The effects of a hurricane on seedling dynamics and abiotic interactions in a tropical lower montane wet forest

Abstract:We assessed seedling dynamics and understorey light before and after a hurricane in five randomly selected 5 × 5-m subplots, within 30 permanent sample plots covering a total area of 3750 m2 in a lower montane wet tropical forest, Jamaica over a period of 3 y. Understorey light increased (≈ 60%) following the passage of Hurricane Dean in 2007 but decreased in 2009. Overall, seedling density was positively related to light and survivorship was positively related to both light and density. Mortality was significantly lower and most species recorded their highest growth when the canopy was open (2007–2008). However, lower diversity during this period coincided with higher (average) mortality of uncommon species. The hurricane altered the relative importance of interactions between light, seedling density and dynamics. Consequently, interactions were significant before or 2 y after but not 1 y after the hurricane and their significance varied among the years and species. Periodic changes in the importance of these interactions and the effects of the hurricane were used to separate 12 common species along a continuum of responses, which ranged from positive (lower mortality), neutral to negative (lower growth). Our results indicate that hurricanes have positive and negative effects on seedling dynamics; therefore an increase in the intensity and frequency of hurricanes will likely alter seedling composition, and hence forest structure.

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THE EFFECT OF SOD TYPE ON THE OCCURRENCE OF GROUND BEETLES (COLEOPTERA: CARABIDAE) IN A PEST MANAGEMENT APPLE ORCHARD

The Canadian Entomologist ◽

10.4039/ent116165-2 ◽

1984 ◽

Vol 116 (2) ◽

pp. 165-171 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

N. J. Holliday ◽

E. A. C. Hagley

Keyword(s):

Pest Management ◽

Pitfall Trap ◽

Common Species ◽

Ground Beetles ◽

Apple Orchard ◽

Soil Samples ◽

Soil Sampling ◽

Pitfall Trapping ◽

Before And After ◽

Trap Catches

AbstractThe effects on carabids of natural, fescue, and rye sod types and of tillage were investigated in a pest management apple orchard. Carabids were sampled before and after the treatments by pitfall trapping and by two types of soil sampling. There were no significant effects of sod type on pitfall trap catches; however the abundance of all common species in soil samples was significantly affected by sod types. Usually in soil samples carabids were most abundant in natural sod and least abundant in tilled plots; numbers were intermediate in fescue and rye. Sod type did not affect structure or diversity of the carabid fauna.

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Cardio-ventilatory coupling in young healthy resting subjects

Journal of Applied Physiology ◽

10.1152/japplphysiol.01424.2010 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 112 (8) ◽

pp. 1248-1257 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Lee Friedman ◽

Thomas E. Dick ◽

Frank J. Jacono ◽

Kenneth A. Loparo ◽

Amir Yeganeh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Body Surface ◽

Relative Importance ◽

Statistical Relationship ◽

Sinus Arrhythmia ◽

Retest Reliability ◽

Respiratory Events ◽

Before And After ◽

Test Retest Reliability ◽

Degree Of Coupling ◽

High Test

In this work, cardio-ventilatory coupling (CVC) refers to the statistical relationship between the onset of either inspiration (I) or expiration (E) and the timing of heartbeats (R-waves) before and after these respiratory events. CVC was assessed in healthy, young (<45 yr), resting, supine subjects ( n = 19). Four intervals were analyzed: time from I-onset to both the prior R-wave (R-to-I) and the following R-wave (I-to-R), as well as time from E-onset to both the prior R-wave (R-to-E) and following R-wave (E-to-R). The degree of coupling was quantified in terms of transformed relative Shannon entropy (tRSE), and χ2 tests based on histograms of interval times from 200 breaths. Subjects were studied twice, from 5 to 27 days apart, and the test-retest reliability of CVC measures was computed. Several factors pointed to the relative importance of the R-to-I interval compared with other intervals. Coupling was significantly stronger for the R-to-I interval, coupling reliability was largest for the R-to-I interval, and only tRSE for the R-to-I interval was correlated with height, weight, and body surface area. The high test-retest reliability for CVC in the R-to-I interval provides support for the hypothesis that CVC strength is a subject trait. Across subjects, a peak ∼138 ms prior to I-onset was characteristic of CVC in the R-to-I interval, although individual subjects also had earlier peaks (longer R-to-I intervals). CVC for the R-to-I interval was unrelated to two separate measures of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), suggesting that these two forms of coupling (CVC and RSA) are independent.

