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Although there has been a resurgence in interest among farmers in producing narrow row hybrid maize (Zea mays L.) in the Eastern UnitedStates, agronomic recommendations for modern hybrids are limited. To address this issue, field trials were carried out from 2016 to 2018 in Ohio and Pennsylvania (10 unique site‐year combinations), aiming to answer the following questions: (i) Do modern hybrids differ in their response to narrow (38 cm) and conventional (76 cm) row spacing? (ii) Is there a yield increase for narrow row production? The study was planted in a split‐plot randomized complete block design with four replications. The whole plot factor was row spacing, and the subplot factor was hybrid. Two hybrids (P0506AM and P0604AM) were in an "early"‐season group, and two hybrids (P1197AM and P1443AM) were "full"‐season hybrids. Both P0506AM and P1443AM were identified as AQUAmax hybrids and had superior seed company drought tolerance ratings over their maturity pairing counterpart. Grain and forage yield were 4% and 8% greater, respectively, for the narrow row spacing across hybrids. Hybrid differences in drought tolerance designation did not result in grain or forage yield differences under varied row spacings. There was no hybrid × row spacing interaction. In most site‐years, P1197AM hybrid produced the greatest grain and forage yields, though P1443AM and P0506AM were similar in most cases. Results suggest a minor advantage in yield (≤8%) from narrow rows in Ohio and Pennsylvania, though other considerations that include cost to conversion should be considered prior to adoption. Core Ideas: Narrow row spacing increased maize grain and forage yield by 4% and 8%, respectively, over conventional spacing.Response to row spacing was similar across hybrids, that is, there was not a hybrid × row spacing interaction.Hybrid drought tolerance designation did not affect row spacing response.Full‐season maize hybrids produced greater grain and forage yield than early‐season hybrids, regardless of row spacings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Species diversity is crucial for promoting ecosystem resilience and stability. Species diversity promotes complementarity in resource use, resulting in a wider range of responses to adverse conditions. This enables populations of different species to fluctuate asynchronously, maintaining ecosystem functioning during extreme climatic events. However, incorporating such mechanisms into conservation decisions and ecosystem modelling requires scalable metrics that represent species diversity, which is currently lacking. To address this, we introduce spectral asynchrony, a metric that captures the spatial heterogeneity of species' functional responses occurring in distinct pixels. Here, we use remote sensing datasets to investigate the relationship between spectral asynchrony and productivity responses of seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTF) to climatic fluctuations. Our findings reveal that spectral asynchrony is associated with increased resistance and recovery of SDTF productivity in following extreme drought years, as well as greater productivity stability over two decades. Furthermore, higher spectral asynchrony was associated with relatively wetter regions, suggesting that increasing aridity across SDTF could potentially reduce landscape heterogeneity and limit ecosystem resilience to increasing droughts in the future. Spectral asynchrony provides an easily measurable and monitorable metric for assessing ecosystem responses to global changes, reflecting and scaling‐up the effects of species diversity at the local level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: The objective of this work was to evaluate the processing of black rice grains to obtain flour and to verify the influence of pretreatments on mass transfer, in vitro digestibility, and technological properties. The grains were submitted to heat moisture treatment (HMT) with a final humidity of 30% at 110°C for 2 h, black rice pretreatment with ethanol (BRE) in the proportion 1:1 (wt/wt) for 5 min/25°C, and high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) under conditions of 200 MPa for 10 min/25°C. Then, the grains were dried at 60°C at an air velocity of 1.5 m/s and ground in an electric multigrain grinder. Was analyzed the mass transfer, in vitro digestion, water, oil, and milk retention capacity, total phenolic compounds (TPC), total anthocyanins (TA), antioxidant activities by (2,2′‐azino‐bis‐(3‐ethylbenzothiazoline‐6‐sulfonic) acid, 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl, ferric‐reducing antioxidant power, and oxygen radical absorbance capacity Surface appearance by scanning electron microscopy, and thermal analysis by differential scanning calorimetry was carried out. Findings: The grains when submitted to the HHP obtained a reduction of 58.82% in the drying time, while the HMT promoted an increase of 23.5% when compared to the control. The pretreatments influenced the in vitro digestibility, where the HHP had the highest value (86.33), as well as the highest water, oil, and milk retention capacities. BRE positively impacted TPC, TA, and antioxidant activities regardless of the methods used. HMT promoted the formation of cavities, fissures, and holes on the surface, resulting in a rough appearance and presenting greater thermal resistance with an enthalpy of 12.35 J/g. Conclusions: This research paved the way for potential commercial applications of black rice flour as an ingredient in functional foods. Significance and Novelty: This study adds to the significance and novelty of research on black rice processing by evaluating the influence of different pretreatments on mass transfer, in vitro digestibility, and