Actual use of Statistical Energy Analysis for complex systems requires the numerical or experimental determination of the SEA loss factors (E-SEA). This approach involves experimental and numerical ...issues that can lead to results inconsistent with the SEA hypothesis, namely, the SEA loss factors obtained may be negative. This work presents an analysis of the E-SEA energy matrix class that shows that it is not well suited for this type of inverse problem. In addition, a method based on Monte Carlo Filtering capable of overcoming this inconsistency is presented, so that robust values of SEA loss factors can be obtained from experimental results. The method is described and applied to two application cases to show its practical implementation, the advantages that the method can offer and its comparison with other methods presented in the literature for the same purpose.
In recent decades, the fire regime of the Mediterranean Basin has been disturbed by various factors: climate change; forest management policies; land cover; changed landscape. Size and severity have ...notably increased, which in turn have increased large fires events with >500ha burned (high severity). In spite of Mediterranean ecosystems' high resilience to fire, these changes have implied more vulnerability and reduced natural recovery with irreparable long-term negative effects. Knowledge of the response of ecosystems to increasing severity, mainly in semiarid areas, is still lacking, which is needed to rehabilitate and restore burned areas.
Our approach assessed the resilience concept by focusing on the recovery of ecosystem functions and services, measured as changes in the composition and diversity of plant community vegetation and structure. This will be validated in the long term as a model of ecosystem response. Also, depending on the pre-fire characteristics of vegetation, fire severity and the post-fire management, this approach will lead to tools that can be applied to implement post-fire restoration efforts in order to help decision making in planning activities.
Regarding Mediterranean ecosystems' ability to recover after wildfires, this study concludes that pre-fire communities are resilient in these fire-prone areas, but the window for natural recovery in semiarid areas of Aleppo pine forest in SE Iberian Peninsula varied from 3 to 15 post-fire years. Fire severity was also key for effects on the ecosystem: the vegetation types of areas burned with low and medium severity recovered naturally, while those areas with a high-severity burn induced shrublands. We concluded that very strong regeneration activity exists in the short term, and that the negative effects of medium- and high-severity fire are evidenced in the mid and long term, which affect natural recovery. Adaptive forest management to rehabilitate and restore burned Mediterranean ecosystems should be implemented.
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•We assessed resilience of Aleppo pine forests in Eastern Mediterranean Basin•Recovery of ecosystem was monitored in short, medium and long-term after wildfires.•Natural recovery was found in areas burned with low and medium severity.•Areas burned with high severity of fire changed to shrublands.•Fire severity influenced the recovery time of Aleppo pine forest.
Climate change has led to altered fire patterns in the Mediterranean basin due to rising temperatures and greenhouse gas emissions, diminishing the resilience of forest ecosystems. To address this ...threat, forest management increasingly employs preventive measures like controlled burns, aiming to mitigate wildfire damage. However, understanding the impact of prescribed burns on vegetation remains crucial.
Our study focuses on assessing the ecological effects of early-season prescribed burns on Macrochloa tenacissima communities within Pinus halepensis Mill forests on the Iberian Peninsula. These forests, with southeast-facing slopes and arid soils, heavily rely on alpha grass for post-fire recovery, acting as a shield against runoff and erosion. Yet, the presence of highly flammable resprouting species can lead to rapid combustible material accumulation. We evaluated parameters like coverage, floral diversity (α-diversity), aboveground plant biomass, photosynthetic activity, and chemical leaf properties of alpha grass, a year after a low-intensity controlled burn. Comparing burnt and unburnt areas revealed significant changes in α-diversity and ecophysiology of Macrochloa tenacissima due to early-season prescribed burns. These short-term shifts underscore the need for further exploration of underlying mechanisms.
Our analysis also showed distinct shifts in alpha grass leaf chemical composition between the two plot types, potentially impacting post-fire recovery strategies. Although prescribed burning might not be optimal for reducing fire risk in resprouting species-dominated forests, it conserves native plants and enhances ecosystem diversity, providing valuable ecological benefits.
