Mitos y realidades de la alta velocidad ferroviaria en España

Ponencia presentada al 4º Debate organizado por el Foro para la Sostenibilidad de Navarra titulado “El futuro del tren en Navarra”, celebrado en Pamplona el 18 de junio de 2013.En nuestra sociedad las infraestructuras de transporte disfrutan de un enorme grado de aceptación, tanto más alto cuanto mayores son sus parámetros constructivos y su precio. La alta velocidad ferroviaria, conocida en nuestro país como AVE, es por derecho propio uno de los más claros exponentes de esta situación. Sin embargo, esta valoración positiva de las infraestructuras de transporte se basa en un buen número de tópicos y mitos que les asignan un papel clave en aspectos tan importantes como el desarrollo económico, la creación de empleo o el reequilibrio territorial, algo que, a menudo, no tiene correspondencia con la realidad

Televisión digital en 2010: El reto de la interoperabilidad

En este artículo se plantea la situación actual de despliegue de la televisión digital en España desde el punto de vista de la necesaria interoperabilidad que debe haber entre los eslabones de la cadena de valor en un mercado horizontal, con especial atención, por una parte, a la navegación y la presentación de la información de programación y, por otra, a la accesibilidad de las personas con discapacidad. Los patentes problemas de interoperabilidad existentes se han producido a pesar de la existencia de un completo conjunto de disposiciones legales y normas técnicas, lo que sugiere la necesidad además de laboratorios de interoperabilidad que supongan un punto de encuentro entre los actores del sector, con el apoyo de las administraciones públicas (Utray 2009: 211‐225

Fitness testing in the fibromyalgia diagnosis: The al-Andalus project

Aparicio, V. A., Segura-Jiménez, V., Álvarez-Gallardo, I. C., Soriano-Maldonado, A., Castro-Piñero, J., Delgado-Fernández, M., & Carbonell-Baeza, A. (2015). Fitness testing in the fibromyalgia diagnosis: The al-Andalus project. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 47(3), 451-459. https://doi.org/10.1249/MSS.0000000000000445Purpose. To determine the ability of a set of physical fitness tests to discriminate presence/absence of fibromyalgia in women. Methods. The sample comprised 487 women with fibromyalgia (52.1±8 years) and 250 control women (49.3±9 years). We assessed physical fitness by means of the arm-curl, 30-s chair-stand, handgrip strength, 8-feet up & go, 6-min walk, chair sit & reach and the back-scratch tests. The revised fibromyalgia impact questionnaire (FIQ-R) was used to assess fibromyalgia severity and symptomatology. Results. Fibromyalgia patients performed worse than control women in all the fitness tests studied (all, P<0.001). The ROC analysis showed that all the fitness tests were able to discriminate between presence/absence of fibromyalgia (all, P<0.001). The area under the curve ranged from 0.708 to 0.910 (all, P<0.001). Among the fitness tests studied, the arm-curl test, followed by the 30-s chair-stand and handgrip strength tests showed the highest capacity discriminating presence/absence of fibromyalgia. An arm-curl test score <20 repetitions, was associated to an increased odd ratio (OR) of having fibromyalgia (OR: 35.6; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 12.6–101) in women aged 35-44. An arm-curl test score <16 repetitions, was associated to an increased OR of having fibromyalgia (OR: 23.7; 95% CI: 10.3–54.0) in women aged 35-44. In the group of women aged 55-65, the highest OR were observed for the handgrip strength test and the OR of having fibromyalgia was 17 times greater in those patients who performed <19 kg. Conclusions. The arm-curl, 30-s chair-stand and handgrip strength tests powerfully discriminate women with fibromyalgia from healthy women. Identification of women who fail to meet the suggested standards can help to easily, quickly and cheaply rule out the presence of the disease, especially in primary care settings

Intensive grassland management disrupts below-ground multi-trophic resource transfer in response to drought