technological properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grain amaranth is a highly nutritious pseudo‐cereal with good adaptability to a range of environmental conditions and potential to be further cultivated in many areas of the world. Although the crop has good adaptability, soil type can influence crop establishment and production; thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate how cultivar, sowing depth, and soil type affect emergence and early growth of grain amaranth. A pot experiment was carried out in two runs under greenhouse conditions. The experiment was set in a randomized complete block design in a 3 × 5 × 2 factorial arrangement with three soil types (loam, clay loam, and clay) × five sowing depths (0, 5, 10, 15, and 20 mm) × two grain amaranth cultivars (Amaranthus cruentus BRS Alegria and Amaranthus caudatus Inca). Amaranthus caudatus had greater seedling height, stem diameter, number of leaves, root length, fresh weight, and dry weight compared to A. cruentus. Emergence was affected by cultivar and was 15% greater for A. cruentus. Seedling height was significantly greater at a 5 and 20 mm sowing depth. Root growth varied as a function of the interaction between soil types and sowing depths in which the longest roots were obtained when grain amaranth was sown in a loam soil at 10 mm depth. For better growth of grain amaranth, the recommended combination is A. caudatus in a loam soil at a depth between 5 and 20 mm. Core Ideas: Emergence and early growth of amaranth are affected by soil type, sowing depth, and cultivar.Root growth is favored by loam and clay soils, whereas the clay loam soil hinders growth.Grain amaranth should be sown between 5 and 20 mm deep.A. caudatus Inca had the greatest plant height, stem diameter, root length, and fresh and dry weight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Ecology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)

Tropical montane cloud forests (TMCF) have unique climatic conditions, which allow the coexistence of plant lineages with different phytogeographical origins from tropical versus temperate climates. Future climate projections suggest TMCFs will be subjected to increasing drought stress due to fog uplift and higher temperatures, possibly leading to tree mortality and local extinctions, and consequently changes in forest composition and functioning. Characterizing community functional composition, trade‐offs among traits and the drivers of community assembly is of utmost importance to improve our capacity to predict the response of montane plant communities to forecast climate change.Here, we aimed to test whether species from different phytogeographical origins (i.e. tropical – evergreen × deciduous − and temperate) differ in drought vulnerability and how the coexistence of these groups change the hydraulic composition of TMCFs. We used a framework based on measurements of key hydraulic traits (i.e. xylem embolism resistance, hydraulic safety margin, stomata control, turgor loss point, minimum water potential) of 16 dominant species (>70% of the forest basal area) within a TMCF in the Atlantic Rain Forest Domain in southeast Brazil. We used community‐weighted means to model whether removing each species group would change the community hydraulic functional composition.Temperate, tropical deciduous and tropical evergreen groups differ in their hydraulic functioning and these differences explain forest functional composition and taxa dominance. Temperate and tropical deciduous taxa were consistently more vulnerable hydraulically (i.e. lower safety margins and embolism resistance). The coexistence of different phytogeographical lineages is a key determinant of TMCF hydraulic composition. We also used models including phylogeny to evaluate the variation of hydraulic traits across phytogeographical groups, and the results suggest some niche conservatism associated with plant hydraulic functioning.Our results provide evidence of the importance of species phytogeographical origin on TMCF functioning, and niche conservatism in the evolution of hydraulic traits. The higher drought vulnerability observed in temperate group might be a mechanistic explanation for the restriction of temperate taxa distribution to wetter places during past colder and drier climate. Thus, we suggest hydraulic functional traits may be useful to predict future dynamics of TMCFs under changing climatic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Biotropica is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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 Functional Ecology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)

Summary: Tropical ecosystems have the highest levels of biodiversity, cycle more water and absorb more carbon than any other terrestrial ecosystem on Earth. Consequently, these ecosystems are extremely important components of Earth's climatic system and biogeochemical cycles. Plant hydraulics is an essential discipline to understand and predict the dynamics of tropical vegetation in scenarios of changing water availability. Using published plant hydraulic data we show that the trade‐off between drought avoidance (expressed as deep‐rooting, deciduousness and capacitance) and hydraulic safety (P50 – the water potential when plants lose 50% of their maximum hydraulic conductivity) is a major axis of physiological variation across tropical ecosystems. We also propose a novel and independent axis of hydraulic trait variation linking vulnerability to hydraulic failure (expressed as the hydraulic safety margin (HSM)) and growth, where inherent fast‐growing plants have lower HSM compared to slow‐growing plants. We surmise that soil nutrients are fundamental drivers of tropical community assembly determining the distribution