A Traditional Diet Is Associated with a Reduced Risk of Eczema and Wheeze in Colombian Children

Background: Diet might influence the risk of allergic diseases. Evidence from developing countries with high prevalence of childhood asthma is scant. Methods: Information on wheeze, rhinitis, and eczema was collected from 3209 children aged 6–7 years in 2005, who were taking part in the International Study on Asthma and Allergy in Children (ISAAC) in Colombia. Intake frequency of twelve food groups was assessed. Associations between each food group and current wheeze, rhino-conjunctivitis, and eczema were investigated with multiple logistic regressions, adjusting for potential confounders. Simes’ procedure was used to test for multiple comparisons. Results: 14.9% of children reported wheeze in the last 12 months, 16% rhino-conjunctivitis, and 22% eczema. Eczema was negatively associated with consumption of fresh fruits and pulses three or more times per week (adjusted Odds ratio (aOR): 0.64; 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.49 to 0.83; p value = 0.004; and aOR: 0.62, 95% CI: 0.47 to 0.80; p value < 0.001, respectively). Current wheeze was negatively associated with intake of potatoes (aOR: 0.44, 95% CI: 0.31 to 0.62, p value = 0.005), whilst this outcome was positively associated with consumption of fast food (aOR: 1.76, 95% CI: 1.32 to 2.35, p value = 0.001). These associations remained statistically significant after controlling for multiple comparisons. Conclusions: A traditional diet might have a protective effect against eczema and wheeze in Colombian children, whilst intake of fast foods increases this risk

Competition Drives Clumpy Species Coexistence in Estuarine Phytoplankton

Understanding the mechanisms that maintain biodiversity is a fundamental problem in ecology. Competition is thought to reduce diversity, but hundreds of microbial aquatic primary producers species coexist and compete for a few essential resources (e.g., nutrients and light). Here, we show that resource competition is a plausible mechanism for explaining clumpy distribution on individual species volume (a proxy for the niche) of estuarine phytoplankton communities ranging from North America to South America and Europe, supporting the Emergent Neutrality hypothesis. Furthermore, such a clumpy distribution was also observed throughout the Holocene in diatoms from a sediment core. A Lotka-Volterra competition model predicted position in the niche axis and functional affiliation of dominant species within and among clumps. Results support the coexistence of functionally equivalent species in ecosystems and indicate that resource competition may be a key process to shape the size structure of estuarine phytoplankton, which in turn drives ecosystem functioning

Community fluctuations and local extinction in a planktonic food web

Determining statistical patterns irrespective of interacting agents (i.e. macroecology) is useful to explore the mechanisms driving population fluctuations and extinctions in natural food webs. Here,we tested four predictions of a neutral model on the distribution of community fluctuations (CF)and the distributions of persistence times (APT). Novel predictions for the food web were generated by combining (1) body size–density scaling, (2) Taylor’s law and (3) low efficiency of trophic transference.Predictions were evaluated on an exceptional data set of plankton with 15 years of weekly samples encompassing c. 250 planktonic species from three trophic levels, sampled in the western English Channel. Highly symmetric non-Gaussian distributions of CF support zero-sum dynamics.Variability in CF decreased while a change from an exponential to a power law distribution of APT from basal to upper trophic positions was detected. Results suggest a predictable but profound effect of trophic position on fluctuations and extinction in natural communities

Increased Matrix Metalloproteinase (MMPs) Levels Do Not Predict Disease Severity or Progression in Emphysema

