Sediment source fingerprints of natural processes and anthropogenic pressures: A contribution to manage the Paraopeba River basin impacted by the B1 tailings dam collapse.

Understanding the origins of sediment transport in river systems is crucial for effective watershed management, especially after catastrophic events. This information is essential for the development of integrated strategies that guarantee water security in river basins. The present study aimed to investigate the rupture of the B1 tailings dam of the Córrego do Feijão mine, which drastically affected the Brumadinho region (Minas Gerais, Brazil). To address this issue, a confluence-based sediment fingerprinting approach was developed through the SedSAT model. Uncertainty was assessed through Monte Carlo simulations and Mean Absolute Error (MAE). Estimates of the overall average contributions of each tributary were quantified for each station and annually during the period 2019-2021. It was observed that the sampling point PT-09, closest to the dam breach, contributed to almost 80% of the Paraopeba River in 2019. Despite the dredging efforts, this percentage increased to 90% in 2020 due to the need to restore the highly degraded area. Additionally, the main tributaries contributing to sediment increase in the river are Manso River "TT-03" (almost 36%), associated with an area with a high percentage of urban land use, and Cedro stream "TT-07" (almost 71%), whose geology promotes erosion, leading to higher sediment concentration. Uncertainties arise from the limited number of available tracers, variations caused by dredging activities, and reduced data in 2020 due to the pandemic. Parameters such as land use, riparian vegetation degradation, downstream basin geology, and increased precipitation are key factors for successfully assessing tributary contributions to the Paraopeba River. The obtained results are promising for a preliminary analysis, allowing the quantification of key areas due to higher erosion and studying how this disaster affected the watershed. This information is crucial for improving decision-making, environmental governance, and the development of mitigating measures to ensure water security. This study is pioneering in evaluating this methodology in watersheds affected by environmental disasters, where restoration efforts are ongoing.

TEMPORARY REMOVAL: Sand, Sun, Sea and Sex with Strangers, the "five S's". Characterizing "cruising" activity and its environmental impacts on a protected coastal dunefield.

The publisher regrets that this article has been temporarily removed. A replacement will appear as soon as possible in which the reason for the removal of the article will be specified, or the article will be reinstated. The full Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal can be found at https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal.

Assessment of high spatial resolution satellite imagery for monitoring riparian vegetation: riverine management in the smallholding.

Riverine habitats are essential ecotones that bridge aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, providing multiple ecosystem services. This study analyses the potential use of high-resolution satellite imagery, provided by the WorldView-2 satellite, in order to assess its viability for monitoring riparian ecosystems. It is performed by calculating the riparian strip quality index (RSQI) and calibrating it with the riparian quality index (QBR). The methodology was implemented in the Umia River, which is characterised by elevated anthropogenic pressures (located in the northwest of Spain). The results obtained by the method have a 92% of veracity and a kappa coefficient of 0.88. The average quality value obtained for the RSQI index was 71.57, while the average value for the QBR was 55.88. This difference could be attributed to the fact that the former does not differ between autochthonous and non-autochthonous vegetation. The areas with more accurate mapping corresponded to stretches of vegetation with optimal cover (80-50%), with good connectivity with the adjacent forest ecosystem and few or no presence of invasive plants. The worst-scoring sites had the next characteristics: low connectivity (< 10%), low forest cover (< 10%) and a higher presence of invasive plants. The degradation of vegetation could be explained by the presence of agriculture and deficient land use rationing caused by the type of ownership of the study area. The application of this index through satellite images will facilitate the environmental governance of multiple ecosystems and in special riparian ecosystems, obtaining a quick and objective methodology, easily replicable in other basins.

Testing the Contribution of Multi-Source Remote Sensing Features for Random Forest Classification of the Greater Amanzule Tropical Peatland.

