Disease-free zones: bilateral recognition procedure in South America. / Zonas libres de enfermedades: proceso de reconocimiento bilateral en América del Sur.

According to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), zoning is a risk management strategy for achieving the progressive control and eradication of animal diseases, and for providing guarantees for international trade. The implementation and effectiveness of zoning relies on the quality of Veterinary Services. Eradicating a disease and securing trading partners' recognition of this disease-free status demands resources, and promotes economic and fruitful development. It also guarantees the sanitary safety of trade, provided that OIE standards are applied and the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) is complied with. The OIE international standards and the SPS Agreement lay down provisions for the effective implementation of zoning and the recognition of disease-free zones. Although animal-disease-free statuses place such zones in a favourable position with regard to exporting their products to the international market, they can create internal restrictions between regions of the same country with differing statuses. As a general rule, each importing country implements its own evaluation procedure, independent of OIE official recognition. While this usually provides for information evaluation and an on-site inspection mission, there is no harmonisation between countries regarding the methodology or the information required for risk assessment. Recognition of a disease-free zone does not imply automatic permission to export any product from that zone. Firstly, it is necessary to request that the market be opened for each product in question, guaranteeing the conditions demanded by the target market (risk analysis and animal health certification). To benefit from external markets, there are ways of speeding up bilateral recognition of disease-free zones, such as bilateral veterinary agreements or free trade agreements that establish clear areas and procedures to be implemented by trading partner countries. The ongoing exchange of information among countries builds trust among their Veterinary Services and authorities, which leads to expedited recognition procedures. The work of the OIE (Pathway for the Evaluation of Performance of Veterinary Services [PVS Pathway], OIE Observatory) and the WTO Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Committee) (enforcement mechanisms) should be strengthened to assist countries in implementing zoning.

D'après l'Organisation mondiale de la santé animale (OIE), le « zonage ¼ est une stratégie de gestion du risque permettant d'avancer sur la voie du contrôle progressif des maladies animales et de leur éradication tout en fournissant des garanties dans le cadre des échanges internationaux. Sa mise en oeuvre et son efficacité sont tributaires de la qualité des Services vétérinaires. Si l'éradication réussie d'une maladie et la reconnaissance du statut indemne par les partenaires commerciaux mobilisent des ressources, elles constituent également une incitation majeure au développement productif et économique. En outre, elles garantissent la sécurité sanitaire des échanges internationaux, à condition d'appliquer les normes de l'OIE et de respecter les dispositions de l'Accord sur l'application des sanitaires et phytosanitaires (Accord SPS) de l'Organisation mondiale du commerce (OMC). L'OIE et l'Accord SPS établissent des dispositions pour la mise en oeuvre effective du « zonage ¼ et la reconnaissance des zones indemnes de maladies. Ce statut sanitaire place les zones qui en bénéficient en position favorable pour exporter leurs produits vers les marchés internationaux, mais il peut aussi entraîner des restrictions au niveau national par rapport aux zones du pays dotées d'un statut différent. Il est d'usage que chaque pays applique ses propres procédures indépendamment de la reconnaissance par l'OIE. Cela passe généralement par une évaluation de l'information fournie et par une mission d'inspection in situ, mais ni la méthodologie ni les informations requises pour mener à bien l'évaluation du risque n'ont fait l'objet d'une harmonisation de la part des pays. La reconnaissance d'une zone indemne ne vaut pas autorisation automatique d'exporter tout produit à partir de cette zone, car il faut encore, pour chaque produit, solliciter l'ouverture du marché et présenter des garanties démontrant que les conditions imposées par le marché de destination sont satisfaites (analyse du risque et certification sanitaire). Des méthodes existent pour bénéficier des marchés extérieurs en accélérant les reconnaissances bilatérales des zones indemnes de maladies ; il s'agit notamment des accords vétérinaires bilatéraux ou des accords de libre-échange, qui définissent clairement les cadres d'application et les procédures à mettre en place par les pays partenaires commerciaux. L'échange permanent d'informations entre les pays partenaires favorise la confiance entre leurs Services et Autorités vétérinaires respectifs, ce qui facilite d'autant ces procédures. Il convient de renforcer les travaux de l'OIE (Processus d'évaluation des performances des Services vétérinaires [Processus PVS], Observatoire des normes de l'OMC) et du Comité SPS de l'OMC (mécanismes d'évaluation de la conformité) afin d'aider les pays à mettre en oeuvre le « zonage ¼.

