South Of Spain Research Articles

Melanosis Coli in Pigs Coincides With High Sulfate Content in Drinking Water

Melanosis coli is a well-described condition in humans, characterized by the accumulation of lipofuscin-laden macrophages in the lamina propria of the colon, giving it a dark tone. An increased apoptosis rate of colonic epithelial cells appears to be the underlying pathogenesis. In pigs, oxidative damage has been proposed as one of the causes for melanosis coli. In this article, we report a series of cases of melanosis coli in pigs affecting several finishing units in the south of Spain. Large intestines had dark green to brown pigmentation of the mucosa. Histological, histochemical, and ultrastructural studies confirmed a high number of lipofuscin-laden macrophages in the lamina propria of the rectum and colon, which additionally stained positive for the apoptosis marker cleaved caspase-3. Of note, all affected finishing units utilized water supply with a high content of sulfates, which may be one of the causes for melanosis coli development in pigs.

Los dibujos de Sevilla de Cecilia Montgomery (1792-1879) en su viaje por la península ibérica

El Museo Ashmolean de Oxford, Inglaterra, conserva dieciocho dibujos de arquitectura de Andalucía y siete de Portugal realizados por Cecilia Montgomery (1792-1879) durante un viaje por la península ibérica entre mayo y junio de 1838. Estas fechas tan tempranas posiblemente hacen de Montgomery la primera mujer artista-viajera de la que tenemos constancia en el sur de España. Sus dibujos son algo más que simples recuerdos, más bien son representaciones de temas arquitectónicos. Su importancia histórica se puede adscribir a su singularidad; algunos de ellos son las representaciones más antiguas de ciertos encuadres mientras que otros son los únicos documentos existentes de edificios desaparecidos. Debe destacarse la figura de su marido y compañero de viaje, George Augustus Montgomery (1793-1842), que rehabilitó la iglesia donde era rector con esculturas adquiridas en este viaje. Las ideas del matrimonio Montgomery, tanto arquitectónicas como religiosas, servirán en este artículo para interpretar dichos dibujos.

L’ichthyofaune messinienne du bassin de Sorbas (Almería, Espagne) et ses rapports avec l’environnement sédimentaire

Fish skeletons were collected at three different levels in the Messinian of the Sorbas basin (Andalusia, South Spain). The richest fossiliferous level is a diatomitic stratum which occurs a few metres below the bottom of the evaporitic sequence. It has mainly yielded many juvenile Myctophids: Myctophum licatae and less abundant Maurolicus muelleri This indicates the occurrence of a rather deep open sea in the vicinity. Additionally, some skeletal remains of Sardina ? crassa were found in a clayey intercalation between two massive beds of gypsum. The occurrence of this marine species is indicative of the persistence of the sea during the evaporitic episode. Finally, as shown by the occurrence of aphanius crassicaudus in the postevaporitic Messinian, a lagoonal environment existed in this basin, as a result of a relative lowering of the sea level. Additionally, another fossiliferous locality yielding the same species is reported near Gafares, in the postevaporitic Messinian of the northern part of the Níjar-Carboneras basin.

Assessing red deer hunting management in the Iberian Peninsula: the importance of longitudinal studies

Understanding the dynamics of a wildlife population in relation to hunting strategies is essential to achieve sustainable management. We used monitoring data over 25 years from two red deer (Cervus elaphus) populations with different management (with and without supplemental feeding) in South Central Spain to: (i) characterise the density dependence of population dynamics under contrasted management, and (ii) provide the basis for sustainable extraction by considering the theoretical maximum sustainable yield (MSYt) as the reference. The red deer population displayed a typical management reactive culling approach (‘saw-tooth-like’ curves), with occasional strong annual harvests but not occurring on a regular basis. Interestingly, we found reduced population growth at high densities in both populations, indicating that density-mediated factors determined population growth even when artificial feeding was provided. However, no effects of sex not age class of the extracted population on the population growth rate were determined. The total number of animals hunted was only slightly above those predicted by MSYt (i.e. K50%) in both populations, despite high densities close to theoretical K, being consistent throughout the study period. The extraction rates (30.3 and 34.0%, for supplemented and unsupplemented populations, respectively) were 13.3% and 10.2% lower compared to the MSYt situation in the unsupplemented and supplemented populations, respectively. Long term population monitoring data provided feasible and suitable baseline values to optimise the sustainable exploitation of red deer populations in the Mediterranean ecosystem under these contrasting management scenarios. Adaptive management, involving objective-driven decision making informed by data on red deer population dynamic, can contribute (i) to maximising the total extraction over the long term while (ii) reducing the ecological impact of high population densities.