Tropical peatlands such as Ghana's Greater Amanzule peatland are highly valuable ecosystems and under great pressure from anthropogenic land use activities. Accurate measurement of their occurrence and extent is required to facilitate sustainable management. A key challenge, however, is the high cloud cover in the tropics that limits optical remote sensing data acquisition. In this work we combine optical imagery with radar and elevation data to optimise land cover classification for the Greater Amanzule tropical peatland. Sentinel-2, Sentinel-1 and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) imagery were acquired and integrated to drive a machine learning land cover classification using a random forest classifier. Recursive feature elimination was used to optimize high-dimensional and correlated feature space and determine the optimal features for the classification. Six datasets were compared, comprising different combinations of optical, radar and elevation features. Results showed that the best overall accuracy (OA) was found for the integrated Sentinel-2, Sentinel-1 and SRTM dataset (S2+S1+DEM), significantly outperforming all the other classifications with an OA of 94%. Assessment of the sensitivity of land cover classes to image features indicated that elevation and the original Sentinel-1 bands contributed the most to separating tropical peatlands from other land cover types. The integration of more features and the removal of redundant features systematically increased classification accuracy. We estimate Ghana's Greater Amanzule peatland covers 60,187 ha. Our proposed methodological framework contributes a robust workflow for accurate and detailed landscape-scale monitoring of tropical peatlands, while our findings provide timely information critical for the sustainable management of the Greater Amanzule peatland.

Spatiotemporal analysis of the impact of artificial beach structures on biogeomorphological processes in an arid beach-dune system.

The research hypothesis considered in this study is that decisions adopted on beach use and management in arid environments can result in significant changes in the biogeomorphological processes of the beach-dune system of which it forms part. Different information sources and geographical information systems were used to make a spatiotemporal analysis of possible correlations between the presence of beach equipment, services and uses in the backshore area of an arid beach-dune system, such as the beach named Playa del Inglés (Gran Canaria island, Spain) and environmental changes detected in the same area. The period considered in the study covers from 1961 (before the development of the mass tourism on the island) to 2018. Significant variations in vegetation cover over the course of the study period were detected, as well as an overall increase in erosion (topographic and erosive aeolian landforms) and foredune fragmentation and a decrease in geomorphological resilience. The study found not only relationships between management decisions and environmental impacts, but also that environmental impacts of management decisions on beach use made in the 1970s and 1980s continue to be felt today. Moreover, the results also reinforce the idea that management decisions made based on the results of scientific research studies (management-research binomial) can lead to more environmentally sustainable actions.

Beach vegetation as an indicator of human impacts in arid environments: Environmental conditions and landscape perception in the Canary Islands.

Human occupancy of beaches is an important cause of environmental and landscape transformations, some of which are identifiable through vegetation analysis. Commonly, arboreal vegetation has been socially perceived in a positive way, as it contributes to the creation of environments appreciated as beautiful and natural. This type of vegetation has been recreated in urban coastal areas worldwide, including those located in arid environments where it is not always common or endemic to these areas. The typology of plant species, human impacts on beach environments, and the social perception of vegetation contrast were analyzed to understand the landscape influence and human impact on beach environments from arid regions. The study was carried out on 12 beaches with different degrees of human occupation (4 urban, 4 semi-urban and 4 natural) in Gran Canaria island (Spain). The results indicate that the number of exotic and ruderal (first to colonize human disturbed environments) species increases with human occupation of the beaches. A greater number of arboreal species were identified on urban beaches, while shrub and herbaceous species were more common on less occupied beaches (semi-urban and natural). However, when surveyed, the users of semi-urban and natural beaches, considered that arboreal vegetation compose a more attractive landscape than other with herbs or shrubs, even though tree species appear occasionally on these types of beaches. This inconsistency identifies a conflict of values between the development and conservation of beaches in arid environments. This study can be used to establish environmental sustainability strategies on beaches. Conservation and environmental information about ecosystem services related with indigenous plant species is and important issue for integrated management on beaches from arid regions, especially those that may be urbanized in the near future.

Innovative Approach to Sustainable Marine Invertebrate Chemistry and a Scale-Up Technology for Open Marine Ecosystems.

