Contingut de matèria orgànica al sòl segons els usos forestals a les Gavarres (Girona)

El següent article és un estudi sobre el contingut de matèria orgànica als sòls del massís de les Gavarres tenint en compte dos aspectes, el primer segons sigui la litologia i segon el tipus d'ús del sòl. Per això s'ha dividit el massís entre els dos grans components litològics: granits i pissarres. A la vegada s'han estudiat els usos del sòl més representatius d'aquesta muntanya: la sureda estassada, la sureda abandonada, les plantacions de pins, les plantacions d'eucaliptus i un bosc mixt de pins i suros. Els resultats mostren que el contingut de matèria orgànica pel que fa a la litologia és molt més alt als sòls sobre pissarres. Quant als usos del sòl, el major contingut correspon a les suredes i el menor a les plantacions d'eucaliptus.El siguiente artículo es un estudio sobre el contenido de materia orgánica de los suelos del macizo de las Gavarres teniendo en cuenta dos aspectos, en primer lugar según sea la litología y segundo el tipo de uso del suelo. Para ello se ha dividido el macizo en los dos grandes componentes litológicos: granitos y pizarras. A la vez se han estudiado los usos del suelo más representativos de esta montaña: alcornocal aclarado, alcornocal con sotobosque, plantaciones de pinos, plantaciones de eucaliptos y un bosque mixto de pinos y alcornoques. Los resultados demuestran que el contenido de materia orgánica es más alto en los suelos sobre pizarras. En cuanto a los usos del suelo el mayor contenido corresponde al alcornocal y el de menor a las plantaciones de eucaliptos.The organic matter content of the soils of the Gavarres massif was studied. Two aspects are taken into account, lithology and land use. The area of the massif has been divided according to the two main lithological components: granites and slates. At the same time, the most representative types of land use have been studied: cork oak woodland under explotation, abandoned cork oak woodland, pine plantations, eucalyptus plantations and mixed cork oak and pine woodland. The results show that the organic matter content is much higher in soils on slates. As far as land use is concerned, the highest content corresponds to the cork oak forest and the lowest to the eucalyotus plantations

Informed choice in breast cancer screening: the role of education

[spa ] Objetivo: Evaluar el efecto de recibir información sobre los beneficios y los efectos adversos del cribado del cáncer de mama en la elección informada, en función del nivel educativo. Método: Análisis secundario de un estudio experimental aleatorizado y controlado, en cuatro programas de cribado en Cataluña˜ y Canarias. Se analizaron 400 mujeres que iban a ser invitadas a participar por primera vez. El grupo de intervención recibió una herramienta informativa que mostraba los beneficios y los efectos adversos del cribado. El grupo control recibió un folleto estándar que recomendaba participar en el cribado. El nivel de estudios se agrupó en dos categorías: bajo y alto. La variable principal fue la elección informada definida como un conocimiento adecuado y la concordancia entre las actitudes y las intenciones. Resultados: La intervención produjo un mayor aumento del conocimiento en las mujeres con nivel educativo alto respecto a las de menor nivel educativo. Entre las mujeres que recibieron la intervención, la elección informada fue casi tres veces superior en las de nivel educativo alto (27% vs. 11%). No se observaron diferencias entre niveles educativos en los grupos de intervención y control en cuanto a conflicto decisional, confianza en la decisión, ansiedad y preocupación por el cáncer de mama. Conclusiones: Una herramienta informativa para el cribado del cáncer de mama tuvo mucho más impacto sobre la elección informada en las mujeres con nivel educativo alto. En aquellas con nivel educativo bajo mejoró la actitud frente al cribado y produjo un aumento en la intención de participar en él. [eng] Conclusions: A decision aid for breast cancer screening had much more impact on informed choice among women with a high educational level. In women with low educational level, the attitude towards screening improved and there was an increase in the intention to be screened. Objective: To evaluate the effect of receiving information about the benefits and harms of breast cancer screening in informed choice, according to educational level. Method: Secondary analysis of a randomized, controlled study, in four screening programs, in Catalonia and the Canary Islands (Spain). We analyzed 400 women who were going to be invited to participate for the first time. The intervention group received a decision aid that showed the benefits and harms of screening. The control group received a standard brochure that recommended participating in the screening program. Educational level was grouped into two categories, low and high. The primary out- come was informed choice defined as adequate knowledge and consistency between attitudes and intentions. Results: The intervention produced a greater increase in knowledge in women with a high educational level compared to those with a lower educational level. Among women who received the intervention, informed choice was almost three times higher in those with a high educational level (27% versus 11%). No differences were observed between educational levels in decisional conflict, confidence in the decision, anxiety and worry about breast cancer, in the intervention and control groups

