ROBLEDO ARDILA, P. A.; DURÁN VALSERO, J. J.; PARDO IGÚZQUIZA, E. 2020: Karst y cuevas. La cuarta dimensión de la naturaleza. IGME y Editorial Catarata, Madrid

Este libro pertenece a la colección Planeta Tierra, llevada a cabo por el Instituto Geológico y Minero de España (IGME) en colaboración con la editorial Catarata. El proyecto nace como herramienta divulgativa rigurosa y amena de las Ciencias de la Tierra a lectores curiosos, pero no especializados. En el volumen titulado Karst y Cuevas. La cuarta dimensión de la naturaleza los autores pretenden sumergirnos en el mundo subterráneo de las cuevas, tan espectaculares y misteriosas, como desconocidas

Geoarchaeology studies in the strait of Gibraltar: Cataloging of the geoarchaeological lithotheque in the department of earth sciences of the University of Cádiz

Se presenta con este trabajo la primera edición elaborada del catálogo de la litoteca de la Universidad de Cádiz. En él se trabaja desde una propuesta geoarqueológica y arqueométrica para la caracterización de materias primas minerales, especialmente de naturaleza silícea, usadas por diferentes sociedades en la Prehistoria, en la región histórica denominada “estrecho de Gibraltar”. Constituyéndose así una potente herramienta para el estudio de las estrategias de aprovisionamiento, captación y distribución de recursos por parte de las sociedades citadas. Se crea con ello una plataforma de investigación, con espacios destinados al almacenaje de muestras (cuya colección supera las 5000 muestras) y la recopilación de información accesible a la comunidad científica.The first edition of the catalogue of the lithotheque of the University of Cádiz is presented with this paper. The work is based on a geoarchaeological and archaeometric proposal for the characterization of mineral raw materials, mostly siliceous, used by different societies in Prehistory, in the historical región os the “Strait of Gibraltar”. It is thus a powerful tool for the study of provision strategies, acquisition, and distribution of resources by these societies. A research platform has been created with spaces for the storage of samples (whose collection exceeds 5000 samples), information gathering and accessibility to the scientific community

Reflexiones interdisciplinares sobre la noción de tecnología

El texto analiza la interacción entre humano y artefacto, la instrumentalización y la triada sujeto-instrumento-objeto, para realizar planteamientos sobre la perspectiva humanista de la tecnología y cómo privilegia la relación con la “realidad social”. El punto de vista antropológico prima en este texto y se deja de lado la simple acepción instrumental. Por otra parte, la propuesta del profesor Andrés Camilo Agudelo Vergara, titulada “De la pragmática de la tecnología al campo analítico de la técnica”, parte de la reflexión sobre los reduccionismos en torno al concepto de tecnología y las posibilidades de dar nuevos sentidos al mismo. Referente al primer aspecto, revisa la noción “eficientista de la técnica”. Así, el enfoque instrumental del término, según el autor, se explica dentro de la dinámica de la época industrial, donde ideas como “producto”, “consumo”, “bienes y servicios”, entre otros, definen la noción de la técnica y, por consiguiente, la manera en que esta idea se ha generalizado en virtud de “medio para un fin”. Para Agudelo Vergara, la técnica contiene la historia, la cultura del hombre; es una dimensión amplia que implica procesos humanos de diversa índole y, por eso, entiende la tecnología como objeto y espacio donde se crea conocimiento. A partir de una serie de preguntas recurrentes, la reflexión problematiza el concepto de tecnología y se asume “más allá de su eficacia o perfectibilidad”. En este camino de resignificar el concepto, Agudelo Vergara ingresa al terreno del conocimiento y los modelos conceptuales de la tecnología, cuestionando reduccionismos como la suscripción de la misma al campo de los artefactos, las herramientas e instrumentos, y profundiza en la comprensión del sentido de la tecnología, para proponer la dimensión social de los productos tecnológicos

At the beginnings of the funerary Megalithism in Iberia at Campo de Hockey necropolis

