Uninformed sacrifice: evidence against long-range alarm transmission in foraging ants exposed to a localized perturbation

It is well stablished that danger information can be transmitted by ants through relatively small distances, provoking either a state of alarm when they move away from potentially dangerous stimulus, or charge toward it aggressively. There is almost no knowledge if danger information can be transmitted along large distances. In this paper, we perturb leaf cutting ants of the species Atta insularis while they forage in their natural evioronment at a certain point of the foraging line, so ants make a "U" turn to escape from the danger zone and go back to the nest. Our results strongly suggest that those ants do not transmit "danger information" to other nestmates marching towards the danger area. The individualistic behavior of the ants returning from the danger zone results in a depression of the foraging activity due to the systematic sacrifice of non-informed individuals.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure

Electrocatalysis: Fundamentals and Applications

Electrocatalysis is a special field in Electrochemistry that hasgained a special growth after the late eighties due to theapplication of new hybrid techniques. However, most of theapplications have run for academic purposes but not fortechnical uses in the industry. Nowadays, the application ofnew concepts of electrocatalysis for industrial electrochemi-cal processes has appeared as a necessity and not only attract-ing attention for chemists but for engineers. Therefore,industrial electrocatalytic processes have only been presentedin the literature from the chemical engineering point of viewwith few further electrochemical explanations and mainlyduring the late seventies. The design and preparation of anelectrocatalyst (electrodes for technological uses) are basedon new concepts such as a controlled surface roughness,atomic topographic profiles, defined catalytic centre sites,atomic rearrangements, and phase transitions in the courseof the electrochemical reactions.Instituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicada

Stockout risk analysis and minimization applied to hospital pharmacy management

Permiso del editor Aula Médica para subir a idUS la versión editorial del artículoDeterminar el valor que debería tomar el stock de seguridad de los fármacos dispensados en un hospital de tercer nivel en función del nivel de riesgo y del número de días que se desee resistir sin rotura de stock

Foraging at the Edge of Chaos: Internal Clock versus External Forcing

Activity rhythms in animal groups arise both from external changes in the environment, as well as from internal group dynamics. These cycles are reminiscent of physical and chemical systems with quasiperiodic and even chaotic behavior resulting from “autocatalytic” mechanisms. We use nonlinear differential equations to model how the coupling between the self-excitatory interactions of individuals and external forcing can produce four different types of activity rhythms: quasiperiodic, chaotic, phase locked, and displaying over or under shooting. At the transition between quasiperiodic and chaotic regimes, activity cycles are asymmetrical, with rapid activity increases and slower decreases and a phase shift between external forcing and activity. We find similar activity patterns in ant colonies in response to varying temperature during the day. Thus foraging ants operate in a region of quasiperiodicity close to a cascade of transitions leading to chaos. The model suggests that a wide range of temporal structures and irregularities seen in the activity of animal and human groups might be accounted for by the coupling between collectively generated internal clocks and external forcings

226Ra, 228Ra and 40K as tracers of erosion and accumulation processes: A 3-year study on a beach with different sediment dynamics

The aim of this study is to analyse the role of natural radionuclides 226Ra, 228Ra, 40K and unsupported 210Pb (210Pbex), as erosion and accumulation process tracers. For this purpose, a complex system, including both the characteristic dynamics of a closed beach and those associated with a beach open to wave action, was studied. A 3-year study of monthly variation of 226Ra, 228Ra, 40K and 210Pbex was carried out at Las Canteras beach, on the Island of Gran Canaria (Spain), covering several erosion and accumulation periods. A correlation analysis, ANOVA test and Tukey’s Honestly Significant Difference (HSD) Test proved that the marine erosion and accumulation agents influenced the activity concentration values found for the different radionuclides. Moreover, the geochemical analysis of samples from maximum and minimum activity concentration values showed that the natural radionuclides studied could be suitable tracers for studying beach sediment dynamics in erosion and accumulation periods

Nunduva, a new marine genus of Rivulariaceae (Nostocales, Cyanobacteria) from marine rocky shores

