Long-term foliar persistence and efficacy of spinosad against beet armyworm under greenhouse conditions.

BACKGROUND: The immediate lethality caused by spinosad has been widely studied on Spodoptera exigua (H ¿ ubner). However, long-term effects can also provide valuable information on insecticide toxic action. Here, the persistence of spinosad on Capsicum annuum L. foliage and the lethal and sublethal effects of greenhouse-aged foliar residues of this insecticide on third instars of S. exigua are reported. RESULTS: Foliage was collected at 0, 3, 5, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 days after application, and spinosad residues were measured. Residues decreased over time according to first-order kinetics. The average rate constant and half-life of disappearance were 4.44×10?3 and156 daysand5.80×10?3 and120 days for60and120 mg L?1 respectively. Larval mortalitygradually decreased, corresponding to the residues, but was still appreciable (35 and 65% for 60 and 120 mg L?1 respectively) when the larvae were fed with foliage collected 50 days after treatment. Subsequently, pupal development was reduced and varied between 20 and 60% and between 21 and 41% for 60 and 120 mg L?1, respectively, in all ages of leaf residues that were bioassayed. At all time points, the consumption rate by the larvae was reduced between 62 and 84% for both concentrations that were bioassayed. CONCLUSION: It is concluded that, under the present greenhouse conditions, the degradation of spinosad was slower than that reported by other authors in the field, and, because of that, its residues could cause lethal and sublethal effects to S. exigua larvae.

Enhanced radon emission in natural CO2 flows in Campo de Calatrava region (central Spain)

Activity of radon gas in natural soils is commonly low (in the order of few thousands of Bq·m-3) due to the fast decay (half-life= 3.8 days in the case of 222Rn) that prevents accumulation in soil pores. Exceptionally, high Rn soil activity (up to 430 KBq·m-3) is found around point sources of deep CO2 fluxes. These fluxes allow the transport of trace gases (including Rn) to long distances in the geosphere leading to a potential hazard as Rn accumulation in buildings. CO2 degassing is common in active or ancient volcanic fields and occurs as free gas fluxes or dissolved in groundwater. In this work, the occurrence of Rnbearing, CO2 fluxes from the Campo de Calatrava region in Central Spain has been studied in order to determine their (1) magnitude, (2) migration paths and (3) potential impact on the environment, and (4) methodologies to best detection and measurement.

Using ecological niche models to support tree species selection for forest restoration planning in largely deforested regions

Species selection for forest restoration is often supported by expert knowledge on local distribution patterns of native tree species. This approach is not applicable to largely deforested regions unless enough data on pre-human tree species distribution is available. In such regions, ecological niche models may provide essential information to support species selection in the framework of forest restoration planning. In this study we used ecological niche models to predict habitat suitability for native tree species in "Tierra de Campos" region, an almost totally deforested area of the Duero Basin (Spain). Previously available models provide habitat suitability predictions for dominant native tree species, but including non-dominant tree species in the forest restoration planning may be desirable to promote biodiversity, specially in largely deforested areas were near seed sources are not expected. We used the Forest Map of Spain as species occurrence data source to maximize the number of modeled tree species. Penalized logistic regression was used to train models using climate and lithological predictors. Using model predictions a set of tools were developed to support species selection in forest restoration planning. Model predictions were used to build ordered lists of suitable species for each cell of the study area. The suitable species lists were summarized drawing maps that showed the two most suitable species for each cell. Additionally, potential distribution maps of the suitable species for the study area were drawn. For a scenario with two dominant species, the models predicted a mixed forest (Quercus ilex and a coniferous tree species) for almost one half of the study area. According to the models, 22 non-dominant native tree species are suitable for the study area, with up to six suitable species per cell. The model predictions pointed to Crataegus monogyna, Juniperus communis, J.oxycedrus and J.phoenicea as the most suitable non-dominant native tree species in the study area. Our results encourage further use of ecological niche models for forest restoration planning in largely deforested regions.

Modelling ecological cognitive rehabilitation therapies for building virtual environments in brain injury

Brain Injury (BI) has become one of the most common causes of neurological disability in developed countries. Cognitive disorders result in a loss of independence and patients? quality of life. Cognitive rehabilitation aims to promote patients? skills to achieve their highest degree of personal autonomy. New technologies such as virtual reality or interactive video allow developing rehabilitation therapies based on reproducible Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), increasing the ecological validity of the therapy. However, the lack of frameworks to formalize and represent the definition of this kind of therapies can be a barrier for widespread use of interactive virtual environments in clinical routine.