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Theex situconservation of biodiversity is an essential tool for environmental protection interventions. Germination studies of seeds that belong to endangered species are essential forex situconservation strategies. In this study, we investigate the germination responses of three high-altitude endemic and vulnerable species (Leontopodium nivale,Pinguicula fioriiandSoldanella minimasubsp.samnitica). Specifically we identified potential dormancy mechanisms by investigating the responses of germination percentage and rate to different concentrations of gibberellic acid (GA3), by performing a general linear model.L. nivalereached a germination percentage of 98.0 ± 2.0% (mean ± SE) under control conditions (20°C; 12/12 photoperiod; no GA3addition).P. fioriishowed the highest germination percentage (78.0 ± 2.0%) in the treatment with GA3500 ppm.S. minimasubsp. samniticadid not show sensitivity to GA3but responded positively to cold stratification (6 month at 5°C) with a germination percentage of 90 ± 6%. This study made it possible to acquire important information on the germination process of threatened and rare endemic taxa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A phytosociological study of the alliance Carpinion orientalis in the hilly and subcoastal areas of the Italian peninsula is presented. These woods are included in the suballiances Laburno-Ostryenion and Lauro-Quercenion; the distinction between these two suballiances is not always easy also because of the conservation status of these forest ecosystems. The hilly and subcoastal Turkey oak woods of the alliance Carpinion orientalis are mainly distributed on the Adriatic side of the Italian peninsula, where they are found on neutro-basic substrata to which these coenoses are linked. The Turkey oak woods of the alliance Teucrio siculi-Quercion cerridis are strongly linked to the acidic substrata typical of the Tyrrhenian side, but are sporadically found on the Adriatic side within small enclaves with more acidic substrata. A numerical analysis allowed us to rearrange the lower hierarchical levels of the associations of Turkey oak woods of the alliance Carpinion orientalis. In particular, the association Lonicero xylostei-Quercetum cerridis is included in the alliance Carpinion orientalis, and the new subassociation festucetosum exaltatae is proposed. The subassociation rosetosum arvensis is proposed for the association Daphno laureolae-Quercetum cerridis, and the new subassociation cytisophylletosum sessilifolii of the association Aceri obtusati-Quercetum cerridis is described. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Objective: To evaluate whether postprandial blood glucose predicts cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality in type 2 diabetes in a long-term follow-up taking into account A1C and the main cardiovascular risk factors.Research Design and Methods: Consecutive type 2 diabetic patients (n = 505) followed up at our diabetes clinic were evaluated at baseline (1995) for the main cardiovascular risk factors and for five glycemic control parameters (fasting blood glucose, blood glucose 2 h after breakfast, blood glucose 2 h after lunch, blood glucose before dinner, and A1C); all-cause mortality and the first cardiovascular events occurring during the 14-year follow-up were measured.Results: We observed 172 cardiovascular events (34.1% of the population) and 147 deaths (29.1% of the population). Using the Cox analysis with the backward method, we categorized the variables according to the therapeutic targets of the American Diabetes Association. Our observations were as follows. When the five glycemic control parameters were considered together, the predictors were 1) for cardiovascular events, blood glucose 2 h after lunch (hazard ratio 1.507, P = 0.010) and A1C (1.792, P = 0.002); and 2) for mortality, blood glucose 2 h after lunch (1.885, P < 0.0001) and A1C (1.907, P = 0.002). When blood glucose 2 h after lunch and A1C were considered together with the main cardiovascular risk factors, the following glycemic control parameters were predictors: 1) for cardiovascular events, blood glucose 2 h after lunch (1.452, P = 0.021) and A1C (1.732, P = 0.004); and 2) for mortality, blood glucose 2 h after lunch (1.846, P = 0.001) and A1C (1.896, P = 0.004).Conclusions: In type 2 diabetes, both postprandial blood glucose and A1C predict cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality in a long-term follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we prove that the (non-trivial) irreducible complex unipotent characters of a finite classical group G of type Bm or Cm in odd characteristic are reducible over any proper subgroup of G, apart from very few notable exceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we prove that the (non-trivial) irreducible complex unipotent characters of a finite classical group G of type Bm or Cm in odd characteristic are reducible over any proper subgroup of G, apart from very few notable exceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main result of this paper is a graph-theoretic necessary and sufficient condition, for a given set of transvections in SL(n, K) (n > 2 and K a finite field of characteristic not 2 or 3), to generate a group isomorphic to SL(m, L), for some m and some subfield L of K. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]