Search

• Presents the process to create a new database of historical tabular manuscripts. • The created database is called HisClima and is freely accessible. • Interactive DLA was used to ease text line detection and table structure creation. • Computer assisted transcription was used to ease the text information acquisition. • Baseline results for DLA, Text Recognition and Probabilistic Indexing are provided. Processing automatically historical document images to allow the search of textual information requires the preparation of ground-truth data for training and evaluation. This process is an expensive and arduous task, especially when the historical document images contain specialized vocabulary and/or tabular information. In the latter case, relevant decisions have to be taken to annotate the tabular parts. This paper presents a complex collection of historical document images and the resulting database, which is called HisClima. In this database, half of the images are in tabular format and half as running text. Both types of images contain pre-printed and handwritten text. The textual information is plenty of abbreviations and specific vocabulary related to weather conditions and old ships. This database can be used to research technologies related to historical document image processing and analysis, both for tabular and running text recognition. Baseline results are presented for Document Layout Analysis, Text Recognition, and Probabilistic Indexing. Although these results are good, there is still room for improvement and some indications are provided in this direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

State-of-the-art Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR) systems allow transcribers to speed-up the transcription of handwritten text images. These systems provide transcribers an initial draft transcription that can be corrected with less effort than transcribing the handwritten text images from scratch. Currently, even the draft transcriptions offered by the most advanced HTR systems contain errors. Therefore, the supervision of this draft by a human transcriber is still necessary to obtain the correct transcription of the handwritten text images. This supervision can be eased by using interactive and assistive transcription systems, where the transcriber and the automatic system cooperate in the amending process. In this paper, the draft transcription is provided by an HTR system based on Convolutional and Recurrent Neural Networks with Bidirectional Long-Short Term Memory units, and the assistive system is fed by lattices generated by using Weighted Finite State Transducers. The influence of the lexicon and language restrictions on the performance of our computer assisted transcription system is evaluated on three historical manuscripts. The transcriptions offered by the proposed HTR system present very low error rates for the studied historical manuscripts. However, our assistive transcription system without lexicon or language restrictions is able to provide an additional reduction on the human effort required to correct the transcriptions in more than 50% over the transcriptions offered by the HTR system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Handwritten Text Recognition is researched in this paper with a set of free available benchmarks. • Freely available tools are provided for Handwritten Text Recognition. • Competitive results are provided with Convolutional Recurrent Neural Networks and N-gram language models. • New challenges are described related to Handwritten Text Recognition. Handwritten Text Recognition is a important requirement in order to make visible the contents of the myriads of historical documents residing in public and private archives and libraries world wide. Automatic Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR) is a challenging problem that requires a careful combination of several advanced Pattern Recognition techniques, including but not limited to Image Processing, Document Image Analysis, Feature Extraction, Neural Network approaches and Language Modeling. The progress of this kind of systems is strongly bound by the availability of adequate benchmarking datasets, software tools and reproducible results achieved using the corresponding tools and datasets. Based on English and German historical documents proposed in recent open competitions at ICDAR and ICFHR conferences between 2014 and 2017, this paper introduces four HTR benchmarks in order of increasing complexity from several points of view. For each benchmark, a specific system is proposed which overcomes results published so far under comparable conditions. Therefore, this paper establishes new state of the art baseline systems and results which aim at becoming new challenges that would hopefully drive further improvement of HTR technologies. Both the datasets and the software tools used to implement the baseline systems are made freely accessible for research purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Knowledge mining from documents usually use document engineering techniques that allow the user to access the information contained in documents of interest. In this framework, transcription may provide efficient access to the contents of handwritten documents. Manual transcription is a time‐consuming task that can be sped up by using different mechanisms. A first possibility is employing state‐of‐the‐art handwritten text recognition systems to obtain an initial draft transcription that can be manually amended. A second option is employing crowdsourcing to obtain a massive but not error‐free draft transcription. In this case, when collaborators employ mobile devices, speech dictation can be used as a transcription source, and speech and handwritten text recognition can be fused to provide a better draft transcription, which can be amended with even less effort. A final option is using interactive assistive frameworks, where the automatic system that provides the draft transcription and the transcriber cooperate to generate the final transcription. The novel contributions presented in this work include the study of the data fusion on a multimodal crowdsourcing framework and its integration with an interactive system. The use of the proposed solutions reduces the required transcription effort and optimizes the overall performance and usability, allowing for a better transcription process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two document processing applications are considered: computer-assisted transcription of text images (CATTI) and Keyword Spotting (KWS), for transcribing and indexing handwritten documents, respectively. Instead of working directly on the handwriting images, both of them employ meta-data structures called word graphs (WG), which are obtained using segmentation-free handwritten text recognition technology based on N-gram language models and hidden Markov models. A WG contains most of the relevant information of the original text (line) image required by CATTI and KWS but, if it is too large, the computational cost of generating and using it can become unafordable. Conversely, if it is too small, relevant information may be lost, leading to a reduction of CATTI or KWS performance. We study the trade-off between WG size and performance in terms of effectiveness and efficiency of CATTI and KWS. Results show that small, computationally cheap WGs can be used without loosing the excellent CATTI and KWS performance achieved with huge WGs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mazama gouazoubira population density was estimated in the Mburucuyá National Park (Corrientes, Argentina). The assessment methods used where: strip transects sampling. Samplings were performed from June 2008 to February 2011, distributed at summer and winter in daytime hours (0600 - 1000 h) and night (1900 - 2200 h) in three habitats: mesophilous forests, “pajonales" (tall grasslands) and yatay palm groves. A number of 186 records were obtained after 344.76 km traveled. The calculated population size was 430 individuals (CI = 324-548), based on available habitat area in the park (62.3 km2), and an estimated average density of 6.9 ± 0.9 brocket deer/km2. Density varied significantly in each area: 11.2 ± 1.4 ind/km2 in mesophilous forest, 3.5 ± 1.1 ind/km2 in pajonales, and 5.5 ± 1.5 ind/km2 in yatay palm groves. Results showed Mazama gouazoubira´s higher affinity for mesophilous forests. Population density estimates of this species will allow monitoring and future studies in the northeastern region of Argentina. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Historical records of daily activities provide intriguing insights into the life of our ancestors, useful for demography studies and genealogical research. Automatic processing of historical documents, however, has mostly been focused on single works of literature and less on social records, which tend to have a distinct layout, structure, and vocabulary. Such information is usually collected by expert demographers that devote a lot of time to manually transcribe them. This paper presents a new database, compiled from a marriage license books collection, to support research in automatic handwriting recognition for historical documents containing social records. Marriage license books are documents that were used for centuries by ecclesiastical institutions to register marriage licenses. Books from this collection are handwritten and span nearly half a millennium until the beginning of the 20th century. In addition, a study is presented about the capability of state-of-the-art handwritten text recognition systems, when applied to the presented database. Baseline results are reported for reference in future studies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Excessive application of fertiliser in agriculture can have detrimental effects, one of which is diffuse contamination with nitrates. An 18-year field study was conducted on a typical rainfed Mediterranean Vertisol to determine the effects of the tillage system, crop rotation and N fertiliser rate on the long-term NO3 −-N content in the soil profile (0–90cm). The experiment was designed as a randomised complete block with a split-split plot arrangement and 3 replications. The main plots tested the effects of the tillage system (no-tillage and conventional tillage); the subplots tested crop rotation, with 2-year rotations (wheat–wheat, wheat–fallow, wheat–chickpea, wheat–faba bean and wheat–sunflower); and the sub-subplots tested the N fertiliser rate (0, 50, 100 and 150kgNha−1). The nitrate content increased with time. The tillage system showed an inconsistent effect on nitrates, although, overall, nitrate levels were higher under conventional tillage than with no-tillage. The wheat–faba bean rotation induced a larger accumulation of soil nitrates. Nitrates usually accumulated to a greater extent in the 30–60-cm depth of soil. As a rule, farmers should know the amount of residual N existing in the soil prior to crop fertilisation in order to avoid over-fertilisation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Roots and the nutrients that they deposit into the soil are a natural source of N for a current crop, or a subsequent crop in the case of rotations. Despite the importance of this process, there are few field studies of rhizodeposition due to methodological difficulties. A two-year field study was conducted on a typical Mediterranean rainfed Vertisol to determine the effects of the tillage system on N rhizodeposition in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The tillage treatments were no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT). Wheat plants were labelled in situ with 15N using a leaf feeding method. The total amount of N that was deposited by the roots in the full soil profile (0–75cm) over two years was an average of 93kgha−1. The N derived from rhizodeposition (NdfR) represented 40% of the total N content and 82% of belowground N for the wheat plant. The NdfR was higher under NT only in the first layer of the soil (0–15cm). Fifty percent of the NdfR in the soil profile was observed within the first 15cm, increasing to 74% within the first 30cm. The amount of NdfR can be important for understanding farming systems and improving their management, especially the application of fertilizers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The application of an adequate rate and splitting of nitrogen (N) is essential for the efficient use of N fertiliser and to maintain the economic sustainability of cropping systems. A 3-year field experiment was conducted on a Vertisol under Mediterranean conditions to determine the effect of tillage systems, crop rotation, and variations in N timing on the grain yield and N recovery of 15N-labelled fertiliser (N R) in hard red spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The experiment was designed as a randomised complete block with a split–split plot arrangement and 3 replications. The main plots were tillage system (no-tillage [NT] and conventional tillage [CT]), and the subplots were the preceding crop with 2-year rotations (wheat–sunflower [WS], wheat–chickpea [WC], and wheat–faba bean [WFB]). Sub-subplots were the N timing (all at the same rate of 100kgNha−1), and the fertiliser was applied 50% at sowing and 50% at stem elongation and 50% at tillering and 50% at stem elongation. The area of each basic plot was 50m2 (5m×10m). The residual NO3–N content (0–90cm) was significantly higher in CT than in NT, the opposite occurring with grain yield. The N R of NT was greater than that of CT. According to the previous crop, the N R was WS>WFB=WC. The soil nitrate content was twice as much when the preceding crop was a legume compared with sunflower and the wheat yields were as follows: WFB>WC>WS. Although the N timing did not have an effect on overall grain yield, the interactions with year, tillage system and previous crop were significant. The average recovery of 15N fertiliser by wheat was 44.6%, with 33.7% obtained in the grain (41% in stem elongation, 32% in tillering and 27% in sowing). The habitual use of high rates of N fertiliser and the frequency of dry years in the agrosystem studied generated a progressive accumulation of residual in the soil profile. This can represent an important source of mineral N for the cereal and can reduce the need to apply N fertiliser to the crop. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We report the enhanced bactericidal activity of ofloxacin in drug-containing Eudragit E100® dispersions ( Eu Cl- OFX) against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the effect of the cationic polymer on bacterial membrane. Organisms treated with Eu Cl- OFX showed changes in cell morphology, altered outer membrane ( OM) and cytoplasm with low electrodensity areas. Zeta potential of bacterial surface was shifted to positive. Sensitization to lytic agents was also observed. A profound effect on bacterial size, granularity and membrane depolarization was found by flow cytometry. Cultures exposed to drug-free polymer also showed some damaged bacterial membranes, but there was no significant cell death. Inhibition of P. aeruginosa by Eu Cl- OFX may involve surface effect and, to some extent, permeation effect. The cationic polymer act to mitigate the electronegativity of cell surface in the process of disorganizing the OM, rendering it more permeable to antibiotic. In addition, cytoplasmic membrane depolarization turns bacterial cell more vulnerable. The effects on membranes combined with the mechanism of action of quinolone explain the improved bactericidal action exhibited by Eu Cl- OFX. The behavior described for Eudragit E100® against P. aeruginosa may be a useful tool to broaden the spectrum of antibiotics whose clinical use