Mass migration of juvenile Biomphalaria glabrata snails bred under semi-natural conditions

For the development of studies on snail interspecific competition special in-door laboratory channels were built. In the all five channels seeded with adult specimens of Biomphalaria glabrata mass migration of juvenile snails outside the water was observed. Most of the migrant snails presented apertural lamellae. Data collected during the period of two years, showed the regression of the migration phenomenon and the disappearance of the lamellate snails.

Composición en ácidos grasos de huevos y larvas de dentón (Dentex dentex L.) de hasta 40 días en condiciones de cultivo

Total lipid content and fatty acid (FA) composition of common dentex eggs spawned at different times and larvae reared under different culture conditions until 40 days post hatch (dph) were analysed in order to get a general pattern of lipid composition during larval development. Results were grouped according to the developmental stage of the larvae instead of age in dph. Saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids decreased along larval development, while polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) content increased. The ratio of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) / eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) shifted from 4 – 5 in early developmental stages to lower than 1 after metamorphosis. Results suggest a subdivision of the larval development into two stages of opposite FA requirements.

Generic optimality conditions for semi-algebraic convex programs

We consider linear optimization over a nonempty convex semi-algebraic feasible region F. Semidefinite programming is an example. If F is compact, then for almost every linear objective there is a unique optimal solution, lying on a unique \active" manifold, around which F is \partly smooth", and the second-order sufficient conditions hold. Perturbing the objective results in smooth variation of the optimal solution. The active manifold consists, locally, of these perturbed optimal solutions; it is independent of the representation of F, and is eventually identified by a variety of iterative algorithms such as proximal and projected gradient schemes. These results extend to unbounded sets F.

El Estado en los campos. La regulación del cultivo del arroz en la España del siglo XIX

El papel desempeñado por el Estado en la economía española del siglo XIX ha sido muy controvertido y, en general, ha recibido juicios negativos. Este artículo trata de evaluar la intervención pública en el ámbito de la regulación del cultivo del arroz. Justificada frente al paludismo, esta reglamentación encontró grandes dificultades para ser aplicada hasta que se consolidó el nuevo aparato estatal salido de la revolución liberal, a causa de las resistencias locales y las limitaciones administrativas. En la segunda mitad del siglo XIX, sin embargo, el Estado estableció una legislación que perviviría en el tiempo y fue ampliamente respetada. De ese modo el Estado mostró una cierta autonomía respecto a intereses sociales muy arraigados y materializó medidas que tenían un impacto sobre la mejora sanitaria de la población.

An algorithm for semi-infinite polynomial optimization

"Vegeu el resum a l'inici del document del fitxer adjunt."

Semi-supervised segmentation of ultrasound images based on patch representation and continuous min cut.

Ultrasound segmentation is a challenging problem due to the inherent speckle and some artifacts like shadows, attenuation and signal dropout. Existing methods need to include strong priors like shape priors or analytical intensity models to succeed in the segmentation. However, such priors tend to limit these methods to a specific target or imaging settings, and they are not always applicable to pathological cases. This work introduces a semi-supervised segmentation framework for ultrasound imaging that alleviates the limitation of fully automatic segmentation, that is, it is applicable to any kind of target and imaging settings. Our methodology uses a graph of image patches to represent the ultrasound image and user-assisted initialization with labels, which acts as soft priors. The segmentation problem is formulated as a continuous minimum cut problem and solved with an efficient optimization algorithm. We validate our segmentation framework on clinical ultrasound imaging (prostate, fetus, and tumors of the liver and eye). We obtain high similarity agreement with the ground truth provided by medical expert delineations in all applications (94% DICE values in average) and the proposed algorithm performs favorably with the literature.

Propuestas técnicas para el cultivo ecológico de manzana

Ante la creciente necesidad de puesta a punto de técnicas de cultivo de manzano en agricultura ecológica (AE), el IRTA (Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries) de Cataluña y el SERIDA (Servicio Regional de Investigación y Desarrollo Agroalimentario) de Asturias han aunado esfuerzos para estudiar los puntos críticos de la producción y proponer soluciones técnicas al sector productor. Las investigaciones que se presentan se han centrado en el estudio de la adaptación a las condiciones locales de variedades resistentes y de algunas de las principales variedades comerciales, en la evaluación de técnicas de control del moteado y del pulgón ceniciento, en el desarrollo de itinerarios prácticos para reducir la alternancia de cosechas y obtener frutos de buen calibre y calidad, y en el manejo de cubiertas arvenses para limitar la competencia de la vegetación espontánea y propiciar la conservación de los enemigos naturales y el control biológico de las plagas. Se trata, en definitiva, de disponer de alternativas de manejo que permitan obtener una manzana de la máxima calidad producida de manera respetuosa con el medio ambiente y la salud, en el marco de una orientación agroecológica. A la vista de los resultados, se muestra que la producción ecológica de manzana es factible, aunque será necesario seguir profundizando en la optimización del sistema de producción.

