Forest Ecosystem Services: An Analysis of Worldwide Research

The relevance of forests to sustain human well-being and the serious threats they face have led to a notable increase of research works on forest ecosystem services during the last few years. This paper analyses the worldwide research dynamics on forest ecosystem services in the period from 1998 to 2017. A bibliometric analysis of 4284 articles was conducted. The results showed that the number of published research articles has especially increased during the last five years. In total, 68.63% of the articles were published in this period. This research line experiences a growing trend superior to the general publishing trend on forest research. In spite of this increase, its relative significance within the forest research is still limited. The most productive subject areas corresponded to Environmental Science, Agricultural and Biological Sciences and Social Sciences Economic topics are understudied. The scientific production is published in a wide range of journals. The three first publishing countries are United States, China and the United Kingdom. The most productive authors are attached to diverse research centres and their contributions are relatively recent. A high level of international cooperation has been observed between countries, institutions and authors. The findings of this study are useful for researchers since they give them an overview of the worldwide research trends on forest ecosystem services

The Sustainable Management of Metals: An Analysis of Global Research

The objective of this study was to analyze research trends in the field of sustainable management of metals on a global level between 1993 and 2017. To do so, a bibliometric analysis was carried out on a total of 6967 articles. The results revealed the growing interest in this research field, particularly over the last five year-period during which 63% of all articles were published. The three journals in which most articles had been published were the Journal of Cleaner Production, ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, and Chemsuschem. The countries that published the most articles were China, the United States, India, Germany, and the United Kingdom. A sizeable network of collaboration has been established between countries for the joint publication of studies. The main lines of research have been focused on metal decontamination in water and soil, waste management oriented towards reuse and recycling, and the innovation of processes for cleaner and more efficient production. The results revealed the need for comprehensive studies that integrate different disciplines within the same analytical framework, and to promote research that contributes to the different dimensions of sustainability (environmental, economic, and social)

La red internet y las autopistas de la información

El crecimiento exponencial de la red Internet, que en 1995 supera los cinco millones de ordenadores conectados, influirá en el futuro inmediato en el desarrollo tecnológico, económico y social de nuestro entorno. En el ámbito del empleo y la creación de riqueza, la automatización y el uso generalizado de las redes telemáticas plantean un cambio estructural en los sistemas económicos que se empieza a entrever, y que sin duda aumentará el desfase en el desarrollo entre sociedades que sean capaces de absorber e incorporar las nuevas tecnologías, y los que pierdan las oportunidades que actualmente se están presentando

