Value-added products from wastewater reduce irrigation needs of Arundo donax energy crop.

Irrigation restrictions due to drought periods related to climate change, would affect different crops, especially to non-food crops. In this regard the effect of irrigation reduction should be studied in energy crops in order to obtain a sustainable bioenergy cropping system. Arundo donax, has been considered a crop with high water requirements, it has nevertheless been proven to be drought tolerant. However, there is a lack of knowledge on the effect of reduced irrigation combined with the use of different fertilizers. This work studied the combined effect of value-added products (VAPs) from wastewater (treated sewage sludge) or traditional inorganic fertilizers, and irrigation reduction in Arundo donax crop in a 2-year pot experiment. Plant biometric characteristics, chemical properties and biomass yield were studied as well as the effect of treatment on soil properties. Results showed that under reduced irrigation conditions, biomass production was reduced, especially during the second year. Organic treatments from sewage sludge minimize the effect of irrigation reduction. In these treatments, biomass yield for reduced irrigation was similar to that of the control treatment with irrigation at field capacity. For this reason, it is recommended to use VAPs from wastewater as organic amendments enabling water restriction with lower effect on Arundo production.

Late Quaternary environmental dynamics in Lenin Peak area (Pamir Mountains, Kyrgyzstan).

The Pamir Mountains include peaks exceeding 7000 m, such as Lenin Peak (7134 m) in the northern Zaalai Range. Here, we examine the distribution of soils and geomorphological processes and landforms in its northern slope, from the highest glaciated environments until Alai valley floor. We present the first geomorphological map of the study area as well as an accurate description the main geomorphological units in order to reconstruct landscape dynamics in the area from Quaternary cold stages until present-day. Five main units are distributed: (1) valley floor (2900-3040 m), an area that must have been ice-free during Quaternary glaciations and is currently being reshaped by glaciofluvial processes, with a large alluvial fan reworked by aeolian activity; (2) hummocky terrain (3040-3500 m) including two moraine systems left by a piedmont glacier during the Last Glaciation as well as hilly deposits originated by a catastrophic rockfall event; (3) U-shaped glacial valley (3500-3800 m), including some moraine ridges as well as a sedimentary cover composed of glacial till that is being eroded by fluvial and mass-wasting processes; (4) high mountain valleys (up to 4600-4800 m) adjacent to the main valley floor with small cirque and alpine glaciers and widespread periglacial processes in ice-free environments; (5) glaciers flowing from the Lenin Peak summit until the foot of the mountain, where they form a debris-covered (surge-type) glacier. The existence of abundant glacial, periglacial and rockfall deposits (moraines, till, erratic boulders) allows inferring five different environmental stages since the Last Glaciation. The latest glacial advances took place during the 20th century and the Little Ice Age and deposited two moraine systems near the glacial front. The occurrence of active rock glaciers and protalus lobes indicates that the limit of permafrost conditions is now located at 3400-3500 m, with seasonal frozen ground in lower areas.

Glacial stages and post-glacial environmental evolution in the Upper Garonne valley, Central Pyrenees.

The maximum glacial extent in the Central Pyrenees during the Last Glaciation is known to have occurred before the global Last Glacial Maximum, but the succession of cold events afterwards and their impact on the landscape are still relatively unknown. This study focuses on the environmental evolution in the upper valley of the Garonne River since the Last Glaciation. Geomorphological mapping allows analysis of the spatial distribution of inherited and current processes and landforms in the study area. The distribution of glacial records (moraines, till, erratic boulders, glacial thresholds) suggests the existence of four glacial stages, from the maximum expansion to the end of the glaciation. GIS modeling allows quantification of the Equilibrium Line Altitude, extent, thickness and volume of ice in each glacial stage. During the first stage, the Garonne glacier reached 460m in the Loures-Barousse-Barbazan basin, where it formed a piedmont glacier 88km from the head and extended over 960km2. At a second stage of glacier stabilization during the deglaciation process, the valley glaciers were 12-23km from the head until elevations of 1000-1850m, covering an area of 157km2. Glaciers during stage three remained isolated in the upper parts of the valley, at heights of 2050-2200m and 2.6-4.5km from the head, with a glacial surface of 16km2. In stage four, cirque glaciers were formed between 2260m and 2590m, with a length of 0.4-2km and a glacial area of 5.7km2. Also, the wide range of periglacial, slope, nival and alluvial landforms existing in the formerly glaciated environments allows reconstruction of the post-glacial environmental dynamics in the upper Garonne basin. Today, the highest lands are organized following three elevation belts: subnival (1500-1900m), nival (1900-2300m) and periglacial/cryonival (2300-2800m).

Spatial characterization of glacial and periglacial landforms in the highlands of Sierra Nevada (Spain).

