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Acknowledgements This study was funded by the European Commission, under the LIFE Nature and Biodiversity program, as part of the project LIFE-DIVAQUA (Proyecto LIFE18 NAT/ES/000121). We also like to thank all the Spanish government agencies and research institutions who provided information, answered the questionnaires and participated in the workshop “Synthesis of the monitoring programs of global change in aquatic ecosystems SMNP: Autonomous Organism of National Parks, MAPAMA-Dir. Gral. Agua, Universidad de Granada, Instituto Universitario de Investigación del Agua, (IdeA-UGR), Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, CISE-P.N. Sierra de Guadarrama, Fundación Biodiversidad, CEAB-CSIC, IGME, MNCN-CSIC, Universidad de Córdoba, Universidad de Barcelona and ICTA-UAB. We also like to thank the 28 European Nation Parks who responded our query. The authors finally thank the support provided by Christoph Wohner in the use of the DEIMS-SDR., Electronic supplementary material The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-022-02466-x., Data Availability The datasets used to review the monitoring programs at the Global scale conducted in the ILTER nodes that are included in Rivers (ILTER-Rivers) or Lakes (ILTER-Lakes) are available at the DEIMS dataset registry (DEIMS-SDR) (for more details see: Wohner et al. 2019; https://deims.org/). The datasets used to review the monitoring programs at the European scale conducted in the EMNP are available by requesting them via email to the corresponding EMNP. The datasets used to review the monitoring programs at the National scale conducted in the five SMNP are mostly included in this article and it supplementary information file. In addition, meteorological data recorded by the Spanish Global Change Monitoring Network in available at the Meteorological data download web application (https://www.miteco.gob.es/es/redparques- nacionales/red-seguimiento/acceso-datos.aspx). Further and more detailed information is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request., Funding This study was carried out with the financial support of the EU LIFE programme, as part of the project LIFE-DIVAQUA (Proyecto LIFE18 NAT/ES/000121). The information showed in this publication only reflects the point of view of the authors. The European Comission and CINEA cannot be held responsible for any use which be made of the information contained here. Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature., Identifying and quantifying global change impacts on biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems is critical to promote an effective adaptation that increases the success of conservation strategies. To achieve this goal, global and regional assessment efforts require certain degree of harmonization on local monitoring programs to establish relevant comparisons at different spatio-temporal scales. Otherwise, the lack of harmonization might hinder the detection and assessment on the effects of human impacts. In this work we have compiled information on freshwater monitoring programs located in areas of intensive research and conservation interest: International Long Term Ecological Research (ILTER) nodes and mountain National Parks. We aimed at evaluating the quality and robustness of these programs to assess the impact of global change, addressing from the worldwide to the European and Spanish national scale. Results highlighted that freshwater monitoring programs lack a common strategy to monitor these ecosystems. Even at the continental and national scales, contrasting strategies and level of detail have been historically applied. Water quality, habitat and biodiversity are more commonly monitored than community structure and ecosystem functioning. Monitoring efforts on the Spanish Mountain National parks indicated differences on the targeted aquatic ecosystems. Rivers and lakes received a higher attention, while mires were rarely considered. Our results provide evidence that greater efforts should be directed towards constructing a coordinated strategy to monitor freshwater ecosystems at national, continental, and global scales. This strategy should involve a shared backbone of biophysical and biogeochemical variables for each habitat type on agreed protocols that are implemented across regions and administrative borders. Achieving this will support a substantial advance on the ecological research to further delineate proper conservation strategies to face the challenges imposed by global change., European Commission LIFE18 NAT/ES/000121

A high cobalamin level has been related to non-malignant diseases (mainly liver diseases, alcoholism, and renal diseases) and cancer (haematological malignancies and solid cancers such as liver and stomach cancer). However, a previous high level of cobalamin and the implications in the possible development of cancer is still unclear. The main objective of this study was to describe if a previous high cobalamin level is a determinant in the future development of cancer in five years of follow-up. The secondary objective was to determine any differences between cancer groups.A retrospective study was performed. Two databases were employed. The first one included all patients who had a determination of cobalamin in a routine blood test during the year 2010 (a total of 44,166 patients). The second one showed every patient who was admitted to the reference hospital, Hospital Clinico Universitario de Valladolid, during the following five years. Finally, a number of 6,710 patients was included. Both databases belong to the medical records of the Hospital Data Surveillance System, and are completely validated. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were employed to evaluate the association between cobalamin levels and the appearance of cancer (total and in each subgroup). All analyses were performed using IBM SPSS 24 software.The sample studied showed a clear association between the risk of haematological cancer and a previous high Cbl level. This relationship was higher among patients with the highest levels (over 779 pmol/L), showing almost two times more risk for development of haematological malignance within 5 years in the multivariate analysis [OR: 1.975, 95% CI: 1.056-3.697, p=0.033]. Haematological malignancies were mostly diagnosed within the first three years (86.6%), showing a similar percentage in those three years. There was no association between this previous level and the development of any other type of cancer.Our study shows that a high cobalamin plasma level (hypervitaminosis) is associated with the development of haematologic cancer within five years after the measurement. The clinical implication of these findings, together with the clinical suspicion, reinforces the necessity of carrying out specific screening haematological tests in patients with not justified elevated plasma cobalamin levels. New prospective and multicentre studies are necessary in order to validate these results.

Daphnia is a good model organism for studying factors affecting dispersal and patterns of genetic diversity. Within this genus, the Daphnia pulex species complex includes lineages from North America and Europe, with some considered invaders in various continents, although their colonization history is poorly known. We used mitochondrial DNA and microsatellite markers to identify the D. pulex complex lineages in Sierra Nevada, determine their reproductive mode and reconstruct their genetic history (over the past ~25 to 65 years). We present the first recording of North American (NA) D. cf. pulex in a European high-mountain lake, showing its arrival ~65 years ago in lake Borreguil without temporal changes in its genetic structure. European (Eu) D. cf. pulicaria is the only lineage present in other Sierra Nevada lakes and also showed no genetic change over time. The results for both species are congruent with obligate parthenogenetic reproduction mode. Moreover, water mineralization may influence the clonal distribution of the D. pulex complex in Sierra Nevada, without ruling out dispersal limitation and/or founder effects. Although NA D. cf. pulex had not spread to other Sierra Nevada lakes, it could threaten Eu D. cf. pulicaria in Sierra Nevada and other European alpine lakes.

Objectives The objective of this study was to highlight the role of the clinical laboratory and the relevance of reporting the case immediately to the unit of hematology for the diagnosis and early administration of treatment in the presence of such an urgent hematologic disease as thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). Case presentation An elderly patient was referred to the emergency department of our hospital by his general practitioner for speech difficulty, facial asymmetry and weakness in the upper limb. Stroke code was activated. However, laboratory findings (anemia, thrombocytopenia, elevated creatinine, total bilirubin and LDH, negative direct Coombs test) and presence of schistocytes in the peripheral blood smear test were consistent with a completely different diagnosis: TTP thrombotic microangiopathy. Conclusions The first diagnostic approach of left hemispheric stroke was not confirmed in the laboratory, with findings of nonautoimmune hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia without apparent cause and presence of schistocytes. We should not forget that the clinical manifestations of this condition are widely variable and may include multiorganic dysfunction. Although confirmation of diagnosis is based on ADAMTS-13, its associated high mortalitiy requires immediate treatment on mere suspicion.

