Alien and Potentially Invasive Plants in Four Lagoons on the Island of Cozumel, Mexico.

The expansion of alien invasive species is a worldwide threat that affects most ecosystems. Islands and freshwater ecosystems are among the most vulnerable to species invasion, resulting in reduced biodiversity. In this study, we aimed to explore the floristic composition of the aquatic vegetation in four lagoons in southeastern Cozumel and assess the occurrence and abundance of alien and potentially invasive plants. We found a total of 43 aquatic or underwater herbaceous species that are subject to periodic flooding. Cluster analyses grouped the lagoons into two groups according to their floristic composition. The results demonstrate that alien and potentially invasive plants were dominant in 3 of the 4 lagoons, representing from 7 to 43% of the species. Six of these species were notably abundant, especially in three lagoons. Further, 2 species are considered among the 100 worst invasive species worldwide, although their abundance in Mexico remains relatively reduced. Five alien and potentially invasive species are terrestrial and grow on the shore of the lagoons, while one is aquatic. Urgent control and management actions are necessary. These should include (a) early detection and surveillance to determine if the alien species found behave as invasives; (b) understanding the relevance of invasive species; (c) preventing and intercepting; and (d) control and management. Habitat restoration, adequate legislation, collaboration between stakeholders, and raising awareness of the dangers of releasing or cultivating invasive species in the wild are also necessary.

Warmer Temperature and Spatiotemporal Dynamics during Primary Succession on Tropical Coastal Dunes.

Coastal dunes are sensitive indicators of climate change: it is expected that higher precipitation and warmer temperature will promote vegetation growth and sand stabilization. Alternatively, dunes may become active during severe droughts, which would reduce plant cover and increase sand mobility. Consequently, it is relevant to explore community shifts and self-organization processes to better understand how coastal dunes vegetation will respond to these projected changes. Primary succession allows the exploration of community assembly and reorganization processes. We focused on three environmental variables (bare sand, temperature, and precipitation) and five successional groups (facilitators, colonizers, sand binders, nucleators, and competitors). For 25 years (from 1991 to 2016), species turnover was monitored in 150 permanent plots (4 × 4 m) placed on an initially mobile dune system located on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The spatiotemporal dynamics observed during primary succession were consistent with the facilitation nucleation model. As late colonizers grew and expanded, psammophytes became locally extinct. The spatial patterns revealed that ecological succession did not occur evenly on the dunes. In addition, the increased mean yearly temperature during the last decades seemed to be associated with the accelerated increment in plant cover and species richness, which had not been registered before in Mexico.

Proceso de atención de enfermería a un paciente pediátrico en el transcurso de una biopsia renal / Nursing care process to a paediatric patient during a renal biopsy

DESCRIPCIÓN DEL CASO: Paciente de 13 años que ingresa en hospital de tercer nivel, procedente de consultas externas de Nefrología pediátrica del mismo hospital para biopsia renal, al sufrir, en valoraciones anteriores, episodios de hematurias microscópicas persistentes, macroscópicas intermitentes y proteinuria en rango nefrótico. DESCRIPCIÓN DEL PLAN DE CUIDADOS: La unidad de enfermería pediátrica del hospital estableció un plan de cuidados inicial al ingreso y postquirúrgico ajustados a la patrones funcionales de Marjory Gordon, considerando los patrones relacionados con temor en el niño, ansiedad y cavilación de la familia, resultando de estos hechos la activación del protocolo de acogida, aumento del nivel de estrés debido a modificación ingesta alimentos, aumentar el afrontamiento en la fase postquirúrgica así como dolor, riesgo de infección, disconfort, sobrepeso por alimentación insana y hematurias postbiopsia. EVALUACIÓN DEL PLAN: Durante el ingreso hospitalario de 4 días previo a la biopsia se le realizaron pruebas bioquímicas de sangre y orina de 24 horas y estudio de anemia. Los progenitores se mostraban muy interesados por la evolución de las pruebas y como contener la ansiedad y tener calmado al hijo debido al conocimiento de que le harían una punción. Mientras se encontraba hospitalizado no cumplía los requisitos nutricionales. Al día siguiente de la biopsia fue dado de alta con unas pautas para comenzar con una alimentación más sana. CONCLUSIONES: La taxonomía NANDA/NOC/NIC permite trabajar en la enfermería basada en los hallazgos, dando respuesta a las necesidades reales de los pacientes para contribuir a mejorar la práctica clínica

