Parasitized mates increase infection risk for partners

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New Tendencies in Wind Energy Operation and Maintenance

[Abstract] Both the reduction in operating and maintenance (O&M) costs and improved reliability have become top priorities in wind turbine maintenance strategies. O&M costs typically account for 20% to 25% of the total levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of current wind power systems. This paper provides a general review of the state of the art of research conducted on wind farm maintenance in recent years. It shows the new methods and techniques, focusing on trends and future challenges. In addition to this, this work includes a review of the following items: (i) operation and maintenance, (ii) failure rate, (iii) reliability, (iv) condition monitoring, (v) maintenance strategies, (vi) maintenance and life cycle and (vii) maintenance optimization As for offshore wind turbines, it is crucial to limit the maximum faults, since the maintenance of these wind farms is more complex both technically and logistically. Research into wind farm maintenance increased by 87% between 2007 and 2019, with more than 38,000 papers (Scopus) including “wind energy” as the main topic and some keywords related to O&M costs. The LCOE in onshore wind projects has decreased by 45%, while in offshore projects it has decreased by 28%. The O&M costs of onshore wind projects fell 52%, while in the case of offshore projects, they have declined 45%. Thus, the results obtained in this paper suggest that there is a change in research on wind farm operation and maintenance, as in recent years, scientific interest in failure has been increasing, while interest in the various techniques of wind farm maintenance and operation has been decreasing.This research was funded by the University of A Coruña (Spain) (Grant No. 64900)

Changes in Socioeconomic Inequalities in Amenable Mortality after the Economic Crisis in Cities of the Spanish Mediterranean Coast

Several studies have described a decreasing trend in amenable mortality, as well as the existence of socioeconomic inequalities that affect it. However, their evolution, particularly in small urban areas, has largely been overlooked. The aim of this study is to analyse the socioeconomic inequalities in amenable mortality in three cities of the Valencian Community, namely, Alicante, Castellon, and Valencia, as well as their evolution before and after the start of the economic crisis (2000–2007 and 2008–2015). The units of analysis have been the census tracts and a deprivation index has been calculated to classify them according to their level of socioeconomic deprivation. Deaths and population were also grouped by sex, age group, period, and five levels of deprivation. The specific rates by sex, age group, deprivation level, and period were calculated for the total number of deaths due to all causes and amenable mortality and Poisson regression models were adjusted in order to estimate the relative risk. This study confirms that the inequalities between areas of greater and lesser deprivation in both all-cause mortality and amenable mortality persisted along the two study periods in the three cities. It also shows that these inequalities appear with greater risk of death in the areas of greatest deprivation, although not uniformly. In general, the risks of death from all causes and amenable mortality have decreased significantly from one period to the other, although not in all the groups studied. The evolution of death risks from before the onset of the crisis to the period after presented, overall, a general pro-cyclical trend. However, there are population subgroups for which the trend was counter-cyclical. The use of the deprivation index has made it possible to identify specific geographical areas with vulnerable populations in all three cities and, at the same time, to identify the change in the level of deprivation (ascending or descending) of the geographical areas throughout the two periods. It is precisely these areas where more attention is needed in order to reduce inequalities.This research was partially funded by two research projects, “Cambios socioeconómicos y evolución de las desigualdades en mortalidad en áreas pequeñas de grandes ciudades en la Comunitat Valenciana” (PI16/00670) and “Desigualdades socioeconómicas y medioambientales en la distribución geográfica de la mortalidad en grandes ciudades de España (1996–2015): MEDEA3” (PI16/01004), funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund)

Áreas de riesgo agroclimático para cuatro rotaciones de cultivos de la región oriental agropecuaria de La Pampa (Argentina)