Rationale: Though matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are critical in the pathogenesis of COPD, their utility as a disease biomarker remains uncertain. This study aimed to determine whether bronchoalveolar lavage (BALF) or plasma MMP measurements correlated with disease severity or functional decline in emphysema. Methods: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and luminex assays measured MMP-1, -9, -12 and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-1 in the BALF and plasma of non-smokers, smokers with normal lung function and moderate-to-severe emphysema subjects. In the cohort of 101 emphysema subjects correlative analyses were done to determine if MMP or TIMP-1 levels were associated with key disease parameters or change in lung function over an 18-month time period. Main Results: Compared to non-smoking controls, MMP and TIMP-1 BALF levels were significantly elevated in the emphysema cohort. Though MMP-1 was elevated in both the normal smoker and emphysema groups, collagenase activity was only increased in the emphysema subjects. In contrast to BALF, plasma MMP-9 and TIMP-1 levels were actually decreased in the emphysema cohort compared to the control groups. Both in the BALF and plasma, MMP and TIMP-1 measurements in the emphysema subjects did not correlate with important disease parameters and were not predictive of subsequent functional decline. Conclusions: MMPs are altered in the BALF and plasma of emphysema; however, the changes in MMPs correlate poorly with parameters of disease intensity or progression. Though MMPs are pivotal in the pathogenesis of COPD, these findings suggest that measuring MMPs will have limited utility as a prognostic marker in this disease. © 2013 D'Armiento et al

Does inter-vertebral range of motion increase after spinal manipulation? A prospective cohort study.

Background: Spinal manipulation for nonspecific neck pain is thought to work in part by improving inter-vertebral range of motion (IV-RoM), but it is difficult to measure this or determine whether it is related to clinical outcomes. Objectives: This study undertook to determine whether cervical spine flexion and extension IV-RoM increases after a course of spinal manipulation, to explore relationships between any IV-RoM increases and clinical outcomes and to compare palpation with objective measurement in the detection of hypo-mobile segments. Method: Thirty patients with nonspecific neck pain and 30 healthy controls matched for age and gender received quantitative fluoroscopy (QF) screenings to measure flexion and extension IV-RoM (C1-C6) at baseline and 4-week follow-up between September 2012-13. Patients received up to 12 neck manipulations and completed NRS, NDI and Euroqol 5D-5L at baseline, plus PGIC and satisfaction questionnaires at follow-up. IV-RoM accuracy, repeatability and hypo-mobility cut-offs were determined. Minimal detectable changes (MDC) over 4 weeks were calculated from controls. Patients and control IV-RoMs were compared at baseline as well as changes in patients over 4 weeks. Correlations between outcomes and the number of manipulations received and the agreement (Kappa) between palpated and QF-detected of hypo-mobile segments were calculated. Results: QF had high accuracy (worst RMS error 0.5o) and repeatability (highest SEM 1.1o, lowest ICC 0.90) for IV-RoM measurement. Hypo-mobility cut offs ranged from 0.8o to 3.5o. No outcome was significantly correlated with increased IV-RoM above MDC and there was no significant difference between the number of hypo-mobile segments in patients and controls at baseline or significant increases in IV-RoMs in patients. However, there was a modest and significant correlation between the number of manipulations received and the number of levels and directions whose IV-RoM increased beyond MDC (Rho=0.39, p=0.043). There was also no agreement between palpation and QF in identifying hypo-mobile segments (Kappa 0.04-0.06). Conclusions: This study found no differences in cervical sagittal IV-RoM between patients with non-specific neck pain and matched controls. There was a modest dose-response relationship between the number of manipulations given and number of levels increasing IV-RoM - providing evidence that neck manipulation has a mechanical effect at segmental levels. However, patient-reported outcomes were not related to this

