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Transportation infrastructure serves as the backbone of societal functionality. As aging road networks present increasing challenges, effective monitoring and maintenance become imperative. In this context, this article explores the integration of non-destructive techniques for monitoring and assessing damaged road sections. The work emphasizes the importance of leveraging the complementarity between non-destructive techniques to gain a holistic understanding of damaged road sections' structural integrity. Through the combination of these techniques, structural issues and underlying causes can be identified, as well as to develop maintenance and rehabilitation strategies.A case study of a critical section of the national road N-541 in Pontevedra, Spain, illustrates the application of this integration. First, Interferometry Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) technology revealed points of interest. Four different cases, with two different methods: Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) and Quasi-PS (QPS) were used, to minimize uncertainty. Then, Global Positioning System (GPS) data, together with Laser Imaging Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), were used to create Digital Elevation Models (DEM). Finally, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) was useful to create a data cloud of possible subsurface damages. Machine learning technique (clustering) was applied to the GPR data to assist in defect depth analysis, further improving understanding and knowledge. The integration of complementary non-destructive methods offers a comprehensive framework for advancements in road infrastructure analysis and maintenance strategies, thus contributing to decision-makers to enhance transportation infrastructures' resilience and longevity.

This work presents a preliminary case study on assessing reinforced concrete pedestrian bridge conditions in A Coruña (Galicia, Spain), employing a novel integration of non-destructive testing (NDT) technologies. The research aims to refine the health monitoring process of pedestrian bridges by adopting a top-down approach, leveraging the data-fusion concept to enhance the analysis of structural defects. A data-fusion methodology that integrates interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR), ground penetrating radar (GPR), and light detection and range (LiDAR) technologies is introduced. Then, the data are visualized within a 3D Geographical Information System (GIS) environment. The MT-InSAR technique is used at the network level to identify bridges requiring detailed inspections. Subsequently, selected bridges undergo thorough examinations using GPR and LiDAR technologies from fieldwork between 2021 and 2023. A comparative analysis of three different LiDAR devices and two GPR setups is conducted to evaluate their effectiveness in capturing detailed structural data. The study also explores the integration challenges and solutions for combining diverse data formats and the possibility of using advanced digital technologies, such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), to facilitate a seamless transition from traditional NDT approaches to a digitized, model-based inspection framework. The findings highlight the advantages of each NDT method, address specific data acquisition challenges, and propose strategies for overcoming issues related to data integration, visualization, and the accuracy of spatial localization. Integrating these NDT technologies within a georeferenced 3D GIS environment facilitates a detailed understanding of the bridge's condition and enhances decision-making processes for maintenance and rehabilitation efforts.

How to better prepare future bilingual teachers for foreign language learning classrooms and their challenges is a key consideration in education, a concern echoed across the world as such programmes, where curricular content is taught in a foreign language, grow in popularity. This article presents student profiles and satisfaction for the first year of an EMI (English as a Medium of Instruction) teacher training model at the University of Extremadura in Spain. The goal of this programme is to offer instruction for education majors in a four-year, bilingual Bachelor's in Primary Education (BA) programme where 50% of curricular subjects are taught in students' native Spanish, and 50% in English. The data collected in this study revealed that first-year students in the bilingual programme have higher university admission scores than average, as well as high expectations for their linguistic progress in the programme. They are also quite motivated and indicate that the cooperative model of the programme positively impacted the experience of their first year and was a hallmark of their satisfaction overall. The positive results of the study offer insight not only onto analogous contexts in Spain but also to other countries where EMI or bilingual education is of interest.

During the isolation, identification, and assessment of nematode-trapping fungi (NTF) against nematodes, we discovered an unusual fungus in decaying wood from Morelos State, Mexico. This isolate exhibited some characteristics similar to those of the Arthrobotrys genus; however, we found that it did not match any previously reported species within this genus after conducting morphological and phylogenetic analyses using the ITS, TEF, and RPB2 regions. This new species displays conidiophores with two or three stems emerging from the same initial site and conidiophores with only a single stem and aerial thickened hyphae from which single conidiophores emerge, forming 3D adhesive nets. The conidia, which have one or two septa, range from obovoid to ellipsoidal, crowned by four to six conidia. This report provides evidence that this species has not been described before, and we hereby introduce it as a new species, naming it Arthrobotrys mendozadegivensis. This species displayed a predatory activity of 76.92%, and its liquid culture filtrates in Sweet Potato Dextrose Broth and Czapek–Dox Broth were effective in killing 40.90% and 34.91% of Haemonchus contortus larvae, respectively. This study provides information about a previously unreported species of nematophagous fungus, which is important for systematics and has potential biotechnological applications against nematodes that affect the livestock industry.

