The forest, savanna, and grassland biomes, and the transitions between them, are expected to undergo major changes in the future due to global climate change. Dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) are very useful for understanding vegetation dynamics under the present climate, and for predicting its changes under future conditions. However, several DGVMs display high uncertainty in predicting v

A wide range of factors shapes irrigation institutions and collective action with regard to irrigation. They include the distribution of land across irrigation command areas and across classes, land tenure systems, access to new technology such as bore wells, the availability and cost of electricity and other energy sources for lifting groundwater, and, above all, state policies related to irrigat

Background: Terra preta do indio or 'dark earth' soils formed as a result of a long-term addition of organic matter by indigenous peoples in Amazonia. Aims: Here we report on the first study of productivity, allocation and carbon cycling from a terra preta plot in eastern Amazonia (Caxiuana, Para, Brazil), and contrast its dynamics with a nearby plot on infertile soil (ferralsols). Methods: We det

Background and purpose: The posterior soft tissue repair is 1 of the preventing factors for dislocation after total hip arthroplasty (THA). The aim of our study was to analyse THA patients with posterior soft tissue repair in terms of suture durability, time of suture failure and correlate the changes in leg length and offset postoperatively to suture durability. Methods: A total of 37 consecutive

Aromatic ring flips of Phe and Tyr residues are a hallmark of protein dynamics with a long history in molecular biophysics. Ring flips lead to symmetric exchange of nuclei between sites with distinct magnetic environments, which can be probed by NMR spectroscopy. Current knowledge of ring-flip rates originates from rare cases in which the chemical shift difference between the two sites is sufficie

Background: We present recommendations for revision of the diagnostic criteria for the Dissociative Disorders (DDs) for DSM-5. The periodic revision of the DSM provides an opportunity to revisit the assumptions underlying specific diagnoses and the empirical support, or lack of it, for the defining diagnostic criteria. Methods: This paper reviews clinical, phenomenological, epidemiological, cultur

To examine whether increasing fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels were associated with worsening left ventricular (LV) diastolic function, independently of LV mass index (LVMI) in elderly, otherwise healthy subjects.

The structure of bulk liquid water was recently probed by x-ray scattering below the temperature limit of homogeneous nucleation (TH) of ∼232 K [J. A. Sellberg et al., Nature 510, 381-384 (2014)]. Here, we utilize a similar approach to study the structure of bulk liquid water below TH using oxygen K-edge x-ray emission spectroscopy (XES). Based on previous XES experiments [T. Tokushima et al., Che

OBJECTIVE: The brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) locus has been implicated in psychiatric and substance related disorders. Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have shown strong associations between single nucleotide polymorphisms in BDNF, smoking behaviour and high body mass index (BMI). Our aim was to test whether genetic BDNF variation alters the risk of smoking related morbidit

Cancer gene fusions that encode a chimeric protein are often characterized by an intragenic discontinuity in the RNA\expression levels of the exons that are 5' or 3' to the fusion point in one or both of the fusion partners due to differences in the levels of activation of their respective promoters. Based on this, we developed an unbiased, genome-wide bioinformatic screen for gene fusions using A

Reality monitoring requires the differentiation between perceived and imagined events or between our own actions and the actions of others. The role of control processes in reality monitoring is yet not fully understood. In the current event-related potential (ERP) study, we investigated such control processes in the form of retrieval orientation and strategic retrieval of nontarget information. A

Abstract in Undetermined Acoustic phonons are studied in finite nanowires based on the elastic continuum model. The phonon dispersion relations are compared for different types of approximations both for pure nanowires and nanowire heterostructures including cubic and wurtzite materials. We find that the isotropic approximation highly underestimates the frequency of torsional modes. The impact of

AIM:The aim was to describe the frequency of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in children with anorectal malformations with rectoperineal fistulas (ARM-P), as compared with healthy controls based on gender.METHOD:LUTS were defined using the 2014 definitions of the International Children's Continence Society. Data were collected at 2 tertiary pediatric surgery centers in 2 countries from all chi

Abstract is not available

A new classical density functional approach is developed to accurately treat a coarse-grained model of room temperature aromatic ionic liquids. Our major innovation is the introduction of charge-charge correlations, which are treated in a simple phenomenological way. We test this theory on a generic coarse-grained model for aromatic RTILs with oligomeric forms for both cations and anions, approxim

THIS ARTICLE DISCUSSES the recent US Supreme Court decision in Bilski v Kappos. Although specifically applicable to the patentability of business methods, this seminal decision has consequences for determining patentable subject matter in various technologies. Focusing ultimately on Bilski's implications for the patentability of biopharmaceutical inventions, this paper first provides a broad chron

Following the Cambrian Explosion and the appearance in the fossil record of most animal phyla associated with a range of new body plans, the Ordovician and Silurian periods witnessed three subsequent major biotic events: the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event, the end-Ordovician extinction (the first animal extinction and second largest of the five mass extinctions of the Phanerozoic), and