Solar UV exposure of Primary Schoolchildren in Valencia, Spain

[EN] To quantify schoolchildren's exposure to ultraviolet erythemal radiation (UVER), personal dosimeters (VioSpor) were used to measure biologically effective ultraviolet (UV) radiation received in the course of their daily school activities. The study took place in two primary schools in Valencia (39 degrees 28'N), Spain, for several weeks from March 2008 until May 2009, with two age groups (6-8 years and 10-11 years) and involved about 47 schoolchildren. The median daily UV exposure values for all age groups and solar height intervals considered in the study ranged from 1.31 to 2.11 standard erythemal doses (SEDs). Individual UV exposure was analyzed as a function of age, gender and dosimeter position. Significant statistical differences were found between different age groups, with the younger age group receiving higher statistically significant UVER exposure. It was also found that boys received significantly higher UVER exposure than girls. It was also noted that shoulder dosimeters registered higher readings than wrist dosimeters. Exposure ratio (ER) is defined as the ratio between the personal dose on a selected anatomical site and the corresponding ambient dose on a horizontal plane. The median ER for all age groups and solar height intervals in the study range from 4.5% to 10.7%, with higher values at lower solar heights.We would like to thank the R&D&I Linguistic Assistance Office, Universidad Politecnica de Valencia (Spain), for granting financial support for the proof-reading of this paper. The research reported here was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science within the research project CGL2007-61813.Serrano, M.; Cañada, J.; Moreno Esteve, J. (2011). Solar UV exposure of Primary Schoolchildren in Valencia, Spain. Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences Photochemical and Photobiological Sciences. 10(4):1-523. https://doi.org/10.1039/C0PP00153HS1523104IARC, IARC monographs on the evaluation of carcinogenic risks to humans: solar and ultraviolet radiation, Lyon, 2000, 55Armstrong, B. K., & Kricker, A. (2001). The epidemiology of UV induced skin cancer. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology, 63(1-3), 8-18. doi:10.1016/s1011-1344(01)00198-1B. Armstrong , How sun exposure causes skin cancer: an epidemiological perspective, In Prevention of Skin Cancer, ed by D. Hill, J. M. Elwood and D. R. English, Kluwer Academic, 2005, pp. 89-116Østerlind, A., Tucker, M. A., Stone, B. J., & Jensen, O. M. (1988). The Danish case-control study of cutaneous malignant melanoma. II. Importance of UV-light exposure. International Journal of Cancer, 42(3), 319-324. doi:10.1002/ijc.2910420303Oliveria, S. A. (2005). Sun exposure and risk of melanoma. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 91(2), 131-138. doi:10.1136/adc.2005.086918Wright, C. Y., & Reeder, A. I. (2005). Youth Solar Ultraviolet Radiation Exposure, Concurrent Activities and Sun-protective Practices: A Review. Photochemistry and Photobiology, 81(6), 1331. doi:10.1562/2005-8-19-ir-655Guy, C., Diab, R., & Martincigh, B. (2003). Ultraviolet Radiation Exposure of Children and Adolescents in Durban, South Africa¶. Photochemistry and Photobiology, 77(3), 265. doi:10.1562/0031-8655(2003)0772.0.co;2DIFFEY, B. L., GIBSON, C. J., HAYLOCK, R., & McKINLAY, A. F. (1996). Outdoor ultraviolet exposure of children and adolescents. British Journal of Dermatology, 134(6), 1030-1034. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2133.1996.tb07937.xKimlin, M., & Parisi, A. (2001). Usage of real-time ultraviolet radiation data to modify the daily erythemal exposure of primary schoolchildren. Photodermatology, Photoimmunology and Photomedicine, 17(3), 130-135. doi:10.1034/j.1600-0781.2001.170305.xGies, P., Roy, C., Toomey, S., MacLennan, R., & Watson, M. (1998). Solar UVR Exposures of Primary School Children at Three Locations in Queensland. Photochemistry and Photobiology, 68(1), 78-83. doi:10.1111/j.1751-1097.1998.tb03255.xWright, C. Y., Reeder, A. I., Bodeker, G. E., Gray, A., & Cox, B. (2007). Solar UVR Exposure, Concurrent Activities and Sun-Protective Practices Among Primary Schoolchildren. Photochemistry and Photobiology, 83(3), 749-758. doi:10.1562/2006-08-22-ra-1010Ono, M., Munakata, N., & Watanabe, S. (2005). UV Exposure of Elementary School Children in Five Japanese Cities¶. Photochemistry and Photobiology, 81(2), 437. doi:10.1562/2004-09-06-ra-307.1Thieden, E., Philipsen, P. A., Heydenreich, J., & Wulf, H. C. (2004). UV Radiation Exposure Related to Age, Sex, Occupation, and Sun Behavior Based on Time-Stamped Personal Dosimeter Readings. Archives of Dermatology, 140(2). doi:10.1001/archderm.140.2.197Boldeman, C., Dal, H., & Wester, U. (2004). Swedish pre-school children’s UVR exposure - a comparison between two outdoor environments. Photodermatology, Photoimmunology and Photomedicine, 20(1), 2-8. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0781.2004.00069.xNorval, M., Cullen, A. P., de Gruijl, F. R., Longstreth, J., Takizawa, Y., Lucas, R. M., … van der Leun, J. C. (2007). The effects on human health from stratospheric ozone depletion and its interactions with climate change. Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences, 6(3), 232. doi:10.1039/b700018aMoehrle, M., Dennenmoser, B., & Garbe, C. (2003). Continuous long-term monitoring of UV radiation in professional mountain guides reveals extremely high exposure. International Journal of Cancer, 103(6), 775-778. doi:10.1002/ijc.10884Moehrle, M., & Garbe, C. (2000). Personal UV Dosimetry by Bacillus subtilis Spore Films. Dermatology, 200(1), 1-5. doi:10.1159/000018306Moehrle, M., Heinrich, L., Schmid, A., & Garbe, C. (2000). Extreme UV Exposure of Professional Cyclists. Dermatology, 201(1), 44-45. doi:10.1159/000018428Thieden, E., Agren, M. S., & Wulf, H. C. (2000). The wrist is a reliable body site for personal dosimetry of ultraviolet radiation. Photodermatology, Photoimmunology and Photomedicine, 16(2), 57-61. doi:10.1034/j.1600-0781.2000.d01-4.xMunakata, N., Ono, M., & Watanabe, S. (1998). Monitoring of Solar-UV Exposure among Schoolchildren in Five Japanese Cities Using Spore Dosimeter and UV-coloring Labels. Japanese Journal of Cancer Research, 89(3), 235-245. doi:10.1111/j.1349-7006.1998.tb00554.xT. B. Fitzpatrick , M.Pathak, and J. A.Parrish, Protection of human skin against the effects of the sunburn ultraviolet (290-320 nm), In Sunlight and Man: Normal and Abnormal Photobiologic Responses, ed. by M. A. Pathak, L. C. Harber, M. Seiji and A. Kukita, University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo, 1974, p. 751Furusawa, Y., Quintern, L. E., Holtschmidt, H., Koepke, P., & Saito, M. (1998). Determination of erythema-effective solar radiation in Japan and Germany with a spore monolayer film optimized for the detection of UVB and UVA - results of a field campaign. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 50(5), 597-603. doi:10.1007/s002530051341World Health Organization, Global Solar UV Index: A Practical guide, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland, 2002Herlihy, E., Gies, P. H., Roy, C. R., & Jones, M. (1994). PERSONAL DOSIMETRY OF SOLAR UV RADIATION FOR DIFFERENT OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES. Photochemistry and Photobiology, 60(3), 288-294. doi:10.1111/j.1751-1097.1994.tb05106.xHOLMAN, C. D. J., GIBSON, I. M., STEPHENSON, M., & ARMSTRONG, B. K. (1983). Ultraviolet irradiation of human body sites in relation to occupation and outdoor activity: field studies using personal UVR dosimeters. Clinical and Experimental Dermatology, 8(3), 269-277. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2230.1983.tb01779.

