In animal models, exposure to excess testosterone during gestation induces polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)-like reproductive and metabolic traits in female offspring, suggesting that the hyperandrogenemic intrauterine environment may have a role in the etiology of PCOS. Additionally, few studies have also addressed metabolic and reproductive outcomes in male offspring. In the present study, the intravenous glucose tolerance test (IGTT) was used to assess the insulin–glucose homeostasis at various ages during sexual development in male sheep born to testosterone-treated ewes. To further analyze the programming effect of testosterone on insulin–glucose homeostasis, indexes of insulin sensitivity were assessed in orchidectomized post-pubertal males born to testosterone-treated ewes (Torq-males) and orchidectomized post-puberal controls (Corq-males) before and 48 h after a testosterone injection. There was no difference in insulin sensitivity indexes between males born to testosterone-treated ewes (T-males) and control males born to control ewes (C-males) at 5, 10, 20 and 30 weeks of age, representing the infantile, early and late pre-pubertal, and early post-pubertal stage of sexual development, respectively. In orchidectomized males, basal levels of insulin and glucose were not different between both groups before and after the testosterone injection; however, Torq-males released more insulin before and after T challenge during the first 20 min of the test. Despite this, plasma glucose concentrations were not different in both groups during IVGTT, resulting in an insulin sensitivity index composite similar between groups. We concluded that the effect of prenatal exposure to excess testosterone may reprogram the pancreatic β-cells insulin release in ovine males, with effects more evident in castrated males versus intact males.

Food phytochemicals are increasingly considered to play a key role in the cardiometabolic health effects of plant foods. However, the heterogeneity in responsiveness to their intake frequently observed in clinical trials can hinder the beneficial effects of these compounds in specific subpopulations. A range of factors, including genetic background, gut microbiota, age, sex and health status, could be involved in these interindividual variations; however, the current knowledge is limited and fragmented. The European network, European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST)-POSITIVe, has analysed, in a systematic way, existing knowledge with the aim to better understand the factors responsible for the interindividual variation in response to the consumption of the major families of plant food bioactives, regarding their bioavailability and bioefficacy. If differences in bioavailability, likely reflecting differences in human subjects’ genetics or in gut microbiota composition and functionality, are believed to underpin much of the interindividual variability, the key molecular determinants or microbial species remain to be identified. The systematic analysis of published studies conducted to assess the interindividual variation in biomarkers of cardiometabolic risk suggested some factors (such as adiposity and health status) as involved in between-subject variation. However, the contribution of these factors is not demonstrated consistently across the different compounds and biological outcomes and would deserve further investigations. The findings of the network clearly highlight that the human subjects’ intervention studies published so far are not adequate to investigate the relevant determinants of the absorption/metabolism and biological responsiveness. They also emphasise the need for a new generation of intervention studies designed to capture this interindividual variation.

The aim of this study was to analyze the psychometric properties of the Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS). 57 stable severe mental disorder patients (42 men, 73.7%, and 15 women, 26.3%), ranging in age between 23 and 64 years, (M = 46.25; SD = 7.52) answered to the BRCS and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment (WHOQOL-BREF). Descriptive analyses, estimations of internal consistency, and confirmatory factor analysis were conducted, and correlations between the BRCS and the WHOQOL-BREF were calculated. The factorial validity of the scale was tested using confirmatory factor analysis, with a single dimension of resilience. The BRCS showed acceptable internal consistency (alpha of .69). Correlations between the BRCS and WHOQOL-BREF were positive, r(PhH-R) = .42, r(PsH-R) = .40, r(SR-R) = .33, r(E-R) = .35, and significant (p < .01). In conclusion, the Spanish adaptation of the BRCS seems to be a reliable and valid measure of resilience in stable severe mental disorder patients.

