Growth and reproduction of the dolphinfish (Coryphaena equiselis and Coryphaena hippurus) in the Canary Islands, Central-East Atlantic (preliminary results)

The size, growth and spawning characteristics of pompano dolphin (N=150) and common dolphinfish (N=36) caught off the Canary Islands between May and September 1995 and between July and September 1996 were examined. Fork length (FL) of pompano dolphin was in the range 28.3-62.8 cm. In 1995, the mean length increased significantly from June to September. However, in 1996, the mean length was significantly larger in July than in September. The overall length-weight relationship was W=0.0287*FL2.774 (r=0.97), while these relationships by sex were as follows: W=0.031*FL2.758 (r=0.98) and W=0.0282*FL2.776 (r=0.97), for males and females respectively. Spawning takes place at the beginning of the Summer (June-July). All the individuals obtained showed developing gonads, but females showed a higher gonadosomatic index (GSI) than males. The highest GSI values were obtained in June (x- =3.10±1.73), and decreased progressively towards the end of the season (September), when the average of this index was x- = 1.86±0.87. Similarly, the condition index decreased significantly from June to September. The proportion of females was always significantly higher than males, except in July 1996 when it was 1:1. There was a high correspondence between growth rates determined by annuli scale interpretation and modal progression analysis. According to scale annuli interpretation, the individuals caught showed more than five age classes. However, there are doubts about age assignation from scales. Fork length of common dolphinfish was in the range of 76.5-103.0 cm. The length-weight relationships obtained for all the specimens caught was W=0.00095FL3.527 (r=0.96), while these relationships by sex were as follows: W=0.00398FL3.222 (r=0.94) and W=0.01656FL2.873 (r=0.91), for males and females respectively. Spawning probably takes place at the beginning of the Summer. All the individuals obtained showed developing gonads, although the GSI of females were higher than males. The highest GSI values were obtained in June (x- =5.50±2.17). In the same way, the condition index decreased from May to June. The proportion of females was always slightly higher than males (1:1.4), but the ratio was not significantly different from 1:1

Toll-Interacting Protein Modulates Gut Flora Composition, Epithelial Barrier Integrity and Susceptibility to Colitis

Toll-like receptor ( TLR) s ignals are key to maintaining hostmicrobial i nteractions. T he T oll-interacting-protein (Tollip) is a ubiquitously-expressed inhibitor of inflammasome a nd TLR signaling. W e hypothesized that T ollip might control g ut homeostasis. G enetic ablation of T ollip d id not lead to spontaneous colitis b ut h ad d ramatic c onsequences on t he intestinal expression of the α-defensin cryptidin 4 and the C-type lectin R EGIIIβ. These c hanges were associated with intestinal dysbiosis a nd e nhanced colonization b y segmented filamentous bacteria - a k ey p ro-inflammatory component of the microbiota. Tollip deficiency increased susceptibility to dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) colitis and aggravated chronic Th17-driven colitis in IL-10-/- mice. Flora d epletion w ith a ntibiotics in T ollip-/- mice w as not sufficient to restore DSS colitis susceptibility and deletion of Tollip in n on-hematopoietic c ells using bone-marrow chimeras w as sufficient to increase s usceptibility t o DSS colitis. After D SS administration, we o bserved several e pithelial defects i n Tollip-/- mice including early tight junctions disruption, increased epithelial apoptosis, and increased intestinal permeability. Overall, our data show that T ollip significantly impacts intestinal h omeostasis by controlling b acterial ecology and intestinal r esponse to chemical and immunological stresses.

El ave más valiosa del mundo (capítulo IV del libro "Bird islands of Perú")

Da una opinión valorativa, en base a fundamentos o criterios económicos, la importancia del Guanay, conocido en la ciencia como Phalacrocorax bouganvillei, en la producción del guano de isla y en el desarrollo económico del país, dándole el título de la ave más valiosa en el mundo.