Unusually thick dinosaur eggshell fragments from the Spanish Late Cretaceous

[EN] Fieldwork carried out recently in the southeastern branch of the Iberian Range (Valencia Province, Spain) has led to the collection of a large volume of dinosaur eggshell fragments of unusual thickness. These specimens, up to 4.9 mm thick, were recovered from palustrine grey marls of the upper Campanian-lower Maastrichtian Sierra Perenchiza Formation, which comprises a wetland paleoenvironment deposit. These eggshell fragments have a characteristic compactituberculate ornamentation, dinosauroid-spherulitic organisation, and exhibit a complex canaliculate respiratory system. The external tuberculate surface of the shell as well as the internal microstructure enable referral to Megaloolithus aff. siruguei, the most common megaloolithid oospecies known from the Iberian Peninsula and southern France. The biostratigraphic range of M. siruguei matches the temporal distribution of titanosaurid dinosaurs across the Iberian Range, tentatively considered to be potential producers.This work was supported by the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad of Spain [Secretaria de Estado de Investigacion, Desarrollo e Innovacion, projects CGL2013-47521-P and CGL2014-53548-P]Company Rodríguez, J. (2017). Unusually thick dinosaur eggshell fragments from the Spanish Late Cretaceous. Historical Biology (Online). 31(2):203-210. https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2017.1357717S203210312Allain, R., & Suberbiola, X. P. (2003). Dinosaurs of France. Comptes Rendus Palevol, 2(1), 27-44. doi:10.1016/s1631-0683(03)00002-2Bravo, A. M., & Gaete, R. (2014). Titanosaur eggshells from the Tremp Formation (Upper Cretaceous, Southern Pyrenees, Spain). Historical Biology, 27(8), 1079-1089. doi:10.1080/08912963.2014.934231Canudo, J. I., Oms, O., Vila, B., Galobart, À., Fondevilla, V., Puértolas-Pascual, E., … Blanco, A. (2016). The upper Maastrichtian dinosaur fossil record from the southern Pyrenees and its contribution to the topic of the Cretaceous–Palaeogene mass extinction event. Cretaceous Research, 57, 540-551. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2015.06.013Cruzado-Caballero, P., Ruiz-Omeñaca, J. I., Gaete, R., Riera, V., Oms, O., & Canudo, J. I. (2013). A new hadrosaurid dentary from the latest Maastrichtian of the Pyrenees (north Spain) and the high diversity of the duck-billed dinosaurs of the Ibero-Armorican Realm at the very end of the Cretaceous. Historical Biology, 26(5), 619-630. doi:10.1080/08912963.2013.822867Chiappe, L. M., Coria, R. A., Dingus, L., Jackson, F., Chinsamy, A., & Fox, M. (1998). Sauropod dinosaur embryos from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia. Nature, 396(6708), 258-261. doi:10.1038/24370Company J. 2004. Vertebrados continentales del Cretácico superior (Campaniense-Maastrichtiense) de Valencia [PhD dissertation]. Valencia: Universidad de Valencia.Company, J., & Szentesi, Z. (2012). Amphibians from the Late Cretaceous Sierra Perenchiza Formation of the Chera Basin, Valencia Province, Spain. Cretaceous Research, 37, 240-245. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2012.04.003Csiki-Sava, Z., Buffetaut, E., Ősi, A., Pereda-Suberbiola, X., & Brusatte, S. L. (2015). Island life in the Cretaceous - faunal composition, biogeography, evolution, and extinction of land-living vertebrates on the Late Cretaceous European archipelago. ZooKeys, 469, 1-161. doi:10.3897/zookeys.469.8439Erben, H. K., Hoefs, J., & Wedepohl, K. H. (1979). Paleobiological and isotopic studies of eggshells from a declining dinosaur species. Paleobiology, 5(4), 380-414. doi:10.1017/s0094837300016900García, R. A. (2007). An «egg-tooth»–like structure in titanosaurian sauropod embryos. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 27(1), 247-252. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[247:aesits]2.0.co;2Garcia, G., & Vianey-Liaud, M. (2001). Dinosaur eggshells as biochronological markers in Upper Cretaceous continental deposits. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 169(1-2), 153-164. doi:10.1016/s0031-0182(01)00215-2Grellet-Tinner, G., Chiappe, L. M., & Coria, R. (2004). Eggs of titanosaurid sauropods from the Upper Cretaceous of Auca Mahuevo (Argentina). Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 41(8), 949-960. doi:10.1139/e04-049Grigorescu, D., Garcia, G., Csiki, Z., Codrea, V., & Bojar, A.-V. (2010). Uppermost Cretaceous megaloolithid eggs from the Haţeg Basin, Romania, associated with hadrosaur hatchlings: Search for explanation. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 293(3-4), 360-374. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.03.031Izquierdo LA, Montero D, Pérez G, Urién V, Meijide M. 2001. Macroestructura de huevos de dinosaurios en el Cretácico superior de “La Rosaca” (Burgos, España). Actas de las I Jornadas Internacionales Sobre Paleontología de Dinosaurios y su Entorno. Ed. Colectivo Arqueológico y Paleontológico de Salas. Salas de los Infantes. p. 389–395.Jackson FD. 2007. Titanosaur reproductive biology: comparison of the Auca Mahuevo Titanosaur nesting locality (Argentina), to the Pinyes Megaloolithus nesting locality (Spain) [PhD dissertation]. Bozeman (MT): Montana State University.Jackson, F. D., Garrido, A., Schmitt, J. G., Chiappe, L. M., Dingus, L., & Loope, D. B. (2004). Abnormal, multilayered titanosaur (Dinosauria: Sauropoda) eggs from in situ clutches at the Auca Mahuevo locality, Neuquen Province, Argentina. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 24(4), 913-922. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2004)024[0913:amtdse]2.0.co;2Jackson, F. D., Varricchio, D. J., Jackson, R. A., Vila, B., & Chiappe, L. M. (2008). Comparison of water vapor conductance in a titanosaur egg from the Upper Cretaceous of Argentina and a Megaloolithus siruguei egg from Spain. Paleobiology, 34(2), 229-246. doi:10.1666/0094-8373(2008)034[0229:cowvci]2.0.co;2López-Martı́nez, N., Moratalla, J. J., & Sanz, J. L. (2000). Dinosaurs nesting on tidal flats. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 160(1-2), 153-163. doi:10.1016/s0031-0182(00)00063-8Mohabey, D. M. (1998). Systematics of Indian Upper Cretaceous dinosaur and chelonian eggshells. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 18(2), 348-362. doi:10.1080/02724634.1998.10011063Moratalla JJ. 1993. Restos indirectos de dinosaurios del registro español: paleoicnología de la Cuenca de (Jurásico superior-Cretácico inferior) y paleoología del Cretácico superior [PhD dissertation]. Madrid: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.Moreno-Azanza, M., Bauluz, B., Canudo, J. I., Gasca, J. M., & Torcida Fernández-Baldor, F. (2016). Combined Use of Electron and Light Microscopy Techniques Reveals False Secondary Shell Units in Megaloolithidae Eggshells. PLOS ONE, 11(5), e0153026. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0153026Moreno-Azanza, M., Bauluz, B., Canudo, J. I., Puértolas-Pascual, E., & Sellés, A. G. (2013). A re-evaluation of aff. Megaloolithidae eggshell fragments from the uppermost Cretaceous of the Pyrenees and implications for crocodylomorph eggshell structure. Historical Biology, 26(2), 195-205. doi:10.1080/08912963.2013.786067Oms, O., Dinarès-Turell, J., Vicens, E., Estrada, R., Vila, B., Galobart, À., & Bravo, A. M. (2007). Integrated stratigraphy from the Vallcebre Basin (southeastern Pyrenees, Spain): New insights on the continental Cretaceous−Tertiary transition in southwest Europe. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 255(1-2), 35-47. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.02.039Ortega, F., Bardet, N., Barroso-Barcenilla, F., Callapez, P. M., Cambra-Moo, O., Daviero- Gómez, V., … Sanz, J. L. (2015). The biota of the Upper Cretaceous site of «Lo Hueco» (Cuenca, Spain). Journal of Iberian Geology, 41(1). doi:10.5209/rev_jige.2015.v41.n1.48657Rasskin-Gutman, D., Elez, J., Esteve-Altava, B., & López-Martínez, N. (2020). Reconstruction of the internal structure of the pore system of a complex dinosaur eggshell (Megaloolithus siruguei). Spanish Journal of Palaeontology, 28(1), 61. doi:10.7203/sjp.28.1.17831Riera, V., Oms, O., Gaete, R., & Galobart, À. (2009). The end-Cretaceous dinosaur succession in Europe: The Tremp Basin record (Spain). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 283(3-4), 160-171. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2009.09.018Sellés, A. G., Bravo, A. M., Delclòs, X., Colombo, F., Martí, X., Ortega-Blanco, J., … Galobart, À. (2013). Dinosaur eggs in the Upper Cretaceous of the Coll de Nargó area, Lleida Province, south-central Pyrenees, Spain: Oodiversity, biostratigraphy and their implications. Cretaceous Research, 40, 10-20. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2012.05.004Tanaka, K., & Zelenitsky, D. K. (2014). Comparisons between experimental and morphometric water vapor conductance in the eggs of extant birds and crocodiles: implications for predicting nest type in dinosaurs. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 92(12), 1049-1058. doi:10.1139/cjz-2014-0078Vianey-Liaud, M., Khosla, A., & Garcia, G. (2003). Relationships between European and Indian dinosaur eggs and eggshells of the oofamily Megaloolithidae. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 23(3), 575-585. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2003)023[0575:rbeaid]2.0.co;2Vianey-Liaud, M., & Lopez-Martinez, N. (1997). Late Cretaceous dinosaur eggshells from the Tremp Basin, southern Pyrenees, Lleida, Spain. Journal of Paleontology, 71(6), 1157-1171. doi:10.1017/s002233600003609xVila, B., Galobart, À., Canudo, J. I., Le Loeuff, J., Dinarès-Turell, J., Riera, V., … Gaete, R. (2012). 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Cost-Effectiveness of Chagas Disease Vector Control Strategies in Northwestern Argentina