El libro de Jonás es considerado modernamente por unos, como una narración fingida en orden a poner de relieve una lección, es decir, como una narración puramente didáctica; por otros, como una narración realmente histórica. Para el fin que pretendemos en este articulo es prácticamente indiferente cualquiera de estas posiciones. La lección teológica es la misma. Aun en el supuesto de que todo hubiera sido histórico, no solamente se desprende del relato, por sí misma, una lección, sino que esta lección aparece intentada por el narrador que la cuenta en unas determinadas circunstancias del pueblo de Israel.

This article describes a dataset on nut allergy extracted from Spanish clinical records provided by the Hospital Universitario Fundación de Alcorcón (HUFA) in Madrid, Spain, in collaboration with its Allergology Unit and Information Systems and Technologies Department. There are few publicly available clinical texts in Spanish and having more is essential as a valuable resource to train and test information extraction systems. In total, 828 clinical notes in Spanish were employed and several experts participated in the annotation process by categorizing the annotated entities into medical semantic groups related to allergies. To evaluate inter-annotator agreement, a triple annotation was performed on 8% of the texts. The guidelines followed to create the corpus are also provided. To determine the validation of the corpus and introduce a real use case, we performed some experiments using this resource in the context of a supervised named entity recognition (NER) task by fine-tuning encoder-based transformers. In these experiments, an average F-measure of 86.2% was achieved. These results indicate that the corpus used is suitable for training and testing approaches to NER related to the field of allergology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To assess the usefulness of first amniotic sac Interleukin-6 (IL-6) to rule out intra-amniotic inflammation (IAI), as well as maternal blood c-reactive protein (CRP), to select patients with a twin pregnancy who may benefit from an emergency cerclage. Materials and Methods: Retrospective, descriptive study among all patients with a twin pregnancy and mid-trimester bulging membranes admitted to a tertiary Hospital from January 2012 to September 2023. According to the Hospital's Protocol, all patients received a vaginal and abdominal ultrasound, a maternal blood test, and an amniocentesis of the first sac to rule out IAI, defined by IL-6 ≥ 2.6 ng/dL. Results: A total of 28 patients with a twin pregnancy and mid-trimester bulging membranes were included. Among them, 18 patients (64.28%) had IL-6 levels ≥ 2.6 ng/dL. Cerclage was placed in 10 patients with IL-6 < 2.6 ng/dL. Perinatal mortality in pregnancies with IL-6 ≥ 2.6 ng/dL was 77.22%. The gestational age at delivery of patients with IL-6 < 2.6 ng/dL was 34 ± 3 weeks, compared to 23 ± 4 weeks when IL-6 was ≥2.6 ng/dL (p < 0.001). The latency to delivery with IL-6 < 2.6 ng/dL was 88.1 ±31.56 days, compared to 13.11 ± 20.43 days when IL-6 was ≥2.6 ng/dL (p < 0.001). Significant differences were found in maternal blood CRP levels in both study groups (no IAI 4.32 ± 3.67 vs. IAI 13.32 ± 15.07, p < 0.05). The area under the curve with an ROC curve was 0.799 (IC 95% 0.596–0.929), with a cut-off of 3.9 mg/L (S 94.4%, % E 62.5%). The gestational age at delivery with CRP < 3.9 mg/L was 33 ± 5 weeks, while in cases with CRP ≥ 3.9 mg/L, it was 24 ± 5 weeks (p < 0.001). The latency days to delivery were 86.5 ± 44.88 and 21.95 ± 30.97 days (p < 0.01), respectively. A positive correlation between the IL-6 values of both amniotic sacs was obtained, along with the Spearman coefficient correlation rank (rho = 0.835, p < 0.001). Conclusions: Compared to those with IAI, patients with a twin pregnancy and mid-trimester bulging membranes without IAI who underwent emergency cerclage had a significantly higher interval from diagnosis to delivery, as well as a significantly lower incidence of preterm birth < 34 weeks and perinatal death. Further studies are needed to assess whether the IL-6 of the first amniotic sac and maternal blood CRP might constitute a useful parameter to select patients who may benefit from an emergency cerclage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the isolation, identification, and assessment of nematode-trapping fungi (NTF) against nematodes, we discovered an unusual fungus in decaying wood from Morelos State, Mexico. This isolate exhibited some characteristics similar to those of the Arthrobotrys genus; however, we found that it did not match any previously reported species within this genus after conducting morphological and phylogenetic analyses using the ITS, TEF, and RPB2 regions. This new species displays conidiophores with two or three stems emerging from the same initial site and conidiophores with only a single stem and aerial thickened hyphae from which single conidiophores emerge, forming 3D adhesive nets. The conidia, which have one or two septa, range from obovoid to ellipsoidal, crowned by four to six conidia. This report provides evidence that this species has not been described before, and we hereby introduce it as a new species, naming it Arthrobotrys mendozadegivensis. This species displayed a predatory activity of 76.92%, and its liquid culture filtrates in Sweet Potato Dextrose Broth and Czapek–Dox Broth were effective in killing 40.90% and 34.91% of Haemonchus contortus larvae, respectively. This study provides information about a previously unreported species of nematophagous fungus, which is important for systematics and has potential biotechnological applications against nematodes that affect the livestock industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerosity is informative for living organisms. It cantransmit, among many things, amount of food available,heading direction of the troop, which group could win aterritorial dispute, the decision of were to build a beehive.Given its ecological importance, we test the hypothesisthat numerosity captures visual selection. In five exper-iments we confirmed that an irrelevant visual stimulusthat was numerically large slowed down participants indetecting a task-relevant visual target (Exp. 1 and 2). Thiscapture was not driven by sensory variables that could cor-relate with numerosity: cumulative area (Exp. 3) and ele-ment size (Exp. 4). We also confirmed that the underlyingnumerosity representations were analogue, not set-based(Exp. 5). In a crowded visual scene numerosity is a rele-vant cue for visual selection, but represented only in ap-proximate/coarse fashion.