Cultivo de la Lluenta (Callista chione)

La lluenta, C. chione, es un bivalvo suspensívoro perteneciente a la familia Veneridae. Habita zonas de arena fina entre los 0 y 180 m de profundidad y presenta una amplia distribución geográfica a lo largo del Mediterráneo y de las Costas atlánticas europeas. Los bancos naturales de C. Chione en el litoral catalán se concentran en la zona del Maresme, a profundidades entre 5-25 m.

Discrete time Non-homogeneous Semi-Markov Processes applied to Models for Disability Insurance

In this paper, we present a stochastic model for disability insurance contracts. The model is based on a discrete time non-homogeneous semi-Markov process (DTNHSMP) to which the backward recurrence time process is introduced. This permits a more exhaustive study of disability evolution and a more efficient approach to the duration problem. The use of semi-Markov reward processes facilitates the possibility of deriving equations of the prospective and retrospective mathematical reserves. The model is applied to a sample of contracts drawn at random from a mutual insurance company.

Evolución clínica y pronóstico de la ascitis neutrocítica con cultivo negativo (ANCN) y la peritonitis bacteriana espontánea (PBE)

263 pacients cirròtics que van presentar la primera descompensació ascítica es van seguir de forma prospectiva. A tots els pacients se’ls va realitzar anàlisi del líquid ascític. 58 pacients van desenvolupar 83 episodis d’infecció del líquid ascític. En 44 episodis el cultiu va ser negatiu i en 37 va ser positiu. A l’ingrès, els pacients amb ANCN van presentar una funció hepàtica i renal millor que aquells amb ANCN. La infecció del líquid ascític es va resoldre més precoçment als pacients amb ANCN, amb una menor incidència d’insuficiència renal. Es va observar una tendència a presentar una menor mortalitat acumulada a l’any al grup de pacients amb ANCN. La ANCN apareix sobretoto en cirròtics amb una malaltia hepàtica menys evolucionada.

Cutting edge: influence of the TCR Vbeta domain on the selection of semi-invariant NKT cells by endogenous ligands.

Invariant Valpha14 (Valpha14i) NKT cells are a murine CD1d-dependent regulatory T cell subset characterized by a Valpha14-Jalpha18 rearrangement and expression of mostly Vbeta8.2 and Vbeta7. Whereas the TCR Vbeta domain influences the binding avidity of the Valpha14i TCR for CD1d-alpha-galactosylceramide complexes, with Vbeta8.2 conferring higher avidity binding than Vbeta7, a possible impact of the TCR Vbeta domain on Valpha14i NKT cell selection by endogenous ligands has not been studied. In this study, we show that thymic selection of Vbeta7(+), but not Vbeta8.2(+), Valpha14i NKT cells is favored in situations where endogenous ligand concentration or TCRalpha-chain avidity are suboptimal. Furthermore, thymic Vbeta7(+) Valpha14i NKT cells were preferentially selected in vitro in response to CD1d-dependent presentation of endogenous ligands or exogenously added self ligand isoglobotrihexosylceramide. Collectively, our data demonstrate that the TCR Vbeta domain influences the selection of Valpha14i NKT cells by endogenous ligands, presumably because Vbeta7 confers higher avidity binding.

Value for Money and Policy Review of the Economic Cost and Charges Associated with Private and Semi-Private Treatment Services in Public Hospitals - Final Report

This Value for Money and Policy Review (VFM&PR) of the Economic Cost and Charges Associated with Private and Semi-Private Treatment Services in Public Hospitals was initiated by the Department of Health and Children in June 2009 and was conducted under the auspices of the Governmentâ?Ts Value for Money & Policy Review Initiative 2009-2011. The Review was overseen by an independently chaired National Steering Group comprised of senior representatives from the Department of Health and Children, the Department of Finance, and the Health Service Executive (HSE). Download document here Download Explanatory Note