The University of León is a Spanish public university with campus in León and Ponferrada.The university is found in 1843, when it was created the Normal School for Teachers or Masters Seminar of Public Instruction and the subaltern school of Veterinary Medicine, founded in 1852, laying the foundations of Leon future university. Founded in 1979 as a splitting of the University of Oviedo, from the various schools and colleges that depend on that, more or less existed long ago in the city of Leon.In recent years the university has signed important cooperation agreements, among which the one signed with the University of Washington, which has allowed the installation in Leon of the second European Headquarters this university to learn Spanish, with capacity for 500 students, and signed with the Xiangtan University, which has led to the establishment in the city of Confucius Institute.
As global financial markets increasingly integrate non-financial criteria, companies are reinforcing the strategic role of sustainability and its impact on market value, although this cannot overlook how different institutional structures shape investor perceptions. This study examines (i) whether firms with higher environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance are perceived by markets as having greater future growth opportunities, and (ii) how institutional environments, measured through the dimensions of the Quintuple Helix Model (QHM), namely the economic, educational, political-legal, cultural and environmental systems, condition this relationship. Based on a panel of European listed companies over the 2013-2023 period, we find that companies with stronger sustainability performance are generally associated with higher growth potential, suggesting that ESG engagement is recognized by investors as a relevant dimension of organizations' expectations. The analysis also reveals cross-country differences in this association, consistent with the idea that markets interpret sustainability through their own institutional contexts.
Soils play a fundamental role in plant nutrition as primary sources of potassium (K) and magnesium (Mg), whose availability depends on soil properties and environmental conditions. The composition of major cations in the soil solution is governed by interacting factors, including soil texture, acidity, mineralogical composition, and seasonal variability during the growing cycle. This study examines the availability, mobility, and seasonal dynamics of K and Mg in the soil solution of seven naturally managed soils across four distinct periods of a complete growing season beginning in spring. An integrated field and laboratory approach was applied to assess the influence of clay mineralogy on K and Mg behavior and overall soil fertility. Seasonal soil samples were analyzed for mineral composition, total elemental chemistry, exchangeable cation pools, and soil solution chemistry. Total elemental concentrations were determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and clay mineral assemblages were identified by X-ray diffraction (XRD), focusing on 2:1 clay minerals, mixed-layer phases, and hydroxy-interlayered minerals (HIMs). The soils were dominated by 2:1 and mixed-layer assemblages, including illite/smectite (Ill/Sm), mica/illite-vermiculite (M/Vm), and chlorite/smectite (Chl/Sm), as well as transitional HIMs such as hydroxy-interlayered smectite (HIS) and hydroxy-interlayered vermiculite (HIV). Exchangeable Mg (0.28-1.30 cmolc kg(-1)) and K (0.12-0.97 cmolc kg(-1)) occurred in relatively high amounts, with maximum base saturation values of 13.14% (Mg) and 4.55% (K). Soil solution concentrations ranged from 1.60 to 3.00 ppm for K+ and 0.90-1.70 ppm for Mg2+, indicating substantial mobility and enrichment from the solid phase. These findings demonstrate that 2:1 clay minerals and mixed-layer phases act as key reservoirs regulating K and Mg exchangeability and release under natural acidic conditions, thereby sustaining soil fertility and nutrient availability for plant uptake.
Conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) were not originally designed to efficiently remove antibiotics, such as sulfamethoxazole (SMX), from effluents, thereby contributing to their occurrence in aquatic environments and the spread of antimicrobial resistance. In this work, the synthesis methodology for obtaining Carbon Quantum Dots (CQDs) and their incorporation onto TiO2 was assessed, with subsequent application in the solar-driven photocatalytic removal of SMX in phosphate buffer solution (PBS, pH 8.0, to simulate freshwater (FW)), FW, and WWTPs effluent (WWTPe). Two different types of CQDs were synthesized using thermal decomposition and hydrothermal treatment (with different urea amounts and reaction times). CQDs were incorporated onto TiO2 using either calcination or sonication methodologies. The results revealed that both the urea amount and the reaction time affected the yield of CQD synthesis and the efficiency of the final TiO2/CQD composite. When compared with calcination, sonication-based incorporation of CQDs onto TiO2 resulted in composites with superior performance. Under simulated solar irradiation, 100 mg L-1 of the most efficient composite achieved 95.7 +/- 0.2% SMX removal within 12 min, whereas only 2.3 +/- 0.5% was removed under photolysis. This composite also maintained significant activity in complex matrices, showing a half-lifetime of 1.44 +/- 0.02 h in WWTPe compared with 4.8 +/- 0.1 h without the photocatalyst. Additionally, 66 +/- 5% SMX mineralization was observed after 2 h of irradiation at pH 8.0 (in PBS), whereas no mineralization occurred in the absence of the photocatalyst. These findings support the potential application of TiO2/CQDs in solar-driven treatment processes for antibiotic-contaminated waters.
