A new index to assess the state of dune vegetation derived from true colour images

Vegetation on coastal dunes is a key element, as it promotes the growth and stabilization of these landforms while contributing significantly to biodiversity. Physical (e.g. impact of storms), ecological (e.g. animal grazing) and human-related (e.g. farming and recreation) factors may disturb coastal dune vegetation, changing dune dynamics and eventually inducing ecogeomorphic state shifts. Therefore, understanding vegetation dynamics and state turns crucial to predict dune evolution paths. The latter must be supported by observations combined with the development of tools (e.g. indexes) able to detect eventual changes and to automatically categorize the state of the vegetation. Here, a multi-step index to characterise the dune vegetation state (DUVES) was developed and tested in Barreta Island (South Portugal), where grey dune vegetation has declined in recent years. The index was computed using classified true colour orthophotos and orthomosaics derived from UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) surveys. Google Earth images were used as complementary data to analyse the evolution trends. The possible sources of disturbance (i.e. human-related activities and gull occupation) were also investigated by comparing their distribution with the vegetation changes. DUVES successfully identified different states of vegetation cover that expressed its stability, perturbation or growth based on temporal changes and allowed the analysis of their evolutionary trends. The distribution of perturbation was mostly associated with gull nesting areas, increasing over time, and to a less extent to human-related activities. The observed grey dune habitat loss was due to replacement of plants typical from this habitat by ruderal species promoted by the positive feedback established between gulls and vegetation. The developed index proved to be of great utility to define dune habitat evolution and understand the associated drivers, being a tool with a wide range of applications, namely for improving future coastal management actions aimed at conserving dune habitats. Moreover, DUVES is potentially transferable due to its easy adaptability depending on the particularities of each study site or goal.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

UAS Identify and Monitor Unusual Small-Scale Rhythmic Features in the Bay of Cadiz (Spain)

Unusual shore-normal and barred-like rhythmic features were found in Camposoto Beach (Bay of Cadiz, SW Spain) during a monitoring program using unmanned aerial systems (UAS). They appeared in the backshore and persisted for 6 months (October 2017-March 2018). Their characteristics and possible formation mechanism were investigated analyzing: (1) UAS-derived high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs), (2) hydrodynamic conditions, and (3) sediment samples. The results revealed that the features did not migrate spatially, that their wavelength was well predicted by the edge wave theory, and that they shared characteristics with both small-scale low-energy finger bars (e.g., geometry/appearance and amplitude) and swash cusps (e.g., wavelength, seaward circulation pattern, and finer and better sorted material in the runnels with respect to the crests). Our findings pinpoint to highly organized swash able to reach the backshore during spring tides under low-energy and accretionary conditions as well as backwash enhanced by conditions of water-saturated sediment. This study demonstrates that rhythmic features can appear under different modalities and beach locations than the ones observed up to date, and that their unusual nature may be attributed to the low spatiotemporal resolution of the traditional coastal surveying methods in comparison with novel technologies such as UAS

Transversalidad de las técnicas de modelado matemático en Farmacia con la ayuda de una hoja de cálculo

The implementation of the EHEA in Pharmacy studies will lead to foster student self-learning. This way the student abilities to apply knowledge, learned in some subjects, to search knowledge in any other will be tested. Among such applicative knowledge, we can consider the mathematical modelling techniques, included in the field of Mathematics. This article draws attention to the usefulness of popular spreadsheets for Pharmacy students interested in the application of mathematical modelling techniques. Roughly speaking, a pharmacy student will probably have to perform mathematical calculations and experimental data visualizations, especially in the practice syllabus of some of his subjects. The use of software is important in this respect, not only in the learning step of the mathematical concepts in the corresponding math subject, but also in its application to other Pharmacy subjects. What application software can be chosen for the students? Although there are many candidates, a spreadsheet offers some capabilities that make it ideal for a Pharmacy student: short learning time, wide availability on different computer platforms and flexibility to carry out a variety of computational tasks. Finally, we present a Web page which provides self-learning material to Pharmacy students for harnessing the potential offered by the spreadsheets Excel (Microsoft Office) and Calc (OpenOffice.org) in the study of their subjects in Pharmacy.La implantación del EEES en las titulaciones en Farmacia va a significar la potenciación del autoaprendizaje por parte del alumno. Esto va a poner a prueba la capacidad de aplicar conocimientos adquiridos en unas materias, para entender y conocer otras. Entre dichos conocimientos, se encuentran las técnicas de modelado matemático, incluidas en el campo de las Matemáticas. El presente artículo reflexiona acerca de la utilidad de las populares hojas de cálculo como software dirigido al alumno. Un alumno de Farmacia, probablemente, tendrá que realizar cálculos matemáticos y representaciones gráficas con datos experimentales, muy especialmente en las prácticas de algunas de sus asignaturas. La utilización de un software es, en este sentido, especialmente importante, no sólo en la fase de aprendizaje de dichos conocimientos matemáticos en la correspondiente asignatura del título, sino a la hora de disponer de una herramienta que facilite su aplicación en otras. ¿Qué software podemos elegir para el alumno? A pesar de que existen multitud de candidatos, una hoja de cálculo reúne una serie de características que la hacen idónea para un alumno de Farmacia: corto tiempo de aprendizaje, amplia disponibilidad en distintas plataformas y flexibilidad para poder realizar una gran diversidad de tareas, entre otras propiedades. Finalmente, como ejemplo se presenta una página Web, http://www.ugr.es/~focana/farmaspreadsheet.htm, que facilita material para ayudar al alumno de Farmacia a aprovechar las posibilidades que ofrecen las hojas de cálculo Excel (Microsoft Office) y Calc (OpenOffice.org) en el estudio de sus asignaturas en Farmacia

