Current ambient ozone levels mitigate the effect of Puccinia striiformis on wheat: Is Mediterranean wheat ready for pre-industrial background ozone levels?

Increasing surface ozone is a main concern for crop production in the Global Change framework, especially in the Mediterranean basin where climate conditions favor its photochemical formation. Meanwhile, increasing common crop diseases, such as yellow rust, one of the most important pathogens affecting global wheat production has been detected in the area in recent decades. However, the impact of O3 on the occurrence and impact of fungal diseases is scarcely understood. A close-to-field-conditions assay (Open Top Chamber facility) situated in a Mediterranean cereal rainfed farming area was carried out to study the impact of increasing O3 levels and N-fertilization on spontaneous fungal outbreaks in wheat. Four O3-fumigation levels reproducing pre-industrial to future pollutant atmospheres with additional 20 and 40 nL L-1 over the ambient levels were considered (7 h-mean ranging from 28 to 86 nL L-1). Two top N-fertilization supplementations (100 and 200 kg ha-1) were nested within the O3 treatments; foliar damage, pigment content and gas exchange parameters were measured. Pre-industrial natural background O3 levels strongly favored the yellow rust infection, where the O3-polluted levels currently observed at the farm highly benefited the crop, mitigating the presence of rust by 22 %. However, future expected high O3-levels neutralized the beneficial infection-controlling effect by inducing early wheat senescence, decreasing the chlorophyll index of the older leaves by up to 43 % under the higher O3 exposure. Nitrogen promoted the rust infection by up to 49.5 % without interacting with the O3-factor. Achieving future air quality standards might require considering new varietal improvement programs, to be able to adapt crops to an increased pathogen tolerance without requiring the assistance provided by O3-pollution.

A critical review on the use of artificial neural networks in olive oil production, characterization and authentication.

Artificial neural networks (ANN) are computationally based mathematical tools inspired by the fundamental cell of the nervous system, the neuron. ANN constitute a simplified artificial replica of the human brain consisting of parallel processing neural elements similar to neurons in living beings. ANN is able to store large amounts of experimental information to be used for generalization with the aid of an appropriate prediction model. ANN has proved useful for a variety of biological, medical, economic and meteorological purposes, and in agro-food science and technology. The olive oil industry has a substantial weight in Mediterranean's economy. The different steps of the olive oil production process, which include olive tree and fruit care, fruit harvest, mechanical and chemical processing, and oil packaging have been examined in depth with a view to their optimization, and so have the authenticity, sensory properties and other quality-related properties of olive oil. This paper reviews existing literature on the use of bioinformatics predictive methods based on ANN in connection with the production, processing and characterization of olive oil. It examines the state of the art in bioinformatics tools for optimizing or predicting its quality with a view to identifying potential deficiencies or aspects for improvement.

Developing ozone critical levels for multi-species canopies of Mediterranean annual pastures.

Ozone (O3) critical levels (CLe) are still poorly developed for herbaceous vegetation. They are currently based on single species responses which do not reflect the multi-species nature of semi-natural vegetation communities. Also, the potential effects of other factors like the nitrogen (N) input are not considered in their derivation, making their use uncertain under natural conditions. Exposure- and dose-response relationships were derived from two open-top chamber experiments exposing a mixture of 6 representative annual Mediterranean pasture species growing in natural soil to 4 O3 fumigation levels and 3 N inputs. The Deposition of O3 and Stomatal Exchange model (DO3SE) was modified to account for the multi-species nature of the canopy following a big-leaf approach. This new approach was used for estimating a multi-species phytotoxic O3 dose (PODy-MS). Response relationships were derived based on O3 exposure (AOT40) and flux (PODy-MS) indices. The treatment effects were similar in the two seasons: O3 reduced the aboveground biomass growth and N modulated this response. Gas exchange rates presented a high inter-specific variability and important inter-annual fluctuations as a result of varying growing conditions during the two years. The AOT40-based relationships were not statistically significant except when the highest N input was considered alone. In contrast, PODy-MS relationships were all significant but for the lowest N input level. The influence of the N input on the exposure- and dose-response relationships implies that N can modify the O3 CLe. However, this is an aspect that has not been considered so far in the methodologies for establishing O3 CLe. Averaging across N input levels, a multi-species O3 CLe (CLef-MS) is proposed POD1-MS = 7.9 mmol m-2, accumulated over 1.5 month with a 95% confidence interval of (5.9, 9.8). Further efforts will be needed for comparing the CLef-MS with current O3 CLef based on single species responses.

Ozone levels in the Spanish Sierra de Guadarrama mountain range are above the thresholds for plant protection: analysis at 2262, 1850, and 995 m a.s.l.

