Economic profitability of agroforestry in nitrate vulnerable zones in Catalonia (NE Spain)

The impact of agricultural practices and the excess application of nitrogen can negatively impact the environment and cause human health problems. In Spain, the liquid manure applied in areas of intensive agriculture is creating groundwater nitrate pollution problems. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the economic profitability of agroforestry practices in North East Spain. Therefore, it deals with an alternative land use that has attracted attention in recent years, considering its potential to reduce the negative impact of modern agriculture that combines concurrent forestry and agricultural production in the same area. Specifically, silvoarable practices, such as alley cropping (AC), edge row planting and riparian buffer (RB) strips were compared to conventional agricultural land use. Considering the current agricultural policy framework in Spain, which does not favour these practices, our results showed the economic profitability of alley-cropping practices in comparison to conventional barley production of 25 to 64 € ha-1 yr-1. However, AC systems presented negative results compared to the traditional wheat crop (-122 to -63 € ha-1 yr-1). The results for RB strips were strongly influenced by the high initial costs, both in irrigated and non-irrigated scenarios. Economic results were negative (between -137 and -85 € ha-1 yr-1) compared to the conventional crops, barley and corn. These figures could be greatly increased with a policy framework that promotes these practices based on the fundamental ecosystem services they provide. Moreover, these practices allow an economic diversification that could prove to be beneficial for the majority of farmers.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The use of life cycle assessment for the comparison of biowaste composting at home and full scale

Environmental impacts and gaseous emissions associated to home and industrial composting of the source-separated organic fraction of municipal solid waste have been evaluated using the environmental tool of life cycle assessment (LCA). Experimental data of both scenarios were experimentally collected. The functional unit used was one ton of organic waste. Ammonia, methane and nitrous oxide released from home composting (HC) were more than five times higher than those of industrial composting (IC) but the latter involved within 2 and 53 times more consumption or generation of transport, energy, water, infrastructures, waste and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) emissions than HC. Therefore, results indicated that IC was more impacting than HC for four of the impact categories considered (abiotic depletion, ozone layer depletion, photochemical oxidation and cumulative energy demand) and less impacting for the other three (acidification, eutrophication and global warming). Production of composting bin and gaseous emissions are the main responsible for the HC impacts, whereas for IC the main contributions come from collection and transportation of organic waste, electricity consumption, dumped waste and VOCs emission. These results suggest that HC may be an interesting alternative or complement to IC in low density areas of population

Suicidal behaviour and cognition: A systematic review with special focus on prefrontal deficits

BACKGROUND: Suicide is a major health concern worldwide, thus, identifying risk factors would enable a more comprehensive understanding and prevention of this behaviour. Neuropsychological alterations could lead to difficulties in interpreting and managing life events resulting in a higher risk of suicide. METHOD: A systematic literature search from 2000 to 2020 was performed in Medline (Pubmed), Web of Science, SciELO Citation Index, PsycInfo, PsycArticles and Cochrane Library databases regarding studies comparing cognition of attempters versus non-attempters that share same psychiatric diagnosis. RESULTS: 1.885 patients diagnosed with an Affective Disorder (n=1512) and Schizophrenia/ Schizoaffective Disorder (n=373) were included. In general comparison, attention was found to be clearly dysfunctional. Regarding diagnosis, patients with Schizophrenia and previous history of suicidal behaviour showed a poorer performance in executive function. Patients with current symptoms of an Affective Disorder and a previous history of suicidal attempt had poorer performance in attention and executive function. Similarly, euthymic affective patients with history of suicidal behaviour had worse decision-making, attention and executive function performance compared to euthymic non-attempters. LIMITATIONS: The number of papers included in this review is limited to the few studies using non-attempter clinically-matched control group and therefore results regarding diagnosis, symptomatology and time of the attempt are modest and contradictory. CONCLUSIONS: Patients who have attempted suicide have a poorer neuropsychological functioning than non-attempters with a similar psychiatric disorder in attention and executive function. These alterations increase vulnerability for suicide.This work was supported by Carlos III Health Research Institute[grant numbers PI14/02029, PI15/00793, PI15/00789, PI16/01164,PI17/01433 and PI18/01055 (co-financed by the European RegionalDevelopment Fund(FEDER/ERDF)/European Social Fund‘Investing inyour future’ and the Government of the Principality of Asturias PCTI-2018–2022 IDI/2018/235)], Foundation for Health Innovation andResearch (BIOEF); Bioaraba Research Institute; Networking Center forBiomedical Research in Mental Health (CIBERSAM), the BasqueGovernment [grant numbers 2015111024, 2017111104] and theUniversity of the Basque Country [grant number 321212ELBY]. Thepsychiatric research department in Araba University Hospital is sup-portedbytheStanleyResearchFoundation[grantnumber03-RC-003

