Vegetation vulnerability to drought in Spain

Revista oficial de la Asociación Española de Teledetección[EN] Frequency of climatic extremes like long duration droughts has increased in Spain over the last century.The use of remote sensing observations for monitoring and detecting drought is justified on the basis that vegetation vigor is closely related to moisture condition. We derive satellite estimates of bio-physical variables such as fractional vegetation cover (FVC) from MODIS/EOS and SEVIRI/MSG time series. The study evaluates the strength of temporal relationships between precipitation and vegetation condition at time-lag and cumulative rainfall intervals. From this analysis, it was observed that the climatic disturbances affected both the growing season and the total amount of vegetation. However, the impact of climate variability on the vegetation dynamics has shown to be highly dependent on the regional climate, vegetation community and growth stages. In general, they were more significant in arid and semiarid areas, since water availability most strongly limits vegetation growth in these environments.[EN] Los extremos climáticos se han incrementado en España a los largo del último siglo; por ello, su análisis se ha convertido en una línea prioritaria de conocimiento con objeto fundamental de diseñar planes para la gestión y mitigación de sus efectos. Los datos de satélite permiten analizar las variaciones en la actividad de la vegetación a varias escalas temporales y su respuesta a la variabilidad climática. En este trabajo se pone de manifiesto la vulnera-bilidad de la vegetación en España ante condiciones ambientales extremas a través de las correlaciones entre índices meteorológicos de sequía (SPI) y variables biofísicas extraídas de datos MODIS/EOS y SEVIRI/MSG. Las anomalías en la vegetación, como indicadores de las condiciones de humedad de la misma, pueden ayudar a cuantificar y gestionar episodios meteorológicos extremos y hacer un seguimiento de la misma. Las mayores correlaciones se han obtenido en las regiones áridas y semiáridas y durante los meses de máxima actividad de la vegetación, generalmente entre mayo y junio.Este trabajo se enmarca en los proyectos DULCINEA (CGL2005–04202), RESET CLIMATE (CGL2012–35831), LSA SAF (EUMETSAT) y ERMES (FP7-SPACE-2013, Contract 606983).García-Haro, F.; Campos-Taberner, M.; Sabater, N.; Belda, F.; Moreno, A.; Gilabert, M.; Martínez, B.... (2014). Vulnerabilidad de la vegetación a la sequía en España. Revista de Teledetección. (42):29-38. https://doi.org/10.4995/raet.2014.2283SWORD29384

Variation in Structure and Process of Care in Traumatic Brain Injury: Provider Profiles of European Neurotrauma Centers Participating in the CENTER-TBI Study.

INTRODUCTION: The strength of evidence underpinning care and treatment recommendations in traumatic brain injury (TBI) is low. Comparative effectiveness research (CER) has been proposed as a framework to provide evidence for optimal care for TBI patients. The first step in CER is to map the existing variation. The aim of current study is to quantify variation in general structural and process characteristics among centers participating in the Collaborative European NeuroTrauma Effectiveness Research in Traumatic Brain Injury (CENTER-TBI) study. METHODS: We designed a set of 11 provider profiling questionnaires with 321 questions about various aspects of TBI care, chosen based on literature and expert opinion. After pilot testing, questionnaires were disseminated to 71 centers from 20 countries participating in the CENTER-TBI study. Reliability of questionnaires was estimated by calculating a concordance rate among 5% duplicate questions. RESULTS: All 71 centers completed the questionnaires. Median concordance rate among duplicate questions was 0.85. The majority of centers were academic hospitals (n = 65, 92%), designated as a level I trauma center (n = 48, 68%) and situated in an urban location (n = 70, 99%). The availability of facilities for neuro-trauma care varied across centers; e.g. 40 (57%) had a dedicated neuro-intensive care unit (ICU), 36 (51%) had an in-hospital rehabilitation unit and the organization of the ICU was closed in 64% (n = 45) of the centers. In addition, we found wide variation in processes of care, such as the ICU admission policy and intracranial pressure monitoring policy among centers. CONCLUSION: Even among high-volume, specialized neurotrauma centers there is substantial variation in structures and processes of TBI care. This variation provides an opportunity to study effectiveness of specific aspects of TBI care and to identify best practices with CER approaches

