Enhancing estimation methods for integrating probability and nonprobability survey samples with machine-learning techniques. An application to a Survey on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain

Web surveys have replaced Face-to-Face and computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) as the main mode of data collection in most countries. This trend was reinforced as a consequence of COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions. However, this mode still faces significant limitations in obtaining probability-based samples of the general population. For this reason, most web surveys rely on nonprobability survey designs. Whereas probability-based designs continue to be the gold standard in survey sampling, nonprobability web surveys may still prove useful in some situations. For instance, when small subpopulations are the group under study and probability sampling is unlikely to meet sample size requirements, complementing a small probability sample with a larger nonprobability one may improve the efficiency of the estimates. Nonprobability samples may also be designed as a mean for compensating for known biases in probability-based web survey samples by purposely targeting respondent profiles that tend to be underrepresented in these surveys. This is the case in the Survey on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain (ESPACOV) that motivates this paper. In this paper, we propose a methodology for combining probability and nonprobability web-based survey samples with the help of machine-learning techniques. We then assess the efficiency of the resulting estimates by comparing them with other strategies that have been used before. Our simulation study and the application of the proposed estimation method to the second wave of the ESPACOV Survey allow us to conclude that this is the best option for reducing the biases observed in our data.     

The Glucose-Related Decrease in Polar Auxin Transport During Ripening and its Possible Role in Grapevine Berry Coloring

Journal of Plant Growth Regulation - Auxin is a hormone that delays ripening in part by reducing anthocyanin content and impairing color development. Auxin content declines during the ripening...     

AUXOSPORULATION IN CYCLOTELLA OCELLATA (BACILLARIOPHYCEAE) UNDER NATURAL AND EXPERIMENTAL CONDITIONS1

Growth and sexual reproduction in a population of Cyclotella ocellata Pantocseck were studied during one annual cycle in a reservoir and in short-term enclosure experiments performed in situ involving different nutrient conditions and concentrations of zooplankton species. Three phases of auxosporulation in this diatom were distinguishable morphologically: 1) preauxospore, from the beginning of zygote formation until the valves were longitudinally separated, 2) primary auxospore, when the zygote grew too large to fit inside the valves and before it reached its full size, and 3) mature auxospore, characterized by a well-developed, markedly scalloped edge. Under experimental and natural conditions, sexual reproduction was associated with changes in cell size. In the natural system, the auxospore appeared to act as a resting structure during conditions adverse for population growth. A threshold population of small cells appeared to be necessary for sexual reproduction in the natural system, whereas auxosporulation was associated with phosphorus fertilization in the enclosures. In both environments only cells smaller than 9.5 μm in diameter were capable of auxospore formation. Our results suggest that, once having reached the critical cell size, the factors that trigger sexual reproduction may depend on ambient environmental conditions.     

Linking life history traits in successive phases of a complex life cycle: effects of larval biomass on early juvenile development in an estuarine crab, Chasmagnathus granulata

In marine benthic invertebrates with complex life cycles, recruitment success, juvenile survival, and growth may be affected by variation in both maternal factors and environmental conditions prevailing during preceding embryonic or larval development. In an estuarine crab, Chasmagnathus granulata, previous investigations have shown that initial larval biomass is positively correlated with the biomass of recently extruded eggs, and it depends also on the salinity experienced during embryogenesis. Biomass at hatching has consequences for the subsequent larval development which, in this species, comprises two alternative developmental pathways with four or five zoeal instars (short or long pathway) and a megalopa. Larvae hatching with a lower than average biomass tend to develop through the long pathway and metamorphose to megalopae with higher biomass. In the present study, we show experimentally that the long pathway produces also significantly larger juveniles (crab size measured as carapace width, biomass as dry mass, carbon and nitrogen contents). Compared with juveniles originating from the short pathway, those from the long pathway showed in successive instars longer moulting cycles and larger carapace width, but lower size increments at ecdysis. In consequence, differences in size or biomass of long pathway vs short pathway crabs tended to disappear in later instars (after stage V). Furthermore, we tested in juveniles the tolerance of starvation at three salinities (5‰, 15‰, 32‰). Tolerance of starvation was significantly higher in juveniles originating from the long pathway, indicating higher energy reserves. While salinity played only a minor role for survival, it exerted significant effects on the time of moulting to the second juvenile instar, regardless of the preceding developmental pathway. The biomass of first juveniles obtained from the short pathway showed a significant positive correlation with the biomass of the freshly hatched zoea I, but not in those from the long pathway. In conclusion, the fitness of juvenile C. granulata is linked with previous developmental processes and environmental conditions during the embryonic and larval phase. Hence, a better understanding and prediction of the recruitment success of marine benthic invertebrates with a complex life cycle may require more comprehensive life‐history investigations.     

