Verificación de la presencia de roedores en el Parque Natural de sa Dragonera (Andratx, Mallorca, Islas Baleares)

[spa] Durante el 2011 se realizó una campaña de erradicación de roedores en la isla de sa Dragonera. El Parque Natural has establecido que cada cinco año se realicen tareas de verificación se su presencia. Entre los meses de julio y octubre del 2016, se ha evaluado la presencia de roedores y conejo en la isla de sa Dragonera. Para la evaluación de los roedores se ha usado tres métodos de detección: trampas de huellas, 1.670 trampas x noche; trampeo en vivo, 800 trampas x noches y cámaras de barrera, 288 (5 cámaras) días. La detección de conejo se ha realizado verificando 20 transectos lineales. No se ha detectado la presencia de roedores, ni de conejo. Siguiendo los criterios usados en otras erradicaciones insulares, se puede declarar que la isla de sa Dragonera está libre de ratas y ratones, aunque se debería considerar que el riesgo de reinvasión es elevada dada la distancia a la costa de Mallorca o la posibilidad de una introducción accidental desde una embarcación.[cat] Durant l’any 2011 es va realitzar una campanya d'eradicació de rosegadors a l'illa de sa Dragonera. El Parc Natural ha establert que cada cinc any es realitzin tasques de verificació es la seva presència. Entre els mesos de juliol i octubre del 2016, es va avaluar la presència de rosegadors i conill a l'illa de sa Dragonera. Per a l'avaluació dels rosegadors s'ha fet servir tres mètodes de detecció: trampes d'empremtes, 1.670 trampes x nit; trampeig en viu, 800 trampes x nits i càmeres de barrera, 288 (5 càmeres) dies. La detecció de conill s'ha realitzat verificant 20 transsectes lineals. No s'ha detectat la presència de rosegadors, ni de conill. Seguint els criteris usats en altres eradicacions insulars, es pot declarar que l'illa de sa Dragonera està lliure de rates i ratolins, tot i que s'hauria de considerar que el risc de reinvasión és elevada donada la distància a la costa de Mallorca o la possibilitat d'una introducció accidental des d’una embarcació.[eng] During 2011, a rodent eradication campaign was carried out on the island of sa Dragonera. The Natural Parc has established that the presence of rodents should be verified every five years. Between the months of July and October 2016, the presence of rodents and rabbits on the island of sa Dragonera has been evaluated. For

Assessing Single Upconverting Nanoparticle Luminescence by Optical Tweezers

We report on stable, long-term immobilization and localization of a single colloidal Er3+/Yb3+ codoped upconverting fluorescent nanoparticle (UCNP) by optical trapping with a single infrared laser beam. Contrary to expectations, the single UCNP emission differs from that generated by an assembly of UCNPs. The experimental data reveal that the differences can be explained in terms of modulations caused by radiation-trapping, a phenomenon not considered before but that this work reveals to be of great relevanceThis work was supported by the Spanish Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (MAT2010–16161 and MAT2013–47395-C4–1-R). P.H.G. thanks the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) for the Juan de la Cierva program. P.R.S thanks the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) for the “Promoción 14 del talento y su Empleabilidad en I+D+i” statal program. Fondazione Cariverona (Verona, Italy) is gratefully acknowledged for financial support in the frame of the project “Verona Nanomedicine Initiative

