UN SERVICIO DE RECOMENDACIONES DE RIEGO PARA EL CULTIVO DE LA FRESA BASADO EN EL PRONÓSTICO METEOROLÓGICO DE LA ETc

[EN] The Institute of Agricultural and Fishery Research and Training (IFAPA in Spanish) is working to improve the management of water use in the strawberry crop. The objective of this work is to propose a methodology for estimating strawberry crop water requirements, which was applicable under growing conditions in the province of Huelva, in Southern Spain. This paper reports a simple method for performing daily irrigation schedules for strawberry crop under greenhouse. The method is based on estimating crop evapotranspiration using estimations of greenhouse reference evapotranspiration (ETo green) and crop coefficients. The ETo green was estimated, using a model based on solar radiation inside the greenhouse, using the weekly meteorological forecast provided by the Spanish Meteorology Agency (AEMET in Spanish). The comparison between estimated values from weather forecasting and those obtained using meteorological measurements was made weekly, as a quality indicator of information provided to the farmers.[ES] Dentro de las actividades que el Sistema de Asistencia al Regante (SAR) adscrito al Instituto de Investigación y Formación Agraria y Pesquera (IFAPA) realiza en el ámbito del regadío andaluz, se está trabajando para mejorar el uso y gestión del agua en el cultivo de la fresa. Uno de los objetivos es establecer una metodología para el cálculo de las necesidades de riego, que sea aplicable en las condiciones de cultivo existentes la provincia de Huelva. Este trabajo presenta un método sencillo para la realización de calendarios de riego diarios para el cultivo de la fresa en invernadero del tipo macrotúnel. Dicho método está basado en la estimación de la evapotranspiración del cultivo utilizando valores de evapotranspiración de referencia bajo plástico (ETo inv) y coeficientes de cultivo. La ETo inv se ha estimado aplicando un modelo basado en la radiación solar, utilizando para ello las predicciones meteorológicas semanales de la Agencia Estatal de Meteorología (AEMET). Posteriormente, se realiza semanalmente la comparación de los valores estimados a partir del pronóstico meteorológico con los obtenidos usando de los datos meteorológicos medidos, como un indicador de la calidad de la información suministrada al agricultor.Gavilán, P.; Bohórquez, J.; Ruiz, J.; Lozano, D. (2015). UN SERVICIO DE RECOMENDACIONES DE RIEGO PARA EL CULTIVO DE LA FRESA BASADO EN EL PRONÓSTICO METEOROLÓGICO DE LA ETc. En XXXIII CONGRESO NACIONAL DE RIEGOS. Valencia 16-18 junio de 2015. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/CNRiegos.2015.1508OC

Penicillin susceptibility among invasive MSSA infections: a multicentre study in 16 Spanish hospitals

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of penicillin susceptibility among MSSA causing bloodstream infections (BSIs) in 16 Spanish hospitals and to characterize the penicillin-susceptible MSSA (MSSA-PENS) isolates. Methods: A total of 1011 Staphylococcus aureus isolates were collected from blood cultures in 16 Spanish hospitals during 2018–19 (6–12 months) and their susceptibility to 18 antimicrobials was determined. The MSSA-PENS isolates were selected and examined by PCR to determine the presence of the blaZ gene, other resistance genes and the genes lukF/lukS-PV, eta, etb and tst. The immune evasion cluster (IEC) type was also analysed. All the MSSA-PENS isolates were submitted to S. aureus protein A (spa) typing and the clonal complexes (CCs) were assigned according to their spa type. Results: The prevalence of MSSA was 74.6% (754/1011) and 14.9% (151/1011) were MSSA-PENS-blaZnegative. MSSA-PENS-blaZnegative isolates (n = 151) were ascribed to 88 spa types and 11 CCs. The most frequent CCs were CC5 (35/151) and CC398 (25/151), with t002-CC5 and t571-CC398 being the most common lineages. Pan-susceptibility was identified in 117 of the 151 MSSA-PENS-blaZnegative isolates (77.5%). In the remaining isolates, erythromycin and clindamycin resistance was the most frequent resistance found, although tobramycin, ciprofloxacin, fusidic acid, mupirocin and/or tetracycline resistance was also detected. Thirty-eight MSSA-PENS-blaZnegative isolates were IEC negative and four isolates were Panton–Valentine leucocidin (‘PVL’) positive. Conclusions: A high penicillin susceptibility rate was detected among MSSA, opening therapeutic opportunities for BSIs. The emergence of new successful MSSA-PENS clones could be responsible for these data. The detection among MSSA-PENS-blaZnegative isolates of the clonal lineage CC398 or the absence of an IEC raises questions about their possible animal origin, requiring further analysis

Interactions between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and intraspecific competition affect size and size inequality of Plantago lanceolata L.

