic Surveillance System for Pipeline Integrity Threat Detection: Architectural Issues and Blind Field Test Results

This paper presents an on-line augmented surveillance system that aims to real time monitoring of activities along a pipeline. The system is deployed in a fully realistic scenario and exposed to real activities carried out in unknown places at unknown times within a given test time interval (socalled blind field tests). We describe the system architecture that includes specific modules to deal with the fact that continuous on-line monitoring needs to be carried out, while addressing the need of limiting the false alarms at reasonable rates. To the best or our knowledge, this is the first published work in which a pipeline integrity threat detection system is deployed in a realistic scenario (using a fiber optic along an active gas pipeline) and is thoroughly and objectively evaluated in realistic blind conditions. The system integrates two operation modes: The machine+activity identification mode identifies the machine that is carrying out a certain activity along the pipeline, and the threat detection mode directly identifies if the activity along the pipeline is a threat or not. The blind field tests are carried out in two different pipeline sections: The first section corresponds to the case where the sensor is close to the sensed area, while the second one places the sensed area about 35 km far from the sensor. Results of the machine+activity identification mode showed an average machine+activity classification rate of 46:6%. For the threat detection mode, 8 out of 10 threats were correctly detected, with only 1 false alarm appearing in a 55:5-hour sensed period.European CommissionMinisterio de Economía y CompetitividadComunidad de Madri

Feedback and feeding in the context of galaxy evolution with SPICA: direct characterization of molecular outflows and inflows

A far-infrared observatory such as the {\it SPace Infrared telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics} ({\it SPICA}), with its unprecedented spectroscopic sensitivity, would unveil the role of feedback in galaxy evolution during the last $\sim10$ Gyr of the Universe ($z=1.5-2$), through the use of far- and mid-infrared molecular and ionic fine structure lines that trace outflowing and infalling gas. Outflowing gas is identified in the far-infrared through P-Cygni line shapes and absorption blueshifted wings in molecular lines with high dipolar moments, and through emission line wings of fine-structure lines of ionized gas. We quantify the detectability of galaxy-scale massive molecular and ionized outflows as a function of redshift in AGN-dominated, starburst-dominated, and main-sequence galaxies, explore the detectability of metal-rich inflows in the local Universe, and describe the most significant synergies with other current and future observatories that will measure feedback in galaxies via complementary tracers at other wavelengths.Comment: This paper belongs to the SPICA Special Issue on PASA. Accepted for publication in PAS

Structural variability in M2+ 2-hydroxyphosphonoacetate moderate proton conductors

The structural variability of two series of Mg2+- and Zn2+- 2-hydroxyphosphonoacetates have been studied in the range of 25–80 °C and 95 % relative humidity in order to correlate the structure with the proton conductivity properties. In addition to selected previously reported 1D, 2D and 3D materials, a new compound, KZn6(OOCCH(OH)PO3)4(OH)·5H2O (KZn6-HPAA-3D), has been prepared and thoroughly characterized. The crystal structure of this solid, solved ab initio from synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction data, consists of a negatively charged 3D framework with K+ ions, as compensating counterions. It also contains water molecules filling the cavities in contrast to the potassium-free 3D anhydrous NH4Zn(OOCCH(OH)PO3) (NH4Zn-HPAA-3D). In the range of temperature studied, the 1D materials exhibit a 1D → 2D solid-state transition. At 80 °C and 95 % RH, the 2D solids show moderate proton conductivities, between 2.1 × 10 − 5 S·cm − 1 and 6.7 × 10− 5 S·cm− 1. The proton conductivity is slightly increased by ammonia adsorption up to 2.6 × 10 − 4 S·cm − 1, although no ammonia intercalation was observed. As synthesized KZn6-HPAA-3D exhibits a low proton conductivity, 1.6 × 10− 6 S·cm− 1, attributed to the basic character of the framework and a low mobility of water molecules. However, this solid transforms to the 2D phase, Zn(OOCCH(OH)PO3H)·2H2O, upon exposure to dry HCl(g), which enhances the proton conductivity with respect to the as-synthesized 2D material (4.5 × 10− 4 S·cm− 1). On the other hand, NH4Zn-HPAA-3D exhibited a higher proton conductivity, 1.4 × 10− 4 S·cm− 1, than the K+ analog.Proyecto MAT2013-41836-R del MINECO y proyecto P12-FQM-1656 de la Junta de Andalucí

