scholarly journals Changes in mangrove tree mortality, forest canopy, and aboveground biomass accumulation rates following the 2017 hurricane season in Puerto Rico and the role of urbanization

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin L. Branoff
Keyword(s):  
Aboveground Biomass ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Tree Mortality ◽  
Biomass Accumulation ◽  
Initial Response ◽  
Canopy Closure ◽  
Mangrove Tree ◽  
Hurricane Season

AbstractMangrove ecosystem responses to tropical cyclones have been well documented over the last half a century, resulting in repeated measures of tree mortality, aboveground biomass reduction, and recovery by species, size, and geomorphology. However, no studies have investigated the role of urbanization in mangrove hurricane resistance and resilience, despite increasing urbanization of tropical shorelines. This study gauges the initial response and short-term recovery of Puerto Rico’s mangroves along well defined and quantified urban gradients following the 2017 hurricane season. Survival probability of tagged trees decreased with time, and the mean mortality across all sites was 22% after eleven months. Mean canopy closure loss was 51% one month after the hurricanes, and closure rates also decreased with time following the storms. Aboveground biomass accumulation decreased by 3.5 kg yr-1per tree, corresponding to a reduction of 4.5 Mg ha-1yr-1at the stand level. One year later, the mangroves have recovered to 72% canopy closure and to nearly 60% of their pre-storm growth rates. No connection to urbanization could be detected in the measured dynamics. Instead, species, size and geomorphology were found to play a role. Larger trees suffered 25% more mortality than smaller size classes, andLaguncularia racemosasuffered 11% less mortality than other species. Hydro-geomorphology was also found to play a role, with forests in tidally restricted canals experiencing more canopy loss but faster recovery than open embayment systems. These findings suggest size, species, and geomorphology are important in mangrove resistance and resilience to tropical storms, and that urbanization does not play a role. Managing mangrove ecosystems for optimal shoreline protection will depend upon knowing which forests are at greatest risk in a future of increasing urbanization.

scholarly journals Aboveground Biomass Accumulation in a Tropical Wet Forest in Nicaragua Following a Catastrophic Hurricane Disturbance1

Biotropica ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 600-608 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Mascaro ◽  
Ivette Perfecto ◽  
Oton Barros ◽  
Douglas H. Boucher ◽  
Inigo Granzow de la Cerda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Aboveground Biomass ◽  
Biomass Accumulation ◽  
Tropical Wet Forest

scholarly journals Enhanced Antimycobacterial Response to RecombinantMycobacterium bovis BCG Expressing Latency-Associated Peptide

2001 ◽  
Vol 69 (11) ◽  
pp. 6676-6682 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben G. Marshall ◽  
Arun Wangoo ◽  
Peadar O'Gaora ◽  
H. Terry Cook ◽  
Rory J. Shaw ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Detrimental Effect ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor ◽  
Initial Response ◽  
Transforming Growth Factor Β ◽  
Mycobacterial Infection ◽  
Acute Stage ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Memory Response

ABSTRACT With a view to exploring the role of transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) during mycobacterial infection, recombinant clones of bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) were engineered to express the natural antagonist of TGF-β, latency-activated peptide (LAP). Induction of TGF-β activity was reduced when macrophages were infected with BCG expressing the LAP construct (LAP-BCG). There was a significant reduction in the growth of LAP-BCG in comparison to that of control BCG following intravenous infection in a mouse model. The enhanced control of mycobacterial replication was associated with an increase in the production of gamma interferon by splenocytes challenged during the acute stage of infection but with a diminished recall response assessed after 13 weeks. Organ weight and hydroxyproline content, representing tissue pathology, were also lower in mice infected with LAP-BCG. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that TGF-β has a detrimental effect on mycobacterial immunity. While a reduction in TGF-β activity augments the initial response to BCG vaccination, early bacterial clearance may adversely affect the induction of a long-term memory response by LAP-BCG.

Role of Women Psychologists during the Second World War

1979 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Charles Kronk
Keyword(s):  
Child Care ◽  
Initial Response ◽  
Active Duty ◽  
Educational Programs ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Women Psychologists ◽  
Role Of Women ◽  
Second World

During the Second World War psychology became recognized as having distinct services to offer. The role of male psychologists is contrasted with that of women psychologists. The initial response to the war by female psychologists is described. The specific contributions by women psychologists are examined in the following areas: research on children, child care programs, government and active duty, food problems, and the shaping of educational programs to meet the demands of the war, and work on draft boards by women psychologists.

scholarly journals Level of Sulfite Oxidase Activity Affects Sulfur and Carbon Metabolism in Arabidopsis

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dinara Oshanova ◽  
Assylay Kurmanbayeva ◽  
Aizat Bekturova ◽  
Aigerim Soltabayeva ◽  
Zhadyrassyn Nurbekova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sulfur Metabolism ◽  
Biomass Accumulation ◽  
Sulfite Oxidase ◽  
Sulfite Reductase ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Direct Exposure ◽  
Important Player ◽  
Sulfur Supply ◽  
Lower Biomass

