A comprehensive spatial-temporal analysis of driving factors of human-caused wildfires in Spain using Geographically Weighted Logistic Regression.

Over the last decades, authorities responsible on forest fire have encouraged research on fire triggering factors, recognizing this as a critical point to achieve a greater understanding of fire occurrence patterns and improve preventive measures. The key objectives of this study are to investigate and analyze spatial-temporal changes in the contribution of wildfire drivers in Spain, and provide deeper insights into the influence of fire features: cause, season and size. We explored several subsets of fire occurrence combining cause (negligence/accident and arson), season (summer-spring and winter-fall) and size (<1 Ha, 1-100 Ha and >100 Ha). The analysis is carried out fitting Geographically Weighted Logistic Regression models in two separate time periods (1988-1992, soon after Spain joined the European Union; and 2006-2010, after several decades of forest management). Our results suggest that human factors are losing performance with climate factors taking over, which may be ultimately related to the success in recent prevention policies. In addition, we found strong differences in the performance of occurrence models across subsets, thus models based on long-term historical fire records might led to misleading conclusions. Overall, fire management should move towards differential prevention measurements and recommendations due to the observed variability in drivers' behavior over time and space, paying special attention to winter fires.

Conjunctival tumors in children: histopathologic diagnosis in 165 cases.

PURPOSE: Conjunctival tissue tumors have a varied presentation, and few series studies on pediatric patients have been published. The objective of this paper is to report the histopathologic diagnoses (spanning over 1988-2013) of conjunctival tumors in children younger than 14 years. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective, descriptive, and observational study by reviewing the database of all children in whom a conjunctival tumor was surgically removed at Hospital de Ojos y Oídos "Dr. Rodolfo Robles V.," Benemérito Comité Pro Ciegos y Sordos de Guatemala. The data pertaining to gender, age, and histopathologic diagnosis of all cases was collected. The same ocular pathologist made all diagnoses. RESULTS: One hundred sixty-five cases were found, with a mean age of 7.88 years, being 91 (55.15%) male subjects. Melanocytic lesions were the most common tumors found (30.91% of cases), with only one case (0.60%) being malignant. CONCLUSIONS: Melanocytic lesions were the most common tumors found, and of all the cases, only one was malignant; this was in a patient with xeroderma pigmentosum. These findings are consistent with those reported in other studies regarding the frequencies of the histopathology of conjunctival tumors in the pediatric population.

Conjunctival tumors in children: histopathologic diagnosis in 165 cases / Tumores conjuntival em crianças: diagnóstico histopatológico em 165 casos

ABSTRACT Purpose: Conjunctival tissue tumors have a varied presentation, and few series studies on pediatric patients have been published. The objective of this paper is to report the histopathologic diagnoses (spanning over 1988-2013) of conjunctival tumors in children younger than 14 years. Methods: We conducted a retrospective, descriptive, and observational study by reviewing the database of all children in whom a conjunctival tumor was surgically removed at Hospital de Ojos y Oídos "Dr. Rodolfo Robles V.," Benemérito Comité Pro Ciegos y Sordos de Guatemala. The data pertaining to gender, age, and histopathologic diagnosis of all cases was collected. The same ocular pathologist made all diagnoses. Results: One hundred sixty-five cases were found, with a mean age of 7.88 years, being 91 (55.15%) male subjects. Melanocytic lesions were the most common tumors found (30.91% of cases), with only one case (0.60%) being malignant. Conclusions: Melanocytic lesions were the most common tumors found, and of all the cases, only one was malignant; this was in a patient with xeroderma pigmentosum. These findings are consistent with those reported in other studies regarding the frequencies of the histopathology of conjunctival tumors in the pediatric population.

RESUMO Objetivo: Tumores do tecido conjuntival tem uma apresentação variada. Poucas séries de pacientes pediátricos foram publicadas. O objetivo deste trabalho é apresentar os diagnósticos histopatológicos de tumores conjuntivais em crianças com menos de 14 anos de idade, obtidas durante um período de 25 anos. Métodos: Estudo retrospectivo, descritivo e observacional foi realizado. Nós revisamos o banco de dados de todas as crianças em quem um tumor conjuntival foi removido cirurgicamente no Hospital de Ojos y oidos "Dr. Rodolfo Robles V.," Benemérito Comité Pro Ciegos y Sordos de Guatemala. Sexo, idade e diagnóstico histopatológico de todos os casos foram compilados. O mesmo patologista ocular fez todos os diagnósticos. Resultados: Cento e sessenta e cinco casos foram encontrados, com média de 7,88 anos, sendo 91 (55,15%) do sexo masculino. Lesões melanocíticas foram as mais frequentes (30,91% dos casos). Apenas um caso (0,60%) era maligno. Conclusões: Lesões melanocíticas foram as mais frequentes. Do total, apenas uma lesão era maligna, o que correspondeu a um paciente com xeroderma pigmentoso. Estes resultados são consistentes com o relatado em outros estudos quanto à frequência de diagnóstico histopatológico de tumores da conjuntiva na população pediátrica.

