High-Throughput System for the Early Quantification of Major Architectural Traits in Olive Breeding Trials Using UAV Images and OBIA Techniques

The need for the olive farm modernization have encouraged the research of more efficient crop management strategies through cross-breeding programs to release new olive cultivars more suitable for mechanization and use in intensive orchards, with high quality production and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. The advancement of breeding programs are hampered by the lack of efficient phenotyping methods to quickly and accurately acquire crop traits such as morphological attributes (tree vigor and vegetative growth habits), which are key to identify desirable genotypes as early as possible. In this context, an UAV-based high-throughput system for olive breeding program applications was developed to extract tree traits in large-scale phenotyping studies under field conditions. The system consisted of UAV-flight configurations, in terms of flight altitude and image overlaps, and a novel, automatic, and accurate object-based image analysis (OBIA) algorithm based on point clouds, which was evaluated in two experimental trials in the framework of a table olive breeding program, with the aim to determine the earliest date for suitable quantifying of tree architectural traits. Two training systems (intensive and hedgerow) were evaluated at two very early stages of tree growth: 15 and 27 months after planting. Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) were automatically and accurately generated by the algorithm as well as every olive tree identified, independently of the training system and tree age. The architectural traits, specially tree height and crown area, were estimated with high accuracy in the second flight campaign, i.e. 27 months after planting. Differences in the quality of 3D crown reconstruction were found for the growth patterns derived from each training system. These key phenotyping traits could be used in several olive breeding programs, as well as to address some agronomical goals. In addition, this system is cost and time optimized, so that requested architectural traits could be provided in the same day as UAV flights. This high-throughput system may solve the actual bottleneck of plant phenotyping of "linking genotype and phenotype," considered a major challenge for crop research in the 21st century, and bring forward the crucial time of decision making for breeders

Igualdad de género percibida en el reparto de cuidados y salud mental: impacto de la crisis sanitaria por COVID-19 en una muestra de mujeres andaluzas

The restrictions during COVID-19 seem to have had an unequal impact on the mental health and habits of the population in terms of gender. The literature states that crises such as this have a more negative impact on women. We explored perceived overload due to household chores and informal caregiving in a sample of Andalusian women, their perception of an increase in this overload after the pandemic, and its possible effect on mental health. To do this, we administered an online retrospective questionnaire to explore the perception of 166 women on care economy variables by estimating hours, effort, overload, and sharing of chores at three different times: before the onset of the pandemic, during lockdown, and at the time of data collection (one year after lockdown). We also measured depression, anxiety, stress, and life satisfaction at the time of data collection through validated scales. Results showed that women estimated significantly more time and effort on household chores and caregiving for the lockdown period. The retrospective estimation of the sharing of tasks was similar over the three moments but women perceived that they did more than their heterosexual partners. One in four women perceived an increase in caregiving overload after the pandemic. Women who felt mental overload due to caregiving scored higher in depression than those who felt physical overload. Considering these findings, and despite the limitations of this study, the pandemic may have led to an increase in informal caregiving overload for many women. Furthermore, the relation between depression and overload one year after lockdown was demonstrated. Measures are required to reduce the impact of gender in crises by designing prevention policies and programs that promote co-responsibility.Las restricciones vividas durante la COVID-19 parecen haber causado un impacto diferencial de género en la salud mental y en los hábitos de gran parte de la población. Asimismo, la literatura indica que las situaciones de crisis como la vivida tienen peor impacto en las mujeres. El objetivo de este trabajo es explorar la sobrecarga percibida por las tareas del hogar y cuidados informales en una muestra de mujeres andaluzas, su percepción de un incremento en la misma tras la pandemia, y su posible relación con variables de salud mental. Para ello se administró un cuestionario online para explorar la percepción de 166 mujeres en variables de economía de cuidados estimando retrospectivamente las horas, esfuerzo, sobrecarga y reparto de tareas del hogar para el momento de recogida de datos (un año tras el confinamiento), para el momento previo al inicio de la pandemia y durante el confinamiento. También se administraron instrumentos validados para medir depresión, ansiedad, estrés y satisfacción vital en el momento de recogida de datos. Los resultados mostraron una percepción de mayor dedicación y esfuerzo debido a los cuidados y tareas del hogar estimado para el momento de confinamiento. El reparto de tareas se estimó similar para los tres momentos sobre los que se preguntó, y percibieron que ellas hacían más estas tareas que sus parejas heterosexuales. Una de cada cuatro mujeres percibió un aumento de la sobrecarga debida a cuidados tras la pandemia y los niveles de depresión fueron mayores en mujeres que sentían una sobrecarga mental debida a los cuidados, por encima de quien identificó sobrecarga física. Aun considerando las limitaciones de este trabajo, la pandemia ha podido suponer un incremento en la sobrecarga por los cuidados informales para muchas mujeres y, evidenciada la relación entre depresión y sobrecarga, podría entenderse que esta relación también se diera durante el confinamiento. Se requieren medidas que reduzcan el impacto de género en situaciones de crisis y políticas y programas de prevención que fomenten la corresponsabilidad.This work has been funded by Fundación María Fulmen (Sevilla) within their Third Call for Grants for Projects Aimed at Women Promotion (2021) [III Convocatoria de ayudas 2021 a proyectos dirigidos a la promoción de mujeres]

