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Improving patient care and advancing scientific discovery requires responsible sharing of research data, healthcare records, biosamples, and biomedical resources that must also respect applicable use conditions. Defining a standard to structure and manage these use conditions is a complex and challenging task. This is exemplified by a near unlimited range of asset types, a high variability of applicable conditions, and differing applications at the individual or collective level. Furthermore, the specifics and granularity required are likely to vary depending on the ultimate contexts of use. All these factors confound alignment of institutional missions, funding objectives, regulatory and technical requirements to facilitate effective sharing. The presented work highlights the complexity and diversity of the problem, reviews the current state of the art, and emphasises the need for a flexible and adaptable approach. We propose Digital Use Conditions (DUC) as a framework that addresses these needs by leveraging existing standards, striking a balance between expressiveness versus ambiguity, and considering the breadth of applicable information with their context of use.

Virgin cork is a little-known, sustainable and relatively scarce raw material. However, its global output is expected to increase substantially as recent cork oak plantations are stripped for the first time. The work described here aimed to examine the factors underlying the mechanical properties of granulated cork, most particularly the type of cork (virgin or reproduction), and to develop a technique to deliver fast and accurate assessments of the effects of said factors. A batch of virgin cork was boiled, dried, ground and graded following standard granule classification procedures according to size and density. The resulting granulates were then compared with equivalent commercial-grade reproduction cork granulates. Physical variables (tapped density and moisture content) were measured and elastic recovery and Young’s modulus were used as proxies for mechanical properties. Image analysis was used to study the size, shape and colour of the cork particles. ANOVA results show significant effects of particle size, density class, type of cork and first and second order interactions between most variables. Density class clearly reached the highest level of significance, whereas the type of cork was less critical. A very strong correlation was found between granulates’ elastic recovery and their tapped density (R2 = 0.98; RMSE < 1%). Likewise, greyscale imaging revealed a good adjustment between tapped density and grey level (R2 = 0.84; RMSE = 24 g·l−1). The primary conclusion was that the differences between virgin and standard cork granulates are small and should have no effect on less demanding applications. Image analysis is likely to prove useful in further, more in-depth studies.

The forest-based sector plays a significant role in supporting Europe on its pathway towards a more integrated and bio-based circular economy. Beyond the supply of timber, forest ecosystems offer a wide range of products and services beneficial to human wellbeing. Non-wood forest products (NWFPs) play an integral role in provisioning forest ecosystem services and constitute a huge portfolio of species from various taxonomic kingdoms. As diverse as the resources themselves is the list of end-products that may be derived from raw non-wood materials. Multiple value-chains of NWFPs provide benefits to actors across all stages of the supply chain. Forest management has not yet directed full attention towards NWFPs, since timber production remains the main management objective, although multi-purpose management is recognised as a key principle of the sector’s sustainability paradigm. Lack of knowledge of the socio-economic relevance of NWFPs for European societies and diverse property rights frameworks increase the complexity in forest-based decision making additionally. In this study, the future potential of 38 NWFPs for diversifying the forest bioeconomy is investigated by means of multi-criteria analysis, including stakeholder interaction and expert involvement. The results for six case studies in different biogeographical zones in Europe indicate the latent opportunities NWFPs provide to forest owners who are willing to focus their management on the joint production of wood and non-wood resources as well as their value networks. This study intends to unravel perspectives for forest owners in particular, as they often represent principal decision makers in forest ecosystem management, act as main suppliers of NWFP raw materials, and thus can be understood as key stakeholders in a forest bioeconomy. Even though regional perspectives differ, due to varying socio-economic and ecological environments, there is huge potential to strengthen the economic viability of rural ar

Good knowledge of the factors that influence cork quality and the health of forests is essential when making decisions regarding the management of productive cork oak forests. The quality of cork planks depends on: plank thickness, plank porosity and the presence of anomalies. So far, no studies have evaluated cork quality based on cork anomalies, partly due to the difficulty of obtaining adequate data. In 1985, it was developed the first Cork Quality Field Assessment Plan (CQFAP) to provide information about the quality of harvested cork by collecting data of very high quality. This work analyzes the anomalies present in 2049 cork sampling units collected from ten stands under the CQFAP for the period 1986–2012 in three consecutive cork stripping cycles. Data on diseases, pests and stripping damages are also analyzed in the 654 trees where cork sampling units were collected in the third stripping cycle. Additionally, mean monthly temperature and precipitation values for the 35 years covering the three stripping periods were calculated. A progressive deterioration of cork quality was observed in the sampled cork oak stands. It was found a positive relationship between cork thickness and temperature indicating that the cork growing period could be extended when temperatures are moderate. Sampled cork oaks were more affected by Cerambycidae attacks and Coraebus undatus indicating their prevalent nature. The presence of Coraebus undatus were higher in stands with good health status. The studied diseases were Biscogniauxia mediterranea, Phytophthora sp. and fungi of the family Botryosphaeriaceae, finding a not previously reported correlation between the presence of Crematogaster scutellaris and the three studied diseases. Stripping damages increase with smaller cork thickness but climate is not a decisive factor for a proper stripping. Although having room for improvement, the CQFAP is proving to be an effective tool for assessing the quality of cork, the health status

