Tufa sedimentation in changing hydrological conditions: the River Mesa (Spain)

The processes controlling tufa deposition along the River Mesa (NE Spain) were studied from April 2003 to September 2009, based on six-monthly monitoring of physical and chemical parameters of the river water and sedimentological characteristics, including deposition rates on tablets. With a mean annual discharge around 1.5m3 /s, the sedimentation rate (mean 2mm/yr) recorded important spatial, seasonal and interannual variations. The river waters are of the calcium bicarbonate type. In this study, three distinct river stretches were distinguished based on the steady groundwater inputs, some of low-thermal nature. Groundwater discharges controlled the water chemical composition, and some sedimentation features too. At each stretch, an increase in pCO2 and conductivity was measured around the spring sites. Decreasing trends in conductivity or alkalinity with high enough saturation values with respect to calcite were only clearly observed in the intermediate stretch, which had higher tufa deposition rates than the other two. Tufa deposition rates were higher in cool (autumn+winter) than in warm (spring+summer) periods. In some low-rainfall warm periods, tufa deposition was inhibited or limited due to the low flow –mainly from groundwater inputs– and to the dryness of some river sites, which indeed favoured erosion during flooding. A decrease in yearly deposition rates from April 2006 onwards paralleled an important reduction in the river discharge. Groundwater inputs, drought periods and flood events should therefore be considered to understand fluvial tufa sedimentation in semi-arid conditions

Seed Germination Technologies for Helophyte Production Used in Wastewater Treatment

Constructed green wetlands with horizontal surface for wastewater treatment are gaining acceptance. Many countries have published innovative experiences with this technology. A great variety of wastewaters from industries have been treated. Different plant species have been tested. Seed technology development provides interesting tools to produce these species in nurseries. It is a sustainable new business. But studies on seed germination of aquatic and lacustrine plants are very few. That is why we have made the following bibliographic review. We have summarised and analysed the state of the art of this innovative topic, concluding that seed technology for multiplication of helophytes needs further experimental work. But there is enough information to produce right now, tens of different species. Significant efforts have been done. Even though it is a challenge to produce from now on, experimental results are ready to be transferred to those who are trading with this type of plants. Helophytes have a promising future as sustainable elements of the upcoming sewage equipment. Improvements on the biotechnology of these species are a worthwhile researching line. To this aim, the following revision is an essential compilation with which to begin

The mechanistic foundation of Weber’s law

[Abstract] Although Weber's law is the most firmly established regularity in sensation, no principled way has been identified to choose between its many proposed explanations. We investigated Weber's law by training rats to discriminate the relative intensity of sounds at the two ears at various absolute levels. These experiments revealed the existence of a psychophysical regularity, which we term time-intensity equivalence in discrimination (TIED), describing how reaction times change as a function of absolute level. The TIED enables the mathematical specification of the computational basis of Weber's law, placing strict requirements on how stimulus intensity is encoded in the stochastic activity of sensory neurons and revealing that discriminative choices must be based on bounded exact accumulation of evidence. We further demonstrate that this mechanism is not only necessary for the TIED to hold but is also sufficient to provide a virtually complete quantitative description of the behavior of the rats

Elaboration of a teaching program in development cooperation in the University of Alcalá

COOPUAH, a group of teachers and researchers of the University of Alcalá (UAH), who belong to different disciplines, consider that the training offered to students in Development Cooperation by their institution has some deficiencies. The group pursues the general objective of reflecting about and evaluating in particular how this field is included in the university curricula in order to propose a teaching program that could fill the that gap. The main results highlight that the current teaching offer is insufficient, it comes from the environmental and health sciences fields, and in organizational level, is concentrated in the 2nd semester. We therefore believe that we need a multidisciplinary work to expand this teaching offer, redistribute it both semesters, and to offer a program addressed to all students of the University of Alcalá and recognized officially by the institutio

Air-sea CO2 fluxes in the Atlantic as measured during the FICARAM cruises

A total of fourteen hydrographic cruises spanning from 2000 to 2008 were conducted during the spring and autumn seasons between Spain and the Southern Ocean, under the framework of the Spanish research project FICARAM. The performed underway measurements are processed and analysed to describe the meridional air-sea CO2 fluxes (F CO2) along the Atlantic Ocean. The data was organised into different biogeochemical oceanographic provinces, according mainly to the thermohaline characteristics. The obtained spatial and temporal distributions of F CO2 follow the generally expected patterns and annual trends. The Subtropical regions in both hemispheres alternated the CO2 source and sink nature from autumn to spring, respectively. On the other hand, Tropical waters and the Patagonian Sea clearly behaved as sinks of atmospheric CO2 like the waters of the Drake Passage during autumn. The obtained results during the cruises also revealed significant long-term trends, such as the warming of equatorial waters (0.11±0.03 Cyr−1) and the decrease of surface salinity (−0.16±0.01 yr−1) in tropical waters caused by the influence of the Amazon River plume. This reduction in surface salinity appears to have a direct influence over the CO2 storage rates, fostering the uptake capacity of atmospheric CO2 (−0.09±0.03 molm−2 yr−1). An analysis of the biogeochemical forcing on the CO2 fugacity (fCO2) variability performed from an empirical algorithm highlighted the major role of the Amazon River input in the tropical North Atlantic fluxes. In addition, it has provided a quantitative measure of the importance of the thermodynamic control of F CO2 at temperate latitudes

