Connectivity, neutral theories and the assessment of species vulnerability to global change in temperate estuaries

One of the main adaptation strategies to global change scenarios, aiming to preserve ecosystem functioning and biodiversity, is to maximise ecosystem resilience. The resilience of a species metapopulation can be improved by facilitating connectivity between local populations, which will prevent demographic stochasticity and inbreeding. The objective of this investigation is to estimate the degree of connectivity among estuarine species along the north-eastern Iberian coast, in order to assess community vulnerability to global change scenarios. To address this objective, two connectivity proxy types have been used based upon genetic and ecological drift processes: 1) DNA markers for the bivalve cockle (Cerastoderma edule) and seagrass Zostera noltei, and 2) the decrease in the number of species shared between two sites with geographic distance; neutral biodiversity theory predicts that dispersal limitation modulates this decrease, and this has been explored in estuarine plants and macroinvertebrates. Results indicate dispersal limitation for both saltmarsh plants and seagrass beds community and Z. noltei populations; this suggests they are especially vulnerable to expected climate changes on their habitats. In contrast, unstructured spatial pattern found in macroinvertebrate communities and in C. edule genetic populations in the area suggests that estuarine soft-bottom macroinvertebrates with planktonic larval dispersal strategies may have a high resilience capacity to moderate changes within their habitats. Our findings can help environmental managers to prioritise the most vulnerable species and habitats to be restored

Relationship among research collaboration, number of documents and number of citations. A case study in Spanish computer science production in 2000-2009.

This paper analyzes the relationship among research collaboration, number of documents and number of citations of computer science research activity. It analyzes the number of documents and citations and how they vary by number of authors. They are also analyzed (according to author set cardinality) under different circumstances, that is, when documents are written in different types of collaboration, when documents are published in different document types, when documents are published in different computer science subdisciplines, and, finally, when documents are published by journals with different impact factor quartiles. To investigate the above relationships, this paper analyzes the publications listed in the Web of Science and produced by active Spanish university professors between 2000 and 2009, working in the computer science field. Analyzing all documents, we show that the highest percentage of documents are published by three authors, whereas single-authored documents account for the lowest percentage. By number of citations, there is no positive association between the author cardinality and citation impact. Statistical tests show that documents written by two authors receive more citations per document and year than documents published by more authors. In contrast, results do not show statistically significant differences between documents published by two authors and one author. The research findings suggest that international collaboration results on average in publications with higher citation rates than national and institutional collaborations. We also find differences regarding citation rates between journals and conferences, across different computer science subdisciplines and journal quartiles as expected. Finally, our impression is that the collaborative level (number of authors per document) will increase in the coming years, and documents published by three or four authors will be the trend in computer science literature

Connectivity, neutral theories and the assessment of species vulnerability to global change in temperate estuaries

One of the main adaptation strategies to global change scenarios, aiming to preserve ecosystem functioning and biodiversity, is to maximize ecosystem resilience. The resilience of a species metapopulation can be improved by facilitating connectivity between local populations, which will prevent demographic stochasticity and inbreeding. This investigation estimated the degree of connectivity among estuarine species along the north-eastern Iberian coast, in order to assess community vulnerability to global change scenarios. To address this objective, two connectivity proxy types have been used based upon genetic and ecological drift processes: 1) DNA markers for the bivalve cockle (Cerastoderma edule) and seagrass Zostera noltei, and 2) the decrease in the number of species shared between two sites with geographic distance. Neutral biodiversity theory predicts that dispersal limitation modulates this decrease, and this has been explored in estuarine plants and macroinvertebrates. Results indicate dispersal limitation for both saltmarsh plants and seagrass beds community and Z. noltei populations; this suggests they are especially vulnerable to expected climate changes on their habitats. In contrast, unstructured spatial pattern found in macroinvertebrate communities and in C. edule genetic populations in the area suggests that estuarine soft-bottom macroinvertebrates with planktonic larval dispersal strategies may have a high resilience capacity to moderate changes within their habitats. Our findings allow environmental managers to prioritize the most vulnerable species and habitats to be restored

Toll Like Receptor 9 (TLR9) Polymorphism G520R in Sheep Is Associated with Seropositivity for Small Ruminant Lentivirus

Infectious diseases of sheep are of major economic importance causing direct and indirect losses. Among the major sheep infectious agents are Small Ruminant Lentivirus, Chlamydophila abortus and Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis infections, mainly due to their worldwide distribution and economic impact that they cause. Based on the differential susceptibility to infectious diseases between and within breeds and on the recent findings regarding the putative involvement of TLR9 in disease susceptibility, the aim of this study was to evaluate the levels of nucleotide variation of TLR9 and its mediator MyD88 in three sheep flocks originated from different breeds and assess their possible association with seropositivity/seronegativity for different infectious agents. The analysis indicated that the change of G to R at codon 520 of TLR9 polypeptide shows a significant association with Small Ruminant Lentivirus seropositivity. This amino-acid substitution, which can result in polarity change, might influence structure and function of LRR17, interfering with ligand binding and thus could be used in studies investigating susceptibility/resistance to Small Ruminant Lentivirus infections in sheep

Estudio del estado nutricional de los ancianos de Cantabria Study of the nutritional status of elders in Cantabria

Introducción: El envejecimiento de la población representa uno de los retos más importantes desde el punto de vista biosanitario. Objetivo: Valorar el estado nutricional de las personas de 65 y más años de Cantabria. Métodos: Un total de 1605 personas fueron evaluadas por medio del MNA; a) en atención primaria (59,9% en la consulta y 4,7% en domicilios) y, b) en residencias de ancianos (35,4%). Resultados: La puntuación nutricional (PN) obtenida de la suma de los ítems del MNA fue 23,4 &plusmn; 4,1 para las mujeres y 24,4 &plusmn; 4 en los varones (p Introduction: Population ageing is a main concern under the biosanitary point of view. Aim: To assess the nutritional status of people 65 year-old and older in Cantabria (Spain) Method: A total of 1605 persons were studied by means of the MNA (Mini Nutritional Assessment); a) by primary care (59.9% in the unit, and 4.7% at home) and, b) in nursing homes (35.4%). Results: Nutritional score (NS) was 23.4 &plusmn; 4.1 for women and 24.4 &plusmn; 4 in males (p < 0.001). We emphasize the fact that 22.3% of people studied in the nursing homes were malnourished or at risk of malnutrition, compared with 14.2% of those studied at the unit, and only 3.3% of the home visited elders. The correlation between the value of the NS and the subjective estimation of nutrition status showed a high value (0.65). We emphasize the negative correlation (-0.53) between BNI value and the incidence of skin lesions. Conclusion: Our results highlight the importance of identifying malnutrition or its risk in elders in order to prevent the negative consequences of this deficiency