and abundance of the slow‐safe/fast‐risky strategies. We conclude showing that including either the growth‐HSM or the resistance‐avoidance trade‐off in models can make simulated tropical rainforest communities substantially more vulnerable to drought than similar communities without the trade‐off. These results suggest that vegetation models need to represent hydraulic trade‐off axes to accurately project the functioning and distribution of tropical ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims. Magnetic resonance enterography (MRE) has become an important modality of radiological imaging in the evaluation of Crohn's disease (CD). The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of MRE in the assessment of disease activity and abdominal complications and in the making of therapeutic decisions for patients with CD. Methods. In a cross-sectional retrospective study, we selected 74 patients with CD who underwent MRE and ileocolonoscopy with an interval between the two exams of up to 30 days between January 2011 and December 2017. We assessed the parameters of the images obtained by MRE and investigated the agreement with the level of disease activity and complications determined by a clinical evaluation, inflammatory biomarkers, and endoscopy, as well as the resulting changes in medical and surgical management. Results. Changes in medical management were detected in 41.9% of patients. Significant changes in medical decisions were observed in individuals with a purely penetrating (P =.012) or a mixed (P =.024) MRE pattern. Patients with normal MRE patterns had a correlation with unchanged medical decisions (P =.001). There were statistically significant agreements between the absence of inflammatory criteria on MRE and remission according to the Harvey and Bradshaw index (HBI) (P =.037), the presence of inflammatory criteria on MRE and positive results for calprotectin (P =.005), and penetrating criteria on MRE and the scoring endoscopic system for Crohn's disease (SES-CD), indicating active disease (P =.048). Finally, there was significant agreement between the presence of fibrostenotic criteria and a long disease duration (P =.027). Conclusion. MRE discloses disease activity and complications not apparent with other modalities and results in changes in therapeutic decisions. In addition to being used for diagnosis, MRE should be routinely used in the follow-up of CD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Peri‐implant mucositis is very common and, when left untreated, can progress to the more serious condition of peri‐implantitis. Therefore, early diagnosis, adequate treatment and, in particular, adherence to a peri‐implant supportive therapy are extremely important for the management of peri‐implant mucositis. Purpose: Characterize the clinical conditions of peri‐implant tissues in patients diagnosed with peri‐implant mucositis after undergoing peri‐implant supportive therapy for 54 months. Materials and Methods: Thirty‐eight patients (131 dental implants) who received peri‐implant supportive therapy, associated with oral hygiene instructions, were assessed at baseline and at 54 months for visible plaque and gingival bleeding indexes, probing depth and bleeding on probing. Data were statistically analyzed using the Chi‐square test and relative risk assessment using a significance level set at 5%. Results: None of the independent variables evaluated (age, gender, smoking, type of prosthesis, time using the prosthesis, keratinized mucosa, phenotype peri‐implant, classification of visible plaque index and classification of gingival bleeding index) presented significant associations with "worsening" or "improvement" of clinical parameters. Conclusion: The implementation of peri‐implant support therapy was not sufficient for the resolution of peri‐implant mucositis, although reductions in clinical parameters with respect to baseline were observed and maintained during follow‐up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Reducing uncertainties in the response of tropical forests to global change requires understanding how intra‐ and interannual climatic variability selects for different species, community functional composition and ecosystem functioning, so that the response to climatic events of differing frequency and severity can be predicted.Here we present an extensive dataset of hydraulic traits of dominant species in two tropical Amazon forests with contrasting precipitation regimes – low seasonality forest (LSF) and high seasonality forest (HSF) – and relate them to community and ecosystem response to the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) of 2015.Hydraulic traits indicated higher drought tolerance in the HSF than in the LSF. Despite more intense drought and lower plant water potentials in HSF during the 2015‐ENSO, greater xylem embolism resistance maintained similar hydraulic safety margin as in LSF. This likely explains how ecosystem‐scale whole‐forest canopy conductance at HSF maintained a similar response to atmospheric drought as at LSF, despite their water transport systems operating at different water potentials.Our results indicate that contrasting precipitation regimes (at seasonal and interannual time scales) select for assemblies of hydraulic traits and taxa at the community level, which may have a significant role in modulating forest drought response at ecosystem scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, aluminum‐exchanged Keggin heteropolyacid salts (i. e., AlPW12O40, AlPMo12O40, and Al4/3SiW12O40) were synthesized and evaluated as catalysts on the camphene oxidation with hydrogen peroxide. The aluminum silicotungstate salt (i. e., Al4/3SiW12O40) was the most active and selective toward formation of borneol and two novel products; 