In conclusion, our research deepens our understanding of early-season burning's repercussions on flammable vegetation dynamics and combustible material availability in semi-arid landscapes. It contributes to standardized management protocols, aiding effective forest service administration and wildfire risk reduction.
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•Macrochloa tenacissima chemical properties changed in burned plots.•Rapid vegetation recovery after application of prescribed burning.•Photosynthetic rate increased after prescribed burning.•Photosynthetic rate is directly related to chemical leaves properties.•Aerial biomass and alpha-diversity were not affected in the short-term.
Forest fires-affected landscapes enhance sudden runoff discharges, high sediment loads and extreme soil erosion rates. Different soil stabilisation treatments, such as mulching, can be applied to ...avoid runoff and soil erosion after wildfires. To characterise the post-fire soil erosion rates and runoff generation, we selected a Mediterranean forest affected by a wildfire in Lietor (Spain) to determine the sediment yield (dry sediment (DS), total suspended sediment (TSS), total dissolved sediment (TDS)) and runoff discharge in twelve 200 m2 (10 × 20 m) plots. Immediately after the wildfire, six plots were covered by straw and six other plots were set up as controls. Three months after the wildfire, logging activities were performed and the experimental designs were as follows: mulching + logging (three replicates), non-mulching + logging (three replicates), non-mulching + non-logging (three replicates) and mulching + non-logging (three replicates). During the period after wildfire and before salvage logging, the straw mulch controlled the soil erosion rates (DS, TSS and TDS) versus the non-mulched plots, but straw had no real impact on runoff discharge. For the period after salvage logging, once again runoff did not differ when comparing all the treatments. DS was higher in the non-mulched and non-logging plots, whereas the highest TSS was found in the non-mulched plots (in logged or non-logged plots). TDS was higher in the mulched and non-logged plots. We conclude that straw mulch is efficient management in recent fire-affected mountainous terrains to control soil loss immediately after wildfire. Moreover, logging operations done 3 months after wildfire did not necessary generate higher DS, TSS, TDS rates, mainly because of the type of machinery used for forest operations.
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•Runoff was not influenced by mulching either in logged or not logged plots.•Mulching is an efficient post-fire practice for controlling soil erosion.•Logging operations did not necessary generates higher rates of soil erosion.•The type of machinery used for forest operations influences soil erosion.
Purpose of the study: Explore perceptions, expectations and challenges following a telerehabilitation programme using augmented reality glasses (ARG) in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis ...(IPF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or recently diagnosed myocardial infarction (MI).
A qualitative approach was employed to track perspectives from a range of patients with chronic lung and/or heart diseases. COPD, IPF and MI outpatients from Denmark and Finland were invited to participate. Data were collected through focus group and semi-structured in-depth interviews. Qualitative analysis was performed using standard thematic analytical approaches. A topic guide was used to explore experiences and perceptions of the ARG telerehabilitation device among participants.
Thirteen patients (4 MI, 2 IPF and 7 COPD), 3 women and 10 men aged 56 to 75 years (mean age 63.3 years) were allocated into one focus group (9 patients) and 4 interviews (4 patients). Twelve patients reported the added value of ARG and suggested constructive changes such as the adjustable screen/brightness, robust head fixation for exercise performance, easy to navigate interface and supported feedback based on exercise performance.
Patients with chronic heart or lung diseases described the added value in an ARG telerehabilitation programme. Improvements for a future version of the ARG were suggested.
IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION
Patients with chronic pulmonary and heart diseases have difficulties to change behaviour to a more active and healthy lifestyle, offers from the health sector to participate in rehabilitation programmes at the hospital are feasible and improves quality of life and exercise capacity. Not all the patients are capable of participating in such rehabilitation programmes due to frailty and long distance to the hospital. Telerehabilitation seems to be a potential treatment to cope with the needs expressed above.
Patient involvement in the development of a telerehabilitation solution to empower chronic pulmonary and heart patients to train, ensures a positive contribution to the design of the expected augmented reality software and hardware envisioned solution for telerehabilitation.