Real time phase-slopes calculations by correlations using FPGAs

J. Trujillo Sevilla ; M. R. Valido ; L. F. Rodríguez Ramos ; E. Boemo ; F. Rosa ; J. M. Rodríguez Ramos, “Real time phase-slopes calculations by correlations using FPGAs,” Proc. SPIE 7015, Adaptive Optics Systems, 70153B (July 11, 2008), Norbert Hubin; Claire E. Max; Peter L. Wizinowich , 7015 (Issue) 70153B, (2008). Copyright © 2008 SPIE Society of Photo‑Optical Instrumentation Engineers. One print or electronic copy may be made for personal use only. Systematic reproduction and distribution, duplication of any material in this paper for a fee or for commercial purposes, or modification of the content of the paper are prohibited.ELT laser guide star wavefront sensors are planned to handle an expected amount of data to be overwhelmingly large (1600x1600 pixels at 700 fps). According to the calculations involved, the solutions must consider to run on specialized hardware as Graphical Processing Units (GPUs) or Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), among others. In the case of a Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor is finally selected, the wavefront slopes can be computed using centroid or correlation algorithms. Most of the developments are designed using centroid algorithms, but precision ought to be taken in account too, and then correlation algorithms are really competitive. This paper presents an FPGA-based wavefront slope implementation, capable of handling the sensor output stream in a massively parallel approach, using a correlation algorithm previously tested and compared to the centroid algorithm. Time processing results are shown, and they demonstrate the ability of the FPGA integer arithmetic in the resolution of AO problems. The selected architecture is based in today’s commercially available FPGAs which have a very limited amount of internal memory. This limits the dimensions used in our implementation, but this also means that there is a lot of margin to move real-time algorithms from the conventionalThis work has been partially supported by “Programa Nacional de Diseño y Producción Industrial" (Project DPI 2006- 07906) of the “Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia" of the Spanish Government, and by “European Regional Development Fund" (ERDF)

Redox-based transcriptional regulation in prokaryotes: revisiting model mechanisms

Significance: The successful adaptation of microorganisms to ever-changing environments depends, to a great extent, on their ability to maintain redox homeostasis. To effectively maintain the redox balance, cells have developed a variety of strategies mainly coordinated by a battery of transcriptional regulators through diverse mechanisms. Recent Advances: This comprehensive review focuses on the main mechanisms used by major redox-responsive regulators in prokaryotes and their relationship with the different redox signals received by the cell. An overview of the corresponding regulons is also provided. Critical Issues: Some regulators are difficult to classify since they may contain several sensing domains and respond to more than one signal. We propose a classification of redox-sensing regulators into three major groups. The first group contains one-component or direct regulators, whose sensing and regulatory domains are in the same protein. The second group comprises the classical two-component systems involving a sensor kinase that transduces the redox signal to its DNA-binding partner. The third group encompasses a heterogeneous group of flavin-based photosensors whose mechanisms are not always fully understood and are often involved in more complex regulatory networks. Future Directions: Redox-responsive transcriptional regulation is an intricate process as identical signals may be sensed and transduced by different transcription factors, which often interplay with other DNA-binding proteins with or without regulatory activity. Although there is much information about some key regulators, many others remain to be fully characterized due to the instability of their clusters under oxygen. Understanding the mechanisms and the regulatory networks operated by these regulators is essential for the development of future applications in biotechnology and medicine

Electrochemical sensing platform with gold nanoparticles capped by PDDA for benzyl alcohol determination

An electrochemical sensor has been developed, by modifying screen-printed carbon devices (SPCE) with photochemically synthesized gold nanoparticles (AuNP), to determine benzyl alcohol, a preservative widely used in the cosmetic industry. To obtain the AuNP with the best properties for electrochemical sensing applications, the photochemical synthesis was optimized using chemometric tools. A response surface methodology based on central composite design was used to optimize the synthesis conditions, as irradiation time, and the concentrations of metal precursor and the capping/reducing agent (poly(diallyldimethylammonium) chloride, PDDA). The anodic current of benzyl alcohol on SPCE modified with the AuNP was used as response of the system. The best electrochemical responses were obtained using the AuNP generated by irradiating for 18 min a 7.20 × 10−4 mol L−1 AuCl4−-1.7% PDDA solution. The AuNP were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, cyclic voltammetry and dynamic light scattering. The nanocomposite-based sensor formed by the optimal AuNP (AuNP@PDDA/SPCE) was used to determine benzyl alcohol by linear sweep voltammetry in 0.10 mol L−1 KOH. The anodic current at + 0.017 ± 0.003 V (vs. AgCl) was used as analytical signal. Detection limit obtained under these conditions was 2.8 µg mL−1. The AuNP@PDDA/SPCE was applied to determine benzyl alcohol in cosmetic samplesOpen Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Natur

A comparative study of the electrochemical properties of vitamin B-6 related compounds at physiological pH