1‐(3‐(2‐hydroxypropan‐2‐yl) cyclopentyl) ethan‐1‐one, and 3‐(3‐hydroxycyclopentyl)‐3‐methylbutan‐2‐one), which were spectroscopically characterized (FT‐IR, 13C and 1H NMR analyses). All the catalysts were characterized by FT‐IR/ ATR spectroscopy, BET, XRD, EDS/SEM, and TG/DSC analyses. After the characterization of the HPA salts, it was possible to link their structural properties to their catalytic activity. The effects of the main reaction variables were assessed. The aluminum cation as well as the silicotungstic anion showed to be essential to formation of three goal‐products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Species distribution is strongly driven by local and global gradients in water availability but the underlying mechanisms are not clear. Vulnerability to xylem embolism (P50) is a key trait that indicates how species cope with drought and might explain plant distribution patterns across environmental gradients. Here we address its role on species sorting along a hydro‐topographical gradient in a central Amazonian rainforest and examine its variance at the community scale.We measured P50 for 28 tree species, soil properties and estimated the hydrological niche of each species using an indicator of distance to the water table (HAND).We found a large hydraulic diversity, covering as much as 44% of the global angiosperm variation in P50. We show that P50: contributes to species segregation across a hydro‐topographic gradient in the Amazon, and thus to species coexistence; is the result of repeated evolutionary adaptation within closely related taxa; is associated with species tolerance to P‐poor soils, suggesting the evolution of a stress‐tolerance syndrome to nutrients and drought; and is higher for trees in the valleys than uplands.The large observed hydraulic diversity and its association with topography has important implications for modelling and predicting forest and species resilience to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: An experiment was performed using 1,000 laying Japanese quails to assess the availability of two alternative dietary methionine sources. Treatment 01 = Basal Feed that is deficient in digestible methionine + cystine (Met + Cys). The other treatments were constituted by Met + Cys levels of 0.8, 1.60 and 2.40 g/kg, supplemented with DL‐Methionine‐99%, HMTBA‐88% and HMTBA‐84%, being 10 treatments in total. The following characteristics were studied: feed intake (g/bird/day), egg production (egg/day × 100), egg weight (g/egg), egg mass (g/egg), feed conversion per egg dozen (kg feed/dozen eggs), feed conversion per egg mass (kg feed/kg eggs), relative yolk weight (g/100 g of egg), relative albumen weight (g/100 g of egg), relative shell weight (g/100 g of egg), shell thickness (mm) and specific gravity (g/cm3). In general result comment, supplemental methionine sources must be included in the poultry diet. The different methionine sources affect the performance of quails, and the increase in the levels within each source improves the performance variables. Significant effect was observable on performance variables and egg quality variables, being that DLM‐99% is superior to the other sources. The HMTBA‐88% source is superior to the HMTBA‐84% source for the same aforementioned variables. In conclusion, the bioefficacy values of the HMTBA‐88% and HMTBA‐84% sources compared to the DLM‐99% source on an equimolar basis were 81 and 79%, respectively, for the performance variables, and 83 and 74 while the methionine sources were equivalent for the variables related to egg quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Montane ecosystems are known for their high numbers of endemic species, unique climate conditions, and wide variety of ecosystem services such as water supply and carbon storage. Although many ecohydrological and climatic studies of montane environments have been carried out in temperate and boreal regions, few have been done in Neotropical regions. Hence, the objective of this review is to synthesize the existing literature on the main factors (biotic and abiotic) that influence vegetation distribution, functional traits, and ecohydrological processes and feedbacks in tropical montane ecosystems and to identify key knowledge gaps. Most of the literature used includes work conducted in Neotropical montane rainforests, cloud forests, and grass/scrublands (e.g., páramos, punas, and campos de altitude/rupestres). Fog is a major climatic attribute in tropical montane habitats. We found that fog regimes (frequency and intensity of fog events) influence both water inputs (i.e., canopy interception and foliar water uptake) and outputs (evapotranspiration) and represent an important driver of local species composition, dominance of plant functional types, and ecological functioning. The stability and conservation of tropical montane ecosystems depends on such ecohydrological fluxes, which are sensitive to increases in air temperature and changing precipitation and fog regimes. Furthermore, to better inform effective conservation and restoration strategies, more work is needed to elucidate how key ecohydrological processes are affected by land use conversion to agriculture and pasture lands, as human activities influence the water budgets in Neotropical montane watersheds not only at regional‐scales but also globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is found in adults and adolescents and is associated with genital warts and cervical cancer. However, it has been detected in girls younger than 10 years old. Currently, there are no prevention methods for this age group, since it is not considered a risk group. The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of infection and HPV subtype in girls under 9 years old attended at a referral service in