Las bibliotecas públicas ante la brecha digital: tercera edad y discapacidad

Ponencias de la Segunda Conferencia internacional sobre brecha digital e inclusión social, celebrada del 28 al 30 de octubre de 2009 en la Universidad Carlos III de MadridLa biblioteca pública tiene el deber de implicarse en el desarrollo personal, educativo y cultural de los ciudadanos a los que sirve. Para ello debe ofrecer servicios especiales a los grupos que, en nuestro caso, por edad o por discapacidad, no pueden acceder a los servicios habituales de la biblioteca. Estos servicios les permitirán mejorar su calidad de vida y abrirles nuevas oportunidades en la sociedad. Ocupándonos de estos colectivos evitamos que acaben quedando aislados, y que la brecha digital se vea reducida e incluso eliminada. Para ello las bibliotecas ofrecerán servicios en los que puedan participar activamente, se les dará información en la web y también formación para que puedan consultarla y saber manejarse en ella sin problemas. Por último, la Web pone a nuestro alcance una serie de servicios que hace poco tiempo eran impensables, y se prestan sin problemas de accesibilidad a los mismos. Ofrecemos recursos disponibles en Internet específicos para estos colectivos, aunque también pueden extrapolarse a otros sectores desfavorecidos de la sociedad

Enantiomeric separation of panthenol by Capillary Electrophoresis. Analysis of commercial formulations and toxicity evaluation on non-target organisms

The first CE methodology enabling the enantiomeric separation of panthenol was developed in this work. Electrokinetic chromatography with cyclodextrins (CD-EKC) was the CE mode employed for this purpose. The effect of different experimental variables such as the nature and concentration of the cyclodextrin, the temperature and the separation voltage was investigated. The best enantiomeric separation was obtained with 25 mM (2-carboxyethyl)-?-CD (CE-?-CD) in 100 mM borate buffer (pH 9.0), with a separation voltage of 30 kV and a temperature of 30?C. Under these conditions, an enantiomeric resolution of 2.0 in an analysis time of 4.2 min was obtained, being the biologically active enantiomer D-panthenol (dexpanthenol) the second-migrating enantiomer. The analytical characteristics of the method were evaluated in terms of precision, accuracy, selectivity, linearity, LOD, and LOQ, showing a good performance for the quantitation of dexpanthenol in cosmetic and pharmaceutical formulations. The enantiomeric impurity (L-panthenol) could be detected at a 0.1 % level with respect to the majority enantiomer, allowing to accomplish the requirements of the ICH guidelines. The method was also successfully applied to study the stability of panthenol under abiotic and biotic conditions and its toxicity on non-target organisms (the aquatic plant Spirodela polyrhiza)

Stereoselective separation of sulfoxaflor by electrokinetic chromatography and applications to stability and ecotoxicological studies

An Electrokinetic Chromatography method was developed for the stereoselective analysis of sulfoxaflor, a novel sulfoximine agrochemical with two chiral centers. A screening with fourteen negatively charged CDs was performed and Succinyl-?-CD (Succ-?-CD) was selected. A 15 mM concentration of this CD in a 100 mM borate buffer (pH 9.0), using an applied voltage of 20 kV and a temperature of 15 ?C made possible the baseline separation of the four stereoisomers of sulfoxaflor in 13.8 min. The evaluation of the linearity, accuracy, precision, LODs and LOQs of the method developed showed its performance to be applied to the analysis of commercial agrochemical formulations, the evaluation of the stability of sulfoxaflor stereoisomers under biotic and abiotic conditions, and to predict, for the first time, sulfoxaflor toxicity (using real concentrations instead of nominal concentrations), on two non-target aquatic organisms, the freshwater plant, Spirodela polyrhiza, and the marine bacterium, Vibrio fischer

A shortened version of the Headache-Specific Locus of Control Scale in Spanish population

