Responses of Southern Ocean seafloor habitats and communities to global and local drivers of change

Knowledge of life on the Southern Ocean seafloor has substantially grown since the beginning of this century with increasing ship-based surveys and regular monitoring sites, new technologies and greatly enhanced data sharing. However, seafloor habitats and their communities exhibit high spatial variability and heterogeneity that challenges the way in which we assess the state of the Southern Ocean benthos on larger scales. The Antarctic shelf is rich in diversity compared with deeper water areas, important for storing carbon (“blue carbon”) and provides habitat for commercial fish species. In this paper, we focus on the seafloor habitats of the Antarctic shelf, which are vulnerable to drivers of change including increasing ocean temperatures, iceberg scour, sea ice melt, ocean acidification, fishing pressures, pollution and non-indigenous species. Some of the most vulnerable areas include the West Antarctic Peninsula, which is experiencing rapid regional warming and increased iceberg-scouring, subantarctic islands and tourist destinations where human activities and environmental conditions increase the potential for the establishment of non-indigenous species and active fishing areas around South Georgia, Heard and MacDonald Islands. Vulnerable species include those in areas of regional warming with low thermal tolerance, calcifying species susceptible to increasing ocean acidity as well as slow-growing habitat-forming species that can be damaged by fishing gears e.g., sponges, bryozoan, and coral species. Management regimes can protect seafloor habitats and key species from fishing activities; some areas will need more protection than others, accounting for specific traits that make species vulnerable, slow growing and long-lived species, restricted locations with optimum physiological conditions and available food, and restricted distributions of rare species. Ecosystem-based management practices and long-term, highly protected areas may be the most effective tools in the preservation of vulnerable seafloor habitats. Here, we focus on outlining seafloor responses to drivers of change observed to date and projections for the future. We discuss the need for action to preserve seafloor habitats under climate change, fishing pressures and other anthropogenic impacts

Anti‑predatory chemical defences in Antarctic benthic fauna

Antarctic benthic communities are largely structured by predation, which leads to the development of mechanisms of repellence. Among those mechanisms, chemical defences are quite extensive, yet poorly understood. To increase knowledge about the role of chemical defences in the Southern Ocean ecosystems, we assessed the incidence of feeding repellents in sessile and vagile invertebrates from nine phyla: Porifera, Cnidaria, Nemertea, Annelida, Mollusca, Bryozoa, Echinodermata, Hemichordata, and Tunicata (Ascidiacea). Samples were collected at depths of 120–789 m in the eastern Weddell Sea and Bouvet Island, and at depths ranging 0–100 m in the South Shetland Islands. When possible, specimens were dissected to study anatomical allocation of repellents. The common, eurybathic sea star Odontaster validus was chosen to perform feeding repellence bioassays, using diethyl ether (lipophilic) and butanol (hydrophilic) extracts from these samples. Among the 75 species tested, 52 % were studied for the first time for anti-predatory properties. Results provide further evidence of the prevalence of defensive metabolites in Antarctic organisms, with 47 % of the species exhibiting significant repellence within their lipophilic extracts. They also suggest a wider use of nonpolar defensive chemicals. Sessile taxa displayed highest repellence activities, with ascidians, cnidarians, and sponges being the most chemically protected. Overall, the present study indicates that natural products by mediating trophic interactions between prey and their potential predators play an important role in structuring Antarctic benthic ecosystems.Versión del editor2,011

Intercloud Architecture Framework for Heterogeneous Cloud Based Infrastructure Services Provisioning On-Demand

Abstract—This paper presents on-going research to develop the Intercloud Architecture Framework (ICAF) that addresses problems in multi-provider multi-domain heterogeneous cloud based infrastructure services and applications integration and interoperability, to allow their on-demand provisioning. The paper refers to existing standards and ongoing standardisation activity in Cloud Computing, in particular, recently published NIST Cloud Computing Reference Architecture (CCRA) and ITU-T JCA-Cloud activity. The proposed ICAF defines four complementary components addressing Intercloud integration and interoperability: multi-layer Cloud Services Model that combines commonly adopted cloud service models, such as IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, in one multilayer model with corresponding inter-layer interfaces; Intercloud Control and Management Plane that supports cloud based applications interaction