[EN] The excavations undertaken at the Campo de Hockey site in 2008 led to the identification of a major Neolithic necropolis in the former Island of San Fernando (Bay of Cadiz). This work presents the results of the latest studies, which indicate that the site stands as one of the oldest megalithic necropolises in the Iberian Peninsula. The main aim of this work is to present with precision the chronology of this necropolis through a Bayesian statistical model that confirms that the necropolis was in use from c. 4300 to 3800 cal BC. The presence of prestige grave goods in the earliest and most monumental graves suggest that the Megalithism phenomenon emerged in relation to maritime routes linked to the distribution of exotic products. We also aim to examine funerary practices in these early megalithic communities, and especially their way of life and the social reproduction system. As such, in addition to the chronological information and the Bayesian statistics, we provide the results of a comprehensive interdisciplinary study, including anthropological, archaeometric and genetic data.We wish to express our gratitude to Antonio Saez Espligares (Historical Museum of San Fernando) and Lourdes Lorenzo (Figlina, s.l.) for their support during the archaeological excavation. This research was conducted in the framework of the following research projects: "Analysis of prehistoric societies from the Middle Palaeolithic to the Late Neolithic at both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar: relations and contacts", funded by the State Research Agency (SRA) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Ref.: HAR2017-87324-P. (2018-2021). "Analisis interdisciplinar para el conocimiento del poblamiento humano de la Bahia de Cadiz durante la Prehistoria Reciente (VI-II milenios a.n.e.)", funded by 2014-2020 ERDF Operational Programme and the Department of Economy, Knowledge, Business and University of the Regional Government of Andalusia. Ref.: FEDER-UCA18-106917 (2020-2023). "Analisis de los isotopos de oxigeno en conchas y de los isotopos estables de oxigeno y carbono en huesos humanos en el poblado neolitico insular de Campo de Hockey (San Fernando, Cadiz)", authorised and funded by CEIMAR. Ref.: CEIJ-015 (2018-2019). Eduardo Molina Piernas acknowledges co-funding from European Social Fund (D1113102E3) and Junta de Andalucia

Human occupations of Northern Morocco, Middle and Upper Palaeolithic. New data on the basis of archaeological research projects from 2005 to 2020

