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A 10‐year monitoring program was developed to quantify the population dynamics of the long‐snouted seahorse population in the Mar Menor coastal lagoon. Based on 985 underwater visual censuses, we estimated the long‐snouted seahorse (Hippocampus guttulatus Cuvier, 1829) population size in the Mar Menor lagoon and its reduction in size in the last decades, as well as the effect of eutrophication crises in 2016 and 2019 on the species. The annual recruitment for the 2013–2020 period was estimated by comparing the relative abundance of early seahorse life stages in the ichthyoplankton. The density ranged from 0.0458 specimens/m3 at the beginning of the sampling period to 0.0004 at the end, showing a statistically significant difference between the three analyzed periods (Hgl=2 = 14.0, p = 0.001). The long‐snouted seahorse population from the Mar Menor lagoon exemplifies the impact of fishing activities and human pressure, especially euxinic episodes and habitat destruction. As a result of this, the Mar Menor population has decreased from several million specimens to a few thousand, in only three decades. This species showed considerable resilience, the seahorse population began to recover once fishing activity stopped. In contrast, the long‐snouted seahorse showed high vulnerability to habitat loss and an episodic flooding event. Adult seahorses showed preferences for highly complex habitats, especially Caulerpa prolifera–Cymodocea nodosa mixed meadows and habitats of high complexity and anthropogenic origin, such as harbors, jetties, or breakwaters. In contrast, juvenile seahorses preferred monotonous seabeds with low complexity, such as the sandy beds that are characteristic of the Mar Menor lagoon littoral. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objetivo: Valorar la descripción geoestadística realizada de los datos de gripe recogidos a través de la Red Centinela Sanitaria de la Comunidad Valenciana (RCSCV) mediante la utilización del método kriging con la finalidad de evaluar la posibilidad de su incorporación a la vigilancia rutinaria Método: Se han utilizado los datos de vigilancia de gripe de la RCSCV en tres temporadas gripales (1997-1998, 1998-1999 y 1999-2000), construyéndose una matriz de datos de incidencia de gripe geocodificada. La distribución geográfica fue estudiada mediante la técnica geoestadística kriging, que permite estimar la incidencia de la enfermedad en cualquier punto del territorio, a partir de la incidencia observada en unos pocos puntos estratégicamente distribuidos. Se elaboraron mapas de curvas de isoincidencia de gripe para cada semana. La valoración de la técnica se realizó mediante validación cruzada. Resultados: En la mayoría de las semanas, los valores tanto de la desviación estándar (DE) reducida, como de la media reducida estuvieron cercanos a los valores considerados óptimos (0 o 1, respectivamente), y sólo en la última temporada se obtuvieron valores de la DE reducida alejados de los considerados como de buen ajuste en 12 de las 20 semanas. La estimación de tasas en todas las temporadas demostró una coherencia en su distribución espacial. También se observó coherencia en la evolución temporal. Conclusiones: En la mayoría de las situaciones los resultados pueden considerarse aceptables, no requiere recursos informáticos extraordinarios ni un empleo de tiempo excesivo, y necesita tan sólo una adaptación anual. Su facilidad de uso lo hace apto para su utilización como una técnica de rutina, pese a que puede mejorarse la precisión de las estimaciones, incrementando la complejidad del modelo.

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is an uncommon but important cause of myocardial ischemia associated with a high mortality rate. (1) Its aetiology, incidence and pathogenesis are still unknown. It is characterized by the presence of a hematoma and/or the separation of the different layers in the arterial wall, (2) causing vessel lumen stenosis. The clinical manifestation depends on the extent and limitation of the blood flow caused by the dissection, and it varies from an asymptomatic presentation to acute myocardial infarction (50-75%), sudden cardiac death (0.5%) or heart failure. (3) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The composition and diversity of parasite communities and intestinal components, as well as infra-community structure, were assessed in eels Anguilla anguilla, from Mar Menor, a permanent Mediterranean hypersaline coastal lagoon. Data were used to determine whether this helminth community differs in composition and structure from that of eels in lagoons with lower salinity regimes and higher freshwater inputs. A total prevalence of 93% was detected. Specifically, parasites were identified as Deropristis inflata, Bucephalus anguillae, Contracaecum sp., Anguillicoloides crassus and two plerocercoid larvae belonging to the order Proteocephalidae, the marine species representing 91% of the isolated helminths. In the total community, digenetic trematodes were the dominant group of helminths, and D. inflata, an eel specialist, dominated both the component community and the infra-community. Richness and diversity were low but similar to those reported in other saline lagoons, and maximum species per eel did not exceed four. At the infra-community level, higher abundance than in other brackish or marine Mediterranean environments was detected. The findings provide further evidence of the similarity in composition and structure of helminth communities in eels from various Mediterranean coastal lagoons. Moreover, salinity-dependent specificities are well supported and reflect the life history of individual eels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims. The prime motivation of this project was to design and build a state-of-art mm-wave heterodyne receiver system to enhance the observing throughput of the IRAM 30-m radiotelescope. More specifically, the requirements were ) state-of-art noise performance for spectroscopic observations; ii) simultaneous