The Sierra de Guadarrama mountain range, located at 60 km from Madrid City (Spain), includes high valuable ecosystems following an altitude gradient, some of them protected under the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park. The characteristic Mediterranean climatic conditions and the precursors emitted from Madrid favor a high photochemical production of ozone (O3) in the region. However, very little information is available about the patterns and levels of O3 and other air pollutants in the high elevation areas and their potential effects on vegetation. Ozone levels were monitored at three altitudes (2262, 1850, and 995 m a.s.l.) for at least 3 years within the 2005-2011 period. NO x and SO2 were also recorded at the highest and lowest altitude sites. Despite the inter-annual and seasonal variations detected in the O3 concentrations, the study revealed that SG is exposed to a chronic O3 pollution. The two high elevation sites showed high O3 levels even in winter and at nighttime, having low correlation with local meteorological variables. At the lower elevation site, O3 levels were more related with local meteorological and pollution conditions. Ozone concentrations at the three sites exceeded the thresholds for the protection of human health and vegetation according to the European Air Quality Directive (EU/50/2008) and the thresholds for vegetation protection of the CLRTAP. Ozone should be considered as a stress factor for the health of the Sierra de Guadarrama mountain ecosystems. Furthermore, since O3 levels at foothills differ from concentration in high elevation, monitoring stations in mountain ranges should be incorporated in regional air quality monitoring networks.

Setting ozone critical levels for annual Mediterranean pasture species: Combined analysis of open-top chamber experiments.

Annual Dehesa-type pastures comprise semi-natural vegetation communities dominated by annual species characteristic of the Mediterranean basin areas of Southern Europe. This study analyses all the datasets available on the effects of ozone (O3) on annual pasture species in order to review and propose new exposure- and flux-based O3 critical levels (CLes) following the methodology of the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP). Based on the potential effect on pastures main ecosystem services, the availability of data and the statistical significance of the regressions, three variables have been selected for establishing CLes: total above-ground biomass, consumable food value (CFV), as a nutritional quality index, and reproductive capacity based on flower and seed production. New CLes proposed for a 10% loss (with 95% confidence intervals between brackets) of above-ground biomass and reproductive capacity were, respectively, AOT40=3.1 (2.6, 3.8) and 2.0 (1.5, 2.8) ppmh and POD1=12.2 (8.9, 15.5) and 7.2 (1.1, 13.3) mmolm(-2). The provisional AOT40- and POD1-based CLes for CFV were 2.3 (1.6, 4.0) ppmh and 4.6 (2.7, 6.5) mmolm(-2) respectively. By using only O3-sensitive species for the exposure and dose-response functions, the proposed CLes should be used for risk assessments. Their use for quantifying O3 damage may lead to an overestimation of the effects.

Heterogeneous responses to ozone and nitrogen alter the species composition of Mediterranean annual pastures.

Air pollution represents a threat to biodiversity throughout the world and particularly in the Mediterranean area, where high tropospheric ozone (O3) concentrations and atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition are frequently recorded. Mediterranean annual pastures are among the most important ecosystems in southern Europe due to their high biodiversity and extension. Aiming to study the responses of these communities to the main atmospheric pollutants in the Mediterranean region, an experimental study was performed in an open-top chamber (OTC) facility. A mixture of six species representative of annual pastures was grown under field conditions inside the OTC. Plants were exposed for 39 days to four O3 treatments and three doses of N. The species responded heterogeneously to both factors. Legumes did not react to N but were very sensitive to O3: Trifolium species responded negatively, while Ornithopus responded positively, taking advantage of the greater sensitivity of clovers to O3. The grasses and the herb were more tolerant of O3 and grasses were the most responsive to N. Significant interactions between factors indicated a loss of effectiveness of N in O3-polluted atmospheres and an ability of O3 to counterbalance the damage induced by N input, but both effects were dependent on O3 and N levels. The inclusion of plant competition in the experimental design was necessary to reveal results that would otherwise be missed, such as the positive growth responses under elevated O3 levels. Surprisingly, competition within the legume family played the most important role in the overall response of the annual community to O3. Both tropospheric O3 and N deposition should be considered important drivers of the structure and biodiversity of Mediterranean annual pastures.

An empirical inferential method of estimating nitrogen deposition to Mediterranean-type ecosystems: the San Bernardino Mountains case study.

