Water quality assessment is critical for determining the suitability of water resources for human consumption. In Santa Marta, northern Colombia, limited access to potable water and sewage systems, along with poor treatment infrastructure, poses a significant risk to both urban and rural communities. In some areas, untreated water is sourced directly from rivers or cisterns. Despite being a public health concern, molecular surveillance of waterborne pathogens remains limited. In this study, we integrated next-generation sequencing (NGS) with conventional physicochemical and microbiological analyses to assess water quality in the Gaira and Manzanares rivers. A total of 24 water samples were collected from eight sites along these rivers between August 2023 and February 2024. Microbial communities were characterized using Oxford Nanopore sequencing targeting the 16S-rRNA and 18S-rRNA genes. Physicochemical variables evidenced high levels of contamination, as elevated concentrations of nitrates, phosphates, ammonium, BOD, and COD were detected across the sampling sites. Other parameters, such as pH and temperature, remained stable, while conductivity and dissolved oxygen varied across sites. Microbiological analyses indicated elevated coliform levels, and Cryptosporidium spp. DNA, but not Giardia intestinalis DNA, was detected by PCR. Sequencing analysis revealed 1080 prokaryotic and 149 eukaryotic taxa, including environmental bacteria, Escherichia-Shigella group, and important taxa like Enterocytozoon. Diversity analyses showed that prokaryotic community structure was significantly influenced by basin location (upstream vs. downstream), whereas eukaryotic communities were primarily structured by river identity. Overall, integrating NGS with conventional methods provided a comprehensive characterization of microbial diversity and contamination risks in these tropical river systems, highlighting the urgent need to strengthen water management and public health strategies in Santa Marta and similar regions.
Several predatory mite species of Phytoseiidae have been used worldwide in biological control of small arthropod pests, but their diversity and economic potential in natural environments are still poorly understood due to limited sampling efforts. The objective of this work was to estimate the diversity and the intraspecific morphological variation of phytoseiids in a fragment of the Atlantic Forest of the state of Pernambuco, northeastern Brazil, including an evaluation of allometry, in what refer to the relationship between length of dorsal setae and dorsal shield length of species collected. Sixteen species were identified from leaf samples of seven plant species collected between August 2022 and April 2023 in the Dois Irm & atilde;os State Park, nine of which are reported for the first time in the state. Phytoseius bennetti De Leon is reported for the first time in Brazil. A description of the male of this species, as well as a complementary description of Metaseiulus (M.) adjacentis (De Leon) is presented. Also, the relationship between dorsal setal length and shield length in specimens collected both in the present study and in previous works was investigate. It was observed that variations in setal lengths are related to mite body sizes (as inferred from dorsal shield lengths) on the species Amblyseius operculatus De Leon, Euseius alatus De Leon, E. mesembrinus (Dean), Galendromimus (G.) multipoculi Zacarias, Moraes & McMurtry, Galendromus (G.) annectens (De Leon), Iphiseiodes zuluagai Denmark & Muma, Leonseius elbanhawyi Carvalho, Ferragut & Oliveira, Metaseiulus (M.) ferlai Moraes, McMurtry & Lopes, Phytoseius bennetti De Leon, P. litoralis Silva, Rocha & Ferla, P. intermedius Evans & MacFarlane, Typhlodromalus aripo De Leon and T. peregrinus (Muma).
Parassi mullet (Mugil incilis) is an ecologically and economically important species that supports small-scale artisanal fisheries. However, scarce knowledge of its reproductive biology limits the development of management and conservation strategies. This research describes key milt and sperm characteristics, including milt volume, sperm concentration, motility, and ultrastructural features. Males produced an average of 40.0 +/- 20 & micro;L of milt, with sperm concentrations between 6.00 and 20.37 & times; 109 spermatozoa mL-1. Sperm motility varied between 10% and 80%, with a mean duration of 14.13 +/- 4.49 min. Mature spermatozoa measured 33.79 +/- 0.67 & micro;m and exhibited a subspherical head without an acrosome, a short midpiece, and a cylindrical flagellum. The nucleus contains electron-dense heterogeneous chromatin. The centriolar complex was positioned outside the nuclear fossa consistent with Type II spermiogenesis. The flagellum comprises a main piece and tapering end piece. The axoneme had 9 + 0 arrangement at the basal body region and the typical 9 + 2 configuration along its length. These results provide the first detailed description of sperm morphology in parassi mullet and contribute to an understanding of its reproductive biology, supporting future applications in taxonomy, toxicology, conservation and aquaculture programs.
This Letter reports measurements of muon-neutrino disappearance and electron-neutrino appearance and the corresponding antineutrino processes between the two NOvA detectors in the NuMI neutrino beam. These measurements use a dataset with double the neutrino mode beam exposure that was previously analyzed, along with improved simulation and analysis techniques. A joint fit to these samples in the three-flavor paradigm results in the most precise single-experiment constraint on the atmospheric neutrino mass splitting, Δ m 32 2 = 2.43 1 − 0.034 + 0.036 ( − 2.47 9 − 0.036 + 0.036 ) × 10 − 3 eV 2 if the mass ordering is normal (inverted). In both orderings, a region close to maximal mixing with sin 2 θ 23 = 0.5 5 − 0.06 + 0.02 is preferred. The NOvA data show a mild preference for the normal mass ordering with a Bayes factor of 2.4 (corresponding to 70% of the posterior probability), indicating that the normal ordering is 2.4 times more probable than the inverted ordering. When incorporating a 2D Δ m 32 2 − sin 2 2 θ 13 constraint based on Daya Bay data, this preference strengthens to a Bayes factor of 6.6 (87%).
In Colombia, the health sciences constitute one of the core knowledge domains with the highest scientific output; however, there are no recent studies regarding the bibliometric indicators of Colombian health sciences journals that would allow for an assessment of their quality, dissemination, and impact. This article aims to analyze the impact of indexed Colombian health sciences journals based on indicators from Publindex, Google Scholar Metrics, and SciELO. A search was conducted for Colombian health sciences journals indexed in Publindex to determine their journal category; in Google Scholar Metrics to obtain their H5-index and H5-median (MH5); and in SciELO to retrieve data on article count, article typology, citations, and impact factor. The results indicate that the selected indexed Colombian journals exhibit highly favorable metrics in Google Scholar Metrics and SciELO; this highlights the continuous improvement of the editorial process within the health sciences sector in Colombia.