Variabilidad de vibrios planctónicos y epifíticos en un ambiente costero afectado por proliferaciones de Ostreopsis

Vibrios include several pathogenic bacteria that occur in aquatic environments. The presence of Vibrio has been assessed in many ecosystems by culture-based techniques. However, little is known on the contribution of Vibrios in the sea, especially in areas subject to harmful algal blooms. A preliminary study in Sant Andreu de Llavaneres beach (NW Mediterranean) showed the presence of some Vibrio species during a recurrent bloom of the harmful benthic dinoflagellate Ostreopsis cf. ovata. In order to establish the importance of Vibrios in a coastal area of the NW Mediterranean and to study the association with the dinoflagellate, we conducted a sampling monitoring for one year to quantify the concentration of Vibrios both in the water (free-living and attached to particles) and in the epiphytic community of macroalgae. The aims were 1) to evaluate the relative abundance of Vibrio in the epiphytic and in the planktonic bacterial community, 2) to assess the percentage of free-living and attached Vibrios in the planktonic community, and 3) to determine whether the presence of Vibrios is associated with the blooms of the toxic dinoflagellate Ostreopsis or with other environmental parameters. For this purpose, a CARD-FISH molecular probe was applied for the specific detection of bacteria belonging to the genus Vibrio. Cells were quantified and the abundance of both particles and bacteria attached to particles were assessed. The maximum Vibrio concentration (1.3x104 cells ml–1 and 1.4x106 cells g–1 FW, for planktonic and epiphytic samples, respectively) was detected in September. Free-living Vibrios contributed 0.38±0.24% to the total free-living planktonic community and 1.12±0.28% to the epiphytic bacterial community. However, their contribution was particularly high in the planktonic community attached to particles (17.37±20.49%). Although in the planktonic community Vibrio was found preferentially free-living (82.63±20.01%), particles are a niche for Vibrios, since in particles Vibrios may represent up to 72% of the total attached bacterial community. Abundance of planktonic Vibrio was correlated with Ostreopsis concentration and it is likely that they play a role in the wound infections suffered by beach users during the bloom.El género Vibrio incluye a varias bacterias patogénicas que se encuentran en ecosistemas acuáticos. La presencia de Vibrio se ha estimado en muchos ecosistemas mediante técnicas basadas en cultivos. Sin embargo, se conoce poco sobre la contribución de Vibrios en el mar, especialmente en áreas afectadas por proliferaciones algales nocivas. Un estudio preliminar en la playa de Sant Andreu de Llavaneres (Mediterráneo NO) mostró la presencia de algunas especies de Vibrio durante una proliferación recurrente del dinoflagelado béntico nocivo Ostreopsis cf. ovata. Para poder establecer la relevancia de los Vibrios en un área costera del Mediterráneo NO y estudiar su asociación con el dinoflagelado, realizamos un muestreo de monitoreo durante un año para cuantificar la concentración de Vibrios tanto en el agua (de vida libre y adheridos a partículas) y en la comunidad epifítica de macroalgas con los objetivos de 1) evaluar la abundancia relativa de Vibrio en la comunidad bacteriana tanto planctónica como epifítica, 2) estimar el porcentaje de Vibrios de vida libre y adheridos a partículas en la comunidad bacteriana planctónica y 3) determinar si la presencia de Vibrios está relacionada con las proliferaciones del dinoflagelado Ostreopsis o con otros parámetros ambientales. Para este propósito, se aplicó una sonda molecular de CARD-FISH para la detección específica de bacterias pertenecientes al género Vibrio. Se cuantificaron las células y también la abundancia de partículas y de las bacterias adheridas a estas partículas. La máxima concentración de Vibrio (1.3x104 cels ml–1 y 1.4x106 cels g–1 PF, para muestras planctónicas y epifíticas, respectivamente) fue detectada en Septiembre. Los Vibrios de vida libre contribuyeron un 0.38±0.24% al total de la comunidad bacteriana de vida libre y un 1.12±0.28% a la comunidad bacteriana epifítica. Sin embargo, su contribución fue especialmente elevada en la comunidad bacteriana adherida a partículas (17.37±20.49%). Aunque en la comunidad planctónica Vibrio se encontraba preferentemente no adheridos a partículas (82.63±20.01%), las partículas constituyen un nicho para Vibrios, ya que pueden llegar a representar hasta un 72% de la comunidad bacteriana adherida a partículas. La abundancia de Vibrio en el plancton se correlacionó con la concentración de Ostreopsis, y es posible que éstos jueguen un papel en las infecciones de heridas que sufren los bañistas durante las proliferaciones algales

