Strategic roadmap to assess forest vulnerability under air pollution and climate change

Although it is an integral part of global change, most of the research addressing the effects of climate change on forests have overlooked the role of environmental pollution. Similarly, most studies investigating the effects of air pollutants on forests have generally neglected the impacts of climate change. We review the current knowledge on combined air pollution and climate change effects on global forest ecosystems and identify several key research priorities as a roadmap for the future. Specifically, we recommend (1) the establishment of much denser array of monitoring sites, particularly in the South Hemisphere; (2) further integration of ground and satellite monitoring; (3) generation of flux-based standards and critical levels taking into account the sensitivity of dominant forest tree species; (4) long-term monitoring of N, S, P cycles and base cations deposition together at global scale; (5) intensification of experimental studies, addressing the combined effects of different abiotic factors on forests by assuring a better representation of taxonomic and functional diversity across the similar to 73,000 tree species on Earth; (6) more experimental focus on phenomics and genomics; (7) improved knowledge on key processes regulating the dynamics of radionuclides in forest systems; and (8) development of models integrating air pollution and climate change data from long-term monitoring programs.</p

Long-term results after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy in a large monocentric series

Background: Laparoscopic sleevegastrectomy(SG)hasgainedgreatpopularityasastand-alone bariatric procedurebecauseshort-andmid-termoutcomesintermsofweightlossandresolutionof co-morbidities havebeenverypositive.However,long-termresultsfromlargeseriesstillaresparse. Objectives: To evaluatethelong-termclinicaloutcomesofSGinalargeseriesofpatients undergoing SGasastand-aloneprocedure. Setting: University hospitalinItaly. Methods: A retrospectiveanalysisofprospectivelycollecteddatafrom182patientsundergoingSG between 2006and2008intheauthors’ institution. Long-termoutcomesat6and7yearswere analyzed intermsofweightlossandco-morbiditiesresolution. Results: Mean initialbodymassindex(BMI)was45.9 7.3 kg/m2. Majorpostoperativecom- plications occurredin8patients(5.4%):4leaks,2bleeding,1abdominalcollection,and1dys- phagia. Allcomplicationsweremanagedconservatively.Onehundredforty-eightpatients(81.4%) completed the72-month(6-year)follow-up.Thirty-sevenpatients(25%)reachedafollow-upof84 months. Atyear6follow-upthemeanBMIandthemeanpercentageofexcessweightloss(%EWL) were 30.2kg/m2 and 67.3%,respectively.Meantotalbodyweightlosswas44.9kg,whilea%EWL 450 wasregisteredin123patients(83.1%).PreoperativeBMIdidnotsignificantly influence postoperative %EWL.Remissionoftype2diabetesmellitus,arterialhypertension,obstructivesleep apnea syndrome,andgastroesophagealreflux diseasesymptomsoccurredin83.8%,59.7%,75.6%, and 64.7%ofpatients,respectively. Conclusion: %EWL andresolutionofco-morbiditiesappeartobesustained6and7yearsafterSG. Preoperative BMIisnotpredictiveforweightlossoutcome

The sensitivity of the forest carbon budget shifts across processes along with stand development and climate change

International audienc

Acute abdominal pain in a 24-year-old woman: Fitz-Hugh-Curtis syndrome associated with pyelonephritis

[No abstract available

The Role of Managed Forest Ecosystems: A Modeling Based Approach

Regional approaches to estimate the carbon budget of Italian forest ecosystems using Process-Based Models (PBMs), have been applied by several national institutions and researchers. Gross and net primary productivity (GPP and NPP) have been estimated through the PBMs simulations of carbon, water, and elemental cycles driven by remotely sensed data set and ancillary data. In particular the results of the GPP and NPP estimations provided by the implementation of two hybrid models are presented. The first modeling approach, based on the integration of two widely used models (C-fix and BIOME-BGC), has been applied to simulate monthly GPP and NPP values of all Italian forests for the decade 1999–2008. The approach, driven by remotely sensed SPOT-VEGETATION ten-day Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) images and meteorological data, provided a NPP map of Italian forests reaching maximum values of about 900 g C m−2 year−1. The second modeling approach is based on the implementation of a modified version of the 3-PG model running on a daily time step to produce daily estimates of GPP and NPP. The model is driven by MODIS remotely sensed vegetation indexes and meteorological data, and parameterized for specific soil and land cover characteristics. Average annual GPP and NPP maps of Italian forests and average annual values for different forest types according to Corine Land Cover 2000 classification are reported

Legislative and functional aspects of different metrics used for ozone risk assessment to forests

International audienc