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Reviewing the Effect of 10 Days of Intense Exercise Period on Certain Blood Parameters of Tennis Players

Journal of Education and Training Studies ◽

10.11114/jets.v6i11.3469 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 (11) ◽

pp. 95

Author(s):

Muzaffer Selcuk ◽

Vedat Cinar ◽

Mucahit Sarikaya ◽

Salih Oner

Keyword(s):

Statistical Significance ◽

Exercise Program ◽

Blood Parameters ◽

Intense Exercise ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Blood Samples ◽

Tennis Players ◽

Before And After ◽

Exercise Period ◽

Competition Period

This study aims to observe the possible negative effects that might occur on bio-chemistry and hemogram values of tennis players during the intense competition period by comparing the blood values of pre-competition period with 10 days of intense exercise. Blood samples were obtained from tennis team players who do not have any specific health problems and who study in university and regularly exercise. Mean age of the athletes are 22,40 ± 3,20 years and mean height is 179,83 ± 7,57 cm. This study is performed with 14 volunteer tennis players. Blood samples are obtained during the first day of the intense exercise program after the exercise, last day of the exercises and also right after the exercises. As per the obtained data, descriptive statistics are run (mean and standard deviation) and in order to compare the values of before and after the 10 days of intense exercise, Wilcoxon two related sample test was used. As per the results of the blood tests from before and after the exercise period, it is seen that values such as AST, ALT, MCH, MCHC and CK showed statistical significance (P<0.05). The athletes who prepared for the competitions with these values showed positive increases in bio-chemistry and hemogram values.

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Effect of 12 Months of Exercise with Stachys Lavandulifolia Consumption on anxiety, Metabolic Syndrome Profiles and Antioxidant Defense and Lipid Peroxidation in Women with Syndrome Metabolic

10.21203/rs.3.rs-129277/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Ali osali ◽

Alireza Rostami

Keyword(s):

Metabolic Syndrome ◽

Lipid Peroxidation ◽

Aerobic Exercise ◽

Antioxidant Defense ◽

Training Group ◽

Serum Levels ◽

Control Group ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Beneficial Effects ◽

Before And After

Abstract BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of 12 months of aerobic exercise combining stachys lavandulifolia (S. lavandulifolia) consumption on anxiety, Metabolic Syndrome profiles and antioxidant defense (Glutathione) and lipid peroxidation (Malondialdehyde) in 50-65 years old women with syndrome metabolic.Methods48 women with syndrome Metabolic were randomly divided into four groups: exercise (n=12), exercise+S. lavandulifolia (n=12), S. lavandulifolia (n=12) and control group (n=12). S. lavandulifolia groups consumed 3 g aerial parts of S. lavandulifolia daily. Training groups performed an exercise protocol of aerobic exercise for 12 months (three sessions per week). Blood samples were obtained before and after training period for antioxidant indicators and lipid degradation measurement. Also, Beck anxiety questionnaire used for evaluating levels of anxiety. T-test and one-way analysis of variance were used for the evaluation of within-group and between-group differences, respectively.ResultsA significant increase was observed in serum levels of Malondialdehyde (P =0.004), Catalase indexes (Pvalue= 0.01), and Glutathione (P=0.001) in the training group and S. lavandulifolia groups after 12 months. Body weight, BMI, and SBP and Anexiety was decreased significantly greater in exercise +S. lavandulifolia group compared to control, exercise and S. lavandulifolia groups (P=0.001)ConclusionAnxiolytic effect and Anti-Oxidative Stress Activity was seen, so taking S. lavandulifolia along with exercises may have beneficial effects on reinforcement the antioxidant system and prevention of anxiety and The negative effects of indicators related to cardiovascular disease in women with metabolic syndrome.

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Impact of COVID-19 on Physical Activity Among 10,000 Steps Members and Engagement With the Program in Australia: Prospective Study (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.23946 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Quyen G To ◽

