La avalancha de El Golfo y el "debris flow"de Canarias, Oeste de la Isla de Hierro: Los últimos grandes deslizamientos submarinos del archipiélago Canario

Swath bathymetry and geophysical data of the island of Hierro show that the western flank of the island is affected, at least, by two major catastrophic slope failures. One of the two, called the El Golfo debris avalanche, led to the deposition of a sedimentary body of about 150 km3 of volcanic rock debris on the upper rise. The second major instability event, named the Canary debris flow, originated at the base-of-slope of the island of Hierro, and involved a larger amount of remobilized material. New evidences suggest that the Canary debris flow is the oldest in age. As a consequence of the Canary slide event, oversteeping and undermining of the lower island flanks occurred and subsequently triggered the El Golfo debris avalanche, whose deposits covered and obliterated the source area of the Canary debris flow. The triggering of El Colfo debris avalanche seems to be related also to the rift zones in the island of Hierro. From the establishment of the complex relationships between both slides, the El Golfo debris avalanche has been dated between 12.000 and 6.000 yBPNuevos datos de batimetría y geofísica marinas de la isla de Hierro demuestran que el flanco occidental de la isla está afectado por un deslizamiento que depositó 150 km3 de derrubios volcánicos en el glacis c o n tin e n ta l superior, la avalancha de El Colfo. Un segundo evento, llam ado "debris f lo w " de Canarias, se originó en la base del talud de la isla del Hierro y movilizó unos 400 km3 de material. Nuevas evidencias sugieren que el "debris f l o w " de Canarias precedió a la avalancha de El C olfo. La avalancha de El Colfo pudo haberse originado a consecuencia de la socavación y sobreinclinación del talud asociadas a la cicatriz del «debris flow» de Canarias. Las zonas de rift en la isla del Hierro parecen haber tenido también un papel significativo en el desencadenamiento de la avalancha de El Colfo. El resultado fue el enmascaramiento del área fue nte del "debris f l o w " de Canarias p o r los depósitos de la avalancha. De la determinación de las complejas relaciones entre ambos flujos, se desprende que la avalancha de El Golfo ocurrió entre 12.000 y 6.000 años B

Hypoglycemia in noncritically ill patients receiving total parenteral nutrition: a multicenter study. (Study group on the problem of hyperglycemia in parenteral nutrition; Nutrition area of the Spanish Society of Endocrinology and Nutrition

[eng] Objective Hypoglycemia is a common problem among hospitalized patients. Treatment of hyperglycemia with insulin is potentially associated with an increased risk for hypoglycemia. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and predictors of hypoglycemia (capillary blood glucose <70 mg/dL) in hospitalized patients receiving total parenteral nutrition (TPN). Methods This prospective multicenter study involved 19 Spanish hospitals. Noncritically ill adults who were prescribed TPN were included, thus enabling us to collect data on capillary blood glucose and insulin dosage. Results The study included 605 patients of whom 6.8% (n = 41) had at least one capillary blood glucose <70 mg/dL and 2.6% (n = 16) had symptomatic hypoglycemia. The total number of hypoglycemic episodes per 100 d of TPN was 0.82. In univariate analysis, hypoglycemia was significantly associated with the presence of diabetes, a lower body mass index (BMI), and treatment with intravenous (IV) insulin. Patients with hypoglycemia also had a significantly longer hospital length of stay, PN duration, higher blood glucose variability, and a higher insulin dose. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that a lower BMI, high blood glucose variability, and TPN duration were risk factors for hypoglycemia. Use of IV insulin and blood glucose variability were predictors of symptomatic hypoglycemia. Conclusions The occurrence of hypoglycemia in noncritically ill patients receiving PN is low. A lower BMI and a greater blood glucose variability and TPN duration are factors associated with the risk for hypoglycemia. IV insulin and glucose variability were predictors of symptomatic hypoglycemia

Habitat Mapping of Cold-Water Corals in the Mediterranean Sea

Habitat mapping is increasingly considered as a reliable and efficient methodology to explore and represent the complexity and extent of benthic communities. Providing a full-coverage spatial perspective of habitat heterogeneity is becoming an essential tool in science-based management of natural resources, specifically regarding vulnerable marine ecosystems such as cold-water corals. Here we present two case studies, where we revisit known cold-water coral areas of the Mediterranean Sea and where we apply original habitat mapping techniques. The areas correspond to the Chella Bank, in the Alborán Sea, and the Santa Maria de Leuca cold-water coral province, in the Ionian Sea. The Chella Bank is one of a series of volcanic banks and knolls located in the western Mediterranean that have been described as geologic features hosting vulnerable marine ecosystems. The cold-water coral province off Santa Maria de Leuca represents one of the largest known occurrences of living reef-forming cold-water coral species (i.e. Lophelia pertusa and Madrepora oculata) in the Mediterranean Sea, where corals grow on the exposed summits and flanks of mound-like structures (up to 300 m wide and 25 m high) associated with mass wasting events. Both cases adopt a holistic and integrated study of the environmental characteristics (geology and oceanography) of the observed benthic habitats and aim to map their extent using supervised automated classifications. Multibeam swath bathymetry, the derived acoustic backscatter, sidescan sonar, video footage gathered with a remotely operated vehicle, photo stills from underwater drop camera, and CTD casts where available, have been used together to identify the geological and oceanographic processes that most likely are responsible for the distribution of the observed cold-water corals and associated benthic communitie