Intraspecific competition causes decreases in plant size and increases in size inequality. Arbuscular mycorrhizas usually increase the size and inequality of non-competing plants, but mycorrhizal effects often disappear when plants begin competing. We hypothesized that mycorrhizal effects on size inequality would be determined by the experimental conditions, and conducted simultaneous field and glasshouse experiments to investigate how AM fungi and intraspecific competition determine size inequality in Plantago lanceolata. 2 As predicted, plant size was reduced when plants were competing, in both field and controlled conditions. However, size inequality was unexpectedly reduced by competition. Plants may have competed in a symmetric fashion, probably for nutrients, rather than the more common situation, in which plant competition is strongly asymmetric. 3 Mycorrhizas had no effect on plant size or size inequality in competing plants in either field or controlled conditions, possibly because competition for nutrients was intense and negated any benefit the fungi could provide. 4 The effects of mycorrhizas on non-competing plants were also unexpected. In field-grown plants, AM fungi increased plant size, but decreased size inequality: mycorrhizal plants were more even in size, with few very small individuals. In glasshouse conditions, mycorrhizal colonization was extremely high, and was generally antagonistic, causing a reduction in plant size. Here, however, mycorrhizas caused an increase in size inequality, supporting our original hypothesis. This was because most plants were heavily colonized and small, but a few had low levels of colonization and grew relatively large. 5 This study has important implications for understanding the forces that structure plant communities. AM fungi can have a variety of effects on size inequality and thus potentially important influences on long-term plant population dynamics, by affecting the genetic contribution of individuals to the next generation. However, these effects differ, depending on whether plants are competing or not, the degree of mycorrhizal colonization and the responsiveness of the plant to different colonization densities

Dense carbon monoliths for supercapacitors with outstanding volumetric capacitances

A commercially available dense carbon monolith (CM) and four carbon monoliths obtained from it have been studied as electrochemical capacitor electrodes in a two-electrode cell. CM has: (i) very high density (1.17 g cm−3), (ii) high electrical conductivity (9.3 S cm−1), (iii) well-compacted and interconnected carbon spheres, (iv) homogeneous microporous structure and (v) apparent BET surface area of 957 m2g−1. It presents interesting electrochemical behaviors (e.g., excellent gravimetric capacitance and outstanding volumetric capacitance). The textural characteristics of CM (porosity and surface chemistry) have been modified by means of different treatments. The electrochemical performances of the starting and treated monoliths have been analyzed as a function of their porous textures and surface chemistry, both on gravimetric and volumetric basis. The monoliths present high specific and volumetric capacitances (292 F g−1 and 342 F cm−3), high energy densities (38 Wh kg−1 and 44 Wh L−1), and high power densities (176 W kg−1 and 183 W L−1). The specific and volumetric capacitances, especially the volumetric capacitance, are the highest ever reported for carbon monoliths. The high values are achieved due to a suitable combination of density, electrical conductivity, porosity and oxygen surface content.Financial support from projects MAT2011-25198, MP1004 and PROMETEO/2009/047 is gratefully acknowledged. V.B. thanks MINECO for R&C contract

Genomic characterization of individuals presenting extreme phenotypes of high and low risk to develop tobacco-induced lung cancer

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) may modulate individual susceptibility to carcinogens. We designed a genome-wide association study to characterize individuals presenting extreme phenotypes of high and low risk to develop tobacco-induced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and we validated our results. We hypothesized that this strategy would enrich the frequencies of the alleles that contribute to the observed traits. We genotyped 2.37 million SNPs in 95 extreme phenotype individuals, that is: heavy smokers that either developed NSCLC at an early age (extreme cases); or did not present NSCLC at an advanced age (extreme controls), selected from a discovery set (n=3631). We validated significant SNPs in 133 additional subjects with extreme phenotypes selected from databases including >39,000 individuals. Two SNPs were validated: rs12660420 (p(combined)=5.66x10(-5); ORcombined=2.80), mapping to a noncoding transcript exon of PDE10A; and rs6835978 (p(combined)=1.02x10(-4); ORcombined=2.57), an intronic variant in ATP10D. We assessed the relevance of both proteins in early-stage NSCLC. PDE10A and ATP10D mRNA expressions correlated with survival in 821 stage I-II NSCLC patients (p=0.01 and p<0.0001). PDE10A protein expression correlated with survival in 149 patients with stage I-II NSCLC (p=0.002). In conclusion, we validated two variants associated with extreme phenotypes of high and low risk of developing tobacco-induced NSCLC. Our findings may allow to identify individuals presenting high and low risk to develop tobacco-induced NSCLC and to characterize molecular mechanisms of carcinogenesis and resistance to develop NSCLC

