ORCID Profile
0000-0002-9899-9099
Current Organisations
University of Queensland
,
University of New England
,
International Intstitute for Sustainability
,
Fundación Natura
,
University of Melbourne
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Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2022
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 13-01-2021
DOI: 10.1002/BEM.22317
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-07-2019
DOI: 10.1002/BEM.22209
Abstract: It is well known that applying transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) to the scalp can generate artefactual visual perceptions of flashing or shimmering light known as phosphenes. The thresholds for generating these phosphenes have been used by international standards bodies to provide conservative estimates of the field strength required to interfere with human neural functioning and set safety limits accordingly. However, the precise relationship between electric currents and phosphene perception thresholds remains uncertain. The present study used tACS to systematically investigate the effects of the location and the frequency of stimulation on phosphene perception thresholds. These thresholds were obtained from 24 participants using a within-subject design as a function of scalp stimulation sites (FPz-Cz versus Oz-Cz) and stimulation frequency (2-30 Hz in steps of 2 Hz). Phosphene perception thresholds were consistently lower for FPz-Cz stimulation, and regardless of tACS location were lowest for 16 Hz stimulation. Threshold variation between participants was very small, which is meaningful when setting standards based on phosphenes. Bioelectromagnetics. 2019 :365-374. © 2019 Bioelectromagnetics Society.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-09-2021
DOI: 10.1111/CONL.12838
Abstract: Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is one of the world's most bio erse regions, but this ersity is threatened by the overexploitation of natural resources and internal social conflicts. In 2018, 33 LAC countries were invited to sign and ratify the landmark Escazú Agreement, which is the first legally binding environmental agreement to explicitly integrate human rights with environmental matters. The agreement outlines an approach to enhance the protection of environmental defenders, increase public participation in environmental decision‐making, and foster cooperation among countries for bio ersity conservation. However, clear mechanisms to implement the ideals of the Agreement are currently lacking. We identify the key provisions of the Agreement and link these to tangible mechanisms which aim to integrate human rights and nature conservation. These mechanisms include technological (e.g., free online data), human‐based (e.g., legal advice from multidisciplinary teams), and nature‐based solutions (e.g., transboundary species management). As environmental assets––and threats to them––span national boundaries, the collaborative and participatory provisions of the agreement could catalyze coordinated transboundary environmental management. Because of the importance of this Agreement for the LAC region, we added a Spanish version of this manuscript in the Supplementary Material (versión del artículo en español en el material suplementario).
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2021
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 09-04-2013
DOI: 10.1007/S00114-013-1041-6
Abstract: Microtrichia are epidermal protuberances that may serve as temporary adhesive devices. Several insects possess these structures however, they have not previously been reported in social wasps. With scanning electron microscopy, we characterize the shape and abundance of microtrichia in ten species of social wasps (Vespidae: Polistinae) and three species of related taxa (Vespidae: Eumeninae, Pompilidae, and Scoliidae). Semi-thin sections of the head of Leipomeles spilogastra and Apoica albimacula were also studied. We found microtrichia on a thin, flexible membrane connected to the mandible in all the Vespidae specimens. The flexible membrane can be ided into three regions: the basal region that covers the mandibular mesial emargination, the medial region located around the height of the mandibular condyles, and the distal region that appears anterior to the apodeme folding. Basal and distal regions of the membrane are extensively covered by microtrichia while the medial region has either less microtrichia or is entirely devoid of them. The shape and density of the microtrichia differed between species, and these traits are unrelated with nest material construction or phylogenetic closeness. We propose that the microtrichial membrane described is a passive mechanism to keep the wasps' mandibles retracted through a mechanical interlocking system. It is possible that this energy-saving mechanism is present in other mandibulate insects.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2020
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 2017
DOI: 10.1093/NC/NIX005
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 10-09-2019
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Date: 06-2021
