Hazardous base surges of Taal's 2020 eruption.

After 43 years of repose, Taal Volcano erupted on 12 January 2020 forming hazardous base surges. Using field, remote sensing (i.e. UAV and LiDAR), and numerical methods, we gathered primary data to generate well-constrained observed information on dune bedform characteristics, impact dynamic pressures and velocities of base surges. This is to advance our knowledge on this type of hazard to understand and evaluate its consequences and risks. The dilute and wet surges traveled at 50-60 ms-1 near the crater rim and decelerated before making impact on coastal communities with dynamic pressures of at least 1.7 kPa. The base surges killed more than a thousand livestock in the southeast of Taal Volcano Island, and then traveled another ~ 600 m offshore. This work is a rare document of a complete, fresh, and practically undisturbed base surge deposit, important in the study of dune deposits formed by volcanic and other processes on Earth and other planets.

Comparación entre Web of Science y Scopus: estudio bibliométrico de las revistas de anatomía y morfología / Comparison between Web of Science and Scopus: bibliometric study of anatomy and morphology journals

El objetivo de este trabajo es comparar los indicadores bibliométricos básicos del área de anatomía y morfología dentro de las bases de datos de Web of Science (en adelante WoS) y Scopus. La metodología llevada a cabo se basa en una búsqueda bibliométrica realizada en Web of Knowledge y Scopus. La muestra la conforman el conjunto de revistas indexadas en ambas bases de datos del área citada. Los resultados indican que el número de revistas fue mayor en Scopus que en WoS (42 vs. 21). El índice citas/artículo global es mayor en Scopus. Solamente hay dos revistas que permiten publicar sus artículos en un idioma diferente al inglés en WoS y tres en Scopus. En WoS, los valores de factor de impacto y del índice h tienen una correlación de 0,17, mientras que en la base de datos Scopus los valores de correlación entre el factor de impacto y del índice h, son muy superiores, tiene una correlación de 0,79. La mayoría de revistas están editadas en países anglosajones. Las conclusiones del estudio nos llevan a resaltar que existe un mayor número de revistas y citas en Scopus comparado con WoS. La utilización del factor de impacto para la evaluación de una revista parece ser un indicador más conveniente a corto plazo, siendo el índice h un indicador que refleja la influencia a largo plazo de una publicación y posiblemente refleja mejor la categoría científica de ésta. En la actualidad es conveniente aconsejar el uso de varios índices en la evaluación de la calidad de las revistas.

The aim of this study is to compare the basic bibliometric indicators in the area of anatomy and morphology inside the databases Web of Science and Scopus. The methodology carried out is based on a bibliometric search conducted in Scopus and Web of Knowledge. The sample comprises the set of journals indexed in both databases of the cited field. The results indicate that the number of journals was higher in Scopus than WoS (42 vs. 21). The overall reference / article index is higher in Scopus. There are only two journals that allow publication of papers in a language other than English, one in WoS and three in Scopus. In WoS, the impact factor value and h-index has a correlation of 0.17, while the Scopus database correlation values between the impact factor and h-index, are far superior, it has a correlation 0.79. Most journals are published in English-speaking countries. These findings lead us to highlight that there are a greater number of citations in Scopus journals compared with WoS. The use of the impact factor to evaluate a journal seems to be a more convenient short-term indicator, the h index is an indicator that reflects the long-term influence of a publication and could also better determine the article´s scientific category. Currently, the use of various indices is advisable in evaluating the quality of journals.

Gelatin-based nanoparticles as DNA delivery systems: Synthesis, physicochemical and biocompatible characterization.

The rapidly rising demand for therapeutic grade DNA molecules requires associated improvements in encapsulation and delivery technologies. One of the challenges for the efficient intracellular delivery of therapeutic biomolecules after their cell internalization by endocytosis is to manipulate the non-productive trafficking from endosomes to lysosomes, where degradation may occur. The combination of the endosomal acidity with the endosomolytic capability of the nanocarrier can increase the intracellular delivery of many drugs, genes and proteins, which, therefore, might enhance their therapeutic efficacy. Among the suitable compounds, the gelification properties of gelatin as well as the strong dependence of gelatin ionization with pH makes this compound an interesting candidate to be used to the effective intracellular delivery of active biomacromolecules. In the present work, gelatin (either high or low gel strength) and protamine sulfate has been selected to form particles by interaction of oppositely charged compounds. Particles in the absence of DNA (binary system) and in the presence of DNA (ternary system) have been prepared. The physicochemical characterization (particle size, polydispersity index and degree of DNA entrapment) have been evaluated. Cytotoxicity experiments have shown that the isolated systems and the resulting gelatin-based nanoparticles are essentially non-toxic. The pH-dependent hemolysis assay and the response of the nanoparticles co-incubated in buffers at defined pHs that mimic extracellular, early endosomal and late endo-lysosomal environments demonstrated that the nanoparticles tend to destabilize and DNA can be successfully released. It was found that, in addition to the imposed compositions, the gel strength of gelatin is a controlling parameter of the final properties of these nanoparticles. The results indicate that these gelatin-based nanoparticles have excellent properties as highly potent and non-toxic intracellular delivery systems, rendering them promising DNA vehicles to be used as non-viral gene delivery systems.

Structural analysis of foot-and-mouth disease virus 3C protease: a viable target for antiviral drugs?

Foot-and-mouth disease virus causes a major global agricultural problem that is difficult to control with existing vaccines. Structural analyses of the viral 3C protease not only have provided fresh insights into the catalytic mechanism of an unusual class of chymotrypsin-like cysteine proteases, but also are generating valuable information to drive the quest for effective antiviral therapies.

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