Clasificación de suelos en pastos alpinos de Aísa y Ordesa (Pirineo Central)

11 páginas, 1 figura, 5 tablas.[EN]: The soils of five grassland communities in Aísa and Ordesa uplands (Central Pyrenees) are classified by the World Reference Base of Soil Resources system (WRB) and Soil Taxonomy System (STS): Bromion erecti, Nardion estrictae, Festucion eskiae and Primulion intricatae (developed on calcilutites) and Festucion gautieri (developed on hard limestones). The soils of the Nardion strictae and Festucion eskia communities are strongly acidic, desaturated and with a high organic matter content; they are classified as Humic Umbrisols by WRB (Humic Dystrocryepts by STS). The soils of the Bromion erecti and Primulion intricatae, with higher pH and base saturation than the previous ones, are classified as Phaeozems (haplic, pachic or calcaric) by WRB system (Humic Eutrocryepts or Humic Dystrocryepts by STS). The soil of the Festucion gautieri community has a neutral o basic pH, a complete base saturation and low water retention capacity; as well as scarce and irregular depth which modify its classification between Humic Leptosols and Lepto-humic Regosols by WRB (Lithic Cryorthent by STS).[ES]: Se caracterizan los suelos de cinco comunidades de pastos supraforestales en los puertos de Aísa y Ordesa (Pirineo Central): Bromion erecti, Nardion estrictae, Festucion eskiae y Primulion intricatae (desarrollados sobre calcilutitas) y Festucion gautieri (sobre calizas), clasificándose según los sistemas FAO (WRB) y Soil Taxonomy (STS). Los suelos del Nardion strictae y Festucion eskiae, suelos fuertemente ácidos, desaturados en bases y con un alto porcentaje de materia orgánica, se clasifican, según FAO, como Umbrisoles húmicos (Dystrocryepts húmicos por STS). Los suelos del Bromion erecti y Primulion intricatae, con mayor pH y saturación de bases son clasificados como Phaeozems (háplicos, páchicos o calcáricos) por FAO (Eutrocryepts o Dystrocryepts húmicos por STS). Los suelos del Festucion gautieri, poseen una reacción neutra o básica, completa saturación de bases y baja capacidad de retención de agua; la escasa e irregular profundidad hace variar su clasificación FAO entre Leptosoles húmicos y Regosoles lepto-húmicos (Cryorthent líticos por STS).Este trabajo ha contado con la financiación del Proyecto AMB97-0990 (Valoración de pastos permanentes), del Plan Nacional de I+D.Peer reviewe

Changes in Topsoil Properties after Centennial Scots Pine Afforestation in a European Beech Forest (NE Spain)

In this work, we studied the effects of centenary Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) afforestation on topsoil properties conducted in a deforested area that was previously occupied by a natural European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forest. Organic layers and topsoil Ah mineral horizons (0–10 cm) were sampled in the Scots pine and European beech forests of Moncayo Natural Park (north-eastern Spain). The physical (stoniness, aggregate stability, and water repellency persistence and intensity), chemical (total organic C, total N, C/N, pH, and exchangeable Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+, Al3+, and Fe3+), and physicochemical (cation exchange capacity) properties of soil were analyzed. Total organic C and N were also obtained for litter samples. The studied topsoils shared a series of common properties, such as a high stoniness and aggregate stability, very low base content, high cation exchange capacity, and extreme acidity. Soils that developed under the pinewood showed a higher soil water repellency intensity. However, K+ content was significantly higher in the beechwood soil. In both forest types, total organic C and N were similar in topsoil and litter (Hemimoder type), although C and N were pooled in different O-layers. Results indicate that pine afforestation in a deforested area was an adequate measure for soil protection since it did not show significant differences in the long term (ca. 100 years) compared to the nearby natural beech stands

Effect of a long-term afforestation of pine in a beech domain in NE-Spain revealed by analytical pyrolysis (Py-GC/MS).