Isolation of marine compounds from living invertebrates represents a major challenge for sustainable and environmentally friendly exploitation of marine bio-resources. To develop innovative technology to trap invertebrate compounds in the open sea, the proof of concept of a system combining external continuous circulation of water with XAD-amberlite solid-phase extraction was validated in an aquarium. In this work, we reported the elicitation of guanidine alkaloid production of Crambe crambe in the presence of Anemonia sulcata, both collected from the Mediterranean Sea. Besides the previously reported crambescidin 359 (1), and crambescidin acid (2), three new compounds were isolated; one carboxylated analog of 1 named crambescidin 401 (3), and two analogs of crambescin B, crambescin B 281 (4) and crambescin B 253 (5). Based on these results, a technology named Somartex® for “Self Operating MARine Trapping Extractor” was patented and built to transfer the concept from closed aquarium systems to open marine ecosystems.

Measuring geomorphological vulnerability on beaches using a set of indicators (GVI): A tool for management.

A system of indicators has been developed to evaluate beach geomorphological vulnerability (GVI) through: intrinsic susceptibility, the agents that model them, and their ability to remain stable over time. The method is applied to 34 beaches on the island of Gran Canaria (Spain) that experience different levels and conditions of human occupation, marine incidence, landforms and sediments, and spatial evolution that have been recorded since 1960. In contrast with other studies, the analysis of these dimensions (and their relationships) allows a diagnosis of the geomorphology of the beaches with an integrated approach. The results illustrate the numerous causes that generate geomorphological vulnerability, such as wave intensity, the presence of dikes or breakwaters, coastline variations, the absence of foredunes and embryonic dunes, the width of the intertidal zone, or the absence of beachrocks or lavic stones outcropping onto the shore. These variables combine and operate differently in five defined groups of beaches with different management needs. The most vulnerable ones were those with strong marine incidence, which require maintenance of their landforms in order to guarantee their stability. The opposite situation is found in beaches with little impact from anthropic and marine components. These beaches are less vulnerable since they have moderate susceptibility and high resilience. Their management requirements consist of soft measures since they have a strong geomorphological robustness. In this context, the proposed indicator system is a potentially relevant contribution to the management of beaches, especially for those that are under threat.

Estimation of the ecological integrity of the Guadiana River using Partial Least Squares Path Modelling and simulation scenarios.

Ecological integrity is fundamental to human life and ecosystems, so its assessment and management are crucial. This concept assesses ecosystem health by examining physico-chemical and biological characteristics, riparian vegetation and macroinvertebrate communities. In recent decades, water resources have undergone significant changes due to various factors that have contributed to the physical, chemical and biological pollution of water. To address this problem, a specific model has been developed using the Partial Least Squares Path Modelling methodology to analyse and quantify the main factors affecting the ecological integrity of the Spanish part of the Guadiana River (Spain). The variables analysed at the different sampling points in the catchment include forest cover, anthropogenic pressure, water quality and biological integrity. Water quality and biological integrity, in turn, constitute the concept of ecological integrity. The model predicts 60.3 % of the physico-chemical water quality and 56.6 % of the biological integrity, showing that ¨Forest cover¨ negatively impacts water quality (W = -0.476) by reducing pollution, while ¨Anthropogenic Pressure¨ positively impacts it (W = 0.680) by increasing pollution. Based on the modelling, three future scenarios were designed, from the lowest to the highest pressure considering changes in riparian forest quality based on QBR and changes in the number of reservoirs: a favourable scenario with high riparian forest quality and no reservoirs; an intermediate scenario with good riparian forest quality and no change in the number of reservoirs; and an unfavourable scenario, characterised by very poor riparian forest quality and an increase in the number of reservoirs. In this context, the importance of the conservation and enhancement of riparian vegetation as a nature-based solution is highlighted, as well as the pressure generated by industrial activity and agricultural practices on the ecological integrity of the study area. The favourable scenario, with very good quality riparian vegetation, improves water quality by up to 85 %, positively impacting the ecological integrity of the river. In contrast, the unfavourable scenario, with extremely degraded riparian forest, would decrease water quality by up to 62 %, negatively affecting ecological integrity. Modelling and future scenarios is an essential tool in the decision-making process to improve environmental governance and water security. In addition, the PLS-PM methodology allows the identification and quantification of relationships between complex variables, providing a solid basis for the design of effective environmental management strategies.

Development of a convolutional neural network to accurately detect land use and land cover.