Modelling the ecological vulnerability to forest fires in mediterranean ecosystems using geographic information technologies.

Forest fires represent a major driver of change at the ecosystem and landscape levels in the Mediterranean region. Environmental features and vegetation are key factors to estimate the ecological vulnerability to fire; defined as the degree to which an ecosystem is susceptible to, and unable to cope with, adverse effects of fire (provided a fire occurs). Given the predicted climatic changes for the region, it is urgent to validate spatially explicit tools for assessing this vulnerability in order to support the design of new fire prevention and restoration strategies. This work presents an innovative GIS-based modelling approach to evaluate the ecological vulnerability to fire of an ecosystem, considering its main components (soil and vegetation) and different time scales. The evaluation was structured in three stages: short-term (focussed on soil degradation risk), medium-term (focussed on changes in vegetation), and coupling of the short- and medium-term vulnerabilities. The model was implemented in two regions: Aragón (inland North-eastern Spain) and Valencia (eastern Spain). Maps of the ecological vulnerability to fire were produced at a regional scale. We partially validated the model in a study site combining two complementary approaches that focused on testing the adequacy of model's predictions in three ecosystems, all very common in fire-prone landscapes of eastern Spain: two shrublands and a pine forest. Both approaches were based on the comparison of model's predictions with values of NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), which is considered a good proxy for green biomass. Both methods showed that the model's performance is satisfactory when applied to the three selected vegetation types.

Validez de las tinciones de Giemsa y Lendrum en frotis conjuntivales para la identificación de Chlamydia trachomatis / Validity of Giemsa and Lendrum stains in conjunctival smears for the identification of Chlamydia trachomatis

Con el oobjeto de encontrar pruebas diagnósticas confiables, válidas y económicas para identificar Chlamydia trachomatis en frotes conjuntivales, se evaluó la sensibilidad, especificidad y los valores predictivos positivo y negativo de las tinciones de Lendrum y Giemsa empleando como prueba de oro la inmunofluorescencia directa. Asimismo, se estimó la reproducibilidad inter e intraobservador empleando dos observadores independientes. Las lecturas se efectuaron a ciegas. La prevalencia de clamidiasis ocular en la zona del estudio oscilaba alrededor de 50 por ciento. En total se estudiaron 103 personas (206 ojos). A cada una se le hicieron frotis de cada ojo. Para estimar la reproducibilidad de las tinciones, se empleó el estadístico kappa. La reproducibilidad interobservador fue nula y la reproducibilidad intraobservador varió entré 0,35 y 0,79. La sensibilidad de la tinción de Giemsa es un poco más alta que la de Lendrum (28 por ciento y 22 por ciento respectivamente), y la especificidad, similiar (82 por ciento y 85 por ciento), respectivamente). Por consiguiente, la capacidad de ambas tinciones para detectar casos positivos es baja, así como su confiabilidad. Las tinciones de Lendrum y Giemsa no constituyen pruebas adecuadas para el diagnóstico de clamidiasis ocular. Para este propósito se recomienda utilizar la inmunofluorescencia directa

Validez de las tinciones de Giemsa y Lendrum en frotis conjuntivales para la identificación de Chlamydia trachomatis / Validity of Giemsa and Lendrum stains in conjunctival smears for the identification of Chlamydia trachomatis

Con el oobjeto de encontrar pruebas diagnósticas confiables, válidas y económicas para identificar Chlamydia trachomatis en frotes conjuntivales, se evaluó la sensibilidad, especificidad y los valores predictivos positivo y negativo de las tinciones de Lendrum y Giemsa empleando como prueba de oro la inmunofluorescencia directa. Asimismo, se estimó la reproducibilidad inter e intraobservador empleando dos observadores independientes. Las lecturas se efectuaron a ciegas. La prevalencia de clamidiasis ocular en la zona del estudio oscilaba alrededor de 50 por ciento. En total se estudiaron 103 personas (206 ojos). A cada una se le hicieron frotis de cada ojo. Para estimar la reproducibilidad de las tinciones, se empleó el estadístico kappa. La reproducibilidad interobservador fue nula y la reproducibilidad intraobservador varió entré 0,35 y 0,79. La sensibilidad de la tinción de Giemsa es un poco más alta que la de Lendrum (28 por ciento y 22 por ciento respectivamente), y la especificidad, similiar (82 por ciento y 85 por ciento), respectivamente). Por consiguiente, la capacidad de ambas tinciones para detectar casos positivos es baja, así como su confiabilidad. Las tinciones de Lendrum y Giemsa no constituyen pruebas adecuadas para el diagnóstico de clamidiasis ocular. Para este propósito se recomienda utilizar la inmunofluorescencia directa