Poster presentado en lal EGU General Assembly 2015, held 12-17 April, 2015 in Vienna, Austria. id.12736The replacement of native beech forests (Fagus sylvatica) by Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) afforestation may exert changes in soil properties, particularly in soil organic matter (SOM) [1]. It is known that the products generated by Pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) pyrolysis of organic matter are related to their origin [2 and references therein]. Therefore this technique can be used to investigate said changes. In this work, Py-GC/MS is used to study changes in SOM quality surrogated to the effect of the centennial replacement of beech by Scots pine. The soils studied were two acid soil profiles developed on quartzites under a humid climate at an altitude of 1400-1500 masl from Moncayo (Iberian range, NE-Spain). For each soil profile three organic layers (litter: OL, fragmented litter OF and humified litter OH) and the mineral soil horizons (Ah, E, Bhs and C) were sampled. After 100 years since the pine afforestation, differences in the relative abundance of lipids released by pyrolysis were observed in the O-layers ranging from 3.82-7.20% in pine soils and 0.98-1.25% in beech soils. No differences were observed in mineral horizons with depth except for the C horizons where beech lipid content was much higher (21.25%) than in that under pine (1.07%). Both pine and beech soils show similar nitrogen compounds relative contents along the soil profile, increasing from OL to Ah (3.49-9.11% and 2.75-11.73% in beech and pine respectively) with a conspicuous reduction in the E horizon. It is remarkable the absence of nitrogen compounds in beech Bhs and C horizons. The relative content of aromatic compounds in O-layers show opposite trends for beech and pine; an enrichment in aromatic compounds is observed in beech OL layer (12.39%) decreasing to 4.11% in OH layer in contrast, whereas for pine O-layers the aromatic compounds relative abundance was higher in the OH (5.83%) than in the OL layer (2.8%). Mineral Ah and E horizons show similar values in both beech (18.30-10.09%) and pine (15.81-10.01%) soils; nevertheless the relative abundance of aromatic compounds content is higher in beech mineral horizons Bhs (41.96%) and C (30.91%) than in those under pine (11.43% and 13.04% for Bhs and C respectively). Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were only observed in the mineral soil horizons showing similar relative abundances ranging from 0.61-6.63% in beech and 0.96-3.05% in pine soils. The highest PAHs relative abundance was found in the Bhs horizon under beech. This may indicate the occurrence of fire events in the area and its translocation and accumulation by leaching from top soil in the spodic horizon. Differences in the relative abundances of lignin derived pyrolysis products (Methoxyphenols) were mainly observed in the O-layers whereas the relative abundances were similar for the mineral horizons that ranged from 1.49-4.31% in beech and 1.42-4.67% in pine. Lignin relative abundance is much higher in OH beech layer (31.88%) than in pine OH layer (14.99%) whereas similar relative contents were found in OL and OF layers ranging from 26.21-27-12% and 20.22-25.92% in beech and pine respectively. In the soil developed under beech the polysaccharide derived moieties show a relative content increase along the profile from a 9.86% in OL layer to a 29.86% in E horizon followed by a remarkable decrease in the Bhs (4.86%) and C (11.22%). Besides, the polysaccharide relative abundance in the soil under pine show a similar trend ranging from 12-23% to 30.65% but the decrease in Bhs and C horizons was found less marked (26.83% and 24.12% respectively).This study is part of the results of the FUEGOSOL (CGL2013-43440-R) and GEOFIRE Projects (CGL2012-38655-C04-01) funded by the Spanish Ministry for Economy and Competitiveness. N.T Jiménez-Morillo is funded by a FPI research grant (BES-2013-062573).Peer Reviewe

The Data Acquisition and Calibration System for the ATLAS Semiconductor Tracker

The SemiConductor Tracker (SCT) data acquisition (DAQ) system will calibrate, configure, and control the approximately six million front-end channels of the ATLAS silicon strip detector. It will provide a synchronized bunch-crossing clock to the front-end modules, communicate first-level triggers to the front-end chips, and transfer information about hit strips to the ATLAS high-level trigger system. The system has been used extensively for calibration and quality assurance during SCT barrel and endcap assembly and for performance confirmation tests after transport of the barrels and endcaps to CERN. Operating in data-taking mode, the DAQ has recorded nearly twenty million synchronously-triggered events during commissioning tests including almost a million cosmic ray triggered events. In this paper we describe the components of the data acquisition system, discuss its operation in calibration and data-taking modes and present some detector performance results from these tests