Climatic risks imply the probability of occurrence of extreme weather conditions, events that can threaten nature and human activities with a particular pattern of low frequency. They are termed agroclimatic risks when affecting farm production. The aim of this work was to assess an index of agroclimatic risk (ACR), based on the study of soil water climatology and simulation of different crop rotation schedules. The ACR index scoring was based on a scale of values running from 0 (minimum risk) to 1 (maximum risk). Four crop rotation schedules, under conditions of dry-land farming, were tested in 21 sites all over the Eastern region of La Pampa province: fallow land - wheat crop (FL-WC), lucerne pasture - wheat crop (LP-WC), fallow land - sunflower crop (FL-SC) and winter annual grass pasture - sunflower crop (WP-SC). Maps, generated with information involving the application for decades of FL-WC, LP-WC, FL-SC and WP-SC rotation schedules, showed the yearly occurrence of partial or absolute droughts during the warm semester. Rotation Schedule FL-WC exhibited lower ACR values (0.1 to 0.4) than LP-WC (0.1 to 0.6), FL-SC (0.4 to 0.5) and WP-SC (0.4 to 0.5 ). In all cases, ACR index took higher values for the Centraland South-Eastern regions than the North-Eastern region of La Pampa province.Los riesgos climáticos son, en esencia, la probabilidad de ocurrencia de eventos de baja frecuencia que más tarde o más temprano terminan desarrollándose, guiados por su particular periodicidad. Estos riesgos se convierten en agroclimáticos cuando afectan a la producción agropecuaria. En el presente trabajo se calculó un índice de riesgo agroclimático (RAC) basado en el estudio de la climatología del agua del suelo simulando diferentes planteos rotacionales. El RAC toma valores entre 0 (riesgo mínimo) y 1 (riesgo máximo). Se utilizaron cuatro planteos rotacionales en secano: barbecho-trigo, alfalfa-trigo, barbecho-girasol y verdeo de invierno-girasol en veintiuna localidades de la región oriental agropecuaria de La Pampa. Los mapas muestran que en las cuatro rotaciones analizadas, durante todas las décadas que involucra cada planteo, se presentaron condiciones de sequía condicional o absoluta dentro de la época del año correspondiente al semestre cálido. La rotación barbecho-trigo presenta menor riesgo climático (RAC: 0.1 a 0.4) que alfalfa trigo (RAC: 0.1 a 0.6), barbecho-girasol (RAC: 0.4 a 0.5) y verdeo de invierno-girasol (RAC: 0.4 a 0.5). Los planteos rotacionales que involucran a un cultivo anual invernal (trigo) y los que consideran un cultivo anual estival (girasol) presentan mayor riesgo agroclimático de deficiencia hídrica en la zona centro-sur de la región agropecuaria pampeana que en la del nor-noreste

Fast and efficient neural conversion of human hematopoietic cells

Neurons obtained directly from human somatic cells hold great promise for disease modeling and drug screening. Available protocols rely on overexpression of transcription factors using integrative vectors and are often slow, complex, and inefficient. We report a fast and efficient approach for generating induced neural cells (iNCs) directly from human hematopoietic cells using Sendai virus. Upon SOX2 and c-MYC expression, CD133-positive cord blood cells rapidly adopt a neuroepithelial morphology and exhibit high expansion capacity. Under defined neurogenic culture conditions, they express mature neuronal markers and fire spontaneous action potentials that can be modulated with neurotransmitters. SOX2 and c-MYC are also sufficient to convert peripheral blood mononuclear cells into iNCs. However, the conversion process is less efficient and resulting iNCs have limited expansion capacity and electrophysiological activity upon differentiation. Our study demonstrates rapid and efficient generation of iNCs from hematopoietic cells while underscoring the impact of target cells on conversion efficiency

¿Los castores mejoran la calidad del hábitat para el pájaro carpintero magallánico?

