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Abstract Background The concentration of biomarkers in saliva could be influenced by several factors not related to the specific condition under analyses, which should be considered for proper clinical interpretation. In the present study, the circadian rhythm of C-reactive protein (CRP), haptoglobin (Hp), Pig-MAP, S100A12, Cu, Zn, Adenosine deaminase (ADA), total protein (TP), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), total oxidant status (TOS), oxidative stress index (OSI), cortisol and α-amylase in saliva of 20 female and 20 male pigs was investigated. Moreover, the influence of sex and production phase (post-weaning, fattening and finishing) on the concentrations of biomarkers in a total of 414 healthy pigs was studied and the reference intervals for all salivary biomarkers were calculated accordingly. Results All parameters except Pig-MAP, OSI and α-amylase varied significantly along the daytime, and most of them peak around early afternoon (13–15 h). The cosinor analysis described the temporal dynamics of circadian rhythms for all parameters. The range values showed differences between male and female pigs in 8 out of the 13 biomarkers, with higher concentrations in females in comparison to male pigs. The influence of the production phase on the salivary concentrations was observed for all the biomarkers. The highest concentrations were observed for Pig-MAP, S100A12 and α-amylase in post-weaning animals, for TP in growing pigs and for OSI in finishing animals. Most of the sex-influenced biomarkers showed the highest concentrations at growing stages with some exceptions such as ADA or Hp that showed the peak at finishing and post-weaning stages respectively. Conclusions It is necessary to establish the optimal daytime for routine saliva sampling to avoid circadian variations and for that end, the time interval between 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. is highly recommended. The factors sex and production phase influence the concentration of biomarkers and should be considered for proper biomarker interpretation. The reference intervals presented here for each salivary biomarker will help to correctly interpret the results of these analytes and contribute to the use of saliva as a non-invasive sample for the diagnosis and monitoring of the health status of swine farms.

This paper presents the behavior of saturation magnetization and other magnetic properties depending on the temperature variation from the nanoparticles of YIG doped and co-doped with Gd and La at different concentrations. The samples were prepared according to the sol–gel method, resulting in crystallite sizes ranging from 55 nm to 121.2 nm. X-ray diffraction measurements and microscopy show details of the structural characterization of the compounds. The magnetization values were measured as a function of the external magnetic field of up to 20 kOe at temperatures between 2K and 300K. The saturation magnetization varied between 25.23 emu/g and 29.10 emu/g, at 300K. At 2K, the variation occurs between 30.72 emu/g and 39.92 emu/g. The magnetic properties of compound, are high sensitivity to temperature variations and the results showed a weakened ferrimagnetic coupling with the dopant concentration. Also, changes in the cubic anisotropy constant with temperature were verified.

Abstract The present investigation proposes to study the ecosystem services linked to water and floristic diversity in the Igualata paramo of the Hualcanga region; 5 sampling plots of 25 m 2 were installed, with 4 subplots of 1 m 2 . 30 samples of terrestrial vascular plants were obtained, identifying 17 botanical families, 26 genera, and 27 species, and 1 lichen and 1 moss of unidentified family and genus. It was determined that the species that stands out with the highest importance value index was Lachemilia orgiculata with 44.06%, because the species was found in 4 of the 5 study plots. In second place we have Calamagrostis intermedia species with 8.21%, while the species Vicea sp. was the species with the lowest importance value index of 0.50%, being the species with the lowest number of individuals. The Rosaceae family presented the highest index with 39.61%. The Poaceae and Asteraceae families also present dominance in this ecosystem with values of 9.63% and 5.79%, respectively. According to the Shannon index, plots P2 and P4 were those with high diversity, which corroborates with what was obtained in the Simpson index; the Sorensen index showed us that plots P4 and P5 are very similar, plots P1 and P3 are fairly similar, and the remaining plots are dissimilar, which indicated that vegetation can be found in certain areas of the investigation. The water flow supplying the resident families of the region was found to be 8.12 L/s, and its ecological flow is of 0.83 L/s, having a flow that satisfies the needs of the inhabitants.