Background and Objective.— Further questions need to be addressed in the evaluation of locus of control (LOC) in headaches, such as reducing scale length and adapting them to diverse cultural environments, as in the case of Spain. Methods.— We perform a confirmatory factor analysis of the most outstanding items contained in the Headache-Specific Locus of Control Scale in the responses of 118 patients suffering from headaches who received assistance at public health care centers in the province of Seville (Spain). Results.— The adjustment was positive, thus confirming the original structure of 3 factors: internal locus of control (LOC-I), health care professionals' LOC, and chance locus of control (LOC-C). Scale validation was performed by examining associations both with headache clinical parameters and psychological measures. The latter included self-efficacy, internal language, coping strategies, and pain behaviors. LOC-C results deserve special mention, supporting the idea that it seems more important to avoid that patients develop LOC-C rather than boosting LOC-I and LOC-P expectations. Conclusions.— The so-called Headache-Specific Locus of Control Scale-Short Form 9 has turned out to be a parsimonious (9 items), valid, and reliable measure of headache LOC

Letter Knowledge and Learning Sequence of Graphemes in Spanish: Precursors of Early Reading

Este artículo aborda una investigación sobre el valor predictivo del conocimiento de las grafías para el rendimiento lector. Los estudios precedentes han mostrado una fuerte relación entre el conocimiento delas grafías en edades tempranas y los procesos de decodificación. Nuestro estudio indaga sobre el proceso de aprendizaje del código alfabético español centrado en los grafemas y analiza el poder predictivo del conocimiento de las grafías para las habilidades de decodificación en la lectura inicial. Para ello, se apoya en una metodología longitudinal prospectiva y en el uso de instrumentos estandarizados (PROLEC-R yBIL) aplicado a 362 alumnos y alumnas de 4 y 5 a˜nos. Los datos obtenidos se analizan mediante regresión múltiple, utilizando modelos de ecuaciones estructurales. Nuestra investigación subraya la relevancia de la secuencia de aprendizaje de los grafemas en edades tempranas, diferenciándose la secuencia de aprendizaje en español con respecto a la lengua inglesa. En español, la secuencia de aprendizaje de los grafemas es independiente de la secuencia de aprendizaje de los fonemas. Asimismo, este artículo subraya la importancia de una secuencia de aprendizaje de estas grafías para predecir el desarrollo de las habilidades de decodificación. Este estudio concluye que las prácticas educativas tempranas que consideran el nombre y fonema de las grafías y la secuencia determinada en el aprendizaje de los grafemas optimizan el rendimiento lector de los niños y niñas de lengua española.The current article addresses a research on the predictive value of knowing the letters within the ini-tial reading performance. Recent studies have shown a strong link between the knowledge of letters atearly ages and the decoding processes. Our study deepens into the learning process of the Spanish alp-habet code, focused on the graphemes, and analyzes the predictive power of knowing of letters for thedecoding abilities in initial reading. To this end, the research relies on a longitudinal prospective met-hodology and makes use of standardized instruments (PROLEC-R and BIL) applied to 362 students aged4 and 5. The data obtained are analyzed through multiple regression, using structural equation models.Our research outlines the relevance of learning the sequence of graphemes from early ages, differen-tiating the sequence of learning in Spanish with respect to English language. In Spanish, the learningsequence of the graphemes is independent of the learning sequence of phonemes. Moreover, this articleemphasizes the importance of a learning sequence of these letters, in order to foresee the developmentof the decoding abilities. This study concludes that the early educational practices that take into accountthe letters name and phoneme, as well as the concrete sequence in graphemes learning, optimize thereading performance of Spanish speaking children