Efectos de la presencia social de las lenguas escolares en el desarrollo lingüístico del alumnado extranjero. Un estudio empírico en Cataluña = The Social Presence of School Languages and Their Effects on the Development of Immigrant Students’ Linguistic Proficiency. An Empirical Study in Catalonia

El estudio de las variables relacionadas con la adquisición de las lenguas escolares en contextos bilingües y multilingües ha resurgido a raíz de la incorporación de alumnado extranjero al sistema educativo español. En este sentido, y gracias a su peculiar situación sociolingüística, Cataluña se ha convertido en un observatorio perfecto para estudiar el proceso de adquisición de lenguas del alumnado extranjero. En este artículo presentamos una parte de los datos obtenidos en la evaluación del conocimiento de catalán y del castellano de 668 alumnos extranjeros de sexto de Primaria escolarizados en 57 centros de Cataluña. Con ello pretendemos estudiar los efectos de la presencia y del uso social de las lenguas escolares en el conocimiento lingüístico de este alumnado. La hipótesis principal es que el desarrollo de buenos niveles de conocimiento escrito de las lenguas escolares por parte de los alumnos extranjeros depende, en buena medida, de las oportunidades que haya en el entorno social para que ellos puedan utilizar estas lenguas en los intercambios comunicativos informales con sus compañeros o con otros adultos. Las conclusiones del trabajo señalan las relaciones existentes entre el desarrollo de habilidades lingüísticas conversacionales y el de habilidades lingüísticas cognitivo-académicas (Cummins, 1979b), en el sentido de que tanto el conocimiento escrito de catalán como el de castellano que tiene el alumnado extranjero están condicionados por el nivel de desarrollo conversacional previo en ambas lenguas. Además, apuntan a que la transferencia de habilidades lingüísticas cognitivo-académicas no se produce directamente entre el catalán y el castellano, sino que depende fundamentalmente de la presencia social que tengan estas lenguas y de sus usos informales. Así, en la medida en que un buen número de estudiantes extranjeros no desarrolla suficiente competencia lingüística conversacional ni en catalán ni en castellano, el proceso de adquisición de las lenguas escolares se alarga más allá de los seis años

Lengua familiar y conocimiento de la lengua escolar en Cataluña al finalizar la Educación Infantil = Home Language and Knowledge of the School Language in Catalonia at the end of Nursery School

La infancia extranjera se escolariza en Cataluña en un programa de cambio de lengua del hogar a la escuela. Las investigaciones afirman que este alumnado tarda un mínimo de seis años en equiparar sus habilidades lingüístico-cognitivas con sus pares autóctonos, no así las habilidades conversacionales, las cuales se adquieren antes de los dos años de residencia. Sin embargo, no existen estudios sobre los efectos de la escolarización en el parvulario del alumnado alófono, así como de su lengua familiar, en relación con la adquisición de la lengua escolar. El artículo es un estudio comparativo de la adquisición del catalán de 567 autóctonos y 434 alófonos, al final del parvulario, en 50 escuelas de Cataluña que escolarizan a alumnado de origen extranjero. Las lenguas del alumnado autóctono son el catalán, el castellano y el bilingüismo catalán-castellano y las lenguas del alumnado alófono son el árabe, el soninké y el castellano. Los factores utilizados más relevantes han sido el nivel socioprofesional y educativo de las familias, el tiempo de residencia y el momento de escolarización del alumnado, el porcentaje de alumnado catalanohablante y de alumnado alófono en el aula y el contexto sociolingüístico del centro escolar. Los resultados muestran que el alumnado autóctono sabe más catalán que el alumnado alófono, pero las diferencias desaparecen respecto a algunos factores, de los cuales los más relevantes son los relacionados con las características del alumnado de las aulas. La lengua familiar del alumnado alófono no incide en sus resultados

A flood geodatabase and its climatological applications: the case of Catalonia for the last century

Floods are the natural hazards that produce the highest number of casualties and material damage in the Western Mediterranean. An improvement in flood risk assessment and study of a possible increase in flooding occurrence are therefore needed. To carry out these tasks it is important to have at our disposal extensive knowledge on historical floods and to find an efficient way to manage this geographical data. In this paper we present a complete flood database spanning the 20th century for the whole of Catalonia (NE Spain), which includes documentary information (affected areas and damage) and instrumental information (meteorological and hydrological records). This geodatabase, named Inungama, has been implemented on a GIS (Geographical Information System) in order to display all the information within a given geographical scenario, as well as to carry out an analysis thereof using queries, overlays and calculus. Following a description of the type and amount of information stored in the database and the structure of the information system, the first applications of Inungama are presented. The geographical distribution of floods shows the localities which are more likely to be flooded, confirming that the most affected municipalities are the most densely populated ones in coastal areas. Regarding the existence of an increase in flooding occurrence, a temporal analysis has been carried out, showing a steady increase over the last 30 years.