A comparative study of vitamin B6 group and related compounds in buffered solutions using electrochemical techniques has been performed at neutral pH. Irreversible bi- or tetra-electronic processes are observed for these substances, and the electron transfer coefficient (αn) calculated. It was concluded that either the first or second electron transfer were the rate determining step of the electrode process. The diffusion coefficient of these substances was calculated and the values given follow an inverse tendency to the molecular size. For aldehydes the values obtained were corrected of the hydration reaction. It is important to remark that catalytic waves were reported for the first time for these compounds. Using a model involving the nitrogen of the basic structure the kinetic constants were calculated for most of them

Electrochemical behaviour of gamma hydroxybutyric acid at a platinum electrode in acidic medium

The electrooxidation of Gamma Hydroxybutyric Acid (GHB) on a polycrystalline platinum electrode is studied by cyclic voltammetry in acidic medium. Two oxidation peaks, A and B, are obtained in the positive scan within the potential range of the double layer region and of the platinum oxide region, respectively. In the negative going potential sweep an inverted oxidation peak with an onset partially overlapping with the tail of the cathodic peak for the reduction of the platinum oxide formed during the anodic scan is obtained (peak C). This inverted peak can be observed at a potential close to +0.2 V (vs Ag/AgCl at pH 2) and separated 0.4 and 0.8 V from the two other oxidation peaks obtained during the anodic scan and in such conditions that the surface is particularly activated to favour this electrochemical process. The response obtained in the electronic current for the different peaks when GHB concentration and scan rate were changed to allows inferring that these are the result of a potential dependent mechanism. The behaviour observed is according with the oxidation of the alcohol group to the corresponding aldehyde and carboxylic acid (succinic acid) as main products

Evaluation of bone loss in antibacterial coated dental implants: An experimental study in dogs

The aim of this study was to evaluate the in vivo effect of antibacterial modified dental implants in the first stages of peri-implantitis. Thirty dental implants were inserted in the mandibular premolar sites of 5 beagle dogs. Sites were randomly assigned to Ti (untreated implants, 10 units), Ti_Ag (silver electrodeposition treatment, 10 units), and Ti_TSP (silanization treatment, 10 units). Coated implants were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, interferometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Two months after implant insertion, experimental peri-implantitis was initiated by ligature placement. Ligatures were removed 2 months later, and plaque formation was allowed for 2 additional months. Clinical and radiographic analyses were p¬erformed during the study. Implant-tissue samples were prepared for micro computed tomography, backscattered scanning electron microscopy, histomorphometric and histological analyses and ion release measurements. X-ray, SEM and histology images showed that vertical bone resorption in treated implants was lower than in the control group (P < 0.05). This effect is likely due to the capacity of the treatments to reduce bacteria colonization on the implant surface. Histological analysis suggested an increase of peri-implant bone formation on silanized implants. However, the short post-ligature period was not enough to detect differences in clinical parameters among implant groups. Within the limits of this study, antibacterial surface treatments have a positive effect against bone resorption induced by peri-implantitis.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Experiències per construir coneixement intergeneracional

Projecte: 2020PID-UB/031Aquest projecte neix d’una demanda realitzada per part dels responsables de la Universitat de l’experiència (UE) que consisteix en fomentar les relacions intergeneracionals entre els seus estudiants sèniors, majors de 55 anys, i els estudiants universitaris de grau i màster. Aquest foment de la comunicació intergeneracional es troba en la funció social i cultural d’aquests programes universitaris. Per tant, l’objectiu inicial del projecte és promoure connexions entre aquestes dues generacions d’estudiants universitaris tot creant ponts de coneixement entre ells. L’experiència consisteix en que els estudiants i les estudiants de la universitat de l’experiència preparen conferències-taller sobre temes vivencials concrets, sol·licitats pel professorat de les assignatures on es portaran a terme, i les imparteixen a l’entorn de l’aula universitària, per estudiants júniors de grau o màster. Finalment s’ha pogut aplicar en dos grups d’estudiants dels graus de sociologia i el grau de gestió i administració pública, i ha suposat la realització de 4 conferències-taller, amb 6 estudiants sèniors i al voltant de 80 estudiants júnior involucrats. Els resultats obtinguts, en termes de la valoració que han donat els participants és engrescadora, la qual cosa suposa que la idea del projecte es podria ampliar a d’altres graus i màsters