Variation in monitoring and treatment policies for intracranial hypertension in traumatic brain injury: A survey in 66 neurotrauma centers participating in the CENTER-TBI

Background: No definitive evidence exists on how intracranial hypertension should be treated in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). It is therefore likely that centers and practitioners individually balance potential benefits and risks of different intracranial pressure (ICP) management strategies, resulting in practice variation. The aim of this study was to examine variation in monitoring and treatment policies for intracranial hypertension in patients with TBI. Methods: A 29-item survey on ICP monitoring and treatment was developed based on literature and expert opinion, and pilot-tested in 16 centers. The questionnaire was sent to 68 neurotrauma centers participating in the Collaborative European Neurotrauma Effectiveness Research (CENTER-TBI) study. Results: The survey was completed by 66 centers (97% response rate). Centers were mainly academic hospitals (n = 60, 91%) and designated level I trauma centers (n = 44, 67%). The Brain Trauma Foundation guidelines were used in 49 (74%) centers. Approximately ninety percent of the participants (n = 58) indicated placing an ICP monitor in patients with severe TBI and computed tomography abnormalities. There was no consensus on other indications or on peri-insertion precautions. We found wide variation in the use of first- and second-tier treatments for elevated ICP. Approximately half of the centers were classified as having a relatively aggressive approach to ICP monitoring and treatment (n = 32, 48%), whereas the others were considered more conservative (n = 34, 52%). Conclusions: Substantial variation was found regarding monitoring and treatment policies in patients with traumatic brain injury and intracranial hypertension. The results of this survey indicate a lack of consensus between European neurotrauma centers and provide an opportunity and necessity for comparative effectiveness research

Sitophilus oryzae primary symbiont genome project: preliminary results

5-COM (communications sans actes

Morfología Fluvial.-Monitoring of vegetation dynamics and assessing vegetation response to drought in the Iberian Peninsula

ABSTRACT Monitoring the vegetation activity over long time-scales is necessary to discern ecosystem responses to climate variability. Spatial and temporally consistent estimates of the biophysical variables such as fractional vegetation cover (FVC) and leaf area index (LAI) have been obtained in the context of DULCINEA Project. We used long-term monthly climate statistics to build simple climatic indices (SPI, moisture index) at different time scales. From these indices, we estimated that the climatic disturbances affected both the growing season and the total amount of vegetation. This implies that the anomaly of vegetation cover is a good indicator of moisture condition and can be an important data source when used for detecting and monitoring drought in the Iberian Peninsula. The impact of climate variability on the vegetation dynamics has shown not to be the same for every region. We concluded that the relationships between vegetation anomaly and moisture availability are significant for the arid and semiarid areas

Complications related to less-invasive haemodynamic monitoring ‡

Background. The aim of this study was to evaluate the type and incidence of complications during insertion, maintenance, and withdrawal of central arterial catheters used for transpulmonary thermodilution haemodynamic monitoring (PiCCO (TM)). Methods. We conducted a prospective, observational, multicentre study in 14 European intensive care units (six countries). A total of 514 consecutive patients in whom haemodynamic monitoring by PiCCO (TM) was indicated were studied. Results. Five hundred and fourteen PiCCO catheters (475 in femoral, 26 in radial, nine in axillary, and four in brachial arteries) were inserted. Arterial access was obtained on the first attempt in 86.4% of the patients. Minor problems such as oozing after insertion (3.3%) or removal of the catheter (3.5%) were observed, but no episodes of serious bleeding (more than 50 ml) were recorded. Small local haematomas were observed after insertion (4.5%) and after removal (1.2%) of the catheter. These complications were not more frequent in patients with coagulation abnormalities. The incidence of site inflammation and catheter-related infection was 2% and 0.78%, respectively. Other complications such as ischaemia (0.4%), pulse loss (0.4%), or femoral artery thrombosis (0.2%) were rare, transient, and all resolved with catheter removal or embolectomy, respectively. Conclusions. In this series of patients, central arterial catheters used for PiCCO (TM) monitoring were demonstrated to be a safe alternative for advanced haemodynamic monitoring

Tagging manual for the Atlantic-wide research programme on bluefin tuna.

Publicad