Droughts are current challenges to the economic, social and environmental development of a region, as reflected in European Union (EU) water policies. In addition, the impacts of droughts can be ...aggravated by climate change effects, adding pressure to already water stressed areas in the EU. This paper presents a general overview of drought management policies in the EU and in Spain. The paper studies the specific case of Spain, where drought management policies have evolved from traditional emergency actions to Drought Management Plans (DMPs). Historical droughts and the main drought episodes occurring over the last 30 years in Spain, together with the actions taken and the effects produced, are analysed. The National Indicator System for Droughts has played a significant role in drought management since 2005, serving to declare drought situations, and also to apply measures and actions to be carried out by the Spanish Administration. In addition, DMPs for all River Basin Organisations (RBOs) were approved in 2007, and they have represented strategic tools with positive results in drought impact mitigation and have stressed the importance of public participation in the decision-making process for drought events. These plans must be updated in 2017 and are now being revised, taking into account the experience acquired since their approval.
The evolution of soil terrestrial ecosystems is a subject with difficulties to define their maturity and evolutionary state. In the last century, thermodynamics was one of the options considered by ...ecologists for that goal. Difficulties in quantifying the thermodynamic parameters needed by the evolutionary theories caused that this subject has been practically locked since the end of the last century. Application of thermodynamics needs reactions and one of the main reactions in soil ecosystems are those involved in the decomposition of the soil organic matter. This paper aims to provide an initial step to study those reactions from a thermodynamic perspective. With that goal in mind, thermal analysis and isothermal calorespirometric measurements were made on soil samples collected at three depths in semi‐natural oak woodlands at three different sites in southwest Ireland. It is assumed that the organic matter evolves from a less to a higher mature state as soil depth increases. The maturity state could be chemically defined by the redox state. The proposed methods yield the enthalpy change, Gibbs energy change and entropy change for the microbial catabolism and combustion reactions of the soil organic matter. The degree of reduction was calculated by the enthalpy changes. Results show the soil organic matter becomes more reduced from the soil organic surface to mineral soils. The top layer is characterized by high carbon content, organic materials with low energy content per Cmole, and fast biodegradation rates. Mineral soils are characterized by low carbon content, organic materials with high energy content per Cmole, and slow biodegradation rates. Values obtained for the entropy change were sensitive to these differences among the different soil layers. These results contribute to unlock the thermodynamics of the soil reactions and to develop the bioenergetics of soil ecosystems.
•Pembrolizumab monotherapy provides sustained antitumor activity in heavily pretreated R/R PMBCL.•Complete responses were maintained after ∼4 years of follow-up.
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Previous analyses of ...the phase 2 KEYNOTE-170 (NCT02576990) study demonstrated effective antitumor activity and acceptable safety of pembrolizumab 200 mg given every 3 weeks for up to 35 cycles (∼2 years) in patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma (PMBCL) whose disease progressed after or who were ineligible for autologous stem cell transplantation. The end points included objective response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS), and duration of response (DOR) according to the investigator per 2007 Response Criteria; overall survival (OS); and safety. In this final analysis, median duration of follow-up was 48.7 months (range, 41.2-56.2). The ORR was 41.5% (complete response, 20.8%; partial response, 20.8%). The median DOR was not reached; no patients who achieved a complete response progressed at the data cutoff. The median PFS was 4.3 months; the 4-year PFS rate was 33.0%. The median OS was 22.3 months; the 4-year OS rate was 45.3%. At the data cutoff, 30 patients (56.6%) had any-grade treatment-related adverse events (AEs); the most common were neutropenia, asthenia, and hypothyroidism. Grade 3/4 treatment-related AEs occurred in 22.6% of the patients; no grade 5 AEs occurred. After 4 years of follow-up, pembrolizumab continued to provide durable responses, with promising trends for long-term survival and acceptable safety in R/R PMBCL.
Zinzani and colleagues present long-term follow-up data demonstrating that pembrolizumab, a PD-1 inhibitor, is safe and effective in patients with relapsed/refractory primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma (PMBCL). Of the 22 of 53 patients (41.5%) enrolled achieving response during up to 2 years of therapy, the estimated freedom from progression at 4 years exceeds 80%. Eleven patients (21%) have sustained complete response without further therapy at 4 years of follow-up, providing compelling evidence that some patients with relapsed PMBCL may be cured with checkpoint blockade alone.
