Background: We aimed to evaluate personality traits in patients with post-COVID syndrome, as well as the association with neuropsychiatric symptoms present in this disorder. Methods: The Big Five Structure Inventory was administered to 93 consecutive patients with a diagnosis of post-COVID syndrome as defined by the WHO and to demographically matched controls. We also performed a comprehensive evaluation of depression, anxiety, fatigue, sleep quality, cognitive function, and olfactory function. Results: Patients with post-COVID syndrome scored lower for emotional stability, equanimity, positive mood, and self-control. Extraversion, emotional stability, and openness correlated negatively with anxiety and depression levels. Conscientiousness correlated negatively with anxiety. No statistically significant correlations were observed between personality traits and cognitive function, sleep quality, olfactory function, or fatigue. Personality scores explained 36.3% and 41% of the variance in scores on the anxiety and depression scales, respectively. Two personality profiles with lower levels of emotional stability were associated with depression and anxiety. Conclusions: Our study shows higher levels of neuroticism in patients with post-COVID syndrome. Personality traits were predictive of the presence of depression and anxiety, but not cognitive function, sleep quality, or fatigue, in the context of post-COVID syndrome. These findings may have implications for the detection of patients at risk of depression and anxiety in post-COVID syndrome, and for the development of preventive and therapeutic interventions.

The effects of climate change on oaks Quercus spp. constitute a main environmental concern for the conservation of temperate forests. In this context, we assessed the consequences of longer droughts on the interactions between the holm oak Quercus ilex L. and its main acorn pests. Infested acorns were prematurely abscised before reaching their potential size. The volume of the acorns attacked by Cydia fagiglandana (Lepidoptera) was smaller than those attacked by Curculio elephas (Coleoptera); however, their weight did not differ because Curculio larvae consumed more cotyledon. For the same reason, embryo survival likelihood was not lower in Cydia acorns despite their smaller size. Delays of late summer rain reduced infestation by Curculio, as soil hardness hampers adult emergence from their underground cells. By contrast, late and scarce precipitations benefited Cydia; rainfall might hamper adult flight and eggs/L1 larvae survival. There was not a “zero-sum” effect, because the decrease of Curculio infestation rates was not fully compensated by an increase of Cydia. Under the longer droughts projected for the Mediterranean Basin, our results predict lower infestation rates and higher acorn survival likelihood. However, further studies including other environmental factors are needed to better forecast the net consequences for holm oak fitness.

Background: Non-invasive brain stimulation has shown positive results in maximizing the effects of language therapy in primary progressive aphasia (PPA). Due to the different patterns of brain damage in each aphasia variant, we hypothesized that patients with non-fluent and semantic variants would show a differential response to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Objective: We aimed to compare the clinical responses after a single session of repetitive TMS in the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPC). Methodology: Twenty patients with PPA (14 with non-fluent and 6 with semantic variants) were assessed before and after repetitive TMS over the IFG, DLPC, and vertex with several language tasks, connected speech, and a subjective impression of change scale. Results: IFG stimulation was associated with an improvement in words per minute and the subjective assessment in the non-fluent variant, but no effects were found in the semantic variant. DLPC stimulation was associated with an improvement in words per minute, repetition, and naming latency in the non-fluent variant, and in naming and subjective impression of change in the semantic variant. Conclusions: Our study showed a differential effect of one session of brain stimulation over the IFG and DLPC in patients with non-fluent and semantic PPA variants. These findings suggest that the selection of the target of stimulation may be relevant for the success of brain stimulation and favor the use of DLPC over the IFG.

Extreme wildfires are increasingly frequent in Mediterranean landscapes, especially in southern Europe, where traditional fire suppression strategies have proven to be insufficient. This study assesses the effectiveness of landscape-scale participatory governance in reducing fire hazard and enhancing carbon storage. We analysed fire behaviour and carbon balance under four fuel management scenarios: control unmanaged, public intervention, private intervention (led through the MOSAICO initiative), and a mixed governance model. The study was conducted in two counties of western Spain using fire simulations (FLAMMAP) and carbon models under four representative weather scenarios. All treatments significantly reduced fire size conditional burn probability, conditional flame length and crown fire probability, with the mixed scenario being the most effective under extreme conditions. At the local scale, agricultural and livestock practices were particularly effective, especially when spatially coinciding with historical ignition areas. In terms of carbon, the mixed governance scenario resulted in the most favourable net carbon balance by combining lower carbon removals with substantial reductions in potential emissions from wildfires. In contrast, forestry interventions frequently removed large amounts of biomass in areas with a low burn probability, which required longer recovery periods to compensate for carbon losses. Promoting fire-smart landscapes through community-based agroforestry and livestock practices offers a cost-effective approach to mitigate wildfire hazard and, simultaneously, support ecosystem services, including carbon storage. These results underline the urgent need to encourage proactive, community-based land use practices, which simultaneously reduce wildfire risk and enhance ecosystem services such as carbon storage, especially in fire-prone rural areas.