Marine biosecurity crisis decision-making: Two tools to Aid "Go"/"No Go" decision-making

Determining if a newly detected marine species is introduced to an area is an important first step when considering if control or eradication should be attempted. This step is often challenging, especially when data and introduced species expertise is limited: yet decisions about responding to a new invasion needs to occur in a timely manner. The crux is that biosecurity crisis decisions are often made in a vacuum. To improve this process, we consider expanded criteria to determine if a species is native, cryptogenic or introduced and outline application in a rapid response approach that uses a non-probabilistic decision tree to support decision makers. Effective use of the rapid response decision-tree and species criteria requires a multi-disciplinary approach drawing upon biology (taxonomy, phylogeny, genetics, ecology, biogeography) and monitoring. We assessed the expanded criteria against 213 bryozoan species present in Australian waters. A multivariate evaluation highlighted that a weight of evidence approach using the expanded criteria was successful in differentiating between native and introduced status. Our assessment highlighted that five criteria provide a high level of congruence with heuristic assignments, and provide a precautionary assignment of species\u27 status by reducing mis-classifications of introduced species as native species (Type I error) in comparison to the original criteria. However, differentiating between introduced and cryptogenic species remains problematic, especially when using the original criteria. We highlight the critical need for taxonomic identification, appropriate application of assigning cryptogenic status, and monitoring requirements to enable use of the criteria in a rapid response context. Using both the rapid response decision tree and the criteria provides a quantifiable mechanism to aid decision-makers in deciding whether to respond to a marine species introduction

Geodetic works carried out in the Strait of Gibraltar

The proximity between Europe and Africa and the fact that the Strait of Gibraltar has historically acted as a link between races, cultures and religions have made absolutely necessary to establish a relationship between the Northern African coast and the Southern European equivalent. From the Nineteenth Century the possibility of building a permanent link between both continents through the Strait of Gibraltar has been taken into account. In order to establish that relationship it is necessary to have coastal zones completely geo-referenced, under the same geodetic system and with a unique projection system. The paper describes the work carried out in the Strait of Gibraltar for this purpose

Severity of food insecurity among Australian University students, professional and academic staff

Assessments of the severity of food insecurity within Australian university students are lacking, and the experience of food insecurity in Australian university staff is unknown. A cross-sectional online survey in March 2022 aimed to characterize the severity of food insecurity in students, professional and academic staff at the University of Tasmania (UTAS). The Household Food Security Survey Module six-item short form assessed food security status in addition to seven demographic and education characteristics for students and six demographic and employment characteristics for staff. Participants were categorized as having high, marginal, low, or very low food security. Multivariate binary logistic regression identified students and staff at higher risk of food insecurity. Among student respondents (n = 1257), the prevalence of food insecurity was 41.9% comprising 8.2% marginal, 16.5% low, and 17.3% very low food security. Younger, non-binary, first-year enrolled, on campus, and international students were at significantly higher risk of food insecurity. Among staff (n = 560), 16.3% were food insecure comprising 3.8% marginal, 5.5% low, and 7.0% very low food security. Professional staff, staff on casual contracts, and staff recently employed, were at significantly higher risk of food insecurity. Our findings suggest a high occurrence of food insecurity in UTAS students and staff, with a large proportion of food insecure staff and students experiencing very low food security. Our findings have implications for efforts towards reducing food insecurity at university campuses through a holistic and integrated approach, advocating for food systems that support healthy, sustainable, and equitable food procurement and provision for both university students and staff

Empowerment y satisfacción laboral en la Institución Educativa Santa Teresita de Cajamarca durante el año 2018

Una de las principales razones de éxito de una organización es el desarrollo de su talento humano; por tal motivo la presente investigación estudió la relación entre Empowerment y satisfacción laboral. El Empowerment es una herramienta de gestión que permite a las empresas desarrollar estrategias de confianza y autoridad para conseguir mejores resultados. Por otro lado, la satisfacción laboral nos muestra el estado en que las personas perciben sus experiencias laborales. Esta investigación tuvo como objetivo determinar la relación entre Empowerment y Satisfacción laboral en la Institución Educativa Santa Teresita de Cajamarca año 2018. Se utilizó una investigación correlacional, de diseño no experimental y corte transversal, la población utilizada fueron todos los docentes del nivel primario; asimismo, la muestra escogida fue no probabilística por conveniencia debido a la accesibilidad en dicha institución. Para ello, se aplicó una hoja censal de 16 preguntas a los 32 docentes. Los resultados obtenidos muestran una correlación positiva fuerte y significativa entre ambas variables, puesto que del 100% de los encuestados el 65,6% y 71,9% presentan un nivel alto de Empowerment y Satisfacción Laboral respectivamente. Concluimos que las organizaciones deben fomentar estos nuevos enfoques, para tener colaboradores eficaces, satisfechos y comprometidos con su trabajo

Isolation and Structural Elucidation of Eight New Related Analogues of the Mycotoxin (-)-Botryodiplodin from Penicillium coalescens