Modification of soil food webs by land management may alter the response of ecosystem processes to climate extremes, but empirical support is limited and the mechanisms involved remain unclear. Here we quantify how grassland management modifies the transfer of recent photosynthates and soil nitrogen through plants and soil food webs during a post-drought period in a controlled field experiment, using in situ 13C and 15N pulse-labelling in intensively and extensively managed fields. We show that intensive management decrease plant carbon (C) capture and its transfer through components of food webs and soil respiration compared to extensive management. We observe a legacy effect of drought on C transfer pathways mainly in intensively managed grasslands, by increasing plant C assimilation and 13C released as soil CO2 efflux but decreasing its transfer to roots, bacteria and Collembola. Our work provides insight into the interactive effects of grassland management and drought on C transfer pathways, and highlights that capture and rapid transfer of photosynthates through multi-trophic networks are key for maintaining grassland resistance to drought

High Levels of Physical Fitness Are Associated with Better Health-Related Quality of Life in Women with Fibromyalgia: The al-Ándalus Project

We acknowledge Oxford University Press and Physical Therapy for publishing our scientific article: Álvarez-Gallardo, I. C., Soriano-Maldonado, A., Segura-Jiménez, V., Estévez-López, F., Camiletti-Moirón, D., Aparicio, V. A., Herrador-Colmenero, M., Castro-Piñero, J., Ortega, F. B., Delgado-Fernández, M., & Carbonell-Baeza, A. (2019). High Levels of Physical Fitness Are Associated with Better Health-Related Quality of Life in Women with Fibromyalgia: The al-Ándalus Project. Physical Therapy, 99(11), 1481-1494. https://doi.org/10.1093/PTJ/PZZ113Background. Physical fitness is a marker of health and is associated with health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Identifying which components of physical fitness are associated with HRQoL in people with fibromyalgia may contribute to the development of more specific therapeutic strategies. Objective. The 2 aims of this study were to examine the association of different components of physical fitness (ie, flexibility, muscle strength, speed and agility, and cardiorespiratory fitness) with HRQoL and to determine the extent to which any association between the components of physical fitness and HRQoL were of clinical relevance to women with fibromyalgia. Design. A cross-sectional design was used. Methods. This study included 466 women with fibromyalgia from southern Spain (Andalusia). The Senior Fitness Test battery and the handgrip test were used to assess physical fitness, and the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) was used to assess HRQoL. Tender points, cognitive impairment, anthropometric measurements, and medica- tion usage were also measured. First, multivariate linear regression was used to assess the individual relationship of each physical fitness test with the 8 dimensions of the SF-36. Second, a standardized composite score was computed for each component of physical fitness (flexibility, muscle strength, speed and agility, and cardiorespiratory fitness). A 1- way analysis of covariance to assess the differences in each of the 8 dimensions of the SF-36 across each physical fitness composite score was conducted. Forward stepwise regression was performed to analyze which components of physical fitness were independently associated with the SF-36 physical and mental component scales. Results. Overall, higher levels of physical fitness were associated with higher levels of HRQoL (regardless of the SF-36 subscale evaluated). The effect sizes for HRQoL between participants with the lowest and the highest physical fitness levels ranged from moderate to large (Cohen d = 0.53–0.90). The muscle strength composite score was independently associated with the SF-36 physical component scale, whereas the flexibility composite score and cardiorespiratory fitness were independently associated with the SF-36 mental component scale. Limitations. A limitation was that the cross-sectional design precluded the estab- lishment of causality. Additionally, only women were included in the study, because fibromyalgia predominantly affects women. Conclusions. High levels of physical fitness were consistently associated with better HRQoL in women with fibromyalgia; clinically relevant differences were demonstrated between those at extreme physical fitness levels. Muscle strength, flexibility, and car- diorespiratory fitness were independent indicators of HRQoL. These results warrant further prospective research on the potential of fitness to predict HRQoL in this population

