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Copyright of Dyna is the property of Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellin, Facultad de Minas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Fire is a common disturbance in the Brazilian savanna (the cerrado), wherein high-frequency fires drive the vegetation structure, composition, function, and dynamics of savanna ecosystems. Under climate change pressure, further understanding of fire–vegetation relationships and interactions can provide new approaches for establishing integrated fire management strategies and can promote post-fire savanna vegetation recovery. To understand how 15 years of annually manipulated burning has affected vertical and horizontal structures of the vegetation, species composition and diversity metrics (species richness, Shannon's diversity, and Pielou's evenness), and aboveground carbon stocks, we surveyed all woody plant species with a diameter greater than three centimeters, in 15 plots of a typical Brazilian savanna (cerrado stricto sensu) at an experimental research station in central Brazil (the cerrado biome). The 15 plots (five plots per treatment) had been differently affected by fire events over a decade, and comprised three treatments: (i) annual fire, (ii) legacy fire (>15 years since the last fire event), and (iii) control (not burned in the past 30 years). A non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) analysis indicated that fire had a significant effect on the species composition among the treatments; some species benefited from fire, such as Erythroxylum suberosum, whereas other species propagated better without fire, such as Roupala montana and Dalbergia miscolobium. Over a decade of annual fire events have led to decreases in Shannon's diversity, species richness, and stem density, which were significantly lower in the annual fire treatment than in the control and legacy fire treatments. Stem density by diameter and height size classes (except for the 1–2 m class and above 8 m class) was higher in the control than that in the annual fire treatment, but the number of dead trees did not differ between the control and the annual fire treatment. Our results also showed that fire was a factor in changes in the evaluated parameters, such as in the annual fire treatment, where fire reduced the amount of biomass, and therefore the carbon stocks. This study suggests that, if burned yearly, typical Brazilian savannas can become less biodiverse in terms of woody plant species which negatively affects their fire resilience. Therefore, fire management practices should focus on determining the frequency of fire disturbances from which these ecosystems may benefit the most. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grasslands are one of the vegetation types most widely affected by wildfires in southern Brazil. It is a fire-dependent ecosystem and it is necessary to know the hourly fuel moisture variation for its management. The objective of this work is to fit Grass Fuel Moisture Code (GFMC) models to estimate the moisture content for the grassland of the State Park of Vila Velha, Paraná, Brazil. Data sampling to determine the hourly moisture content was performed during the winter of 2018 and divided into two campaigns of five days with stable weather conditions. Destructive samples were taken out for the sorption tests on climatic chambers to obtain the equilibrium moisture content and the time lag values. The fitted equilibrium moisture and time lag models were evaluated by residual distribution analysis, mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RSME) and coefficient of determination (R2). The fitted model performed better than the original GFMC model due to the obtained MAE, RSME and R2 values. The results showed that the fitted GFMC model is better to predict the fine fuel moisture for the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Floresta is the property of Revista Floresta and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Floresta is the property of Revista Floresta and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Floresta is the property of Revista Floresta and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Cubana de Ciencias Forestales is the property of Universidad de Pinar del Rio and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This work describes a novel formulation for the simulation of incompressible Navier–Stokes problems involving nonconforming discretizations of membrane‐like bodies. The new proposal relies on the use of a modified finite element space within the elements intersected by the embedded geometry, which is represented by a discontinuous (or element‐by‐element) level set function. This is combined with a Nitsche‐based imposition of the general Navier‐slip boundary condition, to be intended as a wall law model. Thanks to the use of an alternative finite element space, the formulation is capable of reproducing exactly discontinuities across the embedded interface, while preserving the structure of the graph of the discrete matrix. The performance, accuracy and convergence of the new proposal is compared with analytical solutions as well as with a body fitted reference technique. Moreover, the proposal is tested against another similar embedded approach. Finally, a realistic application showcasing the possibilities of the method is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Floresta is the property of Revista Floresta and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Floresta is the property of Revista Floresta and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Floresta is the property of Revista Floresta and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Floresta is the property of Revista Floresta and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Nativa is the property of Revista Nativa and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Floresta is the property of Revista Floresta and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Floresta is the property of Revista Floresta and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Floresta is the property of