Probabilities can be described by a numerator and a de-nominator and students and decision-makers are not in-different to numerical values of the components. For in-stance, when people compare two equal ratios their choicesgravitate to the option with larger number, even if theyknow both ratios are equal. To the date, however, it is un-clear if whole number biases are present in other cultures.We tested a farming-foraging group living in the Bolivianrain forest in a simple 2AFC ratio comparison task. Af-ter appropriate training, the Tsimane were highly accu-rate in this task, confirming that visual proportional rea-soning is present across cultures. Importantly, they hada strong tendency to favor large numbers in equal ratiocomparisons, similar to what is found in educated popu-lations. Even though our sample size is moderate (n=76),the whole number bias we found occurred under good pro-portional reasoning. The bias may be a general feature ofcognition, rather than a cultural or education artifact, thatmay help humans solve ambiguous situations.

Grazing management through pasture rotation has been mentioned as a viable alternative for the control of Rhipicephalus microplus; however, there is limited information on rotational grazing at field level. The objectives of this research were (1) to evaluate the effect of rotational grazing with 30 and 45 days of pasture rest and continuous grazing (without rest) on R. microplus tick loads in Brahman heifers and its most common crosses with Holstein; (2) to know the parasite dynamics of R. microplus under the three grazing systems in the humid tropics of Mexico; and (3) to determine the effect of the treatments on the characteristics of the pastures (availability of forage biomass, plant height, and soil cover). The experiment was carried out for 1 year from April 2022 to March 2023, with three grazing treatments: Treatments 1 and 2 considered rotational grazing with 30 (RT30) and 45 days of rest (RT45), respectively, and Treatment 3 as continuous grazing (CT00). Thirty calves from 8 to 12 months of initial age were distributed in each treatment (n = 10). Every 14 days, the number of engorged and semiengorged female ticks in cattle was determined. Concomitantly, the region's temperature, relative humidity, and rainfall were recorded, as well as the agronomic characteristics of the pasture. Rotational grazing animals with 30 days of rest had the highest number of ticks, while grazing animals with 45 days of rest had the least. Tick load dynamics among groups did not correlate with climatic variables (p > 0.05). The height and grass cover presented significant changes due to grazing (p < 0.05), which could influence the tick cycle by the exposure of the soil, modifying the microclimatic conditions and consequently harming the survival and development of R. microplus in the evaluated systems. The negative effect of rotational grazing on the nonparasitic phase of R. microplus deserves further studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of entomopathogenic fungi (EF) is a promising alternative for the control of Rhipicephalus microplus, an important tick affecting cattle globally. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of ultraviolet irradiation (UV) exposure on the percentage of conidia germination and number of colony-forming units of eight strains of Metarhizium anisopliae (MaV55, MaV35, MaV31, MaV25, MaV13, Ma08, MaV05, and MaV02). The UV (UV-A and UV-A+B) irradiation was carried out with an ultraviolet radiation emission lamp. The conidia of each strain were exposed to the UV irradiation treatments for 3 h. MaV25, MaV08, MaV05, MaV13, and MaV31 showed higher tolerance to UV-A radiation exposure, as assessed by conidia germination. UV-A+B radiation decreased the germination percentage of all the M. anisopliae strains. The eight evaluated strains showed good tolerance to UV-A radiation, as assessed by the development of colony-forming units (CFU). UV-A+B radiation did not significantly affect (p > 0.05) the count of the CFU of six of the M. anisopliae strains evaluated (MaV35, MaV13, MaV08, MaV05, MaV31, and MaV02). The novel findings of the UV-tolerant M. anisopliae strains may potentially improve the effectiveness of EF under environmental conditions. Integral research under real tropical conditions is advised to evaluate the effectiveness of the EF strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The objectives of the present study were: (1) to determine the prevalence of Eimeria spp. sporulated oocysts in calves from 26 Municipalities in the Central Zone of the State of Veracruz, Mexico, (2) to identify the Eimeria spp. infecting calves, and (3) to identify the risk factors associated with the presence of Eimeria spp. in tropical cattle. A total of 930 individual fecal samples were analyzed by using the McMaster technique; then, oocysts were maintained in 2.5% potassium dichromate to allow sporulation. The general prevalence of calves with Eimeria spp. oocysts was 39.7% (370/930). Of a total of 10 identified species, Eimeria canadensis was the most observed, followed by Eimeria bovis and Eimeria zuernii. The statistical analysis showed an association between the age of the calves (5 to 9 months), the presence of other animals, the physiographic regions and the restricted type of husbandry with the presence of Eimeria spp. in calves (P

Desde finales del año 2020 hasta julio de 2021 tuvo lugar la primera fase de un estudio que evaluó el potencial hidrogeológico en zonas de bosque seco tropical -Bs-T- asociadas al cañón del río Cauca en jurisdicción de Corantioquia. Con base en la evaluación lito-estructural de la zona, se establecieron hipótesis mediante las cuales se asignaron condiciones de mayor o menor potencial acuífero, según los distintos tipos de materiales geológicos presentes. El primer paso para confrontar estas hipótesis con la realidad fue el inventario de puntos de agua subterránea; los resultados, al año 2021, señalan la existencia de más de 1172 puntos, entre ellos: manantiales, aljibes, galerías y pozos. Relacionando la ocurrencia de estos puntos de agua con las unidades litológicas, se encontraron cerca de 560 puntos en depósitos del Cuaternario, y en rocas de la Formación Amagá y el Miembro Urrao de la Formación Penderisco; 146 se ubican en depósitos vulcano-sedimentarios de la Formación Combia y más de 466 se asocian con rocas duras. Se concluye así, que en la zona de estudio las rocas ígneas y metamórficas, intensamente afectadas por efectos tectónicos, han ganado condiciones de permeabilidad, la cual fue evidenciada mediante observaciones en campo, que les confieren la condición de acuíferos. Este hallazgo brinda nuevas perspectivas de investigación hacia medios fracturados y presenta el agua subterránea como una fuente principal y alternativa para satisfacer las necesidades de la población, además de cobrar un rol fundamental en términos de la sostenibilidad ecosistémica del bosque seco tropical.

