A food web approach reveals the vulnerability of biocontrol services by birds and bats to landscape modification at regional scale

Pest control services provided by naturally occurring species (the so-called biocontrol services) are widely recognized to provide key incentives for biodiversity conservation. This is particularly relevant for vertebrate-mediated biocontrol services as many vertebrate species are of conservation concern, with most of their decline associated to landscape modification for agricultural purposes. Yet, we still lack rigorous approaches evaluating landscape-level correlates of biocontrol potential by vertebrates over broad spatial extents to better inform land-use and management decisions. We performed a spatially-explicit interaction-based assessment of potential biocontrol services in Portugal, using 1853 pairwise trophic interactions between 78 flying vertebrate species (birds and bats) and 53 insect pests associated to two widespread and economically valuable crops in the Euro-Mediterranean region, olive groves (Olea europaea subsp. europaea) and vineyards (Vitis vinifera subsp. vinifera). The study area was framed using 1004 square cells, each 10 × 10 km in size. Potential biocontrol services were determined at all those 10 × 10 km grid-cells in which each crop was present as the proportion of the realized out of all potential pairwise interactions between vertebrates and pests. Landscape correlates of biocontrol potential were also explored. Our work suggests that both birds and bats can effectively provide biocontrol services in olive groves and vineyards as they prey many insect pest species associated to both crops. Moreover, it demonstrates that these potential services are impacted by landscape-scale features and that this impact is consistent when evaluated over broad spatial extents. Thus, biocontrol potential by vertebrates significantly increases with increasing amount of natural area, while decreases with increasing area devoted to target crops, particularly olive groves. Overall, our study highlights the suitability of our interaction-based approach to perform spatially-explicit assessments of potential biocontrol services by vertebrates at local spatial scales and suggest its utility for integrating biodiversity and ecosystem services in conservation planning over broad spatial extents.This work was supported by the projects ECOLIVES (PTDC/AAG-REC/6480/2014) and OLEAdapt (PTDC/ BIA-CBI/1365/2020) both funded by the Portuguese National Public Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation, and the project SHOWCASE (ref. 862480) funded by the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme from the European Union. and the project NORTE 01-0246-FEDER-000063, funded by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE2020),under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) JMH and FM were supported, respectively, by the contracts IF/00001/2015 and IF/01053/2015 funded by the FCT. JRP was supported by ‘la Caixa’ and ‘Caja Navarra’ Foundations, under agreement LCF/PR/PR13/51080004 in the framework of UPNA’s ‘Captación de Talento’ program. BS, GJ-N, SV and RM were supported, respectively, by the PhD studentships SFRH/BD/137803/2018, SFRH/BD/133017/2017, SFRH/BD/121388/2016 and SFRH/BD/99746/2014 funded by the FCT

A compact dosimetric system for MOSFETs based on passive NFC tag and smartphone

The authors acknowledge the Servicio de Radiofísica (Radio-physics Service) of the Hospital Universitario San Cecilio (Granada, Spain) for permitting us to use their installations. This work was funded by the Spanish Government under project FPA2015-67694-P (Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness) and a R&D predoctoral grant (FPU13/05032, Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport). This project is partially supported by European Regional Development Funds (ERDF).In this work we describe and evaluate a dosimetric system based on an NFC (Near Field Communication) tag and a smartphone that uses commercial MOSFETs as radiation sensors. The tag is designed with commercial integrated circuits and the smartphone is the power source of the tag configured as a readout unit, user interface and storage unit. The NFC tag is supplied wirelessly by the smartphone via NFC, using a home-made structure to align the tag coil and smartphone coil in order to achieve a good inductive coupling. In this case, the commercial DMOS transistor ZVP3306 is used as dosimeter in unbiased mode, connected to the tag before and after each irradiation session to perform the sensor reading. An evaluation of the dosimetric system has been carried out irradiating three transistors with photon beam of 6 MV up to 20 Gy. The average sensitivity found is (4.75 ± 0.15) mV/Gy, which is in good agreement with the results found with our previously developed dosimetric system. Therefore, this miniaturised dosimetric system can be considered as a promising and low cost electronic architecture to be used for dosimetry control in radio-therapy treatments.Servicio de Radiofísica (Radio-physics Service) of the Hospital Universitario San Cecilio (Granada, Spain)Spanish Government under project FPA2015-67694-P (Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness) and a R&D predoctoral grant (FPU13/05032, Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport)European Regional Development Funds (ERDF