Care in late life, end of life and in bereavement for the oldest LGBT generations around the globe

This special issue focuses on care in late life and at the end of life for people with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities, from an international perspective. There is a growing body of research demonstrating that LGBT people are a diverse and under-researched new ageing population, but less attention has been paid to the specific issues connected to care in late life and at the end of life. This Special Issue makes a contribution to that aim, with papers from South Africa, Lebanon, Hong Kong, Canada, US, UK, Netherlands and Spain thereby contributing to understandings of the heterogeneity of ageing, emphasising global differences, and exploring the impact of these on the lives of our oldest LGBT generations around the world. Our focus of this special issue on care in late life and at the end of life for LGBT people not only makes a valuable contribution to expand our empirical and theoretical knowledge in this field but has even greater salience when situated within the COVID-19 global pandemic.

A Bayesian Model of COVID-19 Cases Based on the Gompertz Curve

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for finding mathematical models to forecast the evolution of the contagious disease and evaluate the success of particular policies in reducing infections. In this work, we perform Bayesian inference for a non-homogeneous Poisson process with an intensity function based on the Gompertz curve. We discuss the prior distribution of the parameter and we generate samples from the posterior distribution by using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. Finally, we illustrate our method analyzing real data associated with COVID-19 in a specific region located at the south of Spain.

AGGREGATE AND DISAGGREGATE NATURAL RESOURCES AGGLOMERATION AND FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT IN FRANCE

The inflow of foreign direct investment shows the economic and political strength of a country (Bevan & Estrin, 2004). Resources agglomeration and foreign direct investment have a theoretical and empirical relationship (Carlton, 1983; Hansen, 1987; Krugman, 1991; Wheeler and Mody, 1992; Friedman et al., 1992; Head et al., 1995; Henderson and Kuncoro, 1996; Head and Ries, 1996; Devereux and Griffith, 1998; Head et al., 1999; Guimaraes et al., 2000). This paper has examined the impact of aggregate and disaggregates natural resources agglomeration on foreign direct investment in the case of France from 1989 to 2012. Seven different model specifications are used for empirical analysis. The inflow of foreign direct investment from Greece, Australia, Austria, Germany, Canada, Finland, Ireland, Hungary, Israel, Japan, Italy, Republic of South Korea, Switzerland, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Turkey, United States, Mexico, Korea and United Kingdom in France is taken as the dependent variable. Total natural resources agglomeration, population density, trade openness, secondary education, taxes, inflation rate, primary education, agriculture land agglomeration, forest agglomeration, oil production agglomeration, mineral production agglomeration and natural gas production agglomeration are selected as explanatory variables. The results show that aggregate and disaggregate natural resources agglomeration are important indicators of foreign direct investment. The results show that the population density is a key indicator of foreign direct investment, the current population growth of France and many developed countries is below the replacement rate. Agriculture land agglomeration, oil production agglomeration and mineral production agglomeration are the inputs of many economic activities. This shows that for higher amount of foreign direct investment, natural resources agglomeration must be encouraged. Keywords: natural resources agglomeration, foreign direct investmentJEL Classifications: N5, F21DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijefi.10869

Validity of Sluggish Cognitive Tempo in Turkish Children and Adolescents.

