Afforestation programs as a strategy to address the climate crisis are on the rise worldwide. Although concerns exist about the effects of afforesting treeless habitats on their biodiversity and ...ecosystem services, potential impacts on areas beyond afforestation boundaries have been largely overlooked. Cork oak (Quercus suber) woodlands in southern Spain are regarded as a successful example of sustainability. However, the afforestation of their neighbouring treeless habitats may compromise their productivity through indirect effects that are not fully understood. Using a multi-method approach, we studied the effects of the afforestation of Mediterranean heathland (herriza) areas with pine tree species on the productivity of neighbouring cork oak woodlands downslope over a 37-year period. The differences in Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Basal Area Increment (BAI) between cork oak woodlands below open herriza and below afforested herriza became apparent approximately ten years after pine afforestation. Specifically, NDVI was significantly reduced in cork oak stands below afforested herriza areas for the remaining years, while a substantial decrease in BAI of cork oak trees was also associated with afforested herriza areas upslope. Moreover, the NDVI and BAI trends of cork oak stands below afforested herriza reached the minimum levels of the time series following an extreme drought event. Our results reveal that the ecological impacts of afforestation of naturally treeless habitats can expand beyond the plantation area. We propose that the restoration of treeless habitats, such as the herriza, in areas where pine plantations are no longer productive, may enhance their ecological services, particularly in the context of climate change. Therefore, afforestation programs worldwide should carefully consider the trade-offs between carbon mitigation and other ecosystem services at the landscape scale.
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•Indirect effects of afforestation are often overlooked amid climate efforts.•Both NDVI and BAI declined in cork oak woodlands below afforested areas over time.•Pine afforestation impacts can extend beyond the plantation.•Implications for rethinking future afforestation initiatives.
In 2011 and 2012, the COPHES/DEMOCOPHES twin projects performed the first ever harmonized human biomonitoring survey in 17 European countries. In more than 1800 mother–child pairs, individual ...lifestyle data were collected and cadmium, cotinine and certain phthalate metabolites were measured in urine. Total mercury was determined in hair samples. While the main goal of the COPHES/DEMOCOPHES twin projects was to develop and test harmonized protocols and procedures, the goal of the current paper is to investigate whether the observed differences in biomarker values among the countries implementing DEMOCOPHES can be interpreted using information from external databases on environmental quality and lifestyle.
In general, 13 countries having implemented DEMOCOPHES provided high-quality data from external sources that were relevant for interpretation purposes. However, some data were not available for reporting or were not in line with predefined specifications. Therefore, only part of the external information could be included in the statistical analyses. Nonetheless, there was a highly significant correlation between national levels of fish consumption and mercury in hair, the strength of antismoking legislation was significantly related to urinary cotinine levels, and we were able to show indications that also urinary cadmium levels were associated with environmental quality and food quality. These results again show the potential of biomonitoring data to provide added value for (the evaluation of) evidence-informed policy making.
•External data was collected to interpret HBM data from DEMOCOPHES.•Hg in hair could be related to fish consumption across different countries.•Urinary cotinine was related to strictness of anti-smoking legislation.•Urinary Cd was borderline significantly related to air and food quality.•Lack of comparable data among countries hampered the analysis.
Mulching is increasingly employed to stabilize burnt areas, making necessary to elucidate where and how it should be used. The effects of mulching and the efficiency of two straw application ...strategies in reducing nutrient losses were evaluated in a steep area (burnt with moderate severity) with twelve experimental plots split into three sets: control burnt plots (BS), burnt plots with straw mulching in narrow bands along the contour lines (NM, global dose 800kgha−1) and in wide bands (WM, global dose 1000kgha−1). None of the mulching strategies had a significant effect on most of the 16 soil and sediment variables analysed (pH, nutrient and trace element concentrations). The principal component analyses show that soil and sediment samples change with time after the fire regardless treatment, decreasing progressively the differences between successive sampling dates. In sediments, pHKCl, Ca, Mg, Mn and Zn fitted to curvilinear regression models with time after fire as independent variable, while the other variables showed no clear temporal trend. During the first post-fire year, <500kgha−1 of sediments were eroded and mulching had no effect on the total mass of lost sediments and nutrients. We conclude that the erosion rate was rather low that year due to moderate precipitation rates and therefore mulching did not significantly reduce soil erosion. Nevertheless, the concentration of Mo, Mn and Zn in sediments exceeded reference levels for ecosystem protection and can lead to deficiency problems for on-site vegetation and to soil and water pollution off-site.
•Post-fire mulching does not affect nutrient concentrations in soil and sediments.•Most macronutrients and trace elements of sediments decreased with time after fire.•With moderate precipitation rates, straw mulching does not reduce post-fire erosion.•Mo, Mn and Zn levels in sediments exceed reference levels for ecosystem protection.
Cognitive impairment is the main cause of disability in developed societies. New interactive technologies help therapists in neurorehabilitation in order to increase patients' autonomy and quality of ...life. This work proposes Interactive Video (IV) as a technology to develop cognitive rehabilitation tasks based on Activities of Daily Living (ADL). ADL cognitive task has been developed and integrated with eye-tracking technology for task interaction and patients' performance monitoring.
The records of 4 children of under 14 years of age treated at our institution for traumatic sternoclavicular dislocation (SCJ) were reviewed. Closed reduction in posterior SCJ after computed ...tomography (CT) was successful as immediate procedure. For anterior SCJ instability, open reduction and SCJ reconstruction obtained satisfactory results. Conservative treatment of SCJ subluxation for asymptomatic children was sufficient. Radiographs in “serendipity view” were useful for confirming reduction and stability in children. No postoperative CT was needed for this purpose. Closed reduction in posterior SCJ dislocation and surgical treatment in anterior SCJ dislocation in young children can provide stability and a satisfactory return to a normal function, but with some limitation when intense or competitive shoulder motion is required during sport. Young children and parents should be aware about this possibility. Conservative treatment of SCJ subluxation for asymptomatic children is useful. Reflection is required regarding the correct imaging examination after treatment to check stable reduction in a SCJ injury.
Background
The learning curves for cytoreductive surgery with intraperitoneal chemotherapy for treatment of pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP) were explored between international centres/surgeons to ...identify institutional or other factors that might affect performance.
Methods
Data from patients with PMP treated with the combined procedure across 33 international centres between 1993 and 2012 were analysed retrospectively. A risk‐adjusted sequential probability ratio test was conducted after defining the target outcome as early oncological failure (disease progression within 2 years of treatment), an acceptable risk for the target outcome (odds ratio) of 2, and type I/II error rates of 5 per cent. The risk prediction model was elaborated and patients were evaluated sequentially for each centre/surgeon. The learning curve was considered to be overcome and proficiency achieved when the odds ratio for early oncological failure became smaller than 2.
Results
Rates of optimal cytoreduction, severe postoperative morbidity and early oncological failure were 84·4, 25·7 and 29·0 per cent respectively. The median annual centre volume was 17 (range 6–66) peritoneal malignancies. Only eight of the 33 centres and six of 47 surgeons achieved proficiency after a median of 100 (range 78–284) and 96 (86–284) procedures respectively. The most important institutional factor affecting surgical performance was centre volume.
Conclusion
The learning curve is extremely long, so centralization and/or networking of centres is necessary to assure quality of services. One centre for every 10–15 million inhabitants would be ideal.
One centre for every 10–15 million inhabitants ideal
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