Do Species and Functional Diversity Indices Reflect Changes in Grazing Regimes and Climatic Conditions in Northeastern Spain?

Understanding the mechanisms that maintain biodiversity in various ecosystems enables the development of management practices that prevent degradation (Canals & Sebastia, 2000). Each diversity index reflects some compositional properties and could be influenced differently by stress and disturbance factors (Magurran, 2004). In this study, we aim to reveal 1) which management practices and environmental factors affect biodiversity in rangelands of northeastern Spain and 2) the relationship between species diversity and functional diversity (SD and FD)

Ocular pain and discomfort after advanced surface ablation (ASA): an ignored complaint

Purpose: Laser vision correction is one of the most commonly performed elective surgical procedures in ophthalmology. Generally, discomfort besides pain (photophobia, burning sensation, tearing, and foreign body sensation) after these procedures is not taken into consideration in the clinical practice. The objective is to provide data on these symptoms and their relevance after advanced surface ablation (ASA). Methods: Single-center survey study based on a structured questionnaire relative to the patients' perceived symptoms after ASA. Inclusion criteria were: ≥18 years old, no ocular disease, with myopia (0.75 to 9 D) or hyperopia (0.25 to 5 D) with or without astigmatism, receiving ASA on at least one eye. All procedures were performed by the same surgeon. A descriptive analysis was performed. Results: Seventy-three consecutive patients (34 men and 39 women) were included in the study. The median (range) of age was 33 (19-64) years. Sixty-nine patients had surgery done on both eyes. Postoperative pain was the most frequent comorbidity (97% [95% confidence interval {CI}: 90-100]) with a median (range) of intensity (verbal numerical rating scale) score of 7 (2-10). Photophobia: 85% (95% CI: 75-92); burning sensation: 62% (95% CI: 50-73); tearing: 59% (95% CI: 47-70); and foreign body sensation: 48% (95% CI: 36-60) were also prevalent postoperative symptoms. Pain during ASA was reported for 44% (95% CI: 32-56) of patients. Conclusion: Comorbidities such as pain, photophobia, burning sensation, tearing, and foreign body sensation are prevalent after ASA procedure. Postoperative pain should be taken into consideration due to its prevalence and intensity. A new and more efficient postoperative analgesic protocol should be established

Pain perception description after advanced surface ablation

Purpose: The objective of this study was to characterize the evolution of ocular pain after advanced surface ablation (ASA) to improve strategies in postoperative pain management. Methods: This was a multicenter, prospective, descriptive, cohort study. The inclusion criteria were healthy individuals ≥18 years old receiving bilateral alcohol-assisted surface ablation with epithelial removal. Pain intensity was evaluated with the visual analog scale (VAS) and the numeric pain rating scale before and after surgery. Comorbidities (photophobia, burning, tearing, and foreign body sensation) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) questionnaire were evaluated before and at 6 hours after surgery. Postoperative treatments included cold patch, topical cold antibiotics, topical steroids, and benzodiazepines. Results: Thirty-two consecutive patients having similar profiles of postoperative pain evolution were included. At 0.5 hour after ASA, the pain score by VAS was 37±20 mm, and the maximum pain, 61±31 mm, occurred at 24 hours. Afterward, it decreased progressively until 72 hours after surgery (19±20 mm). Most patients (81%) scored >60 mm, and 44% required rescue medication. Among the comorbidities, all patients had photophobia and 84% had burning sensation. At 6 hours, the HAD score was 5.4±3.9, within the range of values considered as normal. Conclusion: Postoperative acute ocular pain after ASA showed a characteristic evolution over time. Recognition of the pattern could be important for improving the acceptance of ASA and for improving strategies in pain management in the postoperative period

LandTrendr smoothed spectral profiles enhance woody encroachment monitoring

Secondary succession (SS) is one of the main consequences of the abandonment of agricultural and forestry practices in rural areas, causing -among other processes- woody encroachment on former pastures and croplands. In this study we model and monitor the spatial evolution of SS over semi-natural grassland communities in the mountain range of the Pyrenees in Spain, during the last 36 years (1984-2019). Independent variables for ‘annual-based’ and ‘period-based’ modeling were drawn from a suite of Surface Reflectance Landsat images, LandTrendr (LT)-algorithm-adjusted images and LT outputs. Support vector machine (SVM) classifiers were trained and tested using all possible variable combinations of all the aforementioned datasets. The best modeling strategy involved yearly time series of LT-adjusted Tasseled Cap Brightness (TCB) and Wetness (TCW) axes as predictors, attaining a F1-score of 0.85, a Matthew Correlation Coefficient (MCC) of 0.67 and an AUC 0.83. Woodlands encroached above 480, 000 ha of grasslands and crops during the study period. A model using LT outputs for the whole period also denoted good performance (F1-score = 0.85, MCC = 0.75) and estimated a similar area of woodland expansion (~509, 000 ha), but this ‘period’ approach was unable to provide temporal information on the year or the encroachment dynamics. Our results suggest an overall proportion of 66% for the Pyrenees being affected by SS, with higher intensity in the west-central part, decreasing towards the eastern end. © 2021 The Author

Interactions between biogeochemical and management factors explain soil organic carbon in Pyrenean grasslands