Influence of drying process and particle size of persimmon fibre on its physicochemical, antioxidant, hydration and emulsifying properties

[EN] Persimmon, given its current surplus production, could be an alternative source for the extraction of certain interesting ingredients for the food industry and human health, such as fibre. Thus, the aim of this study was to analyse the influence of hot air and freeze-drying, as well as the particle size of fibre extracted from persimmon peels or pulp on their physicochemical, antioxidant, hydration and emulsifying properties, compared to commercial fibres (from peach, lemon, orange and apple). The results showed that both freeze-dried persimmon pulp and freeze-dried peel had better hydration properties and oil holding capacity than other fibres analysed, although the swelling capacity was higher for lemon fibre. Freeze-dried persimmon peel fibre showed higher values of emulsion stability than commercial fibres. Finally, the antioxidant activity of the smallest sized persimmon peel fibre obtained by freeze-drying was higher than that for lemon, orange and peach fibre.The authors acknowledge the support of the Universtitat Politecnica de Valencia and certify that there is no conflict of interest with any financial organization regarding the material discussed in the manuscript.Martínez-Las Heras, R.; Landines, E.; Heredia Gutiérrez, AB.; Castelló Gómez, ML.; Andrés Grau, AM. (2017). Influence of drying process and particle size of persimmon fibre on its physicochemical, antioxidant, hydration and emulsifying properties. Journal of Food Science and Technology. 54(9):1-11. doi:10.1007/s13197-017-2728-zS111549Abdul-Hamid A, Luan YS (2000) Functional properties of dietary fibre prepared from defatted rice bran. Food Chem 68:15–19Adams MR, Moss MO (1997) Microbiología de los alimentos. Acribia, ZaragozaAlós C (2014) La superficie cultivada de caqui crece un 20% en 2013 y se quintuplica en una década. http://www.levante-emv.com/comarcas/2014/01/10/superficie-cultivada-caqui-crece-20/1067085.html . Accessed 21 Nov 2015AOAC (1990) Official methods of analysis of the association of official analytical chemists, vol 2, 15th edn. AOAC, Inc. Method 920.152, USA, pp 917AOAC (2000) Official methods of analysis of AOAC international, 17th edn. Gaithersburg, MD, USAArnal L, Del Río MA (2003) Removing astringency by carbon dioxide and nitrogen-enriched atmospheres in persimmon fruit cv. ‘Rojo brillante’. J Food Sci 68:1516–1518Basanta MF, Ponce NMA, Rojas AM, Stortz CA (2012) Effect of extraction time and temperature on the characteristics of loosely bound pectins from Japanese plum. Carbohydr Polym 89:230–235Chau CF, Wang YT, Wen YL (2007) Different micronization methods significantly improve the functionality of carrot insoluble fibre. Food Chem 100:1402–1408Chen XN, Fan JF, Yue X, Wu XR, Li LT (2008) Radical scavenging activity and phenolic compounds in persimmon (Diospyros kaki L. cv. Mopan). J Food Sci 73:24–28de Escalada Pla MF, González P, Sette P, Portillo F, Rojas AM, Gerschenson LN (2012) Effect of processing on physico-chemical characteristics of dietary fibre concentrates obtained from peach (Prunus persica L.) peel and pulp. Food Res Int 49:184–192de Moraes Crizel T, Jablonski A, de Oliveira Rios A, Rech R, Flôres SH (2013) Dietary fiber from orange byproducts as a potential fat replacer. LWT-Food Sci Technol 53:9–14Femenia A, Lefebvre AC, Thebaudin JY, Robertson JA, Bourgeois CM (1997) Physical and sensory properties of model foods supplemented with cauliflower fibre. J Food Sci 62:635–639Femenia A, Selvendran RR, Ring SG, Robertson JA (1999) Effects of heat treatment and dehydration on properties of cauliflower fiber. J Agric Food Chem 47:728–732Figuerola F, Hurtado ML, Estevez AM, Asenjo F (2005) Fiber