Several populations of a non–tapering and tapering, fasciculated, single and geminate false branch- ing heterocytous cyanobacterium were collected from rocky shores in the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. The populations were provisionally placed in Brasilonema based on morphology, but upon sequencing of both environmental and culture material it was discovered that the populations/cultures belonged to the Rivulariaceae, in a marine subclade of the family containing Kyrtuthrix huatulcensis. In culture, the taxon exhibited tapering in isopolar filaments, providing further evidence that it was a member of the rivulariacean clade. Based on molecular data for other cyanobacteria within the rivulariacean clade, we identified at least three more species morphologically distinguishable from the Brasilonema–like material, all of which show more pronounced ta- pering. These cyanobacteria include not only tropical marine strains, but also a strain isolated from the English coastline in the Atlantic Ocean. We propose a new genus and four species for members of this distinctive clade, Nunduva fasciculata gen. nov., sp. nov., N. kania sp. nov., N. biania sp. nov., and N. britannica sp. nov. Other strains that others and we have isolated are sister to Nunduva and may eventually be placed within this genus, but at present, we consider the evidence for inclusion in Nunduva to be insufficient

Tutoría entre pares: una experiencia de asesoramiento entre iguales

Los programas de acompañamiento a estudiantes para el reforzamiento del aprovechamiento académico cada vez se hacen más necesarios en las instituciones educativas, en el contexto y rasgos de las nuevas generaciones de educandos. El presente trabajo describe la experiencia de una institución de educación superior, sobre la tutoría de pares derivada de su modelo de tutorías. Se presentan los hallazgos explorados con el método cualitativo desde la percepción de los tutores en cuanto a sus vivencias en el programa y el impacto de su involucramiento a nivel personal y en su formación profesional. Los resultados del estudio reportan como principal acción tutorial realizada, el apoyo académico, seguido del acompañamiento en aspectos personales. Así mismo, se destacan algunos valores tales como: confianza, relación personal, perseverancia, y la identificación de la personalidad y talentos del tutorado; como elementos clave para la eficacia de la tutoría entre pares. Como producto de esta investigación se ratificó que el proceso de acompañamiento genera aprendizajes e impactos favorables en la formación integral en ambos sentidos, tanto para el tutor como para el estudiante quien recibe el apoyo

Multiclasificadores basados en aprendizaje automático como herramienta para la evaluación del perfil neurotóxico de líquidos iónicos

Los líquidos iónicos poseen un perfil fisicoquímico único, el cual los provee de un amplio rango de aplicaciones. Su variabilidad estructural casi ilimitada permite su diseño para tareas específicas. Sin embargo, su sustentabilidad, específicamente su seguridad desde el punto de vista toxicológico, ha sido frecuentemente cuestionada. Este último aspecto limita significativamente el cumplimiento de las regulaciones establecidas por la Unión Europea para el registro, evaluación, autorización y restricción de compuestosquímicos (REACH), así como su aplicación final. Debido a que la mayoría de los líquidos iónicos no han sido sintetizados, se hace evidente la importancia del desarrollo de herramientas quimioinformáticas que, de forma eficiente, permitan evaluar el potencial toxicológico de estos compuestos. En este sentido, el uso combinado de múltiples clasificadores ha demostrado superar las limitaciones de desempeño asociadas al uso de clasificadores individuales. En el presente trabajo fueron evaluadas varias estrategias alternativas de multiclasificadores basados en técnicas de aprendizaje automático supervisado, como herramientas para la evaluación del perfil neurotóxico de líquidos iónicos basado en la inhibición de la enzima acetilcolinesterasa, como indicador de neurotoxicidad. Se obtuvieron dos multiclasificadores con una alta capacidad predictiva sobre un conjunto de validación externa (no utilizado en el proceso de aprendizaje de los modelos). De acuerdo a los resultados obtenidos el 96% de un conjunto de nuevos líquidos iónicos podrá ser correctamente clasificado con la utilizaciónde estos multiclasificadores, los cuales constituyen herramientas de toma de decisión útiles en el campo del diseño y desarrollo de nuevos líquidos iónicos sustentables