The internal and external validity of sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT) relative to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder-inattention (ADHD-IN) was evaluated with Turkish children and adolescents. Parents completed the SCT, ADHD-IN, ADHD-hyperactivity/impulsivity (HI), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), callous-unemotional (CU), anxiety, depression, social impairment, and academic impairment scales of the Child and Adolescent Behavior Inventory (CABI) on 1015 Turkish children and adolescents (56% girls; ages 6-15years; Mage = 10.05, SDage = 2.32), including 762 recruited from the community and 253 recruited from outpatient psychiatric clinics. SCT symptoms demonstrated excellent internal validity with the ADHD-IN symptoms. SCT symptoms also showed invariance across boys and girls as well as across community and clinical samples. SCT showed stronger first-order and unique associations than ADHD-IN with anxiety and depression whereas ADHD-IN showed stronger first-order and unique associations than SCT with ADHD-HI, ODD, and academic impairment. SCT and ADHD-IN showed equal associations with CU behaviors and social impairment. The current study is the first to support the validity of CABI SCT scores with Turkish children and adolescents and also replicates the findings from similar studies with children from South Korea, Spain, and United States. These findings thus further strengthen the transcultural validity of CABI SCT scale scores.

Cyberbullying Analysis in Intercultural Educational Environments Using Binary Logistic Regressions

The goal of this study is to analyze how religion, ethnic group, and race influence the likelihood of becoming either a cybervictim or cyberbully in intercultural educational environments. In the research, 755 students in secondary education were analyzed in the south of Spain through the Cyberbullying Scale for students with Cultural and Religious Diversity (CSCRD). The analyses were carried out using the Statistical Package SPSS and the STATA software. The results obtained from the Kruskal–Wallis H test showed significant differences according to these aspects, for both the cybervictim and cyberbully parameters. The results stemming from binary logistic regressions confirmed such differences and regarded those students who belong to the Muslim religion, the gypsy ethnic group and the Asian race as being more likely to become cybervictims. Furthermore, these analyses showed that Gypsy and Asian students were also more likely to be cyberbullies than other groups. The main conclusions state that minority groups are more likely to suffer cyberbullying in intercultural educational environments, and that students from these groups are also more likely to become cyberbullies.

Trends in premature mortality due to ischemic heart disease in Spain from 1998 to 2018

Introduction and objectivesIschemic heart disease (IHD) is the leading cause of death and one of the leading causes of disability. The aim of this study was to analyze trends in premature mortality due to IHD in patients younger than 75 years in Spain from 1998 to 2018 by region. MethodsObservational study of temporal trends in premature mortality due to IHD in Spain by region and sex from 1998 to 2018. The study population included resident citizens aged between 0 and 74 years. The data sources were the continuous population register and the mortality registry of the National Institute of Statistics. We calculated age-adjusted mortality rates and their average annual percent change estimated by Poisson models. ResultsDuring the study period, mortality rates due to IHD decreased, both in the country as a whole and by provinces (53% in men and 61% in women), with an average annual percent change of –3.92% and –5.07%, respectively. In the first year (1998), mortality was unequally distributed among provinces, with higher mortality in the south of Spain. ConclusionsPremature mortality due to IHD significantly decreased in Spain during the study period in both sexes to roughly half of initial cases. This decrease was statistically significant in almost all regions. Interprovincial differences in mortality and their variation also decreased in recent years.

Social Return on Investment (SROI) to Assess the Impacts of Tourism: A Case Study

This article contributes to the debate on the social and economic impacts generated by tourism activities using a methodology that is still insufficiently explored in the field of tourism and the impacts that this causes: social return on investment (SROI). Using the analysis of a case as a guiding thread, this article shows how the application of this methodology allows one to know in depth the social value that an emblematic palace (one of the main tourist attractions of a city in the south of Spain that was designated as a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization [UNESCO] World Heritage Site) brings, the changes experienced by the interest groups that interact with it, and the theory of change that promotes the very existence of the palace. Its results and conclusions can also inform policies and strategies of these other actors related to the intervention.