Facial onset sensory and motor neuronopathy: new cases, cognitive changes and pathophysiology

Purpose of review To improve our clinical understanding of facial onset sensory and motor neuronopathy (FOSMN). Recent findings We identified 29 new cases and 71 literature cases, resulting in a cohort of 100 patients with FOSMN. During follow-up, cognitive and behavioral changes became apparent in 8 patients, suggesting that changes within the spectrum of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are a part of the natural history of FOSMN. Another new finding was chorea, seen in 6 cases. Despite reports of autoantibodies, there is no consistent evidence to suggest an autoimmune pathogenesis. Four of 6 autopsies had TAR DNA-binding protein (TDP) 43 pathology. Seven cases had genetic mutations associated with neurodegenerative diseases. Summary FOSMN is a rare disease with a highly characteristic onset and pattern of disease progression involving initial sensory disturbances, followed by bulbar weakness with a cranial to caudal spread of pathology. Although not conclusive, the balance of evidence suggests that FOSMN is most likely to be a TDP-43 proteinopathy within the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis–FTD spectrum

Flora Vascular of Algarve (Portugal): new Project

Trabajo presentado al: XI International Meeting of Phytosociology. Natural and semi-natural habitats of the Natura 2000 network: Improving knowledge to support conservation measures. Faro (Portugal), 10-11 septiembre 2019.Peer reviewe

First comprehensive contribution to medical ethnobotany of Western Pyrenees

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>An ethnobotanical and medical study was carried out in the Navarre Pyrenees, an area known both for its high biological diversity and its cultural significance.</p> <p>As well as the compilation of an ethnopharmacological catalogue, a quantitative ethnobotanical comparison has been carried out in relation to the outcomes from other studies about the Pyrenees. A review of all drugs used in the area has also been carried out, through a study of the monographs published by the institutions and organizations responsible for the safety and efficacy of medicinal plants (WHO, ESCOP, and the E Commission of the German Department of Health) in order to ascertain the extent to which the Navarre Pyrenees ethnopharmacology has been officially evaluated.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Fieldwork was carried out over two years, from November 2004 to December 2006. During that time we interviewed 88 local people in 40 villages. Information was collected using semi-structured ethnobotanical interviews and the data was analyzed using quantitave indexes: Ethnobotonicity Index, Shannon-Wiener's Diversity, Equitability and The Informant Consensus Factor. The official review has been performed using the official monographs published by the WHO, ESCOP and the E Commission of the German Department of Health.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The ethnobotanical and medical catalogue of the Navarre Pyrenees Area comprises 92 species, of which 39 have been mentioned by at least three interviewees. The quantitative ethnobotany results show lower values than those found in other studies about the Pyrenees; and 57.6% of the Pyrenees medical ethnobotany described does not figure in documents published by the above mentioned institutions.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results show a reduction in the ethnobotanical and medical knowledge in the area of study, when compared to other studies carried out in the Pyrenees. Nevertheless, the use of several species that may be regarded as possible sources for pharmacological studies is reported here such as the bark of <it>Sambucus nigra</it>, the roots of <it>Fragaria vesca</it>, or the leaves of <it>Scrophularia nodosa</it>. These species are not currently approved by the WHO, ESCOP and the E Commission of the German Department of Health, institutions that, apart from encouraging the greater use of plants for medicinal purposes, may help in the design of development plans for these rural areas by validating their traditional medicine.</p

Determination of ππ\pi\pi scattering lengths from measurement of π+π−\pi^+\pi^- atom lifetime

The DIRAC experiment at CERN has achieved a sizeable production of $\pi^+\pi^-$ atoms and has significantly improved the precision on its lifetime determination. From a sample of 21227 atomic pairs, a 4% measurement of the S-wave $\pi\pi$ scattering length difference $|a_0-a_2| = (.0.2533^{+0.0080}_{-0.0078}|_\mathrm{stat}.{}^{+0.0078}_{-0.0073}|_\mathrm{syst})M_{\pi^+}^{-1}$ has been attained, providing an important test of Chiral Perturbation Theory.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

Search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu channel in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

A search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu decay channel, where l = e or mu, in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is presented. The data were collected at the LHC, with the CMS detector, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 inverse femtobarns. No significant excess is observed above the background expectation, and upper limits are set on the Higgs boson production cross section. The presence of the standard model Higgs boson with a mass in the 270-440 GeV range is excluded at 95% confidence level.Comment: Submitted to JHE