Abstract: With a global pollinator crisis brewing, it is urgent that we preserve forests supporting wild bees and the services they provide, even in context where agricultural expansion is unavoidable. Though the maintenance of pollination services are known to be synergistic with bio ersity conservation and agricultural economic development, there are few decision support tools that explicitly show how to balance these competing objectives. We developed a novel, spatially explicit method that includes pollination supply, flow, demand, and benefits into an agricultural expansion context to improve land use decisions for agricultural outcomes that minimize environmental impacts. We provide the first study showing the trade-offs between yields and forest retention that uses all the components of pollination services across five planning scenarios (i.e. (a) baseline, (b) absence of pollinators, (c) pollinators present, (d) pollination and non-aggregated forest, (e) pollination and aggregated forest) using data on coffee from Costa Rica. The scenario that showed the highest trade-offs was when pollination services are considered unimportant, which led to a decrease on average yields (∼−23% compared to baseline), whilst also decimating remaining forest (−100% compared to baseline). Better forest retention was achieved in a scenario where pollination services were considered and more forest aggregation was required. In this case, total production incremented by ∼29% while ∼74% of forest patches were preserved. The flexibility of our framework allows adaptation to any crop that benefit from pollination services in different landscape contexts.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-05-2022
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-022-11755-Y
Abstract: Inconsistencies have been found in the relationship between ambient lighting conditions and frequency-dependence in transcranial electric stimulation (tES) induced phosphenes. Using a within-subjects design across lighting condition (dark, mesopic [dim], photopic [bright]) and tES stimulation frequency (10, 13, 16, 18, 20 Hz), this study determined phosphene detection thresholds in 24 subjects receiving tES using an FPz-Cz montage. Minima phosphene thresholds were found at 16 Hz in mesopic, 10 Hz in dark and 20 Hz in photopic lighting conditions, with these thresholds being substantially lower for mesopic than both dark (60% reduction) and photopic (56% reduction), conditions. Further, whereas the phosphene threshold-stimulation frequency relation increased with frequency in the dark and decreased with frequency in the photopic conditions, in the mesopic condition it followed the dark condition relation from 10 to 16 Hz, and photopic condition relation from 16 to 20 Hz. The results clearly demonstrate that ambient lighting is an important factor in the detection of tES-induced phosphenes, and that mesopic conditions are most suitable for obtaining overall phosphene thresholds.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2023
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 23-05-2023
DOI: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PBIO.3002107
Abstract: Pollinators are currently facing dramatic declines in abundance and richness across the globe. This can have profound impacts on agriculture, as 75% of globally common food crops benefit from pollination services. As many native bee species require natural areas for nesting, restoration efforts within croplands may be beneficial to support pollinators and enhance agricultural yields. Yet, restoration can be challenging to implement due to large upfront costs and the removal of land from production. Designing sustainable landscapes will require planning approaches that include the complex spatiotemporal dynamics of pollination services flowing from (restored) vegetation into crops. We present a novel planning framework to determine the best spatial arrangement for restoration in agricultural landscapes while accounting for yield improvements over 40 years following restoration. We explored a range of production and conservation goals using a coffee production landscape in Costa Rica as a case study. Our results show that strategic restoration can increase forest cover by approximately 20% while doubling collective landholder profits over 40 years, even when accounting for land taken out of production. We show that restoration can provide immense economic benefits in the long run, which may be pivotal to motivating local landholders to undertake conservation endeavours in pollinator-dependent croplands.
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 08-11-2019
Publisher: Southern Cross Publishing
Date: 20-11-2016
Publisher: California Digital Library (CDL)
Date: 13-04-2021
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 30-06-2023
DOI: 10.3389/FNHUM.2023.955171
Abstract: Social communication is fraught with ambiguity. Negotiating the social world requires interpreting the affective signals we receive and often selecting between channels of conflicting affective information. The affective face-word Stroop (AFWS) provides an experimental paradigm which may identify cognitive-affective control mechanisms underpinning essential social-affective skills. Initial functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study of the AFWS identified right amygdala as driving this affective conflict and left rostral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) as the locus of conflict control. We employed electroencephalogram (EEG) and eLORETA source localization to investigate the timing, location, and sequence of control processes when responding to affective conflict generated during the AFWS. However we designated affective word as the response target and affective face as the distractor to maximize conflict and control effects. Reaction times showed slowed responses in high vs. low control conditions, corresponding to a Rabbitt type control effect rather than the previously observed Grattan effect. Control related activation occurred in right rACC 96–118 ms post-stimulus, corresponding to the resolution of the P1 peak in the Visual Evoked Potential (VEP). Face distractors elicit right hemisphere control, while word distractors elicit left hemisphere control. Low control trials require rapid “booting up” control resources observable through VEPs. Incongruent trial activity in right fusiform face area is suppressed 118–156 ms post stimulus corresponding to onset and development of the N170 VEP component. Results are consistent with a predicted sequence of rapid early amygdala activation by affective conflict, then rACC inhibition of amygdala decreasing facilitation of affective face processing (however, amygdala activity is not observable with EEG).
No related grants have been discovered for Sofía López-Cubillos.