Biotic and abiotic parameters that distinguish types of temporary ponds in a Portuguese Mediterranean ecosystem

Temporary ponds are seasonal wetland habitats subjected to extreme and unstable ecological conditions. Some are classified as priority habitats for conservation by the European Union Habitats Directive. Our study area was the coastal plain of southwest Portugal, which spans across 100km north to south and hosts a large number of temporary ponds as a consequence of climatic and edaphic characteristics. Field sampling of floristic and edaphic data was carried out in 24 temporary ponds every spring between 2005 and 2008. We recorded a total of 174 plant species identified within visually homogeneous plots. We included the data in a geographic information system and classified ponds according to their floristic composition, using a biotic regionalization analysis based on species presence/absence, which is a practical and unambiguous criterion. We found three significantly different groups of ponds which corresponded to an eco-physiognomic pond typology: Mediterranean temporary ponds, marshlands, and disturbed ponds. For the first two pond types we defined characteristic or indicator plant species. We searched also for relationships between pond type and a series of large-scale climatic, geographic, and geological variables, as well as local-scale physical and chemical properties of the soil. Pond type was distinguished by a complex combination of some of these variables, including environmental energy, soil texture, nitrogen content of the soil and pH. A practical way of discriminating between different

Efeito de uma intervenção de reabilitação psicomotora em pessoas idosas institucionalizadas ao nível de indicadores de saúde e do bem-estar

Objetivo: Investigar os benefícios de um programa de reabilitação psicomotora em pessoas idosas institucionalizadas ao nível de indicadores de saúde e do bem-estar. Metodologia: A amostra integrou 42 participantes (84±6.2 anos), dos quais 21 pertenciam ao grupo experimental (programa de reabilitação) e 21 ao grupo controlo. Os indicadores de saúde e bem-estar foram avaliados pelo Profile of Mood Stats (POMS), pela Escala de Dor (Instrumento P4), pela Perceção de Estado de Saúde (EQVAS) e pelo Índice de Barthel. Resultados: Os testes de comparação evidenciaram melhorias significativas no grupo experimental, nas variáveis depressão, irritação, confusão, principalmente no score total sem e com irritação da avaliação de estados emocionais e de humor, em relação à escala de dor as variáveis escala de dor1 e score total escala de dor foram as que tiveram melhorias significativas, p= <0.05. Conclusão: O programa de reabilitação psicomotora promoveu melhorias ao nível dos indicadores de saúde e do bem-estar das pessoas idosas institucionalizadas, com maior impacto nos estados emocionais e de humor e diminuição de intensidade de dor; Abstract: Effect of a psychomotor rehabilitation intervention in elderly people institutionalized at the level of health indicators and welfare. Objective: The aim is to investigate the benefits of a psychomotor rehabilitation program in orderly people institutionalized at the level of health indicators and welfare. Methodology: The sample consisted of 42 participants (84 ± 6.2 years), 21 of them belonged to the experimental group (rehabilitation program), and the other 21, to the control group. The following surveys were conducted by the Profile of Mood Stats (POMS), the Pain Scale (P4 Instrument), the Perception of Health Status (EQVAS) and the Barthel Index. Results: Significant improvements were observed in the experimental group, in the following dimensions: depression, anger, confusion, mainly in the total score with and without irritation assessment of emotional states and mood, regarding the pain scale, the variables pain scale and total average score were the ones that had higher significant improvements, p = <0.05. Conclusion: The psychomotor rehabilitation program led to improvements in health indicators and well-being of the institutionalized older ones, with greater impact on emotional states and mood and decrease in pain intensity.

Assessing the ability of rural agrarian areas to provide cultural ecosystem services (CES): A multi scale social indicator framework (MSIF)

Assessing the ways in which rural agrarian areas provide Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES) is proving difficult to achieve. This research has developed an innovative methodological approach named as Multi Scale Indicator Framework (MSIF) for capturing the CES embedded into the rural agrarian areas. This framework reconciles a literature review with a transdisciplinary participatory workshop. Both of these sources reveal that societal preferences diverge upon judgemental criteria which in turn relate to different visual concepts that can be drawn from analyzing attributes, elements, features and characteristics of rural areas. We contend that it is now possible to list a group of possible multi scale indicators for stewardship, diversity and aesthetics. These results might also be of use for improving any existing European indicators frameworks by also including CES. This research carries major implications for policy at different levels of governance, as it makes possible to target and monitor policy instruments to the physical rural settings so that cultural dimensions are adequately considered. There is still work to be developed on regional specific values and thresholds for each criteria and its indicator set. In practical terms, by developing the conceptual design within a common framework as described in this paper, a considerable step forward toward the inclusion of the cultural dimension in European wide assessments can be made

“Biomarkers in a One Health perspective: current knowledge of their ability to merge human and animal health

Biomarkers are nowadays essential tools to be one step ahead for fighting disease, enabling an enhanced focus on disease prevention and on the probability of its occurrence. Research in a multidisciplinary approach has been an important step towards the repeated discovery of new biomarkers. Biomarkers are defined as biochemical measurable indicators of the presence of disease or as indicators for monitoring disease progression. Currently, biomarkers have been used in several domains such as oncology, neurology, cardiovascular, inflammatory and respiratory disease, and several endocrinopathies. Bridging biomarkers in a One Health perspective has been proven useful in almost all of these domains. In oncology, humans and animals are found to be subject to the same environmental and genetic predisposing factors: examples include the existence of mutations in BR-CA1 gene predisposing to breast cancer, both in human and dogs, with increased prevalence in certain dog breeds and human ethnic groups. Also, breast feeding frequency and duration has been related to a decreased risk of breast cancer in women and bitches. When it comes to infectious diseases, this parallelism is prone to be even more important, for as much as 75% of all emerging diseases are believed to be zoonotic. Examples of successful use of biomarkers have been found in several zoonotic diseases such as Ebola, dengue, leptospirosis or West Nile virus infections. Acute Phase Proteins (APPs) have been used for quite some time as biomarkers of inflammatory conditions. These have been used in human health but also in the veterinary field such as in mastitis evaluation and PRRS (porcine respiratory and reproductive syndrome) diagnosis. Advantages rely on the fact that these biomarkers can be much easier to assess than other conventional disease diagnostic approaches (example: measured in easy to collect saliva samples). Another domain in which biomarkers have been essential is food safety: the possibility to measure exposure to chemical contaminants or other biohazards present in the food chain, which are sometimes analytical challenges due to their low bioavailability in body fluids, is nowadays a major breakthrough. Finally, biomarkers are considered the key to provide more personalized therapies, with more efficient outcomes and fewer side effects. This approach is expected to be the correct path to follow also in veterinary medicine, in the near future.