Restoring diversity after cattail expansion: disturbance, resilience, and seasonality in a tropical dry wetland.

As the human footprint expands, ecologists and resource managers are increasingly challenged to explain and manage abrupt ecosystem transformations (i.e., regime shifts). In this study, we investigated the role of a mechanical disturbance that has been used to restore and maintain local wetland diversity after a monotypic regime shift in northwestern Costa Rica [specifically, an abrupt landscape-scale cattail (Typha) expansion]. The study was conducted in Palo Verde Marsh (Palo Verde National Park; a RAMSAR Wetland of International Importance), a seasonally flooded freshwater wetland that has historically provided habitat for large populations of wading birds and waterfowl. A cattail (T. domingensis) expansion in the 1980s greatly altered the plant community and reduced avian habitat. Since then, Typha has been managed using a form of mechanical disturbance called fangueo (a Spanish word, pronounced "fahn-gay-yo" in English). We applied a Typha removal treatment at three levels (control, fangueo, and fangueo with fencing to exclude cattle grazing). Fangueo resulted in a large reduction in Typha dominance (i.e., decreased aboveground biomass, ramet density, and ramet height) and an increase in habitat heterogeneity. As in many ecosystems that have been defined by multiple and frequent disturbances, a large portion of the plant community regenerated after disturbance (via propagule banking) and fangueo resulted in a more diverse plant community that was strongly dictated by seasonal processes (i.e., distinct wet- and dry-season assemblages). Importantly, the mechanical disturbance had no apparent short-term impact on any of the soil properties we measured (including bulk density). Interestingly, low soil and foliar N:P values indicate that Palo Verde Marsh and other wetlands in the region may be nitrogen limited. Our results quantify how, in a cultural landscape where the historical disturbance regime has been altered and diversity has declined, a mechanical disturbance in combination with seasonal drought and flooding has been used to locally restrict a clonal monodominant plant expansion, create habitat heterogeneity, and maintain plant diversity.

Impacts of individual tree species on carbon dynamics in a moist tropical forest environment.

In the moist tropical forest biome, which cycles carbon (C) rapidly and stores huge amounts of C, the impacts of individual species on C balances are not well known. In one of the earliest replicated experimental sites for investigating growth of native tropical trees, we examined traits of tree species in relation to their effects on forest C balances, mechanisms of influence, and consequences for C sequestration. The monodominant stands, established in abandoned pasture in 1988 at La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica, contained five species in a complete randomized block design. Native species were: Hieronyma alchorneoides, Pentaclethra macroloba, Virola koschnyi, and Vochysia guatemalensis. The exotic species was Pinus patula. By 16 years, the lack of differences among species in some attributes suggested strong abiotic control in this environment, where conditions are very favorable for growth, These attributes included aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP), averaging 11.7 Mg C x ha(-1) x yr(-1) across species, and soil organic C (0-100 cm, 167 Mg C/ha). Other traits differed significantly, however, indicating some degree of biological control. In Vochysia plots, both aboveground biomass of 99 Mg C/ha, and belowground biomass of 20 Mg C/ha were 1.8 times that of Virola (P = 0.02 and 0.03, respectively). Differences among species in overstory biomass were not compensated by understory vegetation. Belowground NPP of 4.6 Mg C x ha(-1) yr(-1) in Hieronyma was 2.4 times that of Pinus (P < 0.01). Partitioning of NPP to belowground components in Hieronyma was more than double that of Pinus (P = 0.03). The canopy turnover rate in Hieronyma was 42% faster than that of Virola (P < 0.01). Carbon sequestration, highest in Vochysia (7.4 Mg C x ha(-1) x yr(-1), P = 0.02), averaged 5.2 Mg C x ha(-1) x yr(-1), close to the annual per capita fossil fuel use in the United States of 5.3 Mg C. Our results indicated that differences in species effects on forest C balances were related primarily to differences in growth rates, partitioning of C among biomass components, tissue turnover rates, and tissue chemistry. Inclusion of those biological attributes may be critical for robust modeling of C cycling across the moist tropical forest biome.