Climatic Feedbacks and Desertification: The Mediterranean Model

Abstract Mesometeorological information obtained in several research projects in southern Europe has been used to analyze perceived changes in the western Mediterranean summer storm regime. A procedure was developed to disaggregate daily precipitation data into three main components: frontal precipitation, summer storms, and Mediterranean cyclogenesis. Working hypotheses were derived on the likely processes involved. The results indicate that the precipitation regime in this Mediterranean region is very sensitive to variations in surface airmass temperature and moisture. Land-use perturbations that accumulated over historical time and greatly accelerated in the last 30 yr may have induced changes from an open, monsoon-type regime with frequent summer storms over the mountains inland to one dominated by closed vertical recirculations where feedback mechanisms favor the loss of storms over the coastal mountains and additional heating of the sea surface temperature during summer. This, in turn, favors Mediterranean cyclogenesis and torrential rains in autumn–winter. Because these intense rains and floods can occur anywhere in the basin, perturbations to the hydrological cycle in any part of the basin can propagate to the whole basin and adjacent regions. Furthermore, present levels of air pollutants can produce greenhouse heating, amplifying the perturbations and pushing the system over critical threshold levels. The questions raised are relevant for the new European Union (EU) water policies in southern Europe and for other regions dominated by monsoon-type weather systems

Evolution of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 over seven months: experience of the Nationwide Seroprevalence ENE-COVID Study in Spain [preprint]

Objectives To analyse temporal trends in SARS-CoV-2 anti-nucleocapsid IgG throughout the four rounds of the nationwide seroepidemiologic study ENE-COVID (April-November 2020), and to compare the fourth-round results of two immunoassays detecting antibodies against nucleocapsid and to S protein receptor-binding domain (RBD). Methods A chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay (CMIA) was offered to all participants in the first three rounds (Abbott; anti-nucleocapsid IgG). In the fourth round we offered this test and a chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA) (Beckman; anti-RBD IgG) to i) a randomly selected sub-cohort, ii) participants who were IgG-positive in any of the three first rounds; and iii) participants who were IgG-positive in the fourth round by point-of-care immunochromatography. Results Immunoassays involving 10,153 participants (82.2% of people invited to donate samples) were performed in the fourth round. A total of 2595 participants (35.1% of participants with immunoassay results in the four rounds) were positive for anti-nucleocapsid IgG in at least one round. Anti-nucleocapsid IgG became undetectable in 43.3% of participants with positive first-round results. Pneumonia was more frequent in participants with anti-nucleocapsid IgG in all four rounds (11.2%) than those in which IgG became undetectable (2.4%). In fourth round, anti-nucleocapsid and anti-RBD IgG were detected in 5.5% and 5.4% participants of the randomly selected sub-cohort, and in 26.6% and 25.9% participants with at least one previous positive result, respectively. Agreement between techniques was 90.3% (kappa: 0.72). Conclusions The response of IgG to SARS-CoV-2 is heterogeneous and conditioned by infection severity. A substantial proportion of the SARS-CoV-2 infected population may have negative serologic results in the post-infection months.N

ENE-COVID nationwide serosurvey served to characterize asymptomatic infections and to develop a symptom-based risk score to predict COVID-19

Objectives: To characterize asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections and develop a symptom-based risk score useful in primary healthcare. Study design and setting: Sixty-one thousand ninty-two community-dwelling participants in a nationwide population-based serosurvey completed a questionnaire on COVID-19 symptoms and received an immunoassay for SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies between April 27 and June 22, 2020. Standardized prevalence ratios for asymptomatic infection were estimated across participant characteristics. We constructed a symptom-based risk score and evaluated its ability to predict SARS-CoV-2 infection. Results: Of all, 28.7% of infections were asymptomatic (95% CI 26.1-31.4%). Standardized asymptomatic prevalence ratios were 1.19 (1.02-1.40) for men vs. women, 1.82 (1.33-2.50) and 1.45 (0.96-2.18) for individuals <20 and ≥80 years vs. those aged 40-59, 1.27 (1.03-1.55) for smokers vs. nonsmokers, and 1.91 (1.59-2.29) for individuals without vs. with case contact. In symptomatic population, a symptom-based score (weights: severe tiredness = 1; absence of sore throat = 1; fever = 2; anosmia/ageusia = 5) reached standardized seroprevalence ratio of 8.71 (7.37-10.3), discrimination index of 0.79 (0.77-0.81), and sensitivity and specificity of 71.4% (68.1-74.4%) and 74.2% (73.1-75.2%) for a score ≥3. Conclusion: The presence of anosmia/ageusia, fever with severe tiredness, or fever without sore throat should serve to suspect COVID-19 in areas with active viral circulation. The proportion of asymptomatics in children and adolescents challenges infection control.The ENE-COVID study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Health, the Institute of Health Carlos III, and the Spanish National Health System. The funders were in- volved in the study logistics, but they had no role in study design or in the collection, analysis, interpretation of data, or the decision to submit the article for publicationS