Is light involved in the vertical growth response of seagrasses when buried by sand?

5 pages, 3 figures.Involvement of light in the vertical growth response of Cymodocea nodosa (Ucria) Ascherson seedlings to sand burial was tested by comparing the growth response of seedlings that were buried and seedlings that were buried but had the shoot meristem illuminated using an optic fiber. Mortality of shoots was higher in the buried and illuminated shoots than in those only buried. The number of new leaves and the length of the vertical rhizome internodes produced during the experiment tended to decrease when the shoots were buried and illuminated, while the length of the leaf sheaths was not affected. Results indicate that light is one of the environmental signals that control the vertical growth response of C. nodosa when buried by sand, and that the shoot meristem is the place where the changes in the light environment of the shoot are detected.This study was funded by the project AMB94-0746 of the Spanish Interministerial Commission of Science and Technology (CICYT).Peer reviewe

El proyecto Arkit: La vivienda como kit de muebles

El artículo hace una revisión sintética sobre algunas de las bases conceptuales del llamado “proyecto Arkit” así como sobre sus resultados en forma de proyectos residenciales y construcciones reales. Una primera parte recorre ejemplos de vivienda moderna donde lo que entendemos como mueble, levemente agigantado de escala, ha definido y en algunos casos realmente construido casi con exclusividad el espacio doméstico. Son los “muebles que construyen casas”. En la segunda parte, el artículo reseña los seis proyectos de casas prefabricadas ligeras que se han concebido al amparo del concepto del “kit de muebles” como sistema de prefabricación abierta: las viviendas del CSCAE, el prototipo Campohermoso, el proyecto Arkit, la residencia de Tariquejo, el proyecto Solarkit y el proyecto Arkit 18, de los cuales han sido construidos y analizados el tercero y el quinto: Arkit y su variante con energía solar Solarkit. El proyecto Arkit es una aportación novedosa en el campo de la vivienda prefabricada ligera, adaptada a las condiciones ambientales del sur de Europa, que usa como elementos constitutivos piezas de escala intermedia que están a medio camino entre el tamaño y la versatilidad del mobiliario y la escala de la habitación convencional. El proyecto Arkit permite disposiciones a elección del usuario y, como muestran los ejemplos expuestos, adaptaciones a diferentes programas residenciales

Variation of the testosterone-cortisol ratio in elite basketball players

© FEMED

Hormonal analysis in elite basketball during a season

In elite basketball, the high demands of competition and training require a detailed follow-up of the effects on the player's performance and health. Controlling these effects could improve the knowledge about the players' recovery process and allow a better design of their individual workloads. Aim: To describe the behavior of the total testosterone serum levels (T), cortisol (C) and T/C ratio. Methodology: 8 blood samples were collected during the whole season of an elite basketball team (n=8) of the First Spanish Division (ACB). The samples were taken every 4-6 weeks, at 8:00 AM, after 24-36 hours of post-game recovery. Results: T increases after 4 after 3.5 days of rest (6th vs. 1st, p=0.039; 6th vs. 5th, p=0.041) and decreases significantly at the end of the season (8th vs. 7th, p=0.003). C does not show significant variation along the season. T/C ratio shows a significant decrease at the end of the season (8th vs. 1st , p=0.021; 8th vs. 7th, p=0.017) and in VarT/C (8th vs. 1st, p=0.005; 8th vs. 7th, p=0.036). Conclusions: Concentration values as well as percentages of variation are useful indicators to describe the studied parameters. T/C ratio and/or T could be used as recovery state indicators and could even induce, in conjunction with other indicators, necessary actions to optimize individual workloads. Future investigations should compare these variations to objective workload parameters and/or other hormonal modulators

Recreational boaters support the use of mooring buoys to reduce anchor damage to Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile meadows

Recreational boating is an important economic activity in the Mediterranean Sea that often leads to disturbance by anchoring of Posidonia oceanica meadows, an endemic seagrass that is a critical component of shallow coastal ecosystems. A selfadministered survey of recreational boaters that anchor in a popular mooring site (Cala Blava) in the coast of Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Western Mediterranean) was carried out during the summer season of 2011 to assess their preferences regarding the number of boats anchoring at the cove and the distance between them, their willingness to pay for the use of mooring buoys and their perception of the negative effects that recreational boating may have on the marine environment. Four hundred and twenty five surveys were obtained over a period of 23 days (11 weekend days, 14 week days) with a response rate of 95 %. The number of boats anchored was higher during weekends (30 ± 13 boats) than during the rest of the week (15 ± 5 boats). Most of the respondents considered that both the number of anchored boats and distance between them were adequate, and they were satisfied with their visit to Cala Blava. Anchor damage was identified as the main impact caused in the marine environment by recreational boating. Support for the use of mooring buoys was high (72 %) and 58 % of boaters were willing to pay a fee for buoy use. The most widely accepted fee was 5 Euros per day of use. These results suggest that the public is well aware of the damage caused by anchoring on P. oceanica meadows and that environmental regulation that would reduce this harm through the use of mooring buoys would have wide support from the main users, who would be even willing to pay for the service. This is a bright prospect for the conservation of this valuable and fragile coastal ecosystem

Fast-spreading green beds of recently introduced Halimeda incrassata invade Mallorca island (NW Mediterranean Sea)