CLINICAL CASE: A 13-year-old patient admitted to a third-level hospital from paediatric nephrology outpatient clinics for a renal biopsy after suffering, in previous evaluations, episodes of intermittent macroscopic and persistent microscopic haematuria and nephrotic-range proteinuria. DESCRIPTION OF THE CARE PLAN: The hospital paediatric nursing unit established an initial care plan on admission and after surgery adjusted to Gordon's functional patterns, considering the patterns related to fear in the child, anxiety and family melancholy, resulting in the activation of the reception protocol, increased stress level due to food intake modification, increased coping in the post-surgical phase as well as pain, risk of infection, discomfort, overweight due to unhealthy eating and post-biopsy haematuria. EVALUATION OF THE CARE PLAN: During the 4-day hospital stay prior to the biopsy, 24-hour blood and urine biochemical tests and anemia study were performed. The parents were very interested in the evolution of the tests and how to contain anxiety and keep the child calm due to the knowledge that they would do a blood puncture. While he was hospitalized, he did not meet the nutritional requirements. The day after the biopsy, he was discharged with guidelines to start a healthier diet. CONCLUSIONS: The NANDA/NOC/NIC taxonomy allows working in nursing based on findings, responding to the real needs of patients to help improve clinical practice

Violencia filio-parental: principales características, factores de riesgo y claves para la intervención / Child-parent violence: main characteristics, risk factors and keys to intervention

La Violencia Filio-parental (en adelante VFP) es un problema cada vez más evidente en los sistemas de protección social, sanitario y judicial que, sin embargo, sigue presentando lagunas respecto de sus principales características y las de sus implicados, factores predisponentes e intervenciones eficaces. Sin embargo, sí existe consenso respecto de sus devastadoras consecuencias. Esta revisión bibliográfica se centra en analizar la problemática de la VFP con el objeto de proporcionar datos que sirvan de herramienta para futuras investigaciones y propuestas de intervención. En particular, en el artículo se define la VFP y sus tipos, se ofrecen datos sobre prevalencia, así como sobre las principales características de hijos maltratadores y padres y madres maltratadas, se comentan los principales factores de riesgo individuales, familiares, escolares y comunitarios destacados hasta el momento, y se presentan las principales áreas de intervención con este colectivo

Child-parent Violence (hereinafter CPV) is an increasingly evident problem in social, health, and judicial protection systems which, however, continue to show a number of major deficiencies with respect to the main characteristics of CPV, the people involved, the underlying factors, and efficacious interventions. Nevertheless, there is a consensus regarding its devastating consequences. The present bibliographical review is focused on analysing the problem of CPV with the aim of offering useful data for future research and intervention proposals. Specifically, this paper provides a definition of CPV and its types, some data on prevalence, the main characteristics of aggressive children and abused parents, and the most important individual, family, school and community risk factors highlighted in the current scientific literature. The keys areas of intervention with this group are also presented

Ecological niche modeling of coastal dune plants and future potential distribution in response to climate change and sea level rise.

Climate change (CC) and sea level rise (SLR) are phenomena that could have severe impacts on the distribution of coastal dune vegetation. To explore this we modeled the climatic niches of six coastal dunes plant species that grow along the shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula, and projected climatic niches to future potential distributions based on two CC scenarios and SLR projections. Our analyses suggest that distribution of coastal plants will be severely limited, and more so in the case of local endemics (Chamaecrista chamaecristoides, Palafoxia lindenii, Cakile edentula). The possibilities of inland migration to the potential 'new shoreline' will be limited by human infrastructure and ecosystem alteration that will lead to a 'coastal squeeze' of the coastal habitats. Finally, we identified areas as future potential refuges for the six species in central Gulf of Mexico, and northern Yucatán Peninsula especially under CC and SLR scenarios.

Using four capitals to assess watershed sustainability.