is limited by the impermeability of the bacterial OM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, automatic handwriting recognition systems are ineffectual in unconstrained handwriting documents. Therefore, to obtain perfect transcriptions, heavy human intervention is required to validate and correct the results of such systems. Given that this post-editing process is inefficient and uncomfortable, a multimodal interactive approach has been proposed in previous works, which aims at obtaining correct transcriptions with the minimum human effort. In this approach, the user interacts with the system by means of an e-pen and/or more traditional methods such as keyboard or mouse. This user's feedback allows to improve system accuracy and multimodality increases system ergonomics and user acceptability. Until now, multimodal interaction has been considered only at whole-word level. In this work, multimodal interaction at character-level is studied, that may lead to more effective interactivity, since it is faster and easier to write only one character rather than a whole word. Here we study this kind of fine-grained multimodal interaction and present developments that allow taking advantage of interaction-derived context to significantly improve feedback decoding accuracy. Empirical tests on three cursive handwritten tasks suggest that, despite losing the deterministic accuracy of traditional peripherals, this approach can save significant amounts of user effort with respect to fully manual transcription as well as to noninteractive post-editing correction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the asymptotic dynamics of two chemostat models with random environmental fluctuations modeled by means of real noise, where different consumption functions for the consumer species (Monod and Haldane) are taking into account. For each model, our main goal is to investigate the existence of deterministic attracting sets. This allows us to provide conditions under which the species become extinct or persist, which is the main goal in industrial setup. In addition, we depict different numerical simulations to support the theoretical results. Finally, we present some conclusions to sum up our contribution and we compare how the species behave depending on its consumption function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate four non-autonomous chemostat models with non-monotonic consumption function, where wall growth and nutrient recycling are also taken into account. In each case, we prove the existence and uniqueness of non-negative global solution that generates a non-autonomous dynamical system. In addition, we also prove the existence of a unique (global) pullback attractor whose internal structure provides detailed information about the long-time behaviour of the state variables, for instance, conditions to ensure the extinction and the persistence of the species. We also display numerical simulations to illustrate the theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A well-developed root system is crucial for plant growth, especially under dryland farming conditions. A two-year field study (2003–2004 and 2005–2006) was conducted to determine the effects of the tillage system on root growth in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) grown in continuous rotation with wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) on a typical Vertisol in southern Spain as part of the long-term “Malagon” experiment begun in 1986. The tillage treatments were either no tillage (NT) or conventional tillage (CT), and the experiment was designed as a randomized complete block with three replications. Both soil cores and a minirhizotron were used to evaluate the root system. Measurements of the root parameters were performed at different depths and included the following: root length, root biomass, root nitrogen and root length density. Root length measurements were performed during five chickpea growth stages. The CT was more favourable than NT for chickpea root development (0.34mmcm−3 versus 0.18mmcm−3), which is one of the factors that induced higher yields during the drier year. The nitrogen content of the roots represented 15% of the total N extracted by the plant. The measured root lengths were larger when using the soil core method than with the minirhizotron (2.5mmcm−3 versus 1.3mmcm−3), which can be attributed to the cracks that occur in Mediterranean Vertisols that can separate the tube from the soil, resulting in the underestimation of the root length. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Studies on the growth of faba bean (Vicia faba L.) root systems in Vertisols under Mediterranean climates are practically non-existent. A three-year field study (2003–2004, 2005–2006 and 2006–2007) was conducted on a typical Vertisol (in southern Spain) to determine, using a minirhizotron system, the effects of tillage on root growth in faba bean grown in continuous rotation with wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) as part of the long-term “Malagón” experiment that started in 1986. Tillage treatments were no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT). The parameters measured were root length (RL), root diameter (RD), root biomass (RB), seed yield and aboveground biomass. Root growth measures with minirhizotron were carried out at six soil depths for five growth stages throughout the faba bean growing season. For the calculation of RB, soil cores were collected during flowering from the same six soil depths. NT was more favorable for the development of the faba bean root system when compared with CT. This can be attributed to improved physical properties of the soil under NT, which improves the water conditions of the soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Good root system development is essential for optimum wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grain yield, especially under water-limiting conditions. Published information about the influence of tillage system on root dynamic and their effect on grain yield in Mediterranean rainfed Vertisols is scarce. A three-year field study was conducted on a typical Mediterranean rainfed Vertisol to determine, using a minirhizotron system, the effects of tillage system on root growth and grain yield in wheat. Tillage treatments were no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT). The parameters measured were root length (RL) and root diameter (RD) for 6 depths. Minirhizotron measurements were performed at 5 wheat growth stages. The RL was greater under NT than under CT for most growth stages and depths, this being the key to its greater grain yield (3.2 vs 3.0Mgha −1, respectively). The RD was not significantly affected by the tillage treatments, but was lower from stem elongation onward and during the dry years. The key to the development of a good wheat root system is the rainfall received during the tillering stage, regardless of soil water content at planting and rainfall before or after this growth stage. Under the rainfed Mediterranean Vertisol studied, wheat productivity is greater under NT due to better root system development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: To date, automatic handwriting recognition systems are far from being perfect and heavy human intervention is often required to check and correct the results of such systems. This “post-editing” process is both inefficient and uncomfortable to the user. An example is the transcription of historic documents: state-of-the-art handwritten text recognition technology is not suitable to perform this task automatically and expensive paleography expert work is needed to achieve correct transcriptions. As an alternative to fully manual transcription and post-editing, a multimodal interactive approach is proposed here where user feedback is provided by means of touchscreen pen strokes and/or more traditional keyboard and mouse operation. User''s feedback directly allows to improve system accuracy, while multimodality increases system ergonomy and user acceptability. Multimodal interaction is approached in such a way that both the main and the feedback data streams help each-other to optimize overall performance and usability. Empirical tests on three cursive handwritten tasks suggest that, using this approach, considerable amounts of user effort can be saved with respect to both pure manual work and non-interactive, post-editing processing. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Little research has examined the influence of tillage system on root growth in wheat grown on rainfed Vertisols. A 3-year field study (2003, 2004 and 2005) was carried out on a typical Vertisol (southern Spain), to determine the effects of tillage system on root growth in spring wheat ( Triticum aestivum L) grown in continuous rotation with faba bean ( Vicia faba L), within the framework of the long-term “Malagón” experiment started in 1986. Tillage treatments were no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT), and the experiment was designed as a randomized complete block with three replications. The following parameters were measured: above-ground biomass, grain yield, root length density (RLD), root biomass (RB) and root N content. In the topmost 10 cm of soil, higher values were found under CT than under NT for RLD in the rainiest year (20.2 km m−3 vs. 9.6 km m−3 respectively) and for RB (512 kg ha−1 vs. 261 kg ha−1 respectively) in all study years. In deeper layers, no difference was recorded between the two tillage systems. Greater wheat root development in the upper soil layer under CT may reflect the greater soil penetration resistance found in the topmost 10 cm under NT. Root separation using a sieve with a 0.5 mm mesh screen led to a marked underestimation of RLD and RB, with values up to three times higher when using a 0.2 mm mesh screen. Mean wheat root N content in the topmost 30 cm of soil accounted for over 80% of total root N content. The highest grain yield was observed under NT, since this system provided greater water storage in the soil profile in the mostly dry study years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unilateral laterothoracic exanthema, also known as asymmetric peri flexural exanthema of childhood, is an erythematosus papular eruption, slightly or non pruriginous, of unknown etiology, even when most of the evidence support a probable viral origin. Clinically, it initiates on one side of the thorax, generally near the axilla, progressing centrifugally on the ipsilateral side of body and contra lateral side and eventually disappears without sequelae in a period of 4 to 6 weeks. There have been reports of approximately 300 cases in the literature. However, the majority of the authors agree that the lack of diagnosis is result of the lack of knowledge about this entity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vancomycin (VAN) is unable to penetrate the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria and reach the target site. One approach to overcome this limitation is to associate it with compounds with permeabilizing or antimicrobial properties. Eudragit E100® (Eu) is a cationic polymer insufficiently characterized for its potential antimicrobial action. Eu-VAN combinations were characterized, the antimicrobial efficacy against Pseudomonas aeruginosa was evaluated and previous studies on the effects of Eu on bacterial envelopes were extended. Time-kill assays showed eradication of P. aeruginosa within 3–6 h exposure to Eu-VAN, whilst VAN was ineffective. Eu showed regrowth in 24 h and delayed colony pigmentation. Although permeabilization of bacterial envelopes or morphological alterations observed by TEM and flow cytometry after exposure to Eu were insufficient to cause bacterial death, they allowed access of VAN to the target site, since Eu-VAN/Van-FL-treated cultures showed fluorescent staining in all bacterial cells, indicating Van-FL internalization. Consequently, Eu potentiated the activity of an otherwise inactive antibiotic against P. aeruginosa. Moreover, Eu-VAN combinations exhibited improved physicochemical properties and could be used in the development of therapeutic alternatives in the treatment of bacterial keratitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estuaries are excellent environments for identifying pollution episodes that have affected river basins, as their sediments are the final destination of some of the pollutants. This paper studies the geochemical evolution of five elements (As, Co, Cu, Pb, Zn) in a core extracted from the middle estuary of the Tinto River (SW Spain). The results are based on facies interpretation, ICP atomic emission spectrometry analysis, the application of a regional background to obtain the geoaccumulation index and dating. The main objective of this communication is the detection of natural or anthropogenic pollution episodes in the middle estuary of the Tinto River (SW Spain). Four pollution episodes have been detected: (1) ~5.8 cal. kyr BP, probably caused by natural acid rock drainage processes derived from the oxidation of the Iberian Pyritic Belt deposits found in its drainage basin; (2) 4.7–4.5 kyr BP, coming from the first mining activities and characterized by a significant increase in the concentrations of the five elements analyzed; (3) 1850–1960 interval, coinciding with intensive mining and characterized by increasing values of As and, to a lesser extent, Pb (intensive mining); and (4) the second half of the 20th century, with high element concentrations from mining and industrial effluents. All episodes show an increase in their geochemical classes deduced from the geoaccumulation index. This communication can serve as an example for assessing the impact of different types of pollution in estuarine environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prevention and early warning of risks related to climate variability are essential to minimize the manifestation of a certain risk. However, given the impossibility of preventing this from occurring, it is equally important to monitor the threat, both spatially and temporally. In this sense, extreme drought events in the northeastern region of Argentina during 2020, added to cultural practices and poor fire management, have generated significant sources of fires, affecting vast areas of the region. Given the above, the objective of the work is to measure and analyze the areas affected by the manifestation of fires in the periurban area of the city of Corrientes (Argentina), applying fire assessment tools with Google Earth Engine. It was possible to corroborate the veracity of the results while proposing a complimentary analysis methodology that allows obtaining information with greater precision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Portus was the main port of imperial Rome from the 2nd century AD to the 5th century AD, with an inner, hexagonal port (Trajan basin) and an outer port (Claudius basin) linked by a channel bounded by quays. Six sedimentary facies have been differentiated in the geological analysis of a core extracted in this channel, basically composed of poorly classified bioclastic muds typical of restricted environments, accumulations of Posidonia oceanica (Linnaeus) Delile, 1813 and a final anthropic fill. The subfossil record of bivalves, foraminifera and ostracods is characteristic of Mediterranean brackish environments (lagoons, estuaries, deltas) with significant environmental stress, due to changes in the physical-chemical parameters and probably the periodic dredging of this seaway during a period of about 300 years. The presence of "Neptune balls" points to the development of probable stormy periods that deposit these unique structures in the internal areas of this historic port. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The malacological analysis of the Cañada Honda shell midden (Tinto-Odiel estuary, SW Spain) has allowed an approximation of the palaeo biodiversity of this sector during the Mesolithic. During this period, the progressive marine transgression caused the flooding of this estuary, coinciding with an initial intensive capture of the bivalves Lutraria and Ruditapes decussatus in the northern and southern sector of this site, respectively. In a second phase, Ruditapes decussatus was the main collected species in all sectors. This last period coincided with some diversification in catches, still dominated by Ruditapes decussatus but with significant proportions of Cerastoderma edule. This stage witnessed a progressive sedimentary filling of the estuary and the creation of marshes and barrier islands. The almost total fragmentation of the specimens would imply that the surface of this shell midden was exposed for a long time while in use. In addition, an occasional charring of some molluscs has been detected. The main molluscs of this site are also the most abundant in other later shell middens (∼cal 5.2–4 kyr BP), indicating an important perpetuation of the collecting and/or eating habits in this environment. All the species determined in them are also currently found in this estuary and its surroundings, where they are also captured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Probabilistic finite-state automata are a formalism that is widely used in many problems of automatic speech recognition and natural language processing. Probabilistic finite-state automata are closely related to other finite-state models as weighted finite-state automata, word lattices, and hidden Markov models. Therefore, they share many similar properties and problems. Entropy measures of finite-state models have been investigated in the past in order to study the information capacity of these models. The derivational entropy quantifies the uncertainty that the model has about the probability distribution it represents. The derivational entropy in a finite-state automaton is computed from the probability that is accumulated in all of its individual state sequences. The computation of the entropy from a weighted finite-state automaton requires a normalized model. This article studies an efficient computation of the derivational entropy of left-to-right probabilistic finite-state automata, and it introduces an efficient algorithm for normalizing weighted finite-state automata. The efficient computation of the derivational entropy is also extended to continuous hidden Markov models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The Holocene paleoenvironmental evolution of a coastal lagoon is recorded. • An open bay was progressively confined until forming a restricted lagoon. • The 1755 tsunami deposits are identified near the top of the succession. • This deposit constitutes the first faunal evidence of this event for the Mediterranean Sea. This paper analyzes the first systematic faunal record of the 1755 Lisbon tsunami in the Mediterranean. On the basis of sedimentological and paleontological features, the sedimentary record of a core collected in Gibraltar was divided into six sedimentary facies, with a paleoenvironmental evolution from a shallow marine paleoenviroment to an increasingly restricted lagoon. This record includes a bioclastic layer deposited by the 1755 Lisbon tsunami and characterized by an erosive base, presence of basal rip-up clasts and abundant shell debris composed by marine and brackish molluscs. The paleoenvironmental reconstruction derived from the foraminiferal analysis is congruent with that inferred from the sedimentary and the macrofaunal reconstructions, with the introduction of brackish species into the innermost, intertidal areas of a confined lagoon. This paleontological record is the first faunal evidence of the 1755 Lisbon tsunami in the Mediterranean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work is focused on enhancing highly interactive text-editing applications with gestures. Concretely, we study Computer Assisted Transcription of Text Images (CATTI), a handwriting transcription system that follows a corrective feedback paradigm, where both the user and the system collaborate efficiently to produce a high-quality text transcription. CATTI-like applications demand fast and accurate gesture recognition, for which we observed that current gesture recognizers are not adequate enough. In response to this need we developed MinGestures, a parametric context-aware gesture recognizer. Our contributions include a number of stroke features for disambiguating copymark gestures from handwritten text, plus the integration of these gestures in a CATTI application. It becomes finally possible to create highly interactive stroke-based text-editing interfaces, without worrying to verify the user intent on-screen. We performed a formal evaluation with 22 e-pen users and 32 mouse users using a gesture vocabulary of 10 symbols. MinGestures achieved an outstanding accuracy (<1% error rate) with very high performance (<1 ms of recognition time). We then integrated MinGestures in a CATTI prototype and tested the performance of the interactive handwriting system when it is driven by gestures. Our results show that using gestures in interactive handwriting applications is both advantageous and convenient when gestures are simple but contextaware. Taken together, thiswork suggests that text-editing interfaces not only can be easily augmented with simple gestures, but also may substantially improve user productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Tinto and Odiel rivers (SW Spain) drain from a vast sulfide mining district and join at a 20-km-long estuary that enters the Atlantic Ocean. In this work, the contents of rare earth elements (REE) and fractionation in Neogene–Holocene sediment cores from La Fontanilla cove (Tinto estuary) were studied. The sediments were collected from a depth of 18 m at different distances from the recent river flow and were analyzed for new information on the temporal development of the REE load in the sediment column. Results show that the ∑ REE is higher in the finer sediments and during periods of mining activity from prehistoric to recent times. Marine influence appears to increase the light REE (LREE) relative to the heavy REE (HREE). The REE patterns of these estuarine sediments show convex curvatures in the MREE relative to the LREE and HREE, indicating the presence of acid-mixing processes between the fluvial waters affected by acid mine drainage (AMD) and seawater, as well as the precipitation of poorly crystalline mineral phases. Significant positive Eu anomalies were found in ebb-tide channels and marsh deposits, which can reflect the mineralogical composition and/or a strong localized salinity gradient combined with organic matter degradation. Sedimentological characteristics of the deposits appear to play the main role in accumulation and fractionation of the REE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The technological bias, is an inherent process within the technological innovation strategies in the organizations and the innovation systems at global level. The big enterprises apply relocation strategies to cover the highest added value processes on innovation and to maintain the market power. The objective of the article was show the effects of the policies for attracting innovations trough foreign direct investment, too meet this purpose we used a descriptive analysis applied to the Mexican case. The results indicate, that the innovation strategies implemented in heterogeneous innovation spaces and in a context of imperfect competition in the global markets, deepen the technological bias. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The transcription of historical documents is one of the most interesting tasks in which Handwritten Text Recognition can be applied, due to its interest in humanities research. One alternative for transcribing the ancient manuscripts is the use of speech dictation by using Automatic Speech Recognition techniques. In the two alternatives similar models (Hidden Markov Models and n-grams) and decoding processes (Viterbi decoding) are employed, which allows a possible combination of the two modalities with little difficulties. In this work, we explore the possibility of using recognition results of one modality to restrict the decoding process of the other modality, and apply this process iteratively. Results of these multimodal iterative alternatives are significantly better than the baseline uni-modal systems and better than the non-iterative alternatives. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] No-tillage registered higher water content in the soil at sowing than in conventional tillage. [•] Grain yield improved with no-tillage system. [•] Water use was superior in the no-tillage system than in the conventional tillage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the Late Holocene benthic foraminifera from a continuous core extracted in the Doñana National Park (SW Spain). In this core, the foraminiferal assemblages confirm the Late Holocene lagoon (historically so-called Lacus Ligustinus) during the Roman period, about 2000 years ago. The more open, deepest areas of this lagoon were dominated by Ammonia tepida and Elphidium spp., while Haynesina germanica was the most representative species of the shallow, more restricted zones. The vertical variations of these assemblages, together with associated sedimentological and macrofaunal changes, allow recognizing three high-energy events (HEE) between 500 BCE and 500 CE, which also left an extensive sedimentary record in nearby coastal areas: two tsunamis (HEE-1 and HEE-3) and a storminess period (HEE-2). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The storage of carbon (C) in cultivated soils can be increased with the adoption of different practices. The objective of this study was to determine soil organic carbon (SOC) storage in the 0‐ to 90‐cm depth profile, in four different soil layers (0–15, 15–30, 30–60 and 60–90 cm) in a long‐term (29 years) experiment established in 1986 on a rainfed Mediterranean Vertisol in southern Spain. The treatments studied were: conventional tillage (CT) versus no‐tillage (NT); five 2‐year crop rotations (wheat–chickpea, wheat–sunflower, wheat–bare fallow, wheat–faba bean, and continuous wheat; and nitrogen (N) fertilizer applied to wheat at four rates (0, 50, 100 and 150 kg N ha−1). The SOC accumulation was higher in the 30–60‐cm layer (9.2 Mg ha−1) due to the size of the characteristic cracks of Vertisols under semiarid conditions. Over the 29‐year study period, the SOC in the 0–90‐cm layer increased by 23.6 Mg ha−1 due to the change in residue management. The NT treatment exhibited a higher mean annual rate of organic C accumulation compared with the CT treatment (1.0 and 0.66 Mg ha−1 year−1, respectively) due to the retention of the mulched residue. Additionally, crop rotation influenced the rate of organic C accumulation, with wheat‐faba bean, wheat‐sunflower and continuous wheat exhibiting the highest levels of C storage in comparison to the other treatments. In rainfed Mediterranean agriculture, the selection of no‐tillage along with a rotation with legumes is key to improving soil fertility and increasing C reserves and the rate of C accumulation by soil. Highlights: The SOC increase over the 29‐year study period was 23.6 Mg ha−1 in the 0–90‐cm soil profile.The characteristic cracks of Vertisol increase SOC stocks in deeper soil layers.No tillage accumulated 66.2% more SOC than conventional tillage in the 0–90‐cm profile.The wheat–sunflower rotation had the highest annual rate of C sequestration (1 Mg ha−1 year−1) and wheat–chickpea the lowest (0.6 Mg ha−1 year−1) over 29 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethanol drinking begins during adolescence and, particularly when occurs in a binge-like pattern, exerts lingering adverse consequences. Pre-clinical studies indicate that intermittent ethanol exposure (IEA, a model of repeated ethanol intoxication), or binge eating (BE) can increase subsequent ethanol consumption. It is unknown if the promoting effects of BE upon ethanol drinking are found in female rats and are modulated by IEA at adolescence. This study assessed interactive effects between IEA and BE, upon ethanol drinking. Female Wistar rats were given 4.0 g/kg ethanol, every other day from postnatal day 25–45. At adulthood, they were exposed to sessions in which a brief offering of a sizeable portion of highly palatable sugary pills was followed by a 120-min exposure to an ethanol bottle. Exploratory activity and recognition memory was not affected by the IEA. Glutathione peroxidase and catalase activity, and lipid peroxidation (measured in blood and brain at the end of the procedure) were not significantly affected by IEA or BE exposure. BE alone had a mild promoting effect on ethanol ingestion. Those rats that underwent IEA and BE, however, exhibited heightened and sustained ethanol self-administration (average of 2.12 g/kg/120 min, vs 1.15 g/kg/120 min of the other groups), that persisted throughout the BE sessions. IEA and a history of BE also promoted ethanol intake or preference in a two-bottle endpoint test. The study suggests that exposure to IEA exerts, when followed by BE at adulthood, promoting effects upon ethanol intake, particularly at concentrations ≥ 6%. • We measured interactions between repeated ethanol intoxication and binge eating. • Binge eating (BE) alone had a mild promoting effect on the ingestion of ethanol. • Rats given repeated ethanol intoxication and BE showed greater ethanol intake. • Recognition memory and antioxidant capacity of the rats were preserved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite its relative simplicity, the invertebrate Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) has become a powerful tool to evaluate toxicity. Lead (Pb) persistence in the environment and its distinctive characteristic as a neurodevelopmental toxicant determine the potential effects of this metal against challenging events later in life. Additionally, among other psychoactive substances, low to moderate ethanol (EtOH) doses have been pointed out to induce behaviors such as acute functional tolerance (AFT) and drug-induced chemotaxis. In the present study, we aimed to study the impact of early-life Pb exposure on EtOH-induced motivational and stimulant effects in C. elegans by assessing the preference for EtOH and the participation of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH, sorbitol dehydrogenase -SODH in worms) in the AFT response. Thus, N2 (wild type) and RB2114 (sod-1 −/−) strains developmentally exposed to 24 μM Pb were evaluated in their AFT to 200 mM EtOH alone and in combination with acetaldehyde (ACD). We ascribed the enhanced EtOH-induced AFT observed in the N2 Pb-exposed animals to a reduced ADH functionality as evaluated by both, ADH activity determination and the allyl alcohol test, which altogether suggest excess EtOH accumulation rather than low ACD formation in these animals. Moreover, the Pb-induced preference for EtOH indicates enhanced motivational effects of this drug as a consequence of early-life exposure to Pb, results that resemble our previous reports in rodents and provide a close association between EtOH stimulant and motivational effects in these animals. [Display omitted] • Lead exposure redtauced acute functional tolerance to ethanol. • The sodh-1 mutant reversed lead effects on acute functional tolerance to ethanol. • A reduced functionality of ADH (SODH in C. elegans) was reported after Pb exposure. • Lead induced EtOH preference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Roman