Nous présentons dans ce travail, un panorama synthétique des occupations humaines du Nord du Maroc, en mettant l’accent sur l’association des données anthropologiques et des données culturelles, ceci dans un cadre chronologique compris entre le Paléolithique Moyen (MSA) et le Paléolithique Supérieur. Nous présentons aussi les projets développés, durant ces 15 dernières années, et les résultats les plus intéressants que nous avons obtenus. Pour conclure, nous proposons quelques réflexions sur l’évaluation culturelle et historique des enregistrements archéologiques de la région de Tétouan dans les périodes du Paléolithique Moyen et Supérieur.In this work, we present a synthetic panorama of the human occupations of northern Morocco, with an emphasis on the association of anthropological with cultural records, within the framework of the Middle Palaeolithic (MSA) and the Upper Palaeolithic. We also present the projects developed over the past 15 years and the most interesting results we have obtained. And we conclude bay providing some reflections on the cultural and historical evaluation of the archaeological records from the Tetouan region in the Middle and the Upper Palaeolithic phases.Les résultats et les conclusions de cet article ont été obtenus grâce aux études qui ont été réalisées dans le cadre de la coopération scientifique internationale qui a permis le développement des projets de recherches archéologiques durant les quinze dernières années et qu’on peut résumer comme suit : • Les matières premières dans la préhistoire du détroit de Gibraltar. Code A/2893/05. Entités participantes : Université de Cadix (Espagne) et Université Abdelmalek Essaâdi (Maroc). Durée, de janvier 2006 à décembre 2006. Chercheurs responsables : Salvador Domínguez-Bella et Ali Maate. • Etude des collections du Musée Archéologique de Tétouan (I). Début de l’inventaire général et de l’analyse de certaines collections thématiques. Code : A/6867/06. Entités participantes : Université de Cadix (Espagne), Institut National des Sciences de l’Archéologie et du Patrimoine (Rabat) et Université Abdelmalek Esaâdi (Tanger-Tétouan) (Maroc). Durée, de janvier 2007 à décembre 2007. Chercheurs responsables : Mehdi Zouak et José Ramos-Muñoz. • Les matières premières dans la Préhistoire du détroit de Gibraltar. Code A/6317/06. Entités participantes : Université de Cadix (Espagne) et Université Abdelmalek Essaâdi (Maroc). Durée, de janvier 2007 à décembre 2007. Chercheurs responsables : Salvador Domínguez-Bella et Ali Maate. • Contribution à l’élaboration de la Carte archéologique du Nord du Maroc (Région Tanger-Tétouan). Analyse de faisabilité et conception du projet. Code A/5790/06. Entités participantes : Université de Cadix (Espagne) et Université Abdelmalek Esaâdi (Tanger-Tétouan, Maroc). Durée, de janvier 2007 à décembre 2007. Chercheurs responsables : Darío Bernal et Baraka Raissounni. • Étude des collections du Musée Archéologique de Tétouan (II). Début de l’inventaire général et de l’analyse de certaines collections thématiques. Code A/010823/07. Entités participantes : Université de Cadix (Espagne), Institut National des Sciences de l’Archéologie et du Patrimoine (Rabat) et Université Abdelmalek Essaâdi (Maroc). Durée, de janvier 2008 à décembre 2008. Chercheurs responsables : José Ramos-Muñoz. et Mehdi Zouak. • Proposition pour le remodelage du contenu du Musée Archéologique de Tétouan. Code AP/040139/11. Entités participantes : Université Abdelmalek Esaâdi (Tanger-Tétouan) (Maroc) et Université de Cadix (Espagne). Durée, de janvier 2012 à décembre 2012. Chercheurs responsables : José Ramos-Muñoz. et Ali Maate. • Projet Carte Archéologique du Nord du Maroc. Région de Tanger-Tétouan. Codes : DRCTT/08/328 ; DRCTT/09/267 ; DRCTT/ ; DRCTT/09/279 ; DRCTT/10/314, DRCTT/11/106, IRMHS-TT/12-48, IRMHS-TT/459/12, 0-094-2011 (BOE 314, 30-12-2011). Organismes de financement : AECID, Junta de Andalucía (Groupe PAI-HUM-440), Université de Cadix (Espagne). Entités participantes : Institut Nacional des Sciences de l’Archéologie et du Patrimoine (Rabat), Université Abdelmalek Esaâdi (Tanger-Tétouan) (Maroc) et Université de Cadix (Espagne). Durée, de janvier 2008 à décembre 2012. Chercheurs responsables : Mehdi Zouak, Abdelaziz El Khayari, Baraka Raissouni, Darío Bernal-Casasola et José Ramos-Muñoz. • Convention de collaboration pour la création du Laboratoire d’Archéologie et du Patrimoine Meknassi de la Région Tanger-Tétouan et le développement de la recherche archéologique et patrimoniale. Entités participantes : Université Abdelmalek Essaâdi, Université de Cadix et Direction Régionale de la Culture de la Région Tanger-Tétouan. Durée : du 24 mai 2012 au 24 mai 2017. Chercheurs responsables : Mehdi Zouak, Darío Bernal, José Ramos-Muñoz., Baraka Raissouni, Mostapha Ghottes et Tarek Moujoud. • Análisis de sociedades prehistóricas del Paleolítico Medio al Neolítico Final en las dos orillas del Estrecho de Gibraltar. Relaciones y contactos -HAR2017-8734P- (Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad -Agencia Estatal de Investigación, co financé par les fonds FEDER. Chercheurs responsables : José Ramos-Muñoz. et Salvador Domínguez-Bella. Nous tennons donc à remercier tous les chercheurs, les experts et les entités scientifiques, financières et administratives, qui ont permis la réalisation de ces projets de recherches archéologiques de 2005 à 2020