El control de calidad a las series de cualquier variable meteorológica es imprescindible para desarrollar investigaciones climáticas, agrícolas, hidrológicas, así como para los servicios científicos. El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo realizar y documentar el control de la calidad a series de datos diarios de lluvia del Instituto Nacional de Recursos Hidráulicos en el período 1961-2008. Este procedimiento se realizó utilizando la rutina Rclimdex-ExtraQC que corre sobre la plataforma R. Los acumulados mayores a 200 mm fueron agrupados por fecha de ocurrencia y verificados, usando para ello las cronologías de fenómenos meteorológicos disponibles en el Instituto de Meteorología. A los datos sospechosos no asociados a algún evento meteorológico se le realizó un análisis de consistencia. Dicho análisis consistió en comparar en los pluviómetros vecinos, si se reportaba evento lluvioso o no en días anteriores y posteriores a la fecha en que estos se presentaron. Los resultados obtenidos indicaron que el por ciento de datos rechazados fue solo el 4% del total de sospechosos. El mayor porcentaje de datos sospechosos aceptados estuvo asociado a la afectación de ciclones tropicales. Se eliminaron 8 pluviómetros, quedando disponible para investigaciones y servicios 630 series de datos de lluvia. Finalmente, se confirmó que la metodología y herramienta utilizada es válida para estudios de este tipo.

Background: Tension band wiring and plates are the most widely used treatments for transverse displaced fractures of olecranon despite high rates of hardware complications, subsequent implant removal, and associated costs. The purpose of this study was to report the outcomes of displaced transverse olecranon fractures treated with intramedullary screw and suture tension band. Methods: We performed an observational, retrospective, consecutive, monocentric, continuous multioperator study. We reviewed 31 Mayo type IIA displaced olecranon fractures treated in our institution with intramedullary 6.5 mm AO cancellous screw and high-strength suture tension band (No. 2 FiberWire®) from 2016 to 2018. Inclusion was limited to functionally independent patients with Mayo type IIA fractures and minimum 24-month follow-up for implant removal. We assessed clinical outcomes including range of motion; QuickDASH score; and Mayo Elbow Performance Score. Categorical data were analyzed with Fisher's exact test when appropriate. Continuous data were analyzed with the Student t-test or Mann-Whitney U test after assessment for normality. Statistical analysis was performed with STATA 16 software. Results: Twenty-seven patients with a mean follow-up period of 38.4 ± 6.2 months (range, 24.1-50 months) were included in the study. The average flexion was 134.5° ± 14.8° (range, 70°-140°) and the mean extension was −5.9° ± 7.0° (range, −20°-0°). Mean pronation and supination were 85.8° ± 11.9° (range, 45°-90°) and 86.9° ± 14.3° (range, 20°-90°), respectively. The mean Mayo Elbow Performance Score was 90.8 ± 9.6 (range, 70-100) with 92.3% good and excellent results. The mean QuickDASH score was 17.1 ± 16 (range, 0-54.5). There were 3 hardware-related removals (11.1%). The overall removal rate was 18.5%. Univariate analysis of the factors associated with implant removal were pain in relation to the implant (60% vs. 11%, P = 0.0482), proximal screw migration (3.7 mm vs. 1.7 mm, P = 0.05), articular angle (22.5° vs. 27.7°, P = 0.0353), and olecranon width (22.2 mm vs. 24.4 mm, P = 0.0166). In total, 26.1% of the cases presented some degree of proximal migration of the implant (2.7 ± 1.8 mm of migration; range, 1.5-6.2 mm). Univariate analysis of the factors associated with implant proximal migration were proximal ulnar dorsal angulation (1.7° vs. 6.4°, P = 0.0179), anteroposterior endomedullary canal (7.3 mm vs. 6.0 mm, P = 0.0369), and lateral endomedullary canal (7.2 mm vs. 5.0 mm, P = 0.0219). Conclusion: The functional outcomes of simple transverse olecranon fractures treated with an intramedullary cancellous screw and a suture tension band are excellent, associated with a low rate of complications and material removal.

Negative numbers are central in math. However, they are abstract, hard to learn, and manipulated slower than positive numbers regardless of math ability. It suggests that confidence, namely the post-decision estimate of being correct, should be lower than positives. We asked participants to pick the larger single-digit numeral in a pair and collected their implicit confidence with button pressure (button pressure was validated with three empirical signatures of confidence). We also modeled their choices with a drift-diffusion decision model to compute the post-decision estimate of being correct. We found that participants had relatively low confidence with negative numerals. Given that participants compared with high accuracy the basic base-10 symbols (0–9), reduced confidence may be a general feature of manipulating abstract negative numerals as they produce more uncertainty than positive numerals per unit of time.