R. P. Petri Perpiniani Societatis Iesv: De Vita Et Moribvs B. Elisabetae, Lusitaniae Reginae Historia

Vorlageform des Erscheinungsvermerks: Coloniae Agrippinae, Sumptibus Bernardi Gualtheri. Anno M. DC. IX. - Im Kolophon: Coloniae Agrippinae, Excudebat Stephanus Hemmerden, sumptibus Bernardi Gualtheri. Anno M. DC. IX.Bibliogr. Nachweis: VD17 12:118395

Level of Burden and Health-Related Quality of Life in Caregivers of Palliative Care Patients

The complexity of palliative care means that the emotional distress and burden that primary family caregivers su er under can be particularly high. The objective of this study was to determine the level of burden endured by these primary family caregivers and to identify the variables that predict it in the caregiving relatives of people who require home-based palliative care. A descriptive-correlational cross-sectional study was conducted. Socio-demographic and clinical data were collected from caregivers through a self-administered questionnaire that included questions from the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12), Zarit Caregiver Burden Interview (ZBI), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS), Post Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), and Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS). A total of 77 caregivers participated; 66.2% were women, and the mean age was 61.5 years. Most (62.3%) were providing care to cancer patients. From among these data, the presence of anxiety as a clinical problem (48.1%), a high average fatigue score (FAS) of 23.0 (SD = 8.5), and the prevalence of intense overload (41.6%) stood out. We found statistically significant correlations between the variables of burden, fatigue, post-traumatic growth, anxiety, and depression, with the latter two being the main predictive variables of burden. In addition, caregiver burden was associated with a worsening of health. Identifying the factors that influence the appearance of overburden will allow the specific needs of careers to be assessed in order to o er them emotional support within the healthcare environment.This work was supported by grants UGP-18-255 from ISABIAL, PI17/00328 from the Carlos III Health Research Institute (ISCIII) belonging to the Spanish Ministry of Health, and by FEDER (“A way of making Europe”) project funds

Changes in soil organic C-stocks from land use change to estimate CO2 emissions and removals from the LUISA Territorial Reference Scenario 2017

The land use changes of the LUISA Territorial Reference Scenario (TRS) 2017 with the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) option were evaluated for changes in soil organic C-stocks and subsequent emissions and removals of CO2. The procedure applied follows the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for a Tier 1 method and is implemented as a spatial application in a GIS to conform to Approach 3. The TRS scenario data from LUISA was processed under two suppositions, one treating the scenario data as a continuation of the previously processed statistical data (historic period) and a second that directly processed the scenario data. Another processing option evaluated was the treatment of a mixed class in the scenario data. Under all processing options the TRS scenario data continues the trend in soil organic C-stocks from the historic period. Soil organic C-stocks in mineral soils continue to increase, albeit with a decrease in the annual rate of accumulation after 2020. Under the TRS-CAP scenario soil organic carbon stocks are approx. 0.6% higher than in 2005, which corresponds to a removal of 628 Mt CO2 until 2030. Emissions from managed organic soils remain notably higher than removals on mineral soils, but with higher uncertainty of estimates. An evaluation of an option without CAP pointed to a 0.1% higher accumulation of soil organic carbon in most regions than under the CAP in 2030. However, it should be noted that this evaluation did not take any supporting measures of the CAP for of management practices and input levels into account that are designed to increase soil organic carbon stocks.JRC.D.3-Land Resource

Evaluación de las condiciones de quema prescrita que influyen en la repelencia al agua de suelos bajo pasto matorralizado por erizón (Echinospartum horridum) en el Pirineo Central

Con el objetivo de evaluar los efectos en el suelo de distintas severidades de quema, se han realizado quemas controladas de monolitos de suelo bajo distintas temperaturas y tiempos. Los monolitos han sido muestreados justo después de las quemas y tras cinco meses de conservación en invernadero, separando las capas de 0-1 y 1-3 cm. Se han medido atributos químicos (pH y conductividad eléctrica), atributos físicos (persistencia e intensidad de la repelencia al agua) y atributos biológicos (carbono orgánico, lábil, recalcitrante, intermedio, microbiano y respirado). Los resultados indican que las quemas de mayor severidad causan sobre la materia orgánica un fuerte impacto tanto a nivel cuantitativo como cualitativo, afectando a diversas fracciones del carbono orgánico, así como a la biomasa microbiana y su actividad. Las quemas de mayor severidad también causan una fuerte repelencia al agua en superficie o profundidad, en función de la duración de la quema. A los cinco meses, la mayoría de los parámetros han vuelto a valores iniciales, y ha desaparecido la hidrofobicidad post fuego, lo que sugiere una rápida recuperación del suelo frente a la perturbación causada por el fuego.<br /

Accessibility and territorial cohesion in a case of transport infrastructure improvements with changing population distributions

In the last decade or so many studies have looked into the impacts of infrastructure improvements on decreasing territorial disparities. In those studies population levels are usually assumed static, although future population levels likely change in response to changing accessibility levels as well as to other factors. This study uses future population distributions simulated by the LUMP land-use model to assess the impacts of large transport network investments on regional accessibility disparities. The results indicate that contrasting local urbanization patterns only modestly affect average national accessibility levels, but that those patterns have a considerable effect on regional inequality indicators. This underpins the importance of incorporating future population levels when assessing cohesion impacts of infrastructure investments.JRC.H.8-Sustainability Assessmen

Long-term evolution of shrub prescribed burning effects on topsoil organic matter and biological activity in the Central Pyrenees (NE-Spain)

Since the last half of the 20th Century, scrubs have been invading subclimatic grasslands in the montane and subalpine stages of Spain due to the decrease of the grazing activity. This shrub encroachment reduces biodiversity and the ecopastoral value of the region and leads to the accumulation of woody fuel, which represents a high fire risk. To control the encroachment, prescribed burnings are performed but their effects on soils over the years are still undetermined. This study aims to research about the long-term effects of a prescribed burn of Echinospartum horridum (Vahl) Roth. on topsoil organic matter and biological activity. Soil sampling was carried out in Tella-Sin (Central Pyrenees, Aragón, Spain) and four treatments were selected: unburned (UB), immediately burned (B0), burned 6 years before (B6, mid-term) and burned 10 years before (B10, long-term). Among the obtained results, an immediately after burning decrease on β-D-glucosidase activity (GLU) was found, which did not recover over time. Other properties did not have an immediate reduction but did so over time: total soil organic carbon (SOC), labile carbon (DOC), total nitrogen (TN), basal soil respiration (bSR). And others were not affected at all: microbial biomass carbon (MBC), and the microbial metabolic quotient (qCO2). Moreover, the normalized soil respiration (nSR) increased with the time, which implies an acceleration of the potential mineralization of soil organic carbon. In short, although the elimination of the dense shrubs by fire has not entailed major immediate soil modifications, which would be typical of a low severity prescribed burn, several mid- and long-term effects in the C cycle have been observed. Future studies will have to discern what is the main cause of these modifications (soil microbial composition, edaphoclimatic changes, lack of soil cover and soil loss, soil fertility, etc.)