The state of the Martian climate

60°N was +2.0°C, relative to the 1981–2010 average value (Fig. 5.1). This marks a new high for the record. The average annual surface air temperature (SAT) anomaly for 2016 for land stations north of starting in 1900, and is a significant increase over the previous highest value of +1.2°C, which was observed in 2007, 2011, and 2015. Average global annual temperatures also showed record values in 2015 and 2016. Currently, the Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of lower latitudes

Effectiveness of Fosfomycin for the Treatment of Multidrug-Resistant Escherichia coli Bacteremic Urinary Tract Infections

IMPORTANCE The consumption of broad-spectrum drugs has increased as a consequence of the spread of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Escherichia coli. Finding alternatives for these infections is critical, for which some neglected drugs may be an option. OBJECTIVE To determine whether fosfomycin is noninferior to ceftriaxone or meropenem in the targeted treatment of bacteremic urinary tract infections (bUTIs) due to MDR E coli. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This multicenter, randomized, pragmatic, open clinical trial was conducted at 22 Spanish hospitals from June 2014 to December 2018. Eligible participants were adult patients with bacteremic urinary tract infections due to MDR E coli; 161 of 1578 screened patients were randomized and followed up for 60 days. Data were analyzed in May 2021. INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized 1 to 1 to receive intravenous fosfomycin disodium at 4 g every 6 hours (70 participants) or a comparator (ceftriaxone or meropenem if resistant; 73 participants) with the option to switch to oral fosfomycin trometamol for the fosfomycin group or an active oral drug or pa renteral ertapenem for the comparator group after 4 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was clinical and microbiological cure (CMC) 5 to 7 days after finalization of treatment; a noninferiority margin of 7% was considered. RESULTS Among 143 patients in the modified intention-to-treat population (median [IQR] age, 72 [62-81] years; 73 [51.0%] women), 48 of 70 patients (68.6%) treated with fosfomycin and 57 of 73 patients (78.1%) treated with comparators reached CMC (risk difference, -9.4 percentage points; 1-sided 95% CI, -21.5 to infinity percentage points; P = .10). While clinical or microbiological failure occurred among 10 patients (14.3%) treated with fosfomycin and 14 patients (19.7%) treated with comparators (risk difference, -5.4 percentage points; 1-sided 95% CI. -infinity to 4.9; percentage points; P = .19), an increased rate of adverse event-related discontinuations occurred with fosfomycin vs comparators (6 discontinuations [8.5%] vs 0 discontinuations; P = .006). In an exploratory analysis among a subset of 38 patients who underwent rectal colonization studies, patients treated with fosfomycin acquired a new ceftriaxone-resistant or meropenem-resistant gram-negative bacteria at a decreased rate compared with patients treated with comparators (0 of 21 patients vs 4 of 17 patients [23.5%]; 1-sided P = .01). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE This study found that fosfomycin did not demonstrate noninferiority to comparators as targeted treatment of bUTI from MDR E coli; this was due to an increased rate of adverse event-related discontinuations. This finding suggests that fosfomycin may be considered for selected patients with these infections

Evidence of spatial clustering of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia cases in Greater Mexico City: report from the Mexican Inter-Institutional Group for the identification of the causes of childhood leukemia

BackgroundA heterogeneous geographic distribution of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) cases has been described, possibly, related to the presence of different environmental factors. The aim of the present study was to explore the geographical distribution of childhood ALL cases in Greater Mexico City (GMC).MethodsA population-based case-control study was conducted. Children <18 years old, newly diagnosed with ALL and residents of GMC were included. Controls were patients without leukemia recruited from second-level public hospitals, frequency-matched by sex, age, and health institution with the cases. The residence address where the patients lived during the last year before diagnosis (cases) or the interview (controls) was used for geolocation. Kulldorff’s spatial scan statistic was used to detect spatial clusters (SCs). Relative risks (RR), associated p-value and number of cases included for each cluster were obtained.ResultsA total of 1054 cases with ALL were analyzed. Of these, 408 (38.7%) were distributed across eight SCs detected. A relative risk of 1.61 (p<0.0001) was observed for the main cluster. Similar results were noted for the remaining seven ones. Additionally, a proximity between SCs, electrical installations and petrochemical facilities was observed.ConclusionsThe identification of SCs in certain regions of GMC suggest the possible role of environmental factors in the etiology of childhood ALL