Key message: Abies alba Mill.–Pinus uncinata Ramond. ecotone dynamics are examined along both altitudinal and protection level gradients by combining field inventories and Landsat data. An upward expansion of A. alba to the subalpine belt is observed in the last decades as a result of stand maturation after logging cessation. Context: High-mountain forests constitute sensitive locations to monitor the impacts of global change on tree-species composition and ecotone dynamics. In this study, we focus on the Spanish Pyrenees where silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) coexists with mountain pine (Pinus uncinata Ramond.) forming montane-subalpine ecotones. Aims: The main goal of this study is to assess the spatiotemporal dynamics of the silver fir–mountain pine ecotone and its underlying driving factors. Methods: We reconstructed the spatial distribution and dynamics of the species by combining remote sensing imagery and field plot data from 1989 to 2015, employing support vector machine techniques for image classification. Using variance analysis and mixed effects models, we then analyzed the evolution of basal area and replacement index, a measure of relative change in species composition, over time and altitude range. Additionally, we explored their relationship with site factors and protection level (National Park vs. protection buffer zone). Results: Silver fir has expanded its distribution in both the National Park and the protection buffer zone, whereas mountain pine has remained stable. Both species exhibit increased basal area associated with stand maturation and a higher level of protection. The replacement index indicates a rise in silver fir in the understory on North-facing slopes, attributed to stand densification. These findings are particularly noticeable in the area with the highest level of protection. Conclusion: The cessation of traditional land uses has led to ongoing stand densification, promoting succession and favoring the increased abundance of silver f

Forest disturbances such as drought, fire, and logging affect the forest carbon dynamics and the terrestrial carbon sink. Forest mortality after disturbances creates uncertainties that need to be accounted for to understand forest dynamics and their associated C-sink. We combined data from permanent resampling plots and biomass oriented dendroecological plots to estimate time series of annual woody biomass growth (ABI) in several forests. ABI time series were used to benchmark a vegetation model to analyze dynamics in forest productivity and carbon allocation forced by environmental variability. The model implements source and sink limitations explicitly by dynamically constraining carbon allocation of assimilated photosynthates as a function of temperature and moisture. Bias in tree-ring reconstructed ABI increased back in time from data collection and with increasing disturbance intensity. ABI bias ranged from zero, in open stands without recorded mortality, to over 100% in stands with major disturbances such as thinning or snowstorms. Stand leaf area was still lower than in control plots decades after heavy thinning. Disturbances, species life-history strategy and climatic variability affected carbon-partitioning patterns in trees. Resprouting broadleaves reached maximum biomass growth at earlier ages than nonresprouting conifers. Environmental variability and leaf area explained much variability in woody biomass allocation. Effects of stand competition on C-allocation were mediated by changes in stand leaf area except after major disturbances. Divergence between tree-ring estimated and simulated ABI were caused by unaccounted changes in allocation or misrepresentation of some functional process independently of the model calibration approach. Higher disturbance intensity produced greater modifications of the C-allocation pattern, increasing error in reconstructed biomass dynamics. Legacy effects from disturbances decreased model performance and reduce the potent

Context. The physical characterization of trans-Neptunian objects is essential for improving our understanding of the formation and evolution of our Solar System. Stellar occultation is a ground-based technique that can be successfully used to determine some of the TNOs’ fundamental physical properties with high precision, such as size and shape. Aims. This work is aimed at constraining the size, shape, and geometric albedo of the dwarf planet candidate (307261) 2002 MS4 through the analysis of nine stellar occultation events. Using multichord detection, we also study the object’s topography by analyzing the obtained limb and residuals between the observed chords and the best-fit ellipse. Metods. We predicted and organized the observational campaigns of nine stellar occultations by 2002 MS4 between 2019 and 2022, resulting in two single-chord events, four double-chord detections, and three events with between 3 and 61 positive chords. We derived the occultation light curves using differential aperture photometry, from which the star ingress and egress instants were calculated. Using 13 selected chords from the 8 August 2020 event, we determined the global elliptical limb of 2002 MS4. The best-fit ellipse, combined with the object’s rotational information from the literature, sets constraints on the object’s size, shape, and albedo. Additionally, we developed a new method to characterize the topography features on the object’s limb. Results. The global limb has a semi-major axis of a′ = 412 ± 10 km, a semi-minor axis of b′= 385 ± 17 km, and the position angle of the minor axis is 121° ± 16°. From this instantaneous limb, we obtained 2002 MS4’s geometric albedo of pV = 0.1 ± 0.025, using HV = 3.63 ± 0.05 mag and a projected area-equivalent diameter of 796 ± 24 km. Significant deviations from the fitted ellipse in the northernmost limb were detected from multiple sites, highlighting three distinct topographic features: one 11 km depth depression, followed by a 25−5+4 k

