scholarly journals Accumulator, Transporter, Substrate, and Reactor: Multidimensional Perspectives and Approaches to the Study of Bark

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra G. Ponette-González

Woody ecosystems have a relatively thin but aerially extensive and dynamic layer of bark that, like leaves, regulates material exchange at the interface of air, water, and biota. Through interception, retention, and leaching of materials and interactions with epiphytic communities, bark alters the chemistry and composition of water draining over its surface during precipitation. This mini-review explores different perspectives and approaches to the study of bark and what they reveal about the myriad ways bark surfaces influence the quality of sub-canopy precipitation. Observational studies conducted over the past five decades in the fields of environmental science, ecohydrology, epiphyte ecology, and microbiology demonstrate that bark is an accumulator, transporter, substrate, and reactor. Bark passively accumulates materials from the atmosphere, water, and canopies, and also serves as an active transport surface, exchanging materials laterally and longitudinally. In addition, bark substrates influence epiphyte diversity, composition, and distribution, which, in turn, affect material cycling. Bark surfaces are dynamic over time, changing in response to disturbances (e.g., insect outbreaks, aging, and tree death)—how such changes influence the chemical and elemental composition of throughfall and stemflow merits further study. Moving forward, integration of diverse perspectives and approaches is needed to elucidate the influence of bark surfaces on solute and particulate transport and cycling within woody ecosystems.

Author(s):  
K. T. Tokuyasu

During the past investigations of immunoferritin localization of intracellular antigens in ultrathin frozen sections, we found that the degree of negative staining required to delineate u1trastructural details was often too dense for the recognition of ferritin particles. The quality of positive staining of ultrathin frozen sections, on the other hand, has generally been far inferior to that attainable in conventional plastic embedded sections, particularly in the definition of membranes. As we discussed before, a main cause of this difficulty seemed to be the vulnerability of frozen sections to the damaging effects of air-water surface tension at the time of drying of the sections.Indeed, we found that the quality of positive staining is greatly improved when positively stained frozen sections are protected against the effects of surface tension by embedding them in thin layers of mechanically stable materials at the time of drying (unpublished).


2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gina G Mentzer ◽  
Alex J Auseon

Heart failure (HF) affects more than 5 million people and has an increasing incidence and cost burden. Patients note symptoms of dyspnea and fatigue that result in a decreased quality of life, which has not drastically improved over the past decades despite advances in therapies. The assessment of exercise capacity can provide information regarding patient diagnosis and prognosis, while doubling as a potential future therapy. clinically, there is acceptance that exercise is safe in hf and can have a positive impact on morbidity and quality of life, although evidence for improvement in mortality is still lacking. specific prescriptions for exercise training have not been developed because many variables and confounding factors have prevented research trials from demonstrating an ideal regimen. Physicians are becoming more aware of the indices and goals for hf patients in exercise testing and therapy to provide comprehensive cardiac care. it is further postulated that a combination of exercise training and pharmacologic therapy may eventually provide the most benefits to those suffering from hf.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Andi Asadul Islam

Neurosurgery is among the newest of surgical disciplines, appearing in its modern incarnation at the dawn of twentieth century with the work of Harvey Cushing and contemporaries. Neurosurgical ethics involves challenges of manipulating anatomical locus of human identity and concerns of surgeons and patients who find themselves bound together in that venture.In recent years, neurosurgery ethics has taken on greater relevance as changes in society and technology have brought novel questions into sharp focus. Change of expanded armamentarium of techniques for interfacing with the human brain and spine— demand that we use philosophical reasoning to assess merits of technical innovations.Bioethics can be defined as systematic study of moral challenges in medicine, including moral vision, decisions, conduct, and policies related to medicine. Every surgeon should still take the Hippocratic Oath seriously and consider it a basic guide to follow good medical ethics in medical practice. It is simple and embodies three of the four modern bioethics principles – Respecting autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice.Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating condition often affecting young and healthy individuals around the world. Currently, scientists are pressured on many fronts to develop an all-encompassing “cure” for paralysis. While scientific understanding of central nervous system (CNS) regeneration has advanced greatly in the past years, there are still many unknowns with regard to inducing successful regeneration. A more realistic approach is required if we are interested in improving the quality of life of a large proportion of the paralyzed population in a more expedient time frame.


GYNECOLOGY ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 42-47
Author(s):  
O V Yakushevskaya ◽  
S V Yureneva ◽  
A E Protasova ◽  
G N Khabas ◽  
M R Dumanovskaya

The aim of the work is to conduct a systematic analysis of the available research results on the possibility of using menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) in patients who successfully completed the treatment of endometrial cancer (EC). Materials and methods. The review includes data from foreign articles published in PubMed and Medline, and domestic works published on elibrary.ru over the past 40 years. Results. The results obtained allow us to consider MHT as an independent method of medical rehabilitation for women who have undergone EC. A clear patient profile should be established, allowing the use of this method, with strict adherence to health monitoring. Conclusion Patients who have successfully completed the treatment of EC require the creation of special rehabilitation conditions in the interests of maintaining health and quality of life and should be under the close attention of the doctor. Argumented approaches to the appointment of MHT in such patients will avoid complications associated with estrogen deficiency after surgery, radiation with or without systemic (cytostatic) treatment methods.