Physical mapping of rDNA genes in the ground beetle Carabus and related genera (Carabidae: Coleoptera)

The major ribosomal DNA (rDNA) loci were localized on meiotic and mitotic chromosomes and in interphase nuclei of 18 ground-beetle species belonging to three tribes of the supertribe Carabitae by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), using a PCR-amplified 18S rDNA as a probe. Meiotic observations indicate that the 18S rDNA sequences are located on the largest autosomal bivalent in 12 species of Carabus , two species of Calosoma (both genera belonging to the tribe Carabini), and three sibling species of Ceroglossus chilensis (tribe Ceroglossini). The data suggest the occurrence of a conservative pattern in these three genera despite the chromosomal rearrangements that have led to karyotypes with higher chromosome numbers in Ceroglossus . A different result is found in Cychrus caraboides (tribe Cychrini), where ribosomal cistrons are located in two medium-sized autosomal pairs. Further species of Cychrini should be studied for corroborating the occurrence of molecular and karyotypical apomorphies in Cychrus with regard to the genera Carabus, Calosoma and Ceroglossus .     

Cysteine Racemization in Peptide Synthesis: A New and Easy Detection Method

A new method has been developed for the rapid determination of D-cysteine contents in synthetic peptides. It is based on the reduction of cystine residues, when present, with tris- alkylphosphines, selective derivatization of the cysteine residues with 4-vinylpyridine, followed by acid hydrolysis of the (4-pyridylethyl)cysteine –peptides. Baseline enantiomeric resolution of theD ,L -S-β-(4-pyridylethyl)cysteine, and thus quantification ofD - enantiomer contents at levels ≤1%, is easily achieved by capillary zone electrophoresis exploiting the host–guest complexation principle with crown ethers or by gas chromatography on chiral glass capillary columns upon conventional derivatization of the hydrolysate. The acid-stability of the (4-pyridylethyl)cysteine derivative prevents racemization via thiazoline intermediates and allows for standardization of the acid hydrolysis-dependent racemization.     

Absence of plasma membrane H+-ATPase in plasmodesmata located in pit-fields of the young reactive pulvinus ofMimosa pudica L.

Summary Immunocytochemical techniques were employed to study the spatial distribution of the plasma membrane H⁺-ATPase within various cell types of the young reactive primary pulvinus ofMimosa pudica L. These cells were interconnected by large numbers of plasmodesmata, being concentrated within pit-fields. Although we could routinely detect evidence of the H⁺-ATPase along the plasma membrane, immunolabelling was rarely, if ever, observed along the plasma membranes of the plasmodesmata. This finding is discussed with respect to the likely specialized supramolecular structure of the plasmodesma.Abbreviations SEL size exclusion limit of plasmodesmata     

Control of Vascular Sap pH by the Vessel-Associated Cells in Woody Species (Physiological and Immunological Studies)

In Robinia wood, the vessel-associated cells form a continuous sleeve around the vessels. Variations in pH of the solution perfused through the vessels during the annual cycle and the opposing effects of carbonyl cyanide-m-chlorophenylhydrazone and fusicoccin on this pH value indicate that some living cells of the wood are involved in the control of vascular sap pH and that this control fluctuates with the seasons. The immunolocalization of the plasma membrane HT+-ATPase in Robinia wood was studied by the immunogold-silver-staining technique using an antibody raised against a conserved stretch of the cytoplasmic domain of the H+-ATPase. The immunostaining is much stronger in vessel-associated cells than in other living cell types (ray and axial parenchyma elements) of the secondary xylem. Our data show an efficient involvement of this cell type in the control of vascular sap pH.