La calidad peatonal como método para evaluar entornos de movilidad urbana

El creciente interés por integrar elementos de la estructura y el diseño de la ciudad en la evaluación y la gestión de la movilidad urbana ha contribuido al desarrollo de nuevos métodos e instrumentos que profundicen en este aspecto. La identificación de entornos de movilidad podría considerarse un avance conceptual y metodológico importante en este sentido, puesto que abre nuevas posibilidades para la generación de métodos que comprendan mejor la vinculación entre movilidad y entorno urbano desde una perspectiva que pueda ser útil en la práctica de la planificación. Este artículo se dirige a profundizar sobre la cuestión apuntada, particularizando en el caso específico de la movilidad peatonal. De este modo, se presenta el método de caracterización peatonal de entornos de movilidad (CPEM) como herramienta útil para evaluarlos desde el punto de vista de su calidad peatonal, utilizando los cuatro factores siguientes: accesibilidad, seguridad, confort y atracción. Para comprobar la consistencia y la utilidad de CPEM respecto a su objetivo inicial, éste ha sido aplicado al caso práctico de dos entornos de movilidad previamente identificados en un corredor del área metropolitana de Granada (España).El creixent interès per integrar elements de l'estructura i el disseny de la ciutat en l'avaluació i en la gestió de la mobilitat urbana ha contribuït a desenvolupar mètodes i instruments nous que aprofundeixin en aquest aspecte. La identificació d'entorns de mobilitat es podria considerar un avenç conceptual i metodològic important en aquest sentit, que obre noves possibilitats per a la generació de mètodes que comprenguin millor la vinculació entre mobilitat i entorn urbà des d'una perspectiva que pugui ser útil per practicar la planificació. Aquest article es dirigeix a aprofundir sobre la qüestió apuntada, particularitzant en el cas específic de la mobilitat de vianants. D'aquesta manera, es presenta el mètode de caracterització d'entorns de mobilitat per a vianants (CPEM) com a eina útil per avaluarne des del punt de vista de la qualitat que mostren per als vianants, utilitzant els quatre factors següents: accessibilitat, seguretat, confort i atracció. Per comprovar la consistència i la utilitat del CPEM respecte al seu objectiu inicial, aquest ha estat aplicat al cas pràctic de dos entorns de mobilitat prèviament identificats en un corredor de l'àrea metropolitana de Granada (Espanya).L'intérêt chaque fois plus grand, pour intégrer les éléments de la structure et le design de la ville en l'évaluation et aménagement de la mobilité urbaine, a contribué au développement de nouveaux méthodes et outils qui approfondissent cet aspect. L'identification des environnements de mobilité pourrait être considéré comme une avancée conceptuelle et méthodologique importante dans ce sens, ce qui ouvre de nouvelles possibilités pour générer des méthodes permettant de mieux comprendre le lien entre la mobilité et de l'environnement urbain dans une perspective qui peut être utile dans la pratique de planification. Cet article prétend approfondir cette question, en particularisant dans le cas spécifique de la mobilité piétonnière. De cette façon, on présente la méthode de Caractérisation Piétonnière d'Environnements de Mobilité (CPEM) comme une outil pour évaluer les environnements de mobilité dans le point de vue de sa qualité piétonnière, en utilisant les quatre facteurs suivants: accessibilité, sécurité, confort et attraction. Pour vérifier la consistance et l'utilité de CPEM par rapport à son objectif initial, on a appliqué au cas pratique de deux «environnements de mobilité» au préalable identifiés dans un corridor de l'agglomération urbaine de Grenade (Espagne).Over the last years there has been a growing interest to integrate structure, urban design and travel patterns. The incorporation of this knowledge into practice, namely mobility planning, has been positively affected by the development of new planning tools. Despite the innovation of mobility environment approach as a novel instrument for mobility planning, new methods seem to be needed. They aim to deepen our understanding of the relationships between urban structure and travel pattern through mobility environment concept. The article aims to gain insight into this problem using the particular case of pedestrian mobility. A method to characterize the pedestrian quality of mobility environments is presented here (CPEM). CPEM assesses the pedestrian quality through four walkability aspects: accessibility, security, comfort and attractiveness. To illustrate the worth of this method, a practical implementation to the context of the metropolitan area of Granada, Spain, is presented. The paper describes this case, explores the advantages and disadvantages of CPEM, and finally anticipates some issues for future research

