Quemas prescritas como herramienta de restauración del hábitat del conejo mediante el fomento de la regeneración de herbáceas en el Parque Nacional de Doñana

Jiménez Escobar, María Dolores, tutora académicaLa quema prescrita es un método de gestión de la vegetación mediante el uso del fuego que puede aplicarse para restaurar ecosistemas adaptados a incendios forestales. En este estudio se han sometido a quemas prescritas tres parcelas de 1 ha en el Parque Nacional de Doñana con el objetivo de rejuvenecer el sistema que se encontraba en fase senescente y favorecer la aparición de herbáceas, sustento de herbívoros como el conejo, dieta principal de especies protegidas y emblemáticas del Parque como el lince ibérico y el águila imperial. Se han clasificado las especies presentes según tipos funcionales entre arbustivas o herbáceas y rebrotadoras o germinadoras. Se han obtenido los valores de distintos índices de riqueza y diversidad de especies para comprobar si existen cambios entre zonas quemadas y testigo. Se han comparado los datos mediante ANOVA usando un modelo lineal mixto. resultados muestran que hay diferencias significativas para altura media total de las plantas, la altura media de matorrales y de germinadoras, pero no se observaron diferencias en la altura de herbáceas y rebrotadoras. Hay diferencias significativas en cuanto al porcentaje de ocupación de herbáceas y matorrales y no la hay en ocupación total de las plantas. Se obtuvieron diferencias significativas en el porcentaje de presencia de matorrales y herbáceas y no se observó significación al comparar presencia de germinadoras y rebrotadoras. Los análisis mostraron que no hay diferencias significativas para ningún índice de riqueza y diversidad entre parcelas quemadas y testigo. En conclusión, las quemas prescritas han generado un ecosistema más abierto y con una mayor disponibilidad de alimento para el conejo, consiguiendo al menos a corto plazo, el objetivo perseguido de ayudar a restaurar el hábitat de esta especie. El tratamiento no ha supuesto una disminución de la riqueza y diversidad de especies, produciéndose una rápida recuperación de la ocupación de germinadoras y rebrotadoras, ratificando el fuerte potencial de autosucesión postfuego de estos ecosistemas.Prescribed burning is a method of vegetation management using fire that can be applied to restore ecosystems adapted to forest fires. In this study, three 1 ha plots in the Doñana National Park were treated using prescribed burning with the aim of regenerating the system that was in a senescent phase and favouring the emergence of herbaceous plants, which support herbivores such as rabbits, the main diet of protected and emblematic species of the Park such as the Iberian lynx and the imperial eagle. The species present were classified according to functional types between shrubs or herbaceous plants and resprouting or seeding plants. The values of different species richness and diversity indices have been obtained to check if there are changes between burnt and control areas. The data were compared by ANOVA using a linear mixed model. The results show that there are significant differences for mean total plant height, mean shrub height and mean seeding plant height, but no differences were observed for herbaceous and resprouting plant height. There are significant differences in the percentage of herbaceous and shrubs cover and no significant differences in total plant cover. Significant differences were obtained in the percentage of shrub and herbaceous plants and no significance was observed when comparing the presence of seeding and resprouting plants. Analyses showed that there were no significant differences for any richness and diversity index between burned and control plots. In conclusion, the prescribed burns have generated a more open ecosystem with a greater availability of food for the rabbit, achieving, at least in the short term, the desired objective of helping to restore the habitat of this species. The treatment has not led to a decrease in species richness and diversity, and there has been a rapid recovery in the occupation of seeding and resprouting plants, confirming the strong potential for post-fire self-succession of these ecosystems.Máster Universitario en Restauración de Ecosistema

Does tillage influence physical- and chemical- related soil quality indicators equally?

