Plan de acción estratégico para fortalecer la conservación y el uso de los recursos fitogenéticos mesoamericanos para la adaptación de la agricultura al cambio climático – PAEM 2014-2024

El Plan de Acción Estrategico para Fortalecer la Conservacion y el Uso de los Recursos Fitogeneticos Mesoamericanos para la Adaptacion de la Agricultura al Cambio Climatico (PAEM) es un mapa de ruta a diez anos para fortalecer la conservacion, el acceso y el uso de los recursos fitogeneticos de Mesoamerica como elemento estrategico para la seguridad alimentaria y la adaptacion de la agricultura al cambio climatico y otras amenazas

Balancing the playing field: collaborative gaming for physical training.

BACKGROUND: Multiplayer video games promoting exercise-based rehabilitation may facilitate motor learning, by increasing motivation through social interaction. However, a major design challenge is to enable meaningful inter-subject interaction, whilst allowing for significant skill differences between players. We present a novel motor-training paradigm that allows real-time collaboration and performance enhancement, across a wide range of inter-subject skill mismatches, including disabled vs. able-bodied partnerships. METHODS: A virtual task consisting of a dynamic ball on a beam, is controlled at each end using independent digital force-sensing handgrips. Interaction is mediated through simulated physical coupling and locally-redundant control. Game performance was measured in 16 healthy-healthy and 16 patient-expert dyads, where patients were hemiparetic stroke survivors using their impaired arm. Dual-player was compared to single-player performance, in terms of score, target tracking, stability, effort and smoothness; and questionnaires probing user-experience and engagement. RESULTS: Performance of less-able subjects (as ranked from single-player ability) was enhanced by dual-player mode, by an amount proportionate to the partnership's mismatch. The more abled partners' performances decreased by a similar amount. Such zero-sum interactions were observed for both healthy-healthy and patient-expert interactions. Dual-player was preferred by the majority of players independent of baseline ability and subject group; healthy subjects also felt more challenged, and patients more skilled. CONCLUSION: This is the first demonstration of implicit skill balancing in a truly collaborative virtual training task leading to heightened engagement, across both healthy subjects and stroke patients

Toolkit for the indicators of resilience in socio-ecological production landscapes and seascapes

This toolkit provides practical guidance for making use of the “Indicators of Resilience in Socio-ecological Production Landscapes and Seascapes (SEPLS)” in the field. The indicators are a tool for engaging local communities in adaptive management of the landscapes and seascapes in which they live. By using the tested methods presented in this toolkit, communities can increase their capacity to respond to social, economic, and environmental pressures and shocks, to improve their environmental and economic conditions, thus increasing the social and ecological resilience of their landscapes and seascapes, and ultimately make progress towards realizing a society in harmony with nature. The approach presented here is centred on holding participatory “assessment workshops”. These involve discussion and a scoring process for the set of twenty indicators designed to capture communities’ perceptions of factors affecting the resilience of their landscapes and seascapes. The participants in these workshops are members of the local community and stakeholders in the local area. Their participation allows them to evaluate current conditions across the landscape and identify and reach agreement on priority actions, contributing to enhanced communication among stakeholders and empowered local communities. Workshops may be planned and implemented by people from within or outside the community. The guidance provided in this toolkit is primarily intended for organizers and facilitators of resilience assessment workshops

Strategic action plan to strengthen conservation and use of Mesoamerican plant genetic resources in adapting agriculture to climate change SAPM 2014-2024

The Strategic Action Plan to Strengthen the Conservation and Use of Mesoamerican Plant Genetic Resources in Adapting Agriculture to Climate Change (SAPM) is a ten-year road map to strengthen conservation, access and use of plant genetic resources in Mesoamerica, as a strategic element for food security and agricultural adaptation to climate change and other threats.The SAPM comprises six thematic components and activities which are all interconnected and the implementation of the Action Plan is foreseen in an integrated manner. The plan has been formulated using a methodology that combines the analysis of scientific evidence on the current state of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) in the region, of climate change challenges and opportunities, and a broad participatory process involving regional stakeholders. Results of analyses and documents used in the analyses are available in Spanish to the public in the ITZAMNÁ website (http://itzamna-mesoamerica.org)