The effects of gastrointestinal digestion on black bean (BB) and small red bean (SRB) seed coats were evaluated in treated and untreated extracts with an in vitro digestion process. The total phenols ...(TPs), total flavonoids (TFs), condensed tannins (CTs), monomeric anthocyanins (MAs), ABTS radical-scavenging capacity and oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) were evaluated in both groups. Anthocyanins, which appeared at 10-fold higher levels in BB than SRB (0.83mg and 0.08mg cyanidin 3-glucoside equivalents/g of bean, respectively) were undetectable in either extract after digestion. The results indicate that the in vitro digestion process was responsible for a reduction of the TPs, CTs and MAs in both the BB and SRB seed coats, and of TFs in the BB seed coats. However, the antioxidant activity was maintained for both groups, and even significantly increased in the BB group when measured with an ORAC assay.
•Polyphenols and antioxidant activity of bean seed coats extracts were evaluated.•Extracts were treated or untreated with in vitro digestion.•Digestion reduced the levels of total phenols and anthocyanins.•The antioxidant activity was not reduced after in vitro digestion.
Understanding and quantifying soil respiration and its component fluxes are necessary to model global carbon cycling in a changing climate as small changes in soil CO₂ fluxes could have important ...implications for future climatic conditions. A soil respiration partitioning study was conducted in eight afforested peatland sites in south-west Ireland. Using trenched points, annual soil CO₂ emissions, and the contributions of root and heterotrophic respiration as components of total soil respiration, were estimated. Nonlinear regression models were evaluated to determine the best predictive soil respiration model for each component flux, using soil temperature and water table level as explanatory variables. Temporal variation in soil CO₂ efflux was driven by soil temperature at 10 cm depth, with all treatment points also affected by water table level fluctuations. The effect of water table level on soil respiration was best accounted for by incorporating a water level Gaussian function into the soil-temperature–soil-respiration model. Mean root respiration was 44% of mean total soil respiration, varying between 1100 and 2049 g CO₂ m⁻² year⁻¹. Heterotrophic respiration was divided between peat respiration and litter respiration, which accounted for 35 and 21% of total soil respiration, respectively. While peat respiration varied between 774 and 1492 g CO₂ m⁻² year⁻¹, litter respiration varied between 514 and 1013 g CO₂ m⁻² year⁻¹. Although the extrapolation of these results to other sites should be done with caution, the empirical models developed for the entire dataset in this study are a useful tool to predict and simulate CO₂ emissions in similar afforested peatlands (e.g. pine and spruce plantations) in temperate maritime climate conditions.
Abstract Caudofoveata are molluscs that protect their vermiform body with a scleritome, a mosaic of unconnected blade/lanceolate-shaped aragonite sclerites. For the species Falcidens gutturosus and ...Scutopus ventrolineatus we studied the crystallographic constitution and crystal orientation texture of the sclerites and the scleritome with electron-backscatter-diffraction (EBSD), laser-confocal-microscopy (LCM) and field-emission electron microscopy (FE-SEM) imaging. Each sclerite is an aragonite single crystal that is completely enveloped by an organic sheath. Adjacent sclerites overlap laterally and vertically are, however, not connected to each other. Sclerites are thickened in their central portion, relative to their periphery. Thickening increases also from sclerite tip towards its base. Accordingly, cross-sections through a sclerite are straight at its tip, curved and bent towards the sclerite base. Irrespective of curved sclerite morphologies, the aragonite lattice within the sclerite is coherent. Sclerite aragonite is not twinned. For each sclerite the crystallographic c-axis is parallel to the morphological long axis of the sclerite, the a-axis is perpendicular to its width and the b-axis is within the width of the sclerite. The single-crystalinity of the sclerites and their mode of organization in the scleritome is outstanding. Sclerite and aragonite arrangement in the scleritome is not given by a specific crystal growth mode, it is inherent to the secreting cells. We discuss that morphological characteristics of the sclerites and crystallographic preferred orientation (texture) of sclerite aragonite is not the result of competitive growth selection. It is generated by the templating effect of the organic substance of the secreting cells and associated extracellular biopolymers.