Trabajo presentado en la EGU General Assembly 2019, celebrada en Viena del 3 al 8 de mayo de 2019.Soil degradation is linked with a loss of land′s actual or potential productivity. This process is a result of naturaland anthropogenic action being soil tillage one of the main drivers of the last. As a result, soil quality, whichmanifests soil′s capacity to produce ecosystem services and goods, can be compromised. There are severalindicators traditionally measured to characterize soil quality, either based on soil physical or chemical properties.Among soil physical properties, water flow features, as expressed through the soil water retention curve, aredirectly linked to the distribution of soil pores and can be useful to derive different indices (such as the S index)to evaluate soil′s quality. Organic matter, nutrients, and cation exchange capacity are also soil chemical propertiesaffecting soil quality.The main aim of this study was to evaluate the methodology based on the S index (Dexter, 2004) andselected soil (chemical and physical) properties at the short term under typical Mediterranean agriculturalconditions. For this reason, physical and chemical soil properties were measured in a short-term trial settle in twoolive orchards under different soil managements: tillage and cover crop and at two depths: surface (0-10 cm) anddepth (10-20 cm). In addition, water retention curves; water storage capacity; and soil porosity were characterized.At the two studied sites, changes in soil management, even after a short period of time, had a quick effectin chemical properties. However, soil′s pore size distribution, as quantified with the S index, did not showremarkable differences after changing soil management. This may be a consequence of the longer-term effectof changing soil management on water retention and transmission. Future research including more soil typesand assessing water-flow-related properties over a longer time interval, may well provide clearer results in theassessment of soil quality.Peer reviewe

Quantifying change in an agrarian landscape. Application of multicriteria models in the archaeological study of Medellin (Badajoz, Spain) and its territory

Póster presentado a la Conferencia EuroGEOSS: "Advancing the Vision for GEOSS", celebrada en Madrid (España) del 25 al 27 de enero de 2012.“The evolution of an agrarian landscape: the territory of Medellin from protohistoric to medieval times” is a project funded by the Autonomous Government of Extremadura through its III Development and Research Regional Plan.Peer Reviewe

Web Platform for the evaluation of reading comprehension applied to search tasks

Presentamos una plataforma web que constituye una herramienta para poder evaluar la comprensión lectora a través de dos experimentos: un test de fluidez lectora que permitirá inferir el grado de fluidez lectora del participante y un sistema de recuperación de información interactivo, donde el participante explorará y evaluará un conjunto de documentos como relevantes o no relevantes. La cuestión que se plantea es la incidencia del nivel de fluidez lectora en la búsqueda de información.We present a web platform that constitutes a tool to evaluate reading comprehension through two experiments: a reading fluency test that will allow inferring the degree of participant’s reading fluency and an interactive information retrieval system where the participant will explore and evaluate a set of documents as relevant or not relevant. The question to be answered is the impact of the level of reading fluency regarding with performance in tasks of searching for information.Este trabajo ha sido parcialmente financiado por el proyecto del Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) y el proyecto REDES (TIN2015-65136-C2-1-R)

Los paisajes agrarios de la romanización en el Suroeste peninsular: balance de los últimos trabajos desarrollados desde el Instituto de Arqueología

Trabajo presentado al VI Encuentro de Arqueología del Suroeste Peninsular, celebrado en Villafranca de los Barros (Badajoz) del 4 al 6 de octubre de 2012.[ES]: El propósito de este trabajo es ofrecer una visión de síntesis sobre la labor que ha supuesto en los últimos años desde el Instituto de Arqueología la investigación sobre el fenómeno de los recintos ciclópeos de La Serena (Badajoz) y el impacto de la conquista romana en las formas de ordenación de los espacios agrarios del Suroeste peninsular. Se realiza una breve revisión de las claves de este problema histórico y de los antecedentes del trabajo presente. A continuación se exponen las diferentes líneas metodológicas desarrolladas, ofreciendo una síntesis de los conocimientos obtenidos. Finalmente se proponen algunos temas prioritarios para el desarrollo futuro de la investigación.[EN]: The aim of this paper is to give an overview of the recent activity in the Merida Institute of Archaeology regarding the study of the so called “cyclopean enclosures” of the Serena Region (Badajoz) and the impact of the Roman conquest in the agrarian landscapes of the Peninsular South-West. We make a brief review of some clues of this historical process and provide some background to understand more recent research. We will show the methodological threads we have developed, and a concise account of their main results. Finally, we suggest some key issues for future research.Los resultados mostrados en este trabajo han sido posibles gracias al soporte del Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación a través de los proyectos del Plan Nacional “Paisaje, territorio y cambio social en el suroeste peninsular: De la protohistoria al mundo romano (HAR 20081973)” cuyo investigador responsable es Victorino Mayoral Herrera, y “Entre el Atlántico y el Mediterráneo: contraste de dinámicas en la evolución histórica del paisaje en el occidente peninsular a través de la Arqueología” (HAR 2009-10666) cuyo investigador responsable es Sebastián Celestino Pérez.Peer Reviewe