Multisensory and Motor Representations in Rat Oral Somatosensory Cortex

Abstract In mammals, a complex array of oral sensors assess the taste, temperature and haptic properties of food. Although the representation of taste has been extensively studied in the gustatory cortex, it is unclear how the somatosensory cortex encodes information about the properties of oral stimuli. Moreover, it is poorly understood how different oral sensory modalities are integrated and how sensory responses are translated into oral motor actions. To investigate whether oral somatosensory cortex processes food-related sensations and movements, we performed in vivo whole-cell recordings and motor mapping experiments in rats. Neurons in oral somatosensory cortex showed robust post-synaptic and sparse action potential responses to air puffs. Membrane potential showed that cold water evoked larger responses than room temperature or hot water. Most neurons showed no clear tuning of responses to bitter, sweet and neutral gustatory stimuli. Finally, motor mapping experiments with histological verification revealed an initiation of movements related to food consumption behavior, such as jaw opening and tongue protrusions. We conclude that somatosensory cortex: (i) provides a representation of the temperature of oral stimuli, (ii) does not systematically encode taste information and (iii) influences orofacial movements related to food consummatory behavior

Blood Parasites in Owls with Conservation Implications for the Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis)

The three subspecies of Spotted Owl (Northern, Strix occidentalis caurina; California, S. o. occidentalis; and Mexican, S. o. lucida) are all threatened by habitat loss and range expansion of the Barred Owl (S. varia). An unaddressed threat is whether Barred Owls could be a source of novel strains of disease such as avian malaria (Plasmodium spp.) or other blood parasites potentially harmful for Spotted Owls. Although Barred Owls commonly harbor Plasmodium infections, these parasites have not been documented in the Spotted Owl. We screened 111 Spotted Owls, 44 Barred Owls, and 387 owls of nine other species for haemosporidian parasites (Leucocytozoon, Plasmodium, and Haemoproteus spp.). California Spotted Owls had the greatest number of simultaneous multi-species infections (44%). Additionally, sequencing results revealed that the Northern and California Spotted Owl subspecies together had the highest number of Leucocytozoon parasite lineages (n = 17) and unique lineages (n = 12). This high level of sequence diversity is significant because only one Leucocytozoon species (L. danilewskyi) has been accepted as valid among all owls, suggesting that L. danilewskyi is a cryptic species. Furthermore, a Plasmodium parasite was documented in a Northern Spotted Owl for the first time. West Coast Barred Owls had a lower prevalence of infection (15%) when compared to sympatric Spotted Owls (S. o. caurina 52%, S. o. occidentalis 79%) and Barred Owls from the historic range (61%). Consequently, Barred Owls on the West Coast may have a competitive advantage over the potentially immune compromised Spotted Owls

Seawater carbonate chemistry and net community calcification (NCC) and net community production (NCP) rates of individual taxa and combined reef communities

There is a long history of examining the impacts of nutrient pollution and pH on coral reefs. However, little is known about how these two stressors interact and influence coral reef ecosystem functioning. Using a six-week nutrient addition experiment, we measured the impact of elevated nitrate (NO−3) and phosphate (PO3−4) on net community calcification (NCC) and net community production (NCP) rates of individual taxa and combined reef communities. Our study had four major outcomes: (i) NCC rates declined in response to nutrient addition in all substrate types, (ii) the mixed community switched from net calcification to net dissolution under medium and high nutrient conditions, (iii) nutrients augmented pH variability through modified photosynthesis and respiration rates, and (iv) nutrients disrupted the relationship between NCC and aragonite saturation state documented in ambient conditions. These results indicate that the negative effect of NO−3 and PO3−4 addition on reef calcification is likely both a direct physiological response to nutrients and also an indirect response to a shifting pH environment from altered NCP rates. Here, we show that nutrient pollution could make reefs more vulnerable to global changes associated with ocean acidification and accelerate the predicted shift from net accretion to net erosion

Plan de accion estrategico para fortalecer la conservacion y el uso de los recursos fittogeneticos mesoamericanos para la adaptacion de la agricultura al cambio climatico - PAEM 2014-2024

Mesoamérica, uno de los centros de domesticación y diversificación de cultivos de importancia mundial, alberga una enorme riqueza de recursos fitogenéticos. Como esta región también enfrentará desafíos sin precedentes, impuestos por el cambio climático, tiene en estos recursos fitogenéticos un medio fundamental para adaptar sus sistemas agrícolas a los cambios anticipados, y así garantizar la seguridad alimentaria de la población