High growth potential of long-term starved deep ocean opportunistic heterotrophic bacteria

Experiments with bacteria in culture have shown that they often display “feast and famine” strategies that allow them to respond with fast growth upon pulses in resource availability, and enter a growth-arrest state when resources are limiting. Although feast responses have been observed in natural communities upon enrichment, it is unknown whether this blooming ability is maintained after long periods of starvation, particularly in systems that are energy limited like the bathypelagic ocean. Here we combined bulk and single-cell activity measurements with 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to explore the response of a bathypelagic community, that had been starved for 1.6 years, to a sudden organic carbon supply. We observed a dramatic change in activity within 30 h, with leucine incorporation rates increasing over two orders of magnitude and the number of translationally active cells (mostly Gammaproteobacteria) increasing 4-fold. The feast response was driven by a single operational taxonomic unit (OTU) affiliated with the Marinobacter genus, which had remained rare during 7 months of starvation. Our work suggests that bathypelagic communities harbor a seed bank of highly persistent and resourceful “feast and famine” strategists that might disproportionally contribute to carbon fluxes through fast responses to occasional pulses of organic matter

Apomorfina: interés de su capacidad emética en el tratamiento de las intoxicaciones

Apomorfina; Intoxicacions; Capacitat emèticaApomorfina; Intoxicaciones; Capacidad eméticaApomorphine; Intoxications; Emetic capacityAquest document tracta de l'apomorfina: la seva història, característiques i indicacions sobre el seu ús en el tractament d'intoxicacions.Este documento trata de la apomorfina: su historia, características e indicaciones sobre su uso en el tratamiento de intoxicaciones

Diseño universal para la instrucción: indicadores para su implementación en el ámbito universitario

El material que se presenta es la traducción y la adaptación transcultural de The Universal Instructional Design Implementation Guide elaborado por al University of Guelph (Canadá). Se trat de un recurso de apoyo al profesorado universitario para promover la reflexión, a partir de su propia experiencia, sobre la inclusión de todo el estudiantado en las aulas universitarias. Además, proporciona orientaciones para que el profesorado de los diferentes estudios universitarios, palique los principios del Diseño Universal de la Instrucción en sus asignaturas. Estos principios favorecen la accesibilidad y la igualdad de oportunidades a todo el estudiantado durante su trayectoria universitaria.Postprint (published version

Viral-mediated microbe mortality modulated by ocean acidification and eutrophication: Consequences for the carbon fluxes through the microbial food web

Anthropogenic carbon emissions are causing changes in seawater carbonate chemistry including a decline in the pH of the oceans. While its aftermath for calcifying microbes has been widely studied, the effect of ocean acidification (OA) on marine viruses and their microbial hosts is controversial, and even more in combination with another anthropogenic stressor, i.e., human-induced nutrient loads. In this study, two mesocosm acidification experiments with Mediterranean waters from different seasons revealed distinct effects of OA on viruses and viral-mediated prokaryotic mortality depending on the trophic state and the successional stage of the plankton community. In the winter bloom situation, low fluorescence viruses, the most abundant virus-like particle (VLP) subpopulation comprising mostly bacteriophages, were negatively affected by lowered pH with nutrient addition, while the bacterial host abundance was stimulated. High fluorescence viruses, containing cyanophages, were stimulated by OA regardless of the nutrient conditions, while cyanobacteria of the genus Synechococcus were negatively affected by OA. Moreover, the abundance of very high fluorescence viruses infecting small haptophytes tended to be lower under acidification while their putative hosts\u27 abundance was enhanced, suggesting a direct and negative effect of OA on viral–host interactions. In the oligotrophic summer situation, we found a stimulating effect of OA on total viral abundance and the viral populations, suggesting a cascading effect of the elevated pCO2 stimulating autotrophic and heterotrophic production. In winter, viral lysis accounted for 30 ± 16% of the loss of bacterial standing stock per day (VMMBSS) under increased pCO2 compared to 53 ± 35% in the control treatments, without effects of nutrient additions while in summer, OA had no significant effects on VMMBSS (35 ± 20% and 38 ± 5% per day in the OA and control treatments, respectively). We found that phage production and resulting organic carbon release rates significantly reduced under OA in the nutrient replete winter situation, but it was also observed that high nutrient loads lowered the negative effect of OA on viral lysis, suggesting an antagonistic interplay between these two major global ocean stressors in the Anthropocene. In summer, however, viral-mediated carbon release rates were lower and not affected by lowered pH. Eutrophication consistently stimulated viral production regardless of the season or initial conditions. Given the relevant role of viruses for marine carbon cycling and the biological carbon pump, these two anthropogenic stressors may modulate carbon fluxes through their effect on viruses at the base of the pelagic food web in a future global change scenario