the State of Espírito Santo, Brazil. Forty‐three girls younger than 9 years old had gynecological brush samples collected from vulval and perineal/anal regions. Viral detection and subtyping were done using polymerase chain reaction, restriction fragment length polymorphism and DNA sequencing. Statistics was performed using Action Stat 3.1. The mean age of girls was 6.1 years. Sexual activity and abuse were not reported by 95.3%. Family stories showed viral infection in 9.3% of mothers, 4.7% of fathers and 9.3% of caretakers. None of these were related with the children infection. In the only case of mother's gestational HPV infection, the daughter tested negative. Genital warts and infection were observed in 7% and 13.9% of the patients, respectively. Viral subtypes detected were 6, 11, 38, and 42. These results demonstrate the presence of HPV infection in girls under 9 years of age. Prevalence studies are needed in order to evaluate a possible alteration in age of vaccination policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Faster growth in tropical trees is usually associated with higher mortality rates, but the mechanisms underlying this relationship are poorly understood. In this study, we investigate how tree growth patterns are linked with environmental conditions and hydraulic traits, by monitoring the cambial growth of 9 tropical cloud forest tree species coupled with numerical simulations using an optimization model. We find that fast‐growing trees have lower xylem safety margins than slow‐growing trees and this pattern is not necessarily linked to differences in stomatal behaviour or environmental conditions when growth occurs. Instead, fast‐growing trees have xylem vessels that are more vulnerable to cavitation and lower density wood. We propose the growth ‐ xylem vulnerability trade‐off represents a wood hydraulic economics spectrum similar to the classic leaf economic spectrum, and show through numerical simulations that this trade‐off can emerge from the coordination between growth rates, wood density, and xylem vulnerability to cavitation. Our results suggest that vulnerability to hydraulic failure might be related with the growth‐mortality trade‐off in tropical trees, determining important life history differences. These findings are important in furthering our understanding of xylem hydraulic functioning and its implications on plant carbon economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schizophrenia is a chronic mental disease that usually manifests psychotic symptoms and affects an individual’s functionality. The stigma related to this disease is a serious obstacle for an adequate approach to its treatment. Stigma can, for example, delay the start of treatment, and it creates difficulties in interpersonal and professional relationships. This work proposes a new tool based on augmented reality to reduce the stigma related to schizophrenia. The tool is capable of simulating the psychotic symptoms typical of schizophrenia and simulates sense perception changes in order to create an immersive experience capable of generating pathological experiences of a patient with schizophrenia. The integration into the proposed environment occurs through immersion glasses and an embedded camera. Audio and visual effects can also be applied in real time. To validate the proposed environment, medical students experienced the virtual environment and then answered three questionnaires to assess (i) stigmas related to schizophrenia, (ii) the efficiency and effectiveness of the tool, and, finally (iii) stigma after simulation. The analysis of the questionnaires showed that the proposed model is a robust tool and quite realistic and, thus, very promising in reducing stigma associated with schizophrenia by instilling in the observer a greater comprehension of any person during an schizophrenic outbreak, whether a patient or a family member. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maternal protein restriction during pregnancy and lactation predisposes the adult offspring to sympathetic overactivity and arterial hypertension. Although the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood, dysregulation of the oxidative balance has been proposed as a putative trigger of neural-induced hypertension. The aim of the study was to evaluate the association between the oxidative status at transcriptional and functional levels in the medulla oblongata and maternal protein restriction induced-hypertension. Wistar rat dams were fed a control (normal protein; 17% protein) or a low protein ((Lp); 8% protein) diet during pregnancy and lactation, and male offspring was studied at 90 days of age. Direct measurements of baseline arterial blood pressure ( ABP) and heart rate ( HR) were recorded in awakened offspring. In addition, quantitative RT- PCR was used to assess the mRNA expression of superoxide dismutase 1 ( SOD1) and 2 ( SOD2), catalase ( CAT), glutathione peroxidase ( GPx), Glutamatergic receptors (Grin1, Gria1 and Grm1) and GABA(A)-receptor-associated protein like 1 (Gabarapl1). Malondialdehyde ( MDA) levels, CAT and SOD activities were examined in ventral and dorsal medulla. Lp rats exhibited higher ABP. The mRNA expression levels of SOD2, GPx and Gabarapl1 were down regulated in medullary tissue of Lp rats ( P<.05, t test). In addition, we observed that higher MDA levels were associated to decreased SOD (approximately 45%) and CAT (approximately 50%) activities in ventral medulla. Taken together, our data suggest that maternal protein restriction induced-hypertension is associated with medullary oxidative dysfunction at transcriptional level and with impaired antioxidant capacity in the ventral medulla. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work describes an experimental study on the possibilities of harvesting energy from tree trunks in order to power sensor nodes for environmental monitoring, particularly in wild forests. As the trunk of a living tree can be divided into isothermal subvolumes, which are generally referred to as annual rings, and the trunk is a good heat storage material, depending on the tree dimensions and its species, it can potentially offer different temperature gradients according to the tree trunk depths. The hypothesis is to consider the application of this temperature gradient on the faces of a Peltier cell to obtain electrical energy. In order to evaluate this hypothesis, a wireless sensor network was developed for measuring internal temperature of trunks from different trees. The experimental results show that it is possible to obtain a sufficient temperature gradient to harvest energy from tree trunks. Additionally, it is also shown that it is possible to harvest thermal energy during the day and during the night while photovoltaic cell only works under sunlight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synopsis Objective High-frequency ultrasound is a non-invasive tool used in skin ageing research to assess dermis thickness and echogenicity. This study evaluated the reliability of a range of high-frequency ultrasound parameters and tested their correlation with age and a validated clinical scale for the assessment of forearm skin photoageing; the difference between two body sites according to environmental exposition patterns was also investigated. Methods Twenty-three volunteers aged 28-82 years were divided into three groups according to forearm photoageing degree. A 20 MHz ultrasound unit was used to obtain cross-sectional images of the skin by two trained investigators on two different sites: the dorsal forearm (chronically photoexposed skin) and the proximal medial arm (non-photoexposed skin). Several echogenicity parameters were studied for each skin compartment: total dermis, upper dermis and lower dermis, and the ratio between upper and lower dermis. Results The intraclass correlation coefficient (for complete agreement) between investigators was higher for upper and total dermis echogenicity measures compared with the lower dermis. At the non-photoexposed site, the upper and lower dermis parameter ratio was better correlated with age. At the photoexposed area, total dermis parameters demonstrated higher correlations with clinical score. Conclusion The authors discuss the choice of parameters for forearm photoageing assessment using high-frequency ultrasound. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the impact of the growth and volatility of commodity terms of trade (CToT) on economic growth, total factor productivity, physical capital accumulation and human capital acquisition. We use the standard system generalized methods of moments (GMM) approach as well as the dynamic common correlated effects pooled mean group (CCEPMG) methodology for estimation to account for cross-country heterogeneity, cross-sectional dependence and feedback effects. Using both annual data for 1970-2007 and 5-year non-overlapping observations, we find that while CToT growth enhances real output per capita, CToT volatility exerts a negative impact on economic growth operating mainly through lower accumulation of physical and human capital. Productivity, however, is not affected by either the growth or the volatility of CToT. Our results also indicate that the negative growth effects of CToT volatility offset the positive impact of commodity booms. Therefore, we argue that volatility, rather than abundance per se, drives the 'resource curse' paradox. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Brazilian Atlantic Forest is a typically multi-layer tropical forest, while cerrado (savanna) is a patchy habitat with different physiognomy. Despite these differences, both habitats have high light heterogeneity. Functional traits of Dalbergia nigra and D. miscolobium from the Atlantic Forest and cerrado, respectively, were evaluated under shade (25% of full sunlight) and full sunlight in a nursery experiment. We hypothesised that both species should benefit from high phenotypic plasticity in relation to light. Plasticity was estimated using the relative distance phenotypic index (RDPI). D. miscolobium had lower shoot growth under both light conditions, suggesting it has low competitive capacity in the forest environment, which could explain its limited ability to expand over areas of Atlantic Forest. The studied species exhibited photoprotection strategies under high light and improved light capture under low light. Stomatal conductance, ETRmax (maximum electron transport rate), PPFDsat (saturating photosynthetically active photon flux density), chlorophyll and carotenoid content had higher RDPI than stem morphological traits. Although both species showed considerable phenotypic plasticity, D. miscolobium had higher RDPI for eight of 11 evaluated traits. This high plasticity could be one of the factors that explain the occurrence of this species in a wide range of environmental conditions, from open grassland to dense woodlands, and it could also reflect its adaptation to high light. D. nigra also had considerable plasticity and good growth performance in both shade and full sunlight, but its absence in areas of cerrado suggests that factors other than light limit its occurrence in these habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase in income per capita is accompanied, in virtually all countries, by two changes in economic structure: the increase in the share of government spending in gross domestic product (GDP), and the increase in female labor force participation. We argue that these two changes are causally related. We develop a growth model based on where