Comment on ‘‘Post-Wildfire Logging Hinders Regeneration and Increases Fire Risk’’

Donato et al. (Brevia, 20 January 2006, p. 352) concluded that logging after wildfire kills natural regeneration and increases fire risk. We argue that their paper lacks adequate context and supporting information to be clearly interpreted by scientists, resource managers, policy-makers, and the public

The Production and Application of Hydrogels for Wound Management: A Review

Wound treatment has increased in importance in the wound care sector due to the pervasiveness of chronic wounds in the high-risk population including, but not limited to, geriatric population, immunocompromised and obese patients. Furthermore, the number of people diagnosed with diabetes is rapidly growing. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the global diabetic occurrence has increased from 4.7 in 1980 to 8.5 in 2014. As diabetes becomes a common medical condition, it has also become one of the major causes of chronic wounds which require specialised care to address patients’ unique needs. Wound dressings play a vital role in the wound healing process as they protect the wound site from the external environment. They are also capable of interacting with the wound bed in order to facilitate and accelerate the healing process. Advanced dressings such as hydrogels are designed to maintain a moist environment at the site of application and due to high water content are ideal candidates for wound management. Hydrogels can be used for both exudating or dry necrotic wounds. Additionally, hydrogels also demonstrate other unique features such as softness, malleability and biocompatibility. Nowadays, advanced wound care products make up around 7.1 billion of the global market and their production is growing at an annual rate of 8.3 with the market projected to be worth 12.5 billion by 2022. The presented review focuses on novel hydrogel wound dressings, their main characteristics and their wound management applications. It also describes recent methodologies used for their production and the future potential developments

High-severity and Short-interval Wildfires Limit Forest Recovery in the Central Cascade Range

Increasing forest fuel aridity with climate change may be expanding mid-to-high-elevation forests’ vulnerability to large, severe, and frequent wildfire. Long-lasting changes in forests’ structure and composition may occur if dominant tree species are poorly adapted to shifting wildfire patterns. We hypothesized that altered fire activity may lower existing forest resilience and disrupt the recovery of upper-montane and subalpine conifer forest types. We empirically tested this hypothesis by quantifying post-fire forest structure and conifer tree regeneration after spatially large, severe, and rapidly repeated wildfires