Climatic and land use changes on the NW of Iberian Peninsula recorded in a 1500-year record from Lake Sanabria

L'estudi de diversos descriptors paleoambientals com ara el pol·len, les diatomees i la sedimentologia, realitzat en sediments procedents del llac de Sanabria (NO de la península Ibèrica), ha aportat informació sobre les oscil·lacions climàtiques atribuïdes als períodes càlids tardoromà i medieval, així com a la petita edat del gel. Entre els anys 440 i 950 dC, el clima es caracteritzà per temperatures suaus i un règim de precipitacions mediterrani, malgrat l'existència de pulsacions més fredes vers els anys 530 i 700 dC. Les evidències pol·líniques dels usos del sòl indiquen l'extensió d'activitats ramaderes i agrícoles. Aquesta fase correspon al final del període càlid romà i al període càlid medieval. El canvi de condicions climàtiques es produeix entre els anys 950 i 1100 dC, moment en què els valors mínims de matèria orgànica, pol·len arbori, concentració de diatomees, nitrogen total (TN) i mida del gra indiquen temperatures més baixes i un règim de precipitacions més regular. Aquest període correspon a la petita edat del gel, que finalitzà vers l'any 1590 dC. Posteriorment, la productivitat del llac tendeix a recuperar els valors previs, malgrat que es produeixen episodis freds i curts. Els valors de carbó orgànic total, TN i diatomees covarien amb els índexs de temperatura del NO de la península Ibèrica i posarien de manifest que, amb anterioritat a l'era industrial, el sistema lacustre de Sanabria estava controlat principalment per les condicions climàtiques. Des de l'any 1920 dC, la productivitat del llac està influenciada per l'activitat humana.This multi-proxy paleoenvironmental study from Lake Sanabria (NW Iberian Peninsula), based on pollen, diatom, and sedimentology, provides evidences of climatic oscillations attributed to the Late Roman and Medieval Warm Periods as well as the Little Ice Age (LIA). From 440 to 950 AD, the climate was characterized by mild temperatures and a Mediterranean rainfall regime, although climatic cold periods were recorded at ca. 530 and 700. Evidence from pollen indicators of land-use suggests that grazing and farming were widespread activities. This period corresponds to the end of the Roman Warm Period and the Medieval Warm Period. The onset of new climate conditions occurred between 950 and 1100 AD, as minimum values of organic matter, arboreal pollen, diatom concentration, total nitrogen (TN), and grain size indicate low temperatures and a more regular rainfall regime. This period corresponds to the LIA and ended at 1590 AD, when lake productivity tended to recover to previous values in spite of the occurrence of cool events. Total organic carbon, TN, and diatom content covary with the temperature index for the NW Iberia, suggesting that Lake Sanabria was mainly controlled by climate before the industrial period. Since 1920 AD, lake productivity has been mainly influenced by human activity

Variation at interleukin-6 receptor gene is associated to joint damage in rheumatoid arthritis

This study was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (grant numbers PSE-010000-2006-6 and IPT-010000-2010-36)Lopez-Lasanta, M., Julià, A., Maymó, J., Fernández-Gutierrez, B., Ureña-Garnica, I., Blanco, F.J., Cañete, J.D., Alperi-López, M., Olivè, A., Corominas, H., Tornero, J., Erra, A., Almirall, M., Palau, N., Ortiz, A., Avila, G., Rodriguez-Rodriguez, L., Alonso, A., Tortosa, R., Gonzalez-Alvaro, I., Marsal, S

Effects of the electrodeposition time in the synthesis of carbon-supported Pt(Cu) and Pt-Ru(Cu) core-shell electrocatalysts for polymer electrolyte fuel cells

Pt(Cu)/C and Pt-Ru(Cu)/C electrocatalysts with core-shell structure supported on Vulcan Carbon XC72R have been synthesized by potentiostatic deposition of Cu nanoparticles on the support, galvanic exchange with Pt and spontaneous deposition of Ru species. The duration of the electrodeposition time of the different species has been modified and the obtained electrocatalysts have been characterized using electrochemical and structural techniques. The High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM), Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) microanalyses allowed the determining of the effects of the electrodeposition time on the nanoparticle size and composition. The best conditions identified from Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) corresponded to onset potentials for CO and methanol oxidation on Pt-Ru(Cu)/C of 0.41 and 0.32 V vs. the Reversible Hydrogen Electrode (RHE), respectively, which were smaller by about 0.05 V than those determined for Ru-decorated commercial Pt/C. The CO oxidation peak potentials were about 0.1 V smaller when compared to commercial Pt/C and Pt-Ru/C. The positive effect of Cu was related to its electronic effect on the Pt shells and also to the generation of new active sites for CO oxidation. The synthesis conditions to obtain the best performance for CO and methanol oxidation on the core-shell Pt-Ru(Cu)/C electrocatalysts were identified. When compared to previous results in literature for methanol, ethanol and formic acid oxidation on Pt(Cu)/C catalysts, the present results suggest an additional positive effect of the deposited Ru species due to the introduction of the bifunctional mechanism for CO oxidatio

Have we improved pain control in cancer patients? A multicenter study of ambulatory and hospitalized cancer patients

