Evolución clínica y funcional de los pacientes que ingresan en residencias tras una fractura de cadera. Implementación de un programa de intervención multinivel

Background and objectiveThe aim of this study was to determine the clinical and functional outcomes of patients discharged to nursing homes after a hip fracture.MethodsThe study included all patients admitted to a group of nursing homes after a hip fracture in 2016. A geriatric assessment protocol was applied, and patients were treated with a specific protocol for 90 days. They were assessed for nutritional status (Mini-Nutritional Assessment and Body Mass Index), pain (Visual Analogue Scale, and the PAINAD Scale), the presence of pressure ulcers, blood test (D vitamin, haemoglobin, proteins), and functional status (Barthel index and Functional Assessment Categories).ResultsOut of a total of 175 patients, 116 (75%) met the inclusion criteria. The mean age was 84.9 years old (±6.7 SD), and 91 (78.4%) were women. At admission, 73.8% of 65 residents had anaemia, 76.7% hypovitaminosis D, 88% malnutrition or «at risk of malnutrition», and 15.3% had pressure ulcers. After 90 days, the moderate-severe functional status (Barthel index < 60) was reduced from 90.4 to 39.6%, dependence due to gait from 97.3 to 36.1%, and moderate-severe pain from 88.9 to 14.4%. Most of the pressure ulcers healed (94.4%).ConclusionsPatients admitted to nursing homes after a hip fracture had poor clinical and functional status. This study shows that after 90 days from admission these patients had positive outcomes in terms of functionality, gait, pain control, and pressure ulcers healing.     

Optical Feedback Loop Involving Dinoflagellate Symbiont and Scleractinian Host Drives Colorful Coral Bleaching

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Discovering Precise Temporal Patterns in Large-Scale Neural Recordings through Robust and Interpretable Time Warping

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Genetic diversity and restoration of a recalcitrant clonal sedge (Tetraria capillaris Cyperaceae)

The genetic diversity of a clonal sedge (Tertraria capillaris) was assessed using isozyme analysis of 11 loci. Of 29 enzyme systems tested, eight were selected which gave interpretable bands with consistently good resolution. Though seedlings of the species are rarely observed in nature, isozyme analysis showed that for the study transects containing 100 sample plants, the majority of plants at the site were sexually rather than clonally derived. Young plants generated from embryos grown in vitro from excised seeds showed a high level of genetic diversity which could account for the genetic diversity measured in the parent population. In terms of restoration of the species, 85% of the assessed genetic diversity at the study site could be retained if 25 T. capillaris plants were taken at random. The study illustrates how genetic assessment coupled with tissue culture methods provides a feasible model for the recovery of most of the assessed local genetic diversity of a clonal species.     

Genetic and allelopathic differences between populations of daisy fleabane Erigeron annuus (L.) Pers. (Asteraceae) from disturbed and stable habitats

The interactions between invasive plants and their habitats may vary at different phases of the invasion process and depend on the phenotypic plasticity or local adaptations of each species. In this study, we investigated whether habitat changes during the invasion process are related to variations in the physiological traits (allelopathic properties) and genetic differentiation of daisy fleabane (Erigeron annuus (L.) Pers.). E. annuus is a winter annual invasive species that originated in North America and is now distributed throughout Europe. Genetic and genotypic diversity analyses were performed for 37 populations of E. annuus based on inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) polymorphisms. In total, 684 plants were analyzed; 342 were from stable habitats and 342 were from disturbed habitats. The genetic differences among the populations from the different habitats were studied using a Bayesian cluster analysis and an analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) and by calculating the genetic and genotypic diversity parameters. A germination test using the juglone index was employed to examine the potential allelopathic properties of the plants from the different habitats. Bayesian cluster analysis, AMOVA and allelopathic effects evaluation revealed differences in the allelopathic potential and genetic structure of the E. annuus populations from the disturbed and stable habitats. This differentiation of populations could be associated with founder effects or with different selection pressures among habitats.     