Les profils de locus de contrôle en cas de céphalées et de douleur chronique

BACKGROUND: Locus of control (LOC) is related to the impact of headaches and chronic pain; however, literature evidence regarding LOC is not always consistent. Several authors consider this to be due, in part, to the separate interpretation of LOC factors, during which the interaction among them is ignored. In 1982, Wallston and Wallston proposed eight possible LOC health patterns depending on whether the individual scored high or low in each of three dimensions. OBJECTIVE: To identify these LOC patterns in patients with headaches and chronic pain, and to validate them in terms of their association with a selection of the main pain indicators. METHODS: A total of 228 individuals were recruited at three public centres in Seville, Spain. Participants completed a semistructured clinical interview and several questionnaires assessing psychological variables related to pain. The main statistical analyses used were two-step cluster analysis and ANCOVA. RESULTS: The six-cluster solution was optimal. The patterns observed coincided with: the believer in control; the yea-sayer; the pure chance; the pure internal; the pure professional; and the nay-sayer clusters. The double external or type VI clusters were not observed. Clusters could be classified from the best to the worst adjustment to chronic pain. CONCLUSIONS: These results support the empirical validity of the theoretical model of LOC patterns proposed in 1982 by Wallston and Wallston among a chronic pain population. The analysis of patterns provides more accurate information regarding the adjustment to pain compared with analysis of the LOC factors separately.Le locus de contrôle (LdC) est lié aux répercussions des céphalées et de la douleur chronique. Cependant, les données probantes tirées des publications ne sont pas toujours compatibles. Plusieurs auteurs pensent que ce phénomène est partiellement attribuable à l’interprétation distincte des facteurs de LdC, qui néglige l’interaction entre les facteurs. En 1982, Wallston et Wallston ont proposé huit profils de santé de LdC possibles selon les résultats faibles ou élevés de l’individu dans chacune des trois dimensions. OBJECTIF: Déterminer les profils de LdC chez les patients souffrant de céphalées et de douleur chronique et en valider l’association avec une sélection des principaux indicateurs de douleur. MÉTHODOLOGIE: Au total, 228 personnes ont été recrutées dans trois centres publics de Séville, en Espagne. Les participants ont rempli une entrevue clinique semi-structurée et plusieurs questionnaires évaluant les variables psychologiques liées à la douleur. Les principales analyses statistiques utilisées étaient des analyses de grappe en deux étapes et l’analyse de covariance. RÉSULTATS: La solution à six grappes était optimale. Les profils observés coïncidaient avec la grappe des convaincus du contrôle, des positifs, des hasards purs, des internes purs, des professionnels purs et des négatifs. On n’a pas observé de grappes externes doubles ou de type VI. Les grappes pourraient être classées de la meilleure à la pire adaptation à la douleur chronique. CONCLUSIONS: Les présents résultats étayent la validité empirique du modèle théorique de profils de LdC qu’ont proposé Wallston et Wallston en 1982 au sein de la population souffrant de douleur chronique. L’analyse des profils fournit des renseignements plus précis à l’égard du soulagement de la douleur par rapport à l’analyse des facteurs distincts de LdC

e-Encuestas Probabilísticas II. Los Métodos de Muestreo Probabilístico

En este trabajo se aborda fundamentalmente el estudio de las encuestas que utilizan la herramienta de Internet para su realización. En concreto su objetivo se centra en el planteamiento y desarrollo de diseños muestrales probabilísticos que permitan realizar encuestas desde la World Wide Web con el rigor necesario para poder inferir los resultados obtenidos a la población objeto de estudio, con determinada fiabilidad.In this work there is approached fundamentally the study of the surveys that use the tool of Internet for its accomplishment. We centres on the exposition and development of probabilistic sampling designs that allow to realize surveys from the World Wide Web with the necessary accuracy to be able to infer the results obtained to the population under study, with certain reliability

Innovative non-targeted liquid chromatography fingerprinting approach for authenticating tigernuts under Protected Designation of Origin quality seal

The authors are deeply grateful to the ‘Valencia’ PDO Manage- ment Body for providing the samples for this study. In addition, AMJC acknowledges the grant (RYC2021-031993-I) funded by MCIN/AEI/501100011033 and ‘European Union NextGeneration EU/PRTR’. Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Gra- nada / CBUA.BACKGROUND: Tigernut is a typical foodstuff from a specific region of Valencia (Spain) called ‘L'Horta Nord’, where it is com- mercialized under a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) as Chufa de Valencia (‘Valencia's tigernut’). PDO-recognized tiger- nuts present unique characteristics associated with their particular production region. Increasing demand and the associated expansion of its cultivation area has made necessary an exhaustive quality control to check the geographical origin and quality seal. RESULTS: In this work, a new multivariate analytical method capable of authenticating the PDO quality seal of tigernut samples was developed. Tigernut fat fraction was extracted under optimal conditions, applying the methodology of design of experi- ments. The analytical method combined fingerprinting methodology and chemometric tools to observe the natural grouping of samples using the exploratory analysis method and to develop classification models (partial least squares–discriminatory analysis; PLS-DA) to discriminate between two sample categories: (i) PDO tigernuts; and (ii) NON-PDO tigernuts. CONCLUSION: The built PLS-DA model demonstrated 100% accuracy, high sensitivity and specificity, revealing that the tigernut fat fraction can be applied to authenticate the PDO quality seal.Grant (RYC2021-031993-I) funded by MCIN/AEI/501100011033 and ‘European Union NextGeneration EU/PRTR’Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Granada / CBU