The La Antigua watershed drains into the Gulf of Mexico and can be considered as one of the most important areas in Mexico because of its high productivity, history, and biodiversity, although poverty remains high in the area in spite of these positive attributes. In this study, we performed an integrated assessment of the watershed to recommend a better direction toward a sustainable management in which the four capitals (natural, human, social, and built) are balanced. We contrasted these four capitals in the municipalities of the upper, middle and lower watershed and found that natural capital (natural ecosystems and ecosystem services) was higher in the upper and middle watershed, while human and social capitals (literacy, health, education and income) were generally higher downstream. Overall, Human Development Index was negatively correlated with the percentage of natural ecosystems in the watershed, especially in the upper and lower watershed regions. Our results indicate that natural capital must be fully considered in projections for increasing human development, so that natural resources can be preserved and managed adequately while sustaining intergenerational well-being.

Blood clot simulation model by using the Bond-Graph technique.

The World Health Organization estimates that 17 million people die of cardiovascular disease, particularly heart attacks and strokes, every year. Most strokes are caused by a blood clot that occludes an artery in the cerebral circulation and the process concerning the removal of this obstruction involves catheterisation. The fundamental object of the presented study consists in determining and optimizing the necessary simulation model corresponding with the blood clot zone to be implemented jointly with other Mechanical Thrombectomy Device simulation models, which have become more widely used during the last decade. To do so, a multidomain technique is used to better explain the different aspects of the attachment to the artery wall and between the existing platelets, it being possible to obtain the mathematical equations that define the full model. For a better understanding, a consecutive approximation to the definitive model will be presented, analyzing the different problems found during the study. The final presented model considers an elastic characterization of the blood clot composition and the possibility of obtaining a consecutive detachment process from the artery wall. In conclusion, the presented model contains the necessary behaviour laws to be implemented in future blood clot simulation models.

Long-term decrease in VLA-4 expression and functional impairment of dendritic cells during natalizumab therapy in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Myeloid and plasmacytoid dendritic cells (mDCs, pDCs) are central to the initiation and the regulation of immune processes in multiple sclerosis (MS). Natalizumab (NTZ) is a humanized monoclonal antibody approved for the treatment of MS that acts by blocking expression of VLA-4 integrins on the surface of leukocytes. We determined the proportions of circulating DC subsets and analyzed expression of VLA-4 expression in 6 relapsing-remitting MS patients treated with NTZ for 1 year. VLA-4 expression levels on pDCs and mDCs decreased significantly during follow-up. In vitro coculture of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and pDCs, with different doses of NTZ in healthy controls (HC) and MS patients showed dose-dependent down-regulation of VLA-4 expression levels in both MS patients and HC, and reduced functional ability to stimulate antigen-specific T-lymphocyte responses. The biological impact of NTZ may in part be attributable to inhibition of transmigration of circulating DCs into the central nervous system, but also to functional impairment of interactions between T cells and DC.

The value of coastal wetlands for hurricane protection.

Coastal wetlands reduce the damaging effects of hurricanes on coastal communities. A regression model using 34 major US hurricanes since 1980 with the natural log of damage per unit gross domestic product in the hurricane swath as the dependent variable and the natural logs of wind speed and wetland area in the swath as the independent variables was highly significant and explained 60% of the variation in relative damages. A loss of 1 ha of wetland in the model corresponded to an average USD 33,000 (median = USD 5000) increase in storm damage from specific storms. Using this relationship, and taking into account the annual probability of hits by hurricanes of varying intensities, we mapped the annual value of coastal wetlands by 1 km x 1 km pixel and by state. The annual value ranged from USD 250 to USD 51,000 ha(-1) yr(-1), with a mean of USD 8240 ha(-1) yr(-1) (median = USD 3230 ha(-1) yr(-1)) significantly larger than previous estimates. Coastal wetlands in the US were estimated to currently provide USD 23.2 billion yr(-1) in storm protection services. Coastal wetlands function as valuable, selfmaintaining "horizontal levees" for storm protection, and also provide a host of other ecosystem services that vertical levees do not. Their restoration and preservation is an extremely cost-effective strategy for society.