Abstract In the higher part of the Santa Fe de Galán parish, intensive agricultural activities are carried out that cause problems of erosion, disappearance of species of fauna and flora, decrease in water and deterioration of páramo areas due to the advance of the agricultural frontier. These activities present a threat to the sustainability of the San José de Chazo-Santa Fe de Galán region, due to the degradation of its natural resources that directly affect the vital development of 1200 families belonging to this region. The present investigation aims to study ecosystem services linked to water, as well as floristic diversity, for which data was collected and systematized from the Ciénega páramo in the San José de Chazo-Santa Fe de Galán region. According to the data collected on floristic diversity, 29 samples of terrestrial vascular plants were registered, corresponding to 18 families, 26 genera and 29 species; moss and lichen of unidentified family, genus and species were also collected. The highest index of importance value by species and family was presented by the moss with 20.39% and 18.17%, respectively. The average monthly flow during the February–May period observed through the volumetric method was 6.34 L/s.

The theory of socially shared regulation of learning (SSRL) suggests that successful collaborative groups can identify and respond to trigger events stemming from cognitive or emotional obstacles in learning. Thus, to develop real-time support for SSRL, novel metrics are needed to identify different types of trigger events that invite SSRL. Our aim was to apply two metrics derived from different data streams to study how trigger events for SSRL shaped group linguistic alignment (based on audio data) and physiological synchrony (based on electrodermal activity data). The data came from six groups of students (N = 18) as they worked face-to-face on a collaborative learning task with one cognitive and two emotional trigger events. We found that the cognitive trigger event increased linguistic alignment in task-description words and led to physiological out-of-synchrony. The emotional trigger events decreased out-of-synchrony and increased high-arousal synchrony at the physiological level but did not affect linguistic alignment. Therefore, different metrics for studying markers and responses to different types of trigger events are needed, suggesting the necessity for multimodal learning analytics to support collaborative learning.

Microbial ecosystems are composed of multiple species in constant metabolic exchange. A pervasive interaction in microbial communities is metabolic cross-feeding and occurs when the metabolic burden of producing costly metabolites is distributed between community members, in some cases for the benefit of all interacting partners. In particular, amino acid auxotrophies generate obligate metabolic inter-dependencies in mixed populations and have been shown to produce a dynamic profile of interaction that depends upon nutrient availability. However, identifying the key components that determine the pair-wise interaction profile remains a challenging problem, partly because metabolic exchange has consequences on multiple levels, from allocating proteomic resources at a cellular level to modulating the structure, function and stability of microbial communities. To evaluate how ppGpp-mediated resource allocation drives the population-level profile of interaction, here we postulate a multi-scale mathematical model that incorporates dynamics of proteome partition into a population dynamics model. We compare our computational results with experimental data obtained from co-cultures of auxotrophic Escherichia coli K12 strains under a range of amino acid concentrations and population structures. We conclude by arguing that the stringent response promotes cooperation by inhibiting the growth of fast-growing strains and promoting the synthesis of metabolites essential for other community members.

The copper mineral processing industry faces complex scenarios with increased demand, highly variable energy prices, falling ore grades that increase energy consumption, and increasing concern about the industry's carbon footprint. To reduce the risk imposed by these scenarios, the industry is looking at the use of renewable energy sources. Considering that the most important copper mines in Chile are situated in regions with high radiation levels, solar energy has the potential to be an attractive and sustainable source of energy. This paper provides an overview of the current solar technologies and how they have been applied to address some of the challenges faced by the copper mining industry today. It describes the use of solar thermal and solar photovoltaic technologies to produce power and heat for the copper mining processes. Indeed, solar photovoltaic technologies can be used to produce electricity for the comminution machines, electro-refineries and water pumping while solar thermal technologies are useful for electricity generation, heat production, thermal leaching and drying of copper concentrate. The review also analyzes, from a broader perspective, the potential of these technologies in the operation and design of new solar copper mineral processes. It is concluded that there several feasible options to integrate solar energy into the copper mining processes.

