Bird Behaviour during Prey-Predator Interaction in a Tropical Forest in México

Birds emit alarm calls, considered as honest signals, because they communicate the presence of a predator or potential threat. We evaluated behavioural events of birds responding to vocal and visual stimuli of a nocturnal predator (black-and-white owl Ciccaba nigrolineata) and a diurnal predator (collared forest falcon Micrastur semitorquatus). We analysed variations in behavioural events seasonally (reproductive and nonbreeding) and by bird size, as well as their relationship with the vegetation structure and landscape. The study was performed during the breeding (March-May) and non-breeding seasons (February, June and July) of 2016 in Chiapas, Mexico. We used four transects with different vegetation types and land uses. The most frequent behavioural response by birds to the vocal stimuli of the black-and-white owl and the collared forest-falcons was vocal, during the breeding season, and small species responded the most to the stimuli (p = 0.008) and (p < 0.015), respectively. We identified two vegetation and two landscape variables associated in 36% of probability for the prey to respond to black-and-white owl vocal stimuli, three variables of vegetation and one of the landscape in 37% for the collared forest-falcon stimuli. Potential prey animals modify the behaviour, which allows them to detect, evade or confront a predator

Developing a New Wireless Sensor Network Platform and Its Application in Precision Agriculture

Wireless sensor networks are gaining greater attention from the research community and industrial professionals because these small pieces of “smart dust” offer great advantages due to their small size, low power consumption, easy integration and support for “green” applications. Green applications are considered a hot topic in intelligent environments, ubiquitous and pervasive computing. This work evaluates a new wireless sensor network platform and its application in precision agriculture, including its embedded operating system and its routing algorithm. To validate the technological platform and the embedded operating system, two different routing strategies were compared: hierarchical and flat. Both of these routing algorithms were tested in a small-scale network applied to a watermelon field. However, we strongly believe that this technological platform can be also applied to precision agriculture because it incorporates a modified version of LORA-CBF, a wireless location-based routing algorithm that uses cluster-based flooding. Cluster-based flooding addresses the scalability concerns of wireless sensor networks, while the modified LORA-CBF routing algorithm includes a metric to monitor residual battery energy. Furthermore, results show that the modified version of LORA-CBF functions well with both the flat and hierarchical algorithms, although it functions better with the flat algorithm in a small-scale agricultural network

lnforme de identificación de sitios contaminados en el Lote 8, ámbito de la cuenca baja del Marañón (Locación Yanayacu y el Oleoducto Corrientes - Saramuro), ejecutado en octubre de 2014, mayo y julio de 2015

Identifica sitios contaminados generados por la actividad de hidrocarburos en el Lote 8, ámbito de la cuenca baja del Marañón (Locación Yanayacu, Oleoducto Yanayacu - Saramuro y Oleoducto Corrientes - Sararnuro) de Pluspetrol Norte S.A. Interpreta los resultados de calidad ambiental de los componentes agua superficial, sedimento e hidrobiología (fitoplancton) en la Laguna PAC 5 y Laguna PAC 1,3, que están contempladas en el Plan Ambiental Complementario (PAC) del Lote 8 de la empresa Pluspetrol Norte S.A., asl como en la quebrada Huishto Yanayacu y el bajial Yanayacu ubicados en el tramo del Derecho de Vía del Oleoducto Yanayacu - Saramuro

ABI: Una aplicación móvil para consultar y reportar medidas de bioseguridad por COVID-19 en Panamá

The emergence of the current COVID-19 Pandemic; due to the spread of the virus SARS-CoV-2, has led most countries throughout the world, including Panama, to establish mandatory biosecurity approaches to reduce the number of infections from this virus. In our country, the reopening of establishments, businesses, recreational areas, and other places with massive attendance and the continuance of their operations are directly conditioned to the fulfillment of the mandatory biosecurity guidelines established previously by health authorities and the national government. However, for the citizens, it is difficult to know whether these establishments are following the biosecurity guidelines and to determine if it is safe to attend these places. For these reasons, throughout this paper, we proposed the development of ABI, a mobile application that will let users check and report in real-time how different establishments are following biosecurity measures. Hence, with the diffusion of valuable information to citizens, the level of trust will increase when they decide to leave their households. Furthermore, the user-centered design framework was used to develop the prototype of the application. During the validation phase, it was determined that the application would contribute to increasing the amount of trust of the users when leaving their houses. Moreover, an important level of satisfaction from the prototype was expressed by the users, this indicates that the application is efficient, easy to use, and that they will recommend it to others. For these reasons, we can infer that the application would have an important level of acceptance within the Panamanian population.A raíz de la pandemia actual por Covid-19, generada por el virus SARS-CoV-2, la mayoría de los países del mundo, incluyendo a Panamá, han implementado diferentes medidas de bioseguridad como estrategia para disminuir la tasa de contagios por este virus. En nuestro país, la reapertura de los diferentes comercios, empresas, sitios de recreación y demás lugares de asistencia colectiva, y su continuo funcionamiento, están directamente condicionados al cumplimiento de las medidas de bioseguridad establecidas como obligatorias por parte de las autoridades de salud y el gobierno nacional. Sin embargo, para la población en general resulta difícil conocer de manera directa y específica si estos lugares están cumpliendo con las medidas y poder determinar si es seguro asistir a ellos. Por tal motivo, a través de este trabajo proponemos el desarrollo de ABI, una aplicación móvil que permite consultar y reportar, en tiempo real, el grado de cumplimiento de las diferentes medidas de bioseguridad en el país, aportando así con la difusión de información importante para la población. Se emplea la metodología de diseño centrado en el usuario para el desarrollo del prototipo de la aplicación. Durante la validación se determina que la aplicación contribuiría en aumentar el nivel de confianza de los usuarios para salir de sus hogares en pandemia; también se obtiene un nivel de satisfacción alto en el uso del prototipo por parte de los usuarios quienes indican que es eficaz, fácil de usar y que la recomendarían a otras personas, lo que nos lleva a concluir que la aplicación tendría un alto nivel de aceptación en la población en general