The detection and modeling of Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) play pivotal roles in natural resource management, environmental modeling and assessment, and ecological connectivity management. However, addressing LULCC detection and modeling constitutes a complex data-driven process. In the present study, a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) is employed due to its great potential in image classification. The development of these tools applies the deep learning method. A methodology has been developed that classifies the set of land uses in a natural area of special protection. This study area covers the Sierra del Cando (Galicia, northwest Spain), considered by the European Union as a Site of Community Interest and integrated in the Natura 2000 Network. The results of the CNN model developed show an accuracy of 91 % on training dataset and 88 % on test dataset. In addition, the model was tested on images of the study area, both from Sentinel-2 and PNOA. Despite some confusion especially in the residential class due to the characteristics in this area, CNNs prove to be a powerful classification tool.•Classifications based on a CNN model•LULC are classified into 10 different classes•Training and test accuracy are 91 % and 88 %, respectively.

The main threats facing the eel (Anguilla anguilla) and the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) in Galicia (NW Spain) through Partial Least Squares Path Modelling.

Migratory fish are very important species from an ecological and socioeconomic point of view, but they suffer the effects of many threats such as climate change, pollution, or overfishing, thus contributing to the decline of these species. To study the main factors influencing these species, Partial Least Squares Path Modelling (PLS-PM) methodology has been used to analyse and quantify the main threats facing two highly relevant migratory species: the eel (Anguilla anguilla) and the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus). Based on this statistical approach, two models have been developed for a total of 14 rivers located in the Autonomous Community of Galicia (NW Spain), one for the eel and the other for the lamprey. For the construction of the models, the influence of environmental factors, surface water quality and anthropogenic impacts on the population of these species has been studied. Two scenarios have also been simulated to assess how the application of corrective measures to reduce the anthropogenic impact implies important improvements to the eel and lamprey populations. The results of the models developed indicate that the variables analysed predict 69% of the eel "Population", with the weight of the measured variables (MV) 'Water treatment plants' having the most substantial weight (W=0.939) followed by the significant negative influence of 'Surface area of reservoirs and rivers' (W=-0.746). Similarly, in the lamprey model, an R2 of 0.58 has been obtained, where the negative influence of the MV "Agricultural nitrate discharge points" (-0.938) stands out substantially. In relation to the scenarios developed for both species, we highlight that the application of measures aimed at reducing anthropogenic pressure manages to mitigate the impact by 4.82% in the case of eel and by 1.37% in the case of lamprey. The set of models and scenarios proposed will make it possible to design preventive and corrective measures to mitigate the impacts affecting these populations, guaranteeing the integrated management of these species, and improving future decision-making, thus strengthening environmental governance.

Geospatial mapping of carbon estimates for forested areas using the InVEST model and Sentinel-2: A case study in Galicia (NW Spain).

CO2 emissions have increased exponentially in recent years, so measuring and quantifying carbon sequestration is a step towards sustainable forest management and combating climate change. The overall goal of this study is to develop an accurate model for estimating carbon storage and sequestration for forest areas of the Atlantic Biogeographic Region. Specifically, the modelling and field sampling are carried out in the municipality of Baiona (Galicia, NW Spain), which was selected as a representative biome of this region. The methodology consists of carrying out two object-based image analysis (OBIA) classifications in spring and autumn to observe possible stocks of seasonal differences. Two carbon storage and sequestration models are built up (model 1 and model 2): model 1 for forest areas only and model 2 including all other land cover in the study area. Sentinel-2 geospatial data for 2021, Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) tools and geographic information systems (GIS) are used. A Kappa index of 0.92 is obtained for both classifications, thus ruling out any notable seasonal differences in the images used. The results from both models indicate that it is land covers associated with forest uses which store the most carbon in the study area, accounting for >50 % more than the other land covers. It is concluded that the methodology and data used are very useful for quantifying ecosystem services, which will help the governance of the region by implementing measures to mitigate some of the effects of climate change and help to create silvicultural models for the sustainable management of the Atlantic Biogeographic Region.

The ability of donkey sperm to induce oocyte activation and mule embryo development after ICSI.