[Bodies and minds for work: the psychologization of workers in Bogotá and Medellín, 1946-1991]. / Cuerpos y mentes para el trabajo: la psicologización de los trabajadores en Bogotá y Medellín, 1946-1991.

This article seeks to explore the emergence and development of a series of psychological and managerial discourses on worker motivation, organizational climate and quality of life at work in cities like Bogotá and Medellín. This sheds light on the rise and expansion of psychological knowledge applied to the world of work, aimed at optimizing productivity. Strategies for measurement and quantification were put in place that became tools for objectifying behaviors and encouraging a sort of social and labor re-engineering, within the context of growing labor instability and rising unemployment in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Drug-induced sleep endoscopy. / La endoscopia del sueño inducido.

This document introduces drug-induced sleep endoscopy to the specialist treating sleep breathing disorders and is intended as a guide for those willing to perform the procedure so that it can be reproducible.

[Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome in children]. / Síndrome de apnea obstructiva en niños.

Obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome is a well-known clinical entity in adults but until now it has been less well studied in children. In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in the recognition of sleep disorders in children. Our goal is to analyze scientific data published in the last few years. We reviewed published articles regarding paediatric obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome and extracted the clinical symptoms, diagnosis and treatment options. In conclusion, the natural course and long-term prognosis of childhood obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome are not well-known and further studies are needed in this area.

[Communicate Medical Errors or Hide Them? In Relation to the Henry Marsh's Memoirs]. / ¿Comunicar el Error Médico o Esconderlo? A Propósito de las Memorias de Henry Marsh.

″Do no harm″ is the work of Henry Marsh, an English neurosurgeon who, in the epilogue of his professional career at the National Health Service, remembers not only his professional successes but also his failures. This is the starting point to propose a system of notification of medical errors in Spain that allows to comply with the hippocratic key principle that gives title to the book: ″primum non nocere″. With this objective, our proposal is, in first place, to analyze the extent to which there is a conflict of loyalties in the professional performance of any doctor (institution vs. patient) that conditions the possibility of communicating the errors that may occur, concluding that there are normative counterweights to comply with this principle: to inform the patient respecting other rights in conflict. The balance between the right to be informed and the right to defend oneself against further actions of responsibility has the faithful of that imaginary balance in the canonical idea that to learn from error the starting point is to recognize it, and the second to analyze why it occurred. Only from learning can the error be avoided and, thus, improved the quality of care assistance. In our analysis of the Spanish system of adverse effects communication (SiNASP), we conclude that it does not meet the standards we set ourselves, and not only from an ethical and legal analysis, but also taking as reference the systems with the same Objective in our European environment - including the references of treaties and international agreements in this area. The final conclusion to which we arrive as the culmination of all the previous reflection is that for a system of communication of errors to actually function, it has to be obligatory and anonymous for the informant, transparent and conclusive for the informed and, above all, reflexive and didactic for the institution, so that it fulfils with the duty to inform and it also avoids that the error is repeated.

Hepatitis E Virus in Industrialized Countries: The Silent Threat.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the main cause of acute viral hepatitis worldwide. Its presence in developing countries has been documented for decades. Developed countries were supposed to be virus-free and initially only imported cases were detected in those areas. However, sporadic and autochthonous cases of HEV infection have been identified and studies reveal that the virus is worldwide spread. Chronic hepatitis and multiple extrahepatic manifestations have also been associated with HEV. We review the data from European countries, where human, animal, and environmental data have been collected since the 90s. In Europe, autochthonous HEV strains were first detected in the late 90s and early 2000s. Since then, serological data have shown that the virus infects quite frequently the European population and that some species, such as pigs, wild boars, and deer, are reservoirs. HEV strains can be isolated from environmental samples and reach the food chain, as shown by the detection of the virus in mussels and in contaminated pork products as sausages or meat. All these data highlight the need of studies directed to control the sources of HEV to protect immunocompromised individuals that seem the weakest link of the HEV epidemiology in industrialized regions.

Mixed-element Octree: a meshing technique toward fast and real-time simulations in biomedical applications.