Transparency or turbidity is one of the main indicators in studies of water quality using remote sensing. Transparency can be measured in situ through the Secchi disc depth (SD), and turbidity using a turbidimeter. In recent decades, different relationships between bands from different remote sensing sensors have been used for the estimation of these variables. In this paper, several indices and spectral bands have been calibrated in order to estimate transparency from Sentinel-2 (S2) images from field data, obtained throughout 2017 and 2018 in Júcar basin reservoirs with a great variety of trophic states. Three atmospheric correction methods developed for waters have been applied to the S2 level L1C images taken at the same day as the field data: Polymer, C2RCC and C2X. From the spectra obtained from S2 and the SD field data, it has been found that the smallest error is obtained with the images atmospherically corrected with Polymer and a potential adjustment of the reflectivities’ ratio of the blue and green bands (R490/R560), which allow the estimation of SD with a relative error of 13%. Also the C2X method presents good adjustment with the same bands ratio, although with a greater error, while the correction C2RCC shows the worst correlation. The relationship between SD (in m) and turbidity (in NTU) has also been obtained, which provides an operational method for estimating turbidity with S2. The relationship for the different reservoirs between SD and chlorophyll-a concentration, suspended solids and dissolved organic matter, is also shown.

Abstract Background In order to further identify the needed interventions for continued poverty reduction in our study area Cuatro Santos, northern Nicaragua, we aimed to elucidate what predicts poverty, measured by the Unsatisfied Basic Need index. This analysis was done by using decision tree methodology applied to the Cuatro Santos health and demographic surveillance databases. Methods Using variables derived from the health and demographic surveillance update 2014, transferring individual data to the household level we used the decision tree framework Conditional Inference trees to predict the outcome “poverty” defined as two to four unsatisfied basic needs using the Unsatisfied Basic Need Index. We further validated the trees by applying Conditional random forest analyses in order to assess and rank the importance of predictors about their ability to explain the variation of the outcome “poverty.” The majority of the Cuatro Santos households provided information and the included variables measured housing conditions, assets, and demographic experiences since the last update (5 yrs), earlier participation in interventions and food security during the last 4 weeks. Results Poverty was rare in households that have some assets and someone in the household that has a higher education than primary school. For these households participating in the intervention that installed piped water with water meter was most important, but also when excluding this variable, the resulting tree showed the same results. When assets were not taken into consideration, the importance of education was pronounced as a predictor for welfare. The results were further strengthened by the validation using Conditional random forest modeling showing the same variables being important as predicting the outcome in the CI tree analysis. As assets can be a result, rather than a predictor of more affluence our results in summary point specifically to the importance of education and participation in the water installation intervention as predictors for more affluence. Conclusion Predictors of poverty are useful for directing interventions and in the Cuatro Santos area education seems most important to prioritize. Hopefully, the lessons learned can continue to develop the Cuatro Santos communities as well as development in similar poor rural settings around the world.

Resumen: Introducción: Los niños con estreñimiento funcional presentan frecuentemente alteraciones de la distensibilidad y sensación defecatoria, que se pueden valorar mediante manometría anorrectal (MAR). En este estudio evaluamos la utilidad de los parámetros que se obtienen en la MAR en niños con incontinencia fecal retentiva (IFR). Material y métodos: Incluimos a niños de 4 a 17 años con estreñimiento funcional a quienes se realizó MAR. Resultados: Un total de 35 niños fueron incluidos: 21 presentaban estreñimiento funcional y 14, estreñimiento con IFR. Los niños con estreñimiento funcional e IFR toleraron mayores volúmenes en la insuflación de aire para desencadenar urgencia defecatoria y dolor a la máxima tolerabilidad, en comparación con quienes no presentan IFR. Identificamos un punto de corte de 135 ml de aire de máxima tolerabilidad para discriminar niños con IFR. Conclusiones: La máxima tolerabilidad fue el parámetro más útil para evaluar IFR en niños con estreñimiento funcional. Abstract: Introduction: Children with functional constipation frequently present with alterations in rectal compliance and the urge-to-defecate sensation that can be evaluated through anorectal manometry (ARM). In the present study, we evaluated the usefulness of the parameters obtained through ARM in children with retentive fecal incontinence (RFI). Materials and methods: Children with functional constipation, aged 4 to 17 years, that underwent ARM were included in the study. Results: Of the 35 children evaluated, 21 presented with functional constipation and 14 had functional constipation and RFI. The children with both constipation and RFI tolerated greater volumes of air insufflation for triggering the urge to defecate and reaching maximum tolerance of pain, compared with the children that did not have RFI. We identified the cutoff point of 135 ml of air as the maximum tolerance sensation for distinguishing children with RFI. Conclusions: Maximum tolerance of pain was the most useful parameter for evaluating RFI in children with functional constipation. Palabras clave: Incontinencia fecal, Estreñimiento funcional, Manometría anorrectal, Keywords: Fecal incontinence, Functional constipation, Anorectal manometry