Background: Pain in cancer patients is recognized as a major health problem, yet few studies of both inpatient and outpatient populations have been carried out. Objective: The study objective was to assess the frequency, type, and characteristics of pain in adult cancer patients, including both inpatients and outpatients. Methods: This cross-sectional study involved 1064 adult cancer patients (437 outpatients and 627 inpatients) from 44 hospitals and/or long-term-care centers in Catalonia, Spain. Cancer patients suffering from pain of any etiology for >_2 weeks and/or under analgesic treatment >_2 weeks were enrolled. Demographic and pain data were collected. The Spanish version of the Brief Pain Inventory was used to assess pain. Results: Pain frequency was 55.3%. Pain was less frequent in outpatients than inpatients (41.6% versus 64.7%; p<0.001), although median pain duration was longer in outpatients (20 versus 6 weeks; p<0.001). Pain was assessable in 333 patients, and intensity was similar in both out- and inpatients; however, outpatients reported less improvement, less pain interference with daily life, and less pain related to the cancer per se. In both groups, patients with multiple myeloma (73%), breast (65%), and lung cancer (61%) were most likely to report pain. Conclusions: Pain in cancer patients, both ambulatory and hospitalized, remains a challenge for health care professionals, health administrators, and stakeholders. Our study reveals the high level of pain and distress that cancer patients continue to suffer, a problem that is particularly notable in outpatients due to the intensity and duration of the pain

The evapotranspiration process in green roofs: a review

Previous research has shown that most of the green roof benefits are related to the cooling effect. In the literature available, however, it is still not clear how and how much the evapotranspiration affects the performance of a green roof. In order to fill the gap in this research topic, this study carries out a review on the cooling effect due to the evapotranspiration process of green roofs. First of all, an overview of the evapotranspiration phenomenon in green roofs, as well as the equipment and methods used for its measurement are presented. Then, the main experimental results available in literature, the physical-mathematical models and the dynamic simulation software used for the evaluation of the latent heat flux are also analysed and discussed among the available literature. Moreover, this review proposes a classification of the results carried out by previous studies as function of the main parameters affecting the evapotranspiration process (e.g. volumetric water content, stomatal resistance, Leaf Area Index, solar radiation, wind velocity, relative humidity, soil thickness, and substrate composition). Additionally, a sensitivity analysis of the results obtained from the literature allowed underlining the correlation among the main factors affecting the evapotranspiration. Finally, a vision of the world area where green roof studies were performed is provided. From the results, it is possible to emphasize that most of the studies that evaluated the evapotranspiration used high precision load cells. Furthermore, all the heat transfer models of green roofs considered in this review took into account the latent heat flux due to evaporation of water from the substrate and plants transpiration, however, only few of them were experimentally validated.This work is partially funded by the Spanish governmentENE2015-64117-C5-1-R (MINECO/FEDER). The authors would like to thank the Catalan Government for the quality accreditation given to their research group (2017 SGR 1537). GREiA is certified agent TECNIO in the category of technology developers by the Government of Catalonia. Julià Coma would like to thank Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad de España for the Grant Juan de la Cierva, FJCI-2016-30345. This research is also funded by “the Notice 5/2016 for financing the Ph.D. regional grant in Sicily” as part of the Operational Programme of European Social Funding 2014–2020 (PO FSE 2014–2020)

Examining the matching of care preferences and care modalities for older dependents, and its association with satisfaction and wellbeing

As societies age, ensuring the quality of life of dependent individuals has become a pressing concern, affecting an increasing large segment of the population. Understanding whether dependent individuals receive the type of care they prefer is central to their well-being. However, there is limited evidence regarding the alignment between care preferences and the care arrangements received by dependent persons. This article aims to provide new insights into how individual and contextual factors are associated to the match -or mismatch- between care preferences and current care arrangements, as well as its implications for individuals’ well-being and satisfaction with care. ( ...

A deletion at Adamts9-magi1 Locus is associated with psoriatic arthritis risk

Objective: Copy number variants (CNVs) have been associated with the risk to develop multiple autoimmune diseases. Our objective was to identify CNVs associated with the risk to develop psoriatic arthritis (PsA) using a genome-wide analysis approach. Methods: A total of 835 patients with PsA and 1498 healthy controls were genotyped for CNVs using the Illumina HumanHap610 BeadChip genotyping platform. Genomic CNVs were characterised using CNstream analysis software and analysed for association using the χ2 test. The most significant genomic CNV associations with PsA risk were independently tested in a validation sample of 1133 patients with PsA and 1831 healthy controls. In order to test for the specificity of the variants with PsA aetiology, we also analysed the association to a cohort of 822 patients with purely cutaneous psoriasis (PsC). Results: A total of 165 common CNVs were identified in the genome-wide analysis. We found a highly significant association of an intergenic deletion between ADAMTS9 and MAGI1 genes on chromosome 3p14.1 (p=0.00014). Using the independent patient and control cohort, we validated the association between ADAMTS9-MAGI1 deletion and PsA risk (p=0.032). Using next-generation sequencing, we characterised the 26 kb associated deletion. Finally, analysing the PsC cohort we found a lower frequency of the deletion compared with the PsA cohort (p=0.0088) and a similar frequency to that of healthy controls (p>0.3). Conclusions: The present genome-wide scan for CNVs associated with PsA risk has identified a new deletion associated with disease risk and which is also differential from PsC risk