Prokaryotic capability to use organic substrates across the global tropical and subtropical ocean

Prokaryotes play a fundamental role in decomposing organic matter in the ocean, but little is known about how microbial metabolic capabilities vary at the global ocean scale and what are the drivers causing this variation. We aimed at obtaining the first global exploration of the functional capabilities of prokaryotes in the ocean, with emphasis on the under-sampled meso- and bathypelagic layers. We explored the potential utilization of 95 carbon sources with Biolog GN2 plates® in 441 prokaryotic communities sampled from surface to bathypelagic waters (down to 4,000 m) at 111 stations distributed across the tropical and subtropical Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans. The resulting metabolic profiles were compared with biological and physico-chemical properties such as fluorescent dissolved organic matter (DOM) or temperature. The relative use of the individual substrates was remarkably consistent across oceanic regions and layers, and only the Equatorial Pacific Ocean showed a different metabolic structure. When grouping substrates by categories, we observed some vertical variations, such as an increased relative utilization of polymers in bathypelagic layers or a higher relative use of P-compounds or amino acids in the surface ocean. The increased relative use of polymers with depth, together with the increases in humic DOM, suggest that deep ocean communities have the capability to process complex DOM. Overall, the main identified driver of the metabolic structure of ocean prokaryotic communities was temperature. Our results represent the first global depiction of the potential use of a variety of carbon sources by prokaryotic communities across the tropical and the subtropical ocean and show that acetic acid clearly emerges as one of the most widely potentially used carbon sources in the ocean

Diatom Dominance Enhances Resistance of Phytoplanktonic POM to Mesopelagic Microbial Decomposition

Particulate organic matter (POM) lability is one of the key factors determining the residence time of organic carbon (OC) in the marine system. Phytoplankton community composition can influence the rate at which heterotrophic microorganisms decompose phytoplankton detrital particles and thus, it controls the fraction of OC that reaches the ocean depths, where it can be sequestered for climate-relevant spans of time. Here, we compared the degradation dynamics of POM from phytoplankton assemblages of contrasting diatom dominance in the presence of mesopelagic prokaryotic communities during a 19-day degradation experiment. We found that diatom-derived POM exhibited an exponential decay rate approximately three times lower than that derived from a community dominated by flagellated phytoplankton (mainly coccolithophores and nanoflagellates). Additionally, dissolved organic matter (DOM) released during the degradation of diatom particles accumulated over the experiment, whereas only residual increases in DOM were detected during the degradation of non-diatom materials. These results suggest that diatom-dominance enhances the efficiencies of the biological carbon pump and microbial carbon pump through the relatively reduced labilities of diatom particles and of the dissolved materials that arise from their microbial processing

Informe final del projecte “Qüestionaris d’autoavaluació de coneixements: incidència en el rendiment acadèmic; seguiment i valoració per part dels estudiants"

2014PID-UB/042L’experiència s’ha realitzat durant els cursos 2014-2015 i 2015-2016, en quatre assignatures de l’àmbit de la Psicologia del Desenvolupament, en els graus de Psicologia i d’Educació Social. Ha consistit en posar a disposició dels estudiants, a través de Moodle, qüestionaris d’autoavaluació amb feedback sobre els continguts d‘aprenentatge, amb els següents objectius: a) donar suport als estudiants durant l’aprenentatge; b) promoure l’estudi continuat al llarg del curs i c) millorar el rendiment en les proves d’avaluació tipus test. Els qüestionaris inclouen preguntes d’alternativa múltiple amb una única opció de resposta vàlida. Cada resposta rep un feedback que, en cas d’error, orienta la reflexió o la revisió de determinats conceptes o idees. S’ha dut a terme l’anàlisi de la participació, les puntuacions obtingudes, la valoració de l’experiència per part dels estudiants i la incidència del projecte sobre les qualificacions en les proves finals d’avaluació. Els estudiants han valorat molt positivament l’experiència, la participació ha estat moderada i les qualificacions obtingudes en les proves finals han estat significativament més altes per part dels estudiants que han respost qüestionaris. No obstant, per comparació amb cursos anteriors, no s’ha produït una millora significativa en els resultats globals dels grups-classe en les proves finals