Sierra Nevada constitutes the southernmost and highest massif in the Iberian Peninsula, with elevations exceeding 3000m. Two large glacial advances were recorded during the Last Glaciation and several minor advances occurred until the Early Holocene. Since then, periglacial activity has prevailed above 2500m. Here, we present a new and more accurate geomorphological map of the highlands of Sierra Nevada, integrating in a GIS environment i) high resolution satellite imagery, ii) topographic data, and iii) field observations. This approach has allowed a better characterization of the spatial extent of cold-climate morphogenic processes and associated landforms formed during the Last Glaciation and subsequent deglaciation. Despite its extension and high altitude, the steep relief of Sierra Nevada and its southern location conditioned a significantly lower glaciated surface (104.6km2) with respect to other Iberian massifs. We have also inferred the paleoclimatic conditions of the study area through the calculation of Equilibrium Line Altitudes (ELAs). The distribution of the lowest moraines suggests an ELA for the maximum glacial extent at 2525m in the northern slope and 2650m in the southern side, increasing towards the east. Local ELA differences are related to: (i) the influence of the warmer Mediterranean Sea in contrast to the cooler Atlantic Ocean, (ii) the climate with more continental characteristics on the northern slope, and (iii) the microscale control of the local topography. Mean annual air temperatures in the ice-free summit plateaus were between -4/-6°C during the maximum local glacial extent, determining permafrost conditions with intense periglacial dynamics. Rock glaciers and protalus lobes developed until 2500m, the lowest boundary for permafrost regime. The distribution of other glacial and periglacial landforms within the limits of the maximum ice extent provides evidence to better understand the extent of subsequent glacial stages and post-glacial landscape evolution in Sierra Nevada.

Recent regional climate cooling on the Antarctic Peninsula and associated impacts on the cryosphere.

The Antarctic Peninsula (AP) is often described as a region with one of the largest warming trends on Earth since the 1950s, based on the temperature trend of 0.54°C/decade during 1951-2011 recorded at Faraday/Vernadsky station. Accordingly, most works describing the evolution of the natural systems in the AP region cite this extreme trend as the underlying cause of their observed changes. However, a recent analysis (Turner et al., 2016) has shown that the regionally stacked temperature record for the last three decades has shifted from a warming trend of 0.32°C/decade during 1979-1997 to a cooling trend of -0.47°C/decade during 1999-2014. While that study focuses on the period 1979-2014, averaging the data over the entire AP region, we here update and re-assess the spatially-distributed temperature trends and inter-decadal variability from 1950 to 2015, using data from ten stations distributed across the AP region. We show that Faraday/Vernadsky warming trend is an extreme case, circa twice those of the long-term records from other parts of the northern AP. Our results also indicate that the cooling initiated in 1998/1999 has been most significant in the N and NE of the AP and the South Shetland Islands (>0.5°C between the two last decades), modest in the Orkney Islands, and absent in the SW of the AP. This recent cooling has already impacted the cryosphere in the northern AP, including slow-down of glacier recession, a shift to surface mass gains of the peripheral glacier and a thinning of the active layer of permafrost in northern AP islands.

Inexistence of permafrost at the top of the Veleta peak (Sierra Nevada, Spain).

A 114.5m deep drilling was carried out in August 2000 in the bedrock of the Veleta peak, at 3380m in the massif of Sierra Nevada, Southern Spain. The objective of this work is to analyse temperatures at the first 60m depth of this drilling from September 2002 to August 2013 based on 11 UTL-1 thermal loggers located at different depths, together with air temperatures at the summit of the Veleta peak. Permanent negative temperatures have not been detected in the borehole, which shows evidence of the absence of widespread permafrost conditions nowadays in the highest lands of this massif. Bedrock temperatures oscillated between 3.2°C at 0.6m depth and 2°C at 20m below the surface. The largest temperature ranges were recorded on the most external sensors until 1.2m depth, where values reached 22.3°C. Seasonal temperature variations were significant until 10m depth. The thickness of the seasonal frozen layer was highly variable (0.6-2m) and dependent on annual climate conditions. The mean air temperature at the Veleta peak increased by 0.12°C during the study period. Bedrock temperatures followed diverging trends: a drop of 0.3-0.4°C down to 0.6m depth, a decrease of up to 0.7°C between 4 and 10m, thermal stability at 20m and a rise of 0.2°C that occurred in 2009 at the deepest sensor at 60m. The calculation of the thermal wave damping in the subsoil of the Veleta peak has allowed for quantifying the thermal diffusivity of the rock as (7.05±0.03)10(-7)m(2)/s, which means that the external climate signal arrives with an 8.5-year lag to the sensor at 60m deep. This allows to deduce a trend change in the climate of the area, moving from warmer conditions towards a trend of cooling from 2006 to 2007.

