Comportamiento hidromorfológico de los microambientes de campos abandonados con lluvias intensas: experiencias en el Valle de Aisa (Pirineo Aragonés)

[Resumen] A partir de pruebas de simulación de lluvia se estudia la respuesta hidromorfológica de diferentes microambientes de campos abandonados en pendiente del Pirineo (valle de Aísa). Los resultados muestran pérdidas de suelo moderadas en los microambientes con buen cubrimiento vegetal, tanto si es de matorral como de herbáceas, y relativamente más elevadas en el enlosado de piedras. La disminución de la vegetación implica incrementos considerables en el coeficiente de escorrentía y en las pérdidas de suelo.[Abstract] Using a rainfall simulator the authors have studied the hydromorphological response of different micro-environments of abandoned sloping fields (Aísa Valley, Pyrenees). The results show moderate sediment losses in microenvironments with a good vegetable cover of shrub or meadows. The erosion is more important in fields with a stone pavement. The diminution of the vegetation involves considerable increments of the runoff coefficients and the erosion rates

La agricultura marginal como fuente de sedimentos en el Pirineo Central

[Resumen] La agricultura cerealista ha ocupado grandes extensiones en los valles pirenaicos, en exposiciones solanas por debajo de 1600 m de altitud. En este artículo se estudia el papel de la agricultura tradicional en la producción de sedimentos y la degradación del paisaje. Por medio de parcelas experimentales puede afirmarse que la agricultura itinerante y el barbecho han dado lugar a pérdidas de suelo muy elevadas y explican la pedregosidad superficial de mu.chas laderas. En el caso de la agricultura itinerante (articas), la quema de matorral y la incorporación de cenizas al suelo como fertilizante no contribuía a mejorar sustancialmente la calidad de los suelos.[Abstract] Cereal cropping has occupied large extent in the Pyrenean valleys, on sunny aspects under 1.600 m a.s.l. In this paper the role of traditional farming on sediment yield and landscape degradation is studied. By means of experimental plots the authors conclude than shifting agriculture an fallow land have caused great soil losses and explain the surface stoniness in many hillslopes. In the case of shifting agriculture, the burning of the shrub cover and the use of ashes as fertilizer did not contribute to improve the quality of soil

Longitudinal analysis of blood DNA methylation identifies mechanisms of response to tumor necrosis factor inhibitor therapy in rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, immune-mediated inflammatory disease of the joints that has been associated with variation in the peripheral blood methylome. In this study, we aim to identify epigenetic variation that is associated with the response to tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) therapy.Peripheral blood genome-wide DNA methylation profiles were analyzed in a discovery cohort of 62 RA patients at baseline and at week 12 of TNFi therapy. DNA methylation of individual CpG sites and enrichment of biological pathways were evaluated for their association with drug response. Using a novel cell deconvolution approach, altered DNA methylation associated with TNFi response was also tested in the six main immune cell types in blood. Validation of the results was performed in an independent longitudinal cohort of 60 RA patients.Treatment with TNFi was associated with significant longitudinal peripheral blood methylation changes in biological pathways related to RA (FDR<0.05). 139 biological functions were modified by therapy, with methylation levels changing systematically towards a signature similar to that of healthy controls. Differences in the methylation profile of T cell activation and differentiation, GTPase-mediated signaling, and actin filament organization pathways were associated with the clinical response to therapy. Cell type deconvolution analysis identified CpG sites in CD4+T, NK, neutrophils and monocytes that were significantly associated with the response to TNFi.Our results show that treatment with TNFi restores homeostatic blood methylation in RA. The clinical response to TNFi is associated to methylation variation in specific biological pathways, and it involves cells from both the innate and adaptive immune systems.The Instituto de Salud Carlos III.Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Panorámicas para un corte de la vertiente surpirenaica en la zona de estructuras oblicuas de Aínsa – Valle del Cinca

En la vertiente meridional de los Pirineos, la franja comprendida entre las latitudes 0º9’30’’O y 0º26’30’’E, que tiene su eje en torno al valle del río Cinca, tiene caracteres peculiares en su estructura: la dirección de los pliegues y cabalgamientos se aparta de la dirección pirenaica dominante..