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[ES] Los virus del género Phlebovirus, transmitidos por dípteros de la familia Psychodidae, son una causa de síndrome febril autolimitado durante el verano-otoño en los países mediterráneos. En el caso del virus Toscana, pueden ser causa de meningitis y meningoencefalitis. En España se ha detectado la presencia de los virus Toscana, Granada, Nápoles, Sicilia, Arbia y Arrabida-like. La presencia casi generalizada de vectores del género Phlebotomus, especialmente de Phlebotomus perniciosus, en los que se han detectado varios de estos virus, hace muy probable que aparezcan de manera regular infecciones en humanos en nuestro país, siendo este riesgo moderado para el virus Toscana y bajo para el resto, en las zonas con mayor actividad del vector. La mayor parte de las enfermedades pasarían inadvertidas y solo el virus Toscana puede tener un mayor impacto por la aparición de casos graves., [EN] The genera Phlebovirus transmitted by Diptera belonging to the Psychodidae family are a cause of self-limited febrile syndrome in the Mediterranean basin in summer and autumn. Toscana virus can also cause meningitis and meningoencephalitis. In Spain, Toscana, Granada, Naples, Sicily, Arbia and Arrabida-like viruses have been detected. The almost widespread distribution of Phlebotomus genus vectors, and especially Phlebotomus perniciosus, in which several of these viruses have been detected, makes it very likely that there will be regular human infections in our country, with this risk considered moderate for Toscana virus and low for the other ones, in areas with the highest vector activity. Most of the infections would be undiagnosed, while only Toscana virus would have a greater impact due to the potential severity of the illness.

Killer whales (Orcinus orca) in the Mediterranean Sea are currently restricted to the Strait of Gibraltar and surrounding waters. Thirty-nine individuals were present in 2011, with a well-differentiated social structure, organized into five pods. Killer whale occurrence in the Strait is apparently related to the migration of their main prey, Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus). In spring, whale distribution was restricted to shallow waters off the western coast of the Strait where all pods were observed actively hunting tuna. In summer, the whales were observed in the shallow central waters of the Strait. A relatively new feeding strategy has been observed among two of the five pods. These two pods interact with an artisanal drop-line fishery. Pods depredating the fishery had access to larger tuna in comparison with pods that were actively hunting. The Strait of Gibraltar killer whales are socially and ecologically different from individuals in the Canary Islands. Molecular genetic research has indicated that there is little or no female-mediated gene migration between these areas. Conservation threats include small population size, prey depletion, vessel traffic, and contaminants. We propose the declaration of the Strait of Gibraltar killer whales as an endangered subpopulation. A conservation plan to protect the Strait of Gibraltar killer whales is urgently needed, and we recommend implementation of a seasonal management area where activities producing underwater noise are restricted, and the promotion of bluefin tuna conservation.

To determine, in the acute form of African swine fever (ASF), the relationship between the appearance of pulmonary oedema and viral replication and expression of cytokines by pulmonary intravascular macrophages (PIMs), 14 pigs were inoculated intramuscularly with ASF virus (strain España'70) and killed in pairs on days 1-7 post-inoculation. Samples of lung were examined immunohistochemically and ultrastructurally. The immunohistochemical study was carried out with antibodies against interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1α), tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), viral antigen of ASF (Vp73) and a myeloid marker (SWC3). Viral replication was observed mainly in PIMs, which at the same time showed intense activation, accompanied by the expression of IL-1α and TNF-α. The occurrence of interstitial oedema, neutrophil sequestration and fibrin microthrombi in septal capillaries coincided with high degrees of cytokine expression by infected PIMs. Alveolar macrophages did not show a significant change in cytokine expression as a result of ASF infection, and viral replication was detected in only a low percentage of these cells. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Our research deals with the intelligent supervision and control of batch fermentation processes. We built a pilot plant, with all the auxiliar electronics needed, for a MS-DOS computer to interact with the plant. We selected KAPPA-PC as the main platform to develop a real-time application. It is an object-oriented development environment, with the tools to define and manage class hierarchies including sets of rules, for intelligent functions. The shell works under MS-Windows, and is open to user-developed specific C code. After some experimental modelling, we determined models, and defined intelligent classes to simulate the plant, to control the process, and to supervise it, in real-time.