Improved Contrast Sensitivity DVS and its Application to Event-Driven Stereo Vision

This paper presents a new DVS sensor with one order of magnitude improved contrast sensitivity over previous reported DVSs. This sensor has been applied to a bio-inspired event-based binocular system that performs 3D event-driven reconstruction of a scene. Events from two DVS sensors are matched by using precise timing information of their ocurrence. To improve matching reliability, satisfaction of epipolar geometry constraint is required, and simultaneously available information on the orientation is used as an additional matching constraint.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad PRI-PIMCHI-2011-0768Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TEC2009-10639-C04-01Junta de Andalucía TIC-609

Preharvest or a combination of preharvest and postharvest treatments with methyl jasmonate reduced chilling injury, by maintaining higher unsaturated fatty acids, and increased aril colour and phenolics content in pomegranate

In the present research the effects of preharvest 5mM methyl jasmonate (MeJa) treatments, alone (Pre) or in combination with postharvest 5mM MeJa treatment (Pre+Post), on reducing chilling injury (CI) of pomegranate during 90 d of storage at 2 °C plus 3 d at 20 °C and its relationship with changes in fatty acid composition of cell membranes were assayed. In addition, fruit and aril quality traits, total content in phenolics and anthocyanins and antioxidant activity of the arils were evaluated. Both, external and internal CI symptoms and the increase in ion leakage (IL) were reduced by Pre and Pre+Post MeJa treatments. The major fatty acids in pomegranate husk were palmitic, oleic, linoleic and linolenic acids. MeJa treatments led to higher concentration of unsaturated fatty acids (UFA) at harvest, which wasmaintained at higher levels during storage, while saturated fatty acid (SFA) concentration was lower in treated fruit than in controls. The concentration of total phenolics and anthocyanins were lower in the arils from control fruit than in arils of Pre and Pre+Post treated fruit during the whole storage period. In general, there were no significant differences between Pre and Pre+Post MeJa treatments on their effects on reducing CI, maintaining membrane stability and bioactive compounds with antioxidant activity. Thus, preharvest MeJa treatments may be sufficient to increase the cold storage potential of pomegranate fruit by reducing CI symptoms and enhancing the content bioactive compounds with antioxidant activit

