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The Artistic Program of Social Restoration-(PARES) was conceived as an educationalstrategy supported by the Colombian Ministry of Culture and carried out in the municipality ofPiedecuesta in Santander, Colombia. In this arts-based educational research, we focused on the specificcase of art therapy as a means of social transformation, developing a mixed methodology. In it, a totalof twelve workshops on pinhole camera, ideation and product design were carried out to three groups,one of 14 girls and two of 15 boys between 14 and 18 years old, who were deprived of liberty or inpreventive internment in the Claret Foundation at the time this project was carried out. The programwants to confirm that the promotion of these creative activities developed in the workshops with theseadolescents, improves the development of their emotions and skills, which means more opportunitiesfor social inclusion., El Programa artístico de restauración Social-(PARES) se concibió como una estrategiaeducativa apoyada por el Ministerio de Cultura Colombiano y realizada en el municipio de Piedecuestaen Santander, Colombia. En esta investigación educativa basada en las artes, nos centramos en el casoconcreto del arte terapia como medio de transformación social, desarrollando una metodología mixta.En ella se llevaron a cabo un total de doce talleres sobre cámara estenopeica, ideación y diseño deproducto, a tres grupos, uno de 14 niñas y dos de 15 niños entre los 14 y 18 años, que se encontrabanprivados de libertad o en internamiento preventivo en la Fundación Claret en el momento en el quese realizó este proyecto. El programa quiere constatar que el fomento de estas actividades creativasdesarrolladas en los talleres con estos adolescentes, mejora el desarrollo de sus emociones y habilidades,lo que supone más oportunidades de inclusión social.

The Artistic Program of Social Restoration-(PARES) was conceived as an educationalstrategy supported by the Colombian Ministry of Culture and carried out in the municipality ofPiedecuesta in Santander, Colombia. In this arts-based educational research, we focused on the specificcase of art therapy as a means of social transformation, developing a mixed methodology. In it, a totalof twelve workshops on pinhole camera, ideation and product design were carried out to three groups,one of 14 girls and two of 15 boys between 14 and 18 years old, who were deprived of liberty or inpreventive internment in the Claret Foundation at the time this project was carried out. The programwants to confirm that the promotion of these creative activities developed in the workshops with theseadolescents, improves the development of their emotions and skills, which means more opportunitiesfor social inclusion., El Programa artístico de restauración Social-(PARES) se concibió como una estrategiaeducativa apoyada por el Ministerio de Cultura Colombiano y realizada en el municipio de Piedecuestaen Santander, Colombia. En esta investigación educativa basada en las artes, nos centramos en el casoconcreto del arte terapia como medio de transformación social, desarrollando una metodología mixta.En ella se llevaron a cabo un total de doce talleres sobre cámara estenopeica, ideación y diseño deproducto, a tres grupos, uno de 14 niñas y dos de 15 niños entre los 14 y 18 años, que se encontrabanprivados de libertad o en internamiento preventivo en la Fundación Claret en el momento en el quese realizó este proyecto. El programa quiere constatar que el fomento de estas actividades creativasdesarrolladas en los talleres con estos adolescentes, mejora el desarrollo de sus emociones y habilidades,lo que supone más oportunidades de inclusión social.

The Yucatan Peninsula as biogeographic province consists of the Mexican states of Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Yucatan, a more natural area also includes the northern regions of Belize, and Guatemala, and it is known as the Yucatan Peninsula Biotic Province. This province has karst geology, low surface hydrography, elevations below 350 meters, and a gradient of precipitation that allows the formation of different plant associations and the deciduous forest, semideciduous forest, and the evergreen forest are the most commons ones. The floristic information of this region is constantly updated. In the present work, this process is exemplified through an update for the endemic vascular flora and the recognition of new records from the last floristic checklist of the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula (Carnevali et al., 2010). Likewise, the application of a density index of botanical collection (IDCB, number of botanical collections /area) has been proposed, as a tool to evaluate the state of floristic knowledge by country, state or other administrative political unit. For example, a previous estimation for the Yucatan state yielded an index of 159 samples/km2. This parameter was calculated for the entire region and the three states. In general, the floristic knowledge of the region is still in progress (new species, and new records), the state best collected is Yucatan, followed by Quintana Roo and Campeche. These last two states require more botanical collections, especially outside the area of influence of roads and populated centers., RESUMEN: La Península de Yucatán está conformada de los estados mexicanos de Campeche, Quintana Roo y Yucatán; un área más natural incluye también las regiones septentrionales de Belice y Guatemala y se conoce como Provincia Biótica Península de Yucatán. La Península de Yucatán posee una geología cárstica, una hidrografía superficial escasa, elevaciones menores de 350 metros y un gradiente de precipitación que permite la formación de diferentes asociaciones vegetales, siendo las selvas caducifolias, subcaducifolias y perennifolias las más predominantes. La información florística de esta región se actualiza constantemente y en el presente trabajo, se demuestra dicha proceso a través de una actualización de la flora vascular endémica y de la recopilación de nuevos registros partiendo del último listado florístico de la Península de Yucatán mexicana (Carnevali et al., 2010). Asimismo se ha propuesto la aplicación de un índice de densidad de colección botánica (IDCB, número de colecciones botánicas/área km2), como herramienta para evaluar el estado de conocimiento florístico por país, estado u otra unidad política administrativa. Por ejemplo, una estimación previa para el estado de Yucatán arrojó un índice de 159 muestras/km2. Se calculó este parámetro para toda la región y para los tres estados. En general el conocimiento florístico de la región sigue en marcha con la descripción de nuevas especies para la ciencia cuyo material botánico es originario de la región y la adición de nuevos registros florísticos. El estado mejor conocido es Yucatán, seguido de Quintana Roo y Campeche. Estos dos últimos estados requieren más colecciones botánicas, en especial fuera del área de influencia de carreteras y centros poblados.