Low mtDNA Cytb diversity and shallow population structure of Eleutheronema tetradactylum in the East China Sea and the South China Sea

Eleutheronema tetradactylum is an economically important fish species in China water. To investigate the genetic diversity and describe population structure of it, an 1151 base pair (bp) fragment of the mitochondrial DNA Cytb sequence was analyzed in 120 individuals from four populations in the East China Sea and the South China Sea. A total of 16 haplotypes were defined by 24 variable nucleotide sites. High level of haplotype diversity and low nucleotide diversity were observed in all populations. The results of AMOVA detected that 89.44% of the genetic variation occurred within populations. Significant genetic differentiations were detected among populations (0.05097, P < 0.05), but no large-scale regional differences were detected. Analysis of neutral evolution and mismatch distribution suggested no recent population expansion happened. The present results provided new information for genetic assessment, fishery management and conservation of this species.     

Saldanha Bay,South Africa: recovery of Gracilaria verrucosa (Gracilariales,Rhodophyta)

Since World War II the greater Saldanha Bay lagoon system, South Africa, has been an important Gracilaria producer. Two agar factories, built in the 1960's, used Gracilaria from Saldanha Bay as their raw material. In the early 1970's the industry was destroyed as a result of dredging and marine construction operations to establish a harbor in the bay for loading ore. These environmental changes destroyed stocks and prevented the previously significant beachings of the seaweed from occurring. After a few years of no or very low commercial production, the resource slowly started to recover. The size of Gracilaria drifts increased over the following eight years to approximately one-third of the original output. This trend seems to continue. Although the stocks and resultant drifts are unlikely to recover fully to their original quantity, current production is already sufficient to ensure re-establishment of a seaweed industry in Saldanha Bay. This could have considerable socio-economic impact on the area.     

Finite time blow-up in some models of chemotaxis

We consider a class of models of chemotactic bacterial populations, introduced by Keller-Segel. For those models, we investigate the possibility of chemotactic collapse, in other words, the possibility that in finite time the population of predators aggregates to form a delta-function. To study this phenomenon, we construct self-similar solutions, which may or may not blow-up (in finite time), depending on the relative strength of three mechanisms in competition: (i) the chemotactic attraction of bacteria towards regions of high concentration in substrate (ii) the rate of consumption of the substrate by the bacteria and (iii) (possibly) the diffusion of bacteria. The solutions we construct are radially symmetric, and therefore have no relation with the classical traveling wave solutions. Our scaling can be justified by a dimensional analysis. We give some evidence of numerical stability.     

Threshold response of Madagascar's littoral forest to sea-level rise

Aim Coastal biodiversity hotspots are globally threatened by sea‐level rise. As such it is important to understand how ecosystems resist, respond and adapt to sea‐level rise. Using pollen, geochemistry, charcoal and diatom records in conjunction with previously published palaeoclimatic records, we investigated the mechanism, interactions and ecosystem response and resilience of Madagascar's littoral forest to late Holocene sea‐level rise. Location Sediment sequences were collected along the south‐east coast of Madagascar in two adjacent habitats in Mandena; the highly diverse littoral forest fragment and species‐poor Erica‐matrix. Methods We used a multi‐proxy approach to investigate the relative influence of environmental changes on the littoral ecosystem. We reconstructed past vegetation and fire dynamics over the past 6500 years at two sites in the littoral forest using fossil pollen and macrofossil charcoal contained in sedimentary sequences. Alongside these records we reconstructed past marine transgressions from the same sedimentary sequences using geochemical analyses, and a salinity and drought index through the analysis of fossil diatoms. Results Our findings indicated that it was the synergistic effect of sea‐level rise coupled with rainfall deficits that triggered a threshold event with a switch from two types of littoral forest (an open Uapaca forest and a closed littoral forest fragment) to an Erica–Myrica heath/grassland occurring in approximately less than 100 years. Resilience to sea‐level rise differed in the two adjacent habitats, suggesting that the littoral forest fragment was more resilient to the impacts of sea‐level change and aridity than the open Uapaca woodland. Conclusions We demonstrated that the littoral ecosystem was influenced by late Holocene sea‐level rise and climatic desiccation. While climate change‐integrated conservation strategies address the effects of climate change on species distribution and dispersal, our work suggests that more attention should be paid to the impacts of interactive climatic variables that affect ecosystem thresholds.