Evaluando la influencia de la calidad de la distancia peatonal en la cobertura de paradas del metro ligero de Granada (España)

Aunque las características del entorno urbano y social tienen una marcada influencia en la distancia peatonal al transporte público, existe una escasa atención a este fenómeno en el contexto de los análisis de accesibilidad. Sin embargo, considerar la calidad de la distancia peatonal en la evaluación de la accesibilidad podría constituir una herramienta útil para conseguir una mayor y mejor integración del transporte público en los entornos urbanos. En este artículo se diseña la herramienta Q-WD: Calidad de la Distancia Peatonal (Quality of Walking Distance) testeándola en el caso de la ciudad de Granada, y en concreto en varios entornos de movilidad vinculados a la línea de metro ligero. Los resultados muestran cómo la cobertura de las paradas se reduce en aquellos casos en los que la calidad peatonal de los entornos de parada es baja, mientras que los entornos de parada con alta calidad peatonal producen una extensión de la cobertura de parada del transporte público. Asimismo, los resultados de la aplicación de la herramienta Q-WD evidencian cómo el recuento total de población servida varía en los entornos peatonales cuando se considera la calidad de la distancia.The characteristics of the urban and social environment may have a strong influence in the walking distance to public transport. Nevertheless, scarce attention has been paid to this fact in the context of accessibility analysis. Even though, taking into account the quality of the walking distance in the evaluation of accessibility could be a useful tool to enhance higher public transport integration into urban environments. In this paper we develop the tool Q-WD: Quality of Walking Distance, which is tested in in the city of Granada, specifically on some mobility environments linked to stops of the light rail system. The results show how the catchment area decreases as the pedestrian environment quality diminishes, whilst in those pedestrian environments of high quality the catchment area expands. Furthermore, the results of applying the Q-WD tool allow to detect a change in the population served count, which is influenced by the distance quality.Junta de Andalucía y los fondos FEDER para el Proyecto de Excelencia P12-RNM-1514: “Instrumentos para la valoración de escenarios urbanos frente al cambio climático. Diseño de un software para la evaluación ambiental (MITIGA)“ (2014–2018

Group-specific environmental sequencing reveals high levels of ecological heterogeneity across the microsporidian radiation

This is the final version of the article. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.The description of diversity is a key imperative in current biological studies and has been revolutionised by the molecular era that allows easy access to microbial diversity not visible to the naked eye. Broadly-targeted SSU rRNA gene amplicon studies of diverse environmental habitats continue to reveal new microbial eukaryotic diversity. However, some eukaryotic lineages, particularly parasites, have divergent SSU sequences, and are therefore undersampled or excluded by the methodologies used for SSU studies. One such group is the Microsporidia, which have particularly divergent SSU sequences and are rarely detected in even large-scale amplicon studies. This is a serious omission as microsporidia are diverse and important parasites of humans and other animals of socio-economic importance. Whilst estimates of other microbial diversity are expanding, our knowledge of true microsporidian diversity has remained largely static. In this work, we have combined high throughput sequencing, broad environmental sampling, and microsporidian-specific primers to broaden our understanding of the evolutionary diversity of the Microsporidia. Mapping our new sequences onto a tree of known microsporidian diversity we uncover new diversity across all areas of the microsporidian tree and uncover clades dominated by novel sequences, with no close described relatives. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.NERC. Grant Numbers: NE/I002014/1, NE/H009426/1, NE/H000887/1. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Grant Number: FC121