Prácticas de observaciones astronómicas remotas con telescopios profesionales a través de internet

Este proyecto se resume como un intento de implementar unas prácticas de laboratorio que permitan llevar a cabo observaciones astronómicas de calidad científica mediante el uso remoto a través de Internet de telescopios profesionales situados en un gran observatorio astronómico

A virtual reality approach to the Trier Social Stress Test: Contrasting two distinct protocols

Virtual reality adaptations of the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST-VR) constitute useful tools for studying the physiologic axes involved in the stress response. Here, we aimed to determine the most appropriate experimental approach to the TSST-VR when investigating the modulation of the axes involved in the stress response. We compared the use of goggles versus a screen projection in the TSST-VR paradigm. Forty-five healthy participants were divided into two groups: the first one (goggles condition; 13 females, 11 males) wore goggles while performing the TSST-VR; the second (screen condition; 15 females, six males) was exposed to the TSST-VR projected on a screen. Sympathetic reactivity to stress was measured by continuously recording skin conductance (SC), while the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) was evaluated by sampling salivary cortisol throughout the experiment. At the end of the task, there was an increase in SC and cortisol level for both means of delivering the TSST-VR, although the increase in SC was greater in the goggles condition, while salivary cortisol was comparable in both groups. Immersion levels were reportedly higher in the screen presentation than in the goggles group. In terms of sex differences, females experienced greater involvement and spatial presence, though comparatively less experienced realism, than their male counterparts. These findings help us determine which protocol of the TSST-VR is most suitable for the stress response under study. They also emphasize the need to consider the sex of participants, as males and females show distinct responses in each protocol.This study is a part of a Thesis Doctoral and was supported by the I+D Project “PSI2010-15780” of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation

Identification of Altered Evoked and Non-Evoked Responses in a Heterologous Mouse Model of Endometriosis-Associated Pain

The aim of this study was to develop and refine a heterologous mouse model of endometriosis-associated pain in which non-evoked responses, more relevant to the patient experience, were evaluated. Immunodeficient female mice (N = 24) were each implanted with four endometriotic human lesions (N = 12) or control tissue fat (N = 12) on the abdominal wall using tissue glue. Evoked pain responses were measured biweekly using von Frey filaments. Non-evoked responses were recorded weekly for 8 weeks using a home cage analysis (HCA). Endpoints were distance traveled, social proximity, time spent in the center vs. outer areas of the cage, drinking, and climbing. Significant differences between groups for von Frey response, climbing, and drinking were detected on days 14, 21, and 35 post implanting surgery, respectively, and sustained for the duration of the experiment. In conclusion, a heterologous mouse model of endometriosis-associated evoked a non-evoked pain was developed to improve the relevance of preclinical models to patient experience as a platform for drug testing

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

EDUCACIÓN AMBIENTAL Y SOCIEDAD. SABERES LOCALES PARA EL DESARROLLO Y LA SUSTENTABILIDAD

Este texto contribuye al análisis científico de varias áreas del conocimiento como la filosofía social, la patología, la educación para el cuidado del medio ambiente y la sustentabilidad que inciden en diversas unidades de aprendizaje de la Licenciatura en Educación para la Salud y de la Maestría en Sociología de la SaludLas comunidades indígenas de la sierra norte de Oaxaca México, habitan un territorio extenso de biodiversidad. Sin que sea una área protegida y sustentable, la propia naturaleza de la región ofrece a sus visitantes la riqueza de la vegetación caracterizada por sus especies endémicas que componen un paisaje de suma belleza