Introduction: Children with functional constipation frequently present with alterations in rectal compliance and the urge-to-defecate sensation that can be evaluated through anorectal manometry (ARM). In the present study, we evaluated the usefulness of the parameters obtained through ARM in children with retentive fecal incontinence (RFI). Materials and methods: Children with functional constipation, aged 4 to 17 years, that underwent ARM were included in the study. Results: Of the 35 children evaluated, 21 presented with functional constipation and 14 had functional constipation and RFI. The children with both constipation and RFI tolerated greater volumes of air insufflation for triggering the urge to defecate and reaching maximum tolerance of pain, compared with the children that did not have RFI. We identified the cutoff point of 135 ml of air as the maximum tolerance sensation for distinguishing children with RFI. Conclusions: Maximum tolerance of pain was the most useful parameter for evaluating RFI in children with functional constipation. Resumen: Introducción: Los niños con estreñimiento funcional presentan frecuentemente alteraciones de la distensibilidad y sensación defecatoria, que se pueden valorar mediante manometría anorrectal (MAR). En este estudio evaluamos la utilidad de los parámetros que se obtienen en la MAR en niños con incontinencia fecal retentiva (IFR). Material y métodos: Incluimos a niños de 4 a 17 años con estreñimiento funcional a quienes se realizó MAR. Resultados: Un total de 35 niños fueron incluidos: 21 presentaban estreñimiento funcional y 14, estreñimiento con IFR. Los niños con estreñimiento funcional e IFR toleraron mayores volúmenes en la insuflación de aire para desencadenar urgencia defecatoria y dolor a la máxima tolerabilidad, en comparación con quienes no presentan IFR. Identificamos un punto de corte de 135 ml de aire de máxima tolerabilidad para discriminar niños con IFR. Conclusiones: La máxima tolerabilidad fue el parámetro más útil para evaluar IFR en niños con estreñimiento funcional. Keywords: Fecal incontinence, Functional constipation, Anorectal manometry, Palabras clave: Incontinencia fecal, Estreñimiento funcional, Manometría anorrectal

Slaughter is a crucial step in the meat production chain that could induce psychological stress on each animal, resulting in a physiological response that can differ among individuals. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between an animal’s emotional state, the subsequent psychological stress at slaughter and the cellular damage as an effect. In all, 36 entire male pigs were reared at an experimental farm and a cognitive bias test was used to classify them into positive bias (PB) or negative bias (NB) groups depending on their decision-making capabilities. Half of the animals, slaughtered in the same batch, were used for a complete study of biomarkers of stress, including brain neurotransmitters and some muscle biomarkers of oxidative stress. After slaughter, specific brain areas were excised and the levels of catecholamines (noradrenaline (NA) and dopamine (DA)) and indoleamines (5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid and serotonin (5HT)) were analyzed. In addition, muscle proteasome activity (20S), antioxidant defence (total antioxidant activity (TAA)), oxidative damage (lipid peroxidation (LPO)) and autophagy biomarkers (Beclin-1, microtubule-associated protein I light chain 3 (LC3-I) and LC3-II) were monitored during early postmortem maturation (0 to 24 h). Compared with PB animals, NB pigs were more susceptible to stress, showing higher 5HT levels (P

Chlorophyll-a concentration is one of the main indicators of inland waters quality. Using CHRIS/PROBA images and in situ data obtained in four lakes in Colombia and Spain, we obtained empirical models for the estimation of chlorophyll-a concentration, which can be directly applied to future images of MSI Sentinel-2 and OLCI Sentinel-3 sensors. The models, based on spectral band indices, were validated with data from the hyperspectral sensor HICO, onboard of the International Space Station.