The Bay of Málaga is located in a high biodiversity and productivity area that harbours a wide variety of commercial species exploited by different fishing fleets. Benthic and demersal fauna from circalittoral soft bottoms have been studied using a benthic dredge (BD) (8 sampling stations) and an otter trawl (OT) (8 sampling stations on a seasonal basis). Some sediment and water column variables, as well as the trawling activity, have also been studied and used for analysing their linkage with the fauna. A total of 287 species have been found in these bottoms and fish, molluscs and crustaceans represented the most diverse and abundant faunistic groups. A new record of the decapod Hippolyte leptometrae for Spanish waters is also included in this study. Some multivariate analyses using BD samples indicated the presence of three assemblages, but these seem to represent different facies of a single benthic community due to the absence of acute sediment changes and significant differences in the fauna. OT samples only displayed differences related to seasons but not to sediment types or depth. These seasonal differences seem to be linked to biological and ecological features of both dominant and/or commercial species. Mud and organic matter contents (%OM) in sediment, as well as the temperature, were the main variables linked to the spatial distribution of the benthic community identified with BD, whereas medium and coarse sand as well as gravel contents were the main variables linked to the changes of the epibenthic and demersal assemblage resulting from OT samples. The information of this study is of importance for improving the knowledge on the biodiversity of circalittoral soft bottoms of the Mediterranean and Alboran Sea as well as for the potential creation of a Marine Fisheries Reserve in the Bay of Málaga.

With the aim of performing perimeter surveillance of high-speed railway networks, this paper presents the design of a passive multistatic radar system based on the use of Long-Term Evolution (LTE) downlink signals as the illumination of opportunity. Taking into account the specifications and standard of the LTE system, the ambiguity function of measured downlink signals is analyzed in terms of range and Doppler resolution, ambiguities, and sidelobe level. The deployment of the proposed passive radar is flexible and scalable, and it is based on multichannel software defined radio receivers that obtain the reference and surveillance signals by means of digital beamforming. The signal processing and data fusion are based, respectively, on the delay-Doppler cross-correlation with the reconstructed reference signals and a two-stage tracking at sensor and central level. Finally, the performance of the proposed system is estimated in terms of its maximum detection range and simulation results of the detection of moving targets are presented, demonstrating its technical feasibility for the short-range detection of pedestrians, vehicles, and small drones.

The design of mixed-technology quasi-reflectionless planar bandpass filters (BPFs), bandstop filters (BSFs), and multi-band filters is reported. The proposed quasi-reflectionless filter architectures comprise a main filtering section that determines the power transmission response (bandpass, bandstop, or multi-band type) of the overall circuit network and auxiliary sections that absorb the reflected radio-frequency (RF) signal energy. By loading the input and output ports of the main filtering section with auxiliary filtering sections that exhibit a complementary transfer function with regard to the main one, a symmetric quasi-reflectionless behavior can be obtained at both accesses of the overall filter. The operating principles of the proposed filter concept are shown through synthesized first-order BPF and BSF designs. Selectivity-increase techniques are also described. They are based on: (i) cascading in-series multiple first-order stages and (ii) increasing the order of the filtering sections. Moreover, the RF design of quasi-reflectionless multi-band BPFs and BSFs is discussed. A hybrid integration scheme in which microstrip-type and lumped-elements are effectively combined within the filter volume is investigated for size miniaturization purposes. For experimental validation purposes, two quasi-reflectionless BPF prototypes (one- and two-stage architectures) centered at 2 GHz and a second-order BSF prototype centered at 1 GHz were designed, manufactured, and measured.

Earlier activities on health technology assessment (HTA) started in Spain around 1984, with the creation of a National Advisory Board on HTA, and the development of national and regional HTA organizations in the early 1990s. In 2012, the Spanish Health Ministry established the Spanish Network for Health Technology Assessment of the National Health System (RedETS); funded at national level and including all public HTA organizations at national and regional levels. RedETSis focused on the assessment of nondrug health technologies to inform the revision (approval and funding or disinvestment) of the Benefit Portfolio of the Spanish NHS. In parallel with European Network for Health Technology Assessment (EUnetHTA), RedETS has been setting-up and sharing common procedures and methodological guidelines to ensure effective cooperation and mutual recognition of the scientific and technical production in HTA. The output of RedETS is fifty to sixty annual reports, including the production of full HTA reports, Clinical Practice Guidelines, methodological guidance reports, relative effectiveness assessments, tools to support shared decision making between patients and healthcare professionals, and monitoring studies. The HTA assessments requested by the Regional Health Authorities are the biggest component of the annual RedETS working plan. These assessment needs are identified according to a yearly process and prioritized by a Commission composed of representatives from all Spanish regions with the aid of the PRITEC tool. The objectives of this study are to report and update the normative and organizational state of HTA in Spain; describing noteworthy advances witnessed over the past 10 years, as well as discussing existing challenges.