Mitch J Duncan ◽

Anetta Van Itallie ◽

Corneel Vandelanotte

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Age Groups ◽

Health Impact ◽

Activity Levels ◽

Physical And Mental Health ◽

Negative Effects ◽

South Wales ◽

First Case ◽

Before And After ◽

Important Health

BACKGROUND Physical activity is an important health behavior, due to its association with many physical and mental health conditions. During distressing events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a concern that physical activity levels may be negatively impacted. However, recent studies have shown inconsistent results. Additionally, there is a lack of studies in Australia on this topic. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to investigate changes in physical activity reported through the 10,000 Steps program and changes in engagement with the program during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS Data between January 1, 2018, and June 30, 2020, from registered members of the 10,000 Steps program, which included 3,548,825 days with step data, were used. The number of daily steps were logged manually by the members or synced automatically from their activity trackers connected to the program. Measures on program usage were the number of new registered members per day, the number of newly registered organizations per day, the number of steps logged per day, and the number of step entries per day. Key dates used for comparison were as follows: the first case with symptoms in Wuhan, China; the first case reported in Australia; the implementation of a 14-day ban for noncitizens arriving in Australia from China; the start of the lockdown in Australia; and the relaxing of restrictions by the Australian Government. Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used to test for significant differences in number of steps between subgroups, between engagement measures in 2019 versus 2020, and before and after an event. RESULTS A decrease in steps was observed after the first case in Australia was reported (1.5%; P=.02) and after the start of the lockdown (3.4%; P<.001). At the time that the relaxing of restrictions started, the steps had already recovered from the lockdown. Additionally, the trends were consistent across genders and age groups. New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, and Victoria had the greatest step reductions, with decreases of 7.0% (P<.001), 6.2% (P=.02), and 4.7% (P<.001), respectively. During the lockdown, the use of the program increased steeply. On the peak day, there were more than 9000 step entries per day, with nearly 100 million steps logged per day; in addition, more than 450 new users and more than 15 new organizations registered per day, although the numbers decreased quickly when restrictions were relaxed. On average per day, there were about 55 new registered users (P<.001), 2 new organizations (P<.001), 25.6 million steps (P<.001), and 2672 log entries (P<.001) more in 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. CONCLUSIONS The pandemic has had negative effects on steps among Australians across age groups and genders. However, the effect was relatively small, with steps recovering quickly after the lockdown. There was a large increase in program usage during the pandemic, which might help minimize the health impact of the lockdown and confirms the important role of physical activity programs during times of distress and lockdowns.

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Wind Turbine Noise Reduction from Seismological Data

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-4907 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Janis Heuel ◽

Wolfgang Friederich

Keyword(s):

Signal To Noise Ratio ◽

Low Cost ◽

Computational Cost ◽

Noise Signal ◽

Noise Model ◽

Threshold Function ◽

High Signal ◽

Time Data ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Before And After

Over the last years, installations of wind turbines (WTs) increased worldwide. Owing to negative effects on humans, WTs are often installed in areas with low population density. Because of low anthropogenic noise, these areas are also well suited for sites of seismological stations. As a consequence, WTs are often installed in the same areas as seismological stations. By comparing the noise in recorded data before and after installation of WTs, seismologists noticed a substantial worsening of station quality leading to conflicts between the operators of WTs and earthquake services.In this study, we compare different techniques to reduce or eliminate the disturbing signal from WTs at seismological stations. For this purpose, we selected a seismological station that shows a significant correlation between the power spectral density and the hourly windspeed measurements. Usually, spectral filtering is used to suppress noise in seismic data processing. However, this approach is not effective when noise and signal have overlapping frequency bands which is the case for WT noise. As a first method, we applied the continuous wavelet transform (CWT) on our data to obtain a time-scale representation. From this representation, we estimated a noise threshold function (Langston & Mousavi, 2019) either from noise before the theoretical P-arrival (pre-noise) or using a noise signal from the past with similar ground velocity conditions at the surrounding WTs. Therefore, we installed low cost seismometers at the surrounding WTs to find similar signals at each WT. From these similar signals, we obtain a noise model at the seismological station, which is used to estimate the threshold function. As a second method, we used a denoising autoencoder (DAE) that learns mapping functions to distinguish between noise and signal (Zhu et al., 2019).In our tests, the threshold function performs well when the event is visible in the raw or spectral filtered data, but it fails when WT noise dominates and the event is hidden. In these cases, the DAE removes the WT noise from the data. However, the DAE must be trained with typical noise samples and high signal-to-noise ratio events to distinguish between signal and interfering noise. Using the threshold function and pre-noise can be applied immediately on real-time data and has a low computational cost. Using a noise model from our prerecorded database at the seismological station does not improve the result and it is more time consuming to find similar ground velocity conditions at the surrounding WTs.

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Decreased otolith-mediated vestibular response in 25 astronauts induced by long-duration spaceflight

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00065.2016 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 115 (6) ◽

pp. 3045-3051 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Emma Hallgren ◽

Ludmila Kornilova ◽

Erik Fransen ◽

Dmitrii Glukhikh ◽

Steven T. Moore ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Orthostatic Intolerance ◽

Balance Control ◽

Head Tilt ◽

Otolith Organs ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Spatial Disorientation ◽

Long Duration ◽

Before And After ◽

Ocular Counterrolling ◽

Otolith System

The information coming from the vestibular otolith organs is important for the brain when reflexively making appropriate visual and spinal corrections to maintain balance. Symptoms related to failed balance control and navigation are commonly observed in astronauts returning from space. To investigate the effect of microgravity exposure on the otoliths, we studied the otolith-mediated responses elicited by centrifugation in a group of 25 astronauts before and after 6 mo of spaceflight. Ocular counterrolling (OCR) is an otolith-driven reflex that is sensitive to head tilt with regard to gravity and tilts of the gravito-inertial acceleration vector during centrifugation. When comparing pre- and postflight OCR, we found a statistically significant decrease of the OCR response upon return. Nine days after return, the OCR was back at preflight level, indicating a full recovery. Our large study sample allows for more general physiological conclusions about the effect of prolonged microgravity on the otolith system. A deconditioned otolith system is thought to be the cause of several of the negative effects seen in returning astronauts, such as spatial disorientation and orthostatic intolerance. This knowledge should be taken into account for future long-term space missions.