Land management shapes drought responses of dominant soil microbial taxa across grasslands

Soil microbial communities are dominated by a relatively small number of taxa that may play outsized roles in ecosystem functioning, yet little is known about their capacities to resist and recover from climate extremes such as drought, or how environmental context mediates those responses. Here, we imposed an in situ experimental drought across 30 diverse UK grassland sites with contrasting management intensities and found that: (1) the majority of dominant bacterial (85%) and fungal (89%) taxa exhibit resistant or opportunistic drought strategies, possibly contributing to their ubiquity and dominance across sites; and (2) intensive grassland management decreases the proportion of drought-sensitive and non-resilient dominant bacteria-likely via alleviation of nutrient limitation and pH-related stress under fertilisation and liming-but has the opposite impact on dominant fungi. Our results suggest a potential mechanism by which intensive management promotes bacteria over fungi under drought with implications for soil functioning

Ipsilesional Hippocampal GABA Is Elevated and Correlates With Cognitive Impairment and Maladaptive Neurogenesis After Cortical Stroke in Mice.

BACKGROUND Cognitive dysfunction is a frequent stroke sequela, but its pathogenesis and treatment remain unresolved. Involvement of aberrant hippocampal neurogenesis and maladaptive circuitry remodeling has been proposed, but their mechanisms are unknown. Our aim was to evaluate potential underlying molecular/cellular events implicated. METHODS Stroke was induced by permanent occlusion of the middle cerebral artery occlusion in 2-month-old C57BL/6 male mice. Hippocampal metabolites/neurotransmitters were analyzed longitudinally by in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Cognitive function was evaluated with the contextual fear conditioning test. Microglia, astrocytes, neuroblasts, interneurons, γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and c-fos were analyzed by immunofluorescence. RESULTS Approximately 50% of mice exhibited progressive post-middle cerebral artery occlusion cognitive impairment. Notably, immature hippocampal neurons in the impaired group displayed more severe aberrant phenotypes than those from the nonimpaired group. Using magnetic resonance spectroscopy, significant bilateral changes in hippocampal metabolites, such as myo-inositol or N-acetylaspartic acid, were found that correlated, respectively, with numbers of glia and immature neuroblasts in the ischemic group. Importantly, some metabolites were specifically altered in the ipsilateral hippocampus suggesting its involvement in aberrant hippocampal neurogenesis and remodeling processes. Specifically, middle cerebral artery occlusion animals with higher hippocampal GABA levels displayed worse cognitive outcome. Implication of GABA in this setting was supported by the amelioration of ischemia-induced memory deficits and aberrant hippocampal neurogenesis after blocking pharmacologically GABAergic neurotransmission, an intervention which was ineffective when neurogenesis was inhibited. These data suggest that GABA exerts its detrimental effect, at least partly, by affecting morphology and integration of newborn neurons into the hippocampal circuits. CONCLUSIONS Hippocampal GABAergic neurotransmission could be considered a novel diagnostic and therapeutic target for poststroke cognitive impairment.S

Encontro de Aedes albopictus no Estado do Pará, Brasil

It is first reported the detection of Aedes (Stg) albopictus mosquitoes in state of Pará, Brazil, in the urban area of Medicilândia, a municipality far 90 km from Altamira, where 42 adult mosquitoes were baited using human attraction. All mosquitoes were pooled and inoculated into C6/36 and suckling mice in attempts for virus isolation. No virus was isolated. The occurrence of Aedes albopictus in urban areas of the Amazon region is of concern since dengue and yellow fever viruses are endemic in the Amazon and thus there is a potential risk for this mosquito species to become infected with both viruses.Pela primeira vez é registrada a presença do Aedes (Stg) albopictus no Estado do Pará, Brasil, em área urbana no município de Medicilândia distante cerca de 90 km de Altamira, onde foram capturados por meio de isca humana 42 exemplares de mosquitos adultos. Estes foram inoculados em C6/36 e em camundongos recém-nascidos na tentativa de isolamento viral, não tendo sido isolado nenhum vírus. A presença de Aedes albopictus em áreas da Amazônia onde circulam os vírus de dengue e de febre amarela é preocupante e representa um risco potencial desta espécie de mosquito se tornar infectada com tais vírus