concentrate from apple pomace and citrus peel as potential fiber sources for food enrichment. Food Chem 91(3):395–401Garau MC, Simal S, Rosselló C, Femenia A (2007) Effect of air-drying temperature on physico-chemical properties of dietary fibre and antioxidant capacity of orange (Citrus aurantium v. Canoneta) by-products. Food Chem 104:1014–1024George AP, Redpath S (2008) Health and medicinal benefits of persimmon fruit: a review. Adv Hort Sci 22:244–249Gorinstein S, Bartnikowska E, Kulasek G, Zemser M, Trakhtenberg S (1998) Dietary persimmon improves lipid metabolism in rats fed diets containing cholesterol. J Nutr 128:2023–2027Gorinstein S, Kulasek G, Bartnikowska E, Leontowicz M, Zemser M, Morawiec M (2000) The effects of diets, supplemented with either whole persimmon or phenol-free persimmon, on rats fed cholesterol. Food Chem 3:303–308Hernándiz A (1999) El cultivo de kaki en la comunidad valenciana. Cuadernos de tecnología agraria serie fructicultura No. 3 Generalitat Valenciana Conselleria de Agricultura, Pesca y AlimentaciónINE (2014) Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Spanish Statistical Office. http://www.ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/es/categoria.htm?c=Estadistica_P&cid=1254735727106 . Accessed 15 Dec 2014Kethireddipalli P, Hung YC, Phillips RD, McWatters KH (2002) Evaluating the role of cell wall material and soluble protein in the functionality of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) pastes. J Food Sci 67:53–59López G, Ros G, Rincón F, Periago MJ, Martínez MC, Ortuno J (1996) Relationship between physical and hydration properties of soluble and insoluble fiber of artichoke. J Agric Food Chem 44:2773–2778Ministry of Agriculture of Spain (2013). http://www.magrama.gob.es/es/ . Accessed 12 Dec 2013Perez-Jimenez J, Diaz-Rubio ME, Mesias M, Morales FJ, Saura-Calixto F (2014) Evidence for the formation of maillardized insoluble dietary fiber in bread: a specific kind of dietary fiber in thermally processed food. Food Res Int 55:391–396Raghavendra SN, Rastogi NK, Raghavarao KSMS, Tharanathan RN (2004) Dietary fiber from coconut residue: effects of different treatments and particle size on the hydration properties. Eur Food Res Technol 218:563–567Rajendran P, Nandakumar N, Rengarajan T, Palaniswami R, Gnanadhas EN, Lakshminarasaiah U, Nishigaki I (2014) Antioxidants and human diseases. Clin Chim Acta 436:332–347Robertson JA, Monredon FD, Dysseler P, Guillon F, Amadó R (2000) Hydration properties of dietary fiber and resistant starch: a European collaborative study. LWT-Food Sci Technol 33:72–79Sakanaka S, Tachibana Y, Okada Y (2005) Preparation and antioxidant properties of extracts of Japanese persimmon leaf tea (kakinoha-cha). Food Chem 89:569–575Shahidi F, Liyana-Pathirana CM, Wall DS (2006) Antioxidant activity of white and black sesame seeds and their hull fractions. Food Chem 99:478–483Singh U (2001) Functional properties of grain legume flours. J Food Sci Technol 38:191–199Storey M, Anderson P (2014) Income and race/ethnicity influence dietary fiber intake and vegetable consumption. Nutr Res 34:844–850Thebaudin JY, Lefebvre AC, Harrington M, Bourgeois CM (1997) Dietary fibres: nutritional and technological interest. Trends Food Sci Technol 8:41–48Vetter S, Kunzek H (2003) The influence of suspension solution conditions on the rehydration of apple cell wall material. Eur Food Res Technol 216:39–45Yasumatsu K, Sawada K, Maritaka S, Mikasi M, Toda J, Wada T, Ishi K (1972) Whipping and emulsifying properties of soybean products. Agric Biol Chem Tokyo 36:719–727Zha XQ, Wang JH, Yang XF, Liang H, Zhao LL, Bao SH, Zhou BB (2009) Antioxidant properties of polysaccharide fractions with different molecular mass extracted with hot-water from rice bran. Carbohydr Polym 78:570–57