Según la Organización Mundial de Sanidad Animal (OIE), la «zonificación¼ es una estrategia de gestión del riesgo para avanzar en el control progresivo y la erradicación de enfermedades animales y para dar garantías al comercio internacional. Su implementación y eficacia dependen de la calidad de los Servicios Veterinarios. Erradicar una enfermedad y lograr el reconocimiento de tal situación por parte de socios comerciales implica recursos e incentiva el desarrollo productivo y económico. También garantiza la seguridad sanitaria del comercio siempre que se apliquen las normas de la OIE y se respete el Acuerdo sobre la Aplicación de Medidas Sanitarias y Fitosanitarias de la Organización Mundial del Comercio (OMC) (Acuerdo MSF). Las normas internacionales de la OIE y el Acuerdo MSF establecen disposiciones para una implementación efectiva de la «zonificación¼ y el reconocimiento de zonas libres de enfermedades. Este estatus sanitario posiciona favorablemente a dichas zonas para exportar sus productos al mercado internacional, pero puede generar restricciones internas respecto a regiones del mismo país con estatus diferentes. Lo habitual es que cada país aplique un proceso propio, independientemente del reconocimiento de la OIE. En general, contemplan una evaluación de la información y una misión de inspección in situ, pero no existe una armonización entre países ni respecto a la metodología ni respecto a la información requerida para la evaluación de riesgos. Este reconocimiento no implica el permiso automático para exportar cualquier producto desde esa zona, sino que se debe solicitar la apertura del mercado para cada producto en cuestión garantizando las condiciones exigidas por el mercado de destino (análisis del riesgo y certificación sanitaria). Para beneficiarse de los mercados externos, existen formas de agilizar los reconocimientos bilaterales de las zonas libres de enfermedades, como los acuerdos bilaterales veterinarios o los Acuerdos de Libre Comercio, mediante los cuales se establecen ámbitos y procedimientos claros a implementar por parte de los países socios comerciales. El intercambio de información permanente entre los países genera confianza entre sus Servicios y Autoridades Veterinarias, lo cual redunda en la agilización de estos procesos. Se debe reforzar el trabajo de la OIE (Proceso de Prestaciones de los Servicios Veterinarios [Proceso PVS], Observatorio de la OIE) y del Comité MSF de la OMC (mecanismos de observancia) para ayudar a los países a implementar la «zonificación¼.

Non-nursing tasks as experienced by nurses: a descriptive qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Different concepts have been used to date (e.g. non-nursing tasks, organizational work) to define tasks performed by clinical nurses other than nursing care. However, the true essence of nursing work is still poorly understood mostly because nurses are lacking an appropriate lexicon to describe their practice. AIMS: To describe non-nursing tasks as experienced by nurses, exploring antecedents and consequences as perceived in daily practice. METHODS: A descriptive qualitative study from 2015 to 2016. A purposeful sample of nurses was approached. Semi-structured interviews were used, and content analysis was performed on audio-recorded and verbatim-transcribed interviews. FINDINGS: A total of 22 nurses participated, the majority of whom were female (16; 72.7%) and their average age was 42.6 years. The concept of 'Non-nursing tasks' is limited in describing what nurses experience in daily practice; the concept of 'Being out of the nursing role' emerged as being fully descriptive of the nurses' experience and this can occur in two dimensions: outside and inside the role of other healthcare professions. The first dimension includes administrative work separating nurses from patients. The second dimension was reported to happen in proximity to patients but in three different directions towards professions requiring: (a) less education (e.g. healthcare assistants), (b) the same amount of education at university level (e.g. physiotherapists), and (c) higher education at university level as compared to nurses, thus performing activities expected by physicians. Antecedents of 'Being out of the nursing role' have been identified at the organizational, individual and educational levels; their consequences have been reported at the patient, professional and organizational levels. CONCLUSION: Nurses play various non-nursing roles, below, above and in the horizontal levels, both inside and outside other healthcare professionals' role, mainly as a result of their felt moral obligation to offer the best to their patients, the organization's demand to nurses and the imprinting of nursing education. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING/HEALTH POLICY: Strategies at the nursing professional and policy levels are needed aimed at (a) supporting nurses in optimizing their professional identity, (b) sharing their sense of moral obligation towards patients with other healthcare professionals, and (c) implementing models of care based on interprofessional cooperation.