High variability of perezone content in rhizomes of Acourtia cordata wild plants, environmental factors related, and proteomic analysis

With the aim of exploring the source of the high variability observed in the production of perezone, in Acourtia cordata wild plants, we analyze the influence of soil parameters and phenotypic characteristics on its perezone content. Perezone is a sesquiterpene quinone responsible for several pharmacological effects and the A. cordata plants are the natural source of this metabolite. The chemistry of perezone has been widely studied, however, no studies exist related to its production under natural conditions, nor to its biosynthesis and the environmental factors that affect the yield of this compound in wild plants. We also used a proteomic approach to detect differentially expressed proteins in wild plant rhizomes and compare the profiles of high vs. low perezone-producing plants. Our results show that in perezone-producing rhizomes, the presence of high concentrations of this compound could result from a positive response to the effects of some edaphic factors, such as total phosphorus (Pt), total nitrogen (Nt), ammonium (NH4), and organic matter (O. M.), but could also be due to a negative response to the soil pH value. Additionally, we identified 616 differentially expressed proteins between high and low perezone producers. According to the functional annotation of this comparison, the upregulated proteins were grouped in valine biosynthesis, breakdown of leucine and isoleucine, and secondary metabolism such as terpenoid biosynthesis. Downregulated proteins were grouped in basal metabolism processes, such as pyruvate and purine metabolism and glycolysis/gluconeogenesis. Our results suggest that soil parameters can impact the content of perezone in wild plants. Furthermore, we used proteomic resources to obtain data on the pathways expressed when A. cordata plants produce high and low concentrations of perezone. These data may be useful to further explore the possible relationship between perezone production and abiotic or biotic factors and the molecular mechanisms related to high and low perezone production.This work was supported by the Programa de Mejoramiento del Profesorado PROMEP/103.5/13/6626 and Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología CONACyT-Mexico for Ph.D. scholarship 392123/254165. The University of Alicante lab is a member of Proteored, PRB3 and is supported by grant PT17/0019, of the PE I+D+I 2013-2016, funded by ISCIII and ERDF. Roque Bru-Martínez received financial support from the University of Alicante (VIGROB-105)

Lecturas críticas y alternativas de realidad empresarial

El presente libro es el resultado de las primeras reflexiones conceptuales a un tema que reviste gran importancia en el proyecto educativo de la , en el marco de su prospección estratégica al 2019. Constituyen aproximaciones iniciales, por cuanto el concepto de realidad empresarial se concibe en relación con el liderazgo estratégico, como parte esencial de la dirección. Los estudios de realidad empresarial se plantean desde la dimensión conceptual, dadas las escasas investigaciones teóricas y empíricas, muy reducidas hoy al lenguaje económico y funcional y alejadas del discurso administrativo de la dirección; en este sentido, se contribuye con la búsqueda emprendida por la Facultad a través de su Centro de Estudios Empresariales para la Perdurabilidad CEEP con su Grupo de Investigación (GIPE)

Proton Radiographs Using Position-Sensitive Silicon Detectors and High-Resolution Scintillators