Despite decreasing rates of prevalence and incidence, Chagas disease remains a serious problem in Latin America, especially for the rural poor. Without vaccines, control and prevention rely mostly on residual spraying of insecticides. Under the aegis of the Southern Cone Initiative, and in agreement with global trends in decentralization of the health systems, in 1992 the Argentinean vector control launched a new vector control program based on community participation. The present study represents the first thorough evaluation of the overall performance of such vector control program and the first comparative assessment of the cost-effectiveness of different vector control strategies in a highly endemic rural area of northwestern Argentina. Supported by results of independent studies, the present work shows that in rural, poor and dispersed areas of the Gran Chaco region, the implementation of a mixed (i.e., vertical attack phase followed by horizontal surveillance) strategy constantly supervised and supported by national or local vector control programs would be the most cost-effective option to interrupt vector-borne transmission of Chagas disease

The Evolution of Functionally Redundant Species; Evidence from Beetles

While species fulfill many different roles in ecosystems, it has been suggested that numerous species might actually share the same function in a near neutral way. So-far, however, it is unclear whether such functional redundancy really exists. We scrutinize this question using extensive data on the world’s 4168 species of diving beetles. We show that across the globe these animals have evolved towards a small number of regularly-spaced body sizes, and that locally co-existing species are either very similar in size or differ by at least 35%. Surprisingly, intermediate size differences (10–20%) are rare. As body-size strongly reflects functional aspects such as the food that these generalist predators can eat, these beetles thus form relatively distinct groups of functional look-a-likes. The striking global regularity of these patterns support the idea that a self-organizing process drives such species-rich groups to self-organize evolutionary into clusters where functional redundancy ensures resilience through an insurance effect

Internet of things

Manual of Digital Earth / Editors: Huadong Guo, Michael F. Goodchild, Alessandro Annoni .- Springer, 2020 .- ISBN: 978-981-32-9915-3Digital Earth was born with the aim of replicating the real world within the digital world. Many efforts have been made to observe and sense the Earth, both from space (remote sensing) and by using in situ sensors. Focusing on the latter, advances in Digital Earth have established vital bridges to exploit these sensors and their networks by taking location as a key element. The current era of connectivity envisions that everything is connected to everything. The concept of the Internet of Things(IoT)emergedasaholisticproposaltoenableanecosystemofvaried,heterogeneous networked objects and devices to speak to and interact with each other. To make the IoT ecosystem a reality, it is necessary to understand the electronic components, communication protocols, real-time analysis techniques, and the location of the objects and devices. The IoT ecosystem and the Digital Earth (DE) jointly form interrelated infrastructures for addressing today’s pressing issues and complex challenges. In this chapter, we explore the synergies and frictions in establishing an efficient and permanent collaboration between the two infrastructures, in order to adequately address multidisciplinary and increasingly complex real-world problems. Although there are still some pending issues, the identified synergies generate optimism for a true collaboration between the Internet of Things and the Digital Earth