The empirical inferential method (EIM) allows for spatially and temporally-dense estimates of atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition to Mediterranean ecosystems. This method, set within a GIS platform, is based on ambient concentrations of NH3, NO, NO2 and HNO3; surface conductance of NH4(+) and NO3(-); stomatal conductance of NH3, NO, NO2 and HNO3; and satellite-derived LAI. Estimated deposition is based on data collected during 2002-2006 in the San Bernardino Mountains (SBM) of southern California. Approximately 2/3 of dry N deposition was to plant surfaces and 1/3 as stomatal uptake. Summer-season N deposition ranged from <3 kg ha(-1) in the eastern SBM to ∼ 60 kg ha(-1) in the western SBM near the Los Angeles Basin and compared well with the throughfall and big-leaf micrometeorological inferential methods. Extrapolating summertime N deposition estimates to annual values showed large areas of the SBM exceeding critical loads for nutrient N in chaparral and mixed conifer forests.

Nitrogen deposition in Spain: modeled patterns and threatened habitats within the Natura 2000 network.

The Mediterranean Basin presents an extraordinary biological richness but very little information is available on the threat that air pollution, and in particular reactive nitrogen (N), can pose to biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. This study represents the first approach to assess the risk of N enrichment effects on Spanish ecosystems. The suitability of EMEP and CHIMERE air quality model systems as tools to identify those areas where effects of atmospheric N deposition could be occurring was tested. For this analysis, wet deposition of NO3(-) and NH4(+) estimated with EMEP and CHIMERE model systems were compared with measured data for the period 2005-2008 obtained from different monitoring networks in Spain. Wet N deposition was acceptably predicted by both models, showing better results for oxidized than for reduced nitrogen, particularly when using CHIMERE. Both models estimated higher wet deposition values in northern and northeastern Spain, and decreasing along a NE-SW axis. Total (wet+dry) nitrogen deposition in 2008 reached maxima values of 19.4 and 23.0 kg N ha(-1) year(-1) using EMEP and CHIMERE models respectively. Total N deposition was used to estimate the exceedance of N empirical critical loads in the Natura 2000 network. Grassland habitats proved to be the most threatened group, particularly in the northern alpine area, pointing out that biodiversity conservation in these protected areas could be endangered by N deposition. Other valuable mountain ecosystems can be also threatened, indicating the need to extend atmospheric deposition monitoring networks to higher altitudes in Spain.

Setting ozone critical levels for protecting horticultural Mediterranean crops: case study of tomato.

Seven experiments carried out in Italy and Spain have been used to parameterising a stomatal conductance model and establishing exposure- and dose-response relationships for yield and quality of tomato with the main goal of setting O3 critical levels (CLe). CLe with confidence intervals, between brackets, were set at an accumulated hourly O3 exposure over 40 nl l(-1), AOT40 = 8.4 (1.2, 15.6) ppm h and a phytotoxic ozone dose above a threshold of 6 nmol m(-2) s(-1), POD6 = 2.7 (0.8, 4.6) mmol m(-2) for yield and AOT40 = 18.7 (8.5, 28.8) ppm h and POD6 = 4.1 (2.0, 6.2) mmol m(-2) for quality, both indices performing equally well. CLe confidence intervals provide information on the quality of the dataset and should be included in future calculations of O3 CLe for improving current methodologies. These CLe, derived for sensitive tomato cultivars, should not be applied for quantifying O3-induced losses at the risk of making important overestimations of the economical losses associated with O3 pollution.

Drought stress does not protect Quercus ilex L. from ozone effects: results from a comparative study of two subspecies differing in ozone sensitivity.

Long-term effects of ozone (O3) exposure and drought stress were assessed on two subspecies of Quercus ilex: ssp. ilex and ssp. ballota. Two-year-old seedlings were continuously exposed for 26 months in open-top chambers to three O3 treatments: charcoal filtered air, non-filtered air and non-filtered air supplemented with 40 nl · l(-1) O3. Additionally, two irrigation regimes were adopted: half of the plants were well-watered and the others received half of the water supplied to control plants. Growth, shoot water potential and gas exchange rates were assessed seasonally, and biomass accumulation was determined at the end of the experiment. Drought stress caused higher reductions of gas exchange, growth and biomass accumulation than O3 exposure in both subspecies. The combination of O3 and drought stress caused further decreases of accumulated aboveground biomass but no additive effects were observed on gas exchange rates or root biomass. Thus, drought stress did not protect Q. ilex from O3 effects on biomass when the response of the whole plant was considered. Q. ilex ssp. ballota was more sensitive to O3 and ssp. ilex was more affected by drought stress. The different O3 sensitivity was not only related to pollutant uptake but also to the ability of plants for resource acquisition and allocation. Based on biomass dose-response functions, Q. ilex is more resistant to O3 than other European evergreen tree species, however, O3 represents an additional stress factor that might be impairing plant ability to withstand current and future climate change.