Members of the Equus genus exhibit a fascinating capacity for hybridization, giving rise to healthy offspring. Mules, resulting from the mating of a mare with a jack, represent the most prevalent equid hybrid, serving diverse roles in our society. While in vitro embryo production, particularly through Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI), has rapidly gained significance in domestic horses, the in vitro production in other equids remains largely unexplored. Utilizing donkey sperm for fertilizing horse oocytes not only addresses this gap but also provides an opportunity to investigate donkey sperm's fertilization capability in vitro to further improve donkey ICSI. In this work, we initially studied the localization of donkey sperm Phospholipase C zeta (PLCζ) and assessed the sperm's capacity to induce pronuclear formation and maternal SMARCA4 recruitment upon injection into pig oocytes through ICSI. Subsequently, we investigated the injection of donkey sperm into horse oocytes, evaluating in vitro production up to the blastocyst stage using sperm from different jacks, including frozen and refrigerated samples. Distinct patterns of PLCζ localization were observed for donkey sperm cells compared to their horse counterparts. Additionally, donkey sperm exhibits a reduced ability to induce porcine oocyte activation. However, when injected into horse oocytes, donkey sperm demonstrated sufficient capability to induce oocyte activation as no discernible differences in cleavage or blastocyst rates are observed between in vitro produced mules and horse ICSI embryos. Our study not only delineates PLCζ localization in donkey sperm but also suggests potential differences in the ability to induce oocyte activation in pigs compared to horses while observing no distinctions in pronuclear recruitment of SMARCA4. Interestingly, donkey sperm remains sufficiently capable of inducing horse oocyte activation for in vitro mule blastocyst production.

ACT-Discover: identifying karyotype heterogeneity in pancreatic cancer evolution using ctDNA.

BACKGROUND: Liquid biopsies and the dynamic tracking of somatic mutations within circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) can provide insight into the dynamics of cancer evolution and the intra-tumour heterogeneity that fuels treatment resistance. However, identifying and tracking dynamic changes in somatic copy number alterations (SCNAs), which have been associated with poor outcome and metastasis, using ctDNA is challenging. Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is a disease which has been considered to harbour early punctuated events in its evolution, leading to an early fitness peak, with minimal further subclonal evolution. METHODS: To interrogate the role of SCNAs in pancreatic adenocarcinoma cancer evolution, we applied whole-exome sequencing of 55 longitudinal cell-free DNA (cfDNA) samples taken from 24 patients (including 8 from whom a patient-derived xenograft (PDX) was derived) with metastatic disease prospectively recruited into a clinical trial. We developed a method, Aneuploidy in Circulating Tumour DNA (ACT-Discover), that leverages haplotype phasing of paired tumour biopsies or PDXs to identify SCNAs in cfDNA with greater sensitivity. RESULTS: SCNAs were observed within 28 of 47 evaluable cfDNA samples. Of these events, 30% could only be identified by harnessing the haplotype-aware approach leveraged in ACT-Discover. The exceptional purity of PDX tumours enabled near-complete phasing of genomic regions in allelic imbalance, highlighting an important auxiliary function of PDXs. Finally, although the classical model of pancreatic cancer evolution emphasises the importance of early, homogenous somatic events as a key requirement for cancer development, ACT-Discover identified substantial heterogeneity of SCNAs, including parallel focal and arm-level events, affecting different parental alleles within individual tumours. Indeed, ongoing acquisition of SCNAs was identified within tumours throughout the disease course, including within an untreated metastatic tumour. CONCLUSIONS: This work demonstrates the power of haplotype phasing to study genomic variation in cfDNA samples and reveals undiscovered intra-tumour heterogeneity with important scientific and clinical implications. Implementation of ACT-Discover could lead to important insights from existing cohorts or underpin future prospective studies seeking to characterise the landscape of tumour evolution through liquid biopsy.

A detailed alarm management report as a tool for the treatment of bad actors at a gas logistics plant.

BACKGROUND: The treatment of bad actors consists of analyzing the most triggered alarms at a plant, seeking to make modifications that provide workers with more efficient and safer operational conditions. The consideration of plant operators' practical knowledge in these proposed changes is both an opportunity and a challenge, as specific conditions are required. OBJECTIVE: To present and discuss how an alarm management report (AMR) could support the treatment of bad actors by promoting structured debates on real work situations and its contribution in improving the solutions proposed by alarm management committees (AMCs). METHODS: Data from nine AMC meetings were gathered and parsed using qualitative content analysis to classify the kind of information that the AMC used to justify the proposed changes and how these changes were decided. RESULTS: More than 60% of the changes were justified by information provided by the AMRs, indicating broad application and adoption. However, our findings suggest that the structured debates addressed variability and emerging strategies and may consider entire subsystems instead of single alarms. CONCLUSION: The use of structured debates is feasible for the treatment of bad actors and is an appropriate option that includes operating experience feedback for alarm optimization in industrial facilities.

Modelling of threats that affect Cyano-HABs in an eutrophicated reservoir: First phase towards water security and environmental governance in watersheds.

Cyano-HABs are proliferating around the world due to anthropogenic nutrient enrichment of freshwater bodies. This study seeks to obtain a holistic vision over the various threats that affect the Cyano-HABs of Umia basin and especially of A Baxe reservoir (Galicia, NW Spain), through the method of Partial least squares path modelling (PLS-PM). The A Baxe reservoirs is a fundamental source of drinking water supply to surrounding dwellings. This study identifies and quantify the variables that increase contaminant concentration and decrease ecological integrity, as well as how this scenario evolved over various hydrologic years. In this regard, the PLS-PM equations will be robust and powerful tools to predict changes in eutrophication and ecological integrity, as response to measures implemented in the basin that can improve water quality. The dependent latent variables are "Eutrophication" (chlorophyl-a, Microcystis sp.) and "Ecological Integrity" (METI Bioindicator). The independent latent variables are "SWP", which represents surface water parameters (phosphorus, nitrogen and pH) and "Climatic Conditions" (temperature, precipitation). The PLS-PM results revealed that 51.0% of "Eutrophication" is predicted by the independent variables. The connections between latent variables are quantified through path coefficients (ß). The "SWP" contributes by increasing "Eutrophication" (ß = 0.235), the same occurring with the "Climatic Conditions" (ß = -0.672). The variables "Eutrophication" (ß = -0.217) and "SWP" (ß = -0.483) lower the "Ecological Integrity". On the other hand, different trophic scenarios, adapted to the temperature increase predicted for the study area, were tested, and it was found that ecological integrity would improve by 46% if the oligotrophic state were reached. Therefore, it is recommended to prevent pollution by means of water control and governance plans, as well as corrective and preventive measures, which guarantee the water security of the river basins. Despite the complex mathematics behind the PLS-PM models, their user-friendly development and application through interactive graphical interfaces make them easily transposable to other eutrophic reservoirs, widening the readership of these studies focused on multiple-geosphere assessment of environmental impacts.

Deforestation by historical lime industry in an arid aeolian sedimentary system: An applied and methodological research.

Traditional land uses have been altering aeolian sedimentary systems for centuries through the removal of plant material for grazing, fuel or farming purposes. However, few studies have been able to quantify the deforestation process associated with these land uses due to the complexity that this entails and the limitations of the historical sources. In this context, the aim of this work is to develop a methodology that allows to reconstruct, evaluate, measure and locate the effects of deforestation processes. The methodology, based on the interpretation of historical documents, oral interviews and publications in the literature; was applied to a case study in Jandía (Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain). On the basis of morphological measurements of the types of plant used to fire lime kilns, the current available biovolume was determined and an estimation made of the surface area affected by plant removal. The data obtained were integrated and analysed through a geographic information system (GIS) in order to quantify the impact of the lime kiln industry on the vegetation in the study area. The main results show that to fire a large-sized lime kiln oven it would be necessary to clear a low-density vegetation area of 21,826.08 m2 (or a a high-density vegetation area of 3075.72 m2) using three main species (Launaea arborescens, Lycium intricatum and Convolvulus caput-madusae). It was also found that distances of up to 38 km had to be travelled to obtain the vegetation required to fire the kilns. It is concluded that a number of impacts resulted from the demands of the limestone industry, particularly on plant communities, the abundance of certain species and flora richness, as well as modifications to geomorphological processes and the eventual collapse of the activity in the 1960s through overexploitation of the plant material. The present research allows us to learn from past experiences in which industries lacked proper planning and thus their activity led to their own collapse and rapid environmental degradation.