Structural simplification compromises the potential of common insectivorous bats to provide biocontrol services against the major olive pest Prays oleae

Crop production intensification often leads to the structural simplification of production systems. This structural simplification is expected to have strong impacts on biodiversity and the provisioning of ecosystem services, but information about this topic is scarce. For instance, no information exists for Mediterranean olive (Olea europaea) groves, despite olive farming representing a significant share of the agricultural sector in some European countries. We investigated the impact of in-farm and landscape-level structural simplification on the potential of three common insectivorous bats (i.e., Pipistrellus kuhlii, P. pygmaeus and P. pipistrellus) to provide biocontrol services against one of the most harmful olive pests worldwide, the olive fruit moth Prays oleae. Bats and insect surveys were both carried out in olive groves representing increasing levels of structural simplification and during three sampling seasons (spring, summer and autumn). At grove-level, structural simplification was considered as resulting from reduced planting pattern variability (i.e., tree and row spacing) and tree features (diameter at breast height, height of the trunk and canopy area), while at landscape level was considered as resulting from reduced land-cover types. We found that the Kuhl’s pipistrelle was the most frequently recorded species in all types of olive groves and seasons. Moreover, the activity levels of pipistrelle bats as a whole significantly decreased with the structural simplification of olive groves. The abundance of P. oleae was highest at intermediate levels of structural simplification, irrespective of the season. Forest cover in the surrounding landscape had a significant positive influence on the activity levels of P. kuhlii, and a significant and negative influence on the abundance of P. oleae. Our study demonstrates that structural simplification differentially influences the activity patterns of both insectivorous bats and insect pests within olive groves. Moreover, it suggests that structural simplification may strongly compromise biocontrol services provided by bats on the major olive pest P. oleae

Effects of olive farm intensification on phytophagous insects and their natural enemies

Olive farms are progressively expanding in the Mediterranean region, and many have undergone a process of management intensification in recent years. Traditional farming systems involving little or no agrochemical input are rapidly giving way to intensive regimes with very high agrochemical application. However, in spite of this ongoing process of intensification, little is known of its consequences for biodiversity and associated ecosystem services, such as natural pest control. To address this issue, we compared the abundance of phytophagous insects and their arthropod natural enemies (predators and parasitoid wasps) across olive farms under different levels of management intensity, ranging from organic to superintensive regimes. Sampling was carried out in southern Portugal. Fifty-three sampling points within 34 olive farms were visited in Spring, Summer and Autumn 2017, and canopy arthropods were vacuum-sampled. Preliminary results revealed significant declines in the abundance of phytophagous insects and parasitoid wasps, whereas predator abundance did not vary across management regimes. Furthermore, farms with slow ripening and drought-tolerant olive varieties and greater amounts of herbaceous understory, typical of traditional systems, were associated with higher abundance of phytophages and lower abundance of predator

Characterisation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells Conditioning Media by 1H-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

BACKGROUND: Cell culture media conditioned by human foreskin fibroblasts (HFFs) provide a complex supplement of protein and metabolic factors that support in vitro proliferation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). However, the conditioning process is variable with different media batches often exhibiting differing capacities to maintain hESCs in culture. While recent studies have examined the protein complement of conditioned culture media, detailed information regarding the metabolic component of this media is lacking. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using a (1)H-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance ((1)H-NMR) metabonomics approach, 32 metabolites and small compounds were identified and quantified in media conditioned by passage 11 HFFs (CMp11). A number of metabolites were secreted by HFFs with significantly higher concentration of lactate, alanine, and formate detected in CMp11 compared to non-conditioned media. In contrast, levels of tryptophan, folate and niacinamide were depleted in CMp11 indicating the utilisation of these metabolites by HFFs. Multivariate statistical analysis of the (1)H-NMR data revealed marked age-related differences in the metabolic profile of CMp11 collected from HFFs every 24 h over 72 h. Additionally, the metabolic profile of CMp11 was altered following freezing at -20°C for 2 weeks. CM derived from passage 18 HFFs (CMp18) was found to be ineffective at supporting hESCs in an undifferentiated state beyond 5 days culture. Multivariate statistical comparison of CMp11 and CMp18 metabolic profiles enabled rapid and clear discrimination between the two media with CMp18 containing lower concentrations of lactate and alanine as well as higher concentrations of glucose and glutamine. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: (1)H-NMR-based metabonomics offers a rapid and accurate method of characterising hESC conditioning media and is a valuable tool for monitoring, controlling and optimising hESC culture media preparation