Resumen Objetivos Resaltar el papel del laboratorio clínico y la pronta comunicación con el servicio de Hematología en el diagnóstico y la rapidez en la instauración del tratamiento de una patología hematológica tan urgente como la Púrpura Trombótica Trombocitopénica (PTT). Caso clínico Varón de edad avanzada derivado a Urgencias hospitalarias por su médico de Atención Primaria por trastorno de emisión del lenguaje, asimetría facial y disminución de fuerza en extremidad superior, por lo que se activa el código ictus. Sin embargo, los hallazgos de laboratorio (anemia y trombocitopenia, creatinina, bilirrubina total y LDH elevadas, test de Coombs directo negativo) y presencia de esquistocitos en el frotis de sangre periférica, acaban derivando en un diagnóstico completamente diferente: microangiopatía trombótica tipo PTT. Conclusiones La primera orientación diagnóstica de ictus hemisférico izquierdo fue rechazada ante los signos de anemia hemolítica no autoinmune, trombocitopenia sin causa aparente y presencia de esquistocitos. No debemos olvidar que esta patología puede cursar con afectación multiorgánica y características clínicas muy variables. Aunque su diagnóstico definitivo se basa en la determinación de actividad de ADAMTS-13, debido a la elevada mortalidad es necesario instaurar tratamiento de forma inmediata tras su sospecha.

Mountain regions are areas characterized by great spatial variability in climate variables, due to the great differences in altitude, orientation and the abrupt topography that characterizes them. These features of the territory, together with a relative lower density of meteorological stations, make it difficult to characterize climate change in these areas.This work describes the Spanish High Mountain Climate Database (SHMCDv1) consisting of daily quality controlled and homogenised records of maximum temperature, minimum temperature and precipitation for the territories that include the two highest altitude national parks in mainland Spain, the Sierra Nevada National Park (PNSN) and the Aigüestortes i Sant Maurici National Park (PNASM), and its area of ​​influence.To build this database, 129 climatic series corresponding to the PPNASM area and 166 series in the PNSN area have been used, for the period between 1893 and 2020, obtained from various sources (AEMET, SMC, Climanevada database, LOOP Project). A systematic quality control has been applied to the series using the RClimdex-extraqc (see http://www.c3.urv.cat/data/manual/Manual_rclimdex_extraQC.r.pdf). This procedure has allowed the identification of 857 values considered erroneous, of which 10% has been recovered with the correct value. Its homogeneity has been tested and adjusted with a CLIMATOL homogenization method developed by J. Guijarro (2016) (see http://www.climatol.eu/index.html). 205 inhomogeneities have been detected and adjusted in the temperature series, which represents an average of 2 inhomogeneities for each series.In total, thermo-pluviometric series have been composed for a set of 98 meteorological stations, 27 of them located above 1500 meters of altitude.Sen’s estimator of the slope have been used to estimate the temperature and precipitation trends corresponding to low mountain areas ( 1500 m altitude) are calculated and analyzed to determine if there are differences in the evolution of recent temperature or precipitation due to altitude and between both mountain areas.This work has been done thanks to funding from MINECO and MITECO, through the projects LACEN-CLI (ref: 2476-S/2017), MEROMONT (ref: CGL2017-85682-R) and Smart EcoMountains (LifeWatch-2019-10-UGR-01).

Sedimentary postabdominal claws, among other remains, have been used successfully in paleolimnological studies to reconstruct past environmental conditions and the distribution pattern of certain Daphnia species. However, morphological analysis of postabdominal claws has not proven adequate for the clear taxonomic differentiation among species within a complex, such as the Daphnia pulex complex. The presence of the invasive North American (NA) D. pulex lineage was recently detected in an alpine lake in the Sierra Nevada mountain range (Southeast Spain). This lineage has spread throughout Africa and the Mediterranean basin, suggesting a trend towards its increased presence in Europe. The aim of this study was to examine whether this invasive lineage could be differentiated from the native European (Eu) Daphnia pulicaria lineage based on morphological differences in postabdominal claws recovered from three alpine lakes in the Sierra Nevada. The most useful differential variables were the postabdominal claw length (PCL), ratio of distal comb length to PCL (Cldist/PCL), and number of stout spines. Thus, NA D. pulex may be identifiable by a short PCL, low Cldist/PCL value and the presence of

Resumen Objetivo Evaluar el nivel de implementacion de los protocolos asociados a la prevencion de la debilidad muscular adquirida en la unidad de cuidados intensivos (UCI), asi como la presencia del fisioterapeuta en distintas UCI de Espana. Metodo Estudio descriptivo, transversal realizado en 86 UCI de adultos de Espana entre los meses de marzo a junio de 2017. Se excluyeron UCI neuroquirurgicas y de grandes quemados. Se utilizo encuesta multirrespuesta que incluia preguntas sobre los protocolos de: control de glucemia, sedacion, valoracion del dolor, prevencion del delirium, manejo del delirium y movilizacion precoz. La encuesta fue rellenada a traves de un aplicativo protegido por usuario y contrasena. Analisis inferencial con t de Student o U de Mann-Whitney y de correlacion con Pearson o Rho de Spearman. Resultados El 89,5% de las UCI tenian protocolo de control de glucemia, con rango predominante de 110-140 mg/dl. El 74,4% evaluaban el nivel de sedacion, si bien solo tenian protocolos de sedacion el 36% de ellas. Con relacion a la valoracion del dolor se realizaba en el 73,7% de los pacientes comunicativos, mientras que en los no comunicativos solo era del 47,5%. Solo el 37,2% realizaban screening diario para detectar el delirium, y disponian de protocolos de prevencion del delirium el 31,4% de las UCI, del manejo del delirium el 26,7% y de movilizacion precoz el 14% de las UCI. En el 34,9% de los casos se solicita interconsulta al servicio de rehabilitacion. Conclusiones La implementacion de los diferentes protocolos asociados a la prevencion de la debilidad muscular adquirida ha sido elevada en relacion con los protocolos de control de glucemia, valoracion del nivel de sedacion y del dolor de pacientes comunicativos, mientras que baja en los de movilizacion precoz y screening y prevencion del delirio. Asimismo, es poco frecuente la presencia del fisioterapeuta en la UCI.

Aquatic invertebrates can be geographically dispersed by abiotic vectors (wind, rain and water flow) or organisms (mainly by insects, fishes and waterbirds). However, there is a lack of information on the dispersal by waterbirds of cladocerans and especially rotifers, and on the hatching success of the dispersed propagules. Here, we quantify the dispersal of cladocerans and rotifers by waterbirds through analysis of their faecal droppings collected in a wetland formed by two natural lakes located in Donana National Park (Spain). We also study the influence of different photoperiod and temperature conditions on the hatching success of the dispersal propagules. Diapausing propagules of 22 species of rotifers or cladocerans were identified in waterbird faecal droppings, with a mean number of 0.9 diapausing propagules per dropping. The hatching success rate, which was not influenced by photoperiod or temperature, was low (~ 12.5%). Nevertheless, the role of rotifer dispersal by waterbirds appears to have been underestimated in the past. In this study area, the dispersal of rotifers by waterbirds may be at least as relevant as their dispersal by air currents. Further studies are needed to evaluate the relative importance of dispersal mechanisms (mainly air currents and animal vectors) in different geographical areas.

The authors acknowledge COST Action ES 1105 "CYANOCOST Cyanobacterial blooms and toxins in water resources: Occurrence impacts and management" and COST Action Global Change Biology ES 1201 NETLAKE -Networking Lake Observatories in Europe" for contributing to this study through networking and knowledge sharing with European experts in the field. We acknowledge the members of the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON) for their collaborative spirit and enthusiasm that inspired the grassroots effort of the EMLS. E.M. was supported by a grant from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation to Bas Ibelings and by supplementary funding from University of Geneva. We thank Wendy Beekman for the nutrient analysis. We thank Pieter Slot for assisting with the pigment analysis. We thank Dr. Ian Jones for valuable feedback on an earlier version of the manuscript. We thank the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and the Aquatic Microbial Ecology Group for logistic and technical support of J. Fonvielle and H.-P. Grossart, and the Leibniz Association for financial support. H.P. was supported by the US National Science Foundation (1840715, 1831096). A.C.'s work was funded by the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigacion and EU funds through the project CLIMAWET (CGL2015-69557-R). The collection of data for Lough Erne and Lough Neagh were funded by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Northern Ireland. We are grateful to Kristiina Vuorio from the Freshwater Centre of the Finnish Environment institute for her help in organizing, collecting and analysing samples by the University of Jyvaskyla and to Gerald Dorflinger from the Water Development Department of Cyprus for his assistance with the sampling in Cyprus and for granting the CUT team permission to use WDD's equipment. Finally, we would like to thank the numerous other assistants that helped realizing each local survey. Open access funding provided by Universite de Geneve., To determine the drivers of phytoplankton biomass, we collected standardized morphometric, physical, and biological data in 230 lakes across the Mediterranean, Continental, and Boreal climatic zones of the European continent. Multilinear regression models tested on this snapshot of mostly eutrophic lakes (median total phosphorus [TP] = 0.06 and total nitrogen [TN] = 0.7 mg L-1), and its subsets (2 depth types and 3 climatic zones), show that light climate and stratification strength were the most significant explanatory variables for chlorophyll a (Chl a) variance. TN was a significant predictor for phytoplankton biomass for shallow and continental lakes, while TP never appeared as an explanatory variable, suggesting that under high TP, light, which partially controls stratification strength, becomes limiting for phytoplankton development. Mediterranean lakes were the warmest yet most weakly stratified and had significantly less Chl a than Boreal lakes, where the temperature anomaly from the long-term average, during a summer heatwave was the highest (+4 degrees C) and showed a significant, exponential relationship with stratification strength. This European survey represents a summer snapshot of phytoplankton biomass and its drivers, and lends support that light and stratification metrics, which are both affected by climate change, are better predictors for phytoplankton biomass in nutrient-rich lakes than nutrient concentrations and surface temperature., European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) ES 1105 ES 1201, Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation, University of Geneva, Leibniz Association, National Science Foundation (NSF) 1840715 1831096, Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigacion, European Commission CGL2015-69557-R, Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Northern Ireland

Diversity at the local scale is determined by different, and often interacting factors. One factor that is suggested to be important in determining community structure is productivity, which is related to diversity. Though this relationship might depend on different factors, a hump-shaped, U-shaped or positive linear relationship seems to be frequent at the local scale. On the other hand, the concept of metacommunity considers how several communities are linked through dispersal. Here, we experimentally assessed how primary producer biomass and dispersal barriers drive diversity at the local scale in Mediterranean streams. We did this by creating a reach scale study system that resembled a metacommunity. We found that higher primary producer biomass promotes a saturating relationship with diversity. However, we did not detect any effect of the dispersal barriers on the responses. Thus, our results show that, at the local scale, patch primary producer biomass plays a more important role in determining the community structure and colonization than dispersal barriers. In the framework of metacommunity theory, our study system can be explained by combining assumptions of the “Mass-Effects” and the “Species-Sorting” archetypes, supporting a non-exclusive view of these hypotheses.

Alpine ecosystems of the southern Iberian Peninsula are among the most vulnerable and the first to respond to modern climate change in southwestern Europe. While major environmental shifts have occurred over the last ∼1500 years in these alpine ecosystems, only changes in the recent centuries have led to abrupt environmental responses, but factors imposing the strongest stress have been unclear until now. To understand these environmental responses, this study, for the first time, has calibrated an algal lipid-derived temperature proxy (based on long-chain alkyl diols) to instrumental historical data extending alpine temperature reconstructions to 1500 years before present. These novel results highlight the enhanced effect of greenhouse gases on alpine temperatures during the last ∼200 years and the long-term modulating role of solar forcing. This study also shows that the warming rate during the 20th century (∼0.18 ∘C per decade) was double that of the last stages of the Little Ice Age (∼0.09 ∘C per decade), even exceeding temperature trends of the high-altitude Alps during the 20th century. As a consequence, temperature exceeded the preindustrial record in the 1950s, and it has been one of the major forcing processes of the recent enhanced change in these alpine ecosystems from southern Iberia since then. Nevertheless, other factors reducing the snow and ice albedo (e.g., atmospheric deposition) may have influenced local glacier loss, since almost steady climate conditions predominated from the middle 19th century to the first decades of the 20th century., This research has been supported by the Seventh Framework Programme (grant no. NAOSIPUK (623027)), the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Secretaría de Estado de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación (grant no. CGL2017-85415-R), the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Secretaría de Estado de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación (grant no. CGL2013-47038-R), the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Secretaría de Estado de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación (grant no. CGL2011-23483), and the Consejería de Economía, Innovación, Ciencia y Empleo, Junta de Andalucía, Agencia de Innovación y Desarrollo de Andalucía (grant no. P11-RNM 7332). This research has also been supported by grant no. 87/2007 of the Organismo Autónomo Parques Nacionales (OAPN)-Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, the research group no. RNM-190 of the Plan Andaluz de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación (Junta de Andalucía), and the Ramón y Cajal Fellowship (fellowship no. RYC-2015-18966) of the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Secretaría de Estado de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación.

El objetivo de este artículoes demostrar la utilidad de los círculos literarios a la hora de desarrollar la competencia comunicativa y las interrelacionadas a ella, como son la lingüística, sociolingüística, discursiva y estratégica, en una actividad que permite al alumno no solo desinhibirse de la formalidad del ámbito académico, sino disfrutar de la literatura en la lengua de aprendizaje. También pone en práctica una conciencia crítica que servirá para trabajar estructuras gramaticales relacionadas con la opinión.

Objetivo: Adaptar la ICU Mobility Scale (IMS) al ámbito de las unidades de cuidados intensivos (UCI) de España y evaluar las propiedades métricas de la IMS versión española (IMS-Es). Método: Estudio descriptivo de carácter métrico desarrollado en dos fases. Fase 1: adaptación al español de la IMS mediante equipo de enfermeras y fisioterapeutas (traducción, piloto, retrotraducción y acuerdo). Fase 2: análisis de propiedades métricas (validez convergente, divergente y predictiva, fiabilidad interobservador, sensibilidad y diferencia mínima importante) de la IMS-Es. Se registraron características de los pacientes (Barthel, Charlson, IMC, sexo), nivel de sedación/agitación (RASS), estancias en UCI y hospital, supervivencia, calidad de vida (SF-12), debilidad muscular (MRC-SS) y movilidad (IMS-Es) en los pacientes del estudio multicéntrico nacional MOviPre. Resultados Tras obtener la IMS-Es, se implementó en 645 pacientes de 80 UCI españolas entre abril y junio de 2017. Validez convergente: moderada correlación entre IMS-Es y MRC-SS (r = 0,389; p < 0,001) y comparación significativa entre grupos con y sin debilidad adquirida en la UCI (p < 0,001). Validez divergente: no correlación entre IMS-Es e IMC (r [IC 95%]: −0,112 [−0,232 a 0,011]), peso (r [IC 95%]: −0,098 [−0,219 a 0,026]), Charlson (r [IC 95%]: −0,122 [−0,242 a 0,001]) y Barthel (r [IC 95%]: −0,037 [−0,160 a 0,087]) y sin diferencias entre sexos (p = 0,587) ni categorías de IMC (p = 0,412). Validez predictiva: moderadas y significativas correlaciones con estancia en hospital post-UCI (r [IC 95%]: −0,442 [−0,502 a −0,377]) y componente físico del SF-12 (PCS) (r [IC 95%]: 0,318 [0,063 a 0,534]); pacientes sin movilización activa en UCI mayor riesgo de mortalidad hospitalaria (OR [IC 95%]: 3,769 [1,428 a 9,947]). Fiabilidad interobservador: muy buena concordancia entre enfermeras (CCI [IC 95%]: 0,987 [0,983 a 0,990]) y entre enfermera-fisioterapeuta (CCI [IC 95%]: 0,963 [0,948 a 0,974]). Sensibilidad al cambio: efecto pequeño al alta de UCI (d = 0,273) y moderado a los 3 meses del alta hospitalaria (d = 0,709). Diferencia mínima importante: punto de corte de la diferencia de 2 puntos, sensibilidad del 91,1% y especificidad del 100,0%. Conclusiones: La IMS-Es es útil, válida y fiable para ser implementada por enfermeras de UCI y por fisioterapeutas al valorar la movilidad de los pacientes críticos. Objective: To adapt the ICU Mobility Scale (IMS) to the area of intensive care units (ICU) in Spain and to evaluate the metric properties of the Spanish version of the IMS (IMS-Es). Method: Descriptive metric study developed in two phases. Phase 1, adaptation to Spanish of the IMS by a team of nurses and physiotherapists (translation, pilot, backtranslation and agreement). Phase 2, analysis of metric properties (convergent, divergent and predictive validity, interobserver reliability, sensitivity and minimum important difference) of the IMS-Es. Patient characteristics (Barthel, Charlson, BMI, sex), sedation/agitation level (RASS), ICU and hospital stays, survival, quality of life (SF-12), muscle weakness (MRC-SS) and mobility (IMS-Es) were recorded in the patients of the MOviPre national multicentre study. Results After obtaining the IMS-Es, it was implemented in 645 patients from 80 Spanish ICUs between April and June 2017. Convergent validity: moderate correlation between IMS-Es and MRC-SS (r = .389; P < .001) and significant comparison between groups with and without ICU-acquired weakness (P < .001). Divergent validity: no correlation between IMS-Es and BMI [r (95% CI): −.112 (−.232 to .011)], weight [r (95% CI): −.098 (−.219 to .026)], Charlson [r (95% CI): −.122 (−.242 to .001)] and Barthel [r(95% CI): −.037 (−.160 to .087)] and no differences between sexes (P = .587) or BMI categories (P = .412). Predictive validity: moderate and significant correlations with post-ICU hospital stay [r (95% CI): −.442 (−.502 to −.377)] and physical component of SF-12 (PCS) [r (95% CI): .318 (.063 to .534)]; patients without active mobilisation in ICU increased risk of hospital mortality [OR (95% CI): 3.769 (1.428 to 9.947)]. Interobserver reliability: very good concordance between nurses [CCI (95% CI): .987 (.983 to .990)] and nurse-physiotherapist [CCI (95% CI): .963 (.948 to .974)]. Sensitivity to change: small effect on discharge from ICU (d = .273) and moderate effect at 3 months after hospital discharge (d = .709). Minimal important difference: 2-point difference cut-off point, 91.1% sensitivity and 100.0% specificity. Conclusions: The IMS-Es is useful, valid and reliable for implementation by ICU nurses and physiotherapists in assessing the mobility of critical patients. Sin financiación No data JCR 2020 0.239 SJR (2020) Q3, 31/61 Advanced and Specialized Nursing No data IDR 2020 UEM

Recent anthropogenic climate change and the exponential increase over the past few decades of Saharan dust deposition, containing ecologically important inputs of phosphorus (P) and calcium (Ca), are potentially affecting remote aquatic ecosystems. In this study, we examine changes in cladoceran assemblage composition and chlorophyll-a concentrations over the past ~150 years from high-resolution, welldated sediment cores retrieved from six remote high mountain lakes in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Southern Spain, a region affected by Saharan dust deposition. In each lake, marked shifts in cladoceran assemblages and chlorophyll-a concentrations in recent decades indicate a regional-scale response to climate and Saharan dust deposition. Chlorophyll-a concentrations have increased since the 1970s, consistent with a response to rising air temperatures and the intensification of atmospheric deposition of Saharan P. Similar shifts in cladoceran taxa across lakes began over a century ago, but have intensified over the past ~50 years, concurrent with trends in regional air temperature, precipitation, and increased Saharan dust deposition. An abrupt increase in the relative abundance of the benthic cladoceran Alona quadrangularis at the expense of Chydorus sphaericus, and a significant increase in Daphnia pulex gr. was a common trend in these softwater lakes. Differences in the magnitude and timing of these changes are likely due to catchment and lake-specific differences. In contrast with other alpine lakes that are often affected by acid deposition, atmospheric Ca deposition appears to be a significant explanatory factor, among others, for the changes in the lake biota of Sierra Nevada that has not been previously considered. The effects observed in Sierra Nevada are likely occurring in other Mediterranean lake districts, especially in softwater, oligotrophic lakes. The predicted increases in global temperature and Saharan dust deposition in the future will further impact the ecological condition of these ecosystems, Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (MEC), Grant/Award Number: AP2007-00352; Programa Nacional de Movilidad de Recursos Humanos de Investigaci on (MICINN); Ministerio de Medio Ambiente (MMA), Grant/Award Number: 87/2007; Ministerio de Econom ıa, Industria y Competitividad (MINECO), Grant/Award Number: CGL2011-23483; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

Subfossil cladoceran assemblages were studied in surface sediments from 17 shallow alpine lakes in the Sierra Nevada (Spain) to evaluate relationships between species assemblages and environmental variables. Factors associated with the presence of Daphnia were also investigated. Chydorids predominated in the cladoceran assemblages. Redundancy analyses (RDA) revealed that the distribution of cladoceran assemblages was mainly associated with morphometric variables (extent of catchment vegetation in basin, lake depth and size, and the presence of inlets and outlets in basin). The explanatory power of chemical parameters was lower, with total nitrogen (TN) being the most influential variable. The relative abundances of Alona quadrangularis and Chydorus sphaericus showed a significant negative relationship in the lake set, suggesting the adaptation of these species to diverging lakes conditions in Sierra Nevada. More favorable conditions for species growth (warmer waters and increased input of material from the catchment in small, open-basin lakes surrounded by alpine meadows) were observed in lakes with higher abundance of A. quadrangularis than in those with higher abundance of C. sphaericus. Our results agree with those from previous paleolimnological studies in Sierra Nevada which show an abrupt increase in the relative abundance of A. quadrangularis at the expense of C. sphaericus since 1970 associated with more favorable conditions for growth as a result of climate change. Positive relationships were also observed between the relative abundance of Daphnia pulex gr. and closed, deep basins.

Background Intensive care unit–acquired muscle weakness (ICUAW) has an incidence of 40–46%. Early mobilisation is known to be a protective factor. Objective The aim of the study was to identify the incidence of ICUAW in Spain and to evaluate variables likely to contribute to the development of ICUAW. Methods A 4-month, prospective observational multicentre cohort study was conducted on patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation for at least 48 h. Data were collected from ICU day 3 until ICU discharge. The primary outcome was presence of ICUAW (diagnosed using the Medical Research Council [MRC] scale). The secondary outcome was nurse–patient ratio, physiotherapist availability, analgesia, sedation and delirium management, glycaemic control, and daily level of mobility during the ICU stay as per the ICU Mobility Scale. A logistic regression model was constructed based exclusively on days 3–5 of the ICU stay. Results The data of 642 patients were analysed from 80 ICUs, accounting for 35% of all ICUs in Spain. The incidence of ICUAW was 58% (275 of 474 patients; 95% confidence interval [CI] [53–62]). The predictors for ICUAW were older age (odds ratio [OR] = 1.01; 95% CI [1.00–1.03]) and more days with renal replacement therapy (OR = 1.01; 95% CI [1.00–1.02]). The protective factors for ICUAW were male gender (OR = 0.58; 95% CI [0.38–0.89]), higher Barthel Index (showing prehospital functional independence) (OR = 0.97; 95% CI [0.95–0.99]), more days of being awake and cooperative (defined by a feasible MRC assessment) (OR = 0.98; 95% CI [0.97–0.99]), presence of delirium (OR = 0.98; 95% CI [0.97–0.99]), and more days with active mobilisation (ICU Mobility Scale ≥ 4) (OR = 0.98; 95% CI [0.97–0.99]). Conclusions The risk factors for ICUAW were functional dependence before admission, female gender, older age, and more days on renal replacement therapy. The protective factors for ICUAW were feasibility of MRC assessment, the presence of delirium, and being actively mobilised during the first 5 days in the ICU.

Alpine ecosystems of the southern Iberian Peninsula are among the most vulnerable and the first to respond to modern climate change in southwestern Europe. While major environmental shifts have occurred over the last ~ 1500 years in these alpine environments, only changes in the recent centuries have led to extreme responses, but factors imposing the strongest stress have been unclear until now. To understand these environmental responses, here, for the first time, we calibrated algal lipids (long-chain diols) to instrumental data extending alpine temperatures backward 1500 years. These novel results highlight the enhanced effect of greenhouse gases on alpine temperatures during the last ~ 200 years and the long-term modulating role of solar forcing. This study also shows that warming rates during the 20th century (~ 0.18 ºC/decade) increased ~ 2.5 times with respect to the last stage of the Little Ice Age (~ 0.07 ºC/decade), even exceeding temperature trends of the high-altitude Alps during the 20th century. As a consequence, temperature exceeded the pre-industrial threshold in the 1950s, being one of the major forcings of the enhanced recent change in the alpine ecosystems from southern Iberia. Nevertheless, other factors reducing the snow and ice albedo (i.e. atmospheric deposition) may have influenced local glacier loss, since steady climate conditions predominated from middle 19th century to the first decades of the 20th century.

The effect of recent climatic warming is significant in the Mediterranean region, especially in high-mountain areas. This study uses multiple sedimentary proxies from Río Seco Lake, a remote alpine lake in the Sierra Nevada, southeastern Spain, to reconstruct recent environmental and ecological changes in the lake and catchment. Two main climatic periods can be distinguished during the past 180 years: Period One (1820 to ~ 1920s) characterized by colder and wetter conditions than the more recent Period Two (~ 1920s to the present), characterized by warmer and drier conditions. Independent proxies such as subfossil chironomid assemblages, n-alkane indices, pollen data and/or spectrally inferred chlorophyll-a concentrations indicate a longer ice-cover period, colder water temperature and more pronounced accumulation of snow in the catchment during Period One than in Period Two, likely producing water stress for catchment plant growth because of the low rate of ice melting in Period One. As temperature increases and precipitation decreases from the 1920s onwards, a wider development of wetland plants is observed, which is associated with the longer warm season that contributed to snow and ice melting in the catchment. This continuing temperature rise and precipitation decrease over the past 60-years by ~ 0.24°C per decade and –0.92 mm/y, respectively, lead to an important increase in chlorophyll-a and changes in lake biotic assemblages. Major chironomid community structure changes to warmer water taxa were recorded, resulting in a 2°C increase in mean July air temperature inferred by chironomids from ~ 1950 onwards. An inferred increase in primary production for the past few decades is consistent with higher temperatures, while wider development of wetland plants is associated with longer warm season. The coherence between independent environmental proxies, each associated with distinct mechanistic linkages to climatic shifts, strengthens our interpretations of a recent warming trend and an intensification of summer drought in this high-mountain area leading to distinct changes in the lake and its catchment. The impact of this climate change on the summits of Sierra Nevada and its influence transcends its geographical limits because these systems provide ecosystem services to a vast area., The authors wish to acknowledge all colleagues for help with fieldwork. We thank Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Laboratory (PEARL) of Queen’s University at Kingston for processing the spectrally inferred chlorophyll-a record. This study was funded by MMA Project 87/2007 and MINECO Project CGL 2011-23483 to C. P.-M. and a FPU fellowship (AP2007-00352) to L. J. from the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science. A.G.-A. was also supported by a Marie Curie IEF of the 7th Framework Programme of the European Commission (NAOSIPUK. Grant Number: PIEF-GA-2012-623027) and a Ramón y Cajal fellowship (RYC-2015-18966) from the MINECO.

Inactivation by adding different phosphorus (P) adsorbents is one of the most frequently used methods for combating inland water eutrophication. The aim of this work was to assess the toxic effects of novel P adsorbents (magnetic particles, MPs) on the phytoplankton community. An outdoor microcosm experiment, containing lake water and surface sediment from a hypertrophic Mediterranean lake, was carried out following a factorial design (n = 5) with three different treatments: control (C), where no MPs were added; Treatment-Water (T-W) and Treatment-Sediment (T-S). In T-W and T-S treatments, MPs were added on the surface water layer and on the sediment, respectively, to obtain a final concentration of 1.4 g MP L−1. This concentration was based on both the sedimentary mobile P concentration of the study site and the maximum P adsorption capacity of the MPs, obtained from the literature. After 24 h of contact time, the MPs were removed using a magnetic rake. Physicochemical measurements and biological samples were taken after 24 h of exposure to the MPs and at different time points after such exposure (day 2, 7, 21, 35 and 70). Changes in phytoplankton community such as abundance (biovolume and Chla), species composition and taxonomic groups were assessed, as well as changes in the Shannon-Wiener diversity index. Additionally, the eutrophic metric Algae Group Index (AGI), one of the metrics proposed in the Water Framework Directive, was also calculated. Our results indicate that there is no strong evidence to infer that MPs caused an effect on the phytoplankton community, since no significant differences (GLM test; p > 0.05) were found between controls and treatments in any of the studied variables (phytoplankton taxonomic groups, AGI, Chla concentration, biovolume, diversity and community responses). Accordingly, MPs did not cause any toxic effects on the phytoplankton community of the lake, encouraging the use of MPs in a future whole-lake restoration strategy. However, if the final goal of the restoration plan is to combat nuisance cyanobacteria blooms, higher initial MPs doses or repeated MPs applications are required to achieve a reduction in P concentrations below biological thresholds in order to prevent algal blooms.

A novel methodology was used to evaluate the contribution of Saharan dust to the atmospheric deposition of particulate material (PM), total phosphorus (TP), and total nitrogen (TN) in the southeastern Iberian Peninsula. Dry and wet aerosol depositions were measured weekly during two 1 year periods at one site and simultaneously during spring-summer of the same years at two other sites (intersite distance of ~ 40 km). Statistical relationships among depositions at the different sites permitted differentiation of Saharan dust inputs from locally derived dust. PM and TP depositions were synchronous among the three study sites; the synchrony was elevated during periods of Saharan intrusions (evaluated by air mass retrotrajectories analyses), but no temporal correlation was observed during periods without Saharan intrusions. According to analysis of variance results, PM and TP depositions were both significantly affected by Saharan intrusions. During weeks with Saharan intrusions, PM deposition increased around 85% above background levels, with no differences among the three sites, while TP deposition increased by 1.1 µmol TP m−2 d−1, i.e., 29% to 81% above background levels depending on the site. There were no correlations or differences in TN deposition among sites or as a function of Saharan intrusion periods. The annual contribution of PM and TP from Saharan dust was 75 kg ha−1 and 0.07 kg P ha−1, respectively, which can be considered a genuine input for the ecosystems in this area. This novel approach is likely to be valid in any area in the world under atmospheric deposition of long-range transported material.

Anthropogenic climate change and the recent increase of Saharan dust deposition has had substantial effects on Mediterranean alpine regions. We examined changes in diatom assemblage composition over the past ~180 years from high-resolution, dated sediment cores retrieved from six remote lakes in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Southern Spain. In all lakes, changes in diatom composition began over a century ago, but were more pronounced after ~1970 CE, concurrent with trends in rising regional air temperature, declining precipitation, and increased Saharan dust deposition. Temperature was identified as the main predictor of diatom assemblage changes, whereas both Saharan dust deposition drivers, the Sahel precipitation index and the winter North Atlantic Oscillation, were secondary explanatory variables. Diatom compositional shifts are indicative of lake alkalinization (linked to heightened evapoconcentration and an increase in calcium-rich Saharan dust input) and reduced lake water turbulence (linked to lower water levels and reduced inflows to the lakes). Moreover, decreases in epiphytic diatom species were indicative of increasing aridity and the drying of catchment meadows. Our results support the conclusions of previous chlorophyll-a and cladoceran-based paleolimnological analyses of these same dated sedimentary records which show a regional-scale response to climate change and Saharan dust deposition in Sierra Nevada lakes and their catchments during the 20th century. However, diatom assemblages seem to respond to different atmospheric and climate-related effects than cladoceran assemblages and chlorophyll-a concentrations. The recent impact of climate change and atmospheric Saharan deposition on lake biota assemblages and water chemistry, as well as catchment water availability, will have important implications for the valuable ecosystem services that the Sierra Nevada provides.

Insight into how environmental change determines the production and distribution of cyanobacterial toxins is necessary for risk assessment. Management guidelines currently focus on hepatotoxins (microcystins). Increasing attention is given to other classes, such as neurotoxins (e.g., anatoxin-a) and cytotoxins (e.g., cylindrospermopsin) due to their potency. Most studies examine the relationship between individual toxin variants and environmental factors, such as nutrients, temperature and light. In summer 2015, we collected samples across Europe to investigate the effect of nutrient and temperature gradients on the variability of toxin production at a continental scale. Direct and indirect effects of temperature were the main drivers of the spatial distribution in the toxins produced by the cyanobacterial community, the toxin concentrations and toxin quota. Generalized linear models showed that a Toxin Diversity Index (TDI) increased with latitude, while it decreased with water stability. Increases in TDI were explained through a significant increase in toxin variants such as MC-YR, anatoxin and cylindrospermopsin, accompanied by a decreasing presence of MC-LR. While global warming continues, the direct and indirect effects of increased lake temperatures will drive changes in the distribution of cyanobacterial toxins in Europe, potentially promoting selection of a few highly toxic species or strains. © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland., The authors acknowledge COST Action ES 1105 “CYANOCOST—Cyanobacterial blooms and toxins in water resources: Occurrence impacts and management” and COST Action ES 1201 “NETLAKE—Networking Lake Observatories in Europe” for contributing to this study through networking and knowledge sharing with European experts in the field. Evanthia Mantzouki was supported by a grant from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) to Bas Ibelings and by supplementary funding from the University of Geneva. We thank Clare Ahnlund, Ena Suarez and Irene Gallego for helping out with the Swiss survey. We thank Wendy Beekman and Els J. Faassen for the nutrient and toxin analysis.

Under ongoing climate change and increasing anthropogenic activity, which continuously challenge ecosystem resilience, an in-depth understanding of ecological processes is urgently needed. Lakes, as providers of numerous ecosystem services, face multiple stressors that threaten their functioning. Harmful cyanobacterial blooms are a persistent problem resulting from nutrient pollution and climate-change induced stressors, like poor transparency, increased water temperature and enhanced stratification. Consistency in data collection and analysis methods is necessary to achieve fully comparable datasets and for statistical validity, avoiding issues linked to disparate data sources. The European Multi Lake Survey (EMLS) in summer 2015 was an initiative among scientists from 27 countries to collect and analyse lake physical, chemical and biological variables in a fully standardized manner. This database includes in-situ lake variables along with nutrient, pigment and cyanotoxin data of 369 lakes in Europe, which were centrally analysed in dedicated laboratories. Publishing the EMLS methods and dataset might inspire similar initiatives to study across large geographic areas that will contribute to better understanding lake responses in a changing environment., The authors acknowledge COST Action ES 1105 “CYANOCOST – Cyanobacterial blooms and toxins in water resources: Occurrence impacts and management” and COST Action ES 1201 “NETLAKE – Networking Lake Observatories in Europe” for contributing to this study through networking and knowledge sharing with European experts in the field. Evanthia Mantzouki was supported by a grant from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) to Bas Ibelings and by supplementary funding from University of Geneva. We thank Wendy Beekman for the nutrient analysis and the University of Wageningen for covering the costs of this analysis from the personal funding of dr. Miquel Lürling. We thank Pieter Slot for assisting with the pigment analysis and the University of Amsterdam for covering the costs of the analysis through funding from the group of Prof. Jef Huisman and dr. Petra Visser (IBED). We would like to thank the Environmental Data Initiative for covering the cost of archiving the EMLS dataset. We would like to thank the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Dept. of Experimental Limnology and the Aquatic Microbial Ecology Group for logistic and technical support of J. Fonvielle and H.-P. Grossart; and the Leibniz Association for financial support. The collection of data for Lough Erne and Lough Neagh were funded by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Northern Ireland.

The construction of ponds for irrigation has proliferated during last decades in Mediterranean regions. If properly constructed and managed, ponds may simultaneously meet conservation and agricultural objectives: the preservation of certain macrophytes might improve water quality for irrigation purposes. However,the effects of management are often neglected when analyzing the main drivers of organisms community structure. Here we investigated the effect of environmental variables, construction type and management practices on the occurrence of submerged macrophytes (vascular plants, charophytes, filamentous algae). Total submerged macrophyte coverage and richness did not vary with pond type, but the presence of submerged macrophytes was significantly higher in embankment ponds. Artificial ponds showed the highest charophyte richness but lowest vascular plant occurrence. Total submerged macrophyte occurrence mainly correlated with conductivity and littoral vegetation, whilst the relative importance of environmental factors was higher than variables related to pond type and management. However, embankment ponds showed the highest richness of vascular plants and filamentous algae, and artificial ponds contributed to the regional pool of charophyte species. Thus, construction pond type and management levels might be relevant to understand submerged macrophytes occurrence in manmade ponds, since the three pond types contributed to the local and regional species pool.

19 Pags.- 7 Tabls.- 11 Figs., Oxygen depletion (temporal or permanent) in freshwater ecosystems is a widespread and globally important environmental problem. However, the factors behind increased hypolimnetic anoxia in lakes and reservoirs are often diverse and may involve processes at different spatial and temporal scales. Here, we evaluate the combined effects of different anthropogenic pressures on the oxygen dynamics and water chemistry of Lake Enol, an emblematic mountain lake in Picos de Europa National Park (NW Spain). A multidisciplinary study conducted over a period of four years (2013–2016) indicates that the extent and duration of hypolimnetic anoxia has increased dramatically in recent years. The extent and duration of hypolimnetic anoxia is typical of meso-eutrophic systems, in contrast with the internal productivity of the lake, which remains oligo-mesotrophic and phosphorus-limited. This apparent contradiction is ascribed to the combination of different external pressures in the catchment, which have increased the input of allochthonous organic matter in recent times through enhanced erosion and sediment transport. The most important among these pressures appears to be cattle grazing, which affects not only the import of carbon and nutrients, but also the lake microbiology. The contribution of clear-cutting, runoff channelling, and tourism is comparatively less significant. The cumulative effects of these local human impacts are not only affecting the lake metabolism, but also the import of sulfate, nitrate- and ammonium-nitrogen, and metals (Zn). However, these local factors alone cannot explain entirely the observed oxygen deficit. Climatic factors (e.g., warmer and drier spring and autumn seasons) are also reducing oxygen levels in deep waters through a longer and increasingly steep thermal stratification. Global warming may indirectly increase anoxia in many other mountain lakes in the near future., This Project was funded by Organismo Autónomo de Parques Nacionales (OAPN) through CLAM-1 Project (Ref. 533S/2012).

We directly analyzed the in situ production of ephippia and ephippial eggs by an obligate parthenogen Daphnia pulicaria population in a high-mountain lake by using sediment traps during the ice-free period. We recorded the number of eggs per ephippium collected in the traps and studied the zooplankton and phytoplankton communities as well as the nutrient conditions in the lake. Ephippia production was negatively correlated with the light phase of the photoperiod. Numerous empty ephippia were produced, and their number was negatively correlated with the epibiont burden of the chlorophyte Korshikoviella gracilipes on Daphnia. The number of healthy eggs per ephippium in the sediment traps was related to the edible phytoplankton biomass and/or epibiont burden. The proportion of empty ephippia was negatively related to the epibiont burden. These results suggest that the onset and rate of ephippia production is related to the photoperiod, and that the production of ephippial eggs per ephippium increases with greater food availability (phytoplankton biomass and/or epibiont burden). This is the first published evidence that food availability may favour resting egg reproduction under photoperiod conditions that trigger ephippia production.

A common freshwater cryptophyte, Cryptomonas pyrenoidifera, was cultivated in batch-cultures to analyze intraspecific variation in elemental stoichiometry along a broad gradient of pulsed phosphorus (P) enrichment during the early acclimation period and to determine the immediate homeostatic capacity of the nitrogen-to-phosphorus (N:P) ratio of this alga when nutrients are at saturating levels. Experimental results revealed that nitrogen (N) and P cell quotas significantly increased with increasing P concentration. However, despite the wide range of N:P ratios in the medium, Cryptomonas N:P ratios were highly stable at higher P-level treatments, indicating a highly conservative behavior and suggesting strict elemental homeostasis when nutrients are at saturating levels. The strictly homeostatic N:P ratio appears to be attributable to their high potential for a fast luxury consumption of both N and P after a brief and intense episode of increased resource availability and to physiological limits on their nutrient storage capacity. Most importantly, the N:P biomass ratio at nutrient saturating levels converged around 11:1, which was the observed ratio of maximum internal cell quotas for N and P (i.e. Qmax,N:Qmax,P) under the prevailing experimental conditions. This value is particularly informative for C. pyrenoidifera because it represents cell storage quotients and may be a taxon-specific evolutionary optimum, providing a reference point to infer the grade of nutrient-limitation. The experimental data give ranges of variation in C. pyrenoidifera elemental composition permitting, among others, proper parameterization of cryptophyte stoichiometry models.

The Sierra Nevada of southern Spain is a landscape with a rich biological and cultural heritage. The range was extensively glaciated during the late Pleistocene. However, the postglacial paleoecologic history of the highest range in southern Europe is nearly completely unknown. Here we use sediments from a small lake above present treeline e Laguna de Rio Seco at 3020 m elevation e in a paleoecological study documenting over 11,500 calendar years of vegetation, fire and climate change, addressing ecological and paleoclimatic issues unique to this area through comparison with regional paleoecological sequences. The early record is dominated by Pinus pollen, with Betula, deciduous Quercus, and grasses, with an understory of shrubs. It is unlikely that pine trees grew around the lake, and fire was relatively unimportant at this site during this period. Aquatic microfossils indicate that the wettest conditions and highest lake levels at Laguna de Rio Seco occurred before 7800 cal yr BP. This is in contrast to lower elevation sites, where wettest conditions occurred after ca 7800. Greater differences in early Holocene seasonal insolation may have translated to greater snowpack and subsequently higher lake levels at higher elevations, but not necessarily at lower elevations, where higher evaporation rates prevailed. With declining seasonality after ca 8000 cal yr BP, but continuing summer precipitation, lake levels at the highest elevation site remained high, but lake levels at lower elevation sites increased as evaporation rates declined. Drier conditions commenced regionally after ca 5700 cal yr BP, shown at Laguna de Rio Seco by declines in wetland pollen, and increases in high elevation steppe shrubs common today (Juniperus, Artemisia, and others). The disappearance or decline of mesophytes, such as Betula from ca 4000 cal yr BP is part of a regional depletion in Mediterranean Spain and elsewhere in Europe from the mid to late Holocene. On the other hand, Castanea sativa increased in Laguna de Rio Seco record after ca 4000 cal yr BP, and especially in post-Roman times, probably due to arboriculture. Though not as important at high than at low elevations, fire occurrence was elevated, particularly after ca 3700 years ago, in response to regional human population expansion. The local and regional impact of humans increased substantially after ca 2700 years ago, with the loss of Pinus forest within the mountain range, increases in evidence of pasturing herbivores around the lake, and Olea cultivation at lower elevations. Though human impact was not as extensive at high elevation as at lower elevation sites in southern Iberia, this record confirms that even remote sites were not free of direct human influence during the Holocene.