Drought decreases incorporation of recent plant photosynthate into soil food webs regardless of their trophic complexity

Theory suggests that more complex food webs promote stability and can buffer the effects of perturbations, such as drought, on soil organisms and ecosystem functions. Here, we tested experimentally how soil food web trophic complexity modulates the response to drought of soil functions related to carbon cycling and the capture and transfer below‐ground of recent photosynthate by plants. We constructed experimental systems comprising soil communities with one, two or three trophic levels (microorganisms, detritivores and predators) and subjected them to drought. We investigated how food web trophic complexity in interaction with drought influenced litter decomposition, soil CO2 efflux, mycorrhizal colonization, fungal production, microbial communities and soil fauna biomass. Plants were pulse‐labelled after the drought with 13C‐CO2 to quantify the capture of recent photosynthate and its transfer below‐ground. Overall, our results show that drought and soil food web trophic complexity do not interact to affect soil functions and microbial community composition, but act independently, with an overall stronger effect of drought. After drought, the net uptake of 13C by plants was reduced and its retention in plant biomass was greater, leading to a strong decrease in carbon transfer below‐ground. Although food web trophic complexity influenced the biomass of Collembola and fungal hyphal length, 13C enrichment and the net transfer of carbon from plant shoots to microbes and soil CO2 efflux were not affected significantly by varying the number of trophic groups. Our results indicate that drought has a strong effect on above‐ground–below‐ground linkages by reducing the flow of recent photosynthate. Our results emphasize the sensitivity of the critical pathway of recent photosynthate transfer from plants to soil organisms to a drought perturbation, and show that these effects may not be mitigated by the trophic complexity of soil communities, at least at the level manipulated in this experiment.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Deep-Sequencing Reveals Broad Subtype-Specific HCV Resistance Mutations Associated with Treatment Failure

[Abstract] A percentage of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected patients fail direct acting antiviral (DAA)-based treatment regimens, often because of drug resistance-associated substitutions (RAS). The aim of this study was to characterize the resistance profile of a large cohort of patients failing DAA-based treatments, and investigate the relationship between HCV subtype and failure, as an aid to optimizing management of these patients. A new, standardized HCV-RAS testing protocol based on deep sequencing was designed and applied to 220 previously subtyped samples from patients failing DAA treatment, collected in 39 Spanish hospitals. The majority had received DAA-based interferon (IFN) α-free regimens; 79% had failed sofosbuvir-containing therapy. Genomic regions encoding the nonstructural protein (NS) 3, NS5A, and NS5B (DAA target regions) were analyzed using subtype-specific primers. Viral subtype distribution was as follows: genotype (G) 1, 62.7%; G3a, 21.4%; G4d, 12.3%; G2, 1.8%; and mixed infections 1.8%. Overall, 88.6% of patients carried at least 1 RAS, and 19% carried RAS at frequencies below 20% in the mutant spectrum. There were no differences in RAS selection between treatments with and without ribavirin. Regardless of the treatment received, each HCV subtype showed specific types of RAS. Of note, no RAS were detected in the target proteins of 18.6% of patients failing treatment, and 30.4% of patients had RAS in proteins that were not targets of the inhibitors they received. HCV patients failing DAA therapy showed a high diversity of RAS. Ribavirin use did not influence the type or number of RAS at failure. The subtype-specific pattern of RAS emergence underscores the importance of accurate HCV subtyping. The frequency of “extra-target” RAS suggests the need for RAS screening in all three DAA target regions.Ministerio de Economía y Empresa; IDI-20151125Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades; SAF SAF 2017-87846-