Context-dependent effects of fire and browsing on woody alien invasion in mountain ecosystems.

Anthropogenic activities have increased disturbances and alien woody invasion in mountain ecosystems worldwide. Whether disturbances promote or counteract upward movement of woody aliens is poorly understood. We assessed if the most successful woody invader of low mountains of central Argentina (Gleditsia triacanthos) might expand its elevational distribution in response to the principal disturbances of these ecosystems (fire and livestock browsing) across increasing climatic severity. We assessed seedling emergence, growth and mycorrhizal colonization on sown plots distributed in burned and unburned sites, with and without browsing at the lower and upper elevation belts (i.e. 1000 and 2400 m a.s.l.). Additionally, several abiotic variables were measured to relate their influence on the seedling establishment. Disturbances reduced seedling emergence at both elevations. Burned conditions increased seedling growth and arbuscular colonization only in the lower belt. Seedling success (total seedling biomass per plot) was not modified by disturbances at the upper elevation, but was reduced by browsing and enhanced by fire in the lower elevation. The overall reduction in seedling emergence and growth in the upper elevation despite the higher soil nutrient content places climate as the strongest regulator of G. triacanthos seedling establishment. Accordingly, climate rather than disturbances would be the main limiting factor of upward expansion of this woody alien. Our findings differ from general patterns described for mountain invasion by herbaceous species, highlighting that mountain invasibility is highly growth-form dependent, and that upper range expansion by woody aliens interacting with multiple disturbances should be assessed worldwide.

Stomatal vs. genome size in angiosperms: the somatic tail wagging the genomic dog?

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Genome size is a function, and the product, of cell volume. As such it is contingent on ecological circumstance. The nature of 'this ecological circumstance' is, however, hotly debated. Here, we investigate for angiosperms whether stomatal size may be this 'missing link': the primary determinant of genome size. Stomata are crucial for photosynthesis and their size affects functional efficiency. METHODS: Stomatal and leaf characteristics were measured for 1442 species from Argentina, Iran, Spain and the UK and, using PCA, some emergent ecological and taxonomic patterns identified. Subsequently, an assessment of the relationship between genome-size values obtained from the Plant DNA C-values database and measurements of stomatal size was carried out. KEY RESULTS: Stomatal size is an ecologically important attribute. It varies with life-history (woody species < herbaceous species < vernal geophytes) and contributes to ecologically and physiologically important axes of leaf specialization. Moreover, it is positively correlated with genome size across a wide range of major taxa. CONCLUSIONS: Stomatal size predicts genome size within angiosperms. Correlation is not, however, proof of causality and here our interpretation is hampered by unexpected deficiencies in the scientific literature. Firstly, there are discrepancies between our own observations and established ideas about the ecological significance of stomatal size; very large stomata, theoretically facilitating photosynthesis in deep shade, were, in this study (and in other studies), primarily associated with vernal geophytes of unshaded habitats. Secondly, the lower size limit at which stomata can function efficiently, and the ecological circumstances under which these minute stomata might occur, have not been satisfactorally resolved. Thus, our hypothesis, that the optimization of stomatal size for functional efficiency is a major ecological determinant of genome size, remains unproven.

La comunicación social en los niveles primarios y secundarios de los sistemas de prevención

Un sistema de prevención de enfermedades exóticas está integrado por diversos componentes que actúan a distintos niveles (primario, secundario y terciario) aplicados para prevenir o evitar la introducción, establecimiento y difusión de enfermedades no existentes en un país o región. Para que el Sistema funcione correctamente en forma coordinada e integrada, cada una de las partes que lo componen, debe conocer perfectamente el rol y las acciones que le corresponden. Así mismo, la totalidad de los sectores interesados deben estar permanentemente informados sobre el grado, en que las medidas y acciones preventivas que se implementen puedan afectar sus intereses o modificar el desarrollo de sus actividades. El objetivo principal de este sistema es contar con información oportuna, confiable y actualizada sobre aspectos inherentes a las enfermedades emergentes y persistentes. La información precisa, crea confianza en la capacidad del sistema de documentar con exactitud la situación sanitaria.