Plant phenology, growth and nutritive quality of Briza maxima: responses induced by enhanced ozone atmospheric levels and nitrogen enrichment.

An assessment of the effects of tropospheric ozone (O(3)) levels and substrate nitrogen (N) supplementation, singly and in combination, on phenology, growth and nutritive quality of Briza maxima was carried out. Two serial experiments were developed in Open-Top Chambers (OTC) using three O(3) and three N levels. Increased O(3) exposure did not affect the biomass-related parameters, but enhanced senescence, increased fiber foliar content (especially lignin concentration) and reduced plant life span; these effects were related to senescence acceleration induced by the pollutant. Added N increased plant biomass production and improved nutritive quality by decreasing foliar fiber concentration. Interestingly, the effects of N supplementation depended on meteorological conditions and plant physiological activity. N supplementation counteracted the O(3)-induced senescence but did not modify the effects on nutritive quality. Nutritive quality and phenology should be considered in new definitions of the O(3) limits for the protection of herbaceous vegetation.

[Accidental dural puncture during epidural injection of corticosteroids: a different approach?]. / Punción dural accidental en la infiltración epidural con corticoide. Un abordaje diferente?

We report 6 cases diagnosed with accidental dural puncture after epidural injection of corticosteroids for low back pain. All the patients reported postdural puncture headache during their stay in the postanesthetic recovery unit. For 3 patients, pain resolved with treatment given in the recovery unit. Two other patients also required mild analgesics for 1 week. In the last patient, a blood patch was used to treat incapacitating headache 22 days after the epidural procedure and mild analgesics were needed for 4 more weeks. It is important to establish a protocol for treating postdural puncture headache in pain clinics to facilitate decision making. Good physician-patient communication is necessary to avoid refusals for permission for other epidural techniques and to facilitate management of symptoms.

Punción dural accidental en la infiltración epidural con corticoide. ¿Un abordaje diferente? / Accidental dural puncture during epidural injection of corticosteroids: a different approach?

Presentamos los 6 casos de pacientes en los que sediagnosticó una punción dural accidental tras infiltraciónepidural con corticoide por lumbociatalgia. Todos refirieroncefalea postpunción dural durante su permanenciaen la Unidad de Recuperación Postanestésica. En 3 deellos la cefalea remitió con los tratamientos recibidos enesta unidad, dos pacientes necesitaron además tratamientocon analgésicos menores durante 1 semana y en el últimopaciente se realizó un parche hemático por cefaleainvalidante a los 22 días de la infiltración y tratamientocon analgésicos menores durante 4 semanas más.Es importante disponer de un protocolo de tratamientode Cefalea Postpunción Dural en los pacientes entratamiento en las Unidades de Dolor para facilitar latoma de decisiones, y es fundamental un buen entendimientomédico-paciente para evitar negativas ante nuevastécnicas epidurales y facilitar el abordaje del cuadro

We report 6 cases diagnosed with accidental duralpuncture after epidural injection of corticosteroids forlow back pain. All the patients reported postdural punctureheadache during their stay in the postanestheticrecovery unit. For 3 patients, pain resolved with treatmentgiven in the recovery unit. Two other patients alsorequired mild analgesics for 1 week. In the last patient,a blood patch was used to treat incapacitating headache22 days after the epidural procedure and mild analgesicswere needed for 4 more weeks.It is important to establish a protocol for treating postduralpuncture headache in pain clinics to facilitate decisionmaking. Good physician-patient communication isnecessary to avoid refusals for permission for other epiduraltechniques and to facilitate management of symptoms

[Postoperative autotransfusion in primary knee replacement surgery]. / Autotransfusión postoperatoria en la cirugía protésica primaria de rodilla.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy of postoperative autologous transfusion to reduce homologous blood transfusion needs in primary knee replacement surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective study was carried out in 33 consecutive patients with diagnoses of arthrosis scheduled for primary knee replacement surgery with postoperative autotransfusion using a CBCII Constavac-Stryker (Stryker Instruments, Michigan, USA) recovery system from June through October 2002. We analyzed patient age, sex, preoperative and postoperative (24 hours) hemoglobin and hematocrit values, autologous blood reinfused and homologous blood transfusion incidence rate (if hematocrit was below 25%). RESULTS: Of the 33 patients receiving postoperative autotransfusion, one also needed homologous blood transfusion (3%). The mean volume of filtered whole blood reinfused was 538.63+/-261.23 mL, 1100 mL being the largest volume reinfused. We observed no complications related to use of autotransfusion devices during the perioperative period. CONCLUSIONS: Postoperative autotransfusion as the only blood salvage technique in primary knee prosthesis surgery nearly eliminates homologous transfusion needs. In addition, it is a safe, simple procedure and has replaced our hospital's preoperative autologous transfusion procedure.