Determinants of the current and future distribution of the West Nile virus mosquito vector Culex pipiens in Spain

Changes in environmental conditions, whether related or not to human activities, are continuously modifying the geographic distribution of vectors, which in turn affects the dynamics and distribution of vector-borne infectious diseases. Determining the main ecological drivers of vector distribution and how predicted changes in these drivers may alter their future distributions is therefore of major importance. However, the drivers of vector populations are largely specific to each vector species and region. Here, we identify the most important human-activity-related and bioclimatic predictors affecting the current distribution and habitat suitability of the mosquito Culex pipiens and potential future changes in its distribution in Spain. We determined the niche of occurrence (NOO) of the species, which considers only those areas lying within the range of suitable environmental conditions using presence data. Although almost ubiquitous, the distribution of Cx. pipiens is mostly explained by elevation and the degree of urbanization but also, to a lesser extent, by mean temperatures during the wettest season and temperature seasonality. The combination of these predictors highlights the existence of a heterogeneous pattern of habitat suitability, with most suitable areas located in the southern and northeastern coastal areas of Spain, and unsuitable areas located at higher altitude and in colder regions. Future climatic predictions indicate a net decrease in distribution of up to 29.55%, probably due to warming and greater temperature oscillations. Despite these predicted changes in vector distribution, their effects on the incidence of infectious diseases are, however, difficult to forecast since different processes such as local adaptation to temperature, vector-pathogen interactions, and human-derived changes in landscape may play important roles in shaping the future dynamics of pathogen transmission.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Contribución del anillamiento al conocimiento y conservación de las aves en España: pasado, presente y futuro

El anillamiento científico de aves es una técnica de estudio con más de un siglo de historia que, probablemente, ha contribuido como ninguna otra metodología al conocimiento de la biología de este grupo faunístico. A pesar del desarrollo de nuevas tecnologías, el marcaje individual de aves mediante anillamiento sigue siendo una técnica plenamente vigente y necesaria. Aunque la evidencia científica sobre los beneficios de la aplicación del anillamiento en la Ornitología moderna es abrumadora, hoy vivimos un proceso de creciente desinformación que cuestiona el anillamiento de aves y su utilidad. Este dosier se ha elaborado con el fin de ofrecer una visión actualizada de la utilidad del anillamiento científico de aves en España. Ha sido elaborado por un nutrido grupo de expertos asociados a universidades y centros de investigación que abarcan buena parte de las áreas del conocimiento implicadas en el estudio y conservación de las aves. El dosier se divide en cuatro grandes apartados. (1) En primer lugar se hace una introducción sobre el anillamiento como metodología y se resumen las grandes cifras del anillamiento en España donde, hasta la fecha, se han anillado algo más de 10.000.000 de aves y se han registrado 700.000 recuperaciones (en la actualidad se anillan unas 380.000 aves y se obtienen unas 30.000 recuperaciones anualmente). (2) En un segundo bloque se resume la aplicación del anillamiento en diferentes aproximaciones al estudio científico de las aves, que van apoyadas por numerosas referencias bibliográficas sobre trabajos llevados a cabo en España. Gracias al anillamiento se han podido abordar múltiples estudios sobre movimientos y migraciones, reproducción, demografía, enfermedades, morfología, muda e identificación y taxonomía. (3) Un tercer bloque se centra en la utilidad del anillamiento más allá de la investigación básica. Es el caso de la conservación, la gestión de especies cinegéticas y el estudio de los impactos del cambio global sobre las aves, por un lado, y la educación ambiental, formación y ciencia ciudadana, por otro. (4) Finalmente, se abordan algunas ideas sobre los retos actuales y perspectivas de futuro del anillamiento en España

A Multicenter, Randomized, Open-Labeled, Parallel Group Trial of Sildenafil in Alcohol-Associated Erectile Dysfunction: The Impact on Psychosocial Outcomes

To examine the effect of sildenafil on erectile dysfunction (ED) and psychosocial outcomes in alcohol-dependent (AD) men, 108 men with these diagnoses were randomly assigned to either take sildenafil (50 mg) as add-on to standard treatment for AD, or the same treatment without sildenafil, for 12 weeks. Only 50 patients in sildenafil group and 51 in control group twice completed the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) and a battery of self-report questionnaires. IIEF scores and psychosocial functioning, self-esteem and support from friends improved only for sildenafil-treated patients (P < 0.001). The high effect sizes suggest that the observed benefits are unlikely to be a placebo effect, although their unspecific nature could not be ruled out. In men with ED associated with AD, sildenafil improves both ED and psychosocial outcomes. Further placebo-controlled clinical trial is warranted