Studying Hydrogeochemical Processes to Understand Hydrodiversity and the Related Natural and Cultural Heritage. The Case of Los Hoyos Area (South Spain)

The protection of Geodiversity has been gaining interest during the last decades. However, the study of Hydrodiversity has been much less developed than other aspects of the geological heritage (lithology, mineralogy, geomorphology, paleontology). To evaluate the importance of Hydrodiversity, as part of geodiversity, and how it can condition the natural and cultural heritage of a region, a joint characterization of the hydrogeochemical and isotopic aspects of Los Hoyos area has been carried out. This is an evaporitic karst enclave of great environmental value, located in southern Spain. The main processes that explain the hydrodiversity of the area are (1) the availability of minerals in the environment, (2) the residence time of groundwater, (3) the evaporation of water in the wetlands, (4) the common-ion effect (5) and the high ionic strength of groundwater. All these processes, directly related to the geology and geomorfology of the area (Geodiversity), have given rise to diverse ecosystems (including protected wetlands), which enhance local Biodiversity, and geological forms (travertines) and are connected to the area's cultural heritage (salt extraction from the Paleolithic). The case here presented is an example of the importance of Hydrodiversity in the natural and cultural heritage and highlight the need of advancing in the definition and promotion of the hydrological heritage.

A Two-wave Epidemiological model of COVID-19 outbreaks using MS-Excel®

The emergence of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has raised a global issue and a pandemic disease outbreak, COVID-19, was declared by the World Health Organization on March 12th, 2020. Health authority advisors and governments need to quickly manage and deal with growing epidemiological data on a daily basis. In this work, current available data from reported cases and deaths were analyzed and treated. Lethality has been calculated by finding linearization of death cases against reported ones, using a time-delayed data transposition. A two-wave statistical model, 2WM, based on the superposition of normal distributions was used to fit current data and to estimate the evolution of infections and deaths, using Microsoft® Excel. A gamma distribution was used as a risk function to estimate death probability from patient admission to reported death. Evolution of fatality cases over time can then be estimated from the model with reasonable accuracy. Data from South Korea, China, Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain, United States, United Kingdom and Brazil were used. Constant lethality can be determined from the initial stage of the pandemic wave, even for places with low testing. Values ranged from 1.7% to 15.3%. The two-wave model can be fine-tuned to properly adjust the data. The second wave pattern was estimated according to the first wave parameter. The accuracy for estimating COVID-19 evolution was compared to the classic SIR model with good agreement. According to the model, approximately 10,000,000 cases and 860,000 deaths will be recorded worldwide.

Гендерные отношения в испанской культуре фламенко (на материале сборника копл А. Мачадо-и-Альвареса)

The main theme of flamenco songs - urban folklore of Andalusia - is the relationship between a man and a woman. Couplets, written in the form of three or quatrains, tell about the evolution of feeling and serve as a source of information about the cultural, ideological and linguistic characteristics of the south of Spain. The authors of the couplets are representatives of an ethnoculturally heterogeneous socially vulnerable stratum of urban society. The purpose of the article is to understand the formation, existence and disintegration of the union of a man and a woman through the prism of a folk song. The material was the collection of A. Machado Alvarez, published in 1881, reflecting the manners and relationships of people of the 19th century.

SEQUENTIAL EXTRACTION PROCEDURE: A VERSATILE TOOL FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH

The sequential extraction procedure as a tool to assess the environmental risk of metals in solid matrices has been widely studied. In this work, another promising application of these methods is proposed: the evaluation of the recoverability of critical raw materials from a solid matrix. To this aim, the normalized sequential extraction procedure BCR was applied to a contaminated soil from the south of Spain. In addition to this, the influence of the incomplete dissolution of carbonates contained in the soil on the fractionation results has been also studied. The high percentage of metal in the most mobile fractions suggested the potential use of the solid matrix as secondary source. The use of this approach together with environmental and economic feasibility studies would be an approach toward the circular economy.