6 páginas, 2 figuras, 1 tabla.Mediterranean marine biodiversity is undergoing a tropicalization process.We present the first record and spread dynamics of the tropical green seaweed Halimeda incrassata (Bryopsidales, Chlorophyta) fromthe Mediterranean Sea. Plants were observed at 2 sites offMallorca island (NW Mediterranean), and species identification was confirmed molecularly. Since the first observation of this alien seaweedin 2011, it has spreadrapidly inthe shallow subtidal habitat ofamarine protected area located in Palma Bay, which has a depth of up to ca. 20 m. By 2015, this species spread by a factor of 6.75 and extended to an area of 2.7 km2, covering a total of 41% of the monitored area. The dynamics of the invasion suggest rapid colonization and establishment and spreading of the species through shallow sedimentary and rocky habitats. H. incrassata has the potential to strongly alter the ecosystem services and functioning of shallow Mediterranean habitats. We encourage authorities to pay attention to the spread of this alien seaweed at larger scales and determine the positive and negative effects of the invasion in order to facilitate research- driven decision making.The data used for this study was ob - tained through the project REC2 (CTM2011-23835) and a Marie Curie grant (grant no. 327160). We thank Antoni Grau (Govern de les illes Balears) for supporting and authorizing the study in the MPAPB and Rosario Rosselló and Chiela Cremen for their help. J.A. was supported by a JdC postdoc (FJCI-2014-21239) and F.T. by a RyC grant (MINECO). The Verbruggen lab received funding from the ARC (FT110100585) and the ABRS (RFL213-08).Peer reviewe

Eficiencia energética y sostenibilidad en una vivienda unifamiliar prefabricada: casa patio 2.12

La arquitectura es gran consumidora de recursos energéticos, por ello creemos firmemente que la forma de realizar una arquitectura más sostenible también puede ser mediante reinterpretaciones de los modos tradicionales constructivos y tipológicos de cada lugar. Patio 2.12 aprovecha las condiciones espaciales y bioclimáticas de la casa patio andaluza para obtener una mayor eficiencia energética. En la búsqueda de un diálogo, integración y negociación entre arquitectura, bioclimatismo y eficiencia energética, el proyecto ha mantenido una tensión constante en el proceso de diseño. Este artículo tiene como objetivo explicar cómo se utilizan todas las bondades del modelo tradicional andaluz mediante su transformación en estrategias pasivas o semipasivas que unidas a la realización de exhaustivas simulaciones informáticas, vienen a corroborar que la reinterpretación del modelo de casa patio andaluz pueden llevar a una contundente reducción del gasto energético y una clara mejora de la sostenibilidad. Estas estrategias están centradas en el estudio de aspectos sobre la envolvente, sistemas pasivos o sistemas activos, buscando una máxima integración entre lo tradicional y lo tecnológico, que hace evidente y necesario que sean aplicables a cualquier diseño de vivienda unifamiliar. Este proyecto, presentado al prestigioso concurso Solar Decathlon Europe 2012 que impulsa la investigación en el desarrollo de viviendas eficientes, fue premiado con un total de ocho premios, entre ellos: el primero en eficiencia energética, primero en balance energético o segundo en sostenibilidad. Logrando así, el segundo puesto en la clasificación general del concurso

DNA expansions generated by human Polμ on iterative sequences

Polm is the only DNA polymerase equipped with template-directed and terminal transferase activities. Polm is also able to accept distortions in both primer and template strands, resulting in misinsertions and extension of realigned mismatched primer terminus. In this study, we propose a model for human Polm-mediated dinucleotide expansion as a function of the sequence context. In this model, Polm requires an initial dislocation, that must be subsequently stabilized, to generate large sequence expansions at different 50-P-containing DNA substrates, including those that mimic non-homologous endjoining (NHEJ) intermediates. Our mechanistic studies point at human Polm residues His329 and Arg387 as responsible for regulating nucleotide expansions occurring during DNA repair transactions, either promoting or blocking, respectively, iterative polymerization. This is reminiscent of the role of both residues in the mechanism of terminal transferase activity. The iterative synthesis performed by Polm at various contexts may lead to frameshift mutations producing DNA damage and instability, which may end in different human disorders, including cancer or congenital abnormalitiesMinisterio de Ciencia y Tecnologia [BFU2009-10085 and CONSOLIDER CSD2007-00015]; Fundacion Ramon Areces (to Centro de Biologia Molecular ‘‘Severo Ochoa’’); Ministerio de Educacion y Ciencia (to A.A.); Comunidad Autonoma de Madrid (to M.J.M.). Funding for open access charge: Comunidad de Madrid grant [S2011/BMD-2361

Patio 2.12: Prefabricated, sustainable, self-sufficient and energy efficient house. Participation in the 2012 Solar Decathlon Competition

El prototipo Patio 2.12 fue la propuesta del equipo Andalucía Team para la competición Solar Decathlon Europe 2012 (SDE 2012), celebrada en Madrid en septiembre de 2012, en la que recibió hasta 9 premios, entre los que figura el de Eficiencia Energética. El equipo, integrado por profesores y alumnos de cuatro universidades andaluzas, trabajó durante dos años en el diseño y construcción de un prototipo de vivienda basada en la eficiencia energética, en la integración arquitectónica de los sistemas solares, en la prefabricación de escala intermedia y en una reinterpretación de la forma de vivir y construir de la tradición mediterránea. Patio 2.12 pretende ser un compendio de energía, sostenibilidad y mecanismos de acondicionamiento pasivo.The prototype “Patio 2.12” was Andalucía Team’s proposal for the 2012 Solar Decathlon Competition (SDE 2012), that was held in Madrid during September 2012, where it was awarded several prizes like the first one in Energy Efficiency. The team comprised a group of teachers and students from four Andalusian Universities. It worked for two years in the design and construction of a housing prototype that could be an example of several concepts at the same time: energy efficiency, architectural integration of solar systems, intermediate scale of prefabrication and a today´s interpretation of traditional Mediterranean way of living and building. Patio 2.12 was intended to be a compendium of energy, sustainability and passive conditioning devices

Assesment of the perception of majorcan society of the ecological and economical values ofPosidonia oceanica (L. Delile) seagrass beds

Abstract not availabl