This article introduces a meshing technique focused on fast and real-time simulation in a biomedical context. We describe in details our algorithm, which starts from a basic Octree regarding the constraints imposed by the simulation, and then, mixed-element patterns are applied over transitions between coarse and fine regions. The use of surface patterns, also composed by mixed elements, allows us to better represent curved domains decreasing the odds of creating invalid elements by adding as few nodes as possible. In contrast with other meshing techniques, we let the user define regions of greater refinement, and as a consequence of that refinement, we add as few nodes as possible to produce a mesh that is topologically correct. Therefore, our meshing technique gives more control on the number of nodes of the final mesh. We show several examples where the quality of the final mesh is acceptable, even without using quality filters. We believe that this new meshing technique is in the correct direction toward real-time simulation in the biomedical field.

Cuerpos y mentes para el trabajo: la psicologización de los trabajadores en Bogotá y Medellín, 1946-1991 / Bodies and minds for work: the psychologization of workers in Bogotá and Medellín, 1946-1991

Resumen En este artículo se pretende indagar la emergencia y desarrollo de una serie de discursos psicológico-administrativos sobre la motivación laboral, el clima organizacional y la calidad de vida en el trabajo, en ciudades como Bogotá y Medellín. Con ello se trata de dar cuenta del auge y expansión del conocimiento psicológico aplicado al mundo del trabajo y orientado a la optimización de rendimientos. La puesta en marca de estrategias de medición y cuantificación se erigieron en herramientas destinadas a objetivar comportamientos y fomentar una especie de reingeniería socio-laboral, en medio de un contexto caracterizado por la creciente inestabilidad laboral y el incremento del desempleo a finales de la década de 1980 y comienzos del 1990.

Abstract This article seeks to explore the emergence and development of a series of psychological and managerial discourses on worker motivation, organizational climate and quality of life at work in cities like Bogotá and Medellín. This sheds light on the rise and expansion of psychological knowledge applied to the world of work, aimed at optimizing productivity. Strategies for measurement and quantification were put in place that became tools for objectifying behaviors and encouraging a sort of social and labor re-engineering, within the context of growing labor instability and rising unemployment in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

[Some differential considerations of OSAS in adults and children]. / Algunas consideraciones diferenciales del SAOS en adultos y niños.

Some respiratory troubles on childhood keep, comparatively with the same adult's pathology, certain peculiarities worth to know. This is the case of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, which can suffer both children and adults, but with important etiopathogenical differences: clinical, and therapeutical between the two ages groups, which we must have in mind. Report of differential considerations between the 2 age-groups that we consider more relevants in this syndrome, that every time is more and more seen in clinical practice.

[Physiopathology of sleep-disordered breathing in children]. / Fisiopatología de los trastornos respiratorios del sueño en los niños.

Sleep-disordered breathing represents a broad spectrum of alterations, ranging from habitual snoring, through obstructive hypoventilation to obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome, and produces breathing and architecture anomalies during sleep. There are some controversies on the physiopathological mechanisms of sleep-disordered breathing and its metabolic, neurocognitive and cardiovascular effects. The causes of comorbidity in obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome in children are not yet well known and can include blood gasometric anomalies, fragmented sleep, and local and systemic inflammation, modulated by genetic, environmental and ethnic factors. The pathogenesis of pediatric sleep-disordered breathing undoubtedly involves complex interactions between anatomical or structural and functional factors, an airway prone to collapse and deficient neuromuscular compensation. Moreover, in children, sleep progresses in accordance with central nervous system development, which varies with age. This article reviews the role of the distinct anatomic, functional and inflammatory factors in the pathophysiology of pediatric sleep-disordered breathing.

Otorhinolaryngologic manifestations in Chiari malformation.

The Chiari malformation causes herniation of the cerebellar amygdalae through the foramen magnum, resulting in the descent of the brain stem and/or traction on the lower cranial pairs. It is important for otolaryngologists to recognize Chiari malformations as part of the differential diagnosis of balance disorders, because patients may initially exhibit symptoms related to the vestibular system, including ataxia, nystagmus, or vertigo. We report 2 cases.