MODERNITY'S SIDE EFFECTS: BOREDOM AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY IN J.G. BALLARD'S COCAINE NIGHTS

James Graham Ballard stands out as a speculative author, sometimes also classified as a science fiction author, who distorts the quotidian scenes from his own and the reader’s environment and uses them as raw material for his dystopic scenarios. The settings he chooses for his works are usually theme parks, luxury residences, highways, shopping malls and holiday resorts which are spaces that popped out and proliferated in number especially after the Second World War. Written in 1966, Cocaine Nights sustains the Ballardian tradition in which the spaces of the new middle class are dystopified. Converging with the detective fiction tradition, Cocaine Nights presents a distorted image of the holiday resorts to the reader. The novel deals with a holiday resort rife with lawlessness and psychopathological behaviour in the south of Spain. Charles Prentice, who arrives in the region after learning that his brother has been arrested for arson and murder, aims to solve the mystery, only to find that there is a logic of lawlessness governing the life in the holiday resort. The kind of community in question is quite “Ballardian” in that it consists of an affluent milieu of society who casts aside the issues of survival and has nothing to do. This paper aims to examine the effects of financial affluence and boredom on the lawlessness presented in Cocaine Nights.

Differences in native and introduced chalcid parasitoid communities recruited by the invasive chestnut pest Dryocosmus kuriphilus in two Iberian territories

Dryocosmus kuriphilus (Hymenoptera: Cynipidae) is a global invasive gall wasp and a pest of chestnuts (Castanea spp.). A study of the Chalcidoidea parasitoid community of D. kuriphilus was undertaken over two years, from March 2017 to March 2019, at 15 sites in south and northwest Spain (Málaga and Galicia regions). More than 18,000 galls were collected, and 1153 parasitoids belonging to 22 species of seven chalcidoid families, plus two individuals of an inquiline Cynipidae, Synergus facialis, emerged. Richness was higher in the Málaga region, with 20 species, while 17 parasitoids and one inquiline were identified in Galicia. The parasitism rate of native chalcid parasitoid species in both regions was low. Eupelmus urozonus and Mesopolobus lichtensteini were the most abundant native species. Mesopolobus tibialis was a dominant species in south Spain, while Ormyrus pomaceus was a dominant species in northwest Spain. Our results revealed the existence of a sub-community of univoltine, probably host specialized, parasitoids in south Spain, which overwinter in galls, exhibiting a similar life cycle to Torymus sinensis. These species were Torymus notatus, Aulogymnus bicolor, Aulogymnus obscuripes and Aulogymnus balani. Data on the recovery of T. sinensis after release in the south Spain region show it to be well established, but its numbers are still low in northwest Spain.

Tendencias de mortalidad prematura por cardiopatía isquémica en España durante el periodo 1998-2018

Introduction and objectivesIschemic heart disease (IHD) is the leading cause of death and one of the leading causes of disability. The aim of this study was to analyze trends in premature mortality due to IHD in patients younger than 75 years in Spain from 1998 to 2018 by region. MethodsObservational study of temporal trends in premature mortality due to IHD in Spain by region and sex from 1998 to 2018. The study population included resident citizens aged between 0 and 74 years. The data sources were the continuous population register and the mortality registry of the National Institute of Statistics. We calculated age-adjusted mortality rates and their average annual percent change estimated by Poisson models. ResultsDuring the study period, mortality rates due to IHD decreased, both in the country as a whole and by provinces (53% in men and 61% in women), with an average annual percent change of –3.92% and –5.07%, respectively. In the first year (1998), mortality was unequally distributed among provinces, with higher mortality in the south of Spain. ConclusionsPremature mortality due to IHD significantly decreased in Spain during the study period in both sexes to roughly half of initial cases. This decrease was statistically significant in almost all regions. Interprovincial differences in mortality and their variation also decreased in recent years.Full English text available from:www.revespcardiol.org/en

Are Loneliness and Social Isolation Associated with Quality of Life in Older Adults? Insights from Northern and Southern Europe.