7 pags., 11 figs., 1 tab.Proton therapy is a cancer treatment technique currently in growth since it offers advantages with respect to conventional X-ray and ¿ -ray radiotherapy. In particular, better control of the dose deposition allowing to reach higher conformity in the treatments causing less secondary effects. However, in order to take full advantage of its potential, improvements in treatment planning and dose verification are required. A new prototype of proton computed tomography scanner is proposed to design more accurate and precise treatment plans for proton therapy. Our prototype is formed by double-sided silicon strip detectors and scintillators of LaBr3(Ce) with high energy resolution and fast response. Here, the results obtained from an experiment performed using a 100-MeV proton beam are presented. Proton radiographs of polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) samples of 50-mm thickness with spatial patterns in aluminum were taken. Their properties were studied, including reproduction of the dimensions, spatial resolution, and sensitivity to different materials. Structures of up to 2 mm are well resolved and the sensitivity of the system was enough to distinguish the thicknesses of 10 mm of aluminum or PMMA. The spatial resolution of the images was 0.3 line pairs per mm (MTF-10%). This constitutes the first step to validate the device as a proton radiography scanner.This work has been supported by the PRONTO-CM B2017/BMD-3888 project funded by Comunidad de Madrid (Spain). The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 654002 (ENSAR2) and grant agreement No [730983] (INSPIRE). This work has been partly supported by the Spanish Funding Agency for Research (AEI) through the PID2019-104390GBI00 and PID2019-104714GB-C21 projects. A.N. Nerio acknowledges the fundings from the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree on Nuclear Physics co-funded by the Erasmus+Programme of the European Union

Association of central obesity with unique cardiac remodelling in young adults born small for gestational age

Being born small for gestational age (SGA, 10% of all births) is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular mortality in adulthood together with lower exercise tolerance, but mechanistic pathways are unclear. Central obesity is known to worsen cardiovascular outcomes, but it is uncertain how it affects the heart in adults born SGA. We aimed to assess whether central obesity makes young adults born SGA more susceptible to cardiac remodelling and dysfunction.A perinatal cohort from a tertiary university hospital in Spain of young adults (30-40 years) randomly selected, 80 born SGA (birth weight below 10th centile) and 75 with normal birth weight (controls) was recruited. We studied the associations between SGA and central obesity (measured via the hip-to-waist ratio and used as a continuous variable) and cardiac regional structure and function, assessed by cardiac magnetic resonance using statistical shape analysis. Both SGA and waist-to-hip were highly associated to cardiac shape (F = 3.94, P < 0.001; F = 5.18, P < 0.001 respectively) with a statistically significant interaction (F = 2.29, P = 0.02). While controls tend to increase left ventricular end-diastolic volumes, mass and stroke volume with increasing waist-to-hip ratio, young adults born SGA showed a unique response with inability to increase cardiac dimensions or mass resulting in reduced stroke volume and exercise capacity.SGA young adults show a unique cardiac adaptation to central obesity. These results support considering SGA as a risk factor that may benefit from preventive strategies to reduce cardiometabolic risk.© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: [email protected]

Genetic and clinical characterization of a novel FH founder mutation in families with hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer syndrome

Hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer syndrome is a rare autosomal dominant hereditary syndrome. Previously, we published the largest cohort of FH mutation carriers in Spain and observed a highly recurrent missense heterozygous variant, FH(NM_000143.4):c.1118A > G p.(Asn373Ser), in 104 individuals from 31 apparently unrelated families. Here, we aimed to establish its founder effect and characterize the associated clinical phenotype. Results Haplotype analysis confirmed that families shared a common haplotype (32/38 markers) spanning 0.61-0.82 Mb, indicating this recurrent variant was inherited from a founder ancestor. Cutaneous and uterine leiomyomatosis were diagnosed in 64.6% (64/99) and 98% (50/51) of patients, respectively, and renal cell cancer was present in 10.4% (10/96). The pathogenic FH_c.1118A > G variant is a Spanish founder mutation that originated 12-26 generations ago. We estimate that the variant may have appeared between 1370 and 1720. Individuals carrying this founder mutation had similar frequency of renal cell cancer and a higher frequency of renal cysts and leiomyomas than those in other cohorts of this syndrome. Conclusions In the Spanish province of Alicante there is a high prevalence of HLRCC because of the founder mutation FH c.1118A > G; p.(Asn373Ser). The characterization of founder mutations provides accurate and specific information regarding their penetrance and expressivity. In individuals with suspected HLRCC from the province of Alicante, genetic testing by direct analysis of the founder FH c.1118A > G; p.(Asn373Ser) mutation may be a faster and more efficient diagnostic tool compared with complete gene sequencing