State of the climate in 2018

In 2018, the dominant greenhouse gases released into Earth’s atmosphere—carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide—continued their increase. The annual global average carbon dioxide concentration at Earth’s surface was 407.4 ± 0.1 ppm, the highest in the modern instrumental record and in ice core records dating back 800 000 years. Combined, greenhouse gases and several halogenated gases contribute just over 3 W m−2 to radiative forcing and represent a nearly 43% increase since 1990. Carbon dioxide is responsible for about 65% of this radiative forcing. With a weak La Niña in early 2018 transitioning to a weak El Niño by the year’s end, the global surface (land and ocean) temperature was the fourth highest on record, with only 2015 through 2017 being warmer. Several European countries reported record high annual temperatures. There were also more high, and fewer low, temperature extremes than in nearly all of the 68-year extremes record. Madagascar recorded a record daily temperature of 40.5°C in Morondava in March, while South Korea set its record high of 41.0°C in August in Hongcheon. Nawabshah, Pakistan, recorded its highest temperature of 50.2°C, which may be a new daily world record for April. Globally, the annual lower troposphere temperature was third to seventh highest, depending on the dataset analyzed. The lower stratospheric temperature was approximately fifth lowest. The 2018 Arctic land surface temperature was 1.2°C above the 1981–2010 average, tying for third highest in the 118-year record, following 2016 and 2017. June’s Arctic snow cover extent was almost half of what it was 35 years ago. Across Greenland, however, regional summer temperatures were generally below or near average. Additionally, a satellite survey of 47 glaciers in Greenland indicated a net increase in area for the first time since records began in 1999. Increasing permafrost temperatures were reported at most observation sites in the Arctic, with the overall increase of 0.1°–0.2°C between 2017 and 2018 being comparable to the highest rate of warming ever observed in the region. On 17 March, Arctic sea ice extent marked the second smallest annual maximum in the 38-year record, larger than only 2017. The minimum extent in 2018 was reached on 19 September and again on 23 September, tying 2008 and 2010 for the sixth lowest extent on record. The 23 September date tied 1997 as the latest sea ice minimum date on record. First-year ice now dominates the ice cover, comprising 77% of the March 2018 ice pack compared to 55% during the 1980s. Because thinner, younger ice is more vulnerable to melting out in summer, this shift in sea ice age has contributed to the decreasing trend in minimum ice extent. Regionally, Bering Sea ice extent was at record lows for almost the entire 2017/18 ice season. For the Antarctic continent as a whole, 2018 was warmer than average. On the highest points of the Antarctic Plateau, the automatic weather station Relay (74°S) broke or tied six monthly temperature records throughout the year, with August breaking its record by nearly 8°C. However, cool conditions in the western Bellingshausen Sea and Amundsen Sea sector contributed to a low melt season overall for 2017/18. High SSTs contributed to low summer sea ice extent in the Ross and Weddell Seas in 2018, underpinning the second lowest Antarctic summer minimum sea ice extent on record. Despite conducive conditions for its formation, the ozone hole at its maximum extent in September was near the 2000–18 mean, likely due to an ongoing slow decline in stratospheric chlorine monoxide concentration. Across the oceans, globally averaged SST decreased slightly since the record El Niño year of 2016 but was still far above the climatological mean. On average, SST is increasing at a rate of 0.10° ± 0.01°C decade−1 since 1950. The warming appeared largest in the tropical Indian Ocean and smallest in the North Pacific. The deeper ocean continues to warm year after year. For the seventh consecutive year, global annual mean sea level became the highest in the 26-year record, rising to 81 mm above the 1993 average. As anticipated in a warming climate, the hydrological cycle over the ocean is accelerating: dry regions are becoming drier and wet regions rainier. Closer to the equator, 95 named tropical storms were observed during 2018, well above the 1981–2010 average of 82. Eleven tropical cyclones reached Saffir–Simpson scale Category 5 intensity. North Atlantic Major Hurricane Michael’s landfall intensity of 140 kt was the fourth strongest for any continental U.S. hurricane landfall in the 168-year record. Michael caused more than 30 fatalities and $25 billion (U.S. dollars) in damages. In the western North Pacific, Super Typhoon Mangkhut led to 160 fatalities and$6 billion (U.S. dollars) in damages across the Philippines, Hong Kong, Macau, mainland China, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Tropical Storm Son-Tinh was responsible for 170 fatalities in Vietnam and Laos. Nearly all the islands of Micronesia experienced at least moderate impacts from various tropical cyclones. Across land, many areas around the globe received copious precipitation, notable at different time scales. Rodrigues and Réunion Island near southern Africa each reported their third wettest year on record. In Hawaii, 1262 mm precipitation at Waipā Gardens (Kauai) on 14–15 April set a new U.S. record for 24-h precipitation. In Brazil, the city of Belo Horizonte received nearly 75 mm of rain in just 20 minutes, nearly half its monthly average. Globally, fire activity during 2018 was the lowest since the start of the record in 1997, with a combined burned area of about 500 million hectares. This reinforced the long-term downward trend in fire emissions driven by changes in land use in frequently burning savannas. However, wildfires burned 3.5 million hectares across the United States, well above the 2000–10 average of 2.7 million hectares. Combined, U.S. wildfire damages for the 2017 and 2018 wildfire seasons exceeded $40 billion (U.S. dollars)