Species distribution models (SDMs) are widely used to predict the spread of invasive species, yet their accuracy over time and the influence of climate data resolution remain unclear. Here, we examine the capacity of SDMs to predict the distribution and short-term expansion of the invasive gall wasp Dryocosmus kuriphilus, and compare the performance of locally sourced, annually resolved climate data with global climatic datasets. We modelled the annual distribution and expansion of D. kuriphilus using SDMs. Three climate datasets: regional interpolations, temporally explicit CHELSA time series, and long-term CHELSA averages, were compared to test their influence on model accuracy. Habitat suitability was estimated with GLM, MaxEnt, and Random Forest, and model performance was evaluated with the Boyce index. Temporal transferability was assessed by projecting early-year models to subsequent years and analysing accuracy patterns via multifactorial ANOVA. Model accuracy, measured with the Boyce index, improved over time, surpassing 0.7 for most datasets and algorithms. Differences among climate datasets were minor, although regional data slightly enhanced early predictions. MaxEnt consistently achieved the highest and most stable performance, while Random Forest and GLM were more variable. Models projected beyond their calibration years rapidly lost predictive power, showing limited temporal transferability. ANOVA confirmed that neither climate dataset nor algorithm significantly influenced accuracy, though MaxEnt performed best overall. SDMs are valuable tools for invasive species management when used adaptively. Accuracy improves with more occurrence data but declines when projecting future expansion, highlighting the need for regular updates. Incorporating fine-scale, temporally explicit data enhances early detection, monitoring, and rapid-response interventions. Continuously updated SDMs support timely management decisions, including invasion monitoring, prioritisation of actions, and integration of biological control or other mitigation strategies.
Cardiomyopathy is a major complication of type 2 diabetes, whose prevalence continues to rise globally. Although major cardiology and endocrinology societies endorse exercise training to reduce cardiovascular risk, the optimal exercise training modality, and specifically the role of exercise volume, in preventing diabetic cardiomyopathy remains unclear. Male Sprague Dawley rats were fed a high-sugar diet to induce type 2 diabetes. At diet onset, animals were assigned to high-volume (HVE, N = 7) or low-volume (LVE, N = 8) moderate-intensity treadmill training, performed five days per week for 18 weeks. Sedentary rats served as controls (N = 6). Cardiac function was assessed using conventional echocardiography, strain imaging, and invasive hemodynamics. Plasma analyses were used to identify systemic metabolic status, and ex vivo techniques quantified left ventricular cardiac fibrosis, oxidative stress, hypertrophy, inflammation, and metabolism. After 18 weeks of diet, sedentary rats developed characteristic features of early-stage diabetic cardiomyopathy, accompanied by impaired systolic function and increased interstitial myocardial fibrosis. Conversely, high volumes of moderate-intensity exercise training partially prevented pathological cardiac remodelling by improving cardiac metabolic regulation, reducing oxidative stress, and enhancing both cardiac stress-responses and systemic metabolic control. Lower volumes of exercise training primarily influence oxidative stress and inflammatory pathways, resulting in modest cardioprotective effects and preservation of cardiac function. By contrast, high-volume exercise training elicited more pronounced cardioprotective effects, reflected by a significantly higher ejection fraction, cardiac output, stroke volume index, and global longitudinal strain relative to sedentary controls. The progression of diabetic cardiomyopathy appears to be modulated by exercise training volume. Although both volumes preserve cardiac performance, high-volume exercise training elicited more pronounced cardioprotective effects than low-volume exercise training in T2DM rats. These findings emphasise the importance of further considering exercise volume as a critical variable in the optimisation of evidence-based exercise prescriptions for individuals with type 2 diabetes.