Assessing the scenic quality of transgressive dune systems on volcanic islands. The case of Corralejo (Fuerteventura island, Spain).

The formation of transgressive aeolian sedimentary systems on hot-spot volcanic islands results in globally singular conditions. The natural attractions and landscape features of these spaces can result in the concentration of urban-tourist developments in their surroundings, altering their physical integrity and their ecological and scenic functionality. This has been the case of the Corralejo dunefield in Fuerteventura (Canary Islands, Spain), where the strong pressure exerted by tourism is endangering the area's natural and landscape resources. This study aims to qualitatively assess the landscape heritage through a number of indicators, some of which are developed on the basis of user perception. Four landscape dimensions (substratum, sea, vegetation, and scenic background) were used to analyse the 24 landscape units into which the Corralejo beach-dune system was divided. The results show that this system presents a high landscape value, as do its four different dimensions. This value was found to decrease in areas bordering the urban area or where tourists were commonly present. Recommendations are proposed to improve the area based on user perceptions. This type of research is of interest for future planning, ordinance preparation and management with a view to establishing a balance between the physical medium and anthropic pressure.

Water security and watershed management assessed through the modelling of hydrology and ecological integrity: A study in the Galicia-Costa (NW Spain).

Water management is a crucial tool for addressing the increasing uncertainties caused by climate change, biodiversity loss and the conditions of socioeconomic limits. The multiple factors affecting water resources need to be successfully managed to achieve optimal governance and thus move towards water security. This study seeks to obtain a holistic vision of the various threats that affect the ecological integrity of the basins that form the hydrological district of Galicia-Costa, through the method of partial least squares path modelling (PLS-PM). The data is analysed overall for the hydrological years from 2009 to 2015. The independent latent variables are "Anthropogenic" (comprising the percentage of water bodies with edges alongside artificial surfaces, the percentage connected to artificial land use patches, the edge density of artificial surfaces and population density) and "Nature" (edge density of forestry land uses, edge length of land water bodies alongside forested areas and the percentage of land occupied by the largest patch of forest). The dependent latent variables are "SWP", which represents surface water parameters (biological oxygen demand, chlorides, conductivity and dissolved iron) and "Ecological Integrity" (METI Bioindicator). The connections between latent variables are uantified through path coefficients (ß). From an overall perspective, the PLS-PM results reveal that 69.0% of "SWP" is predicted by the independent variables (R2 = 0.690), "Anthropogenic" contributes by increasing SWP (ß = 0.471), while "Nature" decreases the concentration of SWP (ß = -0.523), which indicates the polluting parameters in the water. The variables "Anthropogenic" (ß = -0.351) and "SWP" (ß = -0.265) lower the quality of "Ecological Integrity". This variable must be managed through soil conservation measures for the benefit of water security. This study has been able to identify and quantify the variables that increase contaminant concentration and decrease ecological integrity, providing a promising methodology that facilitates protection and correction measures to guarantee water safety.

Radiation-induced liver disease in the era of SBRT: a review.

INTRODUCTION: Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SBRT) in liver tumors allows ablative radiation doses in tumors preserving the liver tissue. However, liver is a parallel organ allowing high doses in a small region to preserve its function. If this is not possible, radio-induced liver toxicity is produced. Radio-induced liver toxicity or radio-induced liver disease (RILD) is the most serious toxicity in liver radiotherapy. AREAS COVERED: In this review, we analyzed published literature on PubMed and MEDLINE. We included papers in English language with information about RILD characteristics, diagnostic, risk factors, pathophysiology, and treatment. All citations were evaluated for relevant content and validation. EXPERT OPINION: The study of RILD is fundamental before the implementation of liver SBRT. Radio-induced liver toxicity is a complication that can be fatal for patients. This is a diagnosis of exclusion and it is essential that experts in the treatment of hepatic SBRT know about it and anticipate its development. The study and development of molecular or imaging biomarkers could be key in their diagnosis and prevention.