Differential body composition effects of protease inhibitors recommended for initial treatment of HIV infection: A randomized clinical trial

This article has been accepted for publication in Clinical Infectious Diseases ©2014 The Authors .Published by Oxford University Press on Clinical Infectious Disease 60.5. DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciu898Background. It is unclear whether metabolic or body composition effects may differ between protease inhibitor-based regimens recommended for initial treatment of HIV infection. Methods. ATADAR is a phase IV, open-label, multicenter randomized clinical trial. Stable antiretroviral-naive HIV-infected adults were randomly assigned to atazanavir/ritonavir 300/100 mg or darunavir/ritonavir 800/100 mg in combination with tenofovir/emtricitabine daily. Pre-defined end-points were treatment or virological failure, drug discontinuation due to adverse effects, and laboratory and body composition changes at 96 weeks. Results. At 96 weeks, 56 (62%) atazanavir/ritonavir and 62 (71%) darunavir/ritonavir patients remained free of treatment failure (estimated difference 8.2%; 95%CI -0.6 to 21.6); and 71 (79%) atazanavir/ritonavir and 75 (85%) darunavir/ritonavir patients remained free of virological failure (estimated difference 6.3%; 95%CI -0.5 to 17.6). Seven vs. five patients discontinued atazanavir/ritonavir or darunavir/ritonavir due to adverse effects. Total and HDL cholesterol similarly increased in both arms, but triglycerides increased more in atazanavir/ritonavir arm. At 96 weeks, body fat (estimated difference 2862.2 gr; 95%CI 726.7 to 4997.7; P=0.0090), limb fat (estimated difference 1403.3 gr; 95%CI 388.4 to 2418.2; P=0.0071), and subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue (estimated difference 28.4 cm2; 95%CI 1.9 to 55.0; P=0.0362) increased more in atazanavir/ritonavir than in darunavir/ritonavir arm. Body fat changes in atazanavir/ritonavir arm were associated with higher insulin resistance. Conclusions. We found no major differences between atazanavir/ritonavir and darunavir/ritonavir in efficacy, clinically-relevant side effects, or plasma cholesterol fractions. However, atazanavir/ritonavir led to higher triglycerides and total and subcutaneous fat than darunavir/ritonavir and fat gains with atazanavir/ritonavir were associated with insulin resistanceThis is an Investigator Sponsored Research study. It was supported in part by research grants from Bristol‐Myers Squibb and Janssen‐Cilag; Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI12/01217) and Red Temática Cooperativa de Investigación en SIDA G03/173 (RIS‐EST11), Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain. (Registration number: NCT01274780; registry name: ATADAR; EUDRACT; 2010‐021002‐38)

CIBERER : Spanish national network for research on rare diseases: A highly productive collaborative initiative

Altres ajuts: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII); Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación.CIBER (Center for Biomedical Network Research; Centro de Investigación Biomédica En Red) is a public national consortium created in 2006 under the umbrella of the Spanish National Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII). This innovative research structure comprises 11 different specific areas dedicated to the main public health priorities in the National Health System. CIBERER, the thematic area of CIBER focused on rare diseases (RDs) currently consists of 75 research groups belonging to universities, research centers, and hospitals of the entire country. CIBERER's mission is to be a center prioritizing and favoring collaboration and cooperation between biomedical and clinical research groups, with special emphasis on the aspects of genetic, molecular, biochemical, and cellular research of RDs. This research is the basis for providing new tools for the diagnosis and therapy of low-prevalence diseases, in line with the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) objectives, thus favoring translational research between the scientific environment of the laboratory and the clinical setting of health centers. In this article, we intend to review CIBERER's 15-year journey and summarize the main results obtained in terms of internationalization, scientific production, contributions toward the discovery of new therapies and novel genes associated to diseases, cooperation with patients' associations and many other topics related to RD research

