Advanced solid-state lasers 2019: Focus issue introduction

This joint issue of Optics Express and Optical Materials Express features 17 state-of-the art articles written by authors who participated in the international conference Advanced Solid-State Lasers held in Vienna, Austria, from September 29 to October 3, 2019. This introduction provides a summary of these articles that cover numerous areas of solid-state lasers from materials research to sources and from design to experimental demonstration

Negative responses of highland pines to anthropogenic activities in inland Spain: a palaeoecological perspective

Palaeoecological evidence indicates that highland pines were dominant in extensive areas of the mountains of Central and Northern Iberia during the first half of the Holocene. However, following several millennia of anthropogenic pressure, their natural ranges are now severely reduced. Although pines have been frequently viewed as first-stage successional species responding positively to human disturbance, some recent palaeobotanical work has proposed fire disturbance and human deforestation as the main drivers of this vegetation turnover. To assess the strength of the evidence for this hypothesis and to identify other possible explanations for this scenario, we review the available information on past vegetation change in the mountains of northern inland Iberia. We have chosen data from several sites that offer good chronological control, including palynological records with microscopic charcoal data and sites with plant macro- and megafossil occurrence. We conclude that although the available long-term data are still fragmentary and that new methods are needed for a better understanding of the ecological history of Iberia, fire events and human activities (probably modulated by climate) have triggered the pine demise at different locations and different temporal scales. In addition, all palaeoxylological, palynological and charcoal results obtained so far are fully compatible with a rapid human-induced ecological change that could have caused a range contraction of highland pines in western Iberia

EFFICACY OF THE METHOD OF SCREENING FOR THROMBOPHILIA IN WOMEN WITH RECURRENT PREGNANCY LOSS

Thrombophilia is known for its role in the pathogenesis of spontaneous loss of pregnancy. However, in-depth hemostasis tests are costly, and cannot be routinely used. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop a method adjustable to screening for thrombophilia in women with recurrent pregnancy loss and also to evaluate its efficacy.Materials and methods. A comprehensive examination – clinical, laboratory and instrumental – was performed in 103 women with spontaneous pregnancy loss in the past and 33 women (control) with two or more spontaneous deliveries without significant complications. Diagnosis of thrombophilia was made on the basis of full scale hemostasis tests performed for all patients. The tests included measurements and analyses of 30 standard parameters of hemostasis. Statistical processing of the results was carried out using parametric and nonparametric methods.Results. A thorough assessment of medical history and medical records together with the current results of clinical, instrumental  and laboratory examination allowed us to determine10  major criteria (markers)  for predicting the presence of thrombophilia. These included certain details of medical history, as well as the family and obstetric-gynecological background. The developed markers laid the groundwork for the proposed screening method, where each of the markers gave 1 point to the total score. As part of the screening data analysis, we developed a matrix for the probable risk of having thrombophilia. Selection of patients with a total screening score of 3 or more points allowed increasing 2.6-fold (by 53.4%) the efficacy of laboratory diagnosis of thrombophilia in women with recurrent pregnancy loss.Conclusion. The novelty of the proposed screening method is that the analysis begins at the stage of pregnancy planning and it precedes the laboratory tests; the approach does not require additional expenses. According to our estimate, the use of this method increased the rate of thrombophilia detection by 160%