This dataset is a valuable component of the article titled "Monitoring Montane-Subalpine Forest Ecotone in the Pyrenees: Integrating Sequential Forest Inventories and Landsat Imagery." The dataset provides comprehensive information necessary for implementing the analysis and models described. These analyses encompass studying the variations in Abies alba Mill. and Pinus uncinata Ramond. basal area and Replacement Index over three reference years (1991, 2002, and 2015). Additionally, the study applies linear mixed-effects models, considering altitude, aspect, total basal area, year, and protection level (National Park vs. protection buffer zone) as fixed effects, and plot as a random effect. By utilizing the reflectance values from the Landsat composites of 1991, 2002, and 2015, a Support Vector Machine binary classifier can be trained using presence/absence indicators for A. alba and P. uncinata, enabling the prediction of species’ distribution throughout the entire study area. All methods are thoroughly described in the manuscript.

Cork value is determined mainly by its thickness at the moment of debarking but is also affected by the presence of any discontinuities related to porosity characteristics and/or the presence of anomalies in the cork plank. Cork quality is closely related to the final price of the raw material, so inventories conducted prior to the cork debarking are aimed at identifying the characteristics of the cork and therefore its potential price. Besides information from these cork inventories, forest managers also need a reliable prediction of the final cork thickness to help them determine the most profitable moment to harvest. In this work, a three-level nonlinear mixed effects cork growth model was developed for Spanish cork oak forests using 1027 cork samples taken in nine regions of provenance into which Spain is divided for identification of forest reproductive material. The fitting step revealed that the region and the stand level explained much less variability than the tree level in the three-level mixed-effects models. Therefore, subject–specific predictions were obtained with the joint use of region-, stand-and tree-level random effects. The subject–specific predictions were compared with three alternative prediction options when no additional measurements are available. The precision of predictions with calibrated mixed-effects model using region-, stand-, and tree-level random effects was 0.1 mm when taking one additional measurement at any time during the rotation period. The developed model is more precise and has a wider range of application than the previous model, being suitable for predicting accumulated cork thickness in more than 90% of the cork oak distribution area in Spain. However, it should only be applied to make predictions within a given cork rotation period and not to simulate cork growth over potential successive cork rotations. In the future, it would be necessary to develop an annual cork growth model which includes site, stand and tree varia

The aim of this study was to develop applications of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to detect certain anomalies in cork used in the manufacture of stoppers for wine bottling. 326 spectra of cork planks were used in a qualitative analysis to evaluate the feasibility of NIRS to discriminate between pure cork, yellow stain and lignified cork. Classification and validation errors varied between 0 % and 11.4 %. In addition, 360 spectra of cork granulate were used in a quantitative analysis to determine the percentage of yellow stain and corkback. A root mean standard error of cross validation (RMSECV) of 1.50 % was obtained for yellow stain percentage (R² = 99.62 %). For corkback percentage RMSECV was 2.96 % (R2 = 98.53 %). These results show that NIRS technology has potential, alongside traditional methods, to determine the quality of cork used to manufacture stoppers.

The proportion of planted forests in the Mediterranean Basin is one of the largest in the world. These plantations are dominated by pine species and present a series of characteristics such as low elevation, high competition or small tree size that make them more vulnerable to droughts. However, quantitative assessments of their post-drought growth resilience in accordance with species, site factors and tree characteristics are lacking. In this study we sampled 164 trees at four forest sites located in the drought-prone Sierra Nevada, southeastern Spain. We compared growth responsiveness to drought in rear-edge planted vs. relic natural Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and coexisting Pyrenean oak (Quercus pyrenaica) stands. Our objective was to characterize and compare the different growth responses to drought between species and sites and the effect of the main physiographic factors (altitude, aspect, and slope) on these responses since the influence of these factors on post-drought resistance and resilience has received little attention to date. Our results reveal that the planted pine sites with the lowest mean growth rates displayed greater resistance during drought, and that higher altitude was associated with improved resistance and/or resilience for all species and sites. Natural pine and Pyrenean oak stands were better adapted to the dry climatic conditions of the Mediterranean region where the study was undertaken, displaying greater resistance and/or resilience and lower influence of drought on growth in comparison to stands of planted pines. These results suggest that promoting the conservation of high-elevation pine plantations and enhancing the regeneration of natural pine and oak may improve the resistance and resilience of these drought-prone forest ecosystems.