Molybdenum cofactor containing sulfite oxidase (SO) enzyme is an important player in protecting plants against exogenous toxic sulfite. It was also demonstrated that SO activity is essential to cope with rising dark-induced endogenous sulfite levels and maintain optimal carbon and sulfur metabolism in tomato plants exposed to extended dark stress. The response of SO and sulfite reductase to direct exposure of low and high levels of sulfate and carbon was rarely shown. By employing Arabidopsis wild-type, sulfite reductase, and SO-modulated plants supplied with excess or limited carbon or sulfur supply, the current study demonstrates the important role of SO in carbon and sulfur metabolism. Application of low and excess sucrose, or sulfate levels, led to lower biomass accumulation rates, followed by enhanced sulfite accumulation in SO impaired mutant compared with wild-type. SO-impairment resulted in the channeling of sulfite to the sulfate reduction pathway, resulting in an overflow of organic S accumulation. In addition, sulfite enhancement was followed by oxidative stress contributing as well to the lower biomass accumulation in SO-modulated plants. These results indicate that the role of SO is not limited to protection against elevated sulfite toxicity but to maintaining optimal carbon and sulfur metabolism in Arabidopsis plants.

scholarly journals Tinospora cordifolia Enhances Vyadhikshamatwa (immunity) in Children

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 227-230
Author(s):  
Devasya Narayana Sharma ◽  
◽  
Ajitha Sharma ◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Controlled Trial ◽  
Study Drug ◽  
Absolute Lymphocyte Count ◽  
Tinospora Cordifolia ◽  
Total Leucocyte Count ◽  
Traditional Medicines ◽  
Repeated Measures Analysis ◽  
Increased Risk

Background: The immune system in children is constantly developing and they are at an increased risk of infections. It is vital to help enhance immunity by vaccination but more people are turning towards traditional medicines today. The vast flora of the world offers newer options to this effect and is worth exploring. Tinospora cordifolia (Guduchi) is one such plant which has been traditionally used for various health conditions and is also proven to be an immunomodulator. Objective: To evaluate the role of Tinospora cordifolia in status of Vyadhikshamatwa (immunity) in children. Materials and Methods: An open-labelled, placebo-controlled, randomized controlled trial was conducted in 400 children aged 1-15 years, with 200 each in control and test groups. Study drug and placebo were administered orally at a dose of 100 mg/kg body weight twice daily with honey for 2 months. Response was assessed by total leucocyte count (TLC), lymphocyte percentage and absolute lymphocyte count (ALC). Results were analysed statistically using repeated measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) for intra-group comparisons and unpaired t-test for intergroup comparisons using Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 20.0. Results: The test drug showed statistically significant increase in TLC (P<0.001), ALC (P<0.001) and lymphocyte percentage (P<0.001) as compared to placebo. Also the rate of infections in the trial group were significantly lesser during the study period (P<0.001). Conclusion: Tinospora cordifolia significantly improves immunity in children and can be used as an adjuvant to vaccination.

scholarly journals ESTIMATION OF REGIONAL FOREST ABOVEGROUND BIOMASS COMBINING ICESAT-GLAS WAVEFORMS AND HJ-1A/HSI HYPERSPECTRAL IMAGERIES

2016 ◽  
Vol XLI-B7 ◽  
pp. 731-737
Author(s):  
Yanqiu Xing ◽  
Sai Qiu ◽  
Jianhua Ding ◽  
Jing Tian
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Cycle ◽  
Aboveground Biomass ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Field Investigation ◽  
Support Vector ◽  
Laser Altimeter ◽  
Spectral Bands ◽  
Spectral Imager ◽  
Regional Forest ◽  
Forest Aboveground Biomass

Estimation of forest aboveground biomass (AGB) is a critical challenge for understanding the global carbon cycle because it dominates the dynamics of the terrestrial carbon cycle. Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) system has a unique capability for estimating accurately forest canopy height, which has a direct relationship and can provide better understanding to the forest AGB. The Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) onboard the Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) is the first polarorbiting LiDAR instrument for global observations of Earth, and it has been widely used for extracting forest AGB with footprints of nominally 70&thinsp;m in diameter on the earth's surface. However, the GLAS footprints are discrete geographically, and thus it has been restricted to produce the regional full coverage of forest AGB. To overcome the limit of discontinuity, the Hyper Spectral Imager (HSI) of HJ-1A with 115 bands was combined with GLAS waveforms to predict the regional forest AGB in the study. Corresponding with the field investigation in Wangqing of Changbai Mountain, China, the GLAS waveform metrics were derived and employed to establish the AGB model, which was used further for estimating the AGB within GLAS footprints. For HSI imagery, the Minimum Noise Fraction (MNF) method was used to decrease noise and reduce the dimensionality of spectral bands, and consequently the first three of MNF were able to offer almost 98% spectral information and qualified to regress with the GLAS estimated AGB. Afterwards, the support vector regression (SVR) method was employed in the study to establish the relationship between GLAS estimated AGB and three of HSI MNF (i.e. <i>MNF1</i>, <i>MNF2</i> and <i>MNF3</i>), and accordingly the full covered regional forest AGB map was produced. The results showed that the adj.R<sup>2</sup> and RMSE of SVR-AGB models were 0.75 and 4.68&thinsp;t&thinsp;hm<sup>&minus;2</sup> for broadleaf forests, 0.73 and 5.39&thinsp;t&thinsp;hm<sup>&minus;2</sup> for coniferous forests and 0.71 and 6.15&thinsp;t&thinsp;hm<sup>&minus;2</sup> for mixed forests respectively. The full covered regional forest AGB map of the study area had 0.62 of accuracy and 11.11&thinsp;t&thinsp;hm<sup>&minus;2</sup> of RMSE. The study demonstrated that it holds great potential to achieve the full covered regional forest AGB distribution with higher accuracy by combing LiDAR data and hyperspectral imageries.