female participation in market activities, fertility, and government size, in addition to consumption and saving, is endogenously determined. Rising incomes lead to a rise in female labor force participation as the opportunity cost of staying at home and caring for the children increases. In our model, higher government spending decreases the cost of performing household chores, including, but not limited to, child rearing and child care, as in . We also use a wide cross-section of data for developed and developing countries and show that higher market participation by women is positively and robustly associated with government size. We then investigate the causal link between participation and government size using a novel unique data set that allows the use of the relative price of productive home appliances as an instrumental variable. We find strong evidence of a causal link between female market participation and government size. This effect is robust to the country sample, time period, and a set of controls in the spirit of . ( JEL O4, E62, H11) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Restricted breeding seasons in beef cattle lead to censoring of reproductive data. In this paper, age at first conception (AFC) of Nellore females exposed to the sires for the first time between 11 and 16 months of age, was studied aiming to verify the possibility of genetically advance sexual precocity using a survival model. The final data set contained 6699 records of AFC in days. Records of females that did not calve in the next year following exposure to the sire were considered censored (77.5% of total). The model used was a Weibull mixed survival model including effects of contemporary groups, period (fixed) and animal (random). The effect of the contemporary groups on AFC was important (p < 0.01). Heritabilities were 0.51 and 0.76 in logarithmic and original scales respectively. Results indicate that it is possible to genetically advance sexual precocity, using the outcome of survival analysis of AFC as selection criterion. They also suggest that improvements of the environment could advance sexual precocity too, thus an adequate pregnancy rate for farmers could quickly be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights the 2003 World Conference of the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) held in Denmark. Discussion on issues in quality improvement of medical education and its implications for global standards; Activities and sessions.

Abstract Analysis of extensive exposures of the Permian Laingsburg Formation, Karoo basin, South Africa, have enabled a detailed reconstruction of the base of slope stratigraphy and palaeoenvironments in a deep-water system characterized by a very narrow grain-size range (fine sandstone). The deposits include an ≈ 4 km wide and 80 m thick channel complex, fringed by sandy sheet deposits that extend laterally for at least 6 km across depositional strike. Within the channel complex, individual channel fills are marked by shallow basal erosion surfaces draped by thin, parallel-stratified beds of very fine sandstone and siltstone, interpreted as flow tails to largely bypassing flows. These thin beds are overlain by 0·4 to 5 m thick beds of structureless, fine-grained sandstone that represent the majority of the channel fills. The basal packages may be partially to completely removed by localized scour in the axial zone of the channel complex but can be mapped laterally into overbank areas where they thicken and are dominated by rippled fine sandstones with intercalated siltstones. Axial confinement resulted from subtle topography on the basin floor, whereby the lower, dense parts of the initially erosive and bypassing flows were partially confined in the lows and the more dilute, slower moving upper parts of the flows deposited sheet-like successions across slightly elevated overbank areas. The narrow grain-size distribution prohibited the formation ofcoarse-grained residual bypass deposits during the initial phases of channel formation. With decreasing magnitude, later flows became more depositional, filling remaining axial depressions with thick-bedded structureless sandstone. The smaller volumes of late-stage sediment were more axially focused, producing local scour-and-fill features and starvation of the overbank areas. Resulting grain-size vertical profiles are complex. The basal flow tail packages and overlying massive deposits form a thickening and slightly coarsening-upward trend in the channel fills. The overbank deposits show a thinning- and fining-upward profile as a result of less bypass plus late-stage starvation of sand. Application of traditional deep-water facies models could therefore potentially lead to erroneous interpretations of the channel complex as a prograding lobe and the overbank sheets as channel-fills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract A conservative approach to treating breast cancer patients was adopted for those more than 70 years of age with T1-3 and small localized T4b N0-1 lesions. It consists of tumor excision or simple mastectomy with adjuvant tamoxifen. From the prospective breast cancer database, patients 70 years or older at the time of diagnosis were identified for the period January 1990 to December 1996. Demographic, clinical, pathological, and oncologic data were retrieved. A total of 236 patients were identified. Ninety-seven patients (41%) were treated according to the conservative protocol. Of these, 74 had a tumor excision and 23 had a simple mastectomy. Their mean age was 79 years. TNM staging was stage I in 18 patients, stage II in 66 patients, and stage III in 13 patients. There was no 30-day mortality. Eleven patients were not compliant with tamoxifen use. Two patients were lost to follow-up. The