Feasibility and reliability of a Physical Fitness test battery in individuals with Down Syndrome

Background: Down syndrome (DS) is a genetic disorder that occurs because of an abnormal division between cells that results in an extra copy of chromosome 21. Some studies show that physical exercise in people with DS increases some cognitive capacities, such as memory, and improves the quality of life. Aim: The main aim of this study was to perform an analysis of the reliability and feasibility of the SAMU-Disability Fitness (DISFIT) battery in adults with DS. Methods: A cross-sectional study with a test–retest design was performed in a maximum interval of 2 weeks in 37 subjects (11 women and 26 men) aged between 21 and 58 years old with DS. Eight field-based fitness tests were proposed to assess the physical fitness (PF) of adults with DS: Body Mass Index (BMI), Waist Circumference (WC), the Timed Up and Go test (TUG), the Deep Trunk Flexibility test (DTF), the Hand Grip test (HG), the Timed Stand Test (TST), the 30-s Sit-Up (SUP) and the 6-Min Walk Test (6MWT). Results: The intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) in all the tests was good and high (>0.80), except for the 6MWT, whose reliability was fair. Conclusion: The SAMU-DISFIT battery is a reliable and feasible physical fitness battery which has been created with the purpose of establishing tests which measure the four basic components of PF (flexibility, cardiorespiratory fitness, musculoskeletal fitness and motor fitness) in adults with D

Counteracting effects of soil biota on emergence and growth of herbaceous plants

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7972878Background Plants condition the biotic composition of their rhizosphere. In turn, this plant legacy on the soil biota may affect the performance of plants recruiting in their vicinity. Unravelling how plant-soil legacies drive plant recruitment is key to understand vegetation dynamics and plant community assembly. Studies on the topic usually focus on the effects of soil microbiota as a whole, while the relative role of different guilds of soil organisms in the plant recruitment processes is not usually dissected. Aims Here, we used soils of Mediterranean woody plant species to test whether arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and small-size microbiota (< 50 µm) (MB) affect the germination success and growth of eight herbaceous plants. Results We documented a significant increase in seedling emergence probability when small-sized MB was present and no effect of AMF. In contrast, the aboveground plant biomass decreased with the presence of MB and increased with that of AMF. Interestingly, those plants growing in the absence of MB and in soils from woody plants associated with higher AMF richness developed higher aboveground biomass. Conclusion This study brings new evidence on how soil microbial communities can determine the performance of their associated herb community, and also, how the effects of different microbial guilds may change across the plant ontogeny. Given these results, the differential effect of soil microbial functional guilds should be considered to better understand plant soil legacies and feedbacks, potentially driving plant recruitment and community assembly.Universidad de Jaén/CBUAThe Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MEC) throughout COEXMED II project (CGL2015-69118-C2-1-P)University of Jaén through Acción 9 programme.Project LifeWatch-SUMHAL-WP5 (LWE2103014) (5.1.7

Compatibility studies between an indirect injection diesel injector and biodiesel with different composition: Stationary tests

Compatibility between automotive materials and biodiesel is key for engine manufacturers, since failures occur in the medium term and may significantly reduce engine useful life. There are only few studies about compatibility between biodiesel and pure materials, but all agree there is biodiesel degradation and material corrosion beyond desirable values. This manuscript shows results about the compatibility behavior of an indirect injection diesel engine injector, with different types of biodiesel (from rapeseed, soybean, coconut and palm oil). Tests were carried out by static immersion of actual injector parts inside biodiesel, at room temperature, during 1100 h. To analyze elemental composition of each injector part and potential compatibility problems, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) were used. Visual variations were detected in both biodiesel and metals, showing the need of a further quantification of both piece mass loss and biodiesel acid value increase. Metallic oxides on the surface were detected by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). After immersion tests, mass variation in alloying elements of each piece (behaving differently depending on their composition), besides biodiesel acid value differences, were found. In this sense, pieces with aluminum alloys showed the highest corrosion (mass loss) compared to those without aluminum in their structure, no matter the unsaturation degree and chain length of biodiesel. In sum, there were not conclusive results about the influence of biodiesel composition over injector materials. However, it was found that European biodiesel standard EN 14214 should include other parameters than just copper band corrosion, to determine material deterioration, provided that aluminum alloys and other metals react with biodiesel

Universal Kinetic Model to Simulate Two-Step Biodiesel Production from Vegetable Oil

To date, to simulate biodiesel production, kinetic models from different authors have been provided, each one usually applied to the use of a specific vegetable oil and experimental conditions. Models, which may include esterification, besides transesterification simulation, were validated with their own experimental conditions and raw material. Moreover, information about the intermediate reaction steps, besides catalyst concentration variation, is either rare or nonexistent. Here, in this work, a universal mathematical model comprising the chemical kinetics of a two-step (esterification and transesterification) vegetable oil-based biodiesel reaction is proposed. The proposed model is universal, as it may simulate any vegetable oil biodiesel reaction from the literature. For this purpose, a mathematical model using the software MATLAB has been designed. Using the mathematical model, the estimation of mass variation with time, of both reactants and products, as well as glyceride conversion and homogeneous catalyst concentration variation (instead of only alcohol/catalyst solution) are allowed. Moreover, analysis of the influence of some important variables affecting the reaction kinetics of biodiesel production (e.g., catalyst concentration), along with comparison and model validation with data from different authors may be carried out. In addition, Supplementary material with a collection of 290 rate constants, derived from 55 different experiments using different vegetable oils and conditions is provided