In the present investigation, biocomposites were synthesized from a polymeric alginate matrix in which the carrot residue and a natural bentonite (ANat / Bio) or an iron-modified clinoptilolite-type zeolite (ZFe / Bio) were supported. Their properties were evaluated adsorbents in contact with aqueous solutions of methylene blue (MB). In the first hour of contact, 46% removal was obtained for the ZFe / Bio biocomposite and 60% for the ANat / Bio biocomposite; reaching 100% removal for the ZFe / Bio biocomposite and 98% for the ANat / Bio biocomposite after 24 hours. The biocomposites were characterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR).

Mechanized dredging impact on discards was assessed along the northern Alboran Sea (W Mediterranean Sea). Data from 101 dredging operations were analysed for contrasting spatial and seasonal variability of damage, with the use of a three-level damage scale. 4.5% of discarded individuals displayed intermediate damage, whereas 11.3% displayed severe damage. Echinoderms displayed the highest level of damage (~75% of total collected individuals) and Echinocardium cf. mediterraneum was the most susceptible discarded species (85% with severe damage), followed by bivalves (7.3%) and crustaceans (3.3%). The target Chamelea gallina showed a low proportion of damaged individuals, probably due to their thick protective shell, which promotes the survival of discarded undersized target individuals. Spatial differences in damage level on discards were linked to some gear characteristics, to the higher amount of gravels and to longer tow durations, whereas damage was generally higher in cold months and partly related to higher quantities of hard shelled molluscs, in both cases increasing the abrasion and damage to retained organisms. Data suggest that dredges with a lower number of narrower iron teeth and towed for a shorter time could decrease the damage rate in discards of this fishery. A spatial management plan based on the type of grounds would be useful in order to improve efficiency of these fisheries and minimize their impact to soft bottoms with different commercial catches and biological communities.

With their sizes larger than 0.7 Mpc, Giant Radio Galaxies (GRGs) are the largest individual objects in the Universe. To date, the reason why they reach such enormous extensions is still unclear. One of the proposed scenarios suggests that they are the result of multiple episodes of jet activity. Cross-correlating the INTEGRAL+Swift AGN population with radio catalogues (NVSS, FIRST, SUMSS), we found that 22% of the sources are GRG (a factor four higher than those selected from radio catalogues). Remarkably, all of the sources in the sample show signs of restarting radio activity. The X-ray properties are consistent with this scenario, the sources being in a high-accretion, high-luminosity state with respect to the previous activity responsible for the radio lobes.

Hii regions in galaxy disks can be used as a powerful tool to trace the radial distribution of several of their properties and shed some light on the different relevant processes on galaxy formation and evolution. Among the properties that can be extracted from the study of the ionized gas are the metallicity, the excitation and the hardness of the ionizing field of radiation. In this contribution we focus on the determination of both the ionization parameter (U) and the effective temperature of the ionizing clusters (T ) by means of a bayesian-like comparison between the observed relative fluxes of several emission-lines with the predictions from a set of photoionization models. We also show the implications that the use of our method has for the study of the radial variation of both U and T in some very well-studied disk galaxies of the Local Universe.

Hands on the Stars is a long-term project developed by the IAU Commission C1 Education and Development of Astronomy and its WG3 Astronomy for Equity and Inclusion with the goal of creating the first international comparative list of astronomical words in as many sign languages as possible.