A first approach to the multipurpose relational database server

In this paper, an architecture and an implementation of a multipurpose relational database server are proposed. This architecture enables classical queries to be executed, deductions to be made, and data mining operations to be performed on fuzzy or classical data. The proposal of this integration is to combine several ways of querying different types of data. In order to achieve this, a combination of existing metaknowledge bases and new data catalog elements is presented. We also introduce a language for handling all these data coherently and uniformly on the basis of classical SQL sentences

Solar ultraviolet doses and vitamin D in a northern mid-latitude

Solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation is one of the most important factors in the development of skin cancer in human, solar erythema and skin aging. Nevertheless, numerous studies have shown the benefits of UV solar radiation in moderate doses, such as the reduction of blood pressure and mental health, treatment of various diseases, and the synthesis of vitamin D in the skin. This paper analyses data from solar ultraviolet erythemal (UVER) irradiance in W/m2 measured in a northern mid-latitude as Valencia (Spain) for the period 2003-2010. To estimate effective solar UV radiation in the production of vitamin D (UVD) we used the relationship proposed by McKenzie et al., 2009. It was obtained for one month for each season the minimum exposure time needed around solar noon and at 9 UTC and 15 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) to obtain the recommended daily dose of 1000 IU. Also, it has been calculated time for erythema induction around solar noon for the same months. The median UVER daily dose during the summer months was 4000 J/m2day, and 700 J/m2day in winter. With regard to UVD, the median UVD daily dose in summer season was 7700 J/m2day, and in winter it was 1000 J/m2day. Around noon in January it takes more than two hours of solar exposure to obtain the recommended daily dose of vitamin D, whereas the rest of the year range between 7 minutes on July and 31 minutes on October. For the same months around noon, exposure times to produce erythema were obtained, these being of higher value to the previous. The results show that it is difficult to obtain the recommended vitamin D doses in winter in a northern mid-latitude, as the human body is almost entirely covered in this season.The research was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science within research project CGL2010-15931/CLI and by the Generalitat Valenciana within the project PROMETEO/2010/064.María-Antonia Serrano; Cañada, J.; Moreno, J.; Gurrea-Ysasi, G. (2017). Solar ultraviolet doses and vitamin D in a northern mid-latitude. Science of the Total Environment. 574:744-750. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.09.102S74475057

Geothermometrical modelling applied to the CO2-rich thermal waters of the Lanjarón hydrothermal system (Granada, Spain)

[No abstract

Influence of flower head order on phenolic content and quality of globe artichoke at harvest and during twenty-one days of cold storage

Artichoke is one of the vegetables with higher content in phenolic compounds, which are responsible for their taste, flavor and health beneficial effects. However, phenolic profile and concentration depends on many factors, such as genotype, harvest date, and environmental and agronomical conditions. The main aim of this study was to perform a phytochemical characterization of artichoke heads, based on their position on plant (main, secondary and tertiary head) and harvest date, during a complete growing season. Results showed that total identified polyphenol concentration was higher in tertiary heads than secondary and main heads, due to their higher concentration in hydroxycinnamic acid and luteolin derivatives. On the other hand, two postharvest storage experiments with main, secondary and tertiary artichoke heads, harvested in winter and spring, were performed. In addition, tertiary head showed the lowest weight, firmness losses and respiration rate during cold storage which could be attributed to their higher antioxidant compounds. In conclusion, tertiary heads have a greater aptitude to be stored at low temperature from harvesting to consumption since they maintained the quality properties for longer period of time and had higher content of bioactive compounds. However, main artichokes are the most appreciated by consumers due to their larger siz