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THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF TRANSPORT ON THE VOLGA BEFORE AND AFTER THE COMMUNIST REVOLUTION

The Professional Geographer ◽

10.1111/j.0033-0124.1965.022_d.x ◽

1965 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 22-25

Author(s):

Keith W. Muckleston ◽

Fred E. Dohrs

Keyword(s):

Relative Importance ◽

Before And After ◽

Communist Revolution

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Increment of Fatigue, Depression, and Stage Fright During the First Year of High-Level Education in Music Students

Medical Problems of Performing Artists ◽

10.21091/mppa.2012.1008 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 27 (1) ◽

pp. 43-48 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Horst Hildebrandt ◽

Matthias Nübling ◽

Victor Candia

Keyword(s):

Music Performance ◽

Music Students ◽

Stage Fright ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Professional Musicians ◽

Freshman Year ◽

Work Related ◽

Custom Made ◽

Before And After ◽

High Level

BACKGROUND: Public opinion associates music performance with pleasure, relaxation, and entertainment. Nevertheless, several studies have shown that professional musicians and music students are often affected by work-related burdens. These are closely related to stress and anxiety. OBJECTIVE: Scrutinizing specific health strains and work attitudes of music students during their freshman year of high-level education. METHODS: One hundred five students in three Swiss music universities were part of a longitudinal study using standardized assessment questionnaires. Before and after their first study year, some custom-made questionnaires designed to fit the particular work environment of musicians were used together with the already validated inquiry instruments. RESULTS: Fatigue, depression, and stage fright increased significantly. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate more study is needed and attempts should be made to minimize the stress level, improve the students’ ability to cope with stress, and otherwise reduce their risk for injury. This appears particularly important considering the long-term negative effects of stressors on individuals’ health as revealed by modern research.

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Demineralization Inhibitory Effects of Highly Concentrated Fluoride Dentifrice and Fluoride Gels/Solutions on Sound Dentin and Artificial Dentin Caries Lesions in vitro

Caries Research ◽

10.1159/000509931 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-14

Author(s):

Daniel Erdwey ◽

Hendrik Meyer-Lueckel ◽

Marcella Esteves-Oliveira ◽

Christian Apel ◽

Richard Johannes Wierichs

Keyword(s):

In Vitro Study ◽

Inhibitory Effect ◽

Negative Effects ◽

Dentin Caries ◽

Before And After ◽

Amine Fluoride ◽

Ph Cycling ◽

Fluoride Dentifrice ◽

Caries Lesions

Objectives: The aim of this in vitro study was to compare the demineralization inhibitory effect of gels/solutions used in combination with either standard or highly fluoridated dentifrices on sound dentin as well as on artificial dentin caries-like lesions. Methods: Bovine dentin specimens (n = 240) with two different surfaces each (sound [ST] and artificial caries lesion [DT]) were prepared and randomly allocated to twelve groups. Weekly interventions during pH-cycling (28 days, 6 × 120 min demineralization/day) were: the application of gels/solutions containing amine fluoride/sodium fluoride (12,500 ppm F [ppm]; pH = 4.4; AmF); NaF (12,500 ppm; pH = 6.6; NaF1); NaF (12,500 ppm; pH = 6.3; NaF2); silver diamine fluoride (14,200 ppm; pH = 8.7; SDF); acidulated phosphate fluoride (12,500 ppm; pH = 3.8; APF), and no intervention (standard control; S). Furthermore, half of the specimens in each group were brushed (10 s; twice per day) with dentifrice slurries containing either 1,450 ppm (e.g., AmF1450) or 5,000 ppm (e.g., AmF5000). Differences in integrated mineral loss (ΔΔZ) and lesion depth (ΔLD) were calculated between values before and after pH-cycling using transversal microradiography. Results: After pH-cycling Ss showed significantly increased ΔZDT and LDDT values, indicating further demineralization. In contrast, except for one, all groups including fluoride gels/solutions showed significantly decreased ΔZDT values. Additional use of most fluoride gels/solutions significantly enhanced mineral gain, mainly in the surface area; however, acidic gels/solutions seemed to have negative effects on lesion depths. Significance: Under the present pH-cycling conditions the highly fluoridated dentifrice significantly reduced caries progression and additional application of nearly all of the fluoride gels/solutions resulted in remineralization. However, there was no difference in the remineralizing capacity of fluoride gels/solutions when used in combination with either standard or highly fluoridated dentifrices.

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