This article determines which attributes of abandoned beaver meadows have a strong impact on habitat selection by the Magellenic woodpecker

A novel remote sensing approach for prediction of maize yield under different conditions of nitrogen fertilization

Maize crop production is constrained worldwide by nitrogen (N) availability and particularly in poor tropical and subtropical soils. The development of affordable high-throughput crop monitoring and phenotyping techniques is key to improving maize cultivation under low-N fertilization. In this study several vegetation indices (VIs) derived from Red-Green-Blue (RGB) digital images at the leaf and canopy levels are proposed as low-cost tools for plant breeding and fertilization management. They were compared with the performance of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) measured at ground level and from an aerial platform, as well as with leaf chlorophyll content (LCC) and other leaf composition and structural parameters at flowering stage. A set of 10 hybrids grown under five different nitrogen regimes and adequate water conditions were tested at the CIMMYT station of Harare (Zimbabwe). Grain yield and leaf N concentration across N fertilization levels were strongly predicted by most of these RGB indices (with R2~ 0.7), outperforming the prediction power of the NDVI and LCC. RGB indices also outperformed the NDVI when assessing genotypic differences in grain yield and leaf N concentration within a given level of N fertilization. The best predictor of leaf N concentration across the five N regimes was LCC but its performance within N treatments was inefficient. The leaf traits evaluated also seemed inefficient as phenotyping parameters. It is concluded that the adoption of RGB-based phenotyping techniques may significantly contribute to the progress of plant breeding and the appropriate management of fertilization

Perineal Management and Episiotomy Practice in Chile

Episiotomy is a common intervention used during the second stage of delivery. Current use of this procedure is restricted to certain births due to several complications. Almost all births in Chile are delivered by a gynecologist or a midwife in the public or private health system where episiotomy is performed. The objective of this study is to identify strengths and weakness in aspects of perineal management and episiotomy practice among obstetric health care providers with the purpose of promoting practice assessment and updating skills and competencies. Design: Questionnaire-based-cross-sectional study. Method: Anonymous questionnaire applied to gynecologists and midwives of public and private hospitals, between October and December 2019 using the Instrument designed by Cornet et al. addressing questions such as affiliation, number of births/year, knowledge of anatomy, knowledge of episiotomy, knowledge of perineal tear, competence in perineal repair, and presence of expert in perineal trauma at their unit. Results: 189 surveys responded, 51% from midwives and 37.6% from doctors. 71% of total were trained at their medical or midwifery schools and 69% during postgraduate internships. Episiotomy practice criteria: 19% always in primigravida patients and 14,3% always in premature deliveries. Majority of professionals, 79.4% with less than 100 deliveries a year had incorrect answers about depth or sphincter tear prevention technique. Conclusions: The majority of professionals indicated insufficient training capacities in relation to episiotomy techniques. Undergraduate programs should strength training on this intervention, national guidelines must include routine episiotomy performance in order to unify criteria

Molecular detection and characterization of hemoplasmas in the pudu (Pudu Puda), a native CERVID from CHILE

8 Pág. Centro de Investigación en Sanidad Animal (CISA)Hemotropic mycoplasmas cause hemolytic anemia in a variety of wild and domestic mammals. Despite growing evidence about their widespread presence and genetic diversity in wildlife, their presence has never been investigated in Chilean artiodactyls. We aimed to describe the presence and diversity of hemoplasmas in pudus (Pudu puda), a small cervid native to Chile. Hemoplasma infection was assessed in blood samples from 43 wild and 33 captive pudus from central and southern Chile by direct sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. We detected hemoplasmas in 13%, with no statistical differences between wild (19%) and captive animals (6%). A sequence closely related to Mycoplasma ovis was present both in wild (14%) and captive (6%) pudus. Two previously undescribed sequences, classified in a clade including hemoplasmas from carnivores, were found in one wild pudu each. This study presents the first evidence of the presence of M. ovislike organisms in Chile and of the susceptibility of pudus to infection with hemoplasmas. Further research is needed to understand the pathologic consequences of this pathogen for pudus, its effects at the population level, and their potential impact on the health small ruminants and other wildlife species in Chile.Peer reviewe