Preliminary results of the Social Impact Research Group of MEDEX: the request database (2000-2002) of two Meteorological Services

One of the aims of the MEDEX project is to improve the knowledge of high-impact weather events in the Mediterranean. According to the guidelines of this project, a pilot study was carried out in two regions of Spain (the Balearic Islands and Catalonia) by the Social Impact Research group of MEDEX. The main goal is to suggest some general and suitable criteria about how to analyse requests received in Meteorological Services arising out of the damage caused by weather events. Thus, all the requests received between 2000 and 2002 at the Servei Meteorològic de Catalunya as well as at the Division of AEMET in the Balearic Islands were analysed. Firstly, the proposed criteria in order to build the database are defined and discussed. Secondly, the temporal distribution of the requests for damage claims is analysed. On average, almost half of them were received during the first month after the event happened. During the first six months, the percentage increases by 90%. Thirdly, various factors are taken into account to determine the impact of specific events on society. It is remarkable that the greatest number of requests is for those episodes with simultaneous heavy rain and strong wind, and finally, those that are linked to high population density.

Tornadoes and waterspouts in Catalonia (1950-2009)

This paper presents a preliminary climatology of tornadoes and waterspouts in Catalonia (NE Iberian Peninsula). A database spanning 60 yr (1950-2009) has been developed on the basis of information collected from various sources such as weather reports, insurance companies, newspapers and damage surveys. This database has been subjected to a rigorous validation process, and the climatology describes its main features: timing, spatial pattern, and trends in the tornado and waterspout distribution. Results show the highest concentration of tornadoes from August to October, the highest density in the heavily populated coastal areas and a growing positive trend that is likely more closely linked to an increase in observation and perception rather than a real climatic trend.

Predictive ability of severe rainfall events over Catalonia for the year 2008

This paper analyses the predictive ability of quantitative precipitation forecasts (QPF) and the so-called "poor-man" rainfall probabilistic forecasts (RPF). With this aim, the full set of warnings issued by the Meteorological Service of Catalonia (SMC) for potentially-dangerous events due to severe precipitation has been analysed for the year 2008. For each of the 37 warnings, the QPFs obtained from the limited-area model MM5 have been verified against hourly precipitation data provided by the rain gauge network covering Catalonia (NE of Spain), managed by SMC. For a group of five selected case studies, a QPF comparison has been undertaken between the MM5 and COSMO-I7 limited-area models. Although MM5's predictive ability has been examined for these five cases by making use of satellite data, this paper only shows in detail the heavy precipitation event on the 9¿10 May 2008. Finally, the "poor-man" rainfall probabilistic forecasts (RPF) issued by SMC at regional scale have also been tested against hourly precipitation observations. Verification results show that for long events (>24 h) MM5 tends to overestimate total precipitation, whereas for short events (¿24 h) the model tends instead to underestimate precipitation. The analysis of the five case studies concludes that most of MM5's QPF errors are mainly triggered by very poor representation of some of its cloud microphysical species, particularly the cloud liquid water and, to a lesser degree, the water vapor. The models' performance comparison demonstrates that MM5 and COSMO-I7 are on the same level of QPF skill, at least for the intense-rainfall events dealt with in the five case studies, whilst the warnings based on RPF issued by SMC have proven fairly correct when tested against hourly observed precipitation for 6-h intervals and at a small region scale. Throughout this study, we have only dealt with (SMC-issued) warning episodes in order to analyse deterministic (MM5 and COSMO-I7) and probabilistic (SMC) rainfall forecasts; therefore we have not taken into account those episodes that might (or might not) have been missed by the official SMC warnings. Therefore, whenever we talk about "misses", it is always in relation to the deterministic LAMs' QPFs.