mean follow-up is 51 months (range 4 to 109 months). The cumulative incidence of local and regional recurrence at 8 years is 5% and 7%, respectively. Locoregional recurrences were controlled with excision, mastectomy, or axillary dissection. The cumulative disease-specific, overall, and disease-free survival at 5 years is 86%, 64% and 46%, respectively. Tumor excision or simple mastectomy with tamoxifen offers sufficient tumor control for elderly patients. Axillary dissection and breast or chest wall radiotherapy can safely be omitted, thereby greatly reducing health care resource utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary. Prospective studies in children with B-precursor acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) have shown that polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based detection of minimal residual disease (MRD) using immunoglobin (Ig ) and T-cell receptor (TCR ) gene rearrangements as targets can be used to identify patients with a high relapse risk. The disadvantage of this approach is that for each patient preferably two different targets have to be identified. The t(12;21)(p13;q22) with the TEL-AML1 fusion gene is present in approximately 25% of children with B-precursor ALL. In these patients, sensitive reverse transcription (RT)-PCR analysis of the TEL-AML1 fusion transcript might be a more simple and less laborious alternative approach. However, it is unknown how stable the mRNA is and whether the number of transcripts per leukaemic cell remains constant during follow-up. We investigated whether the MRD results obtained using RT-PCR of TEL-AML1 transcripts correlated with the clinically validated genomic PCR for Ig and TCR gene rearrangements. Therefore, we used real-time quantitative (RQ)-PCR analysis for both types of targets and assessed the MRD levels in 36 follow-up bone marrow samples (obtained during the first 1·5 years after diagnosis) from 13 patients with B-precursor ALL. In 34/36 bone marrow samples the Ig/TCR RQ-PCR and TEL-AML1 RQ-PCR revealed equal levels of MRD and these results had a strong correlation (P < 0·0001, R 2 = 0·84). Therefore, we conclude that the TEL-AML1 RQ-PCR can, in principle, replace Ig/TCR RQ-PCR in B-precursor ALL with t(12;21). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The “Staying on Track” project tracked infants, preschoolers, and their families in Brockville, Ontario, Canada for a period of 3 years. Public health nurses at preassigned intervals provided information and counseling for families and made referrals to other agencies if problems were judged to be beyond the expertise of the “Staying on Track” staff. To assess the effectiveness of the program in improving child development, a cohort design was selected to allow development to be assessed over 5½ years in 3 years. Three cohorts and a comparison group were included in the study. Each cohort received different procedures for identification and tracking. Cohort 1 received at least four home visits, cohort 2 received three clinic visits, and cohort 3 received one clinic visit. Intervention and follow-up from these visits included home visits, phone calls, and referrals for all three cohorts. Comparing cohort 1 to cohort 2 at 18 months, highly significant effects were found; few significant differences were found at 3½ years between cohort 2 and 3 and very few positive effects were found for 5½-year-old children who had been in the tracking system since they were 3½ years of age. The results are discussed and recommendations are made about the implications of the study for service provision. © 1998 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Triticum turgidum var. durum cv. 'Langdon' and the set of D-genome disomic-substitutions in 'Langdon', produced at Fargo. U.S.A., were grown in a temperature controlled greenhouse and crossed with diploid spring rye (Secale cereale), to determine the effect of each substitution on 1. the crossability with rye, and 2. the viability of the resulting hybrids kernels. None of the disomic-substitutions lines, with the possible exception of the 5D (5B) line, gave an appreciable improvement in hybrid kernel set -development, and -viability over the control. 'Langdon'. The post-zygotic barrier to endosperm and embryo development, which operates in crosses between durum wheat and rye, could therefore not be suppressed by any specific chromosome of the D-genome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The predictive value of raised cord blood (CB) total eosinophil counts (TEC) with regard to atopic sensitisation was studied prospectively for 1 year in 53 Black, 52 White and 57 Mixed full-term newborns. The maternal TEC, in relation to the stress of labour, were also studied. Ethnic differences in the CB TEC were shown between the Black/White (p = 0.03) and the White/Mixed (p = 0.05) groups. The newborns' sex, an atopic family history (aFH) and the method of birth had no influence on the CB TEC in any ethnic group. There were no unequivocal differences in CB TEC between those newborns who became atopic during infancy and those who did not in any of the ethnic groups, although in the Black infants, there was a marginal trend towards significance (p = 0.05). Raised CB TEC values do not, therefore, seem to be an inherited factor in terms of a predisposition for atopic disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key is provided to eleven species of Aphelinus, and one misidentified European species is described as thomsoni sp.n. Redescriptions are given of four little known or misidentified species of Coccophagus. Some new synonymy is proposed inAphelinidae, and lectotypes are designated for most of the species involved. Thirty-twospecies in eleven genera are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]