El estudio de los ejemplares del género Impatientinum Mordvilko, 1914 de la collection générale d’aphides del Muséum national d’Historie naturelle de París (Francia) y de la Colección de Aphididae de México en la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México ha permitido establecer 3 especies: I. chiriquense n. sp. (con la descripción de hembras ápteras y aladas) de Panamá, I. holmani n. sp. (con la descripción de hembras ápteras, aladas y de machos) e I. oaxacense n. sp. (con la descripción de ápteras) de México. Se describen también las vivíparas aladas y se mejora el conocimiento de las vivíparas ápteras de I. americanum. Se discute la ubicación genérica de las especies del género presentes en América. Se facilita la clave para la identificación de las hembras vivíparas ápteras de las especies americanas del género, que puede sustituir a la clave de Blackman & Eastop para las especies de pulgones que viven sobre plantas del género Cuphea P.Browne (Myrtales, Lythraceae) en el mundo.

Se estudia la especie Bathyodontus mirus (Andrássy, 1956) Hopper y Cairns, 1956, recolectada en dunas de arena en el suroeste peninsular. Se presentan una descripción, medidas e ilustraciones (fotografías con microscopía óptica). Los ejemplares ibéricos se comparan brevemente con otras poblaciones conocidas de la misma especie. Y se ofrece un compendio de las especies del género Bathyodontus, incluida una clave para su identification. Se trata de la primera cita de un miembro del suborden Bathyodontina en el ámbito Ibero-balear y en la región Mediterránea.

The influence of temperature of alkaline hydrothermal treatment on the conversion in zeolite of Spanish coal low calcium-fly ash (ASTM class F) is presented in this work. Zeolite Na-P1 gismondine type (Na6Al6Si10O32.12H2O) was formed at the temperature of 100ºC, which transformed in zeolite; analcime-C type (Na(Si2Al)O6H2O) and sodalite (1.08 Na2O.Al2O3.1.68SiO2.1.8H2O) at 200ºC together with traces of tobermorite-11Å (Ca5(OH)2Si6O16.4H2O). At this temperature the 100% of the fly ash reaction was allowed. An equivalent study was carried out in water as reference. The zeolite conversion of the fly ash was characterized by X ray diffraction (XRD), FT infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, surface area (BET-N2) and thermal analyses.

En esta contribución se presenta una recopilación de las especies ibéricas de nematodos de suelo y de agua dulce, la primera de este tipo realizada hasta el momento. El inventario actual lo componen 981 especies de 236 géneros, 77 familias y 12 órdenes. Los datos correspondiente a la fauna ibérica de nematodos se compara con la de otros táxones de la biota ibérica. Se analizan y se discuten distintos aspectos cuantitativos y cualitativos de la fauna nematológica, con especial énfasis en el tipo de información disponible sobre cada especie, y se concluye que casi una tercera parte de las especies ibéricas permanecen insuficientemente caracterizadas, razón por la cual requieren de estudios adicionales. La endemicidad de las especies es así mismo objeto de atención: 143 especies, un 14.6% del total están restringidas en su distribución al ámbito ibérico, en su mayor parte pertenecientes a los órdenes Dorylaimida (87) y Tylenchida (29), por otra parte los más diversificados de entre los pertenecientes al filo. El interés básico y aplicado del conocimiento de la fauna de nematodos es comentado e ilustrado con aportaciones recientes y ejemplos. Por último, se presenta una lista de todas las especies de la fauna ibérica, ordenadas alfabéticamente por su epíteto específico.

The present paper is a comparative study of some characteristics of new belite cements obtained from two kind of wastes, which were used as secondary raw materials: fly ash (FA), of low CaO content, from coal combustion, and ash from incineration of municipal solid waste (MSWIA). Cements were synthesised in a range of temperature between 700°C and 900°C from MSWIA and FA, which were previously activated by hydrothermal treatment at 200°C The evolution of cemented phases with the heating temperature was followed by X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results were compared with those obtained from heating the starting FA and MSWIA without the previous hydrothermal treatment. The degree of hydration was quantitatively evaluated by the combined water content, determined from thermogravimetric analyses, during a period of 28 days or 200 days from mixing depending of hydration kinetics of each cement.