Measles outbreak in Andalusia, Spain, January to August 2011.

On 7 January 2011, a six year-old child living in a Roma community near Seville, southern Spain, was hospitalised with measles. Contact tracing identified a probable index case with onset of symptoms on 20 December 2011 and several unreported cases among children under the age of 15 years in the same town. The outbreak initially spread in districts in the city of Seville with a high proportion of Roma residents, and later to other cities and towns in Andalusia. While some towns experienced wide spread of the disease with significant clusters of cases, most of the affected locations saw non-clustered cases or very few secondary cases. The outbreak resulted in 1,759 confirmed or probable cases of which 393 (19%) required hospitalisation. Measles virus of genotype D4 was diagnosed in more than half of the cases. Significant differences (p<0.0001) by age group were found between clustered and non-clustered cases. The highest proportion of clustered cases occurred in the age group of 5-14 yearolds, while the highest proportion of non-clustered cases was seen in those older than 29 years. The last confirmed case related to this outbreak was reported on 20 August 2011.

Influence of an experimental fish farm on the spatio-temporal dynamic of a Mediterranean maërl algae community.

This work concerns the monitoring of a Mediterranean maërl bed influenced by an experimental fish cage culture for eighteen months. The maërl bed showed an a priori stratified distribution with depth, which led to the selection of a stratified random sampling design that also took into account the gradient of influence by the fish cages. Maërl coverage and total biomass, macroalgae species richness and community structure as determined from semi-quantitative abundance data were assessed. The content of organic matter sediment was also considered. Sampling campaigns (performed by scuba divers) were carried out six months before the start of the culture, twice during the culture, and two months after the end of the experimental culture. Below the fish cages, the maërl community was almost completely buried and dead blackened calcareous algae were seen beneath a thin layer of sediment prior to the end of the study, and only a few specimens of Lithophyllum racemus, Flabellia petiolata, Gracilaria cylindrica and Meredithia microphylla remained alive. The influence of the experimental culture on the maërl algae community structure bed did not extend beyond the facilities, but a regression of the community was also observed close to the fish cages. Sensitivity to aquaculture activity, and the ecological benefits provided by maërl beds suggest that this community warrants further consideration when planning fish farm site selection and management.

An evaluation of a macroalgal bioassay tool for assessing the spatial extent of nutrient release from offshore fish farms.

In this study we develop and evaluate a macroalgal bioassay tool for monitoring the spatial extent of dissolved wastes loaded from offshore fish farms into the marine coastal ecosystem. This tool is based on the analysis of the nitrogen stable isotope ratio (delta(15)N) in tissues of several benthic primary producers (macroalgae and Posidonia oceanica epiphytes) incubated, by means of incubation devices, in the water column at increasing distances (from 0 m to 1000 m) from the fish cages. The bioassays were performed in three fish farms situated in different geographical locations (the Canary Islands, Murcia and Catalonia) and we test: the suitability of the different macroalgae species used in relation with their resistance to incubation and their sensitivity to fish farm wastes and the most appropriate incubation depth (5 m or approximately 20 m) and incubation time (2, 4 or 6 days) to detect the spatial distribution of delta(15)N around fish farms. In general terms, the results showed a significant increment of delta(15)N values toward the fish cages with respect to the reference (initial) and control values for all the species of macroalgae tested except for the red algae Asparagopsis taxiformis from Canary Islands. The magnitude and shape of the reported spatial responses varied as a function of the experimental settings analyzed as well as a function of the nutrient regime characteristics of each coastal area. The spatial gradient was more consistent in the shallow part of the water column (5 m depth), than in the deeper part ( approximately 20 m) and was statistically significant after an incubation period of four days. These results confirm the effectiveness and reliability of the method proposed, enabling the spatial extent of nutrients derived from fish farms to be assessed in an effective and simple manner, suitable for use in monitoring programs around offshore fish farms.

Inclinación pélvica en el plano sagital. Descripción y validación de un nuevo sistema de medida. Valores normales en 75 sujetos / Pelvic tilt in the sagittal plane. Description and validation of a new measurement method. Normal values in 75 subjects