Trends in indices of daily precipitation extremes in Catalonia (NE Spain), 1951-2003

The aim of this paper is to quantitatively characterize the climatology of daily precipitation indices in Catalonia (northeastern Iberian Peninsula) from 1951 to 2003. This work has been performed analyzing a subset of the ETCCDI (Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices) precipitation indices calculated from a new interpolated dataset of daily precipitation, namely SPAIN02, regular at 0.2° horizontal resolution (around 20 km) and from two high-quality stations: the Ebro and Fabra observatories. Using a jack-knife technique, we have found that the sampling error of the SPAIN02 regional averaged is relatively low. The trend analysis has been implemented using a Circular Block Bootstrap procedure applicable to non-normal distributions and autocorrelated series. A running trend analysis has been applied to analyze the trend persistence. No general trends at a regional scale are observed, considering the annual or the seasonal regional averaged series of all the indices for all the time windows considered. Only the consecutive dry days index (CDD) at annual scale shows a locally coherent spatial trend pattern; around 30% of the Catalonia area has experienced an increase of around 2¿3 days decade¿1. The Ebro and Fabra observatories show a similar CDD trend, mainly due to the summer contribution. Besides this, a significant decrease in total precipitation (around ¿10 mm decade¿1) and in the index "highest precipitation amount in five-day period" (RX5DAY, around ¿5 mm decade¿1), have been found in summer for the Ebro observatory.

Improving QPF by blending techniques at the Meteorological Service of Catalonia

The current operational very short-term and short-term quantitative precipitation forecast (QPF) at the Meteorological Service of Catalonia (SMC) is made by three different methodologies: Advection of the radar reflectivity field (ADV), Identification, tracking and forecasting of convective structures (CST) and numerical weather prediction (NWP) models using observational data assimilation (radar, satellite, etc.). These precipitation forecasts have different characteristics, lead time and spatial resolutions. The objective of this study is to combine these methods in order to obtain a single and optimized QPF at each lead time. This combination (blending) of the radar forecast (ADV and CST) and precipitation forecast from NWP model is carried out by means of different methodologies according to the prediction horizon. Firstly, in order to take advantage of the rainfall location and intensity from radar observations, a phase correction technique is applied to the NWP output to derive an additional corrected forecast (MCO). To select the best precipitation estimation in the first and second hour (t+1 h and t+2 h), the information from radar advection (ADV) and the corrected outputs from the model (MCO) are mixed by using different weights, which vary dynamically, according to indexes that quantify the quality of these predictions. This procedure has the ability to integrate the skill of rainfall location and patterns that are given by the advection of radar reflectivity field with the capacity of generating new precipitation areas from the NWP models. From the third hour (t+3 h), as radar-based forecasting has generally low skills, only the quantitative precipitation forecast from model is used. This blending of different sources of prediction is verified for different types of episodes (convective, moderately convective and stratiform) to obtain a robust methodology for implementing it in an operational and dynamic way.

Towards a database on societal impact of Mediterranean floods in the framework of the HYMEX project

The NW Mediterranean region experiences every year heavy rainfall and flash floods that occasionally produce catastrophic damages. Less frequent are floods that affect large regions. Although a large number of databases devoted exclusively to floods or considering all kind of natural hazards do exist, usually they only record catastrophic flood events. This paper deals with the new flood database that is being developed within the framework of HYMEX project. Results are focused on four regions representative of the NW sector of Mediterranean Europe: Catalonia, Spain; the Balearic Islands, Spain; Calabria, Italy; and Languedoc-Roussillon, Midi-Pyrenées and PACA, France. The common available 30-yr period starts in 1981 and ends in 2010. The paper shows the database structure and criteria, the comparison with other flood databases, some statistics on spatial and temporal distribution, and an identification of the most important events. The paper also provides a table that includes the date and affected region of all the catastrophic events identified in the regions of study, in order to make this information available for all audiences.