Grasslands are one of the major sinks of terrestrial soil organic carbon (SOC). Understanding how environmental and management factors drive SOC is challenging because they are scale-dependent, with large-scale drivers affecting SOC both directly and through drivers working at small scales. Here we addressed how regional, landscape and grazing management, soil properties and nutrients, and herbage quality factors affect 20 cm depth SOC stocks in mountain grasslands in the Pyrenees. Taking advantage of the high variety of environmental heterogeneity in the Pyrenees, we built a dataset (n = 128) that comprises a wide range of environmental and management conditions. This was used to understand the relationship between SOC stocks and their drivers considering multiple environments. We found that temperature seasonality (difference between mean summer temperature and mean annual temperature; TSIS) was the most important geophysical driver of SOC in our study, depending on topography and management. TSIS effects on SOC increased in exposed hillsides, slopy areas, and relatively intensively grazed grasslands. Increased TSIS probably favours plant biomass production, particularly at high altitudes, but landscape and grazing management factors regulate the accumulation of this biomass into SOC. Concerning biochemical SOC drivers, we found unexpected interactive effects between grazer type, soil nutrients and herbage quality. Soil N was a crucial SOC driver as expected but modulated by livestock species and neutral detergent fibre contenting plant biomass; herbage recalcitrance effects varied depending on grazer species. These results highlight the gaps in knowledge about SOC drivers in grasslands under different environmental and management conditions. They may also serve to generate testable hypotheses in later/future studies directed to climate change mitigation policies

Dynamic expression of Ralstonia solanacearum virulence factors and metabolism-controlling genes during plant infection

Altres ajuts: CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya. P. Sebastià received the support of a fellowship (code is LCF/BQ/IN17/11620004) from la Caixa Foundation (identifier [ID] 100010434)Background: Ralstonia solanacearum is the causal agent of bacterial wilt, a devastating plant disease responsible for serious economic losses especially on potato, tomato, and other solanaceous plant species in temperate countries. In R. solanacearum, gene expression analysis has been key to unravel many virulence determinants as well as their regulatory networks. However, most of these assays have been performed using either bacteria grown in minimal medium or in planta, after symptom onset, which occurs at late stages of colonization. Thus, little is known about the genetic program that coordinates virulence gene expression and metabolic adaptation along the different stages of plant infection by R. solanacearum. Results: We performed an RNA-sequencing analysis of the transcriptome of bacteria recovered from potato apoplast and from the xylem of asymptomatic or wilted potato plants, which correspond to three different conditions (Apoplast, Early and Late xylem). Our results show dynamic expression of metabolism-controlling genes and virulence factors during parasitic growth inside the plant. Flagellar motility genes were especially up-regulated in the apoplast and twitching motility genes showed a more sustained expression in planta regardless of the condition. Xylem-induced genes included virulence genes, such as the type III secretion system (T3SS) and most of its related effectors and nitrogen utilisation genes. The upstream regulators of the T3SS were exclusively up-regulated in the apoplast, preceding the induction of their downstream targets. Finally, a large subset of genes involved in central metabolism was exclusively down-regulated in the xylem at late infection stages. Conclusions: This is the first report describing R. solanacearum dynamic transcriptional changes within the plant during infection. Our data define four main genetic programmes that define gene pathogen physiology during plant colonisation. The described expression of virulence genes, which might reflect bacterial states in different infection stages, provides key information on the R. solanacearum potato infection process

Palliative care program of the Balearic Islands

Los cuidados paliativos (CP) mejoran la calidad de vida de los pacientes en la última etapa de la enfermedad terminal y disponemos de evidencia de su eficiencia al dar respuesta a las necesidades integrales de atención de las personas -pacientes y familiares- en el periodo de final de vida. En las Islas hay experiencia consolidada de equipos expertos, aunque con una insuficiente cobertura de atención. Ante esta situación, la Consejería de Salud, a través de la Estrategia de Cuidados Paliativos de las Islas Baleares, ha diseñado este programa cuyo objetivo principal es proporcionar a los pacientes con enfermedad avanzada/terminal y a sus familiares, una valoración y atención integrales, adaptadas a cada situación y en cualquiera de los niveles asistenciales. Partiendo del supuesto de que, si las personas con necesidades de atención paliativa y sus familias recibiesen atención desde el modelo de los cuidados paliativos, obtendrían una mayor calidad de vida, mayor satisfacción y una reducción de carga en los cuidadores y menores costes en el sistema, se ha elaborado el programa con una metodología participativa, basándose en la opinión de más de 100 profesionales, gestores, representantes de la Administración y usuarios así como en las referencias, y estándares nacionales y europeos. El programa se fundamenta en acercar los cuidados al entorno familiar y social del paciente; para ello el equipo de atención primaria y el Equipo de soporte de atención domiciliaria (ESAD) son el eje de atención. Según la complejidad del proceso se distinguen dos niveles de atención: básico y especializado. Partiendo de los recursos existentes y las necesidades sanitarias se planifican una serie de actuaciones para cada uno de los sectores de salud.Palliative care (PC) improves patients’ quality of life in the last stage of the terminal disease and we have evidence of its efficiency in responding to comprehensive care needs of people –patients and families– at the end-of-life period. There is a consolidated experience of expert teams in the Balearic Islands, although with inadequate care coverage. In view of this situation, the Balearic Department of Health, through the Palliative Care Strategy of the Balearic Islands, has designed this program, whose main purpose is to provide patients with advanced/terminal disease and their families, a whole assessment and care, adapted to each situation and at any level of care. Based on the assumption that, if the people with palliative care needs and their families received attention from the palliative care model, they would obtain a greater quality of life and satisfaction, a reduced burden in caregivers, and lower costs in the system. The program has been developed with a participative methodology, based on the views of more than 100 professionals, managers, Administration representatives, and users, as well as on national and European references and standards. This program is based on approaching care to the familial and social environment of the patient, for which the primary care team and the Homecare support team (ESAD) are the focus of attention. Depending on the complexity of the process, there are two levels of care: basic and specialized. Building on the existing resources and health needs, a series of actions for each health sector are planned