First results of the CAST-RADES haloscope search for axions at 34.67 µeV

We present results of the Relic Axion Dark-Matter Exploratory Setup (RADES), a detector which is part of the CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST), searching for axion dark matter in the 34.67 µeV mass range. A radio frequency cavity consisting of 5 sub-cavities coupled by inductive irises took physics data inside the CAST dipole magnet for the first time using this filter-like haloscope geometry. An exclusion limit with a 95% credibility level on the axion-photon coupling constant of ga¿ ¿ 4 × 10-13 GeV-1 over a mass range of 34.6738 µeV &lt; ma&lt; 34.6771 µeV is set. This constitutes a significant improvement over the current strongest limit set by CAST at this mass and is at the same time one of the most sensitive direct searches for an axion dark matter candidate above the mass of 25 µeV. The results also demonstrate the feasibility of exploring a wider mass range around the value probed by CAST-RADES in this work using similar coherent resonant cavities. © 2021, The Author(s)

Spread of a SARS-CoV-2 variant through Europe in the summer of 2020.

Following its emergence in late 2019, the spread of SARS-CoV-21,2 has been tracked by phylogenetic analysis of viral genome sequences in unprecedented detail3–5. Although the virus spread globally in early 2020 before borders closed, intercontinental travel has since been greatly reduced. However, travel within Europe resumed in the summer of 2020. Here we report on a SARS-CoV-2 variant, 20E (EU1), that was identified in Spain in early summer 2020 and subsequently spread across Europe. We find no evidence that this variant has increased transmissibility, but instead demonstrate how rising incidence in Spain, resumption of travel, and lack of effective screening and containment may explain the variant’s success. Despite travel restrictions, we estimate that 20E (EU1) was introduced hundreds of times to European countries by summertime travellers, which is likely to have undermined local efforts to minimize infection with SARS-CoV-2. Our results illustrate how a variant can rapidly become dominant even in the absence of a substantial transmission advantage in favourable epidemiological settings. Genomic surveillance is critical for understanding how travel can affect transmission of SARS-CoV-2, and thus for informing future containment strategies as travel resumes. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited

Trends and outcome of neoadjuvant treatment for rectal cancer: A retrospective analysis and critical assessment of a 10-year prospective national registry on behalf of the Spanish Rectal Cancer Project

Introduction: Preoperative treatment and adequate surgery increase local control in rectal cancer. However, modalities and indications for neoadjuvant treatment may be controversial. Aim of this study was to assess the trends of preoperative treatment and outcomes in patients with rectal cancer included in the Rectal Cancer Registry of the Spanish Associations of Surgeons. Method: This is a STROBE-compliant retrospective analysis of a prospective database. All patients operated on with curative intention included in the Rectal Cancer Registry were included. Analyses were performed to compare the use of neoadjuvant/adjuvant treatment in three timeframes: I)2006–2009; II)2010–2013; III)2014–2017. Survival analyses were run for 3-year survival in timeframes I-II. Results: Out of 14, 391 patients, 8871 (61.6%) received neoadjuvant treatment. Long-course chemo/radiotherapy was the most used approach (79.9%), followed by short-course radiotherapy ± chemotherapy (7.6%). The use of neoadjuvant treatment for cancer of the upper third (15-11 cm) increased over time (31.5%vs 34.5%vs 38.6%, p = 0.0018). The complete regression rate slightly increased over time (15.6% vs 16% vs 18.5%; p = 0.0093); the proportion of patients with involved circumferential resection margins (CRM) went down from 8.2% to 7.3%and 5.5% (p = 0.0004). Neoadjuvant treatment significantly decreased positive CRM in lower third tumors (OR 0.71, 0.59–0.87, Cochrane-Mantel-Haenszel P = 0.0008). Most ypN0 patients also received adjuvant therapy. In MR-defined stage III patients, preoperative treatment was associated with significantly longer local-recurrence-free survival (p < 0.0001), and cancer-specific survival (p < 0.0001). The survival benefit was smaller in upper third cancers. Conclusion: There was an increasing trend and a potential overuse of neoadjuvant treatment in cancer of the upper rectum. Most ypN0 patients received postoperative treatment. Involvement of CRM in lower third tumors was reduced after neoadjuvant treatment. Stage III and MRcN + benefited the most

Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw > 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour, are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio