[Risk factors associated with the presence of brucellosis in mixed establishments (caprine and bovine) in the province of Formosa, Argentina].

Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease with a worldwide distribution that causes significant productive losses and negative impacts on public health. The aim of this work was to identify the risk factors associated with the presence of brucellosis in mixed farms (cattle/goats) in the central-western region of the province of Formosa. Sixty seven mixed farms with 7,855 animals (2,943 cattle and 4,912 goats) were randomly sampled during 2022/2023.

Co-occurrence of marine and atmospheric heatwaves with drought conditions and fire activity in the Mediterranean region.

Climate change has become a major concern in the twenty-first century, leading to the amplification of extreme events and, consequently, to severe impacts on society, economy and ecosystems. Heatwave conditions in particular, often coupled with extended periods of dryness, have an important contribution in exacerbating rural fires. Here, we propose to analyse the co-occurring interplay between atmospheric heatwaves and droughts in southern Europe, and marine heatwaves in the East Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea, between 2001 and 2022, highlighting their linkage to wildfires, on both an individual and compound approach.

Twenty-first-century demographic and social inequalities of heat-related deaths in Brazilian urban areas.

Population exposure to heat waves (HWs) is increasing worldwide due to climate change, significantly affecting society, including public health. Despite its significant vulnerabilities and limited adaptation resources to rising temperatures, South America, particularly Brazil, lacks research on the health impacts of temperature extremes, especially on the role played by socioeconomic factors in the risk of heat-related illness. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of the effects of HWs on mortality rates in the 14 most populous urban areas, comprising approximately 35% of the country's population.

The severity of dry and hot climate extremes and their related impacts on vegetation in Madagascar.

Madagascar is a low-income country, highly vulnerable to natural disasters affecting the small-scale subsistence farming system. Recently, climate change and environmental degradation have contributed to an intensification of food insecurity. We aim to monitor the link between dry and hot extremes on vegetation conditions, separated or concurrently, using satellite data, such as LST, ET, ET0, and FAPAR products from SEVIRI/MSG disseminated by LSASAF-EUMETSAT.

[Prevalence and geographical distribution of bovine sexually transmitted diseases in the province of Formosa, Argentina].

Bovine genital campylobacteriosis (BGC) and bovine trichomonosis (BT) are sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) that affect bovine breeding herds, decreasing their reproductive efficiency. The objective of this work was to estimate the prevalence of these diseases and their temporal-spatial distribution in the province of Formosa, Argentina. The cross-sectional study conducted between 2018 and 2021 included a total of 15,571 bulls, inter-herd prevalence being 29.

Aircrew Health: A Systematic Review of Physical Agents as Occupational Risk Factors.

The primary objective of this systematic review was to analyze the main physical agents representing risk factors for commercial aircrew, together with their consequences. The secondary objective was to identify the countries in which studies on the topic were conducted, as well as the quality of the publications available. Thirty-five articles, published between 1996 and 2020, were selected for the review, having met all inclusion criteria.

The compound event that triggered the destructive fires of October 2017 in Portugal.

Portugal is regularly affected by destructive wildfires that have severe social, economic, and ecological impacts. The total burnt area in 2017 (∼540,000 ha) marked the all-time record value since 1980 with a tragic toll of 114 fatalities that occurred in June and October events. The local insurance sector declared it was the costliest natural disaster in Portugal with payouts exceeding USD295 million.

Organizational Risk Factors for Aircrew Health: A Systematic Review of Observational Studies.

Addressing the field of health and safety at work, the primary objective of the present systematic review was to analyze the organizational risk factors for aircrew health according to professional category (flight attendants and pilots/co-pilots) and their consequences. The secondary objective was to identify the countries in which studies were carried out, focusing on the quality of content of the publications. The Medline/Pubmed, Cochrane, Web of Science, and Scopus databases were searched for eligible studies according to PRISMA statements.

Drought-heatwave nexus in Brazil and related impacts on health and fires: A comprehensive review.

Climate change is drastically altering the frequency, duration, and severity of compound drought-heatwave (CDHW) episodes, which present a new challenge in environmental and socioeconomic sectors. These threats are of particular importance in low-income regions with growing populations, fragile infrastructure, and threatened ecosystems. This review synthesizes emerging progress in the understanding of CDHW patterns in Brazil while providing insights about the impacts on fire occurrence and public health.

Persistence versus dynamical seasonal forecasts of cereal crop yields.

Climate change is expected to have impacts on the balance of global food trade networks and food security. Thus, seasonal forecasts of precipitation and temperature are an essential tool for stakeholders to make timely choices regarding the strategies required to maximize their expected cereal yield outcomes. The availability of state-of-the-art seasonal forecasts such as the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) system 5 (SEAS5) may be an asset to help decision making.

Heat-related mortality amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Excess mortality not directly related to the virus has been shown to have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, changes in heat-related mortality during the pandemic have not been addressed in detail. Here, we performed an observational study crossing daily mortality data collected in Portugal (SICO/DGS) with high-resolution temperature series (ERA5/ECMWF), characterizing their relation in the pre-pandemic, and how it aggravated during 2020.

Lightning patterns in the Pantanal: Untangling natural and anthropogenic-induced wildfires.

The identification of fire causes and characteristics is of fundamental importance to better understand fire regimes and drivers. Particularly for Brazil, there is a gap in the quantification of lightning-caused fires. Accordingly, this work is a novel probabilistic assessment of the spatial-temporal patterns of lightning-ignited wildfires in the Pantanal wetland.

The impact of climate change in wheat and barley yields in the Iberian Peninsula.

The impact of climate change on wheat and barley yields in two regions of the Iberian Peninsula is here examined. Regression models are developed by using EURO-CORDEX regional climate model (RCM) simulations, forced by ERA-Interim, with monthly maximum and minimum air temperatures and monthly accumulated precipitation as predictors. Additionally, RCM simulations forced by different global climate models for the historical period (1972-2000) and mid-of-century (2042-2070; under the two emission scenarios RCP4.

Endothelial cell invasion is controlled by dactylopodia.

Sprouting angiogenesis is fundamental for development and contributes to cancer, diabetic retinopathy, and cardiovascular diseases. Sprouting angiogenesis depends on the invasive properties of endothelial tip cells. However, there is very limited knowledge on how tip cells invade into tissues.

The Dynamics of Patient Visits to a Public Hospital Pediatric Emergency Department: A Time-Series Model.

Background: The overcrowding of emergency departments (EDs) is an increasingly relevant public health problem. The main aims of this study were to identify and analyze temporal periodicities of a self-referred pediatric ED (PED), correlate them with meteorological and calendar variables and build a robust forecasting model.

Methods: An 8-year administrative data set (2010-2017) of the daily number of admissions to the PED of a public hospital in Lisbon, Portugal, was used (n = 670,379).

Increased likelihood of heat-induced large wildfires in the Mediterranean Basin.

Wildfire activity is expected to increase across the Mediterranean Basin because of climate change. However, the effects of future climate change on the combinations of atmospheric conditions that promote wildfire activity remain largely unknown. Using a fire-weather based classification of wildfires, we show that future climate scenarios point to an increase in the frequency of two heat-induced fire-weather types that have been related to the largest wildfires in recent years.

Heat-related mortality at the beginning of the twenty-first century in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Temperature record-breaking events, such as the observed more intense, longer-lasting, and more frequent heat waves, pose a new global challenge to health sectors worldwide. These threats are of particular interest in low-income regions with limited investments in public health and a growing urban population, such as Brazil. Here, we apply a comprehensive interdisciplinary climate-health approach, including meteorological data and a daily mortality record from the Brazilian Health System from 2000 to 2015, covering 21 cities over the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro.

Mouse retinal cell behaviour in space and time using light sheet fluorescence microscopy.

As the general population ages, more people are affected by eye diseases, such as retinopathies. It is therefore critical to improve imaging of eye disease mouse models. Here, we demonstrate that 1) rapid, quantitative 3D and 4D (time lapse) imaging of cellular and subcellular processes in the mouse eye is feasible, with and without tissue clearing, using light-sheet fluorescent microscopy (LSFM); 2) flat-mounting retinas for confocal microscopy significantly distorts tissue morphology, confirmed by quantitative correlative LSFM-Confocal imaging of vessels; 3) LSFM readily reveals new features of even well-studied eye disease mouse models, such as the oxygen-induced retinopathy (OIR) model, including a previously unappreciated 'knotted' morphology to pathological vascular tufts, abnormal cell motility and altered filopodia dynamics when live-imaged.

Effects of potential recirculation on air quality in coastal cities in the Yangtze River Delta.

Air quality is closely related to the synoptic circulation and local wind field affecting a certain area as they have distinct influence on the path and speed of pollutants. The Yangtze River Delta is located on the eastern coast, and the air returning from coastal areas has a detrimental effect on air quality in the area. This study proposes to analyze if certain circulation types and the occurrence of recirculation are predominantly related to the occurrence of bad air quality in the Yangtze River Delta.

The unprecedented 2014 Legionnaires' disease outbreak in Portugal: atmospheric driving mechanisms.

A large outbreak of Legionnaires' disease occurred in November 2014 nearby Lisbon, Portugal. This epidemic infected 377 individuals by the Legionella pneumophila bacteria, resulting in 14 deaths. The primary source of transmission was contaminated aerosolized water which, when inhaled, lead to atypical pneumonia.

Saharan dust intrusions in Spain: Health impacts and associated synoptic conditions.

Background: A lot of papers have been published about the impact on mortality of Sahara dust intrusions in individual cities. However, there is a lack of studies that analyse the impact on a country and scarcer if in addition the analysis takes into account the meteorological conditions that favour these intrusions.

Objectives: The main aim is to examine the effect of Saharan dust intrusions on daily mortality in different Spanish regions and to characterize the large-scale atmospheric circulation anomalies associated with such dust intrusions.

Effects of Recent Minimum Temperature and Water Deficit Increases on Pinus pinaster Radial Growth and Wood Density in Southern Portugal.

Western Iberia has recently shown increasing frequency of drought conditions coupled with heatwave events, leading to exacerbated limiting climatic conditions for plant growth. It is not clear to what extent wood growth and density of agroforestry species have suffered from such changes or recent extreme climate events. To address this question, tree-ring width and density chronologies were built for a Pinus pinaster stand in southern Portugal and correlated with climate variables, including the minimum, mean and maximum temperatures and the number of cold days.

[Epidemiology of caprine and ovine brucellosis in Formosa province, Argentina].

An epidemiological study of brucellosis was carried out in 516 goats and mixed flocks (goat/sheep) from the three agro-ecological regions of Formosa province, Argentina. Serum samples from a total of 25401 goats and 2453 sheeps were analyzed using buffered plate agglutination test (BPAT) and complement fixation test (CFT). Bacteriological and PCR analyses on milk samples from goats in three flocks with a history of brucellosis and recent abortions were also performed.

Combined use of a femtosecond laser and a microkeratome in obtaining thin grafts for Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty: an eye bank study.

Purpose: To evaluate the use of a femtosecond laser combined with a microkeratome in the preparation of posterior corneal disks for Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK).

Methods: This experimental study involved ultrathin DSAEK tissue preparation of 22 donor corneas unsuitable for transplantation. The first cut was performed with an Intralase® FS60 laser and the second cut with a Moria CBm 300-µm microkeratome.