The development of a user-centered telerehabilitation platform responding to the preferences of patients with chronic disease will remove barriers that limit use and compliance and improve empowerment in future research projects.
OBJECTIVES To describe a large series of patients with vertebral osteomyelitis (VO), and to compare the clinical, biological, radiological, and prognostic features of pyogenic (PVO), tuberculous ...(TVO), and brucellar vertebral osteomyelitis (BVO). METHODS A retrospective multicentre study, which included 219 adult patients with VO with confirmed aetiology, who were diagnosed between 1983 and 1995 in two tertiary care centres. Of these patients, 105 (48%) had BVO, 72 (33%) PVO, and 42 (19%) TVO. RESULTS One hundred and forty eight (67.6%) patients were male and 71 (32.4%) female. The mean (SD) age was 50.4 (16.4) years (range 14–84) and the mean (SD) duration of symptoms before the diagnosis was 14 (16.8) weeks. In 127 patients (57.9%) the vertebral level involved was lumbar, in 70 (31.9%) thoracic, and in 16 (7.3%) cervical. One hundred and nineteen patients (54.4%) received only medical treatment and 100 (45.6%) required both medical and surgical treatment. The presence of diabetes mellitus, intravenous drug abuse, underlying chronic debilitating diseases or immunosuppression, previous infections, preceeding bacteraemia, recent vertebral surgery, leucocytosis, neutrophilia, and increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were significantly associated to PVO. A prolonged clinical course, thoracic segment involvement, absence of fever, presence of spinal deformity, neurological deficit, and paravertebral or epidural masses, were significantly more frequent in the group of TVO. The need for surgical treatment and the presence of severe functional sequelae were more frequent in the groups of PVO and TVO. CONCLUSION There are significant clinical, biological, radiological, and prognostic differences between BVO, PVO, and TVO. These differences can point to the causal agent and orient the initial empirical medical treatment while awaiting a final microbiological diagnosis.
Prescribed burnings reduce the biomass and the risk of wildfires but can also alter soil water repellency. The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of several prescribed burnings in soil ...water repellency (SWR). In spring 2016, prescribed burns were carried out at three forest sites located in: (i) Beteta in a pure forest of Pinus nigra Arnold ssp. salzmannii; (ii) El Pozuelo in mixed forest stands of Pinus pinaster Aiton and Pinus nigra Arnold ssp. salzmannii; (iii) Lezuza in mixed forest stands of Pinus halepensis Miller and Pinus pinaster Aiton. Six plots were established in each study area: three burned and three unburned. SWR was measured before and immediately after prescribed burns following a 1-year periodic evaluation. There were seven sampling dates at Beteta and El Pozuelo and nine at Lezuza with six plots and six measurement transects in each plot (36 measurement transects on each date). Soil water content (SWC), soil temperature (ST) and soil organic matter (SOM) were also measured. Our results showed that SWR increased after burning to quickly return to normal values in Lezuza, after 1 month in El Pozuelo and after 1 year in Beteta. Moreover, a significant positive relationship between SWR and both SOM and ST, but a negative one with SWC, were observed, which led SWR to increase after fire passage, also in the summer months. Continuous monitoring of these study sites is recommended to determine if low-intensity burnings promote mid- to long-term changes in soil characteristics.
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•Soil water repellency increased after low-intensity prescribed fires to return to normal values over the year follow-up•Soil water repellency fluctuated over the year inversely respect soil moisture and directly respect soil temperature•Soil water repellency was higher in study forests with higher content of soil organic matter
Despite Mediterranean ecosystems' high resilience to fire, both climate and land use change, and alterations in fire regimes increase their vulnerability to fire by affecting the long-term natural ...recovery of ecosystem services. The objective of this work is to study the effects of fire severity on biochemical soil indicators, such as chemical composition or enzymatic activity, related to time after fire and natural vegetation recovery (soil-plant interphase). Soil samples from three wildfires occurring 3, 15 and 21 years ago were taken in the south-eastern Iberian Peninsula (semiarid climate). Sampling included three fire severity levels in naturally regenerated (and changing to shrublands) Pinus halepensis Mill. forests.