Resultados de un programa de cirugía mayorambulatoria, implicaciones en el manejo anestésico / No disponible

INTRODUCCIÓN: El objetivo es revisar las complicaciones postoperatorias en Cirugía Mayor Ambulatoria y la incidencia de ingresos no planificados y su relación con el manejo anestésico. MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS: Se revisaron 1598casos de Cirugía Mayor Ambulatoria desde Enero de2000 a Agosto de 2002 con la siguiente distribución por especialidades: 570 (35,7%) de Traumatología,476 (29,8%) de Cirugía general, 238 (14,9%) de Oftalmología, 224 (14%) de Ginecología y 89 (5,6%)de Otorrinolaringología. RESULTADOS: Se obtuvo un 6,6% de ingresos no planificados, 0,6% acudieron a urgencias y 3,7%reflejaron mal estado general en el control telefónico. De los ingresos no planificados por causa anestésica, lo más frecuente fue por retención urinaria(18%), en el 85% de los casos asociada a raquianestesia con bupivacaína a dosis superiores a 10 mg, seguido de nauseas/vómitos (17%), en el 89,4% asociados a Anestesia general. En los que acudieron a urgencias (30%) y reflejaron malestar general en el control telefónico (74%), lo más frecuente fue dolor. CONCLUSIONES: En Anestesia regional recomendamos bloqueos periféricos en lugar de bloqueo del neuroeje siempre que sea posible, comenzando la analgesia antes de desaparecer el efecto anestésico. En raquianestesia usar dosis bajas de anestésico local (bupivacaína a dosis menores de 10 mg), no recomendando opiáceosintratecales (excepto 10 mg de fentanilo), no forzando la administración de líquidos para disminuirla incidencia de retención urinaria. En Anestesia general suplementar con Anestesia local siempre que se pueda para usar la menor cantidad de opiáceo y disminuír la incidencia de naúseas/vómitos y retención urinaria (AU)

INTRODUCTION: The primary goal was to review postoperative complications in ambulatory surgical patients and the rate of unanticipated admissions and their relationships with anaesthetic management. METHODS: We surveyed 1598 ambulatory surgical patients from January 2000 to August 2002 divided into the following specialties (distributed as follows): Traumatology, 570 (35.7%), General Surgery, 476 (29.8%), Ophthalmology, 238 (14.9%),Gynaecology, 224 (14%), and Otolaryngology, 89(5.6%).RESULTS: The following results were obtained: unanticipated admissions, 6.6%; emergency room consultations, 0.6%; and reports of discomfort on telephone follow-up the day after discharge, 3.7%.When evaluating anaesthetic causes for unanticipated admissions, the most common was urinary retention (18%); 85% of which was associated to (..) (AU)

[Independent pulmonary ventilation as a treatment in the re-expansion of atelectasis]. / Ventilación pulmonar independiente como tratamiento en la reexpansión de atelectasias.

Two patients with respiratory failure were treated with independent lung ventilation (ILV). During their clinical course they developed atelectasis without response to usual therapies. The use of ILV and selective positive end-expiratory pressure (S-PEEP) allowed lung expansion and oxymetric improvement. With the ILV plus S-PEEP we tried to correct the abnormal ventilation/perfusion ratio. ILV plus S-PEEP increases both the ventilation in the highly perfused areas, and the functional residual capacity selectively in the pathologic lung in unilateral affection cases.

Vagal influence on the adrenocortical function of the rat.

The vagal influence on the fasciculata's function was studied in 23 Wistar male rats. The corticoadrenal function was evaluated by means of karyometric and histological studies. After vagotomy, the fasciculata of the left adrenal (operated side) showed a significant increase of the nuclear area in comparison with the right (control) side. This side difference was maintained in the stressed rats. In these animals the nuclear area did not increase significantly in either of the two adrenals. These results lead to the following conclusions: the vagus nerve, in normal conditions, has an inhibitory influence on the adrenal cortex; the vagal participation in the corticoadrenal response to a neurogenic stressor is meagre; the inhibitory vagal action on the fasciculata must be direct since the corticoadrenal modifications were unilateral, whereas, if the vagal influence were exerted through the hypophysis, the adrenal reaction should be bilateral; and, finally, the participation of the vagus nerve in the adrenal vascular disorders, which appeared in the stressed rats, seems to be insignificant since both glands, vagotomized and non vagotomized, showed a similar appearance.