port of Portus was the most important in the Mediterranean during the imperial period (27 BC–476 AD). It was made up of an outer port or Claudius basin and an inner hexagon or Trajan's port, joined by the Canale di Imbocco. The archaeobotanical record obtained in a continuos sediment core taken in this channel is made up of 19 types of plant macroremains, with a predominance of fibers of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica L., replaced by fluvial sediments in the upper part of the core. Seeds, fruits and thorns of aquatic species from marine or brackish waters, halophyte species, edible species, freshwater riparian vegetation and remains of charcoal and wood also appear regularly. According to the inferred palaeoenviromental evolution of this core, Portus was an area of fluvial-marine interaction during the Roman Empire, with brackish water conditions interrupted by stormy periods deduced from the record of P. oceanica. The archaeobotanical and sedimentary evolution points to a restriction of marine contributions and a final implantation of a fluvial environment. In this evolution, a specific interval with abundant charcoal and caryopses of Triticum could correspond to a fire, which was followed by a possible period of greater construction activity linked with large fragments of wood. • Fibers and Neptune balls of Posidonia oceanica dominated the filling of Portus. • The archaeobotanical record indicates an evolution from an initial marine domain to a final fluvial/anthropic phase. • High abundance of Neptune balls are tentatively correlated with stormy periods. • The joint presence of charcoal, caryopses of Triticum and larger wood fragments is associated with a fire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The nutrition of very low birth weight (VLBW) infants is aimed at promoting a similar growth to that occurring in the uterus. However, in practice this is difficult to achieve and extrauterine growth restriction is frequent. The current tendency is to avoid this restriction by means of early parenteral and enteral nutrition. Nonetheless, uncertainty about many of the practices related with nutrition has resulted in a great variation in the way it is undertaken. In 2009 and 2011 in our hospital there was an unexpected increase in necrotizing enterocolitis. To check to see wether our nutrition policy was involved, we underlook a systematic review and drewup clinical practice guidelines (CPG) about enteral feeding in VLBW infants. New considerations about the duration of the fortification and the use of probiotics have led to an update of these CPG. Methods: A total of 21 clinical questions were designed dealing with the type of milk, starting age, mode of administration, rate and volume of the increments, fortification, use of probiotics and protocol. Afete conducting a systematic search of the available evidence, the information was contrasted and summarized in order to draw up the recommendations. The quality of the evidence and the strength of the recommendations were determined from the SIGN scale. Comment: These CPG aim to help physicians in their decision making. The protocolized application of wellproven measurements reduces the variation in clinical practice and improves results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The nutrition of very low birth weight (VLBW) infants is aimed at promoting a similar growth to that occurring in the uterus. However, in practice this is difficult to achieve and extrauterine growth restriction is frequent. The current tendency is to avoid this restriction by means of early parenteral and enteral nutrition. Nonetheless, uncertainty about many of the practices related with nutrition has resulted in a great variation in the way it is undertaken. In 2009 and 2011 in our hospital there was an unexpected increase in necrotizing enterocolitis. To check to see whether our nutrition policy was involved, we undertook a systematic review and drew up clinical practice guidelines (CPG) about enteral feeding in VLBW infants. New considerations about the duration of the fortification and the use of probiotics have led to an update of these CPG. Methods: A total of 21 clinical questions were designed dealing with the type of milk, starting age, mode of administration, rate and volume of the increments, fortification, use of probiotics and protocol. After conducting a systematic search of the available evidence, the information was contrasted and summarized in order to draw up the recommendations. The quality of the evidence and the strength of the recommendations were determined from the SIGN scale. Comment: These CPG aim to help physicians in their decision making. The protocolized application of well-proven measurements reduces the variation in clinical practice and improves results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the easternmost mineralogical and geochemical evidence of the 1755 Lisbon tsunami found in the Western Mediterranean. This multidisciplinary analysis of a sediment core obtained in Gibraltar (southern Iberian Peninsula) has allowed us to differentiate a tsunamiite from an old lagoon (The Inundation). This tsunamigenic layer has increased levels of calcite and aragonite and higher concentrations of Ba and ferromagnesian elements in comparison with the underlying lagoonal sediments of this core. This layer is also differentiated by its paleontological record, with the introduction of marine species within this lagoon. The uppermost part of the core includes a transition from swampy/marsh paleoenvironments to terrestrial scenarios, with a final anthropogenic filling occurring during the last century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Semiarid Mediterranean climatic conditions and intensive tillage systems accelerate soil organic matter losses. Therefore, assessing agricultural practices that enhance storage of soil organic matter is needed. Stratification of soil properties with soil depth, expressed as a ratio, could indicate soil quality under different soil management. We measured soil depth stratification ratio (0–5/10–30cm and 0–5/30–50cm) of soil organic C (SOC), total N, active carbon (AC), water soluble carbon (WSC), and soil enzymatic activities [dehydrogenase activity (DHA) and β-glucosidase activity (BGA)] of a Typic Haploxerert in southern Spain. The experimental design consisted of a split–split plot design with three replications and soil properties evaluated at the end of 22 years. Tillage systems included conventional tillage (CT) and no tillage (NT). Dryland, 2-year crop rotations were wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)–fallow (WF), wheat–chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) (WC), wheat–faba bean (Vicia faba L.) (WFb), wheat–sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) (WS), and continuous wheat (WW). Nitrogen fertiliser rates were 0, 50 and 150kgNha−1. Stratification ratios of total N, WSC, AC, DHA, and BGA were most responsive to tillage systems; NT greater than CT. Stratification ratios of SOC, total N, WSC, AC and BGA were most responsive to crop rotation; WFb and WW greater than WF, WC, and WS. Stratification ratio of BGA was most responsive to N fertiliser rate; higher rates than no fertiliser. Stratification ratios of C and N fractions and enzymatic activities were responsive to choice of denominator used for ratio calculation. Tillage and crop rotation had more influence than N fertiliser rate in affecting stratification ratio of C and N fractions and enzymatic activities. Stratification ratio was relatively low (<2), perhaps due to the large shrinking and swelling characteristics of Vertisols. Stratification ratio of BGA was greater than of all other soil properties, suggesting that it might be a good indicator of soil quality under different soil management in Mediterranean conditions, particularly with Vertisols. This study indicated the value of stratification ratios to detect improvement in soil organic matter fractions and enzymatic activities (i.e. indicators of soil quality) with adoption of improved conservation management approaches. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Nitrogen fertilization is a key factor of the aesthetics and playability for golf greens. Nitrogen fertilization management is based on predetermined scheduled applications, set rates, or expected improvement in visual quality and green speed. As a consequence, the objective of this study was to obtain seasonal N application models (algorithms) based on remote sensing, optimizing playability and aesthetic quality. A 3-yr field study under Mediterranean conditions was conducted on an experimental ‘L-93’ creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.) USGA green, to examine effects of seasonal N fertilizer rates on color, clipping yields, and ball roll (green speed). The remote sensors used were a digital camera and reflectance meter (FieldScout CM1000 Chlorophyll Meter). From digital photographs, a dark green color index (DGCI) was calculated. All data were normalized (relative). For all seasons, a third-order polynomial response model was the best when using a CM1000 and a digital camera. Clipping yields and ball roll regressions were linear, increasing and decreasing when the N fertilizer rate increased, respectively. Ball roll and clipping relative values were correlated with both sensors. To fit a seasonal optimum N fertilizer rate model as a function of remote sensors and the other measured parameters, the intersection of models obtained from relative values of CM1000 and digital camera with ball roll and clipping was calculated, but ball roll was considered the most suitable. The model of the digital camera with automatic settings was less accurate and underestimated the optimum N rate. However, because the actual values of digital camera and CM1000 were correlated, converting DGCI values and applying CM1000 models enabled the obtaining of practically the same N fertilizer applications. A practical application procedure of these seasonal models for an entire golf course was also shown. Actual N recommendation applications with a quick remote diagnosis (CM1000) for creeping bentgrass golf green are feasible under similar management practices in Mediterranean environments. A digital camera can also be used successfully, but it should be better when its analysis is based on CM1000 models. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Studies of the impacts of the interactions of soil agricultural practices on soil quality could assist with assessment of better management to establish sustainable crop production system. The main objective was to determine the long-term effects of tillage system, crop rotation and N fertilisation on soil total N and organic C (SOC), labile fractions of organic matter (water soluble carbon, WSC, and active carbon, AC), nitrate content, and soil enzymatic activities (dehydrogenase (DHA), β-glucosidase (Glu) and alkaline phosphatase (AP)) at four different soil depths (0–5, 5–10, 10–30 and 30–50cm), in a Mediterranean dryland Vertisol in SW Spain. Tillage systems were conventional tillage (CT) and no tillage (NT). Crop rotations were wheat–sunflower (WS), wheat–chickpea (WC), wheat–faba bean (WFb), wheat–fallow (WF) and continuous wheat (WW). Nitrogen fertiliser rates were 0, 50 and 150kgNha−1. The different crop rotation systems had a great influence in soil C and N fractions and enzymatic activities. In general, the SOC, total N, WSC, and β-glucosidase contents were higher in the no tillage system than in conventional tillage system in the wheat–wheat and in the wheat–faba bean rotations at upper layer (0–5cm), while the lowest ones were obtained in the wheat–fallow rotation in both tillage systems. Carbon and N fractions, calculated by volumetric soil, showed an increase with depth in both tillage systems and in all crop rotations, which could be related to the increase of soil bulk density and soil mass with depth. The highest N fertiliser rate increased most of soil variables, especially nitrate content at deeper layers, thereby precautions should be taken with long-term N fertilisation to avoid leaching of nitrates below the tillage layer. With the exception of wheat–fallow rotation, slightly greater grain and above-ground biomass yields were obtained for wheat in NT, especially at 150kgNha−1. Combination of NT with any biannual rotation except fallow could be an adequate sustainable management in order to improve soil quality of Vertisols, under our conditions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Efficient management of legumes in order to maximize benefits depends on a correct field assessment of N2 fixation. A field experiment was conducted during a 6-year period (2001–2002 to 2006–2007) in Córdoba (Southern Spain) on a rainfed Vertisol within the wheat-chickpea and wheat-faba bean rotation framework of a long-term experiment started in 1986. The aim was to determine the effect of tillage systems [no tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT)] on chickpea and faba bean N2 fixation. Fixation was calculated using the 15N isotopic dilution (ID) and 15N natural abundance (NA) methods with the reference being the wheat crop. The strong inter-annual rain variation caused great differences in the behaviour of both leguminous plants with regard to grain yield, nodule biomass and N2 fixation. The NT system showed more nodule biomass than the CT system in both legumes. The ID method was more accurate than the NA method in determining N2 fixation. The average amount of fixed N in faba bean (80kgha−1 year−1) was much greater than that in chickpea (31kgha−1 year−1). The Vertisol under the NT system offered more favourable conditions for the stimulation of the N2 fixation, with fixed N values that were significantly higher than under CT. The N added to the system through N2 fixation was low in faba bean and virtually nonexistent in chickpea, only in terms of above-ground biomass. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Community engagement effectiveness was bounded by the contextual specificity. • Multilevel and intersecting factors on engagement challenges to Latino community identified. • Community health empowerment was perceived to contain multiple levels. • Integrated community-embedded framework of Latino health engagement developed. This study advances theory and practice in public relations engagement by localizing its circumstances, strategies, and outcomes with a focus on the unique characteristics of an ethnic group in a specific context: the Latino community health context. We argue that the effectiveness of an engagement program is bounded by the contextual specificity. We interviewed 23 Latino community health organization representatives and analyzed how they made sense of the challenges of community engagement, the preferred engagement strategies that met these challenges, and the positive consequences of such engagement. The findings revealed multilevel and intersecting factors on engagement challenges that included cultural values and beliefs, immigration experiences and status, socioeconomic status, and policy implications to insurance and funding. The engagement strategies that the healthcare workers preferred reflected cultural consideration in the choice of channel (ethnic language mass media), messaging (bilingual staff and culturally relevant health content), trust building and interpersonal connection, socioeconomic political factors, and community-driven two-way interaction and genuine care. The positive consequences reflected community empowerment, including helping the community members build a sense of belonging and ownership, and developing efficacy at both the individual and the collective levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]