In the short-term post-fire period, phosphorus concentration, electrical conductivity and urease activity were positively linked to fire severity, and also influenced β-glucosidade activity in a negative relationship. During the 15–21-year post-fire period, the effects related to medium-high fire severity were negligible and soil quality indicators were linked to natural regeneration success. The results showed that most soil properties recovered in the long term after fire (21 years).
These outcomes will help managers and stakeholders to implement management tools to stabilise soils and to restore burned ecosystems affected by medium-high fire severity. Such knowledge can be considered in adaptive forest management to reduce the negative effects of wildfires and desertification, and to improve the resilience of vulnerable ecosystems in a global change scenario.
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•The plant-soil interphase is related to fire severity and post-fire time.•Fire severity affects ecosystem recovery in the short term.•Plant recovery promotes soil biochemical recovery in the mid term.•Soil properties recover in the long term after fire (21 years).•The plant-soil window for natural recovery in semiarid areas is 15–21 years.
Fires are a complex phenomenon that may generate a chain of responses and processes that affect each part of the ecosystem. Thus, it is important to understand the magnitude of the impacts of fire on ...soil properties and the response of plants to this disturbance. For the moment, few studies have examined the effects of prescribed fire on large plots in afforested pine plantations in Mediterranean ecosystems. To fill this gap, the effects of a prescribed fire on runoff, soil erosion, and water quality for approximately one year after burning have been evaluated in pine plantations in south-eastern Spain. We constructed six erosion plots in the control area and six erosion plots in the burned area that were 4 m long and 2 m wide, immediately after the prescribed fire. Runoff, soil erosion and runoff water quality were studied after each rainy event in all plots. Our results reveal that prescribed fire did not significantly affect runoff and soil erosion when low intensity precipitations occur at pine plantations. In relation to water quality, water turbidity, salinity, pH, organic matter content and ionic substances concentrations increased immediately after prescribed burn, nevertheless these changes disappeared over time. We can conclude that prescribed fire can be a useful tool for fuel reduction in Mediterranean pine plantations without wide and long-term impacts to soil losses, or water quality.
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•Prescribed fires do not significantly affect runoff at pine plantations.•Low intensity prescribed burns seems not to affect soil erosion at pine plantations.•Runoff water quality parameters were slightly affected by prescribed fire.•Rain intensity may modulate runoff generation and erosion at pine plantations.
Postfire restoration practices encompass those which aim to reduce negative wildfire impacts and to improve burned area rehabilitation. Contour-felled log debris (CFD) and log erosion barriers (LEB) ...are two techniques used worldwide on hillslopes after wildfires in order to avoid soil erosion. In this context, it is essential to evaluate how these restoration techniques can affect soil properties by increasing or decreasing wildfire impacts. The effects on several physico-chemical and biological soil parameters were here investigated by comparing three differently treated post-fire zones. Three randomly 20 × 20 m distributed plots were set up five years after wildfire in the burned and contour-felled log debris areas (CFD plots), three others in the burned and log erosion barriers area (LEB plots) and three others in the burned and unmanaged plots (BNa plots). Three more plots were set up in an unburned area close to the burned area (UB plots). The results revealed that LEB and, to a lesser extent CFD, improved postfire soil quality, which a priori favoured helped the recovery of ecosystem functions. Our results also indicate greater efficacy of LEB and CFD in retaining sediments by limiting loss of nutrients, which is considered essential to recover vegetation after a wildfire. Post-fire restoration plans should consider the use of LEB and CFD when aiming to favour ecosystem recovery processes after wildfires.
•Hillslope treatments improve the microbiological soil properties.•Soil properties improvement is more clearly in log erosion barriers.•Contour-felled log debris and log erosion barriers generate higher SOM.•Log erosion barriers make higher nutrient content.
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