In addition to the presence of morphological neuroendocrine (NE) features, expression of the NE markers chromogranin A and synaptophysin has been considered the most sensitive and specific immunohistochemical feature in the diagnosis of pure, solid NE breast carcinomas (NEBC; 1). Following these criteria, the existence of NEBC can be accurately confirmed in \2% of all primary breast cancers when using adequate cytological specimens including fine needle aspiration smears [1–4]. Within a working model for a breast cancer molecular taxonomy [5], recent gene expression profiling studies have confirmed a distinct nature of NEBC from conventional invasive ductal carcinomas as well as their belonging to the good-prognosis (being positive for hormone receptors and HER2negative) subgroup of luminal A breast tumors [6]. NEBC may occur, however, as a first presentation of an occult metastatic non-mammary neuroendocrine tumor or as a bona fide primary breast tumor. Therefore, the clinical effect of the occurrence of neuroendocrine differentiation in breast cancer should be carefully examined to reduce or avoid the risk of a misdiagnosis or under-diagnosis. In this regard, Richter-Ehrenstein et al. [7] have recently evaluated a new diagnostic tool to distinguish between primary NEBC from a metastatic disease of other sites. Using the immunohistochemical markers for epithelial of breast

Laboratory experiments were performed to study the growth rate and phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) uptakes of eight benthic microalgae species isolated from different sources of pig manure. Cells immobilized in calcium alginate beads were cultured with three replicates for each species. P removal rates obtained for the unicellular self-aggregating benthic species (Palmellopsis gelatinosa, Chlorosarcinopsis sp., and Macrochloris sp.) were markedly higher than those obtained in previous published experiments. N removal rates were highest for Macrochloris sp., Chlorosarcinopsis sp., and Euglena sp. 2 and comparable to the maximum rates obtained by other authors. Our results show an excellent efficiency of autochthonous benthic species for nutrient removal, especially for P, and call attention to their use for wastewater treatment.

When interrogating the activation status of AMP-activated protein kinase-measured as AMPKalpha(Thr172) phosphorylation-in tissue sections of human carcinomas and in cultured human cancer cells, the spatiotemporal dynamics of AMPK activity during the G(1)/S-to-M-phase transition strikingly resembles that of well-characterized "chromosomal passenger" proteins such as Aurora B, INCENP or Histone H3. The mitotic kinase behavior of the active form of AMPK may represent a candidate molecular link through which energy status directly influences tumorigenesis. A definitive elucidation of phospho-AMPKalpha(Thr172) in coordinating the chromosomal and cytoskeletal events of mitosis might radically amend our current perception of other AMPK-related diseases such as obesity, cardiac hypertrophy or accelerated aging syndromes.

For three consecutive years, a population study of Daphnia pulicaria was undertaken in Rio Seco Lake, a small high-mountain lake, in order to elucidate the reproductive strategies adopted by Daphnia in this system. Daphnia appears to colonize this lake every spring by hatching from ephippia and reproduce by means of subitaneous (non-diapausing) and ephippial (diapausing) eggs. D. pulicaria in this lake is an obligate parthenogenetic population. There is a short time period for subitaneous egg production and a much longer period for ephippial egg production. The contribution of subitaneous eggs to Daphnia population density and structure appears to be low. Diapause onset showed a high temporal synchronization in the three studied years in Rio Seco Lake, and day-length emerged as the main cue triggering diapause onset and the main explanatory factor for the proportion of ephippial females observed. The development and reproduction of D. pulicaria in Rio Seco Lake involves taking a gamble on resting forms to guarantee inter-annual Daphnia persistence in the lake, giving priority to investment in future generations.

SUMMARY 1. The effect of climate variability on phytoplankton and zooplankton dynamics and nutrient availability was studied in two high mountain fishless lakes (La Caldera and Ro ´o Seco) of contrasting morphology, hydrology and dissolved inorganic nitrogen : soluble reactive phosphate (DIN : SRP) ratios during 1986 and after a 10-year-long drought in 1996 and 1997. 2. Thaw was delayed and water temperatures were lower in both lakes in 1996 than in 1986 and 1997. However, the lake-specific DIN : SRP ratio was maintained in the 3 years studied, reflecting its local control. 3. On other hand, the presumptive limiting nutrient in each lake, P in La Caldera and N in Ro ´o Seco, showed higher concentrations in 1996 versus 1986 and 1997. Significant positive correlations between temperature and chlorophyll a were found in both lakes in 1996 but these relationships were negative or not significant in 1986 and 1997. Zooplankton biomass showed lower values in 1996 than in 1986 or 1997. 4. These findings can be explained by a decoupling of the phytoplankton–zooplankton interaction because of a constraint on zooplankton growth by low temperatures in the coldest year studied. This observation furnishes evidence that regional climatic control on the phytoplankton–zooplankton link can modulate the overall demand for nutrients.

This study aimed at unraveling the structure underlying the taxon-richness matrix of shallow lakes. We assessed taxon richness of a large variety of food-web components at different trophic levels (bacteria, ciliates, phytoplankton, zooplankton, fish, macro-invertebrates, and water plants) in 98 shallow lakes from three European geographic regions: Denmark (DK), Belgium/The Netherlands (BNL), and southern Spain (SP). Lakes were selected along four mutually independent gradients of total phosphorus (TP), vegetation cover (SUBMCOV), lake area (AREA), and connectedness (CONN). Principal-components analysis (PCA) indicated that taxon diversity at the ecosystem level is a multidimensional phenomenon. Different PCA axes showed associations with richness in different subsets of organism groups, and differences between eigenvalues were low. Redundancy analysis showed a unique significant contribution to total richness variation of SUBMCOV in all three regions, of TP in DK and SP, and of AREA in DK and BNL. In DK, several organism groups tended to show curvilinear responses to TP, but only one was significantly hump shaped. We postulate that the unimodal richness responses to TP that are frequently reported in the literature for many organism groups may be partly mediated by the unimodal response of macrophyte vegetation to lake productivity. [KEYWORDS: biodiversity ; conservation management for species richness ; phosphorus ; productivity ; richness ; richness–productivity relationships ; shallow lake ; shallow-lake species richness structure ; water plants]

La intervención arqueológica en el antiguo parque de Bomberos, última función a la que fue dedicado el solar, se inicia en el año 1999, debido a la redacción de un proyecto para construir un espacio escénico, en el que se prevé un aparcamiento subterráneo y por tanto grandes movimientos de tierra que afectarían de forma inevitable a los restos arqueológicos quepresumiblemente se localizasen en el solar que estaba protegido con un nivel A dentro del Plan de Protección y Reforma Interior del Casco Histórico.

Laboratory experiments were performed to study the growth rate and phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) uptake of two nanoplanktonic algal species, Scenedesmus intermedius Chod. and Nannochloris sp. that were isolated from different sources of pig manure. Experiments were carried out for immobilized and free cell cultures simultaneously, with three replicates for each type of culture. Algal immobilization was prepared in calcium alginate beads. The growth rate (measured as chlorophyll increase per hour) and the P and N uptake rate (measured as P and N increase per hour) were estimated by linearization of the logistic growth and nutrient uptake curves, which allowed us to apply proper statistical comparative analyses. P and N uptake rates for S. intermedius were 0.014 and 0.012 mg P h−1 and 0.022 and 0.009 mg N h−1 for free and immobilized cells. Rates for Nannochloris sp. were 0.006 and 0.009 mg P h−1 and 0.011 and 0.006 mg N h−1 for free and immobilized cells. P and N removal rates obtained in the present study, which used species isolated from wastewater, are markedly higher than rates described in experiments that used commercial species, probably because the former species are better adapted to high nutrient concentrations. Utilizing autochthonous species for wastewater treatment may be a simple method to increase nutrient removal efficiency.