Proyecto inclured: inclusión en la escuela de adultos

AFANIAS en colaboración con la Comunidad de Madrid, lleva 9 años desarrollando una propuesta de trabajo para la inclusión de adultos con discapacidad intelectual en Escuelas de adultos, experiencia que ha recibido diversos reconocimientos nacionales e internacionales. En el presente artículo analizamos el contexto legal y teórico, referentes de esta experiencia. Dedicamos especial atención a la nueva corriente de inclusión educativa promovida por autores como Ainscow (2003), y las aplicaciones prácticas de esta corriente en el desarrollo del modelo de calidad de vida propuesto por Schalock y Verdugo (2007). El proyecto de Inclusión en Escuelas de Adultos, tendría impacto en prácticamente todas las dimensiones de calidad de vida, especialmente en la de Inclusión Social, pero también en Derechos, Autodeterminación, Desarrollo personal y Relaciones interpersonales. Las recientes investigaciones de Ainscow (2003), hablan de un cambio de paradigma respecto a la percepción de las necesidades educativas especiales, en sintonía con los nuevos enfoques sobre la discapacidad intelectual de la Asociación Americana de las Discapacidades Intelectuales y del Desarrollo (AAIDD) y de la Clasificación Internacional de Enfermedades (CIE 10) que analizan la discapacidad como la relación entre la persona y el entorno (en Schalock y Verdugo 2007). Este cambio de paradigma se basa en observar la inclusión como un proceso de interdependencia entre distintos agentes, en vez de un proceso de dependencia de las personas con necesidades especiales

Mortality Attributable to Environmental Tobacco Smoke Exposure in Spain in 2020

Introduction and objectives: Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is associated with increased mortality and morbidity. The objective of this study was to estimate the impact of ETS exposure in Spain on mortality in 2020 in the population aged 35 years and over. Methods: A method of estimating attributable mortality (AM) based on the prevalence of ETS exposure was applied. Prevalence data were obtained from a representative study conducted in Spain and the relative risks were derived from a meta-analysis. AM point estimates are presented along with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI), calculated using a bootstrap naive procedure. AM, both overall and by smoking habit, was estimated for each combination of sex, age group, and cause of death (lung cancer and ischemic heart disease). A sensitivity analysis was performed. Results: A total of 747 (95% CI 676–825) deaths were attributable to ETS exposure, of which 279 (95% CI 256–306) were caused by lung cancer, and 468 (95% CI 417–523) by ischemic heart disease. Three quarters (75.1%) of AM occurred in men and 60.9% in non-smokers. When chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cerebrovascular disease are included, the burden of AM is estimated at 2242 deaths. Conclusions: ETS exposure is associated with 1.5% of all deaths from lung cancer and ischemic heart disease in the population aged 35 and over. These data underline the need for health authorities to focus on reducing exposure to ETS in all settings and environmentsInstituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), reference: PI22/00727, co-funded by the European UnionS

DNA integrity and viability of testicular cells from diverse wild species after slow freezing or vitrification

Introduction and objectiveCryopreservation of testicular tissues offers new possibilities to protect endangered species, genetically valuable individuals or even the fertility potential of prepubertal individuals who have died unexpectedly. However, the use of this technique still remains a challenge. In this study, slow freezing and vitrification of testicular tissue was investigated to find out which cryopreservation method could better preserve the viability and DNA integrity of testicular germ cells in diverse wild species.MethodsTestes were obtained post-mortem from 18 artiodactyls (wild boar, roe deer, dwarf goat, mhor gazelle, European mouflon, African forest buffalo, Malayan tapir, dorcas gazelle, Iberian ibex, gnu, red river hog), 5 primates (colobus monkey, capuchin monkey, mandrill), 8 carnivores (gray wolf, Persian leopard, binturong, European mink, American black bear, suricata), and 2 rodents (Patagonian mara). The testicles belonged to adult individuals and were cut into small pieces and cryopreserved by needle immersed vitrification or uncontrolled slow freezing using a passive cooling device. After warming or thawing, testicular tissues were enzymatically digested and two germ cell types were differentiated based on their morphology: rounded cells (spermatogonia, spermatocytes, and early spermatids) and elongated cells (elongated spermatids and spermatozoa). Cell viability was assessed by SYBR-14/propidium iodide while DNA fragmentation by TUNEL assay with fluorescence microscope.Results and discussionOur preliminary results revealed that our uncontrolled slow freezing method better preserved the viability and DNA integrity of elongated cells than vitrification. Such trend was observed in all species, being significant in artiodactyls, carnivores, and primates. Similarly, the viability and DNA integrity of rounded cells was also better maintained in primates by uncontrolled slow freezing, while in carnivores, vitrification by needle immersion showed better results in this type of cells. In artiodactyls and rodents both techniques preserved the viability of rounded cells in a similar manner, although the DNA integrity of these cells was greater after needle immersed vitrification in artiodactyls.ConclusionsIn conclusion, the effectiveness of each cryopreservation method is affected by the phylogenetic diversity between species and cell type