This work focuses on the gasification of 100 wt % plastic waste (polypropylene). Some operating variables that were studied included the amount of olivine in the gasifier bed, the equivalence ratio, ...and the freeboard temperature. In a first series of tests, the effect of the amount of olivine in the bed on the gas composition was studied. Using 100 wt % olivine in the gasifier bed provided good results regarding tar content, ∼2 g of tar/mN 3; lower heating value (LHV), ∼6 MJ/mN 3; and gas yield, ∼5.5 mN,dry basis 3/kgdaf. In a second series of tests, the equivalence ratio and freeboard temperature were varied to obtain better results. The tar content in this second series of tests was about 2 g of tar/mN 3, the LHV was about 9 MJ/mN 3, and the gas yield was about 3.5 mN,dry basis 3/kgdaf
Greatly enhanced atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels relative to well-mixed marine air are observed during periods of offshore winds at coastal sensor platforms in Monterey Bay, California, USA. ...The highest concentrations originate from urban and agricultural areas, are driven by diurnal winds, and peak in the early morning. These enhanced atmospheric levels can be detected across a ~100km wide nearshore area and represent a significant addition to total oceanic CO2 uptake. A global estimate puts the added sea-air flux of CO2 from these greatly enhanced atmospheric CO2 levels at 25 million tonnes, roughly 1% of the ocean's annual CO2 uptake. The increased uptake over the 100 km coastal swath is of order 20%, indicating a potentially large impact on ocean acidification in productive coastal waters.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Argentine meat has been traditionally produced on pasture. However, to comply with some market requirements, grain finishing is becoming more common among producers. The main goal of the present work ...was to study lipid oxidation in fresh meat from animals fed different diets in relationship with their antioxidant vitamin status. Attributes were evaluated in beef from pasture or grain-fed animals with (PE and GE) or without supplementation (P and G) with vitamin E (500 UI/head/day). Fresh meat produced on grain (G and GE) had higher fat (4.0
±
1.6 and 4.7
±
1.4 g/100 g) and cholesterol content (51.0
±
3.0 and 52.0
±
4.0 mg/100 g) than meat from pasture (P and PE) fed animals (2.7
±
1.2 to 2.9
±
1.1 g/100 g and 48.0
±
5.0 to 49.0
±
4.0 mg/100 g of intramuscular fat and cholesterol respectively). Fatty acid composition was clearly affected by diet. Beef from pasture-fed cattle had higher percentage of linolenic acid, less linoleic acid and, overall, higher percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids than beef from grain-fed animals (
P
<
0.05).
Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances number and volatile levels of hexanal, pentanal, heptanal, octanal and 3-methylbutanal were higher in grain than in pasture samples (
P
<
0.05). P
+
PE meat had higher content of antioxidant vitamins than G
+
GE samples (
P
<
0.001). Values ranged from: 15.92
±
3.48 (G) to 17.39
±
4.29 (GE) and 25.3
±
10.0 (P) to 21.98
±
5.11 (PE) μg/g of ascorbic acid; from 1.05
±
0.73 (G) to 1.76
±
0.97 (GE) and 3.08
±
0.45 to 3.91
±
0.74 μg/g of α-tocopherol; and from 0.06
±
0.03 (G) to 0.05
±
0.01 (GE) and 0.45
±
0.21 (P) to 0.63
±
0.27 (PE) μg/g of β-carotene. In addition, principal component analysis clearly separated grain from pasture samples regardless of their supplementation with vitamin E. This level of supplementation did not improve the antioxidant status of fresh meat (
P
>
0.05). We conclude that pasture diet contributes natural antioxidants in sufficient amounts and is an efficient way to prevent lipid oxidation in fresh beef.
This study utilized site‐specific peat hydrophysical properties (inverse of air‐entry pressure, α; pore size distribution index, n; saturated hydraulic conductivity, Ks; and pore tortuosity, L) as ...inputs into the HYDRUS 1‐D computer model for quantifying moss moisture stresses on Irish peatlands. The site‐specific peat hydrophysical properties computed using pedotransfer functions obtained from laboratory measured bulk density (BD) and % organic matter (OM). The peat samples obtained from undrained sites (Scohaboy, Pollagoona and Lough Ghe), three afforested sites (S18, S28 and S44) and rewetted sites (Scohaboy and Pollagoona). The moss moisture stresses quantified using a known ecohydrological threshold of −100 cm. The site‐specific peat hydrophysical properties, four initial WTDs (3, 8, 20 and 30 cm) and two distinct precipitation regimes (single and consecutive 4 years having severely dry SD, extremely dry ED, near normal NN, very wet VW and extremely wet EW periods) were inputs into HYDRUS 1‐D model. The modelling results showed that none of the peatland sites ever reached −100 cm threshold in single year simulations at all initial WTDs. However, in the consecutive 4‐year simulations, Scohaboy, Pollagoona and Lough Ghe undrained, S28 afforested and Pollagoona rewetted sites first reached −100 cm threshold on 516, 508, 624, 1329 and 517 day, respectively. In the consecutive 4‐year simulations, undrained Scohaboy, Pollagoona, Lough Ghe, S28 afforested and Pollagoona rewetted reached −100 cm threshold in ED and SD years. We concluded that moss recolonization is likely to be successfully on peatlands having minimal to no −100 cm threshold days.
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