Whole-genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical COVID-19

Critical COVID-19 is caused by immune-mediated inflammatory lung injury. Host genetic variation influences the development of illness requiring critical care1 or hospitalization2,3,4 after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study enables the comparison of genomes from individuals who are critically ill with those of population controls to find underlying disease mechanisms. Here we use whole-genome sequencing in 7,491 critically ill individuals compared with 48,400 controls to discover and replicate 23 independent variants that significantly predispose to critical COVID-19. We identify 16 new independent associations, including variants within genes that are involved in interferon signalling (IL10RB and PLSCR1), leucocyte differentiation (BCL11A) and blood-type antigen secretor status (FUT2). Using transcriptome-wide association and colocalization to infer the effect of gene expression on disease severity, we find evidence that implicates multiple genes—including reduced expression of a membrane flippase (ATP11A), and increased expression of a mucin (MUC1)—in critical disease. Mendelian randomization provides evidence in support of causal roles for myeloid cell adhesion molecules (SELE, ICAM5 and CD209) and the coagulation factor F8, all of which are potentially druggable targets. Our results are broadly consistent with a multi-component model of COVID-19 pathophysiology, in which at least two distinct mechanisms can predispose to life-threatening disease: failure to control viral replication; or an enhanced tendency towards pulmonary inflammation and intravascular coagulation. We show that comparison between cases of critical illness and population controls is highly efficient for the detection of therapeutically relevant mechanisms of disease

A first update on mapping the human genetic architecture of COVID-19

peer reviewe

Variaciones en profundidad de las propiedades de un suelo yesoso forestal bajo quema controlada

[EN]: Changes produced by fire on soils depends on several factors (vegetation, soil type, temperature, etc.). Here we study the influence of fire on a gypsiferous forest soil located northwest of the city of Zaragoza. Six blocks of undisturbed soil were collected and burned under laboratory conditions reaching 272.9 ± 21.7 oC at 1cm depth. The fire caused significant differences (p <0.05) in all studied parameters from the O horizon and in the first centimeter of the Ah horizon. No significant differences (p <0.05) for any parameters below this depth were observed. The O horizon, strongly hydrophobic, became hydrophilic after burning. Burning induced a loss of 3.14 Mg organic carbon/ha, less than half of the values reported for other soils with mollic horizon (8.3 Mg/ha). In our soil, the loss is due to a 53.8% in the O horizon by 35.8% in the first centimeter of the Ah, and only 10.4% is lost deeper. [ES]: Los cambios producidos por el fuego en el suelo dependen de varios factores (vegetación, tipo de suelo, temperatura, etc.). En este caso se estudia la influencia del fuego en un suelo yesoso forestal al noroeste de la ciudad de Zaragoza. Para ello se tomaron seis bloques de suelo inalterado que se quemaron en laboratorio hasta una temperatura, a 1cm de profundidad, de 272.9 ± 21.7 oC. El fuego produjo diferencias significativas (p<0.05) en todos los parámetros estudiados en el horizonte O y en el primer centímetro del horizonte Ah. No encontrándose diferencias significativas (p<0.05) para ningún parámetro por debajo de esta profundidad. El horizonte O, fuertemente hidrofóbico, tras la quema se convierte en hidrofílico. La quema supone una pérdida de 3.14 Mg de carbono orgánico/ha, menos de la mitad de los valores dados para otros suelos con horizonte móllico (8.3 Mg/ha). En nuestro suelo, la pérdida se debe en un 53.8% al horizonte O, en un 35.8% en el primer centímetro del Ah, y solo el 10.4% se pierde a mayor profundidad.Este trabajo forma parte del Proyecto de Investigación en materia de medio ambiente y sostenibilidad financiado por DGA-La Caixa. Convocatoria 2011, Ref. GA-LC-055/2011.Peer Reviewe