Las alteraciones de la inclinación pélvica en el plano sagital en bipedestación son importantes en el dolor lumbar crónico y la espondilolistesis. Los métodos habituales que se usan para medir este parámetro necesitan de la realización de radiografías o requieren de aparataje complejo. Se describe un nuevo sistema de medida rápido y fácil de utilizar. El sistema determina la altura respecto al suelo de las espinas ilíacas anterosuperiores y posterosuperiores y las distancias entre sí, y calcula la inclinación del plano que pasa por estos cuatro puntos. Se analizó la reproducibilidad del sistema midiendo de manera repetida un grupo de 12 sujetos. El coeficiente de correlación intraclase intraobservador fue de 0,90 y el interobservador fue de 0,80, por lo que el sistema tiene una buena reproducibilidad. Se analizó la validez del método comparando las medidas obtenidas con las realizadas sobreradiografías laterales de pelvis en 27 sujetos. Se observaron errores medios de 1,3° con una gran correlación entre ambos datos (R2 = 0,68; p < 0,001) por lo que el sistema se considera válido. Se realizaron medidas sobre 75 voluntarios sanos. La inclinación pélvica media fue de 9,88° (desviación estándar [DE]: 5,43°). El análisis de regresión lineal multivariante observó una inclinación pélvica menor en los hombres que en las mujeres (p = 0,044) y que la edad se relaciona inversamente con la inclinación pélvica (p = 0,004)

Variations in pelvic tilt in the sagittal planeare important in chronic lumbar pain and spondylo listhesis. The current methods used to measure this parameter require the use of roentgenograms or need complex instruments. A new method is described that is quick an easy to use. The system determines the height from the floor of the posterior superior and anterior superior iliac spines and the distances between them, and calculates the inclination of the plane that traverses these four points. The reproducibility of the system was assessed with repeated measurements in a group of 12 subjects. The intraobserverintra class correlation coefficient was 0.90 and the interobserver coefficient was 0.80, implicating a good reproducibility. The validity of the system was assessed comparing the measurements with those obtained over lateral pelvic roentgenograms in 27 subjects. Mean error was 1.3° with a high correlation between measurements (R2 = 0,68, p < 0,001)so the system is valid. Seventy-five healthy volunteers were measured. Mean pelvic tilt was 9.88° (standard deviation 5.43°). Multivariate linear regression analysis appreciated less pelvic tilt in males than in females (p = 0.044) and that age was inversely related to pelvic tilt (p = 0.004)

[Intervention strategies for the rational use of anti-microbials]. / Estrategias de intervención para el uso racional de antimicrobianos.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of two strategies aimed at improving the prescription of antibiotics in the primary care context. DESIGN: Experimental crossed-intervention study, with control group and randomised allocation to groups. SETTING: Two primary care helth districts (Camas and Sierra Norte). PARTICIPANTS: 84 general practitioners for whom computerised prescription data were available, and who worked for over 40% of the working days of the study period. Interventions. In the intervention group, training sessions were conducted and written information was sent out. In the control group, only written information was sent. MAIN MEASUREMENTS: The impact of the interventions was evaluated through the student´s t test for paired data. Variables were the DHD of antibiotics, selection of first-level antibiotics and %RSP of antibiotics out of total pharmaceutical cost. Secondary measurements included duration of the effect of the intervention and description of the group who responded. RESULTS: In the intervention group, the DHD dropped significantly (from 17.4±1.4 to 12.2±0.9) (P<.05), as did the %RSP (from 6.96%±0.6 to 5.19%±0.8), as against the control group. The impact of the intervention lasted 1.5 years, when information was sent at one year from the intervention. The profile of the doctors who responded to the intervention was women aged 46 with MIR (residential) training. CONCLUSIONS: To modify antibiotic prescription habits, training sessions accompanied by written information gives good lasting results. The profiles of respondents/non-respondents depended on sex, age and training.

Long-term results of the treatment of severe osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis with 193 total knee replacements.

We undertook a clinical and surgical study with evaluation of the long-term results (average 5 years, range 1-9 years) of 193 stabilized posterior cemented total knee replacements (TKRs) type Insall-Burstein in patients with severe osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), carried out consecutively by the same surgeon from January 1986 to January 1995, at our COT Unit at the Central Military Hospital "Gomez Ulla" in Madrid, in collaboration with the Departments of Traumatology and Morphological Sciences of the University of Alcala de Henares (Madrid). The principal purpose was to examine the success rate of this type of prothesis implanted during primary surgery, according to severity of the case. Six methodology protocols were produced in this study (exploratory, surgical technique in primary surgery, revision surgery, rehabilitation, evaluation and clinical revisions), and satisfactory statistical results (SPSS/PC+) were obtained with the three scales of evaluation: Harris Galante, The Hospital for Special Surgery and Knee Society. These were: 90.5% +/- 0.8% excellent and good results for the OA series, and 83.9% +/- 5% for the RA series. The analysis of survival after long-term monitoring was also statistically significant, with a 96.95% survival rate. Complications arose in 3.10% of cases (6 revisions: 4 aseptic loosenings and 2 loosenings due to infection), which were treated with a constrained prosthesis, and in cases of infection with an arthrodesis. After undertaking a comparative study with other series, we conclude that the Insall-Burnstein stabilized posterior total knee prosthesis, is an excellent Primary replacement associated with long-term survival in patients with a severe degree of articular destruction and functional incapacity, and we give some specific recommendations to reduce complications.