dual polarization and dual-frequency observing; iii) coverage of the atmospheric transmission windows from 83 to 360 GHz; iv) compact footprint and minimal maintenance. Methods. Key elements for low noise performance of heterodyne mixers are the superconducting Niobium junctions, operating at ≃4 K. These junctions are embedded in carefully designed coupling structures; furthermore, since atmospheric radiation is a significant contributor to the system noise budget, all mixers are either sideband separating or sideband rejecting. To achieve low noise, it is also essential to maximize the coupling of the receiver to the astronomical source, and to minimize the coupling to thermal radiation from the ground-based environment; this is achieved through mirror optics that realize a wavelength-independent coupling to the telescope. A flexible configuration of mirrors and frequency selective surfaces permits various combinations of frequency bands, as well as dual-load radiometric calibration. Low noise intermediate frequency amplifiers and bias electronics also play an important role in the system performance. Results. The EMIR receiver in operation at the 30m telescope offers four frequency bands: B1: 83-117 GHz, B2: 129-174 GHz, B3: 200-267 GHz, and B4: 260-360 GHz. In each band, the two orthogonal polarizations are observed simultaneously. Dual-band combinations B1/2 B1/3, and B2/4 are available. Bands 1 and 4 (also 3 as of Nov.-2011) feature sideband separation. In dual-band configuration, including sideband separation and polarization diplexing, up to eight IF channels are delivered to the spectrometers, totaling up to 64 GHz of signal bandwidth (of which 32 GHz can be transported and processed by spectrometers, status Nov.- 2011). The EMIR receiver has been in continuous operation for more than two years and has allowed, through a qualitative jump in performance, observations not possible before, as shown by a few selected examples of astronomical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni (Xap), the causal agent of bacterial spot disease of stone fruits and almond, has a quarantine status for the European Union and the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization. The symptoms in the diverse hosts show some differences and, although being quite typical, could be confused with those of some fungal diseases or other biotic or abiotic causes. Consequently, an accurate molecular diagnosis method is required for a rapid identification of the pathogen in samples of imported plants, from nurseries, orchards, etc. A protocol for conventional PCR designed by Pagani (2004) has been the only molecular analytic tool available for several years. It has been optimised for improving its specificity and sensitivity, and the results of its evaluation in 316 bacterial spot-like symptomatic samples of almond, apricot, cherry, Japanese plum and peach, compared with those of isolation and real-time PCR, are reported. The optimised PCR protocol showed specificity for a collection of Xap strains tested. Few non-desired reactions were obtained with some other xanthomonads which have not been reported from Prunus species. Sensitivity thresholds ranged from 102 to 105 CFU ml-1, depending on the hosts and type of plant material. This conventional PCR assay proved to be an excellent candidate for a rapid screening and presumptive diagnosis in cases where real-time PCR equipment is not available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study of the prevalence of Anguillicoloides crassus infection in wild European eels from Mar Menor lagoon in Spain. The study involved 109 wild European eels collected from November 2008 and March 2009. Results show that the prevalence rate was 7.34% and adult nematode prevalence was 3.67%. The common method for recovering parasitic nematode larvae from mammal, reptile, gastropod and fish tissue is artificial digestion. Temperatures below 4°Celsius (C) and a lack of suitable intermediate hosts in the environment were identified as the only known factors that reduce the dispersal of the parasite, based on an article by R. S. Kirk.

On high precision reflector telescopes the transient thermal panel buckling can have an effective rms-value comparable to the errors in the adjustment of the reflector panels. Under this condition, high signal-to-noise radio holography of high spatial resolution can reveal the characteristic signature of panel buckling in the beam pattern and can map the surface deformation of the buckling, while lower signal-to-noise Moon limb scans may see the buckling only under favorable conditions. Detailed diffraction calculations, and some observations, indicate (1) that the panel buckling produces diffraction rings and/or diffraction spokes, (2) that panel buckling in azimuthal direction may have a smaller degrading effect than panel buckling in radial direction because for azimuthal buckling the energy is spread more uniformly over a large solid angle, and (3) that the coverage of the reflector aperture with buckled panels determines the multiplicity of the diffraction rings and/or diffraction spokes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A preliminary study of the precipitable water vapour (PWV) content above the observatories in Sierra Nevada, the southernmost high altitude location in continental Europe with a dry climate, indicates that Sierra Nevada is a very competitive location for FIR-submm observations, with a 25% quartile of PWV=2.3 mm(H2O) as compared with 2.1 mm(H2O) for Mauna Kea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the discovery of necrotic pear blossoms in several pear orchards of "Ercolini" and "Tendral" in Valencia, Spain in April 1999 during a routine survey in an area free of Erwinia amylovora. Its symptoms matched with those of fire blight but the difference is that only blossoms are affected and did not progress to other parts of the tree. Fire blight affects all parts of the tree and progress quickly causing death of tree of susceptible cultivars after a few infectious cycles.