Revista Floresta and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Brazilian Journal of Forest Research / Pesquisa Florestal Brasileira is the property of Brazilian Journal of Forest Research / Pesquisa Florestal Brasileira and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Floresta is the property of Revista Floresta and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Floresta is the property of Revista Floresta and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Floresta is the property of Revista Floresta and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Floresta is the property of Revista Floresta and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Ectopia cordis is a very rare congenital malformation, commonly associated with intracardiac anomalies. It is due to a defect in fusion of the anterior chest wall resulting in an extrathoracic location of the heart. We report prenatal 2-dimensional (2D) and 3D ultrasonography diagnosis and postnatal autoptic findings of an isolated ectopia cordis with tricuspid atresia. Ectopia cordis prenatal diagnosis is easily made with ultrasound by visualizing the heart outside the thoracic cavity. 3D ultrasonography may add more detailed visualization of the heart anomaly even if the 2D ultrasonography alone permits the prenatal diagnosis. Obstetrical management should include a careful search for associated anomalies, especially cardiac, and the assessment of fetal karyotype. As this is considered a sporadic anomaly, the recurrence risk is low and no genetic origin is known. Copyright © 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Purpose: To determine the direct costs of epilepsy in a child neurology referral population, stratified by disease, duration, and severity, comparing three different health care settings [i.e., teaching or clinical research (CR) hospitals, general hospitals, and outpatient services]. Methods: Patients were accepted if they had confirmed epilepsy and were resident in the center catchment area. Eligible subjects were grouped in the following categories: (a) newly diagnosed patients; (b) patients with epilepsy in remission; (c) patients with active non–drug-resistant epilepsy; and (d) those with drug-resistant epilepsy. Over a 12-month period, data regarding the consuming of all resources (i.e., consultations, tests, hospital admissions, drugs), were collected for each patient. Using the Italian National Health Service tariffs, the unit cost of each resource was calculated and indicated in Euros, the European currency. Results: A total of 189 patients was enrolled by two teaching-CR hospitals, two general hospitals, and two outpatient services. The patients were evenly distributed across the four categories of epilepsy. The mean annual cost per person with epilepsy was 1,767 Euros. Drug-resistant epilepsy was the most expensive category (3,268 Euros) followed by newly diagnosed epilepsy (1,907 Euros), active non–drug-resistant epilepsy (1,112 Euros), and epilepsy in remission (844 Euros). Costs were generally highest in teaching-CR hospitals and lowest in outpatient services. Hospital services were the major cost in all epilepsy groups, followed by drugs. Conclusions: The cost of epilepsy in children and adolescents in Italy tends to vary significantly depending on the severity and duration of the disease Hospitals services and drugs are the major sources of costs. The setting of health care plays a significant role in the variation of the costs, even for patients in the same category of epilepsy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of nerve fibres in the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) in relation to the development of bone, muscle and fibre components was investigated in human fetuses ranging from 9 weeks of gestation to birth. Immunohistochemistry for the glia-associated protein S-100 and for the neuro-specific marker protein gene product 9.5 (PGP 9.5) were used; specimens were compared to specimens of adult TMJ capsule and disc. At 9-10 weeks, a small number of neural elements are already present in the connective tissue around the joint and in the mesenchyme between the two articular blastemas from which the disc will differentiate. By 19 weeks many nerve fibres are clearly visible. Immunohistochemical results suggest diffuse disc innervation extending along the entire disc but not in the thin central area. More complex structures, i.e. encapsulated corpuscles, were also seen. The fetal disc appears highly innervated compared to adult tissue; already at this developmental stage morphology and distribution of nerves and corpuscles in the joint capsule are comparable to those in the adult joint. It may be concluded that the innervation of the TMJ is detectable from the end of the second month and that it develops fully between the third and the fifth month of gestation. Nerve endings in the disc are most numerous at 20 weeks, after which a progressive reduction, possibly secondary to the growth of articular tissues, is observed throughout the last trimester of fetal life and into adult life. The innervation of the lateral pterygoid muscle, on the contrary, is much less than that seen in adult muscles, even at full-term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to asses whether patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) develop cognitive and psychiatric complications more frequently during pro- longed therapy with continuous apomorphine infusion compared with standard oral treatment. Thirty consecutive PD patients with severe motor fluctuations were included in the study. Twelve patients accepted the treatment with subcutaneous continuous apomorphine infusion, while the remaining 18 preferred to continue with oral dopaminergic therapy. The two groups were evaluated with neuropsychological, psychiatric, and motor tests at baseline and after 1 year. The off daily duration and the levodopa dosage were significantly reduced in infused patients. The neuropsychiatric assessment did not change in both groups compared with baseline, except for a significant improvement of mood in the apomorphine group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]