Paleoecología de los corales tabulados del biostromo de Colle (Emsiense, Zona Cantábrica)

El registro sedimentario del Devónico de la Zona Cantábrica muestra hasta siete episodios arrecifales, muy diferentes en intensidad, importancia de los distintos organismos constructores, rasgos ecológicos generales y morfología final de las biocontrucciones. El tercero de estos episodios, pero el primero de cierta entidad, tuvo lugar en la parte baja del Emsiense superior (intervalo 11 de García-Alcalde, 1996). En la provincia de León, este episodio aparece especialmente bien registrado en la localidad de Colle, donde se sitúa un yacimiento clásico, conocido y muy apreciado desde los trabajos de la Comisión para formar la Carta Geológica de Madrid y General del Reino. Un detallado análisis sobre el desarrollo histórico y el contenido fosilífero de este yacimiento puede consultarse en los trabajos de Álvarez (1999a, b)

The structure and ecological function of the interactions between plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi through multilayer networks

Arbuscular mycorrhizas are one of the most frequent mutualisms in terrestrial ecosystems. Although studies on plant mutualistic interaction networks suggest that they may leave their imprint on plant community structure and dynamics, this has not been explicitly assessed. Thus, in the context of plant-fungi interactions, studies explicitly linking plant-mycorrhizal fungi interaction networks with key ecological functions of plant communities, such as recruitment, are lacking. 2. In this study, we analyse, in two Mediterranean forest communities of southern Iberian Peninsula, how plant-arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) networks modulate plant-plant recruitment interaction networks. We use a new approach integrating plant-AMF and plant recruitment networks into a single multilayer structure. We also develop a new metric (Interlayer Node Neighbourhood Integration, INNI) to explore the impact of a given node on the structure across layers. 3. The similarity of plant species in their AMF communities is positively related to the observed frequency of recruitment interactions in the field. Results reveal that properties of plant-AMF networks, such as plant degree and centrality, can explain about the properties of plant recruitment network, such as in-and out-degree (i.e. sapling bank and canopy service) and its modular structure. However, these relationships differed between the two forest communities. Finally, we identify particular AMF that contribute to integrate the neighbourhood of recruitment interactions between plants. 4. This multilayer network approach is useful to explore the role of plant-AMF interactions on recruitment, a key ecosystem function enhanced by fungi. Results provide evidence that the complex structure of plant-AMF interactions impacts functional and structurally plant-plant interactions, which in turn may potentiallyMinisterio de Ciencia e Innovación, Grant/ Award Number: CGL2015-69118- C2- 2- P and PGC2018-100966- B- I0

A new Middle Devonian heterocoral from Spain

p. 531-546Most of the heterocorals described up to now from strata older than Famennian are of doubtful affinities. Numerous speci− mens of the new genus and new species here described were collected during a sedimentological study of the Santa Lucía Formation in La Pola de Gordon (León province,Cantabrian Mountains,NW Spain). Stellaphyllia luciensis gen. et sp. nov. is characterized by cylindrical coralla,with a diameter of less than 2 mm and more than 2 cm long,having stellate to more or less rounded outer profile. Four to six septa,less frequently seven,are cojoined axially by a short oblique septum. The few tabulae present are steeply arched. The microstructure of the septa and interseptal elements shows thin elongate microlamellae parallel to a median plate which is granular in appearance. The new genus dated to the lower Eifelian age could be important in understanding the early phylogeny and origin of the order Heterocorallia.S

El género Parastriatopora Sokolov (Tabulata) en el Devónico Inferior de la Península Ibérica

Parastriatopora Sokolov es un género de coral tabulado que generó esqueletos coloniales cerioides y de morfología groseramente ramificada. Desde un punto de vista paleoecológico, es un coral habitual en ambientes con tasas de sedimentación relativamente altas, apareciendo en niveles no bioconstruidos, de litología carbonatada pero con un alto contenido en terrígenos finos. En estas facies, Parastriatopora aparece ocupando delgados niveles de carácter margoso, junto a minúsculos corales tabulados aulopóridos de la familia Pyrgiidae (especialmente el género Cladochonus) y, en ocasiones, corales rugosos de la denominada “fauna de Cyathaxonia”

Elucidating the Effect of Nutritional Imbalances of N and K on the Infection of Verticillium dahliae in Olive

The effect of mineral nutrition on wilt diseases has been previously reported in many herbaceous hosts, though such an effect on Verticillium wilt in olive (Olea europaea L.; VWO), caused by Verticillium dahliae, is still uncertain. Field observations reveal that nitrogen (N) excess or imbalances of N-potassium (K) favour VWO epidemics. However, this has yet to be demonstrated. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the influences of nutritional imbalances of N and K in V. dahliae infection of olive. To this end, adjusted treatments with N excess (↑N+↑Na), K deficiency (↓K) and their combination (↑N+↑Na+↓K) were evaluated on the viability of V. dahliae microsclerotia (MS), as well as on disease development in olive plants. In parallel, the potential indirect effect of the treatments on the viability of conidia and MS of V. dahliae was evaluated through the stimuli of root exudates. Treatments ↑N+↑Na and ↑N+↑Na+↓K decreased MS germination and disease progress, whereas ↓K significantly increased both parameters. Root exudates from treated plants increased the conidia germination of V. dahliae but reduced the MS germination. The results of this study will be the basis for planning further research towards a better understanding of the effect of mineral nutrition on VWO