Spatiotemporal Characteristics of the Largest HIV-1 CRF02_AG Outbreak in Spain: Evidence for Onward Transmissions

Background and Aim: The circulating recombinant form 02_AG (CRF02_AG) is the predominant clade among the human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) non-Bs with a prevalence of 5.97% (95% Confidence Interval-CI: 5.41–6.57%) across Spain. Our aim was to estimate the levels of regional clustering for CRF02_AG and the spatiotemporal characteristics of the largest CRF02_AG subepidemic in Spain.Methods: We studied 396 CRF02_AG sequences obtained from HIV-1 diagnosed patients during 2000–2014 from 10 autonomous communities of Spain. Phylogenetic analysis was performed on the 391 CRF02_AG sequences along with all globally sampled CRF02_AG sequences (N = 3,302) as references. Phylodynamic and phylogeographic analysis was performed to the largest CRF02_AG monophyletic cluster by a Bayesian method in BEAST v1.8.0 and by reconstructing ancestral states using the criterion of parsimony in Mesquite v3.4, respectively.Results: The HIV-1 CRF02_AG prevalence differed across Spanish autonomous communities we sampled from (p < 0.001). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that 52.7% of the CRF02_AG sequences formed 56 monophyletic clusters, with a range of 2–79 sequences. The CRF02_AG regional dispersal differed across Spain (p = 0.003), as suggested by monophyletic clustering. For the largest monophyletic cluster (subepidemic) (N = 79), 49.4% of the clustered sequences originated from Madrid, while most sequences (51.9%) had been obtained from men having sex with men (MSM). Molecular clock analysis suggested that the origin (tMRCA) of the CRF02_AG subepidemic was in 2002 (median estimate; 95% Highest Posterior Density-HPD interval: 1999–2004). Additionally, we found significant clustering within the CRF02_AG subepidemic according to the ethnic origin.Conclusion: CRF02_AG has been introduced as a result of multiple introductions in Spain, following regional dispersal in several cases. We showed that CRF02_AG transmissions were mostly due to regional dispersal in Spain. The hot-spot for the largest CRF02_AG regional subepidemic in Spain was in Madrid associated with MSM transmission risk group. The existence of subepidemics suggest that several spillovers occurred from Madrid to other areas. CRF02_AG sequences from Hispanics were clustered in a separate subclade suggesting no linkage between the local and Hispanic subepidemics