To identify primary care interventions that reduce hospitalisation of people over 65 due to ambulatory care sensitive conditions

Objetivos: Estudiar la percepción de los profesionales de atención primaria (AP) sobre las enfermedades que con mayor frecuencia provocan hospitalizaciones en mayores de 65 años, analizar la concordancia con el listado ACSC (Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions) e identificar las intervenciones prioritarias que podrían reducir o evitar dicha hospitalización. Diseño y método: Estudio Delphi con expertos de AP procedentes de 7 centros de salud de Granada durante 2005. Análisis descriptivo del consenso obtenido mediante cuestionarios autoadministrados. Resultados: Las enfermedades que causan en mayor medida ingresos en mayores de 65 años son: enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica (EPOC) agudizada, insuficiencia cardíaca descompensada, accidente cerebrovascular y caídas-traumatismos. Las enfermedades analizadas forman parte del listado de ACSC salvo las caídas y los procesos cancerosos. El porcentaje estimado de hospitalizaciones evitables desde AP oscila entre el 20% para procesos cancerosos y el 70% para las descompensaciones diabéticas, y es superior al 50% para la EPOC, las hemorragias digestivas y la diabetes. Las intervenciones prioritarias para disminuir los ingresos hospitalarios abarcan la prevención primaria, el diagnóstico precoz y el tratamiento correcto, con una gran variabilidad en la efectividad y la factibilidad percibida para cada intervención concreta. Conclusiones: Las principales causas de ingresos hospitalarios en mayores de 65 años están incluidas como ACSC. Las actuaciones prioritarias para reducir las hospitalizaciones evitables desde AP son intervenciones mixtas a las que, en su mayor parte, se les atribuye una efectividad y una factibilidad superiores al 50%.Objectives: To study how primary care (PC) professionals perceive the pathologies that tend to cause hospitalisation of people over 65 most frequently, and to study their consistency with the list of ACSCs (Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions). To identify prior PC interventions that could reduce or prevent hospitalisation due to those pathologies. Design and method: A Delphi study with PC experts from 7 health care centres in Granada, Spain, during 2005. A descriptive analysis of the consensus obtained via self-administered questionnaires. Results: The diseases that cause the bulk of admissions in people over 65 are: acute COPD, non-compensated cardiac failure, cerebro-vascular accident, and falls-traumas. The pathologies analysed form part of the list of ACSCs, with the exception of falls, listed as the fourth cause, and cancer processes, listed as the sixth cause. The hospitalisation rates that could be avoided with prompt and effective PC varies between 20% for cancer processes to 70% for non-compensated diabetes. The rate is over 50% in COPD, digestive haemorrhages, and diabetes. The key interventions for reducing hospitalisations are primary prevention care, early diagnosis, and correct treatment. Effectiveness and feasibility vary widely for each particular intervention. Conclusions: The principal causes of hospitalisation in people over 65 are included as ACSC. Priority actions to reduce avoidable hospitalisations from PC are multi-modal interventions, the majority of which are over 50% effective and feasible

Textiloma mimicking a recurrent high-grade astrocytoma: A case report

Introduction  Textiloma (Txm) is a nonmedical term that has been given to foreign body-related inflammatory pseudotumor arising from retained nonabsorbable cotton matrix that is either inadvertently or deliberately left behind during surgery, which may trigger an inflammatory reaction. This report describes a case of Txm mimicking a recurrent high-grade astrocytoma. Case Report  We, here, present the case of a 69-year-old female with a 6-month history of progressive left-sided weakness. Neuroimaging studies revealed a large nonenhancing mass in the right frontoparietal lobe. Pathology reported a World Health Organization tumor classification grade II, diffuse astrocytoma. After surgical intervention, external beam radiation was given to the remaining areas of residual tumor. Routine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a nodular area of contrast enhancement in the dorsal and inferior margin of the biopsy tract, growing between interval scans, and perfusion-weighted imaging parameters were elevated being clinically asymptomatic. She underwent a complete resection of this area of interest and pathology returned as a Txm with Surgicel fibers. Conclusion  After treatment of a neoplasm, if unexpected clinical or imaging evidence of recurrence is present, a foreign body reaction to hemostatic material used during the initial surgery should be included in the differential diagnosis