Researchers and farmers across the USA are teaming up on science. The aim is to learn more about climate resilience on the farm by tracking and supporting farmers’ experimentation and practice. First things first: building a network and finding out what to measure together.

Microbial transformation of hydrocarbons to methane is an environmentally relevant process taking place in a wide variety of electron acceptor-depleted habitats, from oil reservoirs and coal deposits to contaminated groundwater and deep sediments. Methanogenic hydrocarbon degradation is considered to be a major process in reservoir degradation and one of the main processes responsible for the formation of heavy oil deposits and oil sands. In the absence of external electron acceptors such as oxygen, nitrate, sulfate or Fe(III), fermentation and methanogenesis become the dominant microbial metabolisms. The major end product under these conditions is methane, and the only electron acceptor necessary to sustain the intermediate steps in this process is CO2, which is itself a net product of the overall reaction. We are summarizing the state of the art and recent advances in methanogenic hydrocarbon degradation research. Both the key microbial groups involved as well as metabolic pathways are described, and we discuss the novel insights into methanogenic hydrocarbon-degrading populations studied in laboratory as well as environmental systems enabled by novel cultivation-based and molecular approaches. Their possible implications on energy resources, bioremediation of contaminated sites, deep-biosphere research, and consequences for atmospheric composition and ultimately climate change are also addressed.

Coal-bearing sediments are major reservoirs of organic matter potentially available for methanogenic subsurface microbial communities. In this study the specific microbial community inside lignite-bearing sedimentary basin in Germany and its contribution to methanogenic hydrocarbon degradation processes was investigated. The stable isotope signature of methane measured in groundwater and coal-rich sediment samples indicated methanogenic activity. Analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences showed the presence of methanogenic Archaea, predominantly belonging to the orders Methanosarcinales and Methanomicrobiales, capable of acetoclastic or hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis. Furthermore, we identified fermenting, sulfate-, nitrate-, and metal-reducing, or acetogenic Bacteria clustering within the phyla Proteobacteria, complemented by members of the classes Actinobacteria, and Clostridia. The indigenous microbial communities found in the groundwater as well as in the coal-rich sediments are able to degrade coal-derived organic components and to produce methane as the final product. Lignite-bearing sediments may be an important nutrient and energy source influencing larger compartments via groundwater transport.

A C3469T mutation at exon 3 of the pig leptin (Lep) gene has been genotyped in diverse pig breeds yielding controversial results with regard to its association with growth, fatness and carcass traits. A similar situation has been reported for a HpaII restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) in the pig leptin receptor (Lepr) gene, where associations were found depending on the statistical model employed. The main objective of our work was to investigate if leptin plasma concentrations differ in pigs with different C3469T and Lepr HpaII RFLP genotypes. With this aim, we have measured plasma leptin levels at 160 days in 68 Landrace pigs with different Lep C3469T and Lepr HpaII RFLP genotypes. Neither Lep (TT: 11.68 ng/ml, TC: 10.71 ng/ml) nor Lepr (AA: 12.6 ng/ml, AB: 10.93 ng/ml, BB: 11.74 ng/ml) genotypes influenced significantly plasma Lep concentration. Moreover, we did not find any association between Lep and Lepr genotypes and phenotypic variation at growth and fatness traits in a commercial population of 320 Landrace pigs.