A review of current literature on mammalian hosts' sexual dimorphism (SD) in parasitic infections revealed that (1) it is a scarcely and superficially studied biological phenomenon of considerable significance for individual health, behavior, and lifestyles and for the evolution of species; (2) there are many notable exceptions to the rule of a favorable female bias in susceptibility to infection; (3) a complex network of molecular and cellular reactions connecting the host's immuno-neuroendocrine systems with those of the parasite is responsible for the host-parasite relationship rather than just an adaptive immune response and sex hormones; (4) a lack of gender-specific immune profiles in response to different infections; (5) the direct effects of the host hormones on parasite physiology may significantly contribute to SD in parasitism; and (6) the need to enrich the reductionist approach to complex biological issues, like SD, with more penetrating approaches to the study of cause-effect relationships, i.e., network theory. The review concludes by advising against generalization regarding SD and parasitism and by pointing to some of the most promising lines of research.

We experimentally investigate the performance of an active and passive optical fronthaul to be employed in a cloud/centralized radio access network (C-RAN) architecture based on software-defined radio (SDR) for 4G systems, and we discuss the viability to integrate these fronthaul configurations in coexisting 4G/5G systems based on SDR by considering the reconfigurable characteristics of SDRs and the capacity and latency characteristics of the optical fronthaul. The active optical fronthaul consists of two transponders employing dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM), whereas the passive optical fronthaul consists of a point-topoint scheme based on DWDM only. To perform a comparative study between the active and passive optical fronthaul in the C-RAN architecture, we have measured the throughput (bit rate) generated via iPerf ® for uplink and downlink transmissions at different DWDM channels, and we analyze the losses and latency presented in both optical fronthaul schemes. We found that for different optical fronthaul lengths up to 21.76 km, the bit rate is practically the same for the passive and active fronthaul despite the higher optical losses present in the passive fronthaul in comparison to the active fronthaul. In addition, the latency among active and passive fronthaul are almost similar with an estimated increment of 20 μs in the active fronthaul. These results are independently of the number of remote radio heads (RRHs) and user equipment (UEs) considered in the C-RAN architecture. Our findings put forward the proposed DWDM passive fronthaul as a viable, less complex, and cost-sensitive solution for C-RAN systems with fronthaul lengths up to 21.76 km. These results and all the experiences reported on the C-RAN implementation provide valuable information to design and develop 4G and 5G C-RAN architectures based on SDR with the capability to operate in a DWDM optical fronthaul infrastructure.

Background: Knowledge of endemism in a region (natural or political) is fundamental to determining natural biogeographic regions and establishing conservation priorities. Questions: How many vascular plant species are endemic to the state of Puebla? What is the geographic distribution of endemism in the state? Are there centers of phylogenetic endemism? Studied species: 356 species of vascular plants. Study site: State of Puebla, Mexico. Methods: Based on the literature review and botanical specimens in digitized databases, the vascular plant species endemic or nearly endemic to the state of Puebla, Mexico, was assessed. Using a grid cell 1° × 1° latitude and longitude size, the incidence of each species was assessed. With the above information and a phylogeny of the species, a spatial phylogenetic analysis was carried out to detect centers of phylogenetic endemism. Results: 82.6 % of the 356 endemic species to Puebla are distributed in only one to three grid cells. The spatial phylogenetic analysis revealed centers of high phylogenetic diversity and endemism as well as delineated centers of mixed and paleo-endemism. Conclusions: The state of Puebla contains areas that meet the criteria to be considered centers of species endemism. Strategies toward a better understanding of plant endemism, as here proposed, suggest a better comprehension of the chorology of Mexican endemism, and assess the true role of our natural protected areas in conserving endemic species.

This work proposes suitable network configurations for single frequency networks (SFNs) with ATSC 1.0 based on network coverage calculations and the laboratory multipath handling performance of commercial receivers. SFNs are widely used for delivering terrestrial digital television services because of their efficient use of the spectrum. In Mexico the analogue television transmissions switch‐off occurred on 31 December 2016. Thus it is expected the adopted ATSC 1.0 system will be in force for the next several years despite the recent standardization of the ATSC 3.0 system. As ATSC 1.0 uses 8‐VSB modulation the multipath handling capability of receivers is critical for the design of SFNs. The presented network planning results help develop technical normativity for implementing SFNs in Mexico and other countries that use ATSC 1.0. SFNs with transmitter separation up to 130 km are fully covered for outdoor reception mainly due to the directivity of the receiving antenna. Moreover for indoor reception at least 70% of an SFN coverage area can be achieved with a transmitter separation of up to 60 km depending on the radiated power and the transmitter antenna height.