Detection of Herpes Simplex Virus Infection in Patients With Ongoing Miscarriage Using Serological Tests and Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction

Background: Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is one of the most frequent viruses affecting females’ sexual and reproductive health. Objectives: The current study aimed to determine the HSV serostatus and viral shedding in patients with ongoing miscarriage. Methods: Two hundred and eight females were included in the study; IgM antibodies against HSV1/2 were detected in serum samples; the real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) quantification of viral DNA was performed on cervicovaginal samples. Positive females were tested for IgG anti-HSV-2. Results: The results indicated 12.5% IgM-positive and 2.9% real-time PCR positive samples. None of the patients was positive for the both analyses, simultaneously. Among IgM-positives cases, 16.6% were also IgG-positive; whilst in PCR-positives samples, 20% were also IgG-positive. The presence of viral DNA without detectable IgM or IgG antibodies could indicate a recent infection or a reactivation with low copy numbers. Conclusions: IgM alone is not a marker for viral shedding in genital tract. Molecular testing in conjunction of IgG test should be evaluated as an option to determine HSV status, and applied for research on HSV genital infections records. Keywords: Herpes, Diagnosis, Viral Sheddin

Asociación entre enfermedad por reflujo gastroesofágico e intensidad de la actividad física en una muestra de pobladores peruanos

Introducción: la nutrición adecuada, dejar de fumar y de beber alcohol son medidas preventivas y de tratamiento, ayudan a prevenir complicaciones de la enfermedad por reflujo gastroesofágico. Sin embargo, aún existen dudas sobre la intensidad de la actividad física y sus beneficios en el desarrollo de esta enfermedad. Objetivo: determinar la asociación entre la actividad física y la enfermedad por reflujo gastroesofágico en una muestra de peruanos. Metodología: estudio transversal analítico que utilizo una base de datos secundarias del estudio COHORT CRONICAS. La variable principal fue la presencia o no de enfermedad por reflujo gastroesofágico, lo cual se determinó a través de un autoinforme por diagnóstico médico. La variable independiente fue la actividad física, cuyos niveles fueron definidos de acuerdo con el protocolo del cuestionario internacional de actividad física, la que se dicotomizó en “bajo” y “medio/alto”. Resultados: se trabajó con un total de 3211 sujetos. La prevalencia de reflujo gastroesofágico fue 4,48% y el 5,36% practicaba actividad física moderada/alta. En la regresión múltiple, se observó que los pacientes con actividad física baja tenían 391% mayor frecuencia de presentar reflujo gastroesofágico, respecto a quienes realizaban actividad física moderado/alta. Luego del ajuste de las covariables: sexo, edad,estatus socioeconómico, estado de fumador, bebedor de alcohol, actividad física e índice de masa corporal; se obtuvo un RP=4,91; IC95%: 1,19 –20,23. Conclusiones: el estudio mostró que la actividad física de intensidad moderada/alta se asocia con una menor prevalencia de enfermedad por reflujo gastroesofágico. Si los resultados actuales se confirman en investigaciones futuras, los hallazgos de este estudio podrían ser importantes para la prevención y el tratamiento del reflujo gastroesofágico, a través dela intensidad de la actividad física.Campus Lima Nort

Morphodynamic controls for growth and evolution of a rubble coral island

Rubble islands are dynamic sedimentary features present on reef platforms that evolve under a variety of morphodynamic processes and controlling mechanisms. They provide valuable inhabitable land for small island nations, critical habitat for numerous species, and are threatened by climate change. Aiming to investigate the controlling mechanisms dictating the evolution of One Tree Island (OTI), a rubble island in the Southern Great Barrier Reef, we combined different remotely-sensed data across varying timescales with wave data extracted from satellite altimetry and cyclone activity. Our findings show that (1) OTI had expanded by 7% between 1978 and 2019, (2) significant gross planform decadal adjustments were governed by the amount, intensity, proximity, and relative position of cyclones as well as El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phases, and (3) the mechanisms of island growth involve rubble spits delivering and redistributing rubble to the island through alongshore sediment transport and wave overtopping. Frequent short-term monitoring of the island and further research coupling variations in the different factors driving island change (i.e., sediment availability, reef-wave interactions, and extreme events) are needed to shed light on the future trajectory of OTI and other rubble islands under a climate change scenario