2020 ◽  
pp. 3-53
Author(s):  
Yu.B. Vinslav

The article analyzes the main indicators of the evolution of the domestic economy and its industrial complex in the past year (in January — November 2019). It Identifies trends in this evolution, including negative trends that determine the preservation of reproductive threats in 2020: sluggishness, instability and low quality of economic growth. The main reasons for the fact that the objective resource capabilities of the macro level were clearly not used enough to effectively solve the urgent problems of technological modernization of the economy and increase people’s welfare are established. The main reason is the poor quality of public administration, including imperfect strategic planning and industrial policy; there is still no modern national innovation system in the country. Accordingly, recommendations for improving the quality of state regulation in its specified components are justified. The recommended measures, according to the author, will help the economy to move to a trajectory of rapid, sustainable and high-quality growth.


2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Garry D. Carnegie

ABSTRACT This response to the recent contribution by Matthews (2019) entitled “The Past, Present, and Future of Accounting History” specifically deals with the issues associated with concentrating on counting publication numbers in examining the state of a scholarly research field at the start of the 2020s. It outlines several pitfalls with the narrowly focused publications count analysis, in selected English language journals only, as provided by Matthews. The commentary is based on three key arguments: (1) accounting history research and publication is far more than a “numbers game”; (2) trends in the quality of the research undertaken and published are paramount; and (3) international publication and accumulated knowledge in accounting history are indeed more than a collection of English language publications. The author seeks to contribute to discussion and debate between accounting historians and other researchers for the benefit and development of the international accounting history community and global society.


Author(s):  
Roger Ekirch

Although a universal necessity, sleep, as the past powerfully indicates, is not a biological constant. Before the Industrial Revolution, sleep in western households differed in a variety of respects from that of today. Arising chiefly from a dearth of artificial illumination, the predominant form of sleep was segmented, consisting of two intervals of roughly 3 hours apiece bridged by up to an hour or so of wakefulness. Notwithstanding steps taken by families to preserve the tranquillity of their slumber, the quality of pre-industrial sleep was poor, owing to illness, anxiety, and environmental vexations. Large portions of the labouring population almost certainly suffered from sleep deprivation. Despite the prevalence of sleep-onset insomnia, awakening in the middle of the night was thought normal. Not until the turn of the nineteenth century and sleep’s consolidation did physicians view segmented sleep as a disorder requiring medication.


Author(s):  
Jeasik Cho

This book provides the qualitative research community with some insight on how to evaluate the quality of qualitative research. This topic has gained little attention during the past few decades. We, qualitative researchers, read journal articles, serve on masters’ and doctoral committees, and also make decisions on whether conference proposals, manuscripts, or large-scale grant proposals should be accepted or rejected. It is assumed that various perspectives or criteria, depending on various paradigms, theories, or fields of discipline, have been used in assessing the quality of qualitative research. Nonetheless, until now, no textbook has been specifically devoted to exploring theories, practices, and reflections associated with the evaluation of qualitative research. This book constructs a typology of evaluating qualitative research, examines actual information from websites and qualitative journal editors, and reflects on some challenges that are currently encountered by the qualitative research community. Many different kinds of journals’ review guidelines and available assessment tools are collected and analyzed. Consequently, core criteria that stand out among these evaluation tools are presented. Readers are invited to join the author to confidently proclaim: “Fortunately, there are commonly agreed, bold standards for evaluating the goodness of qualitative research in the academic research community. These standards are a part of what is generally called ‘scientific research.’ ”


2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-48
Author(s):  
Gary W. Evans

Child development reflects interactions between personal characteristics and the physical and social environment. Psychology, however, lacks analysis of physical features that influence child development. In this article, I describe a preliminary taxonomy of physical-setting characteristics that can influence child development, focusing on environmental stressors such as noise, crowding, and chaos along with structural quality of housing, day care, and schools. Adverse outcomes associated with suboptimal physical settings during childhood include cognitive and socioemotional difficulties along with chronic physiological stress. Both direct effects on the child as well as indirect effects occurring via significant persons surrounding the child are described. Methodological limitations, particularly reliance on observational studies, are a weakness in the current literature, but increasingly more rigorously obtained findings yield converging evidence of the effects of physical settings on child development.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Gulea ◽  
Rosita Zakeri ◽  
Vanessa Alderman ◽  
Alexander Morgan ◽  
Jack Ross ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Beta-blockers are associated with reduced mortality in patients with cardiovascular disease but are often under prescribed in those with concomitant COPD, due to concerns regarding respiratory side-effects. We investigated the effects of beta-blockers on outcomes in patients with COPD and explored within-class differences between different agents. Methods We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and Medline for observational studies and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the effects of beta-blocker exposure versus no exposure or placebo, in patients with COPD, with and without cardiovascular indications. A meta-analysis was performed to assess the association of beta-blocker therapy with acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD), and a network meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the effects of individual beta-blockers on FEV1. Mortality, all-cause hospitalization, and quality of life outcomes were narratively synthesized. Results We included 23 observational studies and 14 RCTs. In pooled observational data, beta-blocker therapy was associated with an overall reduced risk of AECOPD versus no therapy (HR 0.77, 95%CI 0.70 to 0.85). Among individual beta-blockers, only propranolol was associated with a relative reduction in FEV1 versus placebo, among 199 patients evaluated in RCTs. Narrative syntheses on mortality, all-cause hospitalization and quality of life outcomes indicated a high degree of heterogeneity in study design and patient characteristics but suggested no detrimental effects of beta-blocker therapy on these outcomes. Conclusion The class effect of beta-blockers remains generally positive in patients with COPD. Reduced rates of AECOPD, mortality, and improved quality of life were identified in observational studies, while propranolol was the only agent associated with a deterioration of lung function in RCTs.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document