scholarly journals c-MYC and Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeyshka M. Reyes-González ◽  
Pablo E. Vivas-Mejía
Keyword(s):  
Patient Outcome ◽  
Ovarian Cancer ◽  
Standard Of Care ◽  
Initial Response ◽  
Platinum Resistance ◽  
Therapy Regimen ◽  
Clinical Challenge ◽  
Tumor Types ◽  
Improve Patient

Ovarian cancer is the deadliest of gynecological malignancies with approximately 49% of women surviving 5 years after initial diagnosis. The standard of care for ovarian cancer consists of cytoreductive surgery followed by platinum-based combination chemotherapy. Unfortunately, despite initial response, platinum resistance remains a major clinical challenge. Therefore, the identification of effective biomarkers and therapeutic targets is crucial to guide therapy regimen, maximize clinical benefit, and improve patient outcome. Given the pivotal role of c-MYC deregulation in most tumor types, including ovarian cancer, assessment of c-MYC biological and clinical relevance is essential. Here, we briefly describe the frequency of c-MYC deregulation in ovarian cancer and the consequences of its targeting.

scholarly journals The effect of external lateral stabilization on the use of foot placement to control mediolateral stability in walking and running

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammadreza Mahaki ◽  
Sjoerd M Bruijn ◽  
Jaap H. van Dieën
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Main Mechanism ◽  
Step Width ◽  
Normal Walking ◽  
Kinematic Data ◽  
Foot Placement ◽  
Mediolateral Stability

It is still unclear how humans control mediolateral (ML) stability in walking and even more so for running. Here, foot placement strategy as a main mechanism to control ML stability was compared between walking and running. Moreover, to verify the role of foot placement as a means to control ML stability in both modes of locomotion, this study investigated the effect of external lateral stabilization on foot placement control. Ten young adults participated in this study. Kinematic data of the trunk (T6) and feet were recorded during walking and running on a treadmill in normal and stabilized conditions. Correlation between ML trunk CoM state and subsequent ML foot placement, step width, and step width variability were assessed. Paired t-tests (either SPM1d or normal) were used to compare aforementioned parameters between normal walking and running. Two-way repeated measures ANOVAs (either SPM1d or normal) were used to test for effects of walking vs. running and of normal vs. stabilized condition. We found a stronger correlation between ML trunk CoM state and ML foot placement and significantly higher step width and step width variability in walking than in running. The correlation between ML trunk CoM state and ML foot placement, step width, and step width variability were significantly decreased by external lateral stabilization in walking and running, and this reduction was stronger in walking than in running. We conclude that ML foot placement is coordinated to ML trunk CoM state to stabilize both walking and running and this coordination is stronger in walking than in running.

scholarly journals The effect of external lateral stabilization on the control of mediolateral stability in walking and running

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammadreza Mahaki ◽  
Sjoerd M Bruijn ◽  
Jaap H. van Dieën
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Main Mechanism ◽  
Step Width ◽  
Normal Walking ◽  
Kinematic Data ◽  
Foot Placement ◽  
Mediolateral Stability

It is still unclear how humans control mediolateral (ML) stability in walking and even more so for running. Here, foot placement strategy as a main mechanism to control ML stability was compared between walking and running. Moreover, to verify the role of foot placement as a means to control ML stability in both modes of locomotion, this study investigated the effect of external lateral stabilization on foot placement control. Ten young adults participated in this study. Kinematic data of the trunk (T6) and feet (heels) were recorded during walking and running on a treadmill in normal and stabilized conditions. Correlation between ML trunk CoM state and subsequent ML foot placement, step width, and step width variability were assessed. Paired t-tests (either SPM1d or normal) were used to compare aforementioned parameters between normal walking and running. Two-way repeated measures ANOVAs (either SPM1d or normal) were used to test for effects of walking vs. running and of normal vs. stabilized condition. We found a stronger correlation between ML trunk CoM state and ML foot placement and significantly higher step width and step width variability in walking than in running. The correlation between ML trunk CoM state and ML foot placement, step width, and step width variability were significantly decreased by external lateral stabilization in walking and running, and this reduction was stronger in walking than in running. We conclude that ML foot placement is coordinated to ML trunk CoM state to stabilize both walking and running and this coordination is stronger in walking than in running.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document