[EN] Bioassay-guided fractionation of the organic extract derived from the terrestrial fungus Penicillium coalescens led to the isolation of the known mycotoxin (-)-botryodiplodin (1) and eight new structurally related analogues (2-9). The structures of the novel compounds were determined by MS and NMR studies, including 1D and 2D NMR. A likely biogenetic pathway from the aldehydic open form of 1 (C-7 unit, U1) is proposed for these metabolites. Among all the isolated metabolites, only (-)-1 showed antifungal, antibacterial, and insecticidal activity. This latter activity appears to be a new property attributed to (-)-1.Cabedo Escrig, N.; López-Gresa, MP.; Primo, J.; Ciavatta, ML.; Gonzalez Más, MC. (2007). Isolation and Structural Elucidation of Eight New Related Analogues of the Mycotoxin (-)-Botryodiplodin from Penicillium coalescens. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 55(17):6977-6983. doi:10.1021/jf071568vS69776983551

Insecticidal activity of paraherquamides, including paraherquamide H and paraherquamide I, two new alkaloids isolated from Penicillium cluniae

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see [insert ACS Articles on Request author-directed link to Published Work, see http://pubs.acs.org/page/policy/articlesonrequest/index.html.[EN] Paraherquamide H (1) and paraherquamide 1 (2), two new compounds of the paraherquamide (PHQ) family, together with the already known paraherquamide A (3), paraherquamide B (4), paraherquamide E (5), VM55596 (N-oxide paraherquamide) (6), paraherquamide VM55597 (7), and five known diketopiperazines (8-12) have been isolated from the culture broth of Penicillium cluniae Quintanilla. The structure of 1 and 2, on the basis of NMR and MS analysis, was established. It is worth noticing that, in both cases, an unusual oxidative substitution in C-16 was found, which had only previously been detected in PHQ 7. Isolated compounds were tested for insecticidal activity against the hemipteran Oncopeltus fasciatus Dallas. Mortality data have allowed preliminary structure activity relationships to be proposed. The most potent product was 5 with a LD50 of 0.089,mu g/nymph.The authors acknowledge the Conselleria de Educación y Ciencia de la C. Valenciana for the doctoral grant to M. P. L, the Fundación José y Ana Royo, the Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología (CICYT) and the Conselleria de Agricultura, P. y A. de la C. Valenciana, for financial supportLópez-Gresa, MP.; Gonzalez Más, MC.; Ciavatta, ML.; Ayala Mingol, I.; Moya, P.; Primo, J. (2006). Insecticidal activity of paraherquamides, including paraherquamide H and paraherquamide I, two new alkaloids isolated from Penicillium cluniae. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 54(8):2921-2925. https://doi.org/10.1021/jf0530998S2921292554

Laboratory evaluation of the compatibility of a new attractant contaminant device ciontaining Metarhizium anisopliae with Ceratitis capitata sterile males

[EN] Laboratory experiments were conducted to evaluate the compatibility of using the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae, to be dispensed in a new attractant contaminant device (ACD), jointly with sterilized Ceratitis capitata males, as an integrated approach to control this major pest. The exposure of sterile Vienna 8 (V8) strain and wild type (WT) males to the contaminating part (infective dish) of the ACD showed similar susceptibility levels to the fungal strain (LT50 value of 4.52 and 4.72 days, respectively). Sterile V8 males were significantly less attracted to the infective dish (18.4%) than WT males (28.5%). As the success of Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) heavily relies on the mating success of sterile males in the field, mating performance of infected males was assessed. Around 85% of the females were mated, independently of the male strain and treatment (fungus-treated or untreated males) indicating that mating performance was unaffected by the fungus under laboratory conditions. Females showed a greater tendency to remate if previously mated to fungus-treated males, either V8 or WT. Our data suggest that this M. anisopliae based-ACD does not impair the performance of C. capitata sterile males and, therefore, it could be used combined with area wide SIT-based programs, providing that these results are validated in field conditions. The implications of this combined strategy to control C. capitata are discussed. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.This work was partially supported by the "Comision Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnologia" (CICYT, Spain) (Grant: AGL2006-13346-C02-02).San Andrés Aura, V.; Ayala Mingol, I.; Abad Payá, MDC.; Primo Millo, J.; Casteñera, P.; Moya Sanz, MDP. (2014). Laboratory evaluation of the compatibility of a new attractant contaminant device ciontaining Metarhizium anisopliae with Ceratitis capitata sterile males. Biological Control. 72:54-61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocontrol.2014.02.007S54617

Prometeo: aplicación operativa de downscaling estadístico para la predicción de fenómenos locales

Ponencia presentada en: IV Congreso de la Asociación Española de Climatología "El Clima entre el Mar y la Montaña", celebrado en Santander del 2 al 5 de noviembre de 2004.Esta comunicación, describe el prototipo desarrollado en colaboración con el Instituto Nacional de Meteorología para la predicción local basada en técnicas híbridas de downscaling, que combinan la información procedente de los modelos numéricos, con la información climatológica procedente de observaciones de fenómenos meteorológicos. El prototipo se encuentra funcionando de forma operativa, de forma que los usuarios puedan acceder diariamente a las predicciones ofrecidas, de una forma interactiva. Además el sistema cuenta con la posibilidad de acceder a predicciones pasadas y concretamente acceder a los distintos índices de validación como la frecuencia climatológica de eventos tales como, Precipitación, Nieblas, Tormentas, Rachas Máximas, Temperaturas etc. Estas predicciones son ofrecidas en la red secundaria de estaciones, gestionada por Instituto Nacional de Meteorología, a partir de las observaciones realizadas por colaboradores