Purpose: Loneliness and social isolation have detrimental effects on health in old age; however, the prospective associations with quality of life (QoL) remain unclear. Furthermore, despite the existence of a European north-south gradient in the distribution of loneliness and social isolation, little is known whether the associations are context-specific. We investigated the relationships between loneliness, social isolation and QoL of older adults residing in the North (Sweden) and South (Spain) of Europe. Methods: Study sample consisted of 2995 Swedish and 4154 Spanish older adults who participated in waves six and seven of the Study on Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Loneliness and social isolation were measured at the baseline, and QoL was measured at the baseline and follow-up using CASP-12. Prospective associations were assessed via multivariate linear regression. Results: In Sweden, subjects with higher vs. lower loneliness had 1.01 (95% CI: −1.55, −0.40) units lower QoL, while every standard deviation increase in social isolation was associated with a 0.27 (95% CI: −0.42, −0.09)-unit decrease in QoL. In Spain, every standard deviation increase in social isolation was associated with a 0.66 (95% CI: −1.11, −0.22)-unit decrease in QoL. The association was stronger in subjects aged ≤65 years old and those with no chronic diseases. The association with loneliness was not statistically significant in Spain. Conclusion: Loneliness and social isolation are prospectively associated with decreased QoL among older adults, yet the associations are contextually bound. Future interventions should target both exposures, among others, in order to increase QoL in this group.

Long term prognostic impact of gender in patients with stable coronary disease: an analysis of the CICCOR registry, a seventeen years, prospective, monocentric, cohort study

Abstract Purpose Women and men with stable coronary artery disease (sCAD) have different clinical features and management, but 1-year prognosis has been reported to be similar in large observational registries. The objective of the present study was to investigate the impact of female sex in the prognosis of the disease in the very long-term. Methods The CICCOR registry (“Chronic ischaemic heart disease in Cordoba”) is a prospective, monocentric, cohort study. From February 1, 2000 to January 31, 2004, all consecutive patients with sCAD attended at two outpatient cardiology clinics in a city of the south of Spain were included in the study and prospectively followed. Differential clinical features of women and men were described and the impact of female sex in long term prognosis was investigated. Results The study sample included 1268 patients, 337 women (27%) and 931 men (73% male). Women were older than men (70±9 versus 65±11 years, p<0.0005), more likely to have hypertension (72% versus 49%, p<0.0005) and diabetes (45% versus 26%), and less likely to be ex-smoker/active smoker (5%/2% versus 49%/9%, p<0.0005). They had more frequently angina in functional class ≥II (22% versus 17%, p=0.04) and atrial fibrillation (8% versus 5%, p=0.04), but had received less frequently coronary revascularization (32% versus 44%, p<0.0005). Prescription of statins (64% versus 68%, p=0.22), antiplatelets (89% versus 93%, p=0.07) and betablockers (67% versus 63%, p=0.28) at first visit was similar than men, but women received more frequently nitrates (78% versus 64%, p<0.0005), angiotensin-conversing enzyme inhibitors or receptor antagonists (56% versus 47%, p=0.004) and diuretics (41% versus 22%, p<0.0005). After up to 17 years of follow-up (median 11 years, IQR 4–15 years, with a total of 12612 patients-years of observation), probabilities of acute myocardial infarction (12% versus 14%, p=0.55) or stroke (14% versus 12%, p=0.40) at median follow up were similar for women and men. However, the risks of hospital admission for heart failure (22% versus 13%, p<0.0005) or cardiovascular death (35% versus 24%, p<0.0005) were significantly higher for women, with a non-significant trend to higher overall mortality (45% versus 39%, p=0.07). After multivariate adjustment, the risks of most events were similar for women and men (Hazard Ratios [95% confidence intervals]: 0.79 [0.55–1.14], p=0.21 for acute myocardial infarction; 0.89 [0.61–1.29], p=0.54 for stroke; 1.13 [0.82–1.57], p=0.46 for admission for heart failure; and 0.92 [0.73–1.16], p=0.48 for cardiovascular death), with a non-significant trend to lower overall mortality (0.83 [0.67–1.02], p=0.08). Conclusion Although women and men with sCAD presents a different clinical profile, and crude rates